LotFP - Thelian Islands Campaign

On July 27th we had our 3rd LotFP game via G+ hangout.

Having defeated the hobgoblin raiders, we found among them a waterproof scroll case containing a map with all the human trade routes. The hobgoblins certainly had spied in the major human cities. Fearing they might return to get back such precious information, sentries were to be alert throughout the day.

Meanwhile went back to further explore the ruins we discovered last session. Hrok was delighted with his new pet, a perfect man-sized d20, summoned from the Plane of Geometry.

In what once were the bedchambers of the mage that supposedly lived here, we found a chest containing a magic backpack (a Hewards Handy Haversack) and a satchel with more gold and silver old coins than we've seen before (100 g.p. bearing a head in the obverse and a crown in the reverse; 200 s.p. with a hammer and a crown). We came to a collapsed passage and decided to go back to the village, and get some people to clear it. We also talked with Grako, the village elder, and Sleven, the village shaman, about performing a ritual in the sweat lodge to try to foresee what will happen in the near future. It was some crazy stuff about a tree and leaves with bear form scattered by the wind across the oceans, and reaching new lands.

The day after the ritual we returned to the ruins, in which the cave in was already cleared. We discovered a large room with 10 sarcophagi, 4 of them opened (probably the 4 skeletons we encountered here). We opened the others one by one finding: a pair of earrings and necklace, two rings and a circlet, a jewelled dagger, a blue book with symbols, a dagger with winged hilt (it was lost into the night), a suit of chainmail and a sword (screaming man), a scimitar and a poison trap.

On August 10th we gathered for our 4th LotFP game via G+ hangout.

Joe told us he was going to use the sample dungeon (The Tower of Zenopus) on the Holmes Blue Book, which I found really awesome because I never had the chance to play that classic. Sarah suggested we used a shared Google Drawing so we all could see the map. Great idea!

I thought the encounter with the ghouls was our end. Signy got paralyzed, as was the hobgoblin summoned by Hrok, and then Antii, who was trying to sneak attack one ghoul from behind Hrok's large d20, but Hrok moved it ruining his attempt, got paralyzed too! Hrok fled with his dice chased by the remaining ghoul who followed him to the village, where it was hacked to pieces. By the time he went back we were already free. We found a couple of gems and some gold pieces.

We then killed some giant rats (silver pieces and silver dagger), discovered a robed skeleton with its skull crushed (bone scroll case with a scroll of Levitate) , killed 4 skeletons hidden in web covered niches, found a trap door to a collapsed tower (bone wand), a bronze sun dial and a mask we didn't dared to touch and ended in a cave with a fresh water stream and phosphorous fungi. Hrok sent his dice downstream but it failed to return. Giving it up as lost we continued to the NE and found a similar cave. We were about to go back when the dice appeared behind us. Hrok asked it several questions about where it went and seen, but all answers were negative. When asked by Antii  if he had seen anything we were carrying, it answered yes. The dice began rolling to the NW when asked where and we followed.

We entered a big cave with a sandy beach in where there was a strange clarity, even though there was no light coming into it. We could also hear the sea, but couldn't see it. On the beach there were several bodies (we assumed they were pirates), two ruined boats, three wooden chests all rotten and a small wooden box in perfect conditions. The chests contained a huge treasure of silver pieces and gems. The small box had three words carved on it: jolly, dragonship and batten, that when spoken transformed it into a rowboat, a longship and back the box. We got our own ship to get out of the island! An island we always lived in but no one remembered a cave like this. It was then that Signy took everything off and swam out to sea through the cavern wall. It was an illusion! Clever pirates...

After gathering all the treasure, we continued exploring the place and discovered  some hobgoblin skeletons. They were not as old as what we've found so far, so they must know of the place. Then we busted open a door and found a spinning statue. You spin the statue and the door it points automatically opens. Even though he couldn't understand why somebody would do something like that, Antii tinkered with the mechanism enough to understand it.

And with all that the group returned to the village.

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Antii Durniksson

He's my first character for the Lamentations of the Flame Princess RPG campaign (DM: Joethelawyer) that we play every other Friday through G+ hangout..

Antii Durniksson son of Durnik son of Eino, the village brewers, lives in one of the many Thelian islands that dots the Northern Ocean. He is a strong and healthy lad, although not very brave, of the Polar Bear tribe. He participates in the warrior-like activities more due to peer pressure and the fear of losing face, than his own free will. He prefers to keep a low profile and enjoys life outdoors on his own, hunting and foraging. He also likes tinker with things, like simple mechanisms and spring traps. If he has the chance, he'll also attempt to lighten the inebriated patrons of the tavern.

He just wants to leave this boring island and live all the tales his grandfather told him about foreign lands. Although the last events on the island, a hobgoblin raid and the discovery of underground ruins, have brought him some wealth and attracted some attention on his person.

Cha 11 Con 15 Dex 10 Int 9 Str 19 Wis 12

Castle Zagyg - sessions 9&10

Double ration of Castle Zagyg! :)

Session #9 (August 3rd)

The party:

Bobo (flying monkey)
Nipun (human fighter)

Einharr Thorshammer (human cleric)
Kellan (human illusionist)
Kip (human fighter, Kellan's follower)

Gimli of Geoff (dwarven fighter)

The Dragonlance heroes returned weary and wounded from their foray into the castle, after fighting against rats, bandits and undead, and retreating from a gray ooze. Anyway, Flint and Caramon were happy carrying a huge cask of dwarven ale which they generously shared with the party. Raistlin found a treaty about herbs, which Kellan was interested to read. 

After the Dragonlance  heroes left we set to explore a tower flanked by two giant ibis statues. Bobo flew over it and discovered a trapdoor on top. Ropes were secured and thrown down for everyone to climb up.  We entered the tower through the trap door and went all the way down until we found a couple of crypts, each with three sarcophagi. The first three were ghouls and the other were zombies. In the bottom of one of the zombies' sarcophagus Gimli found a secret passage going down. It was a trap! The steps were just an illusion and everyone was sucked down a chute.

We were on an uncharted part of the dungeons, but soon found our way and decided to pay the elves and half-orcs a visit before going up. We bought from them a Potion of Dragon Control, an Elven Chaimail and a Platemail (+1).

When we reached the surface, the surprise was huge, for the tree town and surroundings were under attack by an army of at leas 2000 draconians and human mercenaries led by 6 red dragons! We quickly let the people into the castle and devised a plan to lure the dragons. Kellan created an illusion of a huge treasure hoard in the courtyard. When the dragons came Gimli drank the potion and managed to control 4 of the 6 red dragons. The controlled dragon killed their kin and were ordered to start attacking the draconians. When the draconians attacked the castle Gimli sensed he could also control them, and so they were ordered to attack the dragons. The battle ended with half the dragons dead and most of the army dead or scattered.

After that Einharr left and Gustav the Beligerant came. Also Morgan the barbarian became Gimli's follower. The Dragonlance heroes went on their quest to find a staff that restored the healing powers of cleric in their realm.

The party:

Bobo (flying monkey)
Nipun (human fighter)

Gustav the Beligerant (human fighter)

Kellan (human illusionist)
Kip (human fighter, Kellan's follower)

Gimli of Geoff (dwarven fighter)

Morgan (human barbarian, Gimli's follower)

The new party set to explore another tower manned by bandits. Kellan cast Invisibility 10' radius on the party before reaching the tower. Bobo entered by one of the windows and set alight the bandits' bedrolls creating chaos among them. When one of the three guards on top of the tower came down, Bobo went up and pushed one down to his death and managed to kill another with his sword. He the secured and threw ropes for the rest to climb up. Still invisible the party commanded the bandits to surrender, which they did fearing we were ghosts. They were ordered to leave all valuables, armor and weapons, then take all the food to the recently attacked town and help to rebuilt it. If they failed to do so we will haunt them forever. They quickly obeyed and left, and we continued to explore the tower.

Going down we encountered a pair of orc shamans performing a ritual around a corpse. We took advantage of being invisible to kill one and badly wound another. Interrogated he said the ritual was to regain lost powers, and also that he controlled a dozen of undead that were below. We killed him and instantly heard the undead began to move below. We opened a door and let them came one by one until they were all dead, again.

Below, in the undead room, there was a metal box in the room but it was locked. We searched the room until we found the key under a round rock. It was a catapult missile that had breached the tower long ago. The box contained a book and a pearl, which we knew were cursed when Kellan took them.

Before proceeding below we rolled the rock down the stairs. When we descended we found a trapdoor in the floor with a big rock on top. Not ours, but another. We moved the rock and opened the trap. A shackled skeleton with green flaming eyes appeared. He asked to free him and threw his bones into the river. We just threw both rocks at him but missed, and he grew in size and a trident appeared in his bony hand. We threw flaming oil at him until it became a pile of ashes.

And with that we completed the towers of the second wall. Next time we were going to the towers flanking the Castle Zagyg itself.

---

Session #10 (August 4th)

The party:

Ahab (human fighter)
Einharr Thorshammer (human cleric)
Jerek (half-elven mountebank) played by fellow Greyhawker Joseph Bloch.
Gustav the Beligerant (human fighter)

Kellan (human illusionist)
Kip (human fighter, Kellan's follower)

Gimli of Geoff (dwarven fighter)

Morgan (human barbarian, Gimli's follower)

We entered the tower through the dwarven god chapel where we fought some dwarves and gnomes. We ran into a filthy mad druid who told us mice were his friends. When asked if he minded us looking around he just excused himself and went to his chambers upstairs. When some retching noises came from above most of the group went up after Kellan cats Invisibility 10' radius, except Kellan, Kip, Gimli and Morgan. The druid turned to be a were-rat and giant rats and rats attacked the group. Below, Gimli and Morgan also were attacked by the same kind of creatures after opening a door. Gustav managed to push the were-rat downstairs while Gimli drank a Potion of Animal Control.  He commanded the giants and common rats to attack the were-rat while Kip hacked at it.

The were-rat had two coffers and they were locked. Lacking a thief in the group, Morgan hacked at one of them breaking the lock. Whe he opened it a hidden blade wounded him. The now enraged barbarian, began hacking the other one, only to release a cloud of poisonous gas that weakened everyone in the room. In his hoard the were-rat had a magical spear (+1/+3 vs. lycans), a symbol of Celestian and a rusty platemail.

Going up the tower, we came across a room that had a huge wasps nest. Gimli drank another potion, this time a Potion of Bug Repelling, and the wasps just flew away from him. We hacked the nest apart but found nothing. But, behind a door, hanging from the wall,  there was a bejeweled scabbard with a dagger. The blade had dwarven runes on it, that Gimli read as "Greenflame". When spoken the blade of the magical dagger (+2) became covered with green flames that made 1d6 of extra damage. Gustav claimed the dagger for himself, as did Jerek the mountebank. Dice were rolled and Jerek won the dagger. Having lost the dagger Gustav claimed the magical spear, and so did Gimli. Dice were rolled again, and this time Gustav won the spear.

Continuing up the tower some storage rooms were found and centipedes emerged from the rotten supplies. Since the Potion of Bug Repelling was still working, they retreated from Gimli, but Kellan used his Robe of Scintillating Colors to dazzle the creatures. And so the centipedes were hacked to pieces. Reaching the top of the tower, an angry griffon met the party which returned the attack. In the battle Jerek fell and was saved by Gimli's Potion of Healing (I couldn't let a fellow Greyhawker lose his character!). The creature was dismembered since someone said its various parts were useful for making potions.

Until next session!

Attack of the Frawgs

Wheee! I won Attack of the Frawgs from Thick Skull Adventures (click on the image to get it from RPGnow) in Tenkar's Tavern "Post a 0-Level Occupation for the DCC RPG" contest with this entry.

It was a random prize, but it's very welcome. Thanks to Erik for putting up this original contest, the publishers who donated the prizes and, last but not least, the dices for rolling my number!

Once I have it and read it, I'm going to GM it in a Google+ Hangout.

0-Level Occupation

Here's another entry for Tenkar's Tavern DCC contest.

Occupation: Hairdresser

Trained weapon: Hair sticks (1d2 dmg; exotic weapon)

Trade goods: 1d4 pairs of hair sticks (roll 1d4 for material); hair gel jar

Hair sticks table

1. wood
2. bone
3. metal
4. crystal

0-Level Occupation

Here's my entry for Tenkar's Tavern DCC contest.

Occupation: Pie maker.

Weapon: Wooden rolling pin (as club).

Trade goods: 1d4 pies (roll 1d100 on the Pie table below) & metal pie mold.

Motto: "I don't sell to orcs!"

Pie table

1. Aloo pie 
2. Apple pie
3. Bacon and egg pie 
4. Bakewell tart 
5. Banana Cream Pie 
6. Banoffee pie 
7. Bean pie 
8. Bedfordshire clanger 
9. Bisteeya 
10. Black bun 
11. Blackberry pie 
12. Blueberry pie 
13. Bob Andy pie 
14. Bougatsa 
15. Boysenberry 
16. Bridie 
17. Buko pie 
18. Bundevara 
19. Burek 
20. Butter pie 
21. Caramel tart 
22. Cheese pie 
23. Cherry pie 
24. Chess pie 
25. Chicken and mushroom pie 
26. Chinese pie 
27. Coconut Cream Pie 
28. Cookie Cake Pie 
29. Corned beef pie 
30. Shepherd's pie 
31. Coulibiac 
32. Cumberland pie 
33. Curry pie 
34. Custard tart 
35. Derby pie 
36. Empanada 
37. Fisherman's Pie 
38. Flan 
39. Flapper pie 
40. Fleischkuekle 
41. Fried pie 
42. Gibanica 
43. Homity pie 
44. Hornazo 
45. Jamaican patty 
46. Kalakukko 
47. Karelian pasties 
48. Khachapuri 
49. Knish 
50. Key lime pie 
51. Killie pie 
52. Lemon meringue pie 
53. Manchester tart 
54. Meat pie 
55. Meat and potato pie 
56. Melton Mowbray pork pie 
57. Mince pie 
58. Minui pie 
59. Mississippi mud pie 
60. Natchitoches meat pie 
61. Neapolitan pie 
62. Öçpoçmaq 
63. Pastilla 
64. Peach pie 
65. Pecan pie 
66. Pirozhki 
67. Pizza Pie 
68. Pork pie 
69. Pukka Pies 
70. Pumpkin pie 
71. Pyrih 
72. Quiche 
73. Raspberry pie 
74. Razzleberry 
75. Red velvet cake pie 
76. Rhubarb pie 
77. Salteñas 
78. Sambusac 
79. Scotch pie 
80. Sea-pie 
81. Sfiha 
82. Shepherd's Pie 
83. Shoofly pie 
84. spinach pie 
85. Stargazy pie 
86. Steak and kidney pie 
87. Steak pie 
88. Strawberry pie 
89. Strawberry rhubarb pie 
90. St. Stephen's Day pie 
91. Sugar pie 
92. Sweet potato pie 
93. Tarta de Santiago 
94. Tiropita 
95. Torta caprese 
96. Tourtière 
97. Treacle tart 
98. Vlaai 
99. Woolton pie 
100. Zelnik

Happy Gygax Day!

Just follow the link... :)

http://www.buildwithchrome.com/static/map#pos=1027254x631191&3d=true

Read An RPG Book in Public Week

Unarmed Combat (house rules)

Grappling attacks are made against an opponent using the standard modifiers applicable to melee combat, including attribute and magical bonuses if any. If a grapple attack is successful, the opponent is now considered held. A successful grapple attack automatically results in 1 point of damage (regardless the number of attackers) to the target.

Also multiple opponents may attempt to grapple one opponent. For each additional grappler, add a +1 to attack roll of the main attacker. If the grapple attack is successful, then all grapplers are said to have a hold on the target. Always consider the main attacker the one with the highest level. In the round following a successful grapple, the grappler(s) may attempt to force them prone with a successful attack. The multiple opponents bonus also applies.

A held combatant may attempt to free himself in the next round by rolling a successful attack roll. They suffer a -1 penalty per grappler having a hold. If they are prone, they additionally suffer the normal -4 to the attack. A held combatant may not perform any other combat action or movement than attempt to free himself.

Since size matters in grappling attacks or freeing attempts, you may want to also consider these modifiers:

If an attacker is Small, they have +0 versus other Small, -2 versus Medium, -4 versus Large.
If an attacker is Medium, they have +2 versus Small, +0 versus Medium, -2 versus Large
If an attacker is Large, they have +4 versus Small, +2 versus Medium, +0 versus Large

Remember that any penalty is applied ONCE to a single die roll, and that bonuses are always cumulative.

Finally, I'd like to thank Michael "Chicagowiz" Shorten, whose own house rules were the base for this ones.

LotFP - Theilan Islands Campaign

Last Friday on G+ hangout, we begun JoetheLawyer's Lamentations of the Flame Princess campaign set in a harsh and gritty world.

"You live on an island in the northern ocean. The island is divided in two, with the ocean flowing between the two halves. Most of the island rises from the ocean with no beach. The only sections of the island that actually has a beach is the area where the island is split in half. That gap between islands is perhaps 20-40 feet wide, and is full of jagged rocks. At high tide, the fishing boats are sent out, and at low tide nets are set to trap fish. At high tide again, the fishing boats come back in what whatever haul they were able to land. The island itself is in the far north, between the main island of your clan, and the islands of the hobgoblins. Still, it has some level of protection from long ship raids because no long ship is ever able to navigate the rocks or high cliffs to land. They have to anchor and send in shallow boats at high tide in that narrow strip of land between the islands to even begin to attack you. And there are lookouts to prevent such a thing. Also of note, there are several hot springs on the island. One large one in the village, a common meeting place for villagers after a hard days work, and two others across the island. Other than occasional seals, walrus, and birds of various type, there is no wildlife on the island.
 

Your culture is best described as Viking/Scandinavian in style. Your religious worship is defined by the clan you live in. Your clan is the Clan of the Polar Bear. The other two clans are the Winter Wolf and the Snow Leopard. You fight each other of the typical stuff- wine, women and possessions. Most often though you fight your ancestral enemies, the hobgoblins. Sometimes with other clans, sometimes alone. The hobgoblins occupy the largest island in the area, and always have, since before the time of the old gods betrayal. They are typically stronger, better sailors, and build better ships than your people. Typical ships are long ships.
 

The only other thing your island produces are strong clay pots and jugs. They aren't ornamental or anything, but they are strong due to the rich veins of earth from which such items can be made. The only problem is that the island has to import much wood, as it is small, and mostly deforested. Driftwood is often used. Sometimes you are able to get coal in trade."

The characters (all human) are:

Annar Svearson, a male Fighter played by Frotz.
Signy Bjornsdottr, a female Shaman of the Polar Bear played by Sarah.
Hrok, a male Magic User and "Shitty" his summoned shit monster played by Chris.
Antii Durniksson, a male Specialist played by me.

On the fist session, we finished up the characters and got acquainted with the rules and each other. There was an attack by the hobgoblins to a merchant ship arriving to the village, in which we had the chance to test the combat mechanics. Signy's roar imbued everyone in battle with the spirit of the polar bear, and so, Annar made his name as a fighter by killing several hobs, but Antti almost died in the struggle. Even though both ships were lost, we saved many from the merchant ship, defeated the hobgoblins and captured several, for future sacrifices in the hands of the shaman and magic-user.

Then we explored some ruins that were exposed after an earthquake, in which we found what was left of a magic users's laboratory, bedchambers and library. We encountered some flame-eyed skeletons in what looked like a summoning chamber (lead-covered ). "Shitty" died here so Hrok had to summon another being. I thought this would be the end of our characters, but the dices aligned and he managed to control the creature. We survived the first session.

"The Core" - FLAILSNAILS game on G+

On Tuesday night we ventured into "The Core", a megadungeon set inside a (dormant?) volcano created by +Chris Kusel.

On the first foray it was just Finloss, a half elven fighter/thief level 1/1 (AD&D ), and his henchmen Orion, a 1st level human enchanter (3.5e). Since Chris was using Castle & Crusades plus some D&D/Hackmaster tweaks, it was not a problem the characters were from different editions.

As far as we know, there are two possible entrances to "The Core", a main entrance through a temple and a "backdoor" through a lava chute. We decided to take the last one. This natural chute went down and deep into the mountain, until it became clear it has been worked out. Doors and side corridors appeared. Ignoring a door on the left of the main tunnel, we took a side corridor to the right until we reached a door. Finloss listened and heard voices on the other side. Anticipating trouble Orion casted Mage Armor on himself. Then Finloss yanked the door open and surprised 3 humans playing cards and drinking around a table. Orion casted Sleep and they fell into a deep slumber. They were quickly stripped of armor, weapons and other possessions, then tied and gagged. They are bore a symbol resembling fangs which identified a demonic cult responsible for several attacks and disappearances in the surrounding area. That was enough reason to slain them in their sleep.

A door led to another room which contained the beds and trunks of the guards. We rummaged through their belongings taking any valuable. Another door opened into a more lavishly furnished room. A stand with a book and a padlocked trunk stood out. Finloss easyly opened the lock but suspecting the trunk trapped, opened it carefully and a dart shot from inside, missing him. In the trunk he found a couple of potions, a silver circlet wrappend in cloth, and a pouch of coins. Orion inspected the book which resulted to be a spellbook! We grabbed all these things and before leaving spiked a door that exited the room with a dagger. We took the bundles with armor and weapons from the guards and quickly left the place.

On our way out we encountered some strange red round creatures, two feet wide, several eyes, a pair of appendages they used to crawl, and a maw full of pointy teeth. When they closed to melee Orion casted Burning Hands and they exploded damaging both Finloss and Orion. The pair of adventurers now badly wounded rushed out of the dungeons praying they didn't encounter anyone on their way back to town.

They reached the nearby town safely, and spent several days healing their wounds, and selling and inspecting their loot. The spellbook had wizard spells Sleep, Identify, Tenser Floating Disc, Jump and Magic Missile. The next day he casted Identify on the circlet, which resulted to be a Circlet of Persuasion. The potions were of Cure Light Wounds and Invisibility. After that they were ready for a second incursion.

This time they were joined by a redheaded elven 4th level fighter named Etan. The trio went again into the dungeons through the "backdoor" entrance. They went to the same place they've been on the previous foray. Finloss listened at the door and heard voices. Orion sent his rat under the door but it came back scurrying, so the party left and went back to the main tunnel.

The tunnel widened like a funnel with corridors that opened left and right. They checked the first on the left. It went straight and led to two sets of double doors. Theone on the right were of polished metal with no hinges or handles. The one on the left were wooden and richly carved. These opened into a huge domed amphitheater. We descended the terraces and upon reaching what would be the stage level Finloss found a secret door. He crawled into a tight space and came behind the curtain into a place full of ropes, pulleys and counterweights and two one-way secret doors opened back into the amphitheater.

On the stage there were two doors one on each side. Etan listened at one and heard nothing. Finloss listened at the other and heard some rustles. The party prepared to open it, Etan at the front with shield and sword, Finloss from second rank with his spear and Orion behind ready after casting Mage Armor on himself. Inside of what used to be a dressing room, there were four masked humanoids that slowly advanced towards the door. They all fell under Etan's sword, Finloss's spear and Orion's Magic Missile and Ray of Frost. Nothing of value there, but in the other dressing there were some jewels (ring, earrings and bracelet) to be found, and hidden among the clothes a spear engraved with runes. The group left and decided to inspect the metal doors that, when pushed sideways open easily. The room was also metallic and on one wall there was a triangular indentation.

Back in the main corridor, the party explored the next passage on the left. It led to an octagonal room with a big diamond in the center. Everyone smelled trap and left the diamond alone, but searched the room finding two secret doors. Exploring one of them, they found a corridor that had two doors at the end. One room was empty, but in the other 6 skeletons were guarding 3 teak wood trunks, so combat ensued. The undead were soon but a pile of bones, and the party dragged the trunks full of silver to the main passage.

They were at it when up ahead, a couple of hobgoblins emerged from the wall! They commanded the party to surrender but Etan ignored and tauntingly turned her back on them. The hobs took the bait and charged. Etan turned and fired a couple of arrows at them. On fell on the spot and the other, wounded, turned to flee. Another arrow flew and the creature fell. Upon inspection the group found they were carrying a sealed bag with coins. The seal bore the fangs of the cult. It was then that Finloss came with a plan: impersonate the hobgoblins and take the bag to the guards to catch them off-guard.

So they did, and when the guards opened, Orion casted Sleep on them. This time all fell except one, so Etan fired an arrow at him, hitting, and Finloss charged with his spear, missing. The guard took his mace and attacked Finloss hitting him really hard. Etan interposed between them and attacked the guard, almost killing him. He surrendered, so they bound and gagged him. They then stripped all of weapons, armor and possessions, and killed the sleeping guards. Finloss drank the Potion of Cure Light Wounds, and the group left dragging the trunks behind.

Once in town they delivered the prisoner, a cleric of the cult, to the authorities and claimed the reward. Inspecting all the loot, the bracelet and spear were magic, a Bracelet of Shadows (+2 AC) and a Spear of Pinning.

Must have these books...

...and contribute to the:

My first RPG

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

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

It was AD&D 1e in 1987.

2) How did you get involved in that game?

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

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

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

#myfirstrpg 

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

My ENnies votes go to...

Best Art, Cover: Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Beginner Box (Paizo)

Best Blog: Gnome Stew

Best Game: Hollowpoint (VSCA Publishing)

Best Miniatures Product: Dungeons and Dragons Dragon Collector’s Set (Wizards of the Coast)

Best Podcast: Jennisodes

Best Rules: Hollowpoint (VSCA Publishing)

Best Website: Pathfinder Wiki

Product of the Year: Hollowpoint (VSCA Publishing)

Good luck to all the nominees!

Castle Zagyg - session 8

Session #8 (July 13th)

Joethelawyer's Wondrous Imaginings: Castle Zagyg, Meet Raistlin.: So shit got crazy last night.  A couple sessions ago, one of my players was actually able to buy a ring of three wishes (rolled randomly!), ...

Ultima Forever

From Ars Technica:

"If the eight virtues of Honesty, Compassion, Valor, Justice, Sacrifice, Honor, Spirituality, and Humility mean anything to you, then today's announcement that BioWare is launching a revamped version of Ultima IV probably means something to you as well.

Ultima Forever: Quest for the Avatar promises to be a "lovingly restored" version of the 1985 original that will be free to play on the PC and iPad, with cross-platform support allowing for cooperative play between the two platforms. Players will take over for a fighter or a mage on a quest retold with what the press release calls "trademark BioWare storytelling." We suppose this means a lot of dialogue choices, most of which lead to the same point via a slightly different route.

Development is being handled by BioWare Mythic, the team behind Dark Age of Camelot, but EA's Paul Barnett told Massively the game is not an MMO. He compared the title to single-player and small-group RPGs like Baldur's Gate and Dragon Age, instead. As for monetization, the team plans to primarily sell vanity items like "golden galleons" and "bigger hot air balloons" to make up for giving away the basic game. "We don't keep poking you for cash; we just leave you alone," he said, no doubt to the relief of many.

BioWare is currently taking sign-ups for a pending beta test."

Just when I'm playing at waveinabox.net a campaign set in the Ultima world! :)

Rust - TPK

What follows is Greg Chrstopher's recap as posted in G+:

"[Alex] avoided a TPK last night. [His] character survived by going back to town with a cough. "

"First, they tried to go aggro on the ghouls again. This resulted in Gerardo being shot at point blank range by two guys with shotguns. He survived only by the grace of metal armor. But he was captured, along with Gabriel, and the door was closed again. Gabriel was offered a deal to go south and kill some farmers, if he did that they would release Gerardo after he healed up from his wounds (they treated him).

So they went south, pretended to be nice to the farmers, got a warm meal, and then had a whispered conversation on the porch about killing all the farmers. They didn't realize one of the farmer's kids was under the porch until he tossed a grenade up there.

Ray grabbed the grenade but couldn't throw it in time. He was reduced to a bloody mess with 1 hp. Gabriel opened the door into the house, unloaded a full clip and hit only... 1 dude. For 4 damage, which was stopped by armor. So.... Gabriel took a barrage of fire from 8 people and was critically wounded. Then Jason, sensing he was about to die, threw Ray's broken body over his shoulder and ran to the end of the porch. The chief farmer came around the corner with a shotgun and dropped him, killing Ray with the splash damage.

Then, standing over the two wounded PCs, he said....

"Bobby, go fire up the woodchipper".

And then the session ended.

Well, it ended after I described Gerardo getting a fighter jet that the ghouls had in their base up and running, but he crashed it into the ground. There is an inside joke there, but I have written enough here for now :)"


EDIT:

whoop whoop
whoop whoop
terrain terrain
pull up
pull up
whoop whoop

:)

Castle Zagyg - session 7

Session #7 (July 4th)

And once again David Brawley on his blog wrote it first. :)

The party:

Kellan (human illusionist)
Kip (human fighter, Kellan's follower)

Nick the Pike (human fighter)

Gimli of Geoff (dwarven fighter)

"Returning from the jousting fields of Harflur, Nick the Pike again joined Kellan and Gimli in cleaning out the caves and corridors under Castle Zagyg. Much of the time was spent mapping out areas that had been previously skipped, and most of these areas had recently been cleaned out. The adventurers that the group had chased into the elves’ cave seem to have survived. Finding a back entrance into the elves’ cave Kellan and Gimli checked what the elves had in stock. It turns out it was some fairly impressive items, including one that I don’t even want to mention. According to the elves most of the items had been traded in/sold to the by the other adventurers! The party was in utter shock and disbelief that the other adventurers would sell such a potent item…

After a relatively uneventful day spent mapping out empty corridors, they returned to the castle via the canyon path. The sounds of battle caught their ears as they approached the gate. The goblins standing guard yelled out that adventurers had broken into the castle! Opening the gate the party rushed in to see a gnome illusionist, a human wizard, two plate armored fighters, and a plate armored cleric. Kellan cast Fear, causing one of the fighters to flee, while Nick tossed his Javelin of Lightening, dropping the gnome and injuring the cleric. Kip shot an arrow, hitting the wizard. Gimli poisoned his war hammer.

In return the wizard dropped a massive fireball on the party, killing the goblins and men-at-arms, and seriously injuring the party. The cleric attempted to blind Kellan, but he shrugged darkness off. The remaining fighter positioned himself between the party and his spellcasters. Nick and Gimli charged at the fighter who fended off their blows. Kellan blinded the enemy fighter while Kip slipped around stabbing the wizard.

Again seizing the initiative, the enemy cleric blinded Kellan, and the wizard held Gimli. Kip skewered the wizard, while Kellan conjured a goblin hero to attempt to rally the terrified goblin defenders of the castle. Unfortunately the fact that Kellan was blind caused the phantasmal goblin to alternately float several inches above the ground, or sink knee deep into it. Nick pushed past the blinded fighter, sinking his ax deep into the cleric who dropped his mace and fell to his knees in surrender. The fighter and cleric were stripped, bound, and interrogated.

The captured adventurers told the party that they returned their treasure to the town, hence their lack of gold. It was decided that the blind fighter would be escorted back to the town to get ransom for the cleric and for the removal of the blindness. When after 3 days the fighter did not return, the cleric was executed and given to the remaining goblins."

Rust

Last Tuesday (July 3rd) night we continued playtesting +Greg Chistopher's RUST RPG.

A tiny UAV appeared near the antenna, so Alex and I decided to follow it. It went south across Highway 40 and into some hills. It reached a small valley where it met a robot and it perched to its shoulder, then walked away until they came to what looked like a storage door on the side of a hill. The door opened and the robot entered. As the door came down we ran for it, but Alex fell behind. I entered just as the door closed behind me. Pitch black. Just the sound of the robot walking ahead. I lit a flashlight pointing down.

"What's that light?", says a voice in the dark.

I turned it down and moved to the side following the door. Footsteps approach. The sound of a lever being pulled and the door starts to open. On the outside Alex moves closer to the side of the door pistol ready. Two ghouls (like in Fallout), one with a shotgun and one with a pistol, point their weapons at me.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?", the ghoul with the shotgun asks.

"Nothing, just exploring. I followed the robot", I answer holding my hands up.

"He looks suspicious, let's take it to Ames. Got any gun?", say the other ghoul.

I slowly got my pistol out and throw it outside. BLAM! BLAM BLAM! The ghoul with the shotgun gets shot in the head and drops dead. BLAM! BLAM BLAM! The other ghoul goes down heavily wounded. I pull out my combat knife and put it on his throat.

"Drop your weapon or you are dead!", I say to the wounded ghoul.

The sound of a lever being pulled and the door starts to shut. BLAM! A shot hits near me as I roll outside. The door shuts down.

We've pissed the ghouls. Next time we'll send the guy with the fireman's axe.

Castle Zagyg - Sesisons 5&6 recap

Session #5 (June 22nd)

The party:

Kellan (human illusionist)
Kip (human fighter, Kellan's follower)
Carma (elven fighter/thief?)
Grimclaw (human cleric, Carma's follower)
Celmar(?) (human magic user)
Deerbeer (Celmar's war dog)
Gimli of Geoff (dwarf fighter)

Before continuing exploring the caves below Castle Zagyg, Gimli has to get a new armor, so he ordered a chain mail suit from the pirate city of Freeport. After it arrived, the party went to the see the elven traders to see what other magic items they had. Kellan and Carma bought Gimli a shield (+1) and a ring of protection (+1). Now with the dwarf properly set, the party with a group of goblins went tot clear a bat cave under one of the towers. Before the cleansing we scrapped a couple of buckets of a strange phosphorescent lichen from the walls. A net was set on the entrance to trap any fleeing bats and fire grenades thrown into the cavern ceiling. We didn't want all the guano on the floor to catch fire and explode.

Maybe it was the smoke, the smell of burnt bats or the commotion that attracted an ogre to investigate. As the goblins fled, Carma, Kip and Gimli charged at the ogre while Kellan, Grimclaw and Celmar casted spells at it. The ogre seemed to resist every spell and landed a vicious hit on Kip! Finally we managed to hit the ogre enough to make him flee, only to face an owl bear. While he two beasts fought each other we and our goblin minions threw arrows, spears, javelins and bolts at them. The owl bear killed the ogre and we killed the owl bear.

We then went off to find the ogre's lair. It was one of the many caves in the ravine surrounding the castle. This one was blocked by a heavy portcullis and led to a dungeon that connected to the orc compound we've previously explored. It's good to tie lose ends.

And at the end of the session Gimli reached level 3!

---

Session #6 (June 29th)

The party:

Kellan (human illusionist)
Kip (human fighter, Kellan's follower)
Corkin (human bard)
Gimli of Geoff (dwarf fighter)

Continuing with task of clearing the caves, the party went to get rid of some snakes that were holed up in a nearby cave with a pond. As soon as we entered the cave snakes came out of the walls into the pond and begun swimming towards us. We retreated and poured the content of some alchemical grenades in the water, and set in on fire. The smoke made the snakes come out of the cave but the goblins hacked them down. We took the bodies of the snakes to the goblin shaman who managed to extract 3 doses of venom from them.

We told the goblin shaman about the grey ooze that lurked behind a secret door in his shrine. He didn't know about it, so we invited him to come along with us since we were going to kill it. Last time fire and cold didn't harmed it, so this time we took salt and goblin moonshine. Upon arrival to the place we threw that at it, but it didn't worked. It was then when Corkin took out his wand (some kind of laser gun actually, from another FLAILSNAILS game) and shot at the thing making a hole in it! He shot it again an the ooze melted away.

(At this point Corkin left)

We continued exploring the passage and it ended in a cavern with a pool of water. There were some strange mushrooms and an unconscious rat beside them. We threw the rat into the water and some snails crawled out of the water. A goblin delicatessen since they feasted on them. A sinkhole could be seen at the bottom of it about 40' down. A corridor with some stairs going up was opposite to us across the pool. We sent some goblins across and up the stairs. Soon we heard horrible cries of pain and we hurried to the spot. A couple of goblins we covered in a green slime that was eating them alive. Kellan used his wand of cold on one and Gimli threw a couple of fire grenades to the other, killing both goblins and slime. Up the stairs we found the corpses of some gnolls and following the corridor we came outside to the ravine.

Then we came back to the pool and Kellan casted invisibility to Gimli. Gimli stripped of his armor and dived for the sinkhole. A short underwater tunnel led to another cave with an iron door. He carefully opened it and some stairs going down led to an archway with runes. He closed the door and went back to inform. Soon all the party was in this new cavern. After donning his armor Gimli went exploring ahead and as soon as he reached the archway all the party was teleported to an unknown place!

The party was in a corridor in front of a door. We opened the door and we found... an armory! We took everything we could, the goblins armed themselves to their teeth and we wet exploring. At some point we killed some spiders, found a golden ring, some gnomish whiskey and half a dozen potions. Then Kellan drank a potion of treasure finding and we begun following his directions. We explored for a log time until we found 4 dwarves and 6 gnomes in a chapel to the dwarven god of gold, gems, greed, avarice, cunning and treachery. Gimli was so excited to see his kin that forgot he was invisible and ran to hug the leader. This surprised the dwarves and gnomes who drew their weapons. The spell broke and Gimli apologized for his behavior. The dwarves offered food and drink and asked for news from outside since they lived there and guarded the passage to other parts of the castle. After that Gimli made an offering to the god and on his way back noticed a secret door. It was the door that led to the treasure they were looking for! At that point the atmosphere was thick with distrust so we left.

Only to came the following day with almost two dozen goblins and attacked the dwarves and gnomes. We opened with a volley of fire grenades and javelins before charging into melee. A huge fight followed with several dead goblins, as well as all the gnomes, and all the dwarves except two. Kellan wanted to kill them but Gimli opposed, so we looted the treasure and the bodies, tied up he prisoners and left.

Gimli got a plate mail (+1), a shield (+2) and a war hammer (+2), and also loads of gold and XPs that took him right to level 5!

Rust

Last Tuesday we enjoyed play testing on G+ Hangouts, +Greg Christopher's new post-apocalyptic RPG game called Rust. Character creation was easy (abilities, survival & technical skills, equipment) and we got playing right away. I liked the skill mechanics and combat tactics.

The game was sandbox style: a town on a highway-river crossing, a small map of the surroundings and some rumors. What else do you need? Thanks +Gerardo Tasistro, +Alex Mayo, +Jason Hobbs and +Ray Case for a great time and Greg for putting this game up!

Until next Tuesday.

P.S: And we also used +Tabletop Forge!

Castle Zagyg - Session 3 & 4 recap

Session #3 (May 26th)

Explored a ladder in the gatehouse that went down. after a series of corridors we found four cells, one with an old goblin and another with a half-orc. We hacked at the doors to liberate them and the noise attracted the orc guards. We tried to ambush them but they retreated and came with reinforcements. Sir Digby summoned a Dimetrodon which he couldn't control. Luckily, it went after one group of orcs and we went after the other.

We could hear the sounds of the dino wreaked havoc among the orcs. Meanwhile, somewhere on the orcish compound we reached a dead end with a locked door. Behind it we could hear some grunts. The barbarian kicked the door and two wild boars ruched forward while an orc shaman casted from inside the room. The battle ended with the boars and shaman dead, but also with Sir Digby's bear mount and half-orc new retainer down. Exploring the room we found a secret room with an altar and an idol. The jeweled cup on the altar was to much for Gimli who tried to grab it, only to suffer the effects of a fear spell and leave in panic, running  as fast as his short legs allowed. The party looted the place and went to find the dwarf, which they found at the bottom of a pit with only minor bruises.

We continued exploring the dungeons and found a maze of rooms, all with four doors each. We kept to our left until we heard muffled screams from other rooms of the maze. We hurried until we entered a bigger room. The orc's screams became louder as well as the Dimetrodon's roar, so we spiked the door. The orcs died horribly and blood poured under the door.

---

Session #4 (June 8th)

I was going to write about last session but David Brawley on his blog did it pretty well:

"After introductions were made, the group decided to allow Nick to join them on their next run to pacify the local area. The whole place was honeycombed with caves, in addition to the dungeon proper.

Before heading out, the gnome decided to test some wall of death invention that he intended to bring into the dungeons with him. It exploded, taking out a couple of his goblin assistants. About the same time a group of soldiers and adventurers demanded that the adventurers turn over control of the castle to them. This request was denied - with catapult fire and a summoned wingless wyrm that had a strange spined fin on its back. The soldiers turned tail and ran, but the adventuring party split and headed around toward the back of the castle. The adventurers then suited up, picked about two dozen goblins, and gave chase to the adventurers that headed north around the castle, hiding in the woods off to that side.

The enemy adventurers took refuge in one of the already cleared out caves. Knowing of a secret back entrance, the adventurers sneaked through to the secret door, sending Nick back out with the goblins to create a pincer action. It worked exactly as planned. There was a suit of plate mail that Nick wanted to lay claim to, but the spoils went to Korath.

Departing the caves, the party then took off after the other half of the enemy party. According to the goblin lookouts, they also took refuge in one of the caves. This time however, it wasn’t one that was previously explored. The party sent in the goblins first, charging and screaming... followed immediately by the sound of about two dozen bodies hitting the floor, followed by a voice calling out in welcome.

After some negotiation the party discovered that the elves and their bodyguards are dimension hopping observers of this dungeon. Weird, but ok. They apparently trade in some of the magical items from the dungeon, which Nick’s companions took advantage of. The enemy adventurers that the party was chasing had used one of the gates into the dungeon that was within the lair of the elves. The party opted to finish clearing out the caves around the castle, rather than chase the adventurers around the dungeon.

The first cave contained a kobold lair, which the goblins sacked with relish, especially when the armory was discovered with the far superior equipment to what the goblins carried. Eventually the kobold King Wigglerock was found and his iron crown taken forcibly. There was a discussion about setting up a puppet king, but given the goblins were already under the parties command and the enmity between the goblins and kobolds it was decided that the kobold lair would be cleared. With the judicious use of flaming oil, they were quickly wiped out. In the throne room a secret door was discovered, leading to a large dirty cave, which quickly turned out to be owned by an ogre who swatted goblins like they were bugs. The ogre, in spite of his size and strength, fell to the parties combined power very quickly.

Among the other finds was a goblin prisoner from a splinter tribe. Seeing this as an opportunity to reunite the goblin tribes (and thus increase their own power) the party decided to return to the castle and show the rescued goblin how good his cousins had it. The next morning the party headed out to the caves of the splinter tribe.

Sir. Digby Chicken Caesar and the rescued goblin headed into the cave to begin negotiations. After the wild night the rescued goblin had, it didn’t take long. Clearing all the goblins out of the caves and into the castle took most of the day, but once done the party wasted no time doing a very thorough search. While the goblins had cleared out just about everything (not including their place of worship and shaman’s cave which were left alone) they apparently never discovered 2 secret doors. One opened to reveal a set of stairs guarded by a lumpy slime that seemed to ignore both fire and ice. The party resealed that door. The other door revealed a secret treasury which included much gold and several wondrous items, including an ion stone, a javelin of lightning, and a magical short sword!

Calling it a day, the party returned to the castle to divide the spoils."

Gimli lost his platemail to the grey ooze but won the ioun stone of AC +1!

Castle Zagyg - Sessions 1 & 2 recap

Session #1 (May 11th)

On our way from the pirate town of Freeport to the castle we had an encounter with about half a dozen guards from it. They all bore an insignia consisting of a "C" over two crossed swords (or was the other way around?). Anyway, Arma seemed to have a cursed sword that makes him attack anyone hostile, so into battle we went. The result: all guards killed. We looted some armor and weapons (mostly for the henchmen), coins, a horn (carried by the patrol leader) and all the insignia.

The party continued its route to the castle and before reaching it, we discussed several ways to approach the gatehouse. We agreed that the ones with the badges will pose as a returning patrol and the others would be new recruits. Luckily the barbican gaes opened and there was no need to blow the horn, since nobody remembered how many times were needed.

Once inside the gates shut behind us and a voice asked for 10 g.p. per each one to cross. After paying the toll we crossed the bridge and entered a huge open courtyard with several buildings. The most noticeable was a church-like construction with its main door flanked by two statues. Graham threw a stone at one window breaking the glass. The statues animated and closed on him, breathing fire and wielding tridents. Graham took cover behind his henchmen who died like the good meatshields they were. Graham then retreated and so did the statues.

We later checked a half-ruined house to the North and were attacked by 3 goblins. They threw their spears at us and then surrendered. They were jailors and didn't give us much information. We opened two rooms next to the jail and found ale and weapons. We got the jailors drunk and locked them in their cage.

Then we explored south and found a series of abandoned stalls until we reached one that housed a goblin merchant (pickled rats!). We went back to get the remaining beer and sold it to the merchant. Then explored a ruined tower thick with cobwebs. After burning the cobwebs a couple of spiders dropped on us. Gimli was bit by one and botched his saving throw! Luckily, Arma carried a potion of sweetwater and Gimli was saved. We found a magic ruby in the possessions of a dead body wrapped in a cocoon. After clearing the tower we commisioned a goblin carpenter to repair the door and floors. To pay him we had to buy the beer back from the merchant.

---

Session #2 (May 18th)

I was going to write about last session but Joe theLawyer on his blog did it pretty well:

"The players assaulted the goblins in the gatehouse. They cleared them out in under 10 minutes of game time, in a record-breaking bloody slaughterfest. Then they did something that surprised me---after killing the "king", the one remaining surrendering goblin was appointed to "king" over all the rest of the goblins, by the players at swordpoint, with the players as his advisers.

After a couple of failed intelligence checks, it was made clear to the new king what the role of "advisers" was in relation to the king, after he was shown the bloody corpse of the old king. 

The new king made a grand proclamation of his new status to the remaining goblins, all words being under two syllables, and after promising the goblins booze and most of the former king's prostitutes, he was celebrated as the new king. The small group of humans at the outer gates were scared off, and somehow now the players control, through their goblin king, a chunk of the castle upper works."
 

Since we're going to "[...] make this into a regular campaign for the core group, while allowing any other FLAILSNAILS guys to join in if they want.[...]" there were a couple of changes in the party. With the XPs of this session Arma, the cursed elven fighter/thief, and Graham, the human monkish fighter/magic-user, both reached level 5, so they both left and were replaced by Karma (a level 4 elven fighter/thief) and Digby (a level 4 goblin magic-user). Gimli is now a level 2 fighter and has a morning star +1 that belonged to the goblin king.

Looking forward to the next session! ;)

FLAISNAILS on G+

On Friday 11th I played my first FLAILSNAILS (Free Location And Inclusion Laws Supporting New And Interesting Leisure Situations) game on G+. The game was run by JoeTheLawyer and along with Chris K., Steven G., Darcy W., Chris H., we explored Castle Zagyg!

I brought in my first character ever: Gimli of Geoff, a dwarven fighter from 1e AD&D. It was level 5 by the time he died in the Temple of the Elemental Evil. I had it toned it down to 1st level since it was my first FLAISNAILS game. The rest of the party were:

• Arma, Elven fighter/thief
• Kellan, Human illusionist
• Graham, Human monkish fighter/mage (whatever that is, LOL)
• Flak, Human fighter

I really enjoyed it a lot. Thanks guys!

EDIT: Last Friday we played again and I had a blast! Recaps of both sessions will follow soon.

20 years of Wolfenstein 3D

Today it's been 20 years since this game, a pioneer of the FPS genre, came into our lives. Thanks Id Software for countless of hours of fun!

UPDATE: Play it for free in your browser!

Huge map of NW Middle Earth

You can see this beautiful and highly detailed map of Northwestern Middle Earth here. Be warned, it's realy huge (8000x5389 pixels)!

Gygax heraldry

After posting about Barrowmaze II last Saturday, out of curiosity I went to check the first part of the megadungeon. I ended on artist Stefan Poag's blog where I found a piece of D&D art including the heraldry of the House of Gygax. From the cover of the original Barrowmaze:

I instantly remembered seeing it on the cover of the AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide, but where else?

After searching the web I came across a couple of very interesting posts on the subject by Jeff Rients: The Real Ring of Gaxx? and Gygax arms sighting. Do you know any other place you may find Gygax coat of arms?

Table Top

I've been following the Table Top show, hosted by Wil Wheaton, on YouTube's Geek&Sundry channel since it appeared last April. So far they've played Small World, Settlers of Catan, Zombie Dice, Get Bit! and Tsuro.

Wish I have a FLGS where I can get those and other board games. I  know I could buy them online, but I fear they wouldn't make it through customs. For now I'll just keep enjoying the show...

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.

May the 4th be with you...

Secret documents in a secret room

These news appeared on yesterday's afternoon paper:

Pure luck allowed a construction worker to accidentally find at least 20 boxes containing official Army documents, hidden in a niche (10 ft. deep and 5 ft. wide) down an unused elevator shaft of the Museum of Indigenous and Pre-Columbian Art. The documents that date from the last dictatorship (1973-1985) seem to be only Army personnel records.

As a consequence of these findings it is likely that other areas of the Museum, such as the basement, which is  closed and its doors boarded up, will be searched. Several versions roused saying that the 1973 coup was decided there or that it was used as a prison. Also that a bunker and several secret passages were built under the Museum.

The old building that dates from 1888, was conceived as a medical facility for thermal hydrotherapy but never worked as such. It included a large swimming pool on the ground floor and had a tunnel connecting the Bay of Montevideo from where sea water was extracted for heating. 

That would made some interesting game inspiration. What do you think?

Elder Scrolls goes MMO

Zenimax Media has announced The Elder Scrolls Online to go online in 2013. Read more about it here.

Leonardo Messina

A new "Wave" campaign begins...

[...] set in a hybrid of the Ultima setting during the Age of Darkness (the period of time when Ultima 1 through 3 CRPGs were set.) [...]

So, new campaign, new character right? Wrong...

[...] to start the game, you do not need to chargen, just yet. If you have an idea of what kind of character you want to play, that's OK, but for now, all I need is a description of what your character would look like in the "real" world, not a fantasy world. I know you are giving me the "WTH" look, but I am asking for your indulgence. Imagine what an alter ego of yours might look like that you wish to take to Sosaria... but you are not there yet. Rather, you are in a world much like our own, much in the same year. And please do give him/her a "real world" name. :) [...]

With that said, here's my (not yet) character:

Name: Leonardo Messina 

Age: 20 

Description: Of Italian descent, he's 6'1" tall, slim and lanky, has short wavy black hair and dark grey eyes. 

Studies: He's studying a B.S. (business) and also works in the family business (Liberty Locksmiths). 

Hobbies: He likes running. He was in the high school team of cross country and now also enjoys parkour. 

The others (not yet) characters are:

• Eric Dawson (Alan) is 6'2", Caucasian, 180 lbs, blond hair, blue eyes. He's 21 years old and is finishing up his final year of his Bachelor's degree in Mathematics at the local university. 

• Freddy Mancini (Joseph) is 5'6", with dark skin, greasy black hair pulled back into a pony tail, devious brown eyes, a wicked smile, pot belly from to much pasta. He's 32 years old and wears a cheap suit. 

• Trevor Kraft (Reese) is a mathematics professor at a small local community college. Athletic, he has obviously spent time in the gym. He helps coach his school's track team, being a runner himself. He has the lanky build that most runners do, tall and thin. His Irish heritage is quite apparent in his appearance. He (unfortunately) has the green eyes and ginger hair associated with his ancestral homeland. 

Dungeon! back in October

Wizards of the Coast is bringing back in October this classic board game:

A classic board game of dungeon exploration returns!

Dungeon! is a fast-paced game where you and your friends can decide which way to go in the hunt for bigger and better treasure.

Will you stick to level 1 and clear out the Goblins and Kobolds? Or will you delve deep into level 6 and set your sights on the Purple Worm or the Red Dragon? Along the way, you’ll have to face off against such iconic monsters as the Black Pudding, the Drow, and even the Owlbear!

Featuring simple, straightforward rules that are easy to learn, Dungeon! is perfect for a fantasy game night, or a warm-up before your next epic game of D&D!

Back on the Wave

It's been almost two years since Chicagowiz canceled his Dark Ages campaign on Google Wave. Then came the announcement of the complete Google Wave shutdown and there were no sites that fully support this technology. Dark times indeed.

Now, thanks to the guys from Wave in a Box (WIAB) and Michael's will to see a game using his Ultima RPG material, the old band is back together for some old school gaming.

One Page Dungeon: The Oracle of Pagebrin

Almost on the brink of the deadline (April 30th) and with the invaluable help of my wife (thanks a lot for the great input and edition!) I managed to finally complete my submission for the 2012 edition of the One Page Dungeon Contest. With more than 70 entries so far, I imagine the task for the judges will be a tough one. 

Legends tell about a magical place in a mountain range near the coast that houses the all-powerful Oracle of Pagebrin. Many adventurers have set forth with promises of untold riches and assurances that the oracle does not serve the darkness. Wary adventurers however reflect upon the implied fact that the oracle does not serve the light either...

The Oracle of Pagebrin.

One Page Dungeon Contest 2012

The 1PDC 2012 in on! Submision deadline is April 30.

I submitted to the 2009 and 2010 editions, and hope to find time this year.

Check the official site: http://campaignwiki.org/wiki/DungeonMaps/One_Page_Dungeon_Contest 

Also in Google+: https://plus.google.com/117300415578119692506/posts 

The New Death and others

I must confess I was a bit surprised when I was asked by the author to review this book. 

"The New Death and others" by James Hutchings is an interesting mix of dark fantasy short stories and poems, which I found irreverent, amusing and sarcastic. Every piece has an original point of view, sometimes corny, but always cynical. I really enjoyed it.

I'd give it a 4 out of 5 stars.

Maure Castle game in Google+ Hangout

Last Saturday night, and after a year, we got back together to play some Dungeons & Dragons. Thanks to Google+ Hangout, five players from four different countries (Uruguay, Panama, Mexico and Ireland) gathered around a virtual table. I think we're participating in a revolution on how RPGs are being played.

We also took the opportunity to test the Tabletop Forge app ( http://tabletopforge.com/). Everyone liked the app and we successfully used the dice roller and combat tracker, but had some issues with the battle map and one of the players had some problems with his Internet connection (Telmex: you suck!).

The party continued the exploration of the Chamber of Antiquities (Dragon #124), one of the many levels under the ruins of Maure Castle.

Kentsui Inowe, Human (Mnk14)

Quinath Leafholder, Elf (Ftr4/Wiz8/Sps2)

Kamar, Human (Ftr6/EWM1/Ken7)

Kir'Orist Mithalvarin, Elf (Clr9/Lor6)

Jerry, Human (Rog14)

Last session, a year ago, Inowe almost got killed by a creature they identified as a hordling and the party decided to go to the Free City of Greyhawk. There the group contacted former member Orist (cleric of Boccob) and hired the services of Jerry, a skilled rogue. Denar, a cleric of Heironeous, stayed in the city (the player couldn't join the game). The group returned to the castle and picked up where they left. From there they explored a meeting room with an ornated large wooden table surrounded by a dozen of also ornate wooden chairs that bore an stylized M. An iron door led to another room with five statues of armor-clad warriors surrounding a low pedestal. Atop of the pedestal was a crystal box with a sparkling ring inside. Quinath send an unseen servant to retrieve the box, but when it picked it up the statues animated and destroyed the servant. Inowe threw one of the chairs at the box and knocked it from the pedestal, leaving it out of sight. She then tried to hook it with her kama but to no avail. Seen that Quinath cast invisibility on his homunculus and fly on himself. The homunculus flew close to the ceiling (10' high) until it was above the box. Meanwhile Quinath flew also close to the ceiling until he saw the box. The statues animated and two of them closed on Quinath. One of them jumped and managed to land a blow with his bastard sword. Quinath cast levitate on the box and flew from the room, but not before one of the guardians hit him again. The box levitated to the ceiling and the homunculus pushed it towards the door. The guardians followed Quinath but Orist cast stone shape and made a semi-circular 6' high wall on the door to prevent that.

Jerry the rogue examined the box for traps while Kamar stood in guard in case the guardians decided to follow. Quinath cast Grease on the wall in case the guardians managed to climb across. Orist recognized the ring as a Dragon Eye ring. while at it one guardian managed to climb the wall but fell due to the Grease and was hacked down by Kamar. The same fate met the second guardian. Quinath then flew back into the room and cast Cone of Cold on the remaining three guardians. Two reached the wall and one managed to hit Quinath who cast Wall of Fire on them and retreated. Those two guardians climbed the wall and jumped on Kamar who managed to kill one. Orist cast Harm on the other killing him. The remaining guardian returned to his post by the altar and back to stone.

And with that ended the Hangout. :)