tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13394967480121407372024-03-20T00:54:45.374-07:00Verbum Ex Nihiloxmoonxhowlerxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15149950277567744302noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339496748012140737.post-72398326164496256732024-02-01T16:50:00.000-08:002024-02-01T16:50:28.929-08:00Hex24 Challenge: Week 4<div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Summary:</b> Final seven hexes for the first month of the challenge, some thoughts on seas as regions, and the first random encounter table.</div><span><a name='more'></a></span><span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></span></div><h2 style="text-align: center;"><span><u>Hexes</u></span></h2><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>*Serenity Sea</b>, continued (hexes 0301, 0302, 0401, 0402, 0603)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>*Isola della Divinità</b> (hexes 0501, 0502)</div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">The view of the open waters is slowly beginning to be dominated by a headland island, one known as the Island of Divinity, its cliffs high and steep, surrounded with a thin jagged beachline. Remains of a small dock can be seen on the south side of the island, smashed and slowly chipped away by the waves. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">On the northern side of the island’s high plateau several picturesque villas of white stone can be seen, while on the southern side is a series of small houses of modest appearance. Several plumes of black smoke are rising from somewhere in the northern end.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Circling the island will uncover only a single passage leading up to its flat top, a barely visible narrow pathway on its western cliffs.</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzYKOzjaM_XDZhb76tZKklj2MLqYYDJ0Lb5sDAwQxCa1mX8efdWFaSKMRz5xXw9J0GqPZFvOW-kRKefRjNR5O0l3Hc-jfIVkJYKc5LGcxUHoly3hlERqvHP46yIGXLACf4Espf0svjjYl4iyvchOe3IHucdJRgLd8JucypPEdfaKXerR18CEPBCqJAm_uv/s4000/IMG_20240202_014650.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzYKOzjaM_XDZhb76tZKklj2MLqYYDJ0Lb5sDAwQxCa1mX8efdWFaSKMRz5xXw9J0GqPZFvOW-kRKefRjNR5O0l3Hc-jfIVkJYKc5LGcxUHoly3hlERqvHP46yIGXLACf4Espf0svjjYl4iyvchOe3IHucdJRgLd8JucypPEdfaKXerR18CEPBCqJAm_uv/w640-h480/IMG_20240202_014650.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Map as of week 4</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><h2 style="text-align: center;"><u>The sea, the sea! (on regions and seas)</u></h2><div><br /></div><div>Already by week 3 when I was writing descriptions for the sea “filler” hexes I realized the necessity to somehow unify and give structure to the waters, without having to provide a description for each hex.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thus, a rather simple solution popped up:</div><div><ul><li>All water hexes which belong to a specific sea will have one unifying description</li><li>The seas themselves will act as regions for the following mechanical purposes:</li><ul><li>Each sea/region will have a unique(ly adjusted) table for <u>weather</u> procedures and a unique sub-table for the “<i>6 - Special</i>” result, if any</li><li>Each sea/region will also have a unique random encounter table</li></ul></ul></div><div><br /></div><div>Another thing worth mentioning is the actual theme and inspiration behind each sea/region. For now, I believe that I will create one sea/region per month, which so far in this challenge makes sense since all I’ve worked on was the Serenity Sea and, additionally, in the <a href="https://verbum-ex-nihilo.blogspot.com/2024/01/hex24-challenge-week-2.html" target="_blank">post for Week 2</a> I mentioned there being 12 seas. A month’s time is enough to clearly define and get a feel of a particular region and design-wise it seems easy to know the scope in advance somehow. For example, clearly the Serenity Sea is the calm and tame vanilla starter, inspired mainly by the real world Mediterranean.</div><div><br /></div><div><h2 style="text-align: center;"><u>Adjusted weather condition procedures for the Serenity Sea</u></h2><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Weather</b> - roll d6 (GM)</div><div>1-3 - Clear sky (no effect)</div><div>4 - Cloudy (-1 to Celestial Navigation)</div><div>5 - Fog* (-1 to Celestial Navigation, -1 to Ship Navigation)</div><div>6 - Heavy clouds and rain (-2 to Celestial Navigation, -1 to Ship Navigation)</div><div><i>*This is mundane, not the Pale Death fog</i></div></div><div>=====</div><div>In other words, the Sérénité does not have a "<i>Special"</i> result sub-table, simply because I feel like keeping the starting region easy going and relatively peaceful, as it has been described so far.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVeZIlhcDMslowRs3cwxD4IrmoBGpK8FKawCqsYHPn1gVyOTVD7N3uEM5JqtMaH-Q9x9mzCesUYdrQGam-U5QRFAb4mKUwF1j2R1TnDzCtccdrDbVT8z6Gi3n5CFr-uKP8u8pd4EDNdZxWV5CoYkfz1170RQBmqHLs2M64ySAkxnMVOmJ0oHFhHULc_3kc/s800/John_O'Brien_-_Flagship_Wellesley_and_Squadron_Leaving_Halifax_Harbour,_1850.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="800" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVeZIlhcDMslowRs3cwxD4IrmoBGpK8FKawCqsYHPn1gVyOTVD7N3uEM5JqtMaH-Q9x9mzCesUYdrQGam-U5QRFAb4mKUwF1j2R1TnDzCtccdrDbVT8z6Gi3n5CFr-uKP8u8pd4EDNdZxWV5CoYkfz1170RQBmqHLs2M64ySAkxnMVOmJ0oHFhHULc_3kc/w640-h480/John_O'Brien_-_Flagship_Wellesley_and_Squadron_Leaving_Halifax_Harbour,_1850.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Flagship Wellesley and Squadron Leaving Halifax Harbour" by John O'Brien</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div><h2 style="text-align: center;"><u><br />Random encounter table for the Serenity Sea</u></h2><div><br /></div><div>Roll d10:</div><div><ol><li>A glass bottle with a corkscrew floats stern side. Inside is:</li><ol><li>a heartbreaking love letter</li><li>a declaration of war between previously allied nations</li><li>a cry for help from a deckhand of a sinking vessel from way up north</li><li>a map precisely outlining much of the southern coastline</li><li>a treasure map in some previously uncharted archipelago</li><li>a document contesting the ownership of “<i>Malstraumur</i>” (a brig of the Alfadirian colonies in the far north)</li><li>a trade route charter of fair winds</li><li>a tarot card, the character pulling it will draw a random card from a real tarot deck which will in some way mark the faith of the group (GM discretion)</li></ol><li>A dark galley appears far on the horizon, approaching at an alarming rate, propelled by oars and fair winds. A black and white flag depicting a skull and bones waves above its mainmast… Pirates! </li><li>An unidentified carrack sails close to you, but soon enough their mainmast waves a white flag of peace. If they get close enough, the crew lowers a plank for you to board their vessel, where they offer food and drink and song. Both crews sing and dance deep into the night, exchanging tales and briefly forgetting the troubles of the world. </li><li>A group of sailors drift in a rowboat, exhausted and dehydrated. If helped, they offer a tale of pirates seizing their vessel and executing their captain. On board was an important person of interest, a princess from the Kingdom of Thessala, en route to Isola della Divinità, a famous royal residential retreat on the northeastern edges of the Sérénité.</li><li>Far on the horizon, port side, a ship is slowly capsizing. Some of its crew cling helplessly, some are already swimming away. One man proudly stands near the figurehead, waiting for the inevitable. </li><li>The water around the ship begins to manically splash and gurgle, as if some sort beast is about to rise from the deeps! Yet as moments pass you realize that it is simply a massive school of fish swimming around your vessel.</li><li>Clutching only a small floating barrel, a man drifts in the waters aimlessly. He looks exhausted and hopeless, not even calling out to you for aid. If you drag him out on board, he will offer his story. He was a captain of a vessel known as “<i>Tranquility</i>”, whose crew has mutinied against him for reasons most foul and false! As he regains his strength, he is begins offering an extensive reward for the return of his ship.</li><li>A beautiful young woman in silken turquoise garments sitting and contemplating in a drifting rowboat without oars. If rescued, she can’t recall her name and seems to be in shock, albeit with a quiet and soothing demeanor. She is pale and thin and brings on board the smell of brine and a fresh sea breeze. She doesn’t remember how she got here, but only recounts that the name of the vessel she was on board previously was “<i>The Wayfarer</i>”, its fate or location unknown. If offered food and drink, she spends her time on board talking with the crew deep into the night, offering tales of the vast seas beyond, both wondrous and terrible. In the morning, she appears to be gone, only a small puddle of seawater left where she slept.</li><li>A small uncharted island appears on the horizon. Some 50ft in radius, it lays lonely with only a little grove of trees on its surface. If the characters decide to dig and they do so to a significant depth, they uncover a buried trove of treasure which contains gold, numerous documents and, of course, a map.</li><li>Dozens of bloated bodies float in the waters, silence and sorrow in the air all around them. What manner of ill fate fell upon them is a question left brooding in your mind. If the players are mad enough to pickpocket the dead, there is a 5% chance that a corpse has a magic ring in its pocket.</li></ol></div></div><div>=====</div><div>And there you have it, the first month is complete. So far I'm enjoying the journey, it is definitely an interesting mental exercise. There will be a rather big pause with posting since I will be travelling for the next two weeks, but the next addition to the challenge will probably be a mega-post for all entries made in February. But, until then, if anybody is still reading this mumbo jumbo I would appreciate some feedback, good or bad! Thank you for hanging around and take care.</div></div></div>xmoonxhowlerxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15149950277567744302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339496748012140737.post-8848731863264919222024-01-25T14:15:00.000-08:002024-01-25T14:15:17.140-08:00Hex24 Challenge: Week 3<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Summary: </b>Seven more hexes (sea fillers, an abandoned ship, a view of the mainland and a peninsula with survivors in need of help) and seacrawling procedures.<span><a name='more'></a><br /></span></div><h2 style="text-align: center;"><u>Hexes</u></h2><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>*Serenity Sea, continued</b> (hexes 0104, 0305, 0306)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">*</div><div style="text-align: justify;">=====</div><div style="text-align: justify;">*By now you get the idea, Sérénité is a calm sea, so use your own descriptions. However, what did come across my mind is that I shouldn’t even write these descriptions for sea hexes, as they will largely depend on the weather conditions (see below). Something to think about, so I'll go over this in next week's post..</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbzAOkM8oVFjFLCeq8mkQMZ3JLst5a3nJHPCCrijDS3faspmZh7UrGaUkCXHnFAXl9QYEaxbRVGRMEL08YeoSXGSkOtRatWDihukSAGLmsogs8Z3swY5ZvaO6NOtZYeW9QhzSLtl1IQ2sZUw8V-jU59y-OVcbCDjND2ZMSNfFNIA8t8IORpMZSexsLsjIG/s3543/Caspar_David_Friedrich_-_Der_M%C3%B6nch_am_Meer_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2254" data-original-width="3543" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbzAOkM8oVFjFLCeq8mkQMZ3JLst5a3nJHPCCrijDS3faspmZh7UrGaUkCXHnFAXl9QYEaxbRVGRMEL08YeoSXGSkOtRatWDihukSAGLmsogs8Z3swY5ZvaO6NOtZYeW9QhzSLtl1IQ2sZUw8V-jU59y-OVcbCDjND2ZMSNfFNIA8t8IORpMZSexsLsjIG/w640-h408/Caspar_David_Friedrich_-_Der_M%C3%B6nch_am_Meer_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Monk by the Sea" by Caspar David Friedrich</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>*Thessala Mainland</b> (hex 0105)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The northern regional tip of the old Kingdom of Thessala comes slowly into view of your spyglass. Unsurprisingly, the land is devoured by the Pale Death, so thick that for a moment you feel your eyes going numb from the whiteness. It is as if nothing ever existed in that corner of the world, the rich history and culture of the kingdom destroyed, life itself erased. Although you perhaps expected the mainland to be doomed, somehow you can’t help but feel your heart sink at the sight of such tragedy. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>*</b><b>Peninsula Neosica</b> (hex 0205)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The once beautiful Neosican peninsula, famous for its lush flora, appears on the horizon. Drawing closer however, your gut clenches, the landmass before you laying sullenly as it is being choked by the thick fog and its eerily familiar white bleakness. Strange shapes limp about and black monoliths pierce the deathly veil as if mocking your foolish hope.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>*</b><b>Peninsula Neosica. continued</b> (hex 0206)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">As the peninsula bends towards the south, so too is the mass of the Pale Death seen extending its coils. Grotesque immovable objects stand ominously within it, statues perhaps, as if gazing towards the rising mass of land. For indeed, the landmass ascends upwards, forming a natural headland where the fog has not yet reached, still slowly crawling to the summit.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">As you sail closer, you are faced with a horrific realization. At the top of the southernmost part of the peninsula where the headland is at its highest, some 50 meters above sea level, is a church with dozens of people in the field around it. Once you get close enough for them to notice your ship, some start crying, some to wave at you in panic, swaying white bedsheets and torches, screaming in a desperate attempt to reach your attention… as if they are pleading a savior.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>*</b><b>O Siopilós Kólpos</b> (hex 0106)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Silent Bay, as it is called in the common tongue, greets you with calm waters as the Sérénité follows the southern side of the Neosican peninsula closer into the mainland. The gentle rocking of the waves puts your mind at ease, a nigh strange feeling as you are surrounded almost on all sides by a devastated mainland a dozen miles away.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Somewhere in the middle of the bay sits an island lush with vegetation, while half a kilometer away floats an anchored carrack, the name “Sjøorm” painted on its stern. More disturbing however, is that none of the crew can be seen on the deck or in the crow's nest, the vessel lifeless and empty.</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div>=====</div><div>And finally, what it all looks like on the map so far is attached below! Not 100% complete yet, since I'd like to add some color to the landmass and I'm trying to figure out what to draw on the messed up mainland. We'll see.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNzjDtCAimOIR5tZvd5MJrA6rYw7MAQfp7A4ZcQ3rKSWSgJd3tDeKkn1ukn1UcSt2i5m8yFOzAkRORLYVgkObD97Ex5mV9YmJDdEq0_Q5SxKBJPY7NXXSXcKtXxGk03CPWsrp1pe2WWpp4yjxSFO1OAlP2nNJFpgMbp9yjn2P2KPE5klfniLDcj5B6qzUz/s4000/IMG_20240125_221644.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNzjDtCAimOIR5tZvd5MJrA6rYw7MAQfp7A4ZcQ3rKSWSgJd3tDeKkn1ukn1UcSt2i5m8yFOzAkRORLYVgkObD97Ex5mV9YmJDdEq0_Q5SxKBJPY7NXXSXcKtXxGk03CPWsrp1pe2WWpp4yjxSFO1OAlP2nNJFpgMbp9yjn2P2KPE5klfniLDcj5B6qzUz/w400-h300/IMG_20240125_221644.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>In the future, I think I will add map updates at the end of each post, as to not have my doodles smack right in the middle.</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;"><u>The Sea is a Harsh Mistress: Seacrawling Procedures</u></h2><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0LFW9LSTQWLI1U9DkHDA1uH6T8xiyO-EaSfiFM6CnlIlO2yzi947j_Txnv6B-UNn3Yz7uhJ99Dv_4gt2p4OrT8sMO3s5PDhyahOAe9pRMlCX6kxjFUXvPLJkpWEKKAgEwHoSRAtR4ZtVSYc3tRxZVP2wXnKagle1fBGh2X5EvglWg0RuzHwMj0m_qU5CN/s3158/Carl_Emil_Baag%C3%B8e_-_Maritime_painting.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2127" data-original-width="3158" height="431" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0LFW9LSTQWLI1U9DkHDA1uH6T8xiyO-EaSfiFM6CnlIlO2yzi947j_Txnv6B-UNn3Yz7uhJ99Dv_4gt2p4OrT8sMO3s5PDhyahOAe9pRMlCX6kxjFUXvPLJkpWEKKAgEwHoSRAtR4ZtVSYc3tRxZVP2wXnKagle1fBGh2X5EvglWg0RuzHwMj0m_qU5CN/w640-h431/Carl_Emil_Baag%C3%B8e_-_Maritime_painting.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Seascape with a brig heading for a coast" by Carl Emil Baagøe</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Seacrawling procedure, <b>each <u>day</u> of travel</b>:</div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li style="text-align: justify;">GM rolls for <b>weather</b></li><li style="text-align: justify;">GM rolls for <b>winds </b>(2d6 for force/type and 1d6 for direction) </li><li style="text-align: justify;">Player 1 rolls for <b>Celestial Navigation</b></li><li style="text-align: justify;">Player 2 rolls for <b>Ship Navigation</b></li><li style="text-align: justify;">If a new hex is entered:</li><ol><li style="text-align: justify;"><b>Weather conditions</b> rolled again</li><li style="text-align: justify;"><b>Wind conditions </b>have chance to change</li><li style="text-align: justify;"><b>Random encounter</b> roll <i><u>(coming soon)</u></i></li><li style="text-align: justify;">If <b>changing course</b>, roll <b>Navigation </b>again; otherwise, maintaining course requires no subsequent Navigation rolls for the rest of the day</li></ol></ol><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Weather and Winds </h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Weather</b> - roll d6 (GM)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">1-2 - Clear sky (no effect)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">3 - Cloudy (-1 to Celestial Navigation)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">4 - Fog* (-1 to Celestial Navigation, -1 to Ship Navigation)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">5 - Heavy clouds and rain (-2 to Celestial Navigation, -1 to Ship Navigation)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">6 - Special <i><u>(coming soon)</u></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;">*This is mundane, not the Pale Death fog</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Wind </b>- roll 2d6 (GM)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">2 - No wind (no movement unless via oars/rowing)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">3-4 - Light Breeze (no effect to movement)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">5-8 - Moderate Breeze (+1 hex movement if ship is headed the same direction as the wind, otherwise -1)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">9-11 - Strong Wind (+2 hex movement if ship is headed the same direction as the wind, otherwise -2)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">12 - Storm* (ship thrown in random direction, chance of capsizing/sinking)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">*Storms are visible 1 hex ahead of time (roll d6 to determine adjacent hex), so if rolled, roll again for current weather (if Storm is rolled again, populate another randomly determined adjacent hex, etc.)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Wind Direction</b> - roll d6 (GM)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">1 - North</div><div style="text-align: justify;">2 - Northeast</div><div style="text-align: justify;">3 - Southeast</div><div style="text-align: justify;">4 - South </div><div style="text-align: justify;">5 - Southwest</div><div style="text-align: justify;">6 - Northwest</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Example: if a 5 is rolled, means the wind is blowing in the southwestern direction.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Wind does not effect movement if sails are down and ship uses oars for movement (potentially should reflect on crew morale somehow, <u><i>TBD</i></u>)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Entering a new hex, <b>Wind Conditions</b> - roll d100 (and d6, if needed to check direction) for the appropriate current Wind (GM)</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li style="text-align: justify;">Light Breeze has 50% chance of changing direction and has 50% chance to change to Moderate Breeze.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Moderate breeze has 50% chance of changing direction and 25% chance of changing to Strong Wind.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Strong Wind has 25% chance of changing to Squall (sudden violent wind with rain or snow, d6 for direction, visibility/navigation not possible) </li><li style="text-align: justify;">Storms have 20% chance of capsizing vessel and losing unrestrained cargo. If capsized, further 40% chance of sinking.</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Wind Direction Change</b> - roll d6 (GM)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">1-2 - No change</div><div style="text-align: justify;">3-4 - Wind pivots a step clockwise</div><div style="text-align: justify;">5-6 - Wind pivots a step counter clockwise</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Example: if the wind was initially blowing to the southwest and entering a new hex a 5 is rolled, the wind is now blowing to the northwest</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Celestial and Ship Navigation</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Celestial Navigation:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Uses relevant character's (<i><b>Captain </b></i>or <i><b>Quartermaster</b></i>) Navigation skill.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Items on board a vessel that are used for Celestial Navigation:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li style="text-align: justify;">Sunstone (Celestial Navigation skill check reroll when used during a day with clear sky)</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Astrolabe (+1 to skill check, possible to use in both day/night)</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Sextant (+2 to skill, possible to use in both day/night)</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Nautical Almanac* (publication that details positions of celestial bodies, provide reroll for skill check, possible to use in both day/night; should be extremely rare)</li><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">*The Nautical Almanac is actually an annual publication, so use your own judgement if the current one is available in the apocalypse or see how the characters might use an almanac that is outdated.</li></ul></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Ship Navigation:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Uses relevant character's (<i><b>Sailing Master</b></i>) Navigation skill. <b>If Celestial Navigation was successful</b>, provides +1 bonus to Ship Navigation roll.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Items on board a vessel that are used for Ship Navigation:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li style="text-align: justify;">Compass (removes negative weather effects, provides skill reroll)</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Chronometer (keeps correct time, Tinkering roll is for maintaining the device; provides a +1 bonus to Ship Navigation)</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Getting Lost</h3><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When all Navigation rolls are done in the procedure AND <b>if one of the Navigation rolls failed</b>, the getting lost roll is triggered:</div><div style="text-align: justify;">1-in-6 getting lost if Celestial Navigation roll failed</div><div style="text-align: justify;">2-in6 getting lost if Ship Navigation roll failed</div><div style="text-align: justify;">3-in-6 getting lost if both Navigation rolls failed</div><div style="text-align: justify;">4-in-6 getting lost if there is no skilled Navigator on board</div><div style="text-align: justify;">5-in-6 getting lost if caught in a Storm/Squall</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>If lost</b>, hide map and move in random direction, roll d6:</div><div style="text-align: justify;">1-2 - No change to course</div><div style="text-align: justify;">3 - Ship pivots one step clockwise</div><div style="text-align: justify;">4 - Ship pivots two steps clockwise</div><div style="text-align: justify;">5 - Ship pivots one step counter clockwise</div><div style="text-align: justify;">6 - Ship pivots two step counter clockwise</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">=====</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><u>Disclaimer about the Seacrawling procedures:</u> Obviously, these have been written on the fly and not tested, at all. Reading over the whole thing it does seem like a bit of a bookkeeping process, but honestly I would like the whole seafaring process to be its own mini-game of sorts, especially with the added crew mechanics and interactions on bigger vessels. It should feel like a voyage and not just "we go from this hex to that hex". Excited to test this out in a game and will probably have a chance to do so sooner rather than later since I am currently running a hexcrawl for a group of friends.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">=====</div><div style="text-align: justify;">That's all for this week. Whoever is still reading these I want to sincerely thank you. Hope you're enjoying the read so far and if you have any kind of feedback I'd be happy to hear it.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>xmoonxhowlerxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15149950277567744302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339496748012140737.post-24569206260464740322024-01-22T15:02:00.000-08:002024-01-22T15:02:27.260-08:00Miniatures: Dwarf Treasure Hunters for Mordheim<div style="text-align: justify;"> <b>Summary:</b> Brief post where I talk about a Mordheim warband I painted last year.</div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;">Long story short, miniature wargames are a hobby that I was always interested in ever since I first saw Warhammer Fantasy in the late 1990s/early 2000. I've been collecting various games and models over the years, but almost never actually got to play or paint any of them. Fast forward to 2021 when I moved to a new country/city and something just clicked in me that enough was enough. I <i>needed</i> to find a play group and finally get into consuming all of these wonderful things that I acquired and lovingly cherished over the years. So one of the gaming cliques I fell into was a Mordheim group and the first thing that I picked up out of my pile of shame was a Dwarf warband.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">***</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Osi, the Last Son, is a young Dwarf Noble whose father led a minor Clan in a famous Dwarf Hold, the name too heavy with sadness to recall. Not too long ago, while the Clan was still flourishing, an unknown Slayer came into the Hold bringing words of destruction yet to come. He warned Osi to leave the underground palaces of his ancestors, for soon all will fall into oblivion. </i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Advised by his two uncles to heed the word of the mysterious doomsayer, the young Noble left the halls with a few of his trusted allies, only to hear some weeks later that the entire Dwarf Hold perished under some inexplicable doom, exactly as it was foretold. Yet the visions of the Slayer continued, urging Osi and his band to head to the wretched human city of Mordheim... For what purpose, he cannot say. </i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Thus the company threads on, picking up other clan-less Dwarfs along the way who are willing to join this strange trek.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;">***</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The warband currently consists of:</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Osi, the Last Son, a Noble</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Thorek, the Wise, an Engineer, uncle to Osi</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Grom, the Silent Grief, a Slayer, uncle to Osi</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Sili, the Little Death, and Olif, the Groomed, two Thunderers (with gun and crossbow, respectively)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Durek, the Stout, and Khazel, the Strong, two Clansmen (one with axe, one with hammer, respectively)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Skorri and Snorri, two Beardling twins (one with crossbow, one with axe, respectively)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Naturally, the Beardlings are the Dwarfs seen drinking, as they are yet to prove their worth! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I tried giving all of them different colored cloth based on what class they were, symbolizing a bit of a hierarchy among the ranks. Still missing, in other words yet to be painted, are another Slayer (the prophet, one now called Doom With No Name), one more Thunderer (Olaf, the Scruff, younger brother to Olif, the Groomed) and one more yet-to-be-named Clansmen.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It was loads of fun painting these guys, even though I'm not too mad of a fan of Dwarfs, and it was neat coming up with the names and little backstory, as Mordheim itself is rather reliant on mood and ambience. I am in no way an expert painter, so you will have to pardon potential ocular unpleasantries, but it is what it is. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhonp4EZeACb5aqasBmm8-YZYVdLVm_RZTBYxzJWszWK8C_J-ygjj0cr3ahROHNS7OaeLcQpzZxqZ8_C-6BwTLG-JI0SIPYMspGs2_3USj_fU88k9NuvwQxZ7svPIDS1uL0eNoNUMmGnKip4RlWhKx-0OIY8Zja5SAxbQxvlw5q8pJwD-pxsSlu6bpLU04H/s4000/IMG_20240122_221520.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhonp4EZeACb5aqasBmm8-YZYVdLVm_RZTBYxzJWszWK8C_J-ygjj0cr3ahROHNS7OaeLcQpzZxqZ8_C-6BwTLG-JI0SIPYMspGs2_3USj_fU88k9NuvwQxZ7svPIDS1uL0eNoNUMmGnKip4RlWhKx-0OIY8Zja5SAxbQxvlw5q8pJwD-pxsSlu6bpLU04H/w300-h400/IMG_20240122_221520.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Osi, the Last Son</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicG-RPWQqaUUNSXWCENiyZN0LfGiDkcdPdkV_3bdjc0F-m-AsSCx526HXrJY7XIQNnxbQJu2UiZ8ptkZjpqiiDbwUhYY97IRPu0sJpJzDuMXa6tDWVMJ9OfhFGv9RENqZX0aDMYFAYhGAiVu94Ip4gRdYqtV1xZCV3fWNILbvDyHGU-pwL26ub0qFOoM_7/s4000/IMG_20240122_221535.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicG-RPWQqaUUNSXWCENiyZN0LfGiDkcdPdkV_3bdjc0F-m-AsSCx526HXrJY7XIQNnxbQJu2UiZ8ptkZjpqiiDbwUhYY97IRPu0sJpJzDuMXa6tDWVMJ9OfhFGv9RENqZX0aDMYFAYhGAiVu94Ip4gRdYqtV1xZCV3fWNILbvDyHGU-pwL26ub0qFOoM_7/w300-h400/IMG_20240122_221535.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN96yxoK2LtY7qJrfX6p1PZZP5_ZaLQuSZ3LmfNM0kBCbfoyBmi7-HFmMt0k0huY1xfqGlNWoVSrLHPy7WdVV-EY50ztU0ezgyb3mlI8ySjRyYmPxGUf_OBT7AKDxNVYbGXK83BIXkx50_xBaUjFzAhAEB96MkTWIjEyPU36hbUbo5WNArjz1hddSqp9Mx/s4000/IMG_20240122_221800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN96yxoK2LtY7qJrfX6p1PZZP5_ZaLQuSZ3LmfNM0kBCbfoyBmi7-HFmMt0k0huY1xfqGlNWoVSrLHPy7WdVV-EY50ztU0ezgyb3mlI8ySjRyYmPxGUf_OBT7AKDxNVYbGXK83BIXkx50_xBaUjFzAhAEB96MkTWIjEyPU36hbUbo5WNArjz1hddSqp9Mx/w300-h400/IMG_20240122_221800.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Thorek, the Wise</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm9HqxLtSqr1H1wxEGnDigT3o4z9BWkMTTr8TCCzNy-Z-e5kGHNeO3DFU2XnuRTZhv4p5wbJ4WDxLwdpSwK_I_ekGJ4-qCKQoSYdUpZzjwgqyA5nNjzIY2fY-5uKVYpwbBpwp1SUoH1HjeslP8tf6IepmudxYQ8B_DVpGcPyd8chEy0vQ52Llj3HeboqUC/s4000/IMG_20240122_221826.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm9HqxLtSqr1H1wxEGnDigT3o4z9BWkMTTr8TCCzNy-Z-e5kGHNeO3DFU2XnuRTZhv4p5wbJ4WDxLwdpSwK_I_ekGJ4-qCKQoSYdUpZzjwgqyA5nNjzIY2fY-5uKVYpwbBpwp1SUoH1HjeslP8tf6IepmudxYQ8B_DVpGcPyd8chEy0vQ52Llj3HeboqUC/w300-h400/IMG_20240122_221826.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Grom, the Silent Grief</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAZ5xtWW2B_bdTm4uB-XEKusxuUTk59FDxmz8s2yGH6makcBXvMsWz46jM0M103Efhrq1yneoULu_bxy4f4Dq8tWjFbw5jBkAyD708HfimoQ-0G5VPKhPQ8-ELyfP-uqH69ir4PEmxaCLVKiyNv_S3POxk-HXetWr8f5oFD3JOcEhHR3sStJD_tpuYUKRQ/s4000/IMG_20240122_221843.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAZ5xtWW2B_bdTm4uB-XEKusxuUTk59FDxmz8s2yGH6makcBXvMsWz46jM0M103Efhrq1yneoULu_bxy4f4Dq8tWjFbw5jBkAyD708HfimoQ-0G5VPKhPQ8-ELyfP-uqH69ir4PEmxaCLVKiyNv_S3POxk-HXetWr8f5oFD3JOcEhHR3sStJD_tpuYUKRQ/w300-h400/IMG_20240122_221843.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWxRiQRR1WaczhRMxcmX942LwqDZRmvkR-tztrxGTFiRrwRGZNDskgAtYFl6smil1TJbapJOHcmIKvcXoPgASnoK8cUheJw09ktnk2-KXRTGVAl3zzoynhgVAVSX3xFaxCRIi3YiQ2B8I4DaJr_jbFPuh5jliSFPLaHfe9diYlkueE6C211Js0gqnH4iRu/s4000/IMG_20240122_222142.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWxRiQRR1WaczhRMxcmX942LwqDZRmvkR-tztrxGTFiRrwRGZNDskgAtYFl6smil1TJbapJOHcmIKvcXoPgASnoK8cUheJw09ktnk2-KXRTGVAl3zzoynhgVAVSX3xFaxCRIi3YiQ2B8I4DaJr_jbFPuh5jliSFPLaHfe9diYlkueE6C211Js0gqnH4iRu/w300-h400/IMG_20240122_222142.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Sili, the Little Death</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijITUJWbacEmU91SIaFuP45mCX8Loa_AJFfmYzI0x3Tq20NA5_hAfqmjiMhhxBcy_aoZHDrU49eq3lLr9zT0BZeFsV8lrX9m9xyRfML07-Kf2NG_gKfc0YCvRPjg6PZJSuhDZuzbgUGmcLIh9msd08-nxWuoEpsmYmNY2iN3VF08sZ4TSKoDHklYSiRi9H/s4000/IMG_20240122_221654.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijITUJWbacEmU91SIaFuP45mCX8Loa_AJFfmYzI0x3Tq20NA5_hAfqmjiMhhxBcy_aoZHDrU49eq3lLr9zT0BZeFsV8lrX9m9xyRfML07-Kf2NG_gKfc0YCvRPjg6PZJSuhDZuzbgUGmcLIh9msd08-nxWuoEpsmYmNY2iN3VF08sZ4TSKoDHklYSiRi9H/w300-h400/IMG_20240122_221654.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Olif, the Groomed</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5WdUQ84TMEG9xhRCw7lIPFuT5Ca0SFIBVRgtbr25GQv2VRViQLI3ckPez4eSdZBaqrevLqaM8CSErZ9UHSWLHA7McuxVLDMKq6PYcQGYebdir-IaQz5Am0SjAdKm-sa9Re3h-w4SGzZSd_SRM5_3wmh8p-T6xYn_F873hAROoxwjLlDlbX8j3_HDqJoNk/s4000/IMG_20240122_221610.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5WdUQ84TMEG9xhRCw7lIPFuT5Ca0SFIBVRgtbr25GQv2VRViQLI3ckPez4eSdZBaqrevLqaM8CSErZ9UHSWLHA7McuxVLDMKq6PYcQGYebdir-IaQz5Am0SjAdKm-sa9Re3h-w4SGzZSd_SRM5_3wmh8p-T6xYn_F873hAROoxwjLlDlbX8j3_HDqJoNk/w300-h400/IMG_20240122_221610.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Khazel, the Strong</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjifBQghsYCSrFPqk-9ugtCW2rtWD_h4Vxd5jPuqRPa8MyTs9vuceE1DtSPrdn3lAqcJqSaMi3YEm9JHh_Pj7mcnigrnrP7a4-HoSO6rTLqkEsTh-jFmd2BRTJE1_a-2chysXs0iVMdsX5AS3dcPLfTIYf3THBuTtplrxu2-vhN811x3f0M0JuVRxJ0EYav/s4000/IMG_20240122_222104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjifBQghsYCSrFPqk-9ugtCW2rtWD_h4Vxd5jPuqRPa8MyTs9vuceE1DtSPrdn3lAqcJqSaMi3YEm9JHh_Pj7mcnigrnrP7a4-HoSO6rTLqkEsTh-jFmd2BRTJE1_a-2chysXs0iVMdsX5AS3dcPLfTIYf3THBuTtplrxu2-vhN811x3f0M0JuVRxJ0EYav/w300-h400/IMG_20240122_222104.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Snorri</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhahm1hjxOgR8qA0juv_7g8XNzKVhdoWnTb3yxbtFvoWe7pcIM79inZJ4EwjxguCCqft47RNEni2ldnK11P0vuPhIf2LSBuCiPsAofkcJFlLs4leOqC0Cz7wMJCLdnTEck7fDxoafCPBgV6N0ySjZzklzUwWmsMlFUgFU1JYF1HMtdV-8wu514NmWrnqdt6/s1438/group.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="659" data-original-width="1438" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhahm1hjxOgR8qA0juv_7g8XNzKVhdoWnTb3yxbtFvoWe7pcIM79inZJ4EwjxguCCqft47RNEni2ldnK11P0vuPhIf2LSBuCiPsAofkcJFlLs4leOqC0Cz7wMJCLdnTEck7fDxoafCPBgV6N0ySjZzklzUwWmsMlFUgFU1JYF1HMtdV-8wu514NmWrnqdt6/w640-h294/group.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Osi's Wanderers, Dwarf Treasure Hunters band</i></td></tr></tbody></table>xmoonxhowlerxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15149950277567744302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339496748012140737.post-67313410110983719302024-01-16T15:34:00.000-08:002024-01-17T14:43:14.499-08:00Hex24 Challenge: Week 2<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Summary:</b> Featuring seven more hexes (mostly sea fillers and an island fort), crew descriptions and skills, and a list of items that describe the world.</div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">To start things off in this post, here are a few additional descriptive paragraphs for the overall setting, in the form of one of those "describe your world with a number of items" lists. Can't really remember where this started or where I saw this initially (I am a lazy bastard), but here it is.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2x9R22mUnlwW69hVy6tTfHXPEsZddxNkXiRPVjjg-4B7mHcMzChcmKOwmJzqI3dDWxgv8XqGhQXlVYnQ6Q-mjNQgdb1MMvOpOWgtt3Lfl5RvvoHix_1bgqCMzFkqwpZ7_QgS09UqqRMfGcqaGFmPswh_zmraMG-DRZ3kVFLzmLTsKWa8lqFvGXNWWP9xe/s2000/De_Heem,_Vanitasstilleven.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1542" data-original-width="2000" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2x9R22mUnlwW69hVy6tTfHXPEsZddxNkXiRPVjjg-4B7mHcMzChcmKOwmJzqI3dDWxgv8XqGhQXlVYnQ6Q-mjNQgdb1MMvOpOWgtt3Lfl5RvvoHix_1bgqCMzFkqwpZ7_QgS09UqqRMfGcqaGFmPswh_zmraMG-DRZ3kVFLzmLTsKWa8lqFvGXNWWP9xe/w640-h494/De_Heem,_Vanitasstilleven.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Vanitas Still life with Books, a Globe, a Skull, a Violin and a Fan" by Jan Davidszoon de Heem</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Describe the world through items:</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><ol><li>A mariner's astrolabe made out of old brass and engraved with gold, it contains symbols for many celestial bodies outside of the knowledge of the common man.</li><li>An ancient serrated harpoon, corroded and eaten away by salt and blood, used in centuries past on the first whaler barges. A small engraving at the hilt says “forgive thine own hunger”.</li><li>Crumpled nautical chart outlining a proposed view of the seas and oceans known to man, the centerpiece being a massive whirlpool said to transport vessels into the fictional Suboceanean waters.</li><li>A silver-plated, bronze-engraved spyglass with the lens made of onyx starglass.</li><li>Cheap-shot, as it is known among the seafaring folk, is a type of pistol made out of a grip, a “firing” mechanism, and a glass barrel containing sea water and a number of small jellyfish. Triggering the mechanism will actually kill and squeeze out the creature, discharging a spray of gelatinous mixture that has various effects on the person being shot, from blindness and choking to stickiness and incapacitation. A rather popular tool among pirates, for no respectful sailor would ever stoop so low to actually use it.</li><li>Grappler, coming in the form of either a gauntlet or a grappling hook, made out of claws of crabs or teeth of sharks. A rather rare and recent invention seen among pirates, it is used to board enemy vessels.</li><li>Mosaic seashell, a rare and exotic specimen brought back from the Th'ielogo tribes in the Elogo archipelago. Although kept and displayed in dry conditions for several decades, the snail inside the shell is still alive.</li><li>A brownish piece of parchment paper, outlining terms and conditions of a charter contract for an unnamed vessel. The name of the ship and crew are lost due to the document being quite ancient, some pieces of it torn, some faded under the influence of sea salt and time.</li><li>Etriscian silex, a well-preserved vase decorated with obscene ritualistic images in black and orange paint. Confiscated from a drifting vessel whose entire crew committed suicide on board.</li><li>A thick leather tome brought back from the mists of the mainland, containing an illuminated manuscript thousands of pages long, detailing all the monarchs and rulers of the known world. May all the names described therein be forever cursed.</li></ol><div><h2 style="text-align: center;"><b><u>Hexes</u></b></h2><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>*Serenity Sea, continued</b> (hexes 0204, 0304, 0403, 0404, 0405, 0503)</div><div>Even this far out at sea, the ever gentle Sérénité still reminds you of the waters below the docks of The Cape (hex 0102), the slow ebb and flow of the calming waves giving you hope. Out here it is almost peaceful, open waters wrapped in silence and no doomed mainland or sense of despair in sight, the fresh air filling your lungs with salt. You feel as if perhaps you were always meant to live on the waves and explore the great unknown. Perhaps this <i>is </i>your new home.</div><div>=====</div><div><u>Disclaimer regarding so many "filler" sea hexes at the start</u>: I kinda felt that it would be neat to have a lot of free space in the beginning in order for the players and the GM to try out the seacrawling procedures, which will be outlined next week. It seemed like a good choice to test those in calm waters, without a lot of other things distracting the crew.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnp2LBxHa1cG_2r_4rtrIZ50bynNnJI9Q9lhh9Mc-qDBvgZsWfF87KZBhKkqh7l_TgY5qx1CFAl5iM9HfTRNFQJSGZtLABfUaC1FuK6MkHDK4q3lv3ljuzjO0afDowl77rVBsvsWuYaSZlt7DY9JSJWxsOXt6BMG04Eh5GmbQ1u2N6TeulfWZKHnyhN8Ji/s976/Plan_of_the_Fort_of_Bangalore_from_sights,_without_measurement.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="976" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnp2LBxHa1cG_2r_4rtrIZ50bynNnJI9Q9lhh9Mc-qDBvgZsWfF87KZBhKkqh7l_TgY5qx1CFAl5iM9HfTRNFQJSGZtLABfUaC1FuK6MkHDK4q3lv3ljuzjO0afDowl77rVBsvsWuYaSZlt7DY9JSJWxsOXt6BMG04Eh5GmbQ1u2N6TeulfWZKHnyhN8Ji/w640-h414/Plan_of_the_Fort_of_Bangalore_from_sights,_without_measurement.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Plan of the Fort of Bangalore from Sights, without Measurement" by Claude Martin</i> </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><b>*Fort of Banga’lore</b> (hex 0504)</div><div>An island of bare rock rises on the horizon, a fort of stone and brick and wood dominating the small mass of land. Several row boats tied to a small pier on the right flank, the vessels bouncing on the waves while nearby trees and bushes on the shore contribute to the calming dance. A serene scene at the very edge of the Sérénité.</div><div>(<i>If someone should possess this knowledge or some kind of lore check is rolled:</i> The Fort of Banga’lore was an early venture of expansion out into the sea, an important checkpoint for ships aiming to sail the northern trading routes and favorable winds when leaving the Serenity Sea, while also protecting the region from pirates and reavers.)</div><div>It is only when you sail closer do you realize that something is amiss. There is no one greeting you at the dock. No movement up ahead on the walls of the fort, no shadow moving at the window sills, no trail in the sand, nor a flag or signal in salute… The residents are gone, disappeared without an apparent clue, the sound of the waves and leaves the only sign of life.</div></div></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;"><u>Life on the Twelve Seas: The Crew</u></h2><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYWuOOHmQMCKJzNVE9URFDTvJtWlAxenPCZ-RN2YtiQNYnZ1pyf0NaK475NXd7aWYgEz6BVCkqHqlhyphenhyphen_Yf8qYu2Bu4bMw8sj4hKE6onq9dNrqjmNcsViD6OOtpqM9oUBxWctgArx-xaWn1Y2cB495k8jhndrTQPGuA1n8L-g0cTa9wurLZKSL4Uqx3SaJF/s1502/Napoleon_on_Board_the_Bellerophon_-_Sir_William_Quiller_Orchardson.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1502" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYWuOOHmQMCKJzNVE9URFDTvJtWlAxenPCZ-RN2YtiQNYnZ1pyf0NaK475NXd7aWYgEz6BVCkqHqlhyphenhyphen_Yf8qYu2Bu4bMw8sj4hKE6onq9dNrqjmNcsViD6OOtpqM9oUBxWctgArx-xaWn1Y2cB495k8jhndrTQPGuA1n8L-g0cTa9wurLZKSL4Uqx3SaJF/w640-h426/Napoleon_on_Board_the_Bellerophon_-_Sir_William_Quiller_Orchardson.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Napoleon on Board the Bellerophon" by Sir William Quiller Orchardson</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>Moving on from the map, let us talk about the crew on board a ship. I tried reading up on the titles and crew dynamics and it is definitely something interesting for this type of game. Personally, I’m always amused by military rankings and chain-of-command interactions, but I wouldn’t go too deep into specific game mechanics for this… keep it light and mostly to kick off roleplay.</div><div> </div><div><div>The entries below are broken down by:</div><div><ul><li>Overall description of the title and its responsibilities</li><li>Rank</li><li>Abilities and skills that might be relevant </li></ul></div></div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>*Captain </b></div><div><ul><li>Primary “leader” and decision maker; Head navigator</li><li>Responsible for a safe and successful voyage and for the safety of cargo and crew</li><li>Charisma checks for leadership and handling crew</li><li>Navigation skill for Celestial Navigation checks</li><li>Rank 6</li></ul></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>*First mate</b> </div><div><ul><li>Second-in-Command </li><li>Responsible for personnel, the application of all laws and regulations on board the vessel, stands watch, first responder in emergencies</li><li>Charisma checks for handling crew</li><li>Law skill, in case you want a more realistic approach to handling laws and regulations </li><li>Rank 5</li></ul></div></div><div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>*Surgeon </b></div><div><ul><li>Responsible for overall health of the crew (not just surgery)</li><li>Medicine as a primary skill or any kind of relevant check</li><li>Rank 4</li></ul></div><div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>*Sailing Master</b> </div><div><ul><li>Responsible for steering the ship and maintaining course and speed, monitoring instruments </li><li>Navigation skill for ship navigation checks</li><li>Tinkering skill for handling instruments</li><li>Rank 4</li></ul></div></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>*Boatswain </b></div><div><ul><li>Responsible for overall ship efficiency (included, but not limited to, repairs, supervising, organizing deck activities, storage of cargo)</li><li>Architecture skill for assessing damage, storage, etc.</li><li>Tinkering skill for repairs</li><li>Charisma checks for organizing the crew</li><li>Rank 3</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div><b>*Quartermaster </b></div><div><ul><li>Responsible for keeping log books updated, verifying the ship’s clock*, maintaining supplies, works on navigation with the Captain</li><li>Tinkering skill for handling and maintaining the clock</li><li>Navigation skill for providing assistance during Celestial Navigation and/or handling other navigation tasks</li><li>Rank 3</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div><b>*Seamen/Sailors</b></div><div><ul><li>Responsible for whatever they are being told to do, the main “workforce” that powers the vessel</li><li>Possible minor titles include mates, powder monkeys, swabs, cabin boys, riggers, carpenters, etc.</li><li>Rank 1 or 2</li></ul><div><br /></div></div></div><div><div>Now first, regarding Rank, at the moment this is not fully fleshed out mechanically, but in my mind it will work simply as a tool for decision making in critical situations and to simulate a more structured chain of command (obviously the higher the rank, the higher the PC is in the chain). Even as plain as that I kind of like it for party dynamics, but eventually I might work on it more and give it proper mechanical meaning.</div><div><br /></div><div>Also on the topic of Navigation and the above mentioned ship’s clock*, it needs a bit of thematic clarification. The reason for the asterisk is just to clarify that the ship’s clock (or mariner’s chronometer) is one of many tools used for celestial navigation on ships, the tools mostly dependent on the level of technology of the setting. I’m not even sure I have a clearly defined “period” in my head other than saying “LotFP-ish 17th century but with some weird tweaks for coolness”.</div><div><br /></div><div>Speaking of other celestial navigation tools, I’d say you can use anything from the most basic sun crystals, mariner astrolabe, to the chronometer, sextant, and even publications of the nautical almanac. I’d go technologically no farther than the last two, but also would include more “primitive” tools, as they are bound to pop up once the apocalypse kicked off and people became desperate and in survival mode. Add or remove as you see fit, but in any case these more advanced tools should be a rarity or at least hard to acquire. Make possessing them on your ship meaningful. </div><div><br /></div><div>So now, how does navigation and seacrawling actually work? Find out in the post coming next week! I have it all typed out and in fact I wanted to add it all in this post, but felt it might be a bit overkill with the wall of text. Opted to keep the material for next week and refine it a bit further since I loathe to write mechanical bits in general. </div></div><div>And yes... I know I owe you the map, but sadly I didn't get a chance to work on it this week. Soon™.</div></div>xmoonxhowlerxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15149950277567744302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339496748012140737.post-26190420678628387382024-01-10T12:17:00.000-08:002024-01-16T15:41:46.683-08:00Hex24 Challenge: Week 1<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Summary: </b><span style="text-align: left;">An intro blurb about the setting and the first seven hexes of the challenge, feautiring a look at the mainland and the starting town, as well as a nearby island prison, a lighthouse, and some filler sea hexes. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A little late with this post, since I’ve been sabotaged by a severely delayed flight yesterday which ruined most of my plans, so there’s that. Not the most grandiose of openings!</div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><b>***</b></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkXbXa9Dyj2z1pACSx0KLXTVnwyL4iAguGr5WSpu5TwEYmqye6ESMPR2B5cjWJ3e0Kvtd9jIRBkqd7esQ4zo9MBTV9e5es2BrAXB-C2ClGRGmQrWubhskYsBTRo0pkg_pYqWtuBjextsilSYokcnuQG1SgeggHOb2ifZ8a7we2ia-umPs95x00Je6PvKhV/s1536/Joseph_Mallord_William_Turner_081.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="942" data-original-width="1536" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkXbXa9Dyj2z1pACSx0KLXTVnwyL4iAguGr5WSpu5TwEYmqye6ESMPR2B5cjWJ3e0Kvtd9jIRBkqd7esQ4zo9MBTV9e5es2BrAXB-C2ClGRGmQrWubhskYsBTRo0pkg_pYqWtuBjextsilSYokcnuQG1SgeggHOb2ifZ8a7we2ia-umPs95x00Je6PvKhV/w640-h392/Joseph_Mallord_William_Turner_081.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Snow Storm: Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps" by J.M.W. Turner</i></td></tr></tbody></table><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>They broke the world with their foul magic.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>A petty feud between monarchs turned into a crusade, turned into a war, turned into a genocide, turned into an apocalypse… </i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i> </i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Great armies marched and clashed, blood and tears drowning the good earth. Magic flared, burning the sky, skin, and bark. Conflicts erupted and died, but nothing was enough to stop the bloodshed permanently and satiate the monarchs.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Simply nothing was enough…</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Their ignorance and constant lust for conflict pushed the wielders of magic to madness, bending the world to their will, slowly twisting it, time and space their playthings. Rituals forbidden eons ago were unleashed from dusty tomes and the world was not the same again. </i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>The anathematic magic unleashed chaos. Time fractured, somewhere stopping, elsewhere accelerating the crumbling of empires. Whole regions displaced in time and space, pockets of non-Euclidean geometry staining the landscape. The earth twitched and cracked, a strange mist rising, The Pale Death, devouring men and making them insane, leaving them at the mercy of ancient beings who now freely roam the world. </i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>It would never be enough… </i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>We are some of the survivors, taking sanctuary at the Cape of Last Hope. Yet we cannot stay. While the rest of the mainland behind us lies in ruin, its doom crawls closer with every passing moment, pushing us to find salvation somewhere beyond the waves. Thus we go into the great unknown, puzzled by what lies ahead, hoping that the sea protected itself from the apocalypse.</i></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>***</i></b></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">What the above failed poetic writing was trying to say was that, essentially, the mainland is pretty fucked. The Pale Death is outside the city gates, brooding and eager to penetrate the protective magic of the walls. Staring at the fog is a literal call of the void, as the mind drifts off wondering what horrors lie within the white misty cloak, a land once beautiful but now mutilated and infested with abominations unnamed, tempting the beholder into its pale embrace. The only hope is to voyage across the seas and pray that there are still some places untouched by the violent magic.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Also, I will call this monstrosity <b>Reefts: the Island Crawl</b>. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">(I love shitty pun things sometimes)</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Now, onto the hexes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;"><u>Hexes</u></h2><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0S8hZgoH4-eNgDxMkVyQSxNAWC30Rg5MA4T5C74a844ZvcTqi8YXFrtwVBqC4CkgnkSiIkZfa9VNBuyuD_-ygapNYBRGTZ1XU3b_obum2IajlFzRQ_s1P8cSpOkmnjOrnJ34S2Xa9W7pP_EWt7eQ29Iek-L-LuMYQBD02bi2ybKYYO90ymZMJnyT0OivN/s2310/Phillip_James_De_Loutherbourg_-_An_Avalanche_in_the_Alps_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1580" data-original-width="2310" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0S8hZgoH4-eNgDxMkVyQSxNAWC30Rg5MA4T5C74a844ZvcTqi8YXFrtwVBqC4CkgnkSiIkZfa9VNBuyuD_-ygapNYBRGTZ1XU3b_obum2IajlFzRQ_s1P8cSpOkmnjOrnJ34S2Xa9W7pP_EWt7eQ29Iek-L-LuMYQBD02bi2ybKYYO90ymZMJnyT0OivN/w640-h438/Phillip_James_De_Loutherbourg_-_An_Avalanche_in_the_Alps_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"An Avalanche in the Alps" by Philip James De Loutherbourg</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>*The Mainland</b> (hex 0101)</div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">The fog is thick, ever turbulent. It ebbs and flows, thrashing left and right, a leviathan hungry for unspoiled flesh of still sane men. A howl, a cry, a scream, a feasting sound… all could be heard at times, coming from within the Pale Death. Bleak shadows of its victims can sometimes be seen dragging themselves blindly through the whiteness. Stare into the void long enough… and you could swear that you heard wailing of a lost loved one somewhere in the distance. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">On the horizon strange structures can be seen. A tower with impossible angles… a cathedral where once you prayed, surrounded by floating lumps of earth… a monolith phasing in and out of existence… fractal mountains looming downwards... </div><div style="text-align: justify;">There is nothing for you here in this wretched land but madness.</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9A_ucywcIkIeNH9uPwZDuqe-FKQa68nyqWoMgRv1XkVJgd8RilBRGmRPAgN7_BHmiMpuZJNMlhGORKPGAAZQhVSCIO4VZIVmeumQ-3gkuvSV0AAod8wvidMBs8bfRsPcfoJPX0a9d5U9egrFo7v3qPi2yuuVX2TU9bXsDWhMhaX7PDx2c5Kk1ZIxil1RJ/s1024/htlvPD1XTRSR7hVvkDBRRQ.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9A_ucywcIkIeNH9uPwZDuqe-FKQa68nyqWoMgRv1XkVJgd8RilBRGmRPAgN7_BHmiMpuZJNMlhGORKPGAAZQhVSCIO4VZIVmeumQ-3gkuvSV0AAod8wvidMBs8bfRsPcfoJPX0a9d5U9egrFo7v3qPi2yuuVX2TU9bXsDWhMhaX7PDx2c5Kk1ZIxil1RJ/w640-h640/htlvPD1XTRSR7hVvkDBRRQ.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>For the lack of a proper painting, this one was generated thanks to our AI overlords</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>*Cape of Last Hope, “The Cape”</b> (hex 0102)</div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">The port city known as the Cape of Last Hope is the only remaining bastion of sanity and unfractured time, on this side of the continent at least. Located on a peninsula surrounded by the sea on four sides and only a single valley connecting it to the mainland on the north-west, its walls are protected by clerical rituals, the only source of magic allowed within. The holy men have so far managed to stave off the crawl of the Pale Death, as it periodically ebbs and flows unto the walls. Their divine magics are strong, but their bodies grow tired from the efforts… How long will they endure is a question none dare to ask. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Cape is not, and never was, a grand city. It stayed humble ever since its founding, beginning as a small fishing town, the sea rich with marine life and calm waters just off the coast. What little prominence it did acquire through recent years prior to the war was when one of the region’s noblemen decided to establish an outpost of his trading company in town. Over time the company itself drew in patrons and other clients bent on further exploration of the untamed seas, establishing a separate branch of its operations focused on shipbuilding. As a result, the local population and the town itself grew significantly, but nowhere close to match the numbers of other mainland cities of the continent. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">This changed drastically as the war began reaching its apocalyptic proportions. Thousands of displaced people fled the chaos, flooding the city en masse. The city itself was barely able to accommodate such an unexpected influx of bodies which inevitably resulted in poor living conditions. Taking into consideration that the actual physical surface of the city was relatively small, there was no other choice than to expand “upwards”, resulting in slums forming above and below, makeshift living quarters built on houses built on taverns built on warehouses built on more houses, etc.… </div><div style="text-align: justify;">In game terms, the city should offer all the things that any other “functional” city would offer, such as merchants, lodging, a temple, etc. Some form of ad hoc ruling body is established, but it is on very thin legs. Naturally, all the chaos and overall hysteria and despair would also result in certain people wanting to profit off of such primordial human emotions, so the presence of gangs and black markets in the slums is more than expected. The shipbuilding business never truly took off, as the shipyard construction was finished only recently. There is only a handful of operational vessels in the port that have completed charters under their belt and current numbers of actual experienced seamen that survived up to this point is disputable. </div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><b>*Île de Notre-Dame de la Pénitence</b> (hex 0103)</div><div><div>The Isle of Our Lady of Penitence is located some 20 or so miles to the south of The Cape, an island covered almost completely by a prison complex built centuries ago.</div><div>Cage Island (Île-Cage), as it is mostly referred to by the mainland folk, is not so easily accessible as one might presume. There is no functional port and its shoreline is surrounded by scattered points of shallow water, making it impossible for larger vessels to approach. Navigation via small rowboat is possible but requires care, as even the waters of the Sérénité in this area can be a bit treacherous. </div><div>The prison itself is made of bleached stone and is rather blinding to look at under a fully bright and sunlit day. It is manned by around a hundred or so guards, whose housing is actually the visible, above-ground, part of the complex. Being a prison guard on The Cage is a life long job, as new recruits arrive only if it is absolutely necessary to increase manpower or if a previous guard passed away. Once you set foot on the island you either never return or they return you in a coffin.</div><div>The number of inmates, vile captives who performed the most wretched of crimes back on the mainland, is unknown to anyone other than the wardens themselves. Similarly, not a lot is known of their fate, aside of the fact that they are kept in cells underground. Anything else is pure speculation. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Rumor table (or just inspirational bits) for the Isle of Our Lady of Penitence:</b></div><div><ol><li>Death row inmates are killed by being cast into a well at the lowest level of the prison</li><li>There are multiple levels of the prison, the lower you go, the more heinous the crime</li><li>Our Lady of Penitence is an actual angelic being dwelling in the complex, trying to make the inmates truly repent for their deeds… those redeemed become the new guards</li><li> All the inmates are just thrown into the maw of a creature known as the Lady of Penitence</li><li>The underground of Cage Island contains a staircase to hell itself</li><li>One of the prisoners is an important POW from the apocalyptic conflict</li><li>There is an entire nightmarish civilization in the prison catacombs, built by centuries of inmates being left to fend for themselves in the underground</li><li>With no light and no food save vermin and human meat, the inmates are all blind, insane, and disfigured</li></ol></div></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><b>*Serenity Sea</b> (hexes 0201, 0202, 0203)</div><div>Sérénité, as the sailors refer to it, is the sea surrounding The Cape and other nearby subcontinental masses of land. The kind and graceful name is well earned, since this region is famous for calm waters and fair winds. This has not changed since the war broke out and chaos seeped into the world, a glimmer of hope that not all things have been corrupted or destroyed by the misuse of magic.</div><div><br /></div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX9qE_hK4f9sZWSMPjVJRQQVLib-ZDRdyCJk7JtH2sBFq26F5XtuOCTGtc2XJ6DWOTRNcEaFCDzyaTD9KHT3vqfaluy8L3VznXwSrOanyszks08v7hTIB6TFWzPJewXBGf3wBch22SHH-nDgxxWU4lSwqve9ksF6WcBXb9xOJ80mYKAvBBPlgbyzyAwo2m/s2000/John_Lynn_-_Smeaton's_Eddystone_Lighthouse.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1472" data-original-width="2000" height="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX9qE_hK4f9sZWSMPjVJRQQVLib-ZDRdyCJk7JtH2sBFq26F5XtuOCTGtc2XJ6DWOTRNcEaFCDzyaTD9KHT3vqfaluy8L3VznXwSrOanyszks08v7hTIB6TFWzPJewXBGf3wBch22SHH-nDgxxWU4lSwqve9ksF6WcBXb9xOJ80mYKAvBBPlgbyzyAwo2m/w640-h472/John_Lynn_-_Smeaton's_Eddystone_Lighthouse.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Smeaton's Eddystone Lighthouse" by John Lynn</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><b>*Candle Rock Lighthouse</b> (hex 0303)</div><div>The lighthouse pierces the horizon in the distance like a white fang rising from the waters around it. Whoever embarked on a voyage across the Sérénité knows the Candle Rock as a sign of home, its vigilant rays of lumen guiding vessels into safety. </div><div>The years of war largely stopped almost all trading and seafaring, so the lighthouse equally stopped seeing use and has lost its significance. The lighthouse itself isn’t operational at the moment, but can be restored with time and resources. If restored and maintained somehow, I’d grant a mechanical boon of some sorts, perhaps the surrounding sea hexes don’t trigger a random encounter roll.</div><div>============================================================================================</div><div><b>Final thoughts:</b></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div>I realize that this might be too much content for a simple hexcrawl, but I just intend to write however much or little I feel like per given week. Doubt anyone but me will ever even use any of this, so I’ll simply do whatever since I kinda like this weekly worldbuilding process. Will probably also revisit and expand some mentioned concepts at a later stage. </div><div>I’m also well aware that I am currently missing an actual hexmap. I’ve started drawing one without really caring how it looks, but I’m still not 100% sure how I want to share it in these posts (either drawing or using something like HexKit or maybe something third). Deciding this will probably be on the chopping block for next week. </div></div>xmoonxhowlerxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15149950277567744302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339496748012140737.post-78544771647782268982023-12-30T12:57:00.000-08:002024-01-16T03:34:49.430-08:00Hex24 brainstorming<div style="text-align: left;"> <b>Summary: </b>A preparation post regarding my participation in the Hex24 challenge.</div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">… or in other words, hyping myself up for this one year long mental exercise. I have a rough idea where I plan to go with this, so just wanted to write something down and have it as a future reference.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I am in tune with myself well enough to know that certain things that are coming in 2024 will absolutely inspire me and I fully intend to mine those events for ideas and overall theme. Namely, I will be traveling to Thailand in February and then later during the summer I have a planned boat sailing trip across the Aegean Sea. Well aware that these two things will leave a significant impact on me, as I always feel inspired and have a huge urge to write when travelling, I decided to use these as a general direction for this project.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Additionally, I have a couple of books from HP Lovecraft which I intend to reread, since it has been ages since I read them last time, and these will perfectly fit the travelling plans mentioned above (<i>can’t wait to inject myself with lovecraftian phobia of the deep sea whilst being on a small sailboat</i>).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As such, this will primarily be a sea/ocean based hexcrawl with the majority of travelling done via waterborne vessels of various kinds. I’m thinking about using LotFP as a rough structure for maritime related things, since that is the book I have at hand, but rounding the “basic” number up to 25 miles… i.e. a LotFP stat Riverboat will be able to sail 25 miles per day (instead of 24 as given in the book). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">What that essentially translates to is that I’ll create 25 mile hexes, just for ease of travel calculation. Usually, for all the previous hexcrawls I did, I don’t get too anal about travel distances and like to keep things fast and simple.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;">So, to sum it up, my main inspiration for this challenge will be:</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Upcoming trips to Thailand and Aegean Sea</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Pirates of Dark Water (<i>a majorly underrated 90’s cartoon treasure</i>)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Umi no Triton (<i>this left some weird scars on my child psyche</i>)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Lovecraftian literature and similarly inspired music</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- The overall horror of the unexplored depths</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">That is it for now, with the next post we dive in!</div>xmoonxhowlerxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15149950277567744302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339496748012140737.post-28133729528079576072023-12-23T15:49:00.000-08:002024-01-16T03:35:05.421-08:00Hex24 Challenge<div style="text-align: left;"><b>Summary: </b>As a little jumpstart to my comeback into the blogspace, I intend to nourish my writing motivation by doing the Hex24 challenge. </div><span></span><span><a name='more'></a></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5FRY9avZpBoYZOR2PqF20H0hIE4FVYXM6-4kaeD2l4lFzuHTZncN-yzulDPPkBiOO0glSkZ0gJkNN0HT5oYCbKA3XfzQeSTaYCjPk9mOsvS_tKJ_QVojRgetpjiiIFjtpl5ZW7CUJ3Xiw0zR9eF8m0eIjwk07XjTaS64LDgggM3wooIoks5E20nrR1qyJ/s2000/Leonardo_da_Vinci_-_RCIN_912669,_Verso_Studies_of_geometry,_the_genito-urinary_system,_the_brain,_etc._c.1510-12.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1498" data-original-width="2000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5FRY9avZpBoYZOR2PqF20H0hIE4FVYXM6-4kaeD2l4lFzuHTZncN-yzulDPPkBiOO0glSkZ0gJkNN0HT5oYCbKA3XfzQeSTaYCjPk9mOsvS_tKJ_QVojRgetpjiiIFjtpl5ZW7CUJ3Xiw0zR9eF8m0eIjwk07XjTaS64LDgggM3wooIoks5E20nrR1qyJ/w640-h480/Leonardo_da_Vinci_-_RCIN_912669,_Verso_Studies_of_geometry,_the_genito-urinary_system,_the_brain,_etc._c.1510-12.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Studies of Geometry" by Leonardo Da Vinci</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">I first heard about the Hex challenge via this YouTube <a href="https://youtu.be/eOEtGdGksic" target="_blank">video</a>, somewhat in correlation to the similar Dungeon23 challenge. Although I like the basic idea of the challenge, I’m fairly certain that I won’t utilize it in that particular way, but use my simplified version of it instead.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There is only <b>one rule</b>: <u>create at least one hex per day</u>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">That’s it. I’ll be skipping the whole angle where I create my own character and explore the map daily, but instead focus on purely creating hexes. The goal is to keep it simple and just work consistently on it. It is primarily a personal exercise to stick to a blog-related project. However, since slapping down a single hex per day seems almost effortless (<i>great, jinxed it already</i>), I will leave myself some space to create additional content to make the thing playable and not just make it about the map (i.e. random encounters, factions, or whatever else …) or just go at it and create multiple hexes, whatever feels more manageable in the moment.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Also, in order to not spam out the blog, <u>I will try to post my progress once per week</u>. I guess this might be considered <b>rule two</b> of the challenge. This is a slightly optional rule, as I already know in advance that some weeks in 2024 I will be almost entirely without internet, but the majority of the time I will stick to the plan and anyone interested can follow along. Or join the darn thing if they like this kind of thing!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">That’s it for now, I will try to squeeze in one more post before the challenge begins and write a small blurb about the setting and list what will be my main sources of inspiration.</div>xmoonxhowlerxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15149950277567744302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339496748012140737.post-14296490137304958402023-12-15T13:29:00.000-08:002023-12-15T13:30:55.498-08:00I rolled on the random life table, I rolled poorly.<div style="text-align: left;"><b>Summary:</b> As title suggests, just a short random post about where I’m at in life and the state of the blog.</div><span><a name='more'></a></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrCxz7WQxFjAFKmYKnDWHCpcGqubTjU34J2TeEF34_9MWueQ5F_Az9WJmW2x3bravYeQUW1YxiBhxThUeCNp4Bkqe1_dfa0b6vwzote3yyMPtj2ZNu-rjJyOo0sfLrZ7HnJ-1H11JwbVPCnW0-dWGcjy420n9LcilG16lfLeIY2KEyoQdcHXupn5syOoIO/s1023/Gustave_Dor%C3%A9_-_Dante_Alighieri_-_Inferno_-_Plate_9_(Canto_III_-_Charon).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1023" data-original-width="744" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrCxz7WQxFjAFKmYKnDWHCpcGqubTjU34J2TeEF34_9MWueQ5F_Az9WJmW2x3bravYeQUW1YxiBhxThUeCNp4Bkqe1_dfa0b6vwzote3yyMPtj2ZNu-rjJyOo0sfLrZ7HnJ-1H11JwbVPCnW0-dWGcjy420n9LcilG16lfLeIY2KEyoQdcHXupn5syOoIO/w466-h640/Gustave_Dor%C3%A9_-_Dante_Alighieri_-_Inferno_-_Plate_9_(Canto_III_-_Charon).jpg" width="466" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Dante Alighieri's "Inferno, Plate 9, Canto III - Charon" by Gustave Doré</span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p style="text-align: justify;">So yeah, it has been quite a while since the last post and even farther away in time since the blog had any form of regularly scheduled publications. And now it’s symbolically the end of the year, so it’s time to make some promises to myself and try to stick to them... or, you know, break them just for some added frustration.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The funny thing is that this blog started during the height of the pandemic and the creative outpour from my brain has been at an all time high back then. I ran two parallel short campaigns (one LotFP and one good old pure B/X), I played at several other tables, I wrote a lot, I worked out and was in probably the best physical and mental shape of my life. Seeing how 2020 and adjacent years have been shit globally, I think I was doing quite alright at the time.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">What has changed since then (and by "then" I guess I mean <a href="https://verbum-ex-nihilo.blogspot.com/2021/02/general-blog-update-its-alive.html" target="_blank">this</a> blog post, which was funnily enough also a personal update)? Well, quite a lot actually. And overall, it’s not that I’m doing bad now per se, it’s just that my life took several 180 degree swings and left me hanging upside down. In short, my wife, our cat, and I managed to complete the bureaucratic triathlon and thus finalize the change of our country of residence. Experiencing life in an entirely new environment is an adventure in its own right, quite challenging at times, but ultimately enjoyable. We've both settled in nicely and we love every second of it. The cat is also living her best life basically.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">All positive things above, but with a much worse flipside. My father passed away 2 years ago, which was rather sudden and a shock bigger than I expected. Then only a year later, my mother got permanently hospitalized due to overall bad health (largely triggered by the death of my father). She passed away a month ago. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Experiencing these two things has been made even worse by the actual move, since I’ve been removed from my friends, been departed from my partner for extended amounts of time due to the aforementioned bureaucracy, and was in general physically away from my support network… honestly no idea how I survived and processed the emotional and mental turmoil. And it is amusing how the good old brain always focuses on the extreme negatives, instead of clinging to the positives.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Not to dwell on it too long here, but it has been rather tough, to say the least. Naturally, most of my creative output has stopped and I’ve only indulged in some weekly role play sessions in my friends’ campaigns, just to keep my sanity in check. RPGs save lives, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Life is slowly stabilizing and the juices are starting to flow again. On a whim I started running a game for a couple of friends each time I visit my home town and I’ve instantly realized how much I missed DMing. That alone made me want to come back to the blog. I have a whole backlog of things I want to write about, both for this blog and some new blog projects which I have had in the pipeline for a long time now. Also, I’ve been slowly (too slowly) working on material that I want to submit to a publisher and try to go to print, hopefully next year. And yes, I know that I've already tooted this horn before as well... but repeating it enough times and I might just finally spring into action.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">But until then, thanks to whoever gets to read this. It obviously means you check this blog from time to time and I greatly appreciate that effort. Be good.</p>xmoonxhowlerxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15149950277567744302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339496748012140737.post-84016974963320610852021-02-15T11:12:00.001-08:002021-02-15T11:14:06.754-08:00One Page Dungeon 2020 contest results<p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Summary: </b>A short post about humbly signal-boosting my own awesomeness.</div><span><a name='more'></a></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Some of you might remember that I dropped <a href="https://verbum-ex-nihilo.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-planeshifted-insectarium-of-st.html" target="_blank">my dungeon</a> into the 1-page Dungeon contest previous summer. So much time passed since then that I somewhat forgot that the results were yet to be announced. Until a few weeks ago on Twitter...</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The judges deemed my creation worthy, thus out of 150 entries mine landed into the top 10! Mind = blown.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYkVF_91ncBH9Y2lvIi2NrEGtPdB-h-gw29tKlZex-L5K3Dv1aN5i-7oWugLWcbp3htwTU6jCFawuG12PAhNZLVjUHMTJgWhRLQuqUzM4wMHz5gvQ3PyOwL_udPA6s9LGvtPFCP6rHo8Fg/" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="521" data-original-width="588" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYkVF_91ncBH9Y2lvIi2NrEGtPdB-h-gw29tKlZex-L5K3Dv1aN5i-7oWugLWcbp3htwTU6jCFawuG12PAhNZLVjUHMTJgWhRLQuqUzM4wMHz5gvQ3PyOwL_udPA6s9LGvtPFCP6rHo8Fg/" width="271" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Holy shit! "The Moth" is my other nick btw </i></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: justify;">Honestly, I never thought it would achieve anything. I mostly used the contest as an exercise, since I never made a one page dungeon before. It was a fun little experiment and the overall process that I went through was quite enjoyable. A great sense of accomplishment to submit, especially since I managed to complete the dungeon on the exact evening of the competition closing, as it was a rush against the clock due to the fact that I remembered the competition when the end date was already approaching. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Overall, feeling quite proud of myself, if I’m being honest. Small victories! Will probably take some time to make a post and sum up a few valuable things I learned during the course of making the dungeon.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In any case, if you still didn’t check out my creation, maybe you’d want to do it now that it has a stamp of approval! Hope you enjoy it and definitely let me know if you end up using it in any way, shape, or form.</p><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/12-qi-9GajgNrlYSp6m6pIt82MRhdteqf/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">The Planeshifted Insectarium of St. Tindalonius</a></span><p style="text-align: justify;">Be sure to check out the dungeons of all the other participants on the <a href="https://www.dungeoncontest.com/" target="_blank">list</a>, there are some amazing creations out there!</p><p></p>xmoonxhowlerxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15149950277567744302noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339496748012140737.post-72816719155686017212021-02-09T13:11:00.000-08:002021-02-09T13:11:59.636-08:00General Blog Update: It’s Alive!<div class="separator"><b style="text-align: justify;">Summary:</b><span style="text-align: justify;"> This is a simple update about where the blog is at, what has been happening since my previous post, and what my plans for the future look like.</span></div><span></span><span><a name='more'></a></span><p style="text-align: justify;">Alive! Even though only barely. </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Under the perfect circumstances this post should have arrived just at the end of 2020 so that I could reflect a little bit upon its wretchedness, muse over the goals that I would aspire towards, and ultimately wish all my readers many blessings moving forward. Since the circumstances ain’t perfect, you’ll get something similar albeit belated.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">So… 2020. The year that went above and beyond with opportunities for some truly fucked up Nurgle-inspired Cyberpunk LARPing. Truth be told, I think I am one of the lucky bastards that drew quite a lot of positives during this shit-show. For starters, a steady work-at-home gig and the isolation time was extremely enjoyable with my partner and our lovely cat.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="400" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Caspar_David_Friedrich_-_Wanderer_above_the_sea_of_fog.jpg" style="background-color: #e6e6e6; cursor: zoom-in; margin: auto; text-align: left; transition: background-color 300ms ease 0s; user-select: none;" title=""Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog" by Caspar David Friedrich" width="312" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"<i>Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog</i>" <i>by Caspar David Friedrich</i></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Personal highlights of the year:</p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><ul><li>I got married!</li><li>Received a permit to live and work in another country (<strike>move pending!</strike> it’s 2021. when this post gets published, so I’m actually wrapping it up from my new home!)</li><li>Created this blog</li><li>Successfully submitted an entry for the annual 1-page dungeon contest</li><li>Some of my writing landed in an RPG zine</li><li>Mustered enough courage (#1) to submit an unsolicited pitch to an RPG publisher</li><li>Mustered enough courage (#2) to run a few games for people who are completely out of my usual gaming clique</li><li>I’m pretty much in the best physical shape of my life</li></ul><div><br /></div><div>Not a bad run, not at all. However, in order to strike some balance, there have been a few negatives this year as well. Aside of the plague, we had:</div><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><ul><li>A major fallout with a person with whom I’ve played RPGs for the majority of my gaming career</li><li>A long dry period where I have/had no motivation (and a surplus of performance anxiety) when it comes to running RPGs</li><li>Moving to another country, although extremely adventurous, is painfully stressful and chaotic</li><li>Work has been blooming and the company where I am employed has been on the rise, but at the cost of, again, lots of stress and turbulent happenings</li></ul><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Thinking about it, it is rather funny that the majority of the “bad” things happening last year have been gaming related. Some of these have definitely been caused by a lot of stress generated by hectic happenings at work (which, actually, remained stable and on the rise despite the pandemic) and many obstacles caused by the upcoming move. Luckily, things are slooooowly beginning to calm down and I’m now able to recuperate and focus my energy on hobbies and other non-move/work things.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">As we’ve already dipped our toes into 2021. I’ll take some time now to reflect on things I’d like to accomplish this year, hobby related at least:</p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><ul><li><b>Write more</b> - I’ve got a dozen notebooks waiting to be splattered with my ideas. I have a lot of RPG projects in mind, some are campaigns that I plan to run, some are things that I want to make into zines… we’ll see! All I know is that I just want to pour all those creative thoughts out of my brain.</li><li><b>Write some more digitally</b> - I’d love nothing more than to write here more often, at least biweekly. I’ve drafted many posts already, currently working on a lengthy article, but just need to grab enough focus to actually complete all of that. Also, my old music blog is in dire need of an update.</li><li><b>Form a new gaming group in my new city</b> - this will be a quest, but I’m hopeful and will definitely try. Several of my coworkers already played in The Wandering Misfits games and I know a few other people who are RPG-enthusiasts, but it will take quite a lot of effort herding them in. Challenge accepted! If I fail, then I plan on starting a West-Marches-kind-of-game online with random web folks… Who knows, YOU might be one of them?</li><li><b>Catch up on the stacks of board games that I own</b> - This… this has been haunting me for quite a long while. I sank in tons of money into various games, but most of them are untouched. For now, I’m looking at you Arkham Horror LCG.</li><li><b>Delve a little bit into one of my many side-projects</b> - I’m currently setting up two more blogs, one being a non-fantasy RPG blog and another about an out-of-print card game that I adore. Aside of that, planning to start writing some music.</li></ul><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Ambitious? For sure! But it has been a rough year for all of us and I’d say we deserve a gentler 2021. See you soon, I hope!</p>xmoonxhowlerxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15149950277567744302noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339496748012140737.post-16521150963597242042020-07-15T13:11:00.000-07:002020-07-16T03:27:41.430-07:00"The Planeshifted Insectarium of St. Tindalonius" - One Page Dungeon 2020<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Summary:</b> The title is rather self-explanatory, this is my entry for the annual "One Page Dungeon" contest. Short description and a download link included below.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4yjZibQ-A1KAJDIMlpipRA3Tn-c3THbqIe536Jea9Fjxr-8PPSGVgEHI8NbBcc90QAyf0TZiQcWrthzlWmHHVWPFTu6drc8EwJwhMtBRBSszdCCJ5PbkMbsGSOqTI_jDAdx0Def1AnqvH/s1600/1pd.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="201" data-original-width="428" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4yjZibQ-A1KAJDIMlpipRA3Tn-c3THbqIe536Jea9Fjxr-8PPSGVgEHI8NbBcc90QAyf0TZiQcWrthzlWmHHVWPFTu6drc8EwJwhMtBRBSszdCCJ5PbkMbsGSOqTI_jDAdx0Def1AnqvH/s400/1pd.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
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When I started doing the Gygax75 challenge (which I abruptly stopped during week 3 due to abnormalities in real life, but I'll eventually get back to it) I quickly realized that I don't have much talent for dungeon design. In the midst of that agony, someone on the OSR discord mentioned that the deadline for the "One Page Dungeon" contest is looming closer, so I decided to jump on that boat and try to make something for it. </div>
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Initially I didn't even plan on submitting, it was just a good excuse for a design exercise. Fate would have it that the deadline got pushed back some two weeks, so I managed to complete my entry and submit it last night, a day before closing. </div>
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I'm honestly not sure what sparked the idea for this dungeon. I came up with a name and it sounded cool, so I built from there. 20/20 hindsight, I'd add more details to it, since I ended up with more free space than I expected and I'd clean up the grid in the background. I probably also managed to forsake some usability in favor of the dungeon being visually nicer, yet I tried giving as much space to the GM/players as possible, so that it can be modified/completed in various ways. Overall, I'm happy how it turned out, especially since this is my very first 1PD! In any case, without further ado, I present to you:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBMnhxs_6PGlmC_M4oyi18Hn8izxaSksKVwlewxi8MFEMNShR9ovcH5XPOURbSkKHwq6BUDfUb57C5IpBm45ee-OzNX0zXBNC5EOdFtS-pW54ZKRtydDYIFhaTZoNBLM-LSE-OHULesNIw/s1600/1pd+screenshot.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="597" data-original-width="426" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBMnhxs_6PGlmC_M4oyi18Hn8izxaSksKVwlewxi8MFEMNShR9ovcH5XPOURbSkKHwq6BUDfUb57C5IpBm45ee-OzNX0zXBNC5EOdFtS-pW54ZKRtydDYIFhaTZoNBLM-LSE-OHULesNIw/s400/1pd+screenshot.PNG" width="281" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/12-qi-9GajgNrlYSp6m6pIt82MRhdteqf/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">The Planeshifted Insectarium of St. Tindalonius</a></span></div>
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<i>One of the gates leading to the long-lost Insectarium is finally o</i><i>pen. Does it still hold the obscure knowledge and treasure which you seek?</i></div>
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A 1-page relatively-Jaquayed, color-coded dungeon which includes, but is not limited to:</div>
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<li>Weird, sentient insects (duh!) such as the Contemplating Booklice, the Cursing Mantis, Bullet-point Ants, a Jumping Klazomanic Spider and its lost, wandering brood</li>
<li>Descriptions of strange buildings such as the Librarynth, the God-cage, the Antholith and the fabled Floating Spire of St. Tindalonius</li>
<li>A few random loot tables with various peculiar items and a library that has all books in existence</li>
<li>A short wandering monster/random event table</li>
<li>Bad art!</li>
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If you have any thoughts or, gods forbid, you end up using this thing, do let me know your thoughts and/or experiences! Feedback will be much appreciated.</div>
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xmoonxhowlerxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15149950277567744302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339496748012140737.post-35594958462623093412020-06-18T11:51:00.000-07:002020-06-18T11:51:36.205-07:00The Wandering Misfits, session #5 - "Prison of the Hated Pretender", part 1<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Summary:</b> An extremely belated session report of our game that happened two weeks ago. The party continued delving deeper inside the stone head, discovering things that led to an almost deadly encounter.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Prison of the Hated Pretender</b></span></div>
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While Raina was awestruck by her discovery, the rest of her companions decided to casually investigate the gruesome room which they uncovered last session. For whatever reason, Gybon wanted to try out and have a break on the dirty, rotten couch. Sitting down, he heard a faint crackling sound, the result of his behind breaking a small opal stone hidden between the stained cushions.<br />
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In the meantime, Shine was still disgusted by the room and Torus was noticeably spooked overall. First to notice that Raina was missing from the scene, he moved closer to the door to check on her, but has suddenly heard dragging and thumping sounds on the floor above them. When he peeked out and saw Raina on the ladder, he completely freaked out, yelling at her to get down since something else is coming for her.<br />
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Oblivious as she can be sometimes, Raina wasn’t disturbed much by the idea of something unexpectedly snatching her, yet she heeded the words of her companion. However, she forgot to close the trapdoor behind her, so moments later the sounds that Torus previously heard were increasing in volume. When the noise reached its peak, the trapdoor was viciously slammed shut, dust and pieces of the dry ceiling splintering away. And then… nothing.<br />
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Startled by the reaction of whatever thing which didn't want to be disturbed, the party decides not to mess with it for the time being, so they move back into the derelict room to fetch the big dresser and use it to block the trapdoor with. Surprisingly enough, Raina finds a nice stash of silver in the dresser, making Shine a bit irritated.<br />
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“<i>Oh for God’s sake… Of course, why haven’t I thought of that.</i>”<br />
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Dragging the dresser under the trapdoor and reinforcing it a little bit, the group heads downstairs to check on the horses. On the way down, Torus remembers that he heard strange noises from the underground level, tickling the interest from the rest of the group, despite his hopes that they will collectively freak out and just up and leave this forsaken place.<br />
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They descended back into the 3-sectioned room where they paused to decide what to do next. The majority was in the mood to explore the underground level. Shine, however, wanted to check up on the horses before they moved on, since the thunderstorm outside was still going strong.<br />
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Horses, the majestic stoics that they are, were completely fine. On her way back, Shine slips and falls face first into the sigil circle. Scared that who knows what will happen to her, she completely froze in shock, nervously bracing for whatever it was that fate had in store for her next. Relieved that nothing seems to have happened, her relief is shattered as she unexpectedly hears innumerable voices screaming inside her head, the high pitch piercing her ears. The noise, nigh painful, makes her join the choir of tormented moans, the rest of the party terrified by the sudden wailing of their compatriot. Raina reacted swiftly, pulling Shine out of the circle. The screaming eventually stopped for everyone involved, so Shine took some time to sit on the ground and cry.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy_BvNa9x5hR70vF0ZpUTvvB03MOlXODrMIspvYDzR6tS3JF6qA_i8RGXZ113lMMRGkgLdGnW9pR56QMgaYwT23anWFQ04RGTmc9zVNf2ojLyQsmQLDfVgeTY0xE_yYDWSJVHiGoyJctpi/s1600/Fran%25C3%25A7ois-Marius_Granet_-_Crypt_of_San_Martino_ai_Monti%252C_Rome_%2528detail%2529_-_WGA10364.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="922" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy_BvNa9x5hR70vF0ZpUTvvB03MOlXODrMIspvYDzR6tS3JF6qA_i8RGXZ113lMMRGkgLdGnW9pR56QMgaYwT23anWFQ04RGTmc9zVNf2ojLyQsmQLDfVgeTY0xE_yYDWSJVHiGoyJctpi/s400/Fran%25C3%25A7ois-Marius_Granet_-_Crypt_of_San_Martino_ai_Monti%252C_Rome_%2528detail%2529_-_WGA10364.jpg" width="306" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Detail from "Crypt of San Martino ai Monti, Rome"<br />by François Marius Granet</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Torus knelt next to her to provide comfort, while Raina analyzed the circle again. She had no intention of touching it, so instead she just threw a stone inside it. To her surprise, the stone started moving towards the end of the circle, as if some invisible force was pushing things out of it.<br />
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Meanwhile, Gybon had an adventure of his own. Standing above the spiral staircase and looking downward, he noticed that it was pitch black and moved in for a closer look with his lantern. The darkness seemed impenetrable and as he moved ever closer, just above the hole, several twisted shadowy hands sprung out from below, trying to grasp him. He was fast to react, pulling away just in time, but tripping backwards and falling on his butt. This attracted the attention of everyone else in the room, except for Shine who was still a bit unnerved by her accident.<br />
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Torus continued freaking out, while Raina moved to Gybon so that they could investigate the staircase. She moved closer to the hole with her torch, only this time the shadows were waiting. As if a trap was sprung, the hands burst towards her, grasping Raina’s hand with clawed fingers. An unnatural chill as that of an ancient grave spread through her arm, shocking her and giving more than enough motivation to quickly disengage and pull away. As she stumbled a few steps back, the hands retreated.<br />
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When things calmed down a bit, Gybon took Raina’s torch and threw it down the staircase. The torch pierced the unnatural darkness floating around the opening, revealing an unnaturally bright crypt of some sorts. The revealed scene was instantly horrific, a pile of corpses revealed at the foot of the stairs, two of which seemed “fresh” and adorned in clothes suited for adventuring folk. Whatever it was that tried to grab them from the shadows was not visible, but there were some strange, indistinguishable shapes looming about in the room.<br />
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Curiosity was stronger than reason, so the group quickly decided to investigate. Yes, even Torus, who was intrigued by the prospect of… "acquiring" wares from the dead.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5eRE_ZYm5FtRtHdnetnXw3-Ab2mlGaDPWYGXWn30g7dxMxluPyhobPdQSdX-cMbRNkV2AgTGmSpgsHfIZ2IVvkYBvy8NVAyI1VVVle57Cqx78tf9hfO6vsdqaqbzML_u4nSZDfg3U2v2Q/s1600/9b821b52d82a799dc5f9e317ec30c778.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5eRE_ZYm5FtRtHdnetnXw3-Ab2mlGaDPWYGXWn30g7dxMxluPyhobPdQSdX-cMbRNkV2AgTGmSpgsHfIZ2IVvkYBvy8NVAyI1VVVle57Cqx78tf9hfO6vsdqaqbzML_u4nSZDfg3U2v2Q/s400/9b821b52d82a799dc5f9e317ec30c778.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Ezekiel's Tetramorph from Anton Koberger's<br />incunabula Bible</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Gybon was the first to rush downstairs, instantly revealing the holy symbol of his God, singing his praise and basking the room with the might of his patron. The creatures screamed in agony and fear, turning away and cowering from the cleric’s majestic presence.<br />
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It was only then that he was able to properly see his enemies for the first time. There was many of them, all with strange, unearthly shapes and features. A glowing orb with many broken arms protruding from its miniature body. A ghostly female figure with red eyes and a fragile body. Flapping feathery wings focused in a chaotic circle of motion and broken patterns. A levitating scorpion with a face of a child. He couldn’t even see them all, nor could he discern all their shapes since they constantly motioned through each other.<br />
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Raina was the next to come down, instantly seizing the momentum to attack. Some had different priorities, so Shine and Torus shamelessly used the cleric’s divine presence to grab the corpses of the two adventurers and drag them upstairs.<br />
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When the presence of Gybon’s God waned, all hell broke loose as the creatures flooded towards the party in a flurry of scratching limbs and biting mouths. The ensuing battle was chaotic and vicious. Our adventurers suffered brutal wounds, but thanks to their wit and a little bit of luck, they persevered. The last of the damned creatures dissolved under the swing of the cleric’s weapon, leaving a scream drowned in vengeful rage to echo in the room. And then, silence… and a breath of relief.<br />
============================================================================================<br />
<b>Final thoughts:</b><br />
<div>
Man, this was a wild ride, swinging between being totally cool and, at times, being quite exhausting. I'll kick it off with the negatives, just to get those out of the way.<br />
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Combat was great, but tiring for me. I dislike battle scenes in general, mostly because I tend to describe all the nitty-gritty of the chaos going on during the fight. I believe this stems from the fact that I predominantly ran <i>World of Darkness </i>games (<i>Werewolf</i> in particular) and <i>Cyberpunk 2020</i> where combat is extremely fast, hectic and violent, sometimes over in a single pull of the trigger. On the flip side, the majority of fantasy confrontations can drag out and take ages. It is simply incomparable to something like the "Friday Night Firefight"<i>. </i><br />
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Essentially, coming into a fighting scene, I am under the expectation that because it is a bore for me it will also be a bore for the players, thus I engage into the mode of making combat as engaging as possible. As this is an online game with a rather minimalistic setup (everything happening on Discord voice, no fancy Roll20 maps, tokens, etc.) you can imagine the strain of describing every single detail about the chaos boiling around the battlefield. I think this is mostly my compulsion to keep everything clear and evocative, which equals a lot of work that leads to being exhausted from talking too much (especially with a shy group as this).<br />
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The lesson here is to loosen up with the descriptions. Vague or quick details are enough sometimes, while certain moments don't even need a description.<br />
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The other negative is that I feel like some scenes which I perceive as evocative and important are somehow not sticking with this group. For example, the scene with the first round of hands jumping out of the staircase was described with a lot of zeal and sense of horror, yet it didn't resonate at all with the players. I'll dare say that I <i>feel</i> like this is mostly due to lack of RP experience from the players, which makes them react to things with an out-of-game perspective instead of an in-character view.<br />
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HOWEVER, I'm the kind of GM that takes responsibility for everything, so I will try to spark a conversation with the players once we finish this adventure and see whether or not some scenes are simply not their cup of tea.<br />
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The positive thing is actually the fact that these negatives are just in my head, since the players seem super thrilled during and after each session. It makes me extremely happy when the ending of each session is met with praise and ovations, but I still want to take the time to reflect on things that need improvement from my side. All in all, everything is fun and I'm enjoying it greatly, but the GM-craft is a constant work in progress!</div>
</div>
xmoonxhowlerxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15149950277567744302noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339496748012140737.post-23146384567051080872020-06-06T13:47:00.000-07:002020-06-06T13:48:01.821-07:00The Gygax 75 Challenge: Week #1<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Summary: </b>Thoughts and musings regarding my creative process during the first week of the challenge. The summary of bits that I found easy, the difficulty of wrangling certain parts of it and what I learned as an outcome of some pitfalls.</div>
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Just a note right at the beginning, I won’t include any of the material that I created during week numero uno, this is mostly just a rambling post about the actual process, not its result.</div>
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At first glance week #1 is straightforward and, I wrongly assumed, easy. You are prompted to do the following:</div>
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<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">get a notebook (physical or digital file/folder)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">write a pitch (3-7 lines that “sell” your game)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">write a list of inspirations (no more than 7)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">bonus: create a mood-board (a continual work in progress thing)</li>
</ul>
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<b>Notebook:</b> I have opted for a physical notebook, which made me rather excited. The main reason for these buzzing emotions was due to the fact that the last time I used a physical medium for writing campaigns was roughly 8 years ago for my <i>Werewolf: the Apocalypse</i> game. That chronicle ran over the following five years or so and slowly, as the content built up, I moved over to Google Docs for book-keeping. It was easier to keep track and record everything, thus eventually I stopped using pen and paper almost entirely for my RPGs. Oh the irony…</div>
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I got myself a nice little notebook, a dedicated mechanical pen, a black ink liner and highligthing markers. I started working on the essentials in order to warm-up, marking the page numbers and building the beginning of an index. So far, so good.</div>
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<b>Pitch:</b> This part of the challenge was difficult to say the least, which is understandable as it is probably the most important. </div>
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The first road block was an unexpected fear of putting thoughts on the page. I would have a certain idea in my head that I’d deem good, but I just couldn’t get myself to write it down because I felt the sentence describing it wasn’t good <i>enough</i>. I think I got used to the sterility of Google Docs and the order and tidiness it brings along to your notes, so writing stuff down seemed to visually be crap = it was bad.</div>
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One trick that I managed to come up with in order to trick my mind is to use my phone as a surrogate notebook. During the day, I’d just type whatever came to mind in the notes on my phone, regardless of form or randomness, just to get it out of my system. Then, in the evening, I’d sit down to refine that mess for the notebook and eventually write it down.</div>
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It might be that this is a longer process, but it helped me understand something. Messy is okay. Messy is good. You aren't going to the publisher with this notebook nor will you use it to directly run games out of. Provide yourself some space so that the perfectionist in you can go rest, it's time to get dirty in your greasy workshop.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6509_obj1vK4I9oPwcmSm3h6O0HZ2WC-7n5FWv3gthchuQ6kYTPKCOwo7dHD2VEdOzirHYghRwyjN2MYYbTjAYeSpD_dwuG6iOUCcVzT24skrtYVwRZDBQTOI6M_4G9hJCM_5lJUscKpz/s1600/087.King_Solomon_in_Old_Age.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1297" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6509_obj1vK4I9oPwcmSm3h6O0HZ2WC-7n5FWv3gthchuQ6kYTPKCOwo7dHD2VEdOzirHYghRwyjN2MYYbTjAYeSpD_dwuG6iOUCcVzT24skrtYVwRZDBQTOI6M_4G9hJCM_5lJUscKpz/s400/087.King_Solomon_in_Old_Age.jpg" width="323" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"King Solomon in Old Age" by Gustave Doré</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Once I was done with the mental blockade it was time to get to the actual pitch. I had a clear vision about my upcoming setting, from its center-piece to some factions and even bits that will reflect the game mechanically. Compressing all that information into an elevator pitch was the tough part.</div>
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The task is direct with what it wants from you, several bullet points with a few clear sentences each, just enough to sell your game to the players.</div>
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A natural way of doing this is simply to think about your world and grab the things that immediately pop into your mind the second you think about it. The problem rises when you try to expand on a fact that you stated as a bullet point, as it is easy to slip into long rows of explanations. At the same time, writing too little might lead you to rely on improvisation, instead of clearly stating brief facts. Balance is key.</div>
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In the end I came up with a relatively obvious solution. I imagined having an actual conversation with hypothetical players and how I would explain the setting in less than one minute. During this fictional monologue, I’d raise my voice at certain times, which would represent the key bullet points while the rest would be the explanations of said points.</div>
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Some of the studies I had in my school days were regarding marketing and communication which, although not necessarily focused on pitches and selling stuff, teach you a ton about how to reach and hook onto the interest peaks of the listener and the general ebb and flow of human conversation.</div>
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Even if you disregard the “elevator” in your pitch, humans have a relatively short (and, over time, decreasing) attention span. You have to rely on selective attention and that it will endure unexpected distractions and remain sustained, which is difficult in the modern world. </div>
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Instead the pitch needs to provide an engaging enough stimuli that can trigger transient attention, structured in a way that it keeps involving the reader with each point, continuously refreshing the interest. These stimulating structures can be formed in many engaging ways, but two pop out to me as excellent for writing a pitch. Cyclical and cascading. </div>
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I ended up using the <b>cyclical</b> approach, which can be explained with the below structure:<br />
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<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">A [genre/mood] world where [major event/trait] - <b>point #1</b></li>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">[biggest consequence of point 1] - <b>point #2</b></li>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">[positive side-effect of point 2] - <b>point #3</b></li>
</ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">[minor consequence of point 1] - <b>point #4</b></li>
</ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">[tempting reason for adventuring in the world] - <b>point #5</b></li>
</ul>
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What I’ve done here goes full circle and enables me to have the option to either add or kick stuff out, having only points 1 and 5 as essential, while the rest is just filler. In verbal communication this can be essential, since you can notice what peaks the interest of your players mid-conversation and you can easily add/remove certain points. Meanwhile, in the written medium you cycle back to the opening point, highlighting its importance yet showing that there are numerous other things happening that will disable tunnel-vision and railroading. It also highlights the single positive attribute the players will have, which in the midst of consequences signals urgency and need of the world for heroic deeds.</div>
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Another good method would be to start and continuously <b>cascade</b>, so that each step relates to the previous one and eventually rolls down into the PC microcosm, so it looks something like this:</div>
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<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">A [genre/mood] world where [major event/trait] - <b>point #1</b></li>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">[environmental consequence of point 1] - <b>point #2</b></li>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">[societal consequence of point 2] - <b>point #3</b></li>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">[positive side-effect of point 3] - <b>point #4</b></li>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">[how all points relate to the PC] - <b>point #5</b></li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
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Here you’re going top down, which essentially keeps raising the anticipation of hearing how all these events and consequences reflect on the player, aka providing constant stimuli. Extra attention paid on point 4, as the positive effect needs to zoom in on how it affects the player characters, which then easily leads into the final point of what/why would they want to play in your world in the first place.</div>
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In any case, you’re allowed and encouraged to have a few lines describing each bullet point, which enables you to keep the actual bullet points as concise as possible. Remember, maintain those explanations short in order to keep the important bullets… well, important. </div>
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<b>Inspiration:</b> </div>
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This took the least amount of time and for a good reason. I kicked off the list with two obvious references, but then I had a pause of a few days to ponder. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that many other works can be used as inspirational for various bits and pieces, but this led to chaos. I could probably spend weeks just writing this section, yet such a list creates a slow river instead of a viciously tumbling rapid. This wasn’t supposed to be an “<i>Appendix N</i>” list, but rather a ten second sticky note.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjszhEqhyHTNbrD1QpSZm-6Z2RPzrw3R3bNg87dF-eFjmNkRTDY0K1-L3AMb2x792IVv2LkSnf3C39zSmIwAtWZ6P6lKLexaNCx0G1EhfmB61Bbl2Ds-0r32urslSZtezOgfFRdYJJo21EY/s1600/D%25C3%25BCrer%252C_Albrecht_-_Hand_Study_with_Bible_-_1506.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1021" data-original-width="709" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjszhEqhyHTNbrD1QpSZm-6Z2RPzrw3R3bNg87dF-eFjmNkRTDY0K1-L3AMb2x792IVv2LkSnf3C39zSmIwAtWZ6P6lKLexaNCx0G1EhfmB61Bbl2Ds-0r32urslSZtezOgfFRdYJJo21EY/s400/D%25C3%25BCrer%252C_Albrecht_-_Hand_Study_with_Bible_-_1506.jpg" width="275" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Hand Study with Bible" by Albrecht Dürer</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I ended up shutting away the vast majority of these muses and selected only 5 which were the obvious ones in my case. These were followed by quick blurbs of text that explained what exactly I “used” from these sources, a process which took literally minutes, the faster the better. </div>
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<b>Mood board:</b> </div>
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Honesty hour, I never made a mood board in my life. Thus I was super excited about finally making one and I’ll be honest again and say that it is a fun process. The net is vast and infinite, as they say, and inspiring artwork is abound. </div>
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However, I have a similar issue to the one from the “Inspiration” task, where branching out in too many different directions leads to chaos. Two days in and I realized that my folder was a splurge of messy visuals and unrelated shapes. On the final day of week #1 I went through the board and removed half of the entries.</div>
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As instructed by the challenge, this is supposed to be a “live” task, as it doesn’t have to stop in week #1, so I’d recommend having a sub-folder (or board or whatever thing you are using for this) which acts as a filter for the final chosen pieces. Depending on the speed at which you gather stuff, after a few days it might be a good idea to review what you got and selectively remove the things that stand out too much or stuff that was chosen in the spark of the moment.</div>
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<b>Final thoughts:</b></div>
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Extremely happy that I started this challenge, as it is an amazing creative exercise. In the end, when it comes to week #1 I feel like the moral of the story is that “less” doesn’t mean “easy” and that “more” doesn’t equate to “better”. When you’re faced with the task of building an entire world, your scope broadens and there’s an instinct that instantly wants to cover as many things as possible, probably as a result of knowing that players are nosy and they’ll ask all sorts of weird questions. </div>
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Eventually you’ll get to the point of figuring out why there’s a temple in them thar hills or why your elves are translucent, but not now. Now you’re just laying down the foundation, while also trying to deny yourself the freedom to improvise everything, instead providing bricks of firm material. </div>
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Direct and concise. Quality over quantity.</div>
xmoonxhowlerxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15149950277567744302noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339496748012140737.post-46676376608121179052020-05-31T12:05:00.001-07:002020-05-31T12:08:31.497-07:00The Wandering Misfits, session #4 - "Into the Unknown"<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Summary:</b> Session report from the game we had last Monday. The party does some much needed shopping/prep before finally taking the first steps on their journey towards the Rosewater baths. Along the way, the serene, yet tedious, trip is interrupted by a storm and an unexpected discovery.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Into the Unknown</b></span></div>
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After wrapping up the meeting with Dr. Brenner, the party regrouped back at the Kosovel farm. Exchanging gathered information and splitting the earned silver with Gybon, they decide to keep "Bob" in the nearby cave where Raina usually lives. They "borrowed" some food from the farm so that they can leave supplies at the cave until they return. For some reason, they made a judgement call to keep Ivana and Anton away from Polde.<br />
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Next stop, some well deserved shopping in the village. The most notable articles bought were four horses, which I was generous enough to make available for them even though this village is extremely small and rather under-stocked. They were so excited about the prospect of having majestic four-legged friends that I simply couldn’t say no.<br />
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Seeing as how they had horses to travel with, it meant that they wouldn’t be going through the forest as they initially planned, but rather via the road leaving the village to the west. Soon enough, after some final gear checks, they were on their way.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZdGfMJxUbFoc6ur_8XY8g6vWQIMDrWbO1dZzo-UYtdc_FkmdR716vyYj1ueYjIgWVtgkk0UqU034yZS87iH1U5GDQavvx7Fi6lZFRJDUjzEdB4TYrnToDkYbGwHQnsSXj__i_Z2liR6Ns/s1600/Cole_Thomas_The_Oxbow_%2528The_Connecticut_River_near_Northampton_1836%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1087" data-original-width="1600" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZdGfMJxUbFoc6ur_8XY8g6vWQIMDrWbO1dZzo-UYtdc_FkmdR716vyYj1ueYjIgWVtgkk0UqU034yZS87iH1U5GDQavvx7Fi6lZFRJDUjzEdB4TYrnToDkYbGwHQnsSXj__i_Z2liR6Ns/s640/Cole_Thomas_The_Oxbow_%2528The_Connecticut_River_near_Northampton_1836%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"The Oxbow (The Connecticut River near Northampton 1836)" by Thomas Cole</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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To call it a road would be glorifying it. It was a weirdly shaped beaten path, somewhere narrow and somewhere wide, a squirming line cutting through the forested mountain side with odd twists and turns. It slowly waved through the wilderness ever onward, wrapped in silence broken by the occasional singing bird. One could call it almost serene.<br />
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The serenity lasted for a few hours, yet was eventually cut short. Dark clouds were omnipresent further ahead of the travelers and it was only a matter of time before they catch up. The whole scene changed abruptly, the first sign of trouble arriving in the form of tiny raindrops. Within minutes, the weather became a threat, a heavy downpour disrupted by wind and a quickening pace of raging thunder.<br />
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Quickly the party contemplated what to do, either try and rush onward towards the location of Rosewater or stay put and find shelter. They were still a few hours away from their destination and galloping horses in the mud below and loud thunder above were a peril, thus they opted to find any kind of nearby safe haven.<br />
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Another problem was that they forgot to buy tents during their shopping spree, so they decided they need to find a cave or a thick cluster of trees to hide under. They continued riding a bit further, hoping to find something and their hearts jumped once they noticed a kind of rock formation looming on the side of the road behind a thick line of tall trees.<br />
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Their discovery took them aback the second it came into view. Nested in a sinking clearing of the forest, there stood a strange construction that resembled a crowned head with a big gaping mouth and hollow eyes, an ancient sculpture made of stone and a single soaring tree sitting next to it. The gigantic face lay waiting, forgotten and silent, gazing with its empty eyes at the stunned visitors.<br />
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The party stood there in the rain, shocked with both marvel and horror, unaware of what it is that they discovered. The feeling sank in and their mood waned as each of them recalled bits and pieces of knowledge about this nameless thing.<br />
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Raina was the first to speak, remembering that she heard of an ancient tree standing near a stone face, once used for hanging. The rumors spoke that the tree is alive and that it strangles those that come near it, thirsty for the pain it caused in its prime. Similarly tragic, Torus heard of a similar place, a stone head inhabited by angry spirits that can be sated if you offer them your pain.<br />
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Gybon, on the other hand, passed through these parts previously and offered probably the most grounded of recollections. A priest told him a tale forgotten by many, that the stone head is a tomb for a tyrant ritually tortured to death, built generations ago by a religious order now long gone.<br />
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These tales didn’t make them want to seek shelter inside, but the raging thunderstorm sure did. They simply had no other choice…<br />
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Staying away from the tree as much as possible, the group slowly entered the structure. Inside the mouth a rusted gate swung open, the lock broken who knows when. They tied their horses right in front of the gate, since the initial entry point of the mouth had a roof above.<br />
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Past the gate, a room filled with dirt, trash and broken skeletons of small woodland animals. There were signs of someone dwelling here before, several spots on the floor where a fire was burning. However, the most striking feature of the room was at the foot of a corridor that was leading further into the complex. On the floor was an intricate circle made out of magical sigils, each symbol formed by small tiles of pure jade.<br />
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Raina tried to analyze the bizarre sigils, but they seemed quite alien to her. She could somehow “feel” that this was placed here to banish something… or to keep something locked away. The group swallowed a huge lump in their throat and decided to simply stay in this room until the storm passes and not poke around much.<br />
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It didn’t take long for Shine to develop an itch. She was bored, yet knew better than to take apart the magical circle for the pieces of jade. Those would surely fetch a fine price, but she was smart enough to listen to the warnings of the witch. Instead, she kept insisting that there must be some other treasure in this damned place and soon enough Raina was intrigued as well. The male part of the group decided to stay around the fire that was just lit and protect the horses, idling until the females need help with whatever they find in the rest of the structure.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5xQ-vjdVgte1Uxubzq9YKT-eF_56RlCn6DyyA7mkhwhBXbaKyqv0AlU-x8IQtQ3_5UslxB8Vx2fsPObYY68IRlNt1fsORDtXHz4r7VpbR_AtGxmGxtB8duL_I7zhW6X5WiHkrdgQUdJkZ/s1600/Monster_in_Parco_dei_Mostri_%2528Bomarzo%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1197" data-original-width="1600" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5xQ-vjdVgte1Uxubzq9YKT-eF_56RlCn6DyyA7mkhwhBXbaKyqv0AlU-x8IQtQ3_5UslxB8Vx2fsPObYY68IRlNt1fsORDtXHz4r7VpbR_AtGxmGxtB8duL_I7zhW6X5WiHkrdgQUdJkZ/s640/Monster_in_Parco_dei_Mostri_%2528Bomarzo%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Monster in Parco dei Mostri (Bomarzo)" by <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Monster_in_Parco_dei_Mostri_(Bomarzo).jpg" target="_blank">Livioandronico2013</a></i></td></tr>
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So it came to be that Raina and Shine were on the other side of the circle soon after, cautiously jumping over it. They were faced with a rather spacious room divided into three sections. Each of these housed exceptionally detailed and well-made bas-reliefs, carvings that told a connected story. A king or a similar overlord was shown, standing tall and proud as he enslaved his enemies using a peculiar yellow sphere. He was shown reveling in the torment and torture of those he conquered. However, the cruel lord met his end in the wake of a divine intervention that led to his eventual demise and slow execution.<br />
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The reliefs were well preserved despite their apparent age, but curiously enough the final scene was extremely damaged, almost entirely clawed up and desecrated. Unnerved, they decide to not waste time lingering about and move to the narrow spiral staircase located in the room with the first carving on the wall. The same staircase also led underground, but they choose to leave that for later.<br />
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More dirt and animal bones awaited for them above. They ended up in the room where the eyes of the giant stone head are, thus cold wind and drops of rain continuously rushed through. Shine opened a door which led to a room completely filled with darkness, barely pierced by the small lantern that Torus gave her. Inside, a scene far gruesome than the last. Among some strangely placed and derelict pieces of furniture were piles of animal carcasses, some relatively fresh, some rotten, melding together into a blood stained room decorated with meat and sinew that stank horribly. The stench alone made their stomachs turn.<br />
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Seeing the scene in its dreadful entirety, Shine let out a scream for her friends below. Both men jumped instantly, rushing to the floor above. However, while ascending the spiral staircase, Torus heard a sound droning from far below, a raspy exhale of broken glass scraped across stone. Focused on reaching his friends and noticeably worried (<strike>scared</strike>), he decided to ignore it.<br />
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The group was together again, trying to not further decorate the surrounding area with their own vomit and analyze the gruesome room. Raina moved out of the room and closer to the “eyes” for some fresh air. Accidentally, she noticed that between the windows there is a rope hanging above her head, tied to a trap door leading further up. Regrettably, she pulled it and noticed that it isn’t rope, but human hair. She quickly pulls it all the way down just to get it over with, revealing a ladder that leads above.<br />
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Before the others notice what she was doing, Raina was already up. She stopped near the top of the ladder, poking her head above and looking around the newly discovered room. The wall in front of her was decorated with paintings of old, angry bearded men whose eyes and mouths were scratched out, damaged similarly to the bas-reliefs on the ground floor. Across one of the face, words written with dry blood: “I NOT KNEEL NOR BOW!”.<br />
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Amazed by her discovery, Raina failed to notice that on her left, out of reach of the light of her torch, is a yawning passage leading deeper toward a room veiled in darkness… and a creature hissing and snarling at her from the shadows.</div>
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<b>============================================================================================</b></div>
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<b>Final thoughts:</b><br />
To say it immediately up front, this was such a great session!<br />
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Instant first positive impression is: horses! In all my experience running fantasy games, this is the very first group of players that decided to become equestrians the same second they acquired some wealth. I think this is a commendable and an extremely smart investment, especially in an adventure such as this. Seems like they are already expecting to travel a lot, which is perfectly in line with what I envision for this campaign.<br />
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Preparing for this session was interesting, but a little bit of an overkill on my side. Initially I wanted to do world travelling in the form of a hexcrawl, but ended up doing a sort of point-crawl instead which I presumed will be an easier setup. Well, I was wrong, mostly because I consciously decided to make an "easy" approach complicated. I (mentally) mapped the current main destination (Rosewater) and then branched out several paths between it and the starting village. Each of these paths had their separate points of interest along the way, primarily in the form of divergent mini modules.<br />
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This was the overkill part, as essentially I had to prepare all these modules in advance without actually knowing which path the players will choose and whether or not they end up interacting with the hooks, if discovered. Even though the modules aren't anything grand or cumbersome (one is actually a 1-page dungeon), it still required a decent amount of prep in a rather short amount of time. Factor in the random weather table I used for the wilderness travel that could completely disrupt things and you end up with quite a lot of uncertainty.<br />
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Some of you might have already recognized the module which the PCs triggered in this session, but for those of you who don't know this is the great mini-adventure/location by "<a href="http://dungeonofsigns.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Dungeon of Signs</a>" called "<i>Prison of the Hated Pretender</i>". As in my previous reports, I'll give a full review and a proper dedicated space for the module once we finish it.<br />
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In the end, I'll leave you with a random real life adventure. That image above that I linked from Bomarzo, Italy? I was there a couple of years ago! A magnificent place that completely takes you to another world, highly recommended IRL hexcrawling location.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQbPHb5gyK4YV_usGO2prBQwcJX4Ge83VgxJWWP2Td8CxMP3QLLWkMgRjl4LS9ILdLlynyXe_QEZ1pKqaA8WSq3BFQRM4t0o-LlQWH9gkivwKTL0U2Trcr24Jcu8qFOk-BOhux3EPIZicp/s1600/20200531_205958f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQbPHb5gyK4YV_usGO2prBQwcJX4Ge83VgxJWWP2Td8CxMP3QLLWkMgRjl4LS9ILdLlynyXe_QEZ1pKqaA8WSq3BFQRM4t0o-LlQWH9gkivwKTL0U2Trcr24Jcu8qFOk-BOhux3EPIZicp/s640/20200531_205958f.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>It me, dungeon delver extraordinaire!</i></td></tr>
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xmoonxhowlerxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15149950277567744302noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339496748012140737.post-6294166476082460052020-05-26T14:48:00.000-07:002020-05-26T14:49:37.762-07:00The Gygax 75 Challenge<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Summary:</b> A post in which I announce my quest to heed and utilize the words of the master in order to achieve greatness.</div>
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For those unaware, back in 1975. Gary Gygax wrote an exquisite article about his thoughts on how a GM can begin writing a game world for their campaign. <a href="https://viridianscroll.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Ray Otus</a> masterfully took the article and reorganized it into clearly defined sections of a booklet, creating a concise and easy to follow <a href="https://rayotus.itch.io/gygax75" target="_blank">week-by-week program</a>. A challenge, if you will.</div>
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I've been hearing about this thing in almost every corner of the internet and it seems that my turn has come to get on the bandwagon and plunge into the unknown reaches of my imagination and craftsmanship. Challenge accepted. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0tsz19dRb5ijC-ll7gX48_eztAYysCQtvRgDyaTC0oCqhMFKo2fbs6zdZ19iRhoWtHyalriVNqdTRkUVEvzA3TyoEpmD00ED39bC5lg4RhUvHV5t8cz0d69KSipeBgKR4Mz4Zbb391tai/s1600/20200526_165334.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0tsz19dRb5ijC-ll7gX48_eztAYysCQtvRgDyaTC0oCqhMFKo2fbs6zdZ19iRhoWtHyalriVNqdTRkUVEvzA3TyoEpmD00ED39bC5lg4RhUvHV5t8cz0d69KSipeBgKR4Mz4Zbb391tai/s640/20200526_165334.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>So it begins...</i></td></tr>
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So, why am I doing this and what am I hoping to achieve? To be honest, I don't know exactly, but several things come to mind.</div>
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Structure, I need it. I've been massively improvising games as of late, doing barely any prep work, while only a few years ago I was used to writing a ton of material for my campaigns/worlds. Not saying I lost my magic touch, but I miss the ritual of deep diving into my own mind's eye and placing various ideas into neatly organized piles, carefully crafting for hours on end.</div>
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This lost habit of sitting down and writing for something that is not an ongoing game leads to another point, which is idea bloat. I have a surplus of various worlds, hooks, stories, events, random whatever crammed in my brain and, when I don't have a game as an outlet, it all just gets stuck in there and begins to itch. The challenge will help with this, since it is a solid reason for controlled and progressively expanding creative outlet. </div>
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In fact, addressing a similar point, one of those festering ideas will be plucked for the Gygax 75 challenge. A strong vision which had enough time to mature in the back of my head, yet completely without structure or a single written word. It has been a fervent vision that I had repeatedly for quite some time, yet it remained a thing untouched.</div>
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There's a grander goal to all this, as I would <i>like</i> to keep on writing further past the program, to the point where the created material eventually gets made into a published zine. I'm fully aware that this challenge isn't meant to guide you all the way to publication, but my intention is simply to use it in order to kick off a process. Lay down the ground work and then write, craft, re/shape, playtest and polish as close to perfection as possible.</div>
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The content I write for this will probably not see the light of day for quite some time, but I do plan on writing a weekly post about the trials and errors of the challenge, a sort of retrospective of the work done. </div>
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This turned out longer than I planned. Thanks for reading, but now is the time for me to write elsewhere. The GM notebook awaits!</div>
xmoonxhowlerxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15149950277567744302noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339496748012140737.post-64735909571604880452020-05-17T14:38:00.002-07:002020-05-17T14:38:53.122-07:00Player Assumptions: Kaleidoscope World-building, Chapter 1<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Summary:</b> First post delving into the player character assumptions and how I will incorporate those into the world of <i>Kaleidoscope</i>. A continual flux of work in progress fun.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Kaleidoscope World-building, Chapter I</b></span></div>
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Okay, so since the previous session report was rather short and the fact that we won't be playing this upcoming Monday, it gave me more time to write a full post dedicated to the “assumptions” and the world-building. Let's cut to the chase!</div>
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The first batch of assumptions were:</div>
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<b>#1 Raina (Witch)</b> - believes that the farmer’s wife is in league with something unholy or otherwise involved in the creation of the beast (this stems from the account that the creature was scared of the woman)</div>
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<b>#2 Shine (Specialist)</b> - thinks that there are more people like Dr. Brenner and that something akin to an alchemist guild exists somewhere in the world</div>
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<b>#3 Torus (MU)</b> - found the ways of religious pilgrims peculiar and thus thinks that the “Church” has very little presence in these parts of the world (in contrast to the “Old Religion"), which in turn probably makes the villagers skeptical (based on the way the pilgrims are travelling the world)</div>
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<b>#4 Gybon (Cleric)</b> - simply doesn’t trust Dr. Brenner and has a sense that the man is hiding something</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZsRcjiABG9jlf3uITiU6W7-y8S7zoeFoWhi8uruitg3wlCgIFQC43CnidZSGX5jek89w9Tfo9LZOYxSzVL9-58OfQUsIuzzhZ8S4tz7vJO48LTGfajI_DVJkLgehhnnt4GzCbPHJIrpUx/s1600/John_William_Waterhouse_-_I_am_half-sick_of_shadows%252C_said_the_lady_of_shalott.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1172" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZsRcjiABG9jlf3uITiU6W7-y8S7zoeFoWhi8uruitg3wlCgIFQC43CnidZSGX5jek89w9Tfo9LZOYxSzVL9-58OfQUsIuzzhZ8S4tz7vJO48LTGfajI_DVJkLgehhnnt4GzCbPHJIrpUx/s400/John_William_Waterhouse_-_I_am_half-sick_of_shadows%252C_said_the_lady_of_shalott.jpg" width="292" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>""I am half sick of shadows," said the Lady of Shalott"<br />by John William Waterhouse</i></td></tr>
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So, the main idea for this is that I can take any of these and use them in any way/shape/form, injecting them into the world. However, seeing as how some of these points (in this case, #1 and #4) aren’t really relating to the world and are more story related, I decided to actually use them as such and see if I can steer the story itself in a certain direction. </div>
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First, the obvious ones, points <b>#2</b> and <b>#3</b>. I liked both these assumptions and have decided to use them literally. The “Church”, currently for a lack of a better name, is still young in religious terms. I imagine that the institution has several temples already built, situated only in a few major cities. The pilgrims and priests have recently started going out of said cities to spread the faith across the countryside. Preaching about a monotheistic religion has met stern resistance from the people indoctrinated into the more usual polytheistic beliefs of the world, either through a form of pure disbelief and indifference, or, as seen in some places, boiling that led to outright violence.<br />
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To make it clear, the entity behind the beliefs of the "Church" is not yet defined. In game, we have addressed "it" with a relative resemblance to the Christian deity, but no names have been spoken yet. This is a conversation with Gybon's player that I plan to have in the upcoming week, to discuss whether we want to keep his God relative to our world or will we conjure up some other form of fantasy.</div>
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On a similar note, the alchemist guild is also a thing of the major cities. As such, I imagine that at least one of the "perks" of the cities is that they are a melting pot of obscure sciences and knowledge. There are only a handful of these cities out there, but they are dense sprawling locations, perhaps dangerous and deadly, yet useful in controlled doses.</div>
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Which makes us move to our local alchemist Dr. Brenner, where point <b>#4</b> vastly changed what I initially envisioned for this NPC. I presumed that the good doctor would be a run-of-the-mill quest hub of sorts, someone who is rich and willing to pay for services of the local adventurers, generally misunderstood by the rest of the villagers due to his extraordinary profession, albeit with quite benign intentions. </div>
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As mentioned, point #4 morphed this. The element of distrust has been a growing constant, mostly fueled by Gybon, slowly creeping under the skin of the rest of the party. It seems highly cinematic, only one of the four thinks something is amiss, while the others are oblivious, a slow boil which <i>might </i>eventually spill and burn everyone involved.</div>
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How will this assumption reflect on the game? Well, Dr. Brenner indeed was a member of an alchemist guild in a city from which he made an effort to disappear. He was, in fact, banished from the guild due to being discovered as a person dabbling in necromancy, the dark sibling of the alchemical craft. My initial thoughts are that surely he isn't the only one that has dealings with dead things and, seeing how this is an underground hobby, acquiring a certain dose of rivalry within such circles is a given.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSeuBKgIfZCRo7h2LRxKuCvs_u7Pm5qCEIzpxKS7tOEvIK9bo-zLlYWL0MFsYxwsHjYnxgqUt-qJdksrfXeKnD_zchEWH5BWJ5bNepftz06-F_QCzKrgLUZBEQJpkrzMjEZMlOYVLmLOdp/s1600/800px-Edward_Kelly_prophet_or_seer_to_Dr_Dee_02355.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="844" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSeuBKgIfZCRo7h2LRxKuCvs_u7Pm5qCEIzpxKS7tOEvIK9bo-zLlYWL0MFsYxwsHjYnxgqUt-qJdksrfXeKnD_zchEWH5BWJ5bNepftz06-F_QCzKrgLUZBEQJpkrzMjEZMlOYVLmLOdp/s320/800px-Edward_Kelly_prophet_or_seer_to_Dr_Dee_02355.jpg" width="303" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Edward Kelly" by Thomas Pennant</i></td></tr>
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Thus for Brenner, staying in the city would result not only in absolute banishment and blacklisting in alchemical circles, but probably in death from his less public peers. Exile and retreating to the countryside in order to continue with his studies was the only choice.</div>
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As such, he will not be an antagonist per se, but more of an important figure with an ulterior motive. The whole situation with Polde’s consciousness inside the body of Catobleas, switching bodies/consciousnesses and general weirdness of transmutation is screaming alchemy/necromancy and it will be ripe for various ideas. I actually think that the thunderstorm from “last night” was maybe a result of him invoking some dark ritual to gain the knowledge necessary to figure out the next step. </div>
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I have a crude sketch in my head about what Brenner might want as an end goal, but for now I don’t want to think too far in the future. Instead, he will use the party to acquire the components needed, but whether or not these ingredients will actually be used to help Polde or not, I am yet to conjure. But overall I like his current position, as it can swing in many different ways.</div>
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The final point (<b>#1</b>), I admit, was kind of difficult for me to use in a meaningful way without morphing the story too much, especially since I like the fact that you actually don’t know how old the Catoblepas is, where it originally comes from, who the initial victim is and whether or not it has a consciousness of its own or is it just an empty vessel. All these points I didn’t want to meddle with, yet I didn’t want to ignore the assumption of the player, at least in this first round.</div>
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I opted with a mundane, but relatively amusing way of using this assumption. Ivana, the wife of the farmer, has started believing and praying to the one God of the “Church”, while her husband remained indifferent and maybe even scornful as a result. Yet when this whole Catoblepas mess happened and has affected him, he perceived it as some form of punishment for mocking her beloved God.</div>
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Not sure if the players will ever discover this or whether they will actually care, but it seems like this is a nice way of fleshing out some details and it tells a lot about the character of these NPCs.</div>
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In the end I just have to say that this is an interesting process and I'm looking forward to asking my players for more. I decided to ask more sporadically however. Initially I planned on getting the assumptions after each session, but it kind of seems like overkill now. Instead, asking for assumptions after each module/adventure/chapter sounds way more reasonable.<br />
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That’s all for now, hope you enjoyed the read!</div>
xmoonxhowlerxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15149950277567744302noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339496748012140737.post-55395155101031536682020-05-15T13:11:00.000-07:002020-05-15T13:11:43.890-07:00The Wandering Misfits, session #3 - "Interlude"<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Summary:</b> Report from a mini-session that the <i>Misfits</i> had this previous Monday. Lots of in-game discussions and then a final decision regarding what to do next. A hook has been grasped.</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Interlude</span></b></div>
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Mondays are painful. This one seemed excruciating since literally everyone turned up to the session tired, sad or a mix of both, so we decided to keep it short, just to lighten up the mood a bit and then collectively call it a day. Think we succeeded, since everybody seemed happy in the end. Lesson of the day kids, RPGs are therapeutic. </div>
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In any case, the majority of this seance was in-game talking, so I’ll keep it rather brief. The group went back to Dr. Brenner’s chalet, intent on bringing him into the grove where they left the beast. Due to the gradually built up distrust, Gybon insisted that if they bring Brenner to the beast and not vice versa, they might prevent him from any kind of funny business, especially since they would insist on him coming without his guards.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB9Xi9oyP23y3Xn-9K_kkC6tcKDdw82DBR04YRLr-xRuG7vNmcBugQ20UyGkDmTBBGDcSvhVt7EOebPhQLZxFAtR-4lm0SkwhgRSKHapwVwjIoyKgU5FWnDNkOkoMtEoP81Xjdx2dvLhB_/s1600/Jasper_Francis_Cropsey_-_Catskill_Mountain_House_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1061" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB9Xi9oyP23y3Xn-9K_kkC6tcKDdw82DBR04YRLr-xRuG7vNmcBugQ20UyGkDmTBBGDcSvhVt7EOebPhQLZxFAtR-4lm0SkwhgRSKHapwVwjIoyKgU5FWnDNkOkoMtEoP81Xjdx2dvLhB_/s640/Jasper_Francis_Cropsey_-_Catskill_Mountain_House_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Catskill Mountain House" by Jasper Francis Cropsey </i></td></tr>
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The party arrives, they start talking. They are initially beating around the bush and not saying that they have the creature alive, but Shine gets irritated and cuts to the chase. </div>
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<i>“We tracked it, we have it, do you want to come see it? We need your help.”</i></div>
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To everyone’s surprise, the good doctor was more than willing to comply, instantly excited about the fact that the beast has been tamed and not dead. They escort him back to the grove.</div>
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Que lots of nice roleplaying. Brenner is mind-blown and gets a nerd boner. He explains what he knows about the creature. It is known as <i>Catoblepas</i>, an ancient thing with a peculiar power of “stealing” the consciousness of those it turns to stone. The doctor asks if the party knows who the last victim is, turns out it is the farmer. Everyone is mind-blown, but now it makes sense why the beast understands what they are saying, as it is actually the farmer in the driver seat. Boner intensifies.</div>
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Que even more nice roleplaying. The group is wondering if the doctor can help. He doesn’t know right off the bat, but presumes that there might be a ritual or some sort of alchemical process that might help. He will retire to his study and try to search for some answers and tells the group to come by his chalet in the morning. He, again, makes it clear that this thing is old and rare and that everyone is walking on unknown ground now. </div>
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Prior to leaving, the group asks if Brenner or any of his staff had anything to do with this mess. The doctor insists that he is innocent. He leaves, but the group is still somewhat weary of him, but decide to go along with whatever he might aid them with.</div>
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Nightfall slowly approaches, so they decide to go to the farm to spend the night, keeping the farmer, whom the group named “Bob” for some reason, in the big ol’ barn. Dark clouds ascended upon the village, turning into a thunderstorm during the night, leaving the characters happy that they have a roof above their heads.</div>
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Morning comes and they head towards the chalet, as agreed. They meet Dr. Brenner, who offers them tea and an interesting conversation. The gist of it is a question, whether the characters want to commit to helping the farmer, because everything that is coming will be difficult. It will be a complex search for knowledge, clues and ingredients for an unknown ritual that may or may not work in the end. He is also fairly certain that they will all need to do a fair bit of travelling, probably towards one of the big cities, in search for what they need. </div>
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The characters say “<i>yes</i>” (alas, not to the dress), but are also wondering why Dr. Brenner wants to help. He gives a scientist’s answer, he is in it for the knowledge and, when the ordeal of bringing back mister Kosovel to his real body is successful, he would like to keep Catoblepas for himself. To seal the deal, Brenner gives them a small crate with 2000 silver pieces, as promised at the start of the trek for the beast.</div>
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So, the first order of business is getting some ingredients that he doesn’t currently have, but will need in any case as they are essential for the majority of rituals. The ingredient in question is a certain type of salt, known as Rosewater salt, peculiarly found only in this region of the world. As it happens, on the other side of the mountain there is a spa resort of sorts that uses this kind of salt in its baths. He will give the party some silver to buy the salt, enough to get them three full vials, but if the establishment isn’t willing to sell then he hopes the group will find… other means of acquiring it. </div>
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Again, he made it clear that this is not the final step, but only the first and that in the meantime he will go back to his books and dig deeper. It should take the party at least two days to finish the task, so it will give him just enough time to find a hint for the next course of action.<br />
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<b>Final thoughts:</b><br />
And that's a wrap! It was a neat little session, actually giving me a clear picture what the upcoming adventure will be. This was a crossroad of sorts, since the players tossed around a few ideas what to do with Brenner/Catoblepas, so I had a few possible modules lined up that would appropriately correspond to those ideas. If this was a longer session we'd probably delve into the "chosen path" immediately, but since we stopped here it gives me enough time to polish the whole thing. Which is good, I got some ideas along the way.<br />
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In the next post I'll cover the player assumptions and how I plan to incorporate them into the world/story. Thanks for reading!</div>
xmoonxhowlerxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15149950277567744302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339496748012140737.post-63892918130363520812020-05-13T08:25:00.002-07:002020-05-13T08:25:29.055-07:00Random Table: Location Tension<b>Summary:</b> A random table featuring various unnerving things happening to your players whilst exploring a dungeon or forested area. Who needs wandering monster tables? Killing your players is so passé, just freak them out.<br />
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<td style="height: 4px; width: 40px;"><strong>d20</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 214px;"><strong>Dungeon/Underground</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 214px;"><strong>Forest</strong></td>
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<td style="height: 58px; width: 27px;"><strong>1.</strong></td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">A piece of the ceiling unexpectedly cracks and falls right next to one of the characters.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">The sound of snapping twigs is heard somewhere behind the party.</td>
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<td style="height: 58px; width: 27px;"><strong>2.</strong></td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">A floor tile starts sinking into the ground with a grinding sound, as if it is moved by a mechanism triggered by a nearby character. A deadly trap? A hidden door? Nothing happens.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">A random character feels tingling on their back for some time, then a sensation as if something is moving. If they look, they don't see anything. Eventually a big spider crawls over their shoulder. </td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>3.</strong></td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">An animal, native to the dungeon, accidentally triggers an unseen trap that the characters passed only moments ago. It dies a gruesome death.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">Horrible smell of organic origin is suddenly omnipresent, yet the source is unknown.</td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>4.</strong></td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">A random object moves and falls, making a loud noise.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">An unexpected breeze surges through the trees, carrying with itself a whisper. One party member hears the name of another.</td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>5.</strong></td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">Strong gust of wind makes the torchlight dance vigorously, as if it will die any moment.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">The party stumbles upon a small, long extinguished campfire, dozens of teeth found among the ashes.</td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>6.</strong></td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">When a party member goes to do anything alone, play out the scene as if they would die a sudden, horrific death. When the next character comes looking for the dead one, they find them just laying on the ground, unconscious. </td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">Rabid barking sounds of some big canine are heard, followed by a yelp and a whine. Dead silence ensues.</td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>7.</strong></td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">A door closes behind the characters with a sudden bang.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">The shine of pale moonlight pierces through the branches, for a second revealing numerous faces staring at the party from the trees. A horrific trick of the light.</td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>8.</strong></td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">The ceiling of the room has been clawed by some giant unknown creature long ago.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">A distant bone-chilling wail echoes through the woods.</td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>9.</strong></td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">A bone-chilling sound of a screaming child asking for help echoes through the dungeon.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">The voices of giggling children are heard all around the party.</td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>10. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">Sickly green slime oozes from the ceiling onto a characters shoulder. It colors their armor, looking like the armor is damaged or rendered useless (plate armor gets a rusted color, etc.). It is only an aesthetic effect, yet no need to convey this to the PC.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">A tree completely covered in carved symbols and blood stains. It looks like the tree is bleeding. </td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>11. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">As soon as anyone makes any kind of noise, the room comes alive as swarms of cockroaches scuttle about and run away.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">A butchered corpse of an animal is strewn across the ground, the head spiked on a nearby branch.</td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>12. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">A random character walks through a spider's web, face first.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">A nearby tree branch unexpectedly touches one character's shoulder. It's just the wind. </td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>13. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">The ground rumbles and shakes, dust dancing in the room, as if caused by a powerful, but brief, earthquake.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">The party finds itself in the middle of numerous footprints on the ground. Too many to count and vastly overwhelming.</td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>14. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">The whole room is covered with bloody imprints of small hands.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">Small dolls made out of twigs adorn an entire grove of trees.</td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>15. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">This room is eerily quiet, except for the single drop of some liquid echoing throughout. </td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">A lifeless body of a humanoid hangs upside down from a nearby tree, their eyes gouged out.</td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>16. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">A swarm of bats rushes above the heads of the characters, save or suffer minor damage.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">For a couple of moments, complete darkness engulfs the characters, swallowing even their torches. The effect is over as soon as panic kicks in.</td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>17. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">A monster from the wandering table rushes past the players, completely disregarding their presence as it flees in absolute fright from some unknown threat looming ahead.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">A monster from your wandering table rushes past the players, completely disregarding their presence as it flees in absolute fright from some unknown threat looming ahead.</td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>18. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">You went too far into the clutches of darkness. Save or suffer uncontrollable nyctophobia. Your torchlight must not die, otherwise it will be the end of you.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">Random player is bitten by some kind of insect, supposed to be carrying a deadly poison. In reality, it is harmless.</td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>19. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">There's no air and no way of getting out of this hellhole. Save or start hyperventilating, until you eventually pass out.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">These woods are dark and full of horrors. Save or suffer uncontrollable nyctophobia, grasping any kind of nearby source of light. If the light perishes, it will be the death of you.</td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>20. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">You are deep underground, in a cramped space with no sunlight. This place might as well be your tomb. Save or suffer a crippling wave of claustrophobia, manifested by a horrible headache and extreme disorientation. You need to rest.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">You've been wandering the woods for hours, seemingly without signs of an exit. Save or suffer sudden agoraphobia, manifested by a relentless urge to flee the scene, running back whence you came.</td>
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xmoonxhowlerxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15149950277567744302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339496748012140737.post-80872112519214837542020-05-06T10:56:00.000-07:002020-05-06T10:56:09.324-07:00The Wandering Misfits, session #2 - "The Trail of Stone and Sorrow", part 2<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Summary:</b> Session report and wrap-up of “The Trail of Stone and Sorrow” module by Z. Kowolski, as the group is slowly creeping up into uncharted territory beyond the adventure. Includes a review of the adventure, as well as post-game musings and thoughts. Spoilers abound.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Trail of Stone and Sorrow</b></span></div>
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We picked it up right where we unexpectedly dropped the session last Monday due to bad internet. The group is in the living room of Dr. Brenner's chalet, trying to work out a deal where everyone will be satisfied. He is offering 2000 sp for the creature to be brought back to him, dead or alive. The lucrative money offer was more than tempting for the group, but the witch insisted that Brenner should help them out with some equipment or other supplies for the upcoming endeavor. He refused however, instead promising that he might have more “tasks” for the group after this is done, as he is looking for "skilled associates" and he’ll be more than happy to invest further into them. Right now though, they need to prove their worth.</div>
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Perhaps not fully satisfied, the group accepted the task. The conversation with Dr. Brenner continued for a little while longer though, as the group was trying to get as much information as possible. The doctor seemed to be a well traveled man and has seen or heard a fair share of cases of creatures with the power to turn life into stone. In this instance he suspects a Gorgon, but it could very well be something else entirely. If correct, a useful tip would be to steer their gaze away from the creature's eyes.</div>
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<i>“This world of ours is quite peculiar and can surprise you at every corner… my assumptions could very well turn out to be false.”</i></div>
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Soon enough, the party said their goodbyes and took their leave. Not fully knowing what it is that they are dealing with, they proceeded with caution towards the Kosovel farm. They began to worry that they wasted too much time lingering about and that someone got hurt in the meantime.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmL7dZtYx7nw7cbXa81zgpSJ7n2mzTmIG2rszXteBDxRv5xpgfLF7JYuHJJ_t2IZn2ODtuk-eMBxiL_deZqGagcenTiNNm2KSWoNM2GVDaUIbJCgw4QAwnvXmPo4ffcmSIG9f5MsMyqnK-/s1600/John_Constable_008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1370" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmL7dZtYx7nw7cbXa81zgpSJ7n2mzTmIG2rszXteBDxRv5xpgfLF7JYuHJJ_t2IZn2ODtuk-eMBxiL_deZqGagcenTiNNm2KSWoNM2GVDaUIbJCgw4QAwnvXmPo4ffcmSIG9f5MsMyqnK-/s640/John_Constable_008.jpg" width="544" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"The Cornfield" by John Constable</i></td></tr>
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They arrived at the pastures to a sight that only confirmed their fears, for a cow turned to stone greeted them. The entire scene beyond the poor animal seemed chaotic, as there were three statues of sheep, a stone shepherd dog and, by popular demand from Shine’s player, a stone mouse. The dismay was further confirmed by the amount of prints sprinkled across the field, as all the animals ran about in terror.</div>
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What worried them additionally was that there were no humans in sight, no shepherd and no usual residents of the farm, as the sheep were spread everywhere, aimlessly wandering the pasture.</div>
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Approaching the house was an equally disheartening scene, as the porch seems to be completely destroyed, as if something huge rammed into it in full force. Their investigation was interrupted by the farmer’s wife, Ivana, who opened the front door, happy to finally see someone from the village coming to their rescue. And by “their” she sadly meant only her son and herself.</div>
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Yes, her husband has been turned to stone. She explained that a huge beast came charging towards the house, causing the massive damage seen outside on the porch. Polde, her husband, came out of the barn, but was quickly turned to stone when the two saw each other. The beast then went towards him, staring into the statue for a few moments until Ivana ran out of the house, scaring the creature off. Apparently, it ran south, towards the main road. </div>
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In the meantime, Shine investigated the barn, finding some rope that might prove useful, while Raina went to the little side shed, finding a small ax and some lettuce seeds which she can use to empower her spells. No regrets about robbing poor peasants.</div>
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Gybon and Torus inspected the house, meeting the farmer's son Anton and sadly seeing the petrified Polde. They convince the mother and son to go to the safety of the village until they further investigate the matter and hunt down the creature. Once they left, Gybon took a small bathroom mirror from their house and put it in his backpack. <i>Tu quoque, Brute, fili mi!</i></div>
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They continued south, tracking the hoof-prints of the beast after it slammed into the porch and then subsequently destroyed the coop before heading towards the main road. Unexpectedly, they arrive to find a group of people dressed in plain brown robes, pilgrims as it seems, trying to fix a cart with a broken wheel. Torus struck a conversation with the leader of the group, a priest who was dressed the same as the others but had a wooden cross on his chest.</div>
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Apparently, a giant ox-thing ran towards their cart and accidentally slammed into it, pushing it over and breaking the wheel. In the sudden chaos, the priest managed to notice an exotic-looking snake-like scaly back of the creature and a horned head, seconds before the beast disappeared into the forest on the other side of the road. </div>
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He is under the impression that it didn't hit their wagon intentionally, rather it ran with its eyes closed and didn't see where it was going. However, he is willing to help and offers a prayer for the leader of the group (read: wants to cast <i>Bless</i>), if the group promises to either tame the beast or get rid of it.</div>
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Gybon spoke to the man once his story was done, curious to hear where the pilgrims were previously and where are they headed now. Turns out that this group of worshipers is aimlessly traveling across the land, from town to town, spreading the faith. They would stay in place for a few days, hold mass and pray with the locals and then move on. Gybon briefly recounts the stories of his own religious journeys, dragging out a sign of cheer and amazement from the priest. He will pray for Gybon as well.</div>
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After the ritual was done and the group said their farewells to the pilgrims, they tracked the prints ever further. Tracking seemed rather easy, as the beast continued to run away in an almost straight line and not really looking at where it was going. At some point, Shine and Raina notice that it changed pace, almost moving at a crawl due to presumed exhaustion.<br />
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When it seemed obvious that the beast was literally dragging it hoofs, Raina continued forward alone. She finally noticed it, laying on the ground near a spring of water amid a grove of trees. All witness accounts seemed immediately true. A huge ox-thing with a disfigured, horned head and strangely colored snake scales on its back. It looked ancient, as if from another age of this world.<br />
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The witch didn't linger for too long and was soon back with the rest of her companions. Not knowing what to expect of their “prey”, the group decides to secure a small radius of the forest and rig it with improvised traps, a trip wire, some springs that would create noise to confuse the creature and a sturdy enough tree for Shine to hide in and have a good vantage point.</div>
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When everything was set, Gybon, as the strongest and most armored character, moved towards the creature. He slowly came to the groove, trying not to alarm it as it was hunched above the spring of water. Upon seeing it, the cleric was stunned by the size and ancient demeanor of the beast.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnXpX_B_LnIZ1W9rUbnaV7JPKPMAIObUURLzaDuQzMSwL4kRxsiqVJeZD3fF9bdl6VWGEwaQG-bLxC5bisqSkY8jTDcfq2gAEg90HhL8gBVPJkYjPbiugrvBntIULRluAkdYaw5RK-IFbN/s1600/Catoblepas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="256" data-original-width="468" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnXpX_B_LnIZ1W9rUbnaV7JPKPMAIObUURLzaDuQzMSwL4kRxsiqVJeZD3fF9bdl6VWGEwaQG-bLxC5bisqSkY8jTDcfq2gAEg90HhL8gBVPJkYjPbiugrvBntIULRluAkdYaw5RK-IFbN/s640/Catoblepas.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Catoblepas" by Jan Jonston</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Fearing its deadly gaze, Gybon opted for an interesting approach. He placed the mirror from the Kosovel house on a tree at the edge of the groove looking in, so while he stared into the mirror Gybon could see the creature, even though his back was turned to it. He raised his arms above his head, weaponless, and then made a bit of noise, drawing out the attention of the creature which got up and turned to him, startled. It seemed that it was keeping its gaze lower to the ground, yet still trying to see what is happening around it with its peripheral vision.</div>
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Que some great improvised communication from Gybon’s player, as it quickly turned out the beast is intelligent and understands his words, although unable to speak. Through a series of verbal questions from the cleric and answers from the beast via nodding, growling and wailing, head swings and grinding the earth with its tusks, a peculiar way of conversation was struck. It also reacted quite well when the cleric presented his cross, the moment ending with him petting the giant horned head, bowed down in a sorrowful way and with a sad, deep wail. In a theatrically biblical fashion, the cleric offered some of his bread and wine to the beast.</div>
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The rest of the group was silent, yet soon enough they came out into the grove. The beast moved a few steps away, tired and wounded and now maybe even a bit drunk, while the characters paused to figure out what to do. It was fairly “obvious” to them that the creature was once human and that it needs their help. However, they were unsure what to do now, especially since Gybon was somewhat hesitant when it comes to trusting Dr. Brenner. He believes that the doctor is somehow involved in this tragedy. </div>
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After a lengthy debate, it was decided to keep the beast in the grove, while the party goes to fetch Dr. Brenner. The idea is to get him out into the forest and see if he can help somehow, rather than just let him have the creature and do god(s) know what to it. The session ended with the group going back to the chalet.</div>
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<b>============================================================================================</b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Kaleidoscope world-building</b></span></div>
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Nearing the end of the session, we got to the part that I was extremely looking forward to, the player assumptions. If you recall from the <a href="https://verbum-ex-nihilo.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-wandering-misfits-sessions-0-and-1.html" target="_blank">previous session report</a>, I told the players that at the end of each session they are free to make an assumption about the world, based entirely on the perception their characters had in the current session. So for example, if they witness some strange kind of magic, their assumption might be that there is a cult dedicated to worshiping something that grants its followers such weird spell potency. </div>
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In any case, having such assumptions in mind and using them either literally or metaphorically, I will craft the world further. Anything goes, so this might be a fun ride.</div>
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<b>Assumption #1:</b></div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><b>Raina (Witch)</b> - believes that the farmer’s wife is in league with something unholy or otherwise involved in the creation of the beast (this stems from the account that the creature was scared of the woman)</li>
<li><b>Shine (Specialist)</b> - thinks that there are more people like Dr. Brenner and that something akin to an alchemist guild exists somewhere in the world</li>
<li><b>Torus (MU)</b> - found the ways of religious pilgrims peculiar and thus thinks that the “Church” has very little presence in these parts of the world (in contrast to the “Old Religion"), which in turn probably makes the villagers skeptical (based on the way the pilgrims are travelling the world)</li>
<li><b>Gybon (Cleric)</b> - simply doesn’t trust Dr. Brenner and has a sense that the man is hiding something</li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Post-session Game Master musings</b></span></div>
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<b>About the group:</b></div>
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Great fun so far, quite a nice group of people, however a tad-bit unpredictable. Think this mostly stems from the fact that neither of us played together before, so we’re all in uncharted territory. </div>
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It is a tricky matter, since at times they can be quite passive and quiet, so I’m not sure whether to take this a sign of boredom or they’re just shy and… well, passive as players.</div>
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The upside of "not knowing them" is that sometimes they wonderfully surprise you with their actions. There were moments when the scene was supposed to be ordinary and just dull, yet they would spice it up with great roleplay. Similarly, Gybon's player was quiet for almost the entirety of sessions #0 and #1, but completely exploded in this session and took a tremendous amount of lead with investigating and then finally approaching the beast. That last bit in particular was so good and I especially cherished some moments when he tapped into the religious side of his character.</div>
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<b>About the module: </b></div>
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Wonderful starting module! This was such a perfect choice for a beginning adventure that right off the bat I can say that I'd happily run it again. It sets the scene so well and has a steady pace up until the end, leaving enough space to tailor the whole experience towards any kind of group. </div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAWHR-_9CBJPgvXDJJwJhBuD7v8BGB6TLhCrJ4kT_OawWQDNzlsW6PDupIbwkaaKqkpPEAX8HkGcC5B1kkuWSPDaE3oHidFqVrmKhVpUpmEzB-EwbaBjOdpx98RoCPPZO_a-ZMWyDpK4mn/s1600/141915.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="798" data-original-width="619" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAWHR-_9CBJPgvXDJJwJhBuD7v8BGB6TLhCrJ4kT_OawWQDNzlsW6PDupIbwkaaKqkpPEAX8HkGcC5B1kkuWSPDaE3oHidFqVrmKhVpUpmEzB-EwbaBjOdpx98RoCPPZO_a-ZMWyDpK4mn/s400/141915.png" width="310" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"The Trail of Stone and Sorrow" by Z.Kowolski<br />Original cover art by Moritz Müller</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
What I loved about this is how fluent it is. There’s a whole bunch of locations for the players to explore and quite a few of those are already available from the start. The sheer amount of choice given immediately is great, both for the GM and for the players, as it can easily make each game different, if used multiple times.</div>
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The whole story is constructed like a big jigsaw puzzle and each of those aforementioned locations fills one missing piece in the grand frame. Bit by bit, it slowly forms into an intriguing story with a nice little twist at the end. (spoiler alert, I think my players didn't manage to figure it out completely, yet)</div>
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The beauty of the module is how adaptable to the PCs it is. Wanna go hunt down the beast without much thought? Sure thing, here are some tracks, go! Want to investigate the mysterious stranger accused by the villagers? Go ahead, his lavish cabin is just up north. Or maybe you want to backtrack and see where the monster originally came from? No problem, the old tracks are still fresh. The bear statue? The stoned cow down the road? The weird hermit huntress? Yep, it’s all there. </div>
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And not only that, but all these scenes have vastly different moods to them, so much so that I think they can satisfy almost any kind of group, be it hunters, investigators, explorers or what have you. Similarly, it enables the GM to play around with said moods. For example, our scene with the bear statue played out like a horror shot. This is why I think this is an especially good module for a group like this one, since we don’t know each other’s playing style and this adventure sets good ground for establishing familiarity.</div>
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I would suggest some things be done differently though. For starters, better formatting. All the locations are divided into sections, which is great, but I’d prefer important bits of text to be bold or underlined, as it would drastically help the readability. Half a page of completely even wall of text is no fun when you need to skim it and quickly find some information. </div>
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This was painfully obvious when they visited the Kosovel farm. I didn’t fully memorize how the events unfolded in front of their house and I had to quickly refer to the text in order to play out the scene. Yes, I improvised accordingly, but the module wasn’t helping much with how it was formatted. </div>
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Another thing that I would like to see are a few author notes on how certain open ended parts of the story might play out. I presume this is a deliberate decision to leave a lot to the GM’s interpretation, but some rough notes would be cool as inspiration.</div>
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Overall though, I would highly recommend this module! It offers a lot of material in only a few pages and can be used in many different ways. You don’t even need to play the entire thing, just opting to use the setting of the village and the forest, or simply picking up and dropping Catoblepas into an ongoing story, this module has your back.<br />
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Oh and one other important thing, Kowolski is awesome enough to include dual-stats in this adventure (and most his other modules actually), so you have stats for his own <i>Neoclassical Geek Revival</i> system, as well as an almost system neutral/"easily portable to any OSR game" stat block.</div>
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<a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/141915/The-Trail-of-Stone-and-Sorrow?affiliate_id=1366331" target="_blank">You can pick up “The Trail of Stone and Sorrow” on DriveThruRPG here</a>. </div>
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It is available as a “pay what you want” and a suggested price of $2.50. The preview is great since it pretty much shows you almost the entire module and you can easily decide if it’s the right thing for you on the spot.</div>
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<b>Lessons learned and final thoughts: </b></div>
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As I wrote in the previous report, this was a neat little experiment for me personally, as this is the first time I’m running a game in English. Usually I run games in Serbian (duh) and so far this has been an interesting experience. Even though I’m a fluent writer/speaker, it is quite challenging to sometimes think of an eloquent way to describe a scene or reaction on the fly when you’re not using your native tongue. Think I just need a few more sessions just to loosen up and figure out the group (see above) and it’s all gonna fall into place nicely. In the meantime, I presume that I will aid myself with a few descriptive keywords for each scene, just to kick-start myself if I feel lacking for words in the moment.</div>
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In line with what I wrote above regarding "not knowing how this group plays", it is quite anxiety inducing at times not knowing what kind of emotion I'm building up within the players, so I'd also welcome my head loosening up in this department as well. However, this is a big personal win for me, wrestling the task of gathering a completely new group and coming out on top. Yay me.</div>
xmoonxhowlerxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15149950277567744302noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339496748012140737.post-35149321271767757142020-05-02T09:40:00.000-07:002020-05-02T09:40:16.757-07:00Monster: Memory Eater<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Summary:</b> A monster entry inspired by its cool-sounding name and my enjoyment of writing lengthy random tables. Further animated by elements of the fair folk, dreams and spirits.</div>
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The persistent sense of unease has followed you through the shadows of the forest for some time now. Something has been staring at you, waiting. You can feel that it is hungry, but not for your flesh. It craves a thing you cannot name.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCgjZF2n7BSyWpIfKnQCy3xQ33odR6sW_r33wtKYGg0ZQsI1471_EsoGFHCtFFKm4ZN25AAAWUjLlZZyORTpCvdmrq1GJdD7HAY2XmwXuSFDNBcMQGPHr5t4tjUDNrsBi2v_qwzszMuotX/s1600/Jheronimus_Bosch_097_central_panel_02_detail_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="493" data-original-width="421" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCgjZF2n7BSyWpIfKnQCy3xQ33odR6sW_r33wtKYGg0ZQsI1471_EsoGFHCtFFKm4ZN25AAAWUjLlZZyORTpCvdmrq1GJdD7HAY2XmwXuSFDNBcMQGPHr5t4tjUDNrsBi2v_qwzszMuotX/s400/Jheronimus_Bosch_097_central_panel_02_detail_02.jpg" width="340" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A detail from "The Last Judgement" by Hieronymus Bosch</i></td></tr>
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You search for the threat, but you can’t see it. Perhaps your eyes glanced over it, yet you perceived it at as nothing out of the ordinary.</div>
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But then, unexpectedly, the sight of the creature staring at you with the pallid eyes of its true form. The moment you finally see it for what it is, it will smile and leave. By then it is already too late, you are left robbed, your mind devoid of a treasured memory.</div>
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The creature and its innumerable kin are known by many names, inhabiting different worlds, all rooted in the folklore of various tribes, yet horrifyingly real and omnipresent.</div>
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Witch covens believe them to be one of the <i>Aeos Síe</i>, yet the witches know better than to utter the true name of any member of the mad circles of the Sídhe. Within the Shattered Empire they call the creature a <i>Kradljivac </i>or <i>Thiefling</i>, while some decadent cities and cults of Amasia know them as the <i>Preservers</i>.</div>
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Regardless of the land, a universal name is given to these creatures. <i>Memory Eaters</i>.</div>
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Physically nigh harmless, it is a skilled chameleon, able to take on a myriad of mundane shapes. Its presence radiates with an aura of strangeness, warping senses of sentient creatures in unexpected ways, the only sign that a Memory Eater is nearby.</div>
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Before it disappears once again, it will leave a gift for what it has taken from its victim. This trinket can be used to track down the Memory Eater, because part of its twisted logic desires to be found.</div>
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It lives in a place that should not be, a pocket dimension weaved by magic that tempered with the very fabric of reality, creating a lair that simply never existed in the history of the world. In this realm, the stolen memories manifest and come to life, grotesque trophies on display that form a disjointed tale of the creature’s victims, a collage of ripped pages from a sketchbook of a man struck with lunacy.</div>
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Not all of these trophies are “fresh” and therein lies a bittersweet conundrum. Some memories belonged to now long dead things, while others are from those who simply didn’t care for what they had lost. In some instances, the Memory Eater took painful parts from its victims, tending to them and locking them away, the previous owners rejoicing at the freedom that they never knew they received. As such, the realm can be vast, intricate and delusional. Who knows what ancient secrets linger here, forgotten and mutilated.</div>
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Inside, the creature revels in its true form and offers a bargain: your stolen memories, untouched, for a favor. A game for you to play, a task for you to carry out in its stead, or even to briefly become a part of the endless complex machinations working between it and other members of its mad brood. Acts that, most of the times, seem illogical to a mere mortal.</div>
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The victim is always left with that choice. Play along and you will get back what is yours. Walk away and you will never have to see the creature again, leaving it busy with abandoned memories, to linger and weave as it sees fit. Raise your weapon and slay it, unexpected consequences will happen. </div>
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The choice is yours. If only now you could first remember what it was that you were setting out to do in the first place…</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi11va2ClpOkBGGG4iMDx1diEg94j-4soD-GLcQAkWjEmmaaEX9A2b409Ul9U_hYBUC3_I4-EFwYC-NVLxuh6taP80uxY61q9SNxq6JHVfCDXYTiRcCd4TDP7xgd0VaAtPViSRO0NJ0tqBe/s1600/tumblr_c5443cad8ba8d5ca8940cdd4c7fa1980_62b761eb_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="1028" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi11va2ClpOkBGGG4iMDx1diEg94j-4soD-GLcQAkWjEmmaaEX9A2b409Ul9U_hYBUC3_I4-EFwYC-NVLxuh6taP80uxY61q9SNxq6JHVfCDXYTiRcCd4TDP7xgd0VaAtPViSRO0NJ0tqBe/s640/tumblr_c5443cad8ba8d5ca8940cdd4c7fa1980_62b761eb_1280.jpg" width="427" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Fantasy based on Goethe's Faust" by Theodor von Holst</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Memory Eater</b></span></div>
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<b><i>AC:</i></b> <i>as unarmored</i></div>
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<i><b>HD:</b> 6</i></div>
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<i><b>Attack:</b> claws 1d4/1d4 (does not deal physical damage; instead Save Vs. Spell or suffer equal amount of Intelligence loss; death when dropped to 0; permanent until Memory Eater is slain, then recover 1 point per day)</i></div>
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<i style="font-weight: bold;">Special:</i><br />
<ul>
<li><i><b>Immunity to mind-affecting spells</b></i></li>
<li><i><b>Immunity to normal weapons</b></i></li>
<li><i><b>Spells known </b>(cast at will): Hallucinatory Terrain, Mirror Image, Feeblemind, Quest, Charm Person, Projected Image, Confusion, Emotions, Sensory Deprivation, Paralysis, Polymorph Self</i></li>
</ul>
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<table border="black" cellpadding="5" style="background-color: transparent; border-color: black; height: 290px; width: 700px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 4px;">
<td style="height: 4px; width: 40px;"><strong>d20</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 121px;"><b>Foreshadowing:</b></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 214px;"><strong>Stolen memory:</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 121px;"><strong>Trinket left:</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 214px;"><b>The bargain:</b></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 214px;"><strong>If killed:</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 58px;">
<td style="height: 58px; width: 27px;"><strong>1.</strong></td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">Your tongue becomes cold</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">An oath you took</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">A freshly plucked rare mushroom</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Steal a dagger used to kill a king</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Realm implodes with the characters in it</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 58px;">
<td style="height: 58px; width: 27px;"><strong>2.</strong></td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">Persistent goosebumps</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">The name of your first love</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">A turquoise button</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Retrieve a forgotten song</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Realm becomes a physical location, altering the geography of the world as the GM sees fit</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 59px;">
<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>3.</strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 229px;">Faint purring sound in your ears</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 121px;">A moment when you cried from joy</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">Broken porcelain cup</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Bring an artist plagued by madness</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Everything decays rapidly. The PCs age. The realm remains, floating in the world.</td>
</tr>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>4.</strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 229px;">Nearby vegetation randomly changes color</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 121px;">The fate of an important ancestor </td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">An intricately carved pebble</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Capture the source of a child’s nightmare</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Life force of the creature disperses into all memories in its realm, granting them life.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 59px;">
<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>5.</strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 229px;">Your limbs become slightly numb</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 121px;">A lie you told to the one you love</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">Twigs tied with a red bow string</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Bring a single hair of a princess encased in amber</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">All stolen memories return to their owners, utterly defiled and twisted.</td>
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<tr style="height: 59px;">
<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>6.</strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 229px;">Extreme wave of sadness makes you start crying</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 121px;">A secret you exposed to an enemy</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">An ember four-leaf clover</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Return a memory stolen from an old priest</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">The Memory Eater survives, its essence jumping into a random nearby item. The item becomes cursed.</td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>7.</strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 229px;">You have an insane urge to whistle</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 121px;">Knowledge of one skill that defines you</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">A purple yarn ball and a broken needle</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Perform an act that will become a future folk tale</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">The Memory Eater survives, its essence jumping into a random nearby item. The item becomes magical.</td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>8.</strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 229px;">A distant giggling sound rings in your ears</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 121px;">The reason why you hate someone</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">A small mound of glittering dust (worth 500 sp)</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Spend eight nights and tell eight tales</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">The killer gets an alignment change, to whatever is the polar opposite of its current spectrum.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 59px;">
<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>9.</strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 229px;">Eerie feeling of being watched</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 121px;">Your favorite childhood toy</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">A perfectly shaped wishbone</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Plant a seed deep into the heart of a sacred glade</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">The creature implodes, sucking up all nearby memories into oblivion. Everyone present suffers amnesia.</td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>10. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 229px;">The sound of insects raises in pitch periodically</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 121px;">A thing that makes you proud</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">A small wicker man (made out of dried yage and wolfsbane sticks)</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Play a trick on another Memory Eater</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">The lair and everything in it become a memory. Good luck getting out.</td>
</tr>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>11. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 229px;">A persistent smell of honey</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 121px;">A broken oath</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">A long sugar-coated thorn</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Find the oldest book in a city</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Sudden epiphany. The creature was simply lonely and wanted to have a friend. You become incurably depressed.</td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>12. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 229px;">You are compelled to laugh for no reason</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 121px;">Your greatest achievement</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">A jewelry box that can never be opened</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Perform a forbidden ritual</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Instantly wake up on the ground where the Memory Eater was initially seen. This was all a dream. Or was it?</td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>13. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 229px;">The presence of silver becomes unbearable</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 121px;">Your greatest failure</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">A wooden comb that has every third tooth broken</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Plant an idea into the memory of a boy</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">You killed a thing you suddenly believe to be a God and are compelled to create a cult in order to worship it</td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>14. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 229px;">Sour taste in your mouth</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 121px;">A friend you lost</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">Trail of rose petals</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Bring a relic from the nearby monastery, the fabled diary of the Blind Chronicler</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">The creature whispers strange names with its dying breath. Whatever kind of oaths it had with others of its kind, now fall on the shoulders of the characters.</td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>15. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 229px;">Clothes become annoying, desire to get naked</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 121px;">Your most aspiring dream</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">A rusted key with an engraved name</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Bring bad memories of a lonely child</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Nothing happens. This Memory Eater was the soulmate of another. It will hunt you down and make you pay.</td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>16. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 229px;">You have a lump in your throat, as if about to cry</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 121px;">Your worst nightmare or phobia</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">Mandrake root. While holding it, you hear faint, constant screaming</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Retrieve a sword hidden at the bottom of a lake</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">The Memory Eater evaporates, leaving a portal in its place. You do not know where it leads.</td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>17. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 229px;">Ears are constantly itchy</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 121px;">Whatever it was that you were currently doing or setting out to do</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">A very small kitten. While nearby, you have an uncontrollable urge to groom yourself.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Take a petrified plant to another Memory Eater</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Realm becomes empty. Each present character gets injected with 1d7 random memories they now believe are their own. GM discretion. Have fun.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 59px;">
<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>18. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 229px;">You crave onions, you need them now</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 121px;">The love you have for a sibling</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">Golden horseshoe</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Locate, explore and bring something back from a negadungeon</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Killing this creature was a sin. You are compelled to bring it back to life at all costs and undo everything.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 59px;">
<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>19. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 229px;">You become incredibly aroused by the people nearby</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 121px;">Your philosophical ideal</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">A crown of thorns and flowers</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">An item holds the trapped soul of an important historical figure, a fabled hero. Destroy it.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">The realm teleports to a random location in the world.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 59px;">
<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>20. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 229px;">Vision blurs, as if in a cloud of smoke</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 121px;">The faith (or the reason for the lack of) that you have in your god(s)</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 229px;">A book smaller than your palm, written in an unknown language</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Help the creature undo a mistake which was the cause for exile from its homeland</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Nothing obvious happens. Religiously inclined characters lose faith. Clerics lose everything.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
xmoonxhowlerxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15149950277567744302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339496748012140737.post-59832478050839452682020-04-30T07:46:00.000-07:002020-05-15T03:03:06.230-07:00The Wandering Misfits, sessions #0 and #1 - "The Trail of Stone and Sorrow", part 1<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Summary:</b> Session report of a B/X game that I started running online for several of my co-workers. It’s an experiment all around, trying out some homebrew things while also tackling the challenge of finally storytelling a game in English. In case you have not played “<a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/141915/The-Trail-of-Stone-and-Sorrow?affiliate_id=1366331" target="_blank">The Trail of Stone and Sorrow</a>”, then beware, spoilers abound.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>In the beginning...</b></span></div>
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For a long while now I knew that some people at work were into RPGs, so the COVID-19 shitstorm seemed like a good excuse to get a game going with them. A few days ago I was extremely frustrated with the amount of insanely increased workload, so a coffee break ensued during which I got an idea for a game. I quickly scribbled some thoughts about it on paper and at the end of my break I came back to a work-related chat room and wrote “gonna run an RPG online, who wants to join?”. Four unfortunate souls rejoiced.</div>
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The setting that I decided to use is neither <i>Quassus</i> nor <i>Amasia</i>, but rather I decided on something new entirely. The only thing I told the players during character creation regarding the world was that it will be on the technological level of 16th-ish century Europe, low-magic on the surface, but lots of weird fantasy underneath. Just enough to get their gears going. </div>
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In addition to that, I also gave them a short intro just prior to kicking off the actual module, a sort of brief mood-setter which I’ll post below.</div>
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So aside of these few scribbles, that was pretty much all the world-building I did in preparation for the game. But, here’s the caveat: at the end of each session, the players are free to make an assumption about the world, based entirely on the perception their characters had in the sessions up to that point. Having and using these assumptions in mind, either literally or metaphorically, I will craft the world further. Thus, I decided to name this setting <i>Kaleidoscope</i>.</div>
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This seemed like a nice experimental way of including the players into the process of world-building, weaving the world together as we go along. Extremely excited to see what kind of caricature we end up with.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Session #0 - Character creation</b></span></div>
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Session zero was pretty much just character creation and getting to know some basic rules, since the group is a mix of veterans and beginners. I opted for a B/X game sprinkled with a little bit of LotFP and then added some of my own homebrew stuff. </div>
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Standard 3d6 in order, swap two if needed. We used the fantastic failed medieval careers from <a href="http://tenfootpolemic.blogspot.com/2014/01/200-failed-medieval-careers.html" target="_blank">Ten Foot Polemic</a>, as a secondary basis for the players to decide the class they want. </div>
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Additionally, I decided on a rule which I saw in a friend’s 5e game, where he rewarded an additional +1 random stat increase if a given player comes up with a backstory connection their character might have with another PC. Not sure if this was his homebrew or a legit 5e thing (I’m not much of a post-3e person), but I liked it, so I used it.</div>
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In any case, this is what we ended up with:</div>
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<li><b>Cleric (Gybon) </b>- grew up as the fat kid who was bullied by the other kids, until he decided to use his size and strength to hit back and protect himself. Eventually, he dedicated his life to the protection of the Church, to which he turned for answers. Traveled around for a time, protecting various monasteries and spreading the fate. A believer, but the weirdness and the inexplicable things of the world made him question his fate and himself. He is now back in the village where he was born, still desperately searching for answers to unknown questions, at times at the bottom of a wine bottle.</li>
<li><b>Magic User</b> <b>(Torus) </b>- the local grave digger. And by digger, I mean robber. The dead don’t need their gold, nor their trinkets. Alas, he is not quite proud of what he is doing and is painfully aware that it is out of survival and pure necessity, nothing else. He grew up with the Cleric and is one of the rare kids who didn’t harass him, so as a result the two are rather close friends and share a similar ambition for grander things. Thirsty for knowledge... and wine, when available. So far, the voice of reason in the group.</li>
<li><b>Witch</b> <b>(Raina)</b> - at birth, her parents were dumb enough to be scared of some of her physical features (red hair, pale skin…) and thought that they were bad omens, thus they left the child deep in the forest to pretty much die. She survived thanks to wild animals deciding not to eat her and the local hunters and witches who took her in and raised her. She is the weird lone girl in the woods, a green witch versed in the <i><a href="https://verbum-ex-nihilo.blogspot.com/2020/04/character-class-witch.html" target="_blank">Traditions of the Evergreen Ouroboros</a></i>, usually just coming to the village to sell herbs and buy whatever she needs. Curiously enough, the loudmouth of the group and completely unaware of any social etiquette.</li>
<li><b>Specialist</b> <b>(Shine)</b> - the village fence, she buys various odd items, mostly getting her stuff from thieves or the local grave “digger”, and then reselling the wares for profit. The local witch is her frequent customer, as she’s always in the mood to buy the weirdest stuff for sale. Lately though, she realized that she is a far better burglar than any of her suppliers and that she could make way more coin than a mere fence, especially since she knows what her customers want. Eager to do some travelling, exploring and finding new clients and treasures in need of being “rescued”.</li>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Session #1 - Introduction</b></span></div>
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<i>In the western corners of the world lies a kingdom, old and powerful, said to be ruled by a wicked king at war with a vicious queen. </i></div>
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<i>Somewhere within the king’s ancient land lies a village, so small it has neither a name, nor a mark on the map of the great kingdom. A place of common folk, of simple lives and humble needs, untroubled by the vastness, cruelty and strangeness of the world.</i></div>
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<i>But among the simple folk, grows a sense of unease. The Church and its Holy Cross have spread across the land, now standing shoulder to shoulder with the religion of the Old Ways. All these Gods now stand together, silent, waiting… Hungry and envious.</i></div>
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<i>Slowly, the nameless village stirs and a band of unlikely heroes answers the call. This is their story.</i><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpSc6xZLjttbm29GQmZRpGCxyLIXmT9oskPOOMNJ0QiM8-eSnsckqHu78hVrwRpAEjKKGkndYS2HjYShA5B3HZ2O5rmD158czAqsuPd7KGdH_AP-GzmJKQzKOIlR7a21TgiUzNbq1NOewg/s1600/Richard_Wilson_-_The_Mawddach_Valley_and_Cader_Idris_-_WGA25770.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="804" data-original-width="965" height="532" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpSc6xZLjttbm29GQmZRpGCxyLIXmT9oskPOOMNJ0QiM8-eSnsckqHu78hVrwRpAEjKKGkndYS2HjYShA5B3HZ2O5rmD158czAqsuPd7KGdH_AP-GzmJKQzKOIlR7a21TgiUzNbq1NOewg/s640/Richard_Wilson_-_The_Mawddach_Valley_and_Cader_Idris_-_WGA25770.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"The Mawddach Valley and Cader Idris" by Richard Wilson</i></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">The Trail of Stone and Sorrow</span></b></div>
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Commotion, rumors and overall weirdness riled up the villagers and so the elder named Gregory summoned up volunteers to investigate a matter most peculiar. Our band of misfits answered the call to the village hall, along with some other random townsfolk probably more interested in hearing gossip and not actually helping.</div>
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It would seem that the little carpenter’s boy saw a statue of a bear in the middle of the nearby forest. Even though Raina, the witch, claims she knows all the nooks and crannies of the woods and has never seen such a “statue”, Gregory replies that the displayed panic of the boy and his mother is genuine. The local alewife adds to that, apparently a merchant who came to town saw a stone cow by the road leading to the Kosovel farm. And speaking of the Kosovels, who are a frequent seller on the village market, the family has not been seen for a couple of days. </div>
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Such a small village, yet so much trouble, and not made any easier by the other townsfolk rambling and cursing at the “weird stranger” who moved to the region some months back. No good came of his many riches and surely such an outsider is to blame for whatever is causing this distress.</div>
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The party decides to help out and investigate the matter, inspired by the reward of a barrel of ale and however much coin the elder can spare. First point of interest is little Robin, the carpenter’s boy. They find him rather fast and, for a price of one silver piece, he accepts to show them where he encountered the statue of the bear.</div>
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Even though he was “eager” to help and has quickly led the party through the forest, the boy suddenly stopped in his tracks, showing obvious signs of fright. “<i>It is there, right behind that bundle of trees,</i>” was all he said before running back to the safety of the village. </div>
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Left alone, the party was a bit too careful about advancing forward, especially in the moment when the witch noticed that animals can’t be heard in the vicinity. Torus, the MU, decided to cast “<i>Detect Magic</i>” in the hopes of figuring out if anything magical is behind the treeline. He didn’t “see” anything, but had sensed a sort of weird, dying vibration radiating from the direction. In the meantime, Shine, the Specialist, decided to climb a nearby tree and take a peek. From her vantage point, she noticed something that could resemble a statue.<br />
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Finally the witch moved forward among the thick trees and underbrush, greeted by the strange sight of a bear made of stone. A bizarre sight, as the bear looked shockingly realistic, immediately discarding the possibility that this was the doing of anything but magic. Torus was sure the vibrating sensation came from the statue. Gybon, the cleric, tried to remember a tale where, he thinks, a witch had the power to turn creatures to stone, but he wasn’t entirely sure.<br />
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While the two childhood friends contemplated, the others spread through the area. The witch, while looking for clues and searching for plants she might use for spellcasting, noticed massive hoof prints that came from the north, moving all the way to the bear and then further south, roughly in the direction of the Kosovel farm. She also realized that, along the line of the prints, plants have been damaged, as if the creature ate along the way. The specialist, on the other hand, noticed trees with notches and a number of small snare traps set throughout the area, recalling that there is a hunting camp nearby.<br />
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With all this newly discovered information, the group decides to go towards the camp and see if anybody saw or heard anything. A short trek through the woods and they arrive, greeted by the sole inhabitant of the small wooden hunting cabin, Ol’ Lady Bibic. Annoyed with the high pitched, friendly voice of the witch, she decides to communicate with Shine. Not only is she aware of something threading through the forest, but she has actually witnessed the moment when the bear was turned to stone! She proceeds to describe a huge ox-shaped creature with a disfigured head bearing many horns and snake scales running down its back. The huntress tracked the beast for some time, as it was carelessly walking around, nibbling on plants, until it stumbled upon the bear. The poor animal got turned to stone the second they locked eyes on each other and the beast became quite violent then. It attacked some trees and then moved further south.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicpO2xsF2BHsMG7sIkCqAveCcWh0ExTjFtPvzw4CjqBjlrIK7wmRPXfH8TXZw4bDfa4n2u4ox5qP8Aj-WJnvSAcNe-0vfxZNmSVy4OjRLCzxDjX8ggd78EcfRozDEFq0ZFx3YW57FcKDJM/s1600/Gustav+Mutzel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1070" data-original-width="1564" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicpO2xsF2BHsMG7sIkCqAveCcWh0ExTjFtPvzw4CjqBjlrIK7wmRPXfH8TXZw4bDfa4n2u4ox5qP8Aj-WJnvSAcNe-0vfxZNmSVy4OjRLCzxDjX8ggd78EcfRozDEFq0ZFx3YW57FcKDJM/s640/Gustav+Mutzel.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"American black bear, Ursus americanus Pall." by Gustav Mützel</i></td></tr>
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Shine tried to convince Bibic to join them in an effort to stop the creature before it hurts someone else, but the huntress didn’t seem interested. She was happy that it strayed away from her cabin and her worries stopped there.<br />
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Since the party figured they moved close to the location where the “weird stranger” lived, they decided to pay him a quick visit. They are greeted with the site of a rather magnificent-looking three story cabin adorned with windows made out of actual glass and a menacing guard at the front door. Adorned with a leathery, fur heavy armor, the man gazed at the approaching characters without uttering a single word, even when they waved hello. The awkwardness was broken by an elderly woman coming out of the building, introducing herself as Mildred and wondering what the group is looking for, as the residence doesn't seem to have frequent visits from the villagers.<br />
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Soon enough, the party was inside the building welcomed by the man they came to find, Dr. Brenner, an alchemist with a peculiar interest for things most uncommon, who was pleasantly surprised with the unexpected guests. The party introduced themselves, but cut right to the chase. Apparently, the good doctor has heard rumors which unsettled the villagers, alas he has not paid much attention to the whole matter and has prescribed it to the superstitious imagination of the peasants. However, the second the party described the unnatural beast roaming the forest and turning things to stone, as well as the evidence they stumbled upon, his eyes widened.<br />
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Dr. Brenner seemed awestruck and curious about the creature, and has immediately offered quite a large sum of coin to the party if they bring it back to his chalet, dead or alive...<br />
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<b>Final thoughts:</b><br />
...and this is sadly where our session ended, since two players had unexpected technical issues connecting to our Discord server.<br />
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I won't include post-session musings and the module review in this post, since I'd like to wait for us to finish it. This was a two hour session and they're somewhere in the middle of the adventure. So far it is going "by the book", so to say, but I'm curious how they are going to tackle the end, as it will vastly impact my choice of the next module in line. I can't really tell if they picked up on what <i>exactly</i> is going on in the adventure, so there is no solid ground for me to predict the way it will end. Meeting the creature will surely spark a lot of debate and I'm rather excited to see how it will unfold.<br />
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Session #2 is scheduled for next Monday, so until then I hope y'all enjoyed this report!</div>
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xmoonxhowlerxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15149950277567744302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339496748012140737.post-396602286244583722020-04-23T08:07:00.000-07:002020-05-13T07:41:33.679-07:00Random Table: Strange starting items and how you got them<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Summary:</b> A random table featuring thirty peculiar items to be given to characters during creation, as well as a list of ways the characters may have acquired the said items. Weirdness abound.</div>
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The main source of inspiration has been the starting items and oddities list over at the <a href="http://totmv2.blogspot.com/2020/04/lotfp-class-kits.html" target="_blank">Tomb of the Wandering Millennial</a>. I used it to great effect last week when a new group of players was creating characters for an upcoming game. Everyone enjoyed the list of oddities, since there are some interesting items on it and some of the results fit the characters perfectly. </div>
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However, I felt that the said items needed an extra something to make the randomness even more effective, thus I wrote the list below. Some items are useful, some are horrible and some are mundane, but all of them strange. As I said, this was made to be used during character creation, but I guess that it can be used just as easily as a random table of magical items in an ongoing game.<br />
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No specific instructions needed for this, since I tried to make it straight forward. A single d30 roll tells you everything, which item the PC gets, what they think/believe the item does and the final column is what the item actually does. Completely up to the GM how/when/if they reveal the true potential of the item to the player.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDCkIKwaKjsivaXoeISmsbxaY0DqzfBD8batVeASwYHrgi6dYtfVyW9vgV-d_XWqfwzuf30TlV4WYKzJMwzcDZ5gmcEjP7ARUnvVunUu2mkWLCo9TsEOr8Mq2pfQplQRSwjeHe64-hicoX/s1600/Pieter_Claeszoon-_Vanitas_-_Still_Life_%25281625%252C_29%252C5_x_34%252C5_cm%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="865" data-original-width="1200" height="459" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDCkIKwaKjsivaXoeISmsbxaY0DqzfBD8batVeASwYHrgi6dYtfVyW9vgV-d_XWqfwzuf30TlV4WYKzJMwzcDZ5gmcEjP7ARUnvVunUu2mkWLCo9TsEOr8Mq2pfQplQRSwjeHe64-hicoX/s640/Pieter_Claeszoon-_Vanitas_-_Still_Life_%25281625%252C_29%252C5_x_34%252C5_cm%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Vanitas - Still Life" by Pieter Claesz</i></td></tr>
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<table border="black" cellpadding="5" style="background-color: transparent; border-color: black; height: 290px; text-align: left; width: 700px;">
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<tr style="height: 4px;">
<td style="height: 4px; width: 27px;"><strong>d30</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 200px;"><strong>Item gained</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 140px;"><strong>What the PC thinks it does?</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 121px;"><strong>What it actually does?</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 58px;">
<td style="height: 58px; width: 27px;"><strong>1.</strong></td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 200px;">Tarnished urn full of ashes</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 140px;">Ashes of a long dead relative, might have sentimental value, but otherwise worthless. </td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Magical urn holding the ashes of the first witch. Make of this what you will. </td>
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<td style="height: 58px; width: 27px;"><strong>2.</strong></td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 200px;">20 meter rope made out of silk</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 140px;">It can withstand any amount of weight.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">If a person is hung from an oak tree using this rope, the body will disappear upon death.</td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>3.</strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 200px;">Small pouch with three seeds inside</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 140px;">The seeds will make the owner rich.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">If an animal eats a seed, it turns to copper.<br />
If another humanoid eats a seed, their nails become silver.<br />
If the PC eats a seed, their teeth turn to gold. </td>
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<tr style="height: 59px;">
<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>4.</strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 200px;">A silver tooth with many scratches </td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 140px;">The person with the tooth in their mouth are compelled to tell the truth. </td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Does the exact thing as described.</td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>5.</strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 200px;">An ancient map made on tattered parchment, the names of locations faded, but with one circled spot</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 140px;">Leads to a location of a family crypt, sadly raided and left derelict long ago.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Leads to a location of a negadungeon, but with an item of campaign importance at its heart. </td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>6.</strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 200px;">Small wooden cross, "St. Actias" engraved at the bottom</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 140px;">Brings the mind at ease during times of great distress.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">If used in any kind of pitch darkness, summons a swarm of tiny moths carrying lanterns. </td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>7.</strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 200px;">The Blessed Spear of Lungheen</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 140px;">Destined to kill the greatest foe of its owner. </td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Nothing, it's just a finely ornamented spear. Worth 5000sp.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 59px;">
<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>8.</strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 200px;">A pair of wooden dice with carved pips, sides being: 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 140px;">Nothing, badly crafted mundane item for obvious cheating.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">To everyone else, but the owner, the dice look like normal 1-6 dice. </td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 59px;">
<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>9.</strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 200px;">A belt buckle made out of a carved human vertebra</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 140px;">If worn, wearer will die upon entering any holy place (monastery, church...) </td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">If worn, the wearer is completely invisible to any undead creature.</td>
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<tr style="height: 59px;">
<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>10. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 200px;">An old, yet well preserved, chess figurine of a Rook</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 140px;">Mundane item of good craftsmanship. Worth 1000sp. </td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Knock with the bottom side of the figurine on any object three times to completely obliterate both.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 59px;">
<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>11. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 200px;">Rosary beads, but the bottom half of the cross is missing</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 140px;">The monk who was the original owner was a heretic and thus the beads are cursed in an unknown way. </td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Boosts will-related saves of the PC (which should be altered by the GM, secretly)</td>
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<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>12. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 200px;">A polished silver coin</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 140px;">It's just a coin, but exceptionally shiny. </td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Even if thrown away or used for payment, the coin will always reappear in the PC's pocket. </td>
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<tr style="height: 59px;">
<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>13. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 200px;">A black pocket bell with white sigils </td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 140px;">If "hit" with the right set of sticks, it will produce the divine melody of the Angels.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">No matter what you hit it with, it will produce a pain inducing sound for everyone. Literally. Roll for damage.</td>
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<tr style="height: 59px;">
<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>14. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 200px;">Small dog whistle made out of ivory</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 140px;">Mundane, only dogs can hear it.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">The sound is heard by a rain goddess and thus if it is blown during a storm, she will disperse all clouds. However, she will, at some point, desire the PC to repay the favor. </td>
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<tr style="height: 59px;">
<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>15. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 200px;">Ebony mask of a human with no eyes</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 140px;">Mundane. Might fetch a good price with a proper collector.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">If worn in certain mystical areas, the wearer may travel between worlds. </td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 59px;">
<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>16. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 200px;">Ring made of human bone in the shape of a skull</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 140px;">When worn, the wearer will be able to communicate with a recently deceased corpse. Conversation can last up to five minutes, after which the corpse is "dead".</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Does the exact thing as described.</td>
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<tr style="height: 59px;">
<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>17. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 200px;">Earrings with purple hanging stones</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 140px;">They make any wearer attractive.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Mundane item, you're already attractive, you sexy bastard.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 59px;">
<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>18. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 200px;">Small vial filled with moss </td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 140px;">Vicious species of moss, currently in hibernation. </td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Cuddly moss species that makes an extremely comfortable sleeping mattress for the owner. </td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 59px;">
<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>19. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 200px;">An exotically crafted and perfectly balanced spinning top </td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 140px;">Mundane, but probably valuable. </td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">If the owner spins it while drinking tea, it won't stop spinning until they drink the last drop. This ritual heals the owner completely. </td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 59px;">
<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>20. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 200px;">Beautifully crafted golden torq in the shape of a snake with two heads</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 140px;">Invokes magical hate and envy in other sentient creatures.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Nothing is magical and nobody hates you, they just want your pretty looking torq. </td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 59px;">
<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>21. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 200px;">A worn-out chess figurine of a King</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 140px;">Worthless, mundane item.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">The soul of the most just king the lands have ever known is trapped inside. </td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 59px;">
<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>22. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 200px;">Leather-bound book, 2.000 pages of just random words. </td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 140px;">Gibberish, probably worth something to a desperate enough collector. </td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">If read in its entirety, the reader becomes a person of interest for the followers of the Amber King. </td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 59px;">
<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>23. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 200px;">A tightly sheathed sword </td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 140px;">The sword should never be unsheathed, for it will bring the apocalypse upon the world. </td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">There is no blade, it's just a hilt and it is mundane. Well crafted though. </td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 59px;">
<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>24. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 200px;">A necklace with a spiral made of black stone</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 140px;">The wearer begins seeing spiral patterns everywhere</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Does the exact thing as described. There has to be some meaning behind all these...</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 59px;">
<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>25. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 200px;">A rustic hourglass </td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 140px;">Mundane. </td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Freezes time for everyone outside of a one mile radius. </td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 59px;">
<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>26. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 200px;">Purple candle</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 140px;">Once lit, nothing can extinguish its flame unless the owner desires.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Does the exact thing as described.</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 59px;">
<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>27. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 200px;">A rabbit's foot, somewhat twisted and wrong</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 140px;">Brings good luck to the owner. </td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">True, in a sense that it brings misfortune to everyone else around the owner. </td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 59px;">
<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>28. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 200px;">Cat's Eye marble </td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 140px;">Mundane, but probably worth a lot.</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">Somewhere in the far corners of the world there lives an ancient Rakshasa, searching for his stolen eye. </td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 59px;">
<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>29. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 200px;">A sword with a splintered blade </td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 140px;">A relic said to have been shattered when it was used to slay an angel. </td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">True. Also, when used against angelic and demonic creatures, the blade is whole, although still nonexistent. Ignores armor of said creatures. </td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 59px;">
<td style="height: 59px; width: 27px;"><strong>30. </strong></td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 200px;">A letter closed by wax with the royal seal</td>
<td style="height: 59px; width: 140px;">Obviously for the royal family to read. If opened, in beautiful handwriting it reads: "The choir did it!"</td>
<td style="height: 58px; width: 121px;">When delivered, should drastically change the political landscape of the campaign (kingdoms go to war, dynasties fall, kings are toppled, etc.)<br />
If delivered, yet previously opened, the royal family will demand the execution of the messenger.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
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If your players are stumped as to where their level 0 or level 1 character got such an item or you as the GM want to randomize everything about these, here are a few ideas. Flesh out/edit/add as needed.</div>
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<b>How you acquired the item?</b> Roll <b>d12</b>:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>1.</b> Not sure, you had it your entire life.</div>
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<b>2.</b> Gambled and won, fair and square.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>3.</b> Gambled, cheated and won. The previous owner is aware of being tricked and is now vengeful.</div>
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<b>4.</b> It was a gift from a dying friend.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>5.</b> The previous owner was killed and the item taken from their dead hands.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>6.</b> It is an heirloom.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>7.</b> It is an heirloom, but is tied to a feud between multiple family members.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>8.</b> Stolen in an organized heist of an estate of a wealthy politician.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>9.</b> Found it buried in the ground close to home.</div>
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<b>10.</b> Bought it for cheap from a traveling merchant, it was a bargain.</div>
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<b>11.</b> It was left on your doorstep.</div>
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<b>12.</b> You won it in a bet.</div>
xmoonxhowlerxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15149950277567744302noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339496748012140737.post-35770828280225255432020-04-14T03:16:00.000-07:002020-04-14T03:16:02.663-07:00Character Class: Witch<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Summary:</b> A custom character class for <i>B/X D&D,</i> <i>Lamentations of the Flame Princess </i>or any other similar retroclone/OSR-adjacent system. There are a few other Witch classes out there, but for some reason none of them were to my complete liking, thus I resorted to brewing my own. Mostly inspired by medieval witchcraft and various similar "dark" arts of Europe.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Witch</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg69rOx3eX8m_W3WdHyLoUW3ik9cm2ZoxuLNCSw6oGTXfZn8Ot_xrnKy_acdeCYubiGd72jPuDQ1VHvMpXlmWAqKqd62eJ-7sWnnlnertgnJqEycjyuxLlQIGv8rbuuXuMITahzLS2I3-fG/s1600/the+three+witches+gustave+dore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1015" data-original-width="789" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg69rOx3eX8m_W3WdHyLoUW3ik9cm2ZoxuLNCSw6oGTXfZn8Ot_xrnKy_acdeCYubiGd72jPuDQ1VHvMpXlmWAqKqd62eJ-7sWnnlnertgnJqEycjyuxLlQIGv8rbuuXuMITahzLS2I3-fG/s640/the+three+witches+gustave+dore.jpg" width="496" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"The Three Witches" by Gustave Doré</i></td></tr>
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<table border="black" cellpadding="5" style="background-color: transparent; border-color: black; height: 290px; width: 700px;">
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<td style="height: 4px; width: 32px;"><strong>Lv</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 121px;"><strong>Exp.</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 121px;"><strong>HP</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 151px;"><strong>Paralyze</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 100px;"><strong>Poison</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 160px;"><strong>Breath</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 160px;"><strong>Device</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 160px;"><strong>Magic</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><strong>1</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><strong>2</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><strong>3</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><strong>4</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><strong>5</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 18px;">
<td style="height: 18px; width: 32px;"><strong>1</strong></td>
<td style="height: 18px; width: 121px;">0</td>
<td style="height: 18px; width: 121px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">1d6</span></td>
<td style="height: 18px; width: 151px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">14</span></td>
<td style="height: 18px; width: 100px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">12</span></td>
<td style="height: 18px; width: 160px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">16</span></td>
<td style="height: 18px; width: 160px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">14</span></td>
<td style="height: 18px; width: 160px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">13</span></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><strong>1</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><br /></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><br /></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><br /></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 18px;">
<td style="height: 18px; width: 32px;"><strong>2</strong></td>
<td style="height: 18px; width: 121px;">1,750</td>
<td style="height: 18px; width: 121px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">+1d4</span></td>
<td style="height: 18px; width: 151px;">14</td>
<td style="height: 18px; width: 100px;">12</td>
<td style="height: 1px; width: 160px;">16</td>
<td style="height: 1px; width: 160px;">14</td>
<td style="height: 1px; width: 160px;">13</td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><strong>2</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 19px;">
<td style="height: 19px; width: 32px;"><strong>3</strong></td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 121px;">3,500</td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 121px;">+1d4</td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 151px;">14</td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 100px;">12</td>
<td style="height: 1px; width: 160px;">16</td>
<td style="height: 1px; width: 160px;">14</td>
<td style="height: 1px; width: 160px;">13</td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><strong>2</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><b>1</b></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 19px;">
<td style="height: 19px; width: 32px;"><strong>4</strong></td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 121px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">7,000</span></td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 121px;">+1d4</td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 151px;">14</td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 100px;">12</td>
<td style="height: 1px; width: 160px;">16</td>
<td style="height: 1px; width: 160px;">14</td>
<td style="height: 1px; width: 160px;">13</td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><strong>2</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><strong>2</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 19px;">
<td style="height: 19px; width: 32px;"><strong>5</strong></td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 121px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">14,000</span> </td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 121px;">+1d4</td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 151px;">14</td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 100px;">12</td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 160px;">16</td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 160px;">14</td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 160px;">13</td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><strong>3</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><strong>2</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><strong>1</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><br /></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 19px;">
<td style="height: 19px; width: 32px;"><strong>6</strong></td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 121px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">28,000</span></td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 121px;">+1d4</td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 151px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">12</span> </td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 100px;">10</td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 160px;">14</td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 160px;">12</td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 160px;">11</td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><b>3</b></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><b>2</b></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><b>2</b></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><br /></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 19px;">
<td style="height: 19px; width: 32px;"><strong>7</strong></td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 121px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">56,000</span> </td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 121px;">+1d4</td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 151px;">12</td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 100px;">10</td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 160px;">14</td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 160px;">12</td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 160px;">11</td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><strong>3</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><strong>3</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><strong>1</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><strong>1</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 19px;">
<td style="height: 19px; width: 32px;"><strong>8</strong></td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 121px;">112,000</td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 121px;">+1d4</td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 151px;">12</td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 100px;">10</td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 160px;">14</td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 160px;">12</td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 160px;">11</td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><strong>4</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><strong>3</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><strong>2</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><strong>2</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 19px;">
<td style="height: 19px; width: 32px;"><strong>9</strong></td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 121px;">224,000</td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 121px;">+1d4</td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 151px;">12</td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 100px;">10</td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 160px;">14</td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 160px;">12</td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 160px;">11</td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><strong>4</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><strong>4</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><strong>3</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><strong>2</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><strong>1</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 19px;">
<td style="height: 19px; width: 32px;"><strong>10</strong></td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 121px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">336,000</span> </td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 121px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">+2</span> </td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 151px;">12</td>
<td style="height: 19px; width: 100px;">10</td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 160px;">14</td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 160px;">12</td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 160px;">11</td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><strong>4</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><strong>4</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><strong>3</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><strong>2</strong></td>
<td style="height: 4px; width: 4px;"><strong>2</strong></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
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The first thing a witch must do is choose a path that they will follow, each path defining their way of practicing magic and what kind of spells they cast.</div>
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<b><u>The Paths of the Witch:</u></b></div>
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<b><i>- The Pacts of the Blackened Soil</i> (</b><b>The Black Path)</b> - dabbles in curses, brewing poisons and deals with malignant entities </div>
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<b><i>- The Traditions of the Evergreen Ouroboros </i>(The Green Path)</b> - healing and purification of the body, herbal potions and dealings with nature and animal spirits </div>
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<b><i>- The Practices of the White-Feathered Trail</i></b> (<b>The White Path)</b> - focus on protective spells and charms, divination and banishment rituals </div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUHcgItgeEkfAV5aDzB_7aAZzVz3pyQtvEj3Q2kSogjBSdZXaqgcuITjCybpwis9lLxGpHg1GyQycIiLToKwIHtUMjqUrqDnHzTn6NK9wYq9wOHJlbsog9xnK2JAORRRMxsnlBaDALmpIe/s1600/John_William_Waterhouse_-_The_Magic_Circle_%2528study%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="668" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUHcgItgeEkfAV5aDzB_7aAZzVz3pyQtvEj3Q2kSogjBSdZXaqgcuITjCybpwis9lLxGpHg1GyQycIiLToKwIHtUMjqUrqDnHzTn6NK9wYq9wOHJlbsog9xnK2JAORRRMxsnlBaDALmpIe/s640/John_William_Waterhouse_-_The_Magic_Circle_%2528study%2529.jpg" width="416" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"The Magic Circle" by John William Waterhouse</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<b><u>Skill bonuses:</u></b><br />
The Witch receives a <b>+1 bonus</b> (in addition to the already existing 1 in 6) on the following Skills based on the chosen Path:<br />
- Black - Languages<br />
- Green - Bushcraft<br />
- White - Luck<br />
<br />
Additionally, starting from<b> level 2 and following every other even level (4, 6, 8, 10, etc.)</b>, the Witch receives +1 Skill point to spend on any of the following Skills, again based on Path:<br />
- Black/Green - Brew Potion<br />
- Black/Green/White - Craft<br />
- White - Divination<br />
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<b><u>Spell casting:</u></b></div>
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- <b>Spellbook</b> - the Witch uses a spellbook known as the <b><i>Book of Shadows</i></b> (regardless of Path). The book is simply a collection of spells known to the Witch, otherwise they do not need to have it on hand in order to cast spells. However, if the Book of Shadows is destroyed or specific spell pages are torn out, the Witch looses the knowledge to those spells permanently.<br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
- <b>Components</b> - the Witch needs to use various components in order to cast spells. The potency of the components dictates the level of the spell. For instance, level 1 spells require only a pinch of basic components, while level 5 spells might not be cast at all using basic ingredients.<br />
<br />
<br />
Some basic components for each path would be:<br />
- Black - rat's whiskers, a drunkard's toe nail clippings, pig blood...<br />
- Green - chamomile leaves, dried apple seeds, antler splinters...<br />
- White - dust, candle wax, a dove's feather...<br />
<br />
Certain extremely powerful components can enable the Witch to cast spells of a level higher than her allowed level, despite those not being in her Book of Shadows! (for example, a single Gorgon scale might enable a level 9 Witch to cast <i>Flesh to Stone</i>)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<b>Spell slots and preparing spells:</b> These work exactly as for a typical Magic User.<br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Beginning spells:</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
All witches start the game with "<i>Read Magic</i>" and one random level 1 spell of the appropriate Path. </div>
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Modifiers to <b>Wisdom</b> give bonus/penalties to potential bonus spells.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Path level 1 spells:</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
- Black -<i> Unseen Servant, Summon, Charm Person, Cause Fear</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
- Green - <i>Cure Light Wounds, Purify Food/Drink, Faerie Fire, Sleep</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
- White - <i>Detect Evil, Detect Magic, Protection from Evil, Remove Fear</i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Leveling up</b> to a level that would grant a spell level upgrade (e.g. from 2 to 3, or from 4 to 5), the witch gains a number of new spells of the appropriate level equal to her Wisdom modifier. The witch must spend an equal amount of days undisturbed, as they write down the spells and appropriate sigils and components needed in their Book of Shadows.<br />
<b>============================================================================================</b><br />
This is by no means completely finished, but is instead just a solid outline for the class with a focus on level one. I've mostly been prompted to write this by an upcoming game that I'm preparing, so as the game goes on I'll further develop the class. Rules for the new Skills, spells for levels beyond the first and expanded higher level spell components will probably come in a future post.<br />
<br />
And that would be it, for now! Definitely let me know what you think, since I'm not that savvy when it comes to mechanical game design.</div>
xmoonxhowlerxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15149950277567744302noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339496748012140737.post-82545898826286115692020-04-12T11:14:00.000-07:002020-04-30T10:24:53.497-07:00God's Chosen Bastards, session #2 - "Forgive Us"<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Summary:</b> Second and last session report for <i>God’s Chosen Bastards</i> storyline. Great module stained by a bad session, but still turning out good for what I needed it for. Review of the "<a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/127041/Forgive-Us?affiliate_id=1366331" target="_blank">Forgive Us</a>" module included, so spoilers abound, and a hint at what the next post will most likely be about.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Start of the session</span></b></div>
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Hum, Father and Bogdana are at it again. We essentially kicked the session off with a kind of recap/interlude/intro mix, going through what happened in the last session and then a short review of some of their actions prior to "Forgive Us".</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
In case you read the <a href="https://verbum-ex-nihilo.blogspot.com/2020/04/gods-chosen-bastards-session-1-tales-of.html" target="_blank">previous session report</a>, you’ll remember that Hum and Bogdana rode off into the sunset while Father was left behind in the wretched cornfield. The break down of their following actions was, as follows:<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
- <b>Father:</b> essentially left all alone for a couple of days, he spent most of his time in prayer. At some point, he noticed that the blasphemous book “<i>Malleus Deus</i>”, although thrown in the fire, remains unscathed. He takes the book and throws it into a bag, then ties it up with a rope and prays upon it, trying to cleanse it as much as he can.<br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>- Hum:</b> once in Valjevo (the actual city in medieval Serbia, not the castle from Forgotten Realms), decides to hire a Magic User in order to save Father from the house. The idea was to simply have someone cast “<i>Fly</i>”, thus the priest can escape with all the mandatory Moses-esque(?) theatrics.<br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>- Bogdana:</b> while Hum departed to save their companion, she has stayed in Valjevo to meet Kurt MacReady, leader of the local Tenebrous Hand guild, interested in buying the stolen figurine from the group. They sign an oath-contract, Kurt pays 1000sp up front and takes the figurine, the deal being that an appraiser will be summoned to put proper value on it, something that both sides should witness.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Eventually, Hum and Father come back to Valjevo, regrouping with Bogdana. The trio spends a few days hanging out around town, waiting for Kurt to call back. The call never comes and over night the Tenebrous Hand complex is seemingly dead from the outside, with barred windows and a blue flag waving from the rooftop. Something bad was happening with the guild and their own investment was tangled in it, so they decide to investigate.</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>============================================================================================</b></div>
<div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Forgive us</span></b> </div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
The group decides to kick off their investigation by circling around the entire complex held by the Tenebrous Hand. Indeed, the place seemed dead and eerie. Without any kind of specific sign, they first decide to try and enter the big warehouse in the east section of the complex, simply because the blue flag was actually waving on top of it. No luck, as the huge double doors were locked and there were too many people on the street to try and break in. This proved to be especially difficult, seeing as how, for some reason, they decided to investigate the entire affair during broad daylight.<br />
<br />
Step two, they go around the corner and knock on the door of the house on Cow Hill. Same problem, the doors are locked. Father gets hungry and starts eating a sausage. A bit stupefied, they all hang in front of the house for some time, until the various street strolling townsfolk disperse and they grab a good moment to break into the house.<br />
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Nothing aside of stale food and a bad smell greets them inside. Hum notices that the smell is coming from upstairs for the most part, so he decides to investigate, followed by Bogdana. Father stays downstairs, pecking at the leftover, still not stale bread.<br />
<br />
On the first floor of the house, they find three rooms, one of which is closed. Suspiciously, the closed room is the source of the bad smell. A few tinkering rolls later, the door is unlocked, revealing a rather gruesome suicide scene of their contact and gang leader Kurt. Shaking off the sight of Kurt’s rearranged facial features, they read his suicide letter and contemplate about what happened here. The realization that such a powerful man has killed himself in order to prevent “something” from being unleashed has extremely unnerved Father, who instantly felt weak, sweaty and shaking. He left the room and the house for that matter, in order to calm himself down. Hum and Bogdana decide to investigate the other rooms, finding a secret door apparently leading to the Inn. The specialist goes down to fetch the priest, making sure he's feeling better now.<br />
<br />
After a rather shallow investigation of the upper floor of the tavern, they end up downstairs on the ground floor where they encounter the crazed William Hyde. The poor sod was hiding behind the inn counter when accidentally Hum stumbles upon him. He asks him a few questions about what the hell is going on here, but doesn’t get any kind of a proper reply, the man apparently traumatized by something coming out of or inhabiting the cellar.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, Father is utterly disturbed by everything happening around here, even more so due to the fact that the “leader” of the group is acting rather unmoved by it all. The priest removes himself from the scene in the inn, instead going upstairs into one of the guest rooms to pray.<br />
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Downstairs, Bogdana tries to go to the backroom leading to the cellar, a move which provokes a jolted action from the insane Hyde (I see what you did there with the name), instantly attacking her in an effort to stop her from going further. His attack misses and the man stumbles, Hum taking the chance to quickly kill the bastard with a strong, precise hit across the spine. The victim fell to the ground and died, as Bogdana remained grounded in place from slight shock at the speed and unexpected brutality. She needed a few moments to gather herself.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf23KWCfauHIF-VIX8X4udcmg9LfpTI6xkQWkQQsWpLtml_k1QuJkRut-f5FIuwugDcbyN2miinlRgRqwxEq1PgjwpXV95B4V3giiWVuJcIcV0SFjQC1jJs5ER4KYYoJ2l2hnSq0fdnEN6/s1600/Albrecht_D%25C3%25BCrer_-_Praying_Hands%252C_1508_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1100" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf23KWCfauHIF-VIX8X4udcmg9LfpTI6xkQWkQQsWpLtml_k1QuJkRut-f5FIuwugDcbyN2miinlRgRqwxEq1PgjwpXV95B4V3giiWVuJcIcV0SFjQC1jJs5ER4KYYoJ2l2hnSq0fdnEN6/s640/Albrecht_D%25C3%25BCrer_-_Praying_Hands%252C_1508_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg" width="440" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Praying Hands" by Albrecht Dürer</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Meanwhile, upstairs the priest was begging God for an answer, wondering why he is being punished so. For reasons that could only be attributed to the divine, in Father’s eyes at least, the image of the figurine they’ve stolen and brought here was burned into his mind. It was a mistake to come here with it and now death and damnation is spreading as a result. In his vision, Father was about to crack open the figurine, yet he was stopped by the sound of his companions entering the room.<br />
<br />
The priest immediately explained his vision to the others, yet wasn’t met with much understanding from the leader. Hum instead remained interested in getting back at least some of the amount of wealth he set out to find in this city, now not really caring for neither the statue, nor the suffering that befell this place.<br />
<br />
For whatever reason, it has been decided to head down to the cellar. Father first insisted that they all join hands in prayer, casting “Bless” upon the fighter in the process. After these few serene moments, they descended below.<br />
<br />
The full horror of whatever menace was unleashed on the guild has been revealed to them once they reached the underground. Que some extreme vomiting from both Hum and Bogdana when they saw the place of the guild’s last stand. Father “decided” to swallow the bile and puke rushing to his mouth, as he would much rather fancy being stoic in front of his flock during these difficult times.<br />
<br />
Once stabilized, the group discovered the door to the vault and it seemed obvious to them that something is locked there and cannot get out, yet. Mentally, they were at a crossroads: figure out how to forever lock this place, burn it down or take a peek inside. Hum eventually decided to take a peek and steal whatever they can, but not before they prepare the rest of the place for burning.<br />
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And so it was. They entered and grabbed some loot, a treasure map, a spell scroll and a pouch full of magical powder. It is then that Father noticed “something” moving in the shadows of the deeper ends of the vault. Bogdana didn’t pay much attention to the priest screaming to get the hell out of here and instead reached towards the table yet again to grab a key she noticed. A mutant man-thing lunged towards her across the table, slamming down with full force with its tentacle-like arm, luckily missing the rogue by mere inches.<br />
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The party rushed towards the exit, witnessing many of the mutant creatures crawling out of the shadows, eager to feast. Luckily they managed to dodge them and close the door quickly enough and then proceed to light the flames they previously prepared in the cellar and the inn.<br />
<br />
As they went out of the house through which they first entered, the fire and smoke still didn’t reach the outside world. They stayed across the street, waiting to see the flames lick the building, until it all finally collapses on whatever unknown hell they unleashed upon the world. May God have mercy on their souls...</div>
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<b>============================================================================================</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Post-session Game Master musings</span></b></div>
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<b>About the group:</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It may or may not look it from the report above, but this session was just… bad. Mostly as a result of a certain player’s behavior completely unrelated to what was happening at the table, yet affecting the state of play and the course of the story. Regardless, for the purposes of the rest of this review and just to stay objective towards the module, I will not be talking about these issues here. All I will say is that I was left rather depressed and furious after the game, something that I plan to address in a separate post. Until then, lets move along, but I do want to give props to dude playing Father, a consistently good player and person.<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>About the module:</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Forgive Us” is a book containing an exceptional amount of content in only 46 pages. In it you get one entire adventure, one other mini story/setting and a short story/hook of sorts.<br />
<br />
The titular adventure is actually quite hard to describe because it can be a lot of things, mostly depending on how your players decide to approach and tackle it. It has a strong “classic” dungeon crawl vibe, but with a great horror twist. Yet at the same time, it can very well be a heist story and/or a creepy murder investigation. Or simply a full blown “zombie” infestation and an intro to the apocalypse in your world.<br />
<br />
I think this is the beauty of this module, that even though it is contained in a single location, it can have a whole host of impact on the rest of your setting. And I don’t think only in the sense of the infection spreading outside, but also by introducing this kind of thief guild, their presumed power and influence via the many cool items in their possession. Through the session, my players got a sense that these were some really bad and powerful people, and the fact that such figures decided to commit suicide to prevent “something” getting outside gave a special kind of weight on the thing they were facing. Which also in turn made them think about the kind of influence they exerted on the local Knez and his principality, stuff completely outside this module. I don’t think a lot of other modules have this kind of effect, both on the players and the game world.<br />
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Similarly, the module oozes theme and atmosphere, the Carpenteresque horror and eeriness superbly done. Ominous clues, disturbing scenes, weird pieces of the puzzle that make you pause and scratch your head, wondering if these things are simply red herrings or something far more sinister. Loved every bit of it!<br />
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There is a negative side to the book however. I had immense trouble arranging my notes for it. “Forgive Us” is rich with maps for each building, but aside of the general layout of the rooms they don’t provide information about what is actually encountered inside, nor do they show the ambiance, aside of the occasional black goo or blood stain. I would actually love it if the maps had more symbols on them, similarly to how they have secret doors labeled, but then also for bodies, mutants, keys (this!) or whatever.<br />
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I’m actually not sure if maps are the problem or just the text layout/formatting. Next to each map you’d have a small wall of text which you need to skim through in order to find what was happening in a given room, which can be quite troublesome when you’re actually running the game. A few bolded keywords or something similar would greatly help the readability of the adventure. I opted for drawing out keywords and important details in a Google Document, a thing that I would definitely not be able to run the game without.<br />
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You can grab "Forgive Us" on DriveThruRPG <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/127041/Forgive-Us?affiliate_id=1366331" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<b>Lessons learned and final thoughts:</b></div>
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In all honesty, I hate experiences like this because they are bittersweet. The module itself is fantastic and I was thrilled to run it, but due to player related issues the experience was bad. Previously I said that I would run the same modules again because they were fun, this time I’ll say I’d run this again because our game didn’t do it proper justice. This module can offer so much more than what was covered in this session report and I would warmly suggest to anyone to pick this adventure up. It has a ton of content and could be used in any campaign in a multitude of different ways. Give it a try and don’t let its modest size fool you!<br />
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The personal lesson for me is to just take it slow. Read a module once and then sit down again to digest it and prepare properly, without assuming that one or two casual reads can make you fully prepared for a game. Some modules might require more work than others, but the "investment" obviously pays off. Preparation and lengthy musing is part of our storytelling craft, isn’t it?<br />
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Oh and, yeah, stop running games for assholes.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitILtlN0YIziLUZ4jbbKoh91CmOg6x9gcZ2gu4ftgvsA3o9oMUo6y5no7eC999K_NNJBbhIm72n0VOIdd-V1EYv9qfPRzILNkvnzjQr3S6Vw1RKcMhm1V5PF6afbLg8kReUQ8Q9pbaxjey/s1600/1983100-baen-townhall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="939" data-original-width="1170" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitILtlN0YIziLUZ4jbbKoh91CmOg6x9gcZ2gu4ftgvsA3o9oMUo6y5no7eC999K_NNJBbhIm72n0VOIdd-V1EYv9qfPRzILNkvnzjQr3S6Vw1RKcMhm1V5PF6afbLg8kReUQ8Q9pbaxjey/s640/1983100-baen-townhall.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"The Burning of the Town Hall in Amsterdam" by Jan de Baen</i></td></tr>
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xmoonxhowlerxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15149950277567744302noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339496748012140737.post-58931574191854656672020-04-06T15:19:00.000-07:002020-04-06T15:19:07.294-07:00The Garden of Hanging Faces<div>
<b>Summary:</b> A short story set in a work-in-progress setting called <i>Amasia</i>, inspired by neoclassic, symbolist and similarly romantic paintings from the western art movements. The story will probably be shaped into a properly mapped, playable location. Many elements of the story are left vague and without explanation or context, in order to be further explored in future pieces.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOQzLEirb9a6zgHN9GnHtkpk38SQBt3Zg9BOKzO1qFts5dUfmKYWkXj_lACqpL_X6_RnH-0nYVjA9JRa4qFjDsDxGNXlWZExPw0idoyrteznO8I1fX_ol99ATR52ox-XMtdAGuJJgk1mQJ/s1600/Caspar_David_Friedrich_-_Ged%25C3%25A4chtnisbild_f%25C3%25BCr_Johann_Emanuel_Bremer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1207" data-original-width="1600" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOQzLEirb9a6zgHN9GnHtkpk38SQBt3Zg9BOKzO1qFts5dUfmKYWkXj_lACqpL_X6_RnH-0nYVjA9JRa4qFjDsDxGNXlWZExPw0idoyrteznO8I1fX_ol99ATR52ox-XMtdAGuJJgk1mQJ/s640/Caspar_David_Friedrich_-_Ged%25C3%25A4chtnisbild_f%25C3%25BCr_Johann_Emanuel_Bremer.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"In remembrance of Johann Emanuel Bemer" by Caspar David Friedrich</i></td></tr>
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Deep within the Everwyld lies a rusted gate, adorned with fading Xylonian craft hidden under the grasp of pulsing vines and moss. No charted map leads here and not even a forest trail dares to point the way. </div>
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Behind the once lavish gate, the remains of a cracked marble path go onward, all the way up to a vast, labyrinthine mansion. At the center of the villa, a thriving garden of unfathomable greenery and the home of a giant, lonely oak tree. On its aeon old branches hang the faces of every living man, woman and child ever to die on the grounds of the estate. All but one.</div>
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If you listen closely, they have a broken story to tell, each face uttering nothing but a single word, together unfolding the long, disharmonious tale about the only soul whose face is not among their numbers. </div>
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The estate once belong to the Countess, her name long forgotten. A wondrous woman, a master of magic, yet her womb barren. Unable to become a mother, she re-purposed her grand estate halls into an orphanage, housing and loving the children least fortunate.</div>
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By some miraculous twist of ritualistic magic, an intervention of an ancient nature eidolon or something altogether different, the Countess became with child and eventually a beautiful daughter was born. But soon enough the great torrential rains which changed the world came and went, or so they say.<b> </b>The rains brought sickness. Many in the orphanage fell ill and soon enough death followed. And with death came the Seedtime. </div>
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The daughter was the first to perish, youngest and most fragile. The rest of the children slowly withered away and died, one by one. All their deaths flowered, the bodies slowly bursting with vines, branches, blossoms and buds, sprawling the garden beyond its boundaries and throughout the mansion.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSOJC7KQ2R5kouAn24Csu7hwlS8yuMiaXl62K2aNFJzU4CjzHkAHgY5reYilawc2miKtqbd7ILgUmQ0kFzAmUwVsRWsdcs7xPLLwXnGspYRBvDRLDcCsar4nOME0kP5NV1myUkqUctyiLQ/s1600/Franciszek_Siedlecki_-_Rusa%25C5%2582ki.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="593" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSOJC7KQ2R5kouAn24Csu7hwlS8yuMiaXl62K2aNFJzU4CjzHkAHgY5reYilawc2miKtqbd7ILgUmQ0kFzAmUwVsRWsdcs7xPLLwXnGspYRBvDRLDcCsar4nOME0kP5NV1myUkqUctyiLQ/s400/Franciszek_Siedlecki_-_Rusa%25C5%2582ki.jpg" width="295" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Rusałki" by Franciszek Siedlecki</i></td></tr>
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For some reason, the Countess endured, along with her court of dryads. She was a mere shell of her former self, the tragedy of her lost children crushed her. What little will she had left was used for magic, crafting wooden faces of the ones she lost and hanging them on the branches of the great oak tree.</div>
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Eager to restore the happiness of their master, the dryadic servants brought new children, the ones lost in the luxuriant forests surrounding the estate, but each child would wither away upon entering the garden, aiding its relentless expanse.</div>
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It was all in vain, for the Countess showed neither action, nor emotion towards the newly discovered children, save for the never ending ritual of crafting the wooden faces, constantly fueled by the dryads who knew not what they were doing.</div>
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The fickle, mortal life of the Countess ended, some say with suicide, yet her sorrowful madness lived on through her servants. The dryads, unaware of the concept of human mortality, continued to try and cure the sadness of their mistress, her corpse now eaten by the vines and weeds, yet her face not appearing on the branches herself. No matter how tireless and desperate they were, the only result of their effort were more faces up on the branches of the great oak, to them just another sign that the Countess still prevails, forever crafting.</div>
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The dryads, evermore locked in an agonizing loop of fruitless trial and error, roam the forests still, bringing any who wander down the beaten forest path, mindlessly dragging any living thing to their death. Most of these poor souls don’t ever make it alive to the overgrown garden. And the result is always the same. Under the weight which they carry, the old oaken branches are slowly reaching the earth and the thicket grows.</div>
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Some whisper that the Countess, long before the first orphan came into her home, played a part in the mortal machinations that led to the birth of the seeds of Everwyld. Others say that the now decaying wealth was once earned through cruel deeds and unholy practices which even the circles of Um-Yoh would cower from and that all the death, suffering and madness are nothing but a curse well deserved.</div>
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Whichever part of this tale is true, one thing is certain. Deep within the Everwyld, past the immortal gate and broken marble stones, amid the lush garden sprawl, one can still hear a faint, sorrowful mumbling chant of a mother sitting near the great oak tree and the cacophonous story told by the hanging wooden faces, pierced by the screams of the next dryadic victim.</div>
xmoonxhowlerxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15149950277567744302noreply@blogger.com0