Saturday Marathon Session was Filled with Athels

People drove from Michigan, Pittsburgh and Lancaster to join our game on Saturday.  We rented a conference room at a hotel ($100) for a 12pm to 12am time period.  Which I've already mentioned on Google+ has given me an idea about possibly starting an OSRcon here.  But one step at a time.

Dwayne from the Gamers Closet brought his amazing gaming prop, a Keep, Inn and Crypt beneath all molded from Hirst molds.  He did it all by hand and it is just incredible.  He did all the decorations, rugs, pictures, sconces, ect... and it really impressed me.

Dwayne is setting up our initial encounter at the Wulfgar Keep.

Dwayne created an adventure around his setting.  The gist, this keep is within a border barony that joined the Kingdom 25 years ago.  This barony is based off a Viking culture.  The Baron is enamored of the kingdom's ways which is in opposition of many his subjects.  We decided to use GURPS 4th Edition.  Rob made up characters for everyone before the session.  Now Rob will probably post his own version of what happened, but I have documented proof of what occurred.  All he has is a first hand account skewed to protect his dignity.  You'll only find truth here. 

Our group consisted of:
*Athelstan: Cleric of Mytria, Healing - (You are already here)
*Athelbert: Guard - Josh (he too cool to have his own blog)
Belafor: Cleric of Thor: only viking in out party.  He was blue. - Ken (Rusty Battle Axe)
Alia Rose: Scout, yeah let's go with that - Kelly Anne (Aliarose)
Sir Ellestan: A Foot Knight *snicker* - Rob (Bat in the Attic)
Cutie: Lego Knight - Gregory
* This became the running joke of the session.  How the game was full of Athels, from Athelburg.  It was funny at the time.  

A shot of the interior of the keep.  You can see all the detail Dwayne put into his keep.

Rewind a bit before we go to the keep.  We are gathered to help the border barony, we requisition supplies and in the morning when we go to pick them up there is a captain there that is going with us.  He and Sir Ellestan get into measuring the manhood battle (there was a lot of measuring tape not used).  We go on the road, its a 15 day trip to the keep.  Before we leave Sir Ellestan also gets a necklace from a powerful member of the mage guild to keep an eye on his progress.  A sleeping man talisman that allows communication between the two of them.  Its supposed to work while he sleeps, but can work when Sir Ellestan is awake.

While Sir Ellestan was on guard duty he got sucked into a dream conference and when he awoke from his meeting the captain he'd been measuring against was dead.  Throat slit.  Dead.  The blue Belafor cast See Secrets and found a pair of boot prints next to the body that were hidden by magic.

So no one slept well when Sir Ellestan was on guard duty.

We sent the body back to town when we reached a village then continued onto the keep.

Our group (bottom right) approaches the keep.

We met the baron who was very happy to have us.  I would even say he kissed our asses.  *smooch*  He explained a few people have gone missing and then his niece went missing.  Long story short, he asked for help.  No one around here seemed to know much or at least wasn't saying much.

Now Dwayne has this other prop...

Out of game knowing is okay...really.

So I used me clerical hoodedness and asked is there any weird location or strange temples in the area that might guide us.  Well wouldn't you know there was.  The Blood Oracle was down the road a bit, but no one goes there.  Of course they don't.  It's the Blood Oracle!

It was a day's walk away from the keep.  It was located in a dense thicket and we were told to only approach it from the front.  No explanation why.  With our group I was sure we would find out why.

BUT...something happen along the way to the Blood Oracle.

The tree across the mountain pass ambush trick. 

We were ambushed by orcs who blocked the way with a tree.  Remember, this is GURPS, not 1 HD meatbags that populate most games.  You need to take this serious and there were a lot of them.  We used our best and only tactic, mass confusion, one charging ahead, another running away, a few in between and me trying to dodge arrows while I kept people standing.  At one point Athelbert tried to ram an orc off the mountain side.  Great if is works.  It didn't.  Sir Ellestan caught him before he did a Wild E Coyote.  In the end we survived.

Then we arrived at the Blood Oracle.

The power of the Blood Temple caused my camera go out of focus. 

The oracle invited us in only after we defeated her guardians.  Okay sure.  Bring them on.  In Harryhausen fashion skeletons rose from the earth and attacked.  I would have been disappointed if they hadn't.

This is where everyone got polite, "No, no after you."

Sir Ellestan decided to go around the temple and got a lesson on when someone tells you to go through the front door of the Blood Oracle, you don't try to backdoor her....

It's a BYOB party at the Blood Temple.  Bring Your Own Blood.

Skeletons and nearly invincible plant monsters.  They were the ones guarding the sides of the temple that Sir Ellestan tried to not merge with.  As you can see there are many more skeletons on the ground than party members.

The Blood Oracle forbids skinny dipping.

We got inside the temple.  We slipped past a fat little imp by answering his riddle.  Then encountered this pool monster.  All we needed to do was throw in a coin, but instead Athelbert cannonballed in and nearly drowned.  But he didn't.  He's such an Athel.  (See how the joke works?  Its funny really.)

We discovered the missing people were in the crypts below the Keep.  Some shadow lord had them.  Crap.   Back we go.

*FAST FORWARD*

After some debate at the keep, the Baron's brother really didn't want us going down into the crypts.  Lots of arguing.  Needed to be persuasive.  We were.  Went into the crypts below and got another reveal.  The crypts beneath the keep and inn!

It's just a fantastic prop.  Just so cool.

So we get into the crypts and...

We get attacked by the Baron's men and his brother.  They've been sacrificing their own people to the Shadow Lord to gain power to expel the evil influence of the kingdom. 

What followed was an array of awesomely horrible rolls.  Rob rolled a lot of critical misses.  I have the proof.

In GURPS you only want to see this when enemy is rolling. 

Rob will tell you another story, but I have more proof.

That's Sir Ellestan on his back, Rob's guy.  The awesome guy in red is my guy saving the day.

The last battle was a collection of critical misses.  Even when the enemies had no defense.  All we needed to do was hit and we would critically miss.  In the end we won the battle, but we did not save the people.  We only managed to uncover the heinous plot. 

It was a fantastic adventure, the best prop set I've got the play on and it was a great day.  We played for 9 hours.  First marathon session I've played in for a long time.  We were out of the hotel by 10pm and got something to eat.

Ken bowing down before Dwayne for running such a cool adventure.  "I'm not worthy."

Rob Conley Gets Interviewed

My good friend Rob Conley of Bat in the Attic has been interviewed over at The Bedrock Blog.  Rob's a historian of RPGs and one hell of a GM. 

Beware of this Post, It Will Eat Your Wallet

Rob Conley from Bat in the Attic Blog and Bat in the Attic Games has unleashed his adventure set in the Majestic Wilderlands, Scourge of the Demon Wolf.  This book is jam packed.  Don't be fooled that this is just and adventure, it is also a companion to his The Majestic Wilderlands. 

Scourge of the Demon Wolf is a non-linear adventure.  It is a true sandbox adventure.  The players could solve the mystery in several ways.  Rob has playtested this adventure several times and has included some of his own experiences of the playtests within the adventure.  I liked his inclusion of his own notes.  The other great thing about Scourge is it a mystery adventure.  There are clues, suspects, agendas and an exciting conclusion.  I've run it myself a couple of times and it was a lot of fun running it and watching the players sift through everything they learn.

As I said, the adventure takes up the first half of the book, but this puppy is 72 pages long.  The second half of the book is crammed packed full of goodness for the Majestic Wilderlands.  If you bought the original I think you'll be very pleased with the companion pieces.

And if all this goodness wasn't enough, if you know Rob, you know he does the best maps in the business.  His maps are pieces of art on their own.  Speaking of art, Jason Sholtis and John Larrey did the art.  All of it.  Look at the color pieces for the cover.  I know those two worked hard as hell helping Rob bring his adventure to life.

But wait...there's even more.  Right now Lulu is running a 20% off sale.  Just put in the word JEKYLL.

The book is $15 and available at Lulu (it will also be available at RPGNow in a couple of weeks).  And the PDF is $10 and available at Lulu and RPGNow. 

Bat in the Attic is Buying

As I mention before I finished the edits on Rob's latest adventure.  Well over on his blog today he annoucned as a thank you to me, he would buy anyone who asked a copy of The Manor or Knowledge Illuminates.  So if you've had The Manor or KI sitting in your shopping cart head on over to Bat in the Attic and hit Rob up.  So far no one has taken him up on this offer.  Come on!  Get off your electronic butts and get something free.  Where have all the mooches gone?  I know Boric G could use a 3rd or 4th copy.

It's a pretty cool offer from Rob.  One I didn't expect.  Thanks Rob.  Now get to those edits.

Layout, Finding a Home for Art

Yesterday I spent 4 hours on seven pages of Starter Adventures. I did the layout for the dungeon adventure section and I forgot the fricking map. More layout time for me today. 

Rob Conley did the map and will do all the maps.  Jason Sholtis and John Larrey did all the artwork.  That's the best and hardest part of the layout having all these great things to put in.  When I did layouts for my other products I didn't worry about art because I had none.

For each drawing and each map I am trying to find its home in the space of the page.  I know it sounds dramatic, but it's true.  Each serves a purpose for a particular section of the manuscript.  Making them fit in a pleasing way is a challenge.  I guess I could compare it poorly to an art gallery where each has its space on the wall and there is a method to the presentation. 

When I checked my layout yesterday I noticed I placed most of the drawings in the right column near the bottom.  So I went back and altered the locations to help break up the text and assist in imagining the adventure I'm trying to convey.  It's an interesting process.  Although I have cussed out my computer screen for not doing what I wanted I think I have a handle on it.

Now I am onto the New Monster and New Magic Item sections and if I can get Ivy off the couch and pry the 360 controller from her hands (she is glazed over playing a marble spitting frog game) we may go to the bookstore.  Have a great weekend.

Blackmarsh Released

Rob Conley unleashes Black Marsh.  Go get a copy, it's a great product.  Oh, and the PDF is free so there is no reason not to get it.  The print version is $7.  Great work Rob.

PDF Entry Link 1PDC

Rob Conley of Bat in the Attic has graciously hosted the PDF for my entry into the one page dungeon contest. I posted a lousy picture of it in an earlier blog. It's still not pretty, but it's all mine. Take a look if you got a few.

Where is Margesh Blackblood?

Adventure Layout Epiphany

Yesterday, Rob Conley of Bat in the Attic asked a simple a question about whether people preferred inline stats or stats at the end of the adventure. Since I've got a few adventures in development I took a special interest in the answers. I was surprised by the overwhelming support for inline stats. I've always been a fan of having one or two pages in the back that I can photocopy to have in front of me while I GM. Because of this poll I'll be changing the layout of my adventures. I will do both inline and the back pages. Thanks to everyone with their input in his blog. It didn't occur to me to even ask that question. Thanks Rob.

I'm including an example of what my back page looks like. I use a HackMaster style sheet, but with my own tweaks that include the experience points of the creatures and treasure that can be found in the room. Also included are actions that individual PCs can do to gain an extra spoonful of experience.

Random Ramblings #4

I'm excited to announce that Part 1 of an interview with Bob Liddil will be posted tomorrow. His experience with self-publishing 20 years ago is invaluable. So check in tomorrow and see what Bob has to say.

Finally, I completed the first adventure for Castles & Crusades. The overall plan is to make the adventure short enough to complete in a single night. Of course this will depend on the CK's style and how much combat goes on. This will be the first leg of a three part adventure. Rob (Bat in the Attic) and Dwayne (Gamer's Closet) agreed to play test it for me soon. After that I'll be posting it here.

My character, Torrin of the Red Hand, continues to gain a reputation and fame he wishes would fall onto someone else. Torrin is now in charge of protecting Lake Town. Dwayne placed in this world without the craftsmen we would need to make armor or even find the metal to make a weapon or shield. But during one of my adventures I freed a fallen soldier from his undead existence and he told me of the Krill, dwarven equivalent in this land. I finally got around to finding them and was able to strike a deal, Lake Town has pearls they have iron. So now resource trading has begun in earnest and has been fun developing. Here's what we have so far.

-Lake Town trade fish and food in general for protection. The knight and paladins from the castle patrol the area.
-Lake Town has pearls and we are now trading it for iron from the Krill. This is a huge boon. And they sent a long a master anvil banger to train a few of my men in weapon and armor crafting.
-I've made a tentative alliance with a group of griffin riders. I saved a rider's life in an earlier adventure and Rob healed the griffin.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend. It's opening weekend for the NFL. My team, the Steelers, already got their win for the week so tomorrow I'll have more time to write instead of shouting at the radio.

Adventure Design

Lately I've been absorbing Castles & Crusades, learning the rules and its subtleties. One of the best ways for me to learn a system is to make characters. I'll create a couple characters for each class then go through a few mock combats. I am lousy at figuring out the initial rules of games so I often ask Rob or Dwayne for clarification. This time around it hasn't been too difficult of a learning process, mainly because C&C is so closely related to 1st edition AD&D. Gaining confidence in my knowledge of the system I thought it would be great to write an adventure.

For the past two, maybe three, weekends I have been dedicating a large chunk of time creating an adventure module for C&C. The premise of the module is it would be the first in a series of short adventures. Each adventure could be completed in a single gaming session. The players would start out as 1st level goobers and by the end of the series should be 5th level or somewhere in that area. The centerpiece of the adventures would be the Village of Aberton, a place where the players can rest, heal and get support from the villagers. Plus, it provides a place for character development and the exploration of the storylines within the village.

I think I have a good background and situation developed for the first adventure. I have interesting characters with histories that color the village. Rob is helping me with maps. It's a good thing to be friends with one of the best cartographers around. But, the one thing Rob, Dwayne and I have absolutely no talent in what so ever is drawing. So art will be minimal to non-existent.

I hope to have it completed before the end of the month. When it's done I'll post it on Gothridge Manor and possibly on RPG Now for a free download. If the response is good then I'll produce the series further and possibly start selling it in which case I could buy a few pictures.

On another note, our gaming night is tomorrow. Rob and I continue on in Dwayne's apocalyptic campaign. Should you have any interest in our game Rob of Bat in the Attic is twittering the session. We start tomorrow at 6:30pm EST, which means we really start between 7pm and 7:30pm.

First Dungeons & A Thank You To Mom

Rob over at Bat in the Attic wrote about first dungeons. That got me thinking about my first dungeons. The discovery that got me started in developing dungeons was a graph paper tablet in my mother's supply closet at her office. Holy crap, I just found gold. I asked if I could have it and before she said yes. Armed with a ruler and pencil I carving out dungeon map after dungeon map.

After I finished a few dozen maps I chose the maps with the best personality and started room descriptions. There was no logic or theme to the dungeons. Just rooms with monsters and loot. Blink dogs next to a room of ogres next to a hallway of Type 2 demons with an alcove where Beelzebub lounged. Didn’t matter how ridiculous it was, it was cool. I was doing it. I was making dungeons. And it was my first real writing gig. It was exciting.

With map done, descriptions described I was ready. But it didn’t feel right. Back into my mother’s supply closet I went. Good god all mighty a box of manila folders. I fricking rule! She said take them. So I borrowed her stapler and stapled my map to one side on the inside of the folder. There was room on the other side. So I made up a wandering monster table and stapled it there. I set the folder on its side and wa-la I had a cardboard screen just like those TSR modules.

I walked the halls with my homemade modules waiting for a study hall to break them out. I had one dungeon called the Taps Six Dungeon. It got kinda famous in my school. Everyone wanted to go through it. They wanted to know what the name meant. I just smiled and said there is only one way to find out. Actually, it didn’t mean a damn thing. I just thought it was a cool name.

So thanks to the supply closet at my mother’s office I started my career in developing dungeons then world building. And being that it will be Mother’s Day soon I want to give a huge thank you to my mother for allowing me to raid her closet and being understanding and allowing me to indulge myself on this weird hobby I really love.