Introducing The Elthos Role Playing Game

Role Playing Games:  The Basic Idea

An RPG is a game in which people play fictional Characters in a fictional World using a rules system of one sort or another.   The Elthos RPG has it's own rules system.  Actually, it has two - a simple one called the One Die System (ODS), and a more comprehensive one named Elthos Prime.

RPGs, generally, require two or more people to play.   One person is the Referee of the game, who's official title is Gamesmaster.   The remaining people are referred to as Players.   Each Player can play one or more Characters in the game, and the Gamesmaster plays all other Characters who are not owned by a Player (called Non-Player Characters or NPCs).  

The way the game works is the Gamesmaster creates a World based on some fictional or real world setting.  Players play Characters who freely roam around that World.  The Gamesmaster will explain the setting and situation as the game progresses, and the Players tell the Gamesmaster what their Characters do.   Then the Gamesmaster rolls the dice to determine if what the Players try to do is successful or not.   This can be combat, or the use of skills, or magic, or pretty much anything the Players decide their Characters want to try.   Sometimes they win, sometimes they lose.   Sometimes they get themselves killed, and then it's time to roll new Characters and continue the exploration.

The objective of the game is for the Players to take their Characters on fun and exciting adventures in a World of the Gamesmaster's creation.

The Elthos ODS Core Rules Book

The "One Die System" features a launching point for Gamesmasters in the form of the Core Rules Book.  It can be downloaded from the Members Section of the site, or can be purchased separately from Lulu.com (wip). 

The Elthos ODS was created in order to run light and quick games in a pub setting where the Literary Role Playing Game Society of Westchester has been meeting, roughly monthly, since February 2006.  As a Mini-System it was originally intended to allow the LRPGSW to use a streamlined version of the Elthos Prime rules system for testing out Gamesmastering scenarios and experimenting with techniques of story building.   Some day we may even use it for that purpose.     In any event, the important thing to understand about the Elthos "One Die System" is that it uses very small numbers to keep the math as simple as possible, which is why you will see that sometimes it is refered to as a Mini-System.  I thought the mini-system turned out to be quite a good little game, and so I decided to field it to the public.       

The Elthos RPG Computer Programs:
Gamesmaster's Toolbox & World Weaver's Development Studio 

The Elthos Computer Applications are both designed to aid Gamesmasters and World Weavers in the tasks associated to running the Elthos RPG, and as such they are tied to the rules system.   Neither of these Applications actually run the Elthos RPG themselves (as in you don't sit at the computer and play Elthos RPG like a computer game), but instead they are both designed to help the GM run a traditional style RPG with their friends physically around the table, just like the old days - only with computer support (which makes everything easier).  The concept is to use the computer to run a game that brings friends together so they can socialize while playing.   The Applications have a lot of overlap in that they both have a core set of functions that they perform - but they are also different, and each has it's own unique features.

Elthos ODS:  The Mini-System Web Application

In 2006 I began working on the Elthos "One Die System" (ODS) and spend the next two years programming it into a Web Application.     This application stores all of the Gamesmaster's data on the Internet so that he or she can access it anywhere using a web broswer.   It does most of what the Elthos Prime Gamesmaster's Toolbox does, but adds other features for world building not included in the original application.  

The concept of the Web Application is to provide two basic features:  One to help with the number crunching tasks of Gamesmastering, and the other to help with World Building by providing a structures system into which you can add Places, Campaigns, Adventures, Characters and associate Adventure Groups with your Campaigns.   In the end it provides the Gamesmaster with a handy set of print outs that they can take to the game which contains specific character sheets, calculated charts, and Campaign information.   By keeping track of all this information in an orderly system it also acts as a historical archive for your Campaigns and Adventures.  

What the Elthos ODS Web Application does not do is run the game itself.  It is not a computer game that you play.  It is a Gamesmaster's Assistant that you use to help you to run your own game with your friends.

Elthos Prime: The Windows Application "Mother Ship"

The Elthos Prime: Gamesmaster's Toolbox is a windows application which embodies the Elthos Prime system.  I began programming the application in 1994 and completed in 2000.  However, I still consider it 'under constructions' though actually it really only requires polishing and finish-work and a few bug fixes ... it's only been 12 years... don't rush me!  While not currently available to the public it contains "the mother ship" of the Elthos Project, and will be released sometime in the not too terribly distant future, if all goes well.   It has a set of features that do not exist in the Elthos ODS Web Application, which can be read about in the Gamesmaster's Toolbox section.

The Elthos World Setting

The Elthos Setting is a framework for story telling and provides the Gamesmaster with places and main NPCs who make up the background of the Elthos World.   That said, Elthos RPG System is intended to give the Gamesmaster as much freedom to create their own World Setting as they wish, and so the Elthos rules can be used without the Setting if the Gamesmaster wishes.   The Setting is there simply to provide a frame of reference in case the Gamesmaster would like to work within it.   

Elthos is a multi-dimensional Universe that encompasses a wide range of story genres and draws it's inspiration from many myths, legends, and folklore.  I tend to focus on Celtic-Arthurian Fairytale-like Adventures.  However, Elthos the World is intended to include many literary genres, and is open to infinite possibilities in terms of what kind of stories may be derived from it.    The Elthos World is a framework of Cosmological Correspondences for the Gamesmaster to use while creating their game story.   The Correspondences relate to the Elkron, who are the Deities of Elthos.   The Correspondences give the Gamesmaster tools for keeping the symbolic aspects of their stories coherent and consistant.   To get a visual idea of the Correspondence system of Elthos you can study the Cosmological Map of Elthos, which gives some idea as to the nature of the Elthos Cosmology.   This is discussed in more detail in the Members Area.

The Elthos World Weaver's Guide is a book that will talk about the Elthos World Setting and provide information as to how to use the Cosmological System to run Elthosian games.   That book has yet to be written but much of the material that will be in it can be found in the World Weaving section of the Members Area.

The Members Area

The Members Area contains three things:

• The Elthos ODS Core Rules Book (PDF)
• The Elthos ODS Web Application - Gamesmaster's Toolbox & World Weaver's Development Studio
• The Elthos World Weaver's Guide

The Literary Role Playing Game Society

The Literary RPG Society is dedicated to the discussion of such literary works as Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings", CS Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia", the general spectrum of Greek, Norse, Hindu Mythology, folklore, fairytales, history and classical literature, in relation to the creation of Worlds by Mythopoets, and running of such Worlds by Gamesmasters.  The LRPGSW is a Yahoo Group site used for the public recording our meeting notes, shared essays, artwork, and ideas as well as any other resources that may come to mind.   Gamesmasters and World Weavers are most welcome to visit and join the LRPGSW by clicking this link: LRPGSW.

I hope you will enjoy the Elthos RPG and find it rewarding, entertaining, and perhaps even a little bit thought provoking as well.   Peace, Harmony and Great Adventuring to you all.

Sincerely,
GrayFalcon, Gamesmaster of Elthos