Getting There is Half the Fun

Published: Penny Arcane in Harnlore #3 (Autumn 1987)
Author: N.Robin Crossby
Editor: Ed King
Copyright: 1987, N.Robin Crossby & Columbia Games Inc.

Note: this is the original (uncut) version and is slightly different from the EH3 version.

Gates: Or Getting There is Half the Fun

Not all of you, it would seem, have read the article Kelestia in EH4 (now a collector's item). So, before beginning these observations, a little background might be in order.

Kelestia is the cosmic all. Within Kelestia lies the Kethrian Family of worlds which, although they are located in different universes, are linked through the ethereal plane(s) by lines of familiarity. While space travel to worlds of the same universe is impossible, it is relatively easy to move between worlds of the Kethrian family by esoteric means such as the godstones and the spell Gate of Kemdal. Each of these methods has drawbacks (for the user, there are none for the GM) which I have not properly explained.

Godstones

Actually the godstones were covered in their own article in EH6. Now that Harnmaster is published, the references to Aura make sense. However, there is one tiny little change I would like to suggest.

It states in the Godstone article that persons with an Aura of 15 or more will be able to bring unenchanted, auraless items through. This is ok, but it is better to make a roll against five times Aura for each such item or group. Hence, anyone has a chance of bringing their best mundane sword (Weapons might be useful on the other side.) This small rule change eliminates the glib certainty for high-aura characters and makes it possible for the rest to occasionally get through with inorganic possessions. One can also envision anti-magical items which would require Critical Success to make it through. All the other godstone rules hold, but you might like to make it easier to accidently arrive at a p-world.

Gate of Kemdal

It is no secret that this is one of my favourite spells. It is also a dangerous procedure, especially in the hands of player- characters who are notoriously irresponsible. There are some clarifications in order: Firstly, do not let a PC casting this spell roll his own dice. The caster will never know how many stops are left on his route. The other day someone made nearly thirty stops on over half a dozen worlds and p-worlds, visiting such interesting places as the lions' den under the coliseum in imperial Rome, the Blasted Plain on a p-variant of Yashain before Ilvir moved in, an Earthmaster dome on an airless asteroid, the Gap of Rohan sometime in the second age, Orford castle in Norfolk, Vancouver BC., The Shire, free space near Losenor (luckily they were transformed), Mordor (they left there quite quickly), a sinking ship on Sherem-Prime as well as several other visits to Sherem-Prime. Once they made it to their actual destination (Olokand) on a p‚ world of Kethira where the flag flying over the castle did not look quite right (nor did the castle). This is just a sample. Looking back on it, I am sure she sees that episode as something of a blur. A couple of her companions got off the merry-go-round in Faya on Yashain-prime; they say it was out of piety, but I think they were getting seasick. Gate of Kemdal avoids crowds, and will never materialize people where their appearance will be witnessed. Although, any number of nasty creatures could wander by within seconds.

A small revision: It says in Harnmaster that Gate of Kemdal may transform lifeforms, and gives the chances. It should be noted, however, that the spell will hardly ever dump the caster in an unsurvivable environment. This will happen only on critical failure, and only if the caster has terrible luck. In the immediate Kethrian family, only Losenor represents a severe hazard to oxy-carbon lifeforms, and there are rumoured to be a few "space-stations" left there; characters have occasionally been materialized in Earthmaster sites surrounded by inexplicable mounds of "stuff" (most of it far too large to carry... besides how would they get it through the gate?) So the caster never knows how many stops are left enroute... There is one exception, the caster will know when he is home. As to the drawbacks. Gate of Kemdal seems perfect, it is even possible to get inorganic items through... so where's the catch?

Time. I did not mention this in Harnmaster (oops), but there is another reason why using Gate of Kemdal can take longer than walking, apart from the adventures along the way. It usually seems to those who use Kemdal, that the transition is instantaneous. Subjectively, it is. The characters do not age, and are not aware of the passage of time. However, there is no such thing as a free lunch. The little jaunt mentioned above took over four years of objective time; they left in 721 and arrived back in 725, and belive me they wasted as little time as possible...

So, how long does a typical trip last? Several of my players have been demanding a formula for working this out, some kind of table so they can know what to expect... Forget it. For the caster there is no way to know in advance how long the trip will take. The caster's ML, and the success achieved will have bearing, but sheer luck may be far more important. For a caster whose ML is between thirty and seventy, we could be talking days or months. With a few critical failures thrown in... we are into years... maybe. Then again, maybe not...

Megagame Development

Interworld travel can be a lot of fun, especially for the GM. Although I must admit that a few anti-social PCs have voiced minor complaints (well, horror actually) when they found themselves on a magic-weak world (such as Terra in the lions' den for example) with their ML reduced to 25% of its homeworld value... But then players are never satisfied...

It all depends on your development of the Kethrian Family of worlds, on your megagame. If there is interest, I will go into that next time. Let me know...