Continuing Saga of Free RPG Day

Each year I look forward to Free RPG Day. It's just a cool concept and it gets me into the gaming store. My problem continues to be the gaming store. Each year they find a way to be annoying or go straight to be assholes. This year it was more annoying. First off, they allowed me to chose one thing from the box. I'm not sure how other stores do it. Maybe that's standard. But I was hoping to pick up a couple things minimum. 

The other thing that I find annoying about them is they have a lot of old, used gaming stuff in the basement. Had it there for years. I asked if I could take a look at the boxes. No. They were doing a computerized list of items and going to sell them on-line, but the person who was going to do that left last year...  So you have someone standing in front of you with cash in hand and... 

While I left with Vaginas Are Magic and bought an interesting Pathfinder: Occult Bestiary, going to that game store reminds me why I order most of my books on-line. The one game store that is closer and much more friendly, unfortunately, did not participate. I would have probably set up shop there for a while, bought some books and ran a game or two. 

Maybe next year. My friend and I were talking and may invite the owner to participate and we would help with the cost. That way the local folks where I live can check it out, have a friendly atmosphere to play and get some cool ass games. 

Ghoul Nest

I offer you my 66th micro-adventure and my 88th over all, Ghoul Nest. Getting close to that 100 mark. We'll have to talk about that. I'd like to do something cool. 

Back to the adventure. Ghoul Nest. "What?", you ask as you tilt your head to the side. "Why would a ghoul nest?" Good question. "They live in graveyards and eat the almost living." Good point. 

What if I told you there were ghouls with wings. Not the women's sanitation napkin kinda wings. No. Scary membrane, batish wings. They are small, undead humanoids with wings that have a paralyzing touch and they love nothing more than a warm skull full of brains. Nom nom nom. 

These vicious little bastards. They are minions of one of my nine death gods, Torox. Rivals to the Crow. You can find a sampling of them in MA#57 Judgement of the Crow. 

This adventure dangles an artifact in front of the party's drooling gobs, Ver-Kalapac or Blood Hammer. How simple it would be to step into the twisting spires of the Crow temple and take the artifact. No vast dungeon delving. No year long trek through fourteen different types of extreme weather. Just walk in and take it. Except...someone had already did that a couple centuries earlier. Still, kill the ghouls and there is some useful loot to be found.

GM ADVICE

Playing the Flying Ghouls: Use their flying ability to their advantage. When the party steps into the spires I'd give them a chance to look around for a round, maybe two. If they don't look up the flying ghouls would get a surprise attack. They are small and quick. They swoop down to attack and then fly back into the rafters. Out of reach of melee weapons. The flying ghouls won't land until they believe all their prey is paralyzed. 

Their paralyzing touch lasts one-third of their bipedal brethren, so these little guys move fast when they eat. To add some gruesome details, when a hit scores maximum damage, the character may lose an eye, or a finger is bitten off or part of the nose is torn off. 

Crow's Reward:  The forest, while forgiving of its denizens, loathes these creatures. If any character has shown interest in the history of the Crow or bears any symbology,  the flying ghouls will target that character. If they should cleanse the temple of the creatures and perform some sort of smudging or cleansing ceremony, that character may find a crow as a henchmen. The GM can fiddle with the details. When I do this I general have the character and the creature bond over a simple task it does. In this case, maybe the crow finds a pouch of silver the party missed or an silver ring lost in the debris. And as the game goes on, the crow will be helpful in more ways. A developing, non-magical, familiar. 

Artifact Carrot: If the party thought they were going to waltz in and find a artifact just sitting there after centuries...shame on them. However, if you have a hammer lov'n man (or woman) that would like to get their paws on Ver-Kalapac, then this can lead to following a trail of rumors and evidence. Who knows, maybe a future micro-adventure. Ver-Kalapac is not assigned any powers at t his time, but the name, Blood Hammer, would suggest it likes to fight. Something like this would not go unnoticed.

Well shit. That's all I got for now. Micro-adventures is at its highest patronage it has even been. So thank you. While I haven't struck the original art goal just yet, I'm still going to inquire about getting more original art for our adventures. Cause getting art specifically created for your adventures is just so cool. Grab the PDF for free and if you like what you see, join in on the fun.

Roll some dice, make your saves and check for traps...twice!

YouTube Video Unboxing

I've been toying with more videos for my YouTube channel. I want to get better at doing videos. I'm lousy right now. But the more I make the better I get. That's the theory I guess. My blogging has slowed considerably, but if I can make a couple minute video with my phone that would be great. I'll see.

I keep it simple. Whisk was helping me with the video shoot until she thought she saw her reflection in the tin then handed me the phone and ran.  I was abandon mid-stream, but like a professional it, didn't phase me. I carried on.

I'd like to do review videos. I have to find a way to do it so it is most advantageous for the product. Me flipping through pages as I'm talking about the book isn't what I want to watch. I'd like to find a way to present it better. I need to watch more videos, see what I want to do and what I don't want to do.

I want to do some reviews on +Christian Walker's "the tolling of the great black bell", those one-page zines are fantastic. +trey causey latest release, I don't have it in front of me and I would slaughter the title and still may once its in front of me. And +Charlie Mason's newest White Box book. 

So many things. 

So many ways to play.

Adventuring Themes: Sloppy Seconds

I've had a slow month as far as productivity is concerned. But I'm hitting the book store in a little bit and working on an adventure, using the traditional grid map I drew a while ago. 

Sometimes I use a theme for writing an adventure, this one would be sloppy seconds. Meaning, the party is hitting the dungeon soon after another adventuring party went through. Lots of evidence of mayhem. And I do take some license and narrate what occurred before the party arrived within the room descriptions.

I like to switch up the adventures sometimes with circumstances like this. How many times does the adventuring party hit a dungeon that is fresh off the vine? Aren't there more adventurers traveling around looking for a hole in the ground to loot? In my campaign, this is absolutely happening. If the party leaves behind loot thinking they'll come back for the rest later, they may find it cleaned out when they return.

That's what I'm working on today. How about you? What are you working on?

Old/New Twitter Beginning and Facebook F#*@!

I guess I've had a Twitter account since 2009. I'd forgotten. I did a few quick alterations and now I am Gothridge Manor on twitter. I've done some preliminary scouting, joined a couple hundred folks. If you are on Twitter and talk about gaming please let me know, better yet join me.

I'm still figuring out the hashtag and @ stuff. It's like learning a new language. I think I've got it.

I still haven't made any headway with the fucks at Facebook. My account is still suspended because I used Gothridge Manor as my name. Apparently the Facebook fucks are very concerned about everyone's safety...yeah I know, I couldn't keep a straight face when I wrote that. The Facebook fucks want to invade my privacy even more by demanding my license and other identifying markers. I told them I'd sent them a stool sample and they can run DNA tests on that. The amusing thing is, when I did use my real name, they still did not believe me. Apparently you can't be real if your name is the same as a piece of clothing.

I've never posted this much about social media before and hope I never have to again.

Oubliette, Rot Grubs and Minor Magic Items

Sorry for being quiet this month. Work has been kicking my ass. Big time. This coming week, at the end, I start vacation. And usually when I don't have work clogging my head I seem to become a creation beast. I want to take the time and start organizing what I've written. Then I can organize a schedule. Yes, you can stop laughing now. I know, me and schedule don't ever jive. But I can try.

One of the element I want to include in the sandbox is random set of ruins to populate the sandbox. Not sure how many I'll include or what format that's going to take (another reason why I need to organize my material this vacation).

Oubliette is a forest discovery. One of those many things found in the Komor Forest. While the premise is simple and short, this can be extremely dangerous. Rot grubs are a serious threat to a character's life span. 

And while I have dipped below the GM Advice goal you still can shut me up. I'ma gonna giv'ya my ardvice anaway. 

Atmosphere
The pit is dark, and quiet. If a torch is dropped down, just for a moment the party might catch a glimpse of the shackled skeletons before it hits the water and extinguishes. If your party is anything like the groups I run, their imaginations are going to go through a Rolodex of horrible things waiting for them in the dark. And even when they get to the bottom and see the skeletons they are going to freak out that the skeletons will animate. The atmosphere and the possibilities are the distraction from the real horror.

Rot Grubs
These wormy bastards strike terror in the hearts (literally) of adventurers young and old. And in a system where hit points are so few and precious, burning the rot grubs out could be as lethal as allowing them to squirm their way into your big, heroic heart. If the player heat up blades and try to do a controlled kill of the grubs I'd allow them to do only 1d3 damage. And for a character that has a half dozen or more on them, short of a Cure Disease spell, that player should be reaching for a fist full of dice for their next character.

Non-Heroic Deaths
Dying by a rot grub sucks. There is nothing heroic about it and that's something as a GM you'll have to decide. I prefer my games gritty and death by a dozen rot grubs is a perfect reward for those adventurers who don't take precautions. But I am not an unmerciful GM. Say the character has five rot grubs drop on their arm, I would allow someone to dismember that arm to save the  adventurer. The character gets to live, earns a background story and a nickname.

Awarding Minor Magic Items
One thing I love to see is players making use of minor magic items in unusual ways. To solve or create problems. Within the Oubliette, the party has a chance to discover a leaky Water Flask of Endless Water. A hand utility item, but I am sure the party could find uses for it that I haven't imagined. 

That's all for now. I have a batch of these short found places, micro-locations written. You'll see a couple more this month. And of course I am working on my next NPC card. 

Thanks patrons for the support and the fact you guys are a blast to game with and talk to on G+.

Enjoy!

Zombie Crawl Setting

Posted a 5 minute video featuring an abandon gas station and roadway with the woods taking over. A perfect setting for a zombie flick.

Kicksta te Missing Lette

A Mocking Tribute to Kickstarter Updates

Alert! Your Opinion is Needed

I'll print the cover  for my Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day offering, Temple of Putrescence, tomorrow, but first I need some opinions. Gamers never run short of those. Just ask them. Which card stock should I use for the cover?

The cream?

The tonal?

Give your vote in the comments below. Certain patrons of mine will get this in a fat envelope this month. But those of you who comment may get a copy also. I'll randomly select a few folks who vote.

Thanks!

Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day Meets the Temple of Putrescence

Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day is one of my favorite events in the gaming community. The sheer output of creativity is incredible. This is the kinda thing that makes our hobby so fantastic, how many create, expand and make our gaming experience extraordinary by allowing us to glimpse at what each of us do at our gaming table.

If you think about it, Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day is like getting to peek behind 100s of GM screens in one day. How many times as a player were you tempted to take a peek behind the screen when the GM had to go to the can? Come on, admit it.

Today the screens are folded and put to the side. We’re invited in to take a look around. To look at the maps and find those secret rooms. To read what special ability that monster had when it killed your favorite character. To check out that random table that always inspires incredible encounters. It’s all there for us today. All of it.

And that’s pretty damn cool.

Here is my offering for the day, Temple of Putrescence. It marks my #64 Micro-Adventure. This one is a wicked, end game kind of adventure/setting. While I am writing this for Swords & Wizardry Light, it'll require a good group of 7th level people to survive it...maybe. 

There is an old Gothridge Manor proverb, "When you piss off a death god, don't bother wasting your time by putting your head between your legs to kiss your ass good-bye, because the death god owns that too."

Enjoy the day folks! If you get a chance, stop over and grab a copy of Temple of Putrescence. It's like a torturer getting a new set of thumb screws. 

A Session in Ravensburg

Last session we left off with a mysterious ring. A ring of quality that had etchings that told it belonged to one of the great families in Ravensburg. 

Healed, Boneswa led his companions, Corder, a harden fighter, and Regina, a servant of the Whispering God, headed to Potter's End to meet Natalia Stoynich, a purveyor of rare antiquities.  She took on the task to find the family the ring belong to. It would require a few days time.

So off we went. Not to the Black Tower this time, but north, on the road to Willowgrove. A rumor of goblin bandits on the road led us there. We have had no luck finding them in the bowels of the Black Tower. Two hours travel with no goblin in sight, the rain making our trip more miserable. We decided to turn back, write off the day as a loss. But the goblins came to us. Demanding our possessions.

With a flurry of cocksure delivery, Boneswa told the goblins to take a nap. Three out of the twelve napped to Boneswa disappointment. Corder and Regina stood side-by-side forming a shield wall. The goblins attacked, Corder was rammed hard enough to knock him to the ground, blood dripping from a wound in his shoulder. Regina took a spear to her chest. Staggering her, but she stood her ground.

The battle continued Corder and Boneswa took two of the goblins down while Regina took a potion to mend her wounds.

The goblins regathered and doubled their efforts. Again Regina was caught off guard as one goblin kicked her shield to the side as a second buried his spear into her side. She did not falter, but knew if she was stuck again she would hear the whispers of her god.

But Corder and Boneswa killed two more of the goblins. Corder struck one of the goblins in the head spinning it into the air to land at the feet of their commander.

The goblins ran.

We did not pursue, but watched them run toward the silhouette of the Black Tower. Another day perhaps.

Regina fell to a knee as Corder quickly collected the right hands of the goblins for the reward. It was what they hunted the goblins after all. To return them for the reward of 10gp per hand. 

Returning to Ravensburg, we collected our reward and spoke to a guardsman. A John Argest, a veteran soldier of dark humor. There he told us of possible employment with caravans. Possibly work with more pay, less risk.

Returning to our inn we rested and healed. We waited until the third day when we returned to Natalia. She told us of a halfling family, the Lowell's that lived in High Tower, an affluent section of Ravensburg. While I offered her payment, she took none, wanting to build a relationship instead. To bring her curiosities from the Black Tower from time-to-time. This I could do and thanked her.

We traveled the short distance to High Tower armed with information about this halfling family of bankers. I imagined how much gold we could collect from returning the family heirloom. The gems and cons raining from our upheld fists.

But then we arrived at the house. The lawn unattended, the fencing broken and our hopes of a glorious reward fell as fast the the slate from the roof. We knocked and an withered dwarf answered the door. He asked our business and I did not hide the reason. Being coy did not seem appropriate and a time waste.

We sat in for a while waiting for Durston Lowell. The solo survivor of his once proud family. We exchanged pleasantries and I told him why we were here. The ring. A ring with your house crest upon it. I then presented him with the ring.

Durston immediately reacted to the ring, joy and sadness. The ring had been his brother he had not seen for many years. He showed me the necklace that matched the ring and its importance to the family. 

When he asked how much, I could not think of a sum that would be appropriate. I offered the ring to him without cost. Without obligation. A gift to his once proud family. A token of better times. A remembrance of a brother. 

Overwhelmed by the generosity of the ring, Durston offered us some of the adventuring gear that once belonged to his brother. A silver ring, a short sword and scabbard, and a potion. All magical. Much more than I would have expected, even if I had asked a tidy sum of a reward.

We left knowing some good came out of this day. We were greeted with opportunity, allies and generosity. A good day indeed. 

When Carl Dug Too Deep

When traveling through the wilderness not every location you come upon is a creature's layer, a forgotten tomb or a crumbling ruin. Nope. Sometimes you meet farmer Bob, milkmaid Mary or in this case, Carl, the guy who likes to build bridges and dig holes. 

Carl's Crossing isn't too far from Hounds Head, a couple hours walk. He's one of the many homesteaders located in the Komor Forest. He's ex-military so he can handle himself.

Oh but wait, forget what I just told you. It's all wrong now. It's not Carl. 

In Carl's Crossing, he dug too deep, struck a chunk of chaos element and it summoned a batch of critters. Most of them ran into the forest. This provides an explanation of why some of the stranger creatures within the Komor Forest found their way here. Thank Carl. All the creatures ran...except one. The doppelganger took the opportunity to  claim Carl's life. While not a motivated creature, it wants to upgrade its situation. If the doppelganger can find a way to take over someone's life who is in a better situation, it has no problem murdering the its target and assuming the role. 

I see Carl's Crossing as a place to pass through. The party may pass through it, or by it, a few times without much notice or interaction. Carl doesn't offer much in the way of adventure, services or personality. He's a low-key guy who likes to dig holes. 

I know I haven't hit my next goal of GM Advice, but I'm gonna add a little anyway. Why? Because I think Carl's situation is one that needs time to develop. A bit more than open the door and kill what's on the other side situation. Of course it could be that, but this situation has the potential to be so much more.

Carl is a background NPC. His movements go unnoticed. He digs his holes looking for Northmen artifacts to sell. Then one day one of the NPCs changes. Just slightly. For example, Herbert the travelling ale man, comes into Hounds Head, but he's not accompanied by his cat. He's always accompanied by his cat. The doppelganger tossed the body of Herbert in the hole with Carl. Assumed Herbert's life, he likes the extra money and comfort, but that damn cat kept attacking him. So the cat is laying in the forest somewhere.

A GM may have the players find the cat. The GM may also or in addition, mention to the players Carl has not been around for a while. Present the players with the clues and allow them to interpret and investigate.  Unraveling a murder mystery. My players appreciate a little mystery woven into the campaign, and it keeps them guessing. Was Carl the only doppelganger? And with the chaos element exposed, it could cause...let me correct myself...it will cause future problems. 

That's it for Carl's Crossing. Last month was spectacular and this month has already started out great. I want to thank new patrons Sterling Brucks, Search of Games, Joe England, Brandon Cole and my very first Keeper of Maps, Chris Pearson! 

Thanks guys! Your support is much appreciated. Enjoy!

Unleash March's Micro-Adventures

I had a minor delay this month, out of town training for my job and an anniversary to celebrate. I took a couple of extra days off to enjoy some time with the wife. Also I need to get March's Micro-Adventures traveling to their destinations. All are printed, laminated and clipped. 

March was a spectacular month for my Patreon, lots of new patrons that pushed us past the goal for NPC cards! The first in the NPC series is Trobor, a purple skinned goblin with prophesy on his side. Or if I know the players, soon to have a sword in his side. Trobor is my featured boss in New World Goblin. You've got a group of goblins with a purpose beyond silver and food. This group intends to awaken a forgotten goblin god. It could happen. 

The third offering of March is Stalker Island. The patron level for original art is at the $200 level and I hope to get there soon, but I couldn't wait. I needed art for this one. And I knew the guy to go to, +Jim Magnusson. I'm hoping to get enough pledges to keep him busy. Stalker Island is part of my Swords & Wizardry Light sandbox I'm working on. I don't think I've ever run an adventure with skulks before. I think this one sets up nicely, organically, which I prefer. 

My patrons have really been a huge support with suggestions and encouragement. I've got a few things already lined up for April! Adding another location into the mix and another NPC card. And of course an adventure or two.

Patrons thank you! You rock!