Salton Seekers - Session 4: Killing Cosmic Horrors

We picked right back up from the end of session three, with the party fighting a horrific creature that looks something like this:

They finally succeeded in killing the thing, then carried the remains back to the adventurer's guild house. Guildmaster Agnar was unable to identify the thing, and suggested the group consult one of the scholars at the Academy. Since the disappearance of the Archmage Lasseras and his apprentices almost a decade before, the scholars are the only remaining seat of knowledge in the town.

The party was also told by Agnar that Guildmaster Sonya and her two retainers still had not returned. He suggested they investigate the chandler's shop in the Market next. The party decided to rest a bit before heading to Chandler Binke's house.

In the meantime, Nikolaus went back to the One True God's temple and tried to get someone to listen to his news, but fellow cleric Byron was gone, his chamber cleared out. The rest of the clergy gave Nikolaus a chilly reception. It seemed as if Prime Deacon Teos was expanding his influence on the temple! 

The group went to Chandler Binke's shop. There, they encountered the chandler himself, who seemed to be a bit...off. His skin was pale, his eyes unblinking, and his speech stilted. When they continued to question the man, he attacked them. During the fight, they discovered that one of the bizarre creatures was attached to the man's back. The thing eventually ripped away from the chandler's body (of course, taking the man's skull with it) before escaping down a large drain into the sewers. The party found the body of the chandler's wife as well. She was also missing her skull.

Next, the party went to consult the scholar Goran at the Academy, and he identified the creatures as "star-things" using an old tome of arcane knowledge. These creatures had appeared periodically in the time of the ancients, who for some reason sealed the "seeds" of the dormant creatures in the crypt that was found under the chandler's house.

Onward to session five!

Salton Seekers - Session 3: Blessings of the Cosmos

Session three picked right back up in the Barrowmaze (with me running Gideon the elf as temporary NPC in the absence of player Pat), in the aftermath of the specter attack on the cleric Nikolaus. The group decided to head deeper into the maze. Xander the thief heard a voice moaning "help me" behind another door along the same corridor as the specter attack. Varhauth the fighter forced open the door and came face-to-face with a man with rotting skin in ragged clothes and armor. The flesh on the man's face was pulsing, as is something was moving underneath. There were several other men crawling along the floor of the room, moaning. 

Before anyone could stop him, Varhauth lopped off the head of the man. The body fell to the floor, and from the stump of the neck writhed many small tendrils. As he delivered a blow aimed at chopping the tendrils, one of them shot out of the neck and embedded itself in the fighter's face. Before the worm-like thing could wriggle into Varhauth's face, Nikolaus the cleric grabbed the tail in a mailed fist and yanked it free. 

Xander doused the men on the floor with lantern oil and lit them on fire. Devalla the mage used her spear to mercy kill them. More of the worm-like parasites began bursting from the bodies, so the party decided to beat a hasty retreat after picking up a few pouches of gold they found in the room. They surmised the poor souls infected with the parasites were an unfortunate adventuring party. They closed the door to the room and ventured deeper into Barrowmaze.

They came upon several more crypts sealed behind bas reliefs and a few more rooms. They also heard the sound of faint chanting from somewhere. Undeterred, the party found a room with two doors: an outer door of wrought iron bars, and an inner door of steel. The door was unlocked, and they went inside cautiously. Within they found two parallel stone altars on which lay two shriveled mummified bodies. Between the altars, on the floor, rested a tablet covered in ancient Thulian script, flanked by two stone bowls filled with rubies and diamonds. 

There was also a mural on the wall opposite the door that depicted people worshiping a gigantic black door. Ancient Thulian script was also written then, proclaiming the two bodies in indeed the room were heretical worshipers of "the Black Gate."

Devalla read the tablet on the floor, which carried a curse of blindness. She failed her saving throw, and went blind. As the group decided this signaled the need to return to Salton, Nikolaus and Varhauth decided to scoop up the gems in the bowls. This instantly awoke the mummified bodies, which moved preternaturally fast and attacked the group. Xander helped the blinded Devalla aim her magic missiles at the animated corpses, which proved to be too strong for the clerics to turn. The group struck several blows with ordinary weapons but they seemed to do little damage. 

Xander remembered the dagger he picked up from the priestess of Khepri in session one and threw it at one of the creatures. This embedded the dagger in the mummy's chest, which began to crumble into ash. A few more magic missiles and attacks, and both creatures were defeated. In the aftermath of the fight, the group heard that the chanting had stopped. In it's place was the sound of alarmed voices shouting "death to heretics," and the echo of running feet. 

The group began a hasty retreat toward the exit, with the cries of "stop them!" and "we will sacrifice them to Set!" following them down the corridors. Suddenly, a figure stepped out from around a corner in front of them: one of the beast men who they had encountered in session two (the one who they had freed from the grasp of the Cultist of Orcus and had fled). The creature beckoned them forward, and once the party had passed, he slammed a door shut behind them. It seemed the beast was going to slow their pursuers as long as he could. Perhaps the creature had some sense of honor, and was repaying them for their assistance? 

The party had no time to contemplate, however. They made it to the entrance and began climbing one-by-one back up the rope to the surface. Behind them, they heard the sound of fighting, and the concussion of spells. The death roar of the beast man followed, and a Necromancer of Set entered the entrance chamber and cast a magic missile at Nikolaus, who was the last to climb the rope. Though he was hit, he was able to join his fellows on the surface. Nikolaus hurriedly pulled up the rope so they could not be easily followed. 

Within the relative safety of the central mound, their horses still safe within, Xander peeked outside. Unfortunately, there were now dozens of zombies wandering aimlessly across the barrowlands! Clearly, the imbalance between death and undeath had increased. The party formulated a bold plan, and burst from the mound entrance with their horses at a gallop. Devalla, who was still blind, had her horse lead by Gideon. Nikolaus and the other cleric, Byron (an NPC), successfully turned fourteen of the zombies, enough to clear their path just outside the mound so they could get their horses up to a good speed and barrel their way out of danger. 

They reached Salton by nightfall. Byron and Nikolaus took Devalla to the Temple of the One True God, which the rest of the party went back to the adventurers' guild. At the temple, Nikolaus and Byron found a cleric to remove Devalla's blindness curse. Then they tried to find a deacon who was not the creature of Prime Deacon Teos, but unsuccessfully. Finally, Nikolaus decided their only recourse was to talk to Teos himself. The imperious Prime Deacon received Nikolaus in his opulent private chambers. He demanded to know what was so urgent. Nikolaus and Byron got right to the point, and told of their latest encounters in the Barrowaze. 

Teos was alarmed that they brought a runic tablet bearing a curse to his chambers, and ordered them to leave his presence. Nikolaus and Byron decided to keep trying to find a deacon who isn't under Teos's thumb, in order to find out more about the tablet. 

Meanwhile, at the guildhall, Varhauth submitted himself to some nubile healers for, well, some healing while Xander sought out Guildmaster Agnar to tell him of their latest adventures. The Guildmaster was troubled to hear about the many zombies in the barrowlands, and became determined to pass the information on to Lord Brereton. 

Suddenly, a young mage burst into the hall, coughing and choking. He fell to the floor convulsing, and yellow dust flew out of his mouth. A crowd gathered around him and could only watch helplessly as he died. This made the third death of a magic user by mysterious circumstances in two weeks. 

The crew came back together after they had time to heal up and do a little shopping (Nikolaus and Varhauth had the gems from Barrowmaze appraised and traded them in for over 700 gold pieces each, then bought themselves some shiny new armor...they did eventually give over some gold to their other companions as well). They discussed their options, and decided it was best not to return to the Barrowmaze for the time being. They decided to see if they could find out more about the disappearance of Guildmaster Sonya, who had taken two retainers to investigate a mysterious sealed door recently uncovered in the basement of a minor merchant's home. 

They made the short trip across Southtown to the candle merchant's home. Careful not to linger too long at the front door after their knocks went unanswered, they slipped around back, where Xander picked a basement door lock. They entered, and found the ancient sealed doorway in question had been broken open. Around the door frame was written "Within Lie the Blessings of the Cosmos." All the party found within was an empty bronze bowl on a stone pedestal. Xander, inspecting the walls for secret doors, found a mural of a strange creature under ancient layers of dirt.

They decided to investigate the rest of the house, to see if they encountered anyone in the strangely quiet place. They went up a spiral staircase to the main floor, which was fairly opulent and scattered with various valuable statues. The group resisted the urge to pillage the place. They found no one on the main floor, so decided to go up to the second floor. There, they found three bedrooms. The first two were empty except for lavish furnishings. In the third, however, they found the body of what seemed to be a maid laying face down, a pool of coagulating blood pooled around her head. When they flipped over the body, it appeared that the woman's skull had been ripped from her head, the remains of which collapsed inward on itself like an empty hood. 

The only other place left to explore was the attic. Varhauth pulled down the trapdoor and ladder to access the space above the second floor hallway. As he looked around using a lantern, his shield on his other arm, something leaped out of the dark to wrap itself around his shield arm. The impact drove him off the ladder, and he fell on his back in the midst of his fellow adventurers. 

The party proceeded to battle a creature similar to the one they had seen in the mural they had found in the basement: a thing with a snakelike body and a membranous sort of halo tipped with claws. At the center of the membrane was a skull covered in dried blood...which looked small enough to be that of the dead maid. The party began to attack the thing, until it released Varhauth's arm and sprang away, over the second floor railing to land on the main floor below. 

That's where we stopped for the night, since it was well after midnight and we're not as young as we used to be! On to the next session!

Salton Seekers - Session 2: Back to the Barrowmaze!

It's been months since my Old Friends Gaming Group had our D&DBQ, but we finally gathered for session 2 of our Salton Seekers campaign. Damn you, adult responsibility! 

ANYway, since all the undead shenanigans in the barrowlands south of the city are presumably being caused by a divine conflict between Nergal (god of death) and the evil deities Orcus and Set, the cleric Nikolas reported to his superiors at the temple of the One True God. 

Access to Salton's archpriest, Paulus, is restricted, however. The journeyman clerics report to the order of deacons, lead by Prime Deacon Teos, a disagreeable fellow who generally reserves lots of disdain for his flock. He responds to Nikolas's report with cool aloofness, and instructs him to delve further into the situation in the barrowlands. 

The group went on a shopping spree after earning their reward from the adventurer's guild (50 gp apiece). Then, they decided to head back to the infamous Barrowmaze. Back among the barrows, they encountered no undead on the daylit surface. After considering breaking open some of the sealed barrows and balking at the prospect of such mundane work, they decided to head back down into the Barrowmaze.

They group explored the tunnels, encountering several more of the mongrelmen. But this time, the twisted creatures were bound hand and foot. They were being led by three bald, pierced, and scarred shirtless men with teeth filed to points, and wearing black breeches. The bizarre bald men attacked with short axes and whips. The party overwhelmed them. One of the men, still clinging to life after the battle, screamed out the name of Orcus before splitting open his own head with his ax.

Suffice to say, the party found more evidence of something very wrong afoot beneath the barrowlands!

As the session was winding down, the group went a bit deeper into the Barrowmaze. The party's cleric, Nikolaus, was attacked by some sort of specter as they were inspecting a corridor lined with crypts. Then, we packed things in for the night. On to the next session!

Salton Seekers - Session 1: Into the Barrowlands (and 1st Annual D&DBQ)

We kicked off our reinvigorated Salton Seekers campaign in grand Summer style last Friday! We decided we would hold our inaugural D&DBQ! Props to my boy Jim for granting the event its name!

So, before the gaming started, we gathered up some barbecue staples, everything from burgers and dogs to kielbasa and chicken. We also had a bevy of sides, and even a cheese and cracker plate! We're not barbarians, folks (especially because we're playing Labyrinth Lord)! No, we have class (or rather, classes...seven of them, to be exact)! And of course, the beer flowed freely!

After fueling up, we headed to the gaming table! Here's the characters and the players:

• Devalla of the Mountains, level 2 magic user (Derek)
• Nikolaus, level 2 cleric of the One True God (Jay)
• Xander Darkwood, level 2 thief (Dan)
• Varhauth Chainsman, level 2 fighter (Jim)
• Gideon Silverleaf, level 2 elf (Pat, who arrived toward the end of the session)

Just a note: I love the names of these characters! And a well-balanced party. All the characters except for Nikolaus were pregenerated at Wizardawn.

To set the scene: On the planet Æarth, at the northern tip of a continent ruled by the New Thulian Empire (which arose from the ashes of the Old Thulian Empire), lies the frontier city of Salton (known as Salt Town when it was founded as a humble fishing village hundreds of years before).

So, the session started with the gang (minus Pat's elf because he was running late for the game) gathered at the adventurer's guild. One of the guildmasters made some announcements of adventuring opportunities in the area. The party decided to head to the barrowlands, to investigate the rising of the dead (for the promise of a reward of 50 gold apiece if they could bring back some good evidence of what is causing the dead to rise).

The rumor is that something is amiss with the neutral god of death, Nergal, who hates undeath for obvious reasons (he wants the dead to stay dead). There are two gods who are in constant conflict over the domain of undeath: Set and Orcus. The Church of the One True God doesn't like any of these opposing deities!

A half-day's ride on rented horses brought the party to the eerie expanse of burial mounds south of Salton, a place eternally drifting with mist and strangely quiet. As the group began to explore and investigate, they found a trail of somewhat fresh blood, as if someone had been dragged through the calf-high grass after being killed.

The gory trail led to the entrance of a smaller barrow, which had been opened some time in the past. They were met with a grizzly sight: the half eaten remains of some human limbs. There was a strange darkness within the barrow entrance that neither daylight or lantern light could illuminate. Xander the thief detected wet sounds emanating from the barrow...

After a lot of cautious planning, the group moved into the darkness of the barrow. Within, they found a sarcophagus, behind which hid several ghouls finishing a gory feast of human flesh. The cleric cast Light, bringing the illumination of the One True God to the chamber, which finally banished the unnatural darkness that their torches and lamp could not.

The party made short work of the ghouls, then studied the sarcophagus. The lid sported a carving of a strange-looking beetle. Actually, evidence pointed to the fact that the lid once featured a different carving, one that was reworked into the shape of the beetle for some reason. They decided to open the sarcophagus. Pushing open the lid, they saw a body wrapped in bandages, adorned with magnificent jewelry and with an ornate silver dagger on its chest. There was also a scroll resting above the head of the wrapped body, with a wax seal bearing the eye symbol of Nergal, god of death.

Nikolaus the cleric decided to break the seal. The scroll was written in ancient Thulian, which the magic user Devalla can read. The scroll was a blessing for one called Sheeara, a priestess of a god called Khepri. Nikolaus knew that Khepri is worshiped in the deserts far to the south. The scroll praised her for her sacrifice in the struggle against the vile servants of Set and Orcus. The group cut open the corpse's bandages to reveal the recently deceased Sheeara herself. Out of respect, they resealed her sarcophagus.

Though the party had enough evidence to obtain their rewards, they decided to check out the central barrow in the vicinity, surrounded by a ring of standing stones and rumored to be the entrance to a maze of tunnels below. They noted much evidence of other adventurers having come and gone from the area: broken arms and armor, signs of old blood, cast-off equipment.

Entering the central barrow, they saw a old, much used tripod with a pulley system and rope hanging down into a pit at the center of the chamber. The group used one of their own grapples and rope to lower themselves down. They saw more evidence of many past adventurers in the form of graffiti, some crude and some ominous, mentioning the deaths of comrades.

The party found passageways that seemed well-constructed, not the rough tunnels they were expecting. They turned down a short passage and inspected a door. Moving through it, a trap was triggered that brought down a heavy stone slab in the doorway. They group had no choice but to throw themselves into the room beyond the door. Another door, on the opposite side of the small 20' x 20' room, burst open, and five grotesque humanoids ran in, armed with crude but wicked-looking weapons. The beings themselves were strange hybrids of man and animal, and some looked like mutated humans.

The party slew two of the creatures, causing the rest of the hideous humanoids to retreat back through the door from which they entered. Then, the stone slab that had trapped the adventurers raised back up, allowing the group to escape. It was then they encountered Gideon the elf (Pat arrived after work), who had just come down from above, on a mission from the elf king of Dolmenwood, Atanuwe.

The group, with Gideon now joining them, decided to head back to Salton before night fell. They were able to return to the city before too late in the night. They promptly returned to the adventurer's guild, and showed their evidence to one of the guildmasters, who suggested that the scroll be taken to the temple of the One True God for study. The party decided to rest for the night at the most notorious inn in Salton: the Wanton Cockatrice. That's where the session ended, well after midnight in the real world!

Thanks for reading this recap! I hope I wasn't too cheesy...

Session two will, hopefully, happen very soon!

Salton Seekers: My Frankensteinian Labyrinth Lord Campaign

Okay, so I'm doing a soft reboot of the Basic D&D campaign I started earlier this year. My group of old friends and I sorta stalled on the roleplaying for a while. But we're all basically back on a more normal adult responsibility schedule, so I'm deciding to kick things off again.

Also, while I love the pure nostalgia factor of using the B/X rules, I have so much stuff for Labyrinth Lord, from the referee screen to game supplements, that it made sense to shift over to using LL. As any OSR follower worth their salt knows, there's enough differences between B/X and LL to necessitate moving from one rule set to the other.

I'm still using the city of Salton I created as the foundation of the campaign. I'm letting players keep characters or create new ones, with all characters moving up to level 2 (based on prior play and XP gained). Just need to transfer characters to LL sheets!

As for the campaign world itself, I was primarily using the Dwimmermount world of Telluria as the basis for the campaign, and using some homebrew stuff tacked on (including Stonehell Dungeon). I've decided to move things over to a world I call "Æarth." I know, clever aren't I?

To pull back the curtain a bit, here's a list of older and new OSR products I'm using so far to cobble together my Frankensteinian campaign:

• Dolmenwood (from the pages of the Wormskin zine)
• Barrowmaze
• Isle of the Unknown
• Frostbitten and Mutilated
• Blackmarsh (and possibly the larger Points of Light campaign setting)
• Stonehell Dungeon
• Maybe Dwimmermount again, if the characters head far enough south...

Okay, that's all for now! I'll be posting some session recaps as we go along! Happy gaming, y'all!

Beyond the Westwall: Sessions 4 and 5 (7/3/13 & 7/10/13)

Note: the following recap of sessions 4 and 5 was composed by the master bard Sir Charles Bakerson, a legend in the Grand Kingdom.

Mightily the adventurers strove against the giants, foul and two-headed,
With metal forged sharp but with wits all the sharper!

Muscle and mind the heroes combined in equal measure, and using
Weapons both metal and mental they slew the murderous ettins outright!

The band followed the trail of the abominations they'd killed,
Tracing it back to a scene of bloody slaughter.

The ettins had made an abattoir of the woodsmen's encampment,
Turning the snow on the ground to crimson ice.

The party turned their eyes and minds to the west, from whence
The trail of the two-headed giants appeared to have come.

Their path took them into the depths of Lanisdown Forest, where
They sought for some sign of an origin, a lair.

The group came upon a party of Dunbury halflings, lead by
A doughty sheriff and seeking some sign of the ettins as well.

After holding palaver with the small-folk but gaining little knowledge,
The adventurers chose to press north to the mystery of White Watch.

In due time they came within sight of the Westwalls, and there
They had their first glimpse of the long-abandoned fortress.

The once pure white walls of that Bright Empire ruin were now
The color of charcoal from time's ravages and scars of ancient battle.

Approaching the mist-shrouded fortress, the party saw a vast field of mud,
Strangely unfrozen despite the harsh winter.

The elf Umitsu, clever to the last, devised a way to cross the morass,
Using a spell to conjure a disk of floating metal on which to sit.

During their efforts to ferry themselves to the forbidding walls, they
Were attacked from below as things formed of mud erupted upward!

Once again by their wits did the adventurers prevail, foiling
The plot of the mudmen to drown the band in the murky depths.

The band then crossed into White Watch through a breach in the walls,
And looked on with wariness as mountain mists writhed in the courtyard.

As the heroes began their searchings, out of the swirling whiteness
Came a host of undead, long-perished victims of a conflict of old.

As the band sought safety in White Watch's gatehouse towers, it was
Umitsu who once again struck off alone to explore.

The elf-woman made her way stealthily through the mist, nimbly avoiding
Contact with the walking dead until she came to the walls of a keep.

Meanwhile her comrades fought to hold back the outnumbering undead horde,
Barring the doors of the gatehouse towers before seeking a means of escape.

The party fought back against the gathering undead, striking some down
While the Jarith the cleric drove some off with the power of faith.

But there's was a skirmish fought in retreat, as the tide of abominations
Grew into a flood that threatened to crush life in skeletal hands.

And while they fled before the relentless unliving, it was Umitsu who
First detected a new threat from the sound of beating wings above.

As Umitsu hid as best she could in the shadow of the keep,
A hulking, winged beast landed nearby in the courtyard.

She heard it sniffing the mist-filled air, as if seeking the elf by scent,
And she caught a glimpse of a grey-skinned creature with leathery wings.

The rest of the party also heard the beating of wings and inhuman screeching
As they made their way from the gatehouse to the top of the fortress wall.

The adventurers were attacked from above by the winged beasts, which were
Terrible to behold, with ember eyes and horned heads and taloned hands.

The band was able to find shelter in another tower along the wall, and found the
Bodies of long-dead defenders within, while threatened by the flying things without.

And Umitsu, who avoided the winged creatures, found a door to the old keep, and
Stepping inside, saw a mummified warrior in armor, sitting upon a wooden throne.

As the elf watched, the dessicated corpse stirred with life, shifting in its seat as it
Opened its eyes, to reveal glowing points of light in deep sockets.

Shriveled hands, more bone than flesh, gripped tightly the hilt of an archaic sword,
As dry lips cracked and opened to speak in a voice harsh with untold centuries:

"You dare to enter this place? The living are not welcome in White Watch!" The elf
Fled, but not before glimpsing the corpse-warrior rising slowly from its throne!

Beyond the Westwall: Session 3 (6/26/13)

We had a more-than-packed house for session 3, as we were joined by a blast from the past! Our fellow gamer Wes has made his triumphant return to Wednesday night RPG action at All Things Fun! So, he took control of Gerard the fighter, bringing the current party total to five (including Pam's thief Vela, Bill's halfling Bogo, Josh's cleric Jarith, and Mark's elf Umitsu).

 

The party gathered again in the common room of the Wailing Banshee inn (including a shaken Umitsu, fresh from her psychic battle against...a tiny tentacled brain). Not long after they came together, a young boy ran in from the street, screaming about a "monster." The party investigated and saw a white figure shambling through the frozen mud of the street. Upon closer investigation, they saw that it wasn't a monster but rather a frost-covered young man. The group quickly ushered the young man into the Wailing Banshee, where they wrapped him in a blanket and gave him warm wine to drink.

The young man turned out to be Thomas, one of the three people who had been missing for nearly two weeks. As the party tried to communicate with him, Thomas slipped in and out of a catatonic stupor, and occasionally whispered the words "white watch." When he had moments of lucidity, the youth tried to relate the tale of where he had been for the previous days. All he could remember was going to sleep one night, and then waking up to find himself wandering in a snow-shrouded forest. Then, he remembered being "taken" by a strange force, after which he had only memories of darkness and terror until waking up just outside of town.

The group pondered what Thomas had told them, and surmised that he might have been lured by some sort of dark magic into the Lanisdown Forest, not far to the north of Westguard. The also considered paying a visit to Martha, the elderly woman who had also disappeared and then reappeared in town. Martha was reportedly still in a coma-like state.

Vela the thief considered asking Westguard's very small network of rogues for information. While the town is not large enough to support a true thieve's guild, there is a mysterious "crime lord" that has gathered a loose confederation of thieves and muscle, most of whom have "day jobs" in the small community. Vela is, thus far, not a member of this network. She made contact with someone, but when she was told that the price of information would be a "favor" that could be requested of her at any time, she decided to pass on the offer.

The group then decided to try and track down a sage, with the hope that they could learn more about where Thomas was held. They remembered once again the rumors of an ancient Bright Empire torture dungeon somewhere in the area, and wondered if there was a connection. However, the Lord Protector of Westguard, Tormund, is very hostile toward sages. He considers them troublesome sources of information that propagate rumors concerning ruins that contain lost treasure. Thus, many "adventurous fools" have met their demise when they've gone out into the countryside to seek riches. And, in general, Tormund believes that an educated population is prone to disobedience. So, as the leader of a frontier town surrounded by harsh wilderness, the last thing Tormund needs is dissidents questioning his method of rule.

Because of the Lord Protector's stance on sages, the handful in Westguard are secretive and hard to find. There is only one, a sage named Anton, who open advertises his services. Suffice to say that he is an object of harassment by Tormund's men. The group experienced this first-hand when they made their way to Anton's shop in the town's market square. As they knocked on the door to the sage's shop, they noticed two town guards watching them from across the square. Finally, Anton called through the barred door, telling the group to go away. Then, the guards confronted the party and told them to be on their way.

On their way back to the Wailing Banshee, the group heard an urgent whisper from a nearby alley. It was Anton, who had decided to follow them in secret and ask them what they wanted from him. The party discovered quickly that the sage was more than a bit pompous. When they told him of the sketchy details from Thomas, he mocked them. It was only when they mentioned the Bright Empire tomb and the mysterious cylinder they had found that Anton agreed to speak with them further at the inn...as long as they also agreed to buy him dinner.

While the rest of the group plied the arrogant sage with food and drink in an attempt to get information out of him, Vela and the fighter Gerard decided to sneak back to Anton's shop and break in, so that they could dig through whatever scrolls and tomes he might possess. Vela tried to unlock a window at the rear of the shop, but only succeeded to break the glass. The thief decided to go ahead with her mission and crawled through the window into Anton's bedchamber. But before she could do much searching, she heard a deep voice call out from beyond the bedroom door. She quickly crawled out of the window before someone entered the room. Vela and Gerard caught a glimpse of a huge figure enter the room and investigate briefly.

Gerard decided to go to the front door and knock, in order to distract whoever was inside the shop so that Vela could continue her investigations. This is how the fighter came face to face with Robar, Anton's brother. The sage's massive sibling towered over Gerard, and the two soon began a very confused conversation (Gerard has an Intelligence of 8, and player Wes decided he was a bit slow on the uptake most of the time).

In the meantime, Vela climbed back into the back bedroom and continued her search. All her efforts yielded was the fact that the majority of the books in Anton's bedroom discussed either the bizarre, decadent, and sometimes perverse exploits of ancient emperors or the properties of various fungi, especially mushrooms. She decided to chance sneaking into the main part of the shop, and was chagrined to discover that Anton did not have a very extensive collection of tomes. She signaled to Gerard that it was time to leave. The fighter gratefully broke off his repartee with the dim-witted Robar, and the pair made haste back to the inn.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group was having no real luck in dealing with Anton. In fact, the sage was about to leave the inn in a huff when the party mentioned that Thomas had muttered the words "white watch." Anton spun back to the group and began to relate the legend of a lost Bright Empire outpost called White Watch. It was supposed to be somewhere north of Lanisdown Forest, in the foothills of the Westwall. Anton himself had made the journey to that location, but had not been able to find the ruins of the outpost. After relating this information, the sage expressed doubt that the group could succeed in finding White Watch and left the inn. The party, of course, thought differently. They resolved to leave the next morning.

The following day, the party was traveling north through the forest. The Lanisdown Forest had long ago been "tamed," and is home to small outposts of loggers who supply timber to Westguard. However, the group came across a scene of carnage in the woods. The found bloodstains in the snow, and saw hastily abandoned saws and other tools. As they investigated, the party heard loud, inhuman shouts echoing through the still forest. Bogo the halfling used his wilderness stealth to investigate, and saw three ettins stomping through the forest toward his friends. He rushed back to warn them, and the party decided to set an ambush.

The party set up a crude trap involving rope and two long two-man saws, took positions along the road, and waited. Soon, they saw the ettins stride into view. Each of the two-headed giants was wearing the skin of a human tied around their necks, the boneless flesh flapping against their chests like grisly aprons. Lucky for the adventurers, the first ettin didn't notice their trap. The creature fell directly onto the saw blades, which tore into its belly. The second ettin stared in disbelief at its brother writhed in agony and blood spread out across the icy dirt road. The third ettin, however, was more wary than the others, and prepared to do battle.

At this point, we ran out of time for the night and had to end the session. The battle with the ettins continues in the next session...

Beyond the Westwall: Session 2 (6/5/13)

At the end of the first session, the party once again encountered a yellowish-green slime creature (or at least half of said creature) below the town of Westguard. They were running from a group of orcs, which had somehow dug their way to a secret entrance in a mysterious burial chamber that the group had discovered. Note that only two players were able to make it to session two: Mark (Umitsu the elf) and Josh (formerly Gerard the fighter, now a cleric named Jarith). I took control of Bill's halfling Bogo and Vela, Pam's thief, for the session.

The elf, Umitsu, was the only one of the party that lingered in the burial chamber, in order to see what the orcs were doing. The elf hid herself in a niche, burrowing under the skeleton therein, and waited. She watched as a rectangular block of stone, which had been the "false" back wall inside one of the tomb's niches, fell with a crash into the chamber. Out stumbled five orcs of the Blood Fist tribe, who proceeded to search the chamber. They quickly noticed the depression in the middle of the floor, which the party discovered had contained what looked like a scroll case sealed with a kind of combination lock. The orcs began arguing even more urgently among themselves when they realized someone else had been in the chamber before them.

Meanwhile, Jarith (Josh's new character), cleric of Phaeton, was making his way through the snowy streets of Westguard with two of his fellow holy men. They were going about to make sure that none of the townsfolk were suffering under ill effects brought about by the harsh winter conditions. Suddenly, one of the town guard came up to the clerics to ask for aid at the Wailing Banshee inn. They agreed and went to help.

Just before Jarith arrived at the ancient burial chamber, Umitsu decided to cast Sleep over the orcs, causing all but one of them to fall asleep. That made it very easy for the fighter Gerard (now under my control as an NPC) to kill the single still-conscious orc while Umitsu dispatched the sleeping humanoids with quick dagger thrusts. It was about this time that Jarith arrived on the scene (having dowsed the slime with dwarf spirits and set it aflame in order to gain access to the tunnel below the Wailing Banshee), and was aghast at the scene of slaughter in the tomb.

Unconcerned with the cleric's discomfiture, Umitsu crawled through the niche through which the orcs had entered the chamber. On the other side she found another burial chamber, very similar in design to the one she had just left. She noticed a jumbled pile of snow-covered masonry at the center of the chamber. Looking up, Umitsu saw where the chamber's ceiling had been broken open from above. Somehow, the orcs were drawn to an exact location above the burial chamber (and less than 200 feet outside the town's wall!) and proceeded to dig.

Then, Umitsu heard more guttural orc voices above, drifting down to her from the hole in the ceiling. She cast Floating Disk to plug the hole temporarily, much to the frustration and confusion of the orcs above.

Meanwhile, once he got over his initial shock, Jarith inspected the chamber while Umitsu looted the orc bodies and investigated the niche. Jarith saw an inscription on the chamber's mosaic that read "Phaeton shall return with the rising of the Great Sun, and will bring the Reunification." Curious to decipher what this might mean, the cleric returned to Westguard's temple of Phaeton to seek possible answers among the priesthood. A senior priest named Father Durnos received Jarith's news regarding the inscription with a sort of rushed introspection that was unlike the older priest. Indeed, Durnos seemed to drop the subject very quickly.
 

By that time, Umitsu had retired to her room in the Wailing Banshee, to see if she could puzzle out the combination for the mysterious cylinder/scroll case the group had found in the ancient Bright Empire burial chamber. She noticed almost immediately that the last dial to the right had one character that was different, a replacement for a symbol that was on the other six dials. She decided to start with that symbol and work from there, trying out combinations in a systematic, trial-and-error method (a prospect that could be very time-consuming indeed).

As the elf fiddled with the dials, she began to see dark shapes that seemed to lurk at the edges of her vision, and these shapes disappeared when she tried to look directly at them. Then, Umitsu began to hear wordless, sibilant whispering. Eventually, she fell under some sort of compulsion, and some force took control of her.

The room became colder and colder despite the fire in the room's wood-burning stove, and a window across from Umitsu frosted over. Then, as if written by an invisible finger, a sequence of symbols appeared on the glass. The elf, still under some powerful compulsion, used the sequence to open the cylinder. Inside she saw a small repulsive thing floating in some water-like solution, a thing that looked like a thumb-sized brain with several barbed tentacles radiating out from it. The force controlling her began to lift the cylinder to her mouth, as if to make her swallow the tiny brain-thing. With a last burst of willpower (i.e. Mark made his saving throw!), Umitsu was able to resist the force long enough to seal the cylinder once more and stow it away safely.

The session ended after that titanic psychic struggle. Hopefully, session three tomorrow night will find our group back together at the table-top, because I'm excited to keep the adventure rolling! 

Beyond the Westwall: Session 1 (5/29/13)

Well, I made my return to the GM's chair as of last Wednesday night (5/29/13), and it felt damn good! I'm running a new campaign using Labyrinth Lord (augmented by some house rules). As for the world which my players are exploring, I'm using a combination of Rob Conley's Points of Light and Blackmarsh settings.

Our story begins in the hamlet of Westguard, which lies to the west of the Grand Kingdom. Indeed, the hamlet is currently the only outpost of said kingdom in the frontier beyond the Westwall mountain range (and thus the name of the campaign). Scattered across the landscape are the ruins of a much older civilization called the Bright Empire, which fell centuries ago.

It is deep winter, and the region has been under a heavy pall of clouds for weeks. During that time, snow has fallen almost continuously. Thus, Westguard has struggled to keep its lanes free of mountainous snow drifts, and the locals find it difficult to move about the town without great difficulty.

The first session opened with our intrepid party of adventurers (seemingly) safe and warm in (where else?) the common room of an inn called The Wailing Banshee (very original, no?). The PCs include a female thief named Vela (Pam), a female elf named Umitsu (Mark), a male halfling named Bogo (Bill), and a male fighter named Gerard (Josh).

The thief proceeded to case the crowd in the common room and cut the purse from a drunken sailor as he caroused with his fellow seamen. Bogo distracted the sailors with some halfling drinking songs to make Vela's work easier. The elf amused herself by putting rats to sleep in the common room. Gerard was fixing for a good brawl.

Umitsu decided to ask the lascivious proprietor, Tanner, if he needed any help with his rat problem. After leering at the elf and getting slapped on the head for his trouble by his wife Cecilia, he agreed to pay the elf a small sum if she could clear out his cellar. Umitsu agreed, but when the proprietor continued to leer at her, she slapped him hard enough to knock him out. The wife, Cecilia (who, rumor has it, was the inspiration for the inn's name), applauded the elf's actions and bade Umitsu continue on her assignment to clear the rats in the cellar. Umitsu took Gerard with her, in order to keep him out of trouble if nothing else. This all occurred while the thief and halfling were robbing the sailors.

The halfling, Bogo, also took it upon himself to listen in on conversations. In this way, the group heard rumors of a dungeon built by the decadent Bright Empire centuries before. It's said that the dungeon was used by the ancient emperors to torture enemies of the state for entertainment, and is supposed to be filled with all manner of deadly traps...and perhaps riches. Bogo also learned of a recent rash of disappearances among the townsfolk. Four people have gone missing, with one elderly woman returning as suddenly as she had disappeared. The woman has been in a coma since her return, with no one able to wake her (not even the priests of the town's temple to Phaeton, the god worshipped in the Grand Kingdom).

In the cellar, Umitsu found a good many rats and put them to sleep...but then noticed that one back wall of the cellar was pulsing. Gerard lit a torch and, to their horror, they saw that a ten-foot-square section of the cellar wall was covered with some sort of yellow-green slime. When Gerard tried to take a closer look, a pseudopod lashed out from the wall and slapped against his armor.

It was then that Vela and Bogo went down into the cellar to check on their allies. Reunited, the group decided to do something about the wall-clinging slime. In short order, they managed to melt away sections of the slime with a torch, but not before the slime split into two halves: one of which slipped behind a rack of ale casks, and one of which sucked itself into a crack in the wall. Upon inspection, the group felt air flowing through said crack, and decided to break through the wall.

Before they could finish, however, two town guards came down into the cellar, looking to arrest Umitsu. They had been called by one of Tanner's daughters, who happens to be a barmaid at the Wailing Banshee. The party told the guards about the slime, and when one of the guards poked a sword between some ale casks, a pseudopod lashed out at him. The guards were spooked and ran off to obtain the help of a magic-user on the town's payroll.

The party broke through the cellar wall and found a tunnel, but no sign of the slime. They moved down the length of the tunnel and came to a circular chamber. In the walls of the chamber were carved niches, each of which held a human skeleton dressed in decaying rags that once might have been fine robes. The floor was covered with a mosaic depicting the face of Phaeton, surrounded by the faces of other ancient gods including Sarrath, who the ancients believed ruled over the underworld (Phaeton eventually became the primary human god, with the other gods become "angels" or, in Sarrath's case, the equivalent of the Christian Devil).

Closer inspection of the mosaic found that one of Phaeton's gemstone eyes was actually a sort of button. When pressed, the circular section of the floor depicting Phaeton's face dropped a few feet into the floor. This revealed a small hole in which rested a tiny ornate chest. Inside the chest was a strange cylinder similar to a scroll case. This case, however, seemed to be protected by a combination lock of sorts: along the length of the case were seven dials with seven symbols each (the symbols being letters from the language of the Bright Empire).

As the group was inspecting the strange cylinder, they heard a grinding of stone. To their shock, they saw one of the skeletons was rocking in its niche. This, they discovered, was due to the rear section of the niche being pushed inward. They could also hear guttural voices that, as Umitsu discerned, were speaking the language of goblins and orcs.

As the party began to leave hastily from the chamber, the elf watched as the stone at the rear of the niche fell into the burial chamber, revealing the forms of five orcs fighting over who would enter the chamber first. They spoke of an orc named Orog, presumably a chieftain of their tribe, and how something in the chamber had been "calling" to him and driving him mad. Orog had received visions of the chamber's location, and the orcs had somehow tunneled to it, despite the frozen ground.

As the majority of the party drew near the cellar, they noticed a disturbing sight: the yellow-green slime had stretched itself across the opening in the tunnel. It seemed they were now caught between the slime and some angry orcs...

Let There Be NO Goblins!

Ok, here's a brainstorm I want to get out:

 

I hereby declare that there will be NO goblins in my future Labyrinth Lord campaign! Nor will there be hobgoblins. And there will be no orcs. There may be trolls, but even if there are, they will not be called trolls. In fact, I will probably be doing a lot of eliminating or "reskinning" of traditional D&D creatures.

 

Why would I do this to the poor goblins and other D&D staple monsters? Because I'm tired of them. Tired, tired, tired. I'm just bored of them. They're all over the damned place! Plus, I suspect that my players may be bored of them as well. And if they're not bored of them, my players know what to expect when I say "You encounter some goblins." They think "Oh, goblins, no need to worry! These guys are weak!"

 

Yes, yes, there's the old argument about "player versus character knowledge." But come on. Players can't be robots and shut down their preconceived notions entirely. At the very least, they're probably saying to themselves "Oh boy, here we go again."

 

And yes, I know that you can tweak the goblin's abilities to create "uber-goblins" with all sorts of insane hit points, powers, whatever. But it's still a friggin' goblin.

 

So, what will replace those ousted humanoids? I have some ideas. A race of beastmen that resemble sasquatch, or perhaps some neanderthals. Or perhaps both of these, and some other concoctions I'm considering.

 

But all of this is part of my growing excitement for my next campaign. Yes, getting rid of goblins has made me very very excited. I know, a nerdier statement was never uttered.

Bye Bye, Level Limits!

As an addendum to my post earlier today about my Labyrinth Lord house rules, I've decided to take a page from another retroclone, Swords & Wizardry, when it comes to the dreaded demihuman level limits. I'm referring specifically to page 16 of the 4th printing of the Swords & Wizardry Core Rules. That page discusses options for continued level advancement for "non-humans." I think it sounds like a great idea to allow demihumans to keep advancing in level, but just at a slower rate. To me, it's a good solution to the long-time debate.

Labyrinth Lord/Basic D&D House Rules (2/25/2013)

Ok, since one of my possibilities for my next campaign is another attempt at running Labyrinth Lord, here are my updated LL house rules (compatible with all versions of Basic D&D). The only portion I'm feeling a bit leery about these days is Combat. I'm feeling like I should heavily simplify/do away with Combat Maneuvers and everything below it. I'm just not sure if I want all those levels of granularity, but rather keep things as abstract as possible, in the pure tradition of D&D combat.

Anyway, here they are (please let me know what you think...feedback is welcome): 

GENERAL:

Hit Points: max at first level.

Attribute Checks: (as needed) roll d20 under attribute score; bonuses/penalties can come from DM for perceived difficulty, difference in levels/HD and/or attributes between character and opponent, etc.

Bonus spells slots for high INT or WIS: see LL Advanced Edition Companion chart for clerics.

Zero HP: at 0 HP or less, save vs. death. Success means 1 hp and unconscious. Failure means...well, death.

Shields and Saves: at GM discretion, shields may give +1 bonus to saving throws such as breath weapons.

COMBAT:

Two-Weapon Fighting: gives +1 to hit.

Natural 1 and Natural 20: a natural 1 is always a miss and a “fumble,” the effects of which are up to the GM. Natural 20 is an automatic hit. GM may also allow for some“fantastic effect.”

Hold Action: during combat, a player can hold their action for use later in the round. However, held actions not used in a round are lost at the end of the round.

Combat Maneuvers: from ACK System (most are -4 to attack roll, opponent save vs. paralysis). These can include disarming, wrestling, etc.

Firing into Melee: on a roll of 1-3, a character hits a friendly. Roll another to-hit to see if the friendly takes damage. Chance to hit friendlies is eliminated if a player takes time to aim. Aiming and firing in the same round confers a to-hit penalty of -2. Aiming and waiting until the next round eliminates penalty.

Called Shot: performed at a -8 penalty, but a hit usually means automatic critical (double damage). Taking rounds to aim lowers penalty by 1 for each round taken.

Offensive Focus (declared at beginning of round): +2 to hit, +2 AC for round

Fighting Defensively (declare at beginning of round): -2 to hit, -2 AC for round

Full Defense (declare at beginning of round): no attack, -4 AC for round

MAGIC USERS:

Counterspell: a magic user can counter another magic user’s spell by casting a spell of the same level. An INT check is made to determine if MU can identify opponent’s spell. The countering is an automatic success, with both spells cancelling each other out.

Retaining Spells:  When casting a spell, player must roll equal to or less than INT minus level of spell. Success means spell is not used up. Failure means spell is lost until PC rests and recovers spells per RAW.

CLERICS:

Retaining Spells: When casting a spell, player must roll equal to or less than WIS minus level of spell. Success means spell is not used up. Failure means spell is lost until PC rests and recovers spells per RAW.

ELVES:

Immune to all undead attacks and also hear noise on roll of 1-2 on d6

Retaining Spells: When casting a spell, player must roll equal to or less than INT minus level of spell. Success means spell is not used up. Failure means spell is lost until PC rests and recovers spells per RAW.

HALFLINGS:

Fey Luck: Three times per session, a Halfling can choose to make any of their rolls (or the roll of another player) an automatic success.

Hide on roll of 1-5 on d6

DWARVES:

Can harm creatures that can only be harmed by magic (even with bare hands).

Can also tell direction underground on roll of 1-2 on d6.

FIGHTERS:

Automatic hit and double damage on natural 20.

Cleave: can attack another opponent immediately after killing/incapacitating an opponent (from ACKS).

THIEVES:

All thief skills progress as Hear Noise (all use d6). After 15^th level, roll 2d6 and only fail on double six.

Read Language: Level 1=20%, 2=40%, 3=60%, 4=80%

Use Scroll: 10% at level 2, and +10% per level until 10^th level (90%)

In the Mind of a Mad Gamer

"Oh, and Game Master, just one more thing: love your campaign!"  

Perhaps the excessive heat the US has been suffering under has broken my brain. Perhaps seeing the bickering of my family over parental issues (that's all I'll say on the matter here) has broken my spirit. Whatever the cause(s), I've found my brain severely unfocused as of late. As a result, my mind has been spinning on all levels, and this includes my gaming life.

When I was young, my hobbies were a true escape from a tumultuous family life. I read books voraciously. I found solace in places like, well, Solace, the tree-top village in the Dragonlance Chronicles. Yes, reading was a hobby, and linked to that was a "hobby" of self-imposed isolation. To be hidden in the depths of a library, secluded among stout walls made of book shelves with a book in hand, was to be in paradise for a short time. I also liked to write fantasical stories, an interest that I'm sure I shared with many young people who enjoyed Dungeons & Dragons.

When I discovered Dungeons & Dragons, I was often in the role of Dungeon Master, as my enjoyment of crafting plots was the greatest among my childhood group. As with many of us, the game gave us a means to develop creatively and socially.

I suppose reading is still an escape for me, and roleplaying is still something of an escape and a creative outlet, as well as a great social event (I can't say enough about how much I enjoy being around my current group of players). Though now I'm escaping the sometimes onerous grind of adult responsibility/bullsh*t.

ANYway, to continue on from my recent post about self revelation, of late I've found myself feeling pulled in many directions with regard to what I want to run as a game master. I feel really upset at myself for putting my still-young Labyrinth Lord game on hold. I didn't want to do that to my players. But I also had to be true to myself with regard to the fact that I felt unfulfilled with what I was running.

After a lot of rumination on the more nebulous aspects of my feelings, I think I've reached some clarity on things. I suppose not many people out there will be interested in hearing a 30-something man go on and on about roleplaying woes, but this is more for my own sanity, I think. I need to lay out what's on my mind in some organized form. I hope this will alleviate the swirling miasma of Gamer ADD. I've been inspired by Chris at Classic RPG Realms, who isn't afraid to talk out his struggles regarding what system to use.

Again, I consider anything with D&D "DNA" to be D&D wearing a mask. All that being said, here's my thought process as of right now:

Basic D&D

I have come to realize that I really want to run a game using actual Classic/Basic D&D rules. The retroclone thing wasn't cutting it. This came as something of a shock to me, as I'm a big fan of the 'clones. But I can no longer hide from myself the fact that I want to play "pure" if I'm going to play Basic D&D.

If I'm going to deal with the somewhat arcane mechanics of Basic D&D, then I want to be actually playing Basic D&D. That means using the original rulebooks. I have a copy of the Rules Cyclopedia that I'm dying to use, and I have PDFs of the individual Mentzer box sets that I can print out (or have done so already).

I'm not sure if this sounds shallow or bizarre, but yes, I want to use those original books. I don't want to use a retroclone. There, I said it. Again, I have nothing against the 'clones. They're great, and they're the impetus behind looking back to explore early D&D.

But I want to see that Larry Elmore/Terry Dykstra artwork when I'm flipping through the books. I want to see the fonts they used. I want the beholder in the monster section! I want that authentic D&D experience, which to me means using the original books.

And in using the original books, I want to stay as close to rules as written as I can. I really want to cut down my house rules and just do rulings on the fly as needed. I think the majority of my house rules will pertain to the classes, to give them a bit more "oomph."

Again, I'm feeling very guilty about putting my Labyrinth Lord game on hold after only a handful of sessions. I think I owe it to my group to give Basic more of a fair shot. But to me that means actually using those original rule books. Once more, I ask: is this insane?

I'll include the DCC RPG here, because it uses Basic's race-as-class feature and many other connections to Basic. I really like what Goodman Games has done to the D&D chassis. But I feel like it has more rules crunch than I'm willing to deal with at the moment. I have an urge to run some DCC RPG in the future, but not right now. I don't want to deal with the crunch.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons

When it comes to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, for some reason I currently have the opposite desire: I do NOT want to run a game using actual AD&D rules. I would much, much rather use Castles & Crusades. I'm not sure if this is a strange divergence from my "NEED PURE BASIC D&D!" feelings. But there you have it. At any rate, I have no desire right now to GM an AD&D/C&C game.

D&D Mine

Every once in a while I get the urge to make my own "edition" of D&D. Who in our blogosphere community hasn't felt that urge, right? I want to take the Swords & Wizardry clone as a foundation and put in all the tweaks I want and make my own game! I was inspired recently by JB at B/X Blackrazor when he proposed the D&D Mine concept.

But at the moment, this still is a case of "MUST PLAY PURE BASIC D&D!" eating at my brain. So this recurring urge is, once again, pushed aside.

Other RPGS

I really like Savage Worlds and the Dragon Age RPG. Their allure is that they offer an alternative to those games that are variations on D&D (i.e. those games that use mechanics very similar to D&D, either Basic or Advanced). And this appeals, because I have no deep-seated desire to immediately house rule either of these non-D&D RPGs, because they aren't D&D!

I think that I'm so familiar with the D&D rules that I can't help myself when it comes to house ruling. I'm sort of tired of this uncontrollable need on my part to endlessly tweak the D&D design. So, to me, the logical solution is to try another RPG for a while, and take a break from D&D in all its forms.

Yet my desire to play these games, strangely enough, makes me yearn for D&D. I'm really feeling insane...

Conclusion

I try to tell myself that I don't have a time limit on my new gaming life. I can run one sort of game/RPG for a while and then switch to another at some point down the road.

Ultimately, I'm sorry to subject my poor gaming group to the results of my scattered mind. I'm feeling like a very divided self, with my attention pulled in too many directions. This is frustrating to no end.

Any advice is very much appreciated.

Confession: I'm liking DCC RPG more and more...

One of my measuring sticks for RPGs is not having to house rule them too much.

Upon reading into the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG, I find that, for me, it fits that "minimize house rules" bill for the most part.

I really am a "rules as written" guy deep down, I think. Games like Castles & Crusades and Labyrinth Lord only compel me to make minimal house rules. I currently have about one page of house rules for C&C (my preferred version of AD&D) and two pages for Labyrinth Lord (my preferred version of Basic D&D). The level of house ruling that I've done for those systems is ok by me. But any more than a couple pages and I'm not comfortable anymore.

However...from what I've read so far of DCC RPG (granted, I am not anywhere near reading the entire thing just yet), it might just become my preferred version of D&D, basic or advanced or otherwise.

Anyone who's read this blog knows that that's a huge confession from me and a big change of heart, due to the posts I written attacking Goodman Game's hype machine. But I'm man enough to admit that I was spouting off without seeing the final product. Now that I've seen it, does the game live up to the hype? For the most part yes, as far as I can tell. That doesn't mean that I like it when people mega-hype a product in a vainglorious manner. But I can understand someone trying to sell their product.

Anyway, I really like the gonzo nature of DCC RPG. I'm liking the twist on D&D spellcasting. I'm liking the "modernization" of the decades-old rule set. Heck, the game has even made me like alignment, which I've never really used in my gaming life. Because DCC makes alignment serve a purpose, makes it relevant.

All of this makes me think about gamer-me, and what I really want from my roleplaying and my roleplaying games. I'm not sure I was ever fully a member of the OSR. Many sacred cows of the movement I can do without, such as strict adherence to D&D's conception/version of Vancian magic (as I discussed in this post). I suppose this may be due to my gaming history and when I entered the hobby (around 1988).

When it comes to my interest in old school, it's not about maintaining adherence to a particular rules set's rules as written. Rather, old school for me means a style of play that includes rulings not rules, a focus on actually roleplaying, encouraging player creativity, and the other less tangible aspects of old school play.

Anyway, that's enough of my blather for now. Happy gaming, all!

OSR Blasphemies: Saying No to Old-Fashioned Vancian Magic

I suppose I'm about to commit a mortal OSR sin by stating that I'm not really into Vancian magic anymore. At least, I'm not into Vancian magic "rules as written" as portrayed in most editions of D&D (except 4th Edition with its at-will powers, I suppose).

I just don't like the "fire and forget" thing anymore. I know, you're going to call me a D&D Nancy-boy and tell me I can't hang. You're going to tell me that I'm missing the point of D&D, especially OD&D/Basic D&D, where resource management is king, and where limited spells per day at low levels means players have to flex their creative muscles in order to survive.

But to hell with all that. I don't care. My current self wants something new. My old self might have been OK with it. Back in the day, I remember a lot of player decisions to camp for the rest of the day/night so the casters could recharge ("Ok, speed up time, Mr. GM! Is it morning yet? What, what do you mean there was random encounter while we were asleep?!"). It was crazy how many days would pass in a single session because the magic users and clerics needed to rememorize spells.

Hey, here's my cure for the "15 minute work day": no more old-fashioned Vancian magic.

Gimme the Adventurer Conqueror King system for casting spells with its "spell repertoire," for the love of God. Or even better than that, gimme the system from Myth & Magic!

In my current Labyrinth Lord campaign, I'm borrowing from the Myth & Magic system (what I think is supposed to be a sorta-clone of 2E D&D). The following is an OPTIONAL rule from Myth & Magic (so no, kids, you are not forced to use it if you want good old fashioned Vancian action):

Spell Rememorization [Optional]: Once a memorized spell is cast and a slot opens up, the wizard may attempt to fill the slot if he has his spellbook and ample time to study. An Intelligence check is rolled against an Exceptional (TC 20) task. Success indicates a new memorized spell. Failure removes the chance to fill that spell slot until the next day. The wizard is required to have absolute silence while he studies for a continuous, uninterrupted 10 minutes per spell level. Any interruption, whether it be from loud noises or physical harm, removes the chance to rememorize the spell slot.

In place of the d20 INT check, I have my LL players roll under the INT score (modified by the level of the spell to be rememorized; so a wizard with INT of 17 rememorizing a 2nd level spell would have to roll under a 15).

Oh, or even better than Myth & Magic is the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG system, right? Well, not sure it's better, but just different... different in a much more risky spell casting sense. But I like that riskiness! It adds some spice to things, eh?! Bottom line: you don't automatically lose the spell for the rest of the day. Sounds good to me, risk or no risk.

As much as I ragged on DCC in the past, I think it's system is the most attractive to me right now.

I guess the "second generation" retroclones (I don't want to argue about whether or not DCC RPG is a retroclone or not, please) fit into the style of play that I want these days. I guess I'm not an OSR purist after all. And that's not because I've been brainwashed by playing modern-era D&D, which I haven't done at all, ever! Hell, I've only returned to roleplaying within the last couple years and I've been playing C&C, Lamentations of the Flame Princess, and now Labyrinth Lord!

I guess what I have been doing is reading other games, and fondly wishing for something more than old Vancian magic. Damn that reading nonsense! Dad always told me it would get me into trouble.

I want my casters to have the flexibility of spell casting more often in a day, and I don't care who disagrees! 'Nuff said.

O is for Overture

As in the beginning or prelude of something. As in, the first night of my Labyrinth Lord campaign was a great one! 

I had three players, one who I've been gaming with for over a year, one for a couple months, and one for the second time ever. So it was an interesting mix of players. I hope to have more players join up, especially the wife of one of the players. There was also a fellow who came up to our table at the end of the session who was pretty animated when he asked what we were playing, but he didn't express direct desire to join the game. But the potential is there.

So, here's a shot of my pre-game set up, with character sheets and spare copies of the original Labyrinth Lord rules ready for the players. And of course there's the awesome official LL referree screen!

And here's a look behind the screen, where you can see my copy of the revised LL rules and of course my GM's binder, chock full of all sorts of goodies for use by yours truly. And there's my pile o' dice (a humble number of polyhedrals, I know) and a container of water for when my throat gets parched from all that GMing.

So we spent a good hour talking about/rolling up characters, going over the "social contract" for the game, a discussion of the LL system and my house rules, and introducing the group to the campaign's setting. After that, I set the party loose on the world. It was a humble start, with the players getting their bearings, getting used to some aspects of the rules that were unfamiliar, and all that first-session stuff that you encounter. But I expect things to pick up once we get a few more sessions under our belts.

Oh, and I'm running them through the old B1: In Search of the Unknown D&D module (with some modifications)! If my players read this, just remember: it's only hurting you if you try to read through this module (though the thing is out of print ;-).

So, that's all for now. Can't wait for this Wednesday night for our second session!

N is for Night

As in game night! For me, that's tonight! Been roleplaying fairly consistently on Wednesday nights for over a year now at the awesome FLGS called All Things Fun in scenic West Berlin, NJ. Tonight begins my new Labyrinth Lord campaign called Thunder Rift Sagas, and I can't wait to get those dice rolling! Hey out there in RPG Bloggerland, if you can spare me some good gaming vibes tonight, it would be much appreciated! I believe I am pretty prepared and I have eagerness and positivity on my side as well! So what could go wrong, right? ;-) Anyway, I'll report on this kick-off night as soon as I can following the event. Until then, I've got some more pre-game meditation to do! Happy gaming, one and all!

L is for Labyrinth Lord

As I've mentioned on this blog before, I've never played Basic D&D. I've always been an Advanced D&D guy. I've owned the Rules Cyclopedia forever, but never had the chance to play by those rules.

Well, all that's about to change. Via the awesome retroclone Labyrinth Lord, I'm about to embark on my first Basic D&D experience in my more than two decades of gaming. And I am damned excited!

I've created a new blog for my campaign, Thunder Rift Sagas! Please head on over and feel free to poke around and become a follower if you so wish. Things are a bit sparse over there at the moment, of course, but that will definitely change as the campaign progresses.

I've got a copy of the Labyrinth Lord revised rules softcover, and have a couple copies of the original rules with the purple cover for the players to use (I think the only difference between the original and revised is some typo corrections and the armor table). I've also got the really cool referee screen. I have Stonehell Dungeon, the Dungeon Alphabet, and Barrowmaze, so I'm set in the dungeon department for a while!

I can't wait to introduce a bunch of new players to this particular type of old-school gaming! I feel like I'm truly going to become a part of the OSR, in running this game. I hope to do the movement proud!

Hey out there! If you have any experience running Labyrinth Lord, let me know about your experiences with the game. I would love to get your advice, tips on products you love to use, and so on.

By the way, Labyrinth Lord creator Dan Proctor was a recent guest blogger on the Black Gate magazine blog, where he posted a bit of inside information on the creation of his game. You should also visit his Goblinoid Games blog when you get a moment.