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!

Sandbox game session 5

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sandbox game session 4

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sandbox game session 3

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

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

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

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

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

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

Until next session!

Sandbox game sessions 1 and 2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Until next session!

Past, Actual and Future Campaigns

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

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

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

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

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