A Life Full of Adventure

Elven Knights

2011-04-16T19:02:00.005-04:00

The world is changing. The time of the elves has come and gone. They are no longer the dominant race in the world. They are not safe. They are not even always liked. They have retreated from the limelight, heading back to their mystical forests and enchanted islands. However, the elves realize they can't disconnect from the world fully. They need to maintain a presence, and they need to have allies.

Thus begins the motivation for elven knights. There are independent elves who decide to leave the confines of elven society to join in the world at large. They may be spellcasters who wish to broaden the scope of their knowledge, or show off their power. They may be rogues who find human society and the like as easy pickings. However, when the elven kingdoms send emissaries from their lands to the lands of men, it is usually in the form of and elven knight.

The elves wish to keep their reputation as honorable, trustworthy allies who are proponents of good. They send emissaries who epitomize the traits that human civilization holds dear to. And thereby, the elves hope to keep allies for times of need.

B is for Bo

2011-04-05T11:00:00.002-04:00

Bo is a dwarven thief. As a dwarf, this means he doesn't skulk around picking pockets and palming objects. This means that Bo is a master with the mechanical knowledge of locks, traps, and buildings (finding secret doors, weak spots, etc.). He's almost more of a tradesman for hire. He does not lower himself to the human vice of stealing, but has no compunction about the winner taking his share of spoils. As an artisan, Bo is rugged and dextrous. He has natural dwarven constitution, a bit higher than average intelligence (he's learned) and wisdom (he knows how to put his knowledge to good use). Some may say his charisma is a bit lower than normal, but some would say that about all dwarves.

A is for Aevsen

2011-04-04T11:56:00.003-04:00

Aevsen Aamaar'luthe is a C/G Grey Elf thief. He is a male of 121 years when he begins his adventuring career. His hair is silver and his eyes are amber. His height is 5'5" and he weighs 100 lbs.

Here is what he has written as his background:

My parents were Grey Elves who, even before they were married, each took up the opinion that their subrace had lost the elfish love of life. Once married, they decided they should set out from their Grey Elf domain to try to regain some of what their subrace had lost.

My parents left with the blessing of the community that seemed to think it was just a phase that would pass and told them to keep their eyes out for lost knowledge on their travels. They went through many adventures, none of which were particularly life-threatening, but all of which helped them regain some of the lost vigor for life. They eventually settled down for a pastoral life in their later years.

Ceiloar, my father, befriended our human neighbor when I was about 91, though it went against all he had ever been taught growing up. It seems our kind, the Grey Elves, frowns upon relations with humans. The men went fishing and hunting and ended up creating a tight bond between our families, regardless of the fact we were of separate races. This man, when I was about 101, had a son named Christopher M Cauthon.

Cephair, my mother, was forced to take up the friendship of Mistress Cauthon, though in truth neither woman was dismayed by that fact and, left to their own exploits, stood a good chance of befriending each other had my father and Master Cauthon never set eyes on each other. Mistress Cauthon had a lust for life that my mother could not help envying. The only thing negative my mother ever said about that fact was that Mistress Cauthon always tried to fit too much into a single day, which led to less of an overall appreciation for each individual activity because, despite the enthusiasm, the activity was rushed. However, Mistress Cauthon shared her lust for life with my mother, and my mother taught Mistress Cauthon how to truly appreciate each activity and the two became inseparable friends.

So it was that when I was at age 101, still an adolescent mind you, that Christopher Cauthon was born into the world. I had been living my parents own version of the Grey Elf lifestyle that included their refound vigor for life that my cousins in the mountains seem to have left behind. Though I was taught to be proud of who I was, I was not over haughty toward humans seeing how some of the race were our best friends. Also it is quite difficult to become too insolent when a human, Mistress Cauthon, following my parents example treated me as an adolescent. 91 years of age or not, trying to sneak away a piece of Mistress Cauthon's pie while it was cooling on the sill brought boxed ears.

With a beginning sneaking off pies from a neighbor's window, I slowly gained the tendency to take from humans' things that they valued (never from the Cauthon's mind you, the friendship they had with our family, they may as well have been elves and no elf would steal something from another). I grew to the opinion that humans valued their possessions too much and, with my unseen help of course, they could be brought to appreciate other facets of life if their material possessions were not there to distract them. My thievery is not from greed, mind you. I do tend to give all that I take away, with the exception of items I find particularly useful and enough gold to sustain me in my exploits. I have given many "highly valuable" items to people who would appreciate their uses rather than their monetary worth. However, these days, the skills I have picked up through the years come in handy when Christopher makes use of my assistance for a prank or an adventure.

Castles & Crusades

2011-03-31T09:58:00.003-04:00

I have begun playing again! I have had two sittings within the past month of an old-school retro clone called Castles & Crusades. I chose to reinvent an old persona for this game. I am playing Corwyn the Elven Knight. I'm still working on reconciling an elf knight, but I think I have some ideas to make it work.

The game is an episodic mercenary adventure. This should work well with people coming and going from week to week. Being a knight, I have sort of set myself up as a leader, so I need to think a bit more on that, too.

I will flesh out my character a bit more the longer he lives. There's no sense in putting a lot of work into a short-timer.

Bangor Area Gamers Guild (BAGG)

2010-06-14T07:17:00.004-04:00

BAGG is a non-profit group established by Flip Florey to connect people who like to play board games, card games, and dice games.

The group normally meets every other week at the Bangor Public Library from 10 AM to 1 PM (often running over).

Guild dues are $1 per meeting but waived for first time visitors and for members who bring a first time visitor. Guild dues are used for advertising mailings regarding upcoming events and to build up the game library.

Currently the game library consists of whatever people bring with them to play. Previous games played include Settlers of Catan, Red November, Arkham Horror, Betrayal at the House on the Hill, Dominion, Il Principe, Lost Cities, Small World, Blood Bowl, Kingdoms, Munchkin Card Game, Wasabi, Catan Dice Game, Blokus, and Shadows Over Camelot.

BAGG on Facebook

Mage Robes

2010-05-25T12:41:00.001-04:00

I just read in a book (Storm Front by Jim Butcher) that wizards wear robes because their laboratories are so cold. I like that idea. I'll take it step further in an adventure to say that when the wizard leaves the house, he puts on normal clothes. The other adventurers waiting for him can look on, confused. "What? Did you think I was wearing that out of the house? It's sweltering outside!"

Normal Item: Vial of Caltrops

2010-05-13T06:37:00.001-04:00

A Vial of Caltrops is not a magical item, nor is it a tailor-made item, unless the physics of your world necessitate. All a Vial of Caltrops is is a vial containing any type of liquid. This vial, when emptied, may then be thrown on the floor, creating the same effect as dropping caltrops.

Some liquids and potions are more popular to use in the Vial of Caltrops, considering they are ones that you are likely to use before running from a pursuer. Naturally, potions of Healing can be kept in a Vial of Caltrops. However, others such as Speed, Invisibility, and Gaseous Form are also popular potions for the vial.

Use at will.

After the Caves of Chaos

2010-04-04T17:48:00.002-04:00

My adventurers are at the Keep on the Borderlands and have just finished clearing out the Caves of Chaos. At one point they wanted into the keep's stronghold. Now they are thinking about leaving the keep and heading to more civilized lands where they can buy more goods (and weapons, etc.).

Before they leave the Keep for good, I'm thinking about having them invade it.

When the replacement PCs arrived to replace the ones who died in the Caves, they came with a caravan that was coming to strengthen the physical and influential power of the keep. If that caravan, headed by a chief rogue, were to take of the keep once let inside, then someone would be needed to set the castellan free. Who better than my PCs who wanted into the stronghold anyway? It would be a great crossover from playing Descent (as we are now) to getting back into roleplaying. I like the idea.

March 4th, 2010 - Hobbly's Heroes at Hell's Pit Warplocks

2010-03-08T14:58:00.001-05:00

Welcome once again,sports fans! Today saw the Human team, Hobbly’s Heroes, take on the Skaven team, Hell’s Pit Warplocks. 23,000 fans showed up for the game today, not including the local rat population

The weather was perfect and the game was a nailbiter!

Here were today’s highlights:

First Half

Turn 1: Ditz Long-whiskers hurt himself trying to leap over the Hobbly line. He was out the rest of the game.

Turn 1: LT got a casualty on Reeluz Musksquirter. The skaven missed the rest of the game.

Turn 3: Belig the Clawer got a casualty on Joe Ratcatcher. Joe missed the rest of the game.

Turn 3: LT got a casualty on Skreet. The skaven missed the rest of the game.

Turn 5: Shagrax threw a completion to Rakk Cartdodger.

Turn 5: Rakk Cartdodger scored a TD!

Turn 5: Jorje Farmer threw a completion to Fred Trapper.

Turn 7: Jorje Farmer threw a completion to Jimmy Fisher

Turn 7: Jimmy Fisher scored a TD!

Turn 8: LT got a casualty on Belig the Clawer. The skaven suffered broken ribs and will have to miss the next game.

Second Half

Turn 1: Jorje Farmer threw a completion to Fred Trapper.

Turn 1: Yurt the Clanless hurt himself trying to dodge away from a Hobbly player. He missed the rest of the game.

Turn 3: Jorje Farmer threw a completion to Spencer Hunter.

Turn 3: Spencer Hunter scored a TD!

Turn 7: Rakk Cartdodger scored a TD!

Turn 8: Jorje Farmer threw a completion to Paris the Sassy.

Overtime

Turn 2: Grint Sewersprint scored the game winning TD!

February 272th, 2010: Wolfenburg Warherd at Black Pass Skullstompas

2010-03-08T14:55:00.001-05:00

Welcome sports fans! Today saw the Chaos team, the Wolfenburg Warherd, take on the Black Pass Skullstompas, one of two orc teams in the league currently. 27,000 fans showed up to watch this match.

The weather was perfect for the opening game of the new stadium, and the game was exciting…at least after the first half was over.

Here were today’s highlights:

First Half

Turn 5: Beastlord Rend scored a TD!

Second Half

Turn 2: Khurr Hamfist got a casualty on Fang. The beastman missed the rest of the game.

Turn 3: Skullobber Frauk threw a completion to Ghorn Horseraper.

Turn 4: Trunk 2-eyes killed the beastman Razr!

Turn 6: Ghorn Horseraper scored a TD!

The final kickoff of the second half ended the game in a riot!

Overtime

Turn 2: Grukk 2-kays got a casualty on Mudd. The beastman missed the rest of the game.

Turn 2: Khee-runch scored a TD, giving the orcs the win!

Until next time, this is Johann the Madd reporting.

February 12th, 2010: Wolfenburg Warherd at Grunge's Goons

2010-02-13T13:19:00.001-05:00

Welcome again, sports fans! Today saw the Chaos team, the Wolfenburg Warherd, take on the dwarves, Grunge’s Goons. Amazingly, 26,000 fans showed up to watch this match between two new team in the league. As with everywhere else in the Old World, the beastmen in the stands seemed to outnumber the dwarves.

There was a blizzard here today. I am getting thoroughly sick of working in the cold snow. The only thing that kept me warm was the high level of violence in today’s game. There weren’t many notable plays, but both teams spent a fair amount of time on the ground. As a matter of fact, the Warherd ended the game with only one player on his…uhh…her…uhh…its feet…uhh…hoofs.

Here were today’s highlights:

First Half

Upon opening kickoff, someone threw a rock from the stands and hit the Goons’ Blitzer Doknox. The dwarf spent the next two turns wandering the board aimlessly.

Turn 4: Fang (Warherd) got a casualty on George Blitzer (Goons), sending him off the pitch for the rest of the game. For a moment it seemed as if the blow was deadly, but the dwarven apothecary worked frantically until George awoke.

Turn 6: After stripping the ball from dwarven hands, Chaos Warrior WarMaster Damon scored a TD.

Second Half

Turn 3: Kram “Troll Killer”, Dwarven Troll Slayer, got a casualty on WarMaster Damon. Again, it seemed a deadly blow, but the Chaos apothecary performed some demented ritual bringing Damon back to life.

Turn 5: Llud “Pythons” Smith, Dwarven Blocker, got a casualty on Talon the Beastman. Talon was out for the rest of the game.

The dwarves were slow to warm up, not really looking like a practiced team until after halftime. Once they started, though, they were almost unstoppable.

Until next time, hopefully in a much warmer climate, this is Johann the Madd reporting.

February 6th, 2010: Hobbly's Heroes at Hell's Pit Warplocks

2010-02-10T20:14:00.000-05:00

Hello, sports fans, and welcome to today’s matchup! Today we get to see the humans, Hobbly’s Heroes take on the skaven , Hell’s Pit Warplocks. There are reportedly 31,000 fans taking in today’s game, with skaven fans slightly outnumbering the human fans. In the past, we’ve noticed that the human fans don’t like getting gnawed on every time the skaven score.

The weather is fine, though there are reports of a storm heading this way. Hobbly has won the coin toss and has elected to kick off.

One person conspicuously absent at the moment is Hobbly’s rookie catcher, Jimmy Fisher. The correspondent on the sideline says that Jimmy hasn’t come out of the bathroom yet. It must be a case of rookie jitters. Coach Roger is pounding on the bathroom door now while his team lines up to kick.

The kick is a touchback and the Warplocks will start with the ball in the hands of a fast gutter runner.

Oooo! Skaven Skreet, the one who may or may not have scored that touchdown last game, depending on who you listen to, has started the team’s first drive with a bang. This bang could be felt all the way to the top of the stands. It was most seriously felt by Hobbly’s Arnon Metalsmith, who appears to be hurt. I don’t expect we’ll see him for the rest of the game.

Hobbly retaliates on their turn by stripping the ball from the skaven gutter runner! The ball is now in the hands of Hobbly’s emerging star catcher, Frederick Trapper, and he’s surrounded by his teammates as he starts to head down the field.

The skaven are not happy at this turn of events. Hassz the Grey is charging Frederick, but slams into the rookie blitzer Spencer Hunter instead. And Spencer is down! He’s not getting up. Spencer is out cold! There’s just something about those Hobbly rookies today that’s keeping them off the field.

Spencer is carted to the dugout, and Hobbly begins the drive again. Frederick is surrounded by his teammates, but they are surrounded by skaven.

What is this? Frederick Trapper has suddenly…bounced…over the heads of the defenders in front of him, landing almost directly in front of the end zone! That was some agile work to land on his feet! Frederick runs unimpeded into the end zone! Touchdown Heroes!

Let’s look at that bounce again. If you look closely, you can see some sort of trampoline set into the ground. That’s what vaults him over everyone’s head. I don’t know how Hobbly managed to plant that on the Warplock’s field before the game, but they are lucky the refs didn’t see. Who agreed to let the mole umpires work this game, anyway?

One thing you may not have noticed after the touchdown is that Hobbly’s experienced thrower, Jorge Farmer took off to the bathroom. He practically through Jimmy out! Jimmy is now returning to Hobbly’s sidelines. Maybe something else is going on with Hobbly and it’s not just a case of rookie jitters.

Now we have another Hobbly kickoff, and a bunch of vermin swarming the ball. They have picked up the ball and gotten it into the hands of Rakk Cartdodger. Let’s see if he’s as adept at dodging Hobblytes.

Rakk is working his way down the field. He’s going. He’s still going! And Rakk Cartdodger gets a touchdown for the Warplocks! I don’t know where Hobbly’s defense was on that drive, but Rakk was mostly unimpeded.

I’ve decided to keep an eye on the bathroom during turnovers, and it looks like Jimmy is heading back in. Jorge is staying. Something is definitely going on with the Hobbly team. I’ll try to find out more.

We’re nearing the end of the first half with the Warplocks kicking off to the Heroes. The rats kick the ball and head down the field. Olg Ballspiker, the Warplock rat-ogre is on a tear down the field. Ohhh! Olg ran into the Hobbly lineman Geary Miller. Miller is not looking good. I don’t think human necks were meant to bend that way. I think Geary is now facing backward, looking to kiss this and the next game goodbye. That’s going to leave a mark on the Hero.

Hobbly’s Paris the Sassy, a veteran quarterback, picks up the kick off. He’s running right. He stops. He throws a completion to Frederick Trapper! Fred is now running up to get behind was wall of blockers. One of his blockers, Lewis Foolsgold, just threw a great block on Belig the Clawer! Belig is going to be out the rest of the game from the looks of that hit.

Frederick Trapper is not able to reach the end zone before the half ends. It stands now a 1 – 1 tie as the teams head into the locker room. I’ll get an update on Jimmy and Jorge and get back to you, folks.

-Second Half-

It looks like Jorge Farmer will start the second half right where he left it: in the bathroom. Hobbly’s head coach is claiming that the Warplock coach cast a spell or poisoned his men’s food. Reportedly Jorje and Jimmy have had the runs all morning, and not from running down the blood bowl pitch. The Warplocks coach is denying involvement without Hobbly putting up some proof.

The Warplocks are now kicking off the Hobbly to start the second half. The kick is up. It’s heading toward Paris the Sassy, Hobbly’s one thrower so far this game. Paris catches the kickoff. He heads up the right side of the field again. One of his lineman, Grendle Ironbar, throws a block. Ouch! Skreet, the skaven with a dubious memory, is down! And he’s not getting up. That hit might have knocked him out for the rest of the game.

Paris lines up and throws the ball to veteran catcher Joe Ratcatcher. Joe catches the ball. He’s running…running…running…touchdown Heroes! That must have been some pep talk at halftime! The score is now 2 – 1, Hobbly.

Speaking of pep talks, Jimmy is heading back to the bathroom. Someone should have thought to stock some bismol in the apothecary. Good new s for Hobbly is that Jorje Farmer is coming back out. He looks a little pale, but he’s signaling he’s ready to go.

Here’s the Hobbly kickoff. The Warplocks pick the ball up near the midline. There’s some battling back and forth. Human blitzer York Surestrick has knocked Yurt the Clanless unconscious. The Warplocks have had the ball knocked out of their hands. Hobbly is now in possession of the ball. Frederick Trapper is once again taking the ball toward the end zone. And Frederick is in for another touchdown. It has been all Hobbly since the half, folks. Hobbly now leads 3 – 1.

Hobbly kicks off the ball and charges down the field. Human Blitzer LT is charging. And he had hit Rakk Cartdodger! Rakk is down. He’s out cold. The crowd is going wild. Skaven are charging the pitch and the humans are trying to stop them. Fans are on the field. It’s officially a riot!

Consider this game over, folks. The fans are rioting in the last moments. The Warplocks have no chance of winning. I’m going to get out there before there’s nobody left to punch. This is Johann the Madd signing off!

Killer DM: The End of the Caves of Chaos

2009-12-08T07:23:00.002-05:00

The foot locker was jerked off the floor and inelegantly swung back and forth as unthinking creatures carried it into the hallway. The chest was dropped roughly to the sound of breaking bones. The lid was opened, and Glibleaf feared what stood above.

“Come, look,” said a human voice outside of the box. “See what is to become of your noble friend…and of you.” Glibleaf was grabbed and jerked to his feet by one of the hideous zombie; the spark of intelligence which shined out of their eyes was enough to make any elf crazy. Glibleaf turned to his left, where a priest in black and purple robes was crouched over the body of Galagaron, his traveling companion.

Galagaron awoke as the priest finished his spell. In pain from his many wounds, Galagaron still tried to reach for his weapon, but a large undead gnoll stood on top of it.

“See, any hedge-necromancer can raise a skeleton or a zombie out of a dead body. Those of us with power and understanding raise our dead from the living!” With this, the man began to cast again. Zombie hands dropped onto Galagaron’s shoulders to keep the already weakened elf in place. Glibleaf’s curiosity outweighed the horror until the priest completed his spell, throwing a dust upon Galagaron and then touching his head.

Galagaron’s screams echoed down the wide corridor as the evil magic took hold. While the elf was yet being tortured, the priest started casting again.

It was a sunken, unhealthy Galagaron that received the second touch upon his forehead. With little more energy or voice to scream, his pain came out in bloody rasps, tearing at his throat. The spark of life and awareness left Galagaron’s eyes as they closed in death. When they opened, Glibleaf could see the burning hatred of the undead as the ex-elf realized his condition and sought to wreak vengeance on the living.

Turning away from the pain in his former companion’s eyes, Glibleaf spotted a familiar looking axe upon the hall floor. Inside a pile of ashes and scrap metal, Gorlandor, Zorr’s magical axe glowed a new reddish hue. The dwarf himself was nowhere to be seen, unless the ashes on the floor were his unfortunate remains. As a bard, Glibleaf regretted not being able to see the dwarf’s brave doom.

As he contemplated these things, a zombie bent down to pick up the glowing axe. The creature stood with the prize in its hand when suddenly Glibleaf could hear Zorr’s voice again. He must not be dead! “Get yer hands off me bloody axe, ye damned corpse!” Looking around, Glibleaf could find no sign of his comrade.

Glibleaf’s eyes returned to the axe, though, as the reddish glow began to get more intense. A putrid smell of rotted, burning flesh assaulted the elf’s finer senses. The axe glowed a bright red and was obviously burning through the zombie’s unfeeling hand. As the entire hand turned to ash, the axe fell back to the floor and returned to its former hue.

A voice from behind Glibleaf jumped him. For a moment he had forgotten who and where he was. “Interesting development…I must have fused some of the heat and some of the dwarf’s wretched soul into the axe with my Flame Strike. Cyric will love it!” Four strong arms suddenly tightened on Glibleaf. “Your moment of observation is over. You have seen your doom, now embrace it!” With that, the priest started casting a spell, and threw a powdered dust over Glibleaf’s body. The last thing the elf felt was his life leaving while a burning hatred for the living rise up inside him…that and the scream tearing out of his throat.

Snow-Conundrum Resolved

2009-12-02T07:22:00.003-05:00

I had previously expressed somewhat of a conundrum I was in regarding which version of WarHammer Fantasy Roleplay to run at the upcoming gaming convention. This question has been resolved by my gaming group, the d5.

For my birthday, the group got together, pooled their Wayne-like resources together, and bought me the newest edition of WarHammer. This is the same edition that I ranted about before on here. However, I figured this would give me an honest chance to get to know the game, play it with the group in preparation, and run it at the convention. Then, and only then, should I have an honest opinion of the game itself. I have to this point been running on the opinion that WH3e would be a waste of my time due to the large amount of homemade material I have for WH1e.

We shall see. I will be man enough to give an honest report when the time comes.

SnowCon-undrum

2009-10-25T08:50:00.003-04:00

In case I haven't mentioned it yet, SnowCon is coming up. I'm looking forward to running WarHammer Fantasy Roleplay (WFRP) this year (I signed up to do it at last year's con). However, I do have this one problem.

I play the original version of WFRP, or 1e, if you will. Unfortunately, that version is no longer supported. Supplies are hard to find, and when you do find them they are expensive (I'm still looking for the disposable income to purchase the Doomstones campaign from Amazon). If I run 1e and people love it, they would be hard pressed to start playing.

If I run 2e, I need to get used to the updated system, and fast. I've read the handbook, decided some things are cool and somethings aren't, and put the book away. Like 1e, it does come with an adventure in the back, so running it might not be that hard. I just have to decide.

Also, I've heard tell that 3e is in the works. How long will it be before 2e isn't supported anymore, either? See the decisions I have to make?

I want to introduce people to the greatness that is WFRP, but I'm not sure which edition to run! Should I run the edition I know the best, with my only goal being to give the players a good time? Or, do I have some kind of responsibility to run the most current edition so they can leave the con and start playing if they want to?

Dice for Christmas

2009-10-24T15:08:00.004-04:00

I will be adding dice to my Christmas list for the first time ever.

I own a good deal of dice already, and I never hesitate to buy dice when I want them, but how much better would it be to unwrap them on Christmas Morning? With a "Hoody hoo," and then roll them across the floor.

Plus, these are some special dice, some different dice. I'm looking at Crystal Castle's Synthetic Opal 12mm Dwaven Stones.

Also, thanks to Kenzerco, I can request d10,000! How many of your friends have these?

I'm thinking of getting orange, kind of a fiery color. I might want purple, though...more noble or wizardly.

The Caves

2009-10-22T06:41:00.003-04:00

Since you are no longer following an evil, deranged barbarian around the hillside, you notice that the trees in front of (cave K) are obscenely twisted and oddly bloated. The grass looks thin and brittle. During those short seconds when you're not moving and your armor isn't creaking, you think you can hear a faint moan coming from the cave. It is definitely the least inviting cave in this area.

September 7th, 2009: Wurld's Edge Ribsmashers at Hell's Pit Warplocks

2009-09-08T20:14:00.002-04:00

Twenty-three thousand fans came to watch the game in perfect Blood Bowl weather. Here's the breakdown of our bloody game:

First Half:
2: Reeluz Musksquirter (W) threw a completion to Cartdodger (W).

3: Cartdodger (W) scored a TD!

3: Rolok Horsemauler (R) got a casualty on Cartdodger (W). The gutter runner was badly hurt but will suffer no long term effects.

5: Yurt the Clanless (W) was ejected from the game for fouling a Ribsmasher.

8: Rolok Horsemauler (R) scored a TD!

Second Half (began with a riot, but the clock was reset):
1: Ditz Long-whiskers (W) smashed his own ankle on a play trying to dodge by a couple Ribsmashers.

2: Fungus Lioneater (R) was ejected from teh game for fouling a Warplock.

3: Naz the Skulker (W) was blocked into the bloodthirsty crowd, which proceeded to fracture his ankle. The gutter runner will have to miss the next game.

3: Lagak Eyeripper (R) got a casualty on an unnamed Skaven journeyman. The poor slob fractured his leg and had no hope of being hired onto the team at the end of the game.

4: Nazguul Pipstompper (R) scored a TD!

7: Ledsh Lonewolf (R) scored a TD!

From a field sporting few standing Skaven and many happy Orcs, this is Johann the Mad reporting.

Magic Item: Gloves of the Alteration Magi

2009-08-25T13:03:00.003-04:00

These fire-red gloves quickly mold themselves to the wearer's hand and change color until they are indistinguishable from the wearer's skin.

The gloves alter any Burning Hands spell cast through them. Instead of the caster's hands spread in front of him setting off a fan of fire, the caster can point his hands individually at any target(s) desired and send off a Scorcher spell. This altered spell causes 3d6 damage per hand to the target(s). The Scorcher spells send a straight jet of flame at the target(s) up to 25 feet away.

Magic Axe: Gorlandor

2009-08-25T12:49:00.003-04:00

More on the magical weapon I created for our D&D 2e game:

Forged by Regor Nikful, Dwarven Forgemaster, in dwarven centuries long gone, Gorlandor is a sentient blade which awaits a bloodthirsty follower of Tempus to awaken it.

The axe’s metal haft has Regor’s personal rune engraved into it.

When handled by a non-specialty priest of Tempus, the weapon is dull and heavy. It could be lost in the bowels of a dwarven treasure room for ages if not touched by the proper hands. In the hand of a Battleguard, the axe is perfectly balanced. Any such priest cleaning the weapon will uncover a shine to dull other magical weapons.

This particular axe was found by Zorr Granitecleaver, a newly appointed Battleguard. When it came time for Zorr to head out into the world to propagate Tempus’s truth, the elders suggested that he take the axe with him.

Currently unknown to Zorr is the sentience sleeping within. Soon the dwarf will face a threat that the axe deems worth to wake from its sleep to challenge in deadly melee. Also currently unknown to Zorr is the Ancient Dwarven language that the axe speaks…

August 24th, 2009: Blitz of Styx at Khorne's Bloody Ragers

2009-08-25T11:11:00.000-04:00

Thirty one thousand fans showed up for this chaos extravaganza. The Chaos team was out for blood, but the undead didn't have any to give.

First Half:

1: Murtaugh Ironfist (R) got a casualty on Stenchterror (B). The zombie would have been dead, but he wasn't alive to begin with. He merely regenerated in the reserves box until the next drive.

7: Wolf (R) scored a TD!

8: Deadbone of Blood Ooze (B) got a casualty on Wolf (R). The beastman was badly hurt but will have no long term effects.

8: WarMaster Malus (R) got a casualty on Scumpus (B). The zombie's knee was smashed up, however he regenerated in the reserves box.

Second Half:

The Chaos team started the drive with their new kick off return, the "Chaos Wedge". Fans were very unhappy about this apparent forethought and planning and boooed the play.

2: Saul Soulreaver (R) got a casualty on Deadbone of Blood Ooze (B). The wight was badly hurt but will have no long term effect.

4: Beastlord Wrex (R) scored a TD!

6: Blud the Merciless (R) got a casualty on Stenchterror (B). This was the zombie's second received casualty of the game, but again he merely regenerated the bad hurt.

7: Hellbelch (B) scored a TD!

8: Blud the Merciless (R) got a casualty on Scumpus (B). This was the zombie's second received casualty of the game. He was not able to regenerate, but will not suffer any long term effects.

Killer DM

2009-08-16T19:49:00.003-04:00

I did it. For only the second time while running this gaming group, I have killed a PC. Not me, personally, of course, but the characters in the published adventure Keep on the Borderlands. The priest and his acolytes who lived in 7b did their job. They were killed afterward, but it was amazing.

The party entered the kobold caves (A) at the Caves of Chaos. Three out of the four PCs fell in the pit trap at the first intersection, with the evil priest. That left a second level mage above ground with the two traitorous acolytes. The PC mage cast a Wall of Fog to protect himself from the attacking kobolds. That was all the opportunity and cover the acolytes needed. As soon as the mage couldn't see them, they attacked. The rest is PC history.

My Reading Queue

2009-08-15T11:58:00.004-04:00

Last weekend I was getting low on books in my queue. I went to Borders and used a wonderful 40% off coupon. Now, also during the week, one of my co-gamers brought me a trilogy to read, and I found a book at work sitting in the break room that nobody has touched in years. Here's my current queue one week later:

Grey Seer - Werner - WarHammer
The Sword of Bedwyr - Salvatore
Luthien's Gamble - Salvatore
The Dragon King - Salvatore
Sword Play - Emery - Forgotten Realms
Dangerous Games (- Emery - Forgotten Realms
Mortal Consequences - Emery - Forgotten Reamls
Orcs: First Blood - Nichols
Dissolution - Byers - Forgotten Realms
Insurrection - Reid - Forgotten Realms
Condemnation - Baker - Forgotten Realms
The High King's Tomb - Britain

WarHammer FRP 3e

2009-08-15T09:59:00.004-04:00

I just read on Grognardia about the new edition of WarHammer planned for release. I'm not excited.

I've been in the WarHammer world for probably 15 years now. What WarHammer didn't have, or books I couldn't find to purchase, I created on my own. I have binders and folders and envelopes and computer files full of expansion material for WarHammer (1e). The game wasn't broken, though it did need some expansion work when it came to magic. This is stuff we, as a gaming group, worked through as necessary.

I have played in a few WarHammer games and have ran many. I have not even come close to playing in or running all the scenarios that came with the first edition. I just don't have the time. The scenarios and the rules, however, gave plenty of take-off ideas to run games for years.

When second edition came out, I ignored it. On purpose. I have put so much time into the first edition that I didn't even want to think about starting over. I still don't. Eventually I did buy the book and read it. There was nothing so new, so revolutionary, so helpful that I was willing to give up the previous edition. I don't even have anything from 2e that I remember wanting to work into my existing 1e world.

Now 3e. With it's fancy box and specialized dice and cards. Phooey. Call me a grumpy old man. Call me a grognard. I don't care. Me and my 1e stuff aren't going anywhere.

Needless to say, I'll probably buy the box set when I can get it on the cheap. ;)

Traps Needed

2009-08-05T07:30:00.003-04:00

I'm looking some traps that fit well within a classic adventure (ODD modified to run in 2E Skills & Powers). The PCs are mowing through everything the adventure has to offer, of course, and for some reason the module is woefully lacking in the trap department. The thief never checks for traps, and the warrior priest just barrels ahead of the party without a care.

I will get them, though. Can you help?

July 15th, 2009: Wurld's Edge Ribsmashers at 3 Barrels of Ale

2009-07-29T06:50:00.002-04:00

The weather was perfect for the 21,000 fans watching this game.

First Half:

Turn 4: Palok Powerpuncher (R) got a casualty on Ripper (A's inducement) killing the Star Player Troll! The troll's personal apothecary, along with his regeneration ability, was able to bring him back, but he was out the rest of the game.

Turn 5: Tanubm (A) scored a TD!

Turn 6: Bziong the Pogoer (A) scored a TD!

Also: Grog Bolchukker (R) threw a completion to Marin Mansmasher (R).

Turn 8: Dozeks (A) threw a completion to Tanubm (A).

Second Half:

Turn 1: Grog Bolchukker (R) threw a completion to Volni Headpuncher (R).

Turn 5: Nazguul Pipstomper (R) got a casualty on Dobber (A). The goblin was badly hurt but will suffer no long term effect.

Turn 8: Rolok Horsemauler (R) scored a TD!

Also: Tok (A) threw a completion to Tanubm (A).

July 7th, 2009: Blitz of Styx at Wurld's Edge Ribsmashers

2009-07-29T06:50:00.001-04:00

Once again, perfect weather. 29,000 fans.

First Half:

Turn 5: Lagak Eyeripper (R) got a casualty on Coffinkill (B). The Golem was badly hurt, but regenerated in time for the next drive.

Turn 6: Grog Bolchukker (R) threw a completion to Marin Mansmasher (R).

Turn 7: Nazguul Pipstomer (R) got a casualty on Boo Ghost (B). The creature suffered broken ribs, but regenerated in time for the next drive.

Turn 8: Marin Mansmasher scored a TD!

Second Half:

Turn 2: Grog Bolchukker (R) threw a completion to Rolok Horsemauler (R).

Turn 4: Rolok Horsemauler scored a TD!

-A Riot reset the clock back one turn.-

Turn 6: Hellbelch the werewolf (B) scored a TD!

Turn 7: Grog Bolchukker (R) threw a completion to Marin Mansmasher (R).

July 3rd, 2009: Blood Soaked Barbarians at Hobbly's Heroes

2009-07-29T06:49:00.001-04:00

31,000 fans and perfect weather showed up for this match up!

First Half:

Turn 2: Mo (B) got a casualty on York Surestrike (H). York was badly hurt but will suffer no long term effects.

Turn 6: Dood (B) scored a TD!

Also: Spencer Hunter (H) got a casualty on Dood (B), concussing the goblin and leaving him with a permanent armor reduction.

Also: Paris the Sassy (H) completed a pass to Joe Ratcatcher (H)

Second Half:

Turn 2: Paris the Sassy (H) completed a pass to Fred Trapper (H).

Also: Fred Trapper (H) scored a TD!

Turn 4: Bo (B) got a casualty on Daniel Smith (H). Daniel was badly hurt but will suffer no long term effects.

Turn 8: Arnon Metalsmith (H) threw a completion to Fred Trapper (H).

Turn 8: Fred Trapper scored a TD!

June 27th, 2009: Hell's Pit Warplocks at Hobbly's Heroes

2009-07-29T06:47:00.001-04:00

It was a bloody, violent, and deadly affair at Hobbly this day!

First Half:

Turn 2: Daniel Smith (H) got a casualty on Skitter Trip Trip (W) killing him dead!

Turn 4: Snatz One-Eye (W) got a casualty on Spencer Hunter (H). Spencer was out the rest of the game, with no long term effect.

Turn 5: Belig the Clawer (W) got a casualty on Brock Guttman (H). Brock broke his jaw and will miss the next game.

Turn 6: Sewersprint (W) fractured his own jaw while trying to Go For It. The ratman will miss the next game.

Also, York Surestrik (H) got a casualty on Snatz One-eye (W). The ratman's neck was broken, reducing future agility and causing him to miss the next game.

Turn 7: Daniel Smith (H) scored a TD!

Turn 8: LT (H) got a casualty on Naz the Skulker (W). Naz missed the rest of the game, but will have no long term effects.

Second Half:

Turn 1: Paris the Sassy (H) threw a completion to Fred Trapper (H).

Turn 3: Naz the Skulker (W), amazingly, returns to the field to throw a completion to Rakk (W).

Turn 3: Rakk (W) scored a TD!

Turn 4: Grendle Ironbar (H) got a casualty on Murtz (W). Murtz was badly hurt, but will have no long term effects.

Turn 4: Paris the Sassy (H) threw a completion to Joe Ratcatcher (H).

Turn 6: Joe Ratcatcher (H) scored a TD!

Also the weather changed from pouring rain to perfect!

Also: Geary Miller (H) got a casualty on Belig the Clawer (W). Belig got a gouged eye and will have to miss the next game.

Turn 8: Rakk (W) scored another TD!

Overtime:

Turn 1: Olg Ballspiker (W) got a casualty on Brakk Badgerbreath (H). Brakk got a broken jaw and will have to miss the next game.

Turn 3: Joe Ratcatcher scored the game winning TD!

June 8th, 2009: The Blitz of Styx at Hobbly's Heroes

2009-07-29T06:45:00.000-04:00

24,000 fans showed up in Hobbly to beautiful weather and a long, painful game. There were times when this reporter zoned out completely and only a cheer from the crowd later woke me up. I wasn't the only one, though. Hobbly's ogre, Brakk Badgerbreath seemed to spend half the match in a stupor as well...

First Half:

7: Hellbelch (B) TD!

7: Paris the Sassy (H) actually caught a kickoff and threw a completion to Frederick Trapper (H).

8: Fred Trapper (H) scores a TD!

Second Half:

1: Arnon Metalsmith (H) got a casualty on Pukescum (B), but the zombie regenerated by the time he reached the sidelines.

Also, Jorge Farmer (H) completed a pass to Joe Ratcatcher (H).

2: York Surestrike (H) got a casualty on Vomithorror (B) when the zombie tried to block him, but the zombie regenerated by the time he reached the sidelines.

3: Lewis Foolsgold (H) got a casualty on Stenchterror (B), but the zombie regenerated by the time he reached the sidelines.

Overtime: The regular referee was replaced with one too cowardly to call fouls.

6: The crowd got a casualty on Fred Trapper (H). Luckily, he'll be back next game.

Also Pusstooth (B) got a casualty on Lewis Foolsgold (H), smashing the lineman's knee and causing him to miss the next game. This kind of injury keeps niggling throughout your career...

The game ended in an old-fashioned, boring shoot out. Hobbly won the shoot out 4 - 2, and thereby won the game.

Waking up to go home, this is Johan the Mad reporting.

June 6th, 2009: 3 Barrels of Ale at Hobbly's Heroes

2009-07-29T06:44:00.000-04:00

Far from the blizzardly Skaven pitch, the Goblins played the Humans.

23,000 fans showed up in the pouring rain. Luckily the weather changed to perfect BloodBowl weather right at the first kickoff.

First Half:

Turn 2: Paris the Sassy (H) kept up with expectations as he fumbled a pass. It might be interesting, from now on, to chronicle his failures, as well as any accidental successes he might have.

Turn 6: Paris the Sassy (H) got a casualty on Boom Boom (A) as the goblin fanatic tried to block him. Boom Boom was out the rest of the game.

Also, Frederick Trapper (H) got a TD!

Turn 8: Joe Ratcatcher (H) got a TD!

Second Half:

During a kickoff blitz, Gob Gob Eat (A) got a casualty on LT (H). LT ended up with a pinched nerve and must miss the next game.

Turn 1: Jorje Farmer (H) completed a pass to Joe Ratcatcher (H).

Also Gob Gob Eat (A) got a casualty on Grendle Ironbar (H). The lineman had to miss the rest of the game.

Also, also, Ripper (Star Player for Ale) got a casualty on Geary Miller (H). The troll smashed the human's hand, causing him to miss the next game.

Turn 2: Joe Ratcatcher (H) got a TD!

Turn 5: Brakk Badgerbreath (H) got a casualty on Tok (A). The goblin missed the rest of the game.

Turn 7: Tanubm (A) got a TD!

Turn 8: Jorje Farmer (H) completed a pass to Frederick Trapper (H).

Also, Brakk Badgerbreath (H) got a casualty on Nzomt (A), killing the goblin!

Also, also, Goobeez (A) got a casualty on Brock Guttman (H) causing him to miss the rest of the game.

The Heroes may have won in points, but Ale got more casualties. From the bloody pitch, I'm Johan the Mad reporting.

June 6th, 2009: Khorne's Bloody Ragers at Hell's Pit Warplocks

2009-07-29T06:43:00.001-04:00

A brave 16,000 fans trudged through the horrible blizzard to watch the exciting game on this day!

First Half:

Turn 3: Grint Sewersprint (W) scored the first TD!

Turn 6: Beastlord Gruff (R) got a casualty on Ditz Long-whiskers (W). Ditz was out for the rest of the game only.

Turn 7: Bleet (R) scored a TD!

And the first half ended in a riot. Fans will find any way they can to warm up in a blizzard...

Second Half:

Turn 2: Mukk (R) got a casualty on Skitter Trip-trip (W). Skitter was only out for the rest of the game.

Turn 4: Mukk (R) got a TD!

Turn 5: Naz the Skulker (W) got a TD!

A longer riot ended the second half.

Overtime:

Turn 1: Snatz One-Eye (W) completed a pass to Naz the Skulker (W).

Murtz (W) got a casualty on Beastlord Gruff (R), fracturing the beastman's arm and causing him to miss the next game.

Turn 2: Blud the Merciless (R) got a casualty on Reeluz Musksquirter (W). The skaven only missed the rest of the game.

Turn 3: Naz the Skulker scored the game winning touchdown!

From some cold Skaven pitch, this is Johan the Mad reporting.

May 30th, 2009: Blood-Soaked Barbarians at Khorne's Bloody Ragers

2009-07-28T07:38:00.000-04:00

This game may not have been bloody, but it was violent. Players were down all over the field on every turn. Let's look at the highlights.

Weather: This game was rainy, but Blood Bowl games are delayed due to a little water!

First Half:

First kick off, the Ragers blitzed and KO'd a goblin.

Turn 2: Wargor Wrex (R) got a casualty on Zeezee (B). The goblin had to miss the rest of the game, but will suffer no long term effects.

Turn 4: Gor Bleet (R) scored a touchdown!

Turn 7: Gunz (B) completed a pass to Dood (B).

Also, Murtaugh Ironfist (R) got a casualty on KO (B). The black orc had to miss the rest of the game, but will suffer no long term effects.

Second Half:

Turn 5: Bestigor Gruff (R) scored the team's second touchdown!

Turn 8: Flubz (B) scored the Barbarian's touchdown!

Enjoying the rain after the sweltering heat of the World's Edge, this is Johan the Mad reporting.

May 30th, 2009: Blitz of Styx at Wurld's Edge Ribsmashers

2009-07-28T07:37:00.000-04:00

Twenty three thousand fans showed up for this game with the undead taking on the orcs. And rowdy the fans were. The first three turns were nothing but a riot. Once the crowd calmed down, we were able to start at turn 4.

First Half:

Turn 4: Grog Bolchukker (R) threw a completion to Rolok Horsemauler (R)

Turn 8: Rolok Horsemauler (R) scored the first touchdown.

With the kickoff from the Ribsmashers to the Blitzers came a severe weather change. A wave of sweltering heat rushed in, causing significant problems for the second half.

Second Half:

For the Ribsmashers, two lineman, one Black Orc and one blitzer had to be sidelined for a drive due to the heat effect.

For the Blitzers, 1 werewolf, 1 golem, and 1 zombie were on the sidelines because their necromantic master was too heat fatigued to control the whole team.

Turn 1: Volni Headpuncher (R) got a casualty on Half of Henry (B). Henry regenerated, but he had to stay out the rest of the drive.

Turn 6: Grog Bolchukker (R) got a casualty on Oozeghast the Cadaverous (B), causing a fractured arm. Oozeghast will have to miss the next game.

Turn 7: Volni Headpuncher (R) scored the second and last touchdown of the game.

From the sweltering heat of the Wurlds...ah...World's Edge Mountains, this is Johan the Mad reporting.

May 24th, 2009: 3 Barrels of Ale at Khorne's Bloody Ragers

2009-07-28T07:35:00.001-04:00

I was at this game with 20,000 Blood Bowl fans who were anxiously awaiting the introduction of the Goblin team at the Rager's stadium. This game was no disappointment, taking us even into overtime.

First Half:

The Goblins blitzed on the very first kickoff and Aler Bram the Bombardier (A) tried to throw a bomb into a Rager group. Unfortunately for the Goblin team, the bomb was intercepted and thrown back on their side of the field by Bestigor Gruff (R), where it didn't hurt anyone.

Turn 2: Goobeez (A) scores the first touchdown against a Rager team who seemed to be ignoring the ball!

Turn 5: Murtaugh Ironfist (R) got a casualty on Dobber (A). Dobber sprained his ankle, and had to miss the next game. He also now seems to walk with a limp. Dobber had the ball, so it bounced around the field before being picked up by a Rager.

Also on turn 5, Wargor Wolf (R) tried to block the troll Gob Gob Eat (A) and got hurt, giving Eat a casualty. Luckily for the Ragers, Wolf only had to miss the rest of the game and will have no long term effects.

Turn 8: Blud the Merciless (R) scored a touchdown to tie the game for the Ragers!

Also, troll Gob Gob Chuck (A) got a casualty on Bestigor Mukk (R). Mukk received a broken neck, causing him to miss the next game. The team apothcary isn't sure Mukk will be able to control his body quite as well when he's done healing.

Second Half:

Turn 2: Tanubm (A) scores the team's second touchdown!

The Ale team makes a bold moving next by kicking the ball straight to WarMaster Malus (R)!

Turn 6: WarMaster Malus scores a touchdown, again tying the game!

At the next kickoff, the crowd rioted! They couldn't be calmed down before the end of the half and the game had to go into overtime!

Overtime turn 6: Gor Rax scored the game winning touchdown for the Ragers!

From a crazy world of Beastmen and Goblins, this is Johan the Mad reporting.

May 23rd, 2009: Chaos Coven at Hobbly's Heroes

2009-07-28T07:34:00.000-04:00

Howdy, sports fans! Fifteen thousand fans were in Hobbly's arena this day for a perfect day of Blood Bowl. The weather cooperated, and so did the players.

First Half:

Turn 2: Brakk Badgerbreath (H) got a casualty on Anorhra Dirgemaster (C). Anorhra missed the rest of the game, but will suffer no long term effects from the ogre's beating.

Turn 4: Jorge Farmer (H) completed a pass to Joe Ratcatcher (H), who ran the ball in for a touchdown!

A Riot from the stands following the touchdown caused turn 4 to be played a second time. In the second turn 4, York Surestrike (H) got a casualty on Aranelas (C). She missed the rest of the game, but suffered no long term effects.

Also in the second turn 4, Hexana (C) the witch elf scored a touchdown, tying the game!

Turn 5: Jorje Farmer (H) completed a pass to Joe Ratcatcher (H)

Turn 6: Joe Ratcatcher scored his second touchdown of the day, pulling Hobbly ahead again!

Second Half:

The first three turns of the second half were spent in another riot, this time flooding the field. The referee allowed the clock to run the entire time because a dark elf was chasing him with a knife!

Turn 4: Paris the Sassy (H) completed a pass to Frederick Trapper (H).

Turn 5: Brakk Badgerbreath (H) got a casualty on Silvie Star (C). The elf missed the rest of the game, but she will suffer no long term effects.

Turn 8: Brakk Badgerbreath (H) got another casualty on Rosalie B (C). She, too, had to miss the rest of the game, but should suffer no long term effects.

Turn 8: Hexana (C) threw a game-tying touchdown pass to Tivi (C)!

Such was the following riot on the field that the game could not go into overtime and a tie was called. This report escaped only by being dragged into the secret tunnel of a dwarf who would only identify himself as Stumpy. Luckily, Stumpy's house was right across the path from the arena.

Living to report another day, this is Johann the Mad.

May 9th, 2009: Black Pass Skullstompas at Hobbly's Heroes

2009-07-28T07:32:00.001-04:00

Well, Blood Bowl fans, it has taken me a long time to return to report on this game. You wouldn't believe the chaos-ridden lands I had to traverse to cover this matchup.

Twenty two thousand bloodthirsty fans were in attendance on this perfect day for football.

First Half:

On the very first kickoff, a crazy fan threw a rock and stunned Varg Facepuller of the Skullstompas.

Turn 1: Brakk Badgerbreath (H) gets a casualty on Rok Ogrebiter (S). It seems Brakk was doing the biting this time as Rok received a groin strain which will force him to miss his next game.

Also, Paris the Sassy (H) got a casualty on Don Ratgnawer (S). Don was out for the game, but will suffer no long term effects.

Turn 5: Ort Groinsmasher of the Skullstompas scored the first touchdown!

Turn 6: Jorje Farmer (H) took the kickoff and completed a pass to Frederick Trapper (H).

Turn 7: Frederick Trapper (H) tied the game, scoring a touchdown!

Second Half:

Turn 1: York Surestrike (H) gets a casualty on Vik Ogretripper (S). Vik, too, strained his groin, and will miss the next game.

Turn 2: Grendle Ironbar (H) gets a casualty on Varg Facepuller (S). Varg was out for the game, but will suffer no long term effects.

Also, Jorje Farmer (H) threw another completion to Frederick Trapper (H).

Turn 3: Frederick Trapper pulls Hobbly ahead with his second touchdown!

Turn 6: Lewis Foolsgold (H) gets a casualty on Ort Groinsmasher (S), killing the Orc Blitzer. Today was just not a good day for groins on the gridiron.

Turn 7: Paris the Sassy (H) finally managed to pick the ball up off the ground and threw a completion to Joe Ratcatcher (H).

Also, Joe Ratcatcher ran the completion in for Hobbly's third touchdown of the day!

All groins aside, this was a beautiful, bloody game, making fans everywhere proud of their Hobbly and Skullstompa heroes. This is Johann the Mad reporting.

April 25th, 2009: Khorne's Bloody Ragers at Black Pass Skullstompas

2009-07-26T21:47:00.002-04:00

Again, the weather was perfect for BloodBowl! 13,000 fans showed up for the Ragers and 9,000 showed up for the Skullstompas. It was another popular game in chaotic style.

First Half
Turn 1: Rak Knuckleraper (S) blocked Wargor Wrex (R). Both were hurt on the play. Wrex suffered a casualty resulting in a serious concussion, causing him to miss the next game and have a -1 to his armor value. Rak was thought dead, but after being attended by the apothecary it turned out he was only badly hurt.

Turn 5: Bestigor Gruff (R)fouled Ort Groinsmasher (S), was caught by the ref, and ejected from the game. Ort was only stunned.

Second Half
A Rager fan threw a rock at Vik Ogretripper (S), causing Vik to strain his groin and miss the next game.

Turn 3: Wargor Wolf (R) scored the only touchdown of the game.

Turn 6: Org Beastsnorter (S) stopped Beastlord Broo's (R) block, causing a casualty on Broo. Broo will miss the next game.

This is Johann the Mad reporting.

April 25th, 2009: Wurld's Edge Ribsmashers at Hell's Pit Warplocks

2009-07-26T21:46:00.001-04:00

Our first game on Saturday had the Wurld's Edge Ribsmashers playing the Hell's Pit Warplocks. For an inducement, the Ribsmashers hired star player Varag Ghoul-Chewer, and boy did he go out of control!

By turn two, Varag alone had caused 3 our of 4 casualties on the Warplocks. Things looked bad as the team slowly lost a war of attrition.

On the fourth turn of the first half, the Warplocks conceded the game. It was none too soon, too, as Varag was starting to look at the orc team who hired him with a hunger in his eye...

April 18th, 2009: Wurld's Edge Ribsmashers at Tzeetch's Bloodhawks

2009-07-26T21:43:00.001-04:00

Again, this was another perfect day for BloodBowl. 3,000 fans showed up to watch the Wurld's Edge Ribsmashers, while 5,000 fans showed up to watch Tzeetch's Bloodhawks, bringing the total gate to only 8,000. Rumor has it that most BloodBowl fans were at the game between the Ragers and the Warplocks.

First Half
Turn 1: Grog Bolchukker (R) threw a completion to Rolok Horsemauler (R).

Turn 2: Fing Ghoulthrottler (R) killed Skreetch Beastman (B).

Turn 3: Volni Headpuncher (R) was Badly Hurt by a Bloodhawk Journeyman while attempting to make a block. This was a casualty for the Journeyman.

Turn 4: Nazguul Pipstompper (R) injured his back while trying to make a block. This looks like it will be a Niggling Injury for Nazguul and he will have to miss the next game.

Turn 5: Marin Mansmasher (R) KO'd Maynard Beastman (B).

Turn 6: The Bloodhawk minotaur Ratsmasher (B) badly hurt Rolok Horsemauler (R). This was a casualty for Ratsmasher, but Rolok should be back for the next game.

Turn 8: Grog Bolchukker (R) KO'd Gnasher Beastman (B).

Second Half
Turn 1: Kerin Knifechewer (R) killed the Chaos Warrior Rothgnar (B).

Turn 2: Ledsh Lonewolf (R) smashed the hand of I'kilyu Beastman (B). This is a casualty for Ledsh and I'Kilyu will have to miss the next game.

Turn 6: Grog Bolchukker scores a touchdown!

The game was a violent one, and a slow one. The Ribsmashers had the ball most of the game, but just couldn't seem to get anywhere on the field until the Bloodhawks were worn down in the second half.

This is Johann the Madd reporting.

April 18th, 2009: Khorne's Bloody Ragers at Hell's Pit Warplocks

2009-07-26T21:42:00.001-04:00

The weather was perfect for BloodBowl. 11,000 fans showed up for the Ragers and 14,000 showed up for the Warplocks, with a huge gate of 25,000 fans! Everyone was eager to watch this game.

First Half
Turn 2: Saul Soulreaver (R) gouged out the eye of Skreet Journeyman (W). This was one Casualty for Saul and Skreet is missing the next game, though one can assume he won't be invited back, regardless!

Beatlord Broo (R) smashed the knee of Murtz (W). This was a casualty for Broo and it looks like it will be a Niggling Injury for Murtz, causing him to miss the next game.

Betigor Gruff (R) KO'd himself while trying to block Ditz Longwhiskers (W).

Turn 3: Wargor Wolf (R) was KO'd by Olg Ballspiker (W) the Rat Ogre.

Turn 4: Gor Gruu (R) knocked Naz the Skulker (W) into the crowd, which beat the poor Skaven up and sent him to the injury box for the rest of the game.

Turn 5: Betigor Mukk (R) knocked Belig the Clawer(W) into the crowd, which KO'd him.

Turn 6: WarMaster Malus (R) KO'd Yurt the Clanless (W)

Turn 7: Wargor Wrex (R) scored a touchdown!

Turn 8: Snatz One-eye (W) threw a completion to Shagrax (W).

Second Half
Turn 1: Reeluz Musksquirter (W) was KO'd when trying to block WarMaster Malus (R).

Turn 3: Blud the Merciless (R) scored a touchdown!

Turn 4: Olg Ballspiker (W) badly hurt Gor Rax (R). There will be no long term effect of the injury, though rumor has it Rax may miss the next game.

Turn 5: Shagrax (W) threw a completion to Ditz Longwhiskers (W) who ran it in for a touchdown!

Turn 6: WarMaster Malus (R) badly hurt Belig the Clawer (W). There will be no long term effects of the casualty.

Wargor Wrex (R) KO'd Yurt the Clanless (W)

Snatz One-eye (W) badly hurt Blud the Merciless. There will be no long term effects of the injury, but it did cause Blud to drop the ball as he was running for the end zone.

Overall, it was an amazing game. The Warplocks kept it close, but just couldn't pull out a win as half the team was off the field injured.

The is Johann the Madd reporting.

April 6th, 2009: Hobbly's Heroes at Hell's Pit Warplocks

2009-07-26T21:41:00.001-04:00

On April 6th, the Hobbly Heroes visited the Hell's Pit Warplocks. Nine thousand Heroes fans showed up for the game, but eleven thousand Warplock fans showed up. The weather was perfect. Here are some notes taken by the Hobbly coach. The Warplock coach is free to add his own.

First Half
Turn 1: Hero L.T. is Badly Hurt by Belig the Clawer while trying to block him. L.T. missed the rest of the game.

Turn 2: Patrick Squire, the Hero who spent most of the first game on the Red Cross team, was killed by Mertz.

Paris the Sassy, Hero Thrower, Badly Hurt Haz the Grey.

Turn 5: Fred Trapper scores!

Second Half

Jorje Farmer completes a pass to Joe Ratcatcher.

Fred Trapper Badly Hurts Musksquirter as the dirty rat tries to run past him (dodge out of his tackle zone).

Turn 3: Joe Ratcatcher scores!

Turn 5: Paris the Sassy completes a pass to Fred Trapper.

Turn 6: Mertz Badly Hurts Fred Trapper, who misses the rest of the game.

Turn 7: Lewis Foolsgold, Hero Lineman, makes an amazing play that will go down in BloodBowl history. He picked up a loose ball, which was on the ground right beside a Warplock, he dodge away from the Warplock, and he ran for a touchdown!

The game ended 3-1 in favor of the Heroes.

Content Addition Notice

2009-07-18T13:32:00.003-04:00

Over the next...however long, I'll be migrating my Blood Bowl game write ups from the Yahoo site that currently houses them. I'm not sure how much I trust the YahooGroup to be around as long as I want to keep my game notes.

Magic Item Update

2009-07-18T13:25:00.005-04:00

The sword +level magic item is extremely powerful, especially in the hands of a character who essentially got min/maxed. I'm dealing with a third level dwarven cleric (of Tempus...with Fighter skills) who can probably take on 6-7 HD creatures, which the pre-generated adventure I'm running isn't prepared for. You know what, though? I don't mind.

The WarHammer Fantasy Roleplaying game that I run is incredibly...sparce. Money is hard to come by, magic is hard to come by, survival is actually difficult. The players don't get much, and they have to make do with what they have. They've been through mutations and demons and cults and hunger and distrust and jail. Through it all, the players were fully into the game. They were having fun. They weren't seriously complaining.

So, now that I have a chance to run a little bit of a Monty Haul D&D 2E adventure, I really don't mind. I like the items I've given out - the dwarf named his weapon at the first sitting. Little does he know its true powers. Wait until the sentience in the weapon talks to him for the first time. Muhahahahahahaha!

Magic Item: Poison Dagger and Sheath

2009-04-24T06:28:00.003-04:00

My third PC is going to be a rogue. I had some trouble thinking up a unique magical item for this character; one that would increase in power as the PC went up in levels. This is what I settled on.

I fully expect that a rogue will choose either a dagger or a short sword as one of their weapons. This dagger/short sword will come paired with a magical sheath. When the character pulls the weapon from the sheath, it will be magically coated in a poison that puts people to sleep. The target will get a saving throw, naturally, put I'm thinking about negatives to the saving throw due to the magical properties. Maybe not, since Sleep is a spell and there aren't any negatives to that saving throw.

For each level of the PC, that is how many times they can use the poison on the dagger before it has to be re-sheathed (out of commission for 1 round). This could become very deadly (so now I'm rethinking the negatives to the saving throw). I'm confident that the PCs will have use for a sleeping enemy besides something to practice their assassinations on.

So...any thoughts on this one?

Magic Item: Wand of Channeling

2009-04-23T06:16:00.003-04:00

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm looking for feedback for some magical items I have come up with for my next game. The goal is for them to have something cool to start out with, but not something too powerful. Because of this, I have chosen items that get more powerful as the PC goes up levels.

The Wand of Channeling, which probably needs a different name, is simply this: a wand that you cast your Magic Missile spell through. The result of casting your spell through the wand is that you end up shooting out one missile per PC level. At level one, things would start out normally, one missile. At level two, it starts to get stronger than the spell in the book. This is because you are channeling through the wand.

That's the basic gist. I'm in a hurry this morning, so that's all you get. There should be enough there to leave an informed opinion, though. Please share them.

Magic Item: Sword +(level)

2009-04-22T06:54:00.002-04:00

I'm looking for some feedback on some magical items I have come up with.

The first is a sword that gets stronger as the PC goes up in levels. At level one, it is a sword +1. At level two, it is a sword +2. Ad infinitum.

My thought is that a +1 sword isn't too powerful for a first level character, heck these editions it's just called a Masterwork sword, if I understand correctly. Also a +2 sword isn't too bad for a second level PC to have, etc. But if the sword grows with the PC, then it's something a little more special.

The sword's value comes not only from getting stronger with the PC's levels, considering PCs are likely to find swords of similar power at similar levels. The sword's value can come from it's rarity (you don't have to find or buy a new sword at each level), and it's power.

A sword that grows with the PC's power probably, at some point, has a sentient will of its own. If the sword doesn't start with a will, it probably "grows" one as it gets stronger. As the PC advances, he/she finds that she has to overcome the sword's will, like any sentient sword with an ego in D&D.

This is where some more roleplaying fun can come in. At lower levels, if the PC fails to overcome the sword's ego, they can find themselves nudged in certain directions. At higher levels, the PC's will could be dominated if they have not yet overpowered the sword.

Those are some of the ideas I'm working with. Does anyone have thoughts or suggestions?

Economic Stimulus: Merging Dice Bags

2009-04-17T06:33:00.002-04:00

I have two dice bags. One is my old one from days of roleplaying yore. It's stuffed to just about bursting with 10 siders (gotta love WarHammer!), 8 siders (2nd edition cleric, anyone?), and 6 siders (fireball!). Relatively recently I purchased a newer, bigger dice bag to hold another purchase: a Pound-O-Dice (C).

My old dice bag is...old, and worn, and full. Just this morning I came up with the thought of merging the two into the larger bag. Has anybody heard about any kind of p residence for this? Is this dice taboo? What would Bob Herzog say?

Please, I need your expert opinion on the subject.

Sigmarzeit 8 - 10

2009-03-29T18:36:00.002-04:00

We leave Bovi on the barge around 6 PM

On board, I practiced using my bow some more with Henry. He had cut some fake arrows from some reeds at the dock. He's still not the greatest. How he ever managed to kill that large rat is beyond me.

Lord Erik is making a good show of running the ship, but if you look closely, you can tell that Alan, one of Darryl's confidants, is really running the ship. Alan and the rest of the crew are really working our new recruits. I wonder if they realize how much we need the new people to complete our mission. Starlana looks very unhappy when she observes the rough treatment.

9th

I was told we were heading to Morin, a small town of only around 200 people and our last stop before the end of the river. I don't expect there will be much to recruit from. I practiced some more with my bow. I seem to be getting better and faster. I can shoot two arrows while Henry shoots one.

We arrived at the town around 5PM.

We headed straight for the inn to try to recruit more help for our mission. The place was called the Blue Goose Inn and it seemed that every patron there actually worked for the innkeeper. If he needed something, he just asked on of the young men sitting down drinking.

Upon investigation, we found that the town had been decimated by a disease some time back - The Grey Shingles. Supposedly it has been eradicated, but I hope we don't stay too long.

Recruiting was a failure, as predicted, so we headed back to the barge. One of the recruits from Bovi, Kirk, saw a glint in the surrounding forest along the trail. I'm starting to feel pretty confident in myself, so I decided to take a look. Gunther came with me for some added protection, though.

In the forest, Skreet and Skratt were waiting for us. I led the recruits off the trail by saying "here, kitty kitty." They lost interest when they thought I saw a cat in the forest.

The skaven told us that we were being followed by 3 "litters" of enemy skaven. I'm not sure how many skaven are in a litter, but I'm prone to assume it's like a company of warriors. They complain of being tired chasing us, but we tell them the boat is the fastest way upriver. They're just going to have to meet us at the end.

10th

We sailed for most of the day until we reached the end of the river. The barge could go no further and Capt. Darryl let us off.

There was a guide waiting for us, a burly man named Hagar. He was large, red headed, bearded, and had two bloodhounds with him. He wasn't very personable and pretty much told us to keep up and to watch out for unknown beasts.

We were expecting a three day trek to our destination. Some things happened to slow us down, though.

Skaven were seen in the woods. A party went up to check it out, and the skaven ran off. We expected an ambush, but it almost seems like we were just being watched. Hagar let us know that, though we have Lord Erik in the party, Hagar is in charge until we reach the destination. Everyone must tell him everything and listen to everything he says. I can understand that, since he feels responsible for our well being.

At night we prepared camp fully expecting an ambush. For this reason, I decided we should put more eyedrops in our eye. We decide to keep the eye drops secret as we don't have enough to go around.

Sure enough, there was an ambush that night. It happened on my watch, though on the opposite side of camp. When I got there, I was able to kill 3 shaven with 3 shots. One shot went straight through the creature's forearm and into it's heart. Though gruesome, it was pretty cool. I really, really do not like the rat creatures.

When the dust cleared, Jesse, one of my recruits, died in the fight. I seem to have bad luck. Jesse was the last one carrying my backpack.

March 28th, 2009: Skullstompas vs Heroes

2009-03-29T13:37:00.003-04:00

On Saturday, March 28th the Black Pass Skullstompas took the pitch against Hobbly's Heroes for the first Olde Worlde League game of the season. Fifteen thousand rowdy BloodBowl fans took the stands for the inaugural game. The weather was perfect, as was the game.

There were two casualties and 5 knockouts for Saturday's game, giving the fans a taste of what's to come in the future. For casualties, Varg Facepuller badly hurt Hobbly's Patrick Squire, causing him to miss the rest of the game yet suffer no long term effects. Hobbly's ogre, Brakk Badgerbreath, repaid the favor when he badly hurt Gort Sheepbane. Again, the player missed the rest of the game yet will suffer no long term effects. You can't have it all, now can you?

There were two spectacular plays in the game, one from each team.

In the first half, Joe Ratcatcher, one of Hobbly's catchers, dodged two snarling orcs, picked up a loose ball, and threw it to the other catcher on his team, Frederick Trapper, for a most unexpected touchdown. This amazing show of agility earned Joe the MVP title from the game. His teammates will probably look to him as a leader on the field from now on.

For the Skullstompas, one of the blitzers, Don Ratgnawer, made an amazing play including a blitz on Hobbly, running to the endzone, and catching a touchdown pass from his teammate.

Hobbly's Heroes also ended the first half with a long bomb to Frederick Trapper, he second out of three touchdowns for the day. Something tells me we'll be seeing more from Trapper in the future as the catcher has amazing skills.

For Hobbly, thrower Jorje farmer also ended the day with two completions, while thrower Paris the Sassy ended the day with one.

The Skullstompas' Vin Skullchucka earned MVP for his team, throwing the touchdown completion to Ratgnawer.

Sigmarzeit 7 - 8

2009-03-09T18:42:00.001-04:00

When we were done introducing our new recruits to everyone, Lord Erik informed us that we would actually be spending the night in the town. I wasn’t sure what changed since we left, so I knew I’d have to keep and ear out.

Gunther decided that we needed to get off the boat and spend a night on dry land while we had the chance. I couldn’t have agreed more. I’m not sure Starlana really cared, though.

He took us to the town’s one inn, the Goblin’s Gizzard, and paid for rooms for each of us. We got settled in, and then Starlana and I headed downstairs while Gunther spent some time in prayer.

We came downstairs to the sound of our new recruits bragging loudly and generally acting boisterous. They invited us to sit down, so we joined them until our meal was ready and Gunther was ready to join us.

While we were waiting, Lord Erik came in with Alaric and his small retinue to get a room of his own. Henry was with him, but they were acting pretty closed-mouthed and secretive, though we weren’t even prying. I talked with Gunther and Starlana, and we decided to try to listen in on their in-room conversation.

I snuck up to Lord Erik’s door and Gunther kept watch near the stairs so no one would surprise me. All I heard was some boring talk about them being uncertain whether they had the strength of arms to take out this Lukrat fellow. Since they weren’t discussing anything we hadn’t heard before, we went out separate ways and my eavesdropping career was over.

Some time in the middle of the night, Gunther saw a ghost in his room. He didn’t tell me about it until morning, which is a little spooky. He told Starlana, and she spent the rest of the night with him. I wonder which one of us he’s really worried about protecting…

Gunther’s ghost told him he was wrongfully cheated out of payment for his services. Gunther, being the altruistic runt that he can be, told the ghost that he would make up for the wrong and see it righted. That’s how we spent the rest of our morning hanging out at the docks.

Gunther managed to spy someone that looked like the ghost’s description of one of the men that cheated him. Then, we started to follow him. Then he tried to take off on us, but Starlana and Gunther start calling out to him and making a deal to sell him some goods. This all happened to fast that all I could do was stare.

They agreed to meet this shady character later with their goods. All we had to do was get the boat to not leave without us. And get some goods to sell. Nothing too difficult for a couple of hired swords, right?

They told the ship captain, Darryl, and it turned out that Darryl knew this fellow, too. Not only that, but he had some kind of score to settle with the guy. He insisted on coming along with us. We found out that Darryl’s a pretty tough guy who also happens to be very handy with a hand gun.

We borrowed a horse and some chests, one even had some cloth in it that we could pretend was our goods. We headed down the road to our meeting spot, under a huge rock that overhung the road. I tried to head into the woods and scout the area out first, but I didn’t think of it until Hugo, the man we were meeting, saw us coming up the road. Instead, I tried to keep watch in the local surrounds and on top of the rock. It’s a good thing, too, because I did see movement up there.

Neither side trusted the other for some reason. We had to stop and take it slowly. Darryl took charge of the situation.

When Hugo looked into our chest with the cloth in it, people started shooting arrows at us from on top of the rock. That’s when things really got dangerous.

I ducked into the woods to try to sneak up the back side of the rock. From out on the road, I could hear Darryl shooting his gun.

Somehow, Starlana ended up beside me at the foot of the rock, and we slowly headed up together, making sure to stay behind trees and trying our hardest to be quiet. It didn’t work. Neither one of us are the sneaky type, I guess. The attackers from on top of the rock were barreling down the hill at us. I could barely get off a couple arrows before they were upon us.

Luckily, when they bore down on us, Gunther showed up to lend a hand with the fighting. I moved back and kept trying to shoot someone with my bow. Though I had some trouble shooting up the hill at men who wouldn’t hold still, I seemed to be more used to drawing it back. All the practice must have made it easier for me.

Between Gunther, Starlana, and the one time I actually ended up shooting someone, we were able to subdue the attackers from the top of the rock. Darryl had caved in Hugo’s head with a crowbar, but we did get one prisoner to take back to town. It happened to be Hugo’s accomplice.

Gunther returned the accomplice to the authorities, and then made his way to the ghost’s widow to tell her that her husband had been avenged. I tagged along, too. It’s the kind of stuff you hear about in minstrel’s tales, but you don’t normally get to experience.

We’re ready to get back on the barge and leave the small, but exciting little town on the river.

Blood Bowl Returns to Naggaroth

2009-03-05T11:24:00.002-05:00

For over a decade, the pitches in the northern part of the New World have been desolate. Cutting grasses and dangerous new flora were long allowed to grow where human and orc, dark elf and dwarf once met in a testament of steel and skill. Blood Bowl had faded as mere survival took precedence.

Things changed as of this past Monday, March 2nd 2009 when the human team of Hobbly's Heroes met with the vicious orc team, The Black Crag Skullstompas.

There are hopes that a league may be reformed in the wake of the exciting game, which Hobbly's Heroes won 4 - 0. Fans are already placing bets on whether the humans dare try again, now that the orcs know how to put their helmets on the correct way.

If you are in the Greater Bangor, Maine area and wish to contact us about joining a Blood Bowl league, please leave a comment below.

Florey

2009-02-28T10:04:00.002-05:00

(Sung to the tune of Jessie by Joshua Kadison <--click for audio/video.)

From a payphone at SnoCon, Florey calls collect again
To tell me how he's slaughtered 10 beastmen

He says, "Hey, man, I've been thinking 'bout 4E D&D
We could start a party...you, and Deb, and me.
We'll buy the handbook and roll up some test stats
Now, doesn't that sound sweet?"

Oh, Florey, you always do this every time I get back on my feet.

Florey paint your pictures 'bout how it's gonna be.
By now I should know better, your dreams are never free.
But tell me all about out little adventures in 4E;
Florey you can always sell any game to me.
Oh, Florey, you can always sell any game to me.

He asks about my half-orc. I say, "Ke'lan he's just fine
But I really want to run him one more time.
I finally took his stat sheet down off the wall
Oh, Florey, how do you always seem to know just when to call?"

He says, "Get you dice together. Bring your characters and drive real fast."
And I listen to his promise, "I swear to God this party's gonna last."

Florey paint your pictures 'bout how it's gonna be.
By now I should know better, your dreams are never free.
But tell me all about out little adventures in 4E;
Florey you can always sell any game to me.
Oh, Florey, you can always sell any game to me.

We'll game until sunrise, take a nap and then play again.
And who knows, maybe this time, we'll make it all the way through Desert Sands.

Florey paint your pictures 'bout how it's gonna be.
By now I should know better, your dreams are never free.
But tell me all about out little adventures in 4E;
Florey you can always sell any game to me.
Oh, Florey, you can always sell any game to me.

WarHammer's Top Baddies

2009-02-26T17:24:00.004-05:00

Top Ten creature lists seem to be going around. To be different, and mostly to match my playing style, I have decided to try to list the most popular creatures in the WarHammer world.

I have been playing WarHammer Fantasy Roleplay (WFRP) since some time in high school. That's at least 15 years. Within the last few years, the Black Library has released a slew of WarHammer Fantasy novels, and it seems I have spent more hours reading recently than I ever did playing or prepping a game of WFRP.

Through my years of experience playing and reading, here's my list of WFRP's top "monsters".

Snotlings Snotlings are the smallest of the goblinoid races. They are not the same as D&D's kobolds. They have only 1 strength, 1 toughness, and 3 wounds. You can pretty much sneeze and kill them. They are, however, humorous and fun to use against the party!

Snotlings only attack if they outnumber their opponent ten to one. For weapons they use nets, clubs, axes, and, best of all, they throw poisonous fungi and molds. These molds can cause delirium, drowsiness, insanity, or death. How fun is that?!

Dark Elves Unlike D&D, WFRP dark elves are not dark skinned. Instead, the darkness is entirely represented in their psyche. They are a torturous, cruel, murderous race. They prey on any and every other race out there, including themselves. Appearance-wise, they can be rather like normal elves, excepting some tattoos or ritualistic scarring. If this can be covered up, dark elves can roam around relatively unmolested until they decide to start their havoc. What fun!

Chaos Warriors and Chaos Bands Chaos Warriors head small bands of beastmen who all follow the same chaos deity. Beastmen have such things as tentacles, multiple arms, horns, goat's legs, etc. These bands roam through the Old World slaughtering in the name of their chaos lord.

At the head of these bands are massive, armored warriors who have traded their humanity for mutinous powers. Their armor may be welded to their body, they may have a skull for a face, or they might be growing horns our of their otherwise human heads. They are warriors that you can make as powerful as the party needs for a challenge.

Skaven The most popular type of beastman is the Skaven. This race is a mixture of rat and man, giant rats who are man-height, walk on their hind legs, can speak common languages, and are highly intelligent. Skaven have a complex system of tunnels underneath the entire world, so you never know when they'll show up and how strong the party will be.

The WarHammer world seems to love these beasts above all others, and they can show up in just about any WarHammer novel. There are assassin clans, pestilence clans, engineer clans, and clans that experiment on making newer, stronger creatures. There's also a subset of magic users, called Grey Seers. They are normally the leaders and instigators of any interaction with characters.

Cultists/Mutants Skaven may be the most popular creature, but fellow human beings are the most popular enemy. People looking for power from one of the ruinous chaos deities, people who are doing bad deeds because of blackmail, people who only want to get ahead in life and don't care how they do it. These are the enemies you really have to look out for. At least you know an evil looking creature is your enemy. You can never be sure, though, if the book-worm looking weakling who is walking down a dark alley alone might be a high wizard of a chaos god who has superhuman strength and a mutant, ravenous maw hiding under his lacy shirt.

Sigmarzeit 5 - 7

2009-02-19T13:08:00.004-05:00

We are staring at a battle field of carnage and death. You know that battle is going on around you when you're in the midst of the fight, but you don't realize what is actually happening - people are really dying - until the battle is over. The Skaven ran, and we are left with the aftermath.

All I could do was stare. I was ready to shoot another arrow, but there were no ratmen in sight. Beside me, I heard Starlana throw up her last meal. Suddenly I was tired. Starlana was sick, Gunther was injured, and Arty was dead. What, exactly, had I gotten myself into?

I tried to comfort Starlana, while Randy came to Gunther and patched up some of his wounds. Apparently the man has some field medic experience. All the experience in the world won't bring Arty back, though.

Lord Erik offered us the use of his tent while things were cleaned up outside. The remaining men spent the night digging a mass grave for their peers and stacking the rat men up to burn in a pile. Lady, help me...I don't ever want to see another Skaven again.

Inside the tent I had some strange, orange-colored fruit. Then I set to work picking up the mess that had become of Lord Erik's things. There wasn't much fighting in the actual tent, and soon we laid down on his bed to rest.

Gunther and Lord Erik were able to salvage some clothing for me and Starlana. Gunther also brought back a normal sized bow. I tried it out, but I'm not strong enough to be able to use it. If we live through any more fights, I might have built up enough strength to give it another try.

Lord Erik then gave us some lavender sniff to place on our upper lip while he burnt the bodies of the rat men. He seems like a really great Lord.

When Starlana mentioned that we hadn't heard from the barges, Lord Erik allowed us to go look for them...with Gunther's help, of course. Randy decided he's like to come with us as well, while Todd rested up from the battle, digging, and stacking.

On our way to the river, we passed some kind of moving bush, which had trapped one of the peasants from Lord Erik's party. The guy must have run off, maybe looking to see if the people on the barge could come help us.

The tree was almost as deadly as the rat men! Gunther went in to try to rescue the peasant and was smacked around by the tree's branches, plus caught up in some vines. He had to cut his way out, with some help from Randy.

Starlana tried to stab the tree with her spear, but all she ended up doing was getting the weapon stuck on the truck, which was then protected by all the flailing branches. It took her, with my axe, and Randy with some fire to get in there and take care of the tree for good. The peasant died before we could save him. This area grows ever more deadly.

We found the river, but couldn't see the barge, so we headed upriver. AFter a few minutes, the barge came into sight. We were welcomed by the Captain, Darryl, and their scout, Allan. They offered to let us stay the night on the ship where it was safe. The captain was very hospitable, giving us some wine. I'm not used to strong drink, though, and couldn't tolerate it. Such excess is for the rich, only, I guess.

The next morning one of the boatmen, Henry, bragged of shooting a huge river rat with his bow. He offered me some lessons as we finally got everything settled and headed up river. I seem to have some kind of natural aptitude with this bow that Sir Doyle left me. Henry kept missing the trees he was shooting at on the shore, but I hit every one.

Early the following morning, 6 of Lord Erik's people, plus our sheep herder Lorr, abandoned ship. I guess one man had been talking about the futility of the job since so many others had died. His cowardly talk infected others, and they decided to leave right then. I seem to have some kind of curse on me, because Lorr was carrying my bag since Arty died. Now I have no one to carry the heavy thing for me. I swear, I can barely move with it on my back. I don't know how these people do it day in and day out.

We stopped on the river at a town called Bovi for half a day to resupply. Gunther talked Lord Erik into equipping is a little better, since he was suddenly indebted to less peasant-adventurers. I got 30 more arrows and some leather protection for my forearm while I'm shooting the bow.

Starlana and I also went into the tavern to try to recruit for Lord Erik. There were a few able-bodied young me who were willing to take us up on the offer. One of them even bought my meal and offered to carry my backpack for me as we traveled! Lord Erik seemed a little impressed when we returned with four more party members. I introduced Carl and Jesse to the others and we were ready to leave.

I don't remember the name of the two boys Starlana brought back.

Character Profiles: Gairloch Ironheart

2009-02-09T06:50:00.003-05:00

Life underground was rough, with all the creatures that wanted to eat you. One never knew when a perfectly peaceful mining operation would turn into a fight for your life. Ambushes were easier to handle if you simply used one of your tools as a weapon.

In his plate armor, carrying his maul, he looked pretty tough…for a gnome. He had heard about this land above. He wanted to look tough. He wanted to look menacing. He wanted people to skirt around him. He didn’t want people getting close to him. He didn’t want them to know he was scared.

Gairloch stepped out of the cave entrance and into the brisk night air. The sensation of not having a roof over his head was disconcerting at best. Subliminally, he clung to the earth even more tenaciously than before. How did people keep from falling up?

Gairloch Ironheart is a Gnome Cleric of Grumbar. He uses a maul for a weapon, and wears full plate armor.

Character Profiles: Harlgrim Strongaxe

2009-02-08T20:37:00.002-05:00

Harlgrim Strongaxe had the potential to be the clan's next great engineer. As soon as his talent was realized, he was taken into the guild and apprenticed. Unfortunately, this was only months before the Ripclaw invasion.

For the next two years, Harlgrim was assigned to a tunnel fighter guerrilla warfare team. Fighting came naturally to young Harlgrim, just as naturally as engineering. He stood his ground beside the veterans, attacking the treacherous Ripclaws and melting back into the tunnels to come at them again from another angle. Until one day, when the Ripclaws dropped a tunnel onto the steely fighters.

Harlgrim was the only survivor of the tunnel collapse that day. He had happened to be on rear-guard duty. Nevertheless, the falling stone left Harlgrim battered and injured. He was unconscious for two days, alone in the tunnel.

Harlgrim circled about through other interconnecting underground passages until he came back upon his stronghold's main chambers. It was at that time he found out that the tunnel collapse had been part of the Ripclaw's main thrust in the war. All of Harlgrim's people were dead.

If there had been anyone, a single survivor he could have seen, Harlgrim would have charged into the cavern, axes swinging. All he saw, however, was complete devastation of all the friends, family, and life he had ever known. He felt his entire livelihood slip from him that day. He was clanless and honorless. Worst of all, though, was that there was nothing he could do to avenge his people. A senseless death never helped anyone.

Harlgrim left the mountains that day. He took off for the nearest city, Seablue. Luckily for them, no one challenged the lone figure as he walked, defeated and fuming, the many miles to Seablue.

When he entered the city, Harlgrim promptly found the first tavern he could and spent all the money he had on him, not much considering coin wasn't needed when attacking the enemy through passageways. At the end of the night, he was deposited unconscious into the side alley.

The next morning Harlgrim awoke and figured he had better get a job to support himself and his slow climb toward vengeance. Having no honor or pride left, he searched for employment that would suit his current position. He ended up at the docks where none of his race had any place being. Figuring it would serve himself about right, he found employment as a wharf rat catcher. His employer set him up in a filthy bunkhouse used for the poorest and most pathetic of his workers. Harlgrim felt right at home.

This is where we currently find our intrepid character, ready and waiting to embrace the rest of his story. Harlgrim Strongaxe is a dwarven fighter with engineering skills. He uses a battle axe in each hand.

Sigmarzeit 4 - 5

2009-01-29T18:54:00.005-05:00

We were trailing our two Skaven guides for hours and hours upon end through the underground passages when Lorr suddenly stopped in front of us and pointed down at some yellow mould on the tunnel floor. He was telling us the mould was deadly when it moved and shot out spores. In front of me, Starlana just dropped. I couldn't catch her. I tried, but between her and her gear, it was just too heavy for me. I guess people shouldn't expect me to catch them when they fall. There's probably a deeper lesson to be learned here, but you don't always see the bigger picture from an underground tunnel.

I dragged Starlana back out of the mould's blast radius and we all waited for her and Ben to wake up. Randy crept forward and was offering some strange snuff he had taken from Lord Doyle's house. Gunthar advised me to not touch the snuff, but it seemed to do Ben a world of good. Lungs that had been injured by the spores suddenly felt fine. The two men continued on as if they had received a second wind. Starlana continued on short of breath, with a burning sensation in her lungs, to hear her speak of it.

The trail was long and hard, and I really had a lot of weight on my shoulders, with the rations and water and everything. Luckily Arty was such a nice guy that he gladly took my pack for me. That's a real man. Take notes. When the Skaven came back and told us to hurry our "pink skins" up, I shrank into Arty for protection. The young guard is solid muscle, and not afraid of the likes of a ratman, either. I'm glad I have some sort of protection, since my bodyguard travels at the front of the line.

Eventually we were allowed to duck into some kind of cave in the side of the tunnel where we could spend the night. I never thought the Skaven were going to let us rest! I could barely have some of the rations to eat before my eyes closed and I was sound asleep. It was like sleeping near one of my excavation sites, just without the nighttime breeze. On the plus side, I didn't have to worry about setting up my tent. I would have been embarrassed. It's pretty tattered. Arty probably wouldn't be impressed.

After who knows how many hours, Randy woke everyone up to tell us something was coming. The Skaven, who offered to guard the outside of the cave, were nowhere to be seen. As huddled around the cave, this huge beetle shoves it's head through the entrance hole! The bug was gigantic! It couldn't even fit its...shoulders...through. The thing just kept wriggling back and forth, pushing dirt out of the way as it dug in. My arrows did nothing to hurt the creature, but the guards slashed at it with their weapons. I think Lorr might have been the one to actually kill it, though. He smashed his staff into the creature's eye...area. None of us even knew Lorr had it in him. He's so wimpy for such a big guy.

Speaking of wimpy, the freaky Skaven show back up after the beetle is dead and they want to cut it up and eat it. They are sick creatures that I will never be comfortable around.

Our dark-vision eye drops were starting to fade, so we had to put some more in our eyes. I hope I have enough to last me the entire trip. The Skaven told us that it was many, many days travel. At this rate, we have enough drops for about 10 days. We'll see. Heh. We'll see...in the dark. Sorry. I know I'm not an Entertainer.

After more tiring walking, the Skaven come cowering back saying that there are a bunch of warrior Skaven ahead of us. They want us to go above ground for a while to evade the others. None of us have a problem with that. Lorr's been missing the trees and Starlana's been missing the stars. I miss the sun.

When we were back out in the open, we could hear the sound of a river to our north. We headed to the river, then continued our easterly trek. Luckily, there was a road following the river, and both were heading east/west.

After not too long, one of the Skaven came running back toward us saying there were many people ahead. We hid in the forest because we didn't know if the people would be friendly or not.

One horseman, a scout, came riding up the road. He was a pretty good scout, too, because he stopped and followed our trail right into the woods. He called out to us. Gunthar was brave enough to meet the call.

The scout's name was Greg, and he worked for a noble by the name of Lord Erik. It seems Lord Erik was looking for some sell-swords to help dispatch someone he found that he believed was responsible for killing all the nobles around Brettonia. Greg led us back to Lord Erik's campsite, where we were fed and hired for 2 gold now, 2 to our families now, and 10 gold upon completion of the quest.

The person Lord Erik was hunting goes by the name of Lukratt. He used to be named Luciano, but he took on a new name...as he got more evil, I suppose. It is rumored the Lukratt used to be a wizard apprentice, and that he might know some spells.

Gunthar confirmed with the Skaven, who are hiding in the woods away from the human camp, that the person they were taking us to kill was this same Lukratt. Now we're going after the same person, only in better company.

Lord Erik states we were just waiting for a couple of barges to come down the river and pick us up. While were packing up and waiting, a woman screams from the east edge of camp. We all run to see what the problem is, and there's a dead, mangled scout riding a wounded horse. While we're distracted there, more screaming came from the opposite end of camp.

As we turned around, we saw a huge...pack...of Skaven attacking our camp. Everyone immediately puts up a fight, but the majority of the people around were just peasants, who thought they were fighting this one Lukratt guy like fifty to one. Instead, they are now fighting horrific ratmen.

We fought for our lives. Unfortunately, our group was quite separated, and we weren't able to pull together no matter how much I tried to encourage everyone. In the end, both Arty and Ben died. I swear, if I wasn't so shocked for the battle, the first battle I've ever been in, I would have cried my eyes out. Rest in peace, Ben.

I'll miss you, Arty.

A Beginning for Beginners

2009-01-24T12:17:00.002-05:00

The WarHammer world is a vast place, much larger than our own globe, yet if you look at the map, it looks rather familiar.

Where Europe would be on our globe is a place, a continent if you will, known as The Old World. It is analogous to Europe in the Middle Ages, consisting of a number of small, independent states sharing a similar cultural heritage and a common language, Old Worlder.

Within the continent of the Old World, the largest country is known as the Empire. It comprises a vast conglomeration of princedoms, duchies, leagues, and city-states. The Empire was united under one Sigmar Heldenhammer, who attained immortality and is now the patron deity of the Empire. The Church of Sigmar is the guardian of the Empire. It is for this church that you work.

A missing artifact of a sensitive nature has caused the Church of Sigmar in Altdorf to ship you down to Nuln. The day after you arrive, you are to meet up with one Albrecht Oldenhaller at his residence in Nuln’s merchant district. We’ll begin with you reaching the city:

After boring days on the river, your boat reaches Nuln. You are all frozen and soaked through. You are probably thinking unkind thoughts about the priests of Sigmar who would only pay for a cheap deck-class passage on an aging riverboat; it doesn’t seem a particularly impressive way to start a holy quest. During the course of your journey, you have gotten to know a little more about your fellow adventurers, and have become friends of a sort, united by a common desire to take care of this potentially hazardous situation.

Sigmarzeit 2 - 3

2009-01-20T20:20:00.005-05:00

(Boy, these sewers were long. Seriously...two months to explore. Now that's a little rediculous.)

We had no idea what was going on in the underground temple. Gunther wanted to destroy the place, though, and thought we could use Lorr's help to do it. We decided to head back to the Doyle manor to fetch him.

On the way to the manor, we spotted a short humanoid far off down the tunnel. He was pretty much at the edge of our vision, and he ran off when Gunther called to him. That's never an innocent sign.

We chased the figure throughout much of the sewer system, but couldn't catch up to it before it slipped down a small hole. We had no choice by to go back for Lorr.

After some modifications to the hole in the floor, and some explanations to the butler Bartloff, we were able to get Lorr into the sewer. We proceeded on to the temple.

The men were flexing their muscles and toppling over altar stones when I found some bones partially buried in the floor. The others could tell that they were human bones. To me, a bone is a bone. I couldn't tell you the difference between a human and a dragon bone. Well, I mean...ours are smaller, sure.

Anyway, we were digging out some bones, when Gunther spotted a beggar in the temple doorway. We thought we were the only ones running around down here (except the figure we chased earlier), so we were all suspicious. This beggar called himself Errol, and he told us that some other creatures had kidnapped his dog. They were holding the dog for ransom until Errol brought us to meet with them.

I know. The story get stranger by the second.

Errol told us that two short men with mottled skin had taken his dog, Hank. Now, hearing there was a dog involved caught my attention. I seem to have a natural affinity for animals. I felt sorry for the dog who was tragically stolen from his owner. I bet they were the only things each other had. As a matter of fact, Errol mentioned some times when Hank had found food for him. I know dogs can fend for themselves, so it surprises me when they hang around us humans who can offer them nothing but attention. Funny, how the world is made.

Errol led us back to the surface and to the warehouse district. He walked us into an alleyway and said that was where we were to meet the other men. It was a pretty scary place for a lady to be. I would have been rather frightened without Gunther and Lorr, though honestly Lorr isn't useful for much besides a shield. Seriously, last time we were accosted, what did he do? Shove someone over a sheep? The man's a beast with the heart of a puppy. No, I take that back. Puppies like to pretend to be ferocious.

Anyway, in the alley some trash shifts and out appears this four foot tall being covered in a robe. It started speaking broken Brettonian in a very sibilant accent. He come closer, obviously alone and obviously without a dog.

From the other end of the alley, another short figure arrives with Hank in his arms. Only, there's a problem. Hank's missing a leg. Errol ran up to the dog and grabbed him, yelling at the figure. Some time during all this, the strangest thing happens. His cowl blows backward, and we are looking at the mottled face of a real, live ratman!

I couldn't take anymore. I was scared. The men were between me and the first ratman; there was nothing between me and the second ratman but the wretched beggar and his now three-legged dog. I shot my first arrow from my new bow at the creature.

I barely missed as the beast shied from my shot. The other one started begging and pleading, saying they needed our help and they were willing to help us solve the noble murder mystery. Something in its tone caught Gunthar's attention and he talked us into not attacking any more.

I couldn't follow the entire exchange, but it seems the ratmen, or skaven as they are properly called, were some kind of runts of thier litter, unwanted and untrusted by any of their kindred. These two were bought and sold like some kind of commodity. They were used as spies to their current owners. They seem to be willing to help us find the one responsible for the murder of the nobles if we would somehow help them gain some honor. I'm not sure how we're to do that, but they are promising to help us earn 100 gold. That must have been what got Gunther's attention, too.

We agreed to meet the beasts at the nearest sewer grate, and we went back to the Doyle estate to get food and rest. Lady Doyle was willing to feed us, let us wash (in warm water!) in the barn, and sleep in the hay loft. She also let us have four of her guards to take on our mission. The guards are Arty, Benny, Randy, and Todd. They are all friendly enough, and Arty is actually kind of cute.

Day 3

The next morning, everyone met up at the sewer grate. Gunther explained the entire thing to the guards so they knew exactly what they were getting into. They didn't believe Gunther, not that I would have blamed them until I had seen the skaven for myself. They still agreed to come, and joined us in the sewer.

There we had some problem convincing them of the magic of the eye drops that their employer had left at our disposal. Eventually, Arty dared try them. Once they worked for him, the others followed in line. Then we met up with the skaven, which was trouble again, since they hadn't believed Gunther in the first place. Somehow, they still agreed to come with us. I think Gunther was displaying his pursuasive qualities that all priests are known for.

The skaven led us through the tunnels, out onto the beach/cliff area, through a field outside of town, into the forest, and into another tunnel under a large tree's roots. This tunnel was a little more cramped starting out, but got bigger was we went on.

After a bit of traveling, the skaven scouting ahead alerted his brother of a den of skaven slaves ahead. (Somehow the brothers can talk to each other over long distances. Don't ask. I did, and I didn't quite understand the creature's explanation. I don't think he knows himself.) They seemed to be waiting for some fighter skaven. So we hustled up to the cavern, our guides went in first and started talking to the pathetic creatures, then our guards charged the slaves. The fight was over quickly.

Now we have to head out of the cavern as quickly as possible before the warriors arrive. I also need to see if Arty will carry my backpack. It's awfully heavy...

SnowCon 2009

2009-01-18T20:49:00.008-05:00

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the first gaming convention ever to be held in the area (to the best of my knowledge). It was a great deal of fun.

I arrived at 7 AM and got my hand-dandy little name badge and bracelet with my player number on it.

Then I promptly sat down to wait for friends to show up, watching the classic Dungeon&Dragons cartoon, stewing because there was a sign indicating we weren't to bring in outside food or drink. I totally should have stopped at the convenience store first.

After dawdling a lot, I arrived at my first game, D&D 4e Delve Night. I hadn't played 4e before, and wanted to know how to do it so I'd be comfortable at the 5 hour 4e gaming session I signed up for that night.

At Delve Night, I was issued a Wizards of the Coast DCI card, whether I wanted one or not. See:

It was a good learning experience, and the DM was very patient. As a matter of fact, our 1 hour time slot ran for 2.5 hours because we were in the middle of things and nobody else was waiting to kick us off the table.

12:30 was lunch, making me late to the 1:00 event I wanted to go to, That Would Make a Great Book with author Valerie Griswold-Ford telling us how to change our adventure notes into a novel.

I did, however, catch my next event, a talk with author Kristen Britain, after an aborted game of English Rail. Train games don't seem to be my cup of tea, as opposed to sitting in the cafe talking to an author about the business...

3:00 - 5:00 PM I spent learning how to play Carcassonne (the board game, not the French city). It is pretty fun for a board game.

5:00 - 11:00 PM was the big D&D 4e game. It was a nice little one-off, giving a lot of practice to those of us who hadn't played 4e before. I enjoyed myself and got back into the swing of gaming after a month or two off for the holidays.

Now I'm all excited to play again, and I volunteered to run WarHammer at future conventions. I want to play, I want to practice, and I want the next con to come fast.

Talk about impatient.

(SnowCon info and the website of the group holding the event can be found here.)

Sigmarzeit 1 - 2

2008-11-09T16:14:00.002-05:00

The boy Gunthar has paid for me to have a bath and some new clothes. My hair is no longer dirty and matted, and I feel like a completely different person. I found some faded, but matching shirt and breeches, some used boots, a cap, tunic, and scarf.

We headed to the Illuminated Fish Tavern. Gunthar headed across the street to pray. I went inside to grab a seat. Starlana already in there and Lorr came in shortly afterward. Lorr had a broken sword tip he found at one of the burned down houses. Gunthar came back in as we were examining it.

We decided to keep the sword tip and not turn it in to the authorities quite yet. It was our only clue and we were pretty sure we wanted to go on the quest to find out why nobles were going missing. I know I want the money.

When we separated for the night, we didn't have a place to go, so Gunthar and I headed back to Joseph's cottage to ask if we could camp on the lawn. I had mentioned that I have a tent, and Gunthar said we could sleep outside. He wouldn't listen to me tell him it was a patched and leaky one-man tent.

Joseph invited us inside for the night, and told me the story of Arianka. Unfortunately, because of all the food Starlana bought me and the warm cottage, I fell asleep.

Day 2

All four of us met back at the Illuminated Fish, as agreed. We decided, with help from Joseph and because of a contact of Starlana's, that we were going to investigate Sir Cedric Doyle's house. What we didn't realize was everyone else was there trying to investigate it, too!

We arrived at the house and headed around to the back because Starlana knows one of the serving maids. The three of us stayed back while Starlana went forward to talk to the guard. Oh yeah, there are guards everywhere because of all the people trying to investigate. Anyway, she talks for a while, then the guard steps into the house. He comes back with a woman who must be Starlana's friend. They talk and she steps in and comes back with a butler looking guy.

During all this, Lorr had gotten out his pan pipes and started playing. So, I hauled out my flute. Unfortunately, we caught the attention of quite a crowd, because when the butler brought us inside, a lot of people were angry. I'm not from around here, so I don't really care what they think.

This butler, Bartlof, brought us in to a beautiful receiving room. Everything is fancy; I don't even want to sit in a chair for fear of sullying it! All the shaped metal I pick up is real. There are no fake decorations to be seen. The woman lives in style. I kind of wish I had been a noble.

The butler left us alone for a while and then returned with the lady of the house herself. She told us that her husband had expected us to come and even had letters waiting for us. That's absolutely amazing, considering we're not from around here. She held up four envelopes, and I barely recognized my name on one. I'm really not that good at reading.

Gunthar read my letter, and Lorr's, and his. They all said the same thing. Something about the Lord seeing this day coming and preparing in advance for it. He didn't see enough, as the letter says he is dead!

He did the most amazing thing, though. He left us a chest with various items. This strange lord! We were also given permission to search the grounds for clues.

Barlof took us to a study where the lord was killed. The chest with our gifts was in the study, too.

The room was a mess. Papers were strewn all over, and you could tell someone had recently cleaned blood off the floor. Still, we headed in to the chest to see what was bequeathed us. There was a sword, obviously for Gunthar, though it wasn't flaming, much to his dismay. There was a spear for Starlana. There was a staff for Lorr. The only remaining weapon was a short bow. I had never used a shortbow, but I grabbed it anyway. It might be good for resale later, if nothing else.

There was also indication from the letter that these weapons are magical in nature. Somehow they are supposed to cause more damage than the average weapon of their type. Magic is another reason why I might want to sell the bow. It's an untrustworthy thing at the very least.

Also in the chest were pieces of armor. I got a pot helmet and a chain mail shirt. These aren’t magical, so they are much more comfortable.

Finally in the chest was a vial for each of us. This vial contained some liquid that was labeled for use in our eyes. Apparently, if we dropped the liquid in our eyes, we would be able to see in the dark. Amazingly enough, we got to test this out really soon.

Someone in the party noticed scratches under Cedric’s bed. He had a bed in his office for when he got tired when studying, we were told. I didn’t mind getting dirty, so I bent down to look at the scratches. It was then that I found a hole under his bed! That explained the mysterious disappearances.

We moved the bed and looked down the hole. It was dark. Someone suggested using the eye drops. I thought it was a good idea, so I put them right in. The tunnel looked dug with claws and dropped about five feet. We grabbed our items and hopped down the hole, well, all but Lorr. He’s too big to fit. He stayed to watch our extra gear.

The hole led to an extensive sewer system under the city. We followed a lot of the tunnels. Some led to the ocean, where the sewer drained out. Other led underneath other noble houses, including the two that had been burnt down. Also, one tunnel led to a small chaos shrine. Gunthar couldn’t tell us who the shrine was to, but he could tell it was evil. We finished up trying to figure out the room, who uses it, and where they come from.

Getting Started

2008-10-29T20:38:00.002-04:00

Sommerzeit (6th?)
I find myself in Bastion, south of the Morceaux. I heard prospects of gold in the town. Obviously it won’t be by the usual panning or mining methods. I’m kind of nervous returning to town. It’s been a long time. Also, I look like a wreck.

There are a few inn and taverns in Bastion, but I headed to the Dead Laborer as it looked more my type. I’m afraid I’d have been kicked out of any other place, due to the filth all over my body. The place is packed…unnaturally so. I sat down at a table and asked a crusty old man why it was so busy.

He introduced himself as Leo the merchant and offered to buy me a drink. I’m too poor to refuse a free drink, so I took him up on it. Joe explained that a messenger from the king was on the way with big news. People have gathered from all over, even from outside of town, to hear the announcement. This means I won’t even be able to find a place to sleep in the cheapest inn.

When we heard murmurings that the messenger had arrived in the town square, Leo was passed out. I grabbed some of the potatoes off his meal in front of him and headed out. The field is near a place called the God’s Tear Park. All I have to do is follow the crowd.

I ended up standing between two large men. Of course, I’m only 5’4”, so lots of men are large to me. One looked like a shepherd. He even had two sheep standing in front of him. I tried to engage him in some side conversation, but he must be even more introverted than I am. He pretty much just mumbled and ignored me.

The guy, or should I say boy, on the other side wore a fancy robe. It was black with dark red highlights inside. It almost looked menacing. The boy was too young to be really frightening, though. When I mentioned having a hard time seeing the speaker, the two men tried to help out. Turns out they were pretty nice guys.

The announcement was that the king wanted to deal with some criminals who are apparently in our midst. They wouldn’t have been in my midst if I hadn’t come to the town to hear the announcement, but the messenger doesn’t bring that point up. Apparently these criminals have been murdering nobles and burning their houses down. All attempts of noble inquisitors to find out what is going on have been met with more kidnapped nobles. The king is forbidding any more nobles into looking into the mystery and is leaving the task into the hand of the common folk. Nobody wants to kidnap common folk, and if they do, nobody cares. The king will pay 100 GC to each person who helps capture the killers. If nothing else caught my interest, hearing the reward did. I tucked the information into the back of my mind.

As the crowd dispersed, Joe the merchant showed up, his drunken body held up by two strapping young men who look rather like him. He pointed his finger at me and accused me of killing nobles. The crowd’s not even gone and he’s trying to rake in the gold reward. A woman standing beside me told Joe to be quiet. Then he accused her of being an accomplice. I was scared. I ducked behind the large shepherd as Joe’s bulky clones came toward me.

The boy in the black robe seemed to get defensive as one of the brutes stepped forward and grabbed the other lady on the forearm. He grabbed the brute on the arm. The shepherd cried out in the most fearsome should I’ve ever heard. I couldn’t move and froze in place behind him. Everything started happening so fast.

The lady somehow broke the strong man’s grip and the boy in the robe bashed him on the head with his walking staff. The strong man dropped to the ground. The other strong man was tripped by the shepherd who somehow shoved the man over his wandering sheep. It would have been silly to watch, if it wasn’t such a scary situation. I brought out my axe just in case I had to defend myself, but the boy in the robe was doing a good job at defending all of us. A couple town watchmen showed up at that point and broke things up. Joe grabbed his brutes and ran off, with one brute dragging the other unconscious one.

It turns out the lady is Starlana and she’s a boat pilot who’s been working in town a couple weeks now. She knows all about Joe being a drunkard and tried to call him out on it. It almost backfired, though, and might have if the two large men weren’t there to save us.

The shepherd is named Lorr. He apparently came into town to sell off some of his sheep and make a profit. I guess one of his sheep took off when he shouted, because he left right after the fracas to go find it.

The boy in the black robe is called Gunthar. It turned out he’s an initiate of Solkan, a law deity. In truth, he’s actually a follower of Arianka, who he says is trapped in a crystal coffin. He’s trying to free her, and the best way for him to go about that is through being a follower of her brother, Solkan. After the fight, Gunthar’s captain found him and talked with him. When the captain left, Gunthar turned to me with a proposition.

Because he’s a follower of Arianka, he declares that he wishes to be my bodyguard. He says that Arianka’s strictures tell him to protect the common folk. We’ll, I think I may be a step or two below common, but I love the idea of a bodyguard. My self confidence immediately jumped up to heights never before seen.

Starlana offered to buy Gunthar dinner at the Illuminated Inn at 6PM. She invited me, too, and I said I’d love to have someone buy me dinner. Lorr wandered back after finding his lost sheep and was invited to join us at dinner, too.

We had a few hours before dinner, and Gunthar wanted to visit an old man by the name of Joseph Pruitt who lived in town. Since Gunthar said he was my bodyguard, I figured I had to go wherever he wanted to go, or he couldn’t guard me. The old man was also a follower of Arianka and brightened when Gunthar visited. The old man was rather poor, but he fed me some soup and bread. He was very kind. I think I really like these followers of Arianka.

The man suggested we visit the God’s Tear. The place brings him great solace. He also suggested that some of the more liberal followers of Solkan (or was it Arianka…) are doing some unsavory things in their fervor to free the crystal goddess. Finally, he gave us some tips on hunting down the murderers/arsonists, since he wasn’t going to do it himself. He suggested we try the house of the one noble who is missing, but hasn’t been found dead and his house hasn’t been burned down. The noble’s name is Lord Cedric Doyle. Joseph says Lord Doyle is very friendly, but a little touched, mentally. Apparently he says he can foretell the future. Maybe he could see nobles getting killed and burned in the future, so he took off into hiding…Anyway, that’s what I want to investigate, and Gunthar says he’s staying with me!

The God’s Tear Park has a 4 – 5’ high fence around it. The fence is built just outside this amazingly fertile area of this coastal town. There’s actually a rule that there can be no construction in the park. Everything is to be left pristine and untouched.

I found the atmosphere to be calm and relaxing. It actually makes me think about the Lady of the Lake. I guess legend says that there was a battle of the old gods here, and one was killed. Or was it one was buried? I don’t know, but I hope it’s not Gunthar’s Arianka. Or maybe I hope it is and that he finds her and frees her!

Prospector Leone Anwyn Wolff

2008-09-14T13:24:00.003-04:00

Introduction

"People don't think me lucky, but I am. I guess luck, sometimes, is in the eye of the beholder.

"For instance, I know for sure I'm working straight toward a big gold find. I know it. If I had one more day, a full day of work, I'd be there. The problem is that I don't have enough energy to put in another full day of work...or even multiple partial days of work. I have been out here for months straight and I am beat.

"So I had to set off, leave my find behind. I'm out of food, out of scraps, and out of hope of making it back to town alive if I didn't leave now. I had hoped someone would pass me along the road and offer a ride. Again, I was lucky.

"I found out later just how lucky I really am. A roadwarden picked me up on his way to the next settlement. I don't weigh any more than 100 pounds soaking wet right now. It was nothing for him to carry me behind him on his horse. He even had some food, trail rations notwithstanding.

"But, that's not the luckiest part. Turns out the warden picked me up about 15 minutes before a band of beastmen ran across the exact spot in the road I would have been otherwise walking down. A local trapper saw the band from behind some trees and reported it to the settlement when he arrived.

"Now I'm back in civilization. Back where I can sell my last decent belongings for a scrap of bread and a couple of apples. A feast. Back to where I can start over, earning some money until I can afford to go back to my find. Now, you tell me I'm not lucky."

Leone's hair is blonde, dirty, and matted, making it look darker than it is. Her eyes are blue and lifeless. Any out strength or fervor she ever possessed has been starved out of her. She's emaciated and looks no more than a 96 lb weakling. There's nothing attractive about her at all at this point in her life. She's just has a weak patheticness which breaks the hearts of more tender souls, causing them to want to feed her.

She wasn't always this way, though she was never exactly rich growing up. Her father was a laborer and her mother but a mediocre cook. Her older brother joined the army as soon as he could and was sent to Prague. They haven't heard from him since. Her younger sister really doesn't have anyone left to look up to, but Leonie tells her that she doesn't want to grow up to be anything like her.

Leone didn't know what to do with her life, so she decided to go panning for her fortune. The job's not always exciting, but she's learned a few helpful skills along the way. These skills might even help her make something of herself if she wasn't so focused on prospecting. She's not brilliant, she's not tough, and she's not refined. There are few ways a girl like her can make a living. And there are fewer that are actually attractive prospects.