They Met in a Tavern 35: New Players Enter the Game

No, not necessarily at the table. Tonight: 

• Dan: Kiara, elf Ras Godai
• Rick: Bjorr, 1/2 orc Paladin
• Seana: Zanegar, 1/2 orc Sea Wolf
• Dave: Darkmist, elf Thief
• Andrea: Gabor, goblin Priest
• Chris: Thorn, Dwarf Wizard
• Gordon: Gnashkrud, Half-orc Priest 

Gordon's been at the table before, but has been running and playing in other campaigns that conflicted with stopping by lately. So again, not the player I'm referring too... 

Anyhow. The party spent the night at Saint Gyles' pyramid. Being good houseguests, they helped with a little light housekeeping (disposing of serpent-folk bodies) prior to departing. They rode eastward, to the sound of grinding stones, as the ghost resealed his crypt.

The party rode on, discovering a cairn carved with old runes and a depiction of a deity - a woman with raven feathers, geometric symbols, and a measuring staff. Zet peered at it and declared her to be Gyslana, an old goddess associated with portals and gates. Sometimes travelers and road-builders also prayed to her.

The meditations on the goddess were abruptly ruined by a pair of ghasts and several ghouls. Most of the party fought off the choking stench, and Gnashkrud effected a turn undead. Most undead fled, a couple rolled Nat 1s and exploded, and one very angry ghast remained to proceed to take revenge on the priest. Ghast-stomping happened. With the presence of the Gyslana shrine, the party theorized the undead to be a party of unlucky surveyors.

Did they come from a grave or barrow? Can we raid it? Well, of course you can. This is why I always keep a few extra barrows on hand. 

Light was cast, and down they went. Darkmist checked a door - no traps. No, trapped. A burning hands rune singed off their eyebrows. Some minor grave goods, a healing potion, and a piece of meteor were found. A second door was not trapped, but the chamber had already been cleared but for some pocket change. The main chamber of the barrow appeared to be where the original foes hung out. A final door at the end of the chamber was cracked open, revealing a grumpy Wight. 

rawr

Bjorr charged it and... got his sword stuck in the door. The wight attacked back, causing harm and drain to the paladin. Thorn webbed up both of them, allowing the party to dispatch the wight without any more bad touch. 

More loot (primarily decorative weapons and armor) were claimed, and on they went. 

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. 

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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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The Temple of the Pass - A beneficial shortcut...

During the last open table session. the party traversed two "shortcuts" through the labyrinthine Badlands, with the hopes of cutting time off their journey. I'm still writing complete sentences for the first complex, but the second is ready for a quick share.

The first one, of course, was full of hazards - territorial water sprites - that did not want explorers in their caverns. The party was able to respectfully negotiate passage, thus avoiding a running battle and fusillades of ice shards. Color the GM disappointed, but a good solution is always to be respected.

And, since not every location should be filled with danger, even out in the uncharted lands, the second cavern network and shortcut was populated by a few interesting, and potentially beneficial, inhabitants. 

via Dyson

So welcome to the Temple of the Pass, a small complex that grants the party access to lands beyond, as well as gives them a respite, some small boons, and a bit of a augury for the journey ahead. 

Home to an imprisoned and de-powered genie, it still resonates with magical power. The genie is accompanied by a hermit capable of divining the future through the tellings of the standing stones. And the weird guards? Well, I'm not sure how insect-god guardians got crossed up with a forgotten fire god. Perhaps it was a divine work exchange program. 

 Anyway, sharing it as a location to drop into a hexcrawl or point crawl if a shortcut through barrier geography might be needed. Enjoy.

They Met in a Tavern 32: Through the Passes

Looking across the Badlands: 

• Chris: Thorn, dwarf Wizard
• Dan: Kiara, elf Ras Godai
• Roger: Drom, dwarf Desert Rider
• Seana: Zanegar, 1/2 orc Sea Wolf
• Callista: Erol, elf Priest

And, once again, someone found a halfling while shaking out their boots:

• Madaket: Bomb Murfin, halfling Wizard

cropped from original

(Madaket is a friend of Callie's who heard about this silly game-thing and has been trying to join for a session. No, she has never played a TTRPG before. As I've posited before, first-timers are among my favorite players. As we will see.)

So the party, having vacated the strange metal ship and its guardian spider, reviews the gifted map and gets their bearings (it is at this moment that out gamemaster realizes he left tonight's session planning on the printer at home. No worries, he can remember parts of it, and has random lists for the rest...)

Finding some more carved and stacked stones indicating a shrine or protective stele along the buried roadway, the party proceeded (after Zet took a rubbing, of course). Igra the kobold read more poetry.

Cresting a dune, cries for help were heard issuing from a talus field. Kiara chose to investigate. And was surprised by a serpent that manifested from the rock.

not unlike this

Kiara suffered a bite, and unfortunately was envenomed, failing her roll. She felt the light fading...

Others joined to aid, and the tricky thing was dispatched. Just another of the Badland's native critters... Kiara was stabilized and lashed to a horse.

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Some minor treasure was found, and the party moved on. They soon found some ruins around a subterranean complex. Debris and relics indicated that it had been a couriers' waypoint at one time. The party explored a few rooms, then retreated, more interested in finding the "shortcut" caverns described by the spider.

A series of cliff-face catacombs were spotted, and since night was falling, the party left their exploration for later.

They Met in a Tavern 31: Regarding A Further Brief Survey of the Spiders of the Badlands

We take a break from the World Cup to adventure:

• Chris: Thorn, dwarf Wizard
• Dan: Kiara, elf Ras Godai
• Roger: Drom, dwarf Desert Rider
• Seana: Zanegar, 1/2 orc Sea Wolf
• Callista: Erol, elf Priest
• Dave: Darkmist, elf Thief
• Andrea: Gabor, goblin Priest

The party awakens from a restful night around the odd metallic, humming obelisk.

Did it keep you awake, too?

Breakfast, and time to get on the road. Drom led the way. Around a few bends, he heard a barking dog. Some cautious slinking about, as PCs are wont to do. A ring of standing stones surrounding a cold fire is found, as well as a cliffside opening to a possible shrine. Zet looked at the runes, determining that they symbolized safe travel. They are cautiously greeted by a one-eyed old woman in tattered robes and her massive dog of undetermined genealogy. She introduced herself as Sesuna, a hermit meditating at the old shrine. The dog was Dawit. "He helps provide for me. We don't need much."

The party asked what or who she might have seen? Serpentfolk to hide from. Other parties, possibly seeking the cities or other treasures within the badlands. No. No odd spiders.

Sesuna showed the party a statue to the shrine's patron, Zulona, a lost god of travel and good water. Likely established long ago when caravans and other wayfarers were more common. Kiara offered some coin for a blessing. Sesuna shook her head, and pointed to her empty socket. "I need an 'eye' to see for you." Some puzzlement, and a gem was procured from one of the loot piles. Sesuna placed it in the socket, and the gem vanished. But now the party won't roll "lost" rolls for three days. Anything we can thank you with? If you come back this way, bring me the names of any lost gods you may find. They need to be named and remembered.

Off they went.

Hurried footsteps approached from behind, revealing Igra, one of the two kobold guides. They had been ambushed by the spellcasting spiders, and Rogs' luck had run out. Igra had returned to the party. Might be a better way to riches than mining, anyway. Besides, he'd always wanted to be a poet...

"Behind Me dips Eternity

Before Me Immortality

Myself the Term between

Death but the Drift of Eastern Gray,

Dissolving into Dawn away,

Before the West begin..." - kobold poetry 

They Met in a Tavern 29: Misadventures in Freya's Shrine

Welcome back to another installment of Fun In the Badlands. This week we had a full table:

• Rick: Bjorr, 1/2 orc Paladin
• Chris: Thorn, dwarf Wizard
• Dan: Kiara, elf Ras Godai
• Seana: Zanegar, 1/2 orc Sea Wolf
• Callista: Erol, elf Priest
• Dave: Darkmist, elf Thief
• Andrea: Gabor, goblin Priest

Going from zero to two on priests. So much for my "waves of undead" plans... :p

EDIT: Oops, forgot to add the player/PC polling. Why do you seek the lost city?

• Drom (previously) - Magics to bring water back to his people
• Bjorr - Grand adventure and finding secrets lost
• Thorn - The rumored lost magics
• Kiara - Possible allies for her community
• Zanegar - Adventure, possible northwest passage?
• Erol - Places of religious significance
• Darkmist - Drawn by rumors of seven cities of gold
• Gabor - Adventure and relics

Everyone (except Drom) had reconvened at camp, and were getting saddled up and ready to go. Speaking of which, what are your horse's names and dispositions (dispositions per Cursed Scroll 2)?

Bjorr has the advantage of the paladin's mount (Reliable or Lovely disposition only). Everyone else was on their own, and clearly most are not horse people. No comment on the names.

Onward, into the breaks of the Badlands. 

“The Badlands Twists Its Creatures” - Utilizing the Shadowdark Monster Generator

“The Badlands twists its creatures.” This was a rumor (and/or warning) passed on to the Sunday night PCs a few sessions back, perhaps from the nomads. 

Probably just an old wives' tale. Nothing to be concerned about.

Spoilers for my players, so be on your best behavior. 🙄

Second installment in my June Randomness Wagoning... 

Now, my prior campaign players/PCs were no stranger to the mutants engineered by the vivimancers in the mountains. As I mentioned way back when, Jon Becker's "Comes Chaos" and Steven Cook's "Chaos Hordes" were used for all my mutation needs. 

Particular player "favorites" were the Damned Horses, and that one naked guy running through the battlefield who no one wanted to get near. Cowards.

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But now we find ourselves in a new campaign, and a need for new randomized random monsters. In the flavor of Shadowdark.

So cracking open the rulebook, we find ourselves on Pages 190 ("Monster Generator") and 191 ("Make It Weird"). 

The critters were generated with four d20 rolls to get the basic build, and then d3 mutations to spice it up. My initial rolled results are below, followed by some quick thoughts, and the final creation. For the Party Level, I'm assuming Level 3 PCs.

Secondly, they are moving into the "badlands," which I have described as an arid region characterized by canyons, ridges, and natural labyrinths. Creations will be suited to such an environment.

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I rolled/created mostly honest, with one exception...

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.

They Met at a Tavern 15: A Visit to Zorus Island

Who subjected themselves to my GM skills:

• Michael (repeat offender): Goblin mage
• Seana : Elf thief
• Matthew: Elf Priest

Usual Meetup Malady. Full table that dissolves to a couple of folks. Fine (shuffles away planned scenario). That's why I carry a sheaf of adventures. 

With a small party, I decided to try out a Zorus Island scenario. I mean, it's only been seven years since I wrote them. No need to rush into playtesting.

The three got word from the local harbor master that a resupply boat fled after encountering "zombies" at the dock, followed by a hastily-scribbled note by carrier pigeon from the island's small watchtower.

And since the party was capable and/or expendable, they were given a boat and tasked with finding the truth of the goings-on. They circumnavigated the island, before deciding to start at the dock. Scattered supplies were left on the dock, with no one around. Poking around the buildings, they found a corpse infested with a black, dusty growth.

They quickly returned to the spilled supplies, finding linens and making up ad hoc facemasks.

They Met at A Tavern 14: Return to The Serpent Cult

First of all, it's been about 2 1/2 years since I ran this adventure. I'd dovetailed it into my growing (inadvertent) campaign world, and recalled that we'd had a good time taking down the cult. So why not Shadowdark it up?

The Meetup crew:

• Adam - Rugrord, half-orc priest
• Tyler - Marthal, elf wizard
• Jimmy - Ren Halder, human bard
• Seana - Khori, dwarf fighter

I used the module setting this time, with the party arriving at the settlement of Haven by boat. As per the last time, though, it was a port of surreptitious cargo comings and goings, with the "Solinsky brothers" exchanging coin for no questions. Khori ("drifter" background) had passed through before so knew where the tavern was. 

Approaching the tavern, they see Pip, an entrepreneurial elf, selling very large eggs from a handcart, which he claimed to have found along the shore. 250 coins? Too rich for our taste. Rugrord (hi WIS, low INT cleric) is certain of giant chickens. Entering the tavern, the party got rumors from the barkeep, and pointed toward the town's Elder for a potential job. Marthal left immediately, leaving the others to finish their drinks...

Elder Oddmar told of the town's issues - missing boats, cultists, and oh yeah, the eggs. The herbalist Helga may help as a guide, if needed. She was agreeable, as long as they kept an eye out for spiders.

Off they went.

The party headed south out of town, following the coastline. No eggs. But they did find a wrecked fishing boat, possibly one of the errant ships.

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They were inspecting it, finding claw and corrosion damage, when they were confronted by five cultists. 

The Flesh-Harvester Skeleton

On the prowl for skin and bone to tear
I'm a skeleton looking for meat to wear

                                               KMFDM - "Hyena"

Those animated bones, they remember once being clothed in flesh and muscle, with blood in hearts and vessels, breath in their lungs. And some hunger to feel that again, even if only for only frail moments.  

Draped with flesh and offal from their flayed victims, groups of flesh-harvester skeletons swarm their prey to strip them of their mortal cover to momentarily enhance their own being.

get that meat back!

AC: 6/13
HD: 2*
Atk (BAB+1): 2 x claw (2x1d4)
Movement: 60’ (20’)
Saving Throws: D12 W13 P14 B15 S16
Morale: 12
No. appearing: 1d6+3

Upon first contact, the skeletons will be seen to be "wearing" rotting flesh. Each will have 1d6 extra hp garnered from prior victims. On a to-hit of 18+, the skeleton strips flesh from its target, gaining temporary hit points equal to the damage (up to 2x max hp). They will tend to target unarmored individuals en masse. All that armor gets in the way of collecting that sweet, sweet meat...

The "swarm" and flesh compulsion inhibits turning attempts, granting -1 against undead turning per four skeletons present (round up). Otherwise, they exhibit normal undead qualities and immunities (Make no noise until they attack. Immune to effects that affect living creatures (e.g. poison). Immune to mind-affecting or mind-reading spells.)

Campaign Journal: Keepin' up at the Keep of Madrual

Who's stormin' the castle?

• Slick-thief
• Fulvus-halfling
• Jax-barbarian
• Rondel-elf
• Plus Various Hangers-On

Some quick retcon to describe the interactions and reactivation of lens at Vansho Reliquary. A significant observation was that two undead knights in residence who were bound to their funerary chamber now had free movement around the place.

Back to the present: The party assessed Toronin as Librarian Grancet repaired and etched the lens with the help of his bound demon. Benedikt noted that they would need reinforcements to hold the hardpoint if the Barrier was to remain intact. Gerhard was dispatched to see if he could rustle up some troops.

In the meantime, Cleric Henry Cee was reminded that he had a Potentially Useful Relic in Sister Sowena's Gauntlet. Donning it and casting about, he located a small mass grave of slain soldiers from the original fall of the Barrier. A handy platoon of skeletal warriors was summoned, arising from the turf, reattaching limbs, digging up rusted weapons. And soon enough, Gerhard returned with a similar platoon of (living) soldiers and Roderick, Fulvus' archer hench. Reunion made, and Roderick was put in charge of the station's defense. The party and others departed as the soldiers and undead set to digging trenches and sharpening stakes.

The group moved north along the West Trade Road. Several towns they passed through were completely depopulated, either by apparent Chaos raids or fleeing refugees. Coming to the small town of Lany, they found that the Beguines led by Sister Isabel were still entrenched with the locals. They were aware of the predations and turmoil along the road, but were staying put for now, as their oath was to aid and heal. The party encouraged them to decamp for one of the recently liberated fortresses, where there were troops and fresh fortifications. 

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Bella Hoekstra, former second in command at St. Vivinna's Home for the Wayward, caught up with the party (while also conveniently disguised as a beguine). Acroria was in turmoil, with the merchants and clergy overriding the military on the city council. Conflicting commands were going out, and large numbers of incarcerations were occurring for a variety of trumped-up charges. Most of the “wayward children" had either been arrested or fled. It seemed that little aid would come from Acroria, if at all.

With this in mind, the party considered heading straight to Gaerborin Keep, known to be held by Acroria troops, in an effort to sway them to their cause. But securing Madrual, the next node to the north was a priority. The party had never visited the location, and its occupants were unknown. Off we go.

Lost and Found Adventure 2: "Dungeon 001" by Logen Nein

I really need to organize my files better.

So I was downloading a few free maps for later reference/inspiration when I found a folder containing a handful of maps that Logen Nein had posted up on the reddits. Most of these maps were from when he was first experimenting with mapping and posting them up for critique and use. I've cobbled together an encounter area using one of these maps before.

Hmm. What's this folder? Oh look, this map...

...and a half-finished dungeon-stocking exercise dated March 2023. Holy unfinished projects, Batman. Yes, one of many temporarily or permanently abandoned projects.

I'd come up with quite a few features and foes to occupy the space, but had never determined a theme or raison d'etre for the place.

The big-bad had been inspired by a post and illustration from Yuri Perkowski, one of the illustrators of Shadowdark and other RPG products. It occupied the space denoted as "22. Chimera-type monster, born of cataclysm, broken thing" on my map. 

And then it sat for two years.

Ok, let's print this thing out, figure out names and personalities for the placeholders left in the old document. Make some justification for the highlighted and "???" inserts. And what the hell do the four classical elements have to do with anything?

Two more days of scribbling and squinting, followed by rampant theft from Wikimedia Commons.

And a (hopefully) cohesive exploration space filled with hazards and discovery. I leaned heavily on my favorite spell supplement, Theorems & Thaumaturgy, as well as a couple of other favorite resources. 

Add a silly alliterative name, and let's post this thing. Statted per OSE/flexible old-school stuff, best for a mid-level party with a bit of resilience.

Welcome to Lysimachur's Elemental Error. Watch your step.

"The Remains Of A Most Unfortunate Party" - More Shorts Inspiration

Well, If I'm going to steal his maps, I might as well use the title he gives 'em.

Here's a good little space. Some finished rooms hidden within a cavern that open to a second, deeper cavern. And a good title, "The Remains of a Most Unfortunate Party." Well, knowing Tim, they were probably "unfortunate" in a rather grim and gristly way, so I figured I should try to honor that, at least. 

We explore the place for its novelty or its resources, perhaps.

And yes, as the PCs are poking around in here when they come across the remains of another party that clearly got in over their heads. From a tough foe that doesn't take any real damage from some of the normal go-to methods. This is perhaps a chance for some of the less martial or poorly-equipped members of the party to shine. We'll see.

Enjoy your visit, and don't trip over "The Remains of a Most Unfortunate Party." Enjoy the shiny foe.

Tim's Patron is here. Free membership tier available plus upgrades that include receiving print versions of adventures and NPC cards.

 

"Why is it Always the Spiders?" - The Map

Well, a couple of months ago, the party nearly met their match with a belligerent phase spider. So I figured I'd take the time to clean up and present the session notes for general consumption. I plan to do this with more of my locations and encounters from the campaign, since they might have some utility for folks, or at least a peek behind the curtains...

Anyway...

Original session prep notes

I had scattered treasure and magic items throughout the original, but the party only made it to the irregular room in the center of the map (essentially the 2nd room encountered) before being set upon by undead and the phase spider. In this writing, I came up with a justification and mechanic for the random magical treasure. And yes, the list of magical items includes a few items “donated” by the party. 

Our party was generally sixth level OSE PCs, although they were hampered by bad initiative rolls, as well as bad saves against the undead, allowing the spider to take advantage of her magic.

So here it is, all prettied up and given a cutesy name.

Download Me Here!

I can see a critter like this becoming an ongoing foil for a party, or perhaps a resource to negotiate for magical goods with, based on her propensity to collect sparkly sorcerous baubles...

Campaign Journal: Breaking the Siege

Who's saddling up?

• Jax - Barbarian
• Fred - Dead Thief
• Rondel - Elf
• Fulvus - Halfling
• Various Mooks

We started with a bit of retcon as the party stepped from various sinking ships onto the two dwarven galleys. Well, except Fred, who was probably unceremoniously bundled along. 

At the end of the battle, Slick still had an active water breathing spell, so I had made up a D10 random treasure table of how much he grabbed before the sinking ship became too much of a deathtrap. They got a respectable pile of loot. 

The two ships sailed on to Chirath, then sat just out of catapult range as Rondel flew to the citadel guarding the harbor (somehow not getting shot). Some tense conversation with the guard captain, a few dropped names, and the city's Legate was summoned to meet with Rondel. The party has interacted with him in the past, and he was aware that they were out and about seeking resources. A cutter was dispatched to escort the dwarven ships in, and they entered the harbor under watchful eyes.

Like this, but full of dwarves.

There was animated discussion on whether the dwarves would be allowed off the ships...

By now, word of the ships' arrival had run through town, and the city's priest and librarian hustled to meet their counterparts who had arrived with the party.

To the business at hand. De-corpsifying Frederick. Well, that does take some time and effort and correct sacrifices and gifts and chanting and such. And we really need an addition to the temple. Ok, if we name it after Frederick and Rondel, since the party emptied Fred's pockets and Rondel put in most of the rest. And so the local temple now has the new "Frederick & Keebler" hospital wing.

Frederick was going to take some time to recover, once he was dragged back from the afterlife (where he witnessed forgotten gods panhandling for worshipers). In the meantime, the party caroused, of course. Property damage, taunts and boasts, feats of derring-do. The usual. The surviving ship's crew was discharged with substantial coin, except Geatio, who was kept on as a hireling because of his chiurgeon skills.

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Once all were healed and over their hangovers, it was time to plan. The lenses had been secured in the city's main citadel under the watchful eyes of the Library Paladins. The Legate approached the party and let them know they would have aid, because this was a concern for the whole region, and much bigger than the party.

Campaign Journal: Rapture of the Deep

A lot went on - gotta get it recorded before my notes become more confused... 

Who's aboard? 

• Jax - Barbarian
• Fulvus - Halfling
• Slick - Thief
• Rondel - Elf
• Frederick - tardy Thief

So, first things first - we needed to resolve some carousing outcomes from last session.

A few dice rolls, and Jax was determined to have pulled off a small heist (200gp item).

Frederick busted up one of the better joints in town, got blacklisted, and paid several hundred gp damages.

Slick didn't get off the hook, either. As the party headed to the dock for departure to the dwarven isles, a shadow passed overhead, and the party was confronted by knight (and squire) on a flying carpet. Benedikt Silberbauer was insistent on satisfaction regarding the duel challenged the evening before.

"Gerhard! My dueling swords!" No level-draining sword for Slick... Honor must be claimed in a duel to scars! 

Fine. Slick squared up, went invisible, and whispered into Benedikt's ear, "But I am not honorable," ducking below the knight's swing. Visible again, he squared up, and the two went at it, evenly matched. Back and forth, until Benedikt slashed Slick's face, and honor was satisfied. Until next time! Honor is preserved, and we will share a drink! And away he flew.

Slick has a scar to show off to Serafina the next time they meet.

Slick every morning in the mirror

Debts paid, the party sailed on. Spotting a hulk afloat, they investigated, rustling up a few wraiths. Henry C was in good communication with Garond, and the three spirits were driven from their haunt. A chest of goodies was found.

Onward to the isles. They were escorted in by a dwarven galley. Arriving in the dwarves' "Sub pen" docks, a delegation met them, announcing that the lenses were complete, with one to spare. Escorted to the depths of the isle, into the crushing heat of the island's core...

To the demon's lair. The demon oversaw the loading of the lenses into crates for transport.

"Ah! Back in time. My best work, if I say so myself! And, with this, my contract to you is done. You won't see me again. Unless you deserve to..." (Rondel asked the demon's name from a dwarf, writing it down for later reference...).

With that, the demon sank into the lava, the pool cooling and solidifying behind him.

Bad Water at Bishara Shrine: Another Shorts Adventure

Tim scribbled up a dungeon map using the random dungeon generator found in the Shadowdark rulebook. 

Yep, it's random. It almost makes sense, though. So I took it upon myself to make it make sense. Imposing order upon chaos, or something like that. Anyway, the diversion of the stream (which I am assuming to be subterranean) caught my eye and had to be the focal point and "cause" for the adventure. After all, water has been both the foundation and downfall of plenty of cities and civilizations. So if the water goes bad, it is a crisis, indeed. Especially when another crisis looms on the horizon...

Download: Bad Water at Bishira Shrine (estimated for 3-5th level party) (Updated 3/25 based on play, and minor edits)

While looking for imagery for this piece, I found this cute little guy:

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The caption reads: "Alleborith: a demon from The Testament of Solomon. While most demons have many powers to inflict horrid ills upon humans, Alleborith has only one: he can cause people to choke on fish bones. No angel is assigned to banish him, perhaps because of how minor & specific his power is." 

Use caution around that salmon dinner....

Campaign Journal: Back to Cobalt

Tardy on this one. Holidays...

That said, it was a slim crew:

• Jax - Barbarian
• Frederick - Thief
• Slick - Another Thief

Starting from Neuforde, the gang headed southwest on a cold and windy day. They made it to the druid stronghold at Kabrel's Tower. The trees in the area continued to be intimidating, and not without a few impaled corpses. 

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The Dire Wolves, Gagnin and Anzel, found the party and escorted them to the tower, where Thefri and his comrades waited. They reported on their resistance against local Chaos predations, as well as their coordination with the party of cleric Nikhita Mahesh and her colleagues, who had re-taken Ashryn Tower and dug in for the winter. Thefri was safekeeping a damaged lens, and the party would retrieve it on their way back north.

The next day, the gang continued south. The first day of travel along the old trade road was uneventful. Still cold, but less wind. On day two, they heard sounds of a struggle ahead. Slick invisibly scouted ahead, seeing a party circled up against a large two-headed bear-thing.

Time to be heroes, I suppose. Slick and Dukan Dildran (hench) both whiffed hard. Goober got a hit in (of course). The bear-thing struck out, mangling a couple of the pressed party, as well as taking a chunk out of Goober. The fight went back and forth, until Slick was able to regain his footing and take it down with a healthy backstab. 

You think Fulvus will want a two-headed bear trophy for the alehouse? Silly question.

Secret Santicorn 2024: Another Horror

Once again, from the depths of the OSR Discord craws the Santicorn, leaving the gifts of writing prompts to the good(?) denizens of the server.

You got shutteredroom’s prompt, “The Real Monster of which the Shitting Log of Catalonia is the sanity-protecting bowdlerization.”

First, a quick visit to Webster's to check something....

bowdlerization:
noun
The deletion of all passages considered to be indecent.
Similar: bowdlerisation, expurgation
The action or instance of bowdlerizing; the omission or removal of material considered vulgar or indecent.
The act of deleting or modifying all passages considered to be indecent. 

OK, gotcha. That's what I thought...

***

The portal from the Void opened, and the Entity entered the world. Fools twisted by promises of power and ancient knowledges from before the time that Men walked the land had called it, at a great cost of life and sanity. For, they knew, great power comes at great cost. Particularly if it is others that are paying with their lives. So they had spread war and desolation in their pursuit of this favor.

And desolation they received in turn. For the Entity had no interest in wisdom or power. Just madness and destruction. And piddling little evolved apes were not of consequence. XXX walked the land, its energies from outside of space burning a halo of destruction where it went.

source

However, some of these apes had slivers of power. Whether by craft, or energies arcane or divine. So they fought XXX, desperately and to little effect. After all, fighting a being whose name itself caused fear and madness was a nigh-impossible task. Only the Sightless, paladins blinded of all vision except that which saw auras of evil, were able to stand long before its predations.

They called upon their god, YYY, to aid them against this desolation in living form.