Campaign Journal: Into the Artificer's Lab

Welcome to yet another installment of my paltry campaign. I hope my USAian readers are busily digesting yesterday's feasts and didn't get into too many arguments with relatives...

Who's here?

• Jax- Barbarian
• Slick – Thief
• Orzu – Illusionist
• Rondel – Elf

So, to start, we were down a couple of players, plus Rondel's player was late due to a work commitment. And Slick's player needed to make it a short night due to a family commitment.  OK. So this is where things need to be flexible. First of all, we had previously planned on a break-in/heist, which needed spell resources from Rondel and Henry C. Plus we don't want to cheat someone from some potential fun. And I wasn't going to just sit and kibbitz for an hour. What's in my bag?

Well, I had a cavern map that I'd scribbled some stuff on. But not the one I was thinking of. Did I write different scenarios on multiple printouts of the same map? Wouldn't be the first time. Nevermind. I can remember enough to fill some time.

So Petre Gagua shows up at the tavern, concerned about a finding that he hadn't been able to get the Council's ear on. So the three party members saddled up and followed the captain out into the countryside. Sure enough, a settlement had been razed, and signs of murder and/or abduction. Always wholesome. Tracking drag-marks and prints, the group caught up with a trio of unsavory characters dragging a body. Stabbing occurred, and it was determined that they weren't undead, just very unpleasant. The trio wore tattered robes with rough markings of Khador painted on them. Orzu ripped open the robes, but nothing significant was found. Oh, and they had filed-down teeth. This wasn't looking promising.

Following more track, they found a cavern. Slick heard chanting, and rappelled down a steep shaft, finding compatriots to the original three chanting to a rough-hewn idol to Khador, as well as snacking on someone's leg. Lovely.

Returning to the party, all charged down the main passageway, overwhelming a pair of guards before they were able to defend themselves or alert their comrades. Orzu returned back to the shaft, casting down an illusory failed adventurer as a distraction. Successful with this ruse, the party was able to do some more shanking and retrieve some minor goodies. Upon closer inspection, the idol appeared to be a hybrid of the old and new versions of Khador. Unhinged, either way. 

With this, Faith Perpetual began its messaging to Jax. More unpleasantness was afoot... Suddenly, her feet weren't really her own, and off they went, deeper into the cavern, to confront... whatever. Standing on an isle in a pond was a figure, chanting among more deformed statues to Khador. Jax slogged through the pond, striking at the figure, but missing. Goober joined in, and got a serious singeing from the being's strike. Fortunately, Slick and Petre were able to join, and the being was gang-tackled to death. Or additional death, perhaps. Orzu, wielding a dagger, cut the thing's robes off, revealing a slightly glowing object in its chest. Yes, this was the thing. Jax cleaved it open, revealing...

Shadowdark: Bloggah's Blog Part 11: Wherein Doomsinger Gets His Bell Rung...

"Yeahgg! Get these beasts off me!"

"Down, dogs... Hey, they can't help it if you're eye to eye with a greyhound. Besides, you look like a chew toy.

"How's things?"

"Not bad, although I lost some coin at the fighting pit. Tarim got his dome rocked."

"Wow, that's a surprise. Bit off more than he could chew?"

"You don't know the half of it. You got any more of that amyonaise stuff?"

"Mayonnaise? Yeah, there's a squeeze bottle in the fridge."

"No way! This is the best! Shots!"

"Oh god..."

****

With Columbo's interpersonal skills in full force, we decided to boogie it over to the Adventurer's Guild, to stash the mithril, as well as see what options there may be for legal representation, just in case...

The last day of the Festival of Serath was in full force, with citizens bringing offerings to be burned in a hollow man, as well as offerings to help keep the oil burning in the temple, as it were... Tarim, always the curious sort, wandered over to check on the procedings, or perhaps start a holy war. Either/or. Sure enough, he got caught up in some disagreement with an acolyte while trying to "help" some fellow whose offering wasn't deemed suitable. Then ended up punching said fellow in the nose. I don't understand these barbarian religious traditions.

Columbo and I hastened to the Guild while Tarim wandered off to buy yet another suit of armor. We were able to secure Columbo's mitril in a hopefully dwarf-proof lockbox. Back to the armorer, where Tarim was getting upsold on a "membership" where he'd get first dibs on paying extra for armor with fancy bits. His coin... Columbo dropped of his masterwork armor, showing significant wear and tear from undead giant fighting. The repair lead time was several days, so he picked up some commoner's armor to slum it in the meantime.

That done, Tarim and I took the side streets back to Godfrey's place (our fixer). But he was distracted by the sounds of the fighting pits... Of course he signed up in the open category. This should be fun. 

Shadowdark: Bloggah's Blog Part 10 - The Cards Fall Where They May...

"Dude! Get out of the fridge!"

"No way! This stuff is wondrous! I've never had such a delicacy!"

"You're eating mayonnaise straight from the jar! Forget it - you can keep it. Hey, where's your bow?"

"What bow?"

****

...and with that, Columbo winds up to whack the elf. And disappears...

Doomsinger yells at the elf, asking where the dwarf went, and spooky elf just says, "I've showed him a possibility..." They guy is really starting to be a pain.

Whatever, I'm gonna take pot shots at those undead over in the corner.

Doom swings at the elf - because that what he does. Dremont gets a good smite in. I shoot an arrow off into the dark somewhere. With that, the elf, obviously intimidated by our martial prowess, poofs! out of there. Dremont finds a card that he dropped, and likewise poofs away.

Damnit, now we need to find two new dwarves. I scramble onto the pedestal where the elf was standing, see what's left, if anything. Sure enough, a card. Big surprise. It has four figures on it, obviously your favorite heroes. Images of two, the dwarves, seem to be fading away. Great. Doomsinger is getting antsy, he doesn't care for this magical mystery tour. 

Ok, magic magic magic. What does it do - how do I turn this around, get the dwarves back? This card has time magic, so they may be when as much as where... Hmm, if I could turn back time. Oh well, can't hurt. I flip the card.

Two rifts open, and spit out a pair of dwarves. Woohoo! I am magic!

The rifts stay open. And a demon follows Columbo. Boo, I'm not magic enough.

You're as cold as ice...

Magicking Up the Magic Missile (for Shadowdark)

Ok, now that my co-players have been whining about Shadowdark magical casting, it's my turn. Or Bloggah's turn, at least.

"Hey! Look at this! I found this old tome in your archives! It has all sorts of magic!"

"Um, that's my AD&D Player's Handbook. And I'd appreciate if you didn't get mouse pâte, or whatever it is you're eating, on the pages."

"Just a moment.... I could have three magic missiles? What is this sorcery?!?" 

"Well, some of the rules scale the spell at higher levels."

"Where can I get some of that?"

"Tim said you'd have to do some research."

"Bah! If I knew there would be reading involved, I would have just kept that cursed bow!" 

***

So yeah, at the end of last night's session we were kibitzing on how some spells scale in Shadowdark, but not others. For instance Dremont (Ken) is rolling multiple d6s for his Cure Wounds spell at this point. But, as is expected of a TTRPG, homebrewing happens, and Tim tasked Bloggah (or me) with coming up with a scaled Magic Missile spell worthy(?) of Shadowdark.

I came up with three four (added based on a comment from Ken):

Magic Missile and Magic Missile Accessories (For Shadowdark)

Magic Missile is a cornerstone of any self-respecting wizard's spell-book. So much so, that the spell has earned a permanent ADV status among the spells, allowing a bit more ease in manipulation of the arcane forces required to cast it out into the fray.

That said, any number of mages from various schools, collectives, and haunts have experimented with bolstering this rather pedestrian spell to better represent the powers and skills of its caster. In other words, to make a bigger, badder, boom.

Of the variants, three casting adaptations have emerged to take lead among the choices. 

All spell variations have Duration and Range as per Magic Missile and may be cast with ADV spellcasting check once learned.

1. The Bigger Caliber: At 3^rd, 5^th, and 7^th levels, the missile damage die size is increased by one (d6, d8, d10, respectively). The spellcasting DC remains as Tier 1 (DC11).

2. The Sniper: Missile damage is increased to d6+1, and is also rolled with Advantage. The spellcasting DC remains as Tier 1 (DC11).

3. The “Mirv:” At 3^rd, 5^th, and 7^th levels, the number of missiles is increased by one (2, 3, and 4, respectively). The missiles may be individually targeted, or all focused on a single target. DC increases according to spell tier. No one knows where this nickname came from.

4. The Big Missile: At 3^rd, 5^th, and 7^th levels, the damage of the missile increases by one d4 (2d4, 3d4, 4d4, respectively). DC increases according to spell tier.

Note: Due to the unpredictability and mutability of arcane energies, any individual mage must select one version of the spell to specialize in once they advance to 3rd level. To learn the selected advanced Magic Missile variant, the mage must successfully make a Tier 3 (DC14) spellcasting check. Failure means that they are stuck with the basic version, and have a sneaking suspicion that other spellcasters are giggling about them behind their back.

Note 2: Not playtested. Cast at your own risk. The Scorn Chapter of the Guild of Arcane Knowledge accepts no responsibility or liability for spell mishaps, performance anxiety, singed eyebrows, or rifts in the space-time continuum.

BAZAP!

Campaign Journal: Wherein Slick Goes Poking About

 Full house, keeping their heads down at the Chalice and Cock inn:

• Slick: Thief
• Fred: Thief
• Fulvus: Halfling
• Jax: Barbarian
• Orzu: Gnome
• Rondel: Elf

The city just felt different. More troops billeted in the bivouac areas outside of the walls. Fiery speeches from the steps of the temple extolling the City's and Theocracy's right to the western lands and duty to push back both Chaos and the forces of Chirath and the Hougan Duchy. Just the good ol' general beating of the drums of war.

Yo, listen up!

Ideas were bandied about as to how to seek out old contacts, possible allies. Brother Sigeric was known to have been incarcerated by the Council, but perhaps some of his 'orphans' were still about. The military commander, Alonso Ngom, had seemed amicable during their last sojourn in town, but now? The surviving rescued patrol members had shared info in the past, and Petre Gagua had shared a copy of the patrol's journal with the party. The Council was a no-go, after the last interactions. And those Paragons of the Comet were a bunch of assholes.

Frederick questioned Burga, the establishment's owner. She knew that St. Vivinna's Home for the Wayward was under new management, but a couple of the 'orphans' happened to work in her kitchen. She sent out word, and a few made themselves available to get a feeling of the word on the street.

It was confirmed that Sigeric was still at the temple's dungeon, getting 'reeducated.' Time for some recon. Does this city have sewers? Most certainly. Anyone who might be a guide? I know someone, but she's an odd duck. We're used to that.

Mini Review: Nuul Dice & Hexacube Dice

Behold, the Dice Goblin approacheth.

Picked up a couple of sets of math rocks recently, and sharing my thoughts on them for you, my dear reader(s).

First off, the Nuul 2d6 pair. I was alerted of these via an Agranak Studios video. As an unrepentant aficionado of the 2d6 reaction roll and its various uses, I picked up a pair from Tower House Creative via their Etsy page. The original run was 250 sets, and as of this writing, the dice are still available.

I received the dice, along with an instruction insert, bookmark (currently in my Shadowdark rules holding the 'Wizards Mishaps' page), a sticker, and a couple of random dice.  

The dice are a good quality resin in a dark pearlescent green ('malachite' per the maker). Each is a d6 with numeral outlined with an icon. The purpose of the icon is to give information on the reaction and personality of an NPC. For instance, a 'skull' icon represents hostile or chaotic, and a 'mist' icon represents uncertain or neutral. The icons may be read singularly, or in pairs. The dice come with instructions on interpretations of the paired rolls (in a d66 format!) to provide suggested reactions or behaviors.

They Met at a Tavern 6: Into the Macceum Sewers

Last-minute Meetup game on Veteran's Day, since the Shadowdark campaign took the week off. I had two players sign up, but only one showed - Brian, a Repeat Offender. The Shorter Half was also present. Run for whoever shows. 

We were set up for a Shadowdark session, and with two players, I had Brian pick two PCs from the pile. 

• Brian: Gashyakh, half-orc priest, and Ham Biddulph, halfling thief
• Seana: Muckdakk, half-orc fighter

All were boosted to 2nd level.

The three were introduced as recent arrivals in an unnamed City. As non-citizens, there were few legitimate job opportunities. But the Sewer Patrol was always hiring...

Some time ago, I cobbled together the Macceum Sewer II, a rewrite of a Tim Shorts creation. I'd never run it, although I'd gotten a message or two from people who had with some success. 

Anyway...

The three "heroes" hiked up their waders and took their Sewer-Patrol issued shovels and slime-scrapers (pay docked if they would lose a tool) and headed into a section of the City's sewer to inspect and perhaps clear out a bit of vermin.

D66 MORE Ways to Die

Death is not unique. But occasionally some of the forms in which it approaches are at least uncommon or unexpected...

Boo!

So we return to the terminal randomness of the D66 table for several other ways for a PC to take leave of the mortal realm...

Download me here

This one borrowed a bit from the Fiend Folio, among other occurrences...

Byeee!

Note: I'm currently reading The Book of Elsewhere, co-written by Keanu Reeves (yes) and China Mieville, centering around an 80,000 year old warrior who can be killed, but who cannot die. If that makes sense. About 2/3 of the way through - it's getting... interesting. Oh, and there's and equally unkillable babirusa...

source

Shadowdark: Bloggah's Blog Part 9 - Wherein Bloggah Becomes an Archer

Hey Bloggah, nice bow. Hadn't noticed you carry it before.

What do you mean? I've always had this bow. It's an old family heirloom.

Are you sure? And why do I smell roses?

****

Ok, so we woke up, good and early, and recovered from the skullchildren adventure of the day before. Something told us that we needed to venture back into the Harrowing, but we weren't really in the mood yet...

Columbo was already out the door, off shopping, probably. We might as well do the same. I was still curious about that spell cast on the creepy kids. Only one place in town that might be able to help with that, so I took Nigel's advice and went down to the Guild of Arcane Knowledge. Tarin and Dremont, not having anything better to do, tagged along. 

The place is pretty snazzy. Tower (of course) surrounded by a wall pierced with arches. People milling around, looking like they're on business. I go up to a guy in a robe with a bad cold, ask him about the spell. He doesn't know, sneezes into his sleeve, asks if I'm a member. Nope.

Ok, I gotta sign up. Go down the hall, turn right, not left. That's cause left looked something like this:

Bigger on the inside and all that. 

Ok, right was the recruitment office. Got the spiel, signed with the bloody thumbprint, turned over a few coins. Asked them about the spell, got sent back across the hall. You guys got a scroll for this? 

They go looking to see what they can find. In the meantime, I look around. What's on the counter over here?

Interesting, a bow. Too bad it's not my thing. Hmm, smells like roses. Interesting. I'll just take a closer look. 

Interesting. This is my family's heirloom bow, originally owned by my seven-greats-grandfather Bagwell. It has never left my hand. 

I walk out. The clerks are making some commotion behind me. Maybe they mislabeled something in their card catalog.

Campaign Journal: You're Sailing Back to Where?!?

 Let's see, who's standing on the beach?

• Slick: Thief
• Fred: Thief
• Fulvus: Halfling
• Jax: Barbarian
• plus various extras

The party stood on the bloody beach as the carrion birds began to circle and dusk approached. Xandra Ironhide's surviving dwarven marines dragged back to their ship, where the rowers, exhausted by Rondel's haste spell awaited. They were not moving until at least morning.

Fine. Slick had a roll-call to make with his newly pressed crew, and we might as well take advantage of the camp. Slick counted out the eight surviving sailors of his new ship. Six were normal humans, and two showed signs of mutation (scales and beast-eyes, respectively). A couple of the crew also had some useful skills, such as sketchy portside contacts and questionable surgical skills. A fine start to a seafaring life...

The camp was tossed a bit more prior to bedtime, revealing logbooks, a spellbook, and a couple of jars containing mysterious substances. Probably nothing to be concerned about, here in a Chaos mutant camp...

The party slept. As they slumbered, Jax had a vision. She found herself looking over the shoulder of an armored knight. From the surrounding fog emerged a veiled figure accompanied by three great cats. She addressed the knight, and Jax found herself a mere observer. “I see Chaos rising again. Not since I intercepted part of Medeg's comet has it been this active.” The knight nodded. “And you have a new bearer. This one's not a knight, but seems honorable... They are seeking to recover the Barrier. That is good. I feel that my followers in the north also are seeking this knowledge, but something had fogged my vision of them. 

"Two things to remember. First: remember where the armies fell. That may be of aid. And when reconstructing the lenses, remember the shards. For like finds like, and some Chaos may be necessary..." With that, the vision ends. Nothing like a god to be helpfully cryptic.

The rest of the night passed quietly, except for a pair of scavenging monitor lizards. Slick was going to leave them un-accosted, but when they lost interest in the battle dead and began to enter camp, he decided murder needed to happen. Fulvus and others joined, and the two reptiles were slain (+1 head for the brewery wall).

The two ships sailed back to the dwarven island of Thaehaspho in the morning, uneventfully.

The Potato Barons, A Shorts Interlude

Damnit Tim. 

First of all, you tempt poor Bloggah in the Guild of Arcane Lore, then you post up this perfectly cromulent little map, complete with the descriptive sentence: "Two potato farmers, brothers Burke and McHale, have several acres of potatoes. They have titled themselves the Potato Barons."

Fine, a brief bit of freewriting to occupy my evening and expand upon my flippant comments on your Reddit posts...

***

Two potato farmers, brothers Burke and McHale, have several acres of potatoes. They've dubbed themselves the Potato Barons. A decade ago, they homesteaded the acreage under a land charter from the local baron, Ser Erasmus Cludge. The land has been generous to the two farmers, and they easily raise a surplus of tubers to support themselves beyond the baron's annual tithes. Their groaning carts of potatoes are a welcome sight at the local markets in the summer and autumn, particularly as winter begins to set in and folks stock up their root cellars.

Their homes are set up along the trade road on the north shore of the local stream, Bruderware Creek. The stream provides irrigation water (and the occasional giant frog). Burke, a lifelong bachelor, has a compact house. Out front are his storehouse/tool shed and private distillery, in which he concocts a reasonably good vodka for sale, gifts, and bribes for the local tax collector. McHale's home is a larger two-story structure, which also incorporates a stable for the brothers' draft animals. McHale, his wife Lizzy, and their son Arejay sleep in a mezzanine over the stable. Both homes are surrounded by low walls of mortared river stone.

Several years ago, an ankheg was causing problems for the farmers. A group of wandering heroes were able to defeat the beast. In reward for assisting them, Burke and McHale, gave the adventurers a cart full of potatoes. Surprisingly, the party was very happy with the reward. 

In defense against any other ankheg incursions, as well as roaming ruffians/adventuring parties, Burke and McHale have contracted with local conjurer-artificer Skandeleous Krank to create guardians to fend off threats. Krank, always a proponent of “Conjure Locally,” produced for them a pair of potato-golems to watch over their fields... 

Hey, you work with what you got...

Say Hi to Burke and McHale here

(Complete with monster stats and a bit of surprise artwork)

Shadowdark: Bloggah's Blog Part 8: Children of the Scorn

Title blatantly stolen from Joe and Paul.

Whoa, you look rough. 

Tell me about it... Damned kids...

(Note: Bloggah has missed a couple-few sessions due to work and travel)

***

So there we were, standing on the edge of the Harrow. We looked at the decrepit and collapsed buildings as the fog cleared. This place needs some urban renewal...

Creeping through a vacant lot, we find ourselves surrounded by a bunch of kids with skull faces, or skull masks. Is it a holiday?

source

One approaches with another of those accursed cards. Columbo lets the kid slide it onto his shield, in case it explodes. Nope. I look at it. Image of the Forest Spirit on one side (lot of good it will do here) and an old, complex sigil on the back. Something to do the the Ash Elves, I hear.

Are they going to attack us? Of course they're going to attack us...

Fine.

D66 Ways to Die

Howdy all,

Out of town on family matters, so delayed on posting up various game session reports and other meanderings. But I did plan ahead and stashed a couple of new lists for placeholders and postings in the meantime:

Oh what could this be about?

Oh, the myriad ways for out PCs to die - some glorious, most ignomious. A preliminary list of deaths and demises. A few of which I've experienced or witnessed in game sessions of yore. 

Download it here

And don't worry, if you don't find your PC's chosen doom, I've got another list floating about.

Surprise!