Eadulf Ridge - A Not-So-Beneficial Shortcut

Ok, Part II of the "shortcuts" from last session. This is another one of those little projects that has been sitting on my 'Writing things' folder for an interminable period of time. So I pulled it out in its exceptionally rough form for the game, since a finished product wasn't necessary, just notes and a theme. 

Here, instead of a couple of friendly inhabitants, we have some grumpy water-sprites, dead-set on keeping explorers' grubby feet out of their water. 

source

A good layout, with two possible routes, as well as the interconnecting stream. In its final form, I completed the original play-space concept, with dead or trapped smugglers and the batch of cranky sprites. The detailing on the behavior and intelligence of the sprites was developed during the play session itself (especially their intelligence and language). 

So yes, a good place to send players seeking a shortcut, and unaware of the new tenants...

Watch Your Step

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Getting Rid of Pests at The Shrine of Qriarae

A second recent campaign encounter scenario, prettied up for public consumption.  A few weeks ago, the party was seeking out a relic for the merchant clan they were trying to get back on the good side with.

I'd scribbled this shrine up previously, and modded it on the fly as the repository of said item. The party managed to subdue the bandits, and take care of the beetles before either caused more harm. Priest Erol got an advantage bonus on a spell as a reward, as well as the party finding the relic.

Hi!

The beetles were bespoke for the scenario, with a particularly hazardous ability due to their powerful pincer jaws. Fortunately (?), none of the beetles rolled well, so we didn't have any debilitating injuries... 

I refined the scenario a bit to make it usable at the table, with general ShadowDark stats and mechanics. The beetles have a bit of a timer component, with new hatchlings, as well as "Mama" finally breaking into the shrine proper. 

 Not much else to say on it - so will just share The Shrine of Qriarae with the world.

Tomorrow, the party gets nomadic.

"All in the Family" or, The Family that Prays Together, Stays Together...

... or something like that.

Here we have a family interred within their family tomb, which is also a shrine to their god, as well as a gateway for an avatar of that god to treat with them, other faithful followers, as well as those who may seek conversion and the gifts that act bears...

It took me a while to come up with what "lived" in the pool, until the phrase 'flayed god' came to me. Leaning heavily on the imagery of Xipe Totec, I went with it.

The OG Flayed God

Anyway, I'm not sure how this one turned out. It was an interesting presentation and content challenge. The adventure-bits themselves are basically one page, with lore, monster and spell descriptions, and other material taking up four pages... The spell Fear doesn't show up in B/X-OSE, with its first appearance in AD&D as a mage/illusionist spell. Likewise, Shadowdark has neither Fear or Remove/Cause Fear in its original edition. So those spells are included, and modified to fit the systems. I got lazy and didn't convert the family members and avatar to SD, but I think they are straightforward enough to run on the fly. Also, this can be approached as a delve, or potentially access to a resource, depending on how it plays out. 

Anyway, you can check in on the Viermetz family and their fleshless proselytizing here. 

Going to step into the Crumbling Keep of Khashmur with some other yahoos on Monday evening. Watch our hapless adventures here.

Step into the Green Hell: A Jackson Joint

Second scenario that I've wrested from my scribbled notes and made presentable. There are plenty more lurking, waiting to be transcribed between real work, exercise, appointments, remembering to eat, walking the dogs...

Anyhow. A good looping space with a significant amount of green.

Interesting. 

What would be growing down there in the dark? I scribbled a bit before some random firing of a brain neuron reminded me that I'd written up a model for a spreading, aggressive invader. No, not kudzu.

So, an ooze that has gained some sort of decentralized, alien intelligence has taken over a shrine. And not only may the PCs want to clear it out, but one of the individuals interred there certainly wants it out of their space.

Watch where you step.

Download me here

 

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

The Temple of Kalonius

Per my prior campaign journal, I created a temple/tomb for the players to raid and explore. The session was a good opportunity for playtesting the adventure, and I found some weaknesses in the face of my low-mid level party. 

The published version uses the creator's title for the deity, versus one from my campaign pantheon. The areas and foes are written for generic OSR play. Based on the playtest, I added a hazard and stiffened a few of the foes to increase the challenge if things come to blows, as well. 

It was a fun session, with some good problem-solving, hectic combat, and roleplaying. Along with the general chaos that is my group. Hopefully your table will have some fun with it, as well.

Download me here

Five Visits to Goldrun's Grotto

Howdy, neighbors!

A quick post to finally post up some original content that's not a play report.... 

I'm sadly negligent on creating. Again, the brain just ain't as obsessed at creativity as it used to be. Even looking at my production throughout the life of the blog shows a lessening of creativity and (perhaps) interesting stuff.

Enough woolgathering for the moment.

Jackson threw this map up at the beginning of the year:

source

...it looked like a good space, with an open-air grotto, a couple of entrances, and a loop. Off I went.

And in the theme of attempting a bit of creativity, I wrote up multiple scenarios, in the mode of my "4 scenarios" adventure writeups. This time, I ended up with five. So you get a bonus. We got various flavors of undead, hermit beekeepers, a suspiscious naiad, blind cave fish, BATS!, and a couple of Permian amphibians. 

Have fun with them, as a scenario may fit as a one-shot, side adventure, or locale for some item or knowledge within your own game. 

PWYW here 

Sunday Session - Don't Knock Over the Urns

 What happened this week, folks?

Tonight's party:

• Jax, barbarian+dog
• Frederick, thief
• Fulvus, halfling

And introducing:

• Brandor, dwarf
• Nolan, thief

We started in Neuforde, observing some of the new settlers and developments in the area (toll booth at new bridge, a few new homes, militia barracks, survey markers for future walls and a new temple). Things are booming in our little town on the frontier... (Oh, and Frederick just returned with the local halflings after finding some random goods that fell off some wagons. The local Adopt-a-highway program is effective.)

A bit of introduction, and the PCs sought out some rumors about the past history of the land. It seems that there was once some sort of barrier or network that helped keep Chaos at bay generations ago when the land was more settled. With the ensuing loss of the lands, and general instability in other domains, much of the local history has been lost. It is known that the "Ring Road" as the trade road passing through town is known, was formerly part of a border, although the route has been altered somewhat.

As a starting point in their search, the party headed upstream to a lake and cave previously explored and cleared of a polluting alchemist. On the way, they encountered a band of bullywugs, set on defending their territory. Through a bit of pidgin language, the party made clear that they were just passing through, and the leader seemed to recognize Jax. The bullywugs demanded a fee for passing. Frederick offered some pearls, and Fulvus his bag of marbles. The bullywugs were a bit meh regarding the pearls, but quite excited about the marbles. 

shiny marbles!

Reaching the cave, the party now sought to investigate some carvings that had been noticed during the prior exploration. Clearing some moss and debris, they deciphered what appeared to be a schematic representation of the local area, with a number of mystery points. Conveniently, one appeared to be nearby. Oh, and Brandor found a couple of unbroken bottles with mystery fluids in the ruined lab. I'm sure they are perfectly harmless...

Damn Redcaps - Chaos on the Frontier.

Sunday game, y'all!

Tonight's cast of characters:

• Frederick
• Jax/Goober
• Bonk

And two newcomers:

• Joe, playing Thayer the Elf (first time rpg player)
• Wayne, playing Fulvus the Halfling 

(both rolled "bald" on the Random Headgear chart, for those of you keeping track at home)

Again, because of a late start and smallish party, I set aside my planned adventure and pulled "Damn Redcaps" out of the pile. I figured it would make for some fun exploration and combat, particularly for a first timer.

I described how caravans coming into Neuforde had been harassed, and that the mayor, sensitive to the town's reputation, called on the town "problem-solvers" to go investigate.

The party trekked north on the trade road for two days. The dawn of the second day, Bonk was alerted by Goober that something/someone was approaching the camp. Seeing movement in the trees, Bonk awoke the party, who spotted a couple of gnolls peering at them. Not sure how many more were hiding, the party armed up, and I let Joe/Thayer know that elves could speak the language. He stepped toward the apparent leader, and greeted them in their own tongue. Taken aback, the gnoll responded in kind. A bit of a stand-off ensued as the pair cautiously exchanged greetings. Sensing that more gnolls were in the wings, Thayer successfully cast charm on the leader, who stood down. Some information-gathering later, the gnolls headed off into the woods, the followers somewhat confused by their leader's chumminess with an elf.

Yo.

Using intelligence gained from the gnolls, the party found the abandoned temple now occupied by the redcaps. After banging on the front door, Frederick finally picked the lock without issue...

Of course, the banging alerted the occupants, who scattered to attempt some ambushes. A few hid in the mess hall, flinging darts at the party as they entered. the party returned fire, killing one while the others escaped. Pursuing them, the party set off a blinding gas bomb. The halfling shook it off, but Bonk was temporarily blinded.

"How long does the blindness last?" "As long as it's funny."

Goober was enrolled as a seeing-eye wardog.

Investigating further, the party was set upon by a jumping spider, who failed spectacularly in ambushing Thayer. Frederick, in turn, was "blown up" by an illusionary explosive.

Entering a large cavern set off a bit of a running battle with the redcaps, who generally failed at dart-throwing, but cast enough illusion magic to hamper the party. 

"No Man is an Island" - or "Hop In, I'm Sure the Water's Fine..."

Time to post up another small creation for folks to explore.  

Jackson threw this up about a year and a half ago, and it's been languishing in the notes for a while. It's a good space, with a few looping paths, always good for having a few options or routes to access the depths. He added a number of features to inspire the space and its story, as well.

Source

Things to inspire:

• Water: Jackson does like his murky subterranean ponds
• Odd pools (Those of us of a certain age do like our spaces to have a room of mysterious pools) 
• What appear to be two styles of statues or alters in the various rooms
• Some green stuff

With the features, it took me a while to wrest the story of the space from the map. Certainly, the objective is on the island in the pool, as would be expected. But the elements that gave me a challenge in explaining their existence/purpose were the two styles of statues or alters. I vacillated between stele and more active guardian-constructs, and finally came to an idea of a single sacred space honoring two gods, an old and a new. It took a bit to justify this scenario, and I'm not sure how well it works, but I'll leave that to the readers to decide. 

As is common for our favorite underground exploration spaces, is is abandoned, and has fallen to neglect. It happens. Because of this, the entryways have been re-colonized by new tenants that guard the hallowed spaces beyond. And that green thing? One of the tenants, and a somewhat virulent one (a pared-down version of a somewhat classic hazard).

So feel free to take a look around "Urnage's Island Rest" and have a dip.

Greetings from the Applegrove Parish Chamber of Commerce

Over on the OSR Pick-up Games Discord, users came up with a "Make a Town" jam for a bit of a creative exercise, and to follow up on an earlier "build a class" jam.

And I do like making up little towns out in the hinterlands. So let's have at it. Jackson threw out this offering some time ago, and it's been in my prospects file. The name came from the wife after looking at the trees. That, and some random resident generation is good enough. 

I tend to refer back to Hommlet as my town format/content inspiration. So like a number of other towns, Applegrove Parish has a number of named residents and their relationships, an inn, temple, and the local god described. Some of the residents have mineable backstories and at least a couple are more than they seem at first glance. Of course... 

And there are a couple of random lists as to who is passing through town, and what might be found or rumored in the area. 

Download the town

So enjoy your stay in Applegrove Parish, and beware of errant gnome creations.

Cavern of the Wraith Count

Well, tonight's pick-up game cancelled due to The Plague in the house. Sigh.

Oh, well, gave me a chance to formalize some notes and build a space, this time a recent Jackson offering of a small cavern complex with a concealed tomb and treasure. The apparent chariot in the loot cache caught my attention, as they are a not uncommon grave good in notables' tombs around Eurasia. 

No horse skeleton, though. That's ok, I had an idea for that.

Tutankhamun's Grave Chariot 

And somewhere, I found the writing prompt title of "Cavern of the Wraith Count" - possibly Donjon or another random generator. But it stuck. And I had the Big Bad. 

The room contents were roughed out using the standard Moldvay matrix, then shuffled about to make some sense. It's a good space to work with - three 'water hazards' and a bit of a look, as well as some overcrossing corridors. 

I was scribbling away at the brewery a couple of days ago when another patron asked what my project was - He wasn't familiar with D&D, so I gave him a rough overview, and what the map/adventure entailed. He was most impressed by my various shorthands, scribbles, and lists on my working copy:

/..whatever, he was drunk

/Map in hand (and now with a list of monsters to wander and/or await), I typed it up this morning.

Count Malor Oseku got up to some nefarious researches in his life, and as a result, does not rest well. His besieged family attempted to bury him away, hoping that he'd be at peace, but he is restless and needful still...

Descriptions are brief, and critters are loosely statted on the OSE model. Includes a couple of newish magic items, and a couple of new or revised monsters. 

Download The Cavern of the Wraith Count here.

More to come...

9/27/22: Minor edits to adventure for flavor and details.

2/20/23: Additional minor edits based on the weekend's play.

"Notebook Failure Dungeon" play and notes

Well, wow. I ran my second open table Meetup OSE brewery game Sunday night. This time, I had a full table signed up. Crap. Better have an option or two for a larger group. 

My coworker Chris (as Frederick the Thief) was to attend, so I had one known quantity, but others were new. Fun fact, Chris had played in a epic multi-year campaigns in his youth. Where the final characters were the grandchildren of the original characters, and were tapping out at epic levels. So he's got a bit of experience... 

Everyone else was a ??? I had gotten a note from one player that it was their first time, other than listening to some podcasts. I assured him that was sufficient experience.

Turns out, of the five new players at the table, four had NEVER played an RPG. One had played a little 5e and a Star Wars RPG. 

OK. Let's do this.

Flip the pregens out, give the sales pitch on the character classes and some how-to's. Hand out dice (I had bags of gimme dice just in case, and I gave them all out). Run through the overall basics of RPG - describe situation, actions, roll dice if things are questionable. And you're a team. 

Like last session, I warmed up the table with some questions on backgrounds and character relationships. Elf seeking estranged father, disillusioned cleric, thief a disinherited noble, an oceangoing dwarf, and a fighter who left the farm in search of a mythical chicken. The usual.

A quick shuffling through the scenario pile and we're hunting goblins in the "Notebook Failure Dungeon."

I gave them the usual "goblins raiding farms" pitch, and that the abandoned dwarven temple may have something to do with it, and we were off.

Spoilers, of course.

The party entered the complex, and were confronted by the earthquake-caused chasm at the entryway. A bit of back and forth and a rope was secured across to traverse. When one PC asked about climbing in and out of the cavern, I (encounter roll) mentioned that they heard something in the dark below, and this:

Carrion Crawler by Rob Torno

...was visible at the edge of their torchlight. The PC chose to shimmy across the rope.

Scaldwater: Another Little Town on the Coast

Quite some time ago, I ginned up the story of a little thorp on a spit, separated from the mainland by a decaying wall. Why it was there, why it was walled, what it role may have been in the local politics or economy...

So Jackson crafted up another little burg with a similar geography and form around the same time, by the name of Scaldwater Bay. 

Like many maps and projects, it languished in the to-do list and backwoods of some notebook. In the interim, Matt crafted up one of the business establishments in the village, The Weary Wench, with a brief background, which I took it upon myself to expand.

Returning to Scaldwater Bay, I built out the remainder of the points of interests and personalities of note. It's been a while since I populated a town, so why not? And I needed to figure out where its name came from. 

And in the name of completion, I folded the tavern in as its own expanded feature in the town description. Because, after all, a tavern is where it all starts...

Download me here

A note - I uploaded this to itch.io, and will probably port over other selected works to that venue. Not that I expect to become a gaming dollarnaire, but more as the purpose of a tip jar. 

A Return to the Abbey of St. Martin

So we were at the brewery a couple of weeks ago, and as is often our habit, the wife and I were doing our creative things. She was doodling in her sketchbook, and I was scribbling up some map content. In the back of my notebook I found a filled character sheet and a short adventure. So I handed her the sheet and asked, "green or purple?" (dice). And off we ran.

Jax is a human barbarian that the wife rolled up via the OSE Advanced Fantasy Characters supplement. She's all about long walks on the beach, looking for helpful herbs, and being somewhat sketched out by magic.

And as she was on her own in this adventure, I gave her the option of a buddy.

"Do you want a hireling or a war dog?"

"War dog." (I should know this already.)

Meatshields provided "Goober" from Central Casting. Above average hit points, and a "rescue" dog. Although we weren't sure if he had been rescued, or performed rescues. More on that later. As I've done before, many of Goober's responses to commands or situations were determined, in part by a 2d6 reaction roll.

Spoilers, of course

Jax entered the old abbey, stepping carefully over the detritus of the entryway. She avoided the doorway to the left, continuing in and inspecting the floor mosaics. Jax felt that the pulpit area seemed a bit sketchy, so only gave it a cursory inspection (avoiding deadfall). The open door to the southwest was intriguing, and Goober was sent ahead to scout. Goober paused at the door and sniffed (2d6 reaction roll, neutral). Listening and peering in, Jax saw a large black furry lump. Recognizing it as a bear, she left it to its slumber, backing away slowly.

Exploring Marwater Cavern

Time to return to a Jackson Map for a bit of a seagoing adventure. This map was languishing in my 'project' file for quite some time until I had the correct inspiration to pull it out and populate the space.

Today's adventure brought to you by Cochinita Fluffy Tacos and Pilsner

So yes, another great space, where I was just having a challenge getting that first idea down on paper. A pirates' den was a good starting point, and, like many maps, there were just enough features depicted to help direct creating themes and filling the spaces with encounters, interesting items, and history. 

After getting the rooms roughed out, my primary challenge was getting the boats/ships in and out of that narrow passageway. Which after some thought (and recollection of multiple literature courses), was aided by a magic item inspired by the Odyssey's bag of winds. And there are a couple of low-powered or curiosity magic items, as well...

Progress!

Of course, rooting out pirates may create a number of options for seeds:

1. The PCs have been tasked by a patron to bring the pirates to justice, or barring that, cause them enough harm to hinder their actions and allow for a more conventional force to apprehend them.
2. The PCs either know, or have been assigned to retrieve the sage Bruno Poropat, who has been waylaid by the pirates.
3. The PCs' ship was attacked by the pirates, and they seek to retrieve goods and valuables (or a captured comrade).
4. The Marwater Cavern pirates are a rival band of privateers.
5. Etc.

The treasure may seem a bit light for a "Type A" hoard for a pirate crew. But don't forget to add one or two small ships to the total haul... (if the PCs do crime in the correct ways).

source

Click here for smooth sailing into Marwater Cavern

 

Vobleavira Haven Revision

Well, after the events recounted in last week's post, it was time to lift the hood on the adventure and do some tuning. 

Spoilers aplenty below...

A quick visit to The Mausoleum of Matias

Well, I have word that Jackson has recovered enough hit points to return home, so that's some good news for his recovery. 

In the meantime, a quick stocking exercise of "The Mausoleum of Matias" that he posted a couple weeks ago.

An inviting 5-room format

The mausoleum, per the creator, is heavily trapped (3 in the 5-6 areas), with the true tomb hidden behind a secret door. So a good space for the player characters to defile, er, explore. And, as I've done in a few other stocking exercises, the big-bad may be a threat or potential benefactor, depending on how they are played, and how the party interacts with them. 

Feel free to pay your respects at The Mausoleum of Matias. 

The Long Hall, redux

So a bit ago I entered the Prince of Nothing's No Artpunk Contest with a cobbled-together adventure using Jackson's "The Long Hall" map.

And, well, it sucked. No two ways about it. That said, I got some valuable constructive criticism in the judging. 

So nothing to do but take it home and rework.

(insert stock footage of typing away in the garret) 

Added some more story to the place, a few more NPCs, tweaked the baddies. Shifted a few things around to help the flow of the adventure. And dumped in more treasure (although the Bag of Holding hit the cutting room floor). So perhaps it sucks less now...

And now it's live, again, on itch.io. So have a look, see if it's improved, and enjoy your visit to the shrine... Where is that weird droning noise coming from? 

Some bad related news: Matt Jackson took a serious fall last week, ending him up in a trauma unit with numerous d6 in falling damage. Been receiving updates from his family, and now, thankfully, Matt himself. He has a healthy shopping list of injuries, but nothing that won't mend. That said, he's at the beginning of a long road of recovery and rehab, but I suspect it's hard to keep an old soldier down. So if you know him, feel free to drop a line of support, prayers to an appropriate deity, and/or good thoughts. 

Oh, and I received an Honorable Mention in the One Page Dungeon Contest, (again, with a "Matt Map") so there's that. 

A Pilgrimage to Aldo's Call

Not much to report - writing is off, been reworking a prior project to re-introduction into the outside world. Been getting outside and moving around...

So, this is Aldo's Call, named for a martyred priest whose death is memorialized beneath the dome of the local temple/shrine. Folks come from all around to visit the site, and the surrounding village is purposed to serve the temple and its many pilgrims. 

Visit the town! (download)

Crafted from another fine Jackson illustrated product.