Author: Smiorgan

Monday, 20 August 2018

Pomp

by Smiorgan Comments Off on Pomp

Resurrected my On-One Il Pompino (v2 in Trigger’s Mum’s Bathroom Blue). This was my commuting bike for a 25 mile round trip for about 5 years.

Nitto Noodle bars, 48cm

Halo Aerorage wheel rear and a Mavic Cosmos front (from my first ever upgrade wheelset)

Nitto stem, fizik bar tape, Shimano Br-R550 cantilever brakes

Currently running 47t chainring and 16t/18t cogs and 16t freewheel, which I’m running now. 47×16 is a bit high for inclines and starting off, but actually pretty good on the flat (and the drivetrain is pretty efficient without derailleurs and a good chainline). I’ve got a lot of geared stuff in my parts box but running single/fixed is like coming home.

Friday, 10 August 2018

Thursday, 26 July 2018

Grand Tableau: Gates, Courts, Primes

by Smiorgan Comments Off on Grand Tableau: Gates, Courts, Primes

And now for something completely different, because I can never work on just one project (in fact this is what was bugging me as I was trying to finish the last post).

This is my character sheet for Grand Tableau (a remix of Jonathan Tweet’s Everway using the 36 card Petit Lenormand deck, with elements in common with Amber).

The picture is low res but the vector pdf is here. Haven’t tried printing it yet.

Now, about the deck.

Cosmology and the Fortune Deck

The 36-card Lenormand deck has four Aces, twelve Court cards and twenty numbered cards. These represent three tiers of reality:

  • The Aces are the Primes, which are universal cosmic principles.
  • The Court cards are the four Courts of magic. These are the twelve schools of magic available to PCs (at the start). Kings are static, Queens are dynamic and Jacks are mutable. When I run this game I plan to make extra cards and give them to the players as table artefacts.
  • The numbered cards represent Gates between each tier of occult society. These correlate with the ratings in each element.

The Gates have a kind of informal hierarchy. No one card is necessarily stronger than another, but they represent a transformation of magical awareness.

  • The sixes represent the first step; gifts, opportunities, guidance and crossing thresholds.
  • The sevens are all about connections and networks in occult society.
  • The eights are about gathering, consolidation, thoughts and ideals, symbols and membership.
  • The nines concern themselves with legacies, remnants, plans, deep impressions, future vision, truth and falsehood.
  • Finally the tens are about evaluation, power, transformation and territory.

As magicians gain strength in each of the suits they will transform according to the level they’ve achieved. At a rating of six they become an attractor, becoming visible to occult agencies. At seven they will start to notice their peers. At eight they will acquire a mark that identifies them to their peers, and may choose to enroll in a College. Nine and ten are very uncommon and usually involve specialisation in the chosen College.

That will do for now. Time for bed.