A pause: Stonehell & Rappan

We've decided to put the campaign on hold with the passing of our friend. No one feels like delving in those dark halls at the moment. I hope one day to return, but not now, and until we decide we're ready, we're going to play some other games. 

It's funny, it was never meant to run this long. What started out as a filler campaign has stretched on for more than a decade, 332 sessions... and now... 

Not ending. 

A pause. 

To be continued...

 

How? When? I don't know yet. We'll figure it out when we're ready. 

Death of a player

Countless articles, blog posts, tweets, etc., have been written about what to do when a character in your game dies.

Far fewer have been written about what to do when a player dies, and now I need to figure out what to do.

Rob, my friend, the man who ran Morgana and Sonra, and who was my co-DM running the Rappan side of things, passed away this week. It wasn't a surprise, he'd been battling cancer for all the years I've known him. But it still hits like a ton of bricks. You always think there's going to be more time, another game session, another chance to hang out, to laugh, to enjoy the company of your friend. But time ran out, and there won't be any more chances. 

I'm not prepared for this. And there's nothing I can do. It's happened, and now I have to keep going. I have to go to work, and take care of the dog, and get the oil changed on the car, and... 

And I've lost my friend. So have my fellow players. It sucks so much, in so many ways. 

I'm going to miss Rob. I mourn his passing. I mourn the games we won't play, the campaign that we haven't finished, and the times we won't get to share. I grieve that I won't get to see what he had in store for us. That I won't get to hear his delight and his laugh as he tricks us, or as he overcomes one of my tricks. We won't get to play Stargrave together again, or Space Gitz, or anything else we'd planned on, talked about, looked forward to. 

I miss my friend. 

 

There is always less time than you think, fewer chances to grab a moment of happiness. Seize them when you can. Roll your dice, share your stories, and have fun, because you never know when it'll be the last time you do.  

Stonehell: Hair raising apes

 Session 330 was played on 7/26/26

Morgana, wizard 10 (Rob)
Borumar, Triton Thief 11 (Josh)
Blotto, Goblin Fighter 8 (Lanse)
Nick, Fighter 8 (Me)
Koltic, Cleric 9 (Cindy)
Aroon, Fighter 8 (NPC)
Jameth, Fighter 8 (NPC)
Lor’Koth, Dwarf 8 (NPC)

After getting Nick’s eyes taken care of, the party gears up and heads to Stonehell, straight for Rocky. As usual, the inhabitants of the top level of the dungeon gave the party a wide berth… almost as if there was an early warning system set up. 

Rocky was happy to see the party, and enjoyed his snack. Once the pleasantries were out of the way, the party asked their questions, trying to get as much info on the Crucible as possible. Rocky confirmed that it is on the 3rd floor, and was made by the Plated Mage, and should be able to disenchant the crown. This was mostly confirmation of what Boris told the party, but confirmation is always a good thing. 

Thanking Rocky, the party decides to head to the Quiet Halls, down to level 2, and take the elevator to 3. Things go smoothly until the elevator arrives on the 3rd floor, and they were greeted by half a dozen baboons augmented by the plated mage with a variety of magi-tech components. They were ready and charged, and blasts of electricity zapped the party. Morgana responded with a fireball that left 6 smoldering corpses in place of the augments. Koltic shared around touches from his staff as everyone worked on getting their hair to stop standing on end. 

Stonehell: Tears of the Mother

 Session 329 was played on 7/19/26

Morgana, wizard 10 (Rob)
Borumar, Triton Thief 11 (Josh)
Blotto, Goblin Fighter 8 (Lanse)
Nick, Fighter 8 (Me)
Koltic, Cleric 9 (Cindy)
Aroon, Fighter 8 (NPC)
Jameth, Fighter 8 (NPC)
Lor’Koth, Dwarf 8 (NPC)

Traveling down the mountain the party stumbles upon a family of ornery mountain goats. “It’s never just goats” Blotto warns… 

And he was right. While the party bypassed the grumpy goats without injury, shortly after the sounds of battle were heard around the bend. A troop of dwarves were getting into it with a group of kobolds 3 times their size. It was fairly evenly matched. The focus of the fight was a cart laden with silvery ore. 

“What seems to be the fuck my fine fellows” Blotto yells at the assembled mobs with Morgana boosting his volume. 

The fighting paused, and the assembled hosts looked up at the party. In return the party looked at them with annoyance, and Nick, remembering the dwarves who just recently visited his castle, stomped down to get some answers. The dwarves, of the Silver Moon clan, thinking a party with a dwarf in it would be more on their side (Ha!) went on about how the silver was cursed and dangerous and their claim to the ore was one that went back generations and they’re just trying to keep everyone safe.

The kobolds, on their turn explained that their god gifted them the tears of the mother from deep within the earth, and their task was to share the ore with the world.

The bickering went on and on. 

“Okay, we’re in the middle of this… do we really want to go down into the mine and figure out what’s the deal? Or should we see if we can talk to the god by touching the ore?”

No one really wanted the dungeon route, so Nick and Blotto and Borumar agree to touch the ore at the same time. Borumar wears gloves, so it didn’t have any effect on him. Nick saw a flash of thousands of eyes peering out of the darkness deep into his soul, before the darkness consumed him, and he was left blind. 

Blotto had a vision of swimming under dark waters and being consumed by a massive maw. 

“Boris can fucking handle this!” Nick yells. “Koltic, get me home, and fix my eyes!”

Meanwhile Morgana noticed that the ore seemed to be attracted to the vial of Gloom Crown Goblin Pee, and when brought close together, the ore reshaped itself around the vial, completely sealing it in… oops?

Stonehell: The Gloom Crown

 Session 328 was played on 7/12/26

Morgana, wizard 10 (Rob)
Borumar, Triton Thief 11 (Josh)
Blotto, Goblin Fighter 8 (Lanse)
Nick, Fighter 8 (Me)
Koltic, Cleric 9 (Cindy)
Aroon, Fighter 8 (NPC)
Jameth, Fighter 8 (NPC)
Lor’Koth, Dwarf 8 (NPC)

While the A and B team spend some down time engaged in various activities, including making an asparagus beer (Blotto and Koltic), a note arrives from Boris requesting Morgana’s presence. Of course everyone makes the trip out to his fortress monastery. It sits solidly to the northwest, on the side of one of the mountains, and while there’s a “road” to get to it, the path isn’t easy or always safe. Nevertheless the party arrives without complication. After sharing drinks and catching up on the gossip, Boris reveals that since the Gloom Crown has been in his possession, he’s had to increase the protections on it twice, and has fended off multiple attempts to breach his vault. 

The current chest is a steel, salt, and lead lined box with several enchantments forged into it. He takes it out to show the party. While discussing things the Gloom Crown attempts to whisper to Blotto to once again take it, and bring an era of goblin control upon the world. Blotto is unimpressed, and generally ignoring what Boris, Morgana and Koltic are talking about, and he and Borumar discuss the possibilities of infusing some goblin pee with the dark magic of the crown. This of course leads to trying to find out. 

“Let’s let it marinate.” 

No one really wanted to get near enough to dump it out anyway, though Morgana does take an initial sample before closing the box.

What Blotto and Borumar missed was that Boris’ research and prayers have revealed that there exists within Stonehell a tool called the crucible made by the Plated Mage locked away somewhere in the upper levels of the dungeon and it should have the power to destroy the crown. In reviewing the maps that Boris has, slightly out of date, the only section of the upper levels that hasn’t fully been mapped, to the best of their knowledge is the round connected rooms between the eastern quarters of level 3. 

After a hearty dinner and a good night's rest, head out for the manse. 

---

The Edge of 17

17 years and going strong. 

 

I don't know what the next year is going to bring... I never do, but on this blogiversary I feel it more keenly than I usually do. Change is coming, and I'm fearful for what that change will bring. I'm worried, and on a day I should be celebrating, I'm mourning. 

But until it doesn't, life goes on, and I expect so will the blog. So whatever the future brings, I expect to continue this silly little record of my games, my hobbies, and my random thoughts. 

Thanks for joining me on this journey. More to come!

60 Years!

 Today marks the 60th anniversary of Boldly Going! 

 

I wish I felt that drive, that hope that Trek has embodied for so much of my life.  It seems the people in charge of Trek don't feel it either, and have canceled Academy, and Strange New Worlds, and there's no sign of anything else coming once the final seasons that are in the can air. It's frankly embarrassing how CBS has fumbled Trek so badly. The focus now seems to be on the branding and lifestyle merch. Don't get me wrong, I love the LEGO sets I've seen (and haven't bought) but this isn't Boldly Going, it's trading in on the fans for an easy buck. These last years have beaten down that hope in the brighter future... 

But I'm not Hopeless. 

 However CBS fumbles Trek, the fans, my friends, will continue to embody what makes Trek great, and different from all the other shows, movies, and books out there. We're going to make the world a better place for everyone, a kinder world that embraces Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations, even as our leaders rage bait the population into fearing the other, and encourage the building of walls rather than bridges. Fuck that, and fuck them. We can do better. We can build a better world. The promise of Trek isn't that it will get better, but that it can. 

If we put in the work.  

Let's make it so.