My RPG characters

Spanish version of Labyrinth Lord - Take two

2012-02-03T09:13:00.001-02:00

On September 2009 I embarked on the huge task of translating Labyrinth Lore Core Rules into Spanish (you can read about it here). The size of the task (almost 90k words), real life and lack of constancy on my part, took the project to a halt. If I had done a little every day maybe the project was complete by now.

Anyway, in the last days there has been a renewed interest (you can see the comments on the original post) on the project. So, if anyone like to jump in and help you're welcome!

And the Winners of the 2012 NYNG Challenge Are…

2012-02-02T17:42:00.001-02:00

http://www.gnomestew.com/gnome-gnews/and-the-winners-of-the-2012-nyng-challenge-are

RPG wish list

2012-01-30T14:15:00.001-02:00

The Dungeon Alphabet An A-to-Z Reference for Classic Dungeon Design by Michael Curtis

Loviatar issues #1 to #7 by Christian Walker

Old-School Gaming Box with Erol Otus Art! by John Adams

An urban RPG?

2012-01-27T09:00:00.001-02:00

After reading this article on the WIRED magazine, my first thought was "Could this be the base for an RPG?". I'm no game designer, just a plain DM/player, so maybe I'm missing the point. Haven't even written a module, although I've submitted a couple of works for the "One Page Dungeon Contest" if that counts. :)

What are your thoughts?

The Legend Lives On!

2012-01-19T09:09:00.001-02:00

Wizard of the Coast is going to reprint the 1st. Edition core books!

"In 1974, the world changed forever when Gary Gygax introduced the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. The legacy of his innovative ideas and the extensive reach of his powerful influence can be seen in virtually every facet of gaming today.

To help honor his work and his memory, we created limited-edition reprints of the original 1st Edition core rulebooks: the Monster Manual, Player's Handbook, andDungeon Master's Guide. These premium versions of the original AD&D rulebooks have been lovingly reprinted with the original art and content, but feature an attractive new cover design commemorating this re-release. Available in limited quantities as a hobby channel exclusive in North America.

Your purchase of this monumental book helps support the Gygax Memorial Fund—established to immortalize the "Father of Roleplaying Games" with a memorial statue in Lake Geneva, WI."

Product Catalog

Gnome Stew's New Year, New Game Challenge: January 9-23

2012-01-12T00:50:00.001-02:00

The guys at Gnome Stew have launched the First Annual New Year, New Game Contest:: A Challenge to GMs. Basically all you need is to write an entry of 200-400 words long addressing:

What the game is about
Why you’re excited about running it
What system you want to use, and why
What challenges running this game might involve

Check the New Year, New Game (NYNG) website for more details about how to participate.

Hollowpoint

2012-01-05T22:48:00.001-02:00

My copy of Hollowpoint arrived safe and sound today! Nice size, well printed, excellent packaging and binding. I'm off to read it... ;)

Thanks Lulu and VSCA!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T15:03:00.003-02:00

New Oerth Journal

2011-12-30T00:26:00.001-02:00

Issue #26 is now available!

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5851594/Downloads_Section/Oerth_Journal/OJ_26te.pdf

Enjoy!

Joe Black

2011-12-21T17:31:00.001-02:00

This character was created for a Google+ Hangout game using the Hollowpoint set of rules (GM: John Johnson).

He's a 35 y.o. ex-military (sniper) member of the Monster Hunter International agency.

Traits:
1. Memento of your first monster encounter?
Werewolf tooth necklace.
2. You don't have a lot of scruples, but you would "never do this".
Shoot women or children.
3. That one time in Utah you took a souvenir...
A bible. He collects bibles from motels.
4. This is a hard job, but you love it because "you get to do this".
Love to kill monsters more than people (but he'll do it if he has to).
5. You're a pro and you know you're a pro because you always "do this".
Always get the job done whatever it takes.

Skills:
Kill - 5
Dig - 4
Take - 3
Con - 2
Cool - 1
Terror - 0

Mission:
Primary Objective - Retrieve or destroy "The Nameless Book", an ancient arcane tome stolen from the Monster Hunter International's vaults.
Secondary Objective - Neutralize a former MHI agent known as "The Scorpion", who had gone rogue and supposedly took the tome.

Status:
Wounded on the shoulder (OUT).

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Trailer

2011-12-21T11:28:00.001-02:00

Probably you've already seen it but I'll post it anyway :)

My Life Without A Jetpack webcomic

2011-12-09T14:54:00.001-02:00

Fellow gamer Magnus von Tesla's webcomic "My Life Without A Jetpack"
launched today.
http://nojetpack.thecomicstrip.org/
Good luck!

Musings from the Dungeon: Hollowpoint: Review & Actual Play report

2011-12-05T00:12:00.000-02:00

Last Saturday I joined my first Google+ gaming Hangout. It was a game using the Hollowpoint system which I've read reviews about it but never tried before. It was something completely different from what I've played before. Simple and fast character creation allows the players to jump right into the action.

On the following link you can read about a more complete review about the system and the game report by John Johnson the GM: Musings from the Dungeon: Hollowpoint: Review & Actual Play report:

Restarted Flanaess mapping project

2011-11-28T09:01:00.001-02:00

After a 8 year hiatus, Eric Anondson picked up where he left. He's back mapping the Flannaes with the Sheldomar Vally map. If you want to see his awesome maps you can check the Flanaess Geographical Society Facebook group or this galley at DeviantArt.In the past I used several of his maps for my Greyhawk campaigns and will look forward to see his future creations. With his and Anna B. Meyer's maps Greyhawk fans will have a great source for gaming!

Google Wave will turn it off completely on April 30

2011-11-24T11:11:00.001-02:00

"Google Wave—We announced that we'd stopped development on Google Wave
over a year ago. But as of January 31, 2012, Wave will become
read-only and you won't be able to create new ones. On April 30 we
will turn it off completely. You'll be able to continue exporting
individual waves using the existing PDF export feature until the
Google Wave service is turned off. If you'd like to continue using
this technology, there are a number of open-source projects, including
Apache Wave and Walkaround."

It's sad to see something good (at least for online gaming) go down. I
have backed up all my 1-on-1 game waves and will closely follow the
developement of Apache Wave and Walkaround.

It was good while it lasted.

Gaming Hangouts on Google+

2011-11-21T14:12:00.001-02:00

"The place to find roleplaying games to play via Google Hangouts. Be
sure to add this page to your Circles and we'll circle you back.
Also, let us know what games you'd like to play or run and we'll make
sure there's a 'board' for it!"
You can contact RPG+ at: rpgpluspage (at) gmail (dot) com

Uber-Geek Game Table

2011-09-25T18:20:00.001-03:00

Check it out!
http://ubergeekgametable.blogspot.com/

Greyhawk made top 5 on WoTC poll

2011-09-08T21:45:00.000-03:00

Dragonlance revisited	13.4%
Ravenloft revisited	8.8%
Everything on this list!	7.9%
Planescape revisited	7.7%
Greyhawk revisited	7.3%

You can see the whole table at http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4dmxp/20110908

Should I curse more?

2011-09-08T09:16:00.001-03:00

Created by OnePlusYou - Free Dating Sites

Vote for Greyhawk @ WoTC poll

2011-09-04T15:10:00.001-03:00

If you want to see some Greyhawk content on the upcoming issues of Dungeon and Dragon magazines, drop by the WotC site and vote for "Greyhawk revisited" here. The poll is at the bottom of the page.

After several weekends of gaming drought...

2011-08-20T21:24:00.002-03:00

...we're playing the "Last Sons of Odin" campaign (GURPS) tonight!

I haven't played since I ran my first convention game. Last weeks both GURPS and Millenium's End DMs couldn't organize a game. To make thing worse, ChicagoWiz's temporal loss of interest in gaming put the AD&D/OSRIC @ Google Wave campaign to a stop.

So, I turned to PC gmaes and started playing Fallout New Vegas. ;)

Today I ran my first "convention" game.

2011-07-30T19:30:00.007-03:00

Well, it was not really a convention but I like the way it sound. It was more a gaming day ("VII Jornada De Rol De Invierno De Caballeros De Montevideo") that's organized in winter to gather non-perishable food and/or warm clothing to be donated. You can check about the event here and here (both links are in Spanish).

I wanted to run a short low-level adventure using Labyrinth Lord and after some search I bought "Ruins of Ramat" at DriveThruRPG.com. I thought that a short adventure for 4 to 6 1st level characters with pregen ones to speed things up, would be a good choice for the event. I talked about it with my fellow players of our Google Wave game, and I learned that Rob Conley (Bat in the Attic) uses it at conventions. I knew I was on the right path. Thanks guys for all the tips!

And since I'm a "Knight of Dangerous Quests" of the Labyrinth Lord Society, I'm posting a couple of pics (yes, I want those points!) that document the event.

Thanks to all the guys that joined the game (clockwise): Giancarlo, Pedro, Esteban, Rodrigo, Pablo and Leonel.

The World’s Hardest Gary Gygax Quiz

2011-07-28T13:17:00.012-03:00

Gabriel took the Hardest Gary Gygax Quiz in the World and got 40%!

You are a Gary Gygax Hero. You know much of Gary Gygax. You are probably the DM of your game group (but you might insist on being called 'referee').

Paladin Code: You completed this quiz without using Google.

She's the Labyrinth Lady...

2011-07-17T11:05:00.001-03:00

Our Millenium's End game setting

2011-07-07T23:23:00.002-03:00

We're playing Millennium's End in a future in which everything that could have gone wrong in our World went wrong, but not that wrong. Here's what our DM sent us.

"Some general information about the World's situation around July 2013:

USA

Attack in 2011 by domestic terrorists against Obama (he survives but significantly reduces his public appearances, which is seen as a sign of fear and significantly damages the Democratic Party and moderate groups of Republicans who supported him).
Attack against the Clintons on a visit to Africa. Hilary survives but Bill doesn't. She changes quite dramatically and some people talk of "a new Margaret Thatcher". It has multiple problems with the Obama administration for this but has such popular support that no one dares to remove her.
Due to both international and local terrorism, and with the support of groups of Democrats who swing towards the Conservatives, the Senate approves the so-called "Patriot Act II" (which essentially revives the original Patriot Act and deepens it in many cases).
With this move towards conservatism, the growing influence of the "Tea Party" and the vision of a "world war", the 2012 elections are won by Sarah Palin.
Admiral Eric T. Olson (former commander of USSOCOM) is assigned as SECDEF.
Admiral William H. McRaven (former commander of JSOC) is assigned as commander of USSOCOM.
Surprisingly (or not so, as recent years events) Hilary leaves as Secretary of State.

South / Central America

The "Drug War" continues to intensify in Mexico, Colombia and other countries (tens of thousands of deaths per year, increasing mechanization of the forces on both sides, less U.S. support outside its borders given the global situation).
Colombia and Venezuela in war "virtual" (Chavez and Uribe remain in power, constant border skirmishes, the use of terrorist groups for "covert" attacks on the other side, special forces raids, numerous attacks on presidents and other military and government figures with varying degrees of success).
In Cuba, Fidel Castro dies, his brother Raul deepes the reforms with greater openness to the USA but, with the whole world situation, almost no attention is paid to the country in the absence of significant natural resources.
Indigenous groups in Brazil (possibly supported by foreign extremist environmental groups) get organized and threaten international interests. Because they compromise the investments that are maintaining the growth / stability, they are brutally repressed. Lula (who had managed to maintain power) is having a lot of pressure about this issue and his administration is quite complicated.

Middle East

Iran's nuclear power plants, both public and secret are raided and destroyed with none being held liable. Despite the official denial, Iran accuses Israeli special forces to have perpetrated the attacks and declares that he will retaliate. Several Iranian missiles are fired at multiple targets in Israel (much of them are stopped by the new generations of Patriots, but some reach their target causing civilian and military casualties).
Israel responds with air strikes that generate several skirmishes in the air (usually won by Israeli forces considering their superior training) and several bombing raids on Iranian military bases and infrastructure targets.
What was climbing rapidly to a war is "stopped" by the UN Security Council (supported by the votes of Russia and the USA. They already have too many problems elsewhere to "tolerate" an open war between Israel and Iran which would get boh involved).
Afghanistan is just as unstable today (U.S. forces remain there, changed a couple of governments but the Taliban / al-Qaida could not be completely eliminated).
Iraq without the Americans is in constant instability (with suspected Iranian intervention in many cases) and on the brink of civil war.
Syria / Hamas take advantage of the situation to intensify their attacks on Israel (short-range missiles and terrorist attacks).
With the speech to defend its borders, Israel abandoned the negotiations with Palestinian groups, took back several concessions made and complete the invasion and occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Far East

A second incident in which a supposedly DPRK torpedo sunk a frigate of the ROK. People of ROK forces the government to take a signficative military action (to avoid completely losing popular support), which results in an aerial bombing operation that destroys several strategic targets in the north.
The response of DPRK (declaring the 1951 truce broken) is a ground invasion across the DMZ that generates a "shooting war" between the two countries, with thousands of casualties in the first two days of the conflict. Given the real risk that the invasion of the north to be effective (because of the numbers), USA intervenes "in fulfilling its obligations and treaties."
In one of the defining moments of the decade, Hilary Clinton at a conference for the international press threatens to use tactical nuclear devices against DRPK if the invasion does not stops immediately. Russia is not going to let that happen and the consequences of using any nuclear weapon by the U.S. would be answered "in the most severe form," leading both countries to the highest state of alert had been seen since the worst days of the Cold War.
A day after taking the world on edge, in a joint press conference, military leaders and KOR DPRK declare a new armistice (assuming there were furious diplomatic efforts of USA and Russia during those days with both countries, but nothing comes out). While the war stops, the whole region is extremely unstable with Japan and China in a state of constant alert. None have been involved directly in the conflict (at least publicly).
The other "flashpoints" in Asia are still there: the wild Myanmar dictatorship, rhetoric and skirmishes between India and Pakistan, etc., although everyone receives a lesser degree of international concern under most significant problems elsewhere.

Europe

In line with USA (and in many cases the vision of NATO as a "deterrent" important in situations that are occurring), there is a significant return to conservatism in most European governments, ending sometimes decades of control of Social-Democrats.
In line with such movements and taking advantage of the "international unrest" there is a resurgence of various terrorist groups and / or nationalist movements (IRA, ETA, Red Brigades, etc.).
Ethnic and religiuos problems are the cause of occasionally atentandos and incidents.
Russia has several ongoing conflicts in their borders (especially Georgia), and several Islamic terrorist groups inside and outside its borders.

Africa

Essentially the same problems remain and in many cases they're worse because the UN is more concerned with the scenario in Asia.
Somalia (and to some extent other countries) is back in the state of the 90s, with a government totally ineffective and "warlords" controlling large areas of the country. The killings and "ethnic cleansing" are distressingly common and receive little international interest.
Piracy is getting worse in all the areas close to Africa. Many shipping routes have changed and when that's not possible it has forced shipping companies to travel with military or para-military convoys."On future posts more about Black Eagle LLC, our characters and missions."

On future posts more about Black Eage LLC, our characters and missions.

Harald Sorenson

2011-06-24T23:12:00.016-03:00

Harald, son of Soren, is the blacksmith of Odense (which means Odin's sanctuary), a small village in the northern coast of the Isle of Fyn. He learned the basics of the craft at a young age helping his father. However, his father was not a common blacksmith; his specialty was not the making of tools, weapons or armor, but of chains and shackles. His father was a blacksmith in a slave ship. Long, hard months at sea were spent plundering the coasts of Northumbria and East Anglia, to return with loads of slaves to be sold in Frankia or Frisia. Several years went by working in this horrible but lucrative business. During daylight hours young Harald perfected his skills as a blacksmith and also tried, in his idle time aboard the ships, to grasp the art of navigation. But at nightfall, in his dreams, he was haunted by the gaze returned by the slaves when he held fast the incandescent rivet while his father's hammer sealed their fate.

Many times they were followed after a raid but always, thanks to the gods, they had the good fortune to escape. As always, the men upwinded the sails to the limit and the slaves were forced to row until their calloused hands bled. However, this time was different; the sails on the horizon became larger and larger. Had the English become more daring? Were their ships now as good as the Danish longships? At bowshot, the English launched several flaming arrows, some of which landed on the ship and on the sails, which caught fire. The English rammed the Danes from the starboard side trying to disable the rudder, breaking several oars along with the arms of many rowers in the process. What followed was the bloodiest affair Harald had lived so far, since he was too young to take part in the raids on land. Helmets and skulls crushed by axes, arms and legs mutilated by swords, torsos pierced by spears, fierce looking men crying like children trying in vain to contain their spilling entrails with their hands.

The Danes, recovering from the initial surprise, managed to repel the English attack and bring most of the combat to the enemy ship. In the Danish ship, which was rapidly being engulfed by the fire, the slaves struggled to escape from their chains. Harald, dagger in hand, and his father, who wielded a hammer, were trying to fend off the assault of two English warriors. Harald stabbed one of them in the calf unbalancing him and his father sunk his hammer on the head of the attacker. The other warrior lunged forward plunging his sword into Soren, mortally wounding him. Harald let out a cry and dropped his dagger to stop his father's fall. The warrior lifted the bloody sword to kill Harald but fell pierced by a spear. Harald raised his father's hammer and repeatedly smashed the head of the wounded warrior.

From the smoke emerged the figure of Sven Magnusson, the Danish captain, who commanded Harald to accompany him to the other ship. Seeing that Harald refused to leave his father, he said: "There is no greater honor for a warrior than to die in combat; this burning ship will take him to the gates of Valhalla." After capturing the English ship, the survivors watched their longship being consumed by flames as the piercing screams of the unfortunate got lost in the distance.

Many winters have passed since then and now Harald and his assistant Ulrik attend to the village forge. During all these years he has forged many things but none as special as "Nedrivning", a hammer made from a rock that fell from the sky in the nearby marshes, beaten with his father's hammer and hardened in the water of the first thaw. He still remembers that night when the village völva awakened him and, along with Ulrik, they went to gather the rock. At the völva's request both worked relentlessly several days at the forge under her watchful eye. He does not remember having slept or taken any food, only the satisfaction of the endeavor seemed to have kept them up. The völva drew with charcoal the runes to be carved on the weapon and whose meaning he never found out. "Nedrivning" remains hidden, "awaiting the right time", in the völva's words. He has tattoed on arms and chest the same runes the völva draw for "Nedrivning".

Age 29; Human; 1.80m; 120kg; Bald, fat, tattooed.

ST 12 [20]; DX 13 [60]; IQ 13 [60]; HT 10 [0].

Damage 1d-1/1d+2; BL 29 lbs.; HP 14 [4]; Will 13 [0]; Per 13 [0]; FP11 [3].

Basic Speed 5,75 [0]; Basic Move 5 [0]; Block 9 (Shield (Shield));Dodge 8; Parry 9 (Axe/Mace).

Social BackgroundTL: 3 [0].CF: Norse (Native) [0].Languages: Norse (Native/None) [3].
Advantages - None
Disadvantages - Code of Honor (Pagan) -2 [-10]; Fat [-3]; Gluttony (12 or less) [-5];Vow (Minor) [-5].
Skills - Area Knowledge (Jutlandia)-13 (IQ+0) [1]; Armoury/TL3 (BodyArmor)-14 (IQ+1) [4]; Armoury/TL3 (Melee Weapons)-13 (IQ+0) [2];Axe/Mace-13 (DX+0) [2]; Broadsword-12 (DX-1) [1]; First Aid/TL3-13(IQ+0) [1]; Hiking-9 (HT-1) [1]; Merchant-13 (IQ+0) [2]; Navigation/TL3(Sea)-13 (IQ+0) [2]; Riding (Horse)-12 (DX-1) [1]; Seamanship/TL3-13(IQ+0) [1]; Shield (Shield)-13 (DX+0) [1]; Smith/TL3 (Copper)-12 (IQ-1)[1]; Smith/TL3 (Iron)-13 (IQ+0) [2]; Smith/TL3 (Lead and Tin)-12 (IQ-1)[1].

What the...!?

2011-06-23T23:11:00.000-03:00

Since I started blogging the site has had an average of about 300 visits a month, but this month that count rocketeered to about 4800! Surely there must be something wrong, right? Have this happened to anyone else?

I've been barely posting lately (most of the attention goes now to my 3 month old son) but I wanted to take some time to welcome my latest followers: Grendelwulf and Rule of the Dice. Oh, and I haven't fogotten what I said on my last post about posting my GURPS and ME characters.

Update

2011-05-14T15:07:00.004-03:00

I've never been a prolific blogger and now with my two-month son blogging came to a near halt. But at least I owe my followers an update.

My two Greyhawk campaigns are officially and indefinitely on hold. I'm currently playing AD&D/OSRIC on Google Wave (which it's possible because I follow it from work ;->) and Millenium's End once every two weeks. That reminds me that I never posted my ME character.

Now a friend that just returned from Japan (he was the DM of our Ars Magica game before leaving) wanted to set up a new campaign based on the scandinavian Eddas in which the Christianization was seen by the pagan völvas as the begining of the Ragnarök. It's going to be a dark fantasy-low magic campaign, and we're deciding which rules set to use. We're between GURPS 4e Lite or BRP Quick-Start Edition to keep it simple.

I'm going to play a blacksmith (I'll post that character too, promise!) and my wife a female warrior. Let's see if our little Ivan let us play...

The Oerth Journal is back...

2011-04-18T20:35:00.001-03:00

...and looking for submissions! Check it here.

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit...

2011-04-14T21:32:00.003-03:00

At last!

Season of the Witch (2011)

2011-04-04T18:55:00.004-03:00

Baby's asleep. Let's watch a movie.

We didn't care if it has a low rate on IMDB and the trailer looked promising enough so we gave it a chance. It is an entertaining movie with everything a D&D adventure has to have.

The party is composed by two knights (veterans from the Crusades), a warrior, a priest, a thief and an altar boy who wants to be a knight. Their quest is to take a girl, allegedly a witch, to a remote monastery in the mountains for trial. Fiendish wolves attack them in the misty woods on its way. The party kills a few but has to escape from the rest. Upon arriving to the monastery, they must fight the animated plague-dead monks to get a relic. After defeating the undeads the party fights a demon with sword, holy water and divine magic.

I won't spoil it by telling how it ends or who lives or dies. Gotta go, baby's crying!

The day I became a dad

2011-03-28T20:40:00.004-03:00

Now finally at home and with some time to write, I proudly anounce that my son Ivan was born by C-section on March 23rd. Mom and baby are in good health, and we're all very happy (though a bit tired and sleepy :>).

I guess my DMing of the Blackmoor and Maure Castle games will be on pause for some time (not too long I hope), as well as my participation on the Millenium's End game. I'll try to keep up with the Google Wave game though. ;-)

Maure Castle session 4 & 5

2011-03-08T21:53:00.007-02:00

By some alignement of the palnets we managed to play on two consecutives weekends. We played on Friday 4th which I found it was a nice way to remember E.G.G. on the third anniversary of his death. Moreover because Maure Castle was one of the places he used to visit as a player. We also played on Friday 11th.

I'm just updating the blog because I've been busy with work and with all the preparations for the baby due to come next week! :-)

In the fist session the group continued exploring the Chamber of Antiquities after the effects of a Symbol of Fear on Quinath the fighter/mage were gone. Behind two granite doors, that were magically opened by using a baton of grey granite, they discovered a room full of shelves with almost 100 pairs of varied footwear in type, shape and materials. Detect magic showed nothing. They were about to leave when Kamar the kensai wondered if that footwear allowed to pass through the M-styled symbols without suffering their effects. Everyone else mocked him and dismissed the idea, but he insisted and took a pair that best fit him.

After exploring several more rooms, they reached one with four curiass on their stands and a door. The door was locked so Kamar bashed it, but with the impulse he entered the other room. The walls, floor and ceiling of that room were chaotically painted and produced some unknown efect that he managed to resist. After leaving that room he told the others that maybe those armor were intended to be worn in order to enter the room safely. Again everyone dismissed the idea but this time they just took them and continued exploring.

While the rest were discussing about the amor and the room, Inowe the monk left to explore other rooms. She reached a door ajar and carefully opened it. What was once a storeroom was now just a pile of broken crates and boxes. From another door, also ajar, across the room a hordling attacked Inowe. It almost killed the monk if not for the quick reaction of the rest. The creature came from what once was a laboratory, now completely wrecked. The exploration continued from room to room until they found hidden in a wardrobe another baton, this one made of emerald. With that they left the castle.

But after leaving Kamar tried the found footwear with the magic Symbols only to found he was correct! At the end of the session I decided to award Kamar's player extra XPs for the idea. Denar and Quinath reached level 15.

The next session was a short one. It was more a farewell reunion for Kamar's player who is going abroad for some time but will still be playing via Skype. The game stared with the party navigating the dungeons on their way out. They came across a couple of fiendish morghs. One was turned by Denar the cleric and the other, after paralyzing Inowe, was killed by Kamar. After that they rached the surface safely and, while travelling across the hills to Quinath tower, they found a strange flying creature (a rast) that was mercilesly killed by Quinath with a lighning bolt. The session ended with the party reaching Quinath tower safely.

Until next session!

Sandbox game session 10

2011-03-03T22:08:00.003-02:00

Today I realized that a gaming weekend is coming (Maure Castle game on Friday and Sandbox game on Saturday) and I haven't posted what happened on our last Blackmoor game.

In the week before departure from Broomsage, the unusual presence of a pair of Ice Elves in the village¡s tavern spurs Kratos the fighter to find out what they are doing so far from their land. The warrior's direct inquiries are not well received by one of the Elves and Kratos goes away discouraged. Tamryn the thief, however, understands Elvish and hear the dialogue between the Elves and discover they are seeking information. Vanon the cleric decides then a more diplomatic approach. The tactic is effective and results in knowing that the Elves are on the trail of a human sorcerer who came to their land. He came followed by a retinue of human and humanoid mercenaries, and left "not in good terms with us" in the words of the Elves. They followed his trail to this lands but lost it after a storm and decided to seek information in the nearest town. The description made by the Elves reminds Vanon of the wizard familiar to the group, so he tells them about their recent experience. He also consults with the rest of the group and agree to help them. He gives them a map of the area where the sorcerer's lair is. The Elves are very grateful and in return give him a bag of coins and their names along with the promise of help by their clan (Caldarii) if need arise.

After leaving Broomsage Abbey, and having obtained from the monastery a map of Blackmoor and information about a wand, the "heroes " embark on their journey westward in search of the place marked on a map that belonged to Scarlet's grandfather. The trip passes uneventfully through hills and swamps until the village of Glendour. There, Brom the ranger expresses his intention to return to Ramshorn as he has been away from his lands for too long. The group surprises him with a bounce in appreciation. Scarlet the illusionist takes this opportunity to send her hireling Phillipe back home. Disappointed, the young warrior leaves with a grateful Brom.

The journey of our "heroes" continues to the northwest between snowy hills to Darthkettle Keep. Along the way they come across a halfling that dressed in colorful clothes walking with a pair of draft mules. Tamryn buys from him half a pound of tobacco; the finest blend as the halfling said. Upon reaching Darthkettle they see that it's a tower in pretty bad shape on a hill surrounded by some smaller buildings in ruins. The town itself is a bit far from the hill and it's rather small. As Glendour, the town is inhabited mostly by local tribesmen and they learn thekeep is occupied by the "Greenhag Covenant. " The group asks for the location indicated on Scarlet's map and find that it's in a nearby forest to the West controlled by the Druids.

Until next session!

Week and weekend

2011-02-18T20:57:00.007-02:00

This week the Google Wave game (The Dark Ages - The Southern Seas campaign) was full of interesting events that moved the adventure forward. We managed to open the mage's tomb and carefully begun its exploration. The stairs led down to an hexagonal room with two exits and a raised balcony with a niche above it. One of the exits ended in a cave-in, while the other after a couple of stairs ended in a stone slab. The raised platforn led to a small room with some cauldrons and strange inscriptions on the walls. The niche above it to a bigger room with columns and two stone slab doors.

Thanks to Alan, who plays Landyn the half-elven fighter/magic-user, here's a map of the tomb so far:

All stone slabs beared the same strange gleaming inscriptions. We opened the northern door of the columns room. It was filled with an eerie darkness that obscured all light sources and prevented any sound to enter/leave the room. Tied with a rope to guide him Landyn explored the room and came out with a 4 ft. tall stone urn. He repeated the process three times more and each time he returned with an urn.

We the tried the door beyond the stairs an it led to the same room. This time he discovered a rectangular stonework which we think is a sarcophagus. He also discovered a slightly raised flagstone and after lifting it found a cache of coins! Our first treasure after a year of gaming on the Wave. An exciting moment. Along with Merrick, Landyn proceeded to fill all our spare sacks with the coins, only to be told by the DM (ChicagoWiz) that we thought we barely took a small portion of the treasure. We decided to leave with that (and the urns) and come back later.

Meanwhile Orbilar (me) was outside the tomb checking the mounts when a dozen of mounted Elves approached. They were on their way to Skalfier (our base of operations) for a Conclave and have lost their way. Their leader had a glowing set of chainmail armor (drool).

More next week!

A weekend of work and gaming awaits. Some painting on the future baby's room and a trip to the mall to buy "baby stuff". Now I'm off to play our one-every-two-weeks Millenium's End game and tomorrow night is time for my Labyrinth Lord sandbox game.

Uncovered treasures

2011-02-12T02:09:00.008-02:00

Here are a couple of treasures I recently discovered while emptying a cabinet, as part of the many changes going on in the apartment for the baby that arrives next month. I found 13 issues of Dragon magazine! They are issues 118, 123, 124, 125, 133, 137, 143, 152, 173, 187, 204 and 206 (x2). Many of them has no cover but all are in good conditions.

The other one is the Ultima Online Renaissance reference guide with the maps of Trammel and Felucca. I don't know where the boxed set and CD are, but at least this one remains.

Miniatures

2011-02-05T12:31:00.006-02:00

The OOC wave from our Google Wave game has seen a lot of activity lately related to miniatures and painting (painting techniques, paints, brushes, storage, etc).

Added to that I recently found (among other treasures I'll comment later) a couple of boxes with painted/unpainted miniatures. Here's my humble stash of miniatures:

I hope all this will give me the momentum to go back to painting!

EDIT: Thanks to ChicagoWiz and Ken.

Sandbox game session 9

2011-01-24T00:07:00.005-02:00

Finally we managed to get the group together to continue the game after the summer break. A couple of sessions ago the group was ambushed in the woods by a patrol of bandits. Only the leader (Lakus) survived but they let him go after stripping him from his possessions. As the group carried on with the adventure I wondered what happened to that NPC and what would be his course of actions. Then I thought about something ChicagoWiz said in our Google Wave game: "Let the dices tell the story." So I did just that. I started a new wave, added the DiceLink robot and let the dices tell me what was Lakus story. Here's a cut&paste of that wave, with some comments in italics.

-----------------

Me and Dicelink: Lakus goes to Broomsage or Stornawane? 50-50

He wondered where that party has come from. The two nearest towns were the town around Broomsage abbey and Stornawane. He has to choose one of them.

[1d100 d100(47)=47]

He heads for the abbey.

He has to travel, in winter, 3 days by foot. One day accross the forest and two days by a trail across the hills. I rolled 3 times a day fo random encounters.

Forest (1-2 in 1-d-6)

day 1:

[1d6 d6(4)=4]

[1d6 d6(3)=3]

[1d6 d6(1)=1][1d20 d20(1)=1] Bee, Giant Killer at [4d6 4d6(4,4,4,1)=13] 130 yds.

Surprise Lakus [1d6 d6(1)=1] Surprised!

Surprise Bee [1d6 d6(1)=1] Surprised! Reaction [2d6 2d6(1,2)=3] (Indifferent, uninterested) Bee wanders off.

Hills (1-2 in 1-d-6)

day2:

[1d6 d6(2)=2][1d20 d20(6)=6] Dragon, white at [4d6 4d6(4,2,1,4)=11] 110 yds.

Surprise Lakus [1d6 d6(3)=3]

Surprise Dragon [1d6 d6(3)=3] Reaction [2d6 2d6(4,1)=5] (Indifferent, uninterested) Dragon just flies by and continues.

[1d6 d6(4)=4]

day3:

[1d6 d6(1)=1][1d20 d20(17)=17] Ogre [4d6 4d6(3,3,6,3)=15] 150 yds.

Surprise Lakus [1d6 d6(4)=4]

Surprise Ogre [1d6 d6(6)=6] Reaction [2d6 2d6(1,2)=3] (Indifferent, uninterested) The Ogre recognizes Lakus as one of the bandits and carries on.

Since the reaction was indifferent and there was an Ogre in the area that sometimes worked for the bandits, I thought it could be that one.

[1d6 d6(6)=6]

Lakus arrives to Broomsage abbey.

-----------------------------

It was amazing to see how the dices led the NPC to the place where the party has to return (something unknown to Lakus). He waited in the town and survived by doing some petty thieving until he recognized the party when they got back. He then watched them and planned to take back the things they took away from him.

What he didn't knew (and here starts the session) is that Tamryn, the group thief, caught a glimpse of him in town and followed him to the cowshed he used to spen the nights. She waited, hidden, until it paid off and he went out in the middle of the night. He used dark alleys to get to the tavern where they were staying and got in using a fake common room token.

Tamryn looked for an opened window and climbed into the tavern second floor where were the guest rooms. The room she entered was occupied but she managed to silently gain access to the corridor. When she rounded a corner she came face to face with Lakus, surprising him, but she just said "Good night." and carried on. Upon reaching the bar downstairs she complained she couldn't sleep, asked for a mug of hot cider and went back up. She moved silently along the corridor and stopped to listen before rounding the corner. The agitated breath of a person close ahead was all she heard. She quickly moved around the corner but couldn't surprise him, so she threw the hot cider on his face. He cried in pain and blindly swung with a crowbar at her, but missed. The cry waked up Scarlet dog who started barking and clawing the room's door. Tamryn drew her scimitar and commanded Lakus to surrender. The barking woke upo several guests including Scarlet the illusionist, Kratos the fighter and Vanon the cleric.

As Lakus gave in, Tamryn took him to Scarlet's room along with Kratos, while Vanon after admonishing everyone else back to sleep did the same. Meanwhile the others interrogated Lakus, who told them he just wanted back a sword (+1, +2 vs. lycanthropes) and a scroll (ward agaist lycanthropes). When asked why they were so important he told that he needed them to take revenge on the werewolf that killed his family. He had joined the bandits because one of the leader was a mage that he thought could help him. In time he proved worthy and the mage gave him those items for his services. He was not proud of the things he has done but those were just the means to an end.

They told him that he lost the sword and scroll in a fight fair and square, and that if they came across this werewolf they will kill it for him (they asked its name and where it was). But, if they find him nosing around or following them again, he won't get lucky a third time and they would kill him. After that they tied him, lowered down the window and escorted him to the outskirts of town. Once there, they repeated the threat and set him free.

What will Lakus do next? I'll let it to the dices.

Until next session!

New Year

2011-01-03T22:06:00.007-02:00

After a few, but well deserved vacation days, I'm back to wish you all (a little late but no less meaningful) a very happy 2011! May the New Year bring you love, good health and many, many hours of gaming among friends.

Cheers!

Thank you!

2010-12-18T11:54:00.004-02:00

According to this post by Cyclopeatron this blog made it into the first 100 and gained 6 new followers since last month. Thanks a lot to all of you.

Sandbox game session 8

2010-12-13T00:55:00.003-02:00

We played a short session today. Dividing the trasure, seeling loot, restocking adventuring gear and buying horses took most of the time. The party is in the town around Broomsage abbey after recovering a old statue for the monks. Vanon the cleric and Kratos the fighter reached 2nd level. Tamryb the thief and Brom the ranger were close to reach 3rd level.

Tamryn sold her donkey and bought a horse with Brom's advice who selected the best available. Vanon commissioned the town jeweler to coat the edges of his wooden holy symbol with silver, while Scarlet wanted to know what was the true nature of a wand she found. She went to the abbey since monks are well known for being scholars in different areas, and are often sought as sages and seers. They certainly agreed to study her wand but told her it could take several weeks. While at the abbey, she also asked about a place, Halderwood forest. The monks showed her an old lavishly decorated map of the barony and environs, and pointed the place for her. When she took quil, ink and paper to annotate the directions, the monks offered her, for a small price, a copy of the map which she gladly accepted. She also asked about the Land of Black Ice when she saw the map and the monks told her about it. At that point the player OOC said: "Looks like we'll have to be of higher level before visiting that place!"

Later at night, while sharing Tamryn's keg of anisetto, Scarlet told the rest of the party about what she thought it was a treasure map that her grandfather left her. The place was not far from where they were and everyone agreed it was worth to check the place out. The map showed a tower in the middle of a forest crossed by rivers or roads in a "Y" form, a legend and the picture of a key. Tamryn examined the map and when approached to a candle, it revealed a skull in the bow of the key...

Until next session!

Comment about the 1 gp = 1 XP rule

2010-12-07T22:45:00.006-02:00

It was at the end of my last post but maybe nobody got that far so I repost the situation. :)

Last Sunday before the session ended I proceeded to give XP. When I said they should add, to the XP from the defeated monsters, 1 XP per gold coin of non-magical treasure, Mike who plays Vanon the cleric said it was an unfair rule. He felt that he was stealing XP from the rest of the players since from the 200 platinum pieces he got paid, he gave 30 pp to each and kept 50 pp for him. The same said my wife who plays Tamryn the thief. She argued that that rule went against anyone wanting to roleplay, for example, an ascetic monk who cares nothing about money or, on the other end, a greedy thief. They wanted, if I agreed, to split the XP from treasure evenly. I ruled it was fine.

I later read page 49 of Labyrinth Lord Revised Ed. and found that my initial ruling missed the point. It states:

All characters that make it through an adventure alive receive

experience points (XP). Experience points are gained from

two sources, treasure and monsters. Characters only gain XP

from treasure of a non-magical nature, at the rate of 1 XP per

1 gold piece (gp) value of the item. The values of all items are

added together, and converted to gp units if necessary. For

example, if the group finds a gold statue worth 500 gp and a

gem worth 250 gp, these are added up to 750 XP, and

divided evenly between the characters.

I think that evenly is the key word there, so I guess my final ruling was right. I doesn't really matter how many coins end in the character's pouch. Only the XP are divided evenly, not the treasure money. My players without having read the rules (I'm sure they didn't) and I (who misread them) through arguments and logic reached to the same idea as in the book. Cool.

Sandbox game session 7

2010-12-05T01:21:00.001-02:00

With one player short because of end-of-term exams, we gathered last Sunday night for a short session.

The patrol (one bugbear, two orcs and three humans), commanded by the halberd-wielding chainmail-clad bugbear, charged across the snowy plain to attack the adventurers. The group held their ground and fired a volley of arrows and stones into the charging bandits. One arrow from Tamryn hit its mark putting one human down, Brom also landed an arrow on the bugbear and Vanon hit one orc with a sling shot. As the attackers drew nearer, the party fired again. Another arrow from Brom hit the bugbear, and both orcs also got hit by arrows from Kratos and Tamryn. Vanon sling shot flew wide. Although wounded neither the bugbear nor the orcs stopped advancing.

The orcs and one human were the first to reach the line of the party, followed close behind by the bugbear and another human. Phillipe advanced to met them and Scarlet let go her war dog. Kratos dropped his bow and drew his bastard sword, Vanon dropped his sling and readied his flail. Both spurred their horses forward. What followed was a gory scrimmage that left all the attackers bleeding to death on the snow. But it was not all over. After receiving another arrow from Brom, the bugbear charged into him and with a swing from its halberd practically disemboweled the ranger, who dropped mortally wounded to the ground. The also heavily wounded bugbear was swiftly killed by Kratos and near-dead Brom was bandaged to stop the bleeding. The party proceeded to loot the patrol and put everything on the cart along with the unconciuos ranger. They made way into the caverns to spend the night.

The next day Vanon used his clerical abilities to heal Brom and Kratos before proceding to retrieve the statue. They carefully covered it with some winter blankets and tied it with ropes before loading it on the cart. While the men were at it, Tamryn watched the southern exit of the room and Scarlet with her watch dog watched the entrance where they came in. It was the barking of the dog that warned everyone of the danger: a giant crab spider had dropped in front of the surprised illusionist. The dog bit the spider and Scarlet feared for her loyal companion as the spider dig its poisonous fangs on him. Luckyly the poison was not strong enough. Alerted by the barks and screams the rest of the party moved to assist and soon the spider layed dead with its carapace broken.

After that they resumed their labors and soon the statue was secured on the cart. They left the caverns under the hill and headed for the woods, which they crossed without incident. They took the trail heading West and arrived at night to Broomsage abbey. The doors of the abbey were closed and were told by a monk to return in the morning. Vanon insisted on seeing prior Morrison and after waiting a for while under the falling snow, the doors finally opened. The prior and half-a-dozen monks waited in the abbey's inner yard. While the abbot accompained the adventurers inside the monks proceeded to unload and store the statue. Hot food was offered to the guests and spartan but clean monk cells were made available for them to rest. Prior Morrison was very pleased they could recover the relic and told Vanon they'll settle what was arranged in the morning.

Before dawn everyone was waken up by the monotonous chants of the monks on their way to Lauds, the early morning service. Most continued sleeping but Vanon woke up and joined the monks. After the service Vanon joined prior Morrison who gave him a small wooden coffer containing 200 platinum coins. When Vanon offered the job to the rest of the group they said they'll do it for 100 gold coins. He gave each of them 30 platinum coins and kept 50 for him.

Here ended the session and I proceeded to give XP. When I said they should add, to the XP gained for defeated monsters, 1 XP per gold coin of treasure, Vanon's player said it was an unfair rule. He felt that he was stealing XP from the rest of the players. The same said my wife who plays Tamryn the thief. She argued that that rule went against anyone wanting to roleplay, for example, an ascetic monk who cares nothing about money or a greedy thief. They wanted, if I agreed, to split the XP from treasure evenly. I said it was fine. What do you think about it?

Until next session!

Awesome dragon

2010-11-30T11:31:00.003-02:00

You can find it here.

Maure Castle session 3

2010-11-27T21:34:00.005-02:00

Last Friday night the party continued with the exploration of Maure Castle (D&D 3.5e) and here's what happened:

As a final attempt against the hydra, Quinath cast a Summon Monster IX from a scroll. Being a spell above his caster level there was a chance of a mishap. And the mishap happened, but not instantly. I secretely rolled the effect and how many hours will pass before it. The group returned to the tower of Quinath to rest and plan the next incursion into the castle.

It was dawn when the tower was rocked from its foundations, unceremoniously throwing everyone from their beds. Everyone looked outside the window and saw a massive rocky creature towering over the building! Denar took his sword and flying carpet, and flew through his room's window. Kamar also grabbed his sword and met Inowe in the hall. Inowe, using her Abundant Step, took both of them outside. Meanwhile Qiunath, recognizing the creature s an Elder Earth Elemental and possibly the consequense of yesterday's mishap, tried to end it with a Dispel Magic to no avail. The elemental battered the tower with mighty slams.

Quinath teleported himself outside the tower, Denar cast Bear's Endurance on his friend on the ground, Kamar and Inowe charged at the creature. The elemental ignored their attacks, sunk into the ground, emerged next to Quinath and landed an awsome blow on the elf sending him flying backwards. Quinath played the dead one, Denar cast Haste on his friends, Inowe moved between elf and elemental, and tried to trip it, Kamar (now hasted) attacked the monster four times dealina huge amount of damage. This time the elemental didn't ignore him. It turned around and with a backhand slam sent Kamar flying onto the tower's wall, only to kick the slumped kensai like a rag doll. Quinath took advantage of the distraction to cast an Orb of Cold that froze the elemental to death, banishing it to its plane. After Denar healed everyone's wounds they went back to rest.

The next day they went back into Maure Castle to finish the hydra and gain access to th e Chamber of Antiquities. First Inowe used the Mirror Image spell from her Ring of Spell Storing and Quinath cast See Invisibility on it. The she used it again, while Quinath cast Improved Invisibility on him. After that he polymorphed into a rust monster and cautiously aproached the stranded hydra. Inowe was ready to rescue him if necessary. The rest waited. Quinath then touched the hydra, the rust eating away almost a quarter of its body and exposing its igneous core. Before the hydra could react he touched it again and fled back. Another portion of the body rusted away leaving the thing in precarious balance. The hydra blindly launched its attacks that harmed no one. Denar then cast Gren Slime and the burst of acid ate three of the heads leaving four still active. The remainging heads again blindly launched its breath attacks to no avail. Another wave of Green Slime from the cleric and there was no more of the Maure hydra. The path to the chamber was open.

As they ventured into the huge chamber, Quinath was affected by one of the many M's engraved on the floor. Overwhelmed by fear he panicked, dropped his staff and attempted to flee but was held by Kamar, broke free and held again by Inowe. Quinath tried to cast a Teleport to escape but failed and lost the spell. He tried again usin the still active Wind Walk but Denar dismissed it when he saw the elf transforming. Quinath was tied, gagged by Kamar and beaten to unconsciousness by the monk.

I hope we cant play again before the year is over.

Until next session!

Happy birthday to me!

2010-11-19T12:33:00.001-02:00

Today I've reached level 40! :-)

Level up!

2010-11-18T16:53:00.004-02:00

Thanks to the latest additions of fellow bloggers from The Happy Whisk and Gothridge Manor, I've reached level 4 with the rank of Comentator. Thanks all!

Catching up

2010-11-17T23:54:00.007-02:00

Last weekend was scheduled to be a gaming one, but it wasn't. Every two weeks I play Millenium's End on Friday and DM my Labyrinth Lord sandbox game on Saturday. I started playing ME about a couple of months ago through one of my players of the sandbox game. He warned me that the gaming style of that group was not as high-paced as I am used to. And he was right. It is more like a social gathering of friends, than a proper gaming session. By proper I mean you get together with the main (only?) purpose of role playing. Of course there's always some catching up and pauses to eat, but this guys have such a low atention span! I mean the play every Friday (one ME and the other Vampire) and are online all week. How much do you have to catch up? I know it sounds like I'm complaining, but I'm not. I just find them amusing! It's always good to meet new people with different gaming styles.

The thing is that last Friday there was only a couple of hours of proper gaming, and then I have to cancel Saturday's game because one of the player's girlfriend was sick and he wouldn't leave her. Another two (a couple) had a birthday party and could come after it, but since last session ended on the verge of a combat, I wanted everyone to be present. So, next game would be in two weeks. I'm going to miss the ME session since I'm DMing my Maure Castle 3.5e sort-of-monthly game, and hope everyone could make it to the sandbox game on Saturday.

In other topic, according to the Old School RPG Blogger Advancement Table at From the Sorcere's Skull, I'm one follower short of becoming a Comentator! Thanks to all and a warm welcome to the recent ones.

Sandbox game session 6

2010-11-05T23:28:00.000-02:00

After dealing with the "levers room" the group turned its attention to the unlocked but still closed doors. They used torches, oil and crowbar to break them and gain access to the rooms beyond. The first room was the wizard's lab from which Scarlet took several unmarked vials, flasks and jugs, some full, some empty, as well as various spell components. The second room was the wizard's chamber that was lavishly decorated with expensive rugs, tapestries, carved furniture and crystalware. When Vanon and Tamryn opened the armoire, an animated metal statue apeared from behind the tapestry and attacked them. They weren't surprised, won initiative, both hit it and killed before it could act. Then took the fancy silk robes and left for the third room. That room was filled with nine big iron cauldrons, each full with a different liquid and some with a mysterious flame below. Scarlet proceeded to closely inspect them, looking, smelling but never tasting. She finally filled a waterskin with one that certainly was beer, filled a jar with some misty vapors from another cauldron and a flask with what looked like a dark wine.

After leaving, Tamryn decided to take the rubi eyes from the idol (at last!). Upon taking them a small blue creature with bat wings and a tail ended in a sting appeared over the idol among a puff of smoke. The roll on the reaction table was low but it didn't seem right for the creature to be helpful with the thieves, so it politely asked for the rubies be returned to its place. When the party tried to bargain for help with the rubies, the creature told them they should be thankful that it was him and not other less patient that came, but, if they complied, he might consider help them. They didn't need to be asked again and the rubies were soon on its original place. Being a lawful creature, it honored the bargain and sat upon the idol's head waitin. The party asked about the wizard and the stolen statue, so the creature told them he knew that the wizard worshipped his master and made sacrifices when asking for guidance to recover a statue. When they described the statue, the creature recalled having seen it in a cavern complex. It was then when Scarlet offered it some beer in gratitude, which was accepted. The creature drank the whole waterskin of beer in one gulp and demanded more (yes, it failed the save). Scarlet told it where to find more and the creature flew there, followed by the party. They watched the creature drink directly from the cauldron until it felt unconscious. Then it was taken to the wizard's chamber and set comfortably on the bed.

The party then lowered itself down the trap to the caverns below and proceeded to explore them to the south, past the chasm where Vanon and Tamryn almost met their fate. They found an empty chamber with two exits and followed the one from which they felt a slight breeze. It led into another chamber with three exits and full of phosphorescent fungus. When they were crossing the chamber a high pitched scream filled the chamber for several instants. The group reached the end of the chamber and saw that one exit certainly led to the outside since the air was fresher and clarity could be seen at the end. When they turned to check the other ones a flock of stirges attacked them. Scarlet cast Color Spray on them bringing one to the ground, while another was taken down by Brom with an arrow. Of the rest, one latched on Tamryn, another on Vanon and another missed Scarlet. The one on the ground was torn apart by Scarlet's war dog. Vanon and Tamryn struggled with the blood-sucking creatures with punch and dagger, whilke Kratos cut the other in mid-air spraying blood all over.

After dealing with the creatures, the investigated another exit that led into a circular chamber with a single quartz-like crystal jutting from the wall. The crystal emitted a pulsating bluish luminiscence. Everyone kept its distance from the strange mineral but Vanon risked to touch it. No harm came from it but he got a strange feeling of disorder. They went back to the fungus chamber to explore the last exit and again the high pitched scream filled it for some seconds. The last exit led to a square chamber with an exit opposite to the entrance, the far half of the chamber was full of bones and broken wapons, armor and shields, and on to the left on a niche, a marble statue of Cyndor. They approached the statue and, after being sure it wasn't an illusion, tried to move it. They soon realised that dragging it to the outside was to risk damaging it. Also that the chambers and passages were wide enough to enter a cart and with some ropes plus Phillippe's help, they would be able to take it away.

Leaving the statue there, they left the cavern complex, surrounded the hill and went to find Phillippe, who they found wrapped with several winter blankets and worried (mainly for Scarlet, but she was distant to him), but alive and unscathed, as well as the mounts. They then harnessed the horses to the cart, saddled up the other horses and went back for the statue. The party was heading there when, about 100 yards away, a patrol formed by three humans (two of the with crossbows), two orcs and a bugbear came into sight. The bugbear turned to the others and pointes at the party.

Until next session!

Orcus poster arrived!

2010-10-31T13:57:00.005-02:00

I received Mark J. Allen's Orcus "Labyrinth Lord" Poster! It arrived safe and sound in a cardboard tube. The guys at the P.O. must have felt Orcus was watching this time...

Books have arrived!

2010-10-25T22:12:00.005-02:00

As you can see, and after a couple of weeks, the books finally arrived. Sadly the cover and some pages of Stonehell Dungeon were damaged by the morons of the Postal Office. They put a sticker of "damaged packaging" but I know it was them. Here in Uruguay every package that comes from abroad is opened to see if what's inside it's what the invoice says. Yes, I'm wondering too why they don't use a scanner or something less primitive than opening them up and violate my privacy. The thing is that here only books and music/movies under $100 can pass without problem. Anything else is stopped by Customs and you have to go personally (during ridiculous public hours if you work) to the airport (outside the city), pay the fees and get your stuff.

Anyway, aside from that minor inconvenience, the books are here for me to enjoy. Now I'm waiting for my Orcus poster. Hope it gets here undamaged or the P.O. will feel his wrath!

Books are on its way

2010-10-12T00:14:00.003-02:00

From Lulu.com:

---------------------------------

Hi urudnd,

We thought you'd like to know that your Lulu order has shipped

[snip]

In This Shipment:

1 of Fight On! Issue #1 Spring 2008 by Ignatius Umlaut (Printed)
1 of Stonehell Dungeon: Down Night-Haunted Halls by Michael Curtis (Printed)
1 of Original Edition Characters by Daniel Proctor (Printed)

[snip]

---------------------------------

Oh, and Happy Columbus Day!

Over 100 posts!

2010-10-12T00:09:00.002-02:00

I've just realised that I passed that mark. Thanks everyone who take the time to read this blog. ;-)

Sandbox game session 5

2010-10-11T17:44:00.005-02:00

Last session was a short one. We started late (9 PM), had "chivitos" for dinner (please go and Google "chivito uruguayo") and one of the guys left early (1 AM) because he was running 6 km. that morning. We later agreed to start earlier from now on.

Back into the action. The party left the idol alone and decided to check te rest of the seven doors that were in the octogonal room. One by one Tamryn the thief looked for traps and tried picked the locks. She found no traps and in some she picked the lock but the door couldn't be opened, not even by the strngth of Kratos the fighter. A couple of doors were unlocked. One led to a room with just a bed and a chest. When Scarlett send her guard dog to sniff the bed, it animated and attacked the animal but missed. Promptly the dog retaliated and Vanon and Kratos rushed to his aid, all managing to hit the strange creature with flail, bite and sword, being the last one the most viciuos. The monster responded by lashig a pseudopod at Kratos hitting him squarely in the chest despite his new magic armor. The pseudopod tried to attach by Kratos managed to get free.

The adventurers attacked and all hit again, and again Kratos blow was the most devastating. The creature retaliated with another pseudopod attack at Kratos that send the fighter down. Brom the ranger and Tamryn that were searching another door came back, and Brom threw his spear at the creature missing. The creature tried to flee but flail, bite and arrow finally killed it. Tamryn rushed at Kratos, took off his chest plate and bind his broken ribs the best she could. Since Vanon had no spell left to cure Kratos, the group then prepared to sleep in that room. When they were at it Tamryn decided to check the chest for traps but find nothing, so she proceeded to pick the lock. While doing so (and after a 100% roll) a cloud of gas poured from the keyhole and Tamryn dropped unconcious. The rest of the party fled the in panic and waited for the cloud to dissipate. Vanon then checked on the thief and made sure she was not dead but deeply asleep.

Meanwhile in the woods Phillipe the hireling, who was guarding the cart and horses, heard some growls and steps from the shadows beyond the fire. A lonely dire wolf came into sight. He took his sword and faced the best, who surprised with his reaction fled (failed morale check).

The party rested several hours without any incident and Vanon was able then to cure Kratos, who though in pain was able to carry on. The group focused on the other unlocked door which had a table, a chair, bookshelf and a torch with a blue-greenish flame. Scarlett went for the fancy torch and when she tried to grab it everything in the room vanished and two levers appeared where the bookshelf was. Everyone left the room while Vanon figured what the levers did. Meanwhile Tamryn checked the last door and found a trap on the handle: when turned the floor in front of the door opened into a dark pit.

Vanon played with the levers back and forth for some time until at some point the room went completely dark and a scream was heard. The group went a bit crazy but after checking everyone was all right decided to explore more the room. They wondered if the levers opened some hidden door when the dark was on or unlocked some of the doors they couldn't opened. They set to that task (to my amusement) but got frustrated as they found their assumptions were wrong.

At that point we called it a game and spend the rest of the night talking about life. The idol still has its ruby eyes...

Maure Castle game session 2

2010-10-10T20:25:00.001-02:00

Two Fridays ago we had our second session of the new Maure Castle campaign but I forgot to write what happened on it.

This session one of the players couldn't be present due to a flu-like feeling, but we managed everything for him to play via Skype. Everyone wanted to see his new character, Kamar the Kensai, in action and it wasn't going to be the same without him playing it. An now into the action...

The party decided not to try to get past the red Guardian Shield and headed back to the stairs that lead to the "Chambers of Antiquities". While passing through the massive chamber of the columns of faces and symbols, they were attacked by a maurid roper. Kamar and Inowe were surprised by the camouflaged creature, but Denar and Quinath reacted quickly enough, casting magic missle and spiritual weapon (the first passed the SR, the second didn't), before the monster lashed its tentacles to them. The tentacles grabbed both Denar and Kamar who overcame its weakening touch, but missed Quinath and Inowe who quickly attacked the tentacles severing them. Kamar, now free, charged at the creature and landed a gruesome hit with his two-handed bastard sword. The creature, to everyone's astonishment, produced new tentacles to replace the severed ones and lashed all of them to Kamar, weakening him and rendering almost immobile. Denar atacked the creature, while Quinath and Inowe freed Kamar again, who concentrated and focused on his inner self (Power Surge) and landed another terrible blow on the maurid roper. After that hit the creature was doomed and was quickly defeated.

Everyone was gladly surprised by the kensai's abilities and carried on. After passing the gray Guardian Shield, going up some stairs and following a long empty corridor, a wide flight of stairs led them to a huge chamber lit by some torches that cast eerie shadows. (The players had a map of the place but didn't remember some details about some things that were annotated on it. And I didn`t refresh their memory either... I wanted to see how thing went.) Quinath decided to explore the "M" symbols engraved on the floor (they we actually Symbols Of ...) surrounded by bookshelves. Although he resisted the effects of the symbols, upon entering the area the rest of the party saw how the gargantuan iron seven-headed hydra, that was resting on an altar in the center of the chamber, animated itself and begun moving towards them!

The group promptly fled the chamber (under the cover of a fog cloud cast by Quinath) as the hydra closed in and reached the stairs but didn't followed them. They waited for some time before looking if the hydra was still there. And it was. Seeing this Denar decided to attack the iron construct with a wave of green slime. I ruled that the slime ate the hydra's metal legs but was destroyed when the incandescent belly of the construct touched it. Since the hydra didn't spot the cleric he was out of sight before it could attack back.

With the hydra unable to move Denar tried another attack on it. This time he went with a blade barrier, but the spell failed and this time the construct did saw him. One head shot a line of cold that hit the cleric taking away almost half of his hit poins and rendering him all numb. Then another head shot a bolt of lightning capturing the cleric in a cage of lightning that kept damaging him. Inowe tried to pull the lightning bars appart only to receive a discharge. She then decided to use her abundant step ability (dimension door) and succesfully freed Denar from his prision. After that the cleric proceeded tu heal himself.

We all enjoyed the session very much because it had a lot of action.

Until next session!

Great chance to stock up on books!

2010-10-09T16:26:00.004-02:00

I just successfully used "FALLREADS" coupon on Lulu.com for 40% off (up to $20 max - until October 15, 2010) on "Stonehell Dungeon" by Michael Curtis, Fight On! #1 and "Original Edition Characters" by Goblinoid Games.

You can check the full list of Lulu.com coupon codes here.

Seeking advice

2010-09-27T21:21:00.008-03:00

I must say I've always wanted to use the idol on the cover of the AD&D 1e Players Handbook in a campaign. The current sandbox campaign in Blackmoor provided me with the perfect excuse. I'm using a slightly modified version of The Hidden Serpent from Faster Monkey Games where the party is trying to recover a stolen statue (you can read Grognardia's review here).

So, as I commented here something may happen when the PCs try to take the ruby eyes from the idol's statue. It was something commented by Tamryn the thief but the group hasn't decided on the matter yet. They'll probably do so next session.

I'd like to ask my fellow gamers for ideas about what could happen if they remove those rubies...

Read An RPG Book in Public Week

2010-09-27T21:03:00.003-03:00

Just a quick reminder that we're in the last "Read An RPG Book in Public Week" of the year. A curious event to promote the hobby.

Sandbox game session 4

2010-09-26T20:22:00.010-03:00

Last session ended with Vanon the cleric separated from the rest of the party. After falling into the pool of water, the gray ooze moved to attack. As the cleric recovered from the fall and cast light on his flail, the ooze slammed and the acid begun to eat his armor. Vanon desperately attacked it and managed to kill it, but had to get rid of the armor before it reached his flesh.

Meanwhile the rest of the group were trying to figure out the ray-shooting statue. Tamryn the thief threw an open sack over the head of the staute and then lassoed a rope around it. Brom the ranger held the other end as Kratos the fighter used the rope as a guide while walking backwards towards the statue. Scarlett the illusionist just standed there coverring her eyes her back to the statue. Suddenly the floor gave in under Kratos but he managed to hold onto the rope and Brom resisted the sharp tug. There was a bright flash of light and two rays shot from the statue's head hit the fighter. After that he felt the floor again and everyone could see a black smudge under his feet. As the danger passed he reached the statue only to see its true for after touching it...

He described it to the rest and Tamryn suggested to try moving the horns. Since it was a good idea and I had nothing planned for the horns (just something really bad if the ruby eyes were removed?), I decided that one of the horns will deactivate the trap.

Kratos moved the right horn (deactivating the trap?) and it slowly went back to the original position. Then Tamryn said to move it again and tie it, keeping it down. So did Kratos (activating the trap again?) and when Tamryn approached the statue the whole thing went on again, but she managed to avoid falling and jammed the trap with a crowbar. They all then gathered around the idol and some explored it while others lowered a torch down the shaft with a rope.

Meanwhile Vanon was exploring the caverns: a passage ful of cobwebs, a passage that led to a cavern with stagmites and stalagtites and a passage with a chasm in the middle. He avoided the cobwebs, explored the cavern only to find it led nowhere, and decided to edge past the chasm. When he was inching his way he saw movement down the chasm and decided to fall back, but a tentacle lashed at him and caught his foot. Luckyly he saved vs. poison and didn't get paralyzed. He tried to no avail to cut the tentacle with the rim of his shield.

When the others yelled his name down the shaft and no response came, Tamryn decided to go down with another rope. The hanging torch illuminated the whole cavern so she was able to see the exit and also the glow from Vanon's ligh. She called for him and, as he cried for help, begun balancing back and forth. She jumped from the swinging rope reaching dry ground, only to see another tentacle grab Vanon and pull him down the chasm. Tamryn rushed to the chasm and saw Vanon desperately trying to resist the monster's pull. She loosed an arrow but missed and Vanon used a rope with a grappling hook to better resist the pull. She them unsheathed her scimitar and jumped onto the creature (behind the screen I ruled the attack as a backstabb) almost slashing its only eye. The creature released one tentacle from Vanon and lashed it at Tam, hitting and paralyzing her. Vanon tried to hit the creature with his flail with mixed luck while it pulled Tam into its mouth.

Up in the statue's room Brom, Kratos and Scarlett begun worrying about the fate of their friends and after no response came from calling their names, the ranger and fighter decided to climb down. In the chasm the creature started eating Tam while Vanon continued desperately to hit it. Upon hearing his name called again he yelled for help and Brom was the first to arrive driving an arrow deep into the creature. The creature released Tam (now in negative hit points) and lashed the tentacle at the ranger, grabbing but not affecting him with it poison.

Then arrived Kratos just as Brom resisted the pull from the creature that continued to munch Tam and pull Vanon. Kratos grabbed his bastard sword with both hands and jumped down the monster piercing it viciously deep and killing it. With the grip from the tentacle released Vanon stabilized Tam and waited for the effect of the poison to pass. As thy waited he searched around the many things around from past victims and undigested by the creature. He casted Detect Magic and found a suit of chainmail armor, a ring with elven inscriptions and a clear crystal wand. He also realized Kratos armor (a suit of plate armor taken from a bugbear last session) was also magical as well as Tam's cloak (also from the same bugbear). After the effects of the poison wore off Vanon cured Tam and they all went back to the pool cavern and climbed back up to the statue's room where Scarlett was almost sick with anguish.

At that point I told them the effects of fatigue were begining to be noticeable unless they rested properly, but it was their call. At that point we decided to call it a night and continue next session.

RPG Blogger Level 3 and going...

2010-09-20T18:46:00.004-03:00

According to this post I'm an Enthusiast! :-)

And Now for Something Completely Different...

2010-09-14T00:42:00.005-03:00

I'm going to be a dad! :-)

Maure Castle game session 1

2010-09-14T00:04:00.007-03:00

The first session of our monthly Maure Castle campaing finnaly took place! It was a couple of weeks ago but I've been with little time to post.

Denar, High Priest of Heironeous, returned to the city of Greyhawk victorious from the crusade that liberated part of the Shield Lands from the gasp of the Old One. He came along with Kammar, the Myrmidon/Kensai, who is in search of his mentor supposedly taken by mininons of Malcanthet the Queen of Succubi. While in the city they met with Quinath Leafholder, the elven Warlock/Defender/Bladesinger and Knight of Luna, and Kentsui Inowe, the Master of Autumn, who were resting from their last adventure: retriving the Tome of the Black Heart from the dungeons of Maure Castle and killing the evil wizard Eli Tomorast. Since they all have motives to return to Maure Castle, they wind-walked back to Quinath's tower in Urnst to plan the next incursion to the castle dungeons.

Most of the session was used to finish some details of the Kensai, put the party together and recap what their characters knew about the castle. Thay also did some exploration of the Statuary looking for ways into other levels. The Guardian Shields are giving them a hard time.

It was a long time since they last played, but now they are on track, excited and hoping gather again soon.

Untl next session!

Sandbox game session 3

2010-09-13T21:44:00.006-03:00

Last session ended with the party defeating their ambushers and capturing its leader. The new session started with the party questioning the prisioner about who he was and what were he doing. After stripping him of all valuables and discovering a brooch with the shape of a serpentine dragon bitting its tail and a letter, they knew they were on the bandit's track. The prisioner tried at first to deceive them but ended giving information for his life after making Vanon, the priest, promise they won't kill him. Meanwhile Scarlett, the illusionist, told Phillipe, her hireling, to kill the prisioner but he refused and told her she hired him to protect her, not to kill helpless prisioners. (I ruled that and the player didn't like it. Perhaps I should have let it and see how things unfolded. )

The next day the party let the prisioner free and they proceeded through the woods until they reached the hills where the bandit's lair was supposed to be. After some searching and tracking by Brom, the ranger, they found a trail leading to a lonely hill. At that point Scarlett told Phillipe to leave and go back to inform Baron Fent about their progress so far. That decision took the party aback and a brief discussion ensued that put at risk the party integration. The priest said he had found the job and in a way hired all to fulfill it, and that included Scarlett's hireling. The illusionist wanted then to leave but the rest talke her out and they all continued forward but not before Scarlett left Phillipe guarding the horses and cart.

Night was already falling but they insisted on following the trail uphill. Scarlet found the illusion hiding a cave entrance and they went into the tunnel. Upon reaching a pair of wooden doors the gained entrance since the priest beared the brooch and they've got the watchword from the prisioner. They killed the orc guarding the gate and proceeded into the compound. They explored it a bit without finding anyone (I rolled no1's on the 1d6 for random encounters!) until they found a empty room, next to a locked one, to rest for a while.

After resting they went out again only to hear grumbling voices down the corridor. They quickly ran back to the room. They heard the voices passing and entering in another room, and also the jingling of keys and a door being opened and closed. The group then gathered outside the locked door and the priest knocked. A booming voice was heard, keys jingled again and the door opened only to show a huge sleepy bugbear demanding who was bothering. The priest handed the letter and as the bugbear trid to read it they all pushed inside knocking the humanoid down. They ganged on the bugbear as Scarlet closed and locked the door. The large humanoid was subdued but not before yelling for help. Help that came too late and was ushered away by the fighter faking the bugbear's voice.

Since the bugbear was not dead they tied and gagged him, and waited for him to wake up. Meanwhile Kratos the fighter took his platemail and Tamryn the thief ranscked his pouch and chest, taking some coins and a cloak. After the brute woke up the interrogated him about Rogan and Zeglin (the fighter and wizard leader of the bandits), the statue they were looking for, and other things. After knocking him unconcious they proceeded into the wizard's rooms.

There they met with a series of magical door that ended with the priest and illusionist separated from the rest of the group. They managed to get past the doors and found and octogonal room with the statue they were looking for. When the priest got closer a pair of rays emerged from the statue's eyes and struck him. A flash of bright light followed immediately. After that, to the eyes of the illusionist, the priest was only a black stain on the floor. It took a while dealing with the magical doors for the rest to get all together. Unknown to them the priest have fallen down a shaft into a cavern with a pool of water and a gray ooze...

Until next session!

Sandbox game sessions 1 and 2

2010-08-25T19:59:00.014-03:00

The Labyrinth Lord sandbox game is on! We've played twice already and it's been a lot of fun although there are some details in the game mechanics to improve. The rules are new to all the players and I've been DMing 3.x for to long. Reading Philotomy's OD&D Musings and Quick Primer for Old School Gaming over and over, as well as other articles about what a sandbox game is supposed to be, has been of great help to put me on the right path.

Session #1: After a group of caravan guards got into trouble at the local tavern (The Crooked Billet) and ended in baron Fent's dungeons, for almost killing Kragg, the tavern half-orc bouncer, Brenner, a worried merchant aproached the party for help. The party, composed by Kratos the Veteran, Vanon Acolyte of Trithereon, Scarlet the Prestidigitator (illusionist), Phillip the men-at-arms (Scarlet's hireling), Tamryn the Rogue and Brom the Ranger (NPC), agreed for a fair price to help the merchant end his journey. They were to go from Ramshorn to Glendour, the cross the Gloomfens to Broomsage abbey and finnaly to Stornawane.

Over the next days across the snow covered moors and misty fens the party fended off several attacks: an albino ape (by throwing some rations), a tiger (which was later skinned by the ranger), a pack of wolves (blinded with a color spray) and several ghouls (turned by the cleric).

This session had some roleplay to get the characters together and several encounters (a lot of 1's in the wandering monsters checks) that allowed to test the combat sequence.

Session #2: At Broomsage Abbey the cleric was to meet Morris an old friend and Cyndorian priest. The priest asked for help to recover a relic (a human sized marble statue) stolen by bandits. The abbey resorted to the baron of Stornawane for help but he dismissed the plea. It seems the baron who, as many others, uses these bandits as enforcers and mercenaries in border wars, doesn't want to act against them. Not knowing what to do he sent for his friend and now offered him a very generous reward to get the relic back before the Festival of Forever which wil be help in a month. The cleric promised to help after ending his contract with the merchant.

At the end of the journey in Stornawane the merchant payed them a bonus and also offered them to get bonded with the Merchant's Guild. All but the cleric accepted to bond. After that the cleric, fighter and man-at-arms went looking for some action so I decided to use Chgowiz's post about ladies (or dudes) of the night. At the last minute Scarlet's player decided her hireling to head back. The other two rolled a d100 to see what kind of company they find and I rolled a d20 to see the consequences. On the d100 the cleric rolled a 15 (brazen strumpet) and the fighter an 81 (expensive doxy), and on the d20 I rolled an 8 (disease) both times! They'll start felling the symptoms soon...

Back to the tavern (The Leather Exchange) from the fun, the celric told the rest of the party about the stolen relic and all agreed to accompany him back to the abbey. At the abbey they asked for several supplies (horses, a cart, arrows, rations, a longword and a dagger) before leaving for the hills where the bandits were supposed to have their hideout. To reach the hills they crossed a forest where they were attacked by a pack of dire wolves. After dealing with the wolves, they encountered another party (they were in fact bandits patrolling) composed by 4 men and 3 orcs. When questioned about what they were doing in the forest, both groups lied to each other. The party said they were looking for wolves and the bandits said they were bounty hunters after a half-orc wanted for murder. After bidding farewell they both continued their way, the bandits double backed to follow the party and the party sent the ranger to see if they were being followed. The dices said the ranger was not seen and that allowed the party to set up an ambush.

They made a campsite on elevated ground and hid in the surroundings: the thief climbed a tree, the cleric and fighter in the cart, the illusionist and her man-at-arm in a ground depresion and the ranger in the bushes. The illusionist made an image of the fighter as being the only on watch. They were to wait the ranger's attack to spring the trap. The bandits approached the camp in a wide arc with the 3 orcs in the center and the 4 humans split 2 to left and 2 to the right. When the orc charged uphill to attack the lonely guard one of them fell dead with an arrow in the chest. The fighter and cleric jumped from the cart attacking the remaining orcs who belived the illusion and were then outnumbered 3 to 2. The thief unhung herself onto one human (I ruled it counted as a backstabbing) killing him on the spot but leaving her face to face with the leader. With the surprise lost the bandits put up a fierce fight, but fell one by one, until only the leader remained and, after being severly wounded, surrendered.

This session had a lot more roleplay and big encounter that allowed the party to hone their skills working together as a group.

Until next session!

Past, Actual and Future Campaigns

2010-08-13T10:30:00.010-03:00

My Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk (D&D 3.5e) campaign is officially on hold. One of my players got a great job at Google Ireland and left for the lands of the leprechauns. Other two, a couple, are expecting a baby anytime soon and they won't have much free time to play in the near future. I hoped we could finish the module before these events happened but it could not be.

So, last weekend I finally started my new campaign, sandbox-style, set in the Blackmoor region of the World of Greyhawk. I have four players (possibly a fifth one) which two of them are experienced players (one is my wife) and the rest are complete newbies to tabletop RPG games. We're using Labyrinth Lord Core Rules with some classes and spells from the AEC and some house rules. The all-human party is composed by Kratos the Veteran, Vanon Acolyte of Trithereon, Scarlet the Prestidigitator (illusionist), Phillip the men-at-arms (Scarlet's hireling) and Tamryn the thief-wife. We are going to play once every two weeks.

Also, since the guy that went to Ireland was the DM of our Oriental Adventures campaign, that one too is on hold indefinitely. That left three of the guys (one also played in my EttRoG game) without any game. So, I decided, upon my wife suggestion, to resurrect another dormant campaign: Maure Castle (D&D 3.5e).

Yes, I know I said before I was moving away from 3.5e, but the guys are gameless and I'd really like to run those levels. This campaign will see existing characters Denar High Priest of Heironeous, Quinath Leafholder Warlock/Defender and Knight of Luna and Master of Autumn Kentsui Inowe (wife) face the perils of Maure Castle dungeons. They will be joined by another character to be rolled on our first session. We are going to play once a month.

I'm very excited about the future of both campaigns.

Blackmoor underbaronies II

2010-08-12T23:28:00.003-03:00

In the Canonfire! forums, users Chameleon and StuGIII shared some comments and ideas about the same topic. I decided to take them into account and make some changes on the previous list of Blackmoor's underbaronies.

The still inhabited and surviving underbaronies are:

Dantredun.
Dearthkettle (includes Glendour keep).
Blackmoor - The town is in ruins and occupied by Orcs but the underbarony it is not. Mosshold and the Wizard's Wood are part of it.
Ramshorn - After the castle was rebuilt a small village grew around it.
Tonnsborg - The seat of power is not properly in Tonnsborg, but elsewhere in an inland manor or estate to the NE.
Stornawane (includes Broomsage Abbey).

The ruined underbaronies are:

Trollbar - The town/castle might still be inhabited but the open country to the North and East is abandoned.
Egg of Coot - The area is a ruined underbarony only inhabited by the Egg's automata, Orc and Qullan tribes.
Kolbenborg - The area west of the Egg, north of the Burneal Forest and south of the Land of Black Ice is ruined and abandoned.
Greenhead - The village/keep, south of Stornawane in the middle of the Cold Marshes, might be inhabited but the area around it is abandoned.

Read An RPG Book in Public Week

2010-07-30T00:46:00.000-03:00

Remember we're in the second "Read An RPG Book in Public Week" of the year. Certainly a curious event to promote the hobby. Click on the image above to find out more about it!

Blackmoor baronies

2010-07-29T23:47:00.006-03:00

I've been gathering all the available information on the web about the World of Greyhawk realm of the Archbarony of Blackmoor for my new campaign that I'm starting soon for a new group.

Although I've found plenty of it, there was a question that has been on my head for some time: What are the names of the ten baronies of the Archbarony of Blackmoor? Since that information is nowhere to be found I decided to create the list myself.

Here it goes:

1. Dantredun

2. Glendour

3. Dearthkettle

4. Ramshorn (ruins; later rebuilt)

5. Blackmoor (ruins)

6. Kolbenborg (ruins)

7. Stornawane

8. Trollbar

9. Broomsage (ruins; only the abbey remain)

10. Mosshold

I didn't include Tonnsborg as a possible barony because it was founded by the Zeai as a mere trading outpost. Initially Broomsage was not on the list for being mentioned just as an abbey but, giving it a second thought, maybe the abbey is all that survived of that barony. I also considered Mosshold to be on the list and discarded for being too near to Blackmoor town to be a separate barony. Then thought that that wasn't a good enough reason and completed the list with it.

According with the GHWiki four of the ten baronies are in ruins: Blackmoor was destroyed by the forces of the Egg of Coot, Kolbenborg was abandoned for being near the fabled City of the Gods, Ramshorn was in ruins until Teuod Fent rebuilt it, and of Broomsage all that is left is the abbey.

This list is by no means definite and it's open to suggestions or modifications.

Ennies 2010 Nominees

2010-07-11T12:10:00.005-03:00

Labyrinth Lord received a Honorable Mention for Best Game in this year's ENnie nomnations. That's very significant since it's tough category. Labyrinth Lord is getting the attention and recognition it deserves from the gaming community. Congratulations to Dan Proctor and don't forget to vote when the time comes.

2010 World Cup - Uruguay for a place in the podium

2010-07-08T01:23:00.005-03:00

Last Tuesday in a thrilling and exciting game the "Charruas" fought to the last round against the "Orange Clockwork", but it was not enough. They left the battlefield defeated but with their heads high for they gave everything, everything. They should be proud for what they've done so far. A superb World Cup.

Next Saturday the "Celestes" will face the Teutonic juggernaut that, despite their stumble against Serbia, passed like a steamroller over their opponents. Until today where they crashed against the Spaniards led by "Tarzan" Puyol. A great achievement for "La Furia" to reach the finals for the first time.

Just like in 1970, the fight for the 3rd. place repeats itself, Uruguay vs. Germany. We hope to win and avenge that previous match but, whatever the result, be sure the team will be received back as champions. Thank you guys and good luck!

¡Vamos URUGUAY!

Conan

2010-07-06T00:38:00.005-03:00

Instead of the Monday's imagination quote, I thought to share with you a product of the imagination of who is considered the father of the sword and sorcery literary genre, Robert E. Howard.

Last week arrived what is the latest addition to the fantasy section of our library. I must confess that I've never read anything of Robert E. Howard's work (yes, beleive it or not). My wife have always wanted me to and she wanted to re-read them but never found a good compilation of all the Conan stories. Until she found this edition that contains the complete collection of all the original adventures in the order they were written.

This edition is also profusely and superbly illustrated by artist Mark Schultz and it even contains maps of the Hyborian Age drawn by REH himself.

I'm already enjoying reading the first book "The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian" and I hope to find in the pages of all three books inspiration and ideas for present and future campaigns.

2010 World Cup - Uruguay in semi-finals

2010-07-02T19:03:00.005-03:00

The quality of the players and lucky, very lucky dices, even at times against the Dungeon Master, made it possible to a dream come true. To be, for the first time since 1970, among the four best. A truly epic victory. Thank you for this guys, you were lions in the field, giving everything regardless how tired you were, thank you so much! Congratulations!

¡Arriba URUGUAY!

Imagination quotes

2010-06-28T23:29:00.004-03:00

Today's quote belongs to the most gifted artist (sculptor, painter, architect and poet) of the Renaissance, Michelangelo:

“A man paints with his brains and not with his hands.”

I think it summarizes what a Dungeon Master does as he prepares an adventure, or when, already around the gaming table, describes the scene as a group of weary adventurers arrives at a merry tavern, or sets the atmosphere as the party takes the first steps exploring some ominous ruins. Dungeonmastering it's like painting on an empty canvas.

2010 World Cup - Uruguay among the 8 best

2010-06-27T18:11:00.000-03:00

Still drunk of happyness! Last Saturday and for the first time since 1970 we reached the last eight. With an early strike the "Charruas" took control of first half the encounter. In the second half the "Asian Tigers" forced the Sky-blue to fall back, a tactic that proved disastrous, for the Koreans managed to land a blow. But, that hit took the "Charruas" out of their doze and they charged forward regaining control of the match. Almost at the end, with an unbelievable shot, "La Celeste" emerged victorious over a worthy rival.

Next encounter will be against the only African team still standing, the "Black Stars" from Ghana. It'll be a tough one for both sides, but I'm confident we're going to make to the next stage.

¡Vamos URUGUAY!

2010 World Cup - Uruguay undefeated

2010-06-22T23:48:00.006-03:00

I'm very very happy about Uruguay having qualified for the next stage on top of the group. The last time we did it was in 1954. The all-time captains Jose "The Great Marshall" Nasazzi (gold medal in 1924 and 1928 Olymnpic Games, and 1930 World Cup champion) and Obdulio "The Black Chief" Varela (1950 World Cup champion) would have been proud of the performance shown by the team so far.

It's been fun to try to comment the World Cup games in an encounter format, but I can't keep up with all the games, so I'll stick only to Uruguay's matches as long as they have a chance. The next encounter of the "Charruas" will be against the South Korean "Taegeuk Warriors".

¡Vamos Uruguay!

Imagination quotes

2010-06-21T23:25:00.005-03:00

This quote by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would probably be more suitable for Halloween but, since that's not a traditional festivity down here, I decided to share it with you today, the Winter Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere:

“Where there is no imagination there is no horror”

I found it suitable for the day with the longest night, like a homage to all the creepy, evil creatures you imagined and created, that inhabit your dungeons and caves, lurking in the dark, waiting for unaware adventurers.

2010 World Cup - Eleventh day encounters

2010-06-21T22:19:00.003-03:00

After not being able to conquer the Ivory Coast, the navigators continued exploring the Globe. Winds and tides took them to the lands of an evil empire led by one known as the "Supreme Leader", a misterious figure, some say a lich, that lives locked down in his fortress. As the battle raged, the high-spirited Koreans defenses slowly crumbled down and were torn apart by the Portugese explorers with a magnificent flurry of blows.

The next match was marked by the force of "La Roja" attackes against an almost unmovable "Schweizer Nati" defence. But by the end of the battle the Chileans ended the 10-man "Nati" resistance and almost secured a place within the last 16.

After stumbling against the Swiss, the Spaniards made honor to their nickname, "La Furia", went berserk and launched a furious onslaught against the "Chatracos", who proved unable to quell it and fell after two of the many attacks, even a free-kick, hit the mark.

And so today ended the second round of encounters.

2010 World Cup - Seventh to Tenth day encounters

2010-06-20T19:55:00.000-03:00

Oops, looks like I felt way behind schedule on reporting the World Cup encounters! Forgive me but I was still celebrating Uruguay's victory... ;-)

Day Seven:

Once again the "Albicelestes" left the battlefield victorious. With three succesful to hits from striker Higuain and a Korean natural 1 (hit self) they managed to skin the "Tigers of Asia", who barely scratched Maradona's team.

The "Super Eagles" gained initiative and everybody thought the Greek Phalanx was again doomed. But the Olympian Gods got involved and the formation held. With a solid shield-wall and lowered spears they marched forward. The eagles just flew away severely wounded.

"Les Bleus" never lost against "El Tri" for the World Cup but, with the divine intervention of the Olman gods that granted the Aztecs a victory, they left the Gauls in a state of internal uproar.

Day Eight:

The Serbian crusaders tripped the Teutonic juggernaut into a halt. The crash was so hard that they were dizzy for the several rounds, lost a man and missed a free kick!

On the most thrilling encounter so far, Slovenians and Americans gave a great show. Pure hack-and-slash! The Europeans landed two mighty blows and some thought it was the end for Uncle Sam's gang, but they found strength in weakness and with two accurate ripostes leveled the battle. There was also room for controversy as the Dungeon Master messed with the dices behind the screen and nullified a hit that would have given a victory the Americens.

In the duel of the lycans, and with the presence of both english Princes, the "Were-Lions" couldn't overcome the cunning "Desert Were-Foxes" as many expected, leaving the former frustrated and the latter elated.

Day Nine:

It seems that the gnomish "Clockwork Orange" is running flawlessly and defeated the "Samurais", proving to be a candidate to win the cup.

After healing their serious wounds received in the previous encounter, the "Socceroos" faced the "Black Stars" with renewed hope. They damaged the Africans during the first rounds but lost a man and granted a free kick. Ghana lacked of imagination to take advantage of the extra man resorting on missile attacks.

Finally the Danes came back from Valhalla and, despite the shammanic efforts of Eto'o, tamed "The Indomitable Lions", making them the first team to be out of the championship.

Day Ten:

The "Guarani" team mercilessly raided the surprised Slovaks, who were unable to stop them, and took control of the group almost securing their passage tho the next stage.

The "All Whites" shocked everybody by grappling, holding and pinning down the "Azzurri", the defending champions, to a draw. A memorable result for the Kiwis!

The day ended with the "Verde-amarela", although lacking the flair of yore, efficiently (and rougishly) put "The Elephants" down despite talismanic Drogba's magic. The South Americans also secured their participation on the knock-out stage.

2010 World Cup - Sixth day encounters

2010-06-16T19:26:00.003-03:00

Today on the last day of debuts, saw the Central American "Catrachos" against the South American "La Roja". Even Hondureas lacked of cohesion and discipline, the Chilean onslaught took most of the first half to break the deadlock and win again after 48 years.

The European duel between the "La Furia" and the "Schweizer Nati" was a shock to one of the WC favourites. The Spaniards wasted many attacks of opportunity, but the Confederates managed hit on one of the few attempts they had. At last it was a memorable victory for the Helvetic team.

With the last match begun the second round of encounters. "La Celeste" faced the "Bafana bafana". Both were more aggressive than in the first encounter, but the South Americans led by striker Diego Forlán landed to deadly blows and then gave the local a coup-de-grace in injury-time.

Arriba URUGUAY!! :-)

2010 World Cup - Fifth day encounters

2010-06-15T21:15:00.004-03:00

The "Fighting Jondas" arrived for the first time to the tournament after regaining independence. On the other side of the battlefield, and after an absence of 28 years, were the "All Whites". The Slovaks managed to score a hit, and just when they thought they had the encounter in their pocket, the Kiwis snatched their victory scoring in injury-time, wining their first ever WC point.

At secondies the "Navigators" led by captain Cristiano Ronaldo landed on the dangerous shores of the Ivory Coast. They were faced by the "Elephants" led by the talismanic Dorgba. Despite the feints, attacks and counter-attacks made by both sides the Portuguese couldn't advance inland and the Ivorians couldn't push them back to the sea. The encounter ended in a deadlock.

Everyone expected to see the five times champion have an easy one against the "Chollima", as the representatives of the oriental evil empire are known. The "Verde-Amarela" took its time to measure its rival and with two magic tricks secured the victory. In the end, the North Koreans conjured a spell that scared the "jogo bonito", but it wasn't enough to equalize the match .

2010 World Cup - Fourth day encounters

2010-06-14T22:15:00.000-03:00

The "Olsen Gang" was no match for the "Clockwork Orange" (sounds like some gnomish invention). The Danes rolled a natural 1 (hit self) and the Dutch hit them again in the last round to define the fight.

After that, from the Land of the Rising Sun, came the "Samurai Blue" in fearful display of armor (kabuto, hara-ate, sune-ate, kote and sode) and weapons (katana, wakisashi and daikyu) to face "The Indomitable Lions", who qualified for the Cup more times than any other African nation. Their roars didn't intimidate the Oriental Adventurers who, with an unerring blow, won the encounter.

The final encounter of the day saw the current champions, the "Azzurri", against the tough "Guaranies". The battle went uphill for the Roman legion after the Paraguayan raiderss scored a wicked hit. But the Legionnaires fought back and finally, thanks to a fumble of the "Guarani" defense, managed to even the score. Unconvincingly nonetheless .

Imagination quotes

2010-06-14T10:00:00.003-03:00

Continuing the search of quotes about imagination, I found this one by Napoleon Bonaparte:

"Imagination rules the world."

And that's true for every world Dungeon Masters creates and players discover, explore and expand with their character's adventures. Keep building new worlds!

2010 World Cup - Third day encounters

2010-06-13T11:17:00.005-03:00

From the North African sands came the Algerians with their scimitars ready to fight the Eslovenians, who made their first appearance in the competition as an independent realm. With one of the "Desert Foxes" out, the Balkanic hunting party had no problem to take down the rest.

Later, Ghana's "Black Stars" and Serbia's "White Eagles" measured their strenght. The fight was even until the last rounds when the Serbs lost a man and conceded a free attack that was not missed.

The day ended with the Teutonic juggernaut rolling over the "Socceroos", reducing them to a pulp.

2010 World Cup - Second day encounters

2010-06-12T13:11:00.006-03:00

On the first of today's encounters, the South Korean party, making use of their secret and ancient martial arts, landed two critical blows on the Greek phalanx who failed their morale check, dropped their large shields and long spears, and scattered on the battlefield.

Later, the Agentinian adventuring party, sponsored by the mythical hero Maradona, managed to vanquish the Nigerian band. Of the myriad of attacks that the "Albiceleste" threw at the "Eagles", most were dodged, blocked and parried. But one hit the mark and the feeble counter attacks made by the Africans were not enough to turn the tide of the battle.

And in the final encouter the English "Lions" won the initiative and landed a vicious attack on the USA squad. But the english gatekeeper rolled a natural 1 on his save vs. paralyzation and allowed the Americans to even the score. In past times he would have been thrown in the dungeons of the Tower. The rounds passed as both parties hacked at each other, but no attack reached its intended destination.

Can't wait to see tomorrow encounters!

2010 World Cup - First day encounters

2010-06-11T23:49:00.008-03:00

Today started the 2010 World Cup for Uruguay with an encounter against France. The melee between the "Charruas" and the "Gauls" was a very dull and boring, with only a few to hit chances for both parties but all misses. One of the Uruguayan party members was sent off by the Japanese Dungeon Master for making a critical fumble. He will miss the next encounter against the "Bafana bafana", the South African party that inflicted 1 hit point of damage to the Mexican party in the opening encounter. But "La Verde" retaliated and also inflicted 1 hit point of damage to the local team. And so it ends the first day of the 2010 World Cup. Stay tuned!

Imagination quotes

2010-06-07T01:02:00.000-03:00

Almost a year ago, when I decided to start blogging in a more or less regular way, I changed the look of the blog an added a quote about imagination. On either side of the DM screen, I think imagination is the most important thing in role playing games. Imagination to create adventures, give life to characters and monsters, to picture what is going on when the DM describe a place or the players describe their actions, and so on. At that time I chose a quote by Carl Sagan:

"Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it, we go nowhere."

How many worlds are out there, canon and homebrew, teeming with characters adventuring, monsters to be vanquished, places to be discovered, treasures to be plundered, dungeons to be explored and more? Thousands, perhaps millions and every one of them, wonderful.

I then thought of changing the quote, not because I didn't like it anymore, but to see what has been said about imagination. So I searched the web and came across this quote by Albert Einstein:

“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”

Yes, logic will take you from A to B, with only one random encounter in between according to Vaarsuvius, if I may respectfully add. And everywhere are all those worlds we created and those yet to be. Then my search led me to a quote by Pablo Picasso:

"Everything you can imagine is real."

This is so very true in our hobby. Everything that that happens when we gather to play, around the table, by post, by Wave or even Twitter, becomes real to DM and players alike. As a side thought, it would have been great to have a monsters manual illustrated by Picasso, wouldn't it?

Then, why don't make this a regular thing? A weekly post with a quote about imagination, the heart and soul of role playing games. Let's see what I find for next Monday.

My RPG books

2010-06-05T19:22:00.007-03:00

After putting in order all my gaming stuff, here's a picture of the gaming shelf. There's more material classified and stored in rigid type folders but it doesn't look as good as this.

From left to right: the World of Greyhawk (1980), the WoG & Glossography (1983), AD&D Dungeon Master Guide (1979), AD&D 2e PHB, DM and Monstrous Manual, AD&D 2e Complete Bard's Handbook, AD&D 2e Celts Campaign Sourcebook, AD&D 2e The Complete Books of Villains, AD&D The Complete Books of Elves, AD&D Against the Giants - The Liberation of Geoff (1999), some Dragon and Dungeon magazines, 3.0e PHB, DM and MM, 3.0e Book of Vile Darkness, 4 boxes of plastic miniatures and 3 boxed sets (The City of Greyhawk, From the Ashes and Planescape Campaign Expansion), AD&D 2e Volo's Guide to the North, AD&D Waterdeep and the North, AD&D 2e Campaign Guide to Myth Drannor, Ars Magica 5e, Labyrinth Lord Advancd Edition Companion and some books of drawing techniques. On top there's a bag from the English Heritage with a poster of Stonehenge waiting to put in a frame.

From that lot are missing the 3.5e books (PHB, DM, MM and the Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk module) and another box of miniatures, that were in the gaming backpack the moment I took the picture, and the Labyrinth Lord Revised Edition that is on its way.

Order is on its way

2010-06-03T22:39:00.004-03:00

Just received news from Lulu.com that my copy of Labyrinth Lord: Revised Edition (hard cover) has been shipped. I already have the pdf version printed and bound, but wanted the hard cover edition in my shelf of RPG books. It should be down here, hopefully, in less than a couple of weeks. Can't wait to have it and use it along with the AEC in my new campaign.

Strange session

2010-05-31T23:17:00.004-03:00

I'm not prone to comment much about our gaming sessions but last Sunday one was kinda strange. First, let me do some recap. I'll try not to spoil the module.

A couple of sessions ago the group found, under the Tower of Magic, what it could be a magical way into where the simulacrum of Iggwilv might be. After learning how it worked they left for the city and came back with the magical means to use it and get there, but in the last minute they decided, although knowing that time was a pressing matter, to try another route. And so, they went into the Tower of Zagig. I must admit that, with their decision, they caught me off-guard and I had to make it all on the fly. They explored the tower ruins, killed several undeads, found a secret staircase and took their way down. Of all the traps and constructs I put in their path, none of them prevented the group to reach the crypts . Then I begun throwing at them several mummies which they managed to turn or destroy in what they called "Mummy frenzy". With that, after two really enjoyable sessions we reached last one.

When they entered a maze of corridors and rooms, a ghost appeared, warned them not to continue further and left. They just ignored it and pressed on. After a little exploration, they reached a couple of unscratched magically warded double doors... guess what? They decided to go the other way! What they found were clues that they were in a place that has been already plundered. Visibly forced doors, those once trapped had the traps jammed or disabled, niches desecrated, sarcophagi pilfered, pit traps marked on the floor, crosses and arrows marked on the walls, tunnels made to bypass heavily warded doors, etc. They even found the corpses of an unfortunate group of adventurers. When they finally realized there was nothing to be found and decided to go back to the double doors, there was no more time to play.

After the session my wife told me that it has been a bit boring, with no combat and only some saves made. I just said that the players, with their decisions make the game funny or boring. There were plenty of hints of what was going on. They just chose to ignore them, kept going and backed away (for a second time in the last three sessions) from what would have looked important to any adventurer.

I don't like railroading, but I confess last session I was tempted to do it. They're all experienced players and that's why I found strange what happened.

New Campaign

2010-05-03T22:17:00.008-03:00

As I said before, I was waiting for my group to complete the Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk module in order to begin a new campaign but, since we're not gaming as often as I'd like so finishing the module will take longer than I expected, I decided to start a new group for my Labyrinth Lord campaign.

I'm planning to also set it in the World of Greyhawk, more specifically in the legendary Archbarony of Blackmoor. It's a region in which, after all these years gaming in this world, I've never played nor DMed so it's a bit of a challenge. So far I've found a great article on the Oerth Journal #5 detailing the whole region and a low-level adventure on Dragon Magazine #115 called "Raiders of the Black Ice" (thanks to Bubbagump @ Canonfire!) which I'll have to convert from 3.5e to LL but that's no stress. I've also purchased from Faster Monkey Games a couple of adventures compatible with LL called "The Hidden Serpent" and "Wheel of Evil" (well done Bighara!) which I plan to adapt to the setting.

I know that Blackmoor has a strong component of sci-fi which I still haven't decided what to do with it, since the combination of medieval fantasy and sci-fi is not my cup of tea. Perhaps I'll check with my group to see if they like that or jump right into the water and see what happens. Of the people I've contacted so far only two have played both pen&paper and online RPGs before and only one in the World of Greyhawk. The rest are new to board RPGs but all play World of Warcraft online.

I plan it to be a sandbox game with the group starting in some whaling village on the wind-swept shores of the Icy Sea. Let's see what the future holds...

Guess what?

2010-04-21T22:46:00.002-03:00

Take the quiz at dicepool.com

How I keep track of initiative

2010-04-18T22:07:00.010-03:00

Reading one of the many RPG feeds I have in the Google Reader, I came into this article about how to keep track of the initiative rolls. It's a nice article worth reading, but it made me think "Hey, why don't I share the way we do that in our game?". I guess every DM has its own way and thinks it's the best one. So here it goes:

In your favorite word processor (I used Word) just make a 4-column table and as many rows as you like. One for each charecter and enough for monsters or NPCs.
Columns 1 and 4 are 1,5 cm. wide and columns 2 and 3 are 7 cm. wide. All rows are 1,5 cm in height. Make sure all cell borders are a least 3 pt. wide. All are suggested values.
Use you favorite font type to write the name of the character in columns 2 and 3. For the example I used this one.

By now it should look something like this:

Make sure to use a heavyweight paper when you print it. Then cover the printed sheet with transparent contact paper. That way it'll last longer and you can write the initiative in the little box with whiteboard markers. Then you cut them along the rows like this:

The idea is to hand them down to the players, they write their initiative and the DM hangs them (not the players, put that rope down), in order, over the DM screen (you do use a DM screen right?) and use a pointer to mark whose turn it is. If you're using 3.x, and someone declares a ready or delay action, you just take it out of the queue util they act.

This is how it looks from the player's side (sorry about the worn-out markers).

An this is from the DM¡s side.

Hope you like it and find it useful.

Oriental Adventures

2010-04-17T19:48:00.008-03:00

Yesterday we gathered to continue our OA campaign. We are five guys, four are married and three got small children. We get together maybe 3 or 4 times in the year, if we're lucky. It's more like a social reunion in which we hang out, catch up and roll some dices. As we waited for everyone to come, one of the guys commented about playing with his 8 years old son, so I mentioned some blogs he could check out and read about other dads' experience.

Later while having some pizzas, one of the guys made us notice that we begun this campaign back in May of 1994! That's 16 years ago! Since all of our characters are level 6, our party must have the worst campaigning time-level achieved ratio ever. It's not that we care about it, but we laughed heartly at the thought and I took mental note to comment it here.

Don't let the trolls win

2010-03-23T20:35:00.008-03:00

It's sad to see two very interesting RPG-related blogs to go down in a few days. I'm talking about Michael "Chgowiz" Shorten's "Old Guy RPG" blog and Christopher Brackett's "A Rust Monster Ate My Sword" blog. The former has been taken is off-line by its owner and the latter won't be seeing any update for the time being.

I specially didn't referred to those blogs as "OSR-related" because they covered many other, equally interesting, topics. I very much respect the reasons that each one had to made their decisions. Maybe I don't agree but I respect them and hope to see both online soon. And if not, others will come forward and pick their flags to carry on.

Gary Con II

2010-03-18T22:28:00.003-03:00

I've just realized that tomorrow Friday starts Gary Con II (March 19 - 21) and it made me get green with envy for all of you attending. No seriously, I wish everyone there good gaming and hope to read many cool stories in the blogs I follow. I hope some day to attend and share a game with some of the people I know from here, the Google Wave game, Canonfire! or the Greychat. Happy Gary Con!

I'm still green... Bleh...

What to put in a portable hole?

2010-03-09T23:28:00.009-02:00

Last session, one of my players (Fede V.) decided that Falquian, his figher/mage-slayer, while in the city, will stock the portable hole he had gained the previous session. But he didn't tell me and we didn't do all the roleplay of the "shopping & buying"; he just made the list and anounced he was done. The dialogue was something like:

Player: "That's it, all we need is in the portable hole."

DM: "W-what? All right, read me the list."

Player: (reads the list aloud)

(everyone laughs)

DM: "You mail me that list, I'm gonna put it in the blog!"

And so here it is:

a freestanding bookshelf (already there)
a worktable (already there)
a comfortable cot (already there)
3 barrels of dried food (already there)
4 barrels of fresh water (3 were already there)
1 barrel of oil
5 bedrolls
5 winter blankets
5 cold weather outfits
500 ft. of hempen rope
10 lbs. of soap
a shovel
a miner's pick
a crowbar
100 trail rations
5 sacks (empty)
2 iron pots
flint & steel
2 tents
firewood (for some days)
a small steel mirror
3 manacles
50 iron spikes
10 wooden stakes
10 everburning torches
a grappling hook
a 10 ft. wooden ladder
a portable ram
a sledge
20 flasks of holy water

I don't know if all that fits in a portable hole and didn't do the math, but since I liked it so much I allowed it. As I recently read here, saying yes is more fun.

Finnaly!

2010-03-08T20:08:00.007-02:00

Last friday when I got home there was a note from the postman that they had a package for me at the post office. Since they don't work on weekends, and I couldn't go on their office hours, today my wife went to get it. So, I came from work and there it was on my desk, a perfectlly bound cardboard box from Lulu and a post-it from her that today dinner was on me. I finally have in my hands the Labyrinth Lord's Advanced Edition Companion from Goblinoid Games! The binding and printing of the book are of great quality. The artwork is so old-school, I love it. Enough, I'm off to read it and plan my next capaign. Uh-oh, wait, I have to make dinner. :-)

D&D 2010 Season

2010-03-07T10:00:00.002-02:00

Yesterday after several tries our group finally got together to start the Dungeons & Dragons 2010 season. It's the final leg to end the Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk module. I guess that by playing a couple of times per month we'll be finishing it around mid-year. There was no combat during the first session, only a couple of dices were rolled for some checks, it was all role-playing. It was a change of pace after several sessions of dungeon crawl and they were all longing for some time in the city. They did plenty of things, from selling loot, to buying equipement, enchanting items, interrogating a prisioner, following leads, information gathering, scrying a potential enemy, sending a message to Mordenkainen informing him about their plans and asking for advice, even communing with Boccob for guidance. By the end of the session they were ready to go back to the Castle.

Read An RPG Book in Public Week

2010-03-05T20:12:00.011-02:00

Tomorrow ends the first "Read An RPG Book in Public Week" of the year. It's a curious event to promote the hobby. Click on the image above to find out more about it.

Two years...

2010-03-04T00:23:00.010-02:00

It's been two years now since Gary Gygax left us. I'll never forget what I felt that day, it was a mix of sadness and frustration. Sadness for the loss and a state of emptiness that comes along. And frustration because I never had the chance to meet him at a GenCon or other convention. The chance to have a picture taken with him or having some book autographed by him. That day I promised myself to some day visit Lake Geneva. It'll be a sort of pilgrimage to the origins of D&D. To finish this humble homage I found a phrase somewhere some time ago that I think abridges this day's feelings: "Gary, you're critically missed."

Photo by Alan De Smet