Bonus questions from Zak.
1. Worst game you ever played
L5R. I don't know if it was just the DM, or if it was a bad system, or if it just wasn't the system for me, but I really just did not enjoy it.
2. Interesting rule embedded within otherwise baleful game
It's been a while, but Alternity had some interesting ideas that just ended up being too clunky together.
3. Game you never played but you knew it sucked just looking at it
FATAL? That's probably cheating. I could never get past the cover for Exalted.
4. Game you most wish didn't suck
Alternity. It was interesting and different, and the Star Drive setting was cool, and I wish they had done more with it.
5. Game about which you have the most mixed feelings
Just about any of the Star Trek games.
6. Old game most in need of an upgrade
Tales from the Floating Vagabond
7. Game you can run with the least prep
Basic D&D
8. Game with awful art (and who you wish you could hire to fix that)
I'm really tired of the Wade Reynolds style art. I'd like to see it replaced with something less overworked. I'm not sure who I'd pick to replace him.
9. Best houserule you've seen in action and now use in your own games.
In my 5e games, I allow inspiration to be used after the initial roll.
10. Game you've most changed your thoughts/feelings about
Monopoly. I loved it as a kid, and now... I just think it isn't a very good game.
11. Game you'd use to run just about any setting if you had to
D6 system.
12. Game that haunts you and you're not sure why
I know why I'm haunted by various games! There isn't one that niggles at the back of my skull.
13. Game that would probably be most fun to play a bee in
Nobilis, or a superhero game probably.
14. Best Star Wars game?
D6, though I have enjoyed the current version the times I've gotten to play it.
15. Game that's good in theory but you're kind of on the fence about it to be honest
40K RPG. It's such a great setting, but...
Monday, August 31, 2015
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Sunday Inspirational Image: Creepy Bottles
What's in that creepy bottle?
1. Angel tears
2. Ectoplasm
3. Dirt from the grave of a murderer
4. Wisdom teeth from actual wise men (2d6 total)
5. Distilled nightmares
6. Wedding night virgin's blood
7. Demon spit
8. Witch's scabs, warts, and fingernail clippings
9. The last breath of a paladin
10. Left eyeballs of little boys (2d4)
11. Powdered Minotaur horn
12. The queen's favorite perfume
by andrea falaschi
1. Angel tears
2. Ectoplasm
3. Dirt from the grave of a murderer
4. Wisdom teeth from actual wise men (2d6 total)
5. Distilled nightmares
6. Wedding night virgin's blood
7. Demon spit
8. Witch's scabs, warts, and fingernail clippings
9. The last breath of a paladin
10. Left eyeballs of little boys (2d4)
11. Powdered Minotaur horn
12. The queen's favorite perfume
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Toothless Rat Taphouse
To enter this fine establishment you must turn off the main street into an unpleasant ally and almost immediately descend 5 stone steps to a nondescript wooden door. Hanging above the doorway is a small wooden placard with a stylized rat burned onto it. When you open the door to the taphouse the first thing you'll notice is the smell of pipeweed. Next you'll see the stuffed rodent of unusual size (R.O.U.S.) that sits in the corner by the door. It's clearly very old, missing some fur, and of course it's teeth. When you look around to the taproom proper, you'll see an assortment of round wooden tables, support posts rising from floor to ceiling, and a wide variety of stools and chairs. Along the back wall three large casks rest behind the unadorned bar. Two small dirty windows look out onto the street, between them is a dartboard, and a fireplace is centered on the far wall. The rooms illumination is provided by several oil lamps, the fireplace, and whatever dingy light manages to shine through the windows. The patrons of the Rat are mostly neighborhood workers who come by at lunch and in the evening for a pint and a game of knuckle bones or darts. It's a fairly quiet bar, rarely visited by those from outside the neighborhood.
The barkeep is a bald human with dark skin named Red. He usually wears a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, dark pants and leather suspenders. His left forearm is notably scarred, and Red will gladly launch into a telling of his battle with a pack of giant rats who had crawled up through the sewers and attacked him in the back room back when the bar was called simply "Red's". With each telling the rat pack grows in size, and recently he's added a rat king to the tale! The truth is that there was but a single giant rat, but the damage their fight caused made it seem like there were many more! Red will be thrilled to have adventurers in his bar, just so long as they treat him as a fellow monster slayer, rather than just as a simple barkeep. Should he not receive the treatment he feels he deserves he will quickly become very unwelcoming.
Red serves ale of middling quality for an average price, and he keeps on hand some harder drinks for those who desire them. He also keeps a hot soup or stew pot (or two) cooking in the fireplace for those who need something filling, of not particularly flavorful. The pot's contents vary by day, but usually contain a variety of root vegetables, bones from the butcher, occasional scraps of meat, and sometimes a whole rat if Red catches one in his store room.
Daily Specials
1. Rat Kebab with turnips and onion
2. Sun dried fruits and fish
3. Mushroom "steaks"
4. Apple stuffed pork belly
5. Wild berry cobbler
6. Demon eggs and pickled greens
7. Rice gruel and a bacon friend egg
8. Sausage rolls with peppers
Originally published back on 10/16/09, but the map, rat, and chart are new.
The barkeep is a bald human with dark skin named Red. He usually wears a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, dark pants and leather suspenders. His left forearm is notably scarred, and Red will gladly launch into a telling of his battle with a pack of giant rats who had crawled up through the sewers and attacked him in the back room back when the bar was called simply "Red's". With each telling the rat pack grows in size, and recently he's added a rat king to the tale! The truth is that there was but a single giant rat, but the damage their fight caused made it seem like there were many more! Red will be thrilled to have adventurers in his bar, just so long as they treat him as a fellow monster slayer, rather than just as a simple barkeep. Should he not receive the treatment he feels he deserves he will quickly become very unwelcoming.
Red serves ale of middling quality for an average price, and he keeps on hand some harder drinks for those who desire them. He also keeps a hot soup or stew pot (or two) cooking in the fireplace for those who need something filling, of not particularly flavorful. The pot's contents vary by day, but usually contain a variety of root vegetables, bones from the butcher, occasional scraps of meat, and sometimes a whole rat if Red catches one in his store room.
Daily Specials
1. Rat Kebab with turnips and onion
2. Sun dried fruits and fish
3. Mushroom "steaks"
4. Apple stuffed pork belly
5. Wild berry cobbler
6. Demon eggs and pickled greens
7. Rice gruel and a bacon friend egg
8. Sausage rolls with peppers
Originally published back on 10/16/09, but the map, rat, and chart are new.
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
New Monster: Herder, Spore
Rathgar shuffled carefully away from the hole as several pellets impacted the wall on either side of him, bursting open and releasing a caustic greenish cloud that swirled around him. His eyes watered, and his nose burned as he tried to hold his breath, but the sensation in his nose was too much, and he sneezed, and then began to immediately cough. His companions hesitated at the edge of the cloud, pulling their cloaks around their faces.
Gasping for breath, Rathgar continued to cough, desperately trying to clear his lungs.
"Keep moving!" Allianora yelled. "I'll heal you when you're out of the cloud!"
Rathgar just continued to cough as more pellets exploded around him. The green mist began to cover everything with a fine and sticky powder. The color offset the blood that he began to cough up onto his balled fist.
Herder, Spore
Armor Class:7
Hit Dice: 2** (M)
Move: 90' (30')
Attacks: Spore Blast
Damage: Special
No. Appearing: 1d3 (2d3)
Save As: F3
Morale: 12
Treasure Type: J, L
Intelligence: 2
Alignment: Neutral
XP Value:30
Spore herders are a specialized species of aggressive and territorial ambulatory mushrooms standing between 4' and 5' tall. The top of their vine covered central stalk is covered with multiple smaller colorful mushroom caps. While mostly unintelligent, they do an admirable job of growing and expanding their gardens of giant mushrooms. Any intruders to their gardens are slain as quickly as possible, and used as fertilizer. Cat-sized creatures and smaller are ignored. When still they are indistinguishable from the other giant mushrooms in their gardens.
In combat, spore herders blast out a concentrated ball of spores that explodes on impact, creating a 5' cloud that persists for 1d4 rounds. Anyone in or passing through the cloud must make a saving throw vs poison or suffer from uncontrollable coughing (unable to take any action plus 1d3 damage/round until a successful saving throw is made). While still in the cloud, the save is made at -2. When killed, the spore herders they release one final blast of spores, creating a 10' cloud around them.
Terrain: Caverns, Dungeons
Gasping for breath, Rathgar continued to cough, desperately trying to clear his lungs.
"Keep moving!" Allianora yelled. "I'll heal you when you're out of the cloud!"
Rathgar just continued to cough as more pellets exploded around him. The green mist began to cover everything with a fine and sticky powder. The color offset the blood that he began to cough up onto his balled fist.
Herder, Spore
Armor Class:7
Hit Dice: 2** (M)
Move: 90' (30')
Attacks: Spore Blast
Damage: Special
No. Appearing: 1d3 (2d3)
Save As: F3
Morale: 12
Treasure Type: J, L
Intelligence: 2
Alignment: Neutral
XP Value:30
Spore herders are a specialized species of aggressive and territorial ambulatory mushrooms standing between 4' and 5' tall. The top of their vine covered central stalk is covered with multiple smaller colorful mushroom caps. While mostly unintelligent, they do an admirable job of growing and expanding their gardens of giant mushrooms. Any intruders to their gardens are slain as quickly as possible, and used as fertilizer. Cat-sized creatures and smaller are ignored. When still they are indistinguishable from the other giant mushrooms in their gardens.
In combat, spore herders blast out a concentrated ball of spores that explodes on impact, creating a 5' cloud that persists for 1d4 rounds. Anyone in or passing through the cloud must make a saving throw vs poison or suffer from uncontrollable coughing (unable to take any action plus 1d3 damage/round until a successful saving throw is made). While still in the cloud, the save is made at -2. When killed, the spore herders they release one final blast of spores, creating a 10' cloud around them.
Terrain: Caverns, Dungeons
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
#RPGaDay2015 Part 2
17. Favorite fantasy RPG
Dungeons and Dragons. Really, is there any other choice? Not for me...
18. Favorite SF RPG
d6 Star Wars, thought Traveller is really cool too.
19. Favorite supers RPG
Don't have one.
20. Favorite horror RPG
Again, don't have one.
21. Favorite RPG setting
My own weird new world? Birthright. The original Forgotten Realms.
22. Perfect gaming environment
My dining room!
23. Perfect game for me
5e has me very happy at the moment. I don't know that there is a perfect game though...
24. Favorite house rule
In my 5e game, I let my players use their inspiration after they've made their initial roll.
25. Favorite revolutionary game mechanic
Reaction rolls at the beginning of an encounter.
26. Favorite inspiration for your game
My players and G+. Both are a constant and imaginative bunch.
27. Favorite idea for merging two games into one.
I've got nothing... *shrug*
28. Favorite game you no longer play
Nick Mizer's Stonehell game on G+.
29. Favorite RPG website/blog
I'm going to have to go with G+. While there are many inspirational blogs that I love, G+ brings everything together.
30. Favorite RPG playing celebrity
Vin Diesel
31. Favorite non-RPG thing to come out of RPGing
My love of history and interest in architecture.
Monday, August 24, 2015
#6MMRPC Week 12: Kaladrax's Base
Given my limited time this week, I'm going to call my progress a win. Especially since I don't really like the base. Actually, it isn't the base that bothers me, it's the way Kaladrax stands on it. Both of the connecting points are on his left side, which means he leans to the right.
So my plan is to (eventually) build a ruined tower base for him out of Hirst Arts blocks, and have him perched on top of it. However, that isn't a part of my 3 Dragons project, so for now I'll use the base he came with.
In earlier pictures, it looked like this:
Pretty bad start.... So I took those cheap craft paints you see there, inventively named 'dark grey' and 'grey' and went to town.
I've also decided that I couldn't deal with the over-sized skulls and treasure, so they're getting covered over with foliage.
As for Kaladrax himself (not pictured), I still need to finish with the gryphonne sepia. Then I will bring up the highlights. My plan is to use Dirty Bone, Graveyard Bone, and Splintered Bone as the increasingly lighter highlights. After that... I think I'm done! Aside from being massive, he isn't a very hard dragon to paint. Just intimidating.
And since I still can't find Hyrekia (metal) or the Bones Hyrekia's arm and staff, I'm going to paint another sorceress in her place. Like the base, it's only a temporary placeholder.
So my plan is to (eventually) build a ruined tower base for him out of Hirst Arts blocks, and have him perched on top of it. However, that isn't a part of my 3 Dragons project, so for now I'll use the base he came with.
In earlier pictures, it looked like this:
Pretty bad start.... So I took those cheap craft paints you see there, inventively named 'dark grey' and 'grey' and went to town.
I've also decided that I couldn't deal with the over-sized skulls and treasure, so they're getting covered over with foliage.
As for Kaladrax himself (not pictured), I still need to finish with the gryphonne sepia. Then I will bring up the highlights. My plan is to use Dirty Bone, Graveyard Bone, and Splintered Bone as the increasingly lighter highlights. After that... I think I'm done! Aside from being massive, he isn't a very hard dragon to paint. Just intimidating.
And since I still can't find Hyrekia (metal) or the Bones Hyrekia's arm and staff, I'm going to paint another sorceress in her place. Like the base, it's only a temporary placeholder.
Sunday, August 23, 2015
Sunday Inspirational Image: Cityscape
I was originally looking for some neat futuristic NYC/Gotham pictures when I came across this.
I haven't been able to find the original artist... It seems to be hosted at a whole bunch of wallpaper sites.
I haven't been able to find the original artist... It seems to be hosted at a whole bunch of wallpaper sites.
Saturday, August 22, 2015
Friday, August 21, 2015
5e WNW: 2 Dead Demi-Gods, a Rabbit, and a Mirror
5e WNW - Session 21 of the weird new world campaign was played on Friday 8/14
The party consisted of the following:
Nessendra, Wood Elf Cleric 5 (Erindale)
Kethra, Human Fighter 5 (Nikki)
Bach, Dragonborn Warlock 5 (Erik - Absent, kindly played by Nadia)
Riia, Human Ranger 5 (Hanna - Absent, kindly played by Allison)
Guy Noir, ½ Elf Rogue 5 (Nadia)
Anya Bowen, Tiefling Ranger 5 (Allison)
Zugun, Coffin-bound Human Priest (NPC)
Taking a very brief moment to catch their breath, the party quickly follows after the spiders. Up to the balcony, through a small door, and down a narrow corridor that leads deeper into the mountain, the party comes to a large stone chamber carved into the mountain. In the center of the chamber stood a wooden coffin supported by a stone plinth. Bach and Guy charged forward, grabbed the lid of of the coffin, and threw it open. Within swarmed hundreds, if not thousands of spiders! Guy changed his mind about punching the vampire in the face, and instead blasted it with a bolt of flame. Bach followed suite with an blast of eldritch energy, and Nessendra with a flash of holy radiance. The rest of the party shuffled into the room. The swarm of spiders burst forth from the open coffin and attempted to envelop Bach, but he quickly leaped back. Anya's magic bow found it's mark, as did another round of blasts, the last of which turned the remaining spiders into a blackened smear on the smooth floor.
Guy rifles through the coffin, finding a twisted and rune covered stone tucked under the pillow. As Guy holds it up, a shimmer passes over the stone's surface, and the runes flow languidly around. Nessendra wraps the stone in her cloak while Guy continues to dig around in the coffin, cutting the lining, ripping the pillow, and even carving into the wood. Meanwhile the rest of the party heads back to the basilica. As Guy continues to carve, the coffin shifts, revealing a hidden compartment embedded in the plinth. He shoves the coffin off with a loud bang, revealing a large mirror, a sack of coins, and a white rabbit in a locked cage.
"Everything ok?" The party yells back to Guy.
"Uh, I had a slight weapons malfunction, but uh... everything's perfectly all right now. I'm fine. We're all fine here now, thank you. How are you?
The party sighs "We're going back to see what he's up to."
Guy panics and stuffs the heavy jingling bag of coins in his backpack. "Uh, uh... negative, negative. I had a reactor leak here now. Give me a few minutes to lock it down. Large leak, very dangerous." he yells back.
The party shows up as Guy guiltily turns to face them "I found a rabbit!" He points into the hidden compartment.
At this point the rabbit introduced himself as Jack, and asked to be freed to he could go home. No one thought this was a good idea. Guy wanted to keep him as a pet. Most of the rest of the party just wanted to leave him behind. Jack pointed out that he was stuck in a cage full of his own shit, without food or water. Further questioning revealed that the rabbit worked for a queen, who's name he declined to provide, and that he was spying on the vampire and got caught, and that he isn't native to this plane, but from a realm that seemed to correspond with the Feywild. The party put off the decision, and Guy tied the cage and mirror to his pack, and headed out of the vampire's lair.
Given the poor state of the party, they made their way back toward the holy shrine to camp, but when Nessendra cracked open the door to the antechamber and found it full of gargoyles playing "Don't Blink" so she quietly closed the door. Having had enough of the citadel, they made their way carefully back down into the dungeon, through Zugun's chamber and back out onto the side of the mountain. There they made camp. The hours of darkness passed uneventfully, but as the sun crested the horizon Nessendra spotted a serpentine dragon with large yellow eyes further down the mountain heading northward. Even from as far away as they were, she could hear... something. Thwacking Kethra, who was also on watch to see if she'd seen it too, Nessendra discovered that Keth had fallen asleep!
Over breakfast the party decided to try to use the stone on Affleck. so back into the castle they went. Finding the tower was less of a chore than they'd expected, and his stony form was right where it was supposed to be, gaping chest and all. Most of the party stayed in the stairwell, while Nessendra walked behind Affleck and tapped him with the stone. Instantly his form reverted to flesh and he stumbled a step forward, looked down, touched the hole and said "But I'm a fuckingdemon god!" before falling face down. Bach checked the body for loot, but came up empty handed. So he took some of his feathers.
Taking a breather, the party went back out onto the walkway over the waterfall to discuss their next steps. Zugun pressed for getting to the ritual site as quickly as possible. Jack again pleaded to be freed, and offered to take them all with him through the mirror, reminding everyone that distance is different in the Feywild, and that he can drop them off deeper into the Shudder Mountains. Zugun admits he knows little of the Feywild, but thinks that it might work... if Jack can be trusted. The party agrees, and unlocks Jacks cage. He instructs them to set the mirror against the wall, and then tells them to go through. Nessendra (the elf) went first, and Guy took the rear, bringing Jack with him.
They found themselves standing on a familiar looking mountain, looking down into a familiar looking river valley... Instead of a citadel over a waterfall, a large wooden cabin next to a stream. Also, the land seemed to be divided into some sort of grid pattern, with each block a different height from the surrounding blocks. Jack hopped out of Guy's arms and called the party to follow him. A couple of hours later Jack stopped suddenly and flattened himself, shaking in terror. Down the mountain was the same yellow-eyed dragon, or as Jack named it 'Jabberwocky'!
Grabbing Jack, they ran as far and as fast as they could... and came upon a group of 5 figures standing 15' tall on needle like stilts! Stilts that protruded from the bloody stumps of their legs! Jack again squirmed from Guy's grip and ran toward the figures yelling "HELP!! HELP!!" They turned their bloodstained mouths toward the party and moved with shocking agility toward them. The stilt-walker vampires seemed excessively hungry, but failed to get a single drop to drink. Guy spent the entire fight scurrying after Jack, and caught him after the last of the vampires fell.
The party consisted of the following:
Nessendra, Wood Elf Cleric 5 (Erindale)
Kethra, Human Fighter 5 (Nikki)
Bach, Dragonborn Warlock 5 (Erik - Absent, kindly played by Nadia)
Riia, Human Ranger 5 (Hanna - Absent, kindly played by Allison)
Guy Noir, ½ Elf Rogue 5 (Nadia)
Anya Bowen, Tiefling Ranger 5 (Allison)
Zugun, Coffin-bound Human Priest (NPC)
Taking a very brief moment to catch their breath, the party quickly follows after the spiders. Up to the balcony, through a small door, and down a narrow corridor that leads deeper into the mountain, the party comes to a large stone chamber carved into the mountain. In the center of the chamber stood a wooden coffin supported by a stone plinth. Bach and Guy charged forward, grabbed the lid of of the coffin, and threw it open. Within swarmed hundreds, if not thousands of spiders! Guy changed his mind about punching the vampire in the face, and instead blasted it with a bolt of flame. Bach followed suite with an blast of eldritch energy, and Nessendra with a flash of holy radiance. The rest of the party shuffled into the room. The swarm of spiders burst forth from the open coffin and attempted to envelop Bach, but he quickly leaped back. Anya's magic bow found it's mark, as did another round of blasts, the last of which turned the remaining spiders into a blackened smear on the smooth floor.
Guy rifles through the coffin, finding a twisted and rune covered stone tucked under the pillow. As Guy holds it up, a shimmer passes over the stone's surface, and the runes flow languidly around. Nessendra wraps the stone in her cloak while Guy continues to dig around in the coffin, cutting the lining, ripping the pillow, and even carving into the wood. Meanwhile the rest of the party heads back to the basilica. As Guy continues to carve, the coffin shifts, revealing a hidden compartment embedded in the plinth. He shoves the coffin off with a loud bang, revealing a large mirror, a sack of coins, and a white rabbit in a locked cage.
"Everything ok?" The party yells back to Guy.
"Uh, I had a slight weapons malfunction, but uh... everything's perfectly all right now. I'm fine. We're all fine here now, thank you. How are you?
The party sighs "We're going back to see what he's up to."
Guy panics and stuffs the heavy jingling bag of coins in his backpack. "Uh, uh... negative, negative. I had a reactor leak here now. Give me a few minutes to lock it down. Large leak, very dangerous." he yells back.
The party shows up as Guy guiltily turns to face them "I found a rabbit!" He points into the hidden compartment.
At this point the rabbit introduced himself as Jack, and asked to be freed to he could go home. No one thought this was a good idea. Guy wanted to keep him as a pet. Most of the rest of the party just wanted to leave him behind. Jack pointed out that he was stuck in a cage full of his own shit, without food or water. Further questioning revealed that the rabbit worked for a queen, who's name he declined to provide, and that he was spying on the vampire and got caught, and that he isn't native to this plane, but from a realm that seemed to correspond with the Feywild. The party put off the decision, and Guy tied the cage and mirror to his pack, and headed out of the vampire's lair.
Given the poor state of the party, they made their way back toward the holy shrine to camp, but when Nessendra cracked open the door to the antechamber and found it full of gargoyles playing "Don't Blink" so she quietly closed the door. Having had enough of the citadel, they made their way carefully back down into the dungeon, through Zugun's chamber and back out onto the side of the mountain. There they made camp. The hours of darkness passed uneventfully, but as the sun crested the horizon Nessendra spotted a serpentine dragon with large yellow eyes further down the mountain heading northward. Even from as far away as they were, she could hear... something. Thwacking Kethra, who was also on watch to see if she'd seen it too, Nessendra discovered that Keth had fallen asleep!
Over breakfast the party decided to try to use the stone on Affleck. so back into the castle they went. Finding the tower was less of a chore than they'd expected, and his stony form was right where it was supposed to be, gaping chest and all. Most of the party stayed in the stairwell, while Nessendra walked behind Affleck and tapped him with the stone. Instantly his form reverted to flesh and he stumbled a step forward, looked down, touched the hole and said "But I'm a fucking
Taking a breather, the party went back out onto the walkway over the waterfall to discuss their next steps. Zugun pressed for getting to the ritual site as quickly as possible. Jack again pleaded to be freed, and offered to take them all with him through the mirror, reminding everyone that distance is different in the Feywild, and that he can drop them off deeper into the Shudder Mountains. Zugun admits he knows little of the Feywild, but thinks that it might work... if Jack can be trusted. The party agrees, and unlocks Jacks cage. He instructs them to set the mirror against the wall, and then tells them to go through. Nessendra (the elf) went first, and Guy took the rear, bringing Jack with him.
They found themselves standing on a familiar looking mountain, looking down into a familiar looking river valley... Instead of a citadel over a waterfall, a large wooden cabin next to a stream. Also, the land seemed to be divided into some sort of grid pattern, with each block a different height from the surrounding blocks. Jack hopped out of Guy's arms and called the party to follow him. A couple of hours later Jack stopped suddenly and flattened himself, shaking in terror. Down the mountain was the same yellow-eyed dragon, or as Jack named it 'Jabberwocky'!
Grabbing Jack, they ran as far and as fast as they could... and came upon a group of 5 figures standing 15' tall on needle like stilts! Stilts that protruded from the bloody stumps of their legs! Jack again squirmed from Guy's grip and ran toward the figures yelling "HELP!! HELP!!" They turned their bloodstained mouths toward the party and moved with shocking agility toward them. The stilt-walker vampires seemed excessively hungry, but failed to get a single drop to drink. Guy spent the entire fight scurrying after Jack, and caught him after the last of the vampires fell.
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
New Monster: Herders
“Okay, the corridor’s floor is half collapsed just ahead, opening into a cave full of giant mushrooms. We can get around it, but I don’t know how stable it’ll be. Plus, there was something moving down there, and it looked like there was some sort of path winding through the mushrooms.” Nimble informed his companions.
“Did you get any hint as to what was moving?”
“No, but I also didn’t spend a whole lot of time hanging out at the edge with the torch burning either.”
"Fair enough."
The companions crept forward down the corridor, keeping as silent as possible. As they approached the opening into the cavern below, the party spread out. Nimble went across the ledge first, looking briefly down into the mushroom garden below as he crossed. Allianora went next, followed by Feris. As Rathgar crossed, a stone came loose, and bounced noisily down into the cavern. Everyone held their breath... The entire garden began to shake as several toadstool shapes picked themselves off the ground and lumbered toward the rock, vine-like appendages swinging from their central stalks.
Herder
Armor Class:7
Hit Dice: 2* (M)
Move: 90' (30')
Attacks: Vine
Damage: 1d4+poison
No. Appearing: 1d6 (2d6)
Save As: F3
Morale: 12
Treasure Type: J, L
Intelligence: 2
Alignment: Neutral
XP Value: 25
Herders are aggressive and territorial ambulatory mushrooms standing between 4' and 5' tall. Their central stalk supports a small cap and numerous vine-like appendages of varying sizes. While mostly unintelligent, they do an admirable job of tending to and protecting their gardens of giant mushrooms.
Anyone struck by one of their vines must make a saving throw vs poison or suffer from gut-wrenching cramps and nausea (-2 to attack rolls, saving throws, and AC) for 2d12 hours. Any intruders to their gardens are slain as quickly as possible, and used as fertilizer. Cat-sized creatures and smaller are ignored. When still they are indistinguishable from the other giant mushrooms in their gardens.
Terrain: Caverns, Dungeons
Based on the creatures from Grimrock
“Did you get any hint as to what was moving?”
“No, but I also didn’t spend a whole lot of time hanging out at the edge with the torch burning either.”
"Fair enough."
The companions crept forward down the corridor, keeping as silent as possible. As they approached the opening into the cavern below, the party spread out. Nimble went across the ledge first, looking briefly down into the mushroom garden below as he crossed. Allianora went next, followed by Feris. As Rathgar crossed, a stone came loose, and bounced noisily down into the cavern. Everyone held their breath... The entire garden began to shake as several toadstool shapes picked themselves off the ground and lumbered toward the rock, vine-like appendages swinging from their central stalks.
Herder
Armor Class:7
Hit Dice: 2* (M)
Move: 90' (30')
Attacks: Vine
Damage: 1d4+poison
No. Appearing: 1d6 (2d6)
Save As: F3
Morale: 12
Treasure Type: J, L
Intelligence: 2
Alignment: Neutral
XP Value: 25
Herders are aggressive and territorial ambulatory mushrooms standing between 4' and 5' tall. Their central stalk supports a small cap and numerous vine-like appendages of varying sizes. While mostly unintelligent, they do an admirable job of tending to and protecting their gardens of giant mushrooms.
Anyone struck by one of their vines must make a saving throw vs poison or suffer from gut-wrenching cramps and nausea (-2 to attack rolls, saving throws, and AC) for 2d12 hours. Any intruders to their gardens are slain as quickly as possible, and used as fertilizer. Cat-sized creatures and smaller are ignored. When still they are indistinguishable from the other giant mushrooms in their gardens.
Terrain: Caverns, Dungeons
Based on the creatures from Grimrock
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
#RPGaDay2015 part 1
1. Forthcoming game you're most looking forward to:
I don't think I've got anything coming out that I'm particularly looking forward to....
2. Kickstarter game you're most pleased you backed
DCC's Peril on the Purple Planet
3. Favorite new game of the last 12 months
5th Ed D&D
4. Most surprising game
-5e D&D was about as good as I'd hoped, and better than I expected.
-I had no idea that anyone was working on Star Wars REUP, and there it was!!
5. Most recent RPG purchase
A Red and Pleasant Land. So worth it!
6. Most recent RPG played
Played, DCC. Ran D&D 5e
7. Favorite free RPG
Star Wars REUP.
8. Favorite appearance of RPGs in the media
Gygax in Futurama.
9. Favorite media you wish was an RPG
I don't think I have one at the moment that isn't already an RPG...
10. Favorite RPG publisher
LotFP and Goodman Games.
11. Favorite RPG writer
Zak is probably the most inspiring, but I also really enjoy Michael Curtis' work.
12. Favorite RPG illustration
13. Favorite RPG Podcast
Iron Tavern
14. Favorite RPG accessory
Vornheim
15. Longest campaign played
The D&D 5e game I'm running Friday nights.
16. Longest game session played
Back in HS there were some marathon weekend games, but I'm also pretty sure we probably did a week long one at some point too...
Monday, August 17, 2015
#6MMRPC Week 11: Not much...
There wasn't a whole lot of progress this week. And by a whole lot, I mean none, really. It was a busy week, and very social, and I haven't had a whole lot of time to paint. Well, that's not true. I did have some time, but I spent it being distracted by Legend of Grimrock.
I did spend some time sorting the basement where I keep my minis in an attempt to find Hyrekia. No such luck. And I pulled together my shelf of shame to see what I had currently started but not finished. I'm sure there are some Lord of the Rings minis that I'd need to dig through to find, and a whole bunch that just need some flock on their bases. It also doesn't include my Circle force for Hordes that's currently on loan to a friend.
I did spend some time sorting the basement where I keep my minis in an attempt to find Hyrekia. No such luck. And I pulled together my shelf of shame to see what I had currently started but not finished. I'm sure there are some Lord of the Rings minis that I'd need to dig through to find, and a whole bunch that just need some flock on their bases. It also doesn't include my Circle force for Hordes that's currently on loan to a friend.
Sunday, August 16, 2015
Sunday Inspirational Image: Red Pawns
Ok, so they aren't actually red, but this is kind of what I picture them looking like.
Image by Daria Endresen
Image by Daria Endresen
Friday, August 14, 2015
Grimrock
For a while now, I've been thinking about building a new computer for myself. It's something I've never done before, but after looking at some tutorials online, it seemed doable. And, really, my 3 year old e-machines PC could really be retired without much reluctance. It did what I needed it to do, namely get me through my masters degree, but it doesn't have the power for much more than surfing the net and playing really old games (Civ III anyone?). Unfortunately, I really wanted to play a game I bought when it first came out, Legend of Grimrock. It's a neat old-school dungeon crawl game, but even it's rather minimal requirements were a bit too much for my poor computer. In order to be able to play it at all, I had to turn all of the graphics options down to their minimum, and even then it wasn't really a pleasant experience.
Before ordering all new parts for an all new computer, I talked to Erik, one of my Friday night D&D players who knows his computers. After asking me a bunch of questions about what I've got and what I want to do, he suggested that I didn't really need a new computer so much as needed to upgrade my current one with more RAM and a graphics card. So, off to Amazon...
Once the parts were in, I went to work installing them. The RAM wasn't a big issue, but the graphics card proved to be a little more effort, and since I didn't really know what I was doing, Erik helped me out. Not only did he get everything installed, but he also did some software cleanup, helping to get rid of some of the bloatware that sucks up memory and slows the computer down.
So now I've got a computer that can run Grimrock, and earlier this week, I actually had some time I could sit down and play it. I made a party consisting of a human and minotaur fighter, an insectiod wizard, and a lizardman rogue. Together they defeated numerous giant snails, a skeleton warrior, some fungus creatures, and numerous puzzles and traps before both gaining enough XP to hit 2nd level, and descending to the second level of the dungeon where they were killed by a combination of a poison spitting fungus and a larger melee fungus.
Sadly, I'd forgotten to save my game... I don't mind too much, since I want to make some tweaks to my next party anyway. I'll probably get some more game time in this weekend!
Before ordering all new parts for an all new computer, I talked to Erik, one of my Friday night D&D players who knows his computers. After asking me a bunch of questions about what I've got and what I want to do, he suggested that I didn't really need a new computer so much as needed to upgrade my current one with more RAM and a graphics card. So, off to Amazon...
Once the parts were in, I went to work installing them. The RAM wasn't a big issue, but the graphics card proved to be a little more effort, and since I didn't really know what I was doing, Erik helped me out. Not only did he get everything installed, but he also did some software cleanup, helping to get rid of some of the bloatware that sucks up memory and slows the computer down.
So now I've got a computer that can run Grimrock, and earlier this week, I actually had some time I could sit down and play it. I made a party consisting of a human and minotaur fighter, an insectiod wizard, and a lizardman rogue. Together they defeated numerous giant snails, a skeleton warrior, some fungus creatures, and numerous puzzles and traps before both gaining enough XP to hit 2nd level, and descending to the second level of the dungeon where they were killed by a combination of a poison spitting fungus and a larger melee fungus.
Sadly, I'd forgotten to save my game... I don't mind too much, since I want to make some tweaks to my next party anyway. I'll probably get some more game time in this weekend!
Thursday, August 13, 2015
5e WNW: A Charming Web of Lies
5e WNW - Session 20 of the weird new world campaign was played on Friday 7/31
The party consisted of the following:
Nessendra, Wood Elf Cleric 5 (Erindale)
Kethra, Human Fighter 5 (Nikki)
Bach, Dragonborn Warlock 5 (Erik)
Riia, Human Ranger 5 (Hanna)
Guy Noir, ½ Elf Rogue 5 (Nadia - Absent, kindly played by Julia)
Anya Bowen, Tiefling Ranger 5 (Allison)
After a peaceful night's rest, and for Bach the first one without nightmares in as long as he can remember, the party continues their exploration of the citadel. They find a spiral staircase that climbs up one of the citadel's towers, and head up, Bach at the lead with Guy not to far behind. Nessendra and Riia lugging Zugun's coffin at the rear. Bach passes a chamber, but doesn't even pause to look in, wanting to see the top of the tower. Taking the stairs two at a time, he quickly makes it there, and discovers something that delights him. Not the view, but a large bell, the walkway circling around it. He decides to ring it. Putting his back to the wall, he charges and leaps onto the bell. It hasn't been rung in years, but it swings and tolls once, startling everyone still on the stairs, and causing a ringing that may never quite go away.
Realizing that the room with the pull rope was the one he'd passed earlier, he charges down the stairs with glee. Guy, thinking that ringing the bell looked like fun, tries the same stunt that Back just pulled.Unfortunately his much smaller frame, and a bit of bad timing almost sends him out through one of the tower's windows! Bach passes the rest of the party before turning into the rope room. They're just beginning to remove their hands from their ears, when they collectively decide to head back down to what seemed like the top level of the citadel's central keep. Meanwhile Bach quickly glances around the dusty and cobweb filled chamber, and grabs the rope. Guy, following down the stairs watches the rest of the party continue back down, and decides to hang out with Bach instead, poking through the dusty corners hoping to find something interesting.
As the rest of the party reorganizes itself a huge spider appears a bit down the corridor. "Why do you come into my home, breaking things, killing my minions?"
Riia clears her throat, happy to not have to (immediately) fight the giant spider. She explains that they're looking for an item to help a friend. "Ah, you seek the Arat Stone..." the spider smiles.
The party collectively shudders at the sight of a giant spider smiling.
"Perhaps we can discuss this further someplace a little more pleasing. Follow this hallway until you come to a set of stairs. Take the stairs up to my basilica." At that, the spider disappeared, and Bach and Guy come strolling down the stairs. They tell the guys what happened, Bach nods, and charges toward the trap.
Bach quickly arrives at the bottom of the stairs, and looks up. Three large archways open up to a massive room beyond. Standing guard are a pair of amphibious looking humanoids with spears, wholly unconcerned at the appearance of a large dragon-man. Nodding once to himself, Bach takes the stairs, and walks right in through the central arch. Guy, who'd followed Bach most of the way, keeps looking back and forth between the arches and the rest of the party still trying to decide what to do.
"You come alone" the robed figure at the far end of the Basilica "That's very brave of you. Perhaps you'd like to make a will save?"
Predictably, Bach fails, and suddenly this robed dude doesn't seem so bad. Really, he's pretty cool.
Guy gets frustrated at the rest of the party's deliberations, and heads up the stairs and sees Bach chatting with the robed man. "Well hello. I didn't see you before either. I'd have remembered someone so well dressed." Guy is a little shocked at the friendliness of the man. "Would you care to make a will save for me?" He smiles, and sharp fangs peek out from behind blood red lips. Unsurprisingly, Guy also falls for the man's charms.
The rest of the party decides to head up the stairs after Guy and Bach, only to find everyone chatting amicably. Hoping this was a good sign, they try to begin negotiating for the stone. The robed man turned his gaze on Nessendra, and she laughed at him. He then turns to Riia, who it turns out thinks he's SO NICE! Kethra has had it, and moves to attack.
Robed vampire evil priest summons a pair of demonfire worm things and calls all his BFFs to his side. Bach is confused and doesn't understand why everyone is fighting, but is pretty sure the hellfire worms are bad news.
Battle is joined. The guards attempt to take out Kethra and Bach, fail miserably, and die quickly. The fire breathing hellworms last slightly longer, long enough for the robed guy to call to Anya "Don't you think this is all quite distasteful, us all fighting this way. It would be great if you could make a will save, and maybe come stop your lady mercenary friend from cutting me open?" Anya agrees that this is probably a good idea, since friends shouldn't fight, and leaps onto Kethra's back, pinning her arms... briefly.
Silence is dropped over the robed man right after that by an exasperated Nessendra. Zugun asks "What's going on?"
Anya is flung off by Kethra, and continues to attack the robed dude. Guy thinks Anya was on the right track, and tries and fails 3 times to pin Kethra. It isn't all bad for Guy, as it's the most physical contact he's gotten with her. Riia tries and also fails.
By this point, with his hellworms dead, and having suffered some serious damage, he reaches out and grabs hold of Riia draining her life force, but snapping her out of the charm. He then turns into a giant spider and tries to web everyone. This is semi-successful, and gives him the opportunity to drain Kethra before the burning hellworm bodies set fire to the webs, causing a little fire damage all around.
At this, the giant spider collapses into a huge swarm of tiny spiders that all scuttle towards the walls and pillars climbing up and over the railing of the upper balcony and out of sight.
The party consisted of the following:
Nessendra, Wood Elf Cleric 5 (Erindale)
Kethra, Human Fighter 5 (Nikki)
Bach, Dragonborn Warlock 5 (Erik)
Riia, Human Ranger 5 (Hanna)
Guy Noir, ½ Elf Rogue 5 (Nadia - Absent, kindly played by Julia)
Anya Bowen, Tiefling Ranger 5 (Allison)
After a peaceful night's rest, and for Bach the first one without nightmares in as long as he can remember, the party continues their exploration of the citadel. They find a spiral staircase that climbs up one of the citadel's towers, and head up, Bach at the lead with Guy not to far behind. Nessendra and Riia lugging Zugun's coffin at the rear. Bach passes a chamber, but doesn't even pause to look in, wanting to see the top of the tower. Taking the stairs two at a time, he quickly makes it there, and discovers something that delights him. Not the view, but a large bell, the walkway circling around it. He decides to ring it. Putting his back to the wall, he charges and leaps onto the bell. It hasn't been rung in years, but it swings and tolls once, startling everyone still on the stairs, and causing a ringing that may never quite go away.
Realizing that the room with the pull rope was the one he'd passed earlier, he charges down the stairs with glee. Guy, thinking that ringing the bell looked like fun, tries the same stunt that Back just pulled.Unfortunately his much smaller frame, and a bit of bad timing almost sends him out through one of the tower's windows! Bach passes the rest of the party before turning into the rope room. They're just beginning to remove their hands from their ears, when they collectively decide to head back down to what seemed like the top level of the citadel's central keep. Meanwhile Bach quickly glances around the dusty and cobweb filled chamber, and grabs the rope. Guy, following down the stairs watches the rest of the party continue back down, and decides to hang out with Bach instead, poking through the dusty corners hoping to find something interesting.
As the rest of the party reorganizes itself a huge spider appears a bit down the corridor. "Why do you come into my home, breaking things, killing my minions?"
Riia clears her throat, happy to not have to (immediately) fight the giant spider. She explains that they're looking for an item to help a friend. "Ah, you seek the Arat Stone..." the spider smiles.
The party collectively shudders at the sight of a giant spider smiling.
"Perhaps we can discuss this further someplace a little more pleasing. Follow this hallway until you come to a set of stairs. Take the stairs up to my basilica." At that, the spider disappeared, and Bach and Guy come strolling down the stairs. They tell the guys what happened, Bach nods, and charges toward the trap.
Bach quickly arrives at the bottom of the stairs, and looks up. Three large archways open up to a massive room beyond. Standing guard are a pair of amphibious looking humanoids with spears, wholly unconcerned at the appearance of a large dragon-man. Nodding once to himself, Bach takes the stairs, and walks right in through the central arch. Guy, who'd followed Bach most of the way, keeps looking back and forth between the arches and the rest of the party still trying to decide what to do.
"You come alone" the robed figure at the far end of the Basilica "That's very brave of you. Perhaps you'd like to make a will save?"
Predictably, Bach fails, and suddenly this robed dude doesn't seem so bad. Really, he's pretty cool.
Guy gets frustrated at the rest of the party's deliberations, and heads up the stairs and sees Bach chatting with the robed man. "Well hello. I didn't see you before either. I'd have remembered someone so well dressed." Guy is a little shocked at the friendliness of the man. "Would you care to make a will save for me?" He smiles, and sharp fangs peek out from behind blood red lips. Unsurprisingly, Guy also falls for the man's charms.
The rest of the party decides to head up the stairs after Guy and Bach, only to find everyone chatting amicably. Hoping this was a good sign, they try to begin negotiating for the stone. The robed man turned his gaze on Nessendra, and she laughed at him. He then turns to Riia, who it turns out thinks he's SO NICE! Kethra has had it, and moves to attack.
Robed vampire evil priest summons a pair of demonfire worm things and calls all his BFFs to his side. Bach is confused and doesn't understand why everyone is fighting, but is pretty sure the hellfire worms are bad news.
Battle is joined. The guards attempt to take out Kethra and Bach, fail miserably, and die quickly. The fire breathing hellworms last slightly longer, long enough for the robed guy to call to Anya "Don't you think this is all quite distasteful, us all fighting this way. It would be great if you could make a will save, and maybe come stop your lady mercenary friend from cutting me open?" Anya agrees that this is probably a good idea, since friends shouldn't fight, and leaps onto Kethra's back, pinning her arms... briefly.
Silence is dropped over the robed man right after that by an exasperated Nessendra. Zugun asks "What's going on?"
Anya is flung off by Kethra, and continues to attack the robed dude. Guy thinks Anya was on the right track, and tries and fails 3 times to pin Kethra. It isn't all bad for Guy, as it's the most physical contact he's gotten with her. Riia tries and also fails.
By this point, with his hellworms dead, and having suffered some serious damage, he reaches out and grabs hold of Riia draining her life force, but snapping her out of the charm. He then turns into a giant spider and tries to web everyone. This is semi-successful, and gives him the opportunity to drain Kethra before the burning hellworm bodies set fire to the webs, causing a little fire damage all around.
At this, the giant spider collapses into a huge swarm of tiny spiders that all scuttle towards the walls and pillars climbing up and over the railing of the upper balcony and out of sight.
Monday, August 10, 2015
#6MMRPC Week 10: Kaladrax Reborn!
I spent the better part of the weekend working on Kaladrax, and I've made some significant progress. I base coated him in Reaper's Dirty Bone, and a dark grey airbrush color.
Then I added a 2/3 Vallejo Red Leather 1/3 Walnut Brown to the jerky areas and the wings.
I'm pretty sure I'm going to use up just about all of my GW Gryphonne Sepia. I have no idea what the current color is to replace it, or if Reaper or Vallejo has an equivalent color.
I then started highlighting the jerky with the same red leather and then red leather with army painter white.
My main conclusion so far in painting this beast is that it really is more of a marathon than a sprint. Kaladrax is HUGE compared to anything else I've ever painted. I've spent HOURS on him, and this is as far as I've gotten, and I haven't even started to highlight any of the bone yet.
Also, I can't find my metal Hyrekia metal mini... or the staff to the bones version... I hate that...
Then I added a 2/3 Vallejo Red Leather 1/3 Walnut Brown to the jerky areas and the wings.
I'm pretty sure I'm going to use up just about all of my GW Gryphonne Sepia. I have no idea what the current color is to replace it, or if Reaper or Vallejo has an equivalent color.
I then started highlighting the jerky with the same red leather and then red leather with army painter white.
My main conclusion so far in painting this beast is that it really is more of a marathon than a sprint. Kaladrax is HUGE compared to anything else I've ever painted. I've spent HOURS on him, and this is as far as I've gotten, and I haven't even started to highlight any of the bone yet.
Also, I can't find my metal Hyrekia metal mini... or the staff to the bones version... I hate that...
Sunday, August 9, 2015
Sunday Inspirational Image: Blood Throne
This looks like something straight out of Zak's A Red and Pleasant Land, which is down to under a 75 copies, so if you're going to get it (and you should) now's the time!
– Tobias Kwan
Motherland Chronicles: Throne Lady
– Tobias Kwan
Motherland Chronicles: Throne Lady
Thursday, August 6, 2015
#6MMRPC Week 9: Ebonwrath & Anirion
In spite of suffering from a nasty nasty cold, Ebonwrath is finished!
It's interesting how lighting can make such a big difference in how something looks... especially when it's (overall) black.
In some ways I think he’s going to be the toughest dragon in my 3 dragon challenge. And not because painting a black dragon is particularly hard. No, what was the real challenge was the base. I’ve never used water effects like this before, and rather than start with something small, I decided to start with a CD base with a semi-submerged mini, where the water wasn’t nicely contained on the base… I still need to glue a piece of felt on the bottom of the base, but aside from that little bit, it’s done and I learned a lot.
I also finished up Anirion. I think next time I’m going to try for a more interesting pattern for a robe edging. The slash marks are ok, but not really interesting.
Now onto the next challenge - Kaladrax and Hyrekia! Actually I have 2 Hyrekia minis, the original metal mini, and the Bones one that came with Kaladrax. I picked up the metal one with a credit I got from Bones I for… Something missing or miscast… I don’t remember what. Anyway, I got the metal one because the Bones Hyrekia was rather… unimpressive. I don’t know if it was a casting issue, or if it’s just a rather soft sculpt, but it lacks the personality of the original metal mini.
While Buglips may be insane enough to try to paint Kaladrax in just 5 days with size 0 brushes, I'm going to use my airbrush!
In some ways I think he’s going to be the toughest dragon in my 3 dragon challenge. And not because painting a black dragon is particularly hard. No, what was the real challenge was the base. I’ve never used water effects like this before, and rather than start with something small, I decided to start with a CD base with a semi-submerged mini, where the water wasn’t nicely contained on the base… I still need to glue a piece of felt on the bottom of the base, but aside from that little bit, it’s done and I learned a lot.
I also finished up Anirion. I think next time I’m going to try for a more interesting pattern for a robe edging. The slash marks are ok, but not really interesting.
Now onto the next challenge - Kaladrax and Hyrekia! Actually I have 2 Hyrekia minis, the original metal mini, and the Bones one that came with Kaladrax. I picked up the metal one with a credit I got from Bones I for… Something missing or miscast… I don’t remember what. Anyway, I got the metal one because the Bones Hyrekia was rather… unimpressive. I don’t know if it was a casting issue, or if it’s just a rather soft sculpt, but it lacks the personality of the original metal mini.
While Buglips may be insane enough to try to paint Kaladrax in just 5 days with size 0 brushes, I'm going to use my airbrush!
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
The End of the Campaign...
My Friday night 5e Weird New World game is gong to be wrapping up on October 2. About half of my group will be leaving the area, and I think the general consensus is that we're going to switch to d6 Star Wars for a while. But before we do, this gives me an opportunity to really end a campaign, to bring it to a wrapping up point rather than just let it die like most do. Hell, the fact that this campaign has gone on for 20 sessions already is pretty amazing to me! That there are only 7 or 8 more sessions...
It might be a little early yet, but I'm trying to come up with ideas on how to end the campaign. I've been building up to a major confrontation against a chaos lord, but depending on what decisions the party makes, the last sessions may skew off.
So I guess I'm looking for some advice... how do you end a campaign, and make it memorable?
It might be a little early yet, but I'm trying to come up with ideas on how to end the campaign. I've been building up to a major confrontation against a chaos lord, but depending on what decisions the party makes, the last sessions may skew off.
So I guess I'm looking for some advice... how do you end a campaign, and make it memorable?
Monday, August 3, 2015
5e WNW: Finally a Reward!
5e WNW - Session 19 of the weird new world campaign was played on Friday 7/24 (game was skipped on the 17th to go see Ant-Man)
The party consisted of the following:
Nessendra, Wood Elf Cleric 5 (Erindale)
Kethra, Human Fighter 5 (Nikki)
Bach, Dragonborn Warlock 5 (Erik)
Riia, Human Ranger 5 (Hanna - Absent, kindly played by Allison)
Guy Noir, ½ Elf Rogue 5 (Nadia - Absent, kindly played by Julia)
Anya Bowen, Tiefling Ranger 5 (Allison)
After recovering from their harrowing encounter with the waterfall back in the storage room, the adventurers once again brave forth into the depths of the Citadel of Chaos. Retracing their steps they come to a large door opening into a massive hall. The hole in the ceiling allows light to enter, revealing ancient rotted banners, barely clinging to the poles they're hung from. The floor was littered with overturned tables, benches, broken crockery, and deadfall from the mountain blown in through the hole. Tucked in the brace of support beams holding the ceiling, a giant bird's nest, over the edge of which peaked two women's heads. Their stringy greasy hair hung limply over their sore spotted faces... faces that quickly twisted from confusion to glee, and in their glee they began to sing a most wretched song!
"Harpies!" Kethra called out, slapping her hands over her ears.
Guy, of course, was instantly enchanted by these beautiful ladies, and wanted nothing more than to be with them RIGHT NOW! Everyone else made their saves...
The harpies took off from their nest, flying about the roof of the hall, and dropping stones on anyone why entered the room. Unfortunately for them they took hits left and right, and quickly decided that survival was worth more than defending their nest, and took off for the hole. One made it out, only to catch one final shot in the back, sending her crashing to the roof. Helping Guy off the wall was the next challenge. He'd climbed up halfway to the nest.
Guy pulled down the nest, and rifled through the mess within. Thankfully there was no baby harpy or even an egg to deal with. Even better, there was some coinage and a few gems!
Exploring deeper into the citadel, the party, after finding numerous empty rooms, comes to another large chamber coursing with oil-slick rainbow colored lightning. Beyond the lightning dividing the room stood several creatures. Guy advanced to talk to them. After a brief conversation with the obscured creatures, Guy discovered they were really into pain. Maybe even more than Guy was able to handle. Right about this point, Bach got bored and blasted one of the pillars that seemed to support the wall of lightning. With a bright flash, the lightning ended.
2 hulking cyclopean monstrosities with a curving horn protruding from their foreheads flanked a pair of smaller lanky figures covered in spikes, thorns, barbs, and piercings. Kethra charged forward to help defend Guy, while Anya tried to get in front of Bach before he could get hurt. Anya wasn't quite fast enough, and one of the hulking beasts charged forward, goreing Bach, and sending him flying back onto his ass.
Kethra faced off against the other hulking brute, while Guy engaged the spiky one. Anya went toe to toe with the other spikey one, who'd joined his hulking friend, while Nessendra did her best to take down the hulk that had gored Bach. Back, still laid out on the stone stairs that stopped the brute's toss, shot eldritch blast after blast.
"What's going on?" Zugun called out from the hallway.
Riia joined Anya up front, just as Guy took a mighty blow dropping him into unconsciousness. At this, Nessendra called upon Corellon's power to heal everyone, and shortly after that the first of the hulks fell, followed quickly in turn by the other. The spiky guys took a little longer, but they fell a few rounds later.
Beyond stood a pair of brass doors covered in runes of the dark tongue, warning all against entry. Zugan, once having the scene described to him confims that this is the armory he spoke of. When the doors were opened a sense of peace and rightness washed over the party. Within, a shrine to the gods of order, and an assortment of magical treasures! Guy received the ring of free action. Bach donned the cloak of displacement, and Anya swapped her armor for a suit of scale mail of force resistance.
The party consisted of the following:
Nessendra, Wood Elf Cleric 5 (Erindale)
Kethra, Human Fighter 5 (Nikki)
Bach, Dragonborn Warlock 5 (Erik)
Riia, Human Ranger 5 (Hanna - Absent, kindly played by Allison)
Guy Noir, ½ Elf Rogue 5 (Nadia - Absent, kindly played by Julia)
Anya Bowen, Tiefling Ranger 5 (Allison)
After recovering from their harrowing encounter with the waterfall back in the storage room, the adventurers once again brave forth into the depths of the Citadel of Chaos. Retracing their steps they come to a large door opening into a massive hall. The hole in the ceiling allows light to enter, revealing ancient rotted banners, barely clinging to the poles they're hung from. The floor was littered with overturned tables, benches, broken crockery, and deadfall from the mountain blown in through the hole. Tucked in the brace of support beams holding the ceiling, a giant bird's nest, over the edge of which peaked two women's heads. Their stringy greasy hair hung limply over their sore spotted faces... faces that quickly twisted from confusion to glee, and in their glee they began to sing a most wretched song!
"Harpies!" Kethra called out, slapping her hands over her ears.
Guy, of course, was instantly enchanted by these beautiful ladies, and wanted nothing more than to be with them RIGHT NOW! Everyone else made their saves...
The harpies took off from their nest, flying about the roof of the hall, and dropping stones on anyone why entered the room. Unfortunately for them they took hits left and right, and quickly decided that survival was worth more than defending their nest, and took off for the hole. One made it out, only to catch one final shot in the back, sending her crashing to the roof. Helping Guy off the wall was the next challenge. He'd climbed up halfway to the nest.
Guy pulled down the nest, and rifled through the mess within. Thankfully there was no baby harpy or even an egg to deal with. Even better, there was some coinage and a few gems!
Exploring deeper into the citadel, the party, after finding numerous empty rooms, comes to another large chamber coursing with oil-slick rainbow colored lightning. Beyond the lightning dividing the room stood several creatures. Guy advanced to talk to them. After a brief conversation with the obscured creatures, Guy discovered they were really into pain. Maybe even more than Guy was able to handle. Right about this point, Bach got bored and blasted one of the pillars that seemed to support the wall of lightning. With a bright flash, the lightning ended.
2 hulking cyclopean monstrosities with a curving horn protruding from their foreheads flanked a pair of smaller lanky figures covered in spikes, thorns, barbs, and piercings. Kethra charged forward to help defend Guy, while Anya tried to get in front of Bach before he could get hurt. Anya wasn't quite fast enough, and one of the hulking beasts charged forward, goreing Bach, and sending him flying back onto his ass.
Kethra faced off against the other hulking brute, while Guy engaged the spiky one. Anya went toe to toe with the other spikey one, who'd joined his hulking friend, while Nessendra did her best to take down the hulk that had gored Bach. Back, still laid out on the stone stairs that stopped the brute's toss, shot eldritch blast after blast.
"What's going on?" Zugun called out from the hallway.
Riia joined Anya up front, just as Guy took a mighty blow dropping him into unconsciousness. At this, Nessendra called upon Corellon's power to heal everyone, and shortly after that the first of the hulks fell, followed quickly in turn by the other. The spiky guys took a little longer, but they fell a few rounds later.
Beyond stood a pair of brass doors covered in runes of the dark tongue, warning all against entry. Zugan, once having the scene described to him confims that this is the armory he spoke of. When the doors were opened a sense of peace and rightness washed over the party. Within, a shrine to the gods of order, and an assortment of magical treasures! Guy received the ring of free action. Bach donned the cloak of displacement, and Anya swapped her armor for a suit of scale mail of force resistance.
Sunday, August 2, 2015
Saturday, August 1, 2015
5e WNW: Waterfalls - Alternate Take
5e WNW - Session 18 of the weird new world campaign was played on Friday 7/10
The party consisted of the following:
Nessendra, Wood Elf Cleric 5 (Erindale)
Kethra, Human Fighter 5 (Nikki)
Bach, Dragonborn Warlock 5 (Erik)
Riia, Human Ranger 5 (Hanna)
Guy Noir, ½ Elf Rogue 5 (Nadia - Absent, kindly played by Julia)
Anya Bowen, Tiefling Ranger 5 (Allison)
Previous report of this session here. This report was written by Nikki:
SO... Expanded recount.
Last Friday we had wiped out a clutch of gargoyles. One was attempting to flee. As we resumed, our Warlock (dragonborn who seems to think he's a barbarian) was giving chase. The fighter (basic human me) was following the warlock because omg. Two rangers (one ranger and a "city ranger" *coughROGUEcough*) an -actual- rogue *coughManWhorecough* and the cleric are also following.
The two rangers are encumbered by carrying a sarcophagus (what happens in dungeons, stays in dungeons) so they miss the action. I manage to catch up to the gargoyle as it exits onto a balcony. I body slam that sucker (which we have decided looks like Brooklyn) and start choking it with my great-maul. (As much as one can choke a stone thing. The maul is from a "small" giant's leg bone. Many bone jokes. Many, many bone jokes.) As the gargoyle is stone and clearly not having any issue with the choking, he decides to launch himself off the balcony with me on his back.
I shriek for help. The party pours out the hall door onto the balcony (except the rangers who are at least three rounds behind us because sarcophagus). The warlock fires a few eldrich blasts at the beastie, one of which bounces off the shield strapped to my back. I begin to include the warlock in the set of vile curses that had previously been reserved for the gargoyle (the cleric reminds me about my language in her best Captain America tone).
The gargoyle moves to leap off the balcony, which is over a waterfall and a hundred foot rocky drop to the pool below to the tune of rushing water and free-flowing cussing. The cleric smites the gargoyle with some kind of holy fire crap that amazingly doesn't hurt me (Yay D&D and cleric spells meaning no friendly fire!). The gargoyle begins to disintegrate, with me still on it's back, as it's falling off the railing.
My bone-maul goes flying into the nothingness and drops down to the pool below. I try desperately to run down the gargoyle's spine and back onto the railing. Or jump off it's tail. Or... Something... But fail my dex save. I use my inspiration point, and CRIT fail my dex save. I fall. I hit rocks. I bounce off rocks. I splash down in the pool a hundred feet below. I sink. I -don't- fail my constitution save. I remain conscious... ... ... For now.
The rogue (man-whore-thing) not-so-selflessly throws himself off the edge to save me. The whole party speculates what he'll do to "resuscitate" me when he gets to me, while he hits the same rocks I hit on the way down. He splashes down in the pool, managed to take less damage than I did (which is fortunate, because he has fewer hit points than I do), and flounders in the bubbles a bit. He quickly comes to realize that the bubbles... tickle... Oooh...
One of the rangers (the real one) drops her end of the sarcophagus and joins the rest of the party on the balcony. The cleric prays for help from Korlon. The warlock retrieves rope from his pack and throws it over the edge... The warlock pulls FIFTY feet of rope back up from the ONE HUNDRED foot drop, demands someone else's fifty-foot rope and begins to tie the ends together.
I remain conscious! I can tell up from down, but not much else. Everything hurts. I think my armor is dented up into my spleen. I grasp at the rocks on the bottom of the pool and start dragging myself... somewhere... I hope it's toward the shore. Not sure how long I'm going to stay conscious...
The ranger (real one) takes up the double-length rope and throws herself over the side to repel down to my rescue. The warlock's eyes must have gone pretty wide when he saw this, since he hadn't managed to tie the end off anywhere yet. Warlock fails strength check, and the rope tears through his hands for ten points of rope-burn damage ("They look like big, strong hands, don't they? I always thought; that's what they were...") The ranger realizes her mistake, makes a dex save like a boss, and turns that free-fall into some Olympic diving action. She spots the rogue and my helpless self right off the bat. The rogue appears to be … erm... Enjoying the bubbles, so to speak... I don't seem to be having such a grand time, so she swims my way, while the cleric heals the warlock's hands.
The cleric prays to Korlon further for divine intervention, convinced she's killed one of her allies, as I fail to realize that the tugging and pulling is someone (the ranger) trying to save me and fight to cling to the rocks that I'm using to pull myself... To shore? I hope that’s the way to shore... The ranger probably hates me for resisting, but that's the way the bitter bastardly dice roll.
The other ranger finally manages to push the sarcophagus out onto the balcony above the cliff with the warlock and the cleric. “Where is everybody? And what was all that screaming about?” The warloc takes rope from the cleric and the other ranger *coughRoguecough* and the they spend even -more- time fumbling with tying these ropes together since “I'm not that kind of ranger!” Though to their credit, they secure this rope. >.>
I finally pass out, making it much easier for the ranger to drag my dead weight to the shore. The cleric, quickly descending the latest rope, rushes right over for some much needed healing. The rogue quits playing with the bubbles and pulls his pants up. The “city” ranger devises a clever pulley system, which the DM points out we lack the materials for and is thus nixed. I'm stabilized, and everyone is climbing back up to the balcony. The cleric is down to one healing spell and we're all damaged to some degree or another.
But wait! Where is the warrior's bone (great-maul)?! I tell the rogue (man-wore-thing) that if he can find my bone, he can touch it. The rogue quickly descends the rope and spends an hour swimming around the pool below to find my weapon. But he does persevere and return with my great-maul. So we head back to the vault where we found the sarcophagus, toting the sarcophagus with us, to set up camp for a full rest to restore hit points and spell slots.
That, my friends, is how a dead gargoyle almost killed half the party.
Next week: Plot advancement... We hope. XD
The party consisted of the following:
Nessendra, Wood Elf Cleric 5 (Erindale)
Kethra, Human Fighter 5 (Nikki)
Bach, Dragonborn Warlock 5 (Erik)
Riia, Human Ranger 5 (Hanna)
Guy Noir, ½ Elf Rogue 5 (Nadia - Absent, kindly played by Julia)
Anya Bowen, Tiefling Ranger 5 (Allison)
Previous report of this session here. This report was written by Nikki:
SO... Expanded recount.
Last Friday we had wiped out a clutch of gargoyles. One was attempting to flee. As we resumed, our Warlock (dragonborn who seems to think he's a barbarian) was giving chase. The fighter (basic human me) was following the warlock because omg. Two rangers (one ranger and a "city ranger" *coughROGUEcough*) an -actual- rogue *coughManWhorecough* and the cleric are also following.
The two rangers are encumbered by carrying a sarcophagus (what happens in dungeons, stays in dungeons) so they miss the action. I manage to catch up to the gargoyle as it exits onto a balcony. I body slam that sucker (which we have decided looks like Brooklyn) and start choking it with my great-maul. (As much as one can choke a stone thing. The maul is from a "small" giant's leg bone. Many bone jokes. Many, many bone jokes.) As the gargoyle is stone and clearly not having any issue with the choking, he decides to launch himself off the balcony with me on his back.
I shriek for help. The party pours out the hall door onto the balcony (except the rangers who are at least three rounds behind us because sarcophagus). The warlock fires a few eldrich blasts at the beastie, one of which bounces off the shield strapped to my back. I begin to include the warlock in the set of vile curses that had previously been reserved for the gargoyle (the cleric reminds me about my language in her best Captain America tone).
The gargoyle moves to leap off the balcony, which is over a waterfall and a hundred foot rocky drop to the pool below to the tune of rushing water and free-flowing cussing. The cleric smites the gargoyle with some kind of holy fire crap that amazingly doesn't hurt me (Yay D&D and cleric spells meaning no friendly fire!). The gargoyle begins to disintegrate, with me still on it's back, as it's falling off the railing.
My bone-maul goes flying into the nothingness and drops down to the pool below. I try desperately to run down the gargoyle's spine and back onto the railing. Or jump off it's tail. Or... Something... But fail my dex save. I use my inspiration point, and CRIT fail my dex save. I fall. I hit rocks. I bounce off rocks. I splash down in the pool a hundred feet below. I sink. I -don't- fail my constitution save. I remain conscious... ... ... For now.
The rogue (man-whore-thing) not-so-selflessly throws himself off the edge to save me. The whole party speculates what he'll do to "resuscitate" me when he gets to me, while he hits the same rocks I hit on the way down. He splashes down in the pool, managed to take less damage than I did (which is fortunate, because he has fewer hit points than I do), and flounders in the bubbles a bit. He quickly comes to realize that the bubbles... tickle... Oooh...
One of the rangers (the real one) drops her end of the sarcophagus and joins the rest of the party on the balcony. The cleric prays for help from Korlon. The warlock retrieves rope from his pack and throws it over the edge... The warlock pulls FIFTY feet of rope back up from the ONE HUNDRED foot drop, demands someone else's fifty-foot rope and begins to tie the ends together.
I remain conscious! I can tell up from down, but not much else. Everything hurts. I think my armor is dented up into my spleen. I grasp at the rocks on the bottom of the pool and start dragging myself... somewhere... I hope it's toward the shore. Not sure how long I'm going to stay conscious...
The ranger (real one) takes up the double-length rope and throws herself over the side to repel down to my rescue. The warlock's eyes must have gone pretty wide when he saw this, since he hadn't managed to tie the end off anywhere yet. Warlock fails strength check, and the rope tears through his hands for ten points of rope-burn damage ("They look like big, strong hands, don't they? I always thought; that's what they were...") The ranger realizes her mistake, makes a dex save like a boss, and turns that free-fall into some Olympic diving action. She spots the rogue and my helpless self right off the bat. The rogue appears to be … erm... Enjoying the bubbles, so to speak... I don't seem to be having such a grand time, so she swims my way, while the cleric heals the warlock's hands.
The cleric prays to Korlon further for divine intervention, convinced she's killed one of her allies, as I fail to realize that the tugging and pulling is someone (the ranger) trying to save me and fight to cling to the rocks that I'm using to pull myself... To shore? I hope that’s the way to shore... The ranger probably hates me for resisting, but that's the way the bitter bastardly dice roll.
The other ranger finally manages to push the sarcophagus out onto the balcony above the cliff with the warlock and the cleric. “Where is everybody? And what was all that screaming about?” The warloc takes rope from the cleric and the other ranger *coughRoguecough* and the they spend even -more- time fumbling with tying these ropes together since “I'm not that kind of ranger!” Though to their credit, they secure this rope. >.>
I finally pass out, making it much easier for the ranger to drag my dead weight to the shore. The cleric, quickly descending the latest rope, rushes right over for some much needed healing. The rogue quits playing with the bubbles and pulls his pants up. The “city” ranger devises a clever pulley system, which the DM points out we lack the materials for and is thus nixed. I'm stabilized, and everyone is climbing back up to the balcony. The cleric is down to one healing spell and we're all damaged to some degree or another.
But wait! Where is the warrior's bone (great-maul)?! I tell the rogue (man-wore-thing) that if he can find my bone, he can touch it. The rogue quickly descends the rope and spends an hour swimming around the pool below to find my weapon. But he does persevere and return with my great-maul. So we head back to the vault where we found the sarcophagus, toting the sarcophagus with us, to set up camp for a full rest to restore hit points and spell slots.
That, my friends, is how a dead gargoyle almost killed half the party.
Next week: Plot advancement... We hope. XD