The tree watched impassively as a boy ran towards it, clutching something in his arms. When he was near, he stuffed the loaves of bread he was carrying into his shirt, and clambered up the tree as fast as he could.

“Where are you, you little rascal!” A man appeared from the corner of the street, stood gasping for breath, and looking left and right. His face was ruddy, with some flour smeared over his left cheek.

The boy was still climbing up, but quietly now, fearful of attracting his pursuer’s attention. Tears were streaming down his cheeks, and he bit his lower lip to keep from crying out. His hands were shaking as he clutched at the tree branches.

The tree took pity on the boy. If one looked very closely, one might even notice that the branches and leaves moved ever so slightly to better hide the boy.

The wind blew.

The fallen leaves on the streets flew towards an alley.

“I’ll get you!” roared the man. And he staggered towards the alley.

The leaves of the tree swayed and rustled in the wind, as if calming the boy. The boy continued to weep.

The wind died.

After some time, the man reappeared in the street from the alley, muttering to himself. Then he walked back from whence he first came from.

There was a chirp from somewhere near the boy. He looked up. There was a nest with two chicks in it.

“You must be hungry.”

The boy reached into his shirt and broke off a bit of the bread he carried. He crumbled it over the nest. Then he starting eating too.

The tree smiled. If it could, of course.

=====
Honeybeech: Telling awesome stories.
Talk with me on Twitter or Facebook Share your adventure stories on Honeybeech fan page

Stolen bread

=====

“I think we lost them,” a young man looked over his shoulders, his hair plastered to his face from the rain. He placed his hands on his knees and breathed heavily.
“I wouldn’t count on that, oh brother of mine,” said his companion, standing slightly taller and equally drenched. “Let’s go deeper into the woods.”

The two men moved quickly, heading where the trees grew thicker.

“Let’s stop here, Robin.” The taller man looked at his brother. Robin leaned against a tree, breathing heavily.

***

Night fell. The rain stopped. Slowly, the woods were filled with the nocturnal symphony of the insects. The brothers had squeezed as much of the rain out of their clothes, but they didn’t have any dry clothes to change into. They sat down in the nook formed by the roots of a giant tree, and huddled together for warmth.

“Lark?” said Robin.
“Hmm?”
“What are we going to do?”

Lark was silent. A breeze rustled the trees, and the insects seemed to quieten. A leaf, shaken by the breeze, detached itself from its root and fell. It swirled as it fell, forming intricate patterns in the air. A hush seemed to have flowed through the woods, the insects stopped chirping, the frogs stopped croaking…

The leaf landed on Lark’s hand. He looked at it for a moment, then flicked it aside. “Tomorrow, we’ll skirt around the edges of the woods to the north. There should be a small road that connects to a larger one. That road will lead us to Honeybeech. I have some friends there.” As if that’s the cue, the nocturnal sounds of the woods returned.

“It’s going to be a long day tomorrow. Get some sleep, little brother.”

***

Sunlight glinted off the dew drop hanging precariously on the leaf. A small bird landed on a branch, singing to greet the sun. Its landing shook the branch on which the dew drop was, and the dew drop dropped. It flattened, then elongated as it fell, struggling to maintain its spherical shape.

With a tiny splash, it landed on Robin’s cheek. “Hmm?” Robin blinked a few times, trying to wipe the sleepiness away. He lay with his eyes open, staring at the leaves above.

“Lark?”

No answer.

Robin also couldn’t feel his brother beside him. He jerked up, looking around. His brother was nowhere to be seen. “Lark?” He stood up and looked around.

“Lark!”

=====
Honeybeech: Telling awesome stories.
Talk with me on Twitter or Facebook Share your adventure stories on Honeybeech fan page

Shelter in the woods

So a friend suggested that we meet up to play something else. In particular, he wanted to introduce me to the game of Three Dragon Ante for a long time, so this was good timing. It was a day full of card games. There were 3: Opus Dei, Three Dragon Ante, and Dominion.

Opus Dei

“Opus Dei” when (roughly) translated, means the “work of God”. Each player is a Zeitgeist. Each player has a world. There are human cards laid out. Most are Philosophers. A few are Scientists. Most dreaded are the Fools.

Each round, 12 human cards are laid out. When the human cards run out, a new “sun” (or year) starts, and another 12 human cards are laid out. There are 3 rounds.

Each human card is worth a certain number of points. The goal of each player is to amass the most number of points at the end of 3 rounds. The Philosophers are worth anywhere between 1 to 5 points.

The Greek Philosophers are usually worth a lot of points. You know, since philosophy practically sprung from Greece. Next are the German Philosophers. My friend told me something about Germany being the more aggressive in philosophy in modern times. Or some such.

Scientists have a different scoring mechanism. The number of points for each Scientist is worth the number of Scientists in your world. So if you have 1 Scientist, you have 1 point. If you have 3 Scientists, each Scientist is worth 3 points, so in total, you have 9 points.

The Fools are worth a negative number of points. The card game creator obviously have strong opinions. The Fools are generally individuals whom the creator deemed to have a negative impact upon the world.

Play goes on in a circle. On your turn, you pick 1 playing card from the deck, and decide to play up to 2 playing cards.

There are 3 types of play cards: Sun cards, Earth cards, and Miraculum cards. Sun cards affect all players (or worlds), for example, the self-referential “No other Sun card may be played while this Sun card is in play”. The current Sun card goes off when the new year (or “sun”) starts.

An Earth card affects only your world. For example, all Greeks in your world are worth 1 more point. There are negative ones too, for example, all Germans in your world are worth 1 less point. Which I got from a sabotaging friend…

A Miraculum card usually affects the human cards laid out. For example, move one human exactly 4 steps forward. Why would you want to do this? Because at the end of your turn, you create the front-line human into your world. If the front-line human is a Fool, you scored negative. So you want to move a Greek Philosopher up front.

I like this game.

Three Dragon Ante

The cards describe dragons and their powers. There is a money scoring mechanism, hence the “Ante” part. But it’s not real money.

After the hype that my friends created for me, I thought it’s a good game. I mean it has “dragon” in the name. My friends seem to like it. But I didn’t like it. It played too much like gambling. The flavour for the dragons aren’t strong enough to overpower the ante part. The goal is to possess the largest amount of gold. I think game ends when one player goes bankrupt.

I’m not going to talk much on this. You are encouraged to do research, or play the game to get a better idea. It didn’t really pique my interest.

Dominion

We only got to play 1 round of Dominion. It’s a resource-based game, where each player try to make the best use of his resources based on the available decks. There are 25 different decks of resource cards, and only 10 are in play. So the strategy for each game is different.

This was played at the end of the day, so I was drained. I didn’t have a strategy. Ok, maybe there is. I was telling my friends that the new players are the most fun, because they are the ones most likely to try weird strategies and in this case, cards. 2 of my friends who were relatively new to the game just bought resource cards for the heck of it.

It’s more fun than Three Dragon Ante though.

The goal is to score the most number of victory points. You can do research on the game play rules. There are probably better explanations on other websites.

There is this card that my friends seem to think breaks the game. It’s called the Harem. It’s worth 2 copper and 2 victory points. That means you get to use the card to buy resource cards, and it also counts as 2 victory points at the end of the game. A Harem card costs 6 pieces of copper.

“If you have 3 Harem cards on your hand, you can buy another Harem!”

Don’t think too much on that… it might mess up your life philosophy and beliefs…

Final thoughts

This was the first time I played any of the 3 card games. I like Opus Dei the most. The game mechanic can be separated from the flavour, which makes complete sense to my programming mind. The game mechanic appeals to me. The flavour of bringing philosophy to a game is also interesting. Each human card comes with a paragraph of what that human did. You can probably read the flavour text, not play the game, and it’s still worth your money.

I wouldn’t say Three Dragon Ante sucks, but it didn’t live up to what I thought it would be. I thought it would have more of an RPG flavour to it.

Dominion was fun. I will like to play with the other resource decks and see what strategies and plans I have to come up with.

This had been a nice non-D&D game day.

=====
Honeybeech: Telling awesome stories.
Talk with me on Twitter or Facebook Share your adventure stories on Honeybeech fan page

Philosophers, dragons and harems

“It’s going to escape!” shouted the captain.

Two robed figures dashed past the captain and pulled back their hoods as they did. Nathan, armed with a dividers in his right hand, followed his twin brother Blake, who’s moving swiftly ahead.

“Pincer attack on the head!” Blake pointed at the already airborne dragon with his dividers in the left hand. Then he jumped and flew towards the dragon’s fleshy part near the chin.

Bracing himself, Nathan jumped after his brother and vanished in mid-air, to appear above the dragon’s mouth. Falling down, he aimed his dividers downwards and plunged the sharp ends onto the dragon’s snout. As he did so, Blake pierced the dragon at the underside of its mouth with his dividers.

The foul beast roared in pain and knocked Nathan off. It reared its head and snapped at Blake, who managed to dodge away from its maw. Then he flew after the falling Nathan.

As Blake caught him, Nathan traced a sigil and sent it glowing red towards the dragon. The brothers spun around once in the air and a glowing white sigil streaked from Blake’s hands following the red sigil.

The twins landed just as the red sigil contacted Nathan’s dividers and the white sigil hit Blake’s dividers.

“Phireohm!” shouted the twins, with their hands extended towards the dragon’s mouth.

Fire exploded from the red sigil, engulfing the mouth of the dragon. Lightning streaked from the clouds to join those erupting from the white sigil. The dragon writhed in pain for a while, struggling to keep aloft, before giving one final roar and fell to the ground in a great ball of crackling flame and lightning.

*****
This is a short story featuring a pair of twins who are math wizards. Phireohm is a spell combining both fire and lightning.

=====
Honeybeech: Telling awesome stories.
Talk with me on Twitter or Facebook Share your adventure stories on Honeybeech fan page

Twin Sigils

I have worked hard over the past 2 months (whoa, since December!). Cracking my head over the mechanics so a math wizard fits into the world of Dungeons & Dragons, yet stands out as a unique class is hard. I had to dig deep into my knowledge of mathematics to come up with concepts that translate into D&D powers.

When you watch a movie, or listen to a story, or read an adventure book, what do you most remember? The exact description of the character’s special skills, down to the detailed mechanics and range? Or the situations that allowed the character to use the special skills?

So, maybe Spiderman can shoot webbings at targets 10 metres away accurately. But do you remember that better when he had to sling his way around the buildings, deflecting barbed missiles from the Green Goblin, who’s shooting at him from a distance of, I don’t know, about 10 metres?

There is more to D&D than rolling dice and declaring a 158 point damage on a red dragon.

And so I created the Math Wizard, a new build for the wizard class. Because math is awesome. Because storytelling is awesome. Because your friends are going to remember that you dealt that 158 point damage to the red dragon while you’re bloodied. While you had no other resources left. While 1 of your friends was stunned, 2 were dying, and the cleric had no healing powers left. And that you rolled 5′s and 6′s for the entire encounter, but rolled a 20 on this last ditch attack. And that your 158 point damage just managed to kill the red dragon.

That’s what your friends will remember and talk about.

The initial price of Math Wizard is USD 10. There are more details on the product page.

If you’re ready, get the Math Wizard now.

=====
Honeybeech: Telling awesome stories.
Talk with me on Twitter or Facebook Share your adventure stories on Honeybeech fan page

Math Wizard launch

He had found his mark.

Touching the neck of the Roc, he guided the giant bird down. Releasing the reins, he retrieved a dagger from within his sleeves and jumped off…

“How could you have given that filthy merchant so much gold for these horses? I thought you were good with numbers!” Kyle, garbed in leather armour, held his arms up in the air for emphasis. A bow was strapped onto his back, and there was a scabbard hooked on his belt.

“We needed the horses, and I was pressed for time. It wasn’t that much gold anyway.” Brea brushed her golden hair back, letting it flow over her blue robe. “Excuse me”, she apologised, and in one smooth motion, lifted herself up and flung herself to the right side of her horse.

Brea turned around to face skywards, and saw a man covered with black cloth about a dozen feet above her. The air around her blurred for a moment, and the attacker appeared in her place. He hit the ground, gave a groan of pain, and immediately rolled to the side.

But it was too late. Brea cracked a bolt of lightning at him and he went unconscious. Then Brea held out her hands to buffer her landing on top of her horse, and slid fluidly back on the saddle. The horse gave a whinny. “Shhh… it’s ok” soothed Brea, stroking the horse’s neck.

“How did you know… What did you…” stammered Kyle. “Who was that?” he managed, pointing at the attacker lying on the ground, smoke still sizzling from his clothes.

“It seems we might have company soon.” Brea studied the man. A shriek sounded in the air, and a giant bird was seen flying away in front of them.

“Why did you jump off the horse? You could have swapped places with him from where you sat.”

“Well, he would have killed the horse before I could do anything. As you mentioned, I paid a lot of gold for the horses.” She smoothed her robes. “Besides, I’d rather not walk all the way to Honeybeech.”

=====
This is an excerpt from the Math Wizard, where there are more short stories like this. It’s an example of how the power Swap of Twin Primes might be used (and described).

=====
Honeybeech: Telling awesome stories.
Talk with me on Twitter or Facebook Share your adventure stories on Honeybeech fan page

A close swap

• UTC 1400 (2pm London-ish)
• EST 0900 (9am New York-ish)
• Singapore 2200 (10pm. Because I’m like Cinderella. I have to go before midnight.)

The price will be USD 10 (for now). You will get

• A new wizard build, with power selections for the heroic and paragon tier
• A new paragon path, the Chaotician
• Unlimited email support for 1 year
• Unlimited updates to the product for life (the world could end, and I’d still provide you with updates to the product)
• Short stories to ignite your imagination
• Behind-the-scenes view of how I came up with the powers

To find out more before the launch, you can contact me, download a free preview of the Math Wizard, or read about why I created the Math Wizard.

=====
Honeybeech: Telling awesome stories.
Talk with me on Twitter or Facebook Share your adventure stories on Honeybeech fan page

Math Wizard prelaunch announcement

I apologise.

And I blame the peahen.

In unrelated news, the cover art for my Math Wizard is done! All thanks to the lovely Laura Diehl, who also displayed the intermediate images of how the art evolved.

I can’t wait to see the Math Wizard in action. Eh wait, I’m the creator… Uh, excuse me while I go work on the book…

=====
Honeybeech: Telling awesome stories.
Talk with me on Twitter or Facebook Share your adventure stories on Honeybeech fan page

The peahen ate my post

I want to help people tell more interesting stories. A freestyle RPG like D&D gives me that ability. But it’s frustrating as Rubik’s cube when the battle mechanics get too much in the way.

If I understand it correctly, 4th Edition was dumbed down a little compared with 3rd Edition. This is to make it easier for new players to pick it up. I’m upping the ante. I’m going to increase the difficulty together with more story elements (what is commonly known as “fluff”).

You know what I see when I flip through the D&D guide books? Target this, do this amount of damage, inflict some effect (from a short list of effects, such as daze, immobilise). Mechanically speaking, they are almost the same. About the only difference is the amount of damage. Ok, my group seems to concentrate on the damage, so I’m not getting an objective view. Let me know how you play.

Anyway, I decided to merge my interest in math with D&D. I also like magic users more than physical fighters. Thus was Math Wizard born. It is a new build for the wizard, with a slight difference. Most of the powers are based on math concepts (the rest are based on science concepts).

There’s also something you’ll probably never find in other game supplements. I’ll be explaining the powers and the math/science concepts behind them so you’ll understand the why of the concept, and how it fits into the D&D world. Storytelling has just gotten a bit more pizzaz.

Let me give you an example. There’s this power called the “Swap of the Twin Primes”. Mechanically speaking, it allows you to swap two creatures. But when the creatures are a prime number of squares away from you, something more happens. If those prime number of squares are twin primes of each other, something even more happens.

The Math Wizard is as much for the educators (math teachers?) as well as for the D&D players. I want people to think really hard on how they’re playing their characters. I want people to learn something too while playing D&D. Educate and entertain, that’s the goal.

So mark your calendar. The Math Wizard will be available on the 10 February 2010. You can also subscribe to my RSS feed for the latest news on the Math Wizard, as well as my adventures while playing RPGs (particularly D&D).

=====
Honeybeech: Telling awesome stories.
Talk with me on Twitter or Facebook Share your adventure stories on Honeybeech fan page

Why I created Math Wizard

They used a product called the Toolbox by Alderac Entertainment Group. Apparently it’s been revamped, and its current incarnation is Ultimate Toolbox. I haven’t seen the product, so I can’t say how useful it is. It’s not exclusively for Dungeons & Dragons, and is for general roleplaying game use. But from the answers and conversations and discussions between my friends, I’ve gleaned enough to have an idea.

Going back in time

Let me go back a little earlier. I’ve only started playing D&D in April 2009, so it’s about a whopping 8 months of experience. My friends had been playing D&D for years. They go way back like 1st Edition where the Golden Darts of Hornet’s Nest (or something like that) were more powerful than a magic sword, possibly even the Vorpal blade.

It was around D&D Edition 3.5 when one of the DMs tried something new. He had to come up with names of villages and towns and cities, so he used a third party product called the Toolbox. The way to come up with names on the fly was to roll the dice. Then compare the results to the tables in the Toolbox.

So the DM rolled and compared to one table. And got “honey”. He rolled and compared to another table, and got “beech”. Thus was “Honeybeech” born.

The creation and destruction of Honeybeech

They were on a “rotating DM” kind of thing. The next DM in line didn’t like the name Honeybeech. So he wove a story to destroy it. The players had great fun.

Then the next DM, possibly to spite the Honeybeech destroyer DM, told a story that brought back Honeybeech. And the cycle continued.

Earthquakes, lightning, volcanic lava and even interplanar black holes couldn’t destroy Honeybeech.

My friends had very fond memories of Honeybeech. It’s a minor inconvenience that I wasn’t there to witness it. So when I had the brilliant idea of starting an RPG blog and partially to log my gameplay experience, I decided to honour my friends’ memory and named this blog Honeybeech.

Besides, it’s much shorter than the name of my other blog…

=====
Honeybeech: Telling awesome stories.
Talk with me on Twitter or Facebook Share your adventure stories on Honeybeech fan page

Origins of Honeybeech