Blackmoor baronies

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

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

Here it goes:

1. Dantredun

2. Glendour

3. Dearthkettle

4. Ramshorn (ruins; later rebuilt)

5. Blackmoor (ruins)

6. Kolbenborg (ruins)

7. Stornawane

8. Trollbar

9. Broomsage (ruins; only the abbey remain)

10. Mosshold

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

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

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

Strange session

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

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

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

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

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

New Campaign

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

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

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

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

What to put in a portable hole?

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

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

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

Player: (reads the list aloud)

(everyone laughs)

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

And so here it is:

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

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

D&D 2010 Season

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

Greyhawk Construction Company

In past campaigns we used to carry a log of each session, usually designating one of the players to take notes during the game and then write a summary. The task fell on a different player each session. In that way, if any of the players missed a session, everyone had the chance to read what had happened before the next one. At first everything was all right, with the players handing their summary on time so I can upload it to the website. But then, when people begun to fell behind schedule and to pile up unfinished summaries, I took the task. With time I also stopped writing them. Yes, I guess we are all lazy. That's why there are no session logs of our current campaign (3.5e) in this blog.

But what's the title of this entry has to do with this? Well, I want to post something from yesterday session. The party, composed by a two fighters, a cleric, a fighter/sorcerer, a beguiler and a rogue, is lost in the dungeons under the Tower of Magic, found a natural tunnel that led to the Tower of War. Following that tunnel, and after a series of rooms, stairs, secret doors, long winding corridors and even a drawbridge, they came to a room with an inscription hewn in dwarven runes on the wall opposite to the entrance:

ATENTION!
YOU ARE ABOUT TO ENTER
THE DERRO MINES.
PLEASE FOLLOW THE
SAFETY REGULATIONS.
G.C.C.

On either side of the inscription two arcades provide exit from the room. Behind the wall a series of pegs hold several orange metal helmets. Each helmet has attached a small lantern with a flickering flame that radiates magic. Above the pegs another inscription also hewn in dwarven runes reads:

ATENTION!
YOU ARE ABOUT TO ENTER
THE FOUNDRY.
PLEASE LEAVE YOUR
HELMET HERE.
G.C.C.

I've been wanting to introduce the Greyhawk Construction Co. in the game for a while now and yesterday, without previous preparation, I did it just inspired by the maps I was using. This was just a little preview for the characters and keep them wondering what G.C.C. stands for since none of them are from the Free City. There'll certainly be more of it in the future.