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5/28/2021

Gauntlet Video Roundup - May 28, 2021

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[Gauntlet Calendar: Online Tabletop RPG Play]
Greetings, and welcome to the weekly Gauntlet Calendar video roundup! Enjoy these recordings of online games organized through Gauntlet Calendar and the Gauntlet RPG Community. These recorded sessions represent only a portion of the selection of games available every week, and anyone is welcome to join the fun! If you'd like to play or watch more games like these, check out the links and information at the bottom of the post

Star Wars Saturday

Bounty of the Week 2nd edition (Session 4)
Rich Rogers runs for Brandon Brylawski, Danielle B., Francisco Olivera, and Steven Watkins
The team of the Raptor breaks into an Imperial Penal Colony for one prisoner. But really, who can stop at just ONE?

Sorry End of Space (Session 3)
Rich Rogers runs for Bethany H., David Morrison, and Keith Stetson
With a nibling in trouble, a droid, an exile, and a washed-up Jedi have to avoid Imperial entanglements to get her to freedom.

Hutt Cartel: May 2021 (Session 4)
Will H runs for Alexi S., Anders, Rich Rogers, and Steven Watkins
DEATH AND THE DEVARONIANS! The cast of 1313 form their plans and pull off a daring rescue of the captured cook Czern Vizick and his wife Ebla. Of course, one is held by CSF and the other is held by the Cartel itself! Etema and Saaral Muuva blow the Cartel prison and rescue the innocent nurse, whilst on the other side of town Scara guns down Muuva's partners with the aid of BOX-I. But these aren't the best laid of plans by any stretch and so one of our fair players meets their end in an alleyway.... but who?

Empire City

Apocalypse Keys: Unsleeping Metropolis (Session 3 of 4)
Alexi S. runs for Greg G., Jesse A., Sawyer Rankin, and Steven S.
We return to see our monsters explore New York City (and their feelings for each other) before taking on a mission that falls close to home: agents have been disappearing in DIVISION's Forbidden Gallery. Yawachika chafes at the presence of his treacherous mother-figure, who's consulting for DIVISION. Untitled and Biff circle each other's most dangerous secrets. And Newt shows why he might be the most dangerous monster of them all.

Future Creep

Balikbayan 2.0 (Session 2 of 4)
Leandro Pondoc runs for Bodhi, Donogh, SalamanderJames, and Steven S.
A seemingly innocuous encounter with a dryad-cosplaying gang unspools a line of technology that threatens to to entrap our characters into a deadly web. Though the City seethes with intrigue and suspicion, it cannot hope to match the chasms deep within our characters' hearts.

Gauntlet Calendar

Hearts of Wulin: In the Court of Crimson Blades (Session 3 of 4)
David Schultz runs for Chase Ordonis, Jason Zanes, Josh H, and Shane
After a dramatic heel turn by undercover agent Harmonious Ivory, Gentleman Bao-Yin takes off into the night with an ancient reliquary, only to run face-first into even greater betrayal. Court musician Six Finger Lament trains in the art of demon hunting and agrees to take part in a political assassination that would forever change the trajectory of the kingdom, while Xin Ling battles to save his brother, unaware that his ascension to the throne may be occurring much sooner than expected--if only he can survive the night! Dawn is fast approaching as the Wulin hurtle toward an explosive conclusion!

The Great Soul Train Robbery
Rye runs for Chase Ordonis, Danielle B., Matthew Arcilla, and Shane
In which our desperados faced down the minions of the Vulture Queen with daring, sass, and a fair bit of flair.

Paragon System: Rising Tide (Session 1 of 2)
Dan Brown runs for Ash, Matthew Arcilla, Nicholas Timperio, and Puckett
In a near-future Earth following a global climate collapse, our stalwart (if flawed) band of ecoactivists confronts poachers off the coast of eastern Africa.

My Partner the Ghost (Sessions 1 - 3 of 3)
Dan Brown runs for Chase Ordonis and David Schultz

World of Gamma (Sessions 1 - 3 of 3)
Dan Brown runs for Abe Lincoln Jr., machinic, and Nicholas Timperio

Trophy Gold: From The Belly Of The Beast (Session 2 of 2)
Shane runs for Blake Ryan, machinic, Richard Moser, and Romy T.
In our last session of Trophy Gold, the hunters must escape the sinking body of a dying sea serpent.

Star Trek Adventures Express (Session 3 of 3)
Dan Brown runs for Danielle B., Mander, Matthew Arcilla, and Michael Pelletier
In our final episode, the senior staff of the USS Interceptor confront an infestation of energy creatures who are possessing crew members and steering the ship into terrifying spatial anomalies. The quick-thinking pilot engages the main deflector dish to recalibrate, only to be disrupted by a possessed crew member. Meanwhile, the Betazoid executive officer attempts to gain a better understanding of the captain through some illicit mind-reading. The ship’s communications officer saves the captain from being possessed by allowing the energy being to inhabit his consciousness, only to discover that the being can make ample use of the Betazoid’s empathic ability. Finally, Interceptor’s security officer finds love in an unexpected place. Content warning: Possession, Mind Reading, and Mind Control

The Between (Session 4 of 5)
Alun R. runs for Donogh, Mendel Schmiedekamp, Steven S., and usnavi
Dr Weiss, the Mother, explores the relationship between two young lovers and Mr Moore the Factotum investigates a Limehouse basement. Meanwhile, Hence the Vessel, finds an unusual decoration on some workhouse blueprints and The American, Angel, leaves her sick-bed to visit an opium den. There are answers to questions and more questions to answer...then exsanguinated bodies, inhuman eyes reflected, gifts and threats...

Apocalypse Keys: Unleash The Dark (Session 4 of 4)
Shane runs for Drew D., Josh H, and Matthew Arcilla
A harbinger's agents have infiltrated DIVISION hq with plans to steal a set of god-killing superweapons and rewrite reality, and our monstrous heroes must decide whether to stop them or wield the power they unleash in service of their own private apocalypses.

Hearts of Wulin: Numberless Secrets (Session 3)
Lowell Francis runs for Patrick Knowles, Sherri, and Tyler Lominack
Our investigators delve further into the murder of Sun Guanyu and discover a second murder and a victim turned killer.

You can see all these videos (plus all the ones that have come before) on The Gauntlet YouTube channel playlists, and be sure to subscribe to catch all our great podcasts!

If you'd like to catch these sessions in an audio-only podcast, check out the community-run Hangouts Podcast at http://gauntlet.hellomouth.net/.

If you'd like to play in games like these, check out the calendar of events and the Gauntlet Forums where games are announced, or catch one of our Gauntlet Community Open Gaming online mini-conventions.

To support The Gauntlet, please visit the Gauntlet Patreon. Everyone is welcome to sign up for Gauntlet Calendar games, but Patreon supporters get extra options like priority RSVP for Gauntlet Calendar games and joining the Gauntlet Slack team where special events and pickup games are announced.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

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5/26/2021

Design Journeys: Don't pay the Ferryman

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By Blake Ryan
Design Journey – Homebrew world  
(as part of a journey to the stories I want to be part of)

A long time ago (1998) I decided to create a homebrew fantasy world. Before that I had run AD&D and Rolemaster in Forgotten Realms, Shadow World (a Rolemaster setting) and Greyhawk. I had also read dozens of D&D novels.

Why did I start this journey? 
First: I’m a biology major who loves nature documentaries and wildlife parks, so struggling with the presumption of all/most of the “races” being bipedal mammals, who live, sleep and eat just liked humans - seemed like a lazy convention and massive waste of potential for story telling, and sub optimal use of inspiring resources.
Second: When you read mythology half the creatures involved are not Human, and often they are the most interesting characters. 
Third: Star Trek. The best Trek eps are two part episodes or those with recurring villains. These villain eps have tons of interaction between the party/heroes and the NPCs/villains. I wanted “the usual suspects” array of villains to be PC species. 

So I created Rikirta, initially for AD&D 2e, but quickly followed by my own RPG system. The world had Cyclopse, Nichav (Spider folk), Centaurs and Minotaurs are core races, with rock based Dwarves and plant based Elves. 

My homebrew:  384 spells, 12 classes, level system. Binary task results. It worked fine, it scaled and gave room for broad or narrow skillsets. However, there was no art. Art is one of the keys to inspire people (along with short and long fiction or basing it on a TV show). Thus players kept referring to cool things in D&D books and games and hey they can’t wait to interact with that thing…

Part of the ongoing struggle was I had an idea of a fantasy genre with it’s own conventions, but it was not the sub -enre of D&D fantasy that most people were used to and expecting. When I would make changes in a game (for other settings and my own) the players couldn't care less. They just wanted to do the quest, get the reward, and try something fun. Setting creation and game design can be a lonely road a times without the right folks onboard. Players would suggest ideas, but were not excited when they were implemented.

So I kept working on my world, while running Shadowrun and other less specifically fantasy games. Over time there was a massive slump of players in my area as they all went off to Everquest, then Neverwinter Nights, then World of Warcraft.

The homebrew world evolved a few times, going from “sourced from 12 different ancient earth cultures” to 4 with strong setting conventions that were mine and original.  Maps changed from drawn in Windows Paint to Hexographer to Campaign Cartographer.  The list of creatures on the world went from “Anything” to 100 with 12 most common, I wanted a strong theme. Vancian casting for magic was driving me bonkers and I tried every optional rule I found in any game splat book to work instead. 

RPG discussions were common online, though changing - Usenet gave way to IRC groups and web forums.
I discovered Pathfinder and ran my setting on that, but got into regular arguments because my world's races didn’t match the min-maxing the players insisted on. Any hope of this new system allowing me to tell the range of stories I was aiming for was crushed utterly.

The Golden Era
Then like the sun coming over the horizon I found hope again, I was listening to these new things called RPG discussion podcasts. 
I found One Shot & Misdirected Mark talking about this thing called Dungeon World.
Revising my setting for DW was fun and restarted my enthusiasm. The games of Dungeon World worked great. Though the magic was still not what I wanted, it was better than my previous D&D/Rolemaster/Pathfinder versions. The games were dynamic and there were times we laughed so hard it hurt.

While I was happy with the setting, the Dungeon World system was not quite right, so I developed Conjure Hagalaz - which became Don’t Pay the Ferryman – a mash up of Dungeon World, Monster of the Week, Shadowrun & Urban Shadows. When I released it I made sure there was plenty of art to inspire players and set the tone and style for the setting. It has been a long road, with breaks, failures, revisions, and successes. 

Hindsight – If I had heard of PBTA games earlier then I would have taken that road earlier, but I am glad I found the system parameters I needed.
What I learned – Keep trying, run your campaign idea or setting concept in different systems, find what works for you. 

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5/21/2021

Gauntlet Video Roundup - May 21, 2021

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[Gauntlet Calendar: Online Tabletop RPG Play]
Greetings, and welcome to the weekly Gauntlet Calendar video roundup! Enjoy these recordings of online games organized through Gauntlet Calendar and the Gauntlet RPG Community. These recorded sessions represent only a portion of the selection of games available every week, and anyone is welcome to join the fun! If you'd like to play or watch more games like these, check out the links and information at the bottom of the post.

Star Wars Saturday

Bounty of the Week 2nd edition (Session 3)
Rich Rogers runs for Brandon Brylawski, Danielle B., Francisco Olivera, and Steven Watkins
The crew of the Raptor deal with troubling backstories on Black Orchard. And of course, Imperial treachery!

Hutt Cartel: May 2021 (Session 3)
Will H runs for Alexi S., Anders, Philip Rogers, Rich Rogers, and Steven Watkins
NO REFUGE FOR THE WICKED! Corrupt security officer SUYAAL MUUVA cooks up a batch of the bad spice hitting 1313 as she pursues the inscrutable ends of the Chiss Ascendancy. But her side venture is interrupted when she is ordered to join the hunt for SCARA THE CARTEL ASSASSIN at medical centre Refuge 1313. In the shoot out, humanitarian and ex-Imperial PAYDON FENN is shot - and Suyaal sees an opportunity to take out their scheming partner CRIX HERROR once and for all! BOX-I comes to an agreement and makes alliance with his mistress and the other players of 1313, whilst ETEMA THE REBEL SPY struggles to reconcile her mission with the demands of her lover, ANEZ the Cartel Lord. Alliance are made and bargains brokered in the depths of 1313, but can anyone trust each other in this hive of Scum & Villainy?

Future Creep

Balikbayan 2.0 (Session 1 of 4)
Leandro Pondoc runs for Bodhi, Donogh, SalamanderJames, and Steven S.
Character creation and worldbuilding as we bring this City full of marketplaces and broadcasts to life, where a Diwata looking for a ruined forest, a Saint trying to atone, an Aswang hoping to experience love and a Santelmo mirroring the grieving, all collectively trying. Just trying.

Gauntlet Calendar

Hearts of Wulin: In the Court of Crimson Blades (Session 2 of 4)
David Schultz runs for Chase Ordonis, Jason Zanes, Josh H, and Shane
The Wulin attempt to track down an ancient reliquary in the court archives to curry favor with the terrible General Han Wen, but the path is fraught with complications: Court musician Six Finger Lament is on the run after Gentleman Bao-Yin frames him for an attempted murder, undercover agent Harmonious Ivory learns she is to be married to a man she does not love at the first light of dawn, and successor to the throne Xin Ling has made a pact with a demonic infiltrator--or so the demon thinks. It looks like we're all in for a very long night!

Against the FAE Conspiracy (Session 2 of 4)
Alun R. runs for Brandon Brylawski, David Morrison, Sabine V., and Will H
Using the ring they stole last time, the team learns more about what's going on from Dr Brown, and something of the factional nature of the Fae. Then Kadir the Sparks finds employment at the same suspicious circus that Jesusita the Analyst allows her daughter to visit. One of the circus acts, the 'Masked Marksman', is a former associate of Mark the Assassin, while Andy the Handler is worried about why a number of circus patrons have gone missing. There's a dodgy junior minister in the audience with unofficial bodyguards, the Marvellous Mercurio's fortune telling chair, and a Hall of Mirrors...then a Redcap who dislikes mobile phones and a cold intro to Mistress Winter...

Once More Into the Void (Session 1 of 3)
David Morrison facilitates for Brandon Brylawski, Joe A., and Rich Rogers
In this first session, we discuss the game, the sci-fi universe our adventures will be taking place in, and introduce our characters. The driven Captain Hephaistion Stern, former officer in the Hegemony's Navy. Paul "Smiles" Provost, the enigmatic engineer pursued by a warlord's recruiters. Kodo Celwik, a brooding but magnetic warrior. And RSE-6/Rose, an artificial lifeform created as a work of art.

Surge Protectors: Paragon System Sampler (Sessions 1 and 2 of 2)
Dan Brown runs for Darin Rebertus, Matthew Arcilla, and Nicholas Timperio

Star Trek Adventures Express (Session 1)
Dan Brown runs for Danielle B., Mander, Matthew Arcilla, and Michael Pelletier

The Between (Session 3 of 5)
Alun R. runs for Donogh, Mendel Schmiedekamp, and usnavi
While all London enjoys the Grande Guignol, Hence Unruh explores the night accompanied by the ever resourceful Moore. Meanwhile Dr Marta Weiss has an uncanny experience on the way to her Turkish bath. There's exsanguinated bodies, a dodgy Constable, and a workhouse...then...feral children remind a hunter of their destitute childhood and show them some congealed blood...blood...there's always blood...

Pasión de las Pasiones: Music From A Darkened Room (Session 2 of 2)
Shane runs for Dennis Matheson, Jon Grim, Marc Majcher, and Puckett
The shocking revelation that Ronaldo's twin brother Donaldo is still alive sets the group on track toward a bloody and tragic ending.

Trophy Gold: From The Belly Of The Beast (Session 1 of 2)
Shane runs for Blake Ryan, machinic, Richard Moser, and Romy T.
Back in town, the hunters exchange gifts and mementoes, drink, fight, gamble, and look for safe places to stash their gold. But it's not long before they leave those safe places behind, heading out to sea in search of a legendary sea serpent and the impossible wealth within.

Star Trek Adventures Express (Session 2)
Dan Brown runs for Danielle B., Mander, Matthew Arcilla, and Michael Pelletier

#iHunt: Five Stars or Death (Session 3)
Lowell Francis runs for Mark, Matthew Arcilla, Shane, and Sherri
The team delivers a massacre to walking dead telemarketers then goes back to college to check out a gig hunting a death god business prof.

Apocalypse Keys: Unleash The Dark (Session 3 of 4)
Shane runs for Drew D., Jon Grim, Josh H, and Matthew Arcilla
In today's session, the reunited team must break Sister Theresa's apocalyptic pact with the God of Envenomated Arthropods before she can destroy the world - but the tower block they’re fighting over is collapsing with hundreds of civilians inside! And bad news back at DIVISION when enemies exploit an innocent attempt to steal the agency's most dangerous superweapons, shattering the timestream and plunging the agents into a surreal dreamworld.

Raccoon Sky Pirates
Chris Sellers facilitates for Bethany H., Diana, and Kyle H.
The crew powered their ship with magnets (somehow), then flew it to the suburbs with a couple brief stops at the factory and the supermarket. At the house, they took just about everything that wasn't nailed down, made a deal with the cat and the dog, and jet-powered their ship back home.

Hearts of Wulin: Numberless Secrets (Session 2)
Lowell Francis runs for Jamila R. Nedjadi, Patrick Knowles, Sherri, and Tyler Lominack
Our investigators arrive at the House of Sun where a strange group of wulin has been assembled, and though the heroes predict a murder they can only solve it when their host turns up dead.

You can see all these videos (plus all the ones that have come before) on The Gauntlet YouTube channel playlists, and be sure to subscribe to catch all our great podcasts!

If you'd like to catch these sessions in an audio-only podcast, check out the community-run Hangouts Podcast at http://gauntlet.hellomouth.net/.

If you'd like to play in games like these, check out the calendar of events and the Gauntlet Forums where games are announced, or catch one of our Gauntlet Community Open Gaming online mini-conventions.

To support The Gauntlet, please visit the Gauntlet Patreon. Everyone is welcome to sign up for Gauntlet Calendar games, but Patreon supporters get extra options like priority RSVP for Gauntlet Calendar games and joining the Gauntlet Slack team where special events and pickup games are announced.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

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5/18/2021

GM Confessions: Campaign Mistakes

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Blake Ryan 
Today I'm going to talk about my biggest campaign mistake to date.

Premise - Pathfinder system, Fantasy setting.
Characters have amnesia, over the course of their adventures they uncover who they were, what they can do, and choose to forge a new path or renew their old goals. This was Pathfinder, so largely GM-led plots/stories with no Source the table/Ask the players for overall goal or scene elements (none of us had heard of that stuff at the time).

What worked - Players enjoyed uncovering the past of their characters, at first.
They enjoyed waking up as goo on a table and sliding into empty bodies in the room, and fighting their way to freedom.

What happened - Over time players became frustrated with some of their skills, feats & spells chosen for them, based on a background decided by the GM.
I should point out, I chose things I figured they would like by their previous characters and computer games they enjoyed.

What went wrong - This was Pathfinder. They whinged and agonised over class-race-feat build combinations and were very unhappy they did not design them from the start, and could not tweak them at every level.
Since the characters did not know each other, they didn't care about each other either. There was no team comradery and little social interaction.

What we can learn...
  1. Players have to be on board at the start. They don't have to know every detail of every major event, but they need a solid grasp of the premise and most likely directions.
  2. Choose the system for the plot. I can see the premise working well in a Liminal, Monster of the Week or even Trophy, but less so D&D, Pathfinder or Shadowrun.
  3. Players' lack of control would have been lessened if I sourced the table/asked the players to help detail individual scenes, but I didn't know about that technique at the time.
  4. The degree of memory loss could have been less, for example they could have forgotten anything from night time in the last year, instead of 3 years of their life.
  5. Choose the system for the GM. My GM style was always more focused on story than system, and my frustration with the crunch focus of Pathfinder was growing. I wanted Classes, Monsters & Items to be more customisable with what fit in the story, but not by adding a ton of splat books.

Lowell Francis
A decade ago I ran a campaign we called "Last Fleet". I started with a basic idea: a fantasy riff on Battlestar Galactica-- more the original than the modern. We began with a Microscope session where players built the history of a world, starting with it’s shattering and separation into isolated sphere containing floating islands. Swashbucklers of the Seven Skies was one of my touchstones for this. 

Players then crafted backgrounds for the peoples they wanted their character to come from, using the “What My XXX Told Me…” formula from Glorantha. For system we used our house game, Action Cards, a card-driven rpg with some Fate elements. Players started with a basic idea for their character’s profession and I wrote up powers based on those ideas. As we played I generated new stunts, items, and abilities based on where they saw their character going-- giving them several hard choices because they couldn’t have everything. 

Session one started with a bang, with a host of vessels fleeing a world-destroying big bad. The fleet came under siege as they attempted to breach the barrier surrounding their world. The session’s play determined which peoples survived, what resources they had, and in what shape they were. The first arc of the story was about the transit through the wildspace between the world fragment spheres-- a place which made them ill and had its own perils. The second arc was about them finding another sphere, entering it, and discovering the peoples and politics of a new land. The final third was about them fighting the oppressive forces on both sides and realizing what they needed to do to restore the world to its previous whole state. 

It was a great campaign, spanning three years I think. It’s probably in my top five of campaigns I’ve run. It wasn’t the longest, but in many ways it was the most directed and coherent. It also showed the power of Microscope in creating cool, playable material. All the PCs had great arcs where they grew and changed, evolving into very different people than they’d originally concieved. The late game had a nice balance between adventures in the greater world and stories within the community. 

It was also, I won’t lie, a lot of work. Every couple of sessions I had to design new character options. The on-the-fly development also meant that the balance wasn’t always the greatest-- I had a hard time telling what represented a decent combat threat vs. an overwhelming one. I also a lot of plots spinning-- tensions and conspiracies within the players’ community, decisions over resources, two different enemy empires plus a returning big bad. 

The final session involved, essentially, the PCs realizing they had to blow up the broken world in a particular way to restore things. They had great arguments about that-- uncertainties what things would look like in the future. But we had a massive final battle which allowed them to deal a final blow to all of the foes who pursued them. They blew up the world and found themselves in an echo of their community, now in a world reassembled and whole. And there I stopped. 

And here’s the problem. I had steered the game to its ending, run an awesome climactic scene, and wrapped everything up with a bow. And I was done. 

But the players weren’t. I’d run myself ragged with this world, but the players had also invested in it. I didn’t give that the weight I should have. I gave a brief closing scene and then moved on. I’d done that in lots of campaigns, even in several multiple-year ones. Give them a great finale, stick the landing, and fade to black. My justification was that by closing things out there, players could imagine whatever future they wanted. They could keep their own head canon. 

That’s weak sauce. 

A while after the game the players hinted at wanting something to close out their stories, but I put them off. By the time I’d come around at all to the idea, that iron had cooled. It wouldn’t be until a few years later that I’d encounter  rpg epilogues-- used as a consistent, regular part of your games. While I’d seen it at Games on Demand, it was Rich Rogers who showed me how potent these could be at the table. Now I always use them-- in one-shots, short-campaigns, and longer games. When you finish give players the chance to narrate something about their future-- to write their own final scene. 

I regret my choice with Last Fleet-- and the untold, unfinished stories of those characters. It’s a knot which will never be tied. I did those PCs and players a disservice. 

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5/14/2021

Gauntlet Video Roundup - May 14, 2021

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[Gauntlet Calendar: Online Tabletop RPG Play]
Greetings, and welcome to the weekly Gauntlet Calendar video roundup! Enjoy these recordings of online games organized through Gauntlet Calendar and the Gauntlet RPG Community. These recorded sessions represent only a portion of the selection of games available every week, and anyone is welcome to join the fun! If you'd like to play or watch more games like these, check out the links and information at the bottom of the post.

Star Wars Saturday

Bounty of the Week (Session 2)
Rich Rogers runs for Brandon Brylawski, Danielle B., Francisco Olivera, and Steven Watkins
On a cruise liner in the middle of an ocean on Listehol, the crew faces a military cyborg and...empathizers with her? How will this turn out?

Sorry End of Space (Session 2)
Rich Rogers runs for Bethany H., David Morrison, and Keith Stetson
Three folks against the encroachment of an Imperial prospector? Will the town survive, or will illudium be the end of it all?

Hutt Cartel: May 2021 (Session 2)
Will H runs for Anders, Rich Rogers, and Steven Watkins
A LOVERS QUARREL! ETEMA the spy tries to take spice cook Czern Visick to work for the Cartel by force, but only delivers him straight to the police. This begins a downward spiral that sees her betrayed by her droid BOX-1 and arguing with the crimelord she loves. Hitwoman SCARA sticks up for her friends no matter what. But someone is out to kill them - and her!

Empire City

Apocalypse Keys: Unsleeping Metropolis (Session 2 of 4)
Alexi S. runs for Greg G., Jesse A., Sawyer Rankin, and Steven S.
Our monsters unlock Doom's Door and face what awaits them at the conclusion of the mystery Threading Cleopatra's Needle. Biff demands worship and receives a ruinous premonition; Yawachika balances on a knife's edge between light and darkness; Newt punches teammates and enemies, and maybe falls a little bit in love; Untitled steals the face of a departed soul to gather clues and forestall the Apocalypse's harbinger.

Gauntlet Calendar

Hearts of Wulin: In the Court of Crimson Blades (Session 1 of 4)
David Schultz runs for Chase Ordonis, Jason Zanes, Josh H, and Shane
The beginning of a HoW run using the Courtly Wuxia variant rules. At a royal banquet celebrating a decisive military victory, Xin Ling, heir to the throne, begins to realize a conspiracy to disrupt his succession may be afoot. Court musician Six Finger Lament vies for the heart of royal servant and undercover agent Harmonious Ivory, whose eyes are set on Xin Ling despite her engagement to Tax Collector Chao. And, unbeknownst to the others, gallavanting thief Gentleman Bao-Yin finds himself an unexpected witness--or, perhaps, target--of a brutal assassination.

Cthulhu Dark: Control Group 1. BLACKSAT
Horst Wurst runs for Eduardo L., Josh H, Puckett, and Will H
NASA astronauts on a secret satellite repair mission.

Pasión de las Pasiones: Music From A Darkened Room (Session 1 of 2)
Shane runs for Dennis Matheson, Jon Grim, and Puckett
Veronica, Esme, and Ronaldo survived the violent and terrifying end of the cartel they'd found themselves mixed up in, but now they're being pressured to investigate the death of a federal agent who was himself involved in a supernatural conspiracy.

The Between (Session 2 of 5)
Alun R. runs for Donogh, Mendel Schmiedekamp, Steven S., and usnavi
Mr. Moore and Hence Unruh show the less formal side of their employee-employer relationship before Moore loses a member of the Hargrave House Irregulars to a bowie knife. Meanwhile Angel O'Neill fends off the call of the wild before developing her relationship with Dr Weiss in a different direction at a Turkish bath...then there's a ritual, a ghost, and an irate detective...and a gunfight...

Trophy Gold: Hester's Mill Part Two
Shane runs for Blake Ryan, machinic, Richard Moser, and Romy T.
The hunters close in on the mill that gave the cursed village its name, but strange and terrible things are watching from the darkness.

Apocalypse Keys: Unleash The Dark (Session 2 of 4)
Shane runs for Drew D. and Jon Grim
Kronos and Zero have to figure out a way to save their friend before the tidal wave of insects pouring from his mouth destroy the building they're all in. But there's also an apocalypse to avert, and if they don't hurry, the doomsday clock will reach midnight...

You can see all these videos (plus all the ones that have come before) on The Gauntlet YouTube channel playlists, and be sure to subscribe to catch all our great podcasts!

If you'd like to catch these sessions in an audio-only podcast, check out the community-run Hangouts Podcast at http://gauntlet.hellomouth.net/.

If you'd like to play in games like these, check out the calendar of events and the Gauntlet Forums where games are announced, or catch one of our Gauntlet Community Open Gaming online mini-conventions.

To support The Gauntlet, please visit the Gauntlet Patreon. Everyone is welcome to sign up for Gauntlet Calendar games, but Patreon supporters get extra options like priority RSVP for Gauntlet Calendar games and joining the Gauntlet Slack team where special events and pickup games are announced.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

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5/7/2021

Gauntlet Video Roundup - May 7, 2021

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[Gauntlet Calendar: Online Tabletop RPG Play]
Greetings, and welcome to the weekly Gauntlet Calendar video roundup! Enjoy these recordings of online games organized through Gauntlet Calendar and the Gauntlet RPG Community. These recorded sessions represent only a portion of the selection of games available every week, and anyone is welcome to join the fun! If you'd like to play or watch more games like these, check out the links and information at the bottom of the post.

Star Wars Saturday

Bounty of the Week: A Rancor Named Freedom (Session 1)
Rich Rogers runs for Brandon Brylawski, Francisco Olivera, MadJay Brown, and Steven Watkins
The Black Orchard Bounty Hunting Crew head to Dathomir and take down tech genius Halcord Midmo. Did you know there are lots of rancors on Dathomir?

Sorry End of Space (Session 1)
Rich Rogers runs for Bethany H., David Morrison, and Keith Stetson
The hardscrabble folk on a no-account spaceport on Phindar are forced to deal with an "opportunity" about to be thrust on them, whether they want it or not.

Hutt Cartel (Session 1)
Will H runs for Alexi S., Anders, Rich Rogers, and Steven Watkins
THE BAD BATCH. The Cartel rules 1313 once more! ANES the new crimelord rules the underworld with her lover and partner, ETEMA the spy. Cut off from THE REBEL ALLIANCE, Etema is forced to get further involved in the drug trade to keep the Cartel's favour. Luckily she has her new droid, BOX-I to help deflect Imperial Intelligence. Fallen ISB agent SARAL MUUVA starts her new beat on 1313 as part of the CSF, her commander PREFECT REX unaware of her existing criminal ties. But all is not well on 1313 as a bad batch from the Cartel's cooks has gained all sorts of unnecessary attention, and SCARA the assassin must silence an innocent...

Chronicle

Kingdom (Session 2)
Lowell Francis runs for Dan Brown, Marleigh, and Steven Watkins
In the second half of our Kingdom game, we flash forward several years to a song-stealing threat facing the city and the necessity of alliances.

Empire City

Apocalypse Keys: Unsleeping Metropolis (Session 1 of 4)
Alexi S. runs for Greg G., Jesse A., Sawyer Rankin, and Steven S.
We meet our crew of monsters tasked with holding back the Apocalypse: Newt Nightbreath the Summoned is a fae-marked disaster, Yawachika Opessa the Surge is a sacrificial victim returned with terrifying powers, Untitled the Shade died for an experimental art piece, and Biff Brown the Fallen is the former god Odin moonlighting as a pitcher for the Mets. DIVISION sends the quartet to begin investigating four corpses found floating in the air around Cleopatra's Needle in Central Park.

Gauntlet Calendar

The Between (Session 1 of 5)
Alun R. runs for Donogh, Mendel Schmiedekamp, Steven S., and usnavi
We meet the residents of Belgrave Square's Hargrave House: Hence Unruh, the Vessel of Darkness and their Factotum, Moore; Constance 'The Angel' O'Neill, the American visitor; and Dr Marta Weiss, the Mother. Their attention falls on reports of the death of a maid at St james' Street and they decide that this is a mystery worthy of investigation. There's a vase full of blood, an early death, a bedroom with a changed function, and an endangered...then the Rites of Salt and Smoke are invoked and the ground floor windows blow out...

Trophy Dark: Boots of Red (Session 2 of 2)
Kieron runs for Dan Brown, Josh H, Sabine V., and Will H
Four of the little folk. One old forest. Old Tom. The Inn of the Foetid Stag seems a long way away, as the barrows grow closer. Everything is alive with song, and everything else is dead.

Trophy Gold: Hester's Mill Part One
Shane runs for Blake Ryan, machinic, Richard Moser, and Romy
We meet four desperate treasure hunters who have decided that the lost village of Hester's Mill seems like a good place to seek their fortune. But...did that scarecrow just move?

Apocalypse Keys: Unleash The Dark (Session 1 of 4)
Shane runs for Drew D., Jon Grim, Josh H, and Matthew Arcilla
Four monsters contend with supernatural horrors and their own terrifying emotions as they investigate a series of murders in a pair of rundown apartment buildings in Manila.

#iHunt: Five Stars or Death (Session 1)
Lowell Francis runs for Mark, Matthew Arcilla, Shane, and Sherri
We set up characters and learn about their messy lives before dropping them into the bowels of a dance club barge caught between a Bat Vampire and a Spider Demon as well as their desire to not split a pay day.

Hearts of Wulin: Numberless Secrets (Session 1)
Lowell Francis runs for Jamila R. Nedjadi, Patrick Knowles, Sherri, and Tyler Lominack
A Hearts of Wulin/Brindlewood Bay mash up. In this series inspired by wuxia mysteries like Ancient Detective and Maiden Holmes, our heroes find themselves invited to a ominous gathering at a remote estate.

Against the FAE Conspiracy (Session 1 of 4)
Alun R. runs for Brandon Brylawski, David Morrison, Sabine V., and Will H
We meet the team who have decided to make a stand against the Fae. There's Mark Sheerwright, the former Scalp Hunter for the Black Lodge criminal organisation, which we discover had links to the Conspiracy. We meet Jesusita Ramirez, the former Mosaad Analyst who believes the Fae took her lover and Kadir 'Gun' Guner, the GSG9 Sparks who wants revenge for what he thinks the Conspiracy did to his team. Finally, there's Andy Lam, retired confidential informant Handler for the UK's National Crime Agency, who spotted patterns in some investigations he couldn't explain as anything but supernatural. There's a museum in Manchester, an over-qualified curator and a creepy ring...then heavy handed security with guns, a kidnap, and a theft...

You can see all these videos (plus all the ones that have come before) on The Gauntlet YouTube channel playlists, and be sure to subscribe to catch all our great podcasts!

If you'd like to catch these sessions in an audio-only podcast, check out the community-run Hangouts Podcast at http://gauntlet.hellomouth.net/.

If you'd like to play in games like these, check out the calendar of events and the Gauntlet Forums where games are announced, or catch one of our Gauntlet Community Open Gaming online mini-conventions.

To support The Gauntlet, please visit the Gauntlet Patreon. Everyone is welcome to sign up for Gauntlet Calendar games, but Patreon supporters get extra options like priority RSVP for Gauntlet Calendar games and joining the Gauntlet Slack team where special events and pickup games are announced.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

Share

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5/4/2021

Age of Ravens: Race and the Modern FRPG

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Last week marked Goblinization Day, an event from Shadowrun’s future history. While SR was everywhere in the 1990s, my group had become Cyperpunk 2020 grognards. I only vaguely knew Shadowrun’s backstory and joked about trying to decide if I wanted to be an Elf or a Gnome. I figured Goblinization was when everyone started to turn into fantasy, non-human races in the setting.
 
But it isn’t. Instead it’s a little more pernicious. Goblinization Day’s when, after a few years of folks turning into graceful Elves and stout Dwarves, another plague began to turn babies into Orks and Trolls. And in the setting, that’s what made everyone flip the eff out. Here’s a thread about that and why it’s a problem:  https://twitter.com/LuchaLibris/status/1388188587196362753?s=20 (ht to @PoCGamer).
 
Older games have lots of baggage. The last few years have seen people begin to listen to folks who have talked about race, colonialism, and other issues in rpgs for a long time. Any meaningful change in my perspective comes from that and from reading Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi. That book started to wake me up to how dangerous the concept of race & birth as destiny could be. That it concept isn’t a single thing but a host off destructive theories which the power structure has changed and modified to fit the times.
 
It’s made me more aware in reading modern rpgs. Anything published in the last five years needs to take account of this conversation about race, culture, and representation. With that in mind I’m looking at how large-tome recent fantasy RPG releases consider race. I’m not going cover the arguments and importance of these issues. I take that as a given. If you want that part of the conversation check out PoC Gamer, James Mendez Hodes, and Asians Represent among others.

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AGAINST THE DARKMASTER
Against the Darkmaster is a retroclone of Iron Crown Enterprises’ Middle Earth Roleplaying. I asked for and received a review copy. It’s a gigantic book. Before I get into how it treats race and culture, I want to talk about my experience with the system and some of the book’s positives.
 
I played a lot of Rolemaster. Like a ton. From the mid 1980s to the early 2000s it was my FRPG of choice (in parallel with GURPS if I wanted something low fantasy). I played RM when it was a piecemeal add-on to other games, when it became its own complete system, and when it overhauled itself into Rolemaster Standard System. I also played Middle Earth Roleplaying, the streamlined little sibling to RM.
 
I got good at it. I had system mastery and I cut away the parts of the game which didn’t fit the way I played. I could run a combat quickly—meaning as fast as something D&D or Champions, not actually quickly. A couple of years ago I ran two parallel series on the Gauntlet using a tightened version of Rolemaster (particularly the magic system). RM had a reputation of being heavy, but I knew it could work so I wanted to give folks-- more accustomed to Indie & Story Games-- a look at how it could work. It was eye-opening for me. I don’t think I’d realized exactly how far away RM would be from their experience.
 
All that being said, Against the Darkmaster does the job it sets out to do. It’s a Retroclone which means it wants to clean up the original game, integrate some later ideas, strip out any IP, and provide the best possible experience with these core rules. I spent years reading through Ice Crown Enterprise’s dense, wall of text, tiny font layout design. AtD is a breath of fresh air. It’s actually readable and has generous whitespace on the page. The cost of that is that the book’s frikkin’ huge, clocking in at 563 pages.
 
For those not familiar with MERP or Rolemaster, it’s a percentile based skill and stat system. You roll and add your value, trying to get a high number rather than trying to roll under. Characters have access to nearly all the skills and abilities, but costs gatekeep those choices. So for example, it’s cheaper for a Rogue to buy Roguery skills than an Animist, but a Warrior has cheaper access to Combat skills. There are only 22 skills by default in four categories and two special sets.
 
The bigger selling point of the game lies in the magic and combat system. The magic system allows for all kinds of spell purchases, again managed by differing costs. Spells can the changed and manipulated by a skilled character. The base game has 36 spell lists of 10 spells each and four spell-casting professions. On the other hand, the combat system bells and whistles with players able to shift focus on the fly between attacks and defenses. An attack roll (less the target’s defense) is checked against the target’s armor type on a table specific to that type of weapon (Blade, Blunt, etc). This results in a # of hits done and more often than not a roll on a separate critical table (Beast, Impact) which generates the really cool effects.
 
The book presents this cleanly and clearly. If you’re looking for a MERP retroclone, this is it. If you’re a Rolemaster old hand looking for an easier version you might get your D&D group to try, Against the Darkmaster has you covered. It has solid and consistent art as well as its own unique setting which doesn’t get in the way if you want to adapt it elsewhere.
 
BUT...
Being a MERP retroclone Against the Darkmaster carries with it Tolkienesque baggage about race and culture. I want to walk through how the game treats those issues.

AtD offers 13 “Kins”: Dwarf, Halfling, Man, Wildfolk, High Man (think Aragorn), Half-Elf, Dusk Elf, Silver Elf, Half-Orc, Orc, Stone Troll, and Firbolg. These are meant to be a biological distinctions I think, rather than cultural ones since each Kin description also offers suggested Cultures to shape your Kin pick. These Cultures are generally regional (Arctic, City, Fey, Woad, etc). Players can choose a culture outside the suggested ones but only with approval of the table. So if you want a City Silver Elf or a Fey Halfling you need permission.
 
Your choice of Kin affects your stat bonuses, hit points, bonus magic points, toughness and willpower saves, background points for cool extras, and wealth level. Three of the Stats are physical: Brawn, Swiftness, and Fortitude. Three are non-physical: Wits (cleverness, reasoning, mental agility), Wisdom (empathy, intuition, willpower, awareness), and Bearing (presence, charisma, and social influence).
 
Several of the Kins have penalties for these non-physical stats. Stone Trolls have a heavy penalty to Wits (and only Elves have any bonus to this). Orcs, Stone Trolls, and Firbolg’s all have a penalty to Wisdom. Dwarves, Half-Orcs, Orcs, and Stone Trolls all have penalties to Bearing. That’s a common trope among fantasy games with “Dark Folk” races often having penalties to mental and charisma-type stats. This means that certain races are inherently weaker in those areas based on their biology. There’s a baseline that these exist in relation to. That biological essentialism is problematic.
 
There’s other odd choices in the presentation of the Kins themselves. We have the Wildfolk, a humanoid race with a strong nature magic. They’re illustrated in primitive-coded dress. It’s notable that this is the only humanoid race presented with darker skin. All the rest of the ‘close to human’ folk (elves, hobbits, dwarves, high men, etc.) are fair skinned. The female Wildfolk has dreadlocks/cornrows hair. It’s another issue, but it’s worth noting the presentation difference here between the male and female. The male is covered in hairy fur while the woman is depicted as conventionally hot—with the fur there being a just pelt draped over the shoulders.

Moving on the male Half Orc is depicted with full body tribal tattoos and again dreadlock/cornrow hair. There’s another weird sexualization split with the Stone Troll female as conventionally hot with a bare midriff and the male being much more inhuman appearing. Some of the character image depictions for the Cultures also raise some questions. For the Desert culture, we have stereotypical Arabian Nights garb and an extended nose. The image for the “primitive or barbaric” Woad folk has an aboriginal look with bone weapons and what’s either tattoos or paint. It’s worth noting that with the exception of the Woad, all the Culture images have lighter skin.

Lastly Orcs are presented as an intelligent, but enemy race in the bestiary section alongside a couple of others (Dwergar, Trolls).

Overall
If you want the mechanics for a retroclone of Middle Earth Roleplaying, this is it. It does that super well. But it also falls into some of the traps of racial essentialism and cultural coding that many other frpgs do.

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WORLDS WITHOUT NUMBER
This is the new game from Kevin Crawford, creator of Other Dust, Scarlet Heroes, Silent Legions, and Wolves of God. I’ve reviewed several of his games before and talked about Godbound in particular. Crawford’s Spears of the Dawn is one of the few frpgs to build on classical African myths and fantasy. Worlds Without Number takes Crawford massive OSR toolkit sci-fi game Stars Without Number and brings it over to fantasy. To call it a reskin would be a disservice. Instead he’s crafted a parallel but compatible fantasy system.

Note: I backed this game and my comments are based on the final pdf delivered to KS backers. I also backed Wolves of God and have bought most of Crawford’s other games.

Worlds Without Number’s an Old School Renaissance rpg. It uses the stat six stats—rolled or chosen from an array. Players make skill rolls using 2d6 plus skill level (0 to 4) plus relevant stat modifier. If they roll equal or higher than the check’s difficulty, then they succeed. Worlds without Number has 21 skills. Players use a d20 for the other two major types of resolution, Saving Throws and Combat. The combat’s simple but offers some detail. These are mostly player options rather than consistent complexity.

Worlds Without Number has a built in setting: Latter Earth. That’s written lightly enough to be adaptable to other settings. Most of the built-in assumptions come from the bestiary, the magic system, and the background choices. The game offers a massive toolbox for fantasy gaming, with lots of discussion of options and tweaks.

So where does race come in? Characters begin by choosing or rolling a background. Some of these backgrounds are more about profession (Artisan, Criminal, Soldier). A couple reflect the character’s culture (Barbarian, Nomad, Peasant). Each background gives a free skill. Players can then choose to take the two skills listed with the background; pick two skills from an associated list of 7-8, or roll three times with that background’s Growth and Learning tables.
Players choose a Class from the four offered and then select Foci. These are “side talents or particular specializations of your hero.” This is where nonhuman PCs come in. Players can spend a Focus pick to be from a nonhuman race which gives them an Origin Focus. These aren’t presented in the base rules but instead have to be looked up in the Bestiary section.

In the bestiary section there’s Origin Foci for a variety of Demihumans. The setting offers logic for the differences in folks, all of whom come from a baseline of humanity, but who have changed over “(c)ountless eons of sorcerous and genetic manipulation.” These Demihumans are seen as radically distinct though those differences may be more social and psychological and physical. Overall there’s more discussion about the logic and place of these different lineages.
However Crawford makes a split here in the rules. He provides deeper guides to playing only two Demihuman peoples in the game’s Latter Earth setting: Dwarves and Elves. These echo traditional demihumans but with a distinct backstory. The Origin foci add bonuses and new abilities. Each get a couple of pages of rules.

On the other hand Worlds Without Number provides only modest guidelines for “traditional” fantasy raves. Dwarves, Elves (Civilized), Elves (Half-Elves), Elves (Forest), Halflings, Gnomes, Goblins (Tinker), Goblins (Savage), Lizardmen, and Orcs are provided. Each gets a short descriptor text (brutish and stupid for Orcs, bucolic and diminutive for Halflings). For the most part they get bonus skills based on the origin and a stat modifier. Most of these are a positive combined with a negative. What’s usually considered the “Dark Folk” usually end up with a choice of penalty to Wisdom or Intelligence.

World’s Without Number doesn’t have individual illustrations for the cultures or peoples, so there’s no issue of visual representation.

Theirs is a really interesting choice the game makes to handle the concept of “Evil Races.” As you know, most traditional fantasy rpgs have a pool of races who intelligent but inherently evil and therefore legitimate to slaughter. Worlds Without Number has The Blighted. They’re “…Those wretched descendants of men and women horribly warped by wielders of ancient sorcery and genetic science, people forged into tools for purposes that had no place for mercy.”

These folk have been deeply changed by The Blight which “corrupts and limits the normal human range of emotion and cognition.” Basically they suffer under a curse which pushes them in certain ways, but which the book notes some can overcome. They have a difficult time in human society and the book takes the tension and hatred between the Blighted and other people not as an excuse but as a problem of clashing cultures and the desire to wipe each other out.
Players can play Blighted and the rules offer Origin foci for several different kinds-- from those created to be servants, to the Anakim driven by rage, to Houri driven to satisfying emotional and physical needs at the cost of others. All of the Origin Foci are about overcoming the impulses of the curse of the Blight.

Crawford spends a good deal of time going over the implications of these people. They’re people driven by a curse who may be genuinely unable to co-exist with humanity. I need to quote at length from the "Blighted in Your Campaign" section. 
Aggressive Blighted tend to be unambiguous villains and enemies in most campaigns, sentients that are genuinely incapable of living peacefully with humanity. They have been cursed from their creation with a need to kill and ruin, and while they may be blameless of the ancient sorcery that twisted them, humanity simply cannot live with them under the same sky.

Penal Blighted and servitor-species often appear as victims of cruelty and oppression, suffering due to the weaknesses and flaws impressed on them by their creators. Heroic PCs might find significant adventure grist in protecting or helping communities of these people.

Some players may find the existence of Blighted species to be a kind of teleological horror, and feel obligated to find some cure for their curse or method by which peace can be made with them. A GM who knows their players are likely to feel this way might choose to soften the mental effects of the Blight or make room for a cure.
It’s a really interesting approach and one that aims to add dimension and depth to some of the classic fantasy tropes.

Overall
I really dig Worlds Without Number. It’s a solid game that follows the template of Crawford’s earlier work. He provides a solid but simple core system, offers a ton of support material and tools, and gives you a cleverer setting than you might expect. Some people will go into WWN expecting a simple, generic fantasy sandbox and discover a much richer play experience. That might make it a challenge to adapt to more fringe fantasy settings (like Glorantha for example) but I think it works.

And Crawford engages with some of the questions about racial essentialism in gaming, which is more than many other games do.


AFTERWORD
Why talk about this? Because we have to be better about spotting and discussing these issues in new games. Ideas about biology and "essential" natures are hugely dangerous-- they're a tool for exclusion, justification, and abuse. My read's a light one, done from the perspective of an older white male. I'm sure there's a variety of other codings happening that I'm unaware of. It's a starting point, a small analysis built on the deeper work being done by PoC and LGTBQ gamers. We have to make this kind of necessary talk commonplace. 

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