BRW Games Big Announcement

On Gary Gygax day, BRW Games, led by Joseph Bloch (aka Greyhawk Grognard), has teased a major upcoming project in a recent YouTube video, hinting at what could be their most ambitious release yet. While specific details remain unrevealed, the announcement suggests an open license universal game system named ADDventure Engine with the core of AD&D 1e. The system could be applied to any genre (fantasy, post-apocalyptic, weird west, superheroes, science fiction, horror, WWII, space opera, etc.) and will be a toolkit to create games. 

Known for titles like Adventures Dark and Deep and Castle of the Mad Archmage, BRW’s fans are already speculating and expressing excitement. With Bloch’s track record for old-school RPG depth and quality, this announcement has stirred significant anticipation in the tabletop community.

Back to F2F games

Yesterday I ran my first face-to-face game since the Covid-19 pandemic. One of my players, who lives in Mexico, is here in Uruguay for a month, so we're looking forward for more face-to-face games. The common feeling around the table, besides the joy of being gathered together, was "How much I missed rolling real dice!". We had one player remote on Meet on a laptop facing the map and miniatures.

The party (an 8th level Cavalier, a 9th level Magic-User, an 8th level Cleric of St. Cuthbert, a 9th level Thief-Acrobat and a 4th level Bard) is going through "G3 - Halls of the Fire Giant King". So far, they've managed to kill King Snurre, about 20 of his fire giants, as well as many of his hell hound pets. Out of spells and exhausted but alive, accompanied by a charmed gnoll, they've retired to a cave nearby to rest and recover. 

A certain dwarf that witnessed the carnage that party made, decided to grab his gear and treasure, and leave the Halls along with the gnolls. An angry and mourning Queen Frupy will certainly muster the remaining forces and lay some nasty surprises for the intruders...

AD&D with the kids

I've had this post in backburner as a draft for a while and I think it's time to wrap it up. 

On the weekend of May 21st three of my nephews stayed for a sleepover. One is 10, one is 11, just like my son, and the oldest is 14. He was the one that asked me if I could run some D&D for them. I said yes right away and went to gather all my AD&D 1e stuff: PHB, DMG, MM, battle mat, miniatures and dice tower. I also took from my bookshelf the module B1-9 "In Search of Adventure" which I've never used before. 

This was not the first time they've played D&D. I've already ran a couple of one-shot games for them, but that was long ago. They loved it, but I guess they were too young to really appreciate the game. 

I started like it was the first time they were playing, explaining the attributes and rolling some dices to created their characters. I used the 4d6 drop lower method and maximum hit points at 1st level. Then it was the time for the races and classes. After a while they had Jibbeth the elf fighter, Rip the gnome fighter, Gurk the half-orc cleric and Eduardo the elf thief. 

I distributed some armor and weapons suitable for their race/class choices, and the asked them what would they put in a backpack before going adventuring. Food, water, beer and rope were their choices. I had them note that, even if all could see in the dark, they would need some light source for certain tasks. Torches, flint & steel and oil were then added to the equipment list. They were ready!

I put some choices on the table about what to do next: 1) A wealthy noble had acquired a ruined castle near the town and wanted it cleared of critters. 2) An elven merchant needed to send a message to his town deep in the woods. 3) Rumors of a renegade cleric and a band of orcs were harassing the border farms. Which way would they go?

After a brief discussion, and pondering of pros and cons, they decided to explore the abandoned castle. So off they went into CASTLE CALDWELL. They explored the upper works and found some goblins that they tried to talk to, with little luck. A fight followed and ended with a couple of dead goblins, one escaped with the last one surrendered and promised to serve the half-orc cleric. Then they found some giant mosquitoes (stirges) from which they fled after the goblin was attacked and killed. I threw in a large furry humanoid (bugbear), leader of the goblins that went to see what was all the ruckus, to see how they did, and after some lucky rolls they managed to defeat it. They left the castle back to town with some treasure to spend and some wounds to heal.

On their second foray into the castle they found a female cleric, that posed as a prisoner of some bandits (I didn't use the traders), but was actually their leader. She was thankful and sought revenge, so they agreed to help her. They found the thieves and when combat broke she turned on them! The thieves were slain but the cleric escaped. They took the bandit's treasure and continued exploring. The group came across some small dog-men (kobolds) that the half-orc quickly subdued into his service. The creatures told them about the fire-spitting beetles (I didn't use the wolves) and they decided to investigate. The hungry beetles attacked them on sight, but they managed to defeat the monsters. They cleverly took their fiery glands to sell in town. The party left the castle with more treasure and a retinue of kobolds.

After recovering from their wounds, selling some treasure and getting better equipment, they went back to the castle to finish exploring, only to find there were some dungeons below. They went down and were puzzled by the clean rooms and corridors. A cubic mass of semi-transparent jelly (gelatinous cube) surprised them but they managed to escape.

We ended the session here.

Greyhawk campaign update

After running Robert J. Kuntz's "Dark Druids", module "I1 - Dwellers of the Forbidden City" and Carlos A. Lising's "A5 - Kill Marquessa!", the first two set in the Suss forest and the last one on the northern coast of the Pomarj, in which the party discovered clues, but not explored, of a lost Temple of the Eye, recovered the Urn, killed one of Markesa's clones and raided one of her strongholds (where they killed Sturm Bucholtz but Markesa managed to escape), they returned through Celene to their lands in Verbobonc. Oh, by the way, I made Markesa a drow, as if all her wickedness and evil were not enough. 

During their stay in Celene they became acquainted, through Countess Tillahi, whom they've rescued from the Temple of Elemental Evil in the past, with Melf Brightflame. They left with them the Urn and a map they've captured from Markesa's stronghold for further study. Not long before they received a letter to travel back to Celene. Melf had devised the possible location of two other Temples of the Eye, one in the Jotens Mts. near SW Sterich and the other in the Hellfurnaces Mts. to the SW of the Yeomanry. The party agreed to investigate them and they traveled to the neighborhood of the first site through a magical mirror at Countess Tillahi's estate.

The idea behind the different Temples of the Eye (under the Temple of Elemental Evil, in the caverns of the Dark Druids, in the dungeons of the Steading of the Hill Giant Chief and bellow the Halls of the Fire Giant King) come, except the one in Dark Druids, from Greyhawk Grognard's series of posts about the Elder Elemental God.

Now I'm running a kind of "Return to..." of module "G1 - Steading of the Hill Giant Chief", in which the place above has been raided by a previous party and killed most of the giants (some escaped), and below the ogres and orcs revolted against the remaining giants and bugbears. The orcs chopped the heads of the hill giants and put them on pikes around the steading. This has been loosely inspired by a short fiction story called "Return to the Steading" by Bart Carroll that appeared on Dragon+ issue 11. 

So far the party has killed the ogres, charmed one of the three orc leaders and bribed the other two with part of the ogre's treasure (mostly copper coins, copper ingots, cheap jewelry and false gems). That way the orcs, that are able miners, agreed to clear the path to the sealed temple. Meanwhile a frost giant envoy mounted on a mammoth and escorted with two winter wolves showed up with a message to Chief Nosra. 

An epic battle ensued with the party victorious, although some gravely wounded, with one of the cavalier' retainer unconscious and his warhorse dead. The thief managed to decipher the message: a conclave of giant chieftains will take place next full moon in the Halls of King Snurre, and Chief Nosra should attend "using the gift and following the instructions". The party will now have to find out what that gift is and how to use it.

Roll For Initiative / The Evil GM contest

Yes, it's another contest and the prize is none other than a copy of the AD&D 1e reprints done by WOTC!

Rules:
- First Edition Core Rules style only.
- A Halloween theme'd adventure.
- Minimum of 25 rooms with boxed text.
- Pictures optional.
- Full text of monsters.
- At least a hand drawn map, keyed with numbers.
- In word or PDF format

Due date:
Nov 1st, 2012 -- 11:59PM EST*

*Note: Contest subject to cancellation due to lack of entries. All entries become properity of RFI and WGP, LLC.

More details here.

EDIT: I think that for this contest, I will expand my Shrine of the Rodent God with a second level...

It's Contest Time!

Participate And Win The Super Secret Happy Birthday Gary Gygax Giveaway Bundle Extravapalooza!

Must have these books...

...and contribute to the:

My first RPG

Gaming as Women is running an experiment on G+ about how we got into role playing games.

1) What's the first RPG you ever played?

It was AD&D 1e in 1987.

2) How did you get involved in that game?

At that time I was in highschool and some classmates were already going through the Temple of Elemental Evil. Some of the guys weren't able to play at that time and they asked another friend and I if we wanted to join the game. Since then I never stopped playing.

3) What about your first game made you want to play again?

By then I was already into fantasy, reading Lord of the Rings books, and the game allowed me to actually play in a similar setting, taking imagination to another level. But above all, it was another chance to hang out and have fun with friends, and also meet new people.

#myfirstrpg 

EDIT: I forgot to mention I met my wife at the gaming table! ;)

The Legend Lives On!

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

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

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

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

Product Catalog

Seeking advice

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

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

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

D&D in Google Wave 2

The AD&D 1e/OSRIC campaign on Google Wave I'm in is going really well and I'm having a lot of fun playing it. Everyone posts everyday and some several times a day. This is a key aspect of the game. This enthusiasm made give it a try as a DM so, as we're in a summer break in my 3.5e campaign, I set up a wave for a one-on-one side adventure with one of my players. We did PBP style and online gaming, using a wave for the action and another one for maps, references and character sheets. It's been a great experience so far, with both the player and DM enjoying the game.

Orbilar

Thanks to Chgowiz for setting up this wave with an AD&D 1e/OSRIC game. I lurked it with interest for some days and was lucky that a spot opened. Now I'm part of this experience of playing an RPG on Google Wave. The campaign is called "The Dark Ages" and you can find more information about it here. Here's the character I've created for this campaign:

Orbilar (his name is a homage to RJK's Lord Robilar) is a young human fighter from the highlands north of the port city of Skalfier. At the age of 15 he joined the retinue of a minor lord and learned the use of weapon and shield, mounted combat and close-combat formations. Now, 4 years later, with the Darkness advancing on the world of men, and the forces of his lord disbanded, he seeks in Skalfier an escape from an ominous future.

Str 14, Dex 9, Con 15, Int 8, Wis 12, Cha 12

Argyle Avalon

This character was created for a high-level (17th) homebrew campaign (DMs: Ejbs & JRR).

He was a wealthy noble Fighter/Cleric of Alastor (we even created a god for him!) who owned land and a castle. Long time ago, he blamed himself for the death of his wife, so he hung the sword and turned to religion. Many years later he his forced to wield it again to fight evil.

I guess I chose that name after the movie "Braveheart". Even the adventure was influenced by that movie since Argyle had the title of Lord of Falkirk. ;-)

Str 18/60, Int 12, Wis 17, Dex 10, Con 15, Chr 10, Cms 11

Elendil Hojanegra

This was a originally a D&D 1e character converted later to AD&D 2e (DM: Marcelo B.).

The Temple was over and we headed for our next adventure: A1-4 Scourge of the Slavelords. Some of the players had left so I took over Elendil. I've already played a fighter and a cleric, so now I had the chance to play a multiclass for the first time.

By that time the adventuring party was composed by:

• Rolf von Geoff, a human paladin of St. Cuthbert (Rodolfo P.)
• Elendil Hojanegra, a drow magic-user/thief (Gabriel P.)
• Sir Toxford, a half-elven cavalier of Hanali Celanil (Rodrigo P.)
• Elwitt, a dwarven fighter (Pablo B.)
• Kwong, a human monk (Daniel R.)
• Alof Star, a human cleric of St. Cuthbert (NPC)

After some time the cavalier left for the Happy Hunting Grounds (bah died) and the party was joined by Dexter, a half-orc fighter. In that campaign Elwitt and Kwong also died. After completing the adventure, the survivors returned to Hommlet and waited for the next.

Elendil Hojanegra was an ugly renegade drow from somewhere below the Hellfurnaces (although the original sheet said Tenh). He was independent, unpredictable and a natural prankster, cunning and agile but not very wise. Being of CN alignement he worshipped Erevan Ilesere.

Str 10, Int 18, Wis 8, Dex 19, Con 10, Cha 9, Cms 8

Alof

This was a originally a D&D 1e character converted later to AD&D 2e (DM: Marcelo B.).

When Gimili was killed by a banshee somewhere in the Temple of Elemental Evil, I started playing Alof. By that time I was already longing to play a caster.

The group of adventurers was composed by:

• Rolf von Geoff, a human paladin of St. Cuthbert (Rodolfo P.)
• Elendil Hojanegra, a drow magic-user/thief (Sergio B.)
• Sir Toxford, a half-elven cavalier of Hanali Celanil (Rodrigo P.)
• Alof, a human cleric of St. Cuthbert (Gabriel P.)
• Elwitt, a dwarven fighter (Gimli's brother) (Pablo B.)

Alof was a Star, one of the three types of clerics of St. Cuthbert, with the ability to cast ESP once per day. Alof was single-handed since he had lost his left hand in a trap at the Temple. Since then he had a special shield made for him. He was from the city of Verbobonc in Veluna.

Str 8, Int 9, Wis 18, Dex 11, Con 16, Cha 15, Cms 13

Gimli of Geoff

Gimli was the first character I ever played. At that time we used 1e rules and the group was through the T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil module (DM: Marcelo B.).

That party of adventurers was composed by:

• Rolf von Geoff, a human paladin of St. Cuthbert (Rodolfo P.)
• Elendil Hojanegra, a drow magic-user/thief (Sergio B.)
• Sir Toxford, a half-elven cavalier of Hanali Celanil (Rodrigo P.)
• Alof, a human cleric of St. Cuthbert (Pablo B.?)
• Gimli, a dwarven fighter (Gabriel P.)

Gimli was a stout and grumpy mountain dwarf from Crystalmist mountains in the Grand Duchy of Geoff. He was of LG alignement and worshipped the goddess Berronar.

He died in the dungeons of the Temple of Elemental Evil after failing his saving throw against the scream of a banshee.

Str 17, Int 12, Wis 9, Dex 12, Con 18, Cha 16, Cms 13