Thursday 30 January 2014

mbari




“Once every so often, and in her absolute discretion, this goddess would instruct the community through divination to build a home of images in her honour. The diviner would travel through the village and knock on the doors of those chosen by Ana for her work. These chosen people were then blessed and separated from the larger community in a ritual with more than a passing resemblance to their own death and funeral. Thereafter, they moved into the forest and, behind and high fence and under the instruction and supervision of master artists and craftsmen, they constructed a temple of art.

Architecturally, it was a simple structure, a stage formed by three high walls supporting a peaked roof; but in place of a flat floor you had a deck of steps running from one wall to the other and rising almost to the roof at the back wall. This auditorium was then filled to the brim with sculptures in molded earth and clay, and the walls painted with murals in white, black, yellow, and green. The sculptures were arranged in appropriate postures on the steps. At the centre of the front row sat the earth goddess herself, a child on her left knee ad a raised sword in her right hand. She is other and judge.

When all was ready, after months, or sometimes even years, of preparation, the makers of mbari, who has been working in complete seclusion, sent wod to the larger community. A day was chosen for the unveiling and celebration of the work with music and dancing and feasting in front of the house of mbari.

I used the words “stage” and “auditorium” to describe the mbari house; let me explain. Indeed, the
two side walls and the back wall encompassed a stage of sorts, comprising sculptures and paintings as actors wo, after long rehearsals, are ready to perform a new celebration of art, a command performance of the earth goddess for the people assembled. But I believe the event does invite a second way of apprehension, in which the roles of stage and audience are reversed and those still and silent dignitaries of molded earth seated on the steps, and the paintings on the walls of the royal pavilion, became the spectators, and the world below a lively stage.

…….

Mbari extends the view, opens it out to meanings beyond the mere remembering of blessings or happy events; it deliberately sets out to include other experiences – indeed, all significant encounters which man has in his journey through life, especially new, unaccustomed, and thus potentially threatening encounters.

For example, when Europe made its appearance in Igbo society out of travellers tales into the concrete and alarming shape of the domineering district officer, the artists of mbari quickly gave him a seat among the molded figures, complete with his peaked helmet and pipe. Sometimes, they even made room of his iron horse, or bicycle, and his naïve police orderly. To the Igbo mentality, art must, among other uses, provide a means to domesticate that which is wild; it must act like the lightning conductor which arrests destructive electrical potential and channels them harmlessly to earth. The Ogbo insist that any presence which Is ignored, denigrated, denied acknowledgement and celebration, can become a focus for anxiety and disruption. To them, celebration is the acknowledgement, not the welcoming, of a presence. It is the courtesy of giving to everybody his due.

Therefore the celebration of mbari was no blind adoration of a perfect world or even a good world. It was an acknowledgement of the world as these particular inhabitants perceived it in reality, in their dreams and their imagination. The white district officer was obviously not a matter for laughing or dancing. But he was not alone in that. Consider another disquieting presence: a man whose body was covered from head to toe with the spots of smallpox, a disease so dreaded that it was deified and was alluded to only in quiet, deferential tones of appeasement; it was called the Decorator of its victims, not their killer. As for the woman depicted in copulation with a dog, was there much to choose, as oddities go, between her and white man?”



Tuesday 28 January 2014

Falling Damage





I calculated all the averages for most tables here. I am pretty sure I understand how averages work less well than anyone reading this blog.

I did not write down the distributions when I started and now I wish I did. Anyway.

LOTFP standard is (I think) 1d6 per every 10 feet.


Falling distance in d6
Feet fallen
Cumulative dice
Average Damage
Max
Min
10
D6
3
6
1
20
D6
7
12
2
30
D6
10
18
3
40
D6
14
24
4
50
D6
17
30
5
60
D6
21
36
6
70
D6
24
42
7
80
D6
28
48
8
90
D6
31
54
9
100
D6
35
60
10

Now this has a lot to recommend it. Not least simplicity. Very little to get wrong here.

But I really really don’t want anyone walking away from a long fall. The idea of it kind of enrages me.

I could just say ‘roll any doubles and you have a broken limb.’ Or throw in a table of some kind. But I don’t want any more tables at this point.

But then a cleric can heal that in one go and the guy can be up and walking in a minute. It doesn’t satisfy me.


Falling distance in dice chain
Feet fallen
Cumulative Dice
Average Damage
10
D4
2
20
D6
4-7
30
D8
10
40
D10
15-16
50
D12
22
60
D20
32-33
70
D50
53-63
80
D100
95-122
90

Fuck it
100

Things cant get worse

The things I like about the dice chain; It is a little bit less lethal at smaller heights.  You get to keep adding different shaped dice one by one. There is a nice ritualistic aspect to that. It takes a while but falling a long way is meant to be bad. It will almost certainly kill characters after 60 or 70 feet.

Once you bring in the big dice the probability curve flattens out a lot. High numbers are pretty guaranteed.

Too harsh? Lets try another one.

Falling distance in dice chain
Feet fallen
Cumulative Dice
Average Damage
10
D4
2
20
D6
4-7
30
D8
10
40
D10
15-16
50
D12
22
60
D20
32-33
70
D20
43
80
D20
53-54
90
D20
64
100
D20
74-75

This is kind of the girlified version of the dice chain. I quite like this. We can leave in the triples mean limbs snapped rule.

Ok, lets try an insanely swingy method.

Falling distance in dice chain
Feet fallen
Dice rolled
Average Damage
Max
Min
10
D4
2
4
1
20
D4*D4
4
16
1
30
D4*D6
4 or 6 or 12
24
1
40
D4*D8
4 6 8 12
32
1
50
D4*D10
4 6 8 12
40
1
60
D4*D12
12
48
1
70
D4*D20
12
80
1
80
D4*D50
12 24 36 49
200
1
90
D4*D100
12 24 36 60 72 84
400
1
100
?
?
?
?

Ok, I have no fucking idea what is going on with this table. It’s all over the place. Averages are pretty low right up until 70 feet. But average means fuck all with this table. Lets try another one.

Falling distance in dice chain
Feet fallen
Dice rolled
Average Damage
Max
Min
10
D6
1-6
6
1
20
D6*D4
4 6 12
24
1
30
D6*D6
6 12
36
1
40
D6*D8
6 12
48
1
50
D6*D10
6 12
60
1
60
D6*D12
12
72
1
70
D6*D20
12
120
1
80
D6*D50
12 24 30 36 48 60
300
1
90
D6*D100
60
600
1
100
?
?
?
?


I would have to say the d4* version is the most OSR’y. No-one who falls will have any idea what is going to happen. Neither will the DM. Maybe the averages don’t need to be that high if the potential is frightening.