Thursday, December 17, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
RPG Weekend Recap
So this weekend (Saturday) I ran 4th Edition D&D for my friends up in Sunland. Prior to the game, I made a set for encounters to take place. This game was supposed to be a 'holiday' D&D game, so I made a forrest with snowy trees. Here is the list of things I used to create the set and the result below:
-Sinister Woods Dungeon Tiles
-Black foam core board
-1 foam core block
-Fake grass (from a diorama kit)
-Snow covered trees (I got a pack of them at Michael's on sale for $8)
-Scotch Tape
-Green Acrylic Gems
I used Scotch Tape to stick the dungeon tiles to the foam core and did the same to tape the trees on top of the tiles (so they wouldn't fall over during the game). By the way, using Scotch Tape with the Dungeon Tiles did not damage them. I took the fake grass and cut it into a couple of pieces, then taped it to the foam core block to create a cliff in the environment. The result is the picture below (click on any of the pictures below for a larger view).
Shot 1
Shot 2
Shot 3
Here are some post game shots, showing how some of the combat encounters broke down. (For this game I used some ambient tracks from the artist, Robert Rich)
The group was in an Elven settlement, watching over things. They were expecting some cultists to attack and heard some screams from a nearby glade. They entered the glade.
This Elven glade was lined with magical, green crystals that provided warmth throughout the snowy glade (they also provided light in the dark and granted 2 healing surges per encounter to any ally of the Elves). Some Elves had been praying to the Raven Queen in the glade the group entered. The group found the Elves dead by the hands of the cultists they encountered there.
They spotted a Wyvern on top of a 40' high cliff in the glade too! (Yeah, I know the miniature is a dragon, couldn't find any Wyverns in time for the game).
Yuan-ti Malison Sharp Eyes (Archers), who were in control of the Wyvern were also on the cliff.
Combat ensued! (I used an empty dice container to indicate the Wyvern was flying.)
The group beat the cultists, then they went looking for their lair. At that point I had the players go through a skill challenge as they traveled to a more dangerous part of the woods. Eventually they ran into some Eladrin Lingerers (1 Encanter, 2 Knights).
(I rearranged the trees for this encounter)
By the end of the skill challenge, the guys were one success away from finding the Temple of the Emerald Dawn, and one failure away from losing the skill challenge entirely!
Their last roll was indeed a success, which brought the group to the dungeon door. We ended the night with one more combat encounter between their group and some cultists who were outside the temple, on guard.
Fortunately for them, they didn't have to find out what failing the skill challenge meant. Something else was lurking through those woods...
(yes, this is a photo of the actual miniature Wizards sells)
-Sinister Woods Dungeon Tiles
-Black foam core board
-1 foam core block
-Fake grass (from a diorama kit)
-Snow covered trees (I got a pack of them at Michael's on sale for $8)
-Scotch Tape
-Green Acrylic Gems
I used Scotch Tape to stick the dungeon tiles to the foam core and did the same to tape the trees on top of the tiles (so they wouldn't fall over during the game). By the way, using Scotch Tape with the Dungeon Tiles did not damage them. I took the fake grass and cut it into a couple of pieces, then taped it to the foam core block to create a cliff in the environment. The result is the picture below (click on any of the pictures below for a larger view).
Shot 1
Shot 2
Shot 3
Here are some post game shots, showing how some of the combat encounters broke down. (For this game I used some ambient tracks from the artist, Robert Rich)
The group was in an Elven settlement, watching over things. They were expecting some cultists to attack and heard some screams from a nearby glade. They entered the glade.
This Elven glade was lined with magical, green crystals that provided warmth throughout the snowy glade (they also provided light in the dark and granted 2 healing surges per encounter to any ally of the Elves). Some Elves had been praying to the Raven Queen in the glade the group entered. The group found the Elves dead by the hands of the cultists they encountered there.
They spotted a Wyvern on top of a 40' high cliff in the glade too! (Yeah, I know the miniature is a dragon, couldn't find any Wyverns in time for the game).
Yuan-ti Malison Sharp Eyes (Archers), who were in control of the Wyvern were also on the cliff.
Combat ensued! (I used an empty dice container to indicate the Wyvern was flying.)
The group beat the cultists, then they went looking for their lair. At that point I had the players go through a skill challenge as they traveled to a more dangerous part of the woods. Eventually they ran into some Eladrin Lingerers (1 Encanter, 2 Knights).
(I rearranged the trees for this encounter)
By the end of the skill challenge, the guys were one success away from finding the Temple of the Emerald Dawn, and one failure away from losing the skill challenge entirely!
Their last roll was indeed a success, which brought the group to the dungeon door. We ended the night with one more combat encounter between their group and some cultists who were outside the temple, on guard.
Fortunately for them, they didn't have to find out what failing the skill challenge meant. Something else was lurking through those woods...
(yes, this is a photo of the actual miniature Wizards sells)
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Harkenwold, Zealots and the Emerald Dawn Continued
Welcome back to Harkenwold!
The Baron's son has been recovered, but danger still plagues the land. When Elves, travelers and Goblins alike, were showing up dead throughout Harkenwold, blame for the deaths and the kidnapping of the Baron's son fell upon a group of cultists who were residing in the Witchlight Fens. The cultist's swampy den was raided by the Baron's second son and his companions - they slayed all of the cultists but did not find the Baron's kidnapped son and returned to Harkenwold empty handed.
Further North of Harkenwold, an abandoned tower in the Moon Hills region had been occupied by some pesky Daggerburg goblins. The goblins seemed to be raiding caravans further North than usual, for an unknown reason. The tower was attacked by an unlikely trio from Fallcrest, who stumbled upon the Baron of Harkenwold's son. Though Harkenwold suspected the cultists in the swamp had kidnapped the Baron's son, it turned out to be the Goblins who were the true culprits. He was hidden on the top floor of the tower. The Fallcrest adventurers quickly realized that it was the Baron's son and returned him to Harkenwold safely. The Baron's kidnapped son had been placed under a magical sleep spell, of which a cure is still being sought.
To the bewilderment of all in the Barony, fresh bodies were still being found dead and torn apart in strange ways throughout Harken Forest, even though the cult in the swamp had been killed. It was later discovered that the cultists in the swamp were not the only cult in the area. Two different cults, The Disciples of Zehir and the Emerald Dawn were warring between each other over territory. The bodies being found dead were ways for each cult to make a claim for territory (though both sides thought they deserved all territories in the land). The Disciples of Zehir were the cult in the swamp. When the Baron's second son raided and killed the Disciples in their den, the cult had been waiting for their leader, a Yuan-ti named Zarkan, to return for some time. Unknown by the Disciples, Zarkan had already been slain by the Emerald Dawn. Zarkan's body was found cut into small pieces and spread out across a glade near the Woodsinger Elve's settlement.
The slaughtered body of Zarkan that was found in the glade, was apparently a warning to the Woodsinger Clan. A Dragonborn emissary sent by the Emerald Dawn came to one of the Elven settlements in the middle of the night, with a message: All must bow before the Dawn. The message was shouted repeatedly in the darkened woods near midnight at the boarder of the settlement. The Elves searched for the crier and found him fleeing the locale, where he had left behind a Woodsinger Elf with his heart carved out. At dawn the next day, an attack was made by the cultists. The cultists have continued harassing the Woodsinger Clan ever since, which is bad timing with a yearly festival coming up, that is held between the Woodsingers and the Barony of Harkenwold.
Further, informants in Harkenwold have suspected that the sleep spell the goblins placed the Baron's son under, is the result of a potion that was given to the Daggerburg goblins by the Emerald Dawn. This has led to the assumption that the Dawn has a cure.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Thanksgiving Weekend Recap
Gotta be grateful for 4 day weekends! Too bad this one is over... but let's recap.
So this weekend I got the chance to run 4th Edition D&D two nights in a row. Gotta say, the Dungeon Delve book that WotC released back in February came in handy this 4 day weekend. We decided on Tuesday that we were going to play on Friday night, then on a whim we ended up playing Thursday also (we're very excited geeks). Both days we had successful games, mainly because that book made it nice and easy to jump into the game with very little planning. I'm still new to 4th edition and this was a great way to try out the new rules system. If you're a new DM for 4th edition, check out the Delve book - it's worth it.
The initial plan was to only play on Friday, but after two of my players and I were done with Thanksgiving dinner, we met up and decided to play Thursday night too! I had some pre-generated characters that I swapped from the Keep on the Shadowfell adventure. Those characters come ready to play (for free if you download the adventure), and are prepared to be played at 1st,2nd or 3rd level, we chose 3rd level. The players (Mike Goluch and Manny Salazar), chose to play the Dwarven Fighter (Mike) and the Halfling Rogue (Manny). Since most delves are set up to be played with 4-5 players, I had an NPC Cleric travel with them to make it more fair for them. To interfere less as a DM for what the players were doing in the game, I had them decide what the Cleric did in combat and I filled in role playing aspects for the Cleric, only making decisions for the Cleric when the players were busy doing other stuff.
Thursday night game: The players started in Fallcrest. Broke and down on their luck they met each other at the Blue Moon Tavern. The PCs were adventurers that made their living by hiring out their skills for any job paying them well enough - but lately they hadn't gotten any jobs. The Blue Moon is always full of Halfling traders, so the Dwarf and the Halfling met up there in hopes of finding work. Eventually a Rich Halfling trader showed up and sent them an invitation to join him in the VIP section of the tavern. When they went to meet him, he told them he had a job for them. The Daggerburg Goblins were apparently starting to attack further to the North, they hit a caravan that was delivering an art object he had bought and it was destroyed in the raid. He wanted the two to go to an abandoned tower that the Goblins had taken refuge in, and kill them all (the delve from the book!). A Cleric named Duval, who was employed by the Rich Halfling trader, was sent with them as an informant and assistant. This is the plot hook I inserted to make the delve become more than just a hack and slash encounter - I created it on a whim at the table because I had read the delve and also knew something about the Nentir Vale setting, which is described in the DMG. All I had to do was set the delve in the Nentir Vale, choose a city and start the game. I still haven't even read all the way through the setting in the DMG and was still able to start the game.
The PCs headed out and traveled to the tower. When they arrived it was dusk, the Goblins were just waking up. The tower was a ruin. The players snuck up to the front entrance to the tower and peaked in through one of the broken holes in the rotting door. Goblins playing cards were arguing, another dipped his goblet into a cauldron of wine, others scurried about the room and on the stairs. The tower's floors and walls were made of stone. The ceiling of the room was sagging low near the center of the room due to the decaying infrastructure.
The delve I used for this combat is on page 18 of the Dungeon Delve book; it is a 2nd level delve. With three party members at 3rd Level (Dwarven Fighter, Halfling Rogue and Elven Cleric), the delve was considered a lower challenge. Normally, however, they suggest that if you have a party of less than 4-5, that you should adjust the amount of monsters in the delve (minus one or two monster per party member missing). Since it was a lower level encounter, I kept the same amount of monsters and that seemed to be a good decision. The combat they encountered here seemed to be an equal challenge for their abilities.
We ended the night when this delve was finished.
And now for a break by MIXEL PIXEL:
Friday night: I had the two players from the previous night's game (Mike G and Manny S) plus one more (Rob Bessette). This was the planned game, that we were going to use 16th level characters for. It took me a lot longer to make the characters for the game than expected (it was actually my first time creating characters for the game). I ended up letting the players do the work for buying equipment with the money I gave them. I was trying to create all the characters for them before the game so we could just play, but since it was my first time building them, it took a little longer as I tried to optimize their characters to be able to work well together. Because of the character creation delay, the game started later than expected.
The blog below, Harkenwold, Zealots and the Emerald Dawn, was the original hook for the game. Instead of getting into all of the role play stuff, I skipped it all, told them the overall plot and put them at the dungeon door in the swamps (they were all high level characters that are high up in rank in the barony of Harkenwold, one of them [Mike] was the son of the baron - they were all searching for the Baron's other son who was suspected of being kidnapped by some cultists).
For this game, I used an 8th level delve from page 42, then used the succeeding delves that connected to that one (pg44 lvl 7, pg46 lvl 9), from the Dungeon Delve book. Again, there were three members in the group... and being that the level was a lot lower (for all three delves), I kept all the encounters the exact same as they were presented in the book. The players (Mike - Goliath Barbarian, Manny - Human Cleric, Rob - Human Warlock), blew through dungeon. The only trouble that they really encountered was from the Feymire Crocodile in the delve on page 44. One of the PCs (Mike's) put one of their dead opponents in the area where an unseen well sinks below the surface of the water to lower ground. This disturbed the Feymire Crocodile enough to grant him a perception check as they walked by. It attacked Mike's character, grabbed him with his jaws, the croc's move action was then spent moving back under the water. Mike's character made a strength check to get out and successfully swam to safety. They didn't encounter the croc again until the next dungeon room/delve when a cultist swam across a moat to attack the PCs, thus disturbing the waters and thus disturbing the croc again! They finally killed it there.
The adventure ended mysteriously after they killed all of the cultists. No trace of the Goliath/Baron's son present. The players were confused...
STAR TREK CLOSER BREAK
There was another dungeon delve series I was intending on running but that game ended there, Rob had to leave. Mike and Manny still wanted to play, as did I. So we continued on the path with Thursday night's delve.
Back to the adventures of the Dwarf Fighter, Rogue Halfling and Elf Cleric (Duval... the only character in that game with a name until later). They had completed the dungeon delve for the first floor of the tower. The second floor of the tower was the next delve (pg20 lvl 3). This delve was the appropriate level for the characters and proved to be more challenging. I did not altar the encounter's monster count (it was sorta experimental these games). The center of the room was unstable, the floor was sagging downward toward the first floor (bad infrastructure remember?). They managed to succeed against the monsters on this level and climbed to the last level!
The last level of the tower (delve on page 20) I altered somewhat. I kept it the same level and warned the players that the delve might be more challenging! I took a spot marked as 'soiled bedding' -where some monsters are hiding- and turned it into an illusion that was masking their presence (same DC and check to notice them past the illusion). I made it an illusion so that I could place an extra dungeon tile there if they succeeded in their check to notice the illusion... the extra tile was an alcove where a Goliath was laying asleep due to the effects of a magical binding sleep spell. This was the prince from the other game. The characters in this game were from Fallcrest, the 16th level guys were from Harkenwold, but both games included the Daggerburg Goblins somewhere in the game.
The fight was looking like it would have been in the monsters favor, however things changed in favor of the PCs quickly. An area marked with a secret trap door on the map came into play. The monsters were waiting behind the area to taunt the PCs to come fight them, so that the PCs would step into the square and fall through the trap door. Manny's character managed to step around the area with the trap door (luckily), then proceeded to use a move that shifted the bad guys into that space. The players didn't know there was a trap door there. When the enemy (the bugbear for those looking at the book) fell through the trap door the guys laughed pretty hard. They laughed even harder when, after he landed on the second floor, the sagging floor of the crumbling tower gave way and he fell one more floor to the bottom level and took more damage! Then Manny was able to successfully do this to the main boss, who, after falling two floors like the bug bear, ran out the door and commanded the bug bear to fight to his death. The bugbear ran back up and got hit by the Dwarf when he got back to the top of the stairs and was knocked prone, he then fell down the spiral staircase - landing on his head at exactly 0 hit points.
After that they delivered the Baron's son back in secret. They were discovered by goblins on the way there and were attacked all along the way. I made the event a skill challenge for them to avoid the random goblin attacks from the woods, while on their way to the barony (random groups of goblins here and there along the road, were firing arrows at them). When they made it to the Barony the chase stopped. They were rewarded and a banquet full of debauchery was had in their name.
All in all it was a good time. In my opinion, 4th edition does a good job of bringing an important part of the game back to life: The Dungeon! The game focuses more on terrain and traps, in a way that brings the dungeon more importance. I feel like other editions were more prone to conceptualizing of the dungeon because there was less focus on it.
And now, for another break..HANSEL & GRETEL
On Saturday night, Manny ran his 3rd edition game for me, which is a one on one D&D game. I play a dwarf named Obsidious Crown. He has been adventuring, claiming that he is the scion of a forgotten Dwarf king. Throughout his adventures he has been fighting some strange cult members that have the ability to be raised as undead. In last night's game Obsidious killed two of them by putting them in a bag of holding after he knocked them down, then buried them in the woods, but not before he poured acid on them and watched them melt to nothing. Obsidious was tired of cult members coming back from the dead. He just found papers confirming his link to the king, while he was in a secret town inhabited by warforged. Manny's campaign combines the old west with D&D fantasy, which is pretty cool. Obsidious has two revolvers and I'm hoping he'll eventually get magical guns that fire crazy types of ammo or magic. He is traveling with a young girl who can cast spells and heal him, Opal. he found her in a Tavern where some of the cult members attacked, killing her parents. He is currently searching for his giant raven friend Thoth who was kidnapped (damn you Manny! that was my mount!)
ZANZER TEM!
Mike came over while we were playing the one on one campaign, so we stopped playing that game and played our 4th game of the weekend! Mike and I started a different game in Manny's world, where we built characters via a 'play while you build mode' of the game. We started the game in a prison that we had to escape from (This was an idea I initially spawned from the earlier Zanzer Tem D&D boxed set, where the game taught you how to play while actually playing). We decided to play as brothers (THE EVIL HARDY BOYS!). I'm playing a fighter and Mike is a ranger... I think. The prison facility we were in was raided and we escaped in the process. Some crazy f*cking warforged dude made sure we got out alive for some reason. We escaped and had a boat waiting for us outside. We were dressed in prison guard outfits and passed off as them when we got to the town docs. Then we ditched our gear and bought all our stuff in the game we needed. That was as far as we made it in that game last night before calling it quits.
It was a great weekend. And now the new work week begins.
I now end this blog -and my weekend- with this performance art video I found today, that I like:
So this weekend I got the chance to run 4th Edition D&D two nights in a row. Gotta say, the Dungeon Delve book that WotC released back in February came in handy this 4 day weekend. We decided on Tuesday that we were going to play on Friday night, then on a whim we ended up playing Thursday also (we're very excited geeks). Both days we had successful games, mainly because that book made it nice and easy to jump into the game with very little planning. I'm still new to 4th edition and this was a great way to try out the new rules system. If you're a new DM for 4th edition, check out the Delve book - it's worth it.
The initial plan was to only play on Friday, but after two of my players and I were done with Thanksgiving dinner, we met up and decided to play Thursday night too! I had some pre-generated characters that I swapped from the Keep on the Shadowfell adventure. Those characters come ready to play (for free if you download the adventure), and are prepared to be played at 1st,2nd or 3rd level, we chose 3rd level. The players (Mike Goluch and Manny Salazar), chose to play the Dwarven Fighter (Mike) and the Halfling Rogue (Manny). Since most delves are set up to be played with 4-5 players, I had an NPC Cleric travel with them to make it more fair for them. To interfere less as a DM for what the players were doing in the game, I had them decide what the Cleric did in combat and I filled in role playing aspects for the Cleric, only making decisions for the Cleric when the players were busy doing other stuff.
Thursday night game: The players started in Fallcrest. Broke and down on their luck they met each other at the Blue Moon Tavern. The PCs were adventurers that made their living by hiring out their skills for any job paying them well enough - but lately they hadn't gotten any jobs. The Blue Moon is always full of Halfling traders, so the Dwarf and the Halfling met up there in hopes of finding work. Eventually a Rich Halfling trader showed up and sent them an invitation to join him in the VIP section of the tavern. When they went to meet him, he told them he had a job for them. The Daggerburg Goblins were apparently starting to attack further to the North, they hit a caravan that was delivering an art object he had bought and it was destroyed in the raid. He wanted the two to go to an abandoned tower that the Goblins had taken refuge in, and kill them all (the delve from the book!). A Cleric named Duval, who was employed by the Rich Halfling trader, was sent with them as an informant and assistant. This is the plot hook I inserted to make the delve become more than just a hack and slash encounter - I created it on a whim at the table because I had read the delve and also knew something about the Nentir Vale setting, which is described in the DMG. All I had to do was set the delve in the Nentir Vale, choose a city and start the game. I still haven't even read all the way through the setting in the DMG and was still able to start the game.
The PCs headed out and traveled to the tower. When they arrived it was dusk, the Goblins were just waking up. The tower was a ruin. The players snuck up to the front entrance to the tower and peaked in through one of the broken holes in the rotting door. Goblins playing cards were arguing, another dipped his goblet into a cauldron of wine, others scurried about the room and on the stairs. The tower's floors and walls were made of stone. The ceiling of the room was sagging low near the center of the room due to the decaying infrastructure.
The delve I used for this combat is on page 18 of the Dungeon Delve book; it is a 2nd level delve. With three party members at 3rd Level (Dwarven Fighter, Halfling Rogue and Elven Cleric), the delve was considered a lower challenge. Normally, however, they suggest that if you have a party of less than 4-5, that you should adjust the amount of monsters in the delve (minus one or two monster per party member missing). Since it was a lower level encounter, I kept the same amount of monsters and that seemed to be a good decision. The combat they encountered here seemed to be an equal challenge for their abilities.
We ended the night when this delve was finished.
And now for a break by MIXEL PIXEL:
Friday night: I had the two players from the previous night's game (Mike G and Manny S) plus one more (Rob Bessette). This was the planned game, that we were going to use 16th level characters for. It took me a lot longer to make the characters for the game than expected (it was actually my first time creating characters for the game). I ended up letting the players do the work for buying equipment with the money I gave them. I was trying to create all the characters for them before the game so we could just play, but since it was my first time building them, it took a little longer as I tried to optimize their characters to be able to work well together. Because of the character creation delay, the game started later than expected.
The blog below, Harkenwold, Zealots and the Emerald Dawn, was the original hook for the game. Instead of getting into all of the role play stuff, I skipped it all, told them the overall plot and put them at the dungeon door in the swamps (they were all high level characters that are high up in rank in the barony of Harkenwold, one of them [Mike] was the son of the baron - they were all searching for the Baron's other son who was suspected of being kidnapped by some cultists).
For this game, I used an 8th level delve from page 42, then used the succeeding delves that connected to that one (pg44 lvl 7, pg46 lvl 9), from the Dungeon Delve book. Again, there were three members in the group... and being that the level was a lot lower (for all three delves), I kept all the encounters the exact same as they were presented in the book. The players (Mike - Goliath Barbarian, Manny - Human Cleric, Rob - Human Warlock), blew through dungeon. The only trouble that they really encountered was from the Feymire Crocodile in the delve on page 44. One of the PCs (Mike's) put one of their dead opponents in the area where an unseen well sinks below the surface of the water to lower ground. This disturbed the Feymire Crocodile enough to grant him a perception check as they walked by. It attacked Mike's character, grabbed him with his jaws, the croc's move action was then spent moving back under the water. Mike's character made a strength check to get out and successfully swam to safety. They didn't encounter the croc again until the next dungeon room/delve when a cultist swam across a moat to attack the PCs, thus disturbing the waters and thus disturbing the croc again! They finally killed it there.
The adventure ended mysteriously after they killed all of the cultists. No trace of the Goliath/Baron's son present. The players were confused...
STAR TREK CLOSER BREAK
There was another dungeon delve series I was intending on running but that game ended there, Rob had to leave. Mike and Manny still wanted to play, as did I. So we continued on the path with Thursday night's delve.
Back to the adventures of the Dwarf Fighter, Rogue Halfling and Elf Cleric (Duval... the only character in that game with a name until later). They had completed the dungeon delve for the first floor of the tower. The second floor of the tower was the next delve (pg20 lvl 3). This delve was the appropriate level for the characters and proved to be more challenging. I did not altar the encounter's monster count (it was sorta experimental these games). The center of the room was unstable, the floor was sagging downward toward the first floor (bad infrastructure remember?). They managed to succeed against the monsters on this level and climbed to the last level!
The last level of the tower (delve on page 20) I altered somewhat. I kept it the same level and warned the players that the delve might be more challenging! I took a spot marked as 'soiled bedding' -where some monsters are hiding- and turned it into an illusion that was masking their presence (same DC and check to notice them past the illusion). I made it an illusion so that I could place an extra dungeon tile there if they succeeded in their check to notice the illusion... the extra tile was an alcove where a Goliath was laying asleep due to the effects of a magical binding sleep spell. This was the prince from the other game. The characters in this game were from Fallcrest, the 16th level guys were from Harkenwold, but both games included the Daggerburg Goblins somewhere in the game.
The fight was looking like it would have been in the monsters favor, however things changed in favor of the PCs quickly. An area marked with a secret trap door on the map came into play. The monsters were waiting behind the area to taunt the PCs to come fight them, so that the PCs would step into the square and fall through the trap door. Manny's character managed to step around the area with the trap door (luckily), then proceeded to use a move that shifted the bad guys into that space. The players didn't know there was a trap door there. When the enemy (the bugbear for those looking at the book) fell through the trap door the guys laughed pretty hard. They laughed even harder when, after he landed on the second floor, the sagging floor of the crumbling tower gave way and he fell one more floor to the bottom level and took more damage! Then Manny was able to successfully do this to the main boss, who, after falling two floors like the bug bear, ran out the door and commanded the bug bear to fight to his death. The bugbear ran back up and got hit by the Dwarf when he got back to the top of the stairs and was knocked prone, he then fell down the spiral staircase - landing on his head at exactly 0 hit points.
After that they delivered the Baron's son back in secret. They were discovered by goblins on the way there and were attacked all along the way. I made the event a skill challenge for them to avoid the random goblin attacks from the woods, while on their way to the barony (random groups of goblins here and there along the road, were firing arrows at them). When they made it to the Barony the chase stopped. They were rewarded and a banquet full of debauchery was had in their name.
All in all it was a good time. In my opinion, 4th edition does a good job of bringing an important part of the game back to life: The Dungeon! The game focuses more on terrain and traps, in a way that brings the dungeon more importance. I feel like other editions were more prone to conceptualizing of the dungeon because there was less focus on it.
And now, for another break..HANSEL & GRETEL
On Saturday night, Manny ran his 3rd edition game for me, which is a one on one D&D game. I play a dwarf named Obsidious Crown. He has been adventuring, claiming that he is the scion of a forgotten Dwarf king. Throughout his adventures he has been fighting some strange cult members that have the ability to be raised as undead. In last night's game Obsidious killed two of them by putting them in a bag of holding after he knocked them down, then buried them in the woods, but not before he poured acid on them and watched them melt to nothing. Obsidious was tired of cult members coming back from the dead. He just found papers confirming his link to the king, while he was in a secret town inhabited by warforged. Manny's campaign combines the old west with D&D fantasy, which is pretty cool. Obsidious has two revolvers and I'm hoping he'll eventually get magical guns that fire crazy types of ammo or magic. He is traveling with a young girl who can cast spells and heal him, Opal. he found her in a Tavern where some of the cult members attacked, killing her parents. He is currently searching for his giant raven friend Thoth who was kidnapped (damn you Manny! that was my mount!)
ZANZER TEM!
Mike came over while we were playing the one on one campaign, so we stopped playing that game and played our 4th game of the weekend! Mike and I started a different game in Manny's world, where we built characters via a 'play while you build mode' of the game. We started the game in a prison that we had to escape from (This was an idea I initially spawned from the earlier Zanzer Tem D&D boxed set, where the game taught you how to play while actually playing). We decided to play as brothers (THE EVIL HARDY BOYS!). I'm playing a fighter and Mike is a ranger... I think. The prison facility we were in was raided and we escaped in the process. Some crazy f*cking warforged dude made sure we got out alive for some reason. We escaped and had a boat waiting for us outside. We were dressed in prison guard outfits and passed off as them when we got to the town docs. Then we ditched our gear and bought all our stuff in the game we needed. That was as far as we made it in that game last night before calling it quits.
It was a great weekend. And now the new work week begins.
I now end this blog -and my weekend- with this performance art video I found today, that I like:
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Harkenwold, Zealots & the Emerald Dawn
(It's Thanksgiving weekend, and what better way to spend our 4 day holiday than to roll some god damn dice!? Below is a short introduction to the game I just threw together for this Friday, enjoy. -Tom)
In the Nentir Vale, the Barony of Harkenwold stands strong. It is one of the few bastions of hope in a land where evil is growing stronger. Harkenwold is typically faced with fending themselves from the Daggerburg Goblins. However, the Goblins have a long standing feud with the Elves in the Eastern forrest, the Woodsinger Clan. The Elves often watch after travelers in the Barony and coordinate well with Harkenwold's forces against the Daggerburg. With the Elves' help, Harkenwold has remained safe.
Lately, something worse than Goblins has been plaguing Harkenwold. Elves, travelers and Goblins alike are all turning up dead in peculiar ways - they are found with seared open holes in their chests, where their hearts have been torn out. Others are found with their eyes plucked out and placed in their mouths. Rumors are starting to circulate in the Barony, with many claiming it to be the work of a dark god, but so far these claims are only whispers in the taverns.
The Baron's son has now disappeared and all of Harkenwold is in great alarm. Groups of soldiers search the woodlands without a single lead, while people continue to disappear consistently. Fear and anger confuse the people and hope is beginning to diminish. The people pray to their gods in hope of salvation...
In the Nentir Vale, the Barony of Harkenwold stands strong. It is one of the few bastions of hope in a land where evil is growing stronger. Harkenwold is typically faced with fending themselves from the Daggerburg Goblins. However, the Goblins have a long standing feud with the Elves in the Eastern forrest, the Woodsinger Clan. The Elves often watch after travelers in the Barony and coordinate well with Harkenwold's forces against the Daggerburg. With the Elves' help, Harkenwold has remained safe.
Lately, something worse than Goblins has been plaguing Harkenwold. Elves, travelers and Goblins alike are all turning up dead in peculiar ways - they are found with seared open holes in their chests, where their hearts have been torn out. Others are found with their eyes plucked out and placed in their mouths. Rumors are starting to circulate in the Barony, with many claiming it to be the work of a dark god, but so far these claims are only whispers in the taverns.
The Baron's son has now disappeared and all of Harkenwold is in great alarm. Groups of soldiers search the woodlands without a single lead, while people continue to disappear consistently. Fear and anger confuse the people and hope is beginning to diminish. The people pray to their gods in hope of salvation...
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Quick Draft 1 (second part): Choreography
(continuing from Maker's Conundrum below...)
The PCs were exactly where he expected them to be for once! It was frightening though. What if there was an impossibility attached to his interaction with them. Perhaps his interaction would create the beginnings of a dissolve for this place and send his own existence crumbling into nothingness. Was it going to be a battle between his own will in the world and Fred's DMing policy that kept him alive? Or was this just a slow death that would eventuate like life's end, with the odd property that he could see his own demise more clearly than in his last life?
Hiding in the bushes he attempted to move away silently in the night. He suddenly began hearing whispers in his own mind. The whispers were unclear at first and then became clearer. "You hear something in the bushes," he heard the voice in his head say. Robert stopped, he thought out of fear. Then he heard the group running his way, coming from the trail, drawing steal 1d8+3 blades and chanting 3rd level arcana.
"No!" He thought, "my friends are going to find me here and then that'll be it, no more me!"
He tried instinctively to run away as the fear and adrenalin in his body asked him to do, but he was frozen. Instead of running he stood up calmly and turned to face the direction of his friends.
"Well this was not a conscious choice," Robert conspired along with his new lack of free will.
The next thing Robert felt was manifold, consisting of ideas pertaining to what he felt his personal history was, what his intentions to the group were along with a sudden new knowledge that he guessed could grant him power. But none of these things were true, in regard to what he knew.
He felt a strange breath come out of his mouth, it tasted of ash. He spoke words that he did not intend to speak. "Ho!" Robert shouted in a cheesy voice, raising his right hand to his friend's characters in peace. Still, no actions were formed from Robert's actual intent.
"Fred's smokey ass mouth!" Robert thought. "That son of a bitch is using me as an NPC!" Robert though a moment about Aldous Huxley, "If he only knew."
The PCs were exactly where he expected them to be for once! It was frightening though. What if there was an impossibility attached to his interaction with them. Perhaps his interaction would create the beginnings of a dissolve for this place and send his own existence crumbling into nothingness. Was it going to be a battle between his own will in the world and Fred's DMing policy that kept him alive? Or was this just a slow death that would eventuate like life's end, with the odd property that he could see his own demise more clearly than in his last life?
Hiding in the bushes he attempted to move away silently in the night. He suddenly began hearing whispers in his own mind. The whispers were unclear at first and then became clearer. "You hear something in the bushes," he heard the voice in his head say. Robert stopped, he thought out of fear. Then he heard the group running his way, coming from the trail, drawing steal 1d8+3 blades and chanting 3rd level arcana.
"No!" He thought, "my friends are going to find me here and then that'll be it, no more me!"
He tried instinctively to run away as the fear and adrenalin in his body asked him to do, but he was frozen. Instead of running he stood up calmly and turned to face the direction of his friends.
"Well this was not a conscious choice," Robert conspired along with his new lack of free will.
The next thing Robert felt was manifold, consisting of ideas pertaining to what he felt his personal history was, what his intentions to the group were along with a sudden new knowledge that he guessed could grant him power. But none of these things were true, in regard to what he knew.
He felt a strange breath come out of his mouth, it tasted of ash. He spoke words that he did not intend to speak. "Ho!" Robert shouted in a cheesy voice, raising his right hand to his friend's characters in peace. Still, no actions were formed from Robert's actual intent.
"Fred's smokey ass mouth!" Robert thought. "That son of a bitch is using me as an NPC!" Robert though a moment about Aldous Huxley, "If he only knew."
Friday, October 2, 2009
The Country of Kildermilsh and The Monarchy of Claudius Gildenmark
Below is a story I am creating for a D&D Dungeon Master's contest. Here is the link: Expert Dungeon Master Competition! ...check it out.
The Country of Kildermilsh
and
The Monarchy of Claudius Gildenmark
... this is only what I have so far, more will be written before I finally submit this to the contest ...
and
The Monarchy of Claudius Gildenmark
The country of Kildermilsh is a landlocked kingdom ruled by the Monarch, Claudius Gildenmark. Claudius was the Prince of the Gildenmark Monarchy to the North. In his youth he took half of his father's army and waged war upon the original Monarchy of Kildermilsh; the Kron Monarchy. This Monarchy was ruled by a Fomorian named Helderpin who ruled over an army of faithful Cyclops. The beginning of the war was truly harsh, as Claudius wasted no time with his invasion and began his attack with a full-frontal assault, in an attempt to overwhelm Kron. The recklessness of his frontal attack placed his troops in a compromising position, leaving him wide open for an unexpected assault from the Western Marshes by the Cyclops 'Slayers Guild'. In a matter of minutes, Claudius lost a third of his troops. He was forced to retreat, himself enduring an injury that lost him his hand.
A 'magical hand' that ended up serving as Claudius' replacement, turned out to be the hand of an old Lich (though no one seemed aware of this fact). In an odd twist of fate, the cursed hand guided him to power that allowed him to usurp the Kron monarchy. In whispered mutters heard now and then throughout the taverns and dark alleys of the modern Kildermilsh countryside, the people now refer to Claudius endearingly as, 'old Bone Fist', though it is not common knowledge that his hand is that of a Lich's.
Shortly after taking the kingdom, a strange influence from the Lich hand began to take hold of Claudius' mind and some nights he was seen wailing from his balcony to the night sky to some unknown god. No one dared ask questions about Claudius, fearing the punishments of meddling with royal business. In the mean time, the Cyclops prisoners were being tortured for pleasure in more hideous ways than anyone could have expected, even for Claudius and his men. It was during this time that Claudius became known for ripping the tongues out of the Cyclops' mouths with his new bone hand. The Cyclops were rowdy and fearless even in captivity and Claudius thought they talked too much. He thought his punishment was a fitting one for those who took his original hand. The Cyclops were labeled the anti-thesis of the empire and most of them were brutally killed; only a few managed to escape - they swore revenge! The symbol for the new Gildenmark Monarchy was a bone fist squeezing a squirming tongue tightly, as if to strangle its words. This symbol became the banner that heralded the new monarchy in Kildermilsh.
The soldiers and followers of Claudius were paid handsomely with the riches they procured from successfully sacking Kildermilsh. The riches that the soldiers were paid were far greater than any payment they had ever seen serving under the North Gildenmark territory. An unnatural greed took over the soldiers that provoked them to stay with Claudius, who of course promised many more riches for their allegiance. All ties to the North were cut by Claudius, who had now stolen half his father's army.
Citizens in the North Gildenmark territory learned of the happenings in Kildermilsh and also of the generosity that Claudius bestowed upon his followers. Many citizens began leaving the North territory for Kildermilsh in hopes to rid themselves of their current troubles in the North Gildenmark Monarchy. Turmoil ensued when the soldiers of North Gildenmark were ordered to stop citizens from leaving and a peasant's revolt erupted soon afterwards.
... this is only what I have so far, more will be written before I finally submit this to the contest ...
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
The Most Important Thing About D&D
My RPG buddies and I were in Cayucos last weekend and we got into a discussion about the placement of Dungeons & Dragons in modern society. We talked a bit about how RPG players are considered nerds and such and we pondered if it would ever change. I started comparing D&D players to Scientists, in that Scientists used to be ridiculed and labeled heathens kind of how RPGers have in the past couple of decades, and all for exploring something that is considered different. Though Scientists were on to something a lot more practical for modern society than D&D players are, I sensed a similarity in the experience of being an outcast.
It should go without saying that Science and D&D are very different, but the line of thinking above lead me to conclude that RPG haters might be missing out on something important that could be coming out of the creation of D&D and other RPGs that followed.
My own conclusion was this: the most important thing about D&D is that it created a structured way of telling a story that was/is interactive, in a way that was not present before it came about.
People could start relating this type of interactivity to the internet I suppose. Table top gaming retains an analogue performance that I feel the internet lacks.
If anyone stumbling upon this blog is interested, feel free to leave comment! :)
(below is a picture from my friend's beach house we were at where we had this discussion)
It should go without saying that Science and D&D are very different, but the line of thinking above lead me to conclude that RPG haters might be missing out on something important that could be coming out of the creation of D&D and other RPGs that followed.
My own conclusion was this: the most important thing about D&D is that it created a structured way of telling a story that was/is interactive, in a way that was not present before it came about.
People could start relating this type of interactivity to the internet I suppose. Table top gaming retains an analogue performance that I feel the internet lacks.
If anyone stumbling upon this blog is interested, feel free to leave comment! :)
(below is a picture from my friend's beach house we were at where we had this discussion)
Friday, August 14, 2009
Tiles and Miniatures - prep for the neighbor's final game
Below are some images of dungeon tiles and miniatures I have readied for my neighbor's kid's last game (I'm moving to LA so our 2 year D&D campaign is coming to an end). I made the tiles by printing out sheets from the back of the 4th Edition D&D DMG and pasting them on top of foam core.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Draft 1: Maker's Conundrum
How will it begin...
Well, the difficulty is that the beginning is always forgotten. Or perhaps the beginning isn't ever perceived, since in the beginning there is nothing to relate to. No one ever remembers the moment when they were born, they just gradually begin to perceive that they exist - after much accordance with their surroundings and much agreement upon the terms of existence. It is a peculiar way to become a part of things.
For Robert J. Pelgreen existence here began on hilltop. He was staring at planes contemplating choices, then slowly he became aware of where he was. In remembrance, he assumes there was a sky, green grassy hills and some birds flying above the farm fields of a nearby village, but it was honestly a blur and it didn't feel like the very beginning - just where he began to remember some things. He thought of the memory as the feeling you might have if you and your mirror image had just traded places, only to stare at each other again once you did. He remembers heaving and puking. He remembers looking out at the planes and viewing the world as if existence was in duet with his personal desires, where neither source could usurp the other, but instead just became something all its own.
He didn't remember traveling to the nearby village, he always assumed he just walked there from the hill, he remembered feeling like he had walked too. He couldn't figure out which hill in the valley it was, where he began. The first thing he came upon in the village was his own reflection in a glass window. All too clearly he could see his own brown eyes, his short brown hair and some stubble on his face. He was in his mid twenties.
Well, the difficulty is that the beginning is always forgotten. Or perhaps the beginning isn't ever perceived, since in the beginning there is nothing to relate to. No one ever remembers the moment when they were born, they just gradually begin to perceive that they exist - after much accordance with their surroundings and much agreement upon the terms of existence. It is a peculiar way to become a part of things.
For Robert J. Pelgreen existence here began on hilltop. He was staring at planes contemplating choices, then slowly he became aware of where he was. In remembrance, he assumes there was a sky, green grassy hills and some birds flying above the farm fields of a nearby village, but it was honestly a blur and it didn't feel like the very beginning - just where he began to remember some things. He thought of the memory as the feeling you might have if you and your mirror image had just traded places, only to stare at each other again once you did. He remembers heaving and puking. He remembers looking out at the planes and viewing the world as if existence was in duet with his personal desires, where neither source could usurp the other, but instead just became something all its own.
He didn't remember traveling to the nearby village, he always assumed he just walked there from the hill, he remembered feeling like he had walked too. He couldn't figure out which hill in the valley it was, where he began. The first thing he came upon in the village was his own reflection in a glass window. All too clearly he could see his own brown eyes, his short brown hair and some stubble on his face. He was in his mid twenties.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
The Shambles
The Shambles, an area found in the Barony of Salkbrow....
Walking down the roads at night, in the Shambles, you hear strange noises. Elves and men who live in the district are still up in the late night. Coughing from a lit window is heard. You look to see a man peering out of his window suspiciously as you walk by on the road. Further down the road in an alleyway you spot two elves ganging up on another elf who is getting jumped by them in the shadows.
While most of the buildings throughout the Barony are made of twisted pine that was controlled as it grew, to make the building look intricate, the buildings here lack the same attention. Much of the same pine tree growth system is used, however a lot of stones have been thrown in to fill out areas of structures, to fill out the building. Growing trees either took too long or could not be afforded here. Lots of weeds are overgrown into the buildings and road sides, the weeds being what gave the area its name. The area's property is more affordable for lower income patrons because it is closer to the grave yard in town.
Walking down the roads at night, in the Shambles, you hear strange noises. Elves and men who live in the district are still up in the late night. Coughing from a lit window is heard. You look to see a man peering out of his window suspiciously as you walk by on the road. Further down the road in an alleyway you spot two elves ganging up on another elf who is getting jumped by them in the shadows.
While most of the buildings throughout the Barony are made of twisted pine that was controlled as it grew, to make the building look intricate, the buildings here lack the same attention. Much of the same pine tree growth system is used, however a lot of stones have been thrown in to fill out areas of structures, to fill out the building. Growing trees either took too long or could not be afforded here. Lots of weeds are overgrown into the buildings and road sides, the weeds being what gave the area its name. The area's property is more affordable for lower income patrons because it is closer to the grave yard in town.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
The Trickle Dark
In the trickle dark, the neitherfog lingers upon the floors amidst the rooted trees. Boot prints, that are small, carry over the trickle and through the dark to the beyondest places. Breeze blows the long thin branches, breaking sunbeams in and out; brief moments for frog eyes in the trickle. Remains of quiet and peace with the trees is all there ever is.
In the night the trickle dark breaks starbeams in with black and purple sky, little creatures make noise til the edges of the night.
In the night the trickle dark breaks starbeams in with black and purple sky, little creatures make noise til the edges of the night.
Odyssean Syndrom
Hi.
I am creating this blog to become a place for my fantasy writings, D&D postings and for some of the art that I do. Mainly this blog is to revolve around things of the fantasy and RPG genre.
I will be starting a pod cast some time in the future that will be an 'actual play' cast for those of you who are familiar with the recent rise of RPG pod cast sessions.
Enjoy,
-Tom
I am creating this blog to become a place for my fantasy writings, D&D postings and for some of the art that I do. Mainly this blog is to revolve around things of the fantasy and RPG genre.
I will be starting a pod cast some time in the future that will be an 'actual play' cast for those of you who are familiar with the recent rise of RPG pod cast sessions.
Enjoy,
-Tom
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