A Life Full of Adventure

In which Mordrin almost singlehandedly wins the Battle of Cairnmere On Thursday we played the fourteenth sitting of our WarHammer 2e online campaign. The GM started a fast pace right out of the gate. It really set the tempo for a sitting of mostly battle. My PC Mordrin Skorkinson, Giant Slayer. He is still looking for a giant to slay, as he doesn't feel the last giant was quite giant enough. This doesn't stop his ears from perking up when the elves he is with mentions daemons, though. He's willing to slay a daemon or two before he finds a giant proper. He is also the bemoaner of the doom that got away. His chosen weapon is a magical two handed war-hammer taken from a slain priest of Sigmar, its once faded runes now burn bright due to Mordrin's great deeds. My companions: Tibalt - A Brettonian Knight Udrin - A High Elf Scholar Gustav - A Human Initiate of Verena Ato - A Wood Elf Wizard Apprentice (Absent) Mordrin's Experiences From last time: Once the tower door wa...

There is a link to an article going around about how to be a better roleplayer . I have a story from my D&D 3.5 game at PortCon last week that exemplifies rule #5: Don't harm other players. First, let me say a little something about the game. It's not often you get to play a 13th level character in a game, either at home or at a convention. It was fun. My wizard had spells I had only ever read about. Most of the rounds of the game were spent with me casting spells. It was during the roleplay aspect that the lesson came about. The player in question was playing the party fighter. He was playing the character rather recklessly, and at one point charged up a set of stairs on his own. The stairs were trapped, and they deposited him in a furnace via a trap door. The player barely got out of the furnace before his character died. Later we found three strange symbols set on circles in the floor. We wanted to find out what the strange symbols did, and my character encourag...

This magical ladder is normally found 2-3 rungs tall and used as a makeshift backpack frame. Upon command, the ladder extends to 10 feet.

I'm back to wanting to run through the Doomstones campaign at a convention. What I'm interested in right now is if anyone has run the Crossing the Border prequel for the game. I'd love to hear some thoughts or experiences. Never heard of it? Get it for free here .

This is a gift for my 13 year old gamer goddaughter for her birthday. I painted it in a few hours one afternoon. The face looks a lot less fancy than I would have liked, but overall it's not too bad. It's not museum grade, but it's not a half bad tabletop quality painting. The mini is tiny and probably won't often be used in direct sunlight so I'm sure a lot of this unprofessional look will not be seen. Not too shabby for one afternoon. Another player at PortCon suggested that I "thin my paints." I have no idea what that means.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Dinner included the two meat choices, goose or venison. Having previously indicated I would eat the venison, I had to think of an excuse to instead have the goose. My brain was not cooperating, and the excuse was a bit forced, but the servers seemed to accept my change of heart without malice. The lord of the manor was surprised at my change of heart, but there were other things to hold his attention instead. We met the librarian, called Otto, who offered the library's services to us at our convenience. The lord was also very agreeable to our use of the library, and it was at this point that we noticed he was not behaving according to the character we had come to expect of him. Lord Aschaffenberg was said to be a proper and serious man, and this had been our experience with him thus far. However, at the dinner he was lacking in propriety and making disparaging racial japes. It was clear that the "goose is good" message meant that the venison...

Continued from the Journal of Tor'endirathelevellon to His Lady Ariel, Queen of the Elves of the Wood Part 1 Part 2 We continued our exploration into the forge. The fire had died, and the place was completely unused since the dwarf had been injured. Hidden in a corner was an elaborate carrying case which looked to have been forced open. Inside was the imprint of the injured dwarf's warhammer. We were unable to ascertain whether Sister Sonja forced the case open to retrieve the hammer at the dwarf's request or if the case was forced open by others upon the grounds who had been looking for it. After the forge, we looked around the garden shed. It was here that I found an herbal patch with disturbing vegetation. One root I found is used for easing symptoms of the Black Plague. Another is  used to clot blood. But a third root is a soporific poison used to dull the senses of those who ingest it. The root causes some dizziness and drowsiness as well. The smell of the...

I was just shown this map the other night. To any Warhammer fan who has not seen it: You're welcome.  You need to follow the link to the map. It's embedded, it scrolls left, right, up, down, and it's zoomable just like a Google map. http://www.gitzmansgallery.com/shdmotwow.html

The Echos of Cairnmere Last Thursday I missed the thirteenth sitting of our WarHammer 2e online campaign. I was, unfortunately, detained at work. However, as the saying goes, "the game must go on!" My PC Mordrin Skorkinson, Giant Slayer. He is still looking for a giant to slay, as he doesn't feel the last giant was quite giant enough. This doesn't stop his ears from perking up when the elves he is with mentions daemons, though. He's willing to slay a daemon or two before he finds a giant proper. He is also the bemoaner of the doom that got away. His chosen weapon is a magical two handed war-hammer taken from a slain priest of Sigmar, its once faded runes now burn bright due to Mordrin's great deeds. My companions: Tibalt - A Brettonian Knight Udrin - A High Elf Scholar Gustav - A Human Initiate of Verena Ato - A Wood Elf Wizard Apprentice Interpolation/Extrapolation Mordrin is a prized curiosity in the elven camp, or so it seems. The elv...

1) Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Warhammer wasn't the first fantasy roleplaying game I ever played, however it is the one I've put the most work into. When a friend of mine first introduced me to the first edition book, we sat down, made characters, and talked about a world of possibilities. Then we actually drew an entire town , searched the rule book, and placed all applicable careers into the town. I had made fantasy adventure before, but I only populated a few necessary NPCs. This town became the living, breathing fantasy realm that all GM advice tells you to create. Events happen in the town regardless of the players. Townsfolk live and die. Events unfold in the background. When the players come back to the town, they may find it much different than when they left. I hadn't done anything like this; I hadn't created anything outside of a dungeon before. The Warhammer career system, and some brainstorming with a friend, brought this all out of me. 2) D&D 2e I ...

I have so many ideas bouncing around my brain, different aspects of different genres from Warhammer to D&D to Sci-Fi.  While they bake into something more cohesive, I'll leave you with my view from Saturday. Though it caused me to miss Free RPG Day, it was totally worth it.

"Sit down; let's talk," the man in robes gestured to seat near the fire. "If you have a pipe, let's smoke them. We'll see what we have in common, you and I." He took a pipe out of his cloak, packed it, and lit it leisurely. The Friendship Pipe has a number of calming, cooperation-inducing spells available to a magic user.  These spells are available over and above the magic user's normal daily allotment. They need not be memorized, nor must they be in the magic user's spell book. All the magic is contained in the pipe. The power of the magic user determines what spells he has access to. Magic User Level/Spell 1/Friends 3/Forget 4/Suggestion 7/Emotion 9/Mind Fog 12/Mass Suggestion

I have this. I have this bad. Yesterday I bought 6 individual Knights of the Dinner Table comics that I have already read as part of a compilation, just so I could have them. Then I bought Serenity Shepherd's Tale graphic novel because I don't have that, and I bought a Get Fuzzy book I don't have that the bookstore doesn't have either. Then I stopped at a used bookstore and bought two paperbacks I don't really need because the pile of books in my nightstand is already overflowing. It was a good day.

I've talked a few times about using the Spears of the Dawn rulebook to populate the South Lands in the Warhammer world. Another idea popped randomly into my head yesterday, and I thought I'd  add it as well. The city of Talabheim is constructed in the middle of a large crater.  It is the only location I have heard situated like this. The South Lands are far enough away to be completely separate from the rest of the Old World. It would be neat to add a crater city there, too. The map shows plenty of unused space to the east. I think I'll plop a crater there, build up an ancient city inside using the Spears of the Dawn maps and building guides, and decide what horrible (serpent?) creature currently populates the crater.

Ravas is human priest of Lathander . However, he was not always a priest of Lathander. He began his career as a priest of Ilbrandul...but things change. Along his journies, Ravas came upon a Phoenix Ring. When his travels ended in violent death, the ring caused him to burst into flames and be reborn. The rebirth unhinged his mind, and he felt he could no longer serve Ilbrandul. That is when Lathander, of the rebirth, lord of the morning, spoke to him. Since that time, Ravas has followed Lathander faithfully. Age: 39   Weight: 151   Height: 5'3"   Sex: M   Hair: Brown   Eyes : Blue Level: 16 Str 11 Stamina 13  Muscle 9 Dex 12  Aim 12  Balance 12 Con 16  Health 16  Fitness 16 Int 17 Knowledge 17  Reason 17 Wis 18 Intuition 18 Willpower 18 Cha 13 Leadership 15 Appearance 11 Weapon: Morningstar Armor: Full plate, medium shield Optional (Skills & Powers) Racial Abilities: XP Bonus, HP bonus (2/level) Tr...

I've had a few more ideas for my first Cascade Failure modules. First the title: Rough Patches. This reflects the state of the ship, Patches, when the crew first sees it.  Instead of an alien civilization taking the ship from the captain to themselves pilot, I now think to have a group of human scrappers taking the ship apart for scrap metal and spare parts. Everything else can be roughly the same. A group of roughs will be sent from the ship to "dispatch" the captain on the way back (think Oldenhaller Contract ambush from WFRP 1e).  If the roughs fail, their leader will reference the trap when confronting the captain. I don't have much else right now for fleshing the adventure out. I think a ship map with the location of working scrappers would do a lot toward finishing things.

[Note: There are spoilers below. Beware if you think you may play this adventure in the future.] Inside the gates we were met by armed guards and escorts. These humans seemed to have no trouble believing the story that we were just hired porters, regardless of the carnage we just left outside the lodge’s gate. Apparently humans believe all elves and dwarves are capable of such talented displays of battle. They are wise in this one regard. The man Vern Hendrick led us to the lord of the manor, Rickard Aschaffenberg. He was a jovial, welcoming human, large as a bear, and wearing an ermine robe that one would think he caught for himself.  The lord led us on a tour of the house and offered to let us have the rest of the night off from our job as porters in order to recover from the battle outside the gate. In reality, he wished us to spend this extra time getting to know the staff and investigating them unobtrusively. He invited us to dinner later that night, at which time we...

From the Journal of Tor'endirathelevellon to His Lady Ariel, Queen of the Elves of the Wood My Lady, I wish to write to you of the beginning of my adventures amongst the humans. It may be difficult to understand, but I know you will pass no judgment in the fact that my first companion in these strange lands is of the dwarven race. He was a boatman who brought me into the city of Ubersreik and a talkative one at that. He talked of the river and the city we were going to and of how we should team up and leave the drudgery of piloting boats behind to find fortune and adventure. He showed no hostility and made no references to the War of Vengeance that I could discern with my rudimentary knowledge of the human language. It will come to pass that his friendship offering of his was mutually beneficial to our very survival. This dwarf, who is called Stedd Grimwald, brought me the very next day to a listing of work opportunities posted in the center of town. I have not fully maste...

I was never the biggest comic book collector I knew. As far as collectors go, I was probably the smallest one I knew. Still I feel guilty about not doing something to support the local comic shop. I get a lot of enjoyment out of comics. I have always liked the X-Men, especially Wolverine. The 90's cartoons were great, though I've probably watched the first season far too many times. I've been entertained watching the movies. Knights of the Dinner Table encourages its readers to support the local stores. I want to do my part, so I plan on heading back to the comic store after the Bangor Area Gamers Guild meeting this Saturday. I'm looking for the Firefly TPB The Shepherd's Tale as well as the next He-Man comic . It may not be much, but I'd like to help out.

Torendir*  is a wood elf Waywatcher from Athel Loren.  He was sent out into the Empire by the wood elf queen to better get to know the humans and the human civilization. The underlying purpose for this quest is to gain a better understanding of this prolific race that battles constantly against the forces of Chaos. There may come a time in the future when such knowledge, and any alliances made during this time, could be extremely useful. He   has spent most of his life to this point patrolling the periphery of the forest. His days are spent tracking intruders, and then warning them off (or killing them) with his bow. He is also a keen observer of the world around him. What he's not particularly good at is social interaction, with only a basic knowledge of Reikspiel. His communication with others in the forest is made up of very few words which accent the hand gestures used for communication of tactical information. Age:  67   Weight:  115   Heigh...

On Sunday night we invited a few friends over to play board games. Star Trek Catan is a Star Trek-themed version of The Settlers of Catan. There are starships (little Enterprises) instead of roads and starbases instead of settlements. With those it runs like Settlers...with one twist. There are cards for 8 of the original series characters. Each player gets one card to use at a time. Each card has a special ability, for instance Uhura lets you name one resource and ask up to 2 players to each give you one of that resource from their hand. It was a fun game. We had one player who had never played any version of Catan before, but another one of the guests showed up late and helped teach him as we played. Between the new player and the new special character cards, the game played out a little longer than we would have liked. However, it was definitely a fun twist on a foundation new-wave boardgame. The Lost World is a Jurassic Park boardgame with one side playing the escaping huma...

When this mine is activated, a brief stasis field effect freezes the victim in place. While the victim is held, a needle rises from the center of the mine and pierces the victim's foot. This needle will go through a leather boot or other normal footwear quite easily. If the victim is wearing metal boots, the following effects happen to the metal instead of the foot. The needle pokes into the foot, and the cryogenic contents of the 6 outside tubes of the mine are injected. This cryogenics freezes the victim's foot and lower leg, all the way to just below the knee. The physiology of the victim is completely frozen, from the outer layer of the dermis to the innermost bone. Freezing leaves the leg susceptible to cracking, breaking, or shattering. It is also extremely uncomfortable at the location where healthy tissue meets frozen tissue. Movement rates are effected, as is gait, as effected characters can no longer bend their ankle or toes. The purpose of this mine is to sl...

Saturday at Bangor-Area Gamers Guild I was finally able to sit down and play some board games with people. We lost a game of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and a game of Legendary very shortly into them. I was able to win a game of Ace of Spies and successfully won a game of Shadows over Camelot as the traitor. It was a very fun meeting, as I am used to losing about every time I sit down at a gaming table.