Who's your Nome King?

For those of you who actually paid attention to my shout-outs last week and actually read Jared Davis' blog, you might have read a little bit about the famous Nome King. While he goes into some depth analyzing the character of Roquat/Ruggedo, the villain of "Ozma of Oz", "The Emerald City of Oz", "Tik-Tok of Oz", and "The Magic of Oz", it is worth mentioning that there was another Nome King in the stories. Kaliko started out as Roquat's chamberlain and chief steward in "Emerald City" (It might have been him in "Ozma", but he wasn't named until "Emerald City"). When the events of "Tik-Tok of Oz" caused Ruggedo to be removed from office, Kaliko became the new Nome King.

We see what kind of ruler he has become in "Rinkitink in Oz". When Rinkitink and Prince Inga arrive to rescue the King and Queen of Pingaree, who had been captured by their enemies and traded to the Nomes, King Kaliko delights in creating all sorts of dangers for them to face up against. It is only through the use of the magic Pearls of Pingaree that Inga and Rinkitink are able to survive their sojourn to the Nome Kingdom.

When Dorothy arrives to demand that Kaliko stop tormenting his prisoners, he is very petulant, like a spoiled child who's had a toy taken away from him.

Has power gone to Kaliko's head?

Time for a shout-out!

My first shout-out goes to Jared Davis, Oz Blogger extraordinaire. Also the mastermind of the "Wonders of Oz", a video series on YouTube detailing over 100 years of Oz in American culture. From the original story and it's sequels, to the famous film version starring Judy Garland, and even covering "The Wiz" and "Wicked". He also moderates the Wonderful Wizard of Oz Fan Fiction Forums.

Another shout-out goes to William J. Walton, webmaster of The Escapist, a gaming advocacy site. One of the neat features there is the Young Person's Adventurer's League, featuring resources for those grownups who wish to share the fun of role-playing games with their kids. To this end, he also puts out the Dragonkin podcast. Check it out!

Now! With more updates!

The updates just keep rolling in. The new, updated magic system got uploaded just a few days after the last blog. New today is updated versions of the characters that appeared in "The Magic Belt of Oz." Feel free to try out the adventure with the new rules, or simply play as your favorite Oz character. I know most people's favorites are in that document. If your favorite Oz character didn't make the cut, drop me a line and I'll see what I can do. Or you can stat them up yourself. Tell me about it and I might even put your material, or a link to it, on my site.

The new rules

New on the site, we've got the updated rules system. The combat system got the biggest facelift, since that was a lot of what sparked the redesign. Also included for your approval is the concept of the extended task, which can be resolved by multiple die rolls. The character creation document also got a slight touchup to bring a couple of traits in line with the new combat system.

Next on the list: Bring the magic system up to the new revision, and also see if "The Magic Belt of Oz" can be brought up to the new revision. After that, it's work on rewriting the setting material so that it's more my voice and a little less of Baum's. Something should be happening on at least one of these fronts by next week.

As you're browsing the page, you might notice that downloading the files just got an extra step added. This was included so that Google Analytics can pick up on who's downloading which files. Since I'm not getting very many comments or emails, I've got to find out what you guys want somehow.