Planescape: Looking Back

I remember when Planescape came out back in 1994, it kind of changed things in D&D.  In some ways this was good, and in others bad.  I recall being a very narrow-minded teen at the time, and my first introduction to anything "Planescape" came in the form of an acquaintance named Joe.  Joe was a power gamer, in the truest sense of the word.  He was min-maxing before there was such a thing.  My group of friends never were really into that aspect of the game.  We always preferred to play characters from the PHB with actual real stats we rolled, with flaws, and who weren't indestructible superheroes.  We liked to focus more on the roleplaying aspect of the game.  As such, we never were big on munchkins entering our sessions.

Enter Joe.  You see, Joe was playing (what else?) a tiefling.  He had been running this tiefling with a few of his friends in the Planescape setting and wanted to enter our campaign.  I had no idea what a tiefling was, and when he told me it was half-demon from the Planescape setting, I immediately put up a mental block for all things involving the setting.  It had, in my opinion at the time, spawned a layer of such cheese that I refused to take it seriously as a campaign world.  Of course, over the years I think the tiefling has developed in the game into something that truly epitomizes what old schoolers hate about the current iterations of the game, going from optional player characters in later editions, to a core race in 4e.

Now, that is not to knock anyone who enjoys playing tieflings.  Truth be told, Joe could have been playing anything and it would have been irritating (especially considering he was toting around a vorpal blade of all things).  My point here being Joe turned me off of the setting years ago because he was a munchkin, and due to my naivety I presumed that if Joe=munchkin playing tiefling from Planescape then Planescape must=cheesy power gamer setting.  Having the chance to look back at it now and review some of the material I've found for it, I hate that I never gave it a shot, because it rocks...a lot.

Sigil, the City of Doors

Sigil, the home base for the setting, is a perfect example of introducing "weird" into a game.  Basically the place at the center of the multiverse, with doors to anywhere in the prime material and outer planes, the possibilities within it are potentially endless.  What really strikes me as amazing is the city's layout.  Shaped in the form of a torus like ring, one can literally look up and see the city wrap around with buildings above them.   The city wards themselves change at randomly making it really impossible to fully ever map.  And of course, there are the doors themselves which lead to pretty much any plane of existence one can think of.  Some being hidden, open, locked, etc.  The possibilities for adventure in Sigil alone seem endless.

I'm not sure if I'll ever get to run Carcosa or not, but if it ends up being a "player dump" into that world, I can definitely see them traveling through Sigil.  So, are there any Planescape gamers out there?  Anyone ever used Sigil or any of the other Planescape elements in their campaigns?

OD&D and AD&D Fonts

I'm not sure how many of you will find this useful, but I did a search on the old D&D fonts, which led me to a thread on enworld with a link to a now defunct geocities page. Thankfully with the help of the way back machine, I was able to view an archived version of the page from 2009, which lists most of the fonts TSR used for OD&D and AD&D and most of their products associated with the brand. I used screengrab to snap up a pic of it, which you can find below. Some of this may be common knowledge, but there's a lot of other useful info there as well, and many variations of these fonts can be found on the web for free (i.e. Quentin Caps on http://dafont.com)

**edit** Thanks to Ohio Metal Militia, this page now has a new home. http://www.hahnlibrary.net/rpgs/tsrfonts.html

Here's the snapshot.

AD&D 2e Clone: For Gold & Glory - First Impressions

The OSR has certainly seen its fair share of retro-clones since Wizards released the OGL, but while OD&D players were enjoying retro hits like Swords & Wizardry, and 1e players were knee deep in OSRIC, we 2nd edition players were sort of lost in the wilderness.

Within the OSR "community" the 2nd edition fans have always been somewhat of the the red-haired step children. Our presence is not wanted on such popular hangouts as Knights & Knaves or the OD&D Forum, at least when it comes to talking 2nd edition anyway. Dragonsfoot has one small board dedicated to us, but considering the rest of that forum, it almost seems like a nanny ushering children away so everyone else can be in peace; "here, you all go play in the corner, you're disturbing the rest of us."

True enough, I'm not sure there is even a demand for a 2nd edition retro-clone considering many of the books are still readily available second-hand for dirt cheap prices. I believe recently I spent no more than $30 on a set of used core rulebooks (all 3), and that was with shipping. In fairness, mechanically speaking, there is little difference in the core rules of 2nd edition and those of 1st. The major differences, aside from dropping classes and races from 1st edition, were the introduction of the proficiency system, which would become the bane of most 1e players looking to move over.

Nonetheless, while there might not be a strong demand for a 2nd edition clone, it would seem that one is coming anyway. Justen Brown of Fey Square is personally working on compiling a 2nd edition clone called For Gold & Glory. His work is almost complete, and a preview edition is up for view on his blog. Presently he is completing the spell index, and working on the monsters for the book, which will be available for free to the community as a PDF download.

Having thumbed through the virtual preview, I must say, I'm impressed so far, both with the presentation and layout, and the succinct simplicity by which Justen conveys the essence of the game. Justen is focusing on just those rules which are "core" to the system, so you won't find options such as the much reviled proficiency system. And we will not see a new skill system to take its place, as I understand it. Justen has said:

"I’m not a game designer and my intention isn’t to change what has been created by professionals with twice as much experience as I."

I admire Justen's patience for taking on a project such as this, and I hope the project turns out to be a success. So far it looks like he's going in the right direction.

Making Zero Level Villains that Can Terrorize the Party

I posted a campaign summary of the first session of my Cormyr campaign a week ago or so. If you read that post, you are probably already somewhat familiar with Lasander Highmoon, the NPC that hired the party to retrieve his supposed "stolen merchant wares" from the Rogues of Tilverton. Highmoon introduced himself to the party as a merchant from Arabel and proprietor of the Red Sun Trading Coster.

Some simple investigating from the party would have revealed much about Highmoon, had they not been so impulsive (or greedy.) For one, Highmoon seemed to know a lot about Tilverton, and more importantly the thieves guild therein. He knew a lot about the intricate sewer network the rogues use to smuggle goods, the black market in the sewers, and he even knew where his goods were being kept and the main access points to get into the place. In other words, he knew a hell of a lot more about this city than any simple merchant from another city should know.

The PC's never bothered to talk to any other locals about Highmoon. They never asked any questions of the man. Some of the locals likely would have pointed out that Highmoon is, in fact, a local of Tilverton. They also never checked into this supposed merchant company he owns. A quick public record search would have revealed there is no merchant company called "Red Sun Trading Coster" in Cormyr.

The PC's were rather curious at the large sum of money they were to receive for retrieving the goods (1,000 gp), but their lust for money overcame their sense of curiosity, and thus they attempted to raid the warehouse that very night, which was a botched effort entirely.

So, who is Lasander Highmoon really? He is a pawn himself, but a smart one. He serves a death cult devoted to the dead god Myrkul, who operates out of the sealed off crypts underneath the city of Tilverton. What exactly is in those crates that were stolen? A piece of an ancient evil artifact called the Crown of Horns, which contains the essence of Myrkul within. I'll go into more detail about this item in a later post.

Highmoon is a zero level NPC, and one whom will likely be a focus of the party's attention when they finally figure out what he's up to (if they do find out anyway.)
As I know they'll meta-game the hell out of this guy once they figure some things out, I imagine they'll likely be terrified to confront him for fear that he is some evil high level cleric capable of obliterating them at lower levels. He, of course, could do no such thing, and were the party to search him out and manage to confront him, they'd slay him rather easily, but they won't do that...not for a while at least because they will dwell in terror of this NPC.

A zero level NPC, with the proper backing and means, can become a true horror in the eyes of your players, and especially when they don't know that he's just a common man. Villains in the campaign are supposed to be crafty and cunning, and they don't have to be of a high level to terrorize your party. With the proper motivation and means, even a common man can be a threat to a group of adventurers.

Got my d30; Also a Random d30 Dungeon Oddity Table

A while back I ordered a first edition MERP boxed set, as I always wanted to play/run it, but never had the opportunity back in the day. After thumbing through the rules again for the first time in many years, I noticed that the game itself calls for a set of twenty-sided d10's. Most of you old schoolers out there are likely familiar with these dice, but I have not seen one anywhere in a number of years. The boxed set I bought second-hand came with 2 standard d20s. I presume the previous owner did not understand the games' use of the proper twenty-sided d10's and just threw in some old d20's he had laying around. An easy mistake to make. And yes, I know that MERP could easily be played by substituting other dice in lieu of the twenty-sided d10's, but call me anal. I wanted the dice the game was supposed to use.

In searching for some twenty-sided d10's I stumbled upon a site familiar to most I'm sure; http://www.gmdice.com/. They had the twenty-sided d10's available for a very low price (something like 25 cents, or maybe 50 cents each). Well, I thought this would be just as good a time as any to throw in some d30's into the order as well, since they had them available for only $1.50 each. I couldn't tell whether I was more excited to finally get myself a d30 or to get the twenty-siders I wanted!

My dice finally arrived in the mail yesterday, and I thought it would only be appropriate to make up a d30 table to celebrate the occasion.

Some folks say that the measure of "evilness" of a DM is how many save vs deaths his player has to make in a campaign, but I disagree. To me, there is nothing more thrilling than throwing out red herrings into a campaign and watching the PC's go crazy over nothing. That's where my table comes in. These are 29 random oddities that may appear in a dungeon, but have little to no impact on the PC's. Of course, you could easily use some of these to spark an adventure hook and make them actually mean something in the dungeon crawl, but if not, just roll occasionally on the table, and watch the players go nuts.

Another thought I had in making the table is the fact that often we know as DM's that dungeons are looted, restocked, looted again, and the process repeats itself, not only by the party in the campaign, but likely by many other adventurers over the years. In many entries in the table, you'll find the results of previous adventuring experiences by other adventuring parties along the way. Some examples include the soot covered hallway, which is the result of a fireball spell from a mage, or the hand hanging out of the wall as a result of a bad teleport attempt. I think these sort of oddities bring a dungeon crawl to life. So, enough rambling by me. Check out the table and enjoy.

d30 Random Dungeon Oddities Table

01. A sudden gust of wind whisks through the hall/room with a noticeablely foul odor
02. A ghostly image of a beautiful maiden passes through the walls and disappears
03. A loud, mad cackling echoes through the hall/room.
04. All torches the party are carrying flicker in and out like a strobe light for 10 seconds
05. Faint whispers echo through the hall/room
06. Shadows of 4 large humanoids appear on the walls approaching the party, but there is nothing there
07. Screams of a young woman can be heard echoing through the dungeon
08. A blue glowing orb appears in front of the party illuminating the hall/room then disappears
09. Small obsidian statue of creature with tentacled head and wings perched on a globe lies on the floor
10. The skeletal remains of an adventurer clinging to a necklace and a note which reads "For Aveyah"
11. Cultish symbol drawn in blood on the wall
12. Ritual dagger on the ground with fresh blood which never seems to dry. Even after the blood is wiped off it will reappear in minutes still wet
13. Uncovered pit trap with the remains of two adventurers imapled on its spikes
14. A group of giant rats scurries in front of the party with one carrying a gold bracelet around its neck
15. A strange fungus growing on the wall. When a PC walks near it one of its spores explodes creating a yellow gas cloud 3x3 feet. Save vs Poison or laugh hysterically for 1d6 rounds
16. A broken torture rack covered in cobwebs with the remains of a humanoid attached
17. A loose flagstone in the floor of which underneath is a small hole containing a music box
18. A messaged carved into the wall which says "Beware he who cannot be seen"
19. The remains of several giant rats scattered about all with their heads removed
20. A decayed human arm sticking out of a wall, the result of a botched teleport spell
21. A goblet with a clear liquid within resting on a table. If the liquid is consumed it makes the PC queasy, but nothing more
22. The skeletal remains of an adventurer impaled against the wall by a spear
23. The sound of a group chanting in an ancient indiscernible language echoes through the halls
24. A basilisk that has been turned to stone, probably from a reflection of his own gaze
25. Soot covers the walls, ceiling, and floor, along with the ashen remains of some humanoids
26. An open wooden chest with a leather-bound tome. If the tome is taken it will vanish and reappear in the chest
27. A broken, blood-stained altar now covered with the holy symbol of a good aligned god
28. A green slime consuming several giant rats. The slime can be easily maneuvered around by the PC's
29. One of the PC's hears a click sound as he steps on a loose flagstone, but nothing happens
30. Reroll twice and combine results

Dagger Keep Dungeon Map

This is kind of random, but I was sitting around with my sketchbook tonight and just whipped this up while I was bored. Thought I'd share with you all. Feel free to use as you like, if you like. I call it Dagger Keep Dungeon. As you can see, it starts with a ruined keep with a secret trap door which leads to the dungeons underneath the keep itself. If you're looking for an easy way to key it up for a quick adventure, I'd suggest using the AD&D/OSRIC Dungeon Creator tool over at Djeryv's Graveyard. The dungeon itself has 14 rooms.

Dreadrock Dungeon: An Introduction

Dreadrock Dungeon is a massive labyrinth of tunnels with various levels situated under, what has come to be called, Dreadrock Mountain.  The dungeon was first discovered merely 3 decades ago by chance by a party of adventurers who were fleeing a band of mercenaries in the valley.  They stumbled upon the sealed entrance, and seeking to flee and hide from their pursuers, they managed to open the passage into, what they would soon discover to be the ruins of an ancient dwarven civilization.  A millenia ago, the dwarven city of Karzamir was one of the largest dwarven civilazations in the realm.  For reasons still undetermined, the city was virtually wiped out, and the tunnels leading into the city were sealed shut.  Eventually as time passed, Karzamir was forgotten and knowledge of its existence faded in the realms.  A few historians and sages knew of the place, but after centuries it became nothing more than a place of myth and legend.

 

After the discovery of the dungeon by The Company of the Black Rose, who spent quite a few years exploring its depths and exploiting the hidden riches within, word began to spread about the newly found ruins.  People of all races, especially dwarves, came to the mountain looking for opportunities of their own.  Eventually the members of The Company of the Black Rose retired from adventuring, now rich beyond measure.  A few went back to their own homelands, while a few stayed behind, erecting a small settlement near the entrance to the dungeon.  Soon, others followed suit settling in the town now known as Dreadrock Bluff, situated along the side of the mountain.  Dreadrock Bluff is now a small town with approximately 10,000 citizens, most of which make their living by catering to the adventurers who flock to explore the riches of Dreadrock.  There are various inns and taverns in the town, most charge exorbitant prices in comparison to other towns, because of the convenience of location to the dungeon.  Various sundry shops, weapon and armor shops, smiths, sages, and temples can be found within Dreadrock Bluff's walls, all willing to help the curious adventurer, for a price of course.

 

Dreadrock Dungeon is not without its dangers of course, and many adventurers who decide to explore its depths never return.  The locals in the area simply call it "The Rock."

 

Note: Dreadrock Dungeon is a site based dungeon which can easily be incorporated into any campaign setting or world.

New Project: Megadungeon - Dreadrock Dungeon

"Woe to ye who delve into the halls of that forsaken place. Abandon your Gods for even they dare not enter The Rock"

I'm officially announcing my new project here; Dreadrock Dungeon. So what exactly will this entail? A large scale megadungeon spanning at least 3 levels which will keep those greedy players of yours adventuring for months and months.

I'm planning on releasing the megadungeons here on the blog divided into quadrants in PDF form complete with room and area descriptions, random encounter tables, treasure, and of course the ever important monsters, tricks, and traps, along with a brief synopsis on each area, its denizens, and possible adventure hooks. Once the project is complete, which I don't anticipate for quite a while, I would like to collect them all together into one POD book possibly through Lulu.

Over the next few weeks I'll be posting entries here and there with tidbits on the design process, the various factions within the dungeon, etc. I have already mapped out the first quadrant, and plan on keying it up and putting it in an easy to review PDF within the next week or so.

This megadungeon will be compatible with most older editions of AD&D, as well as OSRIC and will be released under the terms of the OGL.

Cormyr Campaign: Session 1

As I have mentioned in previous posts, this past Friday I finally got the chance to sit around the table to play some AD&D with my old gaming buddies for the first time in many years.  We ran 2e, but more or less I run a hybrid of 1e and 2e.  The campaign is set in the Forgotten Realms in the northeastern part of Cormyr in a city called Tilverton.  I chose this spot because it sits along the border of the kingdom and for all intents and purposes is still very much a frontier town in an otherwise stable kingdom.

 

Some Realms purists may note I took a bit of liberty with the NPCs and factions here in order to make things more intriguing for my players.  For example, Tilverton is the only major city in Cormyr with a thieve's guild inside its walls.  The Purple Dragons have a garrison 850 men strong (considerably high for most cities and towns in the kingdom) in order to quell raids by the "border raiders" in the Stonelands region adjacent to the city.  The Stonelands themselves are an area rife with goblins, orcs, ogres, and brigands, not to mention the Zhentarim, so a strong military presence is required in order to keep the peace in the region.  As such, the posting here by a Purple Dragon soldier is a very dangerous one compared to most other postings in the kingdom.  So, I decided to add a bit of a twist here with many of the Purple Dragon soldiers, including the garrison commander, being "on the take" from the thieve's guild, aka the Rogues of Tilverton.  The Rogues provide the soldiers with a little extra money on the side to turn a blind eye to their underground actvities, of which there are many.  The logic behind this being, due to the danger of the posting at this garrison, many of the soldiers feel they deserve a little something "extra" to compensate for putting their necks on the line in a region filled with danger and strife.  Of course, when the game begins, the players don't know this.

 

Cast of characters:

 

Sir Bryndan Lowman of White Forks - Human, Fighter, 1st level.  A hedge knight from the nation of Cormyr.  His family squandered away all of his lands and holdings so all he has left is his title.

Kylar - Elf, Ranger, 1st level

Clangar - Dwarf, Fighter/Cleric, 1st level

Maverick - Half-elf, Thief, 1st level

Solaris - Elf, Thief/Mage, 1st level

Myst - Human female, Mage, 1st level

Sylana - Human, female, Bard, 1st level

 

 

Session 1 Summary:

 

The PC's enter the city, and are directed by the Purple Dragon soldiers at the gate that the best inn in town is Grimwald's Revenge in the oldtown section.  The PC's one by one made their way to the inn.  The patrons in the inn don't look to be travelers at all, and seem to be a bit on the shady side.  They PC's pay for their rooms and sit down to enjoy some dinner when one of the men in the inn approaches them each individually asking them if they want to play in a card game with he and two of his friends.  Solaris, Kylar, and Sylana accepted the offer to play, while the others chose not to.  The other PC's who did not play in the card game, received some free ale courtesy of a strange man in the corner of the inn.  The PC's who were not playing, go over to talk to the gentleman kind enough to buy them a drink. 

 

During the game, Sylana, the bard, attempted to cheat using a sleight of hand cantrip, and was caught, which caused quite a ruckus.  The local and his two friends stood up, along with just about everyone else in the inn, expecting a fight.  They put their hands to their daggers, but the bard, who did not win the game despite cheating, managed to talk her way out of a fight.  After the game, each of the party members ended up sitting together with the strange man in the corner of the inn.

 

The man introduced himself as Lasander Highmoon of Arabel, and owner of the Red Sun Trading Coster.  He tells the party that Grimwald's Revenge is not safe, and that they should seek out another inn in town called the Whispering Witch.  He agrees to meet them there after one hour.  One by one, the PCs slowly filter out of Grimwald's met with stares by the locals in the inn.  After a while, they all meet up at the Whispering Witch where Highmoon tells them Grimwald's Revenge is actually a front, and is in truth the headquarters of the Rogues of Tilverton.  The Rogues pay the Purple Dragons working the gates to send any adventurers and mercenaries they see entering the town to the inn.  This allows the Rogues to measure up any threats, and deal with them if need be.

 

Highmoon goes on to tell the party that he was on a journey from Arabel to the Moonseas with his wares when he was met upon the road by brigands who stole his goods.  These brigands were actually members of the Rogues, he later found out, and after some information gathering, he was able to determine that the Rogues had his wares in an abandoned warehouse in the city.  He is willing to pay the party 1,000 gold pieces (Gold Lions) to retrieve his wares from the warehouse.

 

The party, seeing an opportunity to make a good amount of coin, agree to the mission.  Highmoon takes them into the city and shows them the warehouse, which appears to be completely abandoned and boarded up from the outside.  Some of the party members pay attention to the area trying to spot guards or spotters for the Rogues, of which they find none.  Highmoon tells the party there are three ways into the building; the front door, a sewer access route which the Rogues use to transport their stolen goods and sell them in the sewers in the black market, and a small access door on the roof of the structure.

 

After discreetly casing the warehouse, they all go back to the Whispering Witch Inn to formulate a plan.  Solaris, however, stays behind to further case out and investigate the warehouse.  After deciding on a plan (or not deciding as it were), the party came back to the warehouse.  At this point, Maverick, using his infravision, was able to spot a figure on top of the warehouse, but could not make out any details.  This figure was Solaris, who was now on the roof.  Solaris dropped a rope down the side of the warehouse in an alley so the party could ascend to the roof.  Maverick sees the rope, but no one else in the party was able to notice.  Maverick decided not to pass this information onto the party.  Instead, they go to the front door of the warehouse, and attempt to listen in.  They hear nothing, and after a few moments, Maverick rattles the doors gently and whispers.  He does this several times, until finally he hears footsteps inside the warehouse approaching the door.

 

Kylar, standing back with his bow ready, notices a small slot open in the window adjacent to the door, and after a few seconds it closes again.  In the meantime, Solaris, thinking the rest of the party is coming up the rope to back him up, decides to open the access door on the roof.  In doing so, he is unable to avoid the door squeaking, and he opens it to find 5 men sitting around a table in a room below.  Hearing the door open they look up, but are caught off guard.  Solaris casts a sleep spell knocking out 4 of them.  The other, a mage, attempts to cast a sleep spell on Solaris, not realizing he is an elf.  Solaris resists the sleep spell and tumbles into the room.  The mage wins the initiative, and attempts to cast a spook spell on Solaris, which again fails.  Solaris misses his attacks the next round, and the mage turns to run away.  He manages to get away, and Solaris slits the throats of the other 4 men in the room.

 

Meanwhile, down at the front door, Clangar and Bryndan decide to bash the hinges off the door.  Clangar was successful in doing this, bringing the door halfway from the door frame.  He ripped the rest of the door down, and the group entered a long horizontal hallway.  Back inside the warehouse, Solaris is finishing off the last of the 4 he put to sleep when the mage returns, this time with 2 of his friends armed with crossbows.  Solaris attempts an escape up the ladder to the access door, but the men fire shots from their crossbows.  The bolts are laced with poison, and Solaris fails his saving throw, and falls unconscious.

 

After ripping to door down at the front of the warehouse, the rest of the party suddenly hears a bell ringing within the warehouse, and decide to retreat back to the inn.  They arrive back at the inn to find Highmoon, stunned to see them back so soon, and of course, without his wares in tow.  He tells the party that the Rogues will most certainly be moving the stolen goods in the warehouse through the sewers and into the black market after this botched attempt to raid the place.  The party, fearing to traverse the complex network of tunnels in the sewers instead learn from Highmoon that there is an access tunnel from the Stonelands that leads into the sewers underneath the city.  This tunnel is used to transport stolen goods from the black market by the goblins and border raiders in the Stonelands.  Not knowing where this tunnel is, the party decides to go into the Stonelands to find the tunnel and attempt to take back the wares.

 

Meanwhile, after a bit, Solaris wakes up to find himself bound in a chair with 3 men in the room, one standing directly behind him.  One of the men, apparently senior to the other 2, begins to interrogate Solaris.  Solaris attempts to convince them that he was working alone, and was trying to display his worth in an attempt to join the guild, to which the interrogator scoffs.  He knocks Solaris back out and orders him thrown into a cell.

 

Highmoon sneaks the rest of the party out of the city in the back of a cart, and tells them he will meet them in a small village south of Tilverton in one week.  If they fail to bring the wares in one week, the deal is off, and he will have to move on to other options.  That night, the party entered the Stonelands and set up camp.  The next day after essentially walking aimlessly in the Stonelands for half a day, Kylar scouts ahead and discovers a trail with recent wagon tracks leading west away from the direction of the city.  The party decides to follow this trail for a while with Kylar scouting ahead.  After some time, Kylar discovers a goblin ambush party situated near the road ahead and reports this back to the party.  The party engages the band of 6 goblins and defeats them.  Myst managed to put 3 of the goblins to sleep with a color spray spell, and after the battle, Maverick slits the throats of the 3 remaining goblins.  It was here that we ended our first session.

 

Reflections on the first session:

 

I noticed several things the party did wrong, specifically Maverick, which did not make sense to me.  Upon the initial raid on the warehouse, he saw the rope come down, and chose not to investigate or even tell anyone else in the party.  He was simply metagaming because he knew out of character that it was Solaris that dropped the rope.  Why he chose to ignore this, is beyond me.  The next gaffe came on the goblin ambush in the Stonelands, which was really nothing more than a random encounter.  The party knew that goblins used the tunnel access point to get into the sewers, but they had no idea where the tunnel was or how to find it.  One would think it a good idea to capture and question one of the goblins they had managed to put to sleep.  Instead, Maverick chose to slit their throats.  So, now when we pick back up, they will still be roaming around in the Stonelands, which are vast, looking for a tunnel in which they haven't the slightest clue where it might be and is likely hidden from plain view anyway.

 

It was an odd session to say the least.  I was expecting an extreme manner of caution when approaching the warehouse and they all were fairly careful in how they approached the situation.  I touched upon this in my previous post, Why Not 4th Edition, but a major difference in that game and old school DnD is game balance.  In 4th edition, the players know that whatever challenge they face, they have an opportunity to defeat the enemy, succeed in their skill challenges, and effectively "win" the scenario.  In old school DnD, that is not always the case, and most of my players know this because most of them (with the exception of Maverick, Myst, and Solaris) have been playing old school DnD for years.  In old school DnD, you can't simply bust in the front door and expect to win every fight, because you never know what's on the other side of that door.  After breaking the door down, and hearing the warning bells, one of the veteran players immediately yelled out to run.  Knowing when to run is just as important as knowing when to fight in old school DnD.  After the botched raid, they were all commenting on how epic of a fail it was, while I simply reassured them, no, you're still alive.

 

It was still a lot of fun to sit around the table again. The players were really into it, although they obviously had some tactical issues with raiding the warehouse. Most of all I noticed no one really seemed to want to take charge, and make a decision the party could agree with. Still yet, we are planning on playing again next month, so I look forward to playing and updating on their antics.

Gaming Within the Game

So, I'm getting ready to start up a new table top DnD campaign, and while writing up the adventure for the first session I decided to include a scenario in which the players are asked to play a card game by some locals at a tavern.  So, I thought, how could I handle this?  Surely there has to be something that covers this sort of thing somewhere, but after a quick review, I couldn't find anything that really addresses the idea of gaming within the game.  I'm sure there has to be something out there that covers this, but I decided to do what any old school DM would do; make shit up.  So, here's my method of simulating a card game (we'll call it Three-Dragon Ante after the card game by Wizards, which could be used in-game itself):

Three-Dragon Ante:

The pot starts out at an agreeable amount (let's say 5 copper).  The betting starts in a clockwise pattern at the table of players.  Each round the betting passes to the next player in a clockwise direction.  Everyone must either see the bet, or can opt to raise it based on what their characters are "holding."

Each player rolls a d6 and keeps the results hidden from everyone but himself/herself (and the DM).  He sets the d6 over in a hidden spot where it cannot be seen.  Betting goes again, and this process continues 4 times with each result being kept hidden until the end of the 4th round.  At the end of the 4th round, each player reveals their dice (the DM can then verify that a "player" did not cheat since he saw the dice rolls...we'll get to "characters" cheating in a moment though).  The player with the highest number on all 4d6 wins the pot.  A tie results in a split pot.

Now, how do you cheat in this game?  Well, keep in mind this game is approached from the 2e position so we'll take non-weapon proficiencies into account.  Any player may attempt to cheat in this game.  To do so, he must somehow alert the DM that he is attempting to cheat.  If the cheating player has the Gaming proficiency, a successful proficiency check will allow the character to cheat and replace his lowest dice roll in the game with a 6.  Anyone who does not have the Gaming proficiency, may attempt to cheat, by rolling an ability check (whichever the DM finds most appropriate i.e. DEX, INT, WIS, CHARISMA, etc.) at a penalty (also prescribed by the DM).  If the check is not successful, the character was not able to cheat.  This does not mean that he was caught, however.  So, how does one get caught or catch a player cheating?  Anyone with the gaming proficiency may use it once per game to spot cheaters.  A successful proficiency check combined with an unsuccessful cheating attempt will allow the character to catch the unsuccessful cheater in the act.

So, it's a fairly simple process, and the game can move fairly quickly I suppose.  Still have yet to test it out, but I plan on using the formula next Friday at our first session.  If anyone has a method of their own they'd like to share or can point me in the direction of something more useful for handling gaming within the game, it would be much appreciated.

From the Treasury: Mygorum's Portable Librarium

Mygorum the archmage was a rather neurotic and absent-minded wizard. Over the many years of adventuring with The Company of the Blood-Tipped Spear, he accumulated volumes upon volumes of ancient and arcane lore. As the years went by, and his memory began to fade, he found it necessary to have access to his tomes as often, and as readily as possible. Thus, he crafted the device he named Mygorum's Portable Librarium.

The minor artifact is presented as an ornate golden pyramid with bright ruby gems inset along its edges. When placed on the ground, and the proper command word spoken, the mage is transported to an extra-dimensional space within the pyramid statue. Within this space, time stops effectively for 2-12 full turns once per day.

Inside, the librarium is lined with bookshelves along its walls and a small desk and chair at its center. The tomes within contain vast and various spell books, beastiaries, and other such sundries left up to the DM to decide. The mage may make use of this time however he sees fit within the librarium (memorizing spells, researching information on how to destroy a monster, etc.) Once the mage chooses to leave the librarium and return to the prime plane, he returns exactly where he left and time immediately resumes from the point at which he entered the librarium.

The DM Who Knows Nothing

'The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.' - Socrates

The other night, my best friend Chris commented to me in a chat that he was sometimes amazed at how I knew so many things about the game of DnD.  I was curious as to what he meant, so I asked for an example.  He went on to talk about a particular encounter where essentially I had to make a ruling as a DM.  From his perspective, I made this ruling based on some obscure knowledge of the volumes upon volumes of text available to me in rulebooks.  In truth, I simply don't have time to dig up every little particular rule of the game, and most of the time, I simply make rulings on the fly, a trait common to those players and DM's who would usually consider themselves to be of an "old school" mentality, I suppose. 

The first, and most important piece of advice I tell anyone interested in game mastering a RPG, is to realize that you know nothing about the game.  Not only should you realize this, you should embrace this philosophy.  The rule books are there to be a guide first and foremost, but the DM is the final say at the table on any ruling.  That is not to say that a DM should not look through and utilize any of the rules in the DMG or any other supplemental book.  Rather, this philosophy simply means that you don't rely on these books for every little thing that pops up.   They are meant to serve as a guide, not a crutch.

New DM's are often terrified at the notion of sitting at a table, having prepared what they think to be a well planned adventure, only to have a player do something out of the ordinary, requiring a ruling.  I know, because I have been there myself.  Having 3 or 4, or sometimes even more, people staring you down and waiting for you to come up with something can be a lot of pressure.  Immediately, the new DM feels the need to whip out a book to make sure he/she "gets it right."  Resist this urge.  Think about the situation, utilize the stats available, along with the circumstances, and make a ruling.  Because if you pull out that book, and start digging, the rules lawyers at the table are going to expect you to do that every single time something out of the norm pops up.  Unless you just started playing RPG's yesterday, you know that "things out of the norm" are essentially THE norm at the game table.  You have to be prepared to make judgments on the fly, and be willing to make those judgments. 

Yes, having a firm grasp on the DMG will make it a lot easier to make good judgments, but in the end, you are the DM.  As long as you remain impartial to the players and the game, the rulings you make will be fair.  I have never had one of my players question me on a ruling in a game, or somehow perceive that I was "out to get them."  That is not to say that the DM should never be willing to listen to a player on a subject.  If what he/she says makes sense, or seems the best way to handle it, use it to make your ruling.  Remember, as a DM, your first, and most important function, is to create a living and breathing world of adventure for the players to explore.  This is where the DM should focus most of their time, as opposed to learning every little penalty associated with exceeding a certain character's encumbrance by one pound.

As a new DM, once you make the realization that you don't know anything, and don't have to know everything, the game will begin to open up in a variety of ways.  Realize and embrace the fact that you know nothing. 

Tenevar's Traps: The Trapping Mirror

Tenevar the gnome made a name for himself throughout the realms as an innovator of death and dismemberment. His mechanical and magical traps were the envy of kingdoms far and wide. High lords and monarchs called upon his services to design complex and ornate trappings and tricks to ensure that grave robbers and looters would meet a nasty end should they attempt to raid their tombs. The following trap comes from within the tome containing his journals and notes on design.


The Trapping Mirror

When the party enters the room, at the very rear of the chamber they see an ornate and beautifully designed statue holding a mirror at eye level so they may see their reflection as they approach. Once any party members gets within 30 feet of the mirror, and sees his/her reflection, the party member must make a save vs. spells, or disappear into the mirror. The party will have no idea what happened to their friend(s), or where they went. They will simply have vanished. The mirror is a Mirror of Life Trapping. In order to free the party member(s) from the mirror, it must be broken, which can be done by any conventional means. The problem, however, is getting to the mirror. Five feet directly in front of the mirror is an invisible Wall of Force cutting off the party from the mirror, which cannot be penetrated (treat as the wizard spell of the same name). It cannot be dispelled with dispel magic. Only a Disintegrate spell, or a wish can destroy it. It is possible, however, to teleport on the other side of the wall in order to break the mirror. If the mirror is broken, all creatures trapped within are released (some of them could include nasty monsters).

This trap is designed using the AD&D 2e rules, however can easily be incorporated into any RPG system.

Campaign Journal: The Northlands and Beyond Chapter 1

So, I thought I'd start posting my campaign journal entries here, in a brief summary format.  For a more detailed version, you can check out the Obsidian Portal site for our campaign.  Because this game is played via a play-by-post method, there are no real "sessions" as we pretty much play every single day.  Instead, I've divided the entries up by chapters.  They don't really act as chapters of a story, per se, but rather offer a break or change in events, so to speak.  So, here is the abbreviated version.  Again, for those that don't already know, this is an adventure played in AD&D 2e in the Forgotten Realms setting (using 1993 boxed set).  The year is 1368DR.

Cast:

Xilus - Lvl 1 Fighter/Mage/Thief half elf, played by Chris

Davrun - Lvl 1 Paladin, human played by Billy F.

Stanley - Lvl 1 Cleric of Torm, human played by Rouse

Flute - Lvl 1 Bard, half elf, played by Billy C.

Bazhur - Lvl 1 Ranger/Thief, human played by Ron

Tymel - Lvl 1 Cleric of Tyr, human NPC

Xilus, Davrun, Flute, and Stanley arrived at the Hall of Justice in Neverwinter on the morning of Hammer 5th, 1368 to answer a call to arms. Over the past two weeks, 4 merchant caravans had gone missing while traveling south along the High Road near the Neverwinter Wood. The party was commissioned to find the bandits raiding the merchant caravans, rescue any survivors, and bring the brigands to justice in Neverwinter. Tymel Greyhammer, cleric of Tyr, and priest at the Hall of Justice accompanied the party.

They departed on Hammer 6th using a cart disguised as a merchant cart in order to lure out the bandits. That night, after traveling along the High Road the group set up camp. During the night they were attacked by a pack of wolves. 

During the late afternoon of the following day, Hammer 7th, the party came across 3 people standing by a broken cart along the High Road. They claimed to be from Neverwinter and in need of assistance to get back on the road. Xilus noticed that there were no fresh tracks to indicate the cart had been moving. From the back of their own cart, Davrun the young paladin, who was hiding in order to surprise brigands, sensed evil nearby. 

While questioning the 3 humans, the party was ambushed by a group of 5 orcs.  During the fray, Xilus cast a sleep spell on the humans. After the orcs were slain, the 3 humans revealed that they were survivors from a previous caravan raid. The raids were not being conducted by bandits, but rather by orcs. The orcs somehow knew of the party's coming and forced the humans to act as bait for an ambush.

The humans informed the party that the orcs had a camp a half-day's journey into the Neverwinter Wood and that there were other human survivors. They also mentioned that every other night an elf would come into the camp, speak with some of the orcs, and sometimes take a few of the humans. Those that were taken had not been seen again. They also suspected that the elf was behind the ambush.  One of the 3 humans, a woman named Myrtha, revealed that her son was still alive in the orc camp. The other two humans agreed to take some horses and ride back to Neverwinter to report the news.

The party then departed through the forest of the Neverwinter Wood headed for the orc camp with Myrtha in tow. Upon finding a ravine with a tree fallen across in the forest, Xilus went forward to scout the orc camp. As he was scouting the camp he encountered another human, this one armed. He revealed himself to be Bazhur Kahn, a warrior from Calimshan. He informed Xilus that he had been scouting the camp for several days, but could not act to free the captives because he was severely outnumbered. With the party waiting back at the ravine about 100 yards back, Khan and Xilus proceeded to the orc camp.

After stealthily taking two of the orc guardtowers, they signaled the rest of the party to come forward. The ambush didn't go as planned, and a battle ensued. The party managed to kill most of the orcs including a chieftain and a shaman. They also freed the remaining survivors. One of the survivors, a merchant named Dalos Ironwinter, attempted to sneak into the chieftain's tent after being freed, but Xilus spotted him and secretly followed him. After observing Dalos, he realized the man was looking for something extremely important in the chieftain's tent. He revealed himself to Dalos, and after some questioning, discovered that Dalos was commissioned by one of the Neverwinter Nine, a man named Balar, to create a map of the city of Neverwinter, and deliver it to Waterdeep to a contact with the Lord's Alliance.

After creating the map, and disguising his journey as a mere merchant's caravan, he was ambushed by the orcs along the High Road. He told of a mysterious elf who came into the camp every few days. He would take a few human captives with him, but the captives would never return. Dalos was digging through the merchant cargo stored in the chieftain's tent looking for the map of Neverwinter. Unable to find it, Dalos feared it may be in the hands of the elf, or worse yet, on it's way to the Arcane Brotherhood in Luskan, bitter enemies of Neverwinter.

While Xilus questioned Dalos, Davrun spoke with the little boy held captive, Myrtha's son. He told the boy that Myrtha was with the party, and after looking around, discovered she was missing. He went to the outskirts of the camp where he discovered a blood stained trail leading into the darkness of the forest. Putting the pieces together, he reasoned that somehow during the melee, Myrtha was taken. Angered, he wanted to pursue her captor into the wilderness, but the party members convinced him to wait until dawn.

At dawn on Hammer 8th, Davrun and Tymel went searching for Myrtha. The rest of the party prepared to depart with the remaining survivors, and return to Neverwinter. Davrun and Tymel discovered a beaten and bloody Myrtha hanging from a tree with a note attached which read: "I will kill them all if you follow me -e.v." Davrun and Tymel wrapped her body in a blanket, and returned to camp. Her son was horrified with the sight and Davrun attempted to comfort him.

The party agreed to take the survivors to Helm's Hold just south of Neverwinter. They arrived at Helm's Hold on the evening of Hammer 8th. Xilus gave the note to a sage at Helm's Hold who revealed a hidden watermark on the note. The symbol was that of the Eldreth Veluuthra, an organization of elves bent on ridding the world of humans and half-elves.

The party determined they must hunt down the elf, and bring him to justice for his crimes, and also recover the map of the city before falling into the wrong hands. They agree to take Dalos with them as he would be able to identify the authenticity of the map.  The party headed out of Helm's Hold, towards the village of Conyberry, a small, human village, and home of Xilus, on Hammer 9th.

So ends Chapter 1 of our heroes' tale.

My Favorite Dice

The polyhedral dice set is the gamer's talisman. These dice are the way by which we identify ourselves with our characters. They serve as the physical link to the fictitious figments of our unbridled imaginations. For most of us in the hobby, our dice become as integral to the game as we are. We wait to hear the DM utter, "roll to hit" or "give me a saving throw vs spells" so we may pick up that favorite d20, roll it between our palms, and cast it on the table as if it were some sort of ancient rune. We live for those moments, watching intently as that die rolls across the surface of the table to land on that all important number, because we know more than one character's fate has been decided by the roll of a single die.

For nearly two decades I have relied upon a single set of 7 dice, which I call affectionately "the blues" not only for their sky blue color, but also because of the many cases of the blues they have set upon me. Of course, the great times have been better than the bad with these dice.

The Blues

I've lost some along the way as gamers are wont to misplace these things. They've rolled mysteriously under a couch or fridge, only to be found and returned to me much later, either by myself, or one of my friends. These dice have stuck with me as I have stuck with them over the years, and no matter what, they always make their way back to me. Odd as it seems, it's the truth.

I recall several years back, when I had convinced myself I'd probably never play DnD again, and I donated my library of DnD material, I picked up those dice in their little black dice bag. I contemplated tossing them in with the things I was giving away, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Instead, I tucked them neatly away in my desk drawer. Later, when I came back to the game, there they were, waiting patiently for my return.

I have recently ordered a new set of dice, sky blue with white hand-painted numbers, the dice are from Gamescience and should be arriving soon. Still, as balanced and amazing as the gamescience dice may be, I don't think they'll ever replace my "blues."

These may seem the ravings of a mad man, and maybe I am a little strange for having such an attachment to a few dice. If that is the case, then so be it. Certainly I can't be the only gamer out there who has a favorite set of dice he/she has retained over the years. I hope I'm not anyway.

Thursday Links from the OSRsphere

So, this is a new thing I'm going to try on the blog.  Every Thursday, I'll be sharing interesting links from throughout the OSR blogosphere, which I've found throughout the week.  If you have something you'd like me to take a look at to link, just shoot me an email at robertchandler AT gmail DOT com.

Zero XP Adventures - Fateful Finds: The Sword of the Brown Mountain  - The history and properties of a magical blade of orcish design.

Dreams in the Lich House - Winter is Coming...and so is Gamer A.D.D. -  An article on staying focused when there are so many distractions out there in gaming.

Daddy Grognard - An Adventure for Every Monster: Ape and Carnivorous Ape -Continuing on his awesome series in which he designs an adventure based on every monster A-Z in the Monster Manual.

Cyclopeatron - The Fastest Growing Old School RPG Blogs - A list of the blogs in the OSR community which have seen the most growth over the past month or so.  A great way to find some awesome OSR blogs.

A Character for Every Game - [Random Thursday] Potion Containers - Some random tables to help you add a little extra awesomeness to your potions.

Underdark Gazette - OSR News from the Underdark Gazette - Sunday, January 30th, 2011 - Make this a weekly read.  Every Sunday, James posts a comprehensive list of the best of the best from the OSR community from the previous week.

Some good reading to get you through Thursday.  Happy Grognarding.

BHD: One of the Fastest Growing OSR Blogs?

*BHD being my own little abbreviation for Black Hole Diaries

According to a recent post by Cyclopeatron, BHD made the top 5 fastest growing OSR blogs from Dec. 16th to Jan. 31st with a net gain of 36 followers over that time.  This led me to think, is this truly an accurate reflection of a strong growth, or am I merely just lucky in my first month?  My blog is just barely 6 weeks old, and I've been very fortunate to have been stumbled upon by other bloggers in the OSR who linked me early on.  Tim Shorts over at Gothridge Manner linked to my blog when it was still in its infancy.  Recently I got a significant bump in followers thanks to James from Underdark Gazette, who linked my crypts of Azeoul Vhezian dungeon pdf and my map of Numendyr.

I like to think that I write enjoyable and entertaining posts, but I find myself scratching my head at the sudden bump in followers.  I guess people like what I'm posting, which is good.  I have tried, in these first 6 weeks, to "bring something to the table" so to speak in the OSR/gaming community by posting useful things such as the crypts, or my low level magic items, etc.  More of that type of stuff is coming in the future as well, along with my very opinionated rants/posts sprinkled in here or there. 

Still I've found it curious that the blog has gained such an increase so rapidly particularly because of my focus and lean more towards 2nd edition AD&D, a format reviled by many in the OSR community.  In fact, a great many don't even consider 2nd edition to be part of the "OSR" at all, which is fine.  I've often chimed in that I'm not sure where I fall in the old school/new school debate, I just know what I like and what I'm most familiar with, and that is AD&D 2nd edition. 

Regardless, I'd just like to take a moment and thank everyone who has stumbled upon my musings and clicked the little follow icon.  Also, I'd like to thank all those within the OSR community that shared my blog and gave me a chance to grow.  Hopefully I can continue posting interesting entries, and keep the momentum rolling.

The Northlands and Beyond Campaign: Meet the Players

First, let me say that none of my players know about my blog here, although I'm sure they will eventually find out.  I didn't tell them about it intentionally, as I plan to use this blog to discuss and share opinions and tips on game mastering.  As such, game plots about my campaign tend to be revealed here or there, so I thought it best to keep them out of the loop about Black Hole Diaries, at least for now.

As I've mentioned in previous posts, we currently play in a play-by-post game using AD&D 2e rules set in the Forgotten Realms.  Of course, it doesn't beat playing at the table, but considering it's the first time all of us have been able to play DnD together as a group for nearly a decade now, it works out quite well for us.  I detailed how I have made it work for us to be as close a simulation of the table top experience in another post, so go take a look if you haven't already, and you're interested in exploring the play-by-post method.

Since I plan on discussing my adventure quite a bit on this blog, I thought it best to introduce those curious enough to read all this to some of the players in the game.  I've known some of these guys for over 20 years.  We have a great cohesion together, because we've been playing so long.  While that sounds good, and overall I suppose the pros outweigh the cons in that regard, it can be terribly difficult to design a game that can be both surprising and enjoyable because they have seen and done it all.  They know my style as a DM, and I know their styles as players.  Fortunately, they are all very talented gamers.

Here they are.  The cast of the Northlands and Beyond.

Chris - I've known Chris for 26 years.  We have been best friends our entire lives, and truly he is more like a brother to me than just a friend.  Then again, the same can be said about all the guys in the group.  Chris has a very eclectic taste when it comes to DnD.  He doesn't tend to favor any one particular class or race.  He's often careful in how he approaches a situation, taking the time to assess as thoroughly as he can.  He tends to play this way due to past games where he has been tasked with accomplishing something major for the party, and being unable to get it done.  This stems mainly from poor dice rolls rather than bad play on his part.  He is the king of the "fumble."  The joke in our group is never tell him "all you have to do to hit is NOT roll a 1," as this is often the kiss of death.  Truly, he has fumbled more times in critical situations in previous games than I can even recall.  His character in our current game Xilus, a Fighter/Mage/Thief half-elf from the village of Conyberry just south of the Neverwinter Wood.  Yes, a Fighter/Mage/Thief.  I told you he was eclectic.

Ron - Throughout most of our time playing DnD as a group, Ron has always been the primary DM.  His imagination is unreal.  He has crafted brilliant home brew worlds, and some of the most brilliant adventures one could imagine.  He doesn't use modules, preferring to run his own adventures, and honestly, they are better than any module you could pick up.  I say this having experienced some module gaming, and also running characters in his games.  There is no comparison.  Why he isn't working for WotC or some other gaming company is beyond me at this point.  He lives far from us all now, which makes getting together to play at the table impossible, so the play-by-post works perfectly.  In fact, he's created his own system of rules which he's been using to run his own games for over a decade now.  As to his style of play, he tends to put a lot into his characters.  He likes to flesh out a great background for them, and make them a little different from the rest.  The brilliant thing about this is the fact that he can turn the basic race/class combination from the PHB into something unique without having to devote it to kits and the like.  His current character, Bazhur, is a Ranger/Thief from Calimshan.  He's stuck in the northlands by accident pretty much, his ship having crashed ashore there.  He is in search of his wife and child, who were taken by slavers some time ago.  Readers might recall a recent post in which I pointed out how he played a rather remarkable heroic situation for a 1st level character.  Give it a read if you haven't already.

Billy F. - I've known Billy F. for about 17 years.  He and I tend to get pretty crazy when we get together if there's alcohol involved, which we do pretty routinely.  He's a funny guy with a sharp wit.  In DnD, he generally tends to play the warrior type.  I can't recall an instance where he ever played a mage, in fact.  Most of his time has been devoted to playing melee fighters.  He decided to try something new in this game, and play a Paladin.  He chose this, I imagine, because he knows that often in games I run, it becomes nearly impossible to play the Paladin class.  I wouldn't say I am necessarily strict on how I look at the Paladin class, however there are certain benefits derived from the class, and it is one of the few classes in the PHB that must stick to a straight and narrow line in terms of alignment and the like.  I simply hold players to those terms, which in an adventuring party full of different alignments and classes, often results in a challenge.  It's been pretty interesting thus far, because his presence in the party creates a great dynamic in how they work to accomplish certain goals.  Oftentimes, they work behind his back to achieve an end, not because they are doing something evil, but because he simply would not allow it if he knew about it due to the lawful good alignment.  So far, he has done a good job playing the character although I have often questioned if he's really having fun with it, because it is such a departure from what he's typically used to running.  His character, Davrun, is a human Paladin of Ilmater.

Rouse - Rouse was a latecomer to our group about 15 years ago.  He's currently in the military and deployed, so I've been running his character as an NPC for quite some time.  Rouse tends to play the lawful good type in just about every game.  He loves the Paladin class, but I have sort of broken him from this in the past.  We played a one-on-one campaign for about a year in which he played a Paladin that nearly lost his Paladinhood.  He generally tends to play the same way with all his characters.  I can't think of a time that he's ever played anything but a Paladin or Cleric.  In our game, in fact, he's playing a human Cleric of Torm named Stanley.

Billy C. - Billy C. is a large man.  He's a very heavy guy with a heart just as big.  Truly, he's one of the nicest people I've ever had a privilege to know.  His tastes are eclectic as well when it comes to DnD.  He has played everything from the large melee warrior, to a devious female thief.  He enjoys intrigue and shady plots in the background, and working to expose them.  He's also prone to going his own way to look for things when the rest of the party is focused on something else entirely.  Sometimes this is rewarding, and other times this has proven to be disastrous for the party in other games.  One of the most dreaded things to hear at the gaming table is Billy C. saying "I'm opening the door."  He is a good player, however, and his risk/reward style is always something I have to prep for well as a DM.  He is Murphy's Law epitomized at the gaming table.  If you suspect the party is going to do one thing in an encounter, you can pretty much count on Billy C. doing something entirely different.  No matter how much I prepare to plan with him in mind, it never matters though.  He always catches me off guard with his antics.  Currently in our game he's playing a half-elf Bard named Flute.  His main goal being to write tales and sing songs of the party's exploits wherever they go.  Currently, he's recovering from an attack from a doppleganger, which nearly cost his character his life.  Another instance of his inquisitive nature almost getting the best of him, and the party for that matter.  Yet, were it not for his prying, the doppleganger would have likely inflicted even more damage on the party as a whole.

Paul - Paul is currently in the Navy and is deployed at sea.  He also tends to be careful in how he handles situations.  He rarely takes the lead, but often works in the background with his characters to achieve his own ends.  He has a tendency to play the thief in our games.  He enjoys slinking about, hiding in shadows and sneaking up on opponents.  Much like Billy C., he also relishes in intrigue and the like, and he's prone to go against the grain, although not to the extent of Billy C.  He's a good player, and his ideas and input on certain situations have saved the party on more than one occasion.  His current character is a human thief named Rabe Branty.

There you have it; the cast of The Northlands and Beyond campaign.  Now, that I've taken the time to introduce you to them and their characters, some of my posts about the campaign will make more sense.  If you're interested in reading up on the campaign, take a look at our Obsidian Portal page, which we update regularly.  Check out the Adventure Log there as well.  Several of the players are using the Adventure Log to post entries from their own characters' perspectives, and some of them have been very awesome. 

Designing the City Campaign: Part 3

In parts one and two of this series, I focused on brainstorming some basic ideas about my city and some interesting locales the PC's might visit.  I gave two examples in part two, but at minimum you want to have a couple of inns/taverns, an armor/weaponsmith, and a magical sundries shop.  It wouldn't be a bad idea to flesh out how religions are dealt with in your city as well.  Ask yourself, what are the dominant gods of this region?  Do any of them conflict with one another?  Where are the temples devoted to each god located within the city?  Religious motivations can make for excellent adventure hooks within a city, so don't overlook them.

Of course, to bring any city to life you're going to need some interesting NPC's.  Note that you don't really need to spend hours upon hours creating NPCs for your city.  A lot of wasted time and effort can go into making up NPC descriptions for each and every citizen of your metropolis.  Do you really need to spend 20 minutes writing out a long description of Nook the chimney sweep?  No, you don't.  It's a common misconception that in order to be prepared to DM, you have to have a grimoire full of detailed NPCs down to every small minutiae of detail.  That simply isn't true.  Sometimes you are allowed to wing it.  That said, you will want to spend some amount of time focusing on fleshing out the major NPC's of your city, especially the ones your party is likely to run into.

In my example of Crestfall from part two, I have at least 3 important NPC's created simply from spending time developing a couple of locales, and defining some particulars about the city.  We have Magrem, proprietor of Magrem's Marvels and Delights, Esmelra Ravenpeake, owner of The Harpy's Haven Inn/Bordello, and possible leader of the thieve's guild, and a yet to be named, former adventurer who is now the figurehead ruler of the city.  Again, we don't have to spend a lot of time on each major NPC.  Just a few minor details and notes will go a long way for you.  In the examples I will use, all three of these NPCs are adventurers or former adventurers so there will be some notes on their stats included.  Keep in mind, these really won't be necessary when creating 0 level NPC's. 

Here are some basic examples of my brief NPC notes:

Magrem the mage (H male, MU L15, AC: 0, NG, INT 17, WIS 12, HP 35)

Description: Old man with a slight hunch in his back, thin and short graying beard, spectacles.  Often found reading over some ancient text in his shop.  Tends to be absent minded and dishevled, his mind easily wanders off to other topics.  He is a friendly man, but is impatient with those that wish to dig around in his shop especially those who aren't magic users.

Esmelra Ravenpeake (H female, T L18, NE, THAC0 12, AC: -2, DEX 18, CHR 16, HP 54,)

Description: Beautiful woman in middle years with long, black hair past her shoulders and blue eyes.  Very charming and flirty personality with patrons of her establishment, but also shrewd and cunning.  She is the leader of the city's theives' guild, which meets below The Harpy's Haven Inn.  She keeps a Dagger of Life Stealing on her person at all times.

Deardemont Ironhold (H male, F L12, CG, THAC0 9, AC: -3, STR 17, DEX 15, WIS 9, HP 65)

Description: Middle aged man.  Slightly short in stature, with brown hair and goatee speckled with gray.  He is ruler of the city of Crestfall, but only in name, although he isn't wise enough to understand this.  He's rash and prone to ill judgment, but the city coucil keeps him under control.  He spends most of his time focusing on stopping the thieves' guild within the city, however they always manage to lead him along on wild goose chases.  This allows the council to focus on more important matters like running the city.

These are a few examples of how you'd describe the major players in your city.  You'll see there isn't much there.  Just a few notes on what they look like, some key stats, and a bit about their personality.  It's not a bad idea to link them together in certain ways, such as Deardemont always chasing after the thieves' guild, which surely is a major point of frustration for Esmelra.  Certain things you'll want to focus on when fleshing out your NPCs is deciding who is influential in the city, why they have the influence they have, and what possible implications this could have for the PCs.  Once you start developing the NPC's along with the places you've created, things will begin to come together and adventure hooks will begin to reveal themselves.

As another tip, I'd recommend having a handy stock of NPC names available.  Just a small piece of paper in your DM notebook with various insignificant names which you can quickly give to the random NPC's the players are sure to encounter in the city.  If you find yourself stuck on NPC generation, have a look at Kellri's Classic Dungeon Designer Series #4 - Encounters Guide.  On page 26 there you'll find quite a few handy tables which will help you randomly generate traits and descriptions for your NPCs.  I highly recommend the guide in general as it contains a wealth of information any DM could use in his/her game.

In part four, I'll talk about some techniques to go about mapping out your city and keying it with special locations you've created. 

Heroic Moments Create Great Memories

If there's one thing the OSR community, and RPG gamers in general, love to do, it's reminisce about their characters' most heroic efforts.  My friends and I do it as well.  We often speak about some of our greatest moments in DnD with such vigor and enthusiasm that if a listener didn't know any better, they would think we were actually there ourselves, swinging an axe taking down a goblin horde, or locked in a battle of wills with a beholder in his lair.  My friends and I have made many such memories over the years, as most gamers do.  Last night, we made another one.  One that will be told around many campfires for years to come on those chilly autumn nights.

First allow me to set this up a bit.  I promise there won't be too much exposition, but I feel some is necessary to get the full effect of the scenario.  This particular heroic effort occurred in our play by post game.  A 2nd edition AD&D game set in Forgotten Realms.  The party was originally sent out on a mission to find a group of bandits attacking traveling merchants on the High Road between Neverwinter and Waterdeep.  They soon discovered, through a series of incidents and encounters, that these weren't just bandit raids, but rather part of a large, elaborate plot involving the Arcane Brotherhood of Luskan, bitter enemies of Neverwinter, and the Eldreth Veluuthra, an ancient elven organization bent on  the elimination of all humans and half-elves from Toril.

So, the main "villain" in this particular adventure has been a 3rd level elf fighter.  He's not exceptionally well armed, being only 3rd level, of course, but he's been able to outwit and remain a step ahead of the party for essentially the entire adventure up until last night.  The party had managed to track him down to a small village south of the Neverwinter Wood where after much difficulty they finally managed to capture him.  He was to be executed per the law in the village for his crimes (considering the party contains a few lawful good types.)

Well, the elf had concocted an escape scheme with several of the "chaotic" members of the party.  The plan being that he would give them all sorts of information that would guide them to the bigger picture of this whole nasty plot to take down Neverwinter, if they simply released him under the guise of an escape.  The party agreed, however, also consorted behind his back to double cross and kill him after gaining the information they needed.

The elf played on the emotions of one particular character in this group, a thief, who was supposed to be in on the plan to double cross him.  Instead, the thief decided he would actually try to help the elf escape with his life, essentially double crossing his own friends in the process, but in such a way as to make it seem the elf actually did escape.

So, the plan was set into motion.  The ranger stood guard outside the stable where the elf was being held captive, the thief would question the elf in the stable (and subsequently release him), and the fighter/mage would stand outside awaiting the elf to flee where he would pop him with a few arrows.

So, the thief obtained the information from the elf, and cut his bonds.  He then cut his own arm with his dagger, gave the dagger to the elf, and released two horses, slapping them on the rear, causing them to bolt out of the stable.  The elf then ran to the back of the stable and hid in a stack of hay amidst the confusion.  The ranger had to duck out of the way to avoid being trampled while the fighter/mage watched on in disbelief from his vantage point outside.  The thief ran out holding his arm saying the elf had donned his magical cloak, which rendered him invisible (a lie), and was headed to the inn to take out one of his rescued prisoners who was now recuperating.

The fighter/mage fired a few arrows at the horses to ensure the elf wasn't riding on one of their backs while being "invisible."  He then went with the thief to the inn.  The ranger, played by my friend Ron, who also happens to be one of the best DM's I've ever had the privilege to play under through the years, watched the thief and the fighter/mage run into the inn.  He then used his tracking to find a set of tracks leading to the back of the barn.  And so our heroic moment begins.

The ranger, whose name is Bazhur, closed the stable doors, but did not lock them.  He then drew his weapons and stood in the center of the stable and issued a challenge to the still hidden elf.  This is what he wrote:

Bazhur smiles to himself, closing the doors to the stables (if there are any) and drawing his blade and axe.

"Did you know, elf, that in my land even the condemned are shown hospitality? The flesh may commit sins, yes, sadiiq. But the soul will one day return to the world; perhaps even into the body of a loved one, ally, or friend. Because of this, one must show generosity, even to one's enemies. It is why I gave you water, even though my blades were ever more thirsty for your blood."

He stands near the center of the stables.

"You have but to slay me to gain your freedom. I will not call out for the others, elf. If you slay me, you may easily don my cloak and escape unseen from this town. These men will not be able to track you without my aid. Slay your last human this day, and know freedom once more."

After a few moments the elf stepped out of the back of the stables, and approached Bazhur.  The ranger even retrieved the elf's sword, a magical long sword, and gave it to his opponent.  We had some out of character discussion and Ron knew he was greatly outmatched in this combat.  The elf was of a higher level with a magical blade, and was an incredibly cunning warrior.

Despite the fact that he knew as a player he was out matched for a one-on-one combat with no assistance, he stood his ground, because that's what heroes do.  The next few moments will live on in gaming infamy for our group forever.  I had already decided the elf's actions would be to simply use his tumbling ability, making him practically impossible to hit for Bazhur, leap over the ranger, and exit out of the unlocked stable door and flee.

We rolled initiative and Bazhur won the round.  He took his first swing.  20.  Critical hit dealing double damage.  In the first strike of the game, Bazhur hit him for 12 damage (of which the elf only had 17 hit points).  The elf, crippled by the critical hit, was unable to tumble effectively, and because he had chosen to tumble (giving up combat for the round), Bazhur could roll the rest of his attacks.  19.  He dealt 5 damage with his shortsword and the battle was over.  The elf fell to the ground, not having inflicted a single wound to his opponent.

Bazhur then approached the dying elf and asked him where he wanted to be taken to be buried. In his dying breath, the elf muttered "Evermeet," and Bazhur vowed to ensure he would have the proper funeral of an elven warrior.

We were both in shock at how the dice rolls went and sat in amazement at the pure epicness of the encounter.  The elf, who had plagued the party for months of playing time, was taken down in one of the greatest combats I've ever rolled as a DM.  Once the rest of the party figured out what happened, they were in utter disbelief as well. 


Heroic moments create great memories.  Ron put his 1st level ranger against a cunning and more experienced foe in one brilliant display of heroism, and overcame the odds.  That's what true gamers do.  Sometimes you lose, but when you win, it creates memories that can last a lifetime.  In my opinion, this is what makes old school gaming so great.  Or maybe I'm taking a game a little too seriously?   Nahh.