Cool New Endeavor - The Griffin & Gargoyle

The fiftieth anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons is fast approaching and there are plans by a large contingent of companies to celebrate the birth of this great hobby. One of those is the restaurant, lounge, retail gift shop/game store, and play space known as The Griffin & Gargoyle.

Conceptually the aim is to provide an immersive experience with not only the various settings, it will also have a story behind it within which patrons and visitors can participate. I hope to have more on this aspect in the future, because what I know already makes this sound like an opportunity for role-players to engage with the world history behind The Griffin & Gargoyle in a fun way.

Intended to become a destination spot for fans of role-playing and Dungeons and Dragons in particular, the developers are not lumping everything in that one basket. Of course the goal is to bring in customers from all over, including the locals and to make the business viable all year long. To that end the restaurant will have in their words, a unique and extensive menu. This establishment will not be for gamers on a pilgrimage alone, it will cater to everyone.

Speaking of catering, I heard that catering is something they might also handle, and weddings too.

Themed areas within the building are not just limited to The Griffin and Gargoyle Tavern (restaurant), they also include Curated Curiosities (retail space), The Gnome Alchemist (bar/lounge with all sorts of interesting concoctions), and a sequestered area for private role-playing sessions on custom built tables.

There are a number of gaming luminaries that are being tapped to contribute. Hammered Game Tables (if you've followed the blog you may known I own one of the early prototype HGT builds), and Stefan Pokorny of Dwarven Forge among them.

The Griffin & Gargoyle people have a lot more planned and a single blog post is insufficient to handle all of the information. With luck maybe the developers will spare a little time to provide us with occasional tidbits and updates as we get closer to March 2024.

Here is a link directly to the source!  https://griffinandgargoyle.com/   <---- Link

Gaming Conventions and Guests of Honor: Why?

It is traditional for most conventions to have one or more guests of honor in attendance. The primary reason is to draw more attendance to the convention to bolster ticket sales. Star Trek or other science fiction conventions have celebrities directly tied to the franchise in question, for example Bill Shatner for Star Trek. Who does gaming have that would have that level of star power to bring in people that wouldn't otherwise be coming there to play games?

Over the past few years more celebrities from TV and Movies have acknowledged publicly that they are one with nerd culture and either did game or still game. This is definitely a great thing for the hobby which seems to be growing rapidly, but could their presence at a game convention be enough to entice more attendance and non-gamers to come out to the convention? Who do we have that makes sense to invite as a guest of honor to gaming conventions?

These questions are based on two factors: 1) financial bottom line, and 2) boosting participation in the hobby. For 1 you only need to draw enough people to show up, pay admittance to see the guest, and not fall short of break even to cover the expense. For 2) you need someone whose drawing power and influence can convert non-gamers into gamers. Ideally the guest of honor should be able to accomplish both goals.

The objectives of financial draw and participation increase do seem to be growing in likelihood as more stars open up about the hobby, but do game conventions need them? The answer may be, not yet. Perhaps after a couple more years and more popular, high profile figures make themselves known as gamers, the hobby will have gained potential guests of honor that can reliably help conventions.  Still to be answered is why would they be needed and maybe they aren't.

Game conventions already draw dedicated followings that come to directly participate and not for any other purpose, so maybe enlisting star power, even those within the industry of the hobby isn't necessary. Still, the larger conventions do have guests of honor. It is up to the convention runners to tell us if the benefits exist or if this is just a way to say thank you to the people who designed or otherwise helped grow the hobby.

Campaign Update: Another Casualty, Risky Behavior Takes a Toll

The campaign has seen a seventh character death. This time a trap nearly slew half the party. A pair of house rules used in combination saved all but one. The dungeon was a tomb comprised of five rooms, each having its own dangerous element. Everything could be defeated or avoided by paying attention and careful tactics. Sadly it was risky carelessness that ended the adventure.

I first ran this dungeon for some friends at GenCon in 2000. That party of first level characters (3rd edition rules) succeeded in beating the dungeon despite being under powered for the challenges. Players can and do often think their way to victory. After returning from the convention I tried out the dungeon for another group of friends and it also went well for that group.

This time the group triggered the first three traps resulting in them retreating from the tomb with a valuable monkey idol and a bunch of papyrus inventory lists for the containers in the second room. (Using the Lamentations of the Flame Princess rules in a standard style D&D setting). This group ranged in levels up to fourth and it was the 1st level elf that failed to survive the third trap.

The third trap exploded for maximum damage taking down three out of the six member party and leaving the rest badly injured. The first trap only caught one party member for low damage, and the second caught them all for low damage. The accumulated damage from all three traps was enough to convince them to gather their dead and retreat.

Fortunately this group of players, mostly novices, take the risk of character death without complaint and enjoy the game.

Below is the dungeon for your perusal and use.

Outside of the now cleared tomb entrance are two overgrown pillars and an obelisk.

Room 1: 30' x 40' The walls are covered in murals painted to depict a battle. The most prominent figure rides a chariot and is shown decapitating an enemy.

Before the door leading further into the tomb is a trap door into a 10' pit. The key to the door is hidden in a box painted to disguise it as part of the wall. The pit trap becomes active after using the key to unlock both it and the door. Opening the door triggers the pit. 1d6 damage.

Room 2: 30' x 40' Lining the walls are crates, giant urns sealed by clay lids, barrels of wine, and shelves bearing clay pots and boxes containing small scrolls in an ancient language. (inventory lists and warnings of the trap in the room.

In the largest giant urn are Thousands of carnivorous beetles, magically preserved awaiting their release to eat greedy grave robbers. Beetle swarm, 1d3 damage/round (1hp damage/round with save) to all in the room. Swarm will follow characters if not destroyed. Swarm has 10hp.

Room 3: 30' x 120' Murals line the walls depicting a funeral procession for the warrior in the murals of the first room. As the funeral proceeds down this long chamber the figures become more gaunt, eventually appearing as skeletons.

There is a pedestal upon which sits an ornate monkey idol (1000 gold or silver depending on which standard is used in your campaign). The pedestal is painted showing flames emanating from upraised hands of an angry looking monkey.

Removing the monkey idol without disarming the trap results in 2d6 damage from fire to all in the chamber, save for half.

Room 4: 90' x 90' This room is completely shrouded in magical darkness which is generated by a rod held upright near the center of the room. Destroying the rod (5hp) removes the magical darkness.

There are 4 10' deep pits (1d6 damage) spaced about the room and 6 skeletons (5 hp each) that will attack intruders. There is also a bejeweled (5 gemstones, random value) throne centered on the northern wall. Sitting in it opens the secret door hidden behind it.

Room 5: 50' x 50' Centered in this lavish room is a dais upon which rests a large sarcophagus. The sarcophagus is decorated in gold, silver, copper and onyx, in the image of the occupant. Tapestries line the walls and the floor stones are painted in bright colors. The ceiling is painted to depict the sun and moons circling a crown.

There is a concealed opening on the north wall that leads to a cliff.

There are no traps present, but disturbing the sarcophagus wakes the mummy. The mummy wears 5 pieces of gold jewelry (random value) and an Amulet of Shielding (protects from magic missiles, 20 points worth of damage, can be recharged).

Vornheim Gets Boned - cue bad porn music

The Ennie Awards are coming up at GenCon in early August and the nominations have been posted at EN World. This is something that has been going on yearly now for some time. It is a good thing since it is fan based and not an industry blown horn, however this year I can say I honestly feel a bit confused by where one producted ended up in the nominations, and I'm not alone in that thinking.

Jeff Rient's mentioned this on his blog earlier today and I feel it is only right to point and say . . .

It's okay Jeff, you aren't the only person of the opinion that Vornheim should have had better than an Honorable mention in the Ennie's category it was participating in.

Best Aid/Accessory

• D&D Essentials: Dungeon Tiles Master Set – The Dungeon (Wizards of the Coast)
• Eclipse Phase Gamemaster Pack (Posthuman Studios)
• Gaming Paper Adventure Maps (Gaming Paper)
• Hero Lab (Lone Wolf Development)
• The Unspeakable Oath (Arc Dream Publishing)
• Honorable Mention: Vornheim: The Complete City Kit (Lamentations of the Flame Princess)

Each of the products has its value and fanbase, but let's face it, Vornheim has a greater re-usability value for any fantasy setting than the Gaming Paper Adventure Maps. In fact if you consider that it isn't shoe-horned into a single system or only a few systems and/or editions, it beats every entry on the list.

For those that don't know, Vornheim is the brain-child of Zak S. of the blog Playing D&D With Porn Stars (warning: occasional adult content because yes, he and his players are in the adult entertainment industry).

Having seen some of Zak's creative genius on his blog and having read a number of positive reviews, I bought a copy of the book and I'm glad I did. It is a work of art, brilliant in how useful it is.

Ok, so it looks a bit odd and might be confusing if you don't take the time to read how to use it while trying to do so, but once you do you will GET IT. With grokking this book comes the understanding of how incredibly useful and nearly indispensible it will become as part of your DMing arsenal.

Don't get me wrong, a tip of the hat goes to everyone nominated in the category because they are good products, just nowhere near as innovative as Vornheim.