The long postponed GenCon post

More than two weeks have passed from GenCon now, and I'm just finding the time to write about this awesome experience. Catching up with family and work prevented me from doing it, but I also feared that the moment I started writing about it, would be the moment the spell would end. But, guess what? It didn´t. The magic's still there and always will be. Forever.

The people

I believe that going to GenCon it's something a role player should do at least once in a lifetime. It's like a pilgrimage to the source. Never thought I would do such a thing, until I met the +Metal Gods of Ur-Hadad guys and became part of the group. After some of them came back from GenCon 2013, they encouraged me to be there next year. And so I did and met my friends +Adam Muszkiewicz and his wonderful wife +Kathryn Muszkiewicz, +Edgar Johnson, +Wayne Snyder, +James MacGeorge and +Doug Kovacs.

Yes, they're more than gaming buddies, they're my friends. Because for almost 3 years, every week, they were on the big screen in the living room. We played weekly every Thursday, we talked about gaming, about life, they met my wife and saw my son grow up (he's 3 and a half years old by now). The little man wouldn't go to bed without saying hi to the guys on the Google+ Hangout. :)

I had the chance to meet some wonderful people too (forgive me if I miss someone): +Diogo Nogueira (fellow Brazilian gamer and blogger with whom we shared many games), +Tim Callahan (fellow laser wizard fish co-conspirator in the Escape from Catastrophe Island game, who kindly gave me a copy of Demon Drums and ran an awesome Crawljammer game), +James DeYonke (thanks a lot for those tickets for Q1 - Queen of the Demonweb Pits!), +Nathan Panke (you know you punched that dude, haha!), +Steven Bean (nice talking to you man), +Bob Brinkman, +Jen Brinkman, +Rick Hull (can't believe you asked me to sign your DCC chair), +Donn Stroud, +James Smith, +Marc Bruner, +Robert Leopold, +Jim Wampler, +Alex Mayo, +Jürgen Mayer, +David Baity, +Michael Bolam, +Aaron Koelman, +Roy Snyder, +Mark Donkers, +Nathan Bethell and, last but not least, the guys from the DCC crew who kindly autographed my DCC rules and Dungeon Alphabet: +Joseph Goodman, +Michael Curtis, +Harley Stroh (awesome deaths at the Seven Pits of Sezrekan tournament!) and +Dieter Zimmerman. 

I rolled for corruption and got the horns!

Still can't believe I met my all time favourite D&D artist +Larry Elmore. I grew up with his black & white art from the Basic Set and then the Dragonlance artwork. So there I was, getting The Complete Elmore art book dedicated and autographed. When I told him where I came from and asked for a photograph with him, he invited me into the booth. "You came a long way, so let's do it properly. Come around!", he said.

Another of my favourite artists, Jeff Easley from whom I got an autographed print of the 1983 Dungeon Master's Guide cover.

Legends like +Tim Kask, who we found with Diogo at the Exhibitors Hall,...

...and +Frank Mentzer, who sat next to our table at the Circle City Bar & Grill. He was kind enough to interrupt his breakfast with Tim Kask, to talk and take some photographs. "Drop by my Facebook page and say hi!", he said.

Meeting +Erik Mona was fun. On the first day when the gates of the Exhibition Hall opened, the Pathfinder booth was the first one I saw. Several people in blue shirts were giving away pins and goblin masks which I took. "That guy who gave me the goblin mask looks like Erik Mona.", I told Diogo. "Who?", he said. I went back and told the guy, "Hey, you look just like Erik Mona." and he replied with a smile "I am Erik Mona!". He autographed my goblin mask, and we talked a bit about Greyhawk, and the old Dungeon and Dragon magazines.

The last day at the DCC booth, I met Bob Bledsaw, Jr. from Judges Guild, who kindly gave me an issue of a DragonQuest adventure. It's s good to see old JG material reprinted by Goodman Games.

Thank you all for a wonderful time!

The games

I think I've got a gaming OD. But that's the idea rigth? :)

Since the games I have signed up for got cancelled before GenCon, I only got generic tickets. I spent almost all of them in Harley Stroh's Seven Pits of Sezrekan tournament. The most number of encounters I managed to survive was three, always dying horribly every time.

Once we were in complete darkness walking single file on a 3 ft. wide ledge and chased by some beast-men. Leading the way I managed to secure a rope and everyone climbed down safely, but one of the last guys slipped and fell... on top of me. In the other two, the life of my characters was sucked by the use of a magic item: once a magic spear wiped the whole table and the other a magic crown killed some of us.

Harley's the man.

Every day after GenCon at 8pm in the Embassy Suites, there was DougCon in which we played Escape from Catastrophe Island, a DCC game simultaneously ran by Doug Kovacs, Adam Muszkiewicz, and Wayne Snyder. I think also James McGeorge and Marc Bruner ran the game a couple of times too. You started with a 0-level and if it survived at the end of the night, it leveled up for the next day.

Getting ready to rock & role!

The best part was to die and roll in the Wheel of Doom. You also became a ghost and could possess other creatures or help/harass the other characters.

Doug Kovac's Wheel of Doom

On Saturday morning I got the chance to play old 1st. edition classic module Q1 - Queen of the Demonweb Pits along with other nine players. We went through the portal into a maze of interweaving passages in which we fought giant spiders, until we found a door that led to a series of trapped rooms, that led to a huge room full of zombies with three priestesses of Llolth atop three pyramids and two male magic users. The DM, Richard Meeks, said that in all the years he's been running this module at conventions, he never got the chance to run this battle. We wiped the zombies, but the priestesses and magic users gave us a hell of a hard time and finally, after 4 hours of battling the drow, we realized there was no chance we could win. A lot of fun though!

The final battle.

Later that afternoon before DougCon, Tim Callahan set up Crawljammer game: Lizards crashed on a planet. Fought their way through robots and monster bugs. Found an artifact and released its power. It was a blast!

Crawljamming

All in all it was a great experience being for the first time in the USA and in my first GenCon. I hope I can be back some day, this time with the whole family, maybe to another GenCon or maybe GaryCon or even North Texas RPG Con.

I've got a nice haul from GenCon (books, modules, dices, pins, t-shirts, etc) but that's material for another post.

New DCC monster: The Suarez

The Suarez (Type I Demon)

Init +2

Atk bite +5 melee (1d4+3) or kick stone +3 missile fire (1d4) 

AC 13

HD 2d8

MV 30’ or run 50’

Act 1d20

SP Drain blood, fast healing, half-damage from slam attacks, demon traits

SV Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +0

AL C

The Suarez is humanoid vampiric demon that roams its native southern grasslands, but can be found elsewhere in the world. Often sought by wealthy tycoons to form their elite guard provided they can paid enough gold. They can change colours between sky blue and white using their chameleon-like ability. 

Though not very bright, they are witty, resourceful and tricky in combat, which they fight to death. While extremely dexterous, resilient to slam damage and quickly recover from wounds, their prime time last a few years. 

Roll 1d7 to know the type encountered (1-2 juvenile, 3-6 adult, 7 senior) and modify their traits accordingly.

EDIT: Every time the bite attack is used the demon makes a Luck check (DC 10). If missed roll for corruption, but if a natural 1 is rolled in the Luck check, the demon is banished to its native Plane of existence.

Shadowblade: A new class for the Adventurer, Conqueror, King System

Shadowblade 

Prime Requisite: DEX and INT 

Requirements: None 

Hit Dice: 1d6 

Maximum Level: 14 

The Shadowblade can be seen as a Thief that wants more than to dabble into the arcane arts, or as a Mage that wants to improve its limited combat training. 

At first level, Shadowblades hit an unarmored foe (AC 0) with an attack throw of 10+. Shadowblades advance in attack throws and saving throws as thieves, by two points every four levels of experience. They may fight with any missile weapons and any one-handed melee weapons, and may wield a weapon in each hand if desired. They cannot wear armor heavier than leather, and cannot use shields.

Shadowblades have the same thieving skills as a Thief of the same level. 

In addition, they may perform feats of acrobatics. In lieu of moving during a round, the Shadowblade may attempt a proficiency throw of 20+ to tumble behind an opponent in melee. The proficiency throw required for the tumble is reduced by 1 per level of experience the character possesses. If successful, the Shadowblade is now behind his opponent. The opponent loses the benefit of his shield, if any, and the Shadowblade can backstab his opponent (gaining +4 to his attack throw and bonus damage based on his level). Shadowblades also gain a +2 bonus to saving throws where agility would help avoid the situation, such as tilting floors and pit traps. 

Shadowblades cast spells as Mages of one-half their level, using the same spell list and the same rules for learning and casting spells. Unlike Mages, Shadowblades can also cast spells while wearing armor. They can use any magical items available to Mages or Thieves. 

When a Shadowblade reaches 5th level (Thaumaturge-Rogue), he may begin to research spells, scribe magical scrolls, and brew potions. 

When they reach 9th level (Shadowblade), Shadowblades may construct a hideout. When a Shadowblade builds a hideout, he will gain 2d6 1st level Shadowblades as apprentices, come to learn under a master. If hired, they must be paid standard rates for ruffians. These Shadowblades will serve the character with some loyalty, though at least one will be an infiltrator working for the Shadowblade’s local rivals, sent to keep an eye on the character. Additional rules for hideouts are detailed in the Campaign chapter. 

A Shadowblade also has the ability to backstab. He must catch an opponent unaware of his presence, either by surprise or by moving silently and/or hiding in shadows to sneak up on his opponent. When backstabbing, the Shadowblade will receive an attack bonus of +4 and, if successful, deal additional damage for every four levels he has attained. A Shadowblade at 1st through 4th levels does double the normal damage, at 5th-8th levels does triple the normal damage, at 9th-12th levels does quadruple the normal damage, and at 13th level or higher does quintuple the normal damage. 

Shadowblades have the following range of skills, which improve as the Shadowblade gains levels according to the progression on the Thief Skills table. 

When a Shadowblade attempts to make use of one of his skills, the character or Judge will make a proficiency throw of 1d20. (Usually the Judge will make rolls for these abilities, because a Shadowblade is not always aware when he has failed.) After applying any relevant modifiers (e.g. due to the complexity of a lock), the result is compared to the target value listed on the Thief Skills table below for the appropriate skill. A result that is greater than or equal to the value listed for the proficiency throw that corresponds to the Shadowblade’s level is a success. A roll of 20 is always a success, and a roll of 1 is always a failure. 

Opening Locks: With the aid of thieves’ tools, a Shadowblade may pick mechanical locks. He may only try to pick a particular lock once, and if he fails, he may not try the same lock again until he reaches a higher experience level. The Judge may apply bonuses or penalties to the roll, depending on the complexity of the lock. 

Finding and Removing Traps: Through careful inspection and probing, a Shadowblade may find hidden traps and then attempt to disable or discharge the trap harmlessly. A Shadowblade may only try to find or remove a trap once in any given area. The Judge may apply bonuses or penalties to the roll, depending on the complexity of the trap. If the Shadowblade fails, he may not try again until he reaches a higher experience level. Note that these are separate skills, for a Shadowblade must find a trap before he can remove it. 

Picking Pockets: This skill is the bread and butter of non-adventuring thieves for it is a quick source of income – though not without peril. A throw that is less than half the target value means that the intended target notices the thieving attempt. The Judge will then make a reaction roll with a -3 penalty to determine the intended victim’s reaction. 

Moving Silently: Shadowblades may move with total silence. When successful, even keen eared guards will not hear the movements of a Shadowblade. However, the Shadowblade always thinks he is successful in this skill, and will not know otherwise unless and until others react to his presence. Shadowblades may move silently at ½ their standard combat movement rate without penalty. If they move greater than ½ speed, they take a -5 penalty to the proficiency throw. If they run, they take a -10 penalty. 

Climbing Walls: Shadowblades are adept at scaling sheer surfaces, including walls or steep cliffs. They require a proficiency throw for each 100' they intend to climb. If the roll fails, they fall a distance equal to half the attempted distance, plus the distance covered by any previous throws, taking 1d6 points of damage per 10 feet. Shadowblades climb at ¼ their standard combat movement rate. 

Hiding in Shadows: A Shadowblade may attempt to skulk unseen in the cover of darkness. A Shadowblade will always think he is successful in this skill, and will not know otherwise until others react to his presence. A Shadowblade will remain hidden so long as he stays motionless. If he moves, he must make a new proficiency throw to hide. 

Hearing Noises: Shadowblades can attempt to listen for noises in a cave or hallway and at a door or other locations. The Shadowblade must be quiet and in a quiet environment. 

Level	Petrif. & Paralysis	Poison & Death	Blast & Breath	Staffs & Wands	Spells	Atk. Thr.
1-2	12+	13+	16+	14+	14+	10+
3-4	11+	12+	15+	13+	13+	9+
5-6	10+	11+	14+	12+	12+	8+
7-8	9+	10+	13+	11+	11+	7+
9-10	8+	9+	12+	10+	10+	6+
11-12	7+	8+	11+	9+	9+	5+
13-14	6+	7+	10+	8+	8+	4+

Shadowblade Level & Spell Progression 

Experience	Title	Level	HD	Acrobatics	1	2	3	4
0	Arcanist-Footpad	1	1d6	20+	-	-	-	-
2775	Seer-Hood	2	2d6	19+	1	-	-	-
5550	Theurgist-Robber	3	3d6	18+	2	-	-	-
11100	Magician-Burglar	4	4d6	17+	2	-	-	-
22200	Thaumaturge-Rogue	5	5d6	16+	2	1	-	-
45000	Enchanter-Scoundrel	6	6d6	15+	2	1	-	-
90000	Sorcerer-Pilferer	7	7d6	14+	2	2	-	-
180000	Mage-Thief	8	8d6	13+	2	2	-	-
330000	Shadowblade	9	9d6	12+	2	2	1	-
480000	Shadowblade 10th level	10	9d6+2*	11+	2	2	1	-
630000	Shadowblade 11th level	11	9d6+4*	10+	2	2	2	-
1110000	Shadowblade 12th level	12	9d6+6*	9+	2	2	2	1
1260000	Shadowblade 13th level	13	9d6+8*	8+	2	2	2	1
1410000	Shadowblade 14th level	14	9d6+10*	7+	2	2	2	2

*Hit point modifiers from constitution are ignored 

Proficiencies 

General Proficiency List: Adventuring, Alchemy, Animal Husbandry, Animal Training, Art, Bargaining, Caving, Collegiate Wizardry, Craft, Diplomacy, Disguise, Endurance, Engineering, Gambling, Healing, Intimidation, Knowledge, Labor, Language, Leadership, Lip Reading, Manual of Arms, Mapping, Military Strategy, Mimicry, Naturalism, Navigation, Performance, Profession, Riding, Seafaring, Seduction, Siege Engineering, Signaling, Survival, Theology, Tracking, Trapping. 

Shadowblade Proficiency List: Alertness, Battle Magic, Bribery, Combat Trickery (disarm, incapacitate), Elven Bloodline, Familiar, Fighting Style, Lockpicking, Loremastery, Mystic Aura, Precise Shooting, Prestidigitation, Quiet Magic, Sensing Power, Skulking, Swashbuckling, Trap Finding, Weapon Finesse.

Proficiencies Gained per Level (C=class prof., G=general prof.)

Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
Shadowblade	C+G			C	G			C	G			C	G

You can get the PDF in the Downloads page.

Saints & Sinners

My friend +Gerardo Tasistro launched today his latest project on DriveThruRPG:

Saints & Sinners is a modern combat roleplaying game set between WWII and the Vietnam war. It's a light d6 game meant to leverage the player's decisions and GM ruling to create a fast paced adventure. The GM screen fits on a two sided piece of paper and includes all tables and modifiers needed to run the game. The quick start guide is four pages long and allows the players to jump into the game after rolling 6 stats and selecting basic equipment and skills.

Highlights of the game include:

• Fear and suppression as a key element in combat. Rate of fire, visibility and psychological reactions play an important role in the game. Spotting, attacking and relocating become key strategies as a player. 
• Chained hand to hand combat that links the attack and defence of opponents in a way that allows for the use of martial arts style and stance(offensive, defensive and neutral) to gain advantage when defending or attacking.
• Skills are easy to understand, describe and use. The team rules allow for character cooperation by pooling their skills to achieve greater chance of success when failure is not an option.

The game uses a novel 4d6 system requiring only d6 to play and is cantered around a task roll system that uses human readable terms such as hard, difficult, skilled or expert. It is detailed around combat given the nature of the game, but it can be easily extended by the players and GM to apply it for other tasks such as piloting, intelligence gathering, etc.

This is a rough-cut edition with extensive play test going on. Keep an open eye for updates and new releases of the rules. Your feedback is always welcome please follow the game and join our play tests and demonstrations in the Weapons Free community on G+.

Get your copy now (it's PWYW!), read it, play it, join the upcoming play tests. Let us know what you think.

On magic items

I totally dig this idea +Edgar Johnson came up with in his post The Shadow that Magic Casts.

Basically what (I think) he's saying is that wizards carry with them mundane items that, with time and after successive spells being cast, become magically imbued with the wizard's essence. Then, the can wizard use them as decoys so that the Ones Who Dwell Between couldn't get to him. But you better go and read the whole article yourself.

I can see everyone with wizards in their campaigns start building up these unique magical items. So, how would this work in your DCC game? The way I see it, the player will need to keep track of what items are being getting affected. Every time the wizard casts a spell, make a roll on his equipment list to randomly determine the affected item. 

• If the casting was a success, make a mark on the rolled item.
• If the casting was a critical success make 1d3 marks.
• If the casting was a failure and the item has been previously affected, erase a mark.
• If the casting was a failure and the item hasn't been previously affected, leave it alone.
• If the casting was a critical failure and the item has been previously affected, erase all the item's marks.
• If the casting was a critical failure and the item hasn't been previously affected, the item is then rendered useless for further enchanting. 

Maybe in case of a critical failure the wizard could spellburn to prevent the outcome. 

The DM would need to set how many marks are needed for the item to reach the status of magical. For example, to be  powerful enough as to be detected by the Detect Magic spell.

And now, a couple of questions: What situations attract the attention of the Ones Who Dwell Between? How this is affected by the number number of magic items the party has?

Another playtest

A while ago, I had the honor to be part of the playtest of the Blood for the Serpent King by +Edgar Johnson, which appeared as an add-on of DCC's Bride of the Black Manse by +Harley Stroh. 

Last night we ended playtesting another of Edgar's adventures (code name: Planet X). It started back in late January and we did about 10 sessions, in which almost all the guys from the Metal Gods of Ur-Hadad campaign (+Adam Muszkiewicz, +Wayne Snyder, +James MacGeorge, +Phil Spitzer, +Doug Kovacs  and +Jason Hobbs) were present at one time or another (we miss you +Bear Wojtek).

We hope the adventure sees the light in the near future. Stay tuned!

The road to GenCon 2014

After many years of wanting to go to a gaming convention, finally this year I'm going to make it to GenCon Indy. Some of the guys from the Metal Gods of Ur-Hadad crew went last year and encouraged me about going. I talked about it with my wife and, after doing the math and seeing we could afford it, she gave me the green light. So far the roadmap is on schedule:

• Buy plane tickets? Done.
• Buy 4-day badge? Done.
• Renew passport? Done.
• Get a non-immigrant visa? Process initiated.

Indianapolis here we go!

RPG Blogger Level 5 and going...

According to this post I'm an Thinker! Whatever that means... :-)

Metal Gods of Ur-Hadad Zine Issue #1 Now Available!

Congratulation to my fellows +Adam Muszkiewicz, +Edgar Johnson and +Wayne Snyder for making this real. I hope this is the first of many more.

Get Issue #1 in print now! 

Also remember that, as Adam said in his blog, "half of the proceeds from the sale of the pdf [soon available from the usual sites] will go to support StandUp For Kids, a non-profit, non-partisan organization that works to fight teenage homelessness".

Well done guys!

DCC with Doug Kovacs

On Thursday 12th I showed up, after some missed sessions, to our Metal Gods of Ur-Hadad game. To my surprise, the session was to be directed by +Doug Kovacs!

After some technical problems on my side, I finally joined the hangout and enjoyed an awesome and crazy session. Thanks Doug! As always, I took notes for future reference when I write the session recap.

Only now I had time to write it, and I was almost done with the session recap, when I remembered something. There was really no session ending, since Doug was something like "...well guys, this is all I've got now...", and stuff like that, and then everyone thanked him heartily and then we all left.

So there I was, looking at what I've just written, about to hit the "Publish" button, when I realized, "Shit, were we play testing something and I'm about fuck things up? I need to ask someone!"

Luck check made, I found +Edgar Johnson online, who was getting ready to go to his daughter's band concert. He kindly gave me a minute and, when asked, confirmed my fears. The orginal post got deleted right away and I wrote this one instead.

Thanks to the Metal Gods!

Gaming update

This is what I've played since my penultimate post:

DCC

On September 26th, October 3rd, 10th (missed this one) and 17th, the Metal Gods of Ur-Hadad crew carried the Super Secret Playtest sessions of the now published Blood for the Serpent King adventure by +Edgar Johnson.

On October 24th we celebrated the Metal Gods of Ur-Hadad's First Anniversary with a funnel adventure!

On November 7th , +Adam Muszkiewicz  started In The Shadow Of The Silicon God with the survivors of the Anniversary game. During the Festival of Ajman Adan, the Patron of Pins and Needles, the Grand Vizier of Ur-Hadad comes under attack and only the adventurers can protect His Eminence from death! But who are the mysterious cultists and what are their plans for the First City?

ACKS

On November 30th +Jason Hobbs set up a game, Zelkor's Ferry, in which we begun exploring the ruins of Rappan Athuk. Never played ACKS before and I enjoyed it a lot. Even though I have a Bard with the worst name ever, thanks to the random name generator from WotC site: Davfalcon Falconfligth. Anyway, hope we can play again and continue delving deeper into its dungeons.

Cards Against Humanity

On December 6th we hosted a small gathering of friends at home. Our kid was staying with the granpas, so we were not to worry about making some noise. We had downloaded and printed in advance the fan translation in Spanish (AR) of the free version of the game. All of us have had previous experience in different RPGs and tabletop games, but none of us had played CAH before. Those who were more skeptical about how fun it would be, ended up making the most points! We didn't play exactly by the rules: everyone took cards from the deck after each round or dropped a card that was too specific for Argentine (politicians or entertainment figures). All in all everyone had a blast and the game lasted up to 4am. :)

More DCC!

After missing a couple of sessions, on December 8th I had the chance to play again in RPGPundit's game (+Kasimir Urbanski). I also had the chance to meet new players, Philip and his sons, Sebastian and Benjamin. I've never had the opportunity to see father and sons together in a RPG session, and I found it was awesome that they shared the hobby. I wish I could do the same with mine in the future.

And one day it finally arrived...

It's been a while since my last post I know.

Anyway, back in September I ordered "The Dungeon Alphabet" and I expected to receive it way before my birthday, which is in November. 

But weeks passed and there were no news about the book. I even got in contact with Goodman Games to know when it had been shipped and calculate when it might arrive to Uruguay. I must say that Keith LeBaw, from Goodman Games, was always willing to answer my several mails on the matter. 

At some point he offered if I wanted a refund or to have another copy sent. I chose the latter since the book has been on my wishlist for a long time. And when all hope was lost, it arrived and I found the reason why it took so long to reach these latitudes. 

Yes, to UGANDA in Africa instead to URUGUAY in South America. Hello, they're different countries in different continents. Geez, I'm not in the "here be dragons..." part of the map. Somebody at the USPS needs to learn some geography...

If the second copy has already been shipped I plan to sell it and donate what I get to charity.

RPGpundit's DCC game

What you're about to read happens in the only world that survived the End of the Universe, which was rescued by the only existing God, now gone mad.

The elves are hipsters that live locked in their domed metal cities. They have technology, which they know how to use it, but don't know how to fix or create it anymore. Outside of the elven cities, a zombie Apocalypse almost wiped the human race. Dwarves are said to have been expelled from their mountain strongholds by the Green Races (goblins, orcs and such). Haven't seen any halflings yet, and the swamp giants are nothing but straw-gnawing rednecks that barter with our community.

Three of not-so-hipster elves from the Rose Dome, who called themselves adventurers, came to our hamlet looking for some ruins. They said were looking for a musical cube that roamed the swamp and killed some giants with lightning. Who can believe such a nonsense? Anyway, Theck the sludge cludger (I rather call him manure technician) took these elves to my shack, while I was reading the runes to "The Other" Kenneth, an elven barista also from the Rose Dome who wanted to be an adventurer but was stranded in our miserable community. 

So there there were Bill and his brother Ted, with "Proper" Kenneth and his hawlcon (some kind of breed between hawk and falcon) to whom I, Moloch the fortune teller, cast my runes and read their future. I just told them a lot of piffle and they gladly gave me a couple of purple opals. Since Theck and I knew about the place, we offered to guide them there. "The Other" Kenneth also jumped in at the chance of being part of a real adventure.

It was night when we arrived at the complex. Three badly damaged metal buildings partially sunk in the swamp. A faded sign in the perimeter fence read "Camp Hee Haw". We checked the largest building, which used to be some kind of cantina, and found a crystal box (a red button appears when opened), duct tape and a roll of silver material (folding tent). We also found a hatch in the floor that was opened after some effort and drained all the water in the room. Something was written in the floor around the hatch and Theck started to clean the area, when we heard a distant cacophony.

Bill cast Sequester on the area, while Ted Summoned some chickens and "Proper" Kenneth hid outside. Soon a huge semi-transparent cube with colored lights and disco music (E.L.O. and other stuff) appeared. Bill cast a Cantrip of some lights in the form of a dancing human which seemed to confuse the cube. Meanwhile Ted sent his chickens to lure the cube into an area thick with swamp gas. The cube took the bait and followed the chickens. Ted fired his laser gun and ignited the gas, which exploded and obliterated the cube.

By now Theck have cleared the mud around the hatch and the sign read: "Camp Hee Haw - Shelter Toxic Waste". We tied one of the surviving chickens to the end of a rope and lowered into the darkness. Something tugged at the rope and we pulled hard, bringing a half eaten chicken and some kind of horrible mutated elf. Theck hit it with the flat of his shovel and "The Other" Kenneth lunged forward with a short sword he'd borrowed from Bill. The creature, injured, let the chicken go and jumped down the hatch.

---

Will continue the session recap in another post. 

Thanks to +Kasimir Urbanski for inviting me to the game. I enjoyed it a lot!

Impulse buying

My RPG wish list has gone down one item, because I've just bought The Dungeon Alphabet (Expanded Third Printing) from Goodman Games. I'm going to have to wait 2 or 3 weeks until it reaches Uruguay, but it's worth the waiting. It was cheaper to have send it directly via USPS, than first to a P.O. box in Miami and then here by a courier.

I guess it was because of the adrenaline still kicking after an awesome DCC session (we're through Jewels of the Carnifex), in which my level 2 wizard, Formerly Ian, spellburned his Strength and Stamina down to 1, and his Agility down to 2. It was a near death situation where he burned 5 points to cast a Sleep, then 10 more points for another Sleep (both with meager results), and finally 1 point to cast Invoke Patron, asking the Metal Gods to smite the enemy leader (some kind of undead demi-god). Like all the corruption he already has was not enough: no hair whatsoever (it grows back naturally and 1 inch with each Sleep spell cast), yellow eyes, shriveled and folded back ears, cloven hooves instead of feet, his Patron God mark in his forehead (Judas Priest cross), and a self-inflicted carving on his right cheek (Derek Riggs logo).

This last spell had him metal spikes grown all over his body and gave each member of the party a +5 bonus on their next action. We didn't die so far, so we might have a chance to make it alive after all.

Let's see if I make another purchase after the next session!

Dealing with disapproval

After the Divine Order of the Purple Tentacle defeated a tentacled monstrosity, summoned by the Bloody Successors on their onslaught to the neighborhood, Nimue knew what she had to do. During the battle, she called upon the favor of the Elder One and failed. Now she will have to appease them. So, before leaving, she ordered her urchin followers to cut a couple of tentacles.

Kormaki, cleric of the Metal God of Thunder and fellow member of the Order, had the Captain of the Gate somewhat healed. The poor bastard lost his sanity when the creature attacked, and spend the battle crouching and whimpering on the doorsteps of a nearby house. She decided he'd make a good offering and sent an urchin on some errands.

That night, dressed in her best silks, and followed by a couple of her urchins who carried between them a coffer of black wood and inlaid with silver, she went to find the Captain. She found him at "The Rare Cauldron" tavern drinking with other officers of House Wazi. While she crossed the main room, the urchins went upstairs, left the coffer in a previously rented room and waited in the corridor. 

Everyone stopped drinking, eating, laughing and speaking as she graciously approached the Captain's table. She leaned over to him, whispered something in his ear and turned away. Such was the power of her mellow voice, that he stood and followed her, without finishing his drink, saluting his comrades or donning his rogatywka.

Once upstairs in the gloomy room, and after a couple of honeyed words, the Captain found himself laying naked on the bed, and before he could ask anything, a gentle touch from Nimue left him paralyzed. What promised to be an exciting night, was soon to become a nightmare. With her back to him, she let her silks fall to the floor as she opened the lid of the ebony coffer and begun muttering a litany. 

When she straddled naked over him, he saw, to his horror, that her arms have been transformed into tentacles which she sensually wriggled all over him. Sheer waves of pleasure swept over him, as she contorted and repeatedly called, in a strange language, for He who awaits asleep in the depths...

ya Nimue mnahn' Cthulhunyth stell'bsna ee ngfhayak hlirgh orr'e

Candlelight flickered and extinguished as an unfelt gust passed over it. The Captain silently screamed in terror, as he felt his soul sucked into a void of utter darkness by hundreds of hungry tiny tendrils, taking away the deceitful moment of elation. Tears of joy ran down Nimue's cheeks as she realized that her offering has been accepted.

Tonight we honored the DCC spirit

Tonight we had the most brutal DCC session since we started playing the Metal Gods of Ur-Hadad campaign. After almost having not one, but two, TPKs in the same combat, four of the six characters walked out alive. Absalom the Elf, Aram the Cleric, Morfans the Dwarf and Formerly Ian the Wizard emerged from the Undercity of Ur-Hadad with the bodies of Jerkal the Wizard and Claive the Fighter, after fighting the Toothmen shaman and his guards.

Things started rolling downhill when Jerkal misfired a sleep spell, sending all his allies but Formerly Ian asleep. The standing wizard managed to wake up Claive and send several Toothmen, including their shaman, asleep, only to be brought down by the guard leader. Claive charged the brute, waking everyone up with a mighty deed. Aram healed Formerly Ian, who in his turn also misfired a sleep spell, sending all his allies asleep but Morfans. The dwarf managed to woke everyone up with the same mighty deed while charging the guard leader. The toothman attacked Formerly Ian bringing him down, again. 

By now the shaman was awake and cast a huge fireball on the party. Only Aram and Morfans saved. Now Aram, after healing Absalom, had the difficult task to chose, between Jerkal, Claive and Formerly Ian, which one will he save next. Meanwhile Morfans charged madly at the shaman almost killing him. Formerly Ian saw the light, while Jerkal and Claive met their maker. The survivors, fueled by the death of their companions, renewed their attacks on the toothmen, killing the shaman and the guard leader. The last two toothmen in their last stand managed to bring Formerly Ian down for the third time, after being hacked to pieces.

By killing the shaman toothman the group saved Vayne from the collar-bomb.

Claive, we'll always remember your attack sprees with the Spear of the Lizard King. Jerkal, we'll always remember your Flaming Glands. You'll both be missed.

The ritual

One by one the seven men arrived to the house. They were received by an grim looking warforged that gave them a key. They were ordered to get into a side room, remove every possessions from themselves, which could be locked into one of the seven chests available, and to return wearing only a black hooded robe. Not one of them dared to contradict Sybian, the pole-armed automaton.

Each was led through a set of double doors into a bigger room. A bed covered in black silk sheets stood enclosed by a circle of also black candles, all lit, but their light was not enough to reveal the whole room. Ten feet from the candles were seven mahogany and leather seats forming a circle. A stool with a silver goblet containing an unknown beverage stood next to each seat.

One by one, in silence, they took their places. All kept their hoods up. No one spoke. No one dared to to look around or taste what was in the goblets. When the seven men were seated, they heard the doors being closed... and locked. The air, sweetened by the candle's smoke, filled with expectation.

"Welcome...", said from the surrounding darkness the same mellow voice that asked them to come today. Nimue, clad in a translucent silky gown that left nothing to imagination, entered the circle of light and lay graciously on the bed. "Please drink...", she said with a vague gesture and they, with their eyes fixed on her, obeyed. She knelt and started to hum while contorting her almost perfect body. The light of the candles flickered as her gown fell, her humming and sinuous movements gaining tempo.

Then everything went dark.

Chairs screeched and fell. Stools tumbled. Goblets clattered through the floor. Cries, gasps, pleas, screams could be heard as the purple tentacle beer made effect and the ritual reached its climax. All the hidden fears, obscure desires and lowest urges crept from the deepest and darkest corners of the seven souls. The humming went on as the unnameables rose from murky blackness to claim the offerings.

Each time one of the seven were taken, a wave of absolute pleasure invaded Nimue's body raising the pitch of her humming. Surge after surge of delight and joy rippled through her body until all yelling, bawls and bellows subsided, and she lay gasping, sweaty and exhausted on the bed.

Then everything went silent.

Won a minor magic item

How? I won The Preakness 138 contest set up by +Erik Jensen! Had to name the first two horses across the line, winner/closest gets a minor magic item based on those horses' names. The contenders were: Orb, Goldencents, Titletown Five, Departing, Mylute, Oxbow, Will Take Charge, Govenor Charlie and Itsmyluckyday. I chose Oxbow because of the owners' colors (black and yellow) were the same of my favourite local soccer team, and Itsmyluckyday because I just felt lucky.

Being Gimli my main FLAILSNAILS character:

"Gimli stumbles across what seems to be a length of ribbon snagged on a tree; although wary for a trap of some sort, he plucks the adornment from the branch, and instinctively knows its magical worth.

The Oxbow Lucky-Day is a 16" length of supple, tanned ox-hide, just over an inch wide, decoratively forked at each end. When worn in the hair and tied in a bow, the Oxbow Lucky-Day provides its charm - the wearer's first saving throw each day is at +1. Should the wearer ever mistreat a bovine while wearing or carrying the magic strip of leather, the Oxbow Lucky-Day will dissolve into dust. (For the record, stabbing a minotaur would technically count as 'mistreating a bovine' for these purposes)."

Gimli will tie his bushy red beard with the new-found charm, just above where he tucks it into his belt.

Thanks Erik!

Dungeons of Dread Illustration Bookltes Online as Free Downloads!

"Welcome to Dungeons of Dread, the archival collection of adventure modules S1 through S4. All four of these scenarios are durable fan favorite's that have stood the test of time, albeit for very different reasons…."

Nicely done WotC!

What Kind of D&D Character Would You Be?

I Am A: True Neutral Human Wizard (5th Level)

Ability Scores:
Strength-11
Dexterity-12
Constitution-11
Intelligence-12
Wisdom-15
Charisma-12

Alignment:
True Neutral A true neutral character does what seems to be a good idea. He doesn't feel strongly one way or the other when it comes to good vs. evil or law vs. chaos. Most true neutral characters exhibit a lack of conviction or bias rather than a commitment to neutrality. Such a character thinks of good as better than evil after all, he would rather have good neighbors and rulers than evil ones. Still, he's not personally committed to upholding good in any abstract or universal way. Some true neutral characters, on the other hand, commit themselves philosophically to neutrality. They see good, evil, law, and chaos as prejudices and dangerous extremes. They advocate the middle way of neutrality as the best, most balanced road in the long run. True neutral is the best alignment you can be because it means you act naturally, without prejudice or compulsion. However, true neutral can be a dangerous alignment when it represents apathy, indifference, and a lack of conviction.

Race:
Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.

Class:
Wizards are arcane spellcasters who depend on intensive study to create their magic. To wizards, magic is not a talent but a difficult, rewarding art. When they are prepared for battle, wizards can use their spells to devastating effect. When caught by surprise, they are vulnerable. The wizard's strength is her spells, everything else is secondary. She learns new spells as she experiments and grows in experience, and she can also learn them from other wizards. In addition, over time a wizard learns to manipulate her spells so they go farther, work better, or are improved in some other way. A wizard can call a familiar- a small, magical, animal companion that serves her. With a high Intelligence, wizards are capable of casting very high levels of spells.

Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)

Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day Blogfest

Blog word count

http://timc.idv.tw/wordcloud/en/

Oskara Xiann

Oskara, a Twi'lek Bounty Hunter, is one of the pre-gen characters of the Star Wars Edge of the Empire RPG game.

"Oskara was always quick, clever and lucky enough to stay ahead of the press gangs... but her sister Makara was not. When Makara was nabbed by Aqualish thugs, Oskara had to act fast to keep her sister out of the mines. She offered her own unique services to the gang leader instead, claiming to be an experienced bounty hunter. Suprisingly, her first job for the gang went well and Oskara soon thrived under the tutelage of a veteran bounty hunter named Gyax. She was called on to perform more and more duties for the spice mining gang, and as long as she did well Makara was safe.

But then Oskara was "loaned out" to a Hutt gangster on Tatooine named Teemo. And things started to come undone. Teemo paid her quite well, but in the course of her bounty-hunting work for the Hutt she uncovered a plot against the Ryll-mining gang on Ryloth. The Hutt was going to seize their territory... and there would be no more guarantees of safety for Makara. Oskara decided to team up with Teemo's favorite gladiator, a Wookiee named Lowhhrick, and one of his best pilots, a human named Pash. Alongside her new companions Oskara has sent a warning to her compatriots on Rhylo and is now fleenig Teemo's revenge.

Oskara seems jaded and cynical at first, having seen much of the worst the galaxy has to offer at a young age. She is careful not to get too attached to anyone or anything. She is a professional bounty hunter and takes a serious approach to her work. focusing on results rather than any emotional considerations."

BRAWN 2 AGILITY 4 INTELLECT 2 CUNNING 2 WILLPOWER 2 PRESENCE 3

EDIT: I decided her to have Xiann as last name; a commonly given name meaning, "spider" in the Twi'leki language.

Star Wars: Edge of the Empire RPG

I always wanted to play the Star Wars D6 RPG but never got the chance, so when +Adam Muszkiewicz announced this game, I immediately jumped in. I didn't know what EotE was, so I walked into the hangout convinced I was going to play SW D6. Really. :)

Then when the mechanics were explained I thought/said, "Hey, this is much like _Hollowpoint_!" which I guess was the first thing I played via hangout ever. I liked it so much that I even bought the rules. 

Now back to SW. And then, when everyone got their characters ready, the intro was played. I was like "Geez, I'm gonna be in Star Wars movie!" 

From the available pre-gen characters I chose to play Oskara, a Twi'lek bounty hunter. The shooting-piloting-sneakiness combo was too good to miss. I got the chance to do a lot of shooting with a blaster carbine (killing gamorreans and storm troopers) and a laser canon from a YT-1300 (destroying TIE fighters). Also some sneaking guiding the group through the alleys of Mos Shuuta. Hope to do some piloting next time.

The rest of the group escaping from "Mouse Shita" like Bear said were:

+Bear Wojtek  - Pash, Human Smuggler

+Wayne Snyder - Lowhhrick, Wookie Hired Gun (Gladiator)

+Nathaniel Hull - 41-VEX, Droid Colonist (Medic)

+Larry Moore  - Mathus, Human Technician

Thanks to Adam and the rest of the guys, it was a great game. I'm looking forward the next session!

Attack of the Frawgs - Session #2

Last Monday we played the second and final session of the DCC module Attack of the Frawgs. 

The characters spent the night in the brewery at the shores of the Dead Goblin Lake. They had to restrain the intoxicated ones, including the brewer, to prevent them from running into the woods haunted by horrible hallucinations. The night passed without any incident, though nobody really had much rest. In the morning they questioned the brewer about what happened, but the poor man couldn't say much. For him it was only a bad night with worse dreams, product of having too many samples from his newest brew. He asked the party to keep this to themselves, since he had a reputation to keep, and shared what food and good beer he had.

Since +Bear Wojtek couldn't make it, we decided his funnel would return to the town of Sagewood, with the bodies of the dwarven rat-catcher and dead trapper. After they left, the rest gathered to decide the next step. The elven navigator climbed to the second floor of the brewery and, with his spyglass, checked the northern shore of the lake. Meanwhile the minstrel recalled a tale about a cave behind the waterfall, but the noble and the barrister argued it was not a tale. The barrister said that the previous owner of those lands, a quarrelsome one according to the noble, was sued by someone who had an accident there, for not having that area properly signposted about its dangers.

That settled the matter and the party decided to explore that area. They took the long route following the trappers' path around the lake. The short route, through dense wooded hills, was discarded when the elven forester spoke of dangerous creatures from the Black Corruption lands wandering the area. On their way, they came across three fiendish crabs feeding on the corpse of a trapped gicastor, but stayed away from them. Upon reaching the northern shore, thanks to the elven forester, they managed to avoid a couple of gicastor's traps. Now the party had 4 traps!

Then they found an inlet where the water stank, and dead fish and birds floated on the sludge, along with the corpse of some kind of humanoid. The radish farmer tried to use one of the traps, attached to a a length of chain, to fish the corpse from the viscous mire. He failed and the sludge splashed on him burning his skin. The  poor thing was already dead when he fell on the trap. It sprung and closed its mandibles on his corpse, spilling his guts in the water. Gruesome sight.

After that, the elven forester picked up a trail of large webbed footprints in the muddy shore. They led to the waterfall and the cave beyond. The elf tied a rope around his waist and started climbing the slippery rocks. His eyes were adjusting to the lack of light, when a croaking sound came from the cave and a big humanoid figured, wielding a seashell mace, towered over him. Meanwhile the parsnip farmer started to climb but slipped, couldn't keep his balance and fell, splitting his head on the rocks. The rest of the party make it to the top while a smaller frawg a makeshift spear joined the fight. This scrimmage ended with the big frawg fleeing into the cave badly wounded and the smaller one and the urchin dead.

+Adam Muszkiewicz summed what followed very well:

"I'm playing through +Stephen Newton's module Attack of the Frawgs and up until this moment, the weirdest thing was giant beavers. Then, all of the sudden, things got really strange, and very DCC!"

The party lit some torches and pushed into the cave where they we attacked by two hopping frawgs, while the wounded one stood by a female creature that was laying mucous covered eggs in the back of the cavern. When she saw the attackers, she bleated a deafening screech and started to lay the eggs into a stream. The party split with some fighting the hoppers and some closing on the spawning creature and her guard. Some even dived into the stream to prevent the eggs reach the lake. After a bloody fight all the foul creatures were defeated , but the dwarven miner, the noble and the rope maker died in the fight.

The survivors make it back to Sagewood without further incidents, where they were received as heroes and spent the night in the local tavern telling the curious about their recent adventure.

As treasure they found, "a leather satchel ornately decorated with the embroidery of a kraken raising from the sea. It was designed with loops to carefully carry  3 long thin objects about the size and shape of candles.", a pouch with an iron key (brewery), a periapt, another scales and several eggs. They sold the scales, the periapt and the eggs to a cleric and sage, and the traps to a dealer.

Every surviving characters got enough XP to make it to 1st level:

+Adam Muszkiewicz (Dwarven miner, Parsnip farmer, Elven Forrester, Minstrel)

+Justin Williams (Dwarven herder, Elven Navigator, Noble, Radish farmer)

+Tim Mulry (Elven Barrister, Urchin (f), Ostler, Rope maker)

Oh, and btw I've also got The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk to run!

Metal Gods of Ur-Haddad - Last Session

+Wayne Snyder summed up last night session pretty well:

"I was feeling pretty kick ass last night when I maxed out the rolls for Jerkal the Blazin's Flaming hands spell last night. Twice! Dude was a virtual walking flame thrower. Awesome. Only to be completely side lined later in the same turn when The Wizard Formerly Known As Ian cast Sleep and his mighty dice had him sleep every enemy in the room (5) who wasn't already asleep from his previous Sleep spells. The blood fueled sci-fi and sorcery birthing chamber of the hideous serpent men was looking like serpent man sorcerer sleep over party and we calmly walked through poking holes in the sleeping snake men like it was nothing. Ian is the sleep master. When it's good, it's so good, and when it's bad, he's in a magical coma for a week."

The Wizard Formerly Known As Ian cast 5 Sleep spells in a row, sending into a deep slumber between 2 and 4 serpent men each time. And grew five inches of hair too! That streak granted him the nickname of "The Sandman".

Having defeated the serpent men and destroyed their wicked breeding machine, the party, instead of leaving the place (Chuck and Jerkal were paralyzed, and Vayne badly wounded), decided to keep exploring for more treasure. That's when Wizard Formerly Known As Ian ran out of luck or lost the favour of the Metal Gods. He fumbled a Sleep spell and fell into a coma. With the serpent men closing in the group grabbed their out-of-action comrades and ran the hell out of the Mysterious Temple of the Serpent God. 

We sailed all the way back from Samsara to Ur-Haddad avoiding a huge storm. Upon arrival, we handed the Eyes of the Serpent to Amor Ba'Gish, the wizard who employed (and poisoned) us, along with the chest  full of platinum bars we were supposed to give Balas Forktongue (who we found dead, tortured and killed by the Serpent kin) as payment for the Eyes. After receiving the antidote and a succulent reward we headed to celebrate, with the promise of more jobs from the wizard.

25.000 visits!

What can I say? Just thanks for taking the time to drop by this humble corner of the web. :)

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

Attack of the Frawgs - Session #1

Last year I won the DCC module Attack of the Frawgs on a contest by Tenkar's Tavern and I promised to DM it on a G+ hangout sometime. And that time came yesterday. Since some guys from the Metal Gods of Ur-Haddad game were on Spring Break, and didn't want to wait a whole week to play again, I jumped in and put this game up. It's been some time since I last ran a game and it was my first time running a DCC one, so I must confess I was a bit nervous.

"Your day began with typical banality and after twelve hours of hard labour you were settling in for a quiet dinner of stewed pork and ale at The Brave Trapper Inn. Many locals were enjoying each other's company as well as their meals [when] Torfist crashed through the door and everything changed. "We've been attacked!" Torfist cried as he staggered in bloody and disheveled."

And so an "angry mob with torches and pitchforks" went into the night to find what happened.

+Adam Muszkiewicz (Dwarven miner, Parsnip farmer, Elven Forrester, Minstrel)

+Bear Wojtek (Elven forrester (f), Dwarven rat-catcher (f), Beadle, Weaver (f))

+Justin Williams (Dwarven herder, Elven Navigator, Noble, Radish farmer)

 +Tim Mulry (Elven Barrister, Urchin (f), Stablehand, Rope maker)

The group was a balanced mix of experienced DCC players (Adam and Bear), and completely new ones to the rules (Justin and Tim).

After about 3 hours of gaming we did almost 2/3 of the adventure with only the dwarven rat-catcher killed by a gicastor (bear-sized beaver), the dwarven herder limping after stepping into a gicastor trap and the weaver tripping balls after drinking tainted water.

So far they killed a gicastor and two freshwater crab fiends. They found a coil 50' of of rope ("Loot by the foot!"), two gicastor traps (someone suggested to join them with a chain and make a crazy nunchaku), a pair of climbing boots, 6 clubs, 4 daggers, 2 hand axes and a sling. Also found the body of a dead trapper, the local brewer hallucinating in the brewery and a strange scale hidden there.

Thanks guys for joining the game and see you next Monday for the grand finale!

P.S. Thanks to +Stephen Newton for writing the adventure.

Read An RPG Book In Public Week

Gygax magazine

Gygax magazine will be available on January 26th at 2pm EST.

http://gygaxmagazine.com/