This Friday, I get to take a step back from my normal role of Game Master and actually just play. One of the guys in our group is running the Tri-Tac Games classic Stalking The Night Fantastic (1st ed, I believe). Augmented with plenty of extra charts and tables to roll some entertaining background notes and aspects on, character creation was a hoot.
I have more often than not been in the position, as I am sure many of you out there can sympathize on, of being the only one to ever take a turn at Game Master. Happily, our most recent gaming group has been far more egalitarian.
I admit, I’m really looking forward to a few sessions on the other side of the GM screen. I look at it not only as a) time to work on my next campaign or b) a nice break from the extensive GM prep I usually do, but also a chance to remember what it’s like to be a player. It’s nice to be just a player, sometimes, and see how GM decisions or styles can affect the mood or energy at the table. Plus, it’s always nice to see different styles at play.
The biggest thing to remember, of course, is that you are no longer the GM. You don’t adjudicate, you don’t hand down rulings, and it isn’t your game, at least in the more traditional, authoritarian models of RPGing. No Game Master needs the last Game Master hovering about like a ghost, warning about pitfalls or perils while they’re trying to run the game.
So, Friday we’ll see if I’m still any good at being a player. Aside from a few demos and one-shots at Gen Con, it’s been a couple of years for me. And rolling those dice in the open seems so foreign a concept…
Showing newest posts with label Actual Play. Show older posts
Showing newest posts with label Actual Play. Show older posts
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Enter Traveller
I can count on one hand the number of Total Party Kills I've had as a Game Master over the years. Friday night, I almost added one to that number.
I won't go into all the gory details, save it to say the group rolled two of the worst watch encounters back-to-back I have ever seen. The first, a vampire, they managed to mist and drive off (thanks to some quick thinking from the Friar and company). The second, however, was a Behir, and it overwhelmed the group entirely. I ran both right out of the book, and there was a small window to flee, but Friar Charles and the sorcerer Vas both went down permanently. The dwarven cleric Nalgin was rescued by Antigus the Druid, who escaped along with the (new party member) Valrayan the Ranger thanks to their (eventually) displaying the better part of valor.
I felt bad, but that's how the dice roll. It was just a matter of luck running out--no more Mulligan stones, no more d30 supercharge rolls. Just eating it, in a big way. But if there isn't the spectre of catastrophe, you don't have any suspense. I still think I'll be second-guessing a few things for a while, but to overuse a phrase, it is what it is.
Our group had already been discussing playing some different games before this all happened, and this was a pretty good to suspend the Castles & Crusades game for now. We all talked, and we were mostly all ready to try something other than high fantasy for a bit. So, next time, one of the guys will be running a one-off Deadlands session (I get to play for a change!), and the session after that, we do group character generation for Mongoose Traveller.
I'd also like to run Thousand Suns or the new In Harm's Way: StarCluster (which I'm still digesting) eventually, but almost no one in our group has played Traveller before--it's a gamer rite of passage. There's also some demand for Rolemaster, but I'm waiting on some things before I run it again, and the idea was to get away from fantasy for a little bit. I also still have my alt-history/pulp Two-Fisted Tales game under prep/research, and I think we'll get to it. I think the group agrees--there's just too many great games out there to be married to one game into perpetuity.
The basic idea is that all the players will be Imperial Navy, stationed on a science vessel that was part of a small fleet "showing the flag" in a little-traveled backwater full of warlords and hostile aliens. A surprise rebellion destroyed the entire fleet, save this one science vessel, which had to remain behind at a remote starport for vital repairs. Now, an entire sector of hostile space separates them from home.
One 600-ton science vessel vs. an entire hostile sector? A mismatch, I know. It doesn't seem fair to the sector...
I won't go into all the gory details, save it to say the group rolled two of the worst watch encounters back-to-back I have ever seen. The first, a vampire, they managed to mist and drive off (thanks to some quick thinking from the Friar and company). The second, however, was a Behir, and it overwhelmed the group entirely. I ran both right out of the book, and there was a small window to flee, but Friar Charles and the sorcerer Vas both went down permanently. The dwarven cleric Nalgin was rescued by Antigus the Druid, who escaped along with the (new party member) Valrayan the Ranger thanks to their (eventually) displaying the better part of valor.
I felt bad, but that's how the dice roll. It was just a matter of luck running out--no more Mulligan stones, no more d30 supercharge rolls. Just eating it, in a big way. But if there isn't the spectre of catastrophe, you don't have any suspense. I still think I'll be second-guessing a few things for a while, but to overuse a phrase, it is what it is.
Our group had already been discussing playing some different games before this all happened, and this was a pretty good to suspend the Castles & Crusades game for now. We all talked, and we were mostly all ready to try something other than high fantasy for a bit. So, next time, one of the guys will be running a one-off Deadlands session (I get to play for a change!), and the session after that, we do group character generation for Mongoose Traveller.
I'd also like to run Thousand Suns or the new In Harm's Way: StarCluster (which I'm still digesting) eventually, but almost no one in our group has played Traveller before--it's a gamer rite of passage. There's also some demand for Rolemaster, but I'm waiting on some things before I run it again, and the idea was to get away from fantasy for a little bit. I also still have my alt-history/pulp Two-Fisted Tales game under prep/research, and I think we'll get to it. I think the group agrees--there's just too many great games out there to be married to one game into perpetuity.
The basic idea is that all the players will be Imperial Navy, stationed on a science vessel that was part of a small fleet "showing the flag" in a little-traveled backwater full of warlords and hostile aliens. A surprise rebellion destroyed the entire fleet, save this one science vessel, which had to remain behind at a remote starport for vital repairs. Now, an entire sector of hostile space separates them from home.
One 600-ton science vessel vs. an entire hostile sector? A mismatch, I know. It doesn't seem fair to the sector...
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Play Recap: Session 8
Well, no matter how good you think you are as a Game Master, you're going to run into some inter-party conflict. In a way, I hate inter-party conflict, because it can lead to bruised feelings or game dissolution. I'm pleased to say that didn't happen
When we last left the party, they were being told in no uncertain terms they would revisit via teleporting the Pools of Portation at dawn and clean up the damage they did. The problem? There were at the least 16 Darrakian (read: evil Necromantic Overlord lackeys) troops sitting around waiting for them, along with one dude with the capacity to tear them up with fireballs.
The players managed to garner a pretty good list of supplies, including the equivalent of some smoke bombs and powerful healing herbs, and went back at it, taking along a single, profane guardsman who seemed to have a healthy dislike of everyone (they picked him over the hypochondriac or overweight dude with the polearm).
The Pools of Portation were set up in the middle of a grove, so that jumping into a pool ended up with the player in another pool in the grove. The players used this teleportation effect wonderfully, using their smokescreens, good movement, some key Sonic Bursts, and the druid's Vines O' Entanglement to kneecap the baddies pretty early on. This fight definitely went better than last time.
At the end of the fight, Antigus the Druid prevailed upon one of the remaining fighters to surrender. He did, throwing his sword down in disgust. Immediately after this, our mercurial Jack-of-All-Trades Leyton threw Alchemist's Fire on the now-prisoner.
Cue the Star Trek Fight Music.
Antigus and the rest of the party did not care for this at all, and in some amazing rolls, managed to overbear and grapple Leyton, who was the strongest member of the group. Antigus got thrown off, then our mage Vas ran in for a tackle. Nalgin the Cleric pointed a wand at him, and Friar Charles tried desperately to save the life of the prisoner.
Nalgin roped his feet, but Leyton still fought. Finally, Vas used his d30 supercharge for a kick to the head (subdual). Leyton finally went limp.
How to deal with this? The party was torn on the best course of action. On one hand, Leyton had been a help in the past, and not having him weakened them. On the other hand, the party had a Friar and Cleric. Could they ignore the sort of act he had committed?
Well, it turns out one of the Pools did not lead to another pool in the grove. They weren't sure where it went, but it wasn't anywhere nearby, apparently. The guardsman had decided he had had enough and was walking back to Morsten, some 60 miles away, to spend his newfound loot. The party was considered exploring the pool, a decision accelerated when then the party members began to jump into the pool and disppear.
Finally, the decision was made to cut the unconscious Leyton free, leave him his items, but leave him nonetheless, basically separating him from the party.
After this, I discussed what had happened with Leyton's player. Obviously, he could wake up and try to find them (for good or ill), or go on his own way for a number of reasons. I think what the player decided on will be an interesting course. I don't feel comfortable revealing all of what went down, since we have other players reading this, but they'll find out when we play again in two weeks. Players sometimes make decisions that turn out to be unpalatable to the rest of the group. The secret isn't to try to shoehorn a resolution, I think; it's to face facts, make sure everyone leaves it on the gaming table, and press on with the game.
All in all, a challenging session, but one we got through. I think the campaign is in a good spot next week, where things should get very interesting. Of course, player action drives everything, so we'll see.
When we last left the party, they were being told in no uncertain terms they would revisit via teleporting the Pools of Portation at dawn and clean up the damage they did. The problem? There were at the least 16 Darrakian (read: evil Necromantic Overlord lackeys) troops sitting around waiting for them, along with one dude with the capacity to tear them up with fireballs.
The players managed to garner a pretty good list of supplies, including the equivalent of some smoke bombs and powerful healing herbs, and went back at it, taking along a single, profane guardsman who seemed to have a healthy dislike of everyone (they picked him over the hypochondriac or overweight dude with the polearm).
The Pools of Portation were set up in the middle of a grove, so that jumping into a pool ended up with the player in another pool in the grove. The players used this teleportation effect wonderfully, using their smokescreens, good movement, some key Sonic Bursts, and the druid's Vines O' Entanglement to kneecap the baddies pretty early on. This fight definitely went better than last time.
At the end of the fight, Antigus the Druid prevailed upon one of the remaining fighters to surrender. He did, throwing his sword down in disgust. Immediately after this, our mercurial Jack-of-All-Trades Leyton threw Alchemist's Fire on the now-prisoner.
Cue the Star Trek Fight Music.
Antigus and the rest of the party did not care for this at all, and in some amazing rolls, managed to overbear and grapple Leyton, who was the strongest member of the group. Antigus got thrown off, then our mage Vas ran in for a tackle. Nalgin the Cleric pointed a wand at him, and Friar Charles tried desperately to save the life of the prisoner.
Nalgin roped his feet, but Leyton still fought. Finally, Vas used his d30 supercharge for a kick to the head (subdual). Leyton finally went limp.
How to deal with this? The party was torn on the best course of action. On one hand, Leyton had been a help in the past, and not having him weakened them. On the other hand, the party had a Friar and Cleric. Could they ignore the sort of act he had committed?
Well, it turns out one of the Pools did not lead to another pool in the grove. They weren't sure where it went, but it wasn't anywhere nearby, apparently. The guardsman had decided he had had enough and was walking back to Morsten, some 60 miles away, to spend his newfound loot. The party was considered exploring the pool, a decision accelerated when then the party members began to jump into the pool and disppear.
Finally, the decision was made to cut the unconscious Leyton free, leave him his items, but leave him nonetheless, basically separating him from the party.
After this, I discussed what had happened with Leyton's player. Obviously, he could wake up and try to find them (for good or ill), or go on his own way for a number of reasons. I think what the player decided on will be an interesting course. I don't feel comfortable revealing all of what went down, since we have other players reading this, but they'll find out when we play again in two weeks. Players sometimes make decisions that turn out to be unpalatable to the rest of the group. The secret isn't to try to shoehorn a resolution, I think; it's to face facts, make sure everyone leaves it on the gaming table, and press on with the game.
All in all, a challenging session, but one we got through. I think the campaign is in a good spot next week, where things should get very interesting. Of course, player action drives everything, so we'll see.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Play Recap: Session 7
Last night's game was one of those as a GM where I feel like I got run down by a car--I'm not sure where it came from, or entirely sure what just happened. Players can do that to you. Let's hit this in bullet point:
-We were down a couple of players again, but the fearsome foursome decided to carry on. After last week's near-miss with a T-Rex, they managed to make their way (after some well-needed rest and encounter with some harmless pilgrims) to the city of Morsten, The City of the Tower. Lots of 'em, really. The largest towers were all painted a different color to denote, they later learned, one of the various paths of magery in this town (Obsidian was necromancy, Ruby was Fire/Offense, Argent was generalist, and so on).
-When they arrived to town, they learned that all the mages of the council, save one, had disappeared over the past few nights. Anyone who was in the room with one of the disappearing mages was found dead the next morning, a look of total fear on their face. Norgus, a Ruby Mage, was the only left. Well, Friar Charles and the priest Nalgin smelled some sort of malevolent force at work. They offered to help the mage, and in return, if he lived through the night, Norgus offered them one item each from his stash.
-They put Nalgin inside the one modest, tiny church in town (Morsten isn't big on religion), built a room (with the help of many, many laborers) enclosed by waterskins filled with holy water, built a small bed of the same skins, moved the altar inside that room, flooded the floor with holy water, ensured there were holy symbols carved and displayed everywhere, and waited. At midnight, a roiling black cloud of smoke formed and tried to access the room, but was driven off by all the trappings.
It was so above and beyond, I had to give it to them. The mage survived, and Nalgin and Charles ended up with some loot (a Lion's Head shield and a Cloak of Resistance, respectively).
-Basically, Morsten was in a crappy place, because anyone from Morsten carried an arcane mark that a semi-competent necromancer from Darrakis, City of Necromancers, could sniff out in a minute. To get around this, they often used outside labor for snooping. Guess who they wanted to snoop around Darrakis and find out what the heck was going on?
-Leyton negotiated as part of their fee to study with one of the orders of magic in Morsten. He was able to ask a question of each order. He finally decided on Argent robes, which are the most laid-back, generalist school of study. This is a really good accomplishment for him, I think, as it's been something he's been after since the start of the game.
-The group had earlier intercepted a letter from Darrakian troops seeming to indicate something was going on at the Pools of Portation. The Pools are famous for their teleportative ability; you step in one pool, and you end up in another one. The only problem is, the water from the Pools loses this ability if taken out of the clearing they are in. Guess what the group wanted to check out?
-The end result of this was a mess. The group (without Leyton, who had to meditate 3 days to learn a new spell) decided to head out to the Pools of Portation whilst they waited for Leyton to complete his traning. In Norgus' office, he gave them an invaluable, but limited, teleportation stone (the Pools were over 60 miles away) and 2 guardsmen not from Morsten. They also insisted on a mage, so he sent the Ruby apprentice Linius as well.
-The group teleported into a mess of Darrakians. The put some to sleep the first round, but they were ready for them, as the Darrakian mage in the opposition sensed the arcane signature of Linius. One fireball later, half the group was dead, and teleported back to Norgus' offices some 30 seconds after they left.
-After they healed, angrily, some of the group wished for Norgus to accompany them. While they were arguing, and right after Norgus had demanded Vas leave for insolence, Friar Charles activated the stone, sending Norgus, Vas, and everyone else right back to the fight! It was a massacre, with only Charles and Norgus standing a round later. They teleported back to Norgus' office, leaving the corpse the apprentice mage Linius.
-Norgus was furious, livid. These fools had cost him an apprentice, shown incredible insolence, used the teleportation stone without his permission, and worst of all, had left proof that a Ruby robe from Morsten was involved against Darrakis! The characters' attitude didn't help. He coldly informed them that in the morning they would return to the Pools, and fix this wrong. He forbade them from leaving the tower until then. He probably would have had the fools killed or imprisoned, save that they had just saved his bacon the day before.
-The entire time Leyton had been meditating in the tower, unaware of this carnage. He was displeased when Norgus had him disturbed, meaning he would have to start his spell-learning process all over! Norgus bluntly informed him his friends had caused a great deal of havoc and dishonor, and they were to return to the Pools in the morning and eradicate any proof Morsten had been involved.
Holy cow! It was a session of highs and lows. On one hand, the players hit some good personal accomplishments. While in Morsten, Vas was contacted by a mysterious organization known as the Unaffiliated, who promised to help him control his power (but at what cost?). Nalgin and Charles got some new items, and Leyton is on the verge of learning more spells. On the other hand, having little intel and no plan in a move against the forces at the Pools of Portation has brought the party to the edge of doom. Will they head back there to apparent death? Or will they try to just kill the freakin' mage and take over Morsten? Your guess is as good of mine. With all the teleporting the Pools of Portation offer, however, that could be a fun fight...
In two weeks, we'll find out what happens.
-We were down a couple of players again, but the fearsome foursome decided to carry on. After last week's near-miss with a T-Rex, they managed to make their way (after some well-needed rest and encounter with some harmless pilgrims) to the city of Morsten, The City of the Tower. Lots of 'em, really. The largest towers were all painted a different color to denote, they later learned, one of the various paths of magery in this town (Obsidian was necromancy, Ruby was Fire/Offense, Argent was generalist, and so on).
-When they arrived to town, they learned that all the mages of the council, save one, had disappeared over the past few nights. Anyone who was in the room with one of the disappearing mages was found dead the next morning, a look of total fear on their face. Norgus, a Ruby Mage, was the only left. Well, Friar Charles and the priest Nalgin smelled some sort of malevolent force at work. They offered to help the mage, and in return, if he lived through the night, Norgus offered them one item each from his stash.
-They put Nalgin inside the one modest, tiny church in town (Morsten isn't big on religion), built a room (with the help of many, many laborers) enclosed by waterskins filled with holy water, built a small bed of the same skins, moved the altar inside that room, flooded the floor with holy water, ensured there were holy symbols carved and displayed everywhere, and waited. At midnight, a roiling black cloud of smoke formed and tried to access the room, but was driven off by all the trappings.
It was so above and beyond, I had to give it to them. The mage survived, and Nalgin and Charles ended up with some loot (a Lion's Head shield and a Cloak of Resistance, respectively).
-Basically, Morsten was in a crappy place, because anyone from Morsten carried an arcane mark that a semi-competent necromancer from Darrakis, City of Necromancers, could sniff out in a minute. To get around this, they often used outside labor for snooping. Guess who they wanted to snoop around Darrakis and find out what the heck was going on?
-Leyton negotiated as part of their fee to study with one of the orders of magic in Morsten. He was able to ask a question of each order. He finally decided on Argent robes, which are the most laid-back, generalist school of study. This is a really good accomplishment for him, I think, as it's been something he's been after since the start of the game.
-The group had earlier intercepted a letter from Darrakian troops seeming to indicate something was going on at the Pools of Portation. The Pools are famous for their teleportative ability; you step in one pool, and you end up in another one. The only problem is, the water from the Pools loses this ability if taken out of the clearing they are in. Guess what the group wanted to check out?
-The end result of this was a mess. The group (without Leyton, who had to meditate 3 days to learn a new spell) decided to head out to the Pools of Portation whilst they waited for Leyton to complete his traning. In Norgus' office, he gave them an invaluable, but limited, teleportation stone (the Pools were over 60 miles away) and 2 guardsmen not from Morsten. They also insisted on a mage, so he sent the Ruby apprentice Linius as well.
-The group teleported into a mess of Darrakians. The put some to sleep the first round, but they were ready for them, as the Darrakian mage in the opposition sensed the arcane signature of Linius. One fireball later, half the group was dead, and teleported back to Norgus' offices some 30 seconds after they left.
-After they healed, angrily, some of the group wished for Norgus to accompany them. While they were arguing, and right after Norgus had demanded Vas leave for insolence, Friar Charles activated the stone, sending Norgus, Vas, and everyone else right back to the fight! It was a massacre, with only Charles and Norgus standing a round later. They teleported back to Norgus' office, leaving the corpse the apprentice mage Linius.
-Norgus was furious, livid. These fools had cost him an apprentice, shown incredible insolence, used the teleportation stone without his permission, and worst of all, had left proof that a Ruby robe from Morsten was involved against Darrakis! The characters' attitude didn't help. He coldly informed them that in the morning they would return to the Pools, and fix this wrong. He forbade them from leaving the tower until then. He probably would have had the fools killed or imprisoned, save that they had just saved his bacon the day before.
-The entire time Leyton had been meditating in the tower, unaware of this carnage. He was displeased when Norgus had him disturbed, meaning he would have to start his spell-learning process all over! Norgus bluntly informed him his friends had caused a great deal of havoc and dishonor, and they were to return to the Pools in the morning and eradicate any proof Morsten had been involved.
Holy cow! It was a session of highs and lows. On one hand, the players hit some good personal accomplishments. While in Morsten, Vas was contacted by a mysterious organization known as the Unaffiliated, who promised to help him control his power (but at what cost?). Nalgin and Charles got some new items, and Leyton is on the verge of learning more spells. On the other hand, having little intel and no plan in a move against the forces at the Pools of Portation has brought the party to the edge of doom. Will they head back there to apparent death? Or will they try to just kill the freakin' mage and take over Morsten? Your guess is as good of mine. With all the teleporting the Pools of Portation offer, however, that could be a fun fight...
In two weeks, we'll find out what happens.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Play Recap: Session 6
Friday night was our first campaign of the New Year and our Far West Castles & Crusades Campaign. Two players weren't able to make it, but the game always goes on!
Here's a rundown of last time if you weren't following along or need a refresher, but basically, the party defeated the evil of the Fallow Forest, and ran back to the city of Sidon to claim their prize. They had discovered that agents of Darrakis, a city ruled by evil necromancers, were attempting to perhaps not only subvert the nearby mage-city of Morsten, but the entire region.
Woodsmen had already brought word of the the revitalization of the woods ahead of the party, and so they ended up with a hero's welcome back in Sidon. The Grand Admiral himself invited them to dinner, and they ended up with a nice bonus in gold coin.
The group presented the documents incriminating Darrakis, and it was decided that Morsten--despite its chilly relations with Sidon--had to be warned. To that end, they were asked (for pay, of course) to deliver a letter to Morsten, and to explain what they had seen to the Mage's Council there.
Given good horses (a reward unto itself), the party set off on their way. What follow was a hilarious night of really, really high encounter rolls:
-Just as they were setting up camp and had tied up their horses for the evening, a group of 12 mounted Darrakian riders came upon them. Vas (our Wild Mage) made the mistake of telling them they were headed for Morsten. The riders made the mistake of attacking the party. Nalgin's use of Sound Burst knocked down multiple riders off the bat, and even the 6 reinforcement riders I had bursting out of the forest were no match. They got a couple of licks in (Nalgin went to negative hit points, and had to be healed), but it was over quickly. The group got enough daggers, swords, and loot to start a small arms trade, and again I was impressed at just how quickly they routed a superior force.
Friar Charles again tried to cast light on a horse's face to spook it, but it just so happens that the horse he tried it on (yes, I rolled for all this) was one of the horses who he had done it to in the last Darrakian party. The horse made his save, and what followed was Friar Charles attempting to kill this horse before it could spread the word to other horses. Goofy as hell, but fun, and Charles now has a horse for a mortal enemy (don't feel so bad for his player--he did supercharge a damage roll with a d30 and punched someone all the way through the face). The horse renamed himself NightMare, and I am pleased to report he got away. I hope I find a way to work him in again.
-Friar Charles was on his watch after this fight when another encounter roll produced a giant constrictor snake. With the party not able to pry the snake off Charles, Nalgin used the last of his Sound Burst spells, injuring Charles but loosening the snake's grip.
-Lastly, as Leyton stood watch (Leyton's character found an incredibly addictive herb to help control his rages, by the way--great idea on the part of the player, and something that should be fun to play out), he rolled a 72 on my encounter tables, followed by a 00.
I pounded on the table to make the water on the table shake, ala Jurassic Park.
In my entire GM's book, there is one--ONE!--entry for a Tyrannosaurus Rex showing up.
It showed up.
As soon as they saw its head appear over the tree line, the party fled, and lived. Friar Charles, who miserably failed 3 Dexterity checks, ended up slapping his horse on the rear as he lie on the ground tangled in a stirrup. He got away, but will be incredibly worse for the wear.
Everyone again did a great job--extra XP all around. We are not the most focused or serious group, but it isn't that sort of campaign. I think back to how 18 year-old me would have been riled up at some of the things that go on, versus how much fun it all seems now.
We play again on the 22nd!
Here's a rundown of last time if you weren't following along or need a refresher, but basically, the party defeated the evil of the Fallow Forest, and ran back to the city of Sidon to claim their prize. They had discovered that agents of Darrakis, a city ruled by evil necromancers, were attempting to perhaps not only subvert the nearby mage-city of Morsten, but the entire region.
Woodsmen had already brought word of the the revitalization of the woods ahead of the party, and so they ended up with a hero's welcome back in Sidon. The Grand Admiral himself invited them to dinner, and they ended up with a nice bonus in gold coin.
The group presented the documents incriminating Darrakis, and it was decided that Morsten--despite its chilly relations with Sidon--had to be warned. To that end, they were asked (for pay, of course) to deliver a letter to Morsten, and to explain what they had seen to the Mage's Council there.
Given good horses (a reward unto itself), the party set off on their way. What follow was a hilarious night of really, really high encounter rolls:
-Just as they were setting up camp and had tied up their horses for the evening, a group of 12 mounted Darrakian riders came upon them. Vas (our Wild Mage) made the mistake of telling them they were headed for Morsten. The riders made the mistake of attacking the party. Nalgin's use of Sound Burst knocked down multiple riders off the bat, and even the 6 reinforcement riders I had bursting out of the forest were no match. They got a couple of licks in (Nalgin went to negative hit points, and had to be healed), but it was over quickly. The group got enough daggers, swords, and loot to start a small arms trade, and again I was impressed at just how quickly they routed a superior force.
Friar Charles again tried to cast light on a horse's face to spook it, but it just so happens that the horse he tried it on (yes, I rolled for all this) was one of the horses who he had done it to in the last Darrakian party. The horse made his save, and what followed was Friar Charles attempting to kill this horse before it could spread the word to other horses. Goofy as hell, but fun, and Charles now has a horse for a mortal enemy (don't feel so bad for his player--he did supercharge a damage roll with a d30 and punched someone all the way through the face). The horse renamed himself NightMare, and I am pleased to report he got away. I hope I find a way to work him in again.
-Friar Charles was on his watch after this fight when another encounter roll produced a giant constrictor snake. With the party not able to pry the snake off Charles, Nalgin used the last of his Sound Burst spells, injuring Charles but loosening the snake's grip.
-Lastly, as Leyton stood watch (Leyton's character found an incredibly addictive herb to help control his rages, by the way--great idea on the part of the player, and something that should be fun to play out), he rolled a 72 on my encounter tables, followed by a 00.
I pounded on the table to make the water on the table shake, ala Jurassic Park.
In my entire GM's book, there is one--ONE!--entry for a Tyrannosaurus Rex showing up.
It showed up.
As soon as they saw its head appear over the tree line, the party fled, and lived. Friar Charles, who miserably failed 3 Dexterity checks, ended up slapping his horse on the rear as he lie on the ground tangled in a stirrup. He got away, but will be incredibly worse for the wear.
Everyone again did a great job--extra XP all around. We are not the most focused or serious group, but it isn't that sort of campaign. I think back to how 18 year-old me would have been riled up at some of the things that go on, versus how much fun it all seems now.
We play again on the 22nd!
Monday, December 21, 2009
Play Recap: Session 5
When last we left our party, they were on the edge of the Fallow Forest, a blighted area of woods that has caused an immense deal of trouble for the shipwrights and loggers.
The blighted area felt unnatural, with the grass and plants turning to a foul slime when touched or trod upon. It made for slow, disgusting going. Antigus, the party's druid, sensed no links with animal life--until, two bears apparently infected/maddened with the blight attacked the party. The party dispatched them with relative ease (except Friar Charles kicked one in the face, and it responded by tearing him up), and soon disovered evidence that someone else had been in the area.
They snuck up on a large party of armed men and workers, apparently being directed by two wizard-looking fellows in dark robes. The workers were burying (without directly touching) two large rocks in the ground. The Nalgin (the cleric) sensed the rocks as pure evil (think Time Bandits). The party was pretty sure this is what was causing the blight.
Oh, and when our resident thief Llewellyn snuck up closer to observe, he noticed a pen holding a half-dozen undead. Lovely!
Vas, the Wild Mage of the group, wanted to try to bluff the people putting the stone in the ground. Didn't work, and the mage ordered his minions to kill him.
Antigus saw that the group was outnumbered about 14 to 6 (not counting zombies), and probably saved the group's bacon by casting Entangle, causing (healthy) plants to shoot out of the group and hold a majority of the enemy in place. However, the enemy still had 3 archers hiding behind wagons, who were doing some grievous damage early on. Vas cast light on the face of one of the horses pulling the wagons, and this spooked them. Even without cover, the archers did some nasty damage, with Vas getting dropped and Friar Charles using himself as a human shield until he could get him out of harm's way.
Elsewhere, Nalgin was up to his old tasks of throwing the fantasy equivalent of Molotov cocktails at baddies. Pretty effective when they have no choice but to stand and burn! He eventually was dropped by an enemy warrior, but survived. Leyton again proved his worth with a bow, pulling off some incredible cross-battlefield shots to put the hurt one of the mages quickly.
The mage had also barked an order to a solider that wasn't entangled to open the pen holding the zombies. Too bad for him Llewellyn, our thief, was there to backstab the living snot out of him.
Actually, Llewellyn has become quite adept at becoming our guy who always seems to get in the killing shot. You know when other people have done like 60 points of damage and the guy's still standing, then some comes along, does 3 points of damage and the guy drops? That's Llewellyn.
After the mage was destroyed, the few remaining opponents fled into the woods.
Well, how to get rid of these rocks? Friar Charles and the cleric Nalgin decided to try a blessing ceremony of sorts. Whatever malevolence was in the rocks resisted, and in the end, the rocks were destroyed! The blight began to recede as soon this happened.
At last, the group counted up their loot. A small ruby amulet had been found that seemed to radiate some minor magics. Leyton found an adept's spellbook, which he tucked away (in violation of the compact in place for sharing treasure! Let's see if it comes back to bite him). A goodly number of silver, gold, and one or two platinum coins were found, all with twin death's-heads stamped on them.
Perhaps the best discovery were the scrolls and letters (I actually rolled up paper for the scrolls, so they'd have to open them to find out what they were. Vas opened one that was warded by Explosive Runes, dropping him to negative HP for the 2nd time in the session. They found coded (and promptly magically deciphered) letters that seemed to indicate whoever was behind this had plans against not only Sidon, but Morsten, the City of the Tower (Mage Central). There was also some mention of places or things called the Witches' Stone and the Pools of Portation, and also about discovering access to something belonging to the Mad ArchMage (not the first time his name has popped up in their travels. Seriously, if they ever compare all their notes, they might see some running threads, eventually).
Apparently, the group the party had defeated had some friends. The party tried to rest in the woods that night on their way back to Sidon, but the baying of hounds and angry voices woke them up. An exhausting, on-edge struggle to flee through the forest took place. The group barely outran their pursuers, cleared the forest, and made it to a fortified farmstead, where they collapsed and slept until the next afternoon.
The next morning, their host noticed the insignia on the armor Friar Charles had obtained from one of the slain villians. The farmer paled, and excused himself. Upon further querying, and with evident fear in his voice, he asked if Charles was from Darrakis.
As to who or what Darrakis is, the party will find out more when we resume play after the New Year. They have the information somewhere--it'll just be a matter of finding it.
Great session, and as usual, I've probably left out a lot, but I had a blast yet again. I can only hope the group feels the same way!
The blighted area felt unnatural, with the grass and plants turning to a foul slime when touched or trod upon. It made for slow, disgusting going. Antigus, the party's druid, sensed no links with animal life--until, two bears apparently infected/maddened with the blight attacked the party. The party dispatched them with relative ease (except Friar Charles kicked one in the face, and it responded by tearing him up), and soon disovered evidence that someone else had been in the area.
They snuck up on a large party of armed men and workers, apparently being directed by two wizard-looking fellows in dark robes. The workers were burying (without directly touching) two large rocks in the ground. The Nalgin (the cleric) sensed the rocks as pure evil (think Time Bandits). The party was pretty sure this is what was causing the blight.
Oh, and when our resident thief Llewellyn snuck up closer to observe, he noticed a pen holding a half-dozen undead. Lovely!
Vas, the Wild Mage of the group, wanted to try to bluff the people putting the stone in the ground. Didn't work, and the mage ordered his minions to kill him.
Antigus saw that the group was outnumbered about 14 to 6 (not counting zombies), and probably saved the group's bacon by casting Entangle, causing (healthy) plants to shoot out of the group and hold a majority of the enemy in place. However, the enemy still had 3 archers hiding behind wagons, who were doing some grievous damage early on. Vas cast light on the face of one of the horses pulling the wagons, and this spooked them. Even without cover, the archers did some nasty damage, with Vas getting dropped and Friar Charles using himself as a human shield until he could get him out of harm's way.
Elsewhere, Nalgin was up to his old tasks of throwing the fantasy equivalent of Molotov cocktails at baddies. Pretty effective when they have no choice but to stand and burn! He eventually was dropped by an enemy warrior, but survived. Leyton again proved his worth with a bow, pulling off some incredible cross-battlefield shots to put the hurt one of the mages quickly.
The mage had also barked an order to a solider that wasn't entangled to open the pen holding the zombies. Too bad for him Llewellyn, our thief, was there to backstab the living snot out of him.
Actually, Llewellyn has become quite adept at becoming our guy who always seems to get in the killing shot. You know when other people have done like 60 points of damage and the guy's still standing, then some comes along, does 3 points of damage and the guy drops? That's Llewellyn.
After the mage was destroyed, the few remaining opponents fled into the woods.
Well, how to get rid of these rocks? Friar Charles and the cleric Nalgin decided to try a blessing ceremony of sorts. Whatever malevolence was in the rocks resisted, and in the end, the rocks were destroyed! The blight began to recede as soon this happened.
At last, the group counted up their loot. A small ruby amulet had been found that seemed to radiate some minor magics. Leyton found an adept's spellbook, which he tucked away (in violation of the compact in place for sharing treasure! Let's see if it comes back to bite him). A goodly number of silver, gold, and one or two platinum coins were found, all with twin death's-heads stamped on them.
Perhaps the best discovery were the scrolls and letters (I actually rolled up paper for the scrolls, so they'd have to open them to find out what they were. Vas opened one that was warded by Explosive Runes, dropping him to negative HP for the 2nd time in the session. They found coded (and promptly magically deciphered) letters that seemed to indicate whoever was behind this had plans against not only Sidon, but Morsten, the City of the Tower (Mage Central). There was also some mention of places or things called the Witches' Stone and the Pools of Portation, and also about discovering access to something belonging to the Mad ArchMage (not the first time his name has popped up in their travels. Seriously, if they ever compare all their notes, they might see some running threads, eventually).
Apparently, the group the party had defeated had some friends. The party tried to rest in the woods that night on their way back to Sidon, but the baying of hounds and angry voices woke them up. An exhausting, on-edge struggle to flee through the forest took place. The group barely outran their pursuers, cleared the forest, and made it to a fortified farmstead, where they collapsed and slept until the next afternoon.
The next morning, their host noticed the insignia on the armor Friar Charles had obtained from one of the slain villians. The farmer paled, and excused himself. Upon further querying, and with evident fear in his voice, he asked if Charles was from Darrakis.
As to who or what Darrakis is, the party will find out more when we resume play after the New Year. They have the information somewhere--it'll just be a matter of finding it.
Great session, and as usual, I've probably left out a lot, but I had a blast yet again. I can only hope the group feels the same way!
Monday, December 7, 2009
Play Recap: Session 4
You know those sessions where everything seems chaotic, and there's as much out-of-character discussion/off topic as in-character/on topic?
That was Session 4 of our Far West Castles & Crusades campaign this past Friday night at Saltire Games.
Our group was meeting a week later than usual because of the (U.S.) Thanksgiving break. I honestly think that was half the reason for the lack of focus, but it was also just getting to hang out again and BS with people that love many of the things you love.
Unfocused or no, it was a great time. Gaming groups need those now and then, and as long as everyone is having fun, I think it's great. Topics covered included a large dose of Napoleonic history, reflections on the hard luck of Poland and Belgium, British movie characters, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, identification of child predator vans, Margaret Thatcher's funeral planning, making fun of Twilight, no one biting on Warhammer Fantasy 3e, Lunch Money, Blazing Saddles (repeatedly), and yes, a few things not related to our campaign.
When last we left our heroes, they had regrouped in the city of Sidon. There was much debate on whether to strike out towards one of the cities further west (such as Morsten, the City of the Towers), head back into the still-unexplored portions of the Troublesome Tunnels, or follow up on rumors that the Shipwright's Forest was being afflicted by a strange blight.
There were also a few items to be identified, including Leyton's Ring of Luck (limited), and an axe Antigus found which has powers that may be yet to be unlocked. The group also got around to drawing up a group charter. The Laughing Frog was their expedition ship before it foundered off the coast, so, it appears they are now the Company of the Laughing Frog! Antigus spent time drawing frogs, and made an order on future item distribution.
Well, any time you have a party in town for more than 5 minutes, you're going to have some nuttiness. Without going too deeply into it, a goodly portion of time was spent laughing at the naming of the Bear Pit (a nasty shoreside dive complete with a bear-baiting pit), possibly lumping it in with Police Academy's Blue Oyster Bar (it wasn't). At the Inn of Sargent Street, meanwhile, Leyton tried out his Ring of Luck on some friendly gambling (net gain for all uses: 8 silver), and Llewellyn continued to drink cheap swill--that is, until Vas got drunk and had a wild magic "surge" at the wrong time, causing dirt to appear a rain down on everything in the bar.
Vas paid restitution, and the Inn at Sargent Street no longer welcomes Vas & Friends.
The party learned that there was to be a meeting between the Admirality Board (ruling body for Sidon), and the owners of the shipyards and other concerned parties regarding the blight in the forest. They discovered it was invite only, but Nalgan (our dwarven priest) and his assistant/batsman/whipping boy/man o' the people Friar Charles managed to finagle some credentials from Brother Diego at the small local church.
The group made it in to the meeting, and Nalgan prepared to present his case to those assembled to allow this group to go deal with the blight in the forest (and gain some renown and further assistance). Nalgan didn't quite make his Charisma roll, so I said, "your speech is going to have to really do the trick".
"Check," says he.
Nalgan's player is a refugee of amazingly worthy Hackmaster, which means he was Born to Hack. But here he absolutely knocked it out of the park with an inspirational speech somehow tying in logging rights, patriotism, and...well, it was beautiful. What topped it off is that the rest of the group spontaneously began humming Battle Hymn of the Republic, crescendoing at the triumphant final phrases of his speech. Oh, it was a...tremendous...group effort.
Mad, mad XP for that.
The next morning, off the party heads, to the northwest portion of the forest (their mapping efforts are doing pretty good, too, I should add). Antigus used his druid skills to befriend a brown bear (named Julia, apparently) that wandered across their camp while they still travelled through the verdant portions of the forest. At the end of the second day, they came to the edge of the blighted area. It was almost like a direct line running through the forest. On one side, healthy, green plants and grasses. On the other, the plants seemed rotted, bark sloughed wetly off the side of trees, and a sickly-sweet rotting odor permeated the entire area. With night quickly approaching, the group pulled back about 100 yards to set up camp, and would explore the infected area in the morning. The forest was quiet, with the few animals Antigus sensed seeming panicked or nervous.
That night on 2nd watch, Leyton, standing vigil by a spot on the edge of the blight, was nearly run down by something black, snarling, and scaly. It shot by him and into the middle of the camp, snapping and hissing at everything in reach. Looking like a quadruped dragon breed, it was the size of the tiger, and moved like one to boot. It managed to get its slavering jaws around Julia, which was soon the end of the Druid's bear friend.
A couple of players were able to supercharge some damage rolls (Leyton with an arrow and Vas with a magic missile) to really hurt the nasty beast, and I couldn't roll worth snot. Nalgan the cleric threw some flasks of oil and managed to set the beast en fuego using flame from the campfire, which continued to hurt it. Friar Charles dropped his mace, and wanted to try to punch the beast, which was hilarious. The way he said it made him sound like a hardboiled 7o's detective--he just needed a snub-nosed .38 to complete the picture . Antigus missed several times early, but mortally wounded the beast at last. After it fell, Llwellyn connected on a coup-de-grace to finish it off. That's where we stopped for the night, with the group getting ready to head into the diseased portion of the forest.
It turns out nearly everyone in the party leveled after this session. No more 1 Hit Point characters! Luck was definitely on their side, as the odds of progressing to Level 2 on one HP are not sparkling.
I was really proud of the group stepping up on the roleplaying this week. For me, it doesn't have to happen to have a good game, but it is a sign people are getting into things. I can't say enough good things about this group, and how much fun they are to run for.
We will have our last session of 2009 on December 18, and will resume after the New Year!
That was Session 4 of our Far West Castles & Crusades campaign this past Friday night at Saltire Games.
Our group was meeting a week later than usual because of the (U.S.) Thanksgiving break. I honestly think that was half the reason for the lack of focus, but it was also just getting to hang out again and BS with people that love many of the things you love.
Unfocused or no, it was a great time. Gaming groups need those now and then, and as long as everyone is having fun, I think it's great. Topics covered included a large dose of Napoleonic history, reflections on the hard luck of Poland and Belgium, British movie characters, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, identification of child predator vans, Margaret Thatcher's funeral planning, making fun of Twilight, no one biting on Warhammer Fantasy 3e, Lunch Money, Blazing Saddles (repeatedly), and yes, a few things not related to our campaign.
When last we left our heroes, they had regrouped in the city of Sidon. There was much debate on whether to strike out towards one of the cities further west (such as Morsten, the City of the Towers), head back into the still-unexplored portions of the Troublesome Tunnels, or follow up on rumors that the Shipwright's Forest was being afflicted by a strange blight.
There were also a few items to be identified, including Leyton's Ring of Luck (limited), and an axe Antigus found which has powers that may be yet to be unlocked. The group also got around to drawing up a group charter. The Laughing Frog was their expedition ship before it foundered off the coast, so, it appears they are now the Company of the Laughing Frog! Antigus spent time drawing frogs, and made an order on future item distribution.
Well, any time you have a party in town for more than 5 minutes, you're going to have some nuttiness. Without going too deeply into it, a goodly portion of time was spent laughing at the naming of the Bear Pit (a nasty shoreside dive complete with a bear-baiting pit), possibly lumping it in with Police Academy's Blue Oyster Bar (it wasn't). At the Inn of Sargent Street, meanwhile, Leyton tried out his Ring of Luck on some friendly gambling (net gain for all uses: 8 silver), and Llewellyn continued to drink cheap swill--that is, until Vas got drunk and had a wild magic "surge" at the wrong time, causing dirt to appear a rain down on everything in the bar.
Vas paid restitution, and the Inn at Sargent Street no longer welcomes Vas & Friends.
The party learned that there was to be a meeting between the Admirality Board (ruling body for Sidon), and the owners of the shipyards and other concerned parties regarding the blight in the forest. They discovered it was invite only, but Nalgan (our dwarven priest) and his assistant/batsman/whipping boy/man o' the people Friar Charles managed to finagle some credentials from Brother Diego at the small local church.
The group made it in to the meeting, and Nalgan prepared to present his case to those assembled to allow this group to go deal with the blight in the forest (and gain some renown and further assistance). Nalgan didn't quite make his Charisma roll, so I said, "your speech is going to have to really do the trick".
"Check," says he.
Nalgan's player is a refugee of amazingly worthy Hackmaster, which means he was Born to Hack. But here he absolutely knocked it out of the park with an inspirational speech somehow tying in logging rights, patriotism, and...well, it was beautiful. What topped it off is that the rest of the group spontaneously began humming Battle Hymn of the Republic, crescendoing at the triumphant final phrases of his speech. Oh, it was a...tremendous...group effort.
Mad, mad XP for that.
The next morning, off the party heads, to the northwest portion of the forest (their mapping efforts are doing pretty good, too, I should add). Antigus used his druid skills to befriend a brown bear (named Julia, apparently) that wandered across their camp while they still travelled through the verdant portions of the forest. At the end of the second day, they came to the edge of the blighted area. It was almost like a direct line running through the forest. On one side, healthy, green plants and grasses. On the other, the plants seemed rotted, bark sloughed wetly off the side of trees, and a sickly-sweet rotting odor permeated the entire area. With night quickly approaching, the group pulled back about 100 yards to set up camp, and would explore the infected area in the morning. The forest was quiet, with the few animals Antigus sensed seeming panicked or nervous.
That night on 2nd watch, Leyton, standing vigil by a spot on the edge of the blight, was nearly run down by something black, snarling, and scaly. It shot by him and into the middle of the camp, snapping and hissing at everything in reach. Looking like a quadruped dragon breed, it was the size of the tiger, and moved like one to boot. It managed to get its slavering jaws around Julia, which was soon the end of the Druid's bear friend.
A couple of players were able to supercharge some damage rolls (Leyton with an arrow and Vas with a magic missile) to really hurt the nasty beast, and I couldn't roll worth snot. Nalgan the cleric threw some flasks of oil and managed to set the beast en fuego using flame from the campfire, which continued to hurt it. Friar Charles dropped his mace, and wanted to try to punch the beast, which was hilarious. The way he said it made him sound like a hardboiled 7o's detective--he just needed a snub-nosed .38 to complete the picture . Antigus missed several times early, but mortally wounded the beast at last. After it fell, Llwellyn connected on a coup-de-grace to finish it off. That's where we stopped for the night, with the group getting ready to head into the diseased portion of the forest.
It turns out nearly everyone in the party leveled after this session. No more 1 Hit Point characters! Luck was definitely on their side, as the odds of progressing to Level 2 on one HP are not sparkling.
I was really proud of the group stepping up on the roleplaying this week. For me, it doesn't have to happen to have a good game, but it is a sign people are getting into things. I can't say enough good things about this group, and how much fun they are to run for.
We will have our last session of 2009 on December 18, and will resume after the New Year!
Monday, November 16, 2009
Play Recap: Session 3
Hello to all and apologies for the posting being a bit light since last Thursday. I do not wish a kidney stone upon my worst enemy Thanks to all who expressed their good wishes and prayers.
Well, I wasn't sure I would make it to Saltire Games for our session, and less sure that I'd be able to recount the details due to the painkillers messing with me, but fortunately I was able to do both.
To recap from Session 2, the group is exploring a mythical land far to the west of their homeland. In order to gain an audience with the church prelate of the city of Sidon (and fatten their resources and explore this new land), the group has (if not unanimously) decided to attempt to explore the Troublesome Tunnels, a honeycomb of natural and humanoid-made tunnels and caves around and below the city.
Here's the thing with the design of the Troublesome Tunnels: they are not a linear design. There are at least a half-dozen main entryways, to say nothing of the multiple side tunnels. Parts of it are extensions of Sidon's sewers; others are tunnels left by some long-forgotten burrowing monstrosity. Other parts are ratling-dug hideouts now used by human bandits and smugglers. And parts of it are the ruins of an ancient sewer and subterranean city.
Through a fair bit of happenstance, after grabbing the party's Friar and Druid for a bit of backup, they came to a part of the tunnels that appeared to be an old waterway or sewer. This was a bit puzzling, as they were by all accounts miles outside of Sidon. They followed the damp tunnels to a room with a pool, and then a long corridor. The dwarf noted the stonework was...familiar. Not dwarven, but of a quality make, and somehow familiar.
Eventually, the group came to a room with steps leading up to a barred door of strange metal. Two statues, now crumbled with age, their features gone, guarded the door.
The door was opened, and on the other side opened into a giant cavern. In the dim murk of the the distance, giant pillars receded into the dark (think Khazad-dûm). About 50 feet in, with a single shaft of light coming down from a shaft in the ceiling, sat a cairn of rectangular blocks.
Well, adventurers being adventurers, they pried a stone off the top of the cairn, revealing a giant yellow gem inside. Our party's jack-of-all-trades attempted to gain the gem, only to find it was magically trapped (and nearly losing a hand in the process). They decided to wait on the gem for the time being. Meanwhile, exploring the far walls of the room revealed a series of circular holes, wherein could be seen the dusty remnants of some long-forgotten warriors. Their skeletons appeared orcish, only somewhat larger. Our cleric nabbed a dagger that glowed when Detect Magic was cast upon it (he handed it off to our party's Druid).
Past the columns at the end of the cavern stood two giant doors, apparently of the same metal as the door prior. They were open, and inside stood a statue and scene that owners of a certain Handbook would recognize (sans adventurers, though they'd be climbing all over soon enough):
A shaft of light also came down from this room, illuminating the statue. Two mosaics were inlaid on the floor, made of tiny shards of various metals. 3 stone guardian statues on each side guarded the room. Two stone crypts were on either side of the statue. The statue itself appeared to have one gem eye that matched the one lying in the cairn in the cavern. Judicious use of Decipher Text revealed an inscription of the bottom of the statue that appeared to say "To Watch The Race".
What followed was a confusing series of events; there were statues, two mosaics, and It would take me longer than the game ran to type it all up here, but suffice to say things got wild. The players raided the crypts and found a massive medallion, a metal-clad tome, and a ceremonial-looking axe. The party was able to retrieve the gem from the cairn, and put it in the statue's eye (but not without a metric ton of contingency planning. When they did this, the stone statues on either side of the room came to life! Putting in the eye also caused another action; the statue slid to the right, revealing a small 5-foot secret room with a chest. Opening the chest (which appeared to either contain a lump of beef jerky or a dried heart, which soon crumbled to dust from poor handling) caused the stone statues on either side of the room to come to life and began to advance on the players! Our resident thief was able to arrest their motion by putting on the medallion from before, but could not control them otherwise.
The doors had also swung shut, but were opened by the touch of the ceremonial axe. A character (I can't remember whom) pried the other eye out, which is when things got really bad. The doors slammed shut again, wouldn't open, and the two mosaics on the floor came to life--swirling bits of razor-sharp metal that shredded anything they touched! They began to accost the players! The players escaped UP THE LIGHTING SHAFT--with a round to spare! It was pretty gutsy--and the last guy out snagged one of the gem eyes. Wow.
I'll admit; I had set up the "controls" for this room to be a bit perplexing. There were some clues that were missed, but I found even I had to check my notes as the players tried multiple things in this room. I'm sure I missed something in recounting this, but everything happened had a good flow of action, and I thought there was a definite intensity to the proceedings.
Now, when then eye had been put back in, one of the characters still in the cavern saw forms of light streak out from the tombs and up the shaft. When they got back to Sidon, they heard that around noon, their had been a "second sunrise" in the southern sky. People were still talking about the strange happenings that evening. The players laundered, rested, got a few items from the Tunnels appraised, did some recon in the tavern found out more about this land (I think they got some very good intel), and decided to hold council in the morning to see about their next course of action.
I was proud that nothing that happened was completely one-sided. We had varying factions for different routes of planning, caution or boldness, yea or nay. Some in the group were uncomfortable disturbing these resting places or taking the gems. A few players even played out the fact that seeing animated statues would probably freak you out for a while. Nice work all around.
I have GM'd a lot of sessions, but from a personal standpoint, this one was one of the most rewarding. I was able to shake off a lot to run this game, and though no game is ever perfect, this one was a tremendous amount of fun--the only measure that counts.
We take a break for (U.S.) Thanksgiving and Black Friday. We meet back on December 4 to continue the campaign.
Well, I wasn't sure I would make it to Saltire Games for our session, and less sure that I'd be able to recount the details due to the painkillers messing with me, but fortunately I was able to do both.
To recap from Session 2, the group is exploring a mythical land far to the west of their homeland. In order to gain an audience with the church prelate of the city of Sidon (and fatten their resources and explore this new land), the group has (if not unanimously) decided to attempt to explore the Troublesome Tunnels, a honeycomb of natural and humanoid-made tunnels and caves around and below the city.
Here's the thing with the design of the Troublesome Tunnels: they are not a linear design. There are at least a half-dozen main entryways, to say nothing of the multiple side tunnels. Parts of it are extensions of Sidon's sewers; others are tunnels left by some long-forgotten burrowing monstrosity. Other parts are ratling-dug hideouts now used by human bandits and smugglers. And parts of it are the ruins of an ancient sewer and subterranean city.
Through a fair bit of happenstance, after grabbing the party's Friar and Druid for a bit of backup, they came to a part of the tunnels that appeared to be an old waterway or sewer. This was a bit puzzling, as they were by all accounts miles outside of Sidon. They followed the damp tunnels to a room with a pool, and then a long corridor. The dwarf noted the stonework was...familiar. Not dwarven, but of a quality make, and somehow familiar.
Eventually, the group came to a room with steps leading up to a barred door of strange metal. Two statues, now crumbled with age, their features gone, guarded the door.
The door was opened, and on the other side opened into a giant cavern. In the dim murk of the the distance, giant pillars receded into the dark (think Khazad-dûm). About 50 feet in, with a single shaft of light coming down from a shaft in the ceiling, sat a cairn of rectangular blocks.
Well, adventurers being adventurers, they pried a stone off the top of the cairn, revealing a giant yellow gem inside. Our party's jack-of-all-trades attempted to gain the gem, only to find it was magically trapped (and nearly losing a hand in the process). They decided to wait on the gem for the time being. Meanwhile, exploring the far walls of the room revealed a series of circular holes, wherein could be seen the dusty remnants of some long-forgotten warriors. Their skeletons appeared orcish, only somewhat larger. Our cleric nabbed a dagger that glowed when Detect Magic was cast upon it (he handed it off to our party's Druid).
Past the columns at the end of the cavern stood two giant doors, apparently of the same metal as the door prior. They were open, and inside stood a statue and scene that owners of a certain Handbook would recognize (sans adventurers, though they'd be climbing all over soon enough):
A shaft of light also came down from this room, illuminating the statue. Two mosaics were inlaid on the floor, made of tiny shards of various metals. 3 stone guardian statues on each side guarded the room. Two stone crypts were on either side of the statue. The statue itself appeared to have one gem eye that matched the one lying in the cairn in the cavern. Judicious use of Decipher Text revealed an inscription of the bottom of the statue that appeared to say "To Watch The Race".
What followed was a confusing series of events; there were statues, two mosaics, and It would take me longer than the game ran to type it all up here, but suffice to say things got wild. The players raided the crypts and found a massive medallion, a metal-clad tome, and a ceremonial-looking axe. The party was able to retrieve the gem from the cairn, and put it in the statue's eye (but not without a metric ton of contingency planning. When they did this, the stone statues on either side of the room came to life! Putting in the eye also caused another action; the statue slid to the right, revealing a small 5-foot secret room with a chest. Opening the chest (which appeared to either contain a lump of beef jerky or a dried heart, which soon crumbled to dust from poor handling) caused the stone statues on either side of the room to come to life and began to advance on the players! Our resident thief was able to arrest their motion by putting on the medallion from before, but could not control them otherwise.
The doors had also swung shut, but were opened by the touch of the ceremonial axe. A character (I can't remember whom) pried the other eye out, which is when things got really bad. The doors slammed shut again, wouldn't open, and the two mosaics on the floor came to life--swirling bits of razor-sharp metal that shredded anything they touched! They began to accost the players! The players escaped UP THE LIGHTING SHAFT--with a round to spare! It was pretty gutsy--and the last guy out snagged one of the gem eyes. Wow.
I'll admit; I had set up the "controls" for this room to be a bit perplexing. There were some clues that were missed, but I found even I had to check my notes as the players tried multiple things in this room. I'm sure I missed something in recounting this, but everything happened had a good flow of action, and I thought there was a definite intensity to the proceedings.
Now, when then eye had been put back in, one of the characters still in the cavern saw forms of light streak out from the tombs and up the shaft. When they got back to Sidon, they heard that around noon, their had been a "second sunrise" in the southern sky. People were still talking about the strange happenings that evening. The players laundered, rested, got a few items from the Tunnels appraised, did some recon in the tavern found out more about this land (I think they got some very good intel), and decided to hold council in the morning to see about their next course of action.
I was proud that nothing that happened was completely one-sided. We had varying factions for different routes of planning, caution or boldness, yea or nay. Some in the group were uncomfortable disturbing these resting places or taking the gems. A few players even played out the fact that seeing animated statues would probably freak you out for a while. Nice work all around.
I have GM'd a lot of sessions, but from a personal standpoint, this one was one of the most rewarding. I was able to shake off a lot to run this game, and though no game is ever perfect, this one was a tremendous amount of fun--the only measure that counts.
We take a break for (U.S.) Thanksgiving and Black Friday. We meet back on December 4 to continue the campaign.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Play Recap: Session 2
Our second full session of our Castles & Crusades game took place Friday night at Saltire Games. Before the game, I picked up a copy of the 4th printing of the Castles & Crusades PHB. It looks like most of the changes are to the Illusionist and Barbarian classes--we have neither in our party, so I don't know what tweaks, if any, we'll be making yet.
We were 2 players down, but Llewellyn, our resident rogue, was on hand. If you remember from the last play recap, the players made it ashore a strange, unknown land after the three ships of their expedition were destroyed by a storm. If it is the land they were seeking, legend has it the the last Prince of the West, Elechor II, there are rumored to be 13 cities--each one where some class or sect of refugees fr0m the Kingdom of Man settled.
The group had stopped the burning of a fortified farmstead. It is here that Llewellyn, seeing the smoke after a miserable day wandering from where he washed up, encountered the group. Llewellyn was of a class of explorers who able to volunteer to go--or face the noose for some indiscretions. Not everyone sails for gold and glory because they want to.
The farmers who they rescued did speak the Westron tongue, albeit strangely accented. They were able to discern that only a few miles away was Sidon, the City of Sails!
The party (excepting the (absent-player) Friar and Druid, who stayed to assist the farmers), journeyed towards Sidon. They attempted to tell the gate guard they were from the east, which was met either with frowns or chuckles of disbelief.
The party asked for an inn recommendation, and ended up at the Inn of Sargent Street. Llewellyn and the mercurial Leyton (seriously, he suffers violent mood swings as quirk) deigned to perhaps see to their welfare in this new land by possibly gained some information (and coin) from the wealthy merchants that were frequenting the downstairs tavern. However, both of them had a bad night socially, apparently being as desirable to the other patrons as a dead bird found in your rain gutter. Vas, our Sorcerer/Wikd Mage, however, charmed a nice crowd with some prestidigitation and sleight of hand. Over the course of the night at the tavern, the party did quite well at picking up a few details about the area, such as:
-Orcish Pirates are fairly common at sea, and are a tremendous nuisance.
-Much of the trade of Sidon is with Ciplos, a city far to the north that doesn't care for elves.
-The shipwrights are seeing a slowdown in work thanks to a strange blight in the woods near town.
-There's a town called Brial somewhere to the southwest. Lot of churchy types there, it sounds like.
I was very proud of our 1-HP dwarven cleric, Nalgan. He discovered the cathedral in town, and after ascertaining the religion of this land was actually still close to that of the High Church, managed to convince a young priest to listen to his tale. The priest was skeptical, but gave him a room for the night and drew him a crude map(!) of the surrounding area. Good effort to get what he could!
As Nalgan was leaving, the priest gave Nalgan some advice: going around saying they were from the mystic east wasn't smart. Sailors for centuries had tried to sail back, and eventually so many ships were lost the city's rulers put a ban on that sort of discussion. No, before Nalgan and Co. talked to the city church's Prelate or the Admiral's Council (the ruling body), they needed to find a position of strength. He mentioned the problems with the blighted forest, as well as the Troublesome Tunnels. a ratling maze outside of town that was used by bandits and outlaws. Nalgan pitched to the group the idea that if they cleared out the Tunnels, perhaps the city rulers would respect their story a bit more. And so it was decided the group would set out for its first potential dungeon crawl (sniff).
Vas and Leyton ended up half-conning (long story) a stable out of a swaybacked nag to carry the group's equipment. They set off, towards one of the potential entrances, near the woods about 10 miles from town. It had been filled in by the city guard, but they hoped another entrance would be nearby.
Random Encounter Time! As Leyton stood on the filled-in hole, he was about 2 seconds away from being devoured by a Bullete (Landshark), which burst out of the hole, nasty maw a-snappin'. At this point, the group fled into the woods, discretion being the better part of valor. Thankfully, Nalgan and Leyton discovered another entrance soon after, and into the Troublesome Tunnels they went.
The group only got through a small portion of the tunnels, but enough to see a few humanoid skeletons and signs of an earlier struggle, and also took down some nasty ratlings. The found an entrance out, but it was manned by what appear to be a lowly bandit gang. The bandits looked prepared to deal (or fight), but the group left. At this point, before exploring any further, they decided to go grab the Friar and Druid for reinforcement.
Llewellyn got his first kill against a ratling! For a non-combat character, I imagine that's somewhat jarring. Llewellyn seems very urbane and displeased towards most forms of wilderness travel, but I think he realizes he doesn't have much of a choice just now. He also seems to be hitting it off with Vas to some degree, who is the most garrulous of the party by far.
Supercharging one roll to a d30 was a mixed bag. We had 2 early attempts on a Charisma roll that fell flat, but there was some awesome usage in combat later on.
For the record, I know 1000+ years would have produced more linguistic difference in language than what we're seeing in-game, but that's one of those things where I'm going to shove realism aside. Until the ghost of Professor Tolkien shows up at my table to help, I'm not going to go there.
Again, the staff at Saltire Games was friendly, helpful, and knew their stuff. I think we all love playing there in one of the private rooms in the back.
So far, I'm so pleased with how the group is doing and interacting. As a GM, this is the least amount of work I've had to do at the table in a couple of years now--then again, it was a lot more work upfront. It's also great having some really good players. Again, it's a great group, and I feel lucky to have this campaign.
The session (Friday, November 13), we should have a full table for the first time in a couple of weeks...
We were 2 players down, but Llewellyn, our resident rogue, was on hand. If you remember from the last play recap, the players made it ashore a strange, unknown land after the three ships of their expedition were destroyed by a storm. If it is the land they were seeking, legend has it the the last Prince of the West, Elechor II, there are rumored to be 13 cities--each one where some class or sect of refugees fr0m the Kingdom of Man settled.
The group had stopped the burning of a fortified farmstead. It is here that Llewellyn, seeing the smoke after a miserable day wandering from where he washed up, encountered the group. Llewellyn was of a class of explorers who able to volunteer to go--or face the noose for some indiscretions. Not everyone sails for gold and glory because they want to.
The farmers who they rescued did speak the Westron tongue, albeit strangely accented. They were able to discern that only a few miles away was Sidon, the City of Sails!
The party (excepting the (absent-player) Friar and Druid, who stayed to assist the farmers), journeyed towards Sidon. They attempted to tell the gate guard they were from the east, which was met either with frowns or chuckles of disbelief.
The party asked for an inn recommendation, and ended up at the Inn of Sargent Street. Llewellyn and the mercurial Leyton (seriously, he suffers violent mood swings as quirk) deigned to perhaps see to their welfare in this new land by possibly gained some information (and coin) from the wealthy merchants that were frequenting the downstairs tavern. However, both of them had a bad night socially, apparently being as desirable to the other patrons as a dead bird found in your rain gutter. Vas, our Sorcerer/Wikd Mage, however, charmed a nice crowd with some prestidigitation and sleight of hand. Over the course of the night at the tavern, the party did quite well at picking up a few details about the area, such as:
-Orcish Pirates are fairly common at sea, and are a tremendous nuisance.
-Much of the trade of Sidon is with Ciplos, a city far to the north that doesn't care for elves.
-The shipwrights are seeing a slowdown in work thanks to a strange blight in the woods near town.
-There's a town called Brial somewhere to the southwest. Lot of churchy types there, it sounds like.
I was very proud of our 1-HP dwarven cleric, Nalgan. He discovered the cathedral in town, and after ascertaining the religion of this land was actually still close to that of the High Church, managed to convince a young priest to listen to his tale. The priest was skeptical, but gave him a room for the night and drew him a crude map(!) of the surrounding area. Good effort to get what he could!
As Nalgan was leaving, the priest gave Nalgan some advice: going around saying they were from the mystic east wasn't smart. Sailors for centuries had tried to sail back, and eventually so many ships were lost the city's rulers put a ban on that sort of discussion. No, before Nalgan and Co. talked to the city church's Prelate or the Admiral's Council (the ruling body), they needed to find a position of strength. He mentioned the problems with the blighted forest, as well as the Troublesome Tunnels. a ratling maze outside of town that was used by bandits and outlaws. Nalgan pitched to the group the idea that if they cleared out the Tunnels, perhaps the city rulers would respect their story a bit more. And so it was decided the group would set out for its first potential dungeon crawl (sniff).
Vas and Leyton ended up half-conning (long story) a stable out of a swaybacked nag to carry the group's equipment. They set off, towards one of the potential entrances, near the woods about 10 miles from town. It had been filled in by the city guard, but they hoped another entrance would be nearby.
Random Encounter Time! As Leyton stood on the filled-in hole, he was about 2 seconds away from being devoured by a Bullete (Landshark), which burst out of the hole, nasty maw a-snappin'. At this point, the group fled into the woods, discretion being the better part of valor. Thankfully, Nalgan and Leyton discovered another entrance soon after, and into the Troublesome Tunnels they went.
The group only got through a small portion of the tunnels, but enough to see a few humanoid skeletons and signs of an earlier struggle, and also took down some nasty ratlings. The found an entrance out, but it was manned by what appear to be a lowly bandit gang. The bandits looked prepared to deal (or fight), but the group left. At this point, before exploring any further, they decided to go grab the Friar and Druid for reinforcement.
Llewellyn got his first kill against a ratling! For a non-combat character, I imagine that's somewhat jarring. Llewellyn seems very urbane and displeased towards most forms of wilderness travel, but I think he realizes he doesn't have much of a choice just now. He also seems to be hitting it off with Vas to some degree, who is the most garrulous of the party by far.
Supercharging one roll to a d30 was a mixed bag. We had 2 early attempts on a Charisma roll that fell flat, but there was some awesome usage in combat later on.
For the record, I know 1000+ years would have produced more linguistic difference in language than what we're seeing in-game, but that's one of those things where I'm going to shove realism aside. Until the ghost of Professor Tolkien shows up at my table to help, I'm not going to go there.
Again, the staff at Saltire Games was friendly, helpful, and knew their stuff. I think we all love playing there in one of the private rooms in the back.
So far, I'm so pleased with how the group is doing and interacting. As a GM, this is the least amount of work I've had to do at the table in a couple of years now--then again, it was a lot more work upfront. It's also great having some really good players. Again, it's a great group, and I feel lucky to have this campaign.
The session (Friday, November 13), we should have a full table for the first time in a couple of weeks...
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Play Recap: Session 1
We had a great time last night in our first actual session of our Castles & Crusades Far West campaign. We had done character generation as a group at I guess what you'd call "Session 0", two weeks ago.
I'll get more into describing the characters and whatnot in future posts, but I thought things went pretty well. We got in some good old-fashioned overland exploration (our group's cartographer is using the original D&D tile symbols for his mapping), and I thought it was cool how the group had to decide between finding a civilization and the urge to explore the more wild areas.
Our party was part of a grand expedition to this mythic land to the west when a massive storm scattered the fleet and sunk the ship they were on. The group in their small, leaky, ship's boat made it to the shore of this strange new island. They were wet, uncomfortable, and hungry.
The group managed to purify some water and hunt down a scrawny deer on the coastal sand dunes that seemed to stretch on for a good distance. The first night, the group was woken by (an interesting random encounter!) beautiful singing coming from near the shore. It was a sea nymph; the druid in our party managed to glean the possibility of a city of men to the southwest before she fled.
The party set off again, the coastal dunes soon turning into seaside crags and hills. They found an odd natural staircase leading up to a rock inscribed with the Royal Seal of the legendary Elechor II, who supposedly led the refugees from the Kingdom of Man to this land 1000 years ago.
The hills soon gave out into grassland. The nights were a bit chilly, due to it being early fall, but the party would soon have something to keep them warm! They were attacked in the night by a small party of what appeared to be larger, more muscular orcs. This was a race previously unknown to the party, but they were dispatched with some handy use of magic missile, sound burst, and good old-fashioned sword work.
Later that night, some sort of large humanoid shook the ground as it passed. No one got a clear look at it, but the druid casting an obscuring mist helped ensure it didn't get a look at them, either.
The next day, the group entered the woods to their west. Their time there was largely uneventful, though they did note some of the trees in the forest were cut down, possibly signifying civilization nearby.
They trees soon gave out in favor of a clearing; the party saw a half-harvested field of wheat, and what appeared to be a small homestead on fire! Drawing closer, it appeared that 3 humans were being attacked by a party of those same "great orc" creatures from earlier. I can honestly say it's at this point the entire party shined in combat. I believe everyone had at least one great moment, from a brutal, slaying arrow shot to a lethal magic missile placement to a stern and bloody usage of the warhammer.
We ended the session there, with the attack on the homestead having been successfully rebuffed.
We were a couple of players short, but our group is big enough we still had 5, and I think it felt comfortable. The group was a lot of fun, didn't take things too seriously, but still paid enough attention to the game where it wasn't a total, continual distraction. I was very pleased.
I should also add I believe everyone "supercharged" one roll with the d30 rule. I can't tell you how much fun that is!
I also gave out a blank journal--my hope is that it's filled with notes of exploration, sketches of new creatures, etc.
Again, I can't say enough good things about our host, Saltire Games. If you're looking for a Friendly Local Gaming Store in the Indianapolis area, this is the best one I've found. They were great hosts, they knew their games, the place was clean and comfortable, and they even gave our group some free dice! I was particularly impressed by their nice selection of smaller press games. We have one of the private gaming rooms reserved for the next two sessions already, and it's nice to have a FLGS to support.
We'll play again in 2 weeks, and should have a couple more players.
I'll get more into describing the characters and whatnot in future posts, but I thought things went pretty well. We got in some good old-fashioned overland exploration (our group's cartographer is using the original D&D tile symbols for his mapping), and I thought it was cool how the group had to decide between finding a civilization and the urge to explore the more wild areas.
Our party was part of a grand expedition to this mythic land to the west when a massive storm scattered the fleet and sunk the ship they were on. The group in their small, leaky, ship's boat made it to the shore of this strange new island. They were wet, uncomfortable, and hungry.
The group managed to purify some water and hunt down a scrawny deer on the coastal sand dunes that seemed to stretch on for a good distance. The first night, the group was woken by (an interesting random encounter!) beautiful singing coming from near the shore. It was a sea nymph; the druid in our party managed to glean the possibility of a city of men to the southwest before she fled.
The party set off again, the coastal dunes soon turning into seaside crags and hills. They found an odd natural staircase leading up to a rock inscribed with the Royal Seal of the legendary Elechor II, who supposedly led the refugees from the Kingdom of Man to this land 1000 years ago.
The hills soon gave out into grassland. The nights were a bit chilly, due to it being early fall, but the party would soon have something to keep them warm! They were attacked in the night by a small party of what appeared to be larger, more muscular orcs. This was a race previously unknown to the party, but they were dispatched with some handy use of magic missile, sound burst, and good old-fashioned sword work.
Later that night, some sort of large humanoid shook the ground as it passed. No one got a clear look at it, but the druid casting an obscuring mist helped ensure it didn't get a look at them, either.
The next day, the group entered the woods to their west. Their time there was largely uneventful, though they did note some of the trees in the forest were cut down, possibly signifying civilization nearby.
They trees soon gave out in favor of a clearing; the party saw a half-harvested field of wheat, and what appeared to be a small homestead on fire! Drawing closer, it appeared that 3 humans were being attacked by a party of those same "great orc" creatures from earlier. I can honestly say it's at this point the entire party shined in combat. I believe everyone had at least one great moment, from a brutal, slaying arrow shot to a lethal magic missile placement to a stern and bloody usage of the warhammer.
We ended the session there, with the attack on the homestead having been successfully rebuffed.
We were a couple of players short, but our group is big enough we still had 5, and I think it felt comfortable. The group was a lot of fun, didn't take things too seriously, but still paid enough attention to the game where it wasn't a total, continual distraction. I was very pleased.
I should also add I believe everyone "supercharged" one roll with the d30 rule. I can't tell you how much fun that is!
I also gave out a blank journal--my hope is that it's filled with notes of exploration, sketches of new creatures, etc.
Again, I can't say enough good things about our host, Saltire Games. If you're looking for a Friendly Local Gaming Store in the Indianapolis area, this is the best one I've found. They were great hosts, they knew their games, the place was clean and comfortable, and they even gave our group some free dice! I was particularly impressed by their nice selection of smaller press games. We have one of the private gaming rooms reserved for the next two sessions already, and it's nice to have a FLGS to support.
We'll play again in 2 weeks, and should have a couple more players.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Character Generation And A New Game Store
So this past Friday night was our group's character generation session for our Castles & Crusades sandbox campaign. Chargen went amazingly well, I thought--as GM (or CK, if you'd rather), I didn't have to explain a lot, a benefit of C&C's generally familiar, simple character generation.
My group is slightly overbooked at the moment, but that's ok. We seem to have a quality group. Everyone gets along thus far, and there doesn't seem to be anyone out to "win" rather than just play.
You know when I really felt like this group was going to work? When I had them roll for first-level hit points instead of doing auto-max HP, two guys ended up with 1 HP. One. There was some good-natured teasing, but no anger, no complaining, just taking what the dice give you and hope for better things at level 2. We also rolled some random unusual traits and apprenticeship events on the tables from the Epic RPG, which is always a lot of fun!
We ended up with the following (homebrew classes denoted with a *): Human Sorcerer*, Human Friar*, Dwarven Cleric (with 1 HP!), Human Thief (1 HP!), Human Druid, Elven Jack of All Trades*, Halfling Ranger, and a Human Fighter.
It's a good group. A lot of us have families and work responsibilities, so I think we know how precious gaming time is.
For cuisine, it was a slightly damp, cool fall Indiana night, so we had hot cider in the crockpot. That was aside from the delicious staples of Mountain Dew, Doritos, pizza (Little Caesar's--$5 a pizza is pretty tough to bear), some awesome kettle chips, and pretzels.
We met at my place for the initial session, but we all realized we needed something larger and more central geographically. One of our players had been scoping out the new place on the east side of Indy, Saltire Games. He reserved us one of their private gaming rooms for the Friday after next, and last night, I got a chance to check the place out for myself.
Saltire Games is clean, well-lit, and well-stocked (with no small amount of smaller stuff; the owner really seemed up on a lot of smaller games), with a friendly staff and plenty of gaming space. My wife went with me, and I believe she said it's the cleanest gaming store she's ever been in. She even bought a card game--a new gaming store in town, and she gets the first purchase!
You can also tell they're civilized because they have a picture of Traveller on the website.
In any case, it's a great-looking store with a nice varied selection (it looks like they have some active 4e groups, but they also have the C&C and Pathfinder products right up front--good balance). If you're a gamer anywhere in the Indianapolis area (I know we have at least several who read here on a normal basis) looking for a good Friendly Local Gaming Store, I would recommend you check it out.
My group is slightly overbooked at the moment, but that's ok. We seem to have a quality group. Everyone gets along thus far, and there doesn't seem to be anyone out to "win" rather than just play.
You know when I really felt like this group was going to work? When I had them roll for first-level hit points instead of doing auto-max HP, two guys ended up with 1 HP. One. There was some good-natured teasing, but no anger, no complaining, just taking what the dice give you and hope for better things at level 2. We also rolled some random unusual traits and apprenticeship events on the tables from the Epic RPG, which is always a lot of fun!
We ended up with the following (homebrew classes denoted with a *): Human Sorcerer*, Human Friar*, Dwarven Cleric (with 1 HP!), Human Thief (1 HP!), Human Druid, Elven Jack of All Trades*, Halfling Ranger, and a Human Fighter.
It's a good group. A lot of us have families and work responsibilities, so I think we know how precious gaming time is.
For cuisine, it was a slightly damp, cool fall Indiana night, so we had hot cider in the crockpot. That was aside from the delicious staples of Mountain Dew, Doritos, pizza (Little Caesar's--$5 a pizza is pretty tough to bear), some awesome kettle chips, and pretzels.
We met at my place for the initial session, but we all realized we needed something larger and more central geographically. One of our players had been scoping out the new place on the east side of Indy, Saltire Games. He reserved us one of their private gaming rooms for the Friday after next, and last night, I got a chance to check the place out for myself.
Saltire Games is clean, well-lit, and well-stocked (with no small amount of smaller stuff; the owner really seemed up on a lot of smaller games), with a friendly staff and plenty of gaming space. My wife went with me, and I believe she said it's the cleanest gaming store she's ever been in. She even bought a card game--a new gaming store in town, and she gets the first purchase!
You can also tell they're civilized because they have a picture of Traveller on the website.
In any case, it's a great-looking store with a nice varied selection (it looks like they have some active 4e groups, but they also have the C&C and Pathfinder products right up front--good balance). If you're a gamer anywhere in the Indianapolis area (I know we have at least several who read here on a normal basis) looking for a good Friendly Local Gaming Store, I would recommend you check it out.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Pic of My Gen Con Game
I missed this earlier from RPG Diehard, but he did post a pic of our Microlite74 game at Gen Con. I can't say enough what a great group that was:
Monday, July 6, 2009
Wherein We Ring Up A Near TPK
There was a very-near TPK in my current online game (Castles & Crusades) this weekend. There was a 25% survival rate--3 out of the 4 characters (all 2nd-level) are no more.
This was sort of a unique one, and I'm left wondering if perhaps I didn't broadcast something as clearly as I should have. But then, the players let themselves be tricked into thinking that this Evil NPC had a Dagger of Dragon Slaying, when all he had was a +1 dagger. Without getting it checked out, they went directly to the lair of the local scourge, a Green Dragon, and and attempted to engage him. That right there is likely enough to warrant a TPK, I suppose.
I’ll give them credit, though—for a bunch of 2nd-levels, they didn’t go down without a fight. This was a young dragon, and the fighter and cleric put some hurt on him before dropping. The illusionist really didn’t utilize as I thought she could have, and was an early out regardless (not much HP and acting like a warrior will have that effect). The fighter was perhaps most effective, using the terrain, confounding the dragon, and attempting to make a covered, fighting retreat when things turned south. But he didn’t make it out in time.
The only one to survive was the thief, who bungled the approach to the lair and fled. Not the most popular person at the virtual gaming table right now, I warrant, but the only one with a live character.
I know the players were at fault for so easily believing something is a major artifact without proof or checking it out, but I do think perhaps I should have broadbast the Green Dragon’s danger level a bit more clearly earlier on. Then again, in whatever state of mind they were in, I don’t know that would have helped. A peril (feature?) of sandbox play is you can set out as many warning posts as you want, and nothing short of character death will serve as notice. It's an extreme form of organic boundary, but it happens.
This was sort of a unique one, and I'm left wondering if perhaps I didn't broadcast something as clearly as I should have. But then, the players let themselves be tricked into thinking that this Evil NPC had a Dagger of Dragon Slaying, when all he had was a +1 dagger. Without getting it checked out, they went directly to the lair of the local scourge, a Green Dragon, and and attempted to engage him. That right there is likely enough to warrant a TPK, I suppose.
I’ll give them credit, though—for a bunch of 2nd-levels, they didn’t go down without a fight. This was a young dragon, and the fighter and cleric put some hurt on him before dropping. The illusionist really didn’t utilize as I thought she could have, and was an early out regardless (not much HP and acting like a warrior will have that effect). The fighter was perhaps most effective, using the terrain, confounding the dragon, and attempting to make a covered, fighting retreat when things turned south. But he didn’t make it out in time.
The only one to survive was the thief, who bungled the approach to the lair and fled. Not the most popular person at the virtual gaming table right now, I warrant, but the only one with a live character.
I know the players were at fault for so easily believing something is a major artifact without proof or checking it out, but I do think perhaps I should have broadbast the Green Dragon’s danger level a bit more clearly earlier on. Then again, in whatever state of mind they were in, I don’t know that would have helped. A peril (feature?) of sandbox play is you can set out as many warning posts as you want, and nothing short of character death will serve as notice. It's an extreme form of organic boundary, but it happens.
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