This is my last A to Z post for April. I'll wrap up the alphabet in May. I hope you'll stop by my new campaign's blog and follow that as well, as I move ahead with some new adventures! Thanks as always for reading, and happy gaming!
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
M is for Map
Behold, the map for Thunder Rift Sagas!
This is my last A to Z post for April. I'll wrap up the alphabet in May. I hope you'll stop by my new campaign's blog and follow that as well, as I move ahead with some new adventures! Thanks as always for reading, and happy gaming!
This is my last A to Z post for April. I'll wrap up the alphabet in May. I hope you'll stop by my new campaign's blog and follow that as well, as I move ahead with some new adventures! Thanks as always for reading, and happy gaming!
Monday, April 23, 2012
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.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
K is for Kick-Off
I've also got my obligatory GM's binder stuffed to the gills with all sorts of goodies, from adventure hooks and random tables to house rules and NPCs, maps, descriptions of gods, and on and on.
I'm going to talk to the incredibly cool owner of my FLGS to get a Labyrinth Lord section up on the store's forum, and then start preaching the faith to all willing converts! I can't wait! I'm going to wrap up April with entries for letters L and M. Then I'll do the other half of the alphabet over the course of May.
Forward to adventure, comrades-in-arms!
Saturday, April 21, 2012
J is for Journey
As I mentioned in my post for D, "when I told one of my current players about running an old-school game using
Labyrinth Lord, he said it would be cool to do some dungeon crawling again. And I found myself assuring him that it would be more than just about dungeon
crawling. There's another OSR sacred cow that I want to send to the butcher:
that the focus of a Classic D&D campaign needs to be on dungeons."
I think that, no matter what system you use, the journey can be just as thrilling as the location. A lot of old-school gaming is site-based. There's the dungeon, of course, but it could also be a castle, a city or town, ruins, etc. But it doesn't have to be that way all the time, IMHO. The most basic sort of roleplaying journey is the quest (for a magical artifact, to save a nobleman or woman from bandits, etc.), of course. But not all RPG journeys need be quests. What about traveling between two cities just because they players want to get out of their usual town for a bit? What about the trip to that infamous dungeon or haunted castle? When I think about the journey to such places, I feel the need to at least give some chance of an encounter or a "side quest" or plot development to occur. Not all the time, mind you. There are times when I do the old "time passes, your journey is uneventful, you enjoy a leisurely hike through the mountains, and arrive at your destination" bit. But to "hand wave" every trip across country in order to just get to a place? BORING!
And hell, there are so many cool random event tables out there to use!
I know that I've read some OSR bloggers who outright refuse to leave a city in which they have set their game, for example. That sort of sounds like a dreaded railroad to me. I mean, if the players want to leave the city, aren't you obliged to allow them that ability, in the name of the much-vaunted "player agency"? There's nothing saying that you have to make the experience a pleasant one. I guess I'm talking about giving them disincentives rather than forbidding them outright. I don't care if players have agency out the wazoo when it comes to that city they are in. If they can't leave the place just because the GM says they can't, that's a big old railroad track that encircles the place.
Perhaps this reluctance to let players sally forth into the wild stems from the common OSR boogeyman of not developing a significant portion of a campaign world before a campaign or particular session starts. As a busy adult, I can sympathize with regard to not having a lot of time to develop world details. But there has to be a balance. You have to put in some work on defining that world, both for the players to get a feeling of a somewhat-living world, and for you (the GM) to hang plot hooks or create on-the-fly situations. Even if that work is a couple sentences for a specific bunch of hexes on a map.
Anyway, I would love to hear from you out there! What place does the journey have in your campaigns?
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Paragons of Waterdeep: Endgame
This post covers sessions 18 and 19, the last two of my Paragons of Waterdeep campaign. I fully intend to have a "sequel" campaign, hopefully with the same great players using the same characters.
Our heroes settled back into the city of Waterdeep. As they sought to sniff out what hidden groups may be pulling the strings of small-time thugs in the city, they eventually made their way to a house bequeathed to a former PC (Vorath, a wizard whose player, Glenn, had to leave the group around session 6). Using the strange pass phrase that Vorath taught them ("Happy half-orcs have halitosis") they were able to pass the powerful wards and enter the house. Within they found a goodly number of scrolls with all manner of spells inscribed on them, as well as chest and crates guarded by protective spells.
While exploring their new base of operations, they chanced to glance outside and see many robed figures prowling the street. As the party watched, the figures incinerated several citizens and left a young girl unconscious on the street. The party decided to not fall into the obvious trap. It was clear the robed figures did not know the exact location of the group, so they were obviously trying to lure the party out.
The next morning, the cleric Oisin went out to investigate. He discovered that the girl had been taken into the nearby home of a wealth merchant. The cleric went to the home and a servant let him in, leading him to an upstairs bedchamber. There, the merchant and his wife were sitting beside a large bed, in which lay the young girl from the street. When Oisin moved to administer healing, the girl sprung out of the bed, and she took on a horrible aspect: her skin became like scales, her features twisted into a horrible fanged face, and her hands grew black talons. The cleric fled from the room and back down the stairs. While nearing the front door of the merchant's house, a robed figure moved toward him from the living room of the house.
Oisin was able to exit the home relatively unscathed, and his fellows in the party saw his hasty movement. As the party rallied to the cleric's side, the two lizard-like beings attacked. The party fought off the beings (who had the ability to breathe gouts of flame), and one of the things sprouted a pair of leathery wings and flew off over the rooftops. The heroes managed to slay the female, but when they did so she returned to human form. When the other residents of the street came out of their homes to see about the cause of the disturbance, they saw what looked to be a young woman slain by a group of well-armed individuals. The alarm was raised and the city guard quickly came to investigate.
With the guard contingent came Marn, the apprentice of Khelben Blackstaff. He saved the party from being taken into custody. Marn then spoke with them at length about how Khelben knew the nature of their enemies: the lizard-like assailants were devotees of the infamous Cult of the Dragon, who worship dragons as gods and seek to help their "deities" become the rulers of Faerun (if not the entirety of the world of Toril). He also told them that Khelben had decided to form a new secret group of his own called the Paragons of Waterdeep. The party would effectively be the "founding members" of this new group, the purpose of which would be to help protect the city from incursions from groups such as the Cult of the Dragon, the Shadow Thieves, and others.
After this, the party regrouped and gained information from Marn about recent suspicious activities in Waterdeep's City of the Dead, a massive and ancient cemetery. The party set out to investigate. Once there, they followed signs of magic and evil intent to a large mausoleum dedicated to warriors who have died in battle. Not long after entering the burial place, they were ambushed by a horde of kobolds who were hiding within.
As they fought the diminutive lizard folk, a great rush of wings could be heard from outside. A black dragon landed just outside the entrance to the mausoleum, ridden by the lizard-like man who had flown away after their previous battle near the party's hideout. The party fought hard and fought well, and were able to slaughter the kobolds and cause the dragon and its scaly rider to flee.
And that's where the campaign ended. Suffice to say that the characters had uncovered a significant Cult of the Dragon foothold in the city. After their victory, they were praised by Khelben, their reputation for skill and bravery firmly cemented in the estimation of the archmage of Waterdeep.
As I said at the beginning of this post, I do want to someday run a sequel campaign. I love the Castles & Crusades system, and I had a great time running it. The group that I've gamed with for well over a year is composed of great people and I hope to game a lot more with them for a long time to come. This campaign was the first one I'd run in many years, so it definitely helped me knock off some rust from my GMing abilities. I learned a lot about what I like and don't like when it comes to gaming at this point in my life. It was a vital experience for me in my current return to the hobby. In all, a really rewarding experience!
Now, it's on to the next great adventure!
Our heroes settled back into the city of Waterdeep. As they sought to sniff out what hidden groups may be pulling the strings of small-time thugs in the city, they eventually made their way to a house bequeathed to a former PC (Vorath, a wizard whose player, Glenn, had to leave the group around session 6). Using the strange pass phrase that Vorath taught them ("Happy half-orcs have halitosis") they were able to pass the powerful wards and enter the house. Within they found a goodly number of scrolls with all manner of spells inscribed on them, as well as chest and crates guarded by protective spells.
While exploring their new base of operations, they chanced to glance outside and see many robed figures prowling the street. As the party watched, the figures incinerated several citizens and left a young girl unconscious on the street. The party decided to not fall into the obvious trap. It was clear the robed figures did not know the exact location of the group, so they were obviously trying to lure the party out.
The next morning, the cleric Oisin went out to investigate. He discovered that the girl had been taken into the nearby home of a wealth merchant. The cleric went to the home and a servant let him in, leading him to an upstairs bedchamber. There, the merchant and his wife were sitting beside a large bed, in which lay the young girl from the street. When Oisin moved to administer healing, the girl sprung out of the bed, and she took on a horrible aspect: her skin became like scales, her features twisted into a horrible fanged face, and her hands grew black talons. The cleric fled from the room and back down the stairs. While nearing the front door of the merchant's house, a robed figure moved toward him from the living room of the house.
Oisin was able to exit the home relatively unscathed, and his fellows in the party saw his hasty movement. As the party rallied to the cleric's side, the two lizard-like beings attacked. The party fought off the beings (who had the ability to breathe gouts of flame), and one of the things sprouted a pair of leathery wings and flew off over the rooftops. The heroes managed to slay the female, but when they did so she returned to human form. When the other residents of the street came out of their homes to see about the cause of the disturbance, they saw what looked to be a young woman slain by a group of well-armed individuals. The alarm was raised and the city guard quickly came to investigate.
With the guard contingent came Marn, the apprentice of Khelben Blackstaff. He saved the party from being taken into custody. Marn then spoke with them at length about how Khelben knew the nature of their enemies: the lizard-like assailants were devotees of the infamous Cult of the Dragon, who worship dragons as gods and seek to help their "deities" become the rulers of Faerun (if not the entirety of the world of Toril). He also told them that Khelben had decided to form a new secret group of his own called the Paragons of Waterdeep. The party would effectively be the "founding members" of this new group, the purpose of which would be to help protect the city from incursions from groups such as the Cult of the Dragon, the Shadow Thieves, and others.
After this, the party regrouped and gained information from Marn about recent suspicious activities in Waterdeep's City of the Dead, a massive and ancient cemetery. The party set out to investigate. Once there, they followed signs of magic and evil intent to a large mausoleum dedicated to warriors who have died in battle. Not long after entering the burial place, they were ambushed by a horde of kobolds who were hiding within.
As they fought the diminutive lizard folk, a great rush of wings could be heard from outside. A black dragon landed just outside the entrance to the mausoleum, ridden by the lizard-like man who had flown away after their previous battle near the party's hideout. The party fought hard and fought well, and were able to slaughter the kobolds and cause the dragon and its scaly rider to flee.
And that's where the campaign ended. Suffice to say that the characters had uncovered a significant Cult of the Dragon foothold in the city. After their victory, they were praised by Khelben, their reputation for skill and bravery firmly cemented in the estimation of the archmage of Waterdeep.
As I said at the beginning of this post, I do want to someday run a sequel campaign. I love the Castles & Crusades system, and I had a great time running it. The group that I've gamed with for well over a year is composed of great people and I hope to game a lot more with them for a long time to come. This campaign was the first one I'd run in many years, so it definitely helped me knock off some rust from my GMing abilities. I learned a lot about what I like and don't like when it comes to gaming at this point in my life. It was a vital experience for me in my current return to the hobby. In all, a really rewarding experience!
Now, it's on to the next great adventure!
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
I is for Inspiration
Me? Well, this isn't necessarily an exhaustive list, but here goes:
The art from the 1st and 2nd Edition eras of AD&D!
Artists such as Larry Elmore, Keith Parkinson, Frank Frazetta, Clyde Caldwell, Jeff Easley, Fred Fields, Todd Lockwood, Terry Dykstra (unsung hero of the interior art for the Rules Cyclopedia), Brom, Tim Bradstreet, Michael Whelan...but NOT Tom Baxa (at least not his D&D art...his other stuff is cool I guess)!
Authors such as George RR Martin and his mastery if intrigue, David Gemmell for his brutal heroism, Robert E. Howard, J.R.R. Tolkein, Fritz Leiber, Roger Zelazney, Raymond Feist, Glen Cook, Steven Erikson, Michael Moorcock, Ursula K. LeGuin, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, Richard A. Knaak, and the list could go on and on.
And also my fellow bloggers such as those found in this blog's Scroll of Honor blog roll. I give thanks to you all for your boundless energy, devotion to the game, and seemingly endless contributions to our hobby! This includes Al at Beyond the Black Gate, because I'm going to be making copious use of his compendiums from 2009, 2010, and 2011 (especially for the random tables)!
Ok, I don't want this post to ramble on forever, so that's all for now. Hope to hear from you out there!
Monday, April 16, 2012
Vancian Magic...Without the Wait?
As an addendum to my H is for House Rules post, I want to elaborate a bit on the following house rule for memorizing/recovering spells for magic users, clerics, and elves:
Memorizing/Recovering Spells: Spells usually take 10 minutes per level to memorize. All spells of a level four below the max spell level usable by the wizard only require 1 minute per level to rememorize.
I "borrowed" this from the Myth & Magic Player's Guide (it's on page 30).
I know that the whole Vancian magic thing is a rallying cry for the OSR. It's a pretty polarizing topic, with most of the old-school people saying "Give me Vancian magic or give me death!"
I agree...to a point. Sure, let's use the "fire and forget" Vancian system. BUT...would it be so bad to speed up the Vancian spell memorization process?
Why does it have to take a full eight hour rest to get your spells back?
Wouldn't the Myth & Magic method make magic users a bit more flexible, and alleviate a bit of the whole "15 Minute Workday" issue that was swirling around the blogosphere recently?
I say yes! And as you can see I'm using it for my upcoming Labyrinth Lord campaign. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm going to keep the whole "eight-hour-rest" thing for players to have characters recover ALL castable spells. But during a single day, if they want to spend the time, they can take time to rememorize spells, one at a time, using the method above. The key element here is the time usage. If you're in a dungeon, a lot can happen in 10 minutes/1 turn (those orcs you just fought come back with reinforcements, etc). So this doesn't let players off the hook entirely
In the meantime, I'd like to hear your thoughts. What do you think of "speeding up" the Vancian magic spell recovery system?
Memorizing/Recovering Spells: Spells usually take 10 minutes per level to memorize. All spells of a level four below the max spell level usable by the wizard only require 1 minute per level to rememorize.
I "borrowed" this from the Myth & Magic Player's Guide (it's on page 30).
I know that the whole Vancian magic thing is a rallying cry for the OSR. It's a pretty polarizing topic, with most of the old-school people saying "Give me Vancian magic or give me death!"
I agree...to a point. Sure, let's use the "fire and forget" Vancian system. BUT...would it be so bad to speed up the Vancian spell memorization process?
Why does it have to take a full eight hour rest to get your spells back?
Wouldn't the Myth & Magic method make magic users a bit more flexible, and alleviate a bit of the whole "15 Minute Workday" issue that was swirling around the blogosphere recently?
I say yes! And as you can see I'm using it for my upcoming Labyrinth Lord campaign. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm going to keep the whole "eight-hour-rest" thing for players to have characters recover ALL castable spells. But during a single day, if they want to spend the time, they can take time to rememorize spells, one at a time, using the method above. The key element here is the time usage. If you're in a dungeon, a lot can happen in 10 minutes/1 turn (those orcs you just fought come back with reinforcements, etc). So this doesn't let players off the hook entirely
In the meantime, I'd like to hear your thoughts. What do you think of "speeding up" the Vancian magic spell recovery system?
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