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Showing posts from February, 2015

Actual Fun or Expected Fun?

Gnome Stew posted an article about standing at the crossroads , wondering whether or not to take the adventure/campaign up a notch. The question reminds me of various scenarios of inviting people over to play games. Everyone showed up under the expectation of playing, but we never actually got around to playing. Everyone was having so much fun chatting and catching up that gaming never even began. This has happened more than once. Now, when (or if) the fun chatter stops, then start the game or next phase of the game. For certain, don't ruin anyone's improvised fun to get to your planned fun. Fun is fun, and whether we play or not, we are all going to look back a the good time we had. This happens often in our games as well. Improvisation takes over, and fun is had by all. Don't stop actual fun for expected fun. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

[D&D 2e] Eveningstar Campaign 19 - 20

My PC Kryphon - Half Elf Rogue (Bounty Hunter) My Companions Kerun - Half Elf Berserker (twin brother to my character) Gemmabink - Gnome Fighter Leonardo - Human Summoner Session 19  Mirtul 3rd (04/14/2008) The party encountered a Deck of Chance. I don't know what the rest of the party did, but I have marked down that Kryphon was suddenly 52 gold, 180 platinum, 224 silver, and 199 copper richer.  Everything except the platinum was put into a chest Leonardo had (chest of holding?). Session 20 Mirtul 3rd 04/21/2008) Something happened to age (doppelganger) Kryphon 10 years. Then something else happened that gave Kryphon a wish. Doppelganger Kryphon wished to be whisked back to his doppelganger home with all the treasure he had accumulated. The party was caught completely off guard. Here's what he made away with: 180 plantinum, 601 gold, a plain shield, a vial of perfume, 7 various gems worth 260 gold in total, a pewter beer stein worth 85 gold, a potion of subst...

[WFRP 2e] Renegade Princeps Interlude 2

(Interludes are a place for me to note everything that happened in play-by-post between Hangout sessions.) My character Vaervenshyael  - Female Elf Protagonist My companions Johann Wilhelm Woeller  - Barber-Surgeon, ex-Student ( Previously in the adventure ) Wincing from the blow to her chest, Vaervenshyael is aided across the broad street to Johann's shingle and laid in a chair. Vaervenshyael grimacing hard, raising her arms to aid the removal of her mail and loosens her jack. Mail rings, blasted from the shirt by the blow, have torn though the jack's leather and shirt below. A dark red stain of blood is evident. Johann generously applies a stinking propriety blended poultice to wound. (Meta: Heals 5 Wounds.) He tells her it will be about five more days before she back to full health. He may be able to apply another poultice the following day to accelerate healing to two (2) days, but since she does not know what is in the poultice yet and Vaervenshya...

Sunday Inspiration: Old Great One

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http://scifi-fantasy-horror.com/post/108933328661/by-xiaodi It's always risky, carrying the Old, Great One from one ziggurat to another, but the skinks remained wary at all times...

Remembering Rounds and Segments

Some talk lately about keeping track of the passage of time in games reminded me of a simple thing we did during battles while playing D&D 2e in the 90s. Rounds 1-10 were written on one line of squares on the wet-erase battle mat, and segments 1-20 were written on the line underneath. We'd just use a dice to mark our place on each line. After turn 10 we'd get fatigued. Luckily fights didn't normally last that long. Any initiative after segment 20 all went off at the same time. I've tried to use similar timekeeping strategies since then. I've had little picture representations of the characters to put on the segment numbers representing their initiative for the round. That took a little more time to swap around each round, but the pictures were cool. In all, however, nothing beat our original strategy. The player just had to keep track of the current segment and when they were going next, which kept them paying attention to the game.

Renegade Princeps Introspection 1

My character was critically hit in the last session , and I'm pretty sure it was my own fault. With a duelist mindset, I charged someone, however I'm not a duelist yet. I'm a weak, first-career elf with little armor (except over the body). I didn't size the guy up first (does he look strong or tough, does he handle himself confidently, does he look like he knows how to use that sword, etc). I just went in swinging. That strategy worked for my troll slayer, but it's not going to work for my elf. Since then, I've read over the combat rules a little more. I think I can make more use of two-weapon fighting style, guarding, parrying, and dodging (not that I didn't try to dodge...). They are rules I've never used before, but this is a new character and a time to try new things. I'm kind of excited. I hope the next combat goes a little better for me.

[D&D 2e] Eveningstar Campaign 13 - 18

My PC Kryphon - Half Elf Rogue (Bounty Hunter) My Companions Kerun - Half Elf Berserker (twin brother to my character) Gemmabink - Gnome Fighter Leonardo - Human Summoner Session 13  Tarsahk 23rd (02/04/2008) We found the Eternity Bow which kills a vampire automatically on the roll of a 20. There is also a Brass Lantern ring which makes a single globe of light for 2 hours. Kryphon used the eternity bow to kill the horror. It was a little girl who was a vampire. Rolled a 20. Overheard at the gaming table: Kryphon: "I'm going shopping. You don't need anything, do you?" Kerun: "No. I've got pants." Session 14 Tarsahk 23rd (02/11/2008) Set up contact with a 9 year old boy?? Kryphon visited temple of Lathander. He was hailed as a hero. He didn't want the attention, so he told them he was Kerun (they are twins). Found the general direction to the Haunted Halls of Eveningstar. Session 15 Tarsahk 24th and Mirtul 1st (02/25/2008) J...

Sunday Inspiration: Garruk

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I like the idea of posting a picture on Sundays that might inspire imagination. Here's a start: http://scifi-fantasy-horror.com/post/72658859704/garruk-by-ainoko I see a barbarian out in the world trying to make a name for himself. I'd suggest 1) beware the mushrooms, and 2) find a group to adventure with.

WFRP Elevator Pitch

The other day someone said, "Sell me on WFRP." Here's what I came up with: Low(er) magic. Magic users distrusted by the normal people. Grim and perilous (dark and deadly). A world fighting destruction at the hand of chaos. Percentile rolls rather than d20 rolls. Careers that ignite the imagination (like D&D 2e kits).. If these topics don't interest you, I won't bother with a longer sales pitch. He was, in fact, interested, so I continued: The Empire. A disparate collection of tribes united under a charismatic leader with a deadly warhammer. Forests filled with chaos beastmen, mutants distorted by chaos. The populations are kept a bit in check by the elves, but, honestly, it's almost as bad to encounter an elf in the woods as it is a beastman. Waves of pure chaos drift from the north, corrupting everything it touches. The city of Prague is burned a rebuilt periodically due to it's proximity to warping chaos. Twisted champions of chaos gods...

[D&D 2e] Eveningstar Campaign 7 - 12

My PC Kryphon - Half Elf Rogue (Bounty Hunter) My Companions Kerun - Half Elf Berserker (brother to my character) Gemmabink - Gnome Fighter Leonardo - Human Summoner Session 7  Tarsahk 18th & 19th (11/19/2007) Old Meg was not impressed that we let a horror loose on the town. We set out to track the thing. It was bipedal with 4 clawed toes. It left behind very little blood when it attacked, and the attacks happened fast with very little struggle. Somehow it is suggested we visit an Arcane for more information. The Arcane hires us to find a Cube of Force. Hopefully the thing will contain the horror. Session 8 Tarsahk 19th and 20th (11/26/2007) We end up in the Fallen Lands with Serene the Arcane. He has cheetahs for pets, IIRC. He gave us a parchment with cryptic instructions. We traveled on his cart, past a stone statue of Cyric. Someone decided it was a good place to camp. We were attacked by gnolls on the 3rd watch. We got an IOU from Serene. We bought som...

[WFRP 2e] Renegade Princeps 3

My PC Vaervenshyael  - Female Elf Protagonist My companions Tankred "Silver Bear" Tenneckermann  - Human Mercenary Wilhelm Hechland - Human Engineer Johann Wilhelm Woeller - Human Barber Surgeon NPCs Ludovic Hasselhoff - Human Prince Maximillian Morningglory - Halfling Witch Hunter and Master of the Horse ( Previous Notes ) A couple of men came to town looking for the antiquities hunters that sold Vaervenshyael the blade. Some investigation showed that they worked for the prince to the north, Saltzer (sp?).  All antiquities were supposed to be sold into his possession, so these men were not in town on friendly terms. Looking for someone to add a handle to the new blade, Vaervenshyael headed toward the inn. She found an exasperated Wilhelm indicating that the antiquity hunters were leaving town though the norther roughs were after them. She wanted to ask the men for more precise directions to where they found the artifact, but when she caught up t...

[WFRP 2e] Renegade Princeps Interlude 1

(Interludes are a place for me to note everything that happened in play-by-post between Hangout sessions.) My character Vaervenshyael  - Female Elf Protagonist My companions Tankred "Silver Bear" Tenneckermann  - Human Mercenary And his mercenary band, the Silver Sleuth. Vaervenshyael has scouted east some of the distance toward Ubain. When she stops, there are still many miles to Ubain. Frankly, even with the Silver Sleuth the territory became very much the domain of Abdul Al'Shar the Tenth, known now in the streets of Padua as "Ten-Eleven-Twelve" (a dismissive reference of his claim to be the direct blood descendent of Abdul Al'Shar). Evidence of pickets (or bandits) could be found in the forested plains surrounding the road to Ubain. Tankred, Vaervenshyael, and the woodsmen of the Silver Sleuth stumble on several recent and older camps, firepits, and detritus of hunted, and eaten, game near the Padua-Ubain road at the edge of the forested plain...

Adrenaline Surge

The group was adventuring in Dwimmermount, using the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1e rules. They had just fought a large group (three rooms worth) of lizardmen (substituted for orcs) on level 2A. They were tired and wounded and needed to head back to base camp to heal and rest. The expedition's surgeon sewed wounds and applied poultices. He asked if there was anything else they needed. One player spoke up: "Do you have anything that can give me more Wounds (hit points)?" I paused, not wanting to just say no and move on. My mind raced:  energy...adrenaline...adrenal gland... "Well, other surgeons don't know this, but I've been doing a little research on my own. I'm pretty sure if you eat a lizardman kidney, it will give you more energy. You have to do it right before your fight, but I can preserve one of the ones you brought back...I'll have to do it quickly before the energy is all gone. What do you think?" The play just stared at me, shocke...

[D&D 2e] Eveningstar Campaign 1 - 6

My PC Kryphon - Half Elf Rogue (Bounty Hunter) My Companions Kerun - Half Elf Berserker (brother to my character) Gemmabink - Gnome Fighter Leonardo - Human Summoner Session 1 Tarsahk 10th & 11th (08/06/2007) Our group was travelling from Arabel to Eveningstar when we were ambushed by 15(!) goblins in separate groups. We fought them off and were rewarded with a gem, thieves picks, a dagger, and some silver. We entered Eveningstar and took in the sights, specifically the local militia: Purple Dragons. At the inn, we were given rooms. The innkeeper's daughter, Anna, talked about a ghost in the root cellar. We helped upgrade the inn in exchange for free rent. We helped build personal rooms. The ghost actually kidnapped Anna d and took her down a tunnel to the river. We followed it. The mage and I were almost killed saving her. Everyone except Anna and I caught some kind of sickness from the rat or the tunnel. We had to be tended by a priest. I believe it was a ...

[WFRP 1e] Doomstones 6

Blood in Darkness ( Previous session ) The party further explored the lower level of the old Dwarf shrine, hoping for a clue through the sealed doors. They were not disappointed when they found an old library housing clues on a ritual to open said doors. The dead ogres from the shrine up above were still fresh enough to bleed onto the altar as required by the ritual, and the bodies made sufficient sandbags for accessing the lowest level of the alter which was otherwise covered in mud. The sealed doors opened, and the party continued through to the final room. The guardian of the shrine, an insane earth elemental, attacked in the last room. Its whipping tentacles bludgeoned the hypnotist and the magic user into retreat (physically and mentally). The remains of the creature were driven off by the fighters. The last room had a pillar, wherein lay the stone. Being warned not to touch the pillar, the group lassoed it, pulled it from the floor (they are rather strong), and...