Deal of the Day - Brink of Calamity (OSRIC)

Today's Deal of the Day is Brink of Calamity, a 180-page campaign and setting for OSRIC, AD&D, and OSR. It's a (potentially) year-long hexcrawl, covering levels 1 to 6. Typically, 14.99 in PDF, until tomorrow morning, Brink of Calamity is marked down to $6.

The town of Warnell, straddling a trade route that crosses two great forests, seems at first like any other backwater on the borderland of civilization, but menace and mystery lurk beneath the surface: a rash of disappearances from the shanties outside the town walls, a ruthless drug cartel operating with impunity while the town watch are powerless to stop them, and marauding bands of brigands and slavers ravaging the countryside. Rumors point would-be heroes and fortune seekers to the enigmatic sanatorium and casino outside of town that draw strange and wealthy travelers from far-away lands, to the abandoned (and reportedly haunted or cursed) old salt mines, to a remote mist-shrouded logging camp with an unsavory reputation, and deep into the trackless primeval forest where the xenophobic elves have forbidden all trespassers. While these locations likely hold death and destruction for the careless and foolhardy, they may also hold the keys to drawing this afflicted town and its hapless inhabitants away from the brink of calamity.  

A First Edition fantasy campaign adventure for 4-20 players with characters of levels 1-6, compatible for use with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1st Edition), OSRIC, or other old-school style fantasy roleplaying game rules and utilizing the concepts and rules additions found within The Heroic Legendarium.

This book, years in preparation and playtesting, presents a complete ready-to-play campaign in a book that covers an 8,000 square mile wilderness map with 30+ detailed locations, a detailed town (plus two detailed villages), five dungeon areas with 16 combined levels and several mini-dungeon lairs, 7 new monsters, 4 new magic items, 140 named & detailed NPCs, extensive rumor and random encounter tables, dozens of potential plots and character interactions, and notes for further expansion. Enough to easily fill at least 20 sessions of play. Includes a revised and expanded version of the previously-published (award-winning) Melonath Falls dungeon together with over 150 pages of never-before-seen new material. 

Note to buyers: If you are purchasing the print edition please buy the print+pdf bundle (which costs the same as buying the print edition alone) so that you can print out extra copies of the maps for use during play. Due to the limits of POD formats the maps are bound into the back of the book rather than in a separate booklet so if you only have the book you will have to flip back and forth to the back of the book during play which would be a hassle. 

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Initial Campaign Questionnaire

Pretty sure I've posted about my buddy Topher's pre-campaign questionnaire. I was first exposed to this document when we co-hosted some variation of "How to GM" at Origins back in 2007 (or so). My part focused on how to run a more frugal (less resource-intensive) game and IIRC Topher focused on some of the broader game/campaign management, hence the questionnaire.

Back in my earlier HackMaster days, when I was trying to get some local tournaments going, I repeatedly ran into HackMaster players that had been playing with the same group for decades, but had never left one of the player's basement....and they never intended to...which is a problem when you need a specific number of players before a HackMaster tournament is considered valid. Topher kind of had one of these groups, but they had no qualms about playing with others at tournaments. 

Actually, they were pretty much a well-oiled tournament machine that eventually became the group that writers specifically wrote against, which always rubbed me the wrong way...but that's for another time. One big thing they did is create characters as a group, ensuring to fill specific roles within the party, and often the party, and campaign, was themed. I can think of three examples, but will only give two: One campaign was essentially Hogwarts where every PC was some type of magic-user and every level was a year of the magical school. The other was a group of thieves adventuring during the fall of Constantinople.

Now I'm not Topher and I'm not sure that I can pull off his type of game/campaign, but then again I don't have his players. Not a dig on my players at all. We haven't played that type of game and likely never will, partly because of the nature of the group. I am the odd man out, living in another state, and I highly doubt we'll have a steady Monday night game.....but you never know.

Even so, I am totally stealing Topher's campaign questionnaire, but I tweaked it heavily for my own use. The questions are fairly generic though and I think others might get some good use out of it, so here it is. I actually have two versions,  the "plain" PDF and a rather quick & dirty PDF form. I am not a fan of the form because I'm not willing to spend too much time on it, and it's a bit... finicky. For the list boxes you have to use the up/down arrows and then click on the box to set the answer. 

Meh...ugly but it works. Just click on the appropriate picture to open the document in your browser, then download.

Blank Questionnaire

Questionnaire Form

Deal of the Day - The Oneiric Hinterlands (OSR Setting/Campaign)

I truly enjoy picking up new settings and campaigns. Even if I never run them, they are flush with new ideas and fresh takes.

The Oneiric Hinterlands is both setting and campaign and should take the party from 1st level to about level 7, which is where many campaigns peter out in my experience. While not for all groups, I suspect there is much one can borrow or steal for their own campaign.

Normally 10 bucks in PDF, The Oneiric Hinterlands is the current Deal of the Day, and until tomorrow morning, it is on sale for 4 bucks.

The Oneiric Hinterlands is a sandbox campaign inspired by fairytales and folklore and set in an enchanted woodland.

Deep in a hollow hill in the ancient Woldwood lies the Dream Gate: a beachhead for a war against reality that never came to pass. Its custodian, Lord Nuada, has disappeared, and now the oneiric energies have begun to warp the very fabric of the world.

Nuada's subjects - the sapient animals called the Danu - are too distracted to care. Following his disappearance, a civil war ended in a magical catastrophe, and the ascension of cruel predator overlords.

Meanwhile, the 'Goblin King', deposed by Nuada, has returned from Underland. Sending his fungal minions into Nuada's abandoned hill palace, he seeks to retake his throne.

Nearby the dwindling human colonies are still dealing with the aftermath of their war with the giants two decades earlier. Rumors circulate that the leader of the giants may have returned from death, and now treasure hunters arrive to disturb things best left buried.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Requires Old School Essentials Advanced Fantasy, or similar old school rules.  

The Oneiric Hinterlands features a 21 location wilderness (the mythic forest of Woldwood), a 34 room dungeon (the Temple of Typhon), and a 118 room dungeon (Nuada's abandoned palace below a hill).

The Oneiric Hinterlands provides a campaign to take 4-6 characters from 1st to 7th level.

VTT support: 74 battlemaps and 16 unlabelled maps included!

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.

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New Campaign Questionnaire

 

It's been.......NTRPG(?) since I've slung some dice. I completely blame my GM, who had to go and get engaged. Evidently hanging with the new soon-to-be-wife is more important than running an RPG for his group.

I'm actually happy for him and not bitter, but don't tell him that.

For the last week or two I've been contemplating picking up the GM shield again. Now I already have a preferred system and campaign already in mind, but I also don't want to force that down my player's throats.....assuming my group would even be down for trying that particular game in the first place.

A decade, or two, ago at Origins I ran a small GM panel with a buddy of mine and he introduced, well all of us, to a questionnaire he uses with his players prior to the start of the a new campaign. I recall two of his campaigns, one set basically during the siege of Constantinople and another that was an all magic-user campaign basically set in Hogwarts (every level was a year of magical college).

I think I'm going to tweak his questionnaire a bit and broach the subject with my group.....btw, simply making this post is already broaching the subject. This questionnaire is definitely established for HackMaster 4th Edition, but it'll work :

Answer the following questions to the best of your ability.  I am interested in seeing your vision of your perfect game world.  Obviously, I can't give every player exactly what they want, but I will do my best to find a happy medium.

1.  In what climates are you interested?

Desert Temperate Forest Tropical Forest Mountains

Swamp Tropical Islands Plains Other ___________

2.  What human pantheons of Gawds would you most like to see in your world?

Babylonian Celtic Central American     Chinese     Egyptian Finnish

Greek Japanese         Native American Norse Sumerian

Aldrazar Cerilia Fading Realms Krynn Kuchooloo Mystaros

Oerth Tellene Zakhara Don't care All of these GM Creation

3.  What class(es) of character would you like to play?

Cleric-types Fighter-types Magic-User-types Thief-types

Druid Barbarian Monk Pirate Battle Mage Assassin

Zealot Berzerker Paladin Samurai     Blood Mage Bard

Shaman Cavalier Ranger Soldier Illusionist Charlatan

Chosen One Dark Knight Bounty Hunter Swashbuckler     Wild Mage Infiltrator

Knight Errant Gladiator         Holy Knight         Other________     Other_______

4.  What class(es) of character would you not like to play?

Cleric-types Fighter-types Magic-User-types Thief-types

Druid Barbarian Monk Pirate Battle Mage Assassin

Zealot Berzerker Paladin Samurai     Blood Mage Bard

Shaman     Cavalier Ranger Soldier Illusionist Charlatan

Chosen One Dark Knight Bounty Hunter Swashbuckler Wild Mage Infiltrator

Knight Errant     Gladiator Holy Knight     Other________ Other_______

5.  What class(es) of character would you not like to see anyone else play?

Cleric-types Fighter-types Magic-User-types Thief-types

Druid Barbarian Monk Pirate Battle Mage Assassin

Zealot Berzerker Paladin Samurai Blood Mage Bard

Shaman Cavalier Ranger Soldier Illusionist Charlatan

Chosen One Dark Knight Bounty Hunter Swashbuckler Wild Mage Infiltrator

Knight Errant     Gladiator Holy Knight     Other________ Other_______

6.  Are you more interested in urban or wilderness adventuring?

         Urban |_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____| Wilderness

                     1         2        3         4         5       6         7        8        9        10

7.  Do you prefer each dungeon to be a self-contained plot, or do you like interconnected storylines?

  Self-contained|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|Interconnected

                         1         2        3         4         5       6         7        8        9        10

8.  Do you prefer solving puzzles/social encounters or killing monsters?

         Puzzles|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|Monsters

                      1         2        3         4         5       6         7        8        9        10

8a. How "crunchy" do you like your combat? Relatively quick & easy or more drawn-out tactical second by second accounting?

 Quick/Easy |_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|Tactical Simulation

                          1         2        3         4         5       6         7        8        9        10

9.  Do you like your monsters smart or dumb? (Example: When you kill half of a band of orcs but have to leave the dungeon to get healed, do you want the remaining orcs to be prepared for your return?)

          Smart|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|Dumb

                     1         2        3         4         5       6         7        8        9        10

10.  Do you want the early adventures to take place in one general area, allowing the party to have a home base, or do you want the party to have adventures along a journey to a distant destination, possibly because they are fleeing a powerful foe?

    Home base|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|Journey

                       1         2        3         4         5       6         7        8        9        10

11.  Do you prefer serious adventuring (Sir Galahad's quest for the Grail) or silly adventuring (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)?

         Serious|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|Silly

                       1         2        3         4         5       6         7        8        9        10

12.  What race(s) would you like to play?

Dwarf Elf Gnome Half-elf Human Pixie Fairy

Drow Gnomeling Halfling

Grel Gnome Titan Half-orc Other ____________

Half-ogre

13.  What race(s) would you not like anyone else to play?

Dwarf Elf Gnome Half-elf Human Pixie Fairy

Drow Gnomeling Halfling

Grel Gnome Titan Half-orc Other ____________

Half-ogre

14.  Which of the following attributes would you use to describe your ideal character?

Loyal Inquisitive Reckless Trustworthy Greedy Restless

Selfish Sneaky Brave Cautious Ambitious Faithful

Crazy Creative Determined Horny Charitable Happy

Angry Confident Suspicious Noble Other _________

15.  Are you more interested in a mission-based campaign, where the party is sent on missions by higher authorities, or a “random” campaign, where the party wanders around looking for trouble?

         Mission|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|_____|Random

                       1         2        3         4         5       6         7        8        9        10

16.  Which of the following goals apply to your ideal character?

Become a powerful warrior, etc. Expand the territory of my master Obtain great wealth

Convert others to my cause/religion Eliminate evil(good) Impose order on society

Gain knowledge Explore the world Defend freedom

Protect the weak Build a castle, temple, etc. Punish my adversaries

Acquire magic Other ___________________

17.  If my character gets killed, I feel: (be honest)

Angry Frustrated

Sad Happy, because I get to play a new character

Surprised, because I'm too good for my PC to get killed

Concerned, because how will the group survive without me?

Other _____________________

18.  I see my game master as:

God: He controls who lives and dies based on what he feels will make the game interesting

A guide: He leads the group through the adventure nudging us in the right direction

My adversary: I'm not fighting monsters or solving puzzles, I'm trying to outplay and outsmart him

A computer: He tells me what happens solely based on the actions of the group

Other _____________________

19.  My preferred game system is _______________ because:

Please write any additional comments on the back of the page.

Deal of the Day - Filling in the Blanks (OSE/OSR)

I am a sucker for campaign resources and tools.

Filling in the Blanks is a guide to populating hexes with lairs and features to use in fantasy role-playing games. While written specifically for Necrotic Gnome's Old School Essentials it is compatible with virtually all OSR-style games, and can be used with more modern versions of the game with little effort.

It provides tables for randomly generating the number and type of lairs and features that can be found while exploring the wilderness and guidance on how to craft the results into coherent setting details.

I literally just purchased the Filling in the Blanks PDF and expect to do a deep dive in a week or so.

Filling in the Blanks is normally 10.95 in PDF, until tomorrow it is 4.38.

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern. 

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Kickstarter - A Packet of Particular Peaks (System-Neutral Campaign Material)

I need to give a huge shout out to all of The Taverners that have been kind enough to give me links to projects and new releases that may have escaped my attention otherwise. We all owe you a beer :)

Today we have A Packet of Particular Peaks, a system-neutral Kickstarter offering mountain setting campaign material for the harried GM.

As a side note, I generally prefer system-neutral releases over those for multiple systems, but I do enjoy winging things and running sessions with lots of improv.

This is a go-to reference for a system-neutral, old school inspired fantasy setting that aims to provide a “drop-in-and-drop-out” experience. You can run a small side quest within the peaks, provide a parallel campaign to your normal adventures, or simply pull from this packet for game-able material in your role-playing game sessions.

Contained in this packet you’ll find three particular peaks featuring dream-like locations, strange inhabitants, unique overland features, an extensive bestiary, and much more.

8 bucks for the PDF, 20 bucks for the print plus PDF. 

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are the affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  

You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube, 

or wherever you listen to your podcast collection.

Don't forget to subscribe to The Tavern's weekly Newsletter! We currently have 160 subscribers. When we hit 200 subscribers, I'll award 2 random subscribers a $10 DTRPG Gift Certificate.  

On Magic Weapons by Racial Background (more campaign design thoughts)

So, I've been working on tables to randomly generate magic weapons, because cookie-cutter magic is boring and not magical ;)

While working on the tables, it occurred to me that weapons created by dwarves would be enchanted via a different method than those of men, or elves.

• Dwarven magic weapons would be made of mithral or adamantine, perhaps with precious metals added to the mix. Magic would be centered more on bonuses to damage, with other powers (rock breaking, goblin slaying, or the like) centered on what would be most useful in dwarven culture.
• Elven magic weapons would be lighter and intricately embellished. Made of steel or specially enchanted ironwood, bonuses to hit would be the focus. Elven weapons often come enchanted with spell-like powers, such as flight, charm, or alter self.
• Human magic weapons are almost crude compared to those of dwarves and elves. Focused. As the human life span is short compared to their longer-lived brethren, less time is spent in the creation and their abilities are often crude but effective (drain health from the target and give it to the wielder, but wielder no longer heals naturally). Powers usually come with an offsetting curse. Such is the way with those so shortsighted.

These basic assumptions are helping to flesh out the item generation lists, the first of which I hope to share with you tomorrow.

Note: artwork copyright John Buckley, used with permission.

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are the affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  

You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection.

Don't forget to subscribe to The Tavern's weekly Newsletter! We currently have 133 subscribers. When we hit 200 subscribers, I'll award 2 random subscribers a $10 DTRPG Gift Certificate.  So on at 300 subs and beyond.

Now is the Perfect Time to Kick off that New Campaign - Tales from Tenkar's Tavern

What with the election over and the drama just beginning, now is the perfect time to start a new campaign. A fresh start, fresh players, and a new world. We could all use a little distraction right now.

I think what I'm going to do is map out a small sandbox, develop a few plot hooks, and adventure seeds, and get something ready by the New Year. I'll share it here as it develops and include some of the finished work in future issues of Torchlight - yep, the next issue is slowly being worked on by me before going to our layout artist. Soonish, maybe.

So, I'm thinking something not quite as dark as the classic Midnight Setting for 3e but certainly not Forgotten Realms in nature. There are forces out there man and demi-human should fear. 

I'm also thinking episodic in nature, as that seems to work better with the needs of "adulting" and allows for a change of players/characters if needed every session or two without disrupting the campaign.

I'm thinking I'll use Swords & Wizardry Complete for development, as it offers a more robust system than my Swords & Wizardry Continual Light for those following along at home - but I expect I'll run it using SWCL ;)

Time to get my reference material together. Tome of Adventure Design, The d30 Sandbox Companion, and Red Tide thus far. I'm more than open to further recommendations :)

Don't forget to subscribe to The Tavern's weekly Newsletter! We currently have 92 subscribers. When we hit 100 subscribers, I'll award a random subscriber a $10 DTRPG Gift Certificate. We'll do the same at 200 subscribers, but then it will be TWO Gift Certificates given away. So on at 300 subs and beyond.

 Note: This week's newsletter went out Sunday night. If you are a subscriber, check your spam folder - Tenkar

Which is More Dangerous to a Campaign - Over Planning or Lack of Planning?

Which is worse?

The meticulously planned campaign that has details for every obscure NPC or the one where the local towns don't even have a name until the players inquire?

I tend towards the latter but I've heard arguments in favor of both. I'm interested in hearing what The Taverners have to say.

So, what say you?

I'll Be Kicking off a Swords & Wizardry Light Campaign at my FLGS - Need Tables for My DM screen

Come September I'll be kicking off a Swords & Wizardry Light / Continual Light campaign at Legendary Realms in Plainview, NY. First and third Thursday of the month, 6 PM till 930 or so. If you live in the area, consider joining us.

Over the next few days I'll be reviewing some of the accessories I plan to use - (DM screen, Hexers, folding game board, dungeon tiles and such).

What I need now are suggestions for tables for the DM screen - I want to run a very loose campaign with a few hooks and let the players decide on the direction.

What four tables - any products that are OSR or System Neutral - commercial, free, on blogs - would you suggest? I have four panels on the DM's side of the screen (normal orientation), so that's why I'm asking for four tables.

Lets get some feedback, as you'll be helping more than just me with your answers...

Mini Review - The Gamemaster's Worldbuilding Journal

When Fat Goblin Games offered me an opportunity to peruse The Gamemaster's Worldbuilding Journal I figured "why not?" It interested me when I saw it's release pop up in my email and having a chance to browse though it could only be a good thing.

It IS a good thing.

I was forwarded The Gamemaster's Worldbuilding Journal in form fillable PDF format. Which means I can make entries, print them out and not have to attempt to read my horrible chicken scratch.

Here's me playing with the Random Encounter page:

This page in and of itself may be worth the price of admission.

There are pages for:

-World Construction
-World Regions
-Deity and Religion
-Legendary Items
-Regional Hex Map
-Regional Breakdown
-Major City Breakdown
-Small Town - Village Breakdown
-Trade and Trade Routes
-Major NPCs
-Guilds & Organizations
-Minor NPCs
-Adventures and Plots
-Design References
-Campaign Outline
-Site Based Encounters
-Random Encounter Tables
-Taverns & Inns (woot!)
-Shops & Markets
-Cave or Dungeon Encounter
-Geographic Feature
-Strongholds & Castles
-Tribes & Clans
-Random Notes
and of course grid and hex map pages.

Its inspiring me to flesh out some of my worldly creations.

The PDF is only $4.95. Even if you only use a few of these pages it's well worth your money. Print them out, put them in a binder and you'll be organized. Sadly, I rarely am organized. Sure, some folks can use their laptop for tracking things such as this, but I like paper for such.

Did I mention that it is system neutral or is that obvious?

From the blurb:

The Gamemaster's Worldbuilding Journal is perfect for game designers, novelists, and especially gamemasters. Build nations, design kingdoms, explore the geography of your realms with this collection of forms, documents, and sheets created to cover all aspects of world design. 

Use this tome to nicely print your notes and ideas in a clean compilation, or treat the journal as a scrapbook and write in the margins, glue in pictures, etc. It's perfect for any type of world building. 

PDF Version: This version is 57 pages long  and includes a single copy of each form with no background and minimalistic design. Perfect for printing out as many copies as you want and including them in your own compilation. 

PDF Version 2: This version includes the 840 page version of the print book.
PDF (form-fillable) Version: A single pdf with one of each sheet, form-fillable. Also provided is a zip folder containing each sheet as a single pdf that is form-fillable for ease of use and printing. 

Print Version (standard): This massive tome is 1050 pages with decorative backgrounds and design. Divided into 12 chapters with extensive copies of the various forms, this is perfect for those wanting a high-quality print journal to transfer notes into or use to collect ideas as the form. 

Print Version (premium): This massive tome is 840 pages with decorative backgrounds and design. Divided into 10 chapters with extensive copies of the various forms, this is perfect for those wanting a high-quality print journal to transfer notes into or use to collect ideas as the form. 

Premium vs. Standard: The Premium Hardback is 840 pages vs. the Standard Hardback at 1050 pages. Both these books are the same size in print, although the premium is shorter by two chapters. The reason for this is that the premium uses a better quality paper that tends to be thicker. Both paper qualities are great, the standard edition just has two more chapters covering the regions (so 8 regional chapters instead of 10).

1e Session Recap (Part 1) - Whereupon the Party Finds Many Rats, But No Coppers

So, last night I kicked off my 1e / OSRIC campaign. It's the same players from my old ACKS campaign and Ambition & Avarice play test sessions for the most part. To make up for the reboot, I awarded them half the expo earned (approximately) during the ACKS Campaign, which gave everyone  8k in expo. I'm using a heavily modified DCC #27 to get the ball rolling.

The party includes:

Glabe, an Elven MU2/T3 - CN

Janos, an Elven Cleric4 - CN (I opened the classes up as per 2e)

Byrne, a Human Thief4 -NG (second highest HP total in the party)

Rastan, a Human Fighter3 - NG (the HP tank with exceptional Strength - name may ave changed - it was in flux ;)

Mark, a Dwarven F2/C3 - LN (also exceptional Strength)

So, the party wakes up chained to a cell wall via next collars. They have some vague memories of being in Tenkar's Tavern, in the Town of Tenkar (BareBones RPG Keranak Kingdoms Fantasy Setting). It was "Adventurers' Night" at the Tavern, when adventurers eat and drink for half off as paying patrons attempt to ply deals. A young fop named Lawrence was striking a deal with them when another adventuring party demanded the contract. Within minutes, the Tavern was laid to waste (not for the first time). Glabe remembers seeing the pointy end of a spear protruding from his chest, and suspects he died when it all faded to black. The others remember being on the losing end of the fight and falling unconscious, or worse.

Thus ends the set up ;)

Upon awaking, Rastan tested his chains and was able to pull them loose from the wall. The resulting hole revealed the sound of rushing water behind the wall. With some work, the rest of the part was freed, and it was decided to cast a silence spell so they could complete opening the wall up enough to escape through if necessary. They knew there were was someone on the other side of their cell door, and they wanted to be as quietly as possible. Besides, they were clothed only in prisonwear, without armor, weapons or other quiptment.

With the wall opened enough to view the unground river below, the party awaited their jail keeper, on the assumption someone needed to provide them with food and water. They were correct, and after waiting an undermined amount their jailor, a well times sleep spell took the wererat out after he opened their cell door.

The attempt to charm him failed, and what little info he was able to provide the party failed to make much sense. In the short of it, they disposed of him so he wouldn't be a possible issue later.

The elvin MU/T was the first to lower himself into the river. I wasn't sure if he had a death wish or now, but he saw the hints of a shore and a dry cave and decided to swim for it. The rest of the party decided to us the chains from the jail keeper's / torturer's room to tie themselves off and avoid being washed down river. It's nice to know the whole party isn't suicidal.

The party made their way the cave tunnel to a small lake with a whirlpool at the center - this was obviously fed by the river they had successfully traversed. The dwarf stopped to inspect the racks and stones at the shore before pressing on - he wanted something he could throw. Instead, he found a waterproof scroll case washed up among the rocks. The were some spell scrolls for the magic-user and a coded treasure map (and future adventure seed).

Proceeding to the far side of the sure the party came to a winding tunnel system, roughly 4' high and 4'.  It smelled of death, decay and poop. Rat poop!

(to be continued)

Thinking of Using DCC #27, Revenge of the Rat King to Kick Off the AD&D 1e Campaign

I know, kicking off a AD&D / OSRIC campaign with a module for PCs level 4-6, when my players will average 3-4 (I'm giving them 8k expo, so level depends on class(es) chosen), has the potential of killing the campaign before it even starts. Still, my players are tough and experienced at not only thinking outside of the box, but also standing on top of the box and thinking when it suits them.

Besides, it uses one of those scenes I generally hate in the middle of a campaign: "The party is captured and stripped of their belongings", but works amazingly well to start a campaign: "You awaken with other strangers. Last you remember you were drinking in a tavern, now you are in a damp cell with nothing but the shirt on your back and some soiled leggings. What do you do?".

Yeah, I think it will work well. ;)

Did I mention it has a Rat King? Not a single copper in the whole adventure as far as I can tell. I'll need to rectify that.

AD&D 1e is the System - Keranak Kingdoms Will be the Setting.

With my new campaign taking off right around the Christmas Holidays (give or take) I needed to find a campaign setting to use with the chosen ruleset of AD&D 1e.

I thought of using the Majestic Wilderlands (and the excellent Scourge of the Demon Wolf adventure / sourcebook) but I'm looking to go just a hair less sandbox this time around. I may steal or borrow bits and pieces though.

Greyhawk and The Forgotten Realms have too much baggage and expectations from those that know the settings.

Solution? The Keranak Kingdoms Fantasy Setting. Is it written with the Barebones Fantasy RPG in mind? Sure, but the book itself in generic and very well done. That and it has both a town called Tenkar and Tenkar's Tavern as part of the default setting. Can you guess where I'll be starting out my players?

Besides, I already told Larry Moore I'd be working on an adventure for the area around Tenkar. At the moment, the working title is The Cult of the Auburn Rattus. I had a general outline for something I would have run at Aethercon if work hadn't gone insane earlier this month. The outline was for something to be run in a hour or so, but this should flesh out to a full session or two.

I'll probably write it for AD&D 1e, and then either go generic or BBF RPG when I tighten it up and give it to Larry.

The Future is Going Back to the Past - My New Campaign Will Be AD&D 1e

I let my group do an informal vote on the future of our Saturday Night gaming sessions. We had started with ACKS, moved on to A&A to do some playtesting (and caused the whole 2000 cp / rats ruckus) and now we are going back to the past: AD&D 1e with some house rules and Unearthed Arcana (no UA classes though). Players can reference AD&D 1e or OSRIC as they choose

I'll also be running my AD&D 1e sessions in 3 to 4 week arcs, then playing in Keith's Echelon campaign playtest for 3 to 4 weeks, and so on. It gives the DM's time to prep some rocking sessions and get to play too.

This should be a blast! No matter the rule set, if I don't know the rule I default to my AD&D genetic memory. It serves me well. I suspect I'll be able to run this with minimal page flipping after a session or two.

A for the house rules, this is what I have so far:

1 - Fighters and fighter subclasses are proficient in all weapons.

2 - Fighters start with 2 specialized weapons, subclasses 1. No others are gained later. No double specialization.

3 - Cleave rule as per ACKS. Fighters and subclasses do not gain 1 attack per level when fighter creatures under 1 HD

4 - Magic-User and Illusionist gain bonus spells as per their Intelligence Score, using the Wisdom Bonus spell chart for Clerics

5 - Clerics may gain use of certain non-cleric weapons depending on the god they follow.

6 - Bard Class as per Dragon Issue #56

7 - Monster and NPC saves will be converted into Spell Attack Rolls as per my earlier post on the subject

8 - 100 coins per pounds, not 10 coins per pound

9 - % Chance to learn spell for Magic Users is gone

10 - after determining initial spells randomly, Magic-Users can pick one further spell of their choice

11 - No Assassins, No evil PCs (I know my group way too well to allow this)

Running Campaigns Like a Cable TV Series - A Way to Address the Extended Campaign Grind?

Joe England over on G+ has an interesting thread about running RPG sessions over G+ Hangouts. In it,  the discussion touches on one- shots, short arcs and campaign play. The answers as to preferences are pretty much as varied as the posters. So, of course, a thought occurred to me -

Why not run RPG campaigns like the cable channels run their TV series - 8 to 12 episodes that come to a natural climax - take an extended break, then pick it up in a few months time. Some players will probably stick around, some may drop and get replaced, but the setting and theme have continuity built in.

You would probably need a set day for the return of the new season, just so players don't forget, but it could work. Campaign play without the extended grind.

Workable, or not worth the extra work?

Best ACKS Art Ever! (because it's for our current campaign)

Seriously, this is an awesome piece of art.

I give players in my ACKS campaign a 10% expo bonus if they do a write up at our Obsidian Portal Site.  I've had some excellent write ups that cover the events in our weekly sessions.  My players are truly skilled.

Craig asked if in leu of a write up, he could submit a piece of art.  Who am I to turn down an offer like that?

Well, this is what Craig submitted.  Holy fucking shit! Between the write ups and art like this I'd put my players up against any others out there :)

The amazing thing is, they play as well as they draw and write ;)  

ACKS Session 5 - The Panicked Adventure Rebuild

When Charles Jaimet raised me yesterday and mentioned about using Google+'s On Air feature to allow for others to watch us live using Tabletop Forge and record for later, I was all for it.  No biggie - I do monthly training sessions for 30 to 40 cops at a time these days, and after the first time or two, it's no big deal.

Then Charles asked me to use some of Matt Jackson's geomorphic battle maps in last night's game and I said sure, no problem.

The only problem is I didn't know who would be uploading the geomorphs, what order they would be laid out in, how I was was going to get the party to a place they would be using the battle maps (as we left off with the party partway through a crypt-like dungeon full of ghouls and the like.

Sure, areas which they hadn't seen or come across are easy to change, delete, rearrange, etc - but I had to keep the campaign in it's moment.  We weren't going to do some Dallas Dream sequence just to make a nice show for out viewers.  Still, I need to be ready for just about everything.  So after reworking the current level of the crypt, I added a second level to the crypt.

Now, as I was unsure it what order or even how the geomorphs were going to be used, I designed encounters to be assigned to each individual geomorph map tile.  Which surprisingly worked better then I expected, but also means I prepared for way more encounters that were actually used.  I'm kind disappointed we didn't get to use the one that quickly became my favorite as I was preparing them.  I'll save that one for later ;)

Now, next week will be a return to Matt's geomorphs, but as I now know that I get to place and rotate the map tiles I'll be better prepared to make sure everything works as a coherent whole.  Oh, and I have a whole week to to do it :)

ACKS Session 2 Recap - Playing With Tortured Fire

Remember a few months back when I remarked that just about every D&D session has either fire or torture i it, almost invariably introduced by the PCs themselves?  Last night my party managed to introduce both, and in the same scene yet!

Investigating the reports that goblins were accessing the basement under the church in town, the PCs discovered a hole in the wall adjacent to the twins sewer.  They waited in am bust for the return of said goblins, and when they made their entrance the party's mage threw a flask of oil, striking the wall just above the hole the gob's were entering from.  As the gob's lost their footing, he followed it with a well placed lob of a lit torch.  Four gobs were crispy excrement covered corpses, and the fifth (the first through the whole) was alive and captured by the PCs.  Amazingly enough, they did not set the church on fire, but I'm not sure if that was from lack of trying.

After asking (1), one, uno, ein question and not liking the answer, the night blade cut off one of the gob's pinkies.  Literally within minutes, we able to mark both "fire" and "torture" of the list of things for the PCs to do ;)

Ah, the things that PCs do.  Afterwards, they were summoned to meet the mayor, who asked them to travel to the Goblin Halls and do away with the goblins that were reestablishing themselves there as well as poisoning the town's water supply.  After a sizable upfront payment, they agreed, and set forth for the Goblin Halls.

They encountered goblin slavers on the way to the Halls.  The night blade made an amazing surprise attack on the slavers' cart, impaling an arrow into the cart's wooden wheel and causing it to abruptly stop. The fact that he was aiming at a goblin guard and not the wheel is inconsequential to this story, as between the lizard man gladiator with a death wish and the mage with a sleep spell, there were no living goblins left to be concerned about the cart.  The capture red miner within the cage of the cart was released and sent back to town.  We was, needless to say, extremely grateful.

Shorty thereafter the party arrived at the Goblin Halls.  After discussing possibly alternative access points other than the one that had been obviously recently reopened, the party decided to enter within.  In the first room they discovered a bullying incident, with nearly a half dozen goblins beating upon a much smaller than usual goblin.  Before the bully's knew what was happening, bits and pieces of goblin were everywhere.  The mage made an offer to the goblin runt, which equated to "serve me or die".  The offer was quickly accepted.  The runt is as smart as he is small, and he was alb to sketch out a quick map of the Halls for the party, giving them an advantage they lacked prior.

Next they entered the "practice room", where goblin recruits practiced on living (or recently deceased) "dummies", otherwise known as captives.  On captive was still living, and after giving him a healing potion, the warden (who had attempted to investigate these halls a few days earlier) was now an extra sword arm for the party.  Things were certainly looking up.

The temple area was uneventful, except for the the robed figure that instructed the party to sit (in goblin) when they entered.  In the end, the robed figured was an animated skeleton that made no attempt to defend itself against the party's attack, and it was quickly destroyed.  It's destruction did leave them with a message "tell my daughter i love her".  See, now the players get to be messenger men too ;)

Well, maybe not totally uneventful, as they did discover a secret treasure room.  Most of the items inside had rotted over the years, but the gold and river were still in fine shape and ripe for the taking.  Which brought to life to smallish wooden dogs, which were dispatch fairly quickly, but not before giving the gladiator a nice splinter (and the first wound suffered by the party)

Next up were two barracks rooms.  The first held a half dozen sleeping goblins that stood no chance when the gladiator tore through them.  He also tore through most of their belongings.  I guess we will never know if that was a potion or poison.

The party then moved on to a sort of burial room.  While moving coffins in search of goodies, a goblin patrol came across the party.  As the leader put a horn to his lips, the gladiator proceeded to push the horn down said leader's throat.  The survivors tried to flee, but were struck down by the PCs, or in the case of one, pinned through his neck to the floor by a javelin thrown by the party's warrior.

Yep, things are certainly getting a bit more exciting for the party compared to the first session.  We started at 930 pm and ended shortly after 130 am - and i had totally lost track of time.

Some More Post Game Session Thoughts

Some further thoughts on last nite's ACKS session:

I really need to learn how to use the whiteboard feature in Tabletop Forge (i know i missed that - great save by Charles)

I really need to copy down the notes and scribbles I took last night before I forget what they mean.  It doesn't help that even I have trouble reading my handwriting, especially when written fast.  Penmanship is not my strongpoint.

Clerics aren't needed when the party doesn't take damage.  I expect that will change next session.

I have a bad habit of house ruling on the fly.  I need some sort of flypaper to make sure i make note of these damn house rules.

I do like the ACKS system.  It feels like a cross between B/X and AD&D, which works fine for me, as those are the systems I know best.

The party zigged when I fully expected them to zag in the very first scene.  Which means that the first session's direction went where I hadn't expected (but thankfully I had other provisions planned - it is a sandbox type campaign).  I can already tell my players are going to keep me on my toes.  Which is awesome, as it keeps the game fresh for me as well as the players.

I am truly glad I was prepared for a possible zag or two (although picking a fight in a bar was not the direction I expect).  I know what I'll be doing over the next week.  Preparing myself to expect the unexpected, as this group seems to thrive on going in those directions.