Starting Another Campaign Group

After discussion with a couple of friends in other states, I have decided to run a remote campaign. 

On the rare occasion all groups play in a given week I will be busy with running two groups and playing in a third. That kind of conjunction will be fairly rare for all sorts of reasons. 

My Saturday group runs into reasons to cancel quite often. The latest hiatus has been brought on by COVID spreading among the players, more than half of which live under the same roof.

Our Thursday remote play Eberron group has a variable schedule adjusted for real life issues, but tends to be fairly regular.

The new group is still hashing out when to play, and deciding if we should start with just three of us or go ahead and extend invitations to others right away. Determining our play day and time will directly influence that decision.

There's also the consideration of using the Ptolus setting for the third group or just doing an ongoing dungeon crawl. I would like to do Ptolus and I have plenty of resources for it or Dungeon crawling.

Here's a picture of some old Master Maze from Dwarven Forge along with some of their newer LED pieces.

Dwarven Forge Wildlands Kickstarter Rewards Have Arrived

I backed the Dwarven Forge Wildlands Kickstarter for a small amount and really wish I had both the storage space and the money to have picked up a bit more than I eventually did.

Over the last three DF Kickstarters (Dungeon of Doom, Caverns Deep, Wildlands) I have had to limit my participation below what in better times I would have invested. One of the many types of items it would have been good to get are the Terrain Trays and the magnetized pieces instead of non-magnetized. In hind sight it is easy to recognize just how handy they are, but sadly they are all currently out of stock. Of course with the cost of my storage locker increasing every year I'm at a loss for where to put it if I had backed for more stuff.

The Dwarven Forge collection began with a Master Maze Room and Passage set. It started small, but as my income grew, so too did my appetite for the terrain. Now that my income has fallen to a bare trickle my ability to collect is about as limited as when I first got bit by the DF bug.

The Reliquaries Kickstarter was skipped since it held little usefulness for my terrain needs and displaying dice on top of stuff is a recipe for disaster with cantankerous cats lurking about.

Here are the Wildlands rewards I've received (pictures are from the Dwarven Forge website). I'll be taking them to the next game session since they'll either get used then or the session afterward (most likely).

And here are the aforementioned cats.

More pics from other adventure moments.

Above - A Hammered Game Table completely filled with Dwarven Forge and other scenery.

Above - A wealthy merchants veranda.

Above - The merchant's basement with secret door behind painting.

Above - Delivery for the blacksmith.

Above - Well-to-do citizens hob-nob by the cathedral clock tower.

Above - The party is surprised by an Ocre Jelly while in the sewers.

Above - The party finds a secret door in the sewers and emerges into caverns.

Isle of the Abbey part 3 - unfinished post from April of 2015

This post was meant for publication in April of 2015, but it remains unfinished and is being posted now mainly to show off the pictures of resin Dwarven Forge sets.
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At the end of part 2 the party had begun exploring into the maze of passages called "the trap" and the halfling and paladin were trying to lure an armored automaton back toward the rest of the party. Their effort was failing to trap the trap.

Eventually the paladin decided to confront the automaton at the intersection of the long halls.

The paladin paused at the intersection to light a torch. Somewhere in the darkness the automaton turned around and came back to attack. This action also triggered the rest of the trap. A section of wall opened behind the halfling and through it stepped another of the metal guardians.

The party pulled together to eventually destroy the first automaton, and the wizard discovered that the bracer allowed him to halt the second automaton, deactivating the trap.

Continuing further along, they found another door like the one between the first crypt and the trap.

Beyond the door lay a passage to the large gallery of the crypts, and shrine. About 50 feet into the corridor stood a pair of doors opposite each other. To the right was a storage room of mummification supplies and to the left was a  burial chamber with a sarcophagus.

The lid to the ornately decorate sarcophagus was somewhat askew and a horrible smell emanated from within. Half climbing, Endzique peered over the edge to see a mostly evaporated thick dark liquid with a roughly man shaped lump of dessicated sludge.  Merenk, the necromancer explained that this was likely a mummification technique using seawater and sea salts, and somehow the seal had broken allowing the process to go foul.


Nobody was willing to feel about in the dank mess so they proceeded to the next small chamber. The room was filled with faded and cracked murals, but little else.

Passing beyond a narrow door, the party found themselves by a sealed sarcophagus, their meager torchlight fading in the distance of a larger room.  Edging slowly out into the wider darkness, the paladin stopped and drew his sword when he noticed a human-like silhouette in the distance.

Endzique hearing the paladin challenge the person just beyond sight, ran back the way they had come and on a hunch ran down the long corridor beyond the doors they had previously investigated. He emerged into the Grand Gallery parallel to Fairchild and could see another figure opposite himself.

Cautiously the two advanced into the gloom, discovering that they faced only statues beside a shrine composed of a silently trickling mermaid fountain. The two statues of previous Lord Navigators of the church stood silent sentinel, arms spread to their sides, holy symbols of ship's wheel adorning their vestments.

Relieved, the party chose to bypass the sealed sarcophagus and continue into a smaller chamber to the left pf the gallery.

This turned out to be another burial chamber. Within they discovered a shattered sarcophagus cluttered with mounds of rubble, and broken bones.

Archway leading onto older crypt - "Between the pilings the Grand Navigator rests, with an eternal flame to guide him home beyond the waves."

searching, found stone block dimensions of a book, pried open, delicately removed book, discovered key fits pommel lock on large sarcophagus

mummy from behind tears cultist in two (44 points damage) chaos ensues

wizard cuts necromancer free mummy takes down ranger (down to zero) people begin to flee when realize only magic is affecting it

paladin tries covering escape route, is dropped by mummy (rolls natural one on his first death save takes two failures, three inspiration from paladin and other party members used to save life)

party, much like early cave dwellers discovers new use for fire, finally drop mummy

investigate large sarcophagus and find very old man preserved perfectly under crystal clear water

pull him out, he is dry, party members involved are wet, try to wake him up, eventual success, he heals ranger and paladin

party heads to living quarters area to rest and regroup before checking tower (will they find Silas? will there be a fight? will the powerful elementalist roast the party?)

Dwarven Forge Kickstarter 5 Snakes and Jade (and corrections)

More beans have been spilled and a big reveal is coming later today.

First a correction, the blood red in the previous post was (to quote Darkest Dungeon's Wayne June) merely a trick of the light.

The design of the final segment of this kickstarter includes a massive amount of jade coloring and incredibly detailed sculpting of pieces.

This new Dwarven Forge set is gorgeous. I'm anxious to see the details in the full release information later today.

Dwarven Forge Kickstarter 5 Forsaken Temple (of Doom)

More previews from the Dungeon of Doom kickstarter. The awesome continues.

Blood red altar and steps, serpent pillars, the serpent floor design pieces speculated about in a much earlier post, additional decorative pieces, etc.

          

Dwarven Forge Kickstarter 5 - HOLY SNAKE SHIT

The Dungeon of Doom kickstarter is about half way through and already has eclipsed 1.6 million dollars on the way toward what could be well over 2 million by the end.

After looking carefully through the video of the kickstarter at the 3:38 mark you can see this amazing reveal of the heart and soul of this kickstarter: the real reason it is called the Dungeon of Doom; it may be inhabited by the bigger, badder brother of Conan's enemy Thulsa Doom.

Take a gander at these amazing pieces! The LED statue, the various wall pieces with intricate carvings, some with eyes, and the LED brazier with green flame. Wow!

At the time of writing this post, this has not been revealed in the kickstarter, but it isn't a secret since others have discovered it like I did by going through the video with frequent pauses to look for the cool pieces.

This truly is the dungeon of doom to your wallet; so much awesome stuff!

Dwarven Forge Kickstarter 5 - Dungeon of Doom lots o'stuff

DF just released a large image filled with upcoming goodies. The picture can speak for itself.

Dwarven Forge Kickstarter 5 - Dungeon of Doom! to your wallet

Here is the latest teaser picture for things coming in the Dwarven Forge Kickstarter later this spring.

In addition to the previously revealed terrain pieces a number of interesting items are revealed and hinted at in the image. LED walls, corners, and alcoves; walls with pedestals, curved and diagonal walls, a large pillar, a large archway with double doors, decorative floors, and what appears to be a portcullis add to the growing list of goodies to come.

The launch date for the Kickstarter has not been officially posted, though it is likely to be toward the end of May.

 

Dwarven Forge City Builder Kickstarter

Here we are, a handful of days into their third Kickstarter and Dwarven Forge is closing in on the one million dollar mark. If my guess is right, the funding should surpass that number on the coming weekend.

At the time I write this on Wednesday evening, there are 1725 backers and over $885,000 in the pool.

DOOM TO YOUR WALLET!

Dwarven Forge Kickstarter number 3 is underway. More preview pics below.

Ouch

I have been hit by a storm of pain this week. A cold with sore throat is the minor part of it. Neck and back pain with pain shooting down my legs, combined with intestinal cramping have really capped off a miserable week.

I had intended to finish building out the dungeon my group are presently exploring and writing up the latest bit of the game. No joy on that front.

To at least try to make up somewhat for the delay, here are some pictures of more of the structure.

Two Days Remain Before Doom To Your Wallet 3

The third Kickstarter from Dwarven Forge launches in just two more days.

This still is from what I suspect is the video for the Kickstarter. I have no answer regarding what some have called a Dachshund pelt over Stefan's shoulders.  ;)

Dwarven Forge Game Tiles Kickstarter 3

Just five days left until round three of "Doom To Your Wallet" gets underway.

On March 8th Stefan and the fine folks at Dwarven Forge launch their third Kickstarter. The previous two brought in two million each. It will be interesting to see how this one does with many people's wallets still smarting from last year. At least the DF guys time this for tax season so returns can be spent on their amazing terrain.

This year it looks to be city streets, sewers, roofs for the Medieval Building set, and maybe city wall sections. That's a lot of different themes in one go, so perhaps we're seeing some from this year and some from a future Kickstarter in the teasers on the Dwarven Forge forums.

Here are two images to wet your appetite.

Wait till you see the painted prototypes.

My main beef with what I see here is the raised edge in the sewer next to the walkway. In reality that would result in a submerged walkway covered in all sorts of nastiness and the gutter below only receiving overflow until the walkway became packed enough for waste to flow over and down where it belongs. I would prefer that edge to be flat and flush with the walkway. I guess it is a good thing that this is all made for fantasy gaming!

The Wow Factor

Saturday was the first opportunity to run a game on the new table. We didn't have a full group due to the usual scheduling snafus, but for those that did turn up, the custom Phoenix table was a big hit. They became even more impressed when I turned on the under-lip lighting.

I didn't have enough energy to prepare the entire dungeon using Dwarven Forge Master Maze and Game Tiles ahead of time. I will post a write-up of the session soon and will try to reconstruct the full dungeon to accompany the write-up. Meanwhile, here are a few pictures showing a mix of DF and a battle mat.

Dwarven Forge Piece Idea

I've been puzzling over ways to make a certain room configuration using the Master Maze and Game Tiles recently, and have not found a satisfactory way to make the particular room layout happen with the pieces I currently possess.

Note, I said satisfactory. Take a look at this drawing and you can see what I mean.

The twenty by twenty room with a corner missing can be produced by using the triangular half square bits if you have enough, however if you were trying to make this design work you would need plenty of them to handle all of the spaces where that bit would be required.

A possible solution which would help with other design options as well, would be for DF to produce pieces that match the green hash-marked area in the drawing.

There might be other ways to achieve this goal, but I'm unable presently to think of a method using the Dwarven Forge collection I have on hand. Suggestions are welcome.