As you can see

I decided to incorporate 2 other things into this blog that are not RPG related,  just for the simple sake that I spend an inordinate amount of time on blogger, it only made sense.  These are static pages, so you won't be getting a jumble of updates, do however keep an eye on the OSR Compatible page, as I will be posting my adventures there as soon as I finish some.  The other 2 pages are the following;

One Blue Door - I play in a local "prairie rock band" called One Blue Door, if your into music check it out

Patchbay.tv - I do a weekly podcast about audio production with my co-host Whisker, there's some information on the page about what we do.

Thanks for listening.

-Shane

New sexy logo!

I got bored, made a new logo! I still got the bad assed green color from the old maps in it :) If you need a new logo, send me a message.  shanepatrickward@gmail.com

Shout Out! Dreams of Mythic Fantasy

Thanks for the traffic buddy! I'm listed under the "666 Layers Of The OSR Blogsphere" Check it out James site http://dreamsofmythicfantasy.blogspot.ca/ lots of good links and discussions.  He has a guide to free OSR resources right here - http://dreamsofmythicfantasy.blogspot.ca/p/guide-to-free-osr-resources.html

Update

A few quick little updates for Monday.  I'm still working on my Greek themed adventure module, I'm hoping to get that done by December.  I'll keep you posted on it.  I'm trying to get as many historically accurate references into it, which is taking a bit of time as far as research goes.

After having a discussion with my players, we are going to take a break from playing some Old School D&D type games, and move to a campaign using Advanced fighting fantasy, (you can grab a starter copy on drivethrurpg)

I've briefly discussed this idea before, the premise is going to be based on Terry Brooks books about the magical world of Landover.  I'll be posting a bit about the campaign as time goes on.  However it is a copyrighted work, so probaly not a ton of information.  The big reason for this is that my players want to "grow with experience" and the way AFF deals with experience this will allow them to have PC's for a bit longer than one adventure.  To a degree it will be slightly railroaded, however I'm planning on setting up 3 or more options for adventures at the start that will all eventually coincide together.  Because the players start out a bit tougher I can throw a few tougher things at them.  This is what I have so far (planned ideas).

A "plane of hell" type dungeon crawl, where they have to fight demons
A actual full scale battle 
A trip into a fairies realm, sort of a very misty forest where the border's end in mist. 
A meeting with an old Dragon, (either to fight or to negotiate with).  
A sandbox map that is bordered on all sides by the faire mists

Should be interesting.  The other thing I'm doing is writing this old school, pencil & paper, no computers, just a notebook.

TPK & Dice Rollin'!

During my recent game, the PCs had a lot of monsters to battle 2 PC's vs 8 goblins with 3 HP's each.  Due to the fact that the PC's were rolling horribly, they couldn't hit the AC whatsoever, they kept both rolling like 3,4,5,6s meanwhile I was rolling 17's and 20's the whole time.  

I used damage by weapon, but since I was rolling AMAZING, I ended up using D4's for all monster damage, just so it wouldn't be a total TPK.  I was running Blueholme rules, and had realized that blueholme has all damage as D6's which I found a bit odd, as I had always been used to damage by weapon.  "Its a puny dagger!"

Couple of things I'm wondering 

1 - Have you ever used the Holmes system were you only use D6's for damage?  (You can pretty much play this game with percentile dice, 1D20 and some d6's) 

2 - In the above example where there were 2 PCs vs 8 Goblins, and in some cases 2 PC's + 2 Hired Goons Vs 10 or more goblins, there was an INCREDIBLE amount of rolling, and as I said they were rolling horribly.  Have you ever got tired of rolling? it seemed like "K you miss, they miss, I miss, damn it!".  And these were only goblins with 3 HPs! What in the heck woulda happened if I threw a monster at them with 20 or more.... that would have been the whole night.  Have you ever speed this up? and if so how? 

Have the DM roll for the hired goons? 

decrease the hit points of the monster? 

The Cult Of The Black Fist

After this last weekends game session I've had a few more thoughts on role playing the Keep on the borderlands.  +Johua De Santo  had suggested that the Priests that inhabit the keep are bringing all manner of evil minions to help with the resurrecting of a evil god (in his version of the game).  Taking that premise, I created the "Cult Of The Black Fist", All of the Evil Priest's in the "Keep on the borderlands" are members.  Most of the goblins, etc are seen wearing smocks, that cover there armor with a fist squeezing a world, (ala LOTR).  The Cults main mission is to gather together enough Monsters to help them to take over the keep and run the commoners out of the borderlands for good.  This way the Cult can continue with there weird experiments, etc.

In the next adventure I've decided the following things as a beginning premise,

1.  The Captain of the guard at the keep has been mysteriously assassinated, leaving the troops leaderless

2.   Hordes of monsters wearing the black fist's logo are starting to convene near the keep, balista's and war machines are moving.

3.  The lord, wants the PC's to consult with the Elves, to see if they will come to the Keep's aid.

4.  The Cult is also consulting with the Elves.

5.  The PC's need to escape the keep thru an underground network of tunnels, and then make it thru a forest adventure to find the Elves village.  There the Elven king will send them on a quest for an ancient relic to prove the "worthiness of men".  When the PC's get there they will meet up with a member of the Cult, who is also trying to gain favor of the elves.

6.  a dungeon or some kinda crawl to find the Ancient relic.  There are cultist's within the dungeon, some dead, some actively trying to stop the PC's from finding the relic.  Other's searching for it themselves.  At one point I would like to have one of the Cult have to work with the PCs.   (much like Storm Shadow in GI JOE 2 Retaliation movie).

This is what I have so far.

WOW Did I learn a lot this weekend. (keep those dice a rollin!)

I was finaly able to play a game this weekend, and here are a few thoughts about it, future endeavors (ie Dungeon Delves), and some seriously hysterical things that happened during the adventure!

First things first the hysterical things!

Whilst playing the PC's had hired some mercenaries to accompany them back to the Caves Of Chaos, this was there second time being there, and had nearly died the first venture out, so they figured it was best to have some extra muscle.  I rolled up 2 quick "minions"... I was trying to come up with names for these guys (I need a names list!)  and one of my players turned to me and said "just call em Hired goons"... ala the simpsons.  So that's what ended up on the paper, Hired Goon #1 AC6 HP6 etc.  hahaha!

During the second raid on the caves, the PC's fought thru the goblin caves, I extensively used BREE YARK! Which I absolutely love btw.  They finally ran into the room with the Ogre, the goblins paid him his 250 GP for help, and he decided to come lumbering into the room and give them a hand.  (as I really don't like killing PC's off to early, see below) I decided to decrease the Ogre's HP total and his treasure to give the PC's some experience and some fun.  As they were getting a touch bored with just killing goblins (you walk into a room, there's more goblins....) I had talked to one of my players and said here's how the game sorta works, if you roll up a low intelligence you need to play a bit dumber than you normally would.  And also to think outside the box when killing monsters,and playing etc.  Well he did just that! He suggested he take the 50 ft of rope, give it to the hired goons and have them run around the ogre, just like in Star Wars 5 with the Walkers and the A wings.  I rolled some dice behind the screen, said yup that'll work.  I gave them some experience, and had them test the dexterity skill of the hired goons and viola! dead ogre.

So I'm hoping that was entertaining.  now for the meat and potatoes of the evening.

We started out the evening creating characters, which my wife found quite boring soon enough.  However they pressed on, and after they were done creating I introduced them to the keep.  Actually scratch that one of my players, did, he read the opening from the "Keep On The Borderlands", but the real funny stuff in-sued, as he read each paragraph in a different accent!

After I made them go around the town and meet the smith , trader and the Inn, buying equipment and stuff.  I started giving them rumors.  One of which was the mad hermit.  They preceded to go out and try and find him.  I gave them some time searching and then had the hermit show up out of the blue, claiming he was a priest of the church of nature.  He of course had to have a nervous tick, so I had him say "meow" at the end of ever sentence.   He decided to come with them on an adventure,  about 10 to 20 minutes later, on the way back to the keep I the mad hermit's mountain lion appear out of nowhere and start attacking.  As the first round closed the PC's were surprised that the old hermit had pulled a dagger on them!

At one point during the adventure both mercenaries died, and one of my PC's said "Okay we drag them back to the keep by there beards, and if they want more money we will take it out of there Inn money". Meaning they would pay the hired goons week's stay at the Inn. 

Thankfully I had the smarts to write down some names for the Inn , trader,etc in the Keep, here they are...

The Tavern - The Balding Minotaur 

The Smith - Blackened Tongs.... although as time went on it became Blackened Thongs

Trader - Gradak's Fine treasures from near & far. 

Thoughts on DMing

I couldn't quite decided on which adventure I wanted to run, as I had about an hour before one of the PC's was going to show up at our house.  What I've come to realize is that I like fast & light systems, with a bit of back story.  Not that there is anything wrong with OSR D&D B/X , and as a side note I'm still planning on purchasing the B/X downloads.  But here's the issue I was having.... 

I kept looking at the Chaotic Caves & Basic Fantasy, since I hadn't ran any Basic fantasy, I had originally thought I'd give it a go, but the bigger rule book & the not having much experience playing it, made me think otherwise.  (ascending AC and lots of extra pluses) 

I decided instead to grab Blueholme prentice rules & the Keep on the borderlands, as it was 2 small books, I was already pretty familiar with the rules and descending AC, etc.  

I did a bit of mashup, using mostly the Basic D&D information inside the Keep on the borderlands, (weapon damage, thaco's etc) and any other information I needed I found in the Blueholme book (seriously its like 15 pages! super handy) 

Alright now for the complaining (damn it this is a long post!) 

This isn't so much complaining as "I need to become a better DM!" 

First, while running the keep on the borderlands , I really should have read thru the whole adventure once or twice, and written some more parts to it.  A few times the PC's would come into a room, and I'd be like "okay give me a minute"... and then it would take longer than that, and I'd start getting "Loading....."  Obviously being a good DM takes practice first and foremost.

Further to that, Even though I quite liked the Keep, it left a lot to be desired on the part of the PC's, Which is why the next adventure I run is going to be more along the lines of "you need to do this", rather than an open ended sandbox.  For me, I think its more imperative for plot lines and NPC's.  when I think of it, the keep, its really just a meat fest.  I mean don't get me wrong, I really like it as a module.  But I need a little something more, (OR I SHOULD HAVE WRITTEN MORE!) 

Another thing I have to really get better at is combat, thaco, calculating hits, etc. 

remind me one day to have a discussion about proper role playing of monsters. 

Three - Never tell your player's under any circumstances that you've fudged some numbers here and there. 

Four - do you ever find combat tedious? the whole time it was okay "we attack" and rolling rolling rolling.... keep those dice a rollin!

Five - Yesterday I had a discussion with my wife about playing D&D and she hadn't realized that its not a game about winning but a game about having fun.  I made her read the opening to Blueholme on "winning", (you can find the same type of paragraph in countless other retroclones) but it really does put the game in perspective.  The biggest point for me was the Character death thing, I always have a tendency to want to keep the players alive, atleast for a little bit.  But in the little write up it says "PC death is just one thing, you can always roll up another player and continue.. the campaign isn't over till everyone agrees its over". 

So inclusion, I have a lot of work to do, to be a better DM.  I still plan on playing B/X, but I think in the future I'm going to work on more story oriented adventures rather than straight hack n slash, (which is what the keep felt like). 

The biggest thing is becoming a better DM. 

A little Blueholme Love

http://darkcornersofrpging.blogspot.ca/2013/10/blueholme-maze-of-nuromen-from.html?showComment=1382016612769

This guy just wrote a great review on the Maze of Nuromen.

Threw the modules out the window

hahahahaha!  The problem I was having was certains things from this module I liked, certain things from other's.  Ah well, so I decided screw it, I"ll just write something up ASAP.  Considering I have about a day and a half to prep.

Here's the link to the google doc, its fairly similar to what's below.  https://docs.google.com/document/d/13-JsKvsPPpQ_4H9a2e--JgPQke7xJ9POh3p1e_nvnzo/pub

Well its a start

Town of Autumnshade

Small frontier town, located on a river, close to a iron mine.  Local lord is Lady Therella Fiedlerson (female)

Tavern/Inn - The Stinkin’ Goblin, The Bald Minotaur - proprietor Will Homeforger

Alchemist shop “Potions & Things” - Darius Tarmikos

Smith - Blackened Tongs - proprietor Walven Hawklight

Merchant - “Gradak’s Fine Treasures From Near & Far” proprietor - Gradak Duskwalker

Notable Town NPCs

Lady Therella Fiedlerson - Lord

Innkeeper - Will Homeforger

Alchemist - Darius Tarmikos

Smith - Walven Hawklight

Merchant- Gradak Duskwalker

Thieves Guild - Silas The Silent (Leader)

Encounters

Old hermit - MU lives near a swamp,

Bandits - posing as merchants, merchants are locked in caravan

Local Mine - under siege by monsters, work has stopped until they are cleaned out.

Halfling house - all dead, mysteriously.  Zombies

Lizard men kidnapped local girl

Local thieves guild (3 members) have been terrorizing business, find them, catch them,etc

Local bandit thugs have blocked the river and are raiding boats that go by?

Local bandit leader has put a price on Lords head, lord needs help

Hmm... It appears that I have to create a lot for this!

Just reading thru the Chaotic Caves, and while I love the map, the dungeons, and the not so random random encounters, I am not a huge fan of the fact that the town doesn't have a name, or that any of the inhabitants have any names.  Obviously this is setup so that the DM can make up his own mind on all of the encounters, name of inhabitants etc, however it is a touch of a pain in the arse as well! Ugh... <finds random name generator>

It does however state for the record that the guy left it open ended on purpose, so that DM's could revise as much as they like.  

Leaves me thinking, that I'm going to mash up even more at this point..  However its also reminding me that I really need to make up my mind before the end of the week!!! hahahah.  I'm pretty sure i'm one of those "Over planners" as far as DMing goes, but its been awhile since I've really done much, so I suppose its nice to be ready for it.  

As a side note I was looking thru some reviews of some of the other Modules I have, and I found some hilarious ones on "The Terrible Trouble At Tragidore"... Apparently its the WORST module ever produced.  

Anybody ever ran this one? 

I also have one older dragonlance module, (not sure which it is but I"ll post it up).  I'm wondering if anyone in the OSR community wants it? or is a fan of dragonlance modules? I've never ran it as it seems like its the 2nd adventure in a series.  I also have the "Sword of the dales" which is a major railroad. 

Thank you source books

When I was a kid, I got the "Running The Dales" source book, then as time went on I got the Forgotten Realms Campaign setting, which was alright but just so big! like mind boggling big.  Anyways, I've been re-reading the "Running the dales" book lately, just for giggles.  Its sorta the perfect setting for fantasy type world, well at-least for me anyways.  So this upcoming weekend, I'm running the Chaotic Caves (which has a keep on the borderlands kinda of feel), and although I quite like the module, I was thinking where exactly is this world? In the module all you get is a map of the area close to the town where the adventure is set.  There's a bunch of keyed encounters, (which is quite handy).  I've also added a few more including the "Old hermit" from the keep, so its a bit of a mash up.  There is also the "Caves" which have a keep on the borderlands feel as well, however there missing the evil priests, and its mostly just monsters.  This got me thinking!

I had read somewhere that someone running the keep on the borderlands, used the priests as basically "these evil priest's that are gathering a hoard of monsters to overtake the keep"... Which I love! however that also got me thinking of the Zhentarim.  And while reading running the dales I read thru the chapter on "Teshendale" and I put a few things together,

I need some history & a world where the chaotic caves are set - Teshendale
I need a name for these evil priests - Aha! the Zhentarim!

and I've been wanting to run the dales again, so its all working out.

Here's some info on Teshendale (the way I figure, I can explain the town in this desolate dale, as a new town that has just grown up.)  That and throughout the Chaotic Caves, there is a variety of encounters with old dungeons, and long forgotten farm lands, it works perfectly.

The other thing I think I'm going to do, is basically do a mashup of the both of the modules.  Basically, rather than running the "town" in the Chaotic Caves, I"ll be running the Keep from the keep on the borderlands.   But I'll use the map and encounters from the Chaotic Caves.  Also I'm stealing the "old fort" from the Morgan'sfort Campagin.  so its a total mashup.

Link to the "Dalelands" source book info - http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/The_Dalelands_(sourcebook)

http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Teshendale

Situated along the valley of the River Tesh, Teshendale was a lost dale once occupied the territory spanning from Zhentil Keepto the Desertsmouth Mountains. Now, the area is covered in ruins, as in 1316 DR^[1] it was invaded by Zhent forces and orcsworking for them; the people were slain, ensalved or driven away, the valley was quarried and the granite used to build vast sections of the walls that protected Zhentil Keep^[2].

Although no longer part of the Dalelands, the cities of Teshwaveand Snowmantle remained under control of Zhentil Keep until its destruction; Teshwave, once the largest trading community in Teshendale, was a staging area for Zhent nonhuman troups and mercenaries. Snowmantle, located along the edge of the Border Forest, was a Zhent logging camp.^[2].

The Dales Council continues to keep an empty seat for Teshendale as a reminder of what happens when the Dales do not stick together.^[1]

Blueholme Sample Dungeon Preview - Repost

If you get a chance jump on over to dreamscape design's webpage and check out the sample dungeon he did, its very Holme's obviously, got a bit of a +Dyson Logos  feel to it as well, great stuff
http://dreamscapedesign.net/2013/10/12/blueholme-sample-dungeon-preview/

+Michael Thomas

From what I gather the "compleat rules" for Blueholme are getting very close to being done.  If you haven't had a chance to pick up the "prentice rules" they are really great, you can grab em at drivethru.

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/109409/BLUEHOLME-Prentice-Rules?term=bluehoaffiliate_id=470115

Finding Inspiration?

I'm currently working on a small layout for a trading town/port, and I'm trying to come up with some interesting and unique features for the locale.  In Advanced Fighting Fantasy, there is a city called Port Blacksand (the city of thieves) and another city called Khare (the city of traps) , which I'm drawing some things from.  Obviously I have the usual, Inns, Taverns, Market Square (although its been moved to the docks), etc.  Does anybody have any other interesting ideas?

I have this strange fascination with drawing island hex maps

Which sort of makes me wonder, Does every DM create there own world? I think in the back of my mind, I believe everyone has atleast created something they consider there own.  As to wether its very similar to something else but there own name and tweaks, that maybe the case.

Day after the 30 Day Challenge! - I'm going shopping!

Hey everybody, so I was thinking this morning that I have to do some shopping over at drivethrurpg.com as +Joshua De Santo got me a giftcard (thanks man!) Check out his blog when you get a second - http://geniuslocigames.blogspot.ca/

Anywho, I'm going to grab the B/X D&D pdfs for sure, and what I was thinking was I may get some of the older modules.  I currently have "The lost city", "The keep on the borderlands" and "In search of the unknown"

I'm wondering what suggestions you guys all have for some B/X older pdfs?

OSR Compatible

Thanks to +Wayne Rossi  we now have a website and new logo dedicated to OSR Compatible products, and I'm going to be all over this! 

Check it out here - http://osrcompatible.org/

The goal of this site is to promote an open, flexible standard for Old School Renaissance publishers. OSR Compatible is a quick and easy way to indicate that a product will work with all the games, classic and modern, that OSR gamers enjoy. 

D&D 30 Day Challenge - Last Day! - Best DM You've Had

Well, I'm finally at the end of this, and the last question is "Best DM you've had".  I haven't been able to be a character much, so I'm not really going to say I've had a Best DM, however I have been playing a lot recently (DMing) and I'm hoping if I can get some of my players excited, maybe they will take the reigns for an adventure, which would be great!

If you want to do the 30 Day Challenge I've left up the image you can follow.  Its a lot of fun (gives you a reason to blog everyday).  There are some redundant questions however, so be warned.

We had a discussion over at the OSR forums about creating a OSR Specific D&D 30 Day Challenge, here are some of the ideas we came up with.  Obviously its not quite finished.

1 - Favorite Retro Clone 
2 - The saving throw you lost that killed you, describe
3 - Favorite preferred method of initiative
4 - Favorite published module 
5 - Favorite unpublished independent module (there is a vast amount of technically unpublished ones out there, basically I mean non TSR/WotC ones) 
6 - Blue, black, hex maps? 
7 - Railroad vs sandbox 
8 - The strangest race you've ever played 
9 - Favorite trap you or your players walked into.
10 - Favorite monster from the Fiend Folio.
11 - Describe one room in Castle Greyhawk.
12 - Favorite non-standard use of a spell you've seen.
13 - Funniest character death you've witnessed.
14 - Favorite RPG other than a D&D variant.
15 - Best new school rule or change in a WotC edition.
16 - And the worst.
17 - Favorite houserule from your campaign.
18 - worst/best module cover art
19 - most outrageous set of "+s" - ie +3 battle axe, +3 armor, +1 attribute - in a character you've played.
20 - Best publisher from the olden days (Flying Buffalo, Judge's Guild, GameLords, etc).
21 - funniest thing you saw in a gelatinous cube 
22  - The Last Old School Edition of D&D  (i.e., the edition after which you think things started going "new school")
23 - funniest dying words (monster or pcs) 
24 - best sneak attack 
25 - funniest PC name / most bad assed PC name
26 - How many times have you heard "oh no! not another ...... (insert monster name here) 

Thanks to +Jasper Polane and +Joseph Gill for there thoughts on this. 

Greek Gods & The opening to "Escape From Goblin's Greed Isle"

I've been doing a bit of research about Greek gods, and I've found some strange inaccuracies.  The 3 Main gods being Zeus, Poisden and Hades, however in a book I was just recently reading (which is apparently historically accurate) it states that the 3rd brother is not Hades, but in fact Pluto or Dis, and the underworld in which he rules is called Hades.  The question becomes, which is the correct one?

The following is from Wikipedia, which seems to make a bit of sense.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hades

Hades (/ˈheɪdiːz/; from Ancient Greek Ἅιδης/ᾍδης, Hāidēs; Doric Ἀΐδας Aidas) was the ancient Greek god of the underworld. Eventually, the god's name came to designate the abode of the dead. In Greek mythology, Hades is the oldest male child of Cronus andRhea considering the order of birth from the mother, or the youngest, considering the regurgitation by the father. The latter view is attested in Poseidon's speech in the Iliad.^[1]According to myth, he and his brothers Zeus and Poseidon defeated the Titans and claimed rulership over the cosmos, ruling the underworld, air, and sea, respectively; the solid earth, long the province of Gaia, was available to all three concurrently.

Later the Greeks started referring to the god as Plouton (see below), which the RomansLatinized as Pluto.^[2] The Romans would associate Hades/Pluto with their own chthonicgods, Dis Pater and Orcus. The corresponding Etruscan god was Aita. He is often pictured with the three-headed dog Cerberus. In the later mythological tradition, though not in antiquity, he is associated with the Helm of Darkness and the bident. The term hades in Christian theology (and in New Testament Greek) is parallel to Hebrew sheol (שאול, "grave, dirt-pit"), and refers to the abode of the dead. The Christian concept of hell is more akin to and communicated by the Greek concept of Tartarus, a deep, gloomy part ofhades used as a dungeon of torment and suffering.

That being said, he is the opening to "Escape From Goblin's Greed Isle"....

You’ve just awoken from what appeared to be a very vivid & real dream. An ancient God swathed in flames, came to you and said that you would be tested! You have been coasting thru your adventuring life, gaining experience and treasure fighting off hordes of low level creatures. Now is the time to prove if you do in fact have the guts to survive in this unforgiving world. As a token for completing the adventure, besides your life, the God has decided to give you 1 magical item of your choosing. (GM’s Choice). Rubbing your eye’s you realize that you are not in the bed that you slept in last night, but instead lying on a stone altar, in an open-air building surrounded by large intricate columns. There is a small pool of water near you, a forest lies to the North, to the South you can see water. A small creature about 4 feet tall walks up to you. He is covered in hair, and has the lower torso of a goat. Upon his brow are to small pointy horns. He looks to you and says.

“I see NEW adventurers, Hades has been busy again! My name is Ellhern, a Satyr, and some would say I’m your Narrator? I am in the employ of Hades, and as you can see you are not in the land that you previously were in. In fact you are not even in the world you are in. This is one of the domains of Hades, welcome my friends to “Goblin’s Greed Isle”. Know you may ask how did I get here? The answer is Hades. You may ask “Why am I here?” Once again, Hades, he wishes you to prove to yourself and to him that you are in fact a Hero! Many have come before you, some have survived, more often most have perished. There is only one way off this Island and that is thru Hades. You will need to find a list of very specific items, which I will provide to you. Once you have found these items you are to make your way to the Shrine of Hades, and place them on the altar. “ 

D&D 30 Day Challenge - Day 29 - What is the number you always seem to roll on a D20

Wow, second last day.  Thank the gods.  LOL! This also gets the title for the longest blogpost name ever!  Alright down to brass tacks, I have no idea what the number I always seem to roll, but I would hazard to guess its somewhere in the middle, 8, 9 or 10.  Its just like playing video poker, you always seem to get an 8, but never a pair.

Going to be busy this weekend!

Couple of quick things this morning and then I should really get my arse in gear.  First things first, I'm printing "Liberation Of The Demonslayer" this morning and bringing it home for some light (its not light at all! hahahha)  more like Sludge Filled, Demonslaying Reading for this weekend.

Secondly I have on my desk a copy of "Michael" which was written by a good friend Victor Epp, that's the other book I should attempt to get thru this weekend.  Check it out here.   http://talkingebooks.wordpress.com/

Thirdly (is thirdly a word? apparently) I just got an email from Karen's Whismy okaying me to use images from her website in my module I'm working on "Escape From Goblin's Greed Isle".  This is sooooo friggin exciting, as the art I'm using ties in perfectly with my idea for this little module.  I've been slowly working on it the last day or so, and I got smart and put it all on my USB stick so I can just open it up whenever the mood strikes me (which doesn't bode well for getting work done).

Hopefully when I finish lotDS I'll do a larger review on youtube.  I'll keep you posted.

In the mean time, happy rolling.

D&D 30 Day Challenge - Day 28 A Character you will never play ever again

Getting very close to the end of this, its been quite a lot of fun actually, it gives me a reason to write something everyday, which is quite a good thing.  There has been some various discussion on some of the questions being somewhat lame, for instance this one, I have no idea to tell you the truth! And for that matter tomorrow's question is kinda balls as well.   So (GET ON WITH IT!)... Least favorite character or the one I will never play again.  Due to my limited experience as a player, I honestly don't have a great answer for this.  However I think that the type of Character I won't play is a straight up basic warrior.  Its a cop out.  Statistically you have the edge in most RPG's, you can use the best armor, the best weapons, its mildly boring.   I would much prefer to play a thief, or a bumbling wizard and have fun with the role play aspect  than to just be the hit dice, hack and slash champion.  That's just me.

lotDS - Introduction Adventure

This is a repost from vengersatanis.blogspot.ca  its to get you excited for "The Liberation Of The Demonslayer"

Get it here!

Vord's Familiar ~ an introduction to Clear Meadows

Back to swords and sorcery!

For those of you who don't know, Liberation of the Demon Slayer is an old school fantasy adventure I'm self-publishing.  PDF and print versions should be available shortly.  Tentatively, I'll say the release date is 9/23/13.  So, in anticipation of that, I'm offering a brief micro-adventure which can be used as an intro to the LotDS adventure.

This collection of scenes revolves around a Stygian Imp, also known as a Night Imp because they're dark as night, as well as, being nocturnal.  This particular Stygian Imp, Mobo, is the familiar to a powerful Demon named Vord who lives far below the surface.  A fortnight ago, Vord became enraged about some conflict within "his" dungeon, and threw Mobo across the room.  Feeling hurt and dejected, Mobo escaped up to the surface.  Now, the Imp is causing trouble in the town of Clear Meadows.

Mobo can become invisible 3 times / night; he's devious, crafty, and mischievous.  There are several places in Clear Meadows where he's been and continues to cause trouble.  Some of these places might be where starting zero-level PCs work or spend time.  Giving them a specific role in Clear Meadows should give PCs a feeling of belonging, so they'll help the town during the tough times ahead.  The GM might want to run this mini-scenario right after the hour or two (depending on what system you're using) of character creation.

The object of this micro-adventure is to discover why things are going wrong in the town by finding and confronting Vord's familiar.  Initially, the townsfolk suspect an apprentice, patron, or employee who has a bone to pick.  A PC or two might find themselves accused - giving them even more reason to unmask the real culprit.  The piece ends with a particularly horrifying nightmare which foreshadows LotDS's multi-level dungeon.

Locations

1 - 4  ...The Rampant Lion is the largest and most frequented tavern in Clear Meadows.  Mobo likes removing chairs (while invisible) just before patrons sit down, urinating in the wine, and using a home-made slingshot to break full, foamy mugs of mead.

5 - 6  ...A nameless, three-man thieves' guild that occasionally takes on a street urchin or two.  It's led by Staffol, a one-eyed thief of advanced years who wears an eye patch.  Mobo has painted an exaggeratedly silly eye over Staffol's eye patch.

7 -8  ...The Pungent Pearl is a seafood shack on the edge of town.  Mobo occasionally refreshes himself with messy night feedings of shrimp and other undersea crustaceans.  He also likes to pour ice all over the floor.

9 - 11  ...Valstead the enigmatic wizard usually has a half dozen apprentices assisting him in his leaning, moss-covered citadel.  Mobo might imbibe a polymorph into dragon potion when PCs are around.  Just last night, he cut all the stars out of Valstead's periwinkle wizard robes.

12 - 14  ...The town guard.  Mobo likes breaking spears in half, dulling blades, and greasing the stone steps leading up to the guard tower.

15 - 17  ...Lord Barok owns most of the fields in Clear Meadows.  Of course, he needs a lot of farmers to till the soil and work the land.  The Imp has dismantled the plow and continues to feed sleeping pills to the horses.  His next jape will be spreading manure all over the barn cat named Sassie.

18 - 20  ...The clerics of Clear Meadows serve the town as best they can.  Mobo can't resist adding a gelatin thickener to the holy water and discoloring the crotch area of a priest's white frock.


Eventually, the PCs will see a short, frail, night-black Demon prancing around the town, committing shenanigans, and generally being a nuisance.  Capturing Mobo will prove difficult, as he is slippery and has invisibility at his disposal.  When apprehended, the Imp tells the PCs that his name is Mobo, he's the familiar of a powerful Demon named Vord who lives somewhere beneath the town, and, yes, he's been causing all the mischief.  The Stygian Imp doesn't know much at all about the Nether Realms, nor anything in particular about dungeoneering.

Before concluding the session, the GM tells the PCs about a dream they each have...

"You're walking through town until you come to a doorway.  Going through it, you suddenly find yourself in the forest at night.  Up ahead is a bonfire.  Drawn to it, you walk up to the edge of a camp where cackling winged serpents fly above sinister robed humanoids.  The robed humanoids hold meat cleavers above their heads, bringing them down, cutting into several torsos, legs, arms, and various gore-drenched body parts strewn before them.  The spectacle sickens you.  Before you can turn away from the grisly scene, the dark red visage of a Demon Lord appears in the midnight sky.  He has a smug expression upon his face, arrogantly gesturing at something behind you.  Still unable to move, you feel the sensation of worms - hundreds of them - crawling upon your legs and working their way up.  The Demon disappears as it utters the following disembodied words, "M'zathrinah Vordes'torvik ak qxon fsirie e'visht." 


Well, that's it.  Thanks for reading.  Can't wait for you guys to experience Liberation of the Demon Slayer.  Soon...

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/119240/Liberation-of-the-Demon-Slayer?affiliate_id=470115