Aylen the Black & Fress

Aylen the magic-user and Fress the thief were created for a D&D Holmes game run by Aron Clark. Fist, we played The Lichway (1978) by Abie Fiore taht was published in White Dwarf magazine #9. The rest of the party were:

Tark (dwarf)

Balzon (fighter)

Franz (fighter)

Caspian (magic-user)

Later, after exploring The Lichway we delved into The Halls of Tizun Thane (1980), also by Abie Fiore, from White Dwarf magazine #18. This time the party had some new members:

Rollo (thief)

Chad (fighter)

What follows is a summary I put together after the fall of Aylen & Fress.

"Pressed by the fact that Fress wouldn't be able to control Lokota the demon much longer, Rollo and Aylen agreed to move forward into Thaark's four-story tower. Chad followed with his lantern. The bottom room was a richly furnished dining room with a long table fully dressed with china and glassware occupying the center. On one end of the table, a fireplace big enough to roast a boar with a 12-inch tall figurine of a casting magic user on the mantle and a dragon skull on the wall above it. On the other end he table a big mirror. Rollo checked the fireplace but found nothing. While Lokota waited here the rest went through a door and up a spiral staircase. The room was relaxing lounge with rugs and comfortable chairs, and also a fireplace. Upon inspection the group discovered the fireplaces were connected, so Fress and Rollo decided to climb the chimney while Aylen and Chad went up the spiral stairs. Lokota waited in this room after laboriously navigating the staircase. The thieves, Rollo carrying just his sword and Fress a dagger, a torch and his waterskin, nimbly ascended the sooty shaft into a dark room smelling of wool and parchment. Strange snores and mumbling could be heard from the room above. Rollo opened the heavy door to let Aylen and Chad in, the torchbearer's lantern revealing a library with countless tomes, some opened in wooden stands, with the floor covered by a thick woolen rug. Fress called Lokota to get there too. Aylen cast Detect Magic hoping to find something of interest here but only perceived a strong dweomer emanating from the room above. Lokota started to make a strange keening noise that was reciprocated from above and a thunderous voice could be heard through the fireplace. 'Who dares to enter my dominions unannounced!?'

The sound of heavy footsteps lumbering down the stairs set everyone but Lokota, that stood its ground, into motion. Rollo hid around a corner, Aylen behind a bookstand, while Chad and Fress tied a rope to a metal ring and threw a rope down the chimney. Thaark, an apeish fur-covered brute clad in a purple robe and wizard hat, both too small for its frame, bursted into the room. The group was slow to react but the demon looked confused by what he saw. Rollo and Fress tried to sweet talk the fiend but things didn't turned as expected and the demon started to cast! Rollo swung his sword but missed. Fress emptied his waterskin on Thaark. The demon cast Charm Person on Fress but the thief resisted. Lokota moved in and launched a barrage of attacks (claws, talons and beak). Aylen cast Frost Shroud on the demons, freezing the water and dealing more damage. Rollo took a step back and reached for his bow but with his frostbitten fingers couldn't take a shot. Fress moved next to Aylen, that was casting again, to retrieve some holy water from her back pack. Thaark used his magic again, this time a blast of fire engulfed the room. Aylen, Fress and Chad fell burned to the ground. Rollo dived away just in time avoiding the flames. The room started to burn, wood, parchment and wool feeding the blaze. Lokota, apparently unaffected by the fire, lounged forward and teared Thaark's flesh with claws and talons, killing the demon, but also grazing Rollo with its beak in its charge. The surviving thief, ignoring Lokota now free from its master, grabbed some potion from the shelves and urged the demon to help him. Lokota agreed and rushed to help Aylen and Fress; poor Chad was a charred corpse beyond all hope. Sadly, despite Rollo's bravery and efforts none of them made it through.

There he stood, face to face with a masterless demon that longed for a heart to be free. He offered the hearts of his fallen companions, that the demon gladly accepted. As Rollo escaped, Lokota feasted on the corpses Aylen and Fress before flying away from the inferno of what once were Tizun's Halls.

Nimue

This one is a long overdue post about one of my favorites characters so far, one with I've had countless hours of fun and met some wonderful people.

Nimue, a cleric of Cthulhu, was created for a DDC RPG campaign run by Edgar Johnson that would start with The Pod-Caverns of the Sinister Shroom.

The rest of the party were:

Banvha the 1st level Halfling
Aram the 1st level Cleric
Vane the 2nd level Warrior
Klaus the 1st level Thief
Grumble the 1st level Dwarf
Jerkal (Gerbil) the 2nd level Wizard

Also, Nimue had a 1st level Warforged named Sybian, an old "murder machine" that we found in an abandoned basement and was given  to her to use in her super creepy rituals.

Here's a little background on it by Adam Muszkiewicz;

"The first thing we found (which happened off-camera and we retconned in as an explanation of where Gabriel's new PC came from) was a man-sized automaton of some sort that we managed to get working somehow and who then joined up with the Purple Tentacle team. Thus, the legend of Sybian the Whoreforged was born. Is he a pleasure-bot of some lost species of super-hedonists? Or perhaps the personal orgasmatron of a dowager-queen from a repressed society of sexual prudes? For now, the only thing that is certain is that Sybian has a "pole-arm" and knows how to use it. Oh, and he has a lantern built into his noggin, so we periodically have to make sure he's all oiled up."

Later, we playtested an adventure that would become DCC #87 Against the Atomic Overlord by Edgar Johnson. I got really excited when Doug Kovacs asked about Nimue to be on the cover. 

DK: I need to sell Nimue to Joseph Goodman.
Me: Tell him she's like a Red Sonja but with dark hair.

DK: Done.

Here'e the video of  What's New at Goodman Games Gary Con 2015 where the module was presented and Doug talks a bit about the characters on the cover, around the 39:00 mark.

 

There are a couple of blog posts about Nimue: Dealing with Dissaproval and The Ritual.

László Béla

László Béla was my character in a Never Going Home campaign run by Adam Muszkiewicz.

He was a veteran of the Austro-Hungarian campaign against Serbia in 1915. The experience left him with a medal and a thousand yard stare. In 1916, during the Burislov offensive in the Russian front, his home village got destroyed in the fighting. Later that year, he received German training in the village of Beuveille, near Doncourt-lès-Longuyon, as the new cadre of the Austro-Hungarian army assault battalions (Jagdkommandos).

In early 1917, he was transferred to the Romanian front as part of a  secret project involving the newly developed A7V German tank.

After that, things started to get spooky...

Nabunassir of Larsa

This character was made for Jason Hobbs Lost in Agata (Emergent Empires) game using the Old-Schools Essentials rules.

Nabunassir is a magic-user of Argonot descent from the former state city of Larsa.

He follows Istreus, the Master of Secrets, god of knowledge, learning, and magic. His holy symbol is the crescent or the tower, while his sacred animal is the owl. The mages and scholars of the Tower of Knowledge pay him allegiance. His worship is conducted in secret, and only the initiated know the meaning of the mantra, “no sooner spoken than broken”.

He belongs to the Cylindros branch of mages, as opposed to the Conicus one.

Zola & Cree

Zola was my first character in Jay Murphy's game set in Rom'Myr Dying Earth and using the Basic Fantasy RPG ruleset. He was a thief from the city of Valla'Tair that ended killed by a bator in the Yonni'Hor mountains.

Drawing by Jay Murphy

Cree was a monster hunter and thief also from Valla'Tair. He had a more extended career, having the chance to explore the multi-verse before coming back to deal with some unfinished business in Valla'Tair, the starting campaign city.

You can check Jay's blog or watch the games on his YouTube channel.

Olobaris

This was my character on Larry Hamilton's Delvers Deep game.

Olobaris is an elven magic user from the Verdant Vale and (former) follower of LUMENOR. His mentor has sent him to The Deep to find its secrets and harvest rare materials for the manufacture of scrolls and potions.

He wears green and blue robes with a dagger on his belt, and leans on a wooden staff. A guard dog named Argo is always by his side.

He spends his downtime in Delvington drawing or scribing scrolls, providing he has enough time.

After his first delve he joined one of the Delving Organizations, the United Delvers.

In his second delve he became Herald of XAGIS, after the party awakened the god of Snow, Crossorads and Magic Users. Now he is spreading his word in Delvington, having attracted a few followers and the atention of other faiths. He has traveled East past the The Deep to Hillford and the surrounding hills to plunder some old tombs.

Hundolfr Æsbiornsson

 

Following the steps of his Nordborn brethren Haf Skappson, just like many others before him, he came to explore the mythic jungles of Kalmatta and plunder whatever treasures there might be among the overgrown ruins.

A Purple Caecilian worm smashed him like a dog rolling in poop.

Check the Kalmatta sessions here!

Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells quick reference sheet

Just recently, I came across this cool and useful quick reference sheet for the Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells rules set made by Starship & Steel.

Raznaur

 

Wholesome, clever, prudent, nimble and likeable. Nobody could say anything bad about the young Raznaur. He had a promising career in the Guild, maybe too promising for some. And so, those who felt threatened began plotting against and finally framed him. The choices were banishment or death.

He chose banishment to Sindanore, but it was death in the end... (electric trap).

Check the Kalmatta sessions here!

(Drawing by Jeff Easley)

Aneela

 

Aneela, priestess of Ninkasi, landed in Sindanore after learning that, after eons of being lost, the famous Chalice of Ninkasi had been found in the dangerous jungles of Kalmatta.

Got blood-boiled by a call lightning from the Horned King.

Check the Kalmatta sessions here!

(Drawing by Larry Elmore)

The Spaniard

 

A dwarf from the continent came to explore the dangerous jungles of Kalmatta in search of the Demon Stones. He paints his shields red and yellow. 

Still alive in Sindanore after 8 expeditions.

Check the Kalmatta sessions here!

Nathan Deryondomyn

This character was created for a AD&D 2e campaign (DM: Rous?). 

I was inspired by the movie "Last of the Mohicans" to make this character, specially by the character of Nathaniel Poe. He was a half-elven ranger from the Welkwood who worshipped the elven diety Solonor Thelandira. He had a racoon as animal companion named Rascal. 

I don't remember who were the other members of the group and can't find the character sheet. :(

My Virtual Greyhawk Con 2 Schedule

 

Virtual Greyhawk Con 2

 

Update

Updated the content of the pages and will be posting about the many characters I've played since last post, back in 2018. Also about my ongoing Greyhawk campaign in which, after 3 years of playing, the party have achieved important goals.

One Page Dungeon Contest 2018

I have sent my submission for this year's One Page Dungeon Contest. It is called 'Long Before the Sands Came' and it's inspired on the early World of Greyhawk long before the cataclysm that created the Bright Desert. I want to thank +Jarrett Crader for the suggested edits.

“Sodattahs the Sorcerer Emperor has cemented his grasp over the land after defeating the remaining rebellious lesser kingdoms. Only the Kingdom of Rati, to the far South, has been strong enough to face the Zulmish Empire onslaught so far..”

You can click on the Downloads button above to get it.

Bonus issue of the Hobbs & Freinds of the OSR zine

Now you can find my entry to the contest run on 'Hobbs & Friends of the OSR' and 'Gaming & BS' on the bonus issue of the 'Hobbs & Freinds of the OSR' zine. The PDF compiles the six entries that participated, along with some grat art.

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/217531/Hobbs--Friends-of-the-OSR-Bonus-Issue-1

It's a PWYW and all proceeds will go to get art for future zines. 

I want to thank contest organizers +Jason Hobbs and +Brett B for the awesome prizes. I have already received by mail the PDF version of the 5e game supplement 'The Book of the Tarrasque' from Encoded Designs. 

Also I'm eagerly waiting for the printed version of the Greyhawk book to arrive to the mailbox. I've been a World of Greyhawk fan since ever, so that book is doubly appreciated!

OSR Encounter Contest winner

I have just finished listening to the last episode (#13) of the Hobbs & Friends of the OSR podcast. Yes, right out of the oven exclusively for Patreon supporters. In there, my friend and Metal Gods colleague, +Jason Hobbs announced I am the winner of the 'OSR Encounter Conterst' he co-organized with Sean and Brett from Gaming and BS RPG Podcast. 

Thanks guys!

EDIT (July 5th): I have just listened to the latest episode (#147) of Gaming and BS RPG Podcast where the announcement was also made.

Also all entries will be published in a special edition of the Hobbs & Friends zine.

Seraphim Caligari

+Adam Muszkiewicz set up a new game on Tuesdays, 'Murder Gangs of Ur-Hadad, games of skullduggery and filth on the streets of Ur-Hadad', using the Blades in the Dark set of rules with his own characteristic approach.

The crew is a [Cult] -- the Last Adherents of the Sensate -- devoted to an alluring but sinister demon (the Sensate) that occasionally manifests itself in the real world. They are assisted by a gang of Elite Adepts, cultists of a scholarly and scientific (occult?) bent. The cult operates out of a perfumerie and aromatics shop (secretly an alchemical shop) in a middle-class neighborhood in Ur-Hadad, where they operate a workshop as well as a secret ritual sanctum. 

The cult operates in territory that belongs to the Swaggernauts, but their strongest relationship is with the Bloody Successors, who helped the cult set up their shop (and attendant workshop and sanctum) after the cult's shipments of teleaphrodisiacs were interrupted by adventurers. In the process, the cult ended up attracting some followers away from the Cult of the Gloaming Deeps. Due to their connections with the Swaggernauts, the pawns of the Faceless Vizier openly distrust the cult.

Seraphim Caligari grew in the pirate city of Port Scourge where his family ran an apothecary shop. It was there he met a woman named Caixalla when she entered the business seeking certain off-the-list substance. Seraphim discovered she was in fact "as much a prophet as a purveyor of fleshly delights" in the words of his elders, but sought to learn about the occult from her anyway. She refused at first, but Seraphim took the risk and played the blackmail card. After an attempt on the life of a notorious pirate captain took place, and the victim showed the unique effects of the drug used, Seraphim knew who was behind the attack. She then agreed but made an obscure augury about Seraphim’s future in Ur-Hadad. Years passed and he became in charge of the family business. During that time he learned all he could from Caixalla, until she uttered a bleak prophecy about an impending doom on Port Scourge. Scared by her prediction Seraphim he closed the shop and took a ship out of Port Scourge to never return. Once in Ur-Hadad he and others founded the Last Adherents of the Sensate cult, became acquainted with certain figures (Bloody Successors) and managed to open a perfumes and aromatics shop...

My son's first D&D game

My first adventure

Last weekend Ivan, my 6 years old son, asked me if he could play with me what I had played the previous weekend with his cousin Mat. "I want to explore a labyrinth too!" he said. Of course I obliged and brought out the 1983 D&D Players Manual to run the solo adventure. I printed a character sheet for him and then he rolled some 3d6 for the stats. He added the numbers (with little a help) and wrote down the results. Since he wanted a miniature, I took out a box with some 3.x era plastic ones and he spend some time choosing one. He finally selected an orc raider. "Now you have to give it a name and write it down on the character sheet. What's his name?" I asked him. "It's Monster, his name is Monster." he said. OK, it was character after all.

Monster

I let him choose a d20 and a d6 from the die coffer and let him know one was to roll attacks and the other to roll for damage. "How many lives does Monster has?" he asked. "Well, he has only one." I replied. "Only one!?" he complained and looked a bit dismayed. "But he has 8 hit points!" I added quickly and that seemed to be alright for him so we carried on. 

Dungeon entrance

Monster was ready to investigate a labyrinth that was near the town where he lived. I showed him the Elmore drawing of the entrance. "This is the way of the dungeon. Do you dare to explore it?" I asked him in a theatrical voice. "YES!" he said excitedly.

I described him the room with the statue and three exits, and then gave him three choices (listen carefully, explore the room or go through one of the exits). He decided to go down one of the exits...and found two goblins! Combat unfolded with various hits and misses, near tears when Monster got hit and loud cheers when Monster hit the goblins, until he decided to flee back to town. "Because his health bar was too low." he explained. 

Monster didn't find any treasure on his first foray into the dungeon, but he was alive to go adventuring another day! 

Drawing my first dungeon!

After that, he decided that he wanted to run and adventure for me. So, while he drew his dungeon and chose miniatures to populate it, I rolled my character. Then I chose a miniature, named it Marshal and was ready to play. The first room of his labyrinth also had a statue in the center and several exits. I stopped to listen and he told me I could hear a conversation in hushed tones. When I decided to investigate, two statues (that weren't there in the initial room description!) lowered their swords blocking the passage, and a couple of orcs appeared and attacked! I was lucky to defeat both of them. I asked him if they had any treasure on them but there was none, so I took their weapons and went back to town to heal and sell the loot. 

Soon I was ready for another delve into his dungeon. This time I found a room with a "yeti monkey and a dread guard guarding a big chest" that attacked immediately. I lost initiative and the monkey went first. He rolled a natural 20 and grabbed a d10+d4 for damage! 

He TPK'd me on his first game as a DM. I couldn't be more proud.

Playing D&D with my nephew

The first time I played D&D with my nephew Mat was more than a year ago. You can read about that here. After that, we played again on a couple more occasions but I forgot to blog about them and I don't remember when they were. Then we played again last weekend.

D&D next generetion

Let's do some recap...

Session I (14/11/15)

At the end of our first session his group, composed by a fighter, an archer and a magic-user, saved their village from the attack of a necromancer and his skeletal minions. It was a bitter victory because the magic-user died, so they were to go into a quest to revive him. 

Session II (??/??/??)

The session begun at a near town where the local cleric revived the magic-user, but in exchange asked the group to retrieve a holy relic from the ruins of a nearby abbey. The group searched the ruins and found a flight of stairs going down. Mat decided that the group would go downstairs to explore, so I took out a sewer's battle mat from Dragon magazine. Since I wanted to introduce the concept of resource management, I told Mat to write down that each of his guys carried three torches and, as he explored,  I would ask him to cross one out from time to time. He quickly realized he needed to leave some for the way back to the surface or be forced to navigate the place in total darkness.

WoG Cultists

The group set forward to explore a series of abandoned rooms, corridors and sewer tunnels. First they fought and killed a giant rat that thought they were an easy meal. Then some black tentacles with purple suckers emerged from the stagnant water and tried to grab them. Finally they found a couple of identically clad cultists. While one hold them off blocking the walkway, the other fell back to their lair. After defeating the first cultist, Mat came with the brilliant idea of having one of his guys to pose as the dead cultist! 

At that point I asked him to check his torches and he realized he had about half left. He had to decide to press forward or go back. After pondering the situation for a moment Mat decided to stay. The fake cultist moved to find the lair while the rest followed a bit far behind. He managed to trick the remaining cultist into opening the door and they stormed the place. With the last cultist defeated they searched the room and found, not after the thief narrowly avoided a poison needle trap, the relic along with some treasure. 

With that they made their way back to the surface with the risk of running out of light sources.

Session III (??/??/??)

I decided to start this session by rolling stats for the characters and make character sheets for them. I used the 1983 D&D Basic Rules and ran the adventure that comes in the Dungeon Masters rulebook. This was a huge step for Mat since we haven't used any sheet or stats for the party. We used just a d20 to roll the attacks and saves, and to roll damage a d4, d6 and d8  for the magic-user, thief, and fighter respectively. He was really excited about it, because the game took a whole new dimension for him.

I ran the adventure almost 'as is'. In the combat with the carrion crawler, the thief got paralyzed and Mat kept asking if he was dead, but I wouldn't tell until the end of the combat. After the thief recovered, the group went to check the entrance to the ruins and found it was guarded by some kobolds, which Mat renamed as 'dog-men'. The kobolds, sorry, dog-men, were defeated without much effort and their bodies looted. He's a quick learner.

The group then went to explore inside the castle ruins. I was glad to see that Mat remembered the light sources drill from previous sessions. While exploring a bedchamber some zombies emerged from the closet and the cleric attempted to turn them but failed. By that time he had to go so we left the battle for next time.

Session IV (20/05/17)

Braaains!

Last weekend we picked up where we left last time, so we just rolled initiative! The group didn't have much trouble getting past the zombies. After the combat Mat asked 'Where's the treasure?'. 'If there's any treasure, you have to find it.' I replied. 'This is not like a tablet or cell phone game where the gold coins are floating on mid-air.You have to search, you have to tell me you search, otherwise I'll assume you do nothing.' I added. He chew on my words for a bit before he decided to search the place where the zombies came from. He was delighted to found some treasure there (I didn't put it there, it was in the adventure).

After that they came to a room full of crates and boxes with a lonely large box in the center. Mat sent the thief to open the large crate, only to be surprised by another zombie! The cleric failed the turn check again, so the fighter closed in to end the threat.

Exploring further they encountered more dog-men (kobolds) and Mat wanted them to follow him. I secretly made a reaction roll (uncertain). 'They look hesitant. What do you do?' I asked him. 'The fighter will put down his sword and shield, and motion them to come closer.' he said. 'The  kobolds look at each other and slowly get near you.' I told him. Being an evil DM, I was planning to surprise the party (hey, the strongest member have put down his weapons!) when Mat said 'I give them some meat!' That did it. 'They eat the meat hungrily. You now have a group of five kobold following you!'. Looking forward to play again!

OSR Encounter Contest - The curse of Vagrot the Blue

Today I sent my submission to the OSR Encounter Contest, 

"Since he settled, some time ago, in the ruins of an abandoned abbey atop a nearby forested hill, Vagrot the Ogre-Mage has extracted a weekly tribute from the village of Galdorum under the threat of razing the place to the ground. "

You can get the PDF here or in the Downloads section.

(Image is Public Domain)