Mystery in Adventures

Wednesday night is the rotating GM group.  Three of us take turns running adventures in a shared world.  And its worked out fantastic.  What I find interesting with our small group is our trend toward creating mystery adventures. 

We are at the end of the 5th adventure.  +Chris C. has run two, +Ken H is finishing his second adventure and I have run one and working on the next adventure.  Both of Ken's and Chris's adventures have been based around a mystery.

Chris's first adventure was about a disappearance of a girl coupled with the appearance of savage wolves.  The second adventure he ran created a distraction, we were to investigate the catacombs where the priest said the restless spirit of their saint was seen and the rumors of an evil cult moving into the area.  We needed to discover why the saint was restless, but discovered something very different.

Ken's first adventure played off of Chris's where the village was encountering savage wolf attacks, or at least that's what it seemed.  Conflicting religious cults came into play and we needed to follow the clues of these cults to discover what was attacking the villagers.  Ken's current adventure is a heck of a mystery/puzzle.  We are in a village populated by an almost alien race of people who have a 'Stepford Wife' personality.  A fog came in recently and three folks are gone, but none of the villagers react much to the news.  We've discovered hidden things within the village.  Creepy, hidden things.  And now we have to collect various items to solve the mystery.

What I've enjoyed about all these adventures was the sense of discovery.  These small 'aha' moments are built into them.  We investigate what we believe is the problem, make a small discovery that will either confirm we are on the right path or something that we may have to reevaluate our current assumption.  So Chris and Ken have built these small sandbox mysteries where we can solve the situation in more than one way.  And I think that's critical.  Nothing can kill an adventure more quickly than a party missing 'the clue'.  That bottleneck clue that halts the adventure unless it is found and interpreted correctly.  With a sandbox mystery there are several ways to discover the clues, in any order and can solve the mystery in several ways. 

I give props to my fellow gamers who have really upped the bar with their adventures.  It's been a fantastic time and an education. 

The Houghington House

The Houghington House is that mysterious place just outside the village that folks tend to avoid.  While the villagers keep their respective distance from the house, visitors who have stayed there come away refreshed and positive.  But there have been those few who dared to provoke the spirits within only to find themselves stricken with the worst luck.

The Houghington House is a location to place in any village that needs a spot of interest.  If your players are wandering through, and no inn is available, the locals suggest staying at the Housington House, but also warn them against upsetting the spirits, and explain no further.  Now your players have an interesting place to stay and recover.  Sometimes a small touch enhances the atmosphere of the journey and that is the intent of The Houghington House. 

These small locations are something I love to write up.  When I run a game or a larger campaign I fill a notebook with tiny area to randomly place when I need something of interest to occur. 

Enjoy!

On the Banks of Pulling Creek

Howdy folks, this is my first entry into my Patreon offering of 2016.  On the Banks of Pulling Creek is a micro-location.  Someone recently asked what is the difference between my micro-adventures and micro-locations.  A micro-adventure is a very small area with obstacles to over come.  Obstacles come in the form of monsters, traps, puzzles or a situation that needs resolved.  A micro-location is built to promote adventures and situations.  A place for adventurers to wander through and the GM to provide them the local flavor and possible adventure hooks.  A staging place.

On the Banks of Pulling Creek the prominent feature is the Temple of Aquain and its priest, Rendel.  While he has gone rogue from the church, he still commands some respect in the area and is accompanied by two acolytes.  Because the church does not recognize his project he has found other means to supplement the repairs and the primary one is doing business with smugglers led by Rud Cutter.  Their relationship is tense.

You have a bit of history of the area with Blood Boulder, an ancient sacrificial rock that is still stained with blood even after centuries.  You've got the blood hawk who hunts the creek for fish and uses Scarin Island as a killing ground.  A mysterious set of stairs that ends 15' deep.  Who built it?  Why?  Or more to the point for adventurers, what the hell could be behind it?  And finally a local resource that has yet to be discovered.  And its discovery could change this entire area overnight.

With those situations I provide I hope to give depth to the area that GM can run with.  Maybe build an adventure around or just use it as an interesting spot along the way. 

So starts my 2016 campaign and I have to say 2015 was fantastic and a huge success for me.  Anyone can go grab the PDF of On the Banks of Pulling Creek, along with a players and GM map.  My fantastic patrons at the $2.50 and above level will receive a laminated copy of it in the mail. 

Dungeon Room & Hex Crawl Encounter Card

For a while now I've been using a pair of simple d12 tables to help me randomly create content.  I always had them in a notebook I could only find half the time.  Or had them in a file on my home computer, but when I went to the bookstore never had access to them.

My solution, as it is for many things these days, create a card and laminate the bastard.  Now I can keep one of these in my computer bag and whip it out when needed.  And if I spill my coffee drink all over it will be the one safe thing on the table. 

I did a batch of these cards today.  I have no plans for them yet.  Maybe someone can come up with a good idea. 

The picture shows the front and back of the card.  Very simple format.  I fiddled with textured background and sepia and other crap I didn't like.  I kept it simple and straight forward.   +William McAusland's art is the only ornamentation the card needed.

Last Micro-Adventure of 2015

It has been a fantastic year for my Patreon campaign.  I started 2015 with 28 patrons and ended the year with 66.  A lot of good people who have supported me in the past and present.  It's been an interesting exercise creating these.  Because of the limited size I've had to become more economical with my words.  I've toyed with more mapping techniques and different ways to scan and alter maps.  And I got to play with different types of layout to see what works and what doesn't.  It's been a real education.  In 2015 I completed 24 micro-adventures and 7 micro-locations.

Secrets of the Ancient Mine is my 40th micro-adventure released on Patreon.  My $5 patrons and above will receive the adventure with to cardstock sheet folded in a faux-zine look.  The inside of the cover is the big map and the second sheet is the adventure.  I was going to go with a regular sheet of paper, but I liked the feel and look of the two cardstock pieces.

Also this month patrons at the $2.50 level and above get a laminated copy of the Broken Bridge Inn.  The picture shows the uncut sheets.  They'll be processed over the weekend.

Anyone can click on the links and download the PDF for free, but if you want a print version then join in the fun.  While I share nearly everything I create for free, I sometimes add exclusive content for my patrons.

Enough of that.  Time for the bookstore and more writing. 

And the Winner Is...

+Keith G Nelson!  He wins 8 issues of The Manor and a copy of One Waiting One Prisoner One Sacrificed.  Congrats to Keith! 

And so concludes my Christmas giveaways.  Thank you to all those who participated.  On to the New Year. 

3 of 3 Christmas Giveaways

Here is my third and final giveaway in +Erik Tenkar's 12 Days of Christmas.  A little late, but well worth it I think.  I'm giving away all eight issues of my zine The Manor and I'm throwing in a copy of my One Waiting, One Prisoner, One Sacrificed.  All you need to do to enter is comment by telling me what the worst Christmas of all-time.  My worst present was the year I received Tylenol, Tums and Aspercream in my stocking.  That was the year I knew I was old.

And the WINNER is...

+Jason GURPS!  He wins a random batch of micro-adventures and micro-locations. 

Tomorrow I'll announce my final giveaway.

2 of 3 Christmas GIveaways

My second give participating in +Erik Tenkar's 12 Days of Christmas, is a crap load of random micro-adventures.  There is an assortment of laminated half sheets and 4" x 6" cards and card stock zine style adventures.  All are built for a quick one-shot, or location to place on the map or just a side situations that party may run into.  These are made to enhance you game by filling the in between places.  Plus they are just cool.  But I'm bias.

To enter, all you have to do is comment and tell me what you favorite Christmas present of all-time was.  I'll pick a winner sometime tomorrow night.

And the Winner is...

+Will Tijerina come on down, you are the winner of the first giveaway. And Mick Red please send me an email at elder(underscore)sensa(at)yahoo(dot)com.

Later tonight I'll announce the second giveaway.  Everyone who participated, the answers were great.  Thank you.

1 of 3 Christmas Giveaways

I'm participating in +Erik Tenkar 's 12 Days of OSR Christmas.  The first giveaway is a print copy of Starter Adventures.  A good place to start new players and even GMs.  Lots of small adventures and situations to help teach the game.  In addition there is a fully developed tavern and when your new players can tell a d8 from a d12 you can graduate them to the full adventure in the back.

To enter, please comment and tell me what you would like for Christmas.  And you don't even have to sit on my lap.  I just grossed myself out a little.  Comment, present, enter.  This is the first of three giveaways I have planned. 

Star Wars Memories

I start this post with saying I haven't seen the new Star Wars.  I'll probably check it out after the holidays and the initial rush has died down.  I'm in no hurry to see it.  I prefer to have the theater as empty as possible.  In this day of cell phones it's hard for me to enjoy a film with people are texting or taking calls during a movie.  I get frustrated, it takes me out of the movie and then I'm wish I had the super power to destroy electronic devices with a thought and maybe cause the inconsiderate texting fucks 2nd degree burns.

And a few years back when Star Wars did a re-release of Star Wars, 25th anniversary I think.  They added like 14.87 seconds of new footage that everyone was eager to see.  Friends and I bought opening day tickets just for shits and giggles.  I spent most of the movie defending myself from kids running around the theater with light sabers and the parents thinking it was cute.  I enjoy the hell out of kids getting dressed up and having a blast, cracks me up, but when I'm at the movies I want to watch the movie and not get whack in the head by a kid dressed like a storm trooper.  I don't think that is much to ask.  I waited a few weeks to see the other two when they were released and was able to watch the movie without the fear of a concussion.

But I love Star Wars.  I am not a super fan where I can tell you how many doors are in the Millennium Falcon or even what the different light saber colors mean.  But I enjoy it enough to appreciate a good Greedo or Porkins reference.  But I still don't know what a nerf herder is.

My favorite Star Wars memory was going to the movies in May of 1977, just freshly turned 9.  As part of my birthday my mother took me to see Star Wars.  Back then I was just happy to go to the movies.  Didn't know much or anything about Star Wars, it was a movie and that meant enough popcorn, candy and soda to make me sick to my stomach.  Perfect.

When I got into the theater I saw two of my friends.  We talked and I asked if I could sit with them.  She let me and off we went to the front rows where your face is nearly smooshed into the screen.  This was the first time I got to sit with friends at the movies.  It was a huge deal.  Then the movie started.  Seeing the light saber for the first time, those scary ass sand people and Darth Vader was big, and I wasn't sure what to call the guys in white armor.  Han Solo was my favorite character, but not because he was cool and shot first, but because he could understand Chewbacca.  The movie stayed with me.  I was able to see it a second time when my dad took me to see it for my birthday.  And I couldn't wait until the next one.

Star Wars, The Phantom Menace was also the first movie my now wife and I went to.  While the movie sucked wookie balls, I didn't care.  I couldn't tell you what happened in the movie.  But it served as a backdrop to our first real date.

With the new Star Wars I've heard murmurings of good.  I am not one that is too critical, I'm there for a good time.  I know once I hear that opening music (is there any other music that gets you more excited for a movie?!?) I'll be 9-years old again, sitting a few more rows back, waiting for that first shot and sound of a light saber on screen. 

One Waiting One Prisoner One Sacrificed on Sale Now (Only 50 Available)

Howdy folks, I have a little adventure I would like to offer you and your gamers, One Waiting One Prisoner One Sacrificed.  This adventure is a combination of three micro-adventure I wrote for my patrons.  The adventure starts with the party looking for three missing children and the investigation takes them into the fey realm.  There, the party explores the strangeness of the forest as the search for clues of the children's whereabouts.  And why are the fey so terrified?  The last part of the adventure takes the party into a twist tower on the edge of chaos.  And in like true fairy tale fashion, there is no "and they lived happily ever after".

The zine is 20 pages long that feature my hand drawn color maps, artwork from Forge Studios and some helpful advice from my wife, she told me when you make children into stew, the stew is not boiled, it is simmered.  I stand corrected.

I am only selling 50 copies and I've set aside a few others for giveaways.  So if you want a copy grab one quick.  I hope they don't last long.  If you are in the US it'll be $6 and everywhere else in the world it is $7.  Just use the Buy Now button below!

Where am I sending it?

USA $6.00 USD Rest of the World $7.00 USD

Or if you prefer to TPK the party electronically, here is the PDF of One Waiting One Prisoner One Sacrificed.

Buck-a-Manor Sale

All Manor PDFs are $1 at RPGNow.  I've got 8 issues that I'm proud to say I've done and hoping to get out another issue soon.  But for now, it's Christmas time, but yourself something for yourself without breaking open your piggy bank.  Hey, these Manor PDFs are a lot cheaper than an XBox One or the latest Star Wars toy. 

Check out some of the fantastic artwork that decorates the pages of The Manor.

by Jason Sholtis

by Johnathan Bingham

by Emily Burnette

by Jason Sholtis

by Ivy Shorts

by Mike Varhola

by Jason Sholtis

by Jason Sholtis, he has several pieces in Issue #4

by Jay Penn

by Jay Penn

by Jason Sholtis

by Dylan Hartwell

by Dylan Hartwell

by Jim Magnusson

by Jarod Shaw

by Garrison J

by John Larrey

by John Larrey

by Denis McCarthy