Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Castle Zagyg - Sessions 1 & 2 recap


Session #1 (May 11th)

On our way from the pirate town of Freeport to the castle we had an encounter with about half a dozen guards from it. They all bore an insignia consisting of a "C" over two crossed swords (or was the other way around?). Anyway, Arma seemed to have a cursed sword that makes him attack anyone hostile, so into battle we went. The result: all guards killed. We looted some armor and weapons (mostly for the henchmen), coins, a horn (carried by the patrol leader) and all the insignia.

The party continued its route to the castle and before reaching it, we discussed several ways to approach the gatehouse. We agreed that the ones with the badges will pose as a returning patrol and the others would be new recruits. Luckily the barbican gaes opened and there was no need to blow the horn, since nobody remembered how many times were needed.

Once inside the gates shut behind us and a voice asked for 10 g.p. per each one to cross. After paying the toll we crossed the bridge and entered a huge open courtyard with several buildings. The most noticeable was a church-like construction with its main door flanked by two statues. Graham threw a stone at one window breaking the glass. The statues animated and closed on him, breathing fire and wielding tridents. Graham took cover behind his henchmen who died like the good meatshields they were. Graham then retreated and so did the statues.

We later checked a half-ruined house to the North and were attacked by 3 goblins. They threw their spears at us and then surrendered. They were jailors and didn't give us much information. We opened two rooms next to the jail and found ale and weapons. We got the jailors drunk and locked them in their cage.

Then we explored south and found a series of abandoned stalls until we reached one that housed a goblin merchant (pickled rats!). We went back to get the remaining beer and sold it to the merchant. Then explored a ruined tower thick with cobwebs. After burning the cobwebs a couple of spiders dropped on us. Gimli was bit by one and botched his saving throw! Luckily, Arma carried a potion of sweetwater and Gimli was saved. We found a magic ruby in the possessions of a dead body wrapped in a cocoon. After clearing the tower we commisioned a goblin carpenter to repair the door and floors. To pay him we had to buy the beer back from the merchant.




Session #2 (May 18th)

I was going to write about last session but Joe theLawyer on his blog did it pretty well:


"The players assaulted the goblins in the gatehouse. They cleared them out in under 10 minutes of game time, in a record-breaking bloody slaughterfest. Then they did something that surprised me---after killing the "king", the one remaining surrendering goblin was appointed to "king" over all the rest of the goblins, by the players at swordpoint, with the players as his advisers.



After a couple of failed intelligence checks, it was made clear to the new king what the role of "advisers" was in relation to the king, after he was shown the bloody corpse of the old king. 



The new king made a grand proclamation of his new status to the remaining goblins, all words being under two syllables, and after promising the goblins booze and most of the former king's prostitutes, he was celebrated as the new king. The small group of humans at the outer gates were scared off, and somehow now the players control, through their goblin king, a chunk of the castle upper works."
 
Since we're going to "[...] make this into a regular campaign for the core group, while allowing any other FLAILSNAILS guys to join in if they want.[...]" there were a couple of changes in the party. With the XPs of this session Arma, the cursed elven fighter/thief, and Graham, the human monkish fighter/magic-user, both reached level 5, so they both left and were replaced by Karma (a level 4 elven fighter/thief) and Digby (a level 4 goblin magic-user). Gimli is now a level 2 fighter and has a morning star +1 that belonged to the goblin king.

Looking forward to the next session! ;)

Monday, May 21, 2012

FLAISNAILS on G+

On Friday 11th I played my first FLAILSNAILS (Free Location And Inclusion Laws Supporting New And Interesting Leisure Situations) game on G+. The game was run by JoeTheLawyer and along with Chris K., Steven G., Darcy W., Chris H., we explored Castle Zagyg!


I brought in my first character ever: Gimli of Geoff, a dwarven fighter from 1e AD&D. It was level 5 by the time he died in the Temple of the Elemental Evil. I had it toned it down to 1st level since it was my first FLAISNAILS game. The rest of the party were:
  • Arma, Elven fighter/thief
  • Kellan, Human illusionist
  • Graham, Human monkish fighter/mage (whatever that is, LOL)
  • Flak, Human fighter
I really enjoyed it a lot. Thanks guys!

EDIT: Last Friday we played again and I had a blast! Recaps of both sessions will follow soon.

Wednesday, May 09, 2012

20 years of Wolfenstein 3D


Today it's been 20 years since this game, a pioneer of the FPS genre, came into our lives. Thanks Id Software for countless of hours of fun!

Tuesday, May 08, 2012

Huge map of NW Middle Earth


You can see this beautiful and highly detailed map of Northwestern Middle Earth here. Be warned, it's realy huge (8000x5389 pixels)!

Monday, May 07, 2012

Gygax heraldry

After posting about Barrowmaze II last Saturday, out of curiosity I went to check the first part of the megadungeon. I ended on artist Stefan Poag's blog where I found a piece of D&D art including the heraldry of the House of Gygax. From the cover of the original Barrowmaze:


I instantly remembered seeing it on the cover of the AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide, but where else?


After searching the web I came across a couple of very interesting posts on the subject by Jeff Rients: The Real Ring of Gaxx? and Gygax arms sighting. Do you know any other place you may find Gygax coat of arms?

Sunday, May 06, 2012

Table Top

I've been following the Table Top show, hosted by Wil Wheaton, on YouTube's Geek&Sundry channel since it appeared last April. So far they've played Small World, Settlers of Catan, Zombie Dice, Get Bit! and Tsuro.

Wish I have a FLGS where I can get those and other board games. I  know I could buy them online, but I fear they wouldn't make it through customs. For now I'll just keep enjoying the show...

Saturday, May 05, 2012

I need more megadungeons!


Barrowmaze II is the second part of a two-part exploration-style megadungeon project for Labyrinth Lord and other classic fantasy role-playing games.

Barrowmaze I had a very good reception in the the OSR community, so we can't expect any lees for part II.

Friday, May 04, 2012

May the 4th be with you...


Secret documents in a secret room

These news appeared on yesterday's afternoon paper:

Pure luck allowed a construction worker to accidentally find at least 20 boxes containing official Army documents, hidden in a niche (10 ft. deep and 5 ft. wide) down an unused elevator shaft of the Museum of Indigenous and Pre-Columbian Art. The documents that date from the last dictatorship (1973-1985) seem to be only Army personnel records.


As a consequence of these findings it is likely that other areas of the Museum, such as the basement, which is  closed and its doors boarded up, will be searched. Several versions roused saying that the 1973 coup was decided there or that it was used as a prison. Also that a bunker and several secret passages were built under the Museum.


The old building that dates from 1888, was conceived as a medical facility for thermal hydrotherapy but never worked as such. It included a large swimming pool on the ground floor and had a tunnel connecting the Bay of Montevideo from where sea water was extracted for heating. 





That would made some interesting game inspiration. What do you think?

Thursday, May 03, 2012

Elder Scrolls goes MMO


Zenimax Media has announced The Elder Scrolls Online to go online in 2013. Read more about it here.

Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Leonardo Messina

A new "Wave" campaign begins...

[...] set in a hybrid of the Ultima setting during the Age of Darkness (the period of time when Ultima 1 through 3 CRPGs were set.) [...]

So, new campaign, new character right? Wrong...

[...] to start the game, you do not need to chargen, just yet. If you have an idea of what kind of character you want to play, that's OK, but for now, all I need is a description of what your character would look like in the "real" world, not a fantasy world. I know you are giving me the "WTH" look, but I am asking for your indulgence. Imagine what an alter ego of yours might look like that you wish to take to Sosaria... but you are not there yet. Rather, you are in a world much like our own, much in the same year. And please do give him/her a "real world" name. :) [...]

With that said, here's my (not yet) character:

Name: Leonardo Messina 
Age: 20 
Description: Of Italian descent, he's 6'1" tall, slim and lanky, has short wavy black hair and dark grey eyes. 
Studies: He's studying a B.S. (business) and also works in the family business (Liberty Locksmiths). 
Hobbies: He likes running. He was in the high school team of cross country and now also enjoys parkour. 

The others (not yet) characters are:
  • Eric Dawson (Alan) is 6'2", Caucasian, 180 lbs, blond hair, blue eyes. He's 21 years old and is finishing up his final year of his Bachelor's degree in Mathematics at the local university. 
  • Freddy Mancini (Joseph) is 5'6", with dark skin, greasy black hair pulled back into a pony tail, devious brown eyes, a wicked smile, pot belly from to much pasta. He's 32 years old and wears a cheap suit. 
  • Trevor Kraft (Reese) is a mathematics professor at a small local community college. Athletic, he has obviously spent time in the gym. He helps coach his school's track team, being a runner himself. He has the lanky build that most runners do, tall and thin. His Irish heritage is quite apparent in his appearance. He (unfortunately) has the green eyes and ginger hair associated with his ancestral homeland. 

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