Campaign Journal: I Forgot My Notes, or, Beers, a Barrow, and a Beatdown

Welcome to another game-night scribbling...

Who's ready to rumble?

• Jax, Barbarian
• Fulvus, Halfling
• Frederick, Thief
• Slick, Also a Thief
• The Henches and Hangers-on

Like I noted on my last play report, if there is no cleric in the party, there will be a barrow... More on that, later.

First order of business. Fulvus had commissioned construction of a brewery in Neuforde. So it is desired, so will it be done...

My architectural drawing skills are rusty

A small brewery, designed off some fantasy floorplan I found, thought I'd downloaded, and could never find again. It's situated outside the new town wall, near the river and not far from the so-called "Bonk's Tower" gate on the north side of town. It has its first two employees, Adelheid Goold, a halfling new in town and with a brewing background, and Nordbert Underlake, the halfing bard picked up a few towns back. If his musical career doesn't pick up, he can push a broom. Fulvus is already making plans to expand...

The town continues to grow, especially with a number of new halfling "cousins" manning the walls for flying threats and other dangers. The rebuilt trading post will not burn down again if they have anything to say about it...

The party, reduced a bit without its two spellcasters and hench-cleric, decided to head out into the boonies anyhow, because there really isn't anything to worry about these days. Their intent was to seek out the next of the southern Barrier nodes, known to be along an overgrown trade road to the south.

They loaded up and headed out, with the intent to stop at Kabrel's Tower, where they knew that Thefri and a couple of other druids had holed up after being dislodged from Ashryn Tower by Chaos mutants. As they neared the tower, they noticed that the trees looked distinctly ... less friendly. 

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Particularly evidenced by a few Chaos mutant corpses skewered among the branches...

Team Lorax was definitely not messing around.

The party was confronted soon after by a pair of dire wolves. Thefri appeared and let the two good boys (Gagnin and Anzel) know that the party was okay, and Goober and the two wolves did dog things. His compatriots Divos and Albus were present, as well as two new companions, Eryn and Othulf, who seemed to be responsible for the tree magic. The druids reported that they had been watching the area for the abominations that were the Chaos mutants, and that the trees were sensitive to the Chaos forces. The manipulations of natural forces for malicious ends was an affront, and they weren't having any of it. The party camped for the night at the tower, and let the druids know that they were continuing south to find the next node location.

The Sanctuary of Oies, or, Dwarves Behaving Badly...

Greetings, heroes!

Tim graciously posted up a spare map some time back, and like so many maps, it languishes in my notebook with many of its kin. But occasionally, the muse strikes, in some way, shape, or form. In the case of Tim's maps, it seems that, at least for the last few maps I've stocked, there are either dwarves in trouble, or causing trouble. So dwarves it is.

The project lived unto the working title of "dwarves behaving badly" until I could give it a proper title. Here, we have a temple to a dwarven earth god, abandoned after a ritual gone awry. But... Someone wants to unseal the doom that came to the temple. That happens. The PCs must stop said ritual, or potentially be in a World of Hurt (tm). The adventure is set up with a timer, so successfully stopping the unsealing of the second level will halt the escape. But, if the thing escapes and is defeated, there may well be reward in the deeper level of the temple.

I had a bit of fun with the boss monster. It was a name that came to me as I was brainstorming, and I made a critter to fit the name. I hope it's disturbing enough. 

The second level map was provided by Jackson, and fits the theme of the scenario well enough, as well as helps illustrate the introduction and worship of a new deity. 

The cover art images were discovered among the works of Jacques Collet, and illustrate our namesake dwarves behaving badly...

PWYW Here

They Met At a Tavern 2: Another Deathbringer One-Shot

Howdy folks. Time for another Meetup One-shot session at the brewery. Since I'd had a successful run with Deathbringer last time, I wanted to play with the game a bit more. The night's miscreant PCs:

• Rosey the Plague Doctor
• Ferrick the Plague Doctor
• Timber the Deathbringer
• Young Gerrin the Scoundrel

Plenty of local healthcare providers

Note: No Witch Hunters, again. So yes, there will be undead... But first, the Shorter Half asked, "Aren't we going to roll for hats?" Of course we are.

I recently finished "The Temple of Dynss" and wanted to give it a playtest. The scenario is more appropriate for 2nd to 3rd level PCs, so I softened the lizardfolk guards, otherwise things were run by the book. 

The party got hired as expendables to go check out the goings-on at the abandoned temple, since the local lizardfolk tribe had become more belligerent lately. Having few coins to rub together, and the promise of heaps of jade sent them on their way.

Random encounter en route - a lizardfolk hunting party. Great... Reaction roll: 11. "Hi, would you like a rabbit? Look out for snakes!" The party soon arrived at the temple and cooked the rabbit for lunch.

Rosey reconnoitered the perimeter of the temple, with Gerrin scrambling up the ruined side to check out the platform. He spotted the statue and an undead gecko. With a little planning, Timber made a racket, and lured it away into the woods while the remainder of the party checked out the statue, which was surrounded by obvious scorch marks. So of course Ferrick went up and poked it. No boom. He got away with some pocket change left on the alter.

The party entered the temple proper, inspecting the first room. They took a close look at the stele there, then poked their heads into the large central temple room. Here, they were spotted by a pair of guards, who rushed them. Ferric missed his throw with a potion (an ongoing issue), but Gerrin and Rosey took out one, and Timber critted the second. The party checked pockets, then broke down a rusted door to find a small idol.

By now, it was time for another wandering monster, so I attacked them with the undead gecko because that was funny. They dispatched it without too many wounds. 

D66 Things Found in a Wizard's Tower

More D66 wackiness, this time what's knocking around in the labs, closets, and/or junk drawers in the abode of one of those arcane miscreants:  

D66 Things in a Wizard's Tower

"The Tower" by Ian Miller

11: Basket of 1^st level spell scrolls used for fireplace tinder
12: Apprentice, smoldering, eyebrows scorched off, haunted look
13: TI-84 pocket calculator
14: Animated housewares, currently on strike
15: Bundles of expended wands
16: Uranium 235, probably not properly contained
21: Fairy choir in iron cage used as musical doorbell
22: Frozen caveman
23: Apprentice, inside-out
24: Jars of powdered gems
25: Taxidermied basilisk for practical jokes
26: Mirror showing pocket dimension
31: Clone of self, speaks in reverse
32: Drugs. Lots of drugs.
33: Uplifted ape valet
34: Orrery, not of the local solar system
35: Wall of pointy hats
36: Lighting in a jar
41: Elaborate absinthe distilling equipment
42: Imp on a leash
43: Sandbox containing microscopic civilization that worships them as a god
44: Deck of Many Things, marked
45: Discarded pile of scorched armor and magic swords
46: Star charts and telescope, tomorrow's horoscope
51: 9mm Luger pistol
52: Failed experiment: Rope with One End
53: Scrolls with typos (Sheep, Protection From Emil, Floating Dick, Contusion)
54: Mechanical parrot that records 30 second long messages after cheep
55: Time traveler, just chilling
56: Sentient meteorite
61: Demon in French maid outfit
62: Magic mushroom grow-op
63: Apprentice, trapped in amber
64: Book of card tricks
65: Apprentice, DNA merged with fly
66: Comfy slippers

"I wanna show you a trick Mother showed me when you
weren't around to use on special occasions like this."

Download the whole mess here

D66 Warriors and their Quirks

Time for another D66 list - Warriors to encounter, whether on the road, the battlefield, or the tavern. I think it took me longer to pick names than come up with the archetypes. Names are somewhat relevant to the particular warrior's kit, and male/female options are provided, with a couple of exceptions ;) 

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D66 Warriors

11 Alexios/Philyra: Bronze panoply, xiphos, spear

12 Klaas/Gerhild: Mismatched plate, horse, lance

13 Ciniath/Modwen: Naked, painted blue, oval shield, broadsword

14 Skauvalf/Briendeg: Chainmail briefs/bikini, ancestor's sword

15 Reinier/Polonia: Fabulous hair, rapier, ruffled shirt, mirror

16 Titus/Volusenna: Lorica segmentata, gladius, horsehair plumed helmet

21 Melchior/Delia: Heavy crossbow, kettle helm, pavise, shieldbearer

22 Delwin/Rhian: Longbow, rondel dagger, bag of looted silverware

23 Yargai/Sokhatai: Shaggy pony, composite bow, fur hat

24 EN-247/EN-248: NBC-resistant powered armor, phased plasma rifle, 40-watt range

25 Ferdinand/Rosalinde: Zweihander, steel cuirass, hat with impressive plume

26 Vocorix/Sigesinda: Falx, lye-bleached hair, carnyx

31 Ciriacu/Artemisa: Murmillo armor, spatha, rudis

32 Thorbjorn/Ulfheid: Daneaxe, horned helmet, chainmail, braids

33 Vithimiris/Malasintha: Skull-faced helm, black spiky plate, serrated longsword

34 Galeran/Rousalie: Pot helm, tabard w/ holy symbol, mace

35 Caiden/Matilda: Kilt, claymore, buckler, bagpipes

36 Zelotes/Sofija: Straw hat, sling, bag of lead shot, tunic

41 Hrafnvartr/Skogrdrifa: Bearskin, round shield with toothmarks, axe, magic mushrooms

42 Iobates/Kastalia: Wicker shield, javelins, Phrygian cap

43 Ovechkin: Giant maul, equally large mustache

44 Balthasar/Nastaran: Scale mail, spear, Thracian helm

45 Tlexicmac/Xihuipin: Padded tlahuiztli suit, macuahuitl, jaguar headdress, death whistle

46 Krukk/Vura: Fire-hardened spear, skins, bear tooth necklace

51 Kagawa/Uesugi: Lamellar armor, goblin-face helmet, katana

52 Thoth-hotep/Hent-kherpu: Chariot, kopis, recurve bow, cool gold and lapis necklace

53 Mnqobi/Nozizwe: Oval shield, thrusting spear, leopard-skin cape

54 Alessio/Ginevra: Halberd, motley, lobsterback helm

55 Mahesh/Chandrika: Robes, iron-bound staff, book of koans

56 Cragark/Ordava: Club, alligator-skin breechclout, flint knife

61 Ambaxius/Vrogenia: Plaid trousers, wooden shield, two spears, gold torq

62 Reinhold/Ludwina: Pair of swords, boiled leather cuirass, domino mask, cape

63 Vojavona: Blowgun, penis gourd, frog venom

64 Otaktay/Chlumani: Leather breechclout, selfbow, spiked club, eagle feather

65 Hamakona/Makutu: Face tattoos, club, skirt

66 Guillaume/Seinfrie: Chainmail hauberk, nasal helm, kite shield, spear

Campaign Journal: Back To Neuforde, and Slight Detours

 The night's party:

• Frederick
• Rondel
• Slick
• Fulvus
• Jax

And away we go! The party passed through a couple of towns, spending the night in Alaric, a town of about 250 people. The party laid up in the inn (The Brass Lord) with no issues, however, they found that one of their pack horses had been poisoned in the morning, requiring a replacement. Odd.

They continued south. While taking a break for lunch, hench Roderick wandered off to relieve himself and discovered a barrow by falling into it. Thankfully, Tim Shorts had put that barrow there. After rescuing and healing poor Roderick, the party squeezed into the cramped barrow to explore. Rondel determined that nothing alive was down there to harm them. They puzzled at the pair of clay crow statues in the corridors, one of which had a tapping/scratching noise. For the moment, they avoided them, and Fulvus squeezed by one to enter a tomb. He found himself whisked away to face this thing:

...who clearly wanted payment of some kind. Fulvus offered it some gold coin, which it rejected. About that time, Slick was invisibly whisked in, as well. In spite of his magic ring, the thing seemed to sense him, and was doubly disappointed that he didn't have the correct toll. So of course they fought. Thankfully, both of our 'heroes' were able to do the thing in, without any harm, finding themselves back in the original chamber. At least they found some jars with some odd coins, a bracelet, and a roll of parchment with fortification descriptions dating back to the prior wars in the area. 

They Met At a Tavern: Deathbringer One-Shot

 It's been a while since I ran a Meetup one-shot at the brewery. After all, my original series of one-shots morphed into a campaign, and I ceased the pickup games. But, I've been itching to both run games for strangers, as well as play a few other games on my shelves. So I posted up for a Deathbringer one-shot, and picked a few possible brief adventures from the files.

I ended up with four players: Elijah, Roy, Mark, and Alex. Elijah, Roy, and Mark had gamed together before. None had played the system before, although Elijah was a follower of Professor Dungeonmaster. I distributed the rules and character sheets, and did a quick run-through of chargen and the five player options. There was some negotiation on what characters everyone wanted to play, and we ended up with:

• Artemis, Scoundrel
• Vandal, Grimscribe
• Blog, Deathbringer
• "Johnathan," Plague Doctor

I had a few options to run, and picked "Requiem for Atticus Stumps," by Tim Shorts. Tim's dark and grotty Komor Forest fits with the esthetic of Deathbringer, and "Requiem" has flexibility to explore multiple small locations depending on playable time.

The gist is that the adventurers are asked by a pair of elderly locals to collect a "death coin" from a local barrow to inter with their old friend to help his soul's journey onward. And since the party consisted of two out-of-work ratcatchers, a ne'er-do-well with gambling debts, and a former militia medic with a bad healing track record, of course they said yes. Especially with the offer of being able to share in the funeral buffet.

Oh fun. I'm dropping them into barrows without a Witchfinder. Let's see how this goes...