Friday, December 30, 2011
NICODEMUS CASTLE: RINGO'S TALE
Me & Dunwoody were passin through the Black Forest as part of a caravan led by a tangly, black-haired sot goes by the name, Migellito. He put up a tent, but prolly woulda looked more at home in a tree, me & Dunwoody got to wanderin & fell in w/ another dwarf named Farley, two fighters walked from back talking bout a nearby town called Bridgewater, maybe go to the tavern for some cups… we saw some smoke risin up over there & walked toward it in the road when we come up on an old fellow luggin round a batch of kindlins on his back, asks us where we headed, tells us not to keep on this main road, a band of orcs been trashin this place called Bridgewater, we ask him some other questions but the fellow don’t seem right, he guides us to a hidden door to get into the town unnoticed, I’d tell ya where that is, but I’d hate to be leadin ya to trapped, so we didn’t feel right bout it, turned round, decided to head up where Migellito said some ruins of a castle were he said it was Nicodemus Castle, the old man said he’d never heard of no Nicodemus…
It didn’t take us too long to get up there, Dunwoody helped me take some load off so I could keep up & the fighter Taurus started movin around all stealthy, talkin bout scouty orcs, sayin we needed to get in these ruins quicklike, I spotted where some breakage in the walls may let us in northeastside, I tied Dunwoody up to some branches & we all upped over rubble & into the wall, I could hear Taurus sniffin & he started talkin bout smoke & orcs, we could see to the west what may be the main tower up a slopey bit & Taurus was talking bout probly a good place to start or get down underground but then we decided to near some stairs east that were closer to where we'd entered the rub, I worked the stairs, slow eyeing where they meet lookin round for anything tricky seemed okay & Farley was up behind me checkin it out as well we got up to where we could see down another corridor where it got darker & led to a dark doorhole… me & Farley moved through the hole & crept inside, Taurus & Leo, the paladin, who kept tellin Taurus on the way here orcs were no deal cause he’d slayed 100 of’m in one sittin before, me & Farley's eyes adjustin see it’s a pretty big room, a courtyard or somethin, stuff wasted & broken all about, Taurus & Leo come in, Leo now talkin about his collection of light stones… I get to creepin round the west wall & not too far from the doorhole I notice another door not too far way, an old, wooden door, it opens up w/ no problem, I listen for a bit & then move into wherever it goes wanderin if maybe this’ll lead down somewhere, but then somethin furry hits my helm & I jump back & there’s a spider wigglin hissy beside me, I hop to the side of the door & Leo is on the spider before I know it, I pull my flail, Leo slashes the thing & then I pound it w/ my flail, it retreats up into the sky by some rubble & wood where we look up & see its webs up there, Taurus inches in, pullin on his bow, readies up & darts the spider down, pop onto the ground; Taurus throws a lit torch up at the webs but it just comes back down again & Leo throws down a light stone we notice some tinkling over in the corner of the closety room, looks to be silver & copper all sprayed about, we get to pickin some up & I started goin through some refuse over in a corner & come up w/ a small, empty, ivory box, I put it in my backpack, help gather the rest of the coins, then as there’s a thin stair @ the back of the closet, going up, against the wall, I decide to climb up there, get my head up over a rotten, wooden flet & see where rub has caved in all above it but not onto it, there’s a dark space between the rub & flet but I cant see nothing in there & I inch back down look to see maybe what Farley's seen in the rest of the room which isn’t much, but as we all wander further we see a stair leadin up in the northeast corner & move that way, gettin up there to find lots of broken marble about, Taurus is goin round w/ his torch collectin a few sizable chunks that may be of value & I spot him one that's an intact, small statue & after snoopin a bit more we see there’s a west corridor on the west wall, we peak into it & see two doors to our left & right & then down the corridor bout thirty foot there some double doors, Leo busts into the door on the southwall of the corridor & we funnel in, there aint much there, bunch a trash, not even worth goin through it doesn’t seem but then there’s somethin about the west wall of this room that looks fishy to me, perhaps somethin on the other side may lead to that room behind the double doors, I start talking bout lookin for a secret door, passageways i got a thing for secret constructions & Leo gets miffy & starts arguin about how he doesn’t wanna take no time, he just wants to bust down doors & no need to have a secret door to a place he can just bust into but when he gets back out in the hall he realizes those double doors don’t lead to the south but the east & he’s all turned around while I’m back in hall now thinkin I woulda been done creepin the wall by the time he stopped goin on about it anyway so Leo steps up & pounds in the door across the hall now, on the northwall of the corridor & we funnel in where there’s a fireplace back on the northwall, we all split to search different stuffs & Farley nearby has the same thing happen when he examines a cask as I have touchin some cabinet, collapse & crumble & then Leo now back there @ the fireplace w/ Taurus, throwin one a them light stones in there & stickin his head in the flue & next thing he knows he’s got a giant tick problem comin down that shoot onto him he’s shakin around, Taurus swings his torch @ it, but it doesn’t light fire, but like I always heard, you put that fire on it, it at least keeps that head in retreat from stickin in ya, so Farley runs over there, I'm movin that way so lightin another torch to maybe by time I get over there delay that head from gettin in there but Taurus sayin he already tried w/ the fire… they’re all scramblin & I watch as the tick finally gets splattered all over Leo’s shiny, plate mail who knows what kinda blood that thing had last sucked on & so we all go back to lookin around & find some various things under the collapsed cabinets I pull out a large, iron spoon & slip into my pack… talk turns to getting back to the caravan before everyone's sleep & so we rest for a few moments, bag up turn back out we came, takin us a bit, & it’s pitch black out there now, I light a torch up too & when I get near Dunwoody I can hear him makin that noise he makes when he knows it’s me, we get back to the caravan where a gypsy lady likes that ivory box enough to fork 50 gold for it, though I only got three silver for the spoon, it was better than nothing we split it all up which came to bout 14 gold, 9 silver & 17 copper each. Found a nice little niche to ride out the night, pulled out my drum & Dunwoody got to hawin until someone started yellin, perhaps I’ll run into these blokes another time…
- Ringo the Dwarf
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
NICHOLAS OF THE SWAMP
NICHOLAS OF THE SWAMP
Lawful Elf~ Master Thief, Level 12
AC: 6/13; MV: 8/20; HD: 10+1; HP: 33; #AT: 1*; Treasure: H (w/o maps & magic)
A plump drover w/ a quiverin' belly & a snow-white beard; a negative burglar (thiefy abilities but lawful). Wears a musk-rat suit, dirty w/ ashes & soot. Guides a skiff w/ a long pole stick, pulled by eight alligators. Particularly fond of sherry & strawberry jelly. His treasure is never in coinage, but items inside 1d6 large sacks are worth that value. Nicholas always has 1d10 sleep scrolls tucked away & @ the ready, though 10% may be either invisibility or haste.
*will always attempt to avoid combat, but if unable, uses heavy bag of gifts as weapon. Gators will fight to the death to protect Nicholas.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
FURTHERMOOR ADVENTURE EXPRESS (FAE)
Our Coach is a late invention of the Jesuits, being, to speak bluntly, a Conveyance, wherein the inside is quite noticeably larger than the outside, though the fact cannot be appreciated until one is inside. For your Benefit, DePugh, the Mathematickal and Philosophickal Principles upon which the Design depends are known to most Students of the appropriate Arts, - so that I hesitate to burden the Company with information easily obtain'd elsewhere. That my Authorial Authority be made more secure, however, it may be reveal'd without danger that at the basis of the Design lies a logarithmic idea of the three dimensions of Space, realiz'd in an intricate Connexion of precise Analytickal curves, some bearing loads, others merely decorative, still others serving as Cam-Surfaces guiding the motions of other Parts... Bound through the nocturnal fields, the land asleep, the sky pressing close, losing at an ever-unadjourned game of All-Fours, dyspeptic from the fare at the last inn, restlessly now and then scanning the dark outside for any Light, however distant, I was bounced out of a disgruntled reverie by the Machine's abrupt slowing and eventual halt, out in the middle of a Night already grown heavy with imminent snow. Waiting at the Roadside were two Women, who prov'd to be mother and daughter, dresses flowing as homespun was never suppos'd to, and Faces that were to drive me, later that night, unable to sleep, beneath the Beam of my writing-lanthorn, to diaristic excess... As the pair of Creatures boarded the Machine, I mutely ask'd, - not "pray'd," for all my Prayers in those Days must be Questions, - Are these now come for me, to be my own guides across the borderlands and into Madness? - Mason & Dixon, pgs. 354-355, Thomas Pynchon
Faced w/ the question of how my not-quite-one-off-session-players get from adventure to adventure*, I got to thinking about the above passage from Pynchon's Mason & Dixon. In the novel, by his telling, the Reverend Wicks Cherrycoke appears to travel in a TARDISesque "conveyance". This got me to thinking about the FURTHERMOOR ADVENTURE EXPRESS (FAE).
There are FAE Stations throughout Furthermoor. Some towns/cities embrace the concept, whereas others do not, for various reasons, & any station (if one does indeed exist), may be hard to find. In other words, if you board the FAE in Talbot, & end up in Debthaven, you may want to take extensive notes as to where it is you do "end up", b/c when you walk ten paces & turn around, things may appear quite differently.
The FAE infrastructure is maintained by various factions in different areas. The station in Talbot is maintained by the White Widows, a female sect of the Church of the White Widow. Most of these women are most beautiful & all have lost lovers to adventures in FAE land. There is a good chance that any adventurer will become infatuated w/ one or more of the Widows & gift a percentage of any booty to woo them on return. The Widows, however, are forever cold. They will never emotionally respond to any adventurers' doting & will donate any material possessions gifted them to the Church of the White Widow.
*Currently, my players are all involved in an ongoing weekly campaign game through G+; however, for those weeks when everyone can't make it, different characters are used & it's a separate deal altogether. Currently, the 2nd game is playing B5. But after B5, using the FAE, I may aim these sessions more as true "one-offs" & begin developing other locales throughout Furthermoor w/ nearby adventures, depending on my free time, as well as opening it up to random G+ players live.
HORROR ON THE HILL - SESSION 2
With the distraught, yet determined Neanderthal @ the lead, waving them on, the party continues SW until they start descending, & as they do, to the west, a pond of water can be seen through the trees. They continue on path & come to a crossroads, the Neanderthal waves them westward & after a bit they see a path that cuts north, but they keep on westward...
They eventually step into a clearing where sits a white-washed cottage w/ bright green shutters. Gravel walkways connect the cottage to each passage out of the clearing & pleasant gardens of flowers surround the home. White curtains hang over each window. The Neanderthal quickly moves to the SW passage & urges them on, the party however, intrigued by the house, waits around in the opening, contemplating what may be inside, perhaps it is the witch's house? Two ladies scramble out of the front door & happily invite the party in for some tea & cake. The party declines, the Neanderthal still grunting @ them from the SW, they exchange pleasantries w/ the ladies & move on...
Entering the SW trail, the party travels for a bit before it gets dark & Guido turns on his lantern. About 30 mins later, 7:30 PM, the party sees 4 Giant Bats swooping down from the west... Before they know it the Bats are on them & battle ensues. It's a nasty one. The weakened Neanderthal gets killed & Howel takes substantial damage. Otherwise, they kill the Bats. Devedos who had dropped the dead Neanderthal he was carrying before the bats, moves both of the bodies off trail, & Gilleegan, along w/ Guido, finds a spot for them to camp for the night... Gilleegan grills Howel, who is hurting, what spell he has available... "Protection from Evil," says Howel, "If tonight you find it necessary, just let me know," he falls asleep. Devedos decides he will stay on watch all night. The night passes uneventfully & they wake & ready themselves for the day. Given his state, Howel decides to wander off & commune w/ Kushdar for a while, replacing his mind w/ a Cure Light Wounds spell, casting it upon himself in the wilderness & replacing 2 of his HP. He returns to the party, feeling a bit better, ready to move on...
Curious as to exactly where the Neanderthal has been leading them, the party keeps on down the W trail, eventually coming to a 240’ drop that proves to be the end of the hill. They look down on the trees below. They do not notice anything out of the ordinary. Around them, to the N & S, the elevation drops more gradually than the dead drop to the W. The party decides to head back to the cottage in the clearing.
They attempt to be sneaky about entering the clearing, but within minutes, the two ladies are out the door & greeting them once more. This time the party is more receptive & agree to enter the cottage & visit w/ the women. Their names are Rosabella & Rosalinda. They are sisters, & each is a plump, gray-haired old lady exuding vitality & a rather pleasant manner. Rosalinda has a rolling pin poking from the strings of her apron & Rosabella is empty-handed. The party is cordial to the ladies & take them up on their offer, Gilleegan being particularly “nice”. The party is led into the cottage where they notice the inside to be quite a bit larger than would be expected, about 40’ square. Two hallways lead off the first room & the ladies lead to party down the N hallway, past a sweeping stairway, into a large parlor where they partake of tea & spice cake. Many fine paintings, gold & silver ornaments, & bejeweled knick-knacks are displayed throughout the home. As the party gobbles up their refreshments, the ladies gab about their garden, the weather, & the woods around the Hill. As the party joins in the conversation, the ladies offer to divulge information about the Hill, but say this information cannot be given freely. As the party seems interested in what they may learn, the ladies say that for 100 gp they will tell the party all about the monsters that lurk atop the Hill. Devedos is particularly disgusted by this high price. Gilleegan on the other hand decides to haggle w/ them. Finally, Gilleegan hands over 50 gp from the ogre bag for the information. Pleased, counting the gold, the ladies take turns informing the party of what they can expect to find about the hill: a hobgoblin camp is to the E, beside a pond, the ogres’ cave is to the W, a cave of steam weevils is also to the W, the neanderthals’ cave is to the NW & also, a graveyard w/ ghouls is further to the NW. Devedos seems a bit irritated by this information, feeling that it wasn’t worth the price. The meeting remains civil, however. Gilleegan asks if they know anything else of interest, as Guido & Howel munch another slice of cake. Rosalinda cracks a smile, “I do, but it will not be free.” “How much?” asks Gilleegan. “For 150 more gold I will tell you where you will find the ruined monastery.” Devedos is once again disgusted. “150 gold? Are you kidding me?!” Gilleegan calms him down & tries to haggle again, but ultimately, the ladies will not divulge any more info for any less than 75 gp. The party politely declines the offer, & says farewell. Though disappointed to see Gilleegan hoist the ogre bag back w/ his belongings, the ladies lead the party back to the door where they wave goodbye.
It is 11:30 AM.
They eventually step into a clearing where sits a white-washed cottage w/ bright green shutters. Gravel walkways connect the cottage to each passage out of the clearing & pleasant gardens of flowers surround the home. White curtains hang over each window. The Neanderthal quickly moves to the SW passage & urges them on, the party however, intrigued by the house, waits around in the opening, contemplating what may be inside, perhaps it is the witch's house? Two ladies scramble out of the front door & happily invite the party in for some tea & cake. The party declines, the Neanderthal still grunting @ them from the SW, they exchange pleasantries w/ the ladies & move on...
Curious as to exactly where the Neanderthal has been leading them, the party keeps on down the W trail, eventually coming to a 240’ drop that proves to be the end of the hill. They look down on the trees below. They do not notice anything out of the ordinary. Around them, to the N & S, the elevation drops more gradually than the dead drop to the W. The party decides to head back to the cottage in the clearing.
They attempt to be sneaky about entering the clearing, but within minutes, the two ladies are out the door & greeting them once more. This time the party is more receptive & agree to enter the cottage & visit w/ the women. Their names are Rosabella & Rosalinda. They are sisters, & each is a plump, gray-haired old lady exuding vitality & a rather pleasant manner. Rosalinda has a rolling pin poking from the strings of her apron & Rosabella is empty-handed. The party is cordial to the ladies & take them up on their offer, Gilleegan being particularly “nice”. The party is led into the cottage where they notice the inside to be quite a bit larger than would be expected, about 40’ square. Two hallways lead off the first room & the ladies lead to party down the N hallway, past a sweeping stairway, into a large parlor where they partake of tea & spice cake. Many fine paintings, gold & silver ornaments, & bejeweled knick-knacks are displayed throughout the home. As the party gobbles up their refreshments, the ladies gab about their garden, the weather, & the woods around the Hill. As the party joins in the conversation, the ladies offer to divulge information about the Hill, but say this information cannot be given freely. As the party seems interested in what they may learn, the ladies say that for 100 gp they will tell the party all about the monsters that lurk atop the Hill. Devedos is particularly disgusted by this high price. Gilleegan on the other hand decides to haggle w/ them. Finally, Gilleegan hands over 50 gp from the ogre bag for the information. Pleased, counting the gold, the ladies take turns informing the party of what they can expect to find about the hill: a hobgoblin camp is to the E, beside a pond, the ogres’ cave is to the W, a cave of steam weevils is also to the W, the neanderthals’ cave is to the NW & also, a graveyard w/ ghouls is further to the NW. Devedos seems a bit irritated by this information, feeling that it wasn’t worth the price. The meeting remains civil, however. Gilleegan asks if they know anything else of interest, as Guido & Howel munch another slice of cake. Rosalinda cracks a smile, “I do, but it will not be free.” “How much?” asks Gilleegan. “For 150 more gold I will tell you where you will find the ruined monastery.” Devedos is once again disgusted. “150 gold? Are you kidding me?!” Gilleegan calms him down & tries to haggle again, but ultimately, the ladies will not divulge any more info for any less than 75 gp. The party politely declines the offer, & says farewell. Though disappointed to see Gilleegan hoist the ogre bag back w/ his belongings, the ladies lead the party back to the door where they wave goodbye.
It is 11:30 AM.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
SESSION 6 - CRACKENMORE
Magus is now back to the land of the moving & in that time also the party notices some mechanism on the north wall, w/ a lever. After examining the lever, giddy & daring w/ his new, shiny shield, Djarel decides to pull it w/o any real discussion w/ the others. A few seconds later they hear a massive crashing on the other side of the door. They decide to leave the room & check it out. Magus tries the door but fails. Amadi steps up, twirls & gives the door a well-placed kick, opening it up... They file into the E-W corridor, noticing a portcullis that is now to their direct east, blocking the dead end. Also, they notice someone running their way from the W, a human, & behind the human, turning the corner, three Orcs. Leif bolts to the northside of the corridor & whistles off an arrow @ one of the orcs, hitting it in the jugular, dropping it... The other orcs approach after the thief nearing the others, swinging their clubs, one misses while the other strikes Gnolan in the ribs; then Magus, bumbling through like a tail back, plants his battle axe through the skull of one. The last orc is now between them all, overwhelmed. Having now composed himself from his flight, Telal the Thief (who the orcs had been chasing), circles around & jabs his dagger through the last orc's midsection. The orc falls. The party rests & Talel tells them of his previous party's demise, in some other twisted part of the dungeon. They were lost & ambushed by orcs. Telal was the only one to survive. He thanks the party & joins them.
Viewing their map, they weigh their options. They decide to head back to the secret door Leif located previously. Leif opens the secret door & they find a relatively empty room save a 2" pile of rubble in the NW corner, chalky, white rubble, compared to the black, smooth obsidian walls. The party spends some time searching the rubble & end up finding, @ the very bottom, a golden ring. They put it in a bag w/ their other finds.
They exit the room & S, coming to an E-W passage. They go W, then S, then E, S, W, until they come upon another S passage & a door on the north wall. Amadi steps up, circling, kicking; but his attempt fails; next thing Magus is barreling forward, crashing into the door, budging it open... They enter the door & find the room quite familiar: an outcropping of cyrstalline rock shining from the NW corner. The door shuts behind them & suddenly, Leif notices the water he had put on the floor previously appears, though not quite as much of it. The party rolls out of the room, & once more disoriented, finds themselves in a N-S passage. They go N, cut W, S, E, S, W, then S... They go for a good while S, then cut E & S, coming to a door, they decide to skip the door & continue W where they pass another door, go S, then E, ultimately coming to a dead end & a door on the north wall of the corridor. Amadi spins & kicks the door open. The party moves into a 20' x 20' room w/ a stack of large, wood logs in the NE corner, a hole in the floor to the SE & a door in the NW wall. Also of note is a large, iron ring protruding from the south wall, near the 3" wide hole. After searching over the pile of wood & finding nothing, Amadi hangs his lantern down the hole a bit, but from what he can see it is just dark space, then, suddenly his lantern burns out. Telal lights a torch & they decide to send Magus down the hole. Using a 50' rope, they lower Magus down & after 40' he hits bottom, seeing that he is in a small room of a rough cavern w/ an opening to his NE. One-by-one, the remainder of the party safely make their descent, leaving the rope hanging, tied to the iron ring in the wall above. They travel NE out of the room, then S, then SW, slow through the cave, much more rugged & rocky than the corridors above. They turn E & come to a junction where to the north they can see the cave open into an ante-chamber, & there is a glowing object on the north wall... As they near, entering the room, they see that the glow is coming from a large, chunk of rock which appears to be mica. It radiates magic strongly. Suddenly, standing in the shadows just out of the glow of the radiating stone, the party notices two Gnomes standing there. They appear to be just as surprised to suddenly find the party standing in the room. Magus greets them in gnomish, "Howdy there, fellas."
9:30 PM
Viewing their map, they weigh their options. They decide to head back to the secret door Leif located previously. Leif opens the secret door & they find a relatively empty room save a 2" pile of rubble in the NW corner, chalky, white rubble, compared to the black, smooth obsidian walls. The party spends some time searching the rubble & end up finding, @ the very bottom, a golden ring. They put it in a bag w/ their other finds.
9:30 PM
Sunday, November 27, 2011
HORROR ON THE HILL - SESSION 1
Gilleegan, a hobbit thief, & Devedos, human monk of the Guiding Star, visit Guido's Fort, on the wide, Mad River, where they've heard possible adventure awaits. At the fort, they enter the Lion's Den, a mellow establishment, it's 10 AM... The party is greeted by Guido himself, a happy, go-lucky chap w/ a Charlie Chaplin-esque mustache. Guido proves to be a rather strong & charismatic fellow. Gilleegan & Devedos ask him about the sinister looking Hill across the river & a Kushdarian cleric, named Howel, pipes up from a nearby table that man-eating ghouls are known to hunt the hill. G & D walk up to the bar & are directed toward the Old Timer in a corner who tells them a few other tales as they buy him a drink, a double. 1. An evil witch lives on the hill, etc. 2. many centuries ago, an old monastery was located on top of the hill, & 3. repeats the same info about ghouls. G & D enlist both Guido & Howel & begin to make plans to cross the river. Amazed by price of hiring a fisherman to boat them across, Gilleegan decides to drop 60 gp & just buy a boat for the party. Before long, the party finds themselves moving west across the Mad River.
As they cross the river, they spot two "landing" spaces, north & south, they move toward the north space, a narrow clearing along the riverbank, the ground is muddy, lots of marshy plants, buzz of mosquitoes, the party pulls their boat up, moves it well onto land & covers it as much as they can. Noticing trail heads to the NW & SW, they take the SW & after a bit, Gilleegan scouting ahead, comes upon a Killer Bee hovering over the path a ways ahead... The party drops back a bit to figure it out, but Gilleegan is noticed, the Bee hovers down a bit & Devedos gets the aim on it w/ his bow & fires, hitting w/ precision, the bee, about a foot long, drops dead in the trail... They continue down the path to the SW & enter a lush glen, shady on the edges, beautiful, quiet, peaceful, wildflowers everywhere among the grass... The party notices a trail to the NW & another to the SW, they decide on the NW & after just a bit, though the path continues, they see a path that turns SW & they see that it has a sharper incline up the hill. They decide to head up hill & just as Gilleegan, who is still scouting a bit ahead (about 10' ahead), comes upon the steepest part, he sees an Ogre sitting to the side of the passage. Slipping back to the party, a plan is made. Missile shot to lure the ogre down the passage where a trip rope is rigged to trip the ogre & Gilleegan will jump out for a backstab... Devedos sends off an arrow that hits the ogre in the arm for a bit of damage. Pissed, & as planned, the ogre he rises & runs down the trail toward the party, but as he gets to the trip rope held by both Guido & Howel, his stride totally misses the rope... Gilleegan jumps out anyway & plants his sword backstab-style for nice damage, then, whiled rattled a bit, the ogre is surprised by both Guido & Howel jumping out & attacking, chipping away @ the ogre, they both do a bit of damage, the Ogre, totters, about to retaliate, but then Gilleegan, gaining initiative on the next round, slashes his the short sword, bringing an end to the Ogre... The party is pleased to find a large pouch hanging from the ogre's belt that holds 300 gold pieces.
The collect themselves & continues down the trail to the SW, passing another trail head that turns SE. They keep SW for some time, finally meeting up w/ another trail that runs NE & SW, they take it to the SW which takes them higher up the hill, to about 160' elevation above the river. Continuing W down the trail, after a short bit they come into an opening that reveals a cave-mouth between two large boulders where the contour of the hill elevates sharply. Thick bushes choke the entrance to a height of about 2'. The party moves a bit of brush out of the way & Gilleegan goes in a bit just to get an idea of what's inside... From just the sunlight, he is only able to gauge about 20' inside, seeing that the cave expands rapidly, many boulders on the floor, stalactites & stalagmites in the distance. The party decides to go further in & Guido takes the lead w/ his lantern... It is slow going, but they move west into the cavern to find that it opens up a bit & heads N-S. They first go south, but ultimately come to a dead end sidechamber choked w/ rocks & stalactites & doesnt look to be passable. Turning back, the party then heads N & down a NE passage bringing them to a small side passage containing a pool of stagnant, brown water. The party is still & Devedos listens for anything that may be in the water. They then probe it a bit, but nothing happens. They turn back & moving SW, coming around some boulders, are surprised to see 2 Neanderthals, who are also surprised. The Neanderthals do not seem hostile, however, & quickly go about trying to communicate w/ the party. They signal for the party to follow them out of the cave, which the party does. Back out in the opening the neanderthals try to communicate, but it is rough going, at times they find the party humorous. One of them acts angry @ the other & does a stabbing motion. The neanderthals then lead the party up a stepping incline that leads to a clearing up over the cave. In this clearing is ancient statue, a hideous idol, carved from granite, by some forgotten race. The statue depicts a fat, squatting, vaguely humanoid figure, whose face is twisted into a hideous leer. The party does not recognize what race this creature may be. Standing near the idol, the neanderthals begin doing the same "skit" as before. One of them acts angry & does a stabbing motion @ the other, who then acts injured & sad.
Next, the neanderthals signal for the party to follow them, entering a trail head @ the S of the clearing that heads SW. The party follows them down the trail which climbs higher still... Once the trail seems to level out, the party comes upon 6 Stirges that are hovering in the road... Seeing the party, the stirges attack... Both of the neaderthals soon find stirges attached to their necks, & one of them dies before the rest of the party can kill the stirges. The only member of the party affected, is Guido, who takes 4 damage in blood loss, but ultimately, the party bests the stirges, Gilleegan w/ an impressive showing, as well as Devedos destroying one of the striges w/ only his hands... The neanderthal that lives is beside himself in regard to his friend, he begins dragging the body, but then stops in crying fits... Devedos lifts the body onto his shoulder & the wounded neanderthal begins back down the path, to the SW, once more. The party follows...
It is 5:30 PM
The collect themselves & continues down the trail to the SW, passing another trail head that turns SE. They keep SW for some time, finally meeting up w/ another trail that runs NE & SW, they take it to the SW which takes them higher up the hill, to about 160' elevation above the river. Continuing W down the trail, after a short bit they come into an opening that reveals a cave-mouth between two large boulders where the contour of the hill elevates sharply. Thick bushes choke the entrance to a height of about 2'. The party moves a bit of brush out of the way & Gilleegan goes in a bit just to get an idea of what's inside... From just the sunlight, he is only able to gauge about 20' inside, seeing that the cave expands rapidly, many boulders on the floor, stalactites & stalagmites in the distance. The party decides to go further in & Guido takes the lead w/ his lantern... It is slow going, but they move west into the cavern to find that it opens up a bit & heads N-S. They first go south, but ultimately come to a dead end sidechamber choked w/ rocks & stalactites & doesnt look to be passable. Turning back, the party then heads N & down a NE passage bringing them to a small side passage containing a pool of stagnant, brown water. The party is still & Devedos listens for anything that may be in the water. They then probe it a bit, but nothing happens. They turn back & moving SW, coming around some boulders, are surprised to see 2 Neanderthals, who are also surprised. The Neanderthals do not seem hostile, however, & quickly go about trying to communicate w/ the party. They signal for the party to follow them out of the cave, which the party does. Back out in the opening the neanderthals try to communicate, but it is rough going, at times they find the party humorous. One of them acts angry @ the other & does a stabbing motion. The neanderthals then lead the party up a stepping incline that leads to a clearing up over the cave. In this clearing is ancient statue, a hideous idol, carved from granite, by some forgotten race. The statue depicts a fat, squatting, vaguely humanoid figure, whose face is twisted into a hideous leer. The party does not recognize what race this creature may be. Standing near the idol, the neanderthals begin doing the same "skit" as before. One of them acts angry & does a stabbing motion @ the other, who then acts injured & sad.
Next, the neanderthals signal for the party to follow them, entering a trail head @ the S of the clearing that heads SW. The party follows them down the trail which climbs higher still... Once the trail seems to level out, the party comes upon 6 Stirges that are hovering in the road... Seeing the party, the stirges attack... Both of the neaderthals soon find stirges attached to their necks, & one of them dies before the rest of the party can kill the stirges. The only member of the party affected, is Guido, who takes 4 damage in blood loss, but ultimately, the party bests the stirges, Gilleegan w/ an impressive showing, as well as Devedos destroying one of the striges w/ only his hands... The neanderthal that lives is beside himself in regard to his friend, he begins dragging the body, but then stops in crying fits... Devedos lifts the body onto his shoulder & the wounded neanderthal begins back down the path, to the SW, once more. The party follows...
It is 5:30 PM
Thursday, November 17, 2011
SESSION 5 - CRACKENMORE
Still within the room w/ the crystal outcropping, the party talks through what they have just experienced, not sure if this is the same room or not. Leif takes out his waterskin & pours a bit of noticeable water on the ground. At the same time, Amadi holds the gnoll map up to the crystal while shining his lantern at it, but nothing happens. The party files out into the corridor around 2:20 PM, & once again find themselves disoriented. They could have sworn that they entered this room northward from an E-W passage, but now, as the door closes behind them, they find themselves standing @ the south end of a N-S passage w/ a slight dead end to the east. Their immediate reaction, while once more consulting their map, is that the room must be turning. They decide to wander a bit through the corridors, taking careful notes, trying to trace back to something recognizable on their map. This proves to be more difficult than they first thought as things just seem too different the further they get... Moving northward, they soon enter a corridor leading to a turn eastward. As they enter this short corridor, Leif senses something off about the western wall of the corridor. The party halts as he searches the wall further, ultimately locating a secret door, the ridges well hidden within the smooth, black rock. The party notes the door on their map, but choose to continue on w/ the task @ hand: getting back to something noticeable.
They cut eastward for a good 100' before it turns south. They follow the corridor, ultimately turning west once more which wraps them around inwardly until they funnel into another E-W passage. The passage dead ends to the west. The party decides to examine the dead end & go about throroughly searching it. They locate nothing. As they get ready to move on, turning eastward, they notice 2 Orcs, one w/ a morning star, the other w/ a club, headed their way. Though the Orcs dont look necessarily hostile, once they see the party bracing for battle, they ready themselves as well.
Collecting their things, the party continues east down to corridor to a door they noticed when entering the passage. Amadi kicks the door open & they file in. What they find is an Implement Room of sorts, everything from large iron vises, ropes, chains, mallets, unfinished arrows, wooden pegs & hacksaws, the party glances about, taking it all in. They discuss items they may wish the leave w/. Magus wonders over to the SW corner of the room, searching a bit deeper, where he sees a shiny shield behind some long iron bars, leaning over, reaching for the shield, he pulls it up, & while lifting it, also unrevealed is the tentacled face of a Carrion Crawler that is hidden along the base of the room behind stacks of empty barrels... Leif gets a jump just as the Carrion Crawler slithers up, rearing up from it's prone position & pokes it in its body w/ his knife for 1 damage... But this does not keep the Carrion Crawler's 8 tentacles from swarming & slapping Magus' dwarf figure numerous times, though he drops the shield, he is frozen otherwise, paralyzed... But then, it's... Gnollan! swinging his sword, missing [I cant remember if it was Leif or Gnollan that first hit the CC. Do yall remember?] & also Amadi, sliding up, brandishing his staff once again & planting it solidly into the back of the Carrion Crawler's "head" knocking it out, dead, w/ impressive damage. Leif congratulates Gnollan in gnollish for his efforts. The party inspects the shield closer, noticing its exquisite craftsmanship, & also, in Common, toward the bottom, an inscription that reads, "Kinchen Forever". The party decides to rest a bit, & so they take a load off, inspecting the items in the room, packing some of them, while watching for any change in Magus' condition. It is about an hour later, @ 4:30 PM, when Magus begins to slowly move once more, grumbling something in Dwarvish, not happy in the slightest...
They cut eastward for a good 100' before it turns south. They follow the corridor, ultimately turning west once more which wraps them around inwardly until they funnel into another E-W passage. The passage dead ends to the west. The party decides to examine the dead end & go about throroughly searching it. They locate nothing. As they get ready to move on, turning eastward, they notice 2 Orcs, one w/ a morning star, the other w/ a club, headed their way. Though the Orcs dont look necessarily hostile, once they see the party bracing for battle, they ready themselves as well.
First out of the gate is Djarel, as a sudden hate for his orcish side seems to be surfacing, despising the chaotic strain of his blood, he swings his hammer w/ wild abandon @ the Orc w/ the club, getting a solid hit in there, but for only 1 damage... At the same moment, the other Orc plants his morning star w/ a nasty thud into Magus' chest, knocking him back for a brutal 6 damage, he's just hangin on, tries to swing his battle axe in reply but misses dreadfully. Leif then skirts around for position & feeling he has the shot, flings off an arrow @ the Orc w/ club, but things dont go as planned, & the arrow actually comes close to both Magus & Djarel but hits the rock & splinters out. Amadi then runs @ the Orc w/ the morning star, swirling his staff in a cyclone motion, landing a killer blow to the orc's head; it crumbles dead... Gnollan, seeming a bit confused, rushes to Amadi's side. The remaining Orc then swings his club @ Djarel, but misses. Leif then having moved a bit further over, looses off another arrow, but again, this one misses, crashing into the rock wall, breaking. Djarel has now regained his steady hand, but his rage is apparent in his face as he once again focuses his hammer on Orc flesh, this time w/ a disgustingly righteous hit the hammer folds into the Orc's face, so that when he yanks it out, the Orc's face pulls off & stuff goes everywhere, it is nasty, but effective. They search the bodies surprised to find quite a bit of gold among them (35 gp), as well as a yellowish liquid in a vial. Leif, still down a number of hits from the gnoll battle the day previous, grabs for the vial, remembering Magus quick drain of the last. He smells it, the soft scent of daffodil, & then sips it, feels invigorated, then nothing. He then drinks half of the potion, which is indeed a potion of healing, & he gains back 3 (or was it 4?) HP. Djarel then nears Magus & begins humming & saying words no one can understand, moving his hands around, he touches Magus & suddenly Magus feels a good bit healthier, gaining back 4 HP from the Cure Light Wounds spell.
Friday, November 11, 2011
SESSION 4 - CRACKENMORE
So the party acquaints themselves w/ their new party member, the charmed gnoll & Amadi christens him, Gnolan. They spread out & search the room, but find nothing of interest except for the other features of the room: a dais on the north wall, & lots of tables, the ones in the south of the room mainly turned over, where the battle against the gnolls took place. The party decides to rest in the north section of the room, far from the door, w/ discussion of staying the night so that in the morning, both Amadi & Djinnger can refresh their spell abilities. Also, there is concern for Magus' & Leif's wounds. Discussion brews regarding the murky potion vial they found on one of the dead gnolls & Leif decides to smell it. It smells of roses. Magus asks to see it & takes a small sip from the vial. He feels invigorated for a moment, but it quickly wears off. Next thing they know, he turns the vial up & drains it. Magically, his wounds heal up & he feels full HP once more. Leif seems a bit irritated that he downed the entire thing, but talk turns back to whether to stay the night or not. Djinnger in the meantime has secluded himself to the NW corner to meditate on the the Great Tulip, Dawnbringer. Amadi on the other hand is bothering Leif to teach him some gnollish so he can start ordering Gnolan around, but Leif on the other hand is busy studying the map they found on one of the gnolls. Leif ignores Amadi & asks Gnolan what he can tell him about the map. Gnolan, quite simply, tells Leif that they actually just found the map in this room. Magus & Leif then brew over the map a bit, until it is decided they will stay the night here in Crackenmore & take their chances w/ whatever lurks in the night. They spread out & nibble @ their rations in the north part of the room & then plan a nightwatch... But they hear something @ the door, @ the SE corner of the room, & watch as an Orc busts through, carrying a shield & a morning star. Immediately, Djinnger, in orcish, asks, "Who goes there?" The orc stops mid-room, grunts & then says, "What are you doing here?" Djinnger begins threatening the orc. Finally taking in the entire party sitting around, the orc seems confused. Djinnger continues his threats, telling the orc if he doesnt leave now, he is in for it. The orc backs up a bit & darts for the door. In an impressive chain of events, Leif suddenly has his bow @ hand & almost flicks off two arrows @ the orc. The first misses, but the second is quite a blunder, his hand slipping & the arrow not even making it off the string. The orc gets away unscathed. Djinnger moves to the south part of the room & spends some time barricading the door w/ a few of the overturned tables. The party goes into sleep mode & rotate watch. First it's Magus, then Gnolan, then Amadi, then Djinnger, & lastly, Leif, who wakes the party @ 6 AM. For the next hour, after slight rations, Djinnger prays to Dawnbringer for Cure Light Wounds while Amadi studies his spell book for Charm Person once more. The party collects their belongings & moves back through the SE door & into the corridor. It is around 7:30 AM. As they are doing this, Djinnger informs the party that he will no longer go by the name Djinnger, a nickname he never liked. He will now go by his real name, Djarel.
The next FOUR & ONE HALF hours prove to be quite frustrating for the party. As they exit the room, go south, & then west, coming to a south door, Leif begins using the gnoll map, but what they are seeing doesnt seem to jive w/ what is on it. They keep on west until they spiral a bit & come upon a door, they open the door, spike it & pass through to the west, & for the next few hours, find themselves passing this spiked door, either from the east or west side, passing back through it, until @ one point they come upon a dead end... Amazingly, they encounter no wandering monsters during this entire time, or during the remainder of their current delve... After the dead end, they try to back track but keep getting confused by the door & @ this point arent sure which map is correct: theirs or the gnoll map, or possibly both are wrong? The party begins to question Amadi's judgement @ this point, as he had been the keeper of their own map. They then decide to shift the duties to Djarel, who also frustrated ["I feel like I'm playing Zork. I have no fuckin' idea what's goin on!"], decides to pass the door versus going through it.
This eventually finds them @ another closed door on the south wall. Leif busts it open, they spike it, & then move west until it turns north & they find themselves traveling north for quite a bit, whether it's NW, NE, a curvature, etc, they keep north wrapping around to the NE & down until they come to more doors. Amadi busts one open they pass through, to more corridor, so they pass back through the spiked door to a pair of ornately carved oaken doors on the north wall of the corridor. Again, Amadi busts the door open & Djarel spikes the door. They walk into a room. The floor is covered w/ dust, but as they tread up some of the dust they can see that the floor is of shiny substance, polished red granite. The stone is inlaid in large blocks & extends uniformly to within a foot of each of the walls. In the very center of the room within the floor surface are blocks of white granite within the red stone, & these form the letters K & Z w/ an ampersand between... There is a strange reddish glow to north wall of the room when the party enter, what Amadi finds to come from some fire beetles moving around within cases that are inset in the wall. He cannot figure out how to open them. From the rest of the items in the room: relaxing chairs, tables, books, etc. they can deduce that this was a Library. The party searches the room, going through the books, & also through a rack of deteriorating scrolls on the east wall. Leif comes away w/ a book about Cosmetics. Amadi a book on Mathematics, as well as a scroll w/ magical writing from the rack. Magus locates a book on Weapons & Tactics, written in his native language, dwarvish, & lastly, after some deep digging, Djarel locates a curious volume titled, the Cult of the Black Dog.
Next, the party moves back south through the doors & then to the west, through an already spiked door, further west & to the north. Here, they enter a door after Magus busts it open. It's a room about 20' x 30'. They file inside & Amadi's lantern sparkles off of something in the NE corner of the room. Inspecting it, they find an outcropping of crystalline rock. They touch it, but nothing happens that they notice off hand. Amadi then pulls out his scroll & holds it up to the sparkle, but nothing happens. The party then files back out of the door, but when they come out, they are confused by what they see. Instead of what they are expecting, they are now in corridor headed N w/ a short 10' bit to the east into a dead end. Also, as they reorient themselves, it seems the door they just left is actually to their west. They decide to head north & then to the west & south, wrapping around more to the south until they come to a door on the north wall. Amadi kicks the door in & they enter. As he gets into the room & his lantern illuminates it, & the rest of party files in, they notice a sparkling in the NE corner that seems eerily familiar, like deja vu, & sure enough, they find an outcropping of crystalline rock, just like the previous room, or is this the same room?
It is 2:20 PM
The next FOUR & ONE HALF hours prove to be quite frustrating for the party. As they exit the room, go south, & then west, coming to a south door, Leif begins using the gnoll map, but what they are seeing doesnt seem to jive w/ what is on it. They keep on west until they spiral a bit & come upon a door, they open the door, spike it & pass through to the west, & for the next few hours, find themselves passing this spiked door, either from the east or west side, passing back through it, until @ one point they come upon a dead end... Amazingly, they encounter no wandering monsters during this entire time, or during the remainder of their current delve... After the dead end, they try to back track but keep getting confused by the door & @ this point arent sure which map is correct: theirs or the gnoll map, or possibly both are wrong? The party begins to question Amadi's judgement @ this point, as he had been the keeper of their own map. They then decide to shift the duties to Djarel, who also frustrated ["I feel like I'm playing Zork. I have no fuckin' idea what's goin on!"], decides to pass the door versus going through it.
Next, the party moves back south through the doors & then to the west, through an already spiked door, further west & to the north. Here, they enter a door after Magus busts it open. It's a room about 20' x 30'. They file inside & Amadi's lantern sparkles off of something in the NE corner of the room. Inspecting it, they find an outcropping of crystalline rock. They touch it, but nothing happens that they notice off hand. Amadi then pulls out his scroll & holds it up to the sparkle, but nothing happens. The party then files back out of the door, but when they come out, they are confused by what they see. Instead of what they are expecting, they are now in corridor headed N w/ a short 10' bit to the east into a dead end. Also, as they reorient themselves, it seems the door they just left is actually to their west. They decide to head north & then to the west & south, wrapping around more to the south until they come to a door on the north wall. Amadi kicks the door in & they enter. As he gets into the room & his lantern illuminates it, & the rest of party files in, they notice a sparkling in the NE corner that seems eerily familiar, like deja vu, & sure enough, they find an outcropping of crystalline rock, just like the previous room, or is this the same room?
It is 2:20 PM
Thursday, November 10, 2011
YOUR MAGIC-USER IS A WANNABE RANGER
So I wanna speak a bit more in depth about Magic Missile...
First, let me spray some thoughts about magic in general regarding Wild Earth, i.e. Furthermoor, Kush & beyond... As I've mentioned before, the Hooded Periscope blog game I have been running for over 1.5 years now has been a Moldvay/Cook/Labyrinth Lord (B/X) game from the outset. I have a binder w/ Moldvay Basic & Cook Expert inside & that is basically what I have used exclusively (plus a few LL additions here & there, like 1st level clerics having spellcasting abilities, plus I have introduced NPCs of various classes/races not found in B/X, etc). The text on that blog in the ruley reference sections for players - Items, Magic, Spell Descriptions, Monsters, etc. - is generally straight from Moldvay, or Cook in some instances. When I started this blog for our Google+ game, I basically just copied & pasted the Spell Descriptions & Magic Items sections from HP into this blog. In other words, what you are seeing
in those sections @ right, due to time-saving reasons on my part, are descriptions from Moldvay (there are a few descripts from AD&D & possibly Holmes, but basically right now what's there is Moldvay by majority). Also, the Magical Items descriptions section only has descriptions for items that have come into play during the HP game, in other words, I was adding that stuff to the blog as the game went along, so these sections are incomplete. Likewise, the spell lists are not complete either. And though they are not straight from Moldvay - I'm about to get to this so please bear w/ me - they currently only include low level spells b/c right now in the game everyone is playing a low level character. So in other words, I just havent gotten to the higher level spell selection yet. All of that said, when the HP game began, back in April of 2010, I was using the Moldvay spell lists as they are printed in that book. It actually was not until we had an elf character join the party that I started fiddling w/ the spell lists, & here is why:
I didnt like the fact that magic-users & elves use the same spell list. In my mind, I felt that the two races would have encountered magic in different ways, or more succinctly, would each have a different relationship to magic. Whether humans existed before elves, or vice versa, wasnt really the issue. In the most basic explanation possible, I just felt that elf magic should be more tied to nature & possibly more inherent in some ways as the elf grows in experience, while human magic was more of a learned, "tapping into something"... I/o/w, there is a reason any ole elf can cast magic, but humans knowing magic are limited to those that dedicate their lives to it.
W/ these thoughts, I began playing w/ the spell list just as the new elf was wrapping up their character. For timeliness, since he would only be choosing two spells for his spell book, I just referred him to the Moldvay MU/elf spell list to get acquainted, while telling him I was working on a separate elf spell list & would give him a few more choices specific to elves. Around this time I saw a discussion taking place in the OSR blogosphere regarding the use of Magic Missile. It began with this enlightening post (which has some sweet ideas for using Enlargement, btw) that came to my attention through this post [I would highly suggest reading through these if you get the time]. And then, of course, I got an email from the elf saying he wants Magic Missile... Though I'd never really liked the idea or image of the Magic Missile, the above posts had me thinking. I never really thought to just remove it from the list altogether! Keep in mind, we're talking about the Moldvay Magic Missile here, the one that is basically a magic, "glowing arrow". The spell that Bargle, in Mentzer Basic, casts on you, or your lady cleric friend, as you go through the tutorial. The hovering, glowing arrow. It just seemed a little hokey then, & still seems sorta silly now. Why an actual arrow? A good discussion of the genesis & evolution of the spell can be found here. I was glad to learn in the comments of these posts that most players abhor the Moldvay image of the "glowing arrow". But now I had even deeper issues w/ it in regard to my elf vs. magic-user. Not to stereotype the elf class, but since in B/X they are fighter/magic-users (they do not have any other class distinctions outside of that), many of them are known to carry a bow-and-arrow. Unless they spend all their starting cash on a two-handed weapon, or whatever, they usually will go for a decent missile weapon. So I couldnt help but ask myself, if your player has a short bow w/ arrows, & you have spellcasting abilities, why would you fill one of those valuable spell slots w/ what is basically just a bow & arrow but flashier? I answered my own question. Magic Missile is flashy. Esp. to a new player when asked to "pick one of these". So anyway, I was in a bit of a quandary. I didnt plan to include Magic Missile on the elf list, but that was the spell from the Moldvay list that the elf wanted. I knew also that to deny its use, now, would surely have adverse effects on the elf player's view of the game I was presenting. So first, I tried trickery! Rolling out the elf spell list, I explained my view of elf magic in the world & then tried to sell him on trading in his Magic Missile for the elfy version, Elvish Spears (a spell I made up, & actually like the idea of, that is modeled after MM). This was a version of MM I could live w/, esp. for an elf. But the elf didnt buy it. He didnt like that to cast it, he would have to be around a tree or trees. So in the end, I let him go w/ Magic Missile. Since it wasnt on the elf list, the conclusion was that the elf was raised by a human magic-user & therefore one of the first spells he learned was Magic Missile. It fit well as he joined the party while they traveled through a hollow hill wizard strondhold called Sunhillow. FWIW, the second spell he chose was Dancing Lights, which was on the new elf list.
First, let me spray some thoughts about magic in general regarding Wild Earth, i.e. Furthermoor, Kush & beyond... As I've mentioned before, the Hooded Periscope blog game I have been running for over 1.5 years now has been a Moldvay/Cook/Labyrinth Lord (B/X) game from the outset. I have a binder w/ Moldvay Basic & Cook Expert inside & that is basically what I have used exclusively (plus a few LL additions here & there, like 1st level clerics having spellcasting abilities, plus I have introduced NPCs of various classes/races not found in B/X, etc). The text on that blog in the ruley reference sections for players - Items, Magic, Spell Descriptions, Monsters, etc. - is generally straight from Moldvay, or Cook in some instances. When I started this blog for our Google+ game, I basically just copied & pasted the Spell Descriptions & Magic Items sections from HP into this blog. In other words, what you are seeing
in those sections @ right, due to time-saving reasons on my part, are descriptions from Moldvay (there are a few descripts from AD&D & possibly Holmes, but basically right now what's there is Moldvay by majority). Also, the Magical Items descriptions section only has descriptions for items that have come into play during the HP game, in other words, I was adding that stuff to the blog as the game went along, so these sections are incomplete. Likewise, the spell lists are not complete either. And though they are not straight from Moldvay - I'm about to get to this so please bear w/ me - they currently only include low level spells b/c right now in the game everyone is playing a low level character. So in other words, I just havent gotten to the higher level spell selection yet. All of that said, when the HP game began, back in April of 2010, I was using the Moldvay spell lists as they are printed in that book. It actually was not until we had an elf character join the party that I started fiddling w/ the spell lists, & here is why:
I didnt like the fact that magic-users & elves use the same spell list. In my mind, I felt that the two races would have encountered magic in different ways, or more succinctly, would each have a different relationship to magic. Whether humans existed before elves, or vice versa, wasnt really the issue. In the most basic explanation possible, I just felt that elf magic should be more tied to nature & possibly more inherent in some ways as the elf grows in experience, while human magic was more of a learned, "tapping into something"... I/o/w, there is a reason any ole elf can cast magic, but humans knowing magic are limited to those that dedicate their lives to it.
W/ these thoughts, I began playing w/ the spell list just as the new elf was wrapping up their character. For timeliness, since he would only be choosing two spells for his spell book, I just referred him to the Moldvay MU/elf spell list to get acquainted, while telling him I was working on a separate elf spell list & would give him a few more choices specific to elves. Around this time I saw a discussion taking place in the OSR blogosphere regarding the use of Magic Missile. It began with this enlightening post (which has some sweet ideas for using Enlargement, btw) that came to my attention through this post [I would highly suggest reading through these if you get the time]. And then, of course, I got an email from the elf saying he wants Magic Missile... Though I'd never really liked the idea or image of the Magic Missile, the above posts had me thinking. I never really thought to just remove it from the list altogether! Keep in mind, we're talking about the Moldvay Magic Missile here, the one that is basically a magic, "glowing arrow". The spell that Bargle, in Mentzer Basic, casts on you, or your lady cleric friend, as you go through the tutorial. The hovering, glowing arrow. It just seemed a little hokey then, & still seems sorta silly now. Why an actual arrow? A good discussion of the genesis & evolution of the spell can be found here. I was glad to learn in the comments of these posts that most players abhor the Moldvay image of the "glowing arrow". But now I had even deeper issues w/ it in regard to my elf vs. magic-user. Not to stereotype the elf class, but since in B/X they are fighter/magic-users (they do not have any other class distinctions outside of that), many of them are known to carry a bow-and-arrow. Unless they spend all their starting cash on a two-handed weapon, or whatever, they usually will go for a decent missile weapon. So I couldnt help but ask myself, if your player has a short bow w/ arrows, & you have spellcasting abilities, why would you fill one of those valuable spell slots w/ what is basically just a bow & arrow but flashier? I answered my own question. Magic Missile is flashy. Esp. to a new player when asked to "pick one of these". So anyway, I was in a bit of a quandary. I didnt plan to include Magic Missile on the elf list, but that was the spell from the Moldvay list that the elf wanted. I knew also that to deny its use, now, would surely have adverse effects on the elf player's view of the game I was presenting. So first, I tried trickery! Rolling out the elf spell list, I explained my view of elf magic in the world & then tried to sell him on trading in his Magic Missile for the elfy version, Elvish Spears (a spell I made up, & actually like the idea of, that is modeled after MM). This was a version of MM I could live w/, esp. for an elf. But the elf didnt buy it. He didnt like that to cast it, he would have to be around a tree or trees. So in the end, I let him go w/ Magic Missile. Since it wasnt on the elf list, the conclusion was that the elf was raised by a human magic-user & therefore one of the first spells he learned was Magic Missile. It fit well as he joined the party while they traveled through a hollow hill wizard strondhold called Sunhillow. FWIW, the second spell he chose was Dancing Lights, which was on the new elf list.
So, wiping the slate clean, w/ the Google+ game, I decided to start w/ the same spell list as the HP game, but just remove MM altogether, then add a few spells found in Holmes & AD&D, but not Moldvay. Interestingly, the rule set I decided to reference to you all, Swords & Wizardry: White Box, does not include MM in its lists either. That is b/c MM was not in the first OD&D books. You can read about that here.
That said, since you all are experienced players, & we have already had the conversation about using spells creatively (keep in mind that doing so will earn you XP), while I dont plan to add MM to the 1st level M-U spell list, I am open for discussion in regard to its inclusion in the 2nd level M-U list. It seems clear to me that Amadi is concerned that the power of certain high level monsters may be difficult for the party to overcome if the M-U does not have access to MM & this seems like a valid argument. While I dont totally agree, hopefully my initial exclusion of MM has caused you all to think about other spells in ways you may not have previously. Anyways, as of now, I am sort of leaning toward the Holmes version that requires a "to-hit" roll (thanks for the heads up, Zenopus Archives), & if your magic-user can cast off more than one MM, they would roll a to-hit for each. We can talk about it. But please, oh please, can we lose the glowing arrow?
That said, since you all are experienced players, & we have already had the conversation about using spells creatively (keep in mind that doing so will earn you XP), while I dont plan to add MM to the 1st level M-U spell list, I am open for discussion in regard to its inclusion in the 2nd level M-U list. It seems clear to me that Amadi is concerned that the power of certain high level monsters may be difficult for the party to overcome if the M-U does not have access to MM & this seems like a valid argument. While I dont totally agree, hopefully my initial exclusion of MM has caused you all to think about other spells in ways you may not have previously. Anyways, as of now, I am sort of leaning toward the Holmes version that requires a "to-hit" roll (thanks for the heads up, Zenopus Archives), & if your magic-user can cast off more than one MM, they would roll a to-hit for each. We can talk about it. But please, oh please, can we lose the glowing arrow?
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
HOLMES vs. MOLDVAY (the major diffs)
In reply to Magus' query, here are the "big" differences, & when I say, "I may start using Holmes alone", I mainly mean in regard to stats, i.e. Monster stats, Treasure stats, etc.
2. In Holmes, the Magic-user spell list is bulkier (an additional 14 spells between 1st & 3rd level MU list than Moldvay & Cook) & the difference of spells are all spells that show in AD&D but not in subsequent Basic editions. Moldvay sticks more to OD&D "basic" spells, trimming off many from the Holmes edition, for whatever reason. Unfortunately, both have Magic Missile.*
3. In Holmes, there is no "initiative" as we know it. Instead, the character w/ the highest Dexterity goes first in combat. In Moldvay, each "side" makes an initiative roll before combat, or there is the "Pair Combat" option where opposing sides pair off & each pair rolls for initiative. For me? Going by dexterity every time seems unrealistic, & pairing off seems much too formal for true combat... Face it: high DEX characters may not "always" get the jump (but they always get a modifier!), so rolling for initiative (each character individually per round) seems better when imagining combat. Long aside aside, it was Moldvay's lead that got me here (throw in some intense Civil War games & perhaps Arkham Horror).
*Regarding Magic Missile, first of all it shouldnt be a 1st level spell, secondly it shouldnt be a spell @ all. A magic-user should have to craftily work their magic not have a weak way to turn into a ranger. The spell is a way to give magic-users an "attack" but the problem is that @ low lev they learn to just be like any other character @ the time of combat, which is sorta lame.
vs.
1. In Holmes, a Halfling can be a fighter or a thief, an Elf can be a magic-user, etc. In Moldvay, you can be either a Halfling or a Thief, an Elf or a Magic-user. I/o/w, there is no race & class blending in later Basic. Races ARE your class. Only humans can be fighters, clerics, magic-users & thieves. Take away? Holmes is more tuned to AD&D w/ "character types," saying, "At the Dungeon Master's discretion a character can be anything his or her player wants him to be... Thus, an expedition might include... a centaur, a lawful werebear, & a Japanese Samurai fighting man." Holmes' perception of the game is definitely DIY & appealing. Make your own supplement!
2. In Holmes, the Magic-user spell list is bulkier (an additional 14 spells between 1st & 3rd level MU list than Moldvay & Cook) & the difference of spells are all spells that show in AD&D but not in subsequent Basic editions. Moldvay sticks more to OD&D "basic" spells, trimming off many from the Holmes edition, for whatever reason. Unfortunately, both have Magic Missile.*
3. In Holmes, there is no "initiative" as we know it. Instead, the character w/ the highest Dexterity goes first in combat. In Moldvay, each "side" makes an initiative roll before combat, or there is the "Pair Combat" option where opposing sides pair off & each pair rolls for initiative. For me? Going by dexterity every time seems unrealistic, & pairing off seems much too formal for true combat... Face it: high DEX characters may not "always" get the jump (but they always get a modifier!), so rolling for initiative (each character individually per round) seems better when imagining combat. Long aside aside, it was Moldvay's lead that got me here (throw in some intense Civil War games & perhaps Arkham Horror).
*Regarding Magic Missile, first of all it shouldnt be a 1st level spell, secondly it shouldnt be a spell @ all. A magic-user should have to craftily work their magic not have a weak way to turn into a ranger. The spell is a way to give magic-users an "attack" but the problem is that @ low lev they learn to just be like any other character @ the time of combat, which is sorta lame.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
MISSILE WEAPONS IN MELEE COMBAT + FRIENDLY FIRE
In discussion of rules surrounding "Can I or Can't I fire off an arrow, etc," I flipped through various books & pdfs & here's what I came up with:
CHAINMAIL (combat rules used for OD&D)
-------------------------------------------------------
"Missiles cannot be fired into a melee... Missile troops interspaced w/ other footmen forming a defensive line may refuse combat & move back 3" out of melee range."
HOLMES BASIC
----------------------
"Once the party is engaged in melee, arrows can not be fired into the fight b/c of the probability of hitting friendly characters."
AD&D DUNGEON MASTERS GUIDE
-------------------------------------------------
"discharge of missiles into an existing melee is easily handled. It is permissible, of course, & the results might not be too incompatible w/ the desires of the discharging party. Assign probabilities to each participant in the melee or target group according to sheer numbers. In the case of participants of varying size use half value for size "S", normal value for size "M", and one & one-half value for size "L" creatures which are not too much larger than man-size. Total the values for each group & ratio one over the other. [Seriously? ed.] If side A has 4 man-sized participants, & side B has 3 smaller than man-sized participants & 1 size "L" bugbear, the ratio is 4:3. Then, according to the direction of the missile discharge, determine hits by using the same ratio. If 7 missiles were loosed, 4 would have a chance to hit side A, 3 side B... [there's a bit more of the same, then] You may assign a minor chance of the missile striking a friend if you wish, but this writer [Gygax], for instance, always allows archery hits to hit a giant or a similar creature engaged against a human or smaller opponent."
MOLDVAY BASIC
------------------------
"Missile fire is a type of combat used when the enemy is too far away to fight hand-to-hand (more than 5 feet away)... is fought @ a range beyond 5 feet but still within sight... The DM must check for surprise (or initiative) to see which side fires first... If the distance between enemies is reduced to 5' or less as a result of movement, hand-to-hand combat may take place."
MENTZER BASIC
------------------------
"Devices cannot be used in hand-to-hand combat, or against targets within 5 feet."
Interestingly, there seems to be an actual evolution of thought here. First, it's no missiles where there's melee then no missiles once melee begins b/c then there seems to be a bit of a sea change on the topic when Gygax works up AD&D strangely stating "it is permissible, of course..." & then goes on to spell out how to do it which proves to be a royal pain in the ass to execute in any decently sized battle... He then refers to the older rules about friendly fire, but tries to simplify the thought by saying, basically, make it easy on yourself, if the monsters you are firing at are much larger than the bowman, dont sweat it... THEN, w/ the following editions of Basic, unless I missed something, you dont see "you can't fire into melee" anymore... Now, it appears permissible, but you must be at least 5 feet away from the target to do so, & also, you must have the initiative*, not be surprised, etc.
My general ruling on this will always have a lot to do w/ what exactly a player tells me they do, how the initiative falls, & if there is any question as to whether there can be success of actually getting an arrow or missile fire off... If so, a Dexterity check may come into play... HOWEVER, if a player gives me solid info to go on beforehand, e.g. I move a bit away from the party, toward the monsters' rear & jump on a table, etc. Generally there will be no questions asked. But when assumed melee combat begins, initiative starts being rolled & a player just says, "I fire my bow" when it gets to them, there are just too many variables that cannot be determined, therefore, it cannot even be an option, especially when the player does not have initiative*. It is mainly just a role-playing thing. If a player has thought out their attack then I should hear about it, but if they havent, it becomes obvious, & therefore their character shouldnt be able to suddenly do so.
So anyway, what if a player is able to fire their missile into melee combat per above? What about "friendly fire"? As the threat should be real, any miss where the to-hit roll (w/ modifiers) is lower than the discharger's DEX score subtracted from 20, has a 10% (1 on 1d10) chance of hitting a friendly PC or NPC; generally the closest to the missed target. Here's an example: Legolas in an impressive feat of dexterity, skirts the melee & lofts himself into the air from a treetrunk, firing off an arrow @ an Orc that is surrounded by 2 friendly fighters. Legolas rolls a 5 to-hit (rolls a 3, but gets +2 for DEX bonus; NOTE: in this instance, missile fire does not get a to-hit bonus for close range - only so when discharger is stationary when firing). Legolas has missed the Orc, therefore you take his DEX score of 16 & subtract it from 20. That tells you that if Legolas' to-hit was below a 4, then there is a chance he has hit one of the friendly fighters. As his to-hit is a 5, he hits no one & battle resumes to the next w/ initiative. That said, no matter what one's DEX or modifiers, if the discharger rolls a natural "1" to-hit, they will always hit a friendly unit (no 1d10 roll necessary), though in some situations a GM may devise another situation they find more appropriate.
*as for Initiative, I do it a bit differently than most I'm sure, perhaps it's my experience w/ other games, but the closest D&D "option" would be Moldvay's "Pair Combat" rule. In that variant, instead of each "side" rolling for initiative & one "side" attacking after the other, you pair off one member from each party attacking another member of the opposite party & then each "pair" rolls for initiative against one another. The way I do it, however, is w/o the pairing. Instead, every character & monster rolls for initiative, adds any modifiers, & then the combat executes from 6 down to 1. Personally, I feel this gives a more visual flow to combat. Someone may get a jump that usually doesnt, etc. (However, two-handed weapon wielders always go off @ 1, unless they have DEX modifier - that is, if using variable weapon damage)
CHAINMAIL (combat rules used for OD&D)
-------------------------------------------------------
"Missiles cannot be fired into a melee... Missile troops interspaced w/ other footmen forming a defensive line may refuse combat & move back 3" out of melee range."
HOLMES BASIC
----------------------
"Once the party is engaged in melee, arrows can not be fired into the fight b/c of the probability of hitting friendly characters."
AD&D DUNGEON MASTERS GUIDE
-------------------------------------------------
"discharge of missiles into an existing melee is easily handled. It is permissible, of course, & the results might not be too incompatible w/ the desires of the discharging party. Assign probabilities to each participant in the melee or target group according to sheer numbers. In the case of participants of varying size use half value for size "S", normal value for size "M", and one & one-half value for size "L" creatures which are not too much larger than man-size. Total the values for each group & ratio one over the other. [Seriously? ed.] If side A has 4 man-sized participants, & side B has 3 smaller than man-sized participants & 1 size "L" bugbear, the ratio is 4:3. Then, according to the direction of the missile discharge, determine hits by using the same ratio. If 7 missiles were loosed, 4 would have a chance to hit side A, 3 side B... [there's a bit more of the same, then] You may assign a minor chance of the missile striking a friend if you wish, but this writer [Gygax], for instance, always allows archery hits to hit a giant or a similar creature engaged against a human or smaller opponent."
MOLDVAY BASIC
------------------------
"Missile fire is a type of combat used when the enemy is too far away to fight hand-to-hand (more than 5 feet away)... is fought @ a range beyond 5 feet but still within sight... The DM must check for surprise (or initiative) to see which side fires first... If the distance between enemies is reduced to 5' or less as a result of movement, hand-to-hand combat may take place."
MENTZER BASIC
------------------------
"Devices cannot be used in hand-to-hand combat, or against targets within 5 feet."
Interestingly, there seems to be an actual evolution of thought here. First, it's no missiles where there's melee then no missiles once melee begins b/c then there seems to be a bit of a sea change on the topic when Gygax works up AD&D strangely stating "it is permissible, of course..." & then goes on to spell out how to do it which proves to be a royal pain in the ass to execute in any decently sized battle... He then refers to the older rules about friendly fire, but tries to simplify the thought by saying, basically, make it easy on yourself, if the monsters you are firing at are much larger than the bowman, dont sweat it... THEN, w/ the following editions of Basic, unless I missed something, you dont see "you can't fire into melee" anymore... Now, it appears permissible, but you must be at least 5 feet away from the target to do so, & also, you must have the initiative*, not be surprised, etc.
My general ruling on this will always have a lot to do w/ what exactly a player tells me they do, how the initiative falls, & if there is any question as to whether there can be success of actually getting an arrow or missile fire off... If so, a Dexterity check may come into play... HOWEVER, if a player gives me solid info to go on beforehand, e.g. I move a bit away from the party, toward the monsters' rear & jump on a table, etc. Generally there will be no questions asked. But when assumed melee combat begins, initiative starts being rolled & a player just says, "I fire my bow" when it gets to them, there are just too many variables that cannot be determined, therefore, it cannot even be an option, especially when the player does not have initiative*. It is mainly just a role-playing thing. If a player has thought out their attack then I should hear about it, but if they havent, it becomes obvious, & therefore their character shouldnt be able to suddenly do so.
So anyway, what if a player is able to fire their missile into melee combat per above? What about "friendly fire"? As the threat should be real, any miss where the to-hit roll (w/ modifiers) is lower than the discharger's DEX score subtracted from 20, has a 10% (1 on 1d10) chance of hitting a friendly PC or NPC; generally the closest to the missed target. Here's an example: Legolas in an impressive feat of dexterity, skirts the melee & lofts himself into the air from a treetrunk, firing off an arrow @ an Orc that is surrounded by 2 friendly fighters. Legolas rolls a 5 to-hit (rolls a 3, but gets +2 for DEX bonus; NOTE: in this instance, missile fire does not get a to-hit bonus for close range - only so when discharger is stationary when firing). Legolas has missed the Orc, therefore you take his DEX score of 16 & subtract it from 20. That tells you that if Legolas' to-hit was below a 4, then there is a chance he has hit one of the friendly fighters. As his to-hit is a 5, he hits no one & battle resumes to the next w/ initiative. That said, no matter what one's DEX or modifiers, if the discharger rolls a natural "1" to-hit, they will always hit a friendly unit (no 1d10 roll necessary), though in some situations a GM may devise another situation they find more appropriate.
*as for Initiative, I do it a bit differently than most I'm sure, perhaps it's my experience w/ other games, but the closest D&D "option" would be Moldvay's "Pair Combat" rule. In that variant, instead of each "side" rolling for initiative & one "side" attacking after the other, you pair off one member from each party attacking another member of the opposite party & then each "pair" rolls for initiative against one another. The way I do it, however, is w/o the pairing. Instead, every character & monster rolls for initiative, adds any modifiers, & then the combat executes from 6 down to 1. Personally, I feel this gives a more visual flow to combat. Someone may get a jump that usually doesnt, etc. (However, two-handed weapon wielders always go off @ 1, unless they have DEX modifier - that is, if using variable weapon damage)
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Thursday, November 3, 2011
SESSION 3 - CRACKENMORE
[I cant do this everytime, but since we were having a bit of mapping transition, here ya go]
The star is where ya'll are @. ANYWAY, somewhat here's what happened previously:
The party, now w/ Djinnger, made a beeline for the cemetery in search of the statue of Dagwood Talbot where in a tangled convo @ the bar Magus had heard Crackenmore could be located, if lucky... The party moved in, still early day, glancing around, they notice some fog has moved in, they pass Sloppy Jims' grave & move across to where Leif randomly scans D. Mineral's grave... As there is nothing odd the party moves on, noticing a statue in the distance in front a grove of trees. However, on their way, they notice a random grave that appears much like Sloppy Jims', a newish pile of dirt w/ older dates... Magus takes a whiff of the dirt & concludes that it is not dirt normally found in these parts, like the other dirt, the amount of minerals is only reasonable in the southern part of Furthermoor... B/c of this the party decides to dig below the pile where they locate a wooden crate holding another midget freak, this one wearing a habit & donning a necklace w/ a spiral/tempest charm around its neck. Amadi grabs the necklace as the others decide to toss the box back & move on their way. The statue is indeed Dagwood Talbot's & there is an inscription that reads, "My eyes are closed only for a little while" - he seems to have once held a lantern w/ his left hand but the lantern has long been broken off & w/ his right, he is gesturing outward, as if orating, as his mouth & face match, a leader in his best moments perhaps... The party looks around but notices nothing & heads to the grove of trees... On the way they pass the mausoleum of Gabriel Solar which they search only to inspect the interesting engravings on two sides, one of Gabriel doing carpentry w/ large finished constructions behind him, the other, him performing on a stringed instrument of some kind, a crowd appreciative & a circle dancing behind him... The party spends some time searching the mausoleum but find nothing peculiar. Next, they move into the woods to find dead trees & nothing particular, stepping back on the path, a lychgate around the plot across the way to the NW... After some discussion, the party decides to return to the statue b/c of Magus' hazy lead recollection.
On returning to the statue of Dagwood Talbot, Amadi goes to lengths of resecuring the eyeball from his pouch after cutting it out, climbing a bit on the statue to poke the eyeball @ the statue. Nothing happens. Amadi retreats, nods, then returns the eyeball to his pouch where it slides back into the stitching. In the meantime, Djinnger has been studying the left hand of Talbot's statue, where it appears a lantern may have once hung. Djinnger notices a nice gap that goes through the hand & decides to place Kumiss, his Great, Great, Grandfather's War Hammer into the hole to see what happens. The hand of the statue grips the war hammer & the party hears a scraping noise in back. They walk to find a passage now open @ back of the statue leading down a stone staircase.
As they move from the staircase into the passage, the first thing they notice is a splash of healthy vegetation, abnormal since the cemetery, outside of that plant monster & a strain of particular vine throughout, seems to be dead... Secondly, they notice the black rock that the corridor is cut into... it smooths out into something quite impressive, something none of them have ever seen... The party moves down the corridor & coming to a heavy, wooden door, move through it, as Magus realizes it has been hacked open previously, chips falling away where a lock used to be... Passing another alcove station, the party comes to another & suddenly from the sides come magic mouths from the walls: "Who dares enter this place & intrude upon the sanctuary of its inhabitants?" says the east mouth, then the west mouth, "Only a group of foolhardy explorers doomed to certain death!", then both mouths together, "Woe to any who pass this place - the wrath of Zimbo & Kinchen will be upon them!" The mouth then erupt in mocking laughter & then fade from view w/ no trace as suddenly as they appeared. A short set of stairs is before them, & a number of dead bodies are sprawled about: 4 humans & a dwarf - a little coinage is had searching the bodies (7 gp & a pouch of garlic buds), & Djinnger - after catching a Detect Evil spell & sensing something off - feels tghe pull of evil to the NW... Also, Djinnger equips himself w/ a war hammer from the dead dwarf & returns Amadi's staff. The party moves up the stairs & looks around... Noticing paths north, east, west, doors to the NW & NE, direct east & west passages...
They go west & follow the passage south for some time, eventually landing on a thick, wooden door. Again, Djinnger sensing evil, this time directly to the west of the party. Once the door is knocked in, the party moves through & Djinnger decides to wedge it w/ a spike. The party moves south a bit then turns west until coming upon another door they enter to north, rattling it, they then move east & north until they come to the door of a Meeting, or Situation Room, it would seem. The party busts through the door & 4 Gnolls are waiting, crouching behind tables. Somehow, either b/c of Djinnger, or Knolls confused, the gnolls stand w/o attacking... Djinnger begins a conversation w/ them, speaking in orc, but while @ first it seems they understand, it becomes obvious they dont. They spread a bit examining the party. That's when Amadi starts humming & casting off his Charm spell toward the larger of the gnolls, to the far left. The other three gnolls then attack in a frenzy, the party moves to the south part of the room to defend. Battle ensues, & though Leif & Magus take considerable hits/damage, no one dies. The charmed gnoll does not join in the battle, but looks on w/ confusion. Afterward, the party searches the dead gnolls & first off, Amadi locates a map of some kind, rolled behind the belt of one... It is crumpled a bit, but the image intact... The others, after a deep search locate a few items & some lose gold: a bone pendant in shape of cloisonne elongated dog for 9 cp + 2 sp, an armband of silver for 6 gp & a medal ring of substantial electrum for 18 gp, also, among the pockets 23 gp is collected & finally, a potion vial of some sort is found containing a brown liquid...The charmed gnoll still seems confused, seeing the others dead, but stays nearby Amadi.
The party, now w/ Djinnger, made a beeline for the cemetery in search of the statue of Dagwood Talbot where in a tangled convo @ the bar Magus had heard Crackenmore could be located, if lucky... The party moved in, still early day, glancing around, they notice some fog has moved in, they pass Sloppy Jims' grave & move across to where Leif randomly scans D. Mineral's grave... As there is nothing odd the party moves on, noticing a statue in the distance in front a grove of trees. However, on their way, they notice a random grave that appears much like Sloppy Jims', a newish pile of dirt w/ older dates... Magus takes a whiff of the dirt & concludes that it is not dirt normally found in these parts, like the other dirt, the amount of minerals is only reasonable in the southern part of Furthermoor... B/c of this the party decides to dig below the pile where they locate a wooden crate holding another midget freak, this one wearing a habit & donning a necklace w/ a spiral/tempest charm around its neck. Amadi grabs the necklace as the others decide to toss the box back & move on their way. The statue is indeed Dagwood Talbot's & there is an inscription that reads, "My eyes are closed only for a little while" - he seems to have once held a lantern w/ his left hand but the lantern has long been broken off & w/ his right, he is gesturing outward, as if orating, as his mouth & face match, a leader in his best moments perhaps... The party looks around but notices nothing & heads to the grove of trees... On the way they pass the mausoleum of Gabriel Solar which they search only to inspect the interesting engravings on two sides, one of Gabriel doing carpentry w/ large finished constructions behind him, the other, him performing on a stringed instrument of some kind, a crowd appreciative & a circle dancing behind him... The party spends some time searching the mausoleum but find nothing peculiar. Next, they move into the woods to find dead trees & nothing particular, stepping back on the path, a lychgate around the plot across the way to the NW... After some discussion, the party decides to return to the statue b/c of Magus' hazy lead recollection.
On returning to the statue of Dagwood Talbot, Amadi goes to lengths of resecuring the eyeball from his pouch after cutting it out, climbing a bit on the statue to poke the eyeball @ the statue. Nothing happens. Amadi retreats, nods, then returns the eyeball to his pouch where it slides back into the stitching. In the meantime, Djinnger has been studying the left hand of Talbot's statue, where it appears a lantern may have once hung. Djinnger notices a nice gap that goes through the hand & decides to place Kumiss, his Great, Great, Grandfather's War Hammer into the hole to see what happens. The hand of the statue grips the war hammer & the party hears a scraping noise in back. They walk to find a passage now open @ back of the statue leading down a stone staircase.
As they move from the staircase into the passage, the first thing they notice is a splash of healthy vegetation, abnormal since the cemetery, outside of that plant monster & a strain of particular vine throughout, seems to be dead... Secondly, they notice the black rock that the corridor is cut into... it smooths out into something quite impressive, something none of them have ever seen... The party moves down the corridor & coming to a heavy, wooden door, move through it, as Magus realizes it has been hacked open previously, chips falling away where a lock used to be... Passing another alcove station, the party comes to another & suddenly from the sides come magic mouths from the walls: "Who dares enter this place & intrude upon the sanctuary of its inhabitants?" says the east mouth, then the west mouth, "Only a group of foolhardy explorers doomed to certain death!", then both mouths together, "Woe to any who pass this place - the wrath of Zimbo & Kinchen will be upon them!" The mouth then erupt in mocking laughter & then fade from view w/ no trace as suddenly as they appeared. A short set of stairs is before them, & a number of dead bodies are sprawled about: 4 humans & a dwarf - a little coinage is had searching the bodies (7 gp & a pouch of garlic buds), & Djinnger - after catching a Detect Evil spell & sensing something off - feels tghe pull of evil to the NW... Also, Djinnger equips himself w/ a war hammer from the dead dwarf & returns Amadi's staff. The party moves up the stairs & looks around... Noticing paths north, east, west, doors to the NW & NE, direct east & west passages...
They go west & follow the passage south for some time, eventually landing on a thick, wooden door. Again, Djinnger sensing evil, this time directly to the west of the party. Once the door is knocked in, the party moves through & Djinnger decides to wedge it w/ a spike. The party moves south a bit then turns west until coming upon another door they enter to north, rattling it, they then move east & north until they come to the door of a Meeting, or Situation Room, it would seem. The party busts through the door & 4 Gnolls are waiting, crouching behind tables. Somehow, either b/c of Djinnger, or Knolls confused, the gnolls stand w/o attacking... Djinnger begins a conversation w/ them, speaking in orc, but while @ first it seems they understand, it becomes obvious they dont. They spread a bit examining the party. That's when Amadi starts humming & casting off his Charm spell toward the larger of the gnolls, to the far left. The other three gnolls then attack in a frenzy, the party moves to the south part of the room to defend. Battle ensues, & though Leif & Magus take considerable hits/damage, no one dies. The charmed gnoll does not join in the battle, but looks on w/ confusion. Afterward, the party searches the dead gnolls & first off, Amadi locates a map of some kind, rolled behind the belt of one... It is crumpled a bit, but the image intact... The others, after a deep search locate a few items & some lose gold: a bone pendant in shape of cloisonne elongated dog for 9 cp + 2 sp, an armband of silver for 6 gp & a medal ring of substantial electrum for 18 gp, also, among the pockets 23 gp is collected & finally, a potion vial of some sort is found containing a brown liquid...The charmed gnoll still seems confused, seeing the others dead, but stays nearby Amadi.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
SESSION 2 - TALBOT CEMETERY
Magus sits on the dirt, slowly nodding off what just happened, while Leif & Amadi look on, concerned; Magus looks up & sees something approaching from the darkness, about 8' tall, a green monster of sorts, a plant w/ a head like a Venus Flytrap, fuzz covering & long pincers, opened mouth... Amadi somehow sensing it, turns & swings his staff, planting a massive hit on its lower lip, the lip tears a bit, green & red & water dripping, hanging... But it keeps on & plants its upper mouth into Magus' side... Magus resiliently hops up & takes a swing w/ axe but misses the plants head as it recoils... A number of misses go about as Leif tries arrows, Amadi takes another swing... Then it heats up as everyone misses in a tangle... Eventually Amadi strokes the Green Monster again in the stem area, below it's "head", it misses whirling around, then finally, after missing Magus, Magus plants his axe in the mouth of the plant, pinning it to the ground. It writhes for a bit & then gives up, lifeless. The party examines the Giant Plant & notices a green sack that bulges out from the stem just above ground level. They cut it open & find it full of spinning eyeballs. Magus stomps his boot into the eyeballs & pulling away finds that 3 of the eyeballs are now lodged into the bottom of his shoe, they are spinning around, looking. He takes the edge of his axe & plucks out each, one by one. Amadi then stabs one of the eyeballs w/ his dagger & they leave, heading back out of the cemetery, while taking a cursory look for D. Mineral's gravestone. They find nothing, leave the cemetery, & head back into Talbot. @ this time it's around 1:40 AM. Around 2, as they turn in the fork of the road south of the Black Dog Tavern, Amadi's lantern goes out. Being in town, they have no problem getting back to the Green Lantern Inn & as they get back, around 2:10 AM, Goody is cleaning up. They tell him about the cemetery & b/c of their choice of location, he asks if they were there searching for Crackenmore. They ask about Crackenmore & he tells them a short tale about Dagwood Talbot's two sons. Dagwood Talbot was the knight that planted himself in what was once referred to as Talbot's Fee. He had two sons - among other children - that took a hankering for adventuring. One, into magic, became known as Zimbo the Unknown. He was the shy one. No one in town ever "knew" him. The other was Kinchen the Freebooter. Quite the opposite, Kinchen was known by everyone, & generally loved, but as he got older, he became wilder & eventually ransacked a small village near Talbot's Fee, thus earning his title. He would go on to much greater exploits, but the brothers @ one point became "questionable" throughout town. The fact that they chose adventuring was not admirable, given their upbringing. Therefore they decided to move their operations to an unnoticable locale north of town & underground. There was a bit about them commanding orc slaves & such to construct the space, etc. Though the town of Talbot knew what was going on, they did nothing, & when they were considering doing so, a surprise Barbarian attack came from the East. Having bypassed Furthermoor, the Barbarians came straight to Talbot for a stronghold, which they would have easily won, if it were not for Zimbo, Kinchen & their minions. This is when rumors circulated about their massive underground lair, Crackenmore. After savingTalbot, the two of them were never bothered again, & as far as anyone knows, rumors & otherwise, they left for travel to the north, but never came back... The party shows Goody numerous spoils (pincer, toe, etc.), but he finds none of it worth much, saying, "many adventurers come through here..." - lastly they ask Goody where D. Mineral's grave site is & are told it occupies the same plot as the statue of Dagwood Talbot.
The party decides to get some rest in their room. Crack of dawn, they're up, head across the street to the stonecarver's, who is already hard @ work. He is an older gent, unfazed by entrance, or the stabbed eye that Amadi is brandishing. They eventually strike up convo which basically informs them that Delly is 1) looking for delivery help (to outlying areas), 2) telling them that he doesnt work on cemetery stuff normally, that'd be Denarius, 3) informing them that the Black Dog may be a good place for hirelings & the Chapel of the White Widow may be a good place for healing & 4) though he doesnt believe in the
"Black Dog" per se there have been some odd killings of livestock lately w/ a strange, yellowish substance present. The party decides to move it to the Chapel of the White Widow where they find Bingo, a young adept who intercedes on their behalf, takes them into the chapel where they see a large fake white spider hanging over a lectern & not only does he grant Magus w/ a healing potion (he says it is for free this time), which Magus drinks ASAP, but once Magus hands over a gp in thanks, Bingo gifts Magus a vial of holy water. While exiting, Amadi asks where he can find some lantern oil & is directed to the Outfitter @ the head of town. The party heads there & Amadi stocks up on oil. They then head to the Black Dog Tavern.
It's early, though the Black Dog is surprisingly populated. After trying to chat up the bartenderess, but getting nowhere, the party moves to a large table where some locals are sitting. There's Chain the Mason, Denarius the Stonecarver, Jane the Vet & Coppy the Bowyer. Denarius is asked about the cemetery, but he tells them that he makes the stones, but never goes there. Like everyone in town, he knows it as an insane place. The party asks for hirelings & the table basically directs them toward the half-orc sitting across the room @ a table (there are other tables & folks here but the party did notice the half-orc when they came in, though Leif was extremely wary). Amadi ends up going to talk to the half-orc & buying him a drink. Ends up the half-orc w/ red hair, who's name is Djinnger, is from Debthaven & is here b/c he's never been to Talbot & decided to journey here to see where his Great Great Grandfather slaved away for someone. When Amadi hears this he naturally mentions Crackenmore & his party's current standing. Amadi signals Leif over who soon has the half-orc convinced of joining their party. As Leif questions him, he reveals to the party an eldritch war hammer, the cratfsmanship like nothing theyve seen. Djinnger also has a sling for certain situations. Amadi & Leif surmise that he must be a cleric of some sort. Djinnger professes his belief in the Great Tulip & feels he has been directed to the party in some way. It's 10:30 AM as they consult w/ their new hireling about the terms, etc. w/ conversation mainly leading toward Crackenmore...
"Black Dog" per se there have been some odd killings of livestock lately w/ a strange, yellowish substance present. The party decides to move it to the Chapel of the White Widow where they find Bingo, a young adept who intercedes on their behalf, takes them into the chapel where they see a large fake white spider hanging over a lectern & not only does he grant Magus w/ a healing potion (he says it is for free this time), which Magus drinks ASAP, but once Magus hands over a gp in thanks, Bingo gifts Magus a vial of holy water. While exiting, Amadi asks where he can find some lantern oil & is directed to the Outfitter @ the head of town. The party heads there & Amadi stocks up on oil. They then head to the Black Dog Tavern.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
SESSION 1 - TALBOT
Amadi, Leif & Magus meet up @ the Green Lantern Inn in Talbot & even though Amadi is a bit under the weather, by evening are all enjoying brews together in the bar where they chat up the barkeep, Goody Threeshoe. Goody tells them about the new undertaker, & how something just doesnt seem right about him, how he saw him @ twilight a few weeks ago hangin' from a tree by his legs... He also warns them about speaking of the actual Black Dog in public... lastly, before leaving, possibly to test their reaction, he mentions a rumor he'd heard about a group of Talbot thieves that were masterminding an assassination of Lord Dimmings. The party learns that though Goody doesnt care much for Lord Dimmings, Lyla Dimmings, the daughter, is a sight to behold. Other things @ the Green Lantern: Magus inquired about finding work in town & Goody suggested Delly, the stonecarver, across the street. A table of townsfolk agreed w/ this, & also told Magus that while a lot of folks think the Black Dog attacks livestock, there are also rumors that a family of werewolves lives in the Enchanted Waste & has been feeding off Talbot livestock. After discussing the new undertaker w/ Goody a bit more, the party decides to head to the morgue @ the north edge of town near the cemetery. But first, Amadi goes upstairs to study his spell book for Enlargement.
Nearing the white morgue, the party notices how the trees nearer the cemetery gates (about 100 yards north) are in worse shape, dying... They lurk around a grove of trees near the house until Leif spots a possum hanging from a tree limb by its tail. He casts his SPEAK TO ANIMALS spell & has a conversation w/ the possum about the undertaker & the cemetery. The possum used to live in the cemetery but due to the death there, has moved out. He also speaks of the undertaker as someone he likes to watch, & that the undertaker sometimes also has smaller people w/ him @ night... coming & going... he speaks of him as being tall w/ white hair.
Leif approaches the large, metal door of the morgue, & knocks. There is no answer. Magus lurks around the house & locates a few curtained windows, as well as a wooden door in back that is locked by inner chain. After discussing their options out front, the party decides to enter the cemetery to the north. With Amadi's lantern bright, they search the SE & E sides of the cemetery a bit, glancing tombstones for death dates around when the Black Dog killed D. Mineral. They finally locate a grave that matches the dates, 40 years ago, to one Sloppy Jims, "best known barkeep & fisher"; however, what is odd, is that the dirt on the grave appears to have only recently been placed there, i.e. a loose mound sits atop. Magus decides to start digging into the dirt w/ his axe. It is then that the party notices 4 zombies approaching from the west. After a brief battle, they conquer the zombies, search them to no avail & Magus continues his digging of the grave, finally locating a wooden crate which he ends up smashing up w/ the axe. Inside the crate is a human-like creature w/ a sticky, yellow substance (mucousy mustard) all about... It could be a midget, but it is hard to tell due to the axe slicings... but clearly it is not of normal human size & the face looks aged. Next, Magus tries to dig further w/ axe but locates nothing. Amadi then stabs around w/ his staff & eventually hits on something hard... Magus reaches his arm down there & grabs onto it, trying to pull it up... As he grabs it, something attaches his hand to it quickly. It is a root, or stem of some kind... Magus pulls it up & they see how his hand is tightly tied to the bright green stem that trails back into the dirt in two different places. Leif tries to rub the stem but gets his hand stuck as well, but then is able to free it w/ a precise knife cut. Magus on the other hand is still stuck. Amadi tries hacking into the root but only pisses it off, it begins rumbling & shaking, moving Magus w/ it... Leif tries to free Magus' hand but just pisses the thing off worse... Finally, Amadi pours a vial of oil around the two areas where the stem trails back into the dirt & then lights it... The flames cause the root/stem to retreat back into the ground, first pulling Magus down into the dirt, pulling his arm... but then releasing him & disappearing. Magus sits up, catching a scent from the dirt, crammed in his nostrils & beard, remembering that scent from down south around Moloch, the soil there... A smell that generally doesnt permeate the soil in these parts...
Nearing the white morgue, the party notices how the trees nearer the cemetery gates (about 100 yards north) are in worse shape, dying... They lurk around a grove of trees near the house until Leif spots a possum hanging from a tree limb by its tail. He casts his SPEAK TO ANIMALS spell & has a conversation w/ the possum about the undertaker & the cemetery. The possum used to live in the cemetery but due to the death there, has moved out. He also speaks of the undertaker as someone he likes to watch, & that the undertaker sometimes also has smaller people w/ him @ night... coming & going... he speaks of him as being tall w/ white hair.
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