Dodging Dead Deer on the Hwy of Life

When my wife and I go on car trips, we play a game called “Guess the Road Kill.” It’s not a very fun game (especially for the road kill), but at least it passes the time. Another thing I do (instead of listening to my wife) is thinking about my game. So, over the weekend, we drove to a little town called Hermann, Missouri and along the way I thought about Destination: Rochan. Although I wasn’t all that productive -- dodging dead deer can be distracting – I did manage a few ideas. For example, the main employer on Rochan is going to be called Tagus Mining Limited with a nice logo (not pictured here) and a catchphrase “We Dig It!” I also came up with a name for the main mining camp called Boonville. This is from a town we drove past which also happened to have a lot of XXX stores. Actually, Boonville will be the part of the camp containing the actual miners (the “dirty masses”) while the Tagus admin facilities will be called the Lions’ Den based on the lion on the Tagus family crest.

Last week I was also thinking more about the volcano on Rochan that I’ve named Mount Thera after a famous Greek island that blew apart 3,600 years ago. During my research, I found out that diamonds are brought to the surface from deep underground by lava, so I decided to use that for the game. Basically, I decided that the Klixians mine diamonds from beneath Mt. Thera and sell them to the Tagus Mining company. Tagus buys the diamonds because the Klixians will do the work more cheaply than Imperium workers. However, the Tor worship a fire/earth goddess who happens to live beneath Mt. Thera and thus they view any mining there to be sacrilegious (and another reason to hate the Klixians). Since the Imperials use the Tor as guides for their other mining, Tagus Mining Limited has to keep their diamond dealings secret. So to recap, I started with the idea of the diamonds and the rest organically grew from that.

Off topic: because I’m a nerd, I took a quiz about which kind of Dungeons & Dragons character I would be (see below). It’s from the site http://www.easydamus.com/character.html, but be warned: it’s a freakin’ long-ass quiz. Anyway, I saw the quiz on Matt’s blog, so thanks for bringing this nerdy goodness to my attention.

You Are A:

True Neutral Elf Wizard/Sorcerer (3rd/2nd Level)


Ability Scores:
Strength- 11
Dexterity- 11
Constitution- 11
Intelligence- 14
Wisdom- 12
Charisma- 12

Alignment:
True Neutral- A true neutral character does what seems to be a good idea. He doesn't feel strongly one way or the other when it comes to good vs. evil or law vs. chaos. Most true neutral characters exhibit a lack of conviction or bias rather than a commitment to neutrality. Such a character thinks of good as better than evil after all, he would rather have good neighbors and rulers than evil ones. Still, he's not personally committed to upholding good in any abstract or universal way. Some true neutral characters, on the other hand, commit themselves philosophically to neutrality. They see good, evil, law, and chaos as prejudices and dangerous extremes. They advocate the middle way of neutrality as the best, most balanced road in the long run. True neutral is the best alignment you can be because it means you act naturally, without prejudice or compulsion. However, true neutral can be a dangerous alignment because it represents apathy, indifference, and a lack of conviction.

Race:
Elves are known for their poetry, song, and magical arts, but when danger threatens they show great skill with weapons and strategy. Elves can live to be over 700 years old and, by human standards, are slow to make friends and enemies, and even slower to forget them. Elves are slim and stand 4.5 to 5.5 feet tall. They have no facial or body hair, prefer comfortable clothes, and possess unearthly grace. Many others races find them hauntingly beautiful.

Primary Class:
Wizards- Wizards are arcane spellcasters who depend on intensive study to create their magic. To wizards, magic is not a talent but a difficult, rewarding art. When they are prepared for battle, wizards can use their spells to devastating effect. When caught by surprise, they are vulnerable. The wizard's strength is her spells, everything else is secondary. She learns new spells as she experiments and grows in experience, and she can also learn them from other wizards. In addition, over time a wizard learns to manipulate her spells so they go farther, work better, or are improved in some other way. A wizard can call a familiar- a small, magical, animal companion that serves her. With a high Intelligence, wizards are capable of casting very high levels of spells.

Secondary Class:
Sorcerers- Sorcerers are arcane spellcasters who manipulate magic energy with imagination and talent rather than studious discipline. They have no books, no mentors, no theories just raw power that they direct at will. Sorcerers know fewer spells than wizards do and acquire them more slowly, but they can cast individual spells more often and have no need to prepare their incantations ahead of time. Also unlike wizards, sorcerers cannot specialize in a school of magic. Since sorcerers gain their powers without undergoing the years of rigorous study that wizards go through, they have more time to learn fighting skills and are proficient with simple weapons. Charisma is very important for sorcerers; the higher their value in this ability, the higher the spell level they can cast.
________________________________________

Detailed Results:

Alignment:
Lawful Good ----- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (19)
Neutral Good ---- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (22)
Chaotic Good ---- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (17)
Lawful Neutral -- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (21)
True Neutral ---- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (24)
Chaotic Neutral - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (19)
Lawful Evil ----- XXXXXXXXX (9)
Neutral Evil ---- XXXXXXXXXXXX (12)
Chaotic Evil ---- XXXXXXX (7)

Law & Chaos:
Law ----- XXXXXXXX (8)
Neutral - XXXXXXXXXXX (11)
Chaos --- XXXXXX (6)

Good & Evil:
Good ---- XXXXXXXXXXX (11)
Neutral - XXXXXXXXXXXXX (13)
Evil ---- X (1)

Race:
Human ---- XXXXXXXXXXXXX (13)
Dwarf ---- XXXX (4)
Elf ------ XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (16)
Gnome ---- XXXXXXXX (8)
Halfling - XXXXXXXXXX (10)
Half-Elf - XXXXXXXXXX (10)
Half-Orc - XXXX (4)

Class:
Barbarian - (-4)
Bard ------ (-2)
Cleric ---- (-6)
Druid ----- (0)
Fighter --- XX (2)
Monk ------ (-19)
Paladin --- (-23)
Ranger ---- XXXX (4)
Rogue ----- (-6)
Sorcerer -- XXXXXX (6)
Wizard ---- XXXXXX (6)