MTG's Aetherdrift...I gotta say, it looks pretty rad.

This past Saturday, Pun posted some info on the Patreon project known as Planeshifted over at the Halls of the Nephilim.  This creator (Gabe Rodriguez, aka /u/letterephesus on Reddit) produces incredibly detailed and really high-quality 5e D&D supplements based on Magic: The Gathering lore, typically focusing each release on one of the planes of reality in which the MTG story takes place (hence the moniker, which also echoes the name of a series of unofficial D&D supplements based on MTG worlds that WotC released on their website).

One of the upcoming projects that I'm definitely looking forward to is a supplement based on the new MTG set coming out next weekend (with prereleases in just a couple of days, although I don't think I'll be able to make one): Aetherdrift.  For years now, I think the Magic story team has just been killing it (in a good way, in case that isn't obvious) with some aspects of the lore, mainly as they've started taking risks that seemed impossible when I started playing the game 25 years ago.  To me, Aetherdrift kind of seems like a culmination of those efforts; it's a set based upon a freaking road race that spans multiple planes in the MTG multiverse.  And it looks awesome!

From here.

The Aetherdrift story is certainly not without its detractors.  And...I do understand why.  Some of the most legitimate criticisms I've seen of the Magic story in recent years have been concerns that elements of the lore just didn't feel like the more traditional "magepunk" fantasy of earlier sets.  And yeah, when there's a Western-themed set, and we see that a known character is now wearing a sort-of-cowboy hat...well, it's easy to think that seems a little silly.

More directly for me...I loved that they returned to the plane of Ravnica -- my favorite in the MTG multiverse -- for the "murder mystery" themed set (I even picked up a copy of the Clue/Cluedo crossover release).  I think Ravnica represents a lot of what is great about Magic's lore, and it is apparently pretty popular, as that set (Murders at Karlov Manor) was essentially our fourth trip to the plane.  BUT...now there are a bunch of characters wearing detective-style garb, when we'd never seen that before in the city-plane of Ravnica.  And it can feel a little...eh, weird.  I don't think it's overdone, and it really is a minor detail, but I can understand why such things feel like a pebble in the shoes of devoted MTG lore fans as they explore a multiverse they've enjoyed for more than two decades.

(And by the way, it has not been overlooked by observers that -- especially when you also consider the Art Deco stylings of the set Streets of New Capenna, and the retro gangster archetypes many of those characters evoked -- maybe it's just that the Magic story team has a weakness for silly hats...)

SO...with Aetherdrift...yeah, the mixing of SF and fantasy is going to throw some people off.  At this point, though, we've seen with the cyberpunk-fantasy set Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty (which got a Planeshifted guide that I wrote a little about back here) that the team is very capable of pulling off a setting that infuses interesting bits of speculative fiction into the fantastical base you expect from a game called Magic.  I'll admit that there are a couple of things -- specifically the set symbol (a checkered racing flag) and a new mechanic called Start your engines! -- that didn't initially hit me as spectacular additions to the game's background...but as I've gotten used to them, they're starting to feel normal.  It has to be near-impossible to take the risks necessary to keep planes fresh and engaging without occasionally overstepping into bits that don't immediately mesh 100%.

This art is for the card Pedal to the Metal.  I'm certain that name won't please everyone... (From here.)

Additionally, similar to the 10 guilds of Ravnica that are defined by each two-color pairing in the game, Aetherdrift features 10 different racing teams with different goals and methods according to the colors of mana that they represent.  Since the five-color mana system is probably the coolest part of MTG to explore, I am there for this.  (I would say I'm along for the ride, but...I shouldn't.)  The fact that interplanar travel is a key part of the story is just icing on the cake!

If you're interested in looking into the set or its story more, the landing page for the new release is here.  The official story archive, with several installments of tales from the set (many of which have audio versions), can be found here.  I haven't even made my way through all that much of the actual story yet (although I have listened long enough to realize that I was apparently incorrect in believing those first two syllables to be pronounced EE-thur, as opposed to AY-thur...that's gonna be a tough habit to break).

I think I'll create a character connected to the setting soon.  Since I still need to get around to statting out Sergiu Pijha, who I brought up long ago in a post about Manaball...

...I think I'll also stat out a character inspired by this card, from the black/red racing team known as the Endriders...

Whatever system I use (ideally something that will morph into my Monstrous Heartbreaker), it might be cool to see how two Human Warriors repping red mana can be differentiated.

Alright...[insert racing pun meaning "thanks for reading, and goodbye" here]!

Geeky SKAturdays begin for 2025, and I'm shaking things up a bit!

So, I don't want to rock your reality too hard with a headline like that, especially during a week when we're already experiencing some...changes...here in the U.S. of A., but I'm going to try a slightly different approach to the Geeky SKAturday feature in 2025.  I still plan to post songs I like, along with some nerd content that fits a bizarre assumption I insist on maintaining, that people are out there playing a ska-themed RPG.  However, this year I'm also trying to do a better job of staying up on new music in the realm of ska and ska-adjacent genres (made easier by the efforts of those who make easily searchable Spotify playlists and regularly post updates on Reddit), so I'm going to focus each week on a new (or fairly new) release.

And the RPG content...for that, I'm going to try to take some themes from the music that I share and connect them to lore and mechanics from a specific ska-themed RPG campaign I'm building.  In this setting, many ska bands are also time-traveling protectors of multiversal order.  Please...just roll with it.  The hope is that by some number of weeks into this "project," there will be something kinda-sorta-playable put together.  (And, I will be continuing the trend of adding new sounds to the toolbox of the upbeat spellcasters known as Rudies...)

The Gamblers, from their Facebook page.  (Facebook is still okay to use, right?  I can't keep up anymore...)

SO...for the first installment, I want to look at the UK band known as The Gamblers, an early reggae/trad ska outfit started by Mark RSK from the Oi! band Booze & Glory (who have also done some reggae stuff, I believe).  Earlier this month, they released a fun ode to classic reggae called "Boom! Boom!"  Enjoy...!

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So, how does this tie into rolling dice around a table and playing out a "ska story?"  I'm glad you let me ask!

I think the best place to look is in this song's unabashed faith in the power of reggae.  Here's the chorus:

And we don’t need here any noisy riffs
No screaming voices, push 'em off the cliff
We just want Laurel, Desmond and Toots
Heavy beat and the bovver boots
So shake your hips to this reggae tunes
Walkin' bass and the bam bam booms

I am, in general, a fan of the sentiment that there is a specific sort of power to be found in a genre of music.  And we see this for all sorts of styles...the idea of harnessing the power of funk, or of metal, or maybe most classically, of rawk.  It's silly but it's fun.  And that's something that would be nice to capture in a tabletop game...a hopeful (and arguably naïve, but I'm good with that) belief that a style of music can be a force for good in the world.  For our heroes, the dropbeat and the skank, and all of the history and hope they carry with them, power the "magic" they harness.

Oh, and maybe even their time travel capabilities...!  I'm still working that out, but I think the organization that protects the timestream will be called the Soundsystem Khrononaut All-Stars, maybe with a logo looking something like this...

I'm not completely sold on Soundsystem in the name yet; I like the sound (heh) of it and the nod to ska culture, but I'm trying to figure out how much it feels like cultural appropriation to be used in a silly RPG setting like this.  If not that, they'll probably be something like the Sentinel Khrononaut All-Stars, since they are the multiverse's protectors.

And then maybe smaller patches can be worn by each agent of SKA, with an icon indicating their department/specialty.  Like for Communications, it could look like this...

And the possibilities are pretty much endless.  I could see these being something like R&D, Intelligence, and Security.

And that's all for this SKAturday...have a great weekend, all!

A work-in-progress Elemental Color Wheel

I spend a fair amount of time...a lot more than anyone probably should, to be honest...thinking about elemental philosophies in games, beliefs, and esoteric pursuits.  I am certainly no expert (far from it!), but I think my history as a tabletop gamer has naturally led to this as a sort of obsession.  After all, I was pulled into gaming by the Pokémon TCG, have become a hopeless lifetime devotee of Magic: The Gathering (even during stretches where I don't get to play it at all), and lately have put a lot of thought into traveling around in a fantasy cosmology.

Plus, I'm a functional scientist myself.  It kind of feels like I'm meant to ponder such things.  In fact, the appeal of working out a sensible and symmetrical elemental system in my mind is probably similar to the drive a lot of physicists have in their search for a theory of everything.  If I were smart enough to fully comprehend both general relativity and quantum mechanics, I might spend my showers trying to merge them in my brain.  But I'm not, so that shower time is spent thinking about how MTG's colors interact with Pokémon's types.  And the result, so far, is this work in progress...

I'm thinking this is a broad overview of the Inner Planes, the sources of elements and energy that give rise to the physical world.  There are still Outer Planes of various philosophical persuasions that are filtered through these elements to create our experience of the universe.  On the wheel so far, you'll find the colors of MTG, some Pokémon types (video games and card game may be represented separately, since they do differ in a way that reduces the number of types for the TCG), most of the Duel Masters civilizations, a couple of World of Warcraft classes (using their Hearthstone icons), and one stray aspect from the Star Wars: Unlimited TCG.  The Ravnican guilds whose color combinations fit the wheel are also represented, in part because I think it's cool how the Boros logo echos Pokémon's Fighting symbol, and how Dimir and Psychic share an eye in their icons (plus the colors kind of work!).

Also, I stole that color wheel in the middle from here; let me know if it seems like gratuitous theft, please.  I do think I like the hexagonal RGB+CMY skeleton for the wheel!

Okay, enough blabbing.  If you have thoughts, criticisms, or suggestions, please throw 'em my way!

Look, Dad, all those philosophy classes are paying off!

2025 Pseudoscientific Blog Post #1 - Some history of interplanar rift detection

Oh man, it's 2025!  I guess I'd better get to blogging.  I hope the new year has been kind to all of you!

I have some reasonably concrete goals for the year regarding stuff I want to publish.  (And by publish, of course I mean put on the web so others can feed my vanity by downloading them.)  I want to finally nail down my my own fantasy heartbreaker (the Monstrous Heartbreaker).  I have a slash-and-dash fantasy racing game I'd like to solidify some rules for (playtest image below).  There's even a D&D-rules-adjacent baseball game that I might be able to present to the world.

Fr. Josh apologetically making a move.

And, of course, I want to continue the Monstrous Matters campaign, finalize a number of the rules, and bulk up the lore.  So that's what the rest of this post is...

I've previously written a little about the detection of interplanar portals and the etherealite and fissure glow often associated with them.  So...what are the some of the historical events that led to our current understanding?  Here's a (very) quick primer...

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It all comes back to quantum physics…which is obviously a statement that’s much easier to write than it is to understand.  The elucidation of quantum mechanics not only revolutionized the field of physics; it also gave rise to ideas outside of mainstream science that now allow the Monstrous Matters team to do their work.

In the 20th century, our understanding of interconnected planes, and the technologies associated with these connections, grew exponentially alongside research related to quantum theory.  Originating with Einstein and Schrödinger’s description of spukhafte Fernwirkung (“spooky action at a distance”) in 1927, attempts to resolve the seemingly counterintuitive implications of quantum entanglement (summarized in the famed EPR Paradox, proposed in 1935) motivated many great thinkers throughout the rest of the century.

While attention was drawn away from quantum theory to focus on the practical needs of World War II, many scientists continued to explore these ideas on the fringe of the physics establishment.  And just beyond that fringe, other physicists took on questions that they knew were unacceptable to the mainstream.  Among these groups, a series of very clever efforts to maintain entanglement with annihilated particles allowed a small set of researchers to recognize physical planes existing alongside our own.  For obvious reasons, these experiments have not been publicized.

While the history of recorded interplanar portals is quite extensive (and necessarily requires quite a few footnotes and qualifiers due to the disputed nature of many events), some of the most widely agreed upon breaches in the barrier between our world and others are noted here:

1904 - A series of atmospheric anomalies in and around Bloomsbury, in London’s West End, began to attract the attention of paranormal investigators.  Many observers noted similarities to disturbances recorded around Oxford, England, in the 1860s.  It wouldn’t be until 1991, however, that these were finally connected to etherealite and fissure glow (see below).

1930s - At the same time that quantum entanglement was gaining acceptance as a real phenomenon (although it wouldn’t be until the 1970s that the data supporting it would become unassailable through experiments on Bell’s inequality), paranormal researchers recorded a variety of environmental data in a rural area of Kansas, United States, where anomalies similar to those in the UK accompanied an extreme weather event.

1940s - Similar phenomena were observed in the English countryside, not far from London.  Attempts to connect these events to previous observations in the UK, and the more recent occurrence in Kansas, were hampered by a hasty but unfounded determination that they were indications of Nazi efforts in physics or the occult (depending upon who you asked).

1985 - Radiation later determined to likely be fissure glow was detected in Brooklyn, NYC.  Officials were limited in their ability to investigate due to the distraction of a rash of plumbing emergencies that occurred around the radiation's appearance.

At about the same time, mysterious events in Battersea, London, involving strangely dressed travelers in search of “The Mace of St. Cuthbert” were correlated with glow detected in the region.  This occurrence begins the time period many refer to as the Golden Age of Interplanar Exploration.

1991 - Further observations in London, nearly identically matching those from early in the century, prompted portal researchers to put recent discoveries regarding the nature of etherealite and fissure glow to the test.  Many of those involved would claim this to be the first case of interplanar connection to be confirmed soon after its occurrence.  The success of paraphysical theories developed over the previous decade would hook many fringe researchers who had held out skepticism up until this point.

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As always...hopefully more to come...!

Geeky SKAturday SKAliday: Oi to the World!

Next in line for ska songs that should probably be enjoyed every holiday season:  "Oi to the World!"

I only first heard this one when No Doubt covered it on a Christmas album in the late 90s, but I would later learn that it's actually a cover of a 1996 song by SoCal punk band the Vandals.  I like this song a lot, and I also have thoughts about it, so first I'll just share the video No Doubt made for it, and then if you want to see some of my thoughts (and I bet you'll have some of the same ones), you can read on.  I promise I won't go on for too long.

Okay, that was pretty fun.  Now, No Doubt is a band that's sure to elicit plenty of eyerolls among ska fans the world over.  However, their early years saw them much more connected to the fairly insular ska scene than many people realize, even finding their way onto some ska compilations around the late '80s/early '90s...and back then, comps were HUGE and among the major ways for ska bands to get their name out there, maybe even more than zines and shows.

And despite exploring a spectrum of new wave-y and punk type sounds...and wtf is wrong with that, btw...No Doubt began out of love for 2 tone bands, and my memory of guitarist Tom Dumont shouting out to the Specials and Fishbone on MTV back in the '90s was a tiny formative memory for me.  Although I have to acknowledge, at 47 years of age, that I might not even remember that correctly.

Now...it must also be noted that part of the modern view of No Doubt is shaded by shifting views toward lead singer Gwen Stefani, and this video isn't a bad example of that.  I'll say it up front...the bindi seemed like a much better idea for a white California lady back in the '90s than it does today.  I can't even completely put my finger on all the reasons why, but that video just oozes cultural appropriation (not to mention I'm not sure how to feel about the use of the elephant).

Part of this is, admittedly, connected to ska itself, and its weaving with punkrock.  As I think I've mentioned before, when I dressed up to go to ska shows in the '90s, I was basically cosplaying late '70s British kids who were cosplaying '60s Jamaican tough guys and sharp dressers.  And with this song (and it's discussed nicely here in a lengthy analysis on the Kerrang! website), you also have the white California lady putting on a tiny bit of a British accent (a punk tradition, of course), but that's because it's a cover from a California band that really went out of their way to be British in the original version:

The theme of the song is undeniably positive.  Unity.  Oi to the world.  Drink some bourbon with your new mate!  It also sounds like the kind of anti-racist story I would have found much more meaningful as a 19-year-old in south Georgia than here and now, as the complexities of racism around the world and throughout history have thankfully become a bigger and more nuanced part of the conversation.

It's just so simple...those racist skinheads such as Trevor "liked the music, but not the unity," and it just took standing up to them and ultimately being kind to change the ways of at least one of them.  I guess it also took a few well-placed oi!s, but we did it!

It's also just too convenient to rhyme "turban" with "bourbon," and I can't help but think that the reference to Indiana Jones (arguably a really stupid line, btw, but it entertains me) makes the whole thing a little more problematic, since those films aren't exactly known for their cultural progressiveness, and the fact that "Haji had a sword like the guy in Indiana Jones" seems a little like a Sikh caricature that I probably shouldn't pretend to be qualified to evaluate in terms of sensitivity.

BUT...

Y'know what...

This song also reminds me that I should probably be okay sometimes just accepting a hokey anti-racist vignette for what it is.  In this world where a growing recognition of the complexities of racism has made the conversation all the more difficult at times, we've somehow allowed blatant racism to come to the forefront again and gain acceptability in forums far wider than I would have expected.  I think I should just be happy to enjoy a song where a narrow-minded white dude ends up as a drinking buddy to a presumably brown dude who wears a turban.  That's still a win, especially in today's world.  We can still worry about all the complexities, but until this simple message is actually the fucking baseline we're building from, I'm not gonna hate too hard on something like "Oi to the World!"

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Now...No Doubt deserves at least one or two sounds to be cast by those who are able to harness the power of Rudeness...in OGL games or using Monstrous6 magic.  I couldn't decide which song would be best to use, so here are two.  One is among the best-known tunes by the band (and it's a good one!) that also retains a heavy dose of their 2 tone roots; you'll probably recognize it as a common D&D spell, very thinly reskinned for Rudies.  The other is a pretty early No Doubt song that made its way onto some ska compilations back in the day, as they say...

Spiderwebs

2nd-level Sound

Casting time: 1 action

Range: 60 ft (20 ft cube)

Duration: 1 hr

Saves: Dexterity/Strength

You conjure a mass of thick, sticky webbing at a point of your choice within range. The webs fill a 20-foot cube from that point for the duration. The webs are difficult terrain and lightly obscure their area.

If the webs aren't anchored between two solid masses (such as walls or trees) or layered across a floor, wall, or ceiling, the conjured web collapses on itself, and the spell ends at the start of your next turn. Webs layered over a flat surface have a depth of 5 feet.

Each creature that starts its turn in the webs or that enters them during its turn must make a Dexterity saving throw vs. your magic save difficulty. On a failed save, the creature is restrained as long as it remains in the webs or until it breaks free.

A creature restrained by the webs can use its action to make a Strength check vs. your magic save difficulty. If it succeeds, it is no longer restrained.

The webs are flammable. Any 5-foot cube of webs exposed to fire burns away in 1 round, dealing 2d6-2 fire damage to any creature that starts its turn in the fire.

Everything's Wrong

3rd-level Sound

Casting time: 1 action

Range: 60 ft (10 ft sphere)

Duration: 1 min

Save: Presence

This sound causes all willful creatures within its area of effect to second-guess everything they do for the duration of the spell.  Once the creature determines what it will attempt for the turn, it must succeed on a Presence saving throw vs. your magic save difficulty or be rendered confused and unable to take any actions for that turn.

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The Monstrous6 Magic System

From the PDSH wiki entry for John Force, Magic Agent

Well, I had a "Real Monstrous Matters" post that I was working on, as I've been enjoying putting one of those together each week if I can.  For some reason, this one started morphing from my established pattern of "this is some cool science, now here's a monster" into speculation on the subjective experiences of starfish.  So, that one will wait until next week when I can get a little bit of a handle on what the heck I'm trying to say with it.  In the meantime, as I've been building the "Monstrous6" rules system, tiny piece by tinier piece, with my posts on here, I figured I'd go ahead and lay out what I'm imagining as the default magic system for the game (and for the Monstrous Matters campaign).

I want something that will feel at least a little different from Vancian spellcasting.  Shadowdark and Dungeon Crawl Classics have given us some nice variants that keep a lot of the Vancian bones in place, so I looked to them for inspiration but tried to give it a little spin that would feel unique to this 2d6-based system.  Here's what I came up with; I've only been able to test it once so far but hope to get more under my belt soon...

The Basics:

1)  Monstrous6 is essentially a skill-based system, so Magic is a skill and is given a value just as other skills are.  Different types of magic are connected to different skills and potentially to different underlying attributes.  The spells cast by a wizard, for example, might use the skill Arcane Magic (or perhaps a different skill for each school) and use the Knowledge attribute, while those of a cleric are resolved with Divine Magic (or specific domains) and Presence.  Christmas Elves have Holiday Magic (Presence).  Rudies have...Rudeness, I guess...?  (Also Presence...)

2)  Starting characters can learn one spell for each point they have in the attribute that governs their specific type of spellcasting.  More may be learned as play progresses.

3)  Spells are roughly the power of those found in most OGL games.  So, OSR spells will work, or 5e spells with some adjustments to the dice used.  (I like to use d6 in the place of both d6 and d8, then have the other die sizes represented by d6 +/- the appropriate value.)  Also, advantage/disadvantage will need to be turned into bonuses or penalties.  Spells still have levels, just as they do in d20-based games.

4) To cast a spell, make a magical skill roll [2d6 + Attribute + Skill] vs. the spell’s difficulty, which is found by adding [10 + (spell level) + (number of times you’ve attempted to cast a spell today, including the current one)]. If you meet or exceed the difficulty value, the spell is successful.

5) For spells requiring a saving throw, those difficulties are calculated by [8 + Attribute + Skill]. (For both saving throws and the magical skill rolls in #4, as with most rolls in Monstrous6, a 12 is always a success, and a 2 is always a failure.)

6) If your magical skill roll results in both dice landing on the same face (rolling doubles), you can feel the vibrations of magical power escaping your grasp for the day. You may continue to cast spells on the current day by “paying” 1 point of your magical attribute. You may do this as many times as necessary but may not drop below a value of 1. This loss impacts all rolls for that attribute until the point is regained. All of these points in the attribute, along with the daily spell counter, are reset after a long rest. (Alternatively, you may choose not to pay the attribute point after rolling doubles; in that case, you are simply unable to cast further spells of that type until you take a long rest.)

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More to come on this.

Geeky SKAturday: It's "Christmas Time Again"! (Bad Manners)

December is here.  It's Christmas time again!

I think I'll share some of my favorite holiday ska tunes this month.  Here's one I've posted before that is always worth revisiting, from the band that is probably the goofiest and maybe my favorite of the 2 tone era...

No notes.

And while I definitely have a big interest right now in turning Christmas songs into spells...that's a whole different project.  Instead, here's my favorite Bad Manners tune and a sound to accompany it...

Special Brew

2nd-level Sound

Casting time: 1 action

Range: 30 feet

Duration: 1 hour

Save: Presence

This sound targets one being that can see you and has a Knowledge score of at least 1.  On a failed save, the creature regards you as their best friend.  We're talking soulmate type feelings, although no romantic notions are necessarily involved.  They know that you want to spend all your money on them.

When the spell wears off, the target will remember what has occurred but will not necessarily feel deceived unless you have coerced them into doing things contrary to their usual wishes.  You will simply be regarded as a former friend.