Tuesday, January 19, 2010

More on the Order of Thoth Part I

With help from Dwayne of Gamer's Closet and Tim of Gothridge Manor I updated the summary document I hand out to players about the Order of the Thoth. From the 19 page monstrosity I original created I whittled down to 3 pages. Contained in the document is the Code of Thoth

Code of Thoth
I will not use my art to the detriment of any member of my order.
I will hold no secret from my brothers, sharing my knowledge to benefit the Order’s power.
I will tithe the time and arcane power to benefit the Order.
I will not give aid to Demons Lords or their servants.
I will hunt, strike down, or summon aid against any those condemned as renegades by my Order.

You can download the rest of the document from here.



The primary goal is to keep the page count down so I don't hit the Rusty Battle Axe with the dreaded Info dump. So I had to carefully decide what elements were important to keep. Note I decided not duplicate many of the details found in the Majestic Wilderlands. That will change if I used this in a project to be published.

Also note that much of this originated in a GURPS campaign I ran where every character was a mage. This occurred around 1993.

First off, I included two first person quotes. I have a habit of doing this in my campaign handouts. Their importance is to give the viewpoint of a person living in the Majestic Wilderlands and helps transforms a dry handout into something representative of a living breathing world. Writing these helps me to consider the in-game consequences of what I am writing.

Next is an overview of the Order of Thoth. I try to summarize the whole thing in two paragraphs. This way even if I lose the reader later on I still impart the most important information.

Next I go into how the Conclave are setup. Of all the stuff I have about the Order of Thoth this is the most important as it impacts directly any player roleplaying a Thothian Mage. The Conclave is where much of the life of a Thothian Mage occurs.

Continued in Part II

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