The Black Mete Session 2 - More OSR Stuff Gets Used and I Almost Kill Somebody

Dammit, we are playing today!

Sunday, I was sick, tired, still out-of sorts, two players couldn't make it and we were unable to get started until 3:00. I was determined not to call the game. So, at 3:00, the Cleric, Mage, Halfling Hero and their hirelings, entered ChicagoWiz's The Dungeon of Akban from the Swords & Wizardry Quick Start.

I used ze bulette's Hireling record sheet this go around.  It's easier on my old eyes and has a generator on the back, as well. Also, it lists the Saves for 0 level types.

One more new OSR thing was used this week. Jeff Rients Enchanted Holy Symbols article from FO! #1 Which lead to the player question of the afternoon "What does Ithyphallic mean?"

My head was hurting like hell. It was only shear obstinance that kept me from calling the game. Fortunately, two things happened:

1.  The players chose the short rout, leading pretty much straight to the main baddie in the dungeon.
2.  That encounter was a blast!

But first: 

You Make the Call!

Player 1, a Halfling with the ability to Hide in Shadows, is separated from her party by a Portcullis Trap. After dicking around for what the DM considered to be an inordinate amount of time, the party hears sound coming from behind the room in which the trapped player is located. The Halfling PC decides to Hide and does so successfully.

The Skeletons round the corner. Do they see the Halfling? How do skeletons see? Do they sense living things, or do they have some sort of eyesocket sight?

If we take Sinbad Movies as our model, then they're capable of perceiving movement at least well enough to actually fence, as opposed to just hacking away at the living presence in their way. Also, on the one hand, the little Halfling had nothing but shadows to hide in. On the other, the party on the other side of the portcullis were directly in front of the skeletons field of... vision, or whatever.

I could make arguments either way, but decided that the Halfling's Hiding worked at least well enough that the Skeletons were drawn to the living beings who were directly in front of them and making a lot of hoopla. 

Which may have been a mistake. The skeletons went up to the portcullis, dropped their jaws and began shaking wildly, as they couldn't get at the party. Said party, farted around another 15 minutes, before finally deciding to break out the flaming oil.

After screwing around with portcullis traps and skeletons.

I guess the player's were trying to be Good or something, because they decided to engage Tisha, the evil Cleric of the Toad-God in conversation, first. Which, gave her the time and opportunity to easily employ a gift I gave her, courtesy of Mr. Rients.

After rolling a random choice from amongst the PC's and NPC's, the Halfling Hero PC had to make a Save, which she failed. Which eventually lead to this, after the PC MU cast his Magic Missile:

DM to Player: "Your fellow party members are trying to kill someone you Love! Now, what are you doing?"

Hilarity ensued! Seeing the inter-party conflict, two of the meat-shields and the pack-bearer immediately failed morale and took off! With all the horses, it was later discovered. The two other meat shields eventually fell to goblins. 

The PC Cleric had Commanded the evil Cleric to go to sleep, which lead the PC MU to try a sliding dagger-stab, to get around the Charmed Halfling, who was trying to awaken her dear friend. After applying all the various adjustments, he Hit! While the Halfling and the MU were struggling, the Cleric sneaked around and engaged Tisha the evil NPC Cleric. She went for the Cause Light Wounds but, alas, only rolled 2 point for damage, so the already wounded PC Cleric again escaped death! He then impaled the evil NPC Cleric with his trident, a torrent of blood spewing forth over his head (he's a Halfling, as well.)

They found a few prisoners and made their way to the magic fountain room. The PC MU pricked his finger and dropped some blood into the "cup" to open the door. The only two PC's who drank from the fountain received some minor beneficial effects. The totally new player was the only one wise enough not to go drinking from strange fountains in dungeons. (He's fairly paranoid over-all, though, so for all that he's a newb, he's got a good shot at surviving!)

I felt a lot better once that main battle got going. There was a lot of energy at the table and the whole thing was so fraught with frenetic peril, that it had a real sense of urgency and danger! Things could have easily went very bad, indeed! Lot's of fun!

Family Game Report Pt. 2 – Kind of Informal. A Few Thoughts On Our Spring 2010 Game.

Part 1, here.

After explaining things to the newbs and rolling up characters, etc., we only had a little time of actual play. I’ll give the highlights. While investigating some strange goings on at a mill, the party ran into some vermin. The MU took out the first wave, with a sleep spell. Then, melee ensued. My little boy attacked his first monster, a giant centipede. His first ever D&D attack roll was a Natural 20 and he handily dispatched the monster. Next round, he and pop both got another kill and the battle was over. After a little more role-playing, we called it a day. The original plan, was to pick back up Sunday, but, Brisco wanted to do something else Sunday afternoon and asked if we could play later.

Some observations:

• It’s kind of surreal to imagine a tough, dwarven warrior, while he’s being role-played by someone with the mentality of a 6 year old.
• Though he seemed to have some fun, for the foreseeable future, any D&D with my son will be on a once in a while basis. When he asks to play again, we’ll work something up. I think an arena type environment would be a much better approach, at least for another year or two. He did enjoy role-playing, but, had some trouble with the structured approach. 
• The funniest moment, was when, after hearing the menu at the Borderland Tavern, the dwarf immediately ordered a beer, at 9:00 in the morning.  

My father seemed to enjoy himself and really got into the role-playing. Afterwards, he said he would play with the family, when Brisco wanted to, again, but he wasn’t interested in playing in my Spring campaign. I have an idea as to why, but, it’s neither here, nor there.

So, it will probably be March or April before I get back behind the Screen. My wife, Jillena, informed me that she would probably play in my upcoming campaign and that she was inclined to do so, after our weekend session. Once the Radiation Treatment and its aftermath are behind us, we’ll take it from there. Our past procedure, has been to play three weeks on, one off. This particular schedule seems to work for us, affording enough play time to keep the ball rolling, as it where. At 41, I need an off-week, where I can get in an extra nap and do whatever I want with the weekend.

Last month, I posted the world map I was intending to use for my upcoming game. For weeks, I’ve been struggling to form some basic idea of the place and how I wanted to start things off. I had a few vague plans, but, nothing would ever gel. When I made the "Iron Lich" hexmap, for the weekend game, my neurons started firing properly, again. I started getting all sorts of ideas for the “Demense of the Iron Lich” and how I wanted to proceed. Over the next few weeks, I’m going to map two of the adjacent regions, write out the keys, etc., then, see what I have. I’m seriously considering using this material in the Spring, and putting the strange world map I made, aside for a while. After a year or two, I might can bring some fresh perspective to it and develop something I’m pleased with.

Hallelujah! Play Report From Our First Swords & Wizardry Session. Part 1. Introductory Matters, Including a Review of Brave Halfling Publishing’s Larm.

First, a very special welcome to my 35th follower, Jillena. She’s my wife, so, she gets special treatment.

I wasn’t sure where I wanted to set my family campaign. I almost pulled out my Greyhawk Boxed Set, but decided it wasn’t quite time, yet. Eventually, I’m going to spend half a year or so, delving into Greyhawk lore, preparing to run a campaign in G. Gygax’s playground. Thanks to the fine work of Greyhawk Scholars, I think I would have a real blast, doing so.

Instead, I opened up Gimp, dug out the brushes provided by Inkwell Ideas, and decided to make a hexmap, letting spontaneity be my guide.

 

The region of Eldrid – The Demesne of the Iron Lich.

1 Hex = 5 Miles.

Click the Picture for a larger image.

Map Icons Copyright 2007 Inkwell Ideas Inc.

“Few people still call the region Eldrid and most have forgotten the hero, who lent his name to the area. Today, in a time when its inhabitants are struggling to rebuild their civilization, the region is more commonly known as The Demesne of the Iron Lich.”

Aukrizir, also know as The Iron Lich, rules the human civilization of these lands with a brutal efficiency and the aid of his three Governors, as well as his military. He seized control of much of the area, during the years following the Second Apocalypse. His magical power, combined with the sizable army he marshaled, insured that he had little difficulty in securing his dominion over a human civilization, which, was struggling to hold itself together. The situation is not nearly as horrid as one might, at first, surmise. The Lich cares nothing for political power, in and of itself, or the people under his rule and his sole reason for seizing power, lay in the details of an involved, magical ritual, which, he has been working on for decades.

One of the rituals’ requirements for success, is that the Wizard who is performing it, must be a King. Alas, Aukrizir keeps uncovering more and more, fiddly little bits, wrapped up in the details of the working. Not too long ago, he discovered that in order to be a “King,” he must be consecrated as such, by either a 9th level Patriarch, a 13 level Archdruid, or a 16th level Mage. He has yet to find the person he needs, as, not only are such individuals quite rare, but, the ritual requires that they be not only cooperative, but, must have faith, trust and belief, in their act of consecration and the being they are conferring power upon.

If he does find someone who can make him a True King, he will have to deal with something he has yet to realize. The ritual takes a rather noble view of Kingship and his very apathy will serve as a bar to his success. For now, the Lich’s policies run toward the Lawful-Neutral area of the alignment spectrum, as his strategy here, is merely to maintain the status quo and hold his realm together, striving to protect it, from the many threats which assail the civilization he now controls. Under no circumstances, will he push the people to the point of fomenting rebellion and truthfully, would have no reason to, anyway. Ruling his Demesne is a chore. He’ll do what he must to maintain things, leave as much as he can to his Governors and military, but, will deal with any threat to his establishment in as ruthless and decisive a manner, possible.

So, my wife, Jillena, my son, Brisco, and my father, Pop, rolled up some characters this morning and we all played our first session of Swords & Wizardry. It took a little while, as neither my father or my son, had ever played a pen & paper FRPG, before. I had them roll three sets of stats, 3d6, pick the best set and arrange as desired. My wife made an Elven Magic-User named Wanda. My son named her; I suspect after the character from the Fairly Odd-Parents. My little boy made a Dwarven Warrior, whom he named Soda. My father decided to play a Human Cleric named Rasputin and he absolutely kicked ass on his dice rolls: 17, 17, 16, 15, 12, 9.

I let my father work out the particulars of his faith. He’s a rather zealous proponent of “The One True God,” and we’ll see what kind of trouble he gets into.

I placed Larm in the region and began the campaign there, in hex 1813.  The characters already knew each other, having fought together against various humanoid foes, while serving in the militia of the city of Irimar. Unless there’s a compelling reason not to, I always start campaigns with the characters being at least acquainted. Usually, I’ll give a beginning party several options for how to begin their new careers. Either that, or start them off in the middle of a battle, letting them decide things from there. This time, I decided to begin things with a little more direction, seeing as two of the players had never experienced D&D and one of them was only six. I decided that the chief faith in Larm, was the same as that of Rasputin’s. Abbot Salor, a Cleric in Larm, had sent a message to Irimar, asking the mother temple for aid. If you have Larm, you know that the little community is beset with various troubles. The temple hierarchy in Irimar, bade Rasputin investigate and the young priest brought his two companions along. They arrived at 9:00 in the morning, on January 2, in the 32nd year of the reign of the Iron Lich. 

Time for a Review.

Larm is an accessory for Labyrinth Lord, easily convertible, of course, published by Brave Halfling Publishing. It is written by Moritz Mehlem, with art by Andy “Atom” Taylor. The PDF, which I bought a couple of weeks ago at RPGNow, runs 27 pages in all, and details a village of 112 inhabitants, providing several small adventures which, are designed to introduce beginning players to the basic concepts of adventuring in a D&D world and the mechanics of game-play. Two mini-dungeons, a wilderness encounter, and a couple of investigatory “city” pieces are provided. The village is well detailed, with 33 keyed locations, associated NPC’s, a rumour table, historical information and a map of the village. We get a quick overview of daily life in Larm, providing us with information on the sort of commonplace events that the villagers engage in throughout the week. There are lists of goods, with prices, for the various stores. All 112 NPC’s living in Larm are listed in their associated key entries. Many are provided with an economical, yet effective presentation of their personality, background and motivations. Some are just mentioned, as in the case of children, acolytes, etc. Larm also features three maps of the adventure sites and a Mayor’s Proclamation player’s handout. Aside from the cover piece, which is reproduced on the title page, there are 12 other illustrations, two of those being very small equipment type pieces.

There are nice little touches throughout Larm. The rumor table entries, also list, when applicable, the location key number associated with the person, place or thing being gossiped about. A table near the beginning of the book, lists all the places which appear in the key entries, along with the number of NPC’s which are associated with the location. There’s some great role-playing opportunities in Larm and player’s may find themselves involved with some more light-hearted interactions, as well as with more serious dealings.

While more experienced groups will find the two dungeons to be rather rudimentary in and of themselves, the role-playing aspects can make these worthwhile, even for seasoned players. They also serve to provide further details of life in Larm, as well as the history of the village. They’re great for introducing new players to the basics. The wilderness adventure, while simple, will require some thought and tactical planning, serving as a nice adventuring 101 lesson, which, should also be involved enough to engage more experienced players. I may be biased on that last observation, as I really enjoy this particular type of set-up and the necessities involved for success. The investigatory adventures, while pretty basic, as well, provide excellent role-playing opportunities. Of course, any of this can easily be adapted to the needs of the DM and his/her group.

If you’re introducing new players to the game, then Larm’s adventures are perfect for showing them the ropes. Some are of the over and done with type, others are wedded to deeper events and concerns, or, the history of Larm. Once the newbs get an idea of what their doing, they’ll then be ready for the DM to create more involved adventures. Larm will serve as a useful, friendly spot of civilization for the characters to call home, serve as a base for forays into more dangerous lands, nearby, allow the characters to make some friends and perhaps, some enemies, as well.

If you need a well designed village environment, Larm is a solid choice and should serve you, very well. A lot of information is provided, in an economical, well thought-out fashion. Overall, I found Larm to be Charming, very Useful and Pleasing to my DMing sensibilities. I like Larm a lot and encourage everyone to check it out.

Now, I also decided, that I wanted to go ahead and have a larger, but not really big, dungeon ready and throw it into the mix. Ah, I had the perfect add-on, one that would tie-in to Larm, rather well and serve to help things progress, rather nicely. So, in addition to the material already detailed in the Larm supplement, hex 2213 now holds the dungeon from Chgowiz’s Swords & Sorcery Quick Start.  The dungeon inhabitants, tie-in to Larm and my take on the village, as well as to goings on in the Campaign in general, very well.

Part 2 will be up, hopefully tomorrow. Until then…