Lands of Cantona - Session 4

Last session our heroes (Ragnar the elven fighter, Larry the human fighter, Tak the human cleric of Trithereon and Cesar the human druid) were in the village of Baz planning to go to the walled port town of Cantona to sell their newfound stash of old coins. They rested at "The Dice & Raven Inn" before starting a 3-day walk from the fringes of the Welkwood Forest to the coast of the Wooly Bay. 

Unbeknownst to them, "Snarl" Davos, the owner of the villages' trading post sent a pigeon with a message to his accomplices at a bandit camp near the fork to Beachcourt on the road to Cantona. 

On the second day of travel, when the party, along with two men-at-arms and two torchbearers (these last two carrying the chest with the coins), reached that point, the alerted group of bandits sprung the ambush. Two archers and a crossbowman peppered them from higher gourd on the sides, while four footmen with sword and shield charged supported by a mounted bandit with spear and shield. All this happened commanded by a mounted bandit leader from the rear. 

While Ragnar charged past the footmen to attack the leader, Cesar cast Entangle on the archers disabling them for the rest of the fight, and Larry, Tak and the men-at-arms faced the footmen. One of the men-at-arms fell, but so did a couple of bandits. Cesar the cast Faerie Fire on the remaining attackers. Meanwhile Ragnar had to sacrifice his shield pierced by a spear strike that  otherwise would have ended him, and continued fighting holding his elven sword two-handed. 

Mortally wounded the leader tried to escape but was killed by Ragnar. At the same time two more bandit fell and the remaining mounted bandit turned his horse and fled, and so did the crossbowmen. Since most of the party members were wounded they decided not to pursue the survivors. They bind their wounds the best they could, with Tak casting Cure Light Wounds on the elf who was hurt worse. The entangled archers were captured and tied down, and they buried the fallen men-at-arms. Also Cesar went after the spooked bandit leader mount and cast Animal Friendship on it. They gathered all the armors (6 leather, 1 chainmail, 5 shields) and weapons (5 longswords, 2 short bows, 18 arrows, 1 spear), and also a signet ring and a note from the bandit leader. 

"The Druid and the Elf have the Arn gold. They drag it in a metal box. Intercept at the fork. — D."

Cesar cast Detect Magic on the lot and determined the bandit leader longsword, the only one with a gem adorning the hilt, had a aura. With that, they looked for a suitable place to camp and spend the night. The prisoners were interrogated separately and, after being threatened with duress, one declared he was new and knew nothing and the other "spilled the beans". The latter told them the leader received a pigeon on their camp in the woods and informed them to prepare to set up an ambush. He also gave up the name of the horsed bandit that escaped (Rollo). They discussed about the fate of the prisoners and finally decided to turn them to the authorities of Cantona. That night, the party's camp was attacked by a giant spider and I randomly rolled who it will attack: it snatched away the tied up prisoners! 

The next day they arrived at Cantona. At the gates the watchmen asked their business in town, a scribe

wrote down their names and collected the entry toll for people and mounts. They asked directions for a moneychanger and went there to sell the chest of coins. After selling the coins Tak and Cesar, along with the men-at-arms and torchbearers went to secure lodgings at "The Giant Clam", while Ragnar and Larry went to the town's market, one to sell the loot (the bandits' weapons and armors) and the other to sell his magical potion. 

To my amazement, Larry's approach was to shout to the four winds "I have a magical potion to sell!". Almost immediately three "customers" showed up interested. They warned him he couldn't be selling things without a permit from the guild and, if he accompanied them, they would gladly sort it out for him for just a 10 gp fee. He made a counter offer of giving 3 gp each to forget everything and let him be, but they pushed it. They told him to surrender the potion to them and they will split the earnings with him. When he refused one of the thieves proceeded to successfully pick pocket the potion (I rolled 05%!). The robbers then ran each in a different direction and Larry chased after one, managed to grab it by the collar, only to end up with a cloak in his hands. Frustrated, he just waited for the Watch to show up and went to their HQ to give a description of the robbers. While he was waiting, a satisfied Ragnar returned after managing to secure a brand new armor, a plate mail. 

After Larry left with the Watch, Ragnar made some inquires around the market to see if anyone had seen anything. A beggar pleading "A coin for a veteran of the wars!" caught his eye and he asked him about the robbery. "Ah yes, they belong to the Syndicate..." said the beggar after securing some coins from the elf, who pressed for more information on where to find it. More coins changed hands and the beggar delivered "Look for any place with an inverted V over a line (the same symbol the signet ring had!) discretely engraved on the door jamb...". After asking for a precise place and some more coins, he came with the name of "The Red Rapier", a tavern on South of town. With that information he went back to the "The Giant Clam" to relay what happened to Tak and Cesar, and wait for Larry.

On his way back from the Watch HQ, Larry lost his way and got distracted by a lady of the night, just enough for a thief to get behind him and try to knock him out with a sap. Too bad for the thief that failed his move silently check and Larry swiftly managed to attack him (my nephew rolled a natural 20!). I ruled that he chopped the poor's guy hand clean off. The screams of the wounded thief and the street walker alerted the hood. Soon enough Larry was running for his life chased by an angry mob. Luckily he managed to get back to his friends unharmed. Over a dinner the group decided to check "The Red Rapier" the following day.

The tavern was a seedy and shady place with few patrons, a couple chatting over their drinks, one drunkard slumped over a table full of empty mugs, a lonely man smoking a pipe and the bartender. Ragnar, wearing the signet ring went sat at the bar while Larry, Tak and Cesar took a table. The bartender served Ragnar and noticed the ring, the went to serve the table. While pouring the drinks for them he asked Ragnar "Is the tower still standing?". The elf was caught off guard by the question and just replied "Unfortunately not anymore." and the bartender knew he was not a Syndicate member. He casually adjusted a torch sconce and went about his business. The elf found that odd and started asking questions about it, but the bartender just dodged them. Things got heated as Ragnar started demanding answers and got none. The bartender headed for the kitchen followed by the elf. One of the patrons darted for the door while the other two stood up. Cesar went for the fleeing one hitting him on the back of his head. The guy stumbled out of the tavern. The guy that was smoking threw darts on Cesar, Tak and Larry. They all got hit, but only Larry slumped on the floor asleep. The remaining patron, short sword in hand, closed on Ragnar from behind while he knocked the bartender out. The cook moved to attack the elf with a meat cleaver. Cesar caught the stumbling guy outside and helped him back into the tavern as if he was too drunk. Once inside he closed the door. Meanwhile, Tak got stabbed by his attacker and Ragnar exchanged blows with his' killing the cook. Cesar and Tak, despite being both wounded, managed to take down the remaining attacker. They then woke up Larry and rounded up the bartender and the fleeing one, from which they got some answers before the Watch arrived.

• The question the bartender asked was a safe phrase between the Syndicate members.
• "Over the waves" was the expected answer.
• The torch sconce position was a signal if the place was secure or not.
• A guy named Rollo (the one that escaped at the ambush site) came a few days ago "to gather some muscle for a job"

Campaign update

What happened since last update on March 2025? A lot!

When we last left our heroes they were deep in the Suss Forest and about to begin exploring the Ruins of Nol-Daer (Dungeon Magazine #13). After tracking missing dwarven miners to the ruins, the group faced a gauntlet of spriggans, manes, and a couple of deadly Black Dragons. They also found an old ally, Naahzruhn the cambion, who had the miners digging under the ruins while he bides his time to go after Markessa. He bargains with the group the freedom of the miners for information about Markessa's hideout in the Suss.

With that, they set for the villainous Markessa and a brutal siege of her underground semi-flooded stronghold ensued (A6 Die, Marquessa Die! from casl Entertainment). The party and its allies prevailed against her human and norker minions, but at a heavy price. Rivers, the party's elven thief, fell in battle, only to be brought back by the ultimate magic: a Wish spell. While Markessa and her lieutenant fled, the party secured a massive dragon hoard—though transporting "two crates and five chests" through a forest full of Kobold hordes and six-legged displacer beasts proved to be a logistical nightmare.

After that, the party took to the waves aboard the "River’s Bargain" from the port city of Fax back to the Pomarj's northern shore. Meriven, the cleric of St. Cuthbert, and Stengar the cavalier had a promise to fulfill, free the town of Lost Fenrill from its ghostly curse. They explored the shadow-haunted town and they didn't just survive; they conducted a masterclass in looting, emptying the Merchant’s Guild vaults of gems, paintings and ancient tomes. When 150+ Orcs of the Crooked Claw clan cornered them, the party broke the line with steel and spell, eventually using Hallucinatory Terrain to craft a ghostly "Earth Dragon" mist to cover their departure towards Safeton.

The party returns to their winter quarters, sailing up the Wild Coast, upriver the Selintan river past the Free City of Greyhawk and into the Nyr Dyv, around the Greyhawk Peninsula and into the Velverdyva river estuary to finally dock in the city of Dyvers. A final leg by land to Sobanwych and Twilight Falls just before the end of the year.

Sobanwych: Stengar will spend this downtime time patrolling his lands and training his followers, as well as strengthening the ties with the Gnarley Rangers and the several elven clans of the forest. Meanwhile Meriven will supervise the progress on the construction of the "Cuberthine Abbey of the Steadfast Way" and also scribe some scrolls.

Twilight Falls: Kothar’s ambitious library project, a shrine to Delleb, is nearing completion under the close inspection of cleric-librarian Adso of Mol and magic-user apprentice Aladram. With the addition of the tomes from the Sanctum of the Absent Mage, Markessa's stronghold and the vaults of the Merchant's guild of Lost Fenrill, it starting to slowly grow into a beacon of knowledge. Kothar works with Guy of Korbin, his alchemist, to craft some potions. Seraktikor, the gnomish sage at his service, successfully completes the study of the exotic objects from the Merchant’s Guild of Fenrill and answers a specific question about contacting a creature from another plane (noctral). Kothar also spends some time researching a new spell and scribing a scroll.

Dyvers: Rivers and his crew sails the "River's Bargain" up and down the Velverdyva and western Nyr Dyv ports dealing on different goods and making a substantial profit out of it.

Winter turns into Spring, and the party decide it is time to explore the map Rivers found some time ago hidden in his ship's figurehead. Kothar travels to Sobanwych to join Meriven and Teodric, and together they travel to the port of Caltaran to rendezvous with Rivers. From there they sail to the west coast of the Greyhawk Peninsula (WGR2 Treasures of Greyhawk - The Tomb of Karyne).

While the party is busy with all these tasks, a silent threat looms. Kothar's Leomund’s Secret Chest, a long reliable storage solution, has been compromised. An Intellect Devourer discovered the chest in the Ethereal Plane and it is currently waiting inside... lurking for the moment the chest is next summoned.

Lands of Cantona - Session 3

Happy New Year! This is the recap of Session 3 of my new campaign "Lands of Cantona" that I am running for my two nephews, my son and my wife. The party is composed by Ragnar the elven fighter, Larry the human fighter, Tak the human cleric of St. Cuthbert and Cesar the human druid.

~ o ~

In the end they decided to go up and out and follow the treasure map that showed 3000 coins buried about 10 miles East from the castle. On their way out of the castle they find a patrol of 8 dwarves from the Bloodaxe clan led by Gatnur Bonechin.

After that they follow the path South and, before reaching the bridge, they turn East following the stream under a thin fog. Under Cesar’s guidance they manage to keep from getting lost. After a couple of hours they reach a fault scarp that runs North-South and drops about 30 feet to a hilly terrain. Everyone manages to navigate the way down except Larry that tumbles down the last 10 feet suffering minor injuries. By Cesar’s estimations they must be near the place shown on the map but they see nothing that marks it.

They were atop a hill looking around when a 9 feet tall brutish humanoid wielding a crude wooden club charges at them! A fierce combat ensued with hits and misses by both sides, with the fighters scarifying their shields to avoid deadly blows, and spells cast by the cleric and druid. The creature was defeated and the party was binding their wound when another, similar but smaller creature, attacked them. Some lucky blows brought the creature down before it could be a threat.

They searched the ogres, as they called them, and found that the bigger one had a bag with gold pieces (500). When they find they are all of the same mint (a tower over waves on one side and a man's profile with the letters ARN SON BARONIS on the other), one they didn't recognize. They decided to search for the lair of the creatures and their findings led them to a nearby cave filled with bones, hide and half eaten carcasses. Among this filth they found a metal chest filled with 5 large sacks all containing silver pieces (2500) with the same mint as the gold ones.

They prepared camp away from the cave and the next day under a great storm they started their way back to the village of Baz dragging the treasure chest. The travel was uneventful until they reached a stream by nightfall where they came across a herd of wild cattle. After a miserable but uneventful night, the next day still under a heavy rain they enter the woods. By late afternoon they found a group of Sylvan elves with whom they share camp. They manage to get from the elves a longbow, arrows and a dagger. 

By midday of the next day they arrived to the village of Baz and went to see Arin the moneychanger. They didn't agree on the exchange rate for the coins and said they were going to the city of Cantona. With that idea in mind they went to the trading post, run by the nefarious "Snarl" Davos and his partner Gregam, but they found their prices of goods and horses too high.

~ o ~  

The session ended with the party in town, with some treasure and divided about what to do. 

Lands of Cantona - Session 2

This is the recap of Session 2 of my new campaign "Lands of Cantona" that I am running for my two nephews, my son and my wife. The party is composed by Ragnar the elven fighter, Larry the human fighter, Tak the human cleric of St. Cuthbert and Cesar the human druid.

~ o ~

After getting directions to the elves they leave the dwarves. On the way they cross paths with a giant scorpion which they manage to avoid, only to find it behind them! Cesar casts Faerie Fire while Ragnar and Larry rushes to melee and Tak throws a bottle of wine at it. A fight breaks out with Ragnar and Larry throwing blows but having to sunder their shields to survive the creature’s claws. Tak and Cesar keep throwing bottles of wine and a torch to light it up. The creature finally collapses and Ragnar cuts out its claws as a trophy. Shortly after, a blinding trap leaves everyone blind except Ragnar and Tak’s men-at-arms. They wait until an elven patrol finds them and guides them to their quarters . There they wait until everyone gets their sight back and they trade 4 bottles of rare wine for 2 shields for the fighters, 2 spears for the hirelings, 1 longsword for Ragnar and 1 chain mail for Larry, whose splint mail goes to Tak. The elves let them rest there.

The next day, they leave for the dwarves but get lost in the dungeons. They manage to avoid a Giant Toad but shortly after a spear trap claims the life of Ragnar's torchbearer and wounds Larry. Behind a stuck door they find a lit room with vases & roses. After fooling around they find what looks like a treasure map inside one of the vases. Cesar finds that if the roses are taken from the vases they quickly wither, but regain life if put back in. That gives Larry the idea to put his wounded arm into a vase. He is healed but all the roses wither. Tak gets the idea to use them to revive the dead torchbearer, but to no avail.

More exploration ended in finding a rhino that charged at them, wounding several, but it ended up being all an illusion. They found a secret door in the room where the “rhino” came from and proceeded to follow the corridor behind it. After several twists and turns, and a spear trap that claimed the life of another hireling, they reached a corner where they found another secret door that led into a dusty, clearly unused corridor. They followed it and reached a dead end… with another secret door. This one led into a room with a spiral stairs leading up and several exits.

They followed one of the exits and after a T intersection on a long corridor they found yet another secret door. Larry opened it and found 3 skeletons. Two rush forward to attack, but the other, a slightly bigger one with lightning eyes, stays back. As Ragnar and Larry moved to meet them, Tak tried Turn Undead on them and Cesar cast Faerie Fire on the bigger one. As the turn failed, the big skeleton pulled its head off and threw it at the cleric. The head exploded and rolled back to the skeleton. Ragnar moved to attack the big one as Tak successfully turned it. Cesar cast Shillelagh on his staff before moving to attack. After many hits, misses and shields being splintered they destroy the skeletons and find some treasure in a chest, 400 gp, a potion (of Polymorph, but yet unknown) and a clerical scroll with 2 spells (Resist Cold and Remove Fear). 

After the fight they decide to rest in the secret room, and after some hours (luckily without any random encounters) they go back to the elves’ to get some food and possibly shields. They get the former, for them and the hirelings, but not the latter so they decide to try with the dwarves. They do get a couple of dented metal shields for the fighters (no wooden shield for the druid) in exchange for the last bottle of rare wine.

Healed and equipped they take the circular stairs…

~ o ~

The session ended with the party unsure about going down deeper into the dungeon or up and out to look into that treasure map.

Lands of Cantona - New Campaign!

 Last Sunday I started a new campaign for my two nephews, my son and my wife. I introduced the kids to the game some time ago (you can read about it here) and played sporadically at best, but now I wanted them to play regularly. They were thrilled when I dropped the idea on them and, to be honest, it's always refreshing as a DM to run the game for new people.

The campaign is set on the Lands of Cantona, a relatively undeveloped region of the Wild Coast, in the World of Greyhawk 576 CY. I developed the village of Baz on the fringes of the Welkwood forest, in the style of the famous village of Hommlet, surrounded by several nearby locations for them to explore: an abandoned mine on the hills, an ancient cemetery among dead trees, a supposedly haunted tower deep in the forest, and some ruins sunk in the marshes. The first three are short low-level Labyrinth Lord scenarios (Den of the Morlock Shaman¹, The Tomb of Sigyfel and The Gibbering Tower), while the ruins were initially going to be the Ruins of Ramat adventure, which I have ran before, but then discarded it and I have not yet decided what to do about that location. I also expanded the tunnels under the mine with another dungeon (Lair of the Morlock Chief) and put, a bit further away, the Castle of the Mad Archmage. 

I had the players randomly roll on Rogues Gallery to see what characters the would be playing. The party ended up being Ragnar the elven fighter, Larry the human fighter, Tak the human cleric and Cesar the human druid. 

So, after hiring some men-at-arms (3) and torchbearers (3) they left early in the morning heading South looking for the Gibbering Tower. After a couple of hours they reach an ominous 40’ tall tower, built out of black stone, lying hidden in a small valley among the dark woods. 

Upon entering, they found a room with rotting chairs, couches, and rugs. A fireplace at the west wall, spiral staircase at the north wall leading up, and a staircase at the south wall leading down. On the fireplace mantle is a terrarium filled with a silvery fungus. They took the stairs down. 

Exploring the tower dungeons they find an ossuary, three cells (two empty, one with a shackled skeleton), a torture chamber and a cauldron chamber, both with two undead (ghouls), bodies of adventurers and two more undead (zombies), a trapped hall and some giant rats, a winery that they proceed to plunder, and finally a room with a 10” diameter glass sphere, on a metal stand. Someone touched the crystal ball and all were teleported somewhere else…

They found themselves in a circular room with a secret door that exits into a circular staircase with steps leading up and down, and an opening into a large square room with exits on the three other walls. They went straight ahead, opposite to where they entered and took the corridor until they reached a Y intersection with the corridor continuing ahead.

They took the right passage until an X intersection where they came across a group of dwarven warriors. They were led by Hilding Ironhelm of the Bloodaxe clan. He told them they were in the first level of the dungeons of the Castle of the Mad Archmage, known as the Storage Rooms. The dwarves held the northern section, the elves the southern and the kobolds the east. They controlled the access to the lower levels and charge adventuring parties with a percentage of the treasure found.

There ended the first session.

[1] Included in the Labyrinth Lord rulebook.

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Virtual Greyhawk Con 6 Report

Here is long postponed Virtual Greyhawk Con report. As always, I had a wonderful time again this year, at the convention's sixth annual installment. Thanks to the organization and everyone that made it possible!

This year I played in four games, and attended to the "Ask the Experts" seminar.

Thursday 

The first game I played was Anna B. Meyer's "Shield Lands Skirmish" game where she was further testing Hawk Tales, her FRPG ruleset. We were a group of fairly new recruits that got to man one of the keeps guarding the frontline, some miles to the Southeast of Critwall, while the regular crew went on a mission further into Iuzian controlled territory. Even though Hawk Tales doesn't have classes, we were a Fighter (Gamus of Furd, this was the character I played), a Cleric (Kadius of Eragern), a Magic-User (Eddal of Eragern), a Thief (Alwes of Hirtfer), a Druid (Briad of Furd) and an Archer (Mogret of Herechel). 

Before getting into the fort, Briad scouted around as a fox and found that "something is out there". Shortly after setting in, goblins hailed arrows upon us while a group of skeletons tried to cross the ford. We returned fire while Eddal blasted most of the skeletons with a Fireball. After that , a flock of vultures, crows, ravens and other flying monstrosities flew over the tower causing fear and madness, but also dropping pieces of bone. When we checked them out the bones coalesced into skeletons that exploded after you hit them. After the cleric's Turn Undead dealt with them, a wave of ghouls swiftly came over the ramparts. We managed to retreat and held the door that gave access to the tower from above. Meanwhile downstairs orcs tried to break through the main entrance but were deterred by arrows and cold magic.

"Hold the door!" was the shout that became the motto for the rookie companies sent to man those forts.

Friday

At night Les "OblivionSeeker" Reno ran "The Deadsinger of Molag" where I played Pandreyus, a 9th level Thief, or Rogue because it was a 5e game.

It all started investigating a farmhouse massacre near the frontier. We arrived at a farmhouse in the springtime, just after Growfest, to find a horrific scene. The family (5 adults, 4 children) had been attacked. The children were missing. The father was found decapitated (his head facing East), and his wife was also brutally murdered. The other adults were apparently taken captive along with the children. The house was ransacked, and animals were either slaughtered or set free. We found many clues: the door was opened from the inside; tiny footprints were found coming up the chimney, which felt familiar. The Bard's Speak with Dead on the wife revealed the attacker was "a small one with a fake face" (possibly wearing a mask) and that "none" of the attackers had a lute.

After that we hit the trail where we picked up the tracks of five men plus the kidnapped adults, which soon joined wagon tracks heading northwest, giving the kidnappers a lead of about a day and a half. Along the road, we found another body: face down, throat slit; a scythe symbol was carved on his forehead; he had a strange puncture on his forearm (not animal or insect), similar to the decapitated father.

Further ahead we came across a couple of helpful Knights that provided us with some troubling intel. We encountered Roderic (a cleric) and Archer (a huge archer), both Knights of the Holy Shielding in training. They offered to share their nearby camp and information. They reported seeing "travelling performers" (later we found they were actually Orcs & Hobgoblins!) with a couple of wagons. They also provided us with 4 potions of healing, 1 potion of greater healing, and a map showing an abandoned keep, a dolmen, and caves. 

After a night of rest we followed the tracks, crossed the Ritensa River by barge and found graffiti in Old Oeridian on an old  low stone wall near an also old body: “We will steal when we cannot buy what you stole from us. We also discovered a strange, iridescent blue blight on the grass that causes apathy if ingested. As sun begun to set we readied a camp among a rocky outcrop and assigned the watches for the night. A night that turned eventful. During the 1st watch drums in the distance were heard. The guy on the 2nd watch spotted vultures, one of which swooped down to grab a "furry figure", and on the 3rd watch a band of 20 drunk orcs passed by but didn't spot our camp. It was on the 4th watch that we heard sounds of a fight. Four goblins on worgs were being pursued by human horsemen in black leather armor, bearing a scythe and skull symbol (Nerullites!). One worg broke from the chase and headed straight for your camp. Everyone woke and the Druid summoned wolves, which helped us capture one goblin and one of the human pursuers after the other were killed. The goblin cooperated, but the human didn't so we killed him. From the goblin, we learned of two locations: "StinkTower" (Fort Tippit) to the East and "Little Longshanks" that dwelled in a cave described as "alive with arms and legs," where "a lady sings dead songs."

In the morning we freed the goblin and decided to check the dolmen. We found a 30-foot high mound with five wagons at its base. The area stank of roasting flesh. Over 30 hobgoblins and human Nerullites were drinking and gambling. We attempted a ruse disguised as "4 guards and a prisoner", which succeeded long enough to get you close to the tent at the top. However, we were discovered, and combat erupted against a hobgoblin, seven twig dolls with tiny scythes, and a halfling wearing a mask.

The Barbarian raged and killed the hobgoblin right away, then attacked the halfling. The Druid burned the halfling, knocking his mask off. The halfling creature shrieked, "You freed them!" The Sorcerer cast a protective Wall of Fire around the party. We identified the twig dolls as Carrionettes—a sinister Flan puppet that possesses human vessels. One Carrionette apparently dominated the Barbarian, but the Druid cast Hold Person on him. The Sorcerer then dropped the flames and cast Protection from Evil on the Barbarian, freeing him from the puppet's control. Meanwhile, a major threat emerged from a portal at the dolmen: Mir Murcas, "The Deadsinger of Molag," carrying a lyre!

The Bard tried to cast Hypnotic Pattern on Mir, but the spell bounced back, hitting the Bard instead! Despite the setback, the Barbarian, Bard (recovered), and the Druid's bears managed to surround and hack Mir Murcas to pieces. With their leader dead, the remaining hobgoblins and Nerullites scattered.

In the aftermath we pieced together the final clues: 1) The Carrionette were the "funny little man" from the Growfest—this is why the chimney footprints were familiar. 2) The children were the target all along. They all share identical birthmarks (related to an acorn and a tree).

We secured the wagons with the children inside and began riding south. As we left, we spotted two familiar figures—Roderic and Archer—who were now accompanied by five more people (four men and one woman).

Saturday morning

Brian Jagusak from "Dice and a Pencil" ran Rob Kuntz's 1975 tournament module "Sunken City". The great mage Drawmij put our group together to retrieve from the city a magical item that could read any language. He opened a portal to the submerged city that will remain for 4 hours. 

I played Othlinden, an 8th level lizard man fighter pretending to be a human. He was looking for the legendary Serpent Belt, a powerful magic item and national treasure of the Kingdom of Oogresh. Returning it would bestow great rewards to the one doing so. This was Eric Shook's character in the original RJK's World of Kalibruhn campaign.

After one of the several rafts that are available, we advanced in the general direction thanks to a Locate Object spell.  On our way a group of four hungry giant crabs attacked us. We fought back with some arrows and a well placed Fireball that killed two but rocked the buildings around, even bringing one down! All this made a couple of giant eels to investigate what was going on, but a good reaction roll and Speak With Animals spell were enough to have them on their way back to their lair. Some giant turtles were interested in us but a Speak With Animals spell and some rations got us past them.

Next stop was tower with two serpent heads. Othlinden was excited because the place looked promising to his interests. We entered the tower and explored it. The northern side was empty while the southern one was filled with bones in front of an altar that had an ornate belt on top of it. Othlinden knew instantly he was looking at the Serpent Belt. When he moved to take it he was attacked by something huge and invisible. In the end we defeated the thing, a 12-head hydra!

Moved the raft across the tower to avoid two whirlpools and continued to the other side towards a semi-submerged tower. Some made their way inside through an underwater doorway and then lowered a rope for the rest climbed to a window. There we found a tinkerer's room with workbenches, tools, books, cabinets, blueprints and more. Inside a 6' tall locked metal cabinet we found what we were looking for. What we found could be best described as a Star Wars Probe Droid. We also got its manual and managed to get it going.

With this construct in tow (we found it could Levitate) we exited the tower and tried to find the Silvery Dorr of Oricholum before the portal closed. On our way we were chased by five mermen with tridents riding giant sea horses. Othlinden drank a Potion of Polymorph Self to turn into a giant crocodile. He grabbed the raft with his mandibles and used his tail to propel it forward, while the rest fought the mermen with sling shots, rocks, javelins and a Hold Monster spell.

As we were racing towards the shrinking portal a huge sea troll tried to block our way, but we managed to get past it and dive into the portal to safety!

Sunday Afternoon

Allan "grodog" Grohe ran the playtest of "Gnoll Raiders Cairn", a scenario where the party is hired to go after a particularly ferocious band of gnolls that have been looting caravans en route to the Free City of Greyhawk, striking along the Urnst Trail and recover the wares.

I played Freda, a human 6th level ranger from the Slave Lords pre-generated characters. Since this was like I said a playtest, I will not go into many detail that could spoil some of the surprises this adventure has. Just say that I was eager to play a ranger against gnolls, but couldn't use some of her abilities when we fought them...

Sunday Night

In the "Ask the Experts" closing event I won one of the giveaways consisting in "Fortress Ellendar", an adventure for the High Fantasy RPPG from 1979, and the supplement "Relics & Ruins" from Knave rules toolkit.

Edrenor

This character is for  Allan T. Grohe's "grodog's Greyhawk" game (AD&D 1e).

Edrenor of Jarl (Diocese of Devarnish) is a young cleric whose severe appearance belies a formidable physical and spiritual strength. Hailing from the landed gentry of Veluna, his Oeridian heritage is clear in his tan skin, dark, perceptive eyes, and reddish-brown hair, which he keeps in a stark bowl cut above a neatly trimmed chinstrap beard. As a third son, the path of the clergy was a natural fit, and he serves Boccob, the god of magic and knowledge, with a quiet dedication. 

Though he has the look of a scholar, Edrenor is strong and exceptionally hardy, able to withstand punishment that would fell a lesser man. His true power, however, lies in his profound wisdom, which grants him deep insight and a powerful command of divine magic. While not particularly charming or agile, he is a grounded and pragmatic individual, valuing balance and order above all else.

 

S 15 I 14 W 17 D 10 Co 17 Ch 10

Virtual Greyhawk Con 6 - Tickets

 

Got my tickets for the Con today! I'm playing one game each of the Con days plus my two bi-weekly games, it would be a fun weekend for sure!

Thursday - Shield Lands Skirmish (Hawk Tales FRP): A short skirmish scenario set in the Shield Lands. Defend a keep from the Iuzian troops.

Friday - The Deadsinger of Molag (5E): Set in 576 CY, a mysterious force is murdering farmers in the Shield Lands. While pursuing the killer, adventurers learn of abducted civilians with similar birthmarks, and they discover that their target is bound for a secret rendezvous with the dreaded Mir Murcas, Deadsinger of Molag.

Saturday - Sunken City (AD&D 1e): Written by Robert J Kuntz was originally used as the 1st Dungeons and Dragons tournament at GenCon VIII in 1975! Will your exploration of the sunken city of Kalibruhn lead to riches and renown, or an untimely death?

Sunday - LEGIO V - Explore grodog’s Greyhawk – Gnoll Raiders Cairn (AD&D 1e): Particularly-ferocious gnoll bands looted three caravans en route to Greyhawk, striking along the Urnst Trail. The party is hired to destroy the gnolls and recover the wares! Bring your graph paper, dice, and a healthy dose of paranoid courage!

Looking forward to it.

Virtual Greyhawk Con 6 - Badge

 

Just bought my badge for the next Virtual Greyhawk Con. 

Get yours here at TableTop Events.

VECNA: GENESIS OF A LEGEND

 

In this 40-page long publication, grey-sages Samuel Weiss and Gary Holian get into a dialogue and make a careful and thorough evaluation, going beyond superficial judgments to delve deep into the published history of of one of the most known, and probably one of the first, liches in the World of Greyhawk. 

They talk about who Vecna was and how he got to run a vast empire, the cult that grew around him, what are his relics (not only his notorious hand and eye) and provide an exhaustive historical timeline, from more than a millennia ago to the Common Year "present day". Also, they tells us how (not) to use him in a campaign and why.

A must read to all Greyhawk fans out there, both players and DMs alike!

Weather Forecaster for the World of Greyhawk

I don't know if I have shared this before, but it's a great tool that I use in all my games. It produces a weather forecast for a month to a certain area, specified by the caster, and can even forecast upcoming months if so desired. It uses the rules as depicted in the World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting Boxed Set from 1983.

Follow THIS link to read the "Scroll of Weather Forecasting" and unleash some old and powerful Suloise magic. 

Thanks Tomi for putting this up 12 years ago!

How Technology Affected My D&D Table: From Graph Paper to Google Docs (Without Replacing It)

Our most sophisticated tool when I first began playing D&D in 1987 was a photocopier. Character sheets, graph paper maps, and smudged pencil notes that barely made it through spilled soda and oily snacks were all in the binders we carried. Index cards were used to track initiative. A typewriter was used to type the handouts. Asking someone who wasn't drinking that night what went wrong was your best bet if you missed a session.

The situation has evolved. However, not in the manner that people think.

I haven't made the transition to fully virtual tabletop systems. Even if I run my Greyhawk campaign on Roll20, some still use actual dice to roll. We still play in person, or as close as possible, and many of our maps are created by hand.

However, technology has subtly crept into our sessions in ways that are hard to overlook. And truthfully? It has improved the game.

Memory, Meet Machine: Recording and Summarizing Sessions with Fathom

Fathom.video, a platform that was initially created for business meetings but is now used to record and summarize our online D&D sessions, is one of  the most helpful tools we've recently embraced.

It produces precise, searchable summaries of all events. A player only needs to go over the highlights if they miss a session; they don't require a half-hour recap. What happens if someone forgets a name, the reason behind an NPC, or the actual meaning of that mysterious note? The summary contains all of it.

Memory is no longer our only option. We have an objective record of the game thanks to it. That's crucial in a campaign that lasts a long time. The telling of the story is being preserved, not replaced.

Shared documents and cloud notes

The days of searching for the "one notebook" that contained the timeline or party inventory are long gone. We now keep track of campaign history, session notes, and character backgrounds using shared Google Docs. A living journal is kept by one player. A spellbook file is kept up to date by another. My direct message notes are organized into folders and connected to tabs for towns, NPCs, rumors, and previous occurrences.

Players remain involved in between sessions because of the accessibility. When the session concludes, the campaign need not end.

How Memes, Messaging, and Chat Turned Into Game Tools

We communicate in a Telegram group chat. Initially used as a scheduling tool, it soon became a feature of the game. In-character meme sharing, strategy discussions, and even in-world arguments are all done by players.

That area developed into a sort of channel for "downtime roleplay". Occasionally, in between sessions, on the spur of the moment, without dice, the best lines and character development occur.

Technology Enhances Imagination, Not Replaces It

What I love is that these tools don't take over the game. They are in favor of it.

If given the time I continue to hand-draw my dungeon maps. I don't make use of animated tokens or dynamic lighting anymore. However, I would be happy to have a digital archive of the players' wild theories or a searchable transcript of that intense interrogation scene.

Making D&D into a video game is not the goal. Because they won't have to waste mental energy recalling what happened three weeks ago, players will be able to immerse themselves more fully in the world. They are aware of what took place. It is recorded. They can now play.

Looking Ahead 

I'm curious about what will happen next as the game keeps changing, but I'm also cautious. Our sessions have already become more focused and accessible thanks to these tools, and I can already see the allure of additional technology encroaching on the edges.

It's OK to use AI to create NPC portraits that instantly correspond with given descriptions. Or, to cut down on preparation time, write a few impromptu treasure hoards, town gossip, or tavern menus. Or, turn a description into an image for those who have trouble imagining them. 

The problem is that none of that takes the place of what really counts.

At the table, or virtual table, between people, the true magic takes place. When a player befriends the villain or destroys the town you spent hours creating, there are unexpected turns that no algorithm can foresee. The intensity of a tense silence before a dice roll cannot be captured in a transcript.

I will therefore continue to experiment. When technology can assist, I'll let it. However, the essence of the game remains secure as long as the story is shared and the laughter is genuine.

Tell me in the comments what technological aids you use in your games.

A Deep Dive Conversation With Joe Bloch

 Great interview by Joethelawyer to Joe Bloch (Greyhawk Grognard) from BRW Games!

"Joe's been a core member of the OSR since the early blog days. He's a very successful Indy publisher with his own old school ruleset, and he has published one of the largest mega-dungeons ever written."

Campaign update

Just realized I haven't posted since November! 

After helping Captain Eclan and his crew to capture the drow galleys from teh Temple of Lolth in Erelhei-Cinlu (Y2-Z2/54-57), the rebel flotilla sailed down the Pitchy Flow to a svirfneblin trading post and shanty town (B2/24). There, they unloaded several exiles from the drow city and did business with the deep gnomes (sold some goods and bought lizard mounts). Later, Cpt. Eclan arranged for the party to be sailed to the caverns of a svifneblin stronghold (J2-K2/26-28), where they secured an agreement with the gnomes. In exchange of clearing some nearby caves (L2/31 - Sanctum of the Absent Mage) they provided guides through the Underdark to the dwarven stronghold of Bhun-Farhun, set on the western slopes of the Crystalmist Mts. overseeing the Duchy of Berghof. Away from the interferences of the Underdark, the party contacted Melf via Sending and organized to be brought back to Celene through Countess Tillahi's Mirror of Mental Prowess. 

The party arrives at Celene through a magic mirror

They then spend some days on Tillahi's estate, resting and recovering, repairing their gear, eating decent food, enjoying the sun, and talking about everything that has happened in the nearly two months since they used the same magic mirror to go to the Hill Giants' Steading. Stengar (Cav10) and Teodric (Pal7), the paladin of St. Cuthbert rescued from the Kuo-toas and now in service of Meriven (Clr9), retrieve their mounts left to them by Stengar's henchmen, and take advantage of the opportunity to ride. The unicorn, rescued from the Eilserv's estate, also enjoys prancing around the elven fields, always to return to Meriven. Rivers (TA11) and Qinren (T9) spend their time fraternizing with the local elves. Countess Tillahi takes an interest in Delavda, the half-drow exile also in service of Meriven, and her life in Erelhei-Cinlu, while Kothar (MU10) meets with Melf to talk about arcane matters and seek advice.

The group returns to their fiefdoms, the Moathouse in Hommlet, Twilight Falls and Sobanwych, and make plans for the future. Rivers set off to Dyvers to buy a merchant ship and hire a crew, the beginning of his shipping company like he said. In the ship's figurehead he discovers a secret compartment holding a waterproof scrollcase with a map inside. Kothar handles Áladram, his half-elven apprentice, the task to oversee the building of a library and shrine to Delleb, god of reason, intellect and study, in Twilight Falls. A young curate from Verbobonc, Adso of Mol, travels to Twilight Falls to be in charge of them when they're finished. Meriven seeks the approval of the church of St. Cuthbert in Verbobonc to build an abbey in Sobanwych. Since the liberation of Sobanwych from the Witch Queen (Markessa The Green) and the defeat of the Temple of Elemental Evil, the town and surrounding areas were claimed by Verbobonc and given by the viscount to Stengar as a gift for his role in bringing down both dangers. The Free City of  Dyvers protested but, not wanting to engage militarily with the Viscounty, negotiated a solution and the whole situation was to be decided by a joust. We used the jousting rules from The Axe Lands. 

Stengar defeats the Black Knight of Dyvers

Weeks pass, and Stengar and Meriven make plans to return, as they promised, to Lost Fenrill in the Pomarj to liberate the abandoned town of its strange curse. Also Meriven sets up a place in the Moathouse dungeons as a recall destination. It is made casting a ritual using an artifact taken from the Dark Druids of the Suss forest. The drawback is that there is a slim chance (daily 5%) of summoning a vrock. Kothar helps to secure the place with some spells. At one point Stengar and Kothar receive a letter from his father, Sir Elric, a veteran of the Battle of Emridy Meadows, asking for help to find a fellow dwarf. After retiring from adventuring the dwarf got into the mining business. Recently he got the deed of a silver mine in the Suss forest near the town of Badwall. The dwarf´s family is worried since they haven't received any news for some weeks.

They decide to travel to Dyvers and take Rivers' new ship, Rivers' Bargain, up the Nyr Dyv, down the Selintan River, into the Wooly Bay and the Wild Coast. At the port city of Safeton they secure a route between there and the city of Fax, for the ship to make as they travel to Badwall in search for the missing dwarf. After some days of inquiry they get to the silver mine and the dwarves. Clues lead them deep into the Suss forest to a ruined castle...

The caverns of Nol-Daer

Campaign update

After the characters managed to disrupt a ritual in the (Hidden) Shrine of the Elder Elemental God from D4 City of Spiders, the power balance in Erelhei-Cinlu was severely altered. As House Eilservs and its allies were exposed as followers of the EEG, the other houses along with the Fane of Lolth, swiftly moved to punish the heretics.  

The characters were in part also responsible of the failure of the Eilservs' plans with the giants in the surface. After dealing with the problems in the Vault, Eclavdra would certainly seek vengeance, directly or through proxies, for all these setbacks.

Taking advantage of this schism, the dissidents of the Vault decided to push forward their plans. Through their leader, Nilonim, they came in contact with the party, helping them leaving the Vault. They managed to do this disguised as slaves in a drow merchant caravan. 

In return, the rebel leader asked them for their support in one of two important missions to the cause: 1) rescue Teregim, Nilonim's second in command and recently captured, from the dungeons of the Fane of Lolth before the priestesses have the chance to torture and question him, or 2) help Captain Eclan and his crew (Area B2/24 Encyclopaedia Subterranica) hijack the two galleys from the Fane's wharf cavern (Area 20 D3 Vault of the Drow). 

"Captain Eclan has been in contact with Nilonim and together they plan an uprising in Erelhei-Cinlu. In the chaos of the uprising, they hope to lead a mass escape of slaves and other disaffected inhabitants of the Vault by way of boats and barges on the Pitchy Flow."

Encyclopaedi Subterranica p.99

Virtual Greyhawk Con 5

 

Another Virtual Greyhawk Con has passed where I had the chance to play in a couple of games on Saturday and on Sunday attend "Ask the Experts" seminar.

The first game was Shield Land Patrol run by Anna B. Meyer who was testing an early build of her Hawk Tales FRPG ruleset.

"Join a Shield Lands Patrol to guard the Needfest (CY 599) celebrations. Guard the frontier of the liberated lands against Iuzian machinations." 

We managed to avoid some undead scouts and a murder of strange crows and ravens that could change into other awful things, ambush a stray broken wagon guarded by goblins and trolls, to finally infiltrate the Iuzian camp. There we found not only goblins, orcs, and mercenary men from the North, but also Iuzian clerics and their bone-claw guards led by Vedvenek, a flock of dretches and their skull-masked shepherd, and Glushnag the Mighty (hobgoblin Bar15) with his hobgoblin army. 

There was a brutal and bloody end to it. You can watch the stream of the game here on Anna's Twitch channel.

The second game was Zavod written by Carlos A. Lising for OSRIC. 

"A terrible theft has occurred at the famous Menagerie in the Free City! Daring bandits have managed to steal into the zoo of the fantastic and spirit away a mated pair of prized Rust Monsters. Will your group of heroes be able to locate the valuable monsters and return them safely?"

Since we were only two players, each of us was managing 4 characters, two rangers and two druids. We managed to avoid most of the dangers, even an enraged owlbear that we stopped with an Entangle spell and talked it down with a Speak With Animals and some rations, and got to the final scenario where we faced the responsible for the missing creatures and its fearsome bodyguards.  

One of my rangers fell in the final combat but was saved by the druids and the final boss was in the end subdued with a Charm Person or Mammal spell that allowed us to get to the rust monsters, take them back to the City of Greyhawk and get the reward. Fun time.

On Sunday the closing "Ask the Experts" seminar hosted by Jay "Lord Gosumba" Scott and Anna B. Meyer with legend Roger E. Moore, Denis "Maldin" Tetreault, Allan T. Grohe "Grodog", Joseph "GreyhawGrognard" Bloch, and Carlos A. Lising as guests. Greyhawk Achievement Awards were given to three very deserving persons: Roger Moore, Anna Meyer and Carlos Lising. Congratulations! It was a very emotive moment.

You can watch the stream of the seminar here on Lord Gosumba's Twitch channel.

Norebo's Gamble

I came up with this house rule for a player's character, half-orc fighter/cleric, to add some flavor to the class.

Clerics of Norebo can call their deity's favor once a day. All results are valid for the round the call is made.

Roll 2d8.

2. Gambler automatically hits his next attack or makes the next saving throw.

3. One enemy gets a -3 to his next attack or saving throw.

4. Gambler gets a +2 to his next attack or save.

5. One enemy gets a -1 to his next attack or saving throw.

6. Gambler does maximum damage on his next attack.

7. Nothing happens. Lose 50 gp/level.

8-10. Nothing happens. Lose 100 gp/level.

11. Nothing happens. Lose 50 gp/level.

12. One enemy does minimum damage on his next attack.

13. Gambler gets a +1 to his next attack or saving throw.

14. One enemy gets a -2 to his next attack or saving throw.

15. Gambler gets a +3 to his next attack or saving throw.

16. One enemy automatically misses his next attack or saving throw.

Order of the Gauntlet

Back in June 2023 I led my group into the Giants' trilogy (G1-2-3 modules), but it started in a somehow different way inspired by a short fiction story called Return to the Steading by Bart Carroll that appeared online on Dragon+ magazine.

Even though the story was set in the Forgotten Realms, it could perfectly be applied to the World of Greyhawk.

"Commander Steeplejack had led the original raid against the steading, gathering other heroes from the Order of the Gauntlet. While some in his party had continued on, advancing their fight against frost giants and fire giants farther north, Steeplejack stayed to claim the steading for his own stronghold."

Based loosely on that part of the story I came up with an alternate start to the trilogy:

"A party of adventurers from the Order of the Gauntlet have recently attacked the Steading of the Hill Giant Chief and, while the hill giants were fighting them, the orc and ogre slaves have turned on their bugbear and hill giant guardians. The adventurers inflicted huge casualties, slaying most of the giants and routing the rest (females and younglings, a couple of stone giants and a fire giant) but had to retreat due to heavy wounds and shortage of spells. Despite that, the raid was considered a success and their efforts were needed elsewhere. The ogres and orcs now control the place and, in a show of despise to the giants that had them enslaved, they have beheaded most of the corpses, setting their heads in pikes on the entrances to the steading."

Later on the story we can read:

"[...] recognized Gleep the Eyebiter, Cloyer the Magsman, and Roaky Swerked—all heroes from Steeplejack’s original party."

So, I ditched this Commander Steeplejack completely and had the Order founded by the original tournament characters that appeared in the G1 module.

• Gleep Wurp the Eyebiter (human, MU12)
• Cloyer Bulse the Magsman (human, T13)
• Roaky Swerked (human, C12)
• Frush O'Suggill (human, F14)
• Fonkin Hoddypeak (high elf, F5/MU8)
• Flerd Trantle (human, C9)
• Redmod Dumple (dwarf, F9)
• Faffle Dwe'o-mercraeft (human, MU9)
• Beek Gwenders of Croodle (half-elf, R9)

Then, I made them agents of the Kingdom of Keoland that operate mainly in the Earldom of Sterich and Duchy of Geoff, and to a lesser extent in the Gran March and the Yeomanry. There are chapters of the Order on each of the aforementioned realms to gather intelligence about the giants' activities and coordinate actions against them in the he Crystalmist, Jotens and Hellfurnaces.

Finally I created the Order's heraldry using CoaMaker.

The party came in contact with the first three members of the Order (Gleep, Cloyer and Roaky). Also had a new player character being a low rank member of it, that was held prisoner in the dungeons of the Hall of the Fire Giant King (G3) and rescued by the party.