A Life Full of Adventure

My PC Vaervenshyael  - Female Elf Protagonist My companions Tankred "Silver Bear" Tenneckermann  - Human Mercenary Wilhelm Hechland  - Human Engineer Doctor  Johann Wilhelm Woeller  - Human Barber Surgeon ( Previous Notes ) GM: Each of you reek of poultices. The poultices leak a combination of binders, fillers, and liquids—keep the torch away...is that turpentine?—from the soaked bandages or makeshift slings. They cool the wounds and aches, if at a cost of making each of you less willing to stand near each other. Johann surely must find better smelling ingredients when back in Padua. In a quiet moment, there is a muted boom in the new stairwell down. Wilhelm  states emphatically, "That's powder. A blunderbus possibly. Below for certain." New worries creep into your thoughts, are the Sigmarites now armed? Or may explain something less sinister: have they just not paid attention to Wilhelm's Bandit Reducing Hand Cannon because the Sigmar...

Here is some of the out-of-game chatter the players have been saying about their characters for the last couple sittings: Starting with a question about the direction of Tankred's personality: Me: Kind of Lawful Neutral. It's a distinct personality, so it works. Vaervenshyael needs to be more like that when it comes to dealing with humans. That leaves Wilhelm or Johann as our conscience.  Tankred's Player: Roger nailed it really. I'm modeling Tankred a bit after the Expendables. Light hearted during his down time, enjoying his beer, and his work. But when it becomes time to fight, he is all business and is a sociopathic killing machine. I envision Tankred being more at home on the battlefield than anywhere else. The Doctor's Player : Roger if you're relying on Johann or Wilhelm to be our conscience I think you'll find that it's quickly eroding. Poor Wilhelm may be incredibly enthusiastic and possibly the least morally ambiguous among us, but ...

My PC Vaervenshyael  - Female Elf Protagonist My companions Tankred "Silver Bear" Tenneckermann  - Human Mercenary Wilhelm Hechland  - Human Engineer Doctor  Johann Wilhelm Woeller  - Human Barber Surgeon ( Previous Notes ) Right ear still ringing (and hair slightly singed) from Wilhelm's gunshot from her shoulder, Vaervenshyael heads down the new passage. The walls on the other side of the megalith show even more murals. What can the party make out? An Arabyan priest? Burial rites? Vaervenshyael has no interest in these nor the niches with bones which line the hallway ahead. The party evades a rustic warning trap, made with a string and an empty tin bucket. There are individuals up ahead. They are not paying attention. They are taken out by Tankred and, surprisingly, the doctor. The room contains a crate full of coins. They are old, gold coins. They are not the kind traded around these days, but the metalworker think he can re-mint them. V...

My PC Vaervenshyael  - Female Elf Protagonist My companions Tankred "Silver Bear" Tenneckermann  - Human Mercenary Wilhelm Hechland  - Human Engineer Doctor  Johann Wilhelm Woeller  - Human Barber Surgeon ( Previous Notes ) The party boldly entered the front entrance of the megalith. Various rooms in the lower levels contained nothing but filth. Upstairs things got more interesting. (Meta: My character apparently contracted some kind of bed bug in a room full of hay. I don't know when she'll find out.) Up a short flight of stairs we found a room full of columns and murals. The murals looked like Arabyan armies on the march. There was a Sigmarite zealot in the back corner of the room. Wilhelm shot immediately (thinking he saw a beastman). The zealot got away and led us on a merry chase up many flights of stairs into the top of the tower. Vaervenshyael was able to overtake him before he reached the top. She chopped his legs out from under him...

My PC Vaervenshyael  - Female Elf Protagonist My companions Tankred "Silver Bear" Tenneckermann  - Human Mercenary Wilhelm Hechland  - Human Engineer Doctor  Johann Wilhelm Woeller  - Human Barber Surgeon ( Previous Notes ) Wilhelm kicked over the body the zealot that struck him with the whip...a woman! Her features otherwise indeterminate beneath the filth and rags of her dedication to Sigmar. Johann and Varvenshyael found cover from the looming megalith for the Verenan Roderic Leer. Unconscious still, Varvenshyael considered Leer's words, "I know the truth." Johann considered these words and the condition of the priest. He will live. Tankred considered the megalith, the ragged entrance and torches that revealed little about what lied beyond them. In the quiet of the mind, punctuated only by the words of Johann and Varvenshyael over the priest, the echoes of Wilhelm's hand cannon remained. The shadow of the megalith lengthened as t...

I don't always want to use kobolds, goblins, and giant rats for first level adventures. Let's see what else I can dredge up out of the 2e Monstrous Manual, not including psionics or good creatures: Bat, Common 1-2 hp Bat, Large 1/2 - 1 HD Beetle, Fire 1+2 HD Bird (various) Bullywug 1 HD Cat, Wild 1 HD Centipede, Giant 2 hp Crawling Claw 2-4 hp Dog, Wild 1+1 HD Dwarf, Duergar 1+2 HD Fish (various) Frog (various) Fungus, Gas spore 1 hp Gibberling 1 HD Gremlins (4/6 listed are 1-1 HD or less) Grippli 1+1 HD Hatori (sand crocodile), Lesser 1-5 HD Hobgoblin 1+1 HD (yeah, a goblin, but it may be considered a change still) Human (various) Insect, (various, each with interesting abilities) Insect swarm Ixitxachitl 1+1 HD Leech, giant 1-4 HD Mammal (various) Merman 1+1 HD Mold Men 1 to 6 HD Mongrelmen 1-4 HD Muckdweller 1/2 HD Myconid 1-6 HD Piercer 1-4 HD Plant, Intelligent, Obliviax 1-2 hp Poltergeist 1/2 HD Skeleton 1 HD (don't forget animal skel...

Here are some thoughts from the players about the direction the characters are going. I had to mull over Vaervenshyael's reaction to seeing Roderic hanging and dying: I still maintain that my actions were completely in character considering 1) the bloody Sigmarite zealots had been goading me since we first saved them from the beastmen. Then their friends did the same at the tower. 2) My background states I am "against injustice" and "take the law in my own hands". 3) the priest really is a resident of Padua, and I work for Prince Ludovic. 4) I did not attack them first. I drew my sword to cut down the priest and only defended myself once attacked. 5) It's a bit more meta, but: the tooth. Don't forget the tooth. I just needed to write that out to convince myself I'm not still playing Mordrin. It seems valid to me. The Doctor's player chimed in: I don't disagree, and I think there are plenty of totally valid reasons why elves may d...