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Saxon England, some time prior to the Viking incursions but a few generations after Christianity was adopted. It’s a fantastic version of it – among other things, the old Roman city ruins are avoided by Englishmen on account of the dire sorcery that surely lurks within, but in general it does a good job of trying to make that setting feel like a neat place to explore.
In particular, the classes (a worker of sung magic, one who invokes divine intercession, and everyone else, who are considered to be Warriors where it counts on account of the social demands on free people, whatever else they might do) each come with their own ‘Glory’ and ‘Shame’ states, which are basically XP and anti-XP.
If you’re a Warrior, you get your XP for doing worthy deeds in service to lord or kin. You get XP for facing great challenges in said tasks. And you lose XP for betrayals, for cowardice, for failing to keep your freely given word.
A worker of magic, meanwhile, their XP is all about basically proving themselves a worthy member of the community – a foe to monsters and devilry and pagans, and a boon to good honest Christians (and their ilk explicitly do not count). They lose XP for basically confirming the fears about them, in basically the opposite direction.
Notably, they gain a Shame for being friend to Pagans when a Warrior would not – because that’s not the thing the Warrior needs to struggle against to prove their worth, they need to struggle against the appearance of being a treacherous coward.
So on and so forth, the player incentives are about immersing yourself in the things that matter to people in the setting, and to the social role your character occupies, and thus it tries to get the player in that mindset as well.
Well, I was operating under my legal name at the time (it’s actually in the acknowledgements of one of the books – I don’t remember the flow of events precisely but I did early version feedback reading at one point with some minor corrections re: table mishaps and such, and I remember something about sending a worried email regarding very similar bulk copy between a section and equivalent text in The Flower of Battle which turned out to be written by the same person rather than there being anything strange going on) and while I don’t have a new one to replace it finalized, that one is very much not me. So it’s a hard spot.
Mostly, I’m juggling between life stuff, trying to do basement game dev, etc. Still haven’t gotten a chance to _use_ Codex in live play, but it’s been a favorite collection element for ages, as said. Closest thing I’ve been able to get a group for is Kevin Crawford’s recent game “Wolves of God”, which if you haven’t had change to read it is a masterwork of conveying the past (or a mythic version thereof, at least) as a foreign country worthy of exploration, in much the way as the Baltic guide sets out to.
I think you may have actually confused me for someone else with a similar story? Sean isn’t a name I’ve ever used.
“Arts” or “Techniques” are other single word options that people won’t likely find it off to associate with martial skillsets. I don’t believe they’re used elsewhere in the OGL system itself, and they’re simple English words in common usage rather than another term of art players new to the genre might find it wearing to juggle.
Aside: It was a very welcome bit of nostalgia having this show up in my inbox from DT unexpectedly, I was much into the game back in high school. [Apologies if I just made anyone feel their years weighing, kids these days…] In any case, best wishes with your relaunch and I’m looking forward to getting a crack at your take on magic when it’s ready for press.
