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:

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

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

3. The “Mirv:” At 3rd, 5th, and 7th 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.

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.