A Scandal of Philosophy: Battling the Demon

Note: At times I use “factors” and “variables” synonymously.

“It always remains a scandal of philosophy and universal human reason that the existence of things outside us ... should have to be assumed merely on faith, and that if it occurs to anyone to doubt it, we should be unable to answer him with a satisfactory proof.” – Immanuel Kant

I was talking with fellow gamer buddy Martin about the kinds of beer I like to drink (the wet kind) and explained that I once hosted a blind light beer taste test. I put Coors Light, Bud Light, Miller Light, and Busch Light into identical cups at identical temperatures. Each cup had a number between 1 and 4 clearly marked.

First, I asked each participant to drink them all and establish their favorite. I also had them clean their palate between tastes with water and low-salt crackers. Second, I revealed the four labels and asked them to identify their favorite based on name and attempt to match them correctly with their numbered beers. I figured the alcohol content was low enough not to affect judgment in such a small time frame (there were other factors I also conveniently rationalized away).

I feel inclined to add that all of the participants were familiar with these beers and enjoyed at least some of them on a regular basis. Most of them also had a clear favorite according to label. That is, they were “Bud Light Only” guys or “Silver Bullet Gentlemen”.

The results were significant. No one was able to guess the beers correctly greater than 25%. If I’m not mistaken the number of possible guesses is 4 factorial (4!) which would be twenty-four. Furthermore, many participants expressed amazement that their favorite beer according to label was not their favorite beer according to taste. No one matched their label and taste favorites! This suggests the power of mind over sensory input to me and was consistent with my hypothesis. In fact, I got this idea from the recent study that showed wine drinkers rated more expensive wines better.

What does this have to do with gaming? I suspect this would hold true for gamers.

Couldn’t we do something like this at a con? Have pre-generated characters and adventures ready to go, but not explain the system. Maybe the GM could do the rolling, but even that wouldn’t that be necessary. Some game-specific mechanics would give it away, e.g., you go insane, but if you were careful (see list below) it’s doable.

My point really boils down to this; just like people who rate beer and wine based on labels and mental constructs (see Kant, above), gamers do the same thing with game systems. Systems can be analyzed objectively and mathematically, but I’ve yet to see many people do this thoroughly (think empirical versus rational). Instead, it usually boils down to preconceptions and mental constructs.

Imagine a series of games, like a bunch of quick adventures, where the game system is not revealed and labels aren’t used. For example, instead of asking a player to roll d20 to hit, tell them to roll it and then describe the actions as a result. Instead of saying, “the goblins scream and attack” say something like “small creatures with greenish skin and glowing eyes gurgle something incomprehensible and raise their black spears at you.” This point has been blogged to death and I mention it here only as a tool, not my concluding thesis.

After the series of games, the players could then think about which one they liked most. Then, the host could provide the list of choices and they could try to match each session with each game. Afterward, the players could discuss the issue amongst themselves. Finally, the GM would reveal all. I bet some awesome dialogue would happen then!

I know… I know; this is a loaded proposition. It would be extremely difficult to control both primary and secondary variables. Furthermore, because most role-playing games are fundamentally subjective, it would be equally difficult to measure and evaluate the factors objectively. I suppose you could run the same adventure each time, but player knowledge then becomes a factor. If you don’t use the same adventure for each system you hit a different problem, but one that equally complicates the factorial considerations. I offer, at this time, no answer to this dilemma.

Still, if you had the time and willing people, it’d be cool, wouldn’t it?

I think my list would be:
Dungeon Slayers
Labyrinth Lord or B/X or Basic Fantasy
Lamentations of the Flame Princess
Microlite 20
Swords & Wizardry

Have any of you heard about a similar experiment? I think it would take some hardcore gamers, but the idea is an exciting one. I also think it would make a cool Gencon activity which, as I’ve said, I will attend this year. Feel free to contact me if you’d like to drink some beer and discuss gaming in Indy, by the way. I’d love to roll initiative with some of you in person.

P.S. I am fully aware of my love affair with commas and have recited my pentitence to Strunk and White almost daily. It is an affliction of which I cannot seem to avail myself. I ask for you to bear with me, Constant Reader, as I battle this demon.

Lamentations of the Flame Princess: An Inquiry Into Value

When thinking about cost, for small items at least, I often use non-dollar standards that reflect my own tastes. For example, I can look at a restaurant menu and think, "Ah, the steak dinner would buy me a Gamma World Boxed Set... I'll have some more bread, please." Or, "Those shirts would get me three bottles of Rombauer." Some of my friends use car parts, video games, or even lap dances (don't ask) for their currency. This keeps me grounded and fills my basement.

I usually eschew temporary products like services and food for objects that I can keep on my shelf for years. I prefer a honey and PB sandwich and a book or DVD instead of a dinner or an designer haircut. This is entirely personal and, at times, nonsensical. For example, I'm happy to spend thirty bucks for a bottle of wine or fifteen for a six-pack of good IPA, but shudder at the thought of turning the AC up on a hot night. In fact, as full disclosure, I've kept a wine/beer blog far longer than a gaming blog.

You may be wondering, with good reason, where this is going.

Recently I coughed up the large chunk of change required for a print copy of Lamentation of the Flame Princess (LotFP). Both Raggi (the author) and I prefer silver in our games. I've always found gold too common and unappealing. When I was building my house, I had to pay for the "upgrade" from gold to silver doorknobs through the entire house, but it was a purchase I didn't second guess. So, I had to pile up quite a few silver pieces to bring home a hard copy of LotFP, but I haven't second-guessed that decision either.

The Bad

I disagree with a few of his decision, but I knew about them going in, so I don't have any regrets. My biggest disagreements are not splitting race and class (though I see how he tried to explain this decision in each race description) and not including either monsters or a monster-maker of some sort. Again, I understand his arguments for both of these decisions, but I will house-rule changes. I want options such as Elf-Warriors, Halfling-Clerics, and Dwarf-Wizards and these options don't necessitate rule complications at all.

I agree with Raggi that monster mystery is a powerful GM tool. This is a GM skill of presentation, though, and independent of published monster descriptions. For example, a GM can take the typical Orc and re-skin him in minutes to create mystery. What is most important is not a lack of a Monster Bestiary, but a lack of labels. Instead of saying "Orc", the GM can use sensory descriptions.

Even though it is similar to ancient styles, I hate the font. It is far too hard to read. Also, I don't know why, but the PDF files don't translate for my Nook Color. This really irritated me because the LotFP books are small and would fit perfectly on a Nook. All other PDF's I have, including, Dark Heresy and Labyrinth Lord, translate perfectly.

The Good

I really like much of what he's done. Just about everything, in fact. The modifications from B/X are slight, but sensible and easy to apply consistently. Like many of you who have posted reviews, I love the specialist class and point system. For some reason, I also really like the character sheet with extra combat blocks for modified AC and the graphic six-siders for skills. The simplified encumbrance, maritime rules, and new spells are fantastic.

I think I would rather run LotFP over B/X, but need to take it for a road trip first. Even though I have three "bad" paragraphs for my one "good" I want to emphasize I am thrilled with the three books that make up the Grindhouse Edition.

Oh, the art is pretty sweet, too.

Data Slates in Gaming

I have played in a Dark Heresy (DH) game for a little over two years now. We meet every Wednesday at the GM's house. He spends a lot of cash on making sure has all the DH books for reference. He also hand-paints hundreds of miniatures.

Now it's gotten even better.

Recently he purchased an Android slate (bottom center of picture) and uses an HDMI cable to connect it to his HD TV. He often uses the slate to give us players visual information on characters and settings. Of course, he also keeps all of his many digital books there as well.

These technologies, instead of reducing game immersion, actually have the opposite effect. We players find it easier to remember characters, visualize locations, and generate battle tactics.

I consider myself lucky to have such a hard-working and talented GM.

New Amur Political Map & Some Background

(click to enlarge)

My fantasy setting of New Amur, which I have been working on off and on for several years, is a new world continent. Humans, halflings, and dwarfs are the old world inhabitants exploring an unknown and dangerous continent. Two large civilizations are competing for the various resources of the largely unknown continent, though they are both currently focused along the Eastern sea board.

Elves have a slightly lower constitution so, much like Native Americans in American history, are slowly perishing. First by disease and second by the sword of a more advanced civilization. Several generations of death and disease have greatly diluted the knowledge elves had of the continent to the point where any information is considered folklore, so any adventuring party, whether it is comprised of elves or not, goes into New Amur without a clear understanding of what they may have to stand against.

To partially accommodate this, I have constructed a New Amur Monster Maker. This is a series of tables that guide me through original encounter creations. I don't have to re-skin anything because I'm building from the ground up.

On this blog I've posted several New Amur monsters. At first, I used the Labyrinth Lord recommendations for HD and XP. I later created my own algorithm for calculating XP which I happen to prefer. The next logical step is for me to eschew the official bestiary altogether. That is what I have now done.

I will continue the test run over the weeks to come and may publish the monster maker in a far future post. In the meantime, I will continue writing about a world that I have come to love, New Amur!

Bio

I’m Dylan. I grew up playing basic tabletop games with my grandparents and parents. In 1984 my best friend introduced me to Mentzer’s Red Box and I’ve considered myself more or less an rpg gamer since then. In the early nineties I started to enjoy 2^nd edition, Rifts, and various White Wolf products. In 2005 I moved to Cleveland, leaving all of my gamer friends behind. In 2007, through a chance conversation with my neighbor, I discovered a new group of gamers and have been playing in a Dark Heresy campaign every Wednesday for the past two years. I have been attending gaming conventions such as Origins and Gencon since 1997 and spend between two hundred and five hundred dollars a year on various game products, most of which are role-playing books. I have enjoyed a career as a middle school math teacher for over twelve years now. Aside from gaming and teaching, I spend most of my time hiking, reading, drawing, watching UFC, and spending time with my wife and daughter.

As mentioned above, I also enjoy doing artwork and, while I don’t think it’s good enough to go professional, am willing to collaborate with other gamers on their various projects. This is a particular joy. Please note that I spend a lot of time playing, writing gaming material, and doing game-related art, but haven’t personally GM’ed a game since 2004.

My blog posts oscillate between logical essays and flippant attempts at humor that only myself and wife, out of love, would deem witty. Most of my original game products are designed for either Labyrinth Lord or Cyberpunk 2020 and are often inspired by film or literature. My artwork includes water paints, tempera, chalk, and pencil. However, I find myself using computer pens and programs such as Activinspire and GIMP more and more.

The purpose of the blog is multi-fold. Primarily, I want a public forum to meet and interact with other gamers. I chose a blog instead of a message board such as Dragonsfoot because I wanted, not just a bigger soapbox, but an efficient way to organize my thoughts, artwork, and other products. Through blogging I find myself increasingly associated with the OSR and DIY movements, though generally I don’t like factious language. I am open-minded and opinionated, so a blog seemed the best fit. And, while I am here to write, more or less, my own thoughts and conclusions, I greatly appreciate sincere feedback from a community I am proud to count myself a member of.

Congratulations!  You have successfuly discovered the Easter Egg buried in my module The Blasphemous Brewery of Pilz!  Here is your reward:

If a player consumes the extracted eye of a ragnocchio, they gain the ability to use Hold Person on anyone or anything that meets their gaze.  The duration is one hour for each eyeball consumed.  This effect is accumulative and has no limit.  Magic users aware of this effect are willing to pay 5d10 gp for each ragnocchio eyeball.

Contact me at hartwell602 at gmail dot com if you would like to earn your points on the Digital Orc Scoreboard.

Free Maps: Dungeon 1

(click to enlarge)

I made this map by hand because I currently don't have access to a good computer pen. I hope to buy one soon, but in the meantime, It's about time I learn how to scan, adjust, and publish hard copies.

This dungeon is actually a giant forge for creating a sword (thus the shape... pretty blatant, I know). If navigated and searched properly the characters will create a powerful and magical sword by the game's end. The sword will be found behind the purple curtain, but only after a specific sequence is followed.

Room two includes raw materials and monsters to fight. Room three is a dangerous lava room in which the raw materials are melted down. Room four is the quenching room, with a swimming task and water elemental. Room five is the long pounding towards temper and blade. Room five includes lots of baddies to fight, traps to avoid, and and an obstacle course. Finally, those who survive reach several marble stairs leading a dais and a purple curtain. Behind the purple curtain is ...

On Cheesy Horror Movies (part 1)

I used to watch USA’s Up All Night with Gilbert Gottried on Saturday’s and Rhonda Sheer on Friday’s. They would show cult, horror, and slightly censored sexploitation flicks late at night. It ran from 1988 to 1998. This is where I stumbled across films such as Assault of the Killer Bimbos, Wizards of the Demon Sword, The Video Dead, and Vampires on Bikini Beach to lovingly name but a few. My brothers and I developed an Up All Night addiction. I even ran a few games based on some of these flicks which I plan to blog about later on.

Sometime during the early nineties I bought a role-playing game called It Came from the Late Late Late Show (Late Show). I don’t have it anymore, but remember it replicated cheesy horror movies (CHM) which is what drew me in. The book had a fantastic amount of creatures, settings, and NPC’s to populate any game environment. A couple of things bugged me about the design, however, and I only played it twice, though I often used it as a source book for Vampire, D&D, and Rifts games I ran.

I didn’t like that it treated the game as a movie, complete with stunt doubles, fame, and props. This makes the game too meta-meta for me. By this I mean, it’s a game in which players are playing players and... you get the idea. I think this idea works well for card games such as Skippy’s Revenge, but not for table-top role-playing games. Building another wall between player and character is too disconnecting for me to enjoy. I house-ruled away this element by eliminating fame and replacing it with a simple XP progression system.



Second, if a game is going to replicate a CHM, I would like for it to include specific mechanics or characteristics that bring the important factors in to the game. Call of Cthulhu (CoC), for example, has sanity rules and D&D has all the different characteristics for each race. Late Show has very few mechanics that address CHM factors. The talent “screaming” is an example, but there are far too few of these to make the game system any more CHM than a slightly modified D&D or CoC. Game Masters, or in this case the "Director", can bring any mechanic or trait into a game, but that is independent of the mechanics themselves and doesn’t validate the game itself.



These are unnecessary academic quibbles I had with an intentionally silly game and reserve all rights to my own opinion, flawed they may be. I did, however, enjoy this book and sorely miss it now.

Because I can't help myself, a few more: Bad Girls Dormitory, The Bikini Carwash Company, Bloodspell, Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death (Yes, really. Kind of makes you scared, horny, and hungry all at once.), Cemetery High, Chopper Chicks in Zombietown, Deathstalker, Fertilize the Blaspheming Bombshell, Flesh Eating Mothers, Howling 2: Your Sister is a Werewolf, Night of the Creeps, Nymphoid Barbarian in Dinosaur Hell, Satan's Cheerleaders, Sorority Girls and the Creature from Hell, The Toxic Avenger, ... ah, memories.

Miniatures & Roleplaying (part 2)

Do you think using miniatures is akin to watching a movie and going sans mini more like reading the book? I got to thinking about this the other day because, even though I play with minis every Wednesday for my Dark Heresy game and have several proudly displayed in my study, gameplay with minis feels completely different in my brain; more external board-play rather than mental immersion-style gameplay.

Without doubt, they provide a concrete marker that, when coupled with a scaled map, allow players and game masters more perspective for tactics. Perhaps they also reduce the mental workload for GM and player alike. For example, without minis, the GM is at pains to describe factors in detail that would be obvious with them.

Despite the added difficulty, I can’t help but think that playing without minis has more immersion potential. I have only started using miniatures in role-playing in that last couple of years, so I have a biased history.

Biased History

I organize my personal role-playing history into three basic periods, mapping, killing, and talking. I started playing Mentzer’s red box in the mid-eighties (grades 3-5). During this time I played mainly with my best friend at the time and my two younger brothers. We largely ignored the rules, spending most of our time drawing maps and invariably placing a dragon in the final room. The second period, which I call “killing”, is when I rediscovered role-playing through a new group of friends in high school. We mainly played 2e and Rifts and focused on killing/acquisition. This time frame covered my entire high school, college, and post-college years. After moving far from home, getting married, and having a daughter, I discovered, quite by accident, that my neighbor role-played every Wednesday. Thus began my “talking” period, which started two years ago. Our gameplay focuses less on exploration and killing and more on investigating and solving mysteries. Every game involves minis. In this period, I discovered the OSR and began this blog.

Cyberpunk: Where Did It Go? (part 2)

"I seem to remember, when we were at, um, Cambridge, there was a war, I think it was between the, uh, they were called, uh, mods and rockers, and they - they went at each other with bicycle chains. I don't think your punks need help from the outside to kill themselves."

Earlier I said the following about cyberpunk:

As a vehicle for speculation regarding the affect of computer technology on brain development, it is now outdated and less efficient year after year as what Robert Pirsig called a culture bearer; it is dead or dying (Pirsig, 2006). As a dark and at times dystopian near future science fiction genre highlighting the plight of the individual against business/government conglomerates it remains as powerful and enthralling as ever.

This is an equivocating statement. I was holding my orc-cake and eating it, too. I did this by conveniently splitting "cyberpunk" into two things; a real-world speculation and a generalized subgenre of science fiction.

Oh well.

Next, I decided to feature this issue as my first blog poll, which ran for nearly six weeks. The poll asked readers to rate whether cyberpunk was still a relevant subgenre. There are many significant factors that reduce the power of any conclusion drawn from this poll, though.

Significant Poll Factors

I had 32 participants; clearly, I don't have a nearly large enough sample size. Also, most of my readers are gamers and heavily influenced by this hobby. Using "relevant" may have been too vague and "subgenre" may have been too loaded with negative connotations. Finally, my answers were in likert scale, which almost always ensure a bell curve of responses, marginalizing all data.

Poll Suggestions

That said, it seems the general trend is a negative bell curve, supporting the first part of my conclusion; "As a vehicle for speculation regarding the affect of computer technology on brain development, it [cyberpunk] is now outdated and less efficient year after year as what Robert Pirsig called a culture bearer; it is dead or dying (Pirsig, 2006)." That, however, may change in the public's eye as one of the initial cyberpunk novels may be finally coming to the big screen.

The End?

Resources

Pirsig, Robert. (2006). Zen and the art of motorcylce maintenance. Harper Torch.

D&D&D: Dads & Dungeons & Dragons

As my readers know, I'm a father in addition to being a gamer. Since it's summer, I'm getting outside with much greater regularity. As a result my orcish skin has lost it's normal subterranean ghostly green pallor and been replaced with a healthy ruddish verdance. Because I live less than a mile from Lake Erie and the beaches are free (I just spent three months salary on a print version of LotFP and don't currently have a lot of pocket cash), we spend a lot of time there.

Above is one of the sections of a dungeon I created for my daughter. I'm sorry to say that neither my wife nor daughter survived my dungeon crawl (yeah, we were literally crawling in the sand, knuck knuck) due to a mysterious and sometimes deadly green liquid filling the dungeon, cavern by cavern. Luckily, the water pollutant count today was low, or it could have been far uglier. And so ends module LA1: The Mistake on the Lake. Will you survive?

We got home with a box full of Taco Bell (I TOLD you I'm poor right now) and decided to eat outside. That way, we hose off the sand (see module LA1 above) and scatter cheese and lettuce in the yard with reckless abandon, only to clean that, too, with the hose later.

Thus recharged with high-fat rations, we quickly "rolled" new characters (uh, that means we literally rolled jumbo-sized chalk down our driveway) and explored a mysterious keep that had magically materialized at the base of our drive. As you can see, there were pits, curtains, and crumbling walls, in additional to a leaky roof (it had started to rain). My daughter managed to evade the broken T Rex and plush magic monkey, but, in the end, she fell to the power of the dirt beholder which promptly teleported her to a strange room full of falling water. Shorty after, just when my daughter had escaped the suffocating towel beast and found the presumed safety of the Crib Inn, a powerful mage called "Dah-dee" cast a sleep spell and all was lost. Oh well, we'll roll some more characters after nap time and attempt module PP2: Potty Time with Elmo, otherwise known as the Chamber of Horrors. (I don't know about you, but I'm flushed with excitement about how it's all going to come out.)

New Amur Soundtrack: 2

This is the second part of the soundtrack I'm building to use during my New Amur campaign. Most of the music, for reasons I've explained, doesn't include any vocals. They do, however, evoke a powerful mood which accurately represents the mysterious and dangerous world of New Amur. I encourage you to give 'em a listen and tell the orc what you think.

Simple Rule for Splitting Race and Class in B/X

I created this set of house rules for my B/X game set in the world I designed called New Amur.

Remove dwarf, elf, and halfling as class options. Keep cleric, fighter, magic user, and thief as written, but make them open to any race. All racial traits, such as infravision, are kept. For example, elves can not cast spells unless they are a magic user or cleric.

Players roll 3d6 for attributes, unless noted otherwise below.

Dwarf: Strength roll becomes 3d8 and dexterity 3d4.

Elf: Constitution roll becomes 3d4.

Halfling: Strength roll becomes 3d4. All halflings automatically get first level thief skills. These skills do not increase over time, however, unless the halfling player selects a thief class.

Because a dwarf's strength may exceed 18, use the following table to adjust to hit, damage, and opening doors.

3: -3
4-5: -2
6-8: -1
9-12: no adjustments
13-15: +1
16-17: +2
18-21: +3
22-23: +4
24: +5

This system also allows players to create unusual race options for play. Ogres, for example, could have a 3d8 roll for strength and a 3d4 for charisma or intelligence. It depends on the culture around each race as determined by the DM. If this rule is employed, the DM, then, should provide at lease a cursory background on all playable races.

Free Maps: Keep 1

I'm hard at work on my next module set in New Amur, titled The Cell Within. Here is a map of a keep that you can use as you wait (with immense anticipation, I'm sure) for my next release.

Several readers have commented on the crude level of my maps. I agree that the buildings, themselves, are a little wobbly and not as polished as most of my artwork. However, this style has kind of grown on me. Besides, the way I play, the players don't see the maps; they're more for the Game Master. The use of maps in game is a topic I hope to write about soon. It's been too long since I did a bloated, grandiose, ego-serving essay. You've been warned.

Art: Bed & Boar Inn Signs

A couple of weeks ago I posted a module I created called Victims of Circumstance. The primary location for this, rather smelly, adventure is a pig farm/Inn on the borderlands. I'm thinking about running this module at Gencon, so I've been making new art to accompany the text. Above and below are the two signs I've made so far. One is neat and the other is, well, sloppy. I'm not sure which one to include, so I thought I'd post them both.

The Guy with the Die: An OSR Poem

I put the entire The Guy with the Die poem together into one framed PDF for your enjoyment, which you can find by clicking here. This was really fun to make. Maybe I'll make another one. Maybe one of my awesome readers will post an idea for another poem. Maybe I'll compile all of my poems into one big PDF. Maybe I'll - Oh look, donuts. Mmmm, donuts.

See Orc Run (or) An Orc In Its Natural Habitat

That's me in the furry viking helmet five minutes before the start.

That's me, 052400 (eyes open, mouth closed) several minutes after swimming through mud and the finish line.

I survived Warrior Dash 2011! 3.1 hellish miles of mud, hills, fire, rope walls, hills, mud, and hills. I'm actually not that sore. Anyway, the endorphic rush was worth the embarassment of having hundreds of people see me get tied up in barb wire wearing a viking helmet and Miami Vice sunglasses. Maybe there is something to this LARP thing, after all.

Evil Bacon

I'm happy to announce another free adventure! This is my third New Amur adventure, entitled Victims of Circumstance. It's several pages longer than most of my adventures, so I will not include it here as a post. You can find it in PDF format by clicking here, or by clicking on the link on the upper right side of this blog under the title "Free Digital Orc Products". I hope you enjoy it. I am open to any feedback, positive or otherwise. I'd especially like to hear from those who run the adventure.

Stay up to date on all the free and upcoming Digital Orc products by becoming a follower. Just click on the "follow" button at the top side of the blog.

Monster: Pig-Men

Pig-Men
No. Enc.: 1d6
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 120’ (40’)
Armor Class: 7
Hit Dice: 3
Attacks: 1, fist or weapon
Damage: 1d6 or weapon
Save: F3
Morale: 5
Hoard Class: I
XP: 139

Chaotic magic can twist man into a demonic, war-crazed half-man half-pig monster. Once cursed, the victim begins a slow and inevitable transformation. They loose the ability to speak, becoming capable only of grunts and squeals. Their skin thickens and forms a rubbery natural armor. Muscle mass and aggression increases dramatically. The transformation takes 1d8 hours. Once complete, the curse is irreversible and the human mind is forever gone. It is replaced by a basic animal-like chaotic mind. Pig-Men have been corralled into powerful armies, but they are difficult to manage.

Free Maps: Inn 1

I'm almost finished with my next adventure, NA3: Victims of Circumstance. In the meantime, here are the maps I drew for the setting. This is a map of the Bed & Boar Inn. What are the terrible goings-on here? Become a follower of the Orc to find out!

Hint: Look at the compass rose.