Lands of Cantona - Session 7

After the elves told the group about a druid that might help to bring Larry back to life, they decided to  go and look for him. About half a day into the woods, Cesar the Aspirant begun to see druidic signals in the forest: a small shrine, trail boundary markings, bark etchings, and so on. They knew they were on the right path. Following the signs they arrived to a glade with a pond where a large brown bear surprised them. Afraid of its menacing growls they threw a ration hoping to calm the beast, but the bear ignored the offering. A whistling sound was heard and the bear retreated into the woods. A tall figure seemed to emerge right off the bark of a large tree. It was dressed in robes that looked like made of vines and leaves, with a long mossy hair and beard, and carrying a gnarly staff topped with some animal skull and antlers. 

"Who are you and why are you disturbing the peace of my grove?" he asked in a deep voice.

"We were exploring the Castle of the Mad Archmage and a our friend fell under the attack of a foul beast, a large spider. Can you help us?" they pleaded.

He approached and with the staff opened one of the coffers beside Larry's corpse.

"Hmmm... you ask for a big favor and this is of no use to me..." he said closing the coffer. "But... you may be useful..." he added pondering and pacing around. 

"What can we do for you, oh, most powerful..." Cesar started to say. "Silence apprentice!" roared the druid, annoyed by the insolent interruption of his thoughts.

"That place of twisted magic is like a deep callus that ruins the natural beauty of the land. I will help you, but I need your word that you will bring me the Horns of Sonn from the Catacombs. Do so and your debt will be satisfied." he sentenced. 

"How do we reach the Catacombs?" asked Ragnar the Elf. "Find the lizardmen tribe in the Dungeons and then go down from there." he answered. "I don't where in the Catacombs are the Horns, but I know who has them. A foul creature known as draugar, once human now a non-living thing that bring blights to fields and stock alike, is in possession of it." added the druid.

Some in the group recognized the name Sonn as a legendary druid-ranger of times long past.

"And remember, I will know if you don't keep your word. I can give life, but also take it, just like Mother Nature does, unemotionally." he warned the group. "Now, rest here and tomorrow I will send for you." he adds as he takes Larry's corpse away.

The night passed uneventfully and the growls of the brown bear woke up the group. They followed the bear to another clearing where they found Larry's corpse laying atop a flat stone raised from the forest floor by small stones. All around were small fires of scented woods, their smokes gathered on a cloud above the body. The druid intoned a chant and went around the stone putting out the fires. He then tapped Larry's forehead with the staff and his body turned into wisps of smoke that ascended towards the cloud. Then the cloud fell heavily on the flat stone and dissipated with a flash of light. A body appeared where Larry once lay, but it was not him. He awoke as if from a dream and hailed his companions as if nothing had happened. 

"Only return here with the Horns of Sonn." said the druid. The growling brown bear ushered them away.

With that, the group went back to the ruins of the castle, but not before they buried the five coffers of treasure. After entering the upper ruins they decided to follow a different route down and took a spiraling staircase in one of the towers. In the room where the stairs ended they found some large centipedes that were swiftly dispatched.  

They continued exploring down a corridor that led to a door and the corridor continued into the darkness. Ragnar the Elf heard some gruffy voices and laughs behind it but couldn't understand what they were saying. He kicked the door and found four dwarves that quickly went for their axes and crossbows. Before any blows were thrown they recognized them as part of the Blood Axe clan and apologized. They asked the dwarves about the Dungeons and the dwarves offered to reach that level through their domain on this level (Storage Rooms) for a 25% of the treasure found, or take their chances down the central shaft. The group bought a couple of shields from the dwarves and one guided them to the central stairs.

From there the party descended until they reached the end of the spiraling stairs that led to a pair of double doors. It opened to a dark and silent corridor that ran to left and right. They took it to the right and after about 60 paces there was a side corridor but they kept going. After another 60 paces a room with 3 exits and they kept going hugging the right wall. They found three rooms with giant beetles tending mushrooms that grew on the soil and dung covered floors. On the last room they found a door and when they tried to open it, the floor under their feet gave way throwing them down a sliding chute. They ended up sprawled on the floor of an empty room except for a couple of dwarven skeletons and an exit door. 

After making sure everyone was alright they went through the door. They found an empty room and niches, then a corridor that led to a closed door. Ragnar the Elf heard some skittering noises on the other side. When they opened it a giant scorpion attacked, and there were more behind it!

A battle for survival ensued with the party killing the first scorpion and managing to close the door, but Tak's the Ceric man-at-arms died poisoned by the scorpion's sting. The group improvised a rope after cutting a cloak and braiding it. That way they kept the door from opening too wide and fought only one scorpion at a time. Lucky strikes and sundered shields turned the battle on their favor, and they ended killing the beasts. In the room they found a chest with treasure and an opening that led to the corridor they found beyond the double doors. They had made a full circle.

They decided to go back to the room they ended after the trap and hole up there to rest.

Lands of Cantona - Session 6

After the combat with the bandits the party heard noises and orders from the rooms beyond and got ready to keep fighting. Unknown to them the remaining bandits were springing a trap, taking advantage of the knowledge of the surface ruins layout, with some of them taking cover behind overturned tables while others quickly moved to catch the intruders from the rear.

A furious battle for survival ensued, with the party fighting two fronts at the same time! In the end, the party prevailed and managed to not only defeat the bandits but to also find some treasure. Most ended gravely wounded and Cesar the druid unconscious, but stable (negative HP).

While some were dealing with the newfound treasure and taking care of Cesar, Larry decided to explore further on his own. The dices didn't favored him; a random encounter with a giant spider and a 1 on the surprise die. The surviving party, noticing that time was passing and he was not returning decided to go looking for him. Leaving the druid under the care of the hirelings, Ragnar the elven fighter and Tak the human cleric went searching for their missing companion. They found some of Larry's belongings on the courtyard and a some webs' remains. With that they went back inside and climbed some wooded stairs of dubious stability to the upper story that had its roof crumbled inside. Among the fallen rafters there were webs that they set on fire revealing a giant spider and some cocoons. They managed to kill the monster and rescue Larry's corpse. They decided to entrench in the treasure room to spend the night.

The next day Tak managed to cast Cure Light Wounds on Cesar (0 HP). Then, they made an inventory of the treasure, burnt the corpses of the dead bandits and also managed to built a makeshift cart, to carry the treasure and Larry's corpse back to town. They spent another night in the ruins and the following day, with Cesar now conscious after another Cure Light Wounds from Tak, they hide the armor and weapons among the ruins of the upper floor. Cesar casts Speak With Animals and Animal Friendship on 3 rats before starting their journey back. Outside of the Castle of the Mad Archmage ruins the come across a patrol of elves from the first level who are sad to know of Larry's demise, but speak of a hermit druid in the forests to the West that might be able to help them.

Lands of Cantona - Session 5

Last Sunday we had another session of my Lands of Cantona campaign with my son and nephews as players (wife couldn't play this time), set in Greyhawk and using the Labyrinth Lord rules. 

After the happenings at the "Red Rapier" tavern the day before, the group went back the next day to the place to try find more clues about the Syndicate and a bandit named Rollo, that was involved in the ambush they suffered on their way to Cantona. To their dismay they found the place closed with nobody answering their calls. Ragnar, the elf fighter, asked a couple of beggars if they knew about another Syndicate hideout or someone named Rollo. At first they denied, but after some silver coins they recalled someone with that name saying he was going West. When Larry, the human fighter, showed some gold coins pushing for more information, more beggars appeared surrounding the trio and asking for coins. Seeing this, Tak, the human cleric of Trithereon, tossed away some silver coins and the beggars went after them, leaving them alone. Late that day Ragnar noticed he was missing a dagger.

With not more clues to follow in Cantona they decided to go back West to the village of Baz, where they suspected of Arim, the moneychanger being the one responsible for the attack on them, even though the message they found on the ambush leader was signed by "D". Anyway, after 3 days of travel without incidents they arrived at Baz at late afternoon. Both the trading post and moneychanger were closed so they went directly to the "Dice and Raven Inn" to get a meal and a room. Ragnar bought drinks for all the patrons, about a dozen of them, and asked for someone to tell a story. A man told them about the disappearance of Arn, a local forester, and his family, wife and two kids. 

The next day they decided do go back to the Castle of the Mad Archmage ruins. They explored the NW part of the courtyard where several former stables were near one of the towers. Larry explored the tower navigating the unstable wooden stairs up. His luck ran out when he reached the second level and the floorboards gave in. He plummeted down but miraculously managed to grab a beam at the last moment and only end with a twisted ankle when he lowered himself to the ground. There was also a spiral staircase going down but they didn't explore it. In one of the stables they found the standing skeleton of a horse, that fell when touched. In another strange noises sounded when they entered but there was no one there. They searched the area inside out, with Cesar casting Detect Magic but nothing showed. At last Tak suggested it could be something of spiritual nature, so they built an ouija board with wood, horse bones and an oil Larry had, distilled from some silvery fungus he found in an abandoned tower (check the first session here). The message they received was that there has been a murder there. 

After that they investigated a patch of very tall grass, not like the rest of the courtyard that was sparse soil. Ragnar ran into it and was tripped by the grass, hit his head hard into the ground and fell unconcious. Larry treaded carefully cutting the grass and freeing Ragnar. Then they turned their atention to the NE part of the upper ruins where two doors could be seen from the courtyard, a great ironwood door and a lesser oaken one. They chose the latter that, to their surprise, was opened by the spirit of a doorman that bowed to their entrance. The group tried to talk to him but it was unresponsive, so they tried the ouija board which was a total success. they explored the place finding an old armory with a few rusty weapons, a room with a flight of stairs down (which they didn't explore), a hall with long tables and benches (Ragnar was attacked by a giant tick here, but he killed with one blow), a narrow hall with arrowslits and a hall (where the great ironwood door led into) decoreated with old tattered banners. 

They continued exploring to the South through a thick oaken door that could be barred from their side. It led to a short corridor that ended in a similar door that was shut. They proceeded to hack it with an axe making a lot of noise. When they finally opened it a group of bandits was waiting for them! They tried to parley but they reconized the elf and the druid and attacked them. The fght ended with the bandits dead and the group somewhat wounded.

The session ended with the sounds of more bandits approaching...

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"

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.

Brom

Brom the Ranger started as a 3rd level NPC in my LL/AEC sandbox campaign in Blackmoor (Greyhawk) now on hold. He was a guide for the party during the firsts sessions and then, when they grew more powerful, he returned to his homeland.

He must be in his late 20's or early 30's, but you can't exactly tell because of his weathered skin. He keeps his beard short and carries his long oily black hair in a plait. He wars a leather armor with studded shoulders and carries a longsword, a longbow and a hunting spear.

That was it until +Gabriel Harley set up a FLAILSNAILS LL/AEC game for 3rd level characters, set in his world called Evenoria. It was his first game via Google+ Hangouts and everything went really well. I enjoyed it a lot and am looking forward to the next session.

The rest of the adventuring party were:

• +Charles W played Orias the Toad, a Curmudgeon. 
• +Chris Hales played Nack the Monk 
• +Nathan Black played Henry the Fighter.

You can read the session recap here.

STR 16 DEX 18 CON 12 INT 12 WIS 12 CHA 11

My second "convention"

Well, we don't really have conventions down here, but as I once said here, I like how it sounds. :)

I had prepared a Labyrinth Lord adventure and was really excited about DMing again for people that are not my regular players. But things not always go as you plan.

I should have been there earlier, because upon arriving there were already five tables, four of them (D&D 3.5e, Transformers, Marvel Heroes and Dresden Files) were full with 5 or 6 players each, and one with only two players. Since it looked there weren't any more people coming, I decided to join this last table.

The setting was Tron: Uprising using tweaked Mutants & Masterminds rules. Being familiar with the setting only through the movies Tron and Tron Legacy (TIL there were also comics and series), I must say I enjoyed it very much. It was an infiltration mission: hack someones's identity disc, get into a spaceship, retrieve some information from it and sabotage some tanks it was carrying as a cover-up. We finished early because we chickened out and skipped the fight with the boss. Why fight if we already have the information we came for?

I proposed then a short LL game, but two guys wanted to try The Day After Ragnarok so, never having played it, I tagged along. A group of 4 mercenaries, working for MI6, sail to an island, in Japanese occupied SE Asia, to retrieve the blueprints of some WMD from an abandoned base. The side of the island we arrived was littered with shipwrecks so I suggested to circle it. "Since I've been running this adventure no one ever suggested that!", laughed the DM. Upon turning the eastern cape we saw a Japanese destroyer anchored and quickly turned back, anchored between the shipwrecks and went ashore. We found a crazy old Nazi scientist which we interrogated and learned where the base was. He tried to drug us with some food, then escaped, he was then shot, captured and killed. We found the abandoned base deep in the jungle: barracks, labs and office buildings, an airfield and a huge hangar laid there deserted. We approached the hangar and were met with gunfire from the inside. Retreated to the tree line chased by Japanese troops and a German mechwarrior. We managed to escape back to the boat and away from the island.

The bad: I couldn't DM and get my LL Society points.

The good: I had the chance to play two games I haven't played before.

Nikola-T

Nikola-T is my character in the Anomalous Subsurface Environment (ASE-1) campaign run by David Williams via G+ hangout. 

Nikola is a scientist, a new class from the Henchmen Abuse blog that you can see here, that has chosen Wired Reflexes (+1 Dex) as his first Scientist Power and Enhancement. He lives in the city-state of Denethix, that is ruled by  Feretha (a somewhat indifferent, and quite reclusive, insane wizard tyrant). It's a relatively good place to live anyway.

He forms part of the occasional salvage parties that scour the land, trying to reclaim ancient artifacts and books. Also, of caravans that sometimes travel to the coast to gather salt, which is a scarce and expensive commodity.

He belongs to the Cult of Science, that believes Science as a literal god, one who performs miracles through formal physical processes. That is why he has his clothes dyed white, the color of the cult. As protection he wears a flak jacket also dyed white and carries a knife.

STR 12, DEX 13, CON 12, INT 12, WIS 12, CHA 9

I need more megadungeons!

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

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

Answering Brendan's 20 questions

You can look at Brendan's original post here.

1. Ability scores generation method? 
• 4d6 drop lower.
2. How are death and dying handled? 
• You're disabled at 0 hp, unconscious at 1- and dead at -10 hp.
3. What about raising the dead?
• If you can find a cleric powerful enough and can pay him, you're back!
4. How are replacement PCs handled? 
• Just roll another and you're back in.
5. Initiative: individual, group, or something else? 
• Individual.
6. Are there critical hits and fumbles? How do they work? 
• 1 always misses. 20 always hits and you can choose double damage or roll damage dice twice.
7. Do I get any benefits for wearing a helmet?
• Yes.
8. Can I hurt my friends if I fire into melee or do something similarly silly?
• Yes you certainly can.
9. Will we need to run from some encounters, or will we be able to kill everything?
• It's your choice, you can run or you can try kill everything.
10. Level-draining monsters: yes or no?
• Yes.
11. Are there going to be cases where a failed save results in PC death?
• Yes.
12. How strictly are encumbrance & resources tracked?
• Resources closely tracked. Encumbrance more lightly.
13. What's required when my PC gains a level? Training? Do I get new spells automatically? Can it happen in the middle of an adventure, or do I have to wait for down time?
• You don't need to train to gain new level but you have to wait for down time.
14. What do I get experience for?
• Treasure, defeating monsters (killing, bypassing, negotiating), cool ideas.
15. How are traps located? Description, dice rolling, or some combination?
• Give me a description of what you're looking for and what you're doing, and I'll let you roll.
16. Are retainers encouraged and how does morale work?
• They are and the retainer's morale is the character's charisma score.
17. How do I identify magic items?
• Using them or by magic.
18. Can I buy magic items? Oh, come on: how about just potions?
• In 3.5 yes. In LL no, just potions.
19. Can I create magic items? When and how?
• Yes you can. At the appropriate level, in a proper lab.
20. What about splitting the party?
• Sure, be my guest. Mmmwhawhahaha!!

House Rules

These are my house rules for my LL/AEC game. You can download them here.

Today I ran my first "convention" game.

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.

She's the Labyrinth Lady...

Sandbox game session 10

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

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.

Sandbox game session 9

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]

[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]

[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!

Sandbox game session 8

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

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

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!

Sandbox game session 6

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!