Ay, I've got 35 followers (a.k.a. Minions) as of today! That's one follower for every year I've been alive! Not bad for a guy who doesn't really post that often (I would love to do so more often...working on it...)
You like me, you really like me! Though, I'm not entirely sure why you like me! Are my posts interesting enough for you guys? Maybe my more recent stuff has been a bit more engaging. I know I've mostly been posting the ups and downs of my gaming situation. There's not much here in the way of deep musings or gaming "philosophy," and I haven't been posting a lot of usable materials such as maps, magic items, adventure hooks, etc. (though I have always intended to do so...maybe someday...)
So maybe some of you just like hearing personal stories of someone actually trying to play/run games?
Ok, I'll go ahead and formally ask the question of you, the reader: why do you follow/read my humble blog?
Monday, May 9, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
The "N" Word
I just thought I’d expand upon my view of nostalgia that I briefly touched upon in my “Dragonlance love” post from earlier today:
We're all hit with nostalgia now and then. It all depends on how you view nostalgia, though, that makes the difference. In many of the blogs I read, the "n" word is viewed in a negative light, and is treated as something that is ultimately a frivolous and non-productive emotion. I personally feel that there can be negative or positive nostalgia.
If your nostalgia does not inhibit you from moving forward, then it is probably a good thing. Take me, for instance. I feel that nostalgia for the gaming days of my youth led me to discover the OSR, which in turn bolstered my long-dreamt-of return to table-top gaming. Thus the oft-dreaded "n" served a purpose: it motivated me to become active and "fight" to return to the hobby (and to create a blog to help focus my efforts and also to tap into a community for a morale boost).
However, a “bad” reaction to my nostalgia might have caused me to passively skim through some retroclones, then maybe spend/“waste” some time flipping lazily through some of the old game books I have in my bookshelf, and then shelve everything again in despair.
This may be an oversimplification, as many factors went into my return to RPGs. You can learn more by reading my gamer testimonial.
All that said, I personally would NOT want to go back and use the actual AD&D 1st edition books. I actually recently took a look at PDF copies of the old triumvirate (PHB, DMG, and MM), and I have to say I quickly discovered that they did not appeal to my current, much older, self with all my adult duties and limited time. I appreciate the efforts of the creators of the ‘clones, because they have done the work of reorganizing the old rules into a form that I can use with minimal time and effort.
Hope this all makes sense. It’s late on a Friday afternoon, after all.
We're all hit with nostalgia now and then. It all depends on how you view nostalgia, though, that makes the difference. In many of the blogs I read, the "n" word is viewed in a negative light, and is treated as something that is ultimately a frivolous and non-productive emotion. I personally feel that there can be negative or positive nostalgia.
If your nostalgia does not inhibit you from moving forward, then it is probably a good thing. Take me, for instance. I feel that nostalgia for the gaming days of my youth led me to discover the OSR, which in turn bolstered my long-dreamt-of return to table-top gaming. Thus the oft-dreaded "n" served a purpose: it motivated me to become active and "fight" to return to the hobby (and to create a blog to help focus my efforts and also to tap into a community for a morale boost).
However, a “bad” reaction to my nostalgia might have caused me to passively skim through some retroclones, then maybe spend/“waste” some time flipping lazily through some of the old game books I have in my bookshelf, and then shelve everything again in despair.
This may be an oversimplification, as many factors went into my return to RPGs. You can learn more by reading my gamer testimonial.
All that said, I personally would NOT want to go back and use the actual AD&D 1st edition books. I actually recently took a look at PDF copies of the old triumvirate (PHB, DMG, and MM), and I have to say I quickly discovered that they did not appeal to my current, much older, self with all my adult duties and limited time. I appreciate the efforts of the creators of the ‘clones, because they have done the work of reorganizing the old rules into a form that I can use with minimal time and effort.
Hope this all makes sense. It’s late on a Friday afternoon, after all.
For the Love of Dragonlance
I was originally going to write a post called “In Defense of Dragonlance,” and make my best attempt at crafting a manifesto of sorts. I imagined that I would, with one post, make a bold stand against all the supposed haters of that setting and sweep away their arguments in one fell swoop.
But I’ve thought better of all that. Mainly because I realized that I don’t really have any problems with what I’ve seen written about Dragonlance on gaming blogs. Specifically, a post entitled “How Dragonlance Ruined Everything” written by preeminent RPG sage James Maliszewski was going to be a particular target of my nascent ire. How dare he state such a thing?!
I took some time to reread his post, since I hadn’t read it in a long time. And I came to remember what I had forgotten: what James discusses in his post and what I feel about Dragonlance literally exist in two different realms.
James approaches the setting from a practical direction. The gist of his post, to try and simplify it for the sake of brevity (I encourage you to read it for yourself), is that Dragonlance set into motion some bad trends for Dungeons & Dragons. TSR used the setting to springboard into a direction that saw the game become less about sandbox play and more about creating “story,” in a negative sense. By “story” I think James is referring to the pitfall of railroading. Story here refers to a trend toward consciously trying to “force” a D&D campaign to make some sort of narrative sense from game session to game session. For James, the “story” of a roleplaying campaign should be something that one sees in retrospect, after many game sessions have passed and the players’ characters have gone through many adventures.
This is really no different from the process of writing a novel. The author must complete the writing of the novel before it truly becomes a cohesive story. One can also look at the events of the Lord of the Rings books. The novels that compose the series are actually the recounting of the quest to destroy the One Ring by Frodo Baggins as a sort of memoir. This memoir would eventually become a book called the Red Book of Westmarch in Frodo’s world (the Red Book also includes Bilbo’s own tale, There and Back Again, which in our world is The Hobbit).
So, to relate all of this to roleplaying, the exploits of player characters in a campaign are what become the story. One should never worry about creating a cohesive story while a campaign is being played.
So, I agree with James. I’ve looked through the original Dragonlance modules over the years and I have to say, I do not like how they were executed. Why were they so geared toward pregenerated characters, having players adhere for the most part to how events unfolded in the novels? There was no need to have done things that way. TSR could very well have published modules that, for instance, were set during the War of the Lance, but the players could be given the choice of what they wanted to do during the war. In other words, TSR could have made it clear that there was no need to adhere to the Dragonlance canon, and that they could create alternate events in the war in the usual organic way that RPG campaigns play out.
Yes, in reading James’ post again, I can’t say that I can refute any of his opinions. And actually, I wouldn’t want to do so. This is because my connection, my affection, for Dragonlance has nothing to do with the practical end of things. It has nothing to do with the modules, TSR’s potential use of the setting as a means of creating a “franchise” that would generate steady revenue, or the impact of the setting and the novels on the course of D&D’s evolution.
I can read James’ post and agree with it freely, because my approach to Dragonlance is purely emotional, rather than practical. You might even call it nostalgia, but I believe it’s the good kind of nostalgia. I’ve stated before on this blog my thoughts on how there are different types of nostalgia. Nostalgia that is an obsession with one’s long-lost youth is negative. Nostalgia that is a subtle and grounded cherishing of what once was is, I believe, positive, and may even give rise to a new perspective on the object of one’s nostalgia. This refreshed view of something from one’s past may even be a means of reinvigorating what was long lost from one’s life.
This is how I view rolelplaying in my current life. I had spent years mourning over how long it had been since I roleplayed. Once I gave that up, I was free to set aside thoughts of the hobby for some time, and then return to it again years later with a more positive attitude. It is this attitude that I am now fostering, and I see it as the energy behind my current return to the table-top.
So it really doesn’t matter to me whether or not Dragonlance had an adverse effect on D&D or the hobby as a whole. Indeed, as a side note, I’ve always thought of roleplaying as a grass roots effort at its heart. Once you get the rule books home from the store, you can choose to shut out the future developments of the game and its publisher and do what you want with it, with no ill effects. You don’t need to go to conventions, you don’t need to buy every splatbook, unless that’s how you approach the hobby.
What really matters to me is that Dragonlance novels were the start of my lifelong love affair with fantasy. Now, I know that some would argue that that is a sad fact. It would have been better if I had discovered Tolkien, Howard, Leiber, Vance, or any of the other luminaries that are credited with forging the foundations of fantasy literature as we now know it. I refute such a thought, because as I sit here today, I have far more books on my shelves that do not carry the Dragonlance logo. The novels by Weis and Hickman, and other Dragonlance authors, brought me into the genre. From there, I moved on to discover the classics as well as the writings of more recent generations of fantasy authors.
As I stated in my gamer testimonial on this blog, Stormblade by Nancy Varian Berberick was the first Dragonlance novel I read. It was the first fantasy novel I read. I remember feeling a strong connection to the genre from the very first chapter. I intend to reread the novel, having read it over 20 years ago. I don’t know if it will stand the test of time as far as its actual execution as a novel, but I know that that won’t change the place the book has in my personal evolution. I’ll always have a soft spot for it, and the other early Dragonlance novels.
I want to chronicle my rereading of Stormblade here on the blog, to give you my thoughts and impressions as I go through this seminal book in my personal gaming life.
I’ve also been feeling like I need to resurrect my plans to run a campaign set on the world of Krynn. But I will be sure not to railroad my players. I will be sure to tell any players who are well versed in the Dragonlance setting that they should not expect my campaign to adhere to the developments in the novels.
In all, I do feel it’s high time for me to revisit my Dragonlance roots. That means some rereading. And this rereading, like nostalgia, may lead to a new appreciation. And perhaps something more…
But I’ve thought better of all that. Mainly because I realized that I don’t really have any problems with what I’ve seen written about Dragonlance on gaming blogs. Specifically, a post entitled “How Dragonlance Ruined Everything” written by preeminent RPG sage James Maliszewski was going to be a particular target of my nascent ire. How dare he state such a thing?!
I took some time to reread his post, since I hadn’t read it in a long time. And I came to remember what I had forgotten: what James discusses in his post and what I feel about Dragonlance literally exist in two different realms.
James approaches the setting from a practical direction. The gist of his post, to try and simplify it for the sake of brevity (I encourage you to read it for yourself), is that Dragonlance set into motion some bad trends for Dungeons & Dragons. TSR used the setting to springboard into a direction that saw the game become less about sandbox play and more about creating “story,” in a negative sense. By “story” I think James is referring to the pitfall of railroading. Story here refers to a trend toward consciously trying to “force” a D&D campaign to make some sort of narrative sense from game session to game session. For James, the “story” of a roleplaying campaign should be something that one sees in retrospect, after many game sessions have passed and the players’ characters have gone through many adventures.
This is really no different from the process of writing a novel. The author must complete the writing of the novel before it truly becomes a cohesive story. One can also look at the events of the Lord of the Rings books. The novels that compose the series are actually the recounting of the quest to destroy the One Ring by Frodo Baggins as a sort of memoir. This memoir would eventually become a book called the Red Book of Westmarch in Frodo’s world (the Red Book also includes Bilbo’s own tale, There and Back Again, which in our world is The Hobbit).
So, to relate all of this to roleplaying, the exploits of player characters in a campaign are what become the story. One should never worry about creating a cohesive story while a campaign is being played.
So, I agree with James. I’ve looked through the original Dragonlance modules over the years and I have to say, I do not like how they were executed. Why were they so geared toward pregenerated characters, having players adhere for the most part to how events unfolded in the novels? There was no need to have done things that way. TSR could very well have published modules that, for instance, were set during the War of the Lance, but the players could be given the choice of what they wanted to do during the war. In other words, TSR could have made it clear that there was no need to adhere to the Dragonlance canon, and that they could create alternate events in the war in the usual organic way that RPG campaigns play out.
Yes, in reading James’ post again, I can’t say that I can refute any of his opinions. And actually, I wouldn’t want to do so. This is because my connection, my affection, for Dragonlance has nothing to do with the practical end of things. It has nothing to do with the modules, TSR’s potential use of the setting as a means of creating a “franchise” that would generate steady revenue, or the impact of the setting and the novels on the course of D&D’s evolution.
I can read James’ post and agree with it freely, because my approach to Dragonlance is purely emotional, rather than practical. You might even call it nostalgia, but I believe it’s the good kind of nostalgia. I’ve stated before on this blog my thoughts on how there are different types of nostalgia. Nostalgia that is an obsession with one’s long-lost youth is negative. Nostalgia that is a subtle and grounded cherishing of what once was is, I believe, positive, and may even give rise to a new perspective on the object of one’s nostalgia. This refreshed view of something from one’s past may even be a means of reinvigorating what was long lost from one’s life.
This is how I view rolelplaying in my current life. I had spent years mourning over how long it had been since I roleplayed. Once I gave that up, I was free to set aside thoughts of the hobby for some time, and then return to it again years later with a more positive attitude. It is this attitude that I am now fostering, and I see it as the energy behind my current return to the table-top.
So it really doesn’t matter to me whether or not Dragonlance had an adverse effect on D&D or the hobby as a whole. Indeed, as a side note, I’ve always thought of roleplaying as a grass roots effort at its heart. Once you get the rule books home from the store, you can choose to shut out the future developments of the game and its publisher and do what you want with it, with no ill effects. You don’t need to go to conventions, you don’t need to buy every splatbook, unless that’s how you approach the hobby.
What really matters to me is that Dragonlance novels were the start of my lifelong love affair with fantasy. Now, I know that some would argue that that is a sad fact. It would have been better if I had discovered Tolkien, Howard, Leiber, Vance, or any of the other luminaries that are credited with forging the foundations of fantasy literature as we now know it. I refute such a thought, because as I sit here today, I have far more books on my shelves that do not carry the Dragonlance logo. The novels by Weis and Hickman, and other Dragonlance authors, brought me into the genre. From there, I moved on to discover the classics as well as the writings of more recent generations of fantasy authors.
As I stated in my gamer testimonial on this blog, Stormblade by Nancy Varian Berberick was the first Dragonlance novel I read. It was the first fantasy novel I read. I remember feeling a strong connection to the genre from the very first chapter. I intend to reread the novel, having read it over 20 years ago. I don’t know if it will stand the test of time as far as its actual execution as a novel, but I know that that won’t change the place the book has in my personal evolution. I’ll always have a soft spot for it, and the other early Dragonlance novels.
I want to chronicle my rereading of Stormblade here on the blog, to give you my thoughts and impressions as I go through this seminal book in my personal gaming life.
I’ve also been feeling like I need to resurrect my plans to run a campaign set on the world of Krynn. But I will be sure not to railroad my players. I will be sure to tell any players who are well versed in the Dragonlance setting that they should not expect my campaign to adhere to the developments in the novels.
In all, I do feel it’s high time for me to revisit my Dragonlance roots. That means some rereading. And this rereading, like nostalgia, may lead to a new appreciation. And perhaps something more…
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
I've hit the big time now...
Well, recently, I put myself in harm's way when I decided to freely communicate with the person behind Your Dungeon is Suck. Now I've run afoul of Alexis over at Tao of D&D. I've had my differences with him but have sought to bury the proverbial hatchet. I lost my temper a bit and made some harsh comments. I regret that. Alexis seems to me to be a bit of an eccentric...or he just has a persona he projects through his blog, a character he likes to portray. Enough conjecture, I'm probably way off base. The point is, I've come to my senses. I'm willing to live and let live.
Anyway, I became the subject of a post on his blog this week. I feel strangely honored...and scared!
Now, what would it be like to get Alexis, Your Dungeon is Suck guy, and maybe Malcolm Sheppard over at Mob United together in a cage match? Place your bets!
Anyway, I became the subject of a post on his blog this week. I feel strangely honored...and scared!
Now, what would it be like to get Alexis, Your Dungeon is Suck guy, and maybe Malcolm Sheppard over at Mob United together in a cage match? Place your bets!
Monday, May 2, 2011
Vengeance and Remembrance
When it comes to this blog, I like to keep my chocolate away from my peanut butter. In other words, I make it a point to steer clear of discussion of real world matters. There are enough pundits with opinions out there without me adding to the blather. And I really do want to keep this blog as pure and focused on gaming as possible.
But today, the day after the announcement of Osama bin Laden’s death at the hands of US Special Forces, I feel obliged to at least say a little something about it. I hope you bear with me.
I would suggest that everyone, on a personal level, take some time to sit and just contemplate. Digest things. Think about things as they pertain to you and your life since September 11, 2001. Tune out the news shows and all the many newsfeeds that bombard us through all manner of outlets these days. Don’t let others start filling your head with all their opinions, not just yet. Save that for tomorrow or the next day.
For now, just explore your own feelings, as you probably did on that bright September day almost a decade ago, when the world changed forever. Then, you might have been filled with dread and a certain horrified awe as you watched the world change forever. Now, almost a decade later, explore what you feel now. Maybe you will find parallel experiences, but this time the genesis of those emotions is profound relief or even happiness, instead of terror and uncertainty. And perhaps you can let yourself think that current events may somehow help alleviate the negative effects of what happened ten years ago. Perhaps the world has again changed forever, but for the better this time.
The man who set the ominous tone to the beginning of the 21st century is dead. That fact might not erase his legacy completely, but it at least may be some small comfort. Perhaps this can be the true first step to reclaiming this still-new century from the shadow he helped cast over it. I suppose I don’t have any illusions that we can ever return to the blissfully unaware days of the late 20th century. And deep down perhaps I wouldn’t want that. But at the same time, I think of my children, and I wonder at what world they will grow up in.
I suppose that depends on my wife and I, and how we teach them to approach the world no matter what state it may be in. But they will never know a world without the aftereffects of 9/11. And that makes me sad. But I also remember that I can teach them that they have a choice every day to be happy. But they must also be aware of the world around them, because there are those that wish them ill. But has it ever been any other way, really? Perhaps the America I knew in my youth simply did a better job of making the realities of the wider world seem no threat to us.
Today is a good day to remember that we must always remember. On September 11, 2001, I was only about a month into a new job. I was still relatively fresh out of college and my career was ahead of me. On that morning, I remember a small news tidbit on Yahoo that was just a sentence about a plane had flown into the World Trade Center. It was such a small sentence, and I remember thinking that something like a small Cessna had crashed into it. But soon enough the whole office was flooding into the lunch room and gaping at the TV, watching smoke billowing out of the first tower. We were all in that room when the second plane hit, and I’ll never forget the wordless wailing that went up, the shouts declaring the impossibility of what was happening. I’ll never forget the horribly contorted faces of my coworkers as they stared about at each other or turned to run to their desks to call loved ones.
Today is also a day that sometimes we can savor revenge. Sometimes we can take some solace in ancient eye-for-an-eye, life-for-a-life justice. I’m not a big believer in vengeance when I’m in my calmer, more rational moments. I believe it only perpetuates hatred and violence. But when angry I, like many others no doubt, welcome swift retribution for those who clearly think they are superior to other human beings.
Osama bin Laden was that kind of person. He believed he was better than everyone. He believed some twisted version of god had blessed him. He wasn’t a Muslim. He was a manipulator and a self-serving hypocrite. He sent others to their deaths while he hid himself away. He was a coward, a schemer, conniver, and manipulator. He was no different than Hitler, Charles Manson, Jim Jones, David Koresh, and so many others throughout history, demagogues that for some inexplicable reason had a deadly charisma that entranced far too many individuals. These are people who claim to be guided by higher powers or purposes, but who are truly only motivated by one thing: self-deification. For these unfortunately powerful individuals, perhaps the only true way to silence them is death. Perhaps this is the only real situation in this world when death is absolutely called for without question.
I for one am glad he is dead. This is a fitting bookend to the last decade. I am going to hold onto a kernel of hope that this death will be a signal that we can throw off the pall of doubt and fear that this self-righteous, self-serving, cowardly murderer cast over our the current era. Perhaps those he once duped will wake up to the fact that their self-made god was indeed just a liar who sought to profit from the deaths of others.
So for now, I will smile when I watch video of joyous crowds around the world erupting into spontaneous communal celebration. Today there is no wailing in anguish, and the screams I hear are those of relief and exultation. I’ll let the events wash over me and let myself feel the moment. And I will remember how differently I felt all those years ago when horror prevailed, and thank God that this time the epicenter of current events is happiness, at least for today.
But today, the day after the announcement of Osama bin Laden’s death at the hands of US Special Forces, I feel obliged to at least say a little something about it. I hope you bear with me.
I would suggest that everyone, on a personal level, take some time to sit and just contemplate. Digest things. Think about things as they pertain to you and your life since September 11, 2001. Tune out the news shows and all the many newsfeeds that bombard us through all manner of outlets these days. Don’t let others start filling your head with all their opinions, not just yet. Save that for tomorrow or the next day.
For now, just explore your own feelings, as you probably did on that bright September day almost a decade ago, when the world changed forever. Then, you might have been filled with dread and a certain horrified awe as you watched the world change forever. Now, almost a decade later, explore what you feel now. Maybe you will find parallel experiences, but this time the genesis of those emotions is profound relief or even happiness, instead of terror and uncertainty. And perhaps you can let yourself think that current events may somehow help alleviate the negative effects of what happened ten years ago. Perhaps the world has again changed forever, but for the better this time.
The man who set the ominous tone to the beginning of the 21st century is dead. That fact might not erase his legacy completely, but it at least may be some small comfort. Perhaps this can be the true first step to reclaiming this still-new century from the shadow he helped cast over it. I suppose I don’t have any illusions that we can ever return to the blissfully unaware days of the late 20th century. And deep down perhaps I wouldn’t want that. But at the same time, I think of my children, and I wonder at what world they will grow up in.
I suppose that depends on my wife and I, and how we teach them to approach the world no matter what state it may be in. But they will never know a world without the aftereffects of 9/11. And that makes me sad. But I also remember that I can teach them that they have a choice every day to be happy. But they must also be aware of the world around them, because there are those that wish them ill. But has it ever been any other way, really? Perhaps the America I knew in my youth simply did a better job of making the realities of the wider world seem no threat to us.
Today is a good day to remember that we must always remember. On September 11, 2001, I was only about a month into a new job. I was still relatively fresh out of college and my career was ahead of me. On that morning, I remember a small news tidbit on Yahoo that was just a sentence about a plane had flown into the World Trade Center. It was such a small sentence, and I remember thinking that something like a small Cessna had crashed into it. But soon enough the whole office was flooding into the lunch room and gaping at the TV, watching smoke billowing out of the first tower. We were all in that room when the second plane hit, and I’ll never forget the wordless wailing that went up, the shouts declaring the impossibility of what was happening. I’ll never forget the horribly contorted faces of my coworkers as they stared about at each other or turned to run to their desks to call loved ones.
Today is also a day that sometimes we can savor revenge. Sometimes we can take some solace in ancient eye-for-an-eye, life-for-a-life justice. I’m not a big believer in vengeance when I’m in my calmer, more rational moments. I believe it only perpetuates hatred and violence. But when angry I, like many others no doubt, welcome swift retribution for those who clearly think they are superior to other human beings.
Osama bin Laden was that kind of person. He believed he was better than everyone. He believed some twisted version of god had blessed him. He wasn’t a Muslim. He was a manipulator and a self-serving hypocrite. He sent others to their deaths while he hid himself away. He was a coward, a schemer, conniver, and manipulator. He was no different than Hitler, Charles Manson, Jim Jones, David Koresh, and so many others throughout history, demagogues that for some inexplicable reason had a deadly charisma that entranced far too many individuals. These are people who claim to be guided by higher powers or purposes, but who are truly only motivated by one thing: self-deification. For these unfortunately powerful individuals, perhaps the only true way to silence them is death. Perhaps this is the only real situation in this world when death is absolutely called for without question.
I for one am glad he is dead. This is a fitting bookend to the last decade. I am going to hold onto a kernel of hope that this death will be a signal that we can throw off the pall of doubt and fear that this self-righteous, self-serving, cowardly murderer cast over our the current era. Perhaps those he once duped will wake up to the fact that their self-made god was indeed just a liar who sought to profit from the deaths of others.
So for now, I will smile when I watch video of joyous crowds around the world erupting into spontaneous communal celebration. Today there is no wailing in anguish, and the screams I hear are those of relief and exultation. I’ll let the events wash over me and let myself feel the moment. And I will remember how differently I felt all those years ago when horror prevailed, and thank God that this time the epicenter of current events is happiness, at least for today.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Yes Virginia, there ARE giant spiders…
Well, at least CAT-SIZED spiders. That’s what my half-elf paladin and my fellow gamers ran into at the start of our latest Wednesday Night C&C game at All Things Fun! Rich the GM (I need to get used to using the term Castle Keeper/CK, I guess!) took a cue from a bit of text on his map of the sewers that read “spider god.”
Quick disclaimer: the old memory these days isn’t what it used to be, so I am probably not getting every single cool detail down. If anyone from Wednesday night reads this and sees I missed something glaring, please chime in and comment!
Anyway, Sefa the Druid cast her calm animals spell, and that stopped, oh, about eight spiders in their tracks. That left, oh, about 20 more that were still approaching. So we got ready for a fight. For the foppish illusionist in our party, Struan, that meant dumping wine out of his wineskin and filling it with lantern oil. You know, so he could use it as a flame thrower. Of course. Guess how that turned out.
So, while Struan wasted his time, the rest of us managed to kill off the spiders, then we got out of there fast. Once back at our base of operations, the Silver Eel Inn, we discussed our next move. The druid and barbarian (with his awesome bearded axe that does 3d4 damage, for the love of Torm) proceeded to talk to their rescued tribeswomen. They told us that the scumbag who once owned them didn’t have many guards at his home. Just a handful of some very weasel-looking and scrawny guys with silly hats.
Encouraged by that news, we decided to use the following day to go out into the city and gather some intel on the slave trade as well as how things were faring with the city guard and the abolitionists, not to mention the rioting citizenry in the City State of the Invincible Overlord.
The illusionist and I have very good Charisma scores (and mine, at least, is also a primary attribute for me, in C&C parlance…meaning it’s much easier for me to succeed at charisma-based checks). So I gathered up info on the city guard, and to see if our shenanigans had caused any more discord between the city’s two major houses now jockeying to put their respective candidates on the Overlord’s seat. As it turns out, there was some scuttlebutt among the guardsmen that there was some tension, but no indication if any nobles were getting their panties in a bunch.
Meanwhile, Struan decided to make himself look like my paladin, thanks to his magic. And he got some good intel on the slavers as well as the jerk who once owned the tribeswomen (and who still held a good number of additional female slaves). We learned that the jerk’s wimpy-looking guards hung out at a tavern not far from his house. So we went there to check them out, test their mettle, and generally cause trouble and knock some skulls together (I guess Drance the paladin is not your stereotypical holy warrior, as he’s into the bashing heads as often as possible…as long as those heads belong to evil types).
We went to the tavern that night, after Sefa and Struan rested and regenerated their spells. Struan actually took the time to make himself less useless, and picked a different spread of spells. About time. The tavern we went to was pretty much a haven for evil types, so for me it was clobberin’ time. We spotted three of the weasel-looking guards easily in the crowd. They wore floppy hats and garish clothes, and all of them carried rapiers. Yeah, they looked pretty lame to us.
Struan actually did some good spellwork and convinced an ogre bouncer that one of the wimps said something about his mom. That started the melee. We sort of watched for a while, letting the ogre do as much damage as possible before we waded in to combat. Eventually, I just got tired of waiting and charged in with longsword swinging. It didn’t take too long to discover that these guys were more capable than they looked. They were hard to hit, but were hitting us pretty easily. Especially me. Even with my benefit to armor class that I get from fighting evil types. Ouch. Thanks to Sefa the druid’s abundant supply of healing goodberries that she kindly conjured up, I didn’t bite the dust.
Towards the end of the fight, one of the weasel wimps whipped out some weird weapon and pointed it at us, and there was a deafening boom. Yes, firearms made an appearance. The guard with the arquebus, or whatever it was, went down before he took more than one shot (I think). Struan was good enough to scoop that little oddity up. As we were beating down the last guard, his features started to shift and become more rat-like. Yep, were-rats. Hate those things.
After making the three “were-rat musketeers” dead and stuff, we decided to head right over to the jerk’s house and take him and the rest of the rat-men out ASAP. But not before we gathered up all of our NPC buddies at the Silver Eel. So we were “rollin’ thick” as the kids say these days. We barged our way into the jerk’s house. Said jerk was rumored to have a very bizarre nose, and rumors were true. It looked like a pear hanging off his face. And he was playing with little silver miniatures when we came in. Alrighty then…
More fighting, spelling, and general stabbing-type stuff ensued. I was getting my ass handed to me not long into the melee, as one of the were-rats took me down to one hit point. But eventually we won the day, thanks to Wulfgar the barbarian’s mighty axe cutting a swath through the enemy. We killed the baddies and freed the rest of the slaves. And of course, gathered up whatever loot we could find (that’s Struan’s specialty). Yours truly actually got ahold of a nice longsword +1, gods bless the CK! That’s about where we wrapped it up for the evening.
In summation, this campaign that Rich is running gets better every week. We all get along well, and we have lots of hearty laughs while also having time for some serious challenges in the realms of combat and intrigue.
Quick disclaimer: the old memory these days isn’t what it used to be, so I am probably not getting every single cool detail down. If anyone from Wednesday night reads this and sees I missed something glaring, please chime in and comment!
Anyway, Sefa the Druid cast her calm animals spell, and that stopped, oh, about eight spiders in their tracks. That left, oh, about 20 more that were still approaching. So we got ready for a fight. For the foppish illusionist in our party, Struan, that meant dumping wine out of his wineskin and filling it with lantern oil. You know, so he could use it as a flame thrower. Of course. Guess how that turned out.
So, while Struan wasted his time, the rest of us managed to kill off the spiders, then we got out of there fast. Once back at our base of operations, the Silver Eel Inn, we discussed our next move. The druid and barbarian (with his awesome bearded axe that does 3d4 damage, for the love of Torm) proceeded to talk to their rescued tribeswomen. They told us that the scumbag who once owned them didn’t have many guards at his home. Just a handful of some very weasel-looking and scrawny guys with silly hats.
Encouraged by that news, we decided to use the following day to go out into the city and gather some intel on the slave trade as well as how things were faring with the city guard and the abolitionists, not to mention the rioting citizenry in the City State of the Invincible Overlord.
The illusionist and I have very good Charisma scores (and mine, at least, is also a primary attribute for me, in C&C parlance…meaning it’s much easier for me to succeed at charisma-based checks). So I gathered up info on the city guard, and to see if our shenanigans had caused any more discord between the city’s two major houses now jockeying to put their respective candidates on the Overlord’s seat. As it turns out, there was some scuttlebutt among the guardsmen that there was some tension, but no indication if any nobles were getting their panties in a bunch.
Meanwhile, Struan decided to make himself look like my paladin, thanks to his magic. And he got some good intel on the slavers as well as the jerk who once owned the tribeswomen (and who still held a good number of additional female slaves). We learned that the jerk’s wimpy-looking guards hung out at a tavern not far from his house. So we went there to check them out, test their mettle, and generally cause trouble and knock some skulls together (I guess Drance the paladin is not your stereotypical holy warrior, as he’s into the bashing heads as often as possible…as long as those heads belong to evil types).
We went to the tavern that night, after Sefa and Struan rested and regenerated their spells. Struan actually took the time to make himself less useless, and picked a different spread of spells. About time. The tavern we went to was pretty much a haven for evil types, so for me it was clobberin’ time. We spotted three of the weasel-looking guards easily in the crowd. They wore floppy hats and garish clothes, and all of them carried rapiers. Yeah, they looked pretty lame to us.
Struan actually did some good spellwork and convinced an ogre bouncer that one of the wimps said something about his mom. That started the melee. We sort of watched for a while, letting the ogre do as much damage as possible before we waded in to combat. Eventually, I just got tired of waiting and charged in with longsword swinging. It didn’t take too long to discover that these guys were more capable than they looked. They were hard to hit, but were hitting us pretty easily. Especially me. Even with my benefit to armor class that I get from fighting evil types. Ouch. Thanks to Sefa the druid’s abundant supply of healing goodberries that she kindly conjured up, I didn’t bite the dust.
Towards the end of the fight, one of the weasel wimps whipped out some weird weapon and pointed it at us, and there was a deafening boom. Yes, firearms made an appearance. The guard with the arquebus, or whatever it was, went down before he took more than one shot (I think). Struan was good enough to scoop that little oddity up. As we were beating down the last guard, his features started to shift and become more rat-like. Yep, were-rats. Hate those things.
After making the three “were-rat musketeers” dead and stuff, we decided to head right over to the jerk’s house and take him and the rest of the rat-men out ASAP. But not before we gathered up all of our NPC buddies at the Silver Eel. So we were “rollin’ thick” as the kids say these days. We barged our way into the jerk’s house. Said jerk was rumored to have a very bizarre nose, and rumors were true. It looked like a pear hanging off his face. And he was playing with little silver miniatures when we came in. Alrighty then…
More fighting, spelling, and general stabbing-type stuff ensued. I was getting my ass handed to me not long into the melee, as one of the were-rats took me down to one hit point. But eventually we won the day, thanks to Wulfgar the barbarian’s mighty axe cutting a swath through the enemy. We killed the baddies and freed the rest of the slaves. And of course, gathered up whatever loot we could find (that’s Struan’s specialty). Yours truly actually got ahold of a nice longsword +1, gods bless the CK! That’s about where we wrapped it up for the evening.
In summation, this campaign that Rich is running gets better every week. We all get along well, and we have lots of hearty laughs while also having time for some serious challenges in the realms of combat and intrigue.
What, this old thing?
So, anyone who's frequented my blog will instantly notice that it's been reworked. I've changed the theme and rearranged links. The biggest changes were in the realm of pages, which you now see across the top, under my "logo." I really like them, how they allow me to add more variety and content.
This change is one of the first fruits of having a new laptop!
Please, give me some feedback! Let me know what you think of the new look.
This change is one of the first fruits of having a new laptop!
Please, give me some feedback! Let me know what you think of the new look.
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