Alright I can sleep now

I lay awake at night thinking about world's and adventures.  I'm sure I'm not the only one.  There are so many little details that I have in my head about world's that I haven't quite got on paper (or digital) yet.  For the most part these are the little things that crop up when I'm trying to fall asleep.  Here's a few examples of that. 

My old school campaign:  I ran some basic fantasy a LONG time ago with a group.  The big bad was this Hobgoblin and his army.  The PCs never quite got to him.  They just wandered around doing adventures.  Obviously the sessions ended, however world kept moving with or without the PCs.  The nagging thing in my head is starting an adventure after the war.  The hobgoblin and his troops have devastated the countryside, the forests burn, the dwarven mines have been flooded, there is death everywhere.  In the midst of all these chaos the PCs are holed up in the basement of Elerd's Keep, the sounds of catapult ammunition bounces off the walls, creating rumbles in the room.  Elerd sits with the PCs.  "It's time for you to save the world....."  says Elerd.  The PCs question how.  Elerd, whose pale skin shines in the lantern light points at a small ebony stone altar.  "That is a time stone, and I intend to send you back, to right these wrongs and save our world".  

(I should note that Elerd is a local ruler, whose been around for years.  He is a vampire.  But not totally evil.  Every few years the local populace starts to figure out that he doesnt age.  At that point he marries a woman, has a child, that child then becomes the newest ruler.  It's a whole bunch of magic, and sleight of hand to make it look like he's actually human.  In reality he's just figured out away to make it work, using doppelgangers at public appearances. )

The PCs are sent back thru time, the goal to stop the hobgoblin.  They need to make the Elves and Dwarves aware of the situation.  Setup alliances, possibly run errands for them, and be as diplomatic as possible without coming off as crazy.  The supply lines for the Hobgoblin army need to be destroyed.  There's small encampments all over the northern part of the province.  This provides a ton of adventure.  At some point the PCs may meet 3 witches, who send them into a demon realm looking for a weapon to destroy the hobgoblins (or some other coolness).  There's human barbarians that play a role in the adventure as well, similar to the elves & dwarves they don't care much for the human settlement of Elerds Keep.  At some point hopefully the PCs are able to convince them to help.  

There's a random mechanic for time travel.  Anytime the PCs show up in a new location, there's a 5% cumulative chance that they may run into their previous self.  The disasters of which could be catastrophic!  One handy thing about this is that if one of the future PCs die, the past PC could be introduced to the party.  Of course at a lower level.  

There's also a statue in the wilderness that will grant visions of the future.  Foreshadowing the hell that has already happened.  (yup timey wimey stuff.  I love it!) 

Eventually the PCs get to the giant battle.  It may take place on the steps of the Hobgoblins headquarters, or it may take place at Elerd's Keep.  It could even take place around a small halfing village.  The fight ensues.  The players take over regiments of Elves, Dwarves and barbarians fighting against the forces of chaos.  Cut scenes to individual PCs fighting hobgoblins for a few rounds.  

Unfortunately this whole thing is a bit railroadey and not entirely old school.  But sections and a map could detail different parts to it.  Setting it up as more of a hexcrawl, the PCs could make  a beeline straight to the hobgoblins palace if they want.  

Here`s a pile of shit I`ve written about this campaign.  

This is one of a few different campaigns/worlds that I've been working on whilst attempting to fall asleep.  Hopefully I'll get a bit of rest this evening, before Crimhuck wiggles it's way into my head. (Which is a whole different thing). 

Politics and war

Elerd is more of a benevolent God than an actual dictator. The thing is he's been around forever. Because he's a vampire. He built his keep long ago. He keeps his citizens happy, and doesn't kill them or rule over them with an iron fist. People are safe. Elerd doesn't have a army per se, but he has allies in the world.

And you thought this was a post about whatever hub bub was going on.

You might be wondering, how does this whole Elerd thing work? Why doesn't he kill the townsfolk? Ever play oblivion? There's a town with a vampire lord, and no one knows. He just goes about his business. In the grand scheme, he might be comparable to Louis (Anne rice).

In case you are even more confused, I'm writing a bit of detail about my campaign setting. Which I've mentioned I should do.

Obviously you may have clicked on this because of political reasons.

On the other end of the spectrum is the "big bad" gralag the hob goblin warlord. (why do I always use a g for bad guy names?

Gralag comes from North of the wyvern tooth mountains. He has assembled a massive army. He intends to destroy and dominate everything to the south. For reasons (mostly he's a dick).

Gralags army is moving on the elves in autumn wood, another force moves towards elerds keep. Small scouting bases are setup in the forward positions to help supply troops.

He hopes for a quick victory. But he's spreading his army to thin.

There are rumours at the keep that elerd has met with some unsavoury looking types. Is this a possibility of trying for a treaty perhaps.

Somewhere in the wild there are three witches who have the gift of prophecy.

One of them wakes from a disturbing dream, the Son of a barbarian slitting his father's throat. In the background is a shrine to Zeus. The rain pours down.

Another has a dream about Gralag and the destruction he will cause. She makes preparations to seek out a demon, to try and find answers.

The third rides for elerds keep.

The elves of autumnwood are in good relations with the hobbits of brymassen. However The Queen of the elves distrusts elerd. The hobbits of course are oblivious to the world around them.

And the dwarves are nowhere to be found, except underground.

Yeah my campaign was basically lotr wasn't it

Players Newsletter #1

I've done this before and I actually quite like doing it.  It add's a bit of mystique to the game, and also immerses the player's within the story.  The other part of this is that it sets the stage to remind me who the major players are within the campaign, as far as the political leaders are concerned, etc.

Here's a copy of the text only.

SAD NEWS “SHIELDS OF ATREU” FOUND DEAD.

Head Marshall Penac has received news that the beloved shields of atreu have been found dead in a cavern north of Brymassen.  A group of Hero’s who recently came to Brymassen set off to find news of the ill-fated group.  A member of the group “biohazz” says “We found one of their shields!  And a very deceased looking adventurer, it’s quite sad”.  Another member of the group is not entirely pleased about the results, but is happy that the group is taking over the cottage that had until recently belonged to the shields of atreu. 

ARNOF TO SET OFF ON TRADE MISSION TO ELERD’S KEEP.

The Burgomeister of Brymassen has received news that Arnoff Trading is setting off to Elerd’s keep with a load of Salted winter fish, barrels of ale.  The town council is pleased that they will receive some payment for these items from Lord Elerd.  “We need to keep our economy going, in these hard times” says the Burgomeister.  He goes on to say that a few halfing families are moving to the lands surrounding Elerd’s keep.  Arnoff is seeking a few guards for the incredibly difficult trip.

WANTED:

Father’s Dagger – Inquire with Hamona at the Balding Minotaur Inn. 

BARBARIANS SPOTTED IN THE WESTERN HILLS

A recent song sung by the travelling bard “Llywelyn The Out Of Tune” has caused a bit of an uproar.  Apparently the Elf sang of Barbarian’s ravaging the lands to the west!  Halflings flew from the tavern and batten down the hatches for days.  Llywelyn is no longer welcome within the town borders.

NORTHERN SWAMPS ARE A SCARY PLACE!

Podo Brockhouse claims that he saw a 3 headed beast in the swamp.  “I was out hunting near the ocean, I saw the beast and ran as fast as my feet could carry me!”

PIRATES ATTACK A TRAVELLING MERCHANT

Word has come that “our ladies grace” was sunk off the blood coast.  The town councilor’s expected the ship weeks ago.  Rumours have circulated that Pirates are to blame!

THE ELVES OF AUTUMNSHADE WOOD DO NOT APPRECIATE VISITORS. 

It has been long known that the Elves of Autumnshade wood do not appreciate visitors, they have kept to themselves for many a year.  Just lately King Kendel Krisnorin of the Autumnshade Wood Elves has decreed that no halflings from Brymassen are allowed within the borders of Autumnshade.  The council asks that all town’s folk abide by these rules.  A plan to send an emissary in the spring is being discussed.  In the meantime the council has meet with the Dwarves of Ebonshield, and it went quite well!  Grizela Stonefist (leader of the Stonefist clan) has proposed to trade food for steel & gems. 

Old School Session - Report 10

The players have finally made it to Elerd's Keep.  Well very close to Elerd's keep.  On the way the ran into a small gathering of people near a campfire.  Among them was Arnoff, the merchant they have been seeking.

Arnoff explained that the road to the keep was fraught with disaster, and it if wasn't for Oror Elint (Elven ranger dude), they would not have made it safely.

The players decided to sell what shit they had left to Arnoff, who was more than happy since he didn't have much in the way of weaponry to sell to the blacksmith in town.

I told the players that there was a small village near the keep "Restenford".  Which gives me a jump off point when they spend more time around there.  (L1 Secret of bone hill).  The actual keep is the "keep on the borderlands".

After dealing with Arnoff, they players went over to talk to Oror, who is one of many Elves that currently have no home.

You see, the hobgoblins from the north have albeit destroyed the northern part of the Autumnwood forest.  Oror and his band of mercenary's have been making it difficult for the raiding hobgoblins, setting traps and outright violence against them.

The players also met up with a lady named Bonnie, her sister has gone missing.  They have a small cabin on the borders of the Autumnwood, and she wanted the players to look into the situation.  Her sisters name is Rochelle.

Thankfully there is only one 90's kid in our group, and that's my wife.

The one thing I should note is that Fink's character recognized her.  He had a premonition awhile ago regarding a few witches slitting the throat of a barbarian.  The plan of course is to play all these NPC's off each other.  They all want the same thing, but they all need different things.

So the PC's wander into the Elerd's keep and are met with a gate entry.  After failing a charisma check, they have to pay the full gate fee.

They decided to meet up with Oror later at the tavern in the keep.

Wandering over to the blacksmith, he automatically recognizes one of the players.  Our ex gladiator who's hit his head far too often (TINK!).  The blacksmith was also a former pit fighter, and had been in battle with Tink before, turns out his real name is Rand-al.

The players meet with Oror and discuss his plans.  He tells them that he has heard about a small encampment behind enemy lines. He thinks if there was a way to burn the encampment to the ground, that would slow the process of the hobgoblins.  The PC's decide to help, and split the party between the Elves and the PCs.  One of which was going to go straight north (the PC's) and the Elves would go thru the forest and meet them at the edge.

And nap time....

Up in the morning the PC's start making their way across the badlands heading north.  They meet up with a merchant lady, who's just left a barbarian encampment.  As they walk towards the encampment, curious of the barbarians they also notice the small cabin.

The players make a bee line for the cabin, in hopes of finding out what exactly happened to Rochelle.  After a bit of searching in the cabin, including a broom in the corner.....

Player:  "are you sure its not magic??? does it have nimbus 2000 written on it anywhere????"

They check out all the rooms, and they find a book detailing the following:

There are 4 of which you seek, they harness the world around you, and can create wonders.  Once three are found, the fourth is only what can be seen upon the ground.

The gods left these for us, in times of need.  They are spread thruout the realm, whether that be the four corners, or somewhere in between.

The PC's enter a room with a large burn mark on the floor and a pentagram. Realizing now in fact that they are dealing with a group of witches, they investigate the room. The floor opens up into a huge hole, a trans dimensional hole to be exact. One of the PC's falls in, the other attempts some Indiana jones with a whip and then also falls in.

And our beloved KIP! (the cleric I played last time, who came along for the ride this adventure), decides to just jump into the hole. Because you know lack of wisdom (and a bit of DM hand holding... I guess).

And that's where we left off, had some pizza and home made cheese cake.

Campaign Developments - Old School Session

Last night, I barely slept.  Mostly because coffee.  I had to learn a few new tunes for my upcoming recording session this weekend.  Since I'm usually bagged when I get home, I decided I'd send coffee to the rescue.  Dumb idea.

On the docket to learn: 

Zero - Smashing Pumpkins 

Come Out & Play, and Self Esteem - The Offspring

Pretty Vacant - Sex Pistols 

Anyways, after jamming out for awhile, and realizing that I did in fact need to change my guitar strings (tonights to do list).  I realized that I have a old school session coming up and I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING WRITTEN! Insert panic.  

And then insert, starring and ceiling and planning things.  

The characters are currently on their way to Elerd's Keep.  We just finished up a session, where instead of DMing I switched and became a player for a one off.  (To which I need to write up the play report for that, as it was FANTASTIC and funny as hell). 

My head filled with plot ideas, and trying to decide whether I should do the following: 

1.  Find some time to write a bunch of adventure paths and a few dungeons for when the PC's get to the keep.  

2.  Scrap (and or take a break) the campaign and start a new one with modules, so I have time to work on other things at home. 

3.  Alternatively, whilst on the way to the keep they get derailed with Against The Cult Of The Reptile God. Which would leave me a bit of time to finish up the writing I need to do for the campaign.  Problem is I'm a procrastinator by nature, which means I'd just run the lizard bad guys and then be buggered up again, in panic mode. 

The other thing I've been kicking around is running "The Secret Of Bone Hill" as the site of Elerd's Keep.  Still kicking that around in my head.  

As it stands right now, the plot hooks for the current campaign are as follows (ie the shit that was running thru my head last night): 

*A woman's sister has been thrown in the dungeons of the keep, and is unable to afford to have her released.  The twist is, that the 2 sisters, along with another are witches.  One of the PC's had a vision about them.  This would further the story. 

*The woods to the north have been beset by a hobgoblin force.  Whilst hanging out at the keep, they meet up with a few wizards who have made a pilgrimage to talk with Elerd.  CUE Gandalf world ending quest situation. 

*Villagers have been going missing.  Possible werewolf situation. 

The Typical Fantasy Campaign Takes Shape

I posted last night about what peoples favourite version of fantasy is.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/113598345409044633851/posts/1zmyeRmEUPk

The reason was mostly out of curiosity.  I find that when I start writing things tend to fall into a very specific place.  The evil wizard, the war hungry orcs, fire breathing dragons, good hero's!  You get the picture.  Regardless of the books I read (appendix N type stuff), I tend to just naturally go with the above.  Here is the outline for my current campaign.

War!  Orcs have been pillaging the general populace, they come from the north and something drives them.  Originally I thought super evil black dragon, and now I'm thinking a human warlord who's character is based on Cobra Commander.

Enter the hero's.  Just a few "almost not quite peasants" out to save the countryside.  At some point they may run into "the order the magi" cue major LOTR plot device.  The quest as such is to find 4 elemental stones of great power (really shane? that's totally elemental evil with a generic twist).

Of course this is the overarching storyline.  Within the hex crawl I'm writing there's a pile of side adventures.  I plan to include a lot of the Adventure Anthology within the world.  Check www.basicfantasy.org for more info on the adventure anthology.

In this recent post I set out a few clues to further adventures for the PCs.  http://3toadstools.blogspot.ca/2016/05/players-newsletter-1.html

Last night I wrote about the 3 headed beast, and the twist is that it is the thing that sunk the merchant ship.  If the PC's defeat the beast, and or get on the ship they will find a letter written by a prisoner in the brig.  The letter details a long forgotten island.  (monkey isle or isle of dread).

Of course the PC's may decide to make their way to Elerd's Keep.  The twist of course is that Lord Elerd is in fact a very old vampire.

I haven't quite decided if it will be the morgan's fort campaign, or keep on the borderlands at this point.

I also sat and wrote a few encounters if the PC's decide to make their way to morgansfort.

There are a lot of balls in play on this, I am guessing that spears will be broke, shields will be shattered, PC's will die thruout the whole thing.

Here is the letter:

I’ve been trying to get this damn merchant captain to understand, but he just doesn’t.  This is the last time I write this story, if you are reading this I hope that you believe me.  You see I was a pirate first mate.  We had been trailing this merchant ship, easy pickings!  All of a sudden the winds started blowing, a huge storm cropped up.  The sea’s spewed forth, knocking us backwards and forwards.  We barely made it thru the night.  We found the island, but just barely. Searching the shores with a lantern we stumbled upon a small village.  It was near the southern shore, nice humans that took care of us for a few days.  The captain decided that we would try a bit of pillaging while we were here.  We were met with some maniacs all covered in paint!  The temple we looted was ancient!  I’d never seen stone work like that.  We saw another high mountain and what looked like a Volcano smoking in the distance, we decided it was best not to go to shore.  We saw strange lizard’s that we had never seen before along the shore.  Huge gargantuan creatures!  We also saw a dragon, or what looked liked a dragon.  The captain decided that it was best to leave the island alone and we soon left.  I want to go back, I know there is more to explore.  I found a coin with a human face and a sheaf of wheat on it.  I talked to a wisened man in a tavern about it, he’d never seen anything like it.  Possibly a elder civilization.  

A.D.C.  

The 2nd day of the melting.

And here is the possible encounter list on the road to Elerds Keep.

The Road to Elerds Keep

Its 36 miles to Elerds keep, straight shot.  The PC’s can travel 12 miles per day, 2 hexes.  The journey should take 3 days to get to Elerds Keep.

Daily encounters

Day 1 - Barbarian Encounter - The PC’s notice off in the distance a battle going on between a few individuals and a giant!

5 barbarians - Fighter Level 3 - HD 3, Great swords, etc 1d12

Hill Giant - AC 15, HD 8 (attack +8, 2d8 damage)

If they talk to the barbarians, one of them is the leader of the Elken tribe, Haz Halack, he wants to off his brother who leads an opposing tribe called the “Skulkers”, his brother’s name is Grim Halack

Day 2 - Nothing happens during the day however, in the evening roll on the pestilence table.

1.  Bedbugs keep you awake, loose one point of Constitution until you have a decent rest.

2.  Provision's get rot from Insects, they are inedible.

3.  Stung by a wasp, and it turns out your allergic! - 2 Constitution -1 Strength, - 1D4 HP's

4.  A large swarm of Insects circles your head, making it difficult to sneak and remain hidden. - 15% on all sneak rolls.  Chance of being seen becomes 3 in 6.

5.  FIRE ANTS! Swarm the campsite, lighting anything remotely flammable on fire.  AC 7, HD 2.

6. A butterfly appears out of nowhere, it leads you to a location where there is a small sack of gold.  

7.  Strange worm burrows into your sack/backpack, before you realize it all of your stuff has fallen out on the ground.  

8.  Insects lay eggs in your ear while you are asleep, In 1d6 days you will suffer from a delirious state, stumbling about.  - 3 Intelligence, - 2 Dexterity.   

9.  Termites! have struck, any chest/wooden object you are carrying has holes in it.  

10.  Luminescent moths fly around campsite, lighting up the surrounding area. - 15% on all sneak rolls.  Chance of being seen becomes 3 in 6.

Day 3 - (Close to water, 0308) There is a small wood mill located along the river here.  The millwright Leeland Stonesand has been having trouble with a local bandit gang, he sent off his wife & daughter to bring wood to Elerd’s keep, but has not heard from them in a fortnight.

The bandit gang is not normally humans, but werewolves!  It will take a day or so to search the lands surrounding the mill to find their lair.  The PC’s will be able to find the 2 ladies tied up in a small cottage.  They will also find or hear evidence of the werewolves, but will probably not encounter them.  Bandit werewolf gang name?

Gang is located at 0209

Random Sighting - At some point if the PC’s are close to the forest they will see smoke rising.

Elves

If the PC’s attempt to go along the forest they are met with Elven mercenaries patrolling the outside of edge of autumn shade.  1HD 1d6 short swords, bows.  

The Elven village is located at 0405.  King Kendel Krisnorin is the leader.  The village has been sacked by an Orc tribe, it lies in ruins.  

Witches

0305 Hills - There is a coven of witches, they have been plaguing the countryside sacrificing animals & farmers to Loki.  They have been trying to bring him back into the world.  The witches have one stone of elemental power, that of Fire, and it can bring forth a powerful fire elemental. - Treat as 2HD humans, 2 1st level spells each.

0306 Forest - A small group of mischievous fairies live within this part of the forest.  They will play tricks on adventurers and attempt to charm them to steal their gold.

Dem's barbarians in those hills! - Old School Session 4

Just finished up a really fun session the other day.  I decided in my silly wisdom to level up all the PCs to level 2.  Mostly so I can throw bigger bad guys at em.  The one thing I did which was highly stupid and it was partially because I was distracted at the time, was allow ability score re-rolls.  Here's the kicker, I had read that some DM's do this with old school play, but they only allow ONE attribute re-roll per level up.  Basically the gist is you get to re-roll the stat with 3d6, if the result is better than your current score you use that.

major moron DM move- I let them re roll ALL THE FRIGGIN ABILTY SCORES!

Alright, so bad move.  I told the players afterwards, that's not happening again.  Next time they level up they will have to find an appropriate trainer as well as they get to re roll one stat only.  WHOOPS! Shit happens chalk it up move on.

Another thing we noticed whilst playing basic fantasy, is that every thing in the game is basically roll 20, higher the better for the most part.  Except! the thief skills, those are still the traditional way, roll under and its a success, we are talking about re-writing that table to be the opposite.

On to the adventure, one of the players was working that evening, so we decided he shacked up a with someone for the balance of the adventure.  The players read over the "brymassen howler" and decided to go in search of the barbarians.  ah player paranoia!  I had actually intended for the barbarians to be good guys.  oh well.

So the PCs's go off in a westerly direction towards Elerd's keep (see previous map post).   I had originally planned on using a specific set of encounters for the road to elerd's keep, however they shot holes in that idea.   The PC's stumble upon a statue of Odin on the side of the road.  Written in common was "pray for guidance".

Only one of the PC's decided to do this.  I had him roll a 20.  If it was over 15 he would get a certain vision, under a different vision.

I took him aside and told him what he saw.

Hordes of hobgoblins destroying the countryside, all of them had patches that were circular with a red toadstool in the centre, they were lead by a fierce hobgoblin warlord.

One of the PC's backgrounds is "shunned by the gods".  he's actually been keeping a journal of what has happened from the perspective of his character, which is friggin awesome!

I decided a small bolt of lightning would hit about a foot from him as he walked away.  :)

The PC's go off the grid and walk north into some hills close to the forest of Autumnwood.  from a far they see a pile of dust and a rather large humanoid.  One of the PC's hands me a scrap paper of what his character is going to do.  Basically a quick close up to see what's happening.

He notices that a group of barbarians are fighting a hill giant!

I quickly write up stats for the barbarians and the PC's now become barbarians fighting the giant.

As well, their actual PC's watching what is happening.

This whole thing was supposed to go the other way.....   I had thought the PC's would help the barbarians, but instead they decided to fight them, and help the giant! AHAHAHAH! oh well.

So here's the battle, the PC's players are firing arrows at the barbarians, while they are playing barbarians fighting a giant.  yes it was confusing as old hell, but a PILE of fun!  In the end the barbarians died of grievous wounds but not before one of them said to find their father. 

The intention was for a rift between to competing tribes of barbarians, one leader is the father of the other one!  I'll see what I can do about re-working that storyline.

Now the player i mentioned that wasn't able to show up, well he showed up in the midst of the barbarian fight on a horse he "borrowed" from brymassen.  (gotta roll with the punches).  So I filled him in, and then I took him aside and asked about the altar to odin.  He decided he would pray, he rolled under 15.  (I seriously jumped for joy at this!  although I could have just told him the other story, its great that it worked out the way it did).

He saw.... 3 witches killing a barbarian, cutting out his heart and eating it.  (things have taken a turn to the weird, I'm liking it).

The player promptly had a side bar with the other player that had a vision.

player who was at the game the whole time, saw the first vision came up to me and said....

"I have chills literally.... see my arm... your fucking on tonight!".

The PC's talked with the giant and found out where a tribe of giants are.  (remember this for later shane!).

After a brief rest, the PC's decided to head off to the tomb of gardag....

one player said "this sounds really heavy metal".  I said "yes it will be".

That's where we left off for the evening, after one of the PC's got zapped by the front door.

a few brief side notes: 

While the 5e is screen is basically no help with OSR stuff I like it, because I can see the players, rather than the usual 8.5 type screen.

EDIT:  Because of it being a bit short, and having one fairly tall player, he is able to see over the screen.  The player was double checking my math while we were going.  

I have a few older screens, one second edition one and one from a boardgame (not dragon strike, but dragon something).  I plan to create a home made Basic fantasy screen with a few of the more important things on it.  I've talked about this before and have sort of done it but not finished.  now is the time!

last time we played I had printed off some Dyson Logos sheets from the basicfantasy.org site.  This time I decided to go with the James West ones,  to which I owe him a snapshot of.  I'm on it buddy, sorry its taking me so long.

And now I have to re-write encounters for the road to elerd's keep whenever that happens.

game prep

I spent most of last night, sitting on the deck with a glass of tea working out encounters for the campaign.  As I had created that newsletter for the players there are a pile of adventure paths in which to take.

1.  Find the 3 headed beast
2.  find the shipwreck

Both of which will lead to Monkey Isle, which may also lead to the Slave pits module A1 I believe?

3.  Find Hamona's great great grandfather's dagger - Tomb of gardag
4.  Escort Arnof's trading company to Elerd's keep
this is a mixture of a bunch of things.

First off Elerd's keep is essentially morgan's fort, however I'm using the area map from the chaotic caves (sans the caves).  I am also replacing some bad guys.

Secondly, the PC's may meet the elves of autumnwood, who recently suffered a defeat by a hobgoblin horde (main story line).

Of course there is a pile of little encounter on the road to Elerds keep.

including a wizard who appears out of nowhere as a giant toad, and then transforms into wizard!  of course she will have a pile of rumours, and as well discuss the hobgoblin menace, and the need for the elemental stones.   To which one of the players already has one. 

I know pre planning encounters can be a waste of time, but it makes me comfy.  It's still not technically a rail road, but an overall scope.  The players have a pile of choices at this point, and I'm only writing from one session to the next, so as it stands I have a pile of ammo dependant on the players choices.

Random encounters at the Keep

So in our old school campaign, at some point the PC's are going to make their way to Elerd's Keep.  Here's the thing about the keep, yes it has all the usual troupes associated with a keep.  The tavern, the blacksmith, some guys dressed in armour guarding the joint.  Oh and there's the Lord who rules the whole thing.  And you know what he's kind of a good guy.  He treats his citizens well, including the farmers from the surrounding lands.  He has even been known to order in extra food for them by the wagon load.  Here's the thing though, and most of these citizens have heard stories from their grandfathers, Lord Elerd is a vampire.  No not the Strahd kind.  The "I'm a vampire, and I hunt evil things, and animals" louis kinda vampire.

I've been outlining the keep, and since I can't quite draw the keep well enough, I will probably use this map. - http://paratime.ca/images/fantasy/bluecastle001b.jpg

I know you might be saying "Hey Shane you got KOTB why not use that".  Because then I'll run KOTB and I don't really want to right now.  So instead I'm looking at numbers on a map going, Hmm what goes there?

What I have realized is that I'm going to need the PC's to have a few little nuggets of adventures within the keep, so here's some rumours.
Rumours 

1.  I heard the Capn' of the guard was given a dishonorable discharge, although I don't know why!

2.  We've been waiting quite awhile for a shipment from the west, something must have slowed the merchant caravan down.

3.  Is it just me or do you hear wolves howling at night? No... maybe its just me then.

4.  That latest batch of mead at the "insert silly tavern name here" is quite good!  I swear I can fly after a few flagons.

5.  Everyone knows there's no ruins or dungeons under the castle, that's just made up to keep us in order.  I don't remember the last time someone was imprisoned for anything.

6.  Interestingly enough there's been quite a few disappearances latetly, no not people I know, but you know you here these things and your start to wonder.

7.  Just latetly I noticed a group of 10 hob goblins come strolling into the keep.  The guards let them in without a fuss, and they went straight up to Elerds keep.  Strange isn't it?

8.  I swear those wandering gypsys are really witches!  They were here and I talked to them, and wow did they give me the skivvies!

9.  I really doubt that the guard is prepared for any kind of an attack, they all seem fat and lazy to me.  Their swords are rusted.

10.  The other day, no word of a lie, I saw a giant frog appear out of nowhere!  And then... wait for it, you don't believe me do you? Well that durn frog turned into a beautiful lady.  She seemed a bit confused but brought some fruit off me.

Picture courtesy of http://www.oldbookillustrations.com/illustrations/keep-sharp-look/

Side note, I want to release this.  Not for sale, just as a download.  I had talked about an open source project and this might be the thing I do.  The cool thing about open source and using creative commons is you can really flex your layout muscles!  and of course your writing.  Besides, I love old book illustrations!  Could be a lot of fun.  The question is can I put it up on drivethru for free? I would guess so.  Especially with any creative commons stuff it would have to be for free.  As I wouldn't want to make any money off of people.  Right K that was random! Much like the above table. 

Old School Session 9 - Flip the script

A few weeks ago we gathered everyone together for another Old School session.  Unbeknownst to the other players in the game, Kurt and I decided to "flip the script".   He took me aside in the previous session and said "I think I've got a dungeon ready to go, but don't let the other players know, we will just switch at the table".

So here's the introduction, the players gather around the table, they are in the small town of Brymassen (hobbit village).  In the morning they get out of their beds and stretch and go outside for some fresh air.

Across the street there's a bit of a commotion in front of the church.  In some stocks is a thief.  The players go and talk with her, and with the priest.  (my wife's previous character was just not cutting it for her, so we did a switcheroo, she was a cleric of the church).  The thief in the stocks is set free, the PC's pay her bounty.  Enter my wife's new character.  Then the abbot talks to the PC's about needing some help from one of the PC's.  My wife's old player agrees to help the church out.  In return the church loans a new cleric. (ME!).

The players decide to FINALLY make their way to Elerd's keep.

Kurt's character FINK has went off to do some piracy with a NPC.  I made a decision that anytime a player was able to level up they would need to find a trainer.  He did just that, Harmona (who's grandfather was the dude that killed Gardgag).

I get up from behind the DM screen and switch places with Kurt.

And everyone gasps!

Love it.

So now I'm playing this new peon cleric who is basically a moron.  Like dumber than "tink" the ex gladiator.  I rolled 3D6 and the dice gods were not kind.

My wife instead of being a cleric, she is now the thief that we freed.  (Pardon that I don't quite remember names of the new characters).

Onward to Elerd's Keep!  Our players bugger off from Brymassen and start walking towards the keep.  All of a sudden out of nowhere a mist of sorts surrounds us and we end up in a few weird forest dungeon.

Now, here's a interesting thing.  All of the "rooms" were planned as a "Left or Right".  eventually leading to the same goal.  I looked at the map after the fact. Kurt planned a bunch of interesting encounters, with some neat props!

The first thing we encounter is this crazy madman sitting in the centre of grove.  The DM proceeds to scream in gibberish, this weird thing he memorized.  It was frantic to say the least.  He didn't breath yelling all this stuff.

We decided to mercy kill the old man, since he was acting crazy crazy.

We proceeded off to the left I believe, and ran into a Raven sitting on a writing desk.  He kept asking "why is a raven like a writing desk".  As it stands I don't believe there is a correct answer for this?

I did however ask him specifically "where the tea party with the rabbit was?"

That was enough to have us move on to another grove.

We fought a few baddies in the next couple of rooms.  With my low wisdom I decided, I'm going to go into a different room.  So 3 of us went one way the other 2 went another way.

I should note that the adventure was called "don't split the party".

2 of the players ran into a room with a crazy Zelda puzzle.  Which took quite a long time to figure out.  (see picture)

We went into a room and were given 3 bottles, actual real bottles with food coloring.  One was a poison, one was water, and the other was a healing potion, however they all looked the same.

NOTE:  One had gin, one had tequila, and one had water.  They all had food colouring and were all red, and had the same amount of booze/water in each.

Another room we ran into there was a torch bearing scary skeleton guy, to which we got flashed with an extremely bright light.

Still split, we end up in a room with a pile of other skeletons, the other 2 players with me were pretty beaten up.  I had been somewhat smart enough to grab a flask of oil.  So in a moment of kamikaze brilliance, I lit the oil a flame, stuck it in my belt and made a run for the skeletons.  BA BANG!

And somehow I managed to not die! even after loosing almost all my hit points, and a succeeding on a saving throw!  I'm going to go with my character now being a eunuch!

Note: This blog will be a 2 parter.  At home I have notes from the rest of session, and for the life of me I can't remember anything.  Hence the notes :P

I built a handy little link that has all of the session reports thus far.

Old School Session 8 - The Balding Minotaur Inn.

We gathered together for a little session a few days ago.  The great thing about the session was it was pretty much 90% roleplaying.  However I've noticed that one of my players is a major math geek, you can almost see him crunching numbers in his head.  And more oft than not he knows exactly how much hit points are left of certain monsters.  (Note must use taller DM screen in future).  The players had just finished up the tomb of gardag the strange and made their way to the "balding minotaur inn" a small inn/tavern not to far from gardags tomb, on the road to Elerd's keep.  The small hobbit village of brymassen is a day's ride from Inn.  The plan was to find Hamona, the great great granddaughter of Zalish, who killed Gardgag in the first place.  She sent the PC's off to find his dagger.  (to which they were successful!).

Back at the Inn, they met a barmaid named "herbert", who procceeded to talk with the PC's about Harmona, and a few other things.  Cue major role playing when the DM sits in the lap of one of his players, and pretends to attempt to seduce him.  Oh funny.

After not getting much in the way of information out of herbert, other than the fact that Hamona doesn't live very far from the Inn, on a small farm.  They then proceeded to have a few drinks in the tavern.

A old man sitting by the fire summoned them over, and discussed with them some things that he had seen, including Hobgoblin patrols.

Finkidliator the thief, had seen a vision regarding the hobgoblins, and their crest as well.  To which he discussed with the old man, it appears the hobgoblins are one and the same.  As well our friendly dwarf bronsbane told of the vision he saw.

On other vistor was a halfling priest, who was on the road, he talked with the PC's about a girl in brymassen that had come down with a sickness.

The PC's slept the night in the Inn and made their way towards Hamona's farm.  The road turned from a actual road to a horse trail.  At some point one of the PC's noticed movement in the bushes, and made their way up slowly and carefully to see what he could see (it was the thief).  And for the first time, he was able to roll under on percentile dice.  He noticed some bandits and a woman with them.

Turns out Hamona's plan the entire time was to have the PC's go in and raid the tomb, then ambush them afterwards and steal their gold and treasures.  (I should reallly write that into the version of Gardag on drivethru, excellent plot twist).

A fight ensues, the PC's kill off all the bandits save Hamona, who they take captive.

The thief Fink, decides that he will try and get her to teach him more about being a thief, in return for her life.  As Fink has the ability to level up now.  Which was a super smart idea if you ask me.  I totally let that one go.

The players make it back to brymassen the next day, where they find that they have no way of selling off any merchandise.  The town does not have a blacksmith per se, other than a guy who shoes horses, who has no interest whatsoever in armour.  As well, the only actual trader in town has left! Arnoff's trading made his way to Elerd's keep on his own.  The PC's had been given a newsetter with the clue about escorting Arnof, but decided to go off and do other things.

Here we left off.  And the plan is as follows:
It's rotating DM time! 
As fink walks off to learn more about thieving with Hamona, the sunsets, and the moon rises.  In a few weeks, I will start a new session and extro fink, then switch places with the player that plays fink.  Who in turn will introduce my new Cleric/Thief.

Detailing my home campaign

It's been forever since the old school group got together.  They last left off trapped in a dungeon by a demon, attempting to rescue a witch.  Sound familiar?

After reading a few blogs detailing peoples home campaigns, I think I may spend some time and effort and work on detailing our old school world.  Mostly for the sake of writing, and archiving for future use.  As well for coming up with a few new ideas! 

When we started the game we played thru "Beneath Brymassen" a BFRPG adventure.  After that the players did my "Lizardmen of Illzathatch" and "Tomb of Gardag The Strange".  The story arc I wrote detailed an invading hobgoblin army from the north, with world ending consequences on their minds. 

I briefly wrote a post about Elerd's Keep here. 

The rest of the play reports can be found here.

While this is a nice map, I think I may create a hexcrawl version of it.

The Lands south of Crimhuck

If you may have noticed I've slowed down posting things about Crimhuck, however the current old school campaign I've been running I decided that it is placed south of the continent of Crimhuck.  (that was a horribly written sentence).

Anyways, the campaign is going well, albeit I'm writing like mad.  Which is a good thing and bad thing.  It seems almost every two weeks we are playing and the whole thing is slowly taking shape.  I've got enough ammo for the next 2 sessions and after that I'll do a bit more writing.  The nice thing about this is that If I release it, its basically been play tested, which is kind of nice.  It's very typical fantasy however.  Although a few things have been skewed.  For example the players are pretty sure that Elerd is a vampire, since he's been alive for god knows how long.  Just realized that he could have found the secret to everlasting life thru ye old philosopher's stone type situation.  Basically a random alchemist who got really lucky.  (also typical)  However the players are aware that people have been winding up dead, and that pointed directly to the old vampire.  Of course it could just be a plague, or perhaps werewolves.

As it is, my thoughts have been turning to system neutral of late.  After reading blacksand I've been thinking a lot about 2d6, and 3d6 tables.  (which are somewhat system neutral).  As well I just read a "world" download that appeared on drivethrurpg.  My only issue is that world's in general are not something that appeal to me as far as running directly, but they are great for pulling awesome ideas out of.

Obviously this is a helluva a rambling post.

TLDR:

1.  Got a pile of adventures coming together into a helluva a campaign
2.  It'll be fairly straight forward to add a bunch of side trek quests
3.  Fleshing out the rest of the villages, townships and the keep should be relatively easy.
4.  I've got a world that's been started already that I can flesh out as well.
5.  The conundrum of writing rules: System Neutral, LL, or OSR ala maze of the blue medusa (basically they wrote you can pretty much play this with any osr system, here's the basic stats, which I quite like).

Yeah, I'll need some more coffee.

Just figured out a good twist

I just figured out a great twist for my old school campaign.  The players are currently in an alternate dimension demon lair.  Once they get out of there (if they get out of there, hehehe).  I plan to have time travel backwards a bit.

The players will retain all of their memories.  I am unsure as to wether I will keep them at the same level, or at a previous level.  However, the following is happening.

A horde of hobgoblins have overtaken the north and are on their way to destroy the southern lands, including Elerd's Keep.  They have already demolished an elven stronghold at this point.

Once the players come out thru the planar gate, time will go backwards to prior to the fall of the Elven stronghold.  

I will have to figure out a nifty way to explain this, but this should make for some interesting playing.  Since the players are aware of the impending doom upon the lands, and the way to stop it.  This will give them a bit of time.  As well some choices in the matter.

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Couple of interesting news bits. 

*First off if you haven't heard of the Old School Blues Podcast - Here's the link (it's worth a listen) featuring +Erik Tenkar & +Vincent Florio

Apes Victorious - Was released yesterday.  You groggily come back to consciousness after a long cryosleep. Your ship’s warning system is telling you the ship has entered the atmosphere of a planet and is about to crash land under autopilot. Crawling to a seat, you buckle in, joining your fellow astronauts as you quickly check instrument readings.

As well, if you are backer for "The Pyramid Of The Lost King" the art lite pdf has been released.  I have a copy and am currently reading it.  As soon as I have some time I'll post up a brief review and my thoughts on it.  So far, it's pretty bad assed! Lots of great writing and cool maps.   I plan to run this soon.

What a dragon? But we are first level - Old school session 3

We reconvened for a session the other night.  When last we left off the PC's were in the dungeons of Illzathatch, looking for the shields of a atreu.  After having just finished killing off a bunch of lizardmen.  They stumbled upon a large sack that was wriggling.  Inside was "dirk", a very skinny goblin, who pledged to help the PC's provided they gave him some food.  North of the last room they were in was a door that they could not get open, so the PC's made their way back south, past the "murder bucket" room. 

Dirk was created as a bit of a plot device, not so much hand holding, but to help out.  For example last time the PC's found a scroll and the thief kept it.  Dirk noticed it, and mentioned that someone else in the group may be able to read it.  The thief past the scoll to the cleric and she realized very quickly that it was in fact a scoll of cure light wounds. 

The PC's bypassed the "dragon" room and kept wandering around the dungeon looking for a member of the shields of atreu.  They stumbled into a few extremely dangerous trap rooms.  In one case, we were just going to go for a smoke break, and the PC's walked into a room.  I had them all save vs spell, then took the 3 that were successful outside first.  I explained to them what they saw.  The other 2 well they almost fell in the hole.  It works well when the PC"s are very concenerd with their marching order.  And in some cases with some rather funny results.

The thief has an extremely low wisdom score, so he doesn't act quite like a thief, and in pretty much every situtaion he just yells out "WHAT HO!" instead of actually attempting to be sneaky.  It's a entertaining player to have in the group.

The PC's stumble upon a dead adventurer with a shield bearing the mark of "the shields of atreu".  The decision is made that the PC's do not need to spend any more time in this "death trap dungeon" as they found what they were looking for.

On the way out of the dungeon the PC's finally make it to the dragon room.  The door is wizard locked, and they are unable to open it.  Previously the PC"s have found out that the command word for the door was breeyark!  However they totally forgot about it. 

Cue a bunch of lizardmen coming down the hall at them!  "Hey you! get outta here".  PC's draw their weapons, its sword to face time!  The goblin Dirk (who is not unsimilar to dobbie) draws his dagger, and yells BREEYARK!!!!!!

Door opens.

The PC's run into the room and the door closes behind them. 

The whole time I"m laughing because, you goofs just ran from lizardmen into a dragon room.  Seriously it doesn't get any better than that.

The PC's meet the spawn of Illzathatch, Hazathathch, a green young dragon.  I've been waiting most of my life to roleplay a dragon, I've never really had the opportunnity to do so.  They parlay with the dragon and do not make her mad.  She wants to know what has become of her mother, and wants the PC"s to look for her.  She will pay them handsomely.  The PC's are able to get out of the situation without as much as a scratch.  *I had made a reaction roll for the dragon, and it was favourable, so I went with it.

The PC's leave and quickly get into a fight with the lizardmen, in a blaze of glory dirk dies. 

The PC's finallly get the hell out of dodge, and that is where we ended for the night.

As a bad DM I did a few whoop's thru out the end of this adventure.  I spilled the beans on what had became of the rest of the shields of atreu, as well I let the PC"s know that I will level them up next game.  I suppose I can't blame myself to harshly as I had a few drinks.  As you can tell by the pictures.  I have to remember to be a bit more NEUTRAL as far as the game is concerned.  I can't help it though, I root for the PC's. 

Next up, the PC's make there way back to the balding minotaur.  At which point they can go off in search of the tomb of gardag, or something else!

2 things are on my mind currently.  1 having brymassen utterly destroyed by pirates, sending the PC's off to do the aerie of the slave lords series.  or 2.  Having the PC's meet up with Arnof the trader, who requests them to guard his caravan to Elerd's Keep, cue Morgan's fort campaign with a bit of a twist.

Of course they can always check out the deathtrap that is gardag. 

After I level the PC's I probably won't do it again for awhlie, I am going to continue to keep an eye on XP earned, at this point they are basically half way to level 2.  And suprisingly they are quite resiliant! for first level.  I don't mind the idea of 2 adventures and a level up though.  It will however cost them some moolah! 

I have to remember to print off the DM screen for Basicfantasy, at least the first two pages, as there is some helpful stuff there.  Having the saving throw numbers in front of you makes DMing a bit easier. 

One of the players wants to multi class, and I'm not sure on the rules for that in basic fantasy.  My opinion at the time was "alright, you stop being a warrior and start being a thief" provided you meet the requirements.

PS there's the new games table! $58 at Canadian tire, steal of a deal!

Some news of note.

A bunch of cool stuff has cropped up lately!  I'm sure you are aware of it, but if your not here it is! 

First and foremost, Brave The Labyrinth is back! 

Small Niche Games and Barrel Rider Games have joined forces to announce the return of Brave the Labyrinth, the Labyrinth Lord™ OSR magazine! We're looking for submissions! You can learn more here - http://halflingsluck.blogspot.ca/2016/08/brave-labyrinth-is-back.html

I've been talking on and off with +James Spahn and we were both of the opinion that Labyrinth Lord has gone by the way side a bit.  We were trying to figure out what to do about it.  There was some discussion about doing a podcast, but doing so requires a lot of time and forethought.   Not to mention gear. (to which i have some...)  Alas its a big time commitment.  Our discussion ended briefly, as I had to jump back into actual work.  Next thing I know there's the announcement of the NEW mag!  Woot.   Now to try and figure out what to write about for the book.  

From what I gather this all sort of came about because of this blog post - http://halflingsluck.blogspot.ca/2016/08/ebb-and-flow-in-osr.html

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Super excited about this one!  I've been following a few posts from +James V West as he has been working on it.

Rabbits & Rangers

Product Description:

Remember when four-fingered talking animals wielded magic swords, cast spells, and fought demons? No? Well grab your Labyrinth Lord and dice because you're about to enter a world of properly wild critter crawls! Herein you will find rules for running funny animal campaigns including rabbits, ducks, mice, lions, bears, fossas, and many more!

Rabbits & Rangers is a supplement written for Labyrinth Lord describing 50 cartoon animal races and various rules tweaks that let you get a slightly more cartoony vibe out of your game. Fully illustrated, this book also contains new spells, monsters, and magic items. I mean, who couldn't use a Ring of Ahkme that will let you mail order any device required to achieve your genius goals? Act now! GET IT HERE

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This was just released the other day, I downloaded it right away.  First off, it looks slick!  I have a copy of S&W whitebox, and its similar but there's a few added extras.  For one the Thief class, which does a great job of creating a mechanic for "thieving stuff".  Something I'm going to use.  In all honesty, just reading this is making me want to do a switch from our current system.  It's just a bit more rules lite.  And I had been thinking of similar ideas for my own house rules version.  As well the art is awesome sauce. 

White Box

Product Description:

White Box: Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game is an update with new art and layout of the excellent Swords & Wizardry WhiteBox game.  This is not an official S&W publication. It is my own version with a few added ideas from various other OSR sources. 

GET IT HERE

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The Hench 

Product Description:

Henchmen: the forgotten underclass of the adventuring party. Often cast aside or used in ways that no sentient should be, this playable class for Labyrinth Lord allows you to experience life as a henchman/henchwoman/henchthing. 

• Low barrier to class/career entry!
• Progress quickly through initial Levels, and then switch to an adventuring class!
• Develop a number of skills and abilities that enhance and support all adventuring parties!
• Rise above the ranks of other Henches who don't dedicate themselves to being all they can be!
• Become an actual Meatshield, but with the skills and training to survive being thrown at things that will kill you dead!
• Three variants: the Cavalryman, the Infantry, and the Scout! GET IT HERE

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And a few more cool things! 

Great blog post by +Wayne Rossi about open source gaming & basic fantasy 

http://initiativeone.blogspot.ca/2016/08/open-source-roleplaying-and-success-by.html

And +Dyson Logos is working on revamping "Challenge of the frog god idol" which I am immensely excited about! 

Here's a link to the original version - https://rpgcharacters.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/dyson-logos-challenge-of-the-frog-idol.pdf

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As for me, I'm all over the place lately. 

I am working on a set of space rules for the B/X campaign challenge, based on holmes D&D. 

I'm still trying to figure out what to do with my current old school campaign, doing a bit of writing for it.  The PC"s are currently on their way to Elerd's Keep.  When they get there I'll need a couple of dungeons & adventures paths for them. I'm considering running this - http://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.ca/2016/04/princess-of-silver-palace-bya-lot-of.html