tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21847919371280812302024-03-13T01:13:34.831-05:00Tales from the HarvesterSeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01380008665525765247noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184791937128081230.post-39758639167782092642014-02-28T15:57:00.003-06:002014-02-28T15:57:44.134-06:00My irregular update<span style="color: red;"> We played through Eric's campaign, had fun. I'll let him write about it. Nick's Savage Worlds Deadlands Campaign was fun. My Indian Shaman had to hide his abilities from Eric's religious nut. He wanted to kill anything that wasn't blessed by the Pope. It was more than that, but I'm not going to go too far into it. My guy grunted most of his responses and the few times he spoke, it was either to lie to "the white man" or to give snarky remarks to/towards "the white man". His role in the group was the tracker </span><span style="color: yellow;">(which by the way he royally sucked at it)</span><span style="color: red;"> and his secret goal was to scout "the white man" and kill as many of them as he could. It was extremely rewarding to him when he was allowed or even encouraged to kill "the white man" because of "the white man's law". /smirk</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> Next up was my Rift's (<span style="font-size: xx-small;">TM</span></span><span style="color: red;">) Campaign. First session the group had the choice of a few missions. They of course chose the one with the highest bounty. </span><span style="color: yellow;">(Nick and Eric have their characters listed on a previous </span><a href="http://talesfromtheharvester.blogspot.com/2013/08/last-updated-december-13-2012.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">post</span></a><span style="color: yellow;">, Eric's two boys had a metal alien speedster and Ben Franklin Techno Wizard)</span><span style="color: red;"> The mission was to scout out another town, a day's travel south. The town had already sent three other scouting mission there and nobody had returned, hence the high bounty. Fortunately for the group, the mission was to discover why all communications had ceased and to help restore communications if they were able. Eric's cyborg has a glitch he's mentally unstable, he currently suffers from the delusion that he has spidey sense. The group has an armoured troop carrier that they use to travel in and the radar tracking system started going off. Eric is the only one with the skills to use the radar, but his spidey sense told him that the incoming missile attack wasn't real, so he ignored it. The carrier was ripped in half during the initial attack. The group climbs out and discover that they were being attack by alien slavers know as the Splurgoth. These guy are the ones you just don't wanna mess with. So two of the group get stuck fleeing, while carrying the other two of the group, who got stunned by the Slurgoth slavers. They make it back home with their collective tails between their legs and actually get the bounty! The Splurgoth attacked the town was all they needed to report. </span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> The next highest mission would take the players to an up and coming city near the Texas/Louisiana border. The city had an open bounty on the heads of any clerics or demons of a new cult calling themselves Keepers of the Flame. The group actually ran into two clerics and three demons who were carrying a few new sacrificial captives back to their headquarters. </span><span style="color: yellow;">(Both were going to be NPCs to help out the group but one of them would get changed over to a new character for Eric's daughter)</span><span style="color: red;"> During the fight, Eric's boys got tired and we decided to wrap up and pause the combat till the next gaming session. Eric's daughter wanted to play a fairy character in the campaign, so during the down time I made one for her and placed the character in the cultists cart. </span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> The next session would actually come almost a month late because I got sick. So I go in to Eric's house ready to rumble...... Then my group turned on me. "We hate this game," they whined," we like the campaign, the characters, and the game world, but the combat sucks and it's just a pain in the ass." So </span><span style="color: red;">Rift's (<span style="font-size: xx-small;">TM</span></span><span style="color: red;">) Campaign is dead.</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> They wanted to play an evil campaign, similar to the one I had originally set up for D&D. </span><span style="color: yellow;">(You know, the one I really loved and then <i>somebody</i> had to quit the group, he's back by the way) </span><span style="color: red;">This time they wanted to run an evil Undermountain Campaign, before or maybe during the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_of_Troubles_(Forgotten_Realms)" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">Time of Troubles</span></a><span style="color: red;">. So we spent the evening making new characters, again. Eric made two new characters, a wizard and a cleric. The wizard is leaning towards necromancy and the other is a cleric of Bane. Nick made a wizard also and a fighter. Eric's two boys made an assassin and a thief. </span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> A long time ago, in a small house </span><span style="color: yellow;">(now turned into a used car dealership)</span><span style="color: red;"> far, far away... Was another Undermountain campaign with another group. Eric and I were a part of the that group. I was the DM. Eric remembers that campaign and the original entry into Undermountain. So he asked to have them enter through another location, which I agree. So currently I'm devising another entry. Or possibly use another dungeon as a sub-level. I have a few dungeons that I have saved over the years that Eric isn't familiar with and also I'm working on my own Mega-Dungeon. I haven't decided yet. I had thought to just scramble one up with </span><a href="http://donjon.bin.sh/adnd/dungeon/index.cgi" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">Donjon</span></a><span style="color: red;">. </span><span style="color: yellow;">(to those unfamiliar with this awesome site, PLEASE CLICK THE LINK, this is the site everyone should have bookmarked)</span><span style="color: red;"> I love the Donjon site, it's great for a quick and dirty instant dungeon. But I want their first foray into a mega-dungeon to be inspired, not quick and dirty. </span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> I know I could just throw them into a random location in Undermountain, but I really need some time to fill the place out. If you have ever seen this colossal dungeon, then you will understand. It's a monstrous dungeon with very little area filled in. I know that approx. 60% of a mega-dungeon is empty space but only 10% of Undermountain is filled in. I'd say I'm a good prepared DM. I'd even say I'm fairly good on the fly. But there is no way on God's Green Earth, that I'm even halfway decent with running a mega-dungeon on the fly. </span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> So... Here's the plan. I'm going to use a short dungeon that I randomed with the </span><span style="color: cyan;"><a href="http://www.knights-n-knaves.com/osric/" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">Osric</span></a> </span><span style="color: red;">tables. Another clone but but still a good one, and like the great guys over at </span><span style="color: cyan;"><a href="http://goblinoidgames.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">Goblinoid Games</span></a> </span><span style="color: red;">it's FREE. I'm going to flesh out the details, encounters, traps, and treasures while I fill out some of my mega-dungeon or fill out some more of Undermountain. I'm gonna try filling it out completely randomly by us tables from these amazing sources: Osric </span><span style="color: yellow;">(Link is above)</span><span style="color: red;">; </span><a href="http://www.goodman-games.com/4385preview.html" style="color: cyan;" target="_blank">The Dungeon Alphabet</a><span style="color: red;">; </span><span style="color: cyan;"><a href="http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/107152/The-Hyper-Halflings-Book-of-Lists-Vol1" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">The Hyper Halfling's Book of Lists, Vol. 1</span></a> </span><span style="color: yellow;">(Costs about $4 when I bought it but worth it)</span><span style="color: red;">; and a couple of other fun tables that I have. </span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> We'll see how it goes....</span><br />
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<span style="color: yellow;">Side note, I must say this </span><span style="color: cyan;"><a href="http://www.goodman-games.com/5371preview.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">WHY GOD WHY????</span></a> </span><span style="color: yellow;">and the </span><a href="http://www.goodman-games.com/5371Apreview.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">ALTERNATE COVER</span></a><span style="color: yellow;"> makes me cry everytime I see this and realize it's 4th Edition. /mourn</span>Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01380008665525765247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184791937128081230.post-12030934118348118552013-09-16T06:08:00.004-05:002013-09-16T06:08:58.344-05:00Dungeons & Dragons 30 Day Challenge- Failed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ2wcAXOHJ4zjLJOxcI5KRdobuYyiCvi9hvOyMZwNSpGVKCZviRjUs3FNjuTiHmwXUsdkB38rL3KiwmtauULgHUXHfNPIqG-f2KdsJxGz5QDe9aKz0gaHXIZb0ZTLrryISoJ6XFtaynB8/s200/D&D30DayChallenge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ2wcAXOHJ4zjLJOxcI5KRdobuYyiCvi9hvOyMZwNSpGVKCZviRjUs3FNjuTiHmwXUsdkB38rL3KiwmtauULgHUXHfNPIqG-f2KdsJxGz5QDe9aKz0gaHXIZb0ZTLrryISoJ6XFtaynB8/s200/D&D30DayChallenge.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="color: red;"> Doesn't look like I'm going to get to finish this challenge. This week has been insane around my place and the next few days aren't looking much better. Maybe I can continue the challenge because there are a few topics I'm looking forward to covering but for now, c'est la vie.</span>Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01380008665525765247noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184791937128081230.post-7395963746659416522013-09-11T15:25:00.001-05:002013-09-11T15:25:20.969-05:00Dungeons & Dragons 30 Day Challenge- Day 9<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ2wcAXOHJ4zjLJOxcI5KRdobuYyiCvi9hvOyMZwNSpGVKCZviRjUs3FNjuTiHmwXUsdkB38rL3KiwmtauULgHUXHfNPIqG-f2KdsJxGz5QDe9aKz0gaHXIZb0ZTLrryISoJ6XFtaynB8/s200/D&D30DayChallenge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ2wcAXOHJ4zjLJOxcI5KRdobuYyiCvi9hvOyMZwNSpGVKCZviRjUs3FNjuTiHmwXUsdkB38rL3KiwmtauULgHUXHfNPIqG-f2KdsJxGz5QDe9aKz0gaHXIZb0ZTLrryISoJ6XFtaynB8/s200/D&D30DayChallenge.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="color: red;"> Favorite Character I Haven't Played: My next favorite character. Kidding, I guess my favorite character would be Mongoose Half-Ear, Half-Hand. He was Eric's halfling thief, I know Ganth doesn't have halflings but it used to, Mongoose is the reason </span><span style="color: yellow;">(In the lore that I will include in the future)</span><span style="color: red;"> they are no longer on Ganth. </span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> Mongoose Halfling </span><span style="color: yellow;">(Icran- I Can't Remember A Name)</span><span style="color: red;"> started off as a decent thief in Waterdeep in my Undermountain campaign. If you had the boxed campaign to Undermountain then you might remember seeing a goblin standing over a gold coin in the hallway outside the entry well. </span><span style="color: yellow;">(SPOILER ALERT)</span><span style="color: red;"> The goblin winds up running away upon seeing the players and if someone picks up the gold coin they have to make a save or the coin burns a hole through their hand. The group didn't have a cleric in the party so they left the dungeon and went to a sawbones cleric and he half-assed fixed his hand. </span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> Now with a poorly reconstructed hand and a few minor minuses the group went back in to the dungeon. The group would eventually take the hint and buy healing potions. </span><span style="color: yellow;">(If I remember correctly it was the third trip to the sawbones cleric)</span><span style="color: red;"> Later in the dungeon, and after many, many traps, they arrive to a door deep in the second level. Mongoose puts his ear to the door to listen, but discovers that the door is covered in sovereign glue. The group decides to cut off Mongoose's ear. To add insult to injury the group finds a magical earring further into the level. They, as a joke, let him have it.</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> Little did they know... The earring had a power enchantment on it. The enchantment made everyone within earshot of the wearer believe everything that the wearer says as the absolute truth. So, Mongoose went back to Waterdeep and declared himself as one of the Nine Lords of Waterdeep. The rest is history, or will be if I ever get to finish writing it. </span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> So in conclusion, Mongoose Half-Hand is my favorite c</span><span style="color: red;">haracter I haven't played.</span>Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01380008665525765247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184791937128081230.post-22739669694948563592013-09-10T17:04:00.000-05:002013-09-10T17:04:07.351-05:00Dungeons & Dragons 30 Day Challenge- Day 8<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ2wcAXOHJ4zjLJOxcI5KRdobuYyiCvi9hvOyMZwNSpGVKCZviRjUs3FNjuTiHmwXUsdkB38rL3KiwmtauULgHUXHfNPIqG-f2KdsJxGz5QDe9aKz0gaHXIZb0ZTLrryISoJ6XFtaynB8/s200/D&D30DayChallenge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ2wcAXOHJ4zjLJOxcI5KRdobuYyiCvi9hvOyMZwNSpGVKCZviRjUs3FNjuTiHmwXUsdkB38rL3KiwmtauULgHUXHfNPIqG-f2KdsJxGz5QDe9aKz0gaHXIZb0ZTLrryISoJ6XFtaynB8/s200/D&D30DayChallenge.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="color: red;"> Favorite Character that I've Played: I've had several characters over the years, I know some think I'm going with Jaccob Sorrow but he's <u>one</u> of my favorites, not <u>my</u> favorite. I had a minotaur pirate, dwarven thief, female illusionist </span><span style="color: yellow;">(she was hiding as a man)</span><span style="color: red;">, and even average human fighters. My favorite character of all time would have to be Straahd La`Roc. Deep Gnome war priest of the elemental deity Icran. He started of as a second character, the auto-cleric, never intended as a main character, but after he was created I noticed he was Chaotic Neutral so I decided to play him as half mad. I made insane choices for him, put his hands into a cauldron of true chaos, killed a friendly npc for smelling strange, and even healed one of the enemy npc's because it was 4 of us on 2 of them. After that campaign, Eric used him as an npc leader of a band of mercenaries, Band of the Black Hand. I've even used him a couple of times as an npc when I'm running the game.</span>Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01380008665525765247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184791937128081230.post-16181000869149737002013-09-09T17:26:00.000-05:002013-09-09T17:26:00.893-05:00Dungeons & Dragons 30 Day Challenge- Day 7<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ2wcAXOHJ4zjLJOxcI5KRdobuYyiCvi9hvOyMZwNSpGVKCZviRjUs3FNjuTiHmwXUsdkB38rL3KiwmtauULgHUXHfNPIqG-f2KdsJxGz5QDe9aKz0gaHXIZb0ZTLrryISoJ6XFtaynB8/s200/D&D30DayChallenge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ2wcAXOHJ4zjLJOxcI5KRdobuYyiCvi9hvOyMZwNSpGVKCZviRjUs3FNjuTiHmwXUsdkB38rL3KiwmtauULgHUXHfNPIqG-f2KdsJxGz5QDe9aKz0gaHXIZb0ZTLrryISoJ6XFtaynB8/s200/D&D30DayChallenge.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="color: red;"> Favorite Edition: That's a tough one. Basic is where I started but didn't ever own or DM it. My Thoughts: It was great for opening my eyes, and many others to RPGs, rules are light requiring many, many house rules. Good system to start with.</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> First Edition, or AD&D to the originals, I got my first few books and they were exciting. Lot's of material for spells, campaign worlds, deities, class ideas, new magic items, new monsters, and you can't forget the awesome random dungeon generator. My Thoughts: It was a vast and much needed upgrade to the previous system, probably the best upgrade to the entire system to date. Still suffers from many house rules needed. Great game to start with.</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> Second Edition shouldn't be called second. It honestly should of been more of 1.5 Edition, but let's roll with it. This is where my paychecks disappeared towards. I loved the three ring binder monster manuals. Insane box sets, great campaigns, massive dungeons, the the whole set of the Complete books </span><span style="color: yellow;">(Some were crap but most of them had great material)</span><span style="color: red;">, Non-Combat skills </span><span style="color: yellow;">(Most were crap but some were great and still a good idea)</span><span style="color: red;">, new races, new classes, new monsters, and the list goes on and on. My Thoughts: It was a nice and much needed update to AD&D. Still using plenty of house rules, but most game breakers are covered. Really great system to start with.</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> Third Edition and 3.5 were awesome on the start. New classes, Half-Orc is in, new skills, feats, saves are streamlined, great rules for building... well basically everything from magic items, to empire building, and campaign design. The big down-side was combat relied heavy on miniatures. OGL and D20 system changed the face of RPGs and whether you like it or not, it opened the door to the OSR movement and the massive amount of retro-clones we have today. My Thoughts: It was a major game changer to basically everything we had in the game community. The system had flaws but it was clean and quick from combat, to saves, skills, and character creation. They built a system that with some tweaks could turn into the only system of the future. Amazing system to start with, but if I want mini's I'll play Warhammer 50k.</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> 4th edition and from everything I've heard about 5th, sorry D&D Next, basically seemed too video gaming to me. In my opinion is they had a great system for a basis with 3rd edition but went the wrong direction with the system.</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> So I guess my favorite system would be second edition, it was flawed but had ample info available, third edition would of been my favorite if the system had leaned a little less on game pieces.</span>Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01380008665525765247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184791937128081230.post-25123658425447216122013-09-08T21:08:00.001-05:002013-09-08T21:08:29.779-05:00Dungeons & Dragons 30 Day Challenge- Day 6<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ2wcAXOHJ4zjLJOxcI5KRdobuYyiCvi9hvOyMZwNSpGVKCZviRjUs3FNjuTiHmwXUsdkB38rL3KiwmtauULgHUXHfNPIqG-f2KdsJxGz5QDe9aKz0gaHXIZb0ZTLrryISoJ6XFtaynB8/s200/D&D30DayChallenge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ2wcAXOHJ4zjLJOxcI5KRdobuYyiCvi9hvOyMZwNSpGVKCZviRjUs3FNjuTiHmwXUsdkB38rL3KiwmtauULgHUXHfNPIqG-f2KdsJxGz5QDe9aKz0gaHXIZb0ZTLrryISoJ6XFtaynB8/s200/D&D30DayChallenge.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="color: red;"> Favorite Deity: Ahh hell's yeah! Been waiting on this one. The Harvester of Souls, Death Incarnate, and One Awesome Cleric, </span><span style="color: red;">Jaccob Sorrow</span><span style="color: red;">. I have several favorites, but he's a player that became deified. Ebon Greeneyes is another player deity. Even Pitch the Black, Straahd La'Roc, Mongoose Half-Ear all reached a sort of deity position. But Jaccob is my favorite. </span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> If I had to choose a print deity, then I would honestly say the entire Forgotten Realms pantheon. I like the Greek/Roman feel to deities. Flawed gods are fun because they can slip up, become over-involved, take insane insult from the most minor of comment, and even make human mistakes. I had more planned but got behind on my blogging watching the start of NFL season. So until further ado, cya tomorrow.</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> Side note: I will at some point come back to the Ganth Pantheons.</span>Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01380008665525765247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184791937128081230.post-92164309410681773722013-09-07T13:22:00.003-05:002013-09-07T13:22:45.618-05:00Dungeons & Dragons 30 Day Challenge- Day 5<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ2wcAXOHJ4zjLJOxcI5KRdobuYyiCvi9hvOyMZwNSpGVKCZviRjUs3FNjuTiHmwXUsdkB38rL3KiwmtauULgHUXHfNPIqG-f2KdsJxGz5QDe9aKz0gaHXIZb0ZTLrryISoJ6XFtaynB8/s200/D&D30DayChallenge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ2wcAXOHJ4zjLJOxcI5KRdobuYyiCvi9hvOyMZwNSpGVKCZviRjUs3FNjuTiHmwXUsdkB38rL3KiwmtauULgHUXHfNPIqG-f2KdsJxGz5QDe9aKz0gaHXIZb0ZTLrryISoJ6XFtaynB8/s200/D&D30DayChallenge.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="color: red;">Favorite set of dice/individual die: Honestly This post will be pretty brief. I've had horrible luck keeping dice. Last decade I've just used Eric's. My favorite was a pair of clear green 20's from my high school days but they've been gone for years. I have a set at home that I use when making npc's and playtesting an adventure, I think I might take them tonight to the game.</span><br />
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<span style="color: yellow;"> Nick's starting a Savage World Deadlands campaign. A little spoiler here, I will give a post-game report this week, but I might have to keep my character's abilities secret from Eric's character since he'll want to kill me if he finds out. And I can't wait to see what Eric's boys are gonna make.</span><span style="color: red;"> </span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> So in conclusion, YOUR dice are my favorites.</span>Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01380008665525765247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184791937128081230.post-66230832145915981142013-09-06T06:55:00.002-05:002013-09-06T06:55:13.672-05:00Dungeons & Dragons 30 Day Challenge- Day 4<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ2wcAXOHJ4zjLJOxcI5KRdobuYyiCvi9hvOyMZwNSpGVKCZviRjUs3FNjuTiHmwXUsdkB38rL3KiwmtauULgHUXHfNPIqG-f2KdsJxGz5QDe9aKz0gaHXIZb0ZTLrryISoJ6XFtaynB8/s640/D&D30DayChallenge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ2wcAXOHJ4zjLJOxcI5KRdobuYyiCvi9hvOyMZwNSpGVKCZviRjUs3FNjuTiHmwXUsdkB38rL3KiwmtauULgHUXHfNPIqG-f2KdsJxGz5QDe9aKz0gaHXIZb0ZTLrryISoJ6XFtaynB8/s200/D&D30DayChallenge.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="color: red;"> Favorite Gameworld: Ganth.</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> Favorite gameworld from print materials is fairly easy. </span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> I don't care for Dragonlance, don't get me wrong, plenty of cool and neat tings come from there, but I just don't like the world. </span><br />
<span style="color: red;"> Don't even get me started on Spelljammer, ugh ships in space!</span><span style="color: yellow;">(Sorry Eric, but yuck)</span><span style="color: red;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: red;"> Dark Sun is another that's fun and has good ideas, but still not my cup of tea. </span><br />
<span style="color: red;"> Planescape is awesome, but it's too big for the limited amount of information you receive. </span><br />
<span style="color: red;"> I really like Ravenloft, amazing campaign idea in my opinion, but not enough supporting materials. </span><br />
<span style="color: red;"> Eberron is a great idea and congrats guys on winning your spot in D&D lore, but still not there.</span><br />
<span style="color: red;"> Mystara is fun but not my favorite. Hollow World falls in here too.</span><br />
<span style="color: red;"> Who can't help but like or at least appreciate Greyhawk, but still isn't my favorite. </span><br />
<span style="color: red;"> My favorite would have to be Forgotten Realms, they have Pirates in a huge sea in the middle of the continent, wars everywhere, ancient flying cities that created a massive desert when they fell, Al-Qadim, Maztica, Kara-Tur, The Horde, Underdark, Undermountain, Drow, Waterdeep, Baldur's Gate, well the list goes on and on. What's not to like? A well designed and thought out map, lots of information available, tons of stories and lore, even the gods got reshuffled with a couple of PC's. </span>Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01380008665525765247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184791937128081230.post-86056603784957639432013-09-05T16:57:00.004-05:002013-09-05T17:14:33.930-05:00Dungeons & Dragons 30 Day Challenge- Day 3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ2wcAXOHJ4zjLJOxcI5KRdobuYyiCvi9hvOyMZwNSpGVKCZviRjUs3FNjuTiHmwXUsdkB38rL3KiwmtauULgHUXHfNPIqG-f2KdsJxGz5QDe9aKz0gaHXIZb0ZTLrryISoJ6XFtaynB8/s200/D&D30DayChallenge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ2wcAXOHJ4zjLJOxcI5KRdobuYyiCvi9hvOyMZwNSpGVKCZviRjUs3FNjuTiHmwXUsdkB38rL3KiwmtauULgHUXHfNPIqG-f2KdsJxGz5QDe9aKz0gaHXIZb0ZTLrryISoJ6XFtaynB8/s200/D&D30DayChallenge.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: black; color: red;"> Favorite playable class: 1st edition Bard at 1st level.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: red;"> Not enough? Here's the requirements: </span><span style="color: yellow;">Taken from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bard_(Dungeons_%26_Dragons)#Advanced_Dungeons_.26_Dragons_1st_edition_.281977-1988.29" target="_blank">HERE</a> )</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: red;">To become a bard, a human or half-elf had to begin with very high ability scores: Strength 15+, Wisdom 15+, Dexterity 15+ and Charisma 15+, Intelligence 12+ and Constitution 10+. These daunting requirements made bards one of the rarest character classes. Bards began the game as fighters, and after achieving 5th level (but before reaching 8th level), they had to dual-class as a thief, and after reaching 5th level as a thief (but before reaching 9th level), they had to dual-class again to druid. Once becoming a druid, the character then progressed as a bard.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit;"> Still not enough? Fine. I like most of the classes, thieves are fun, rangers are cool, and even barbarians rock. Some of my favorites are a mage carrying two bandoleers of darts </span><span style="color: yellow; font-family: inherit;">(at higher levels they were wands, and did he ever pay for that oversight during an ambush)</span><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit;">, my 2nd edition bard </span><span style="color: yellow; font-family: inherit;">(no relation)</span><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit;">, and my dwarven fighter. Some classes I hate are psionics and pallys. I love character faults but let me say never make your most charismatic class be your biggest douche.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit;"> But truly, my favorite class would be clerics. I mean come on! With 2nd edition and up they could be total bad asses. <i>Need a healer? </i><b style="font-style: italic;">Cleric!</b><i> Need a tank to stand of front? </i><b style="font-style: italic;">Cleric!</b><i> Need a caster? </i><b style="font-style: italic;"> Cleric!</b><i> No thief? </i><b style="font-style: italic;">Cleric!</b> With the right race/deity combo clerics can game breakers. </span><span style="color: yellow; font-family: inherit;">(Think I'm wrong?)</span><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit;"> Check this out, one of Eric and my favorite characters is a cleric. </span><span style="color: yellow; font-family: inherit;">(So?) </span><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit;">A deep gnome, chaotic neutral, cleric of <b>Icran</b> </span><span style="color: yellow; font-family: inherit;">(I can't remember a name)</span><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit;"> he was a deity of earth and elementals, most of his spells were earth/elemental based and was completely unencumbered by any weapons or armor he wore if they were made of metal. Oh he could also summon earth elementals. But he was insane as well. And who didn't ever make the generic dwarven cleric of a war deity? Even clerics of thief deities could stand in as an emergency thief. And don't forget the clerics of magic deities, some got more spells than mages and could still wear armor. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: inherit;"> As for game breakers just think of it this way, Dragonlance couldn't even handle them for a long time, so they took the gods away. Even Forgotten Realms did it during the gods banished to Faerun and magic going wild. Why? Because clerics will Pump </span><span style="color: yellow; font-family: inherit;">(handclap)</span><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit;"> You Up! </span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.muscleandfitness.com/sites/muscleandfitness.com/files/styles/650x360_rotator/public/pump_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="http://www.muscleandfitness.com/sites/muscleandfitness.com/files/styles/650x360_rotator/public/pump_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: inherit;"> And don't think I'll forget about the baddest cleric of all time.....Jaccob Sorrow. So to sum up, my favorite class would have to be Clerics. <b><i>FTW!</i></b></span></div>
Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01380008665525765247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184791937128081230.post-26029123696848429732013-09-04T07:59:00.002-05:002013-09-04T07:59:52.018-05:00Dungeons & Dragons 30 Day Challenge- Day 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ2wcAXOHJ4zjLJOxcI5KRdobuYyiCvi9hvOyMZwNSpGVKCZviRjUs3FNjuTiHmwXUsdkB38rL3KiwmtauULgHUXHfNPIqG-f2KdsJxGz5QDe9aKz0gaHXIZb0ZTLrryISoJ6XFtaynB8/s200/D&D30DayChallenge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ2wcAXOHJ4zjLJOxcI5KRdobuYyiCvi9hvOyMZwNSpGVKCZviRjUs3FNjuTiHmwXUsdkB38rL3KiwmtauULgHUXHfNPIqG-f2KdsJxGz5QDe9aKz0gaHXIZb0ZTLrryISoJ6XFtaynB8/s200/D&D30DayChallenge.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="color: red;"> Favorite playable race: That's a tough one. I have played several races, all of the core ones of course, my top non-standard races are Dark Elf, Deep Gnome, Tiefling, Muls, and Blood Sea Minotaurs. </span><span style="color: yellow;">(Come on, who doesn't like Kaz the minotaur, he stole the show from Huma, in my opinion)</span><span style="color: red;"> </span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> But honestly, most of my memorable characters and even the majority of characters are Human. My main character in every MMO is the Harvester of Souls, Jaccob Sorrow, who is Human. Which I stole from Eric. So I guess my favorite playable race would have to be Human.</span>Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01380008665525765247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184791937128081230.post-12566431995058912512013-09-03T08:12:00.000-05:002013-09-03T08:12:01.759-05:00Dungeons & Dragons 30 Day Challenge- Day 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ2wcAXOHJ4zjLJOxcI5KRdobuYyiCvi9hvOyMZwNSpGVKCZviRjUs3FNjuTiHmwXUsdkB38rL3KiwmtauULgHUXHfNPIqG-f2KdsJxGz5QDe9aKz0gaHXIZb0ZTLrryISoJ6XFtaynB8/s1600/D&D30DayChallenge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ2wcAXOHJ4zjLJOxcI5KRdobuYyiCvi9hvOyMZwNSpGVKCZviRjUs3FNjuTiHmwXUsdkB38rL3KiwmtauULgHUXHfNPIqG-f2KdsJxGz5QDe9aKz0gaHXIZb0ZTLrryISoJ6XFtaynB8/s200/D&D30DayChallenge.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="color: red;"> How I got started: A guy named Eddie.</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> There's more to it than that. I was in Mrs. Smith's third grade class. Her classroom had a </span><span style="color: cyan;"><a href="http://pc-museum.com/gallery/rcm-001.jpg" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">brand new IBM personal computer</span></a> </span><span style="color: red;">and we could stay inside and use it during recess and lunch. Since her classroom was the furthest from the playground, our class was last to recess and last to return to class. All the swings and kickball were already taken by the time our class got outside and when the recess bell rang we all lined up in our class and then walked single-file to the classroom behind all the other classes. I didn't start skipping recess for D&D or computers, I stayed because I hated having to just walk around the fence. </span><span style="color: yellow;">(that was the only thing to do when all the equipment was taken)</span><span style="color: red;"> Originally, I started playing on the computer with a friend of mine, Steven. He was a huge Star Wars fan, this guy had the Death Star, AT-AT, Millennium Falcon, TIE Fighter and 2 X-Wings. </span><span style="color: yellow;">(I know the list because I spent all of the 5th and 6th grade saving my allowance buying all of them, except the Death Star because his brother blew it up with M80's)</span><span style="color: red;"> I was a huge G.I. Joe fan. </span><span style="color: yellow;">(I will not go into my list, because if I did I would cry, thanks to a house fire when I was 18)</span><span style="color: red;"> </span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> After a month or so, Eddie started playing on the computer too. He started talking about playing Tunnels and Trolls, he told us it was like D&D. His cousin was the Game Master for T&T. I was already curious about D&D since I had started reading the choose your own adventure books earlier that year. He told us that he did have the D&D game if we were interested, his cousin gave it to him after the Irving Pulling suicide. </span><span style="color: yellow;">(Just look up either his mom's name Patricia or BADD Bothered About Dungeons and Dragons, I refuse to do any direct links about that poor misguided woman, she did what she thought was right but IMHO she put a stigma on this game that still lingers 30 years later)</span><span style="color: red;"> We said yeah bring it. He brought in the red box, and the rest is history. </span><br />
<a href="http://www.stupidranger.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/redbox.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.stupidranger.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/redbox.jpg" width="149" /></a><span style="color: red;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="color: yellow;">PS. I would also like to say CONGRATULATIONS to Diana Nyad and her record breaking swim, I have watched this remarkable lady try and fail most of my life. After nearly 40 years she turned her dream into reality. You are a real champion, I tip my hat to you, Ma'am. </span>Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01380008665525765247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184791937128081230.post-30314589307261432662013-08-30T14:13:00.000-05:002013-08-30T14:13:37.104-05:00Dungeons & Dragons 30 Day Challenge!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ2wcAXOHJ4zjLJOxcI5KRdobuYyiCvi9hvOyMZwNSpGVKCZviRjUs3FNjuTiHmwXUsdkB38rL3KiwmtauULgHUXHfNPIqG-f2KdsJxGz5QDe9aKz0gaHXIZb0ZTLrryISoJ6XFtaynB8/s1600/D&D30DayChallenge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="614" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ2wcAXOHJ4zjLJOxcI5KRdobuYyiCvi9hvOyMZwNSpGVKCZviRjUs3FNjuTiHmwXUsdkB38rL3KiwmtauULgHUXHfNPIqG-f2KdsJxGz5QDe9aKz0gaHXIZb0ZTLrryISoJ6XFtaynB8/s640/D&D30DayChallenge.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="color: red;"> Coming Soon? (If I'm not tired)</span>Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01380008665525765247noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184791937128081230.post-87512849301491696972013-08-01T14:37:00.000-05:002013-08-01T14:37:00.489-05:00Last Updated December 13, 2012<span style="color: red;"> Wow, it's been a weird, tough year. </span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> Right after I wrote about my back and headaches, we decided to cancel our isp. We live in the backwoods and unfortunately we're stuck with the co-op phone company here and their outrageous prices. Our contract was up, so we closed our account. We spent two years with sluggish internet speeds and signal loss was nearly daily</span><span style="color: yellow;"> (sometimes lasting for days on end)</span><span style="color: red;">. We tried satellite, cell phone wifi, and internet sticks. All of em are garbage. So we're back with the co-op and in the last 7 days we've lost internet over a dozen times. But I'm back for now.</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> In late February, my wife and I had a family crisis with our eldest child. Those that know me, know what happened, but we're still working through it. Last month, my family had another crisis. After a two week nightmare, in and out of hospitals, I lost the best person I have ever known, </span><a href="http://www.ashbyfuneralhome.com/fh/print.cfm?type=obituary&o_id=2154282&fh_id=10574" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">my mom</span></a><span style="color: red;">. She died on her 58th birthday. She taught me who I am and gave me life. </span><span style="color: yellow;">(Later I may do a long post on her, but even today, two weeks later it's still too hard)</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> As for the rest, since this is a gaming blog, primarily about the characters and places in our home brew world of Ganth, I'll skip the monologue and move over to gaming...</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> Nick started off the year with a supers campaign. Eric played a..... Ya know for the life of me I can't remember, it's not that his guy was bland or boring, because it wasn't. I do remember he played a ninja clan character but that's all I can remember</span><span style="color: yellow;"> (maybe I suppressed it, ninjas can be a little scary)</span><span style="color: red;">. His two sons lasted through the second of three sessions, one played a speedster and the other played a hulk. </span><span style="color: yellow;">*Side note: We have been sharing the GMing responsibilities, we play every two weeks and each one GM's 3 sessions* </span><span style="color: red;">I played an insane Deadpool rip off </span><span style="color: yellow;">(oxymoron but wait)</span><span style="color: red;">. He was a former military special forces member who participated in a failed super soldier program. His abilities were super fast regen and a minor copycat power, I tied the rest of his powers to a belt </span><span style="color: yellow;">(fast teleport 3x per round for very short distances)</span><span style="color: red;"> and his one true love Bessie </span><span style="color: yellow;">(a beefed up 50cal dessert eagle with increased accuracy and damage)</span><span style="color: red;">. We were all apart of a government secret supers agency. Our first mission was at a high school that had been infected with a bio-agent by terrorists or so we thought at the time. Upon arriving at the school Eric's group discovered a group of uninfected survivors hiding in a second floor classroom. The remainder of the school was infected by a zombie virus. We managed to secure the school and we took one of the "terrorists" bodies to a spiritual channeler and she told us the guy was a deliveryman from a chemical company. End session one.</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> The next session, we went to the chemical company and discovered they were creating a flu-like vaccine with the zombie virus. At the plant we found several scientists along with a mind control super </span><span style="color: yellow;">(who took me over pretty easily)</span><span style="color: red;"> and werewolf. Fortunately, Eric's sons joined us for this session so the hulk went toe-to-toe with fuzzball and the clumsy speedster helped take down the mind melter. The mind controller was slain along with several scientists </span><span style="color: yellow;">(only one by us but he was being controlled at the time so he doesn't count)</span><span style="color: red;"> and the werewolf was taken into custody. End session two.</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> The last session we transported Wolfenstien to the super secret</span><span style="color: yellow;"> (double probation)</span><span style="color: red;"> prison when we were betrayed by our own agency and incarcerated. Upon waking up, Hulk went berserk and proceeded to destroy his holding cell </span><span style="color: yellow;">(but still couldn't break through the force field that contained him)</span><span style="color: red;">, the speedster managed to destroy the door to his cell along with the guards standing outside, Eric also managed to escape and take down a few guards. My character's cell was on the other side of the complex, upon waking without his beloved Bessie, he began to unsuccessfully attempt an escape. He started with beating on the door then moved to biting off his fingertips in many failed attempts to use his finger bones to pick the locks, most were just poor rolls but also between each failed attempt his fingers grew back. </span><span style="color: yellow;">(I told you INSANE Deadpool)</span><span style="color: red;"> Finally, Hulk busted the wall of his cell </span><span style="color: yellow;">(but not the force field)</span><span style="color: red;">. After witnessing Hulk's super strength, Crazypool used his copycat ability for w watered down version of super strength. He the tore the door off of his cell and used it as a massive discus </span><span style="color: yellow;">(the heavy Frisbee used in track and field)</span><span style="color: red;"> and cut through a few guards and the doors at the end of the corridor. After we escaped our cells, as real heroes, we began to slay every living soul we passed in our prison break. Yeah I know, not really heroic, but we figured it was the all's fair in love and dickness, erm I mean war, routine. End session three.</span><br />
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<span style="color: yellow;">(After last week's gaming session I asked Eric, he played a ninja with the luck power, he had a certain type of bad luck but it could also be focused by him)</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"> Next up was my Rifts campaign, in the the Lone Star state. Nick played a very pretty elf, shifter </span><span style="color: yellow;">(magic wielding rift jumper who sold his soul to the Wolf Spirit of Nature)</span><span style="color: red;">, Keltin</span><span style="color: red;">,</span><span style="color: red;"> who's parents and come through a rift during the dark times, so he was born on Rifts Earth in the city of Tolkeen. Eric created </span><span style="color: yellow;">(I say created, because the daunting task of creating a rift's character intimidated Nick, so he played one, I just had him pick the class and I did the work for him, now I'm creating two characters for Eric's boys... as I was saying, Eric created)</span><span style="color: red;"> a full conversion cyborg from Russia, Alexander Karlov, descendant of Boris. The game started right after the fall of Tolkeen, Nick was running for his life and was being assisted by Eric's character, since he turned on the coalition. As they made their way south, they won a small mercenary unit in a card game. The unit was located in Hosstown </span><span style="color: yellow;">(my name for Houston)</span><span style="color: red;">. Upon arriving at Hosstown they find the merc </span><span style="color: red;">headquarters</span><span style="color: red;">. and it's empty. Except for an old, semi-retired scout</span><span style="color: red;">, Phelix</span><span style="color: red;">;</span><span style="color: red;"> a crooked bartender who owns the building and runs the bar downstairs of the </span><span style="color: red;">hq, Cred;</span><span style="color: red;"> and a slimy </span><span style="color: red;">cyber</span><span style="color: red;">-doc, Patch, with the offices above the </span><span style="color: red;">hq</span><span style="color: red;">, they have next to nothing. There were 12 active agents in the field, most are either deep cover agents or out on their own side </span><span style="color: red;">jobs. Weapons were old but in good repair, 3 working vehicles but only one was combat ready, and no money. </span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: red;"> So first thing first, they needed money, jobs, and a name for the merc unit. Nick suggested Keltin's Dragoons and since he was so pretty, Eric readily agreed. </span><span style="color: yellow;">(Accept the fact that I threw "pretty" punches at Nick the whole time and will continue to do so in this blog and in game. Sorry Nick, but I promise I will throw some jabs at Eric too)</span><span style="color: red;"> Now that they had a name onto jobs for money. They checked for open bounties and came up with 3 jobs: 2 were way above their level, involving major operations, and the third was a dead or alive order for a cyber-doc who was kidnapping people and implanting mind control bionics into them for 200k. They took the bait. </span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: red;"> First they went to the cyber-doc upstairs, they discovered that the kill order was for a Dr. Feric and if they could recover an undamaged booster </span><span style="color: yellow;">(the illegal mind control bionics)</span><span style="color: red;"> he would pay them 50k. Then they went to the bar, the bartender told them he had heard that the cyber-doc was located somewhere around Los Alamo </span><span style="color: yellow;">(formerly Austin)</span><span style="color: red;">, while in the bar they met a lovely lady, Sally, who became smitten with the purty elf. They leave the bar and head out towards Los Alamo.</span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: red;"> Half a day outside of Hosstown, they run into a coalition patrol with 4 deadboy soldiers and 2 Samas. </span><span style="color: yellow;">(who were looking to question the players about Sally and her where-abouts, they and the players didn't know she was stowed away in a hidden compartment inside their ATV)</span><span style="color: red;"> Before they could approach or say anything to the players, Eric immediately targets them with his missile launchers. The coalition soldiers respond to the threat by attacking and disabling the ATV in the first round. Eric misses with his missiles and Nick hides. So I had to use my </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deus_ex_machina" style="color: cyan;" target="_blank">deus ex machina</a><span style="color: red;">, Bill. </span><span style="color: yellow;">(Bill is a godling who's in love with the tale of Pecos Bill and has shouldered himself with the reputation and personality of the legendary figure)</span><span style="color: red;"> So Bill flies in on a tornado and then uses the tornado to carry the coalition forces away. He turns to the players to introduce himself and Eric begins targeting him with his railgun. So Bill rolls a strike with his pistols and shoots off Eric's trigger finger. </span><span style="color: yellow;">(You gotta love Eric's tenacity to kill off his characters but he didn't win and die so...) </span><span style="color: red;">Bill tells the group that they're luck since he doesn't kill anyone on Sunday. Nick responded that today is Tuesday. Bill laughed and told them either way it's rude to rescue a lady in danger then kill off her protectors. That's when they notice Two-Gun Sally climbing out of the disabled ATV. Bill tells the players he can help them get the ATV repaired at a local town nearby, so they lash the ATV to Eric and begin walking. During the trip they get to know Bill and Sally. Bill only describes himself as the legendary Pecos Bill and won't answer any personal questions. Sally tells the players her story.</span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: red;"> Sally was a juicer in her youth and after two years she went through detox, after surviving the withdrawals she had MOM implants installed and became a crazy for the last 6 years. She is being hunted by the coalition because she "supposedly" killed a coalition general. When asked if she was guilty, she responded with a very sarcastic, "I would <i>never</i> do something like that." She told the characters that she knew Los Alamo quite well and could escort them there, or close to there, after the repaired the ATV. Being a former juicer she was not really welcomed there, since all the juicers there viewed her as a traitor, she could only guide them part of the way. Eric and Nick declined the escort, but did take the directions and even offered her a job with their merc company. She accepted and went back to the Hosstown </span><span style="color: red;">headquarters</span><span style="color: red;">. End session one.</span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: red;"> The town inhabitants wouldn't let the players in until Bill left the area. So Bill said his farewells to the group and left. Eric and Nick, after some quick explaining to the villagers, drug their broken ATV in and made a swap for an older version ATV and a 2k. After they swapped gear and weapons over to the older vehicle, and despite the warnings, they headed back out into the night. </span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: red;"> The players ran across some 3 other travelers during the night, Nick decided to avoid them and keep rolling on past. Unfortunately, they were wild vampires who were hoping the players would stop to help and become an easy kill. Once they discovered that the players were going to continue driving they attacked the ATV. Nick hid and Eric began kicking some undead asses. Once getting away to a safe distance Nick began unleashing spells at the vampires and they killed two of the vamps. The third vamp decided to make a hasty retreat, but Eric wouldn't allow it. He managed to gun down the third vamp and they took the heads and attached them to the hood of the ATV. </span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: red;"> Finally they made it to Los Alamo, and were escorted into the city by armored patrols. Eric went to the local cyber-doc, Mama Scalpel, and discovered the doctor's name and location. Nick went looking for a wilderness scout, he came up with 2 names Roderick and Floyd. Roderick was an old human drunk who charged 10k for the job and Floyd was an escaped dogboy who charged 8k. So they went with Roderick. End session two.</span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: red;"> With Roderick's help the players avoided anymore encounters and made their way to the small village. After a day of scouting the area, they planned a sneak attack on the </span><span style="color: red;">headquarters</span><span style="color: red;"> of the good doctor at night. Using his magic, Nick and Roderick snuck into town, and after a couple of close calls they made it into the headquarters. Once going in they head immediately upstairs and discover the doc's surgical room and inventory of implants. Chained up inside the inventory closet is the town mayor. The good doctor kept the mayor unmodified so he could watch the experiments. Nick grabs one of the boosters and frees the mayor. They then head towards the doctor's command center. Once the enter the command center they find the doctor. After a quick firefight, they kill the doctor. The mayor turns to the players and thanks them but the need to destroy this room to release the enslaved population. So Roderick, the drunk, takes</span><span style="color: red;"> </span><span style="color: red;">out</span><span style="color: red;"> a massive damage frag grenade, pulls the pin, and drops it on the floor. Everyone flees. They just make it out of the building with minor damage to themselves. The mayor thanks the player and writes up two letters for the players to say that they killed the doctor, destroyed his lab, and freed the townspeople. The players fired Roderick and went home. End session three.</span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: red;"> Next up was Eric's campaign. I won't go into too many details here, since Eric already has a post on </span><a href="http://daggerarts.blogspot.com/2013/07/kingmaker-campaign-thus-far.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">his blog</span></a><span style="color: red;">. We have had three sessions so far and it looks like it will probably spill over into another three sessions. It's been a blast and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. The worst part is trying not to meta-game. I've already been through most of this adventure, but I try to step back and follow their lead through the parts I've played, even if I know it's a mistake. </span><span style="color: yellow;">(we'll live or die as a group and I'll enjoy the ride either way)</span><span style="color: red;">.</span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: red;"> Our next campaign will be with Nick at the reins. He's going to run a Savage Worlds Deadlands western. I'm looking forward to it. Eric will be making an ex-priest turned gunslinger. Ask him about his relic/pistol. I'm leaning towards an Indian scout </span><span style="color: yellow;">(maybe shaman)</span><span style="color: red;"> from the Coyote Confederation. We'll see how it goes.</span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: red;"> After Nick's campaign, we'll be back to Rift's. Eric's two boys will be joining in this time. One of them wants to play a speedster</span><span style="color: yellow;"> (scroll up and see if you can find a theme here)</span><span style="color: red;"> and the other wants to play a technowizard from the past, </span><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/BenFranklinDuplessis.jpg" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">Ben Franklin</span></a><span style="color: red;">. </span><span style="color: yellow;">(Great concept, unfortunately they want to play them so I'm stuck with the creating them part. I don't mind, they're cool kids and I can knock the characters out pretty fast) </span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: red;"> Well, that's all I've gotten so far, I have to scroll back through my posts and see where I left off. I'll try to update more than once in 8 months. No promises but until I get back here's</span><span style="color: cyan;"> <a href="http://files.myopera.com/Tamil/albums/203332/Dancing%20Monkey.gif" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">a dancing monkey to keep you occupied.</span></a></span>Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01380008665525765247noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184791937128081230.post-60029570486072726872012-12-13T08:09:00.000-06:002012-12-13T08:09:55.398-06:00Update to the headaches and a short story of an amazing man<span style="color: red;"> Back in October, I posted about my headache but I didn't give any background. Firstly the headaches are 90% gone!!! Right at a year ago, I had tire explode 4 inches in front of my face. It broke my nose and launched me from a sitting position into the air, I cartwheeled about 8 feet, and landed on my front. After I came to, I had a headache and a large amount of blood running down my face. My wife rushed me to the ER and after an hour in the empty waiting room, an asshole of a doctor told me I broke my nose, he prescribed me a strong dose of Ibuprofen. Three hours later, I had a HUGE headache, it was so severe that I couldn't talk clearly. So back to the asshole and only a 30 minute wait in the same empty ER. This time the doctor gave me a shot and the headache eased up.</span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: red;"> Over the last year, I have had the lion's share of neck pain and headaches. Most of the time it's been manageable and I could do normal activities. But back in October, they came back with a vengeance. I tried all kinds of pain medications, muscle relaxers, neck messages, and heat treatments. Nothing worked. The Monday before Thanksgiving, my amazing wife took me to a chiropractor near us. On his office door it says $25 per visit, no x-rays. Immediately I was skeptical , I mean I don't really trust chiropractors after a bad run in with one back in my early twenties and this guy doesn't use x-rays to see what he's dealing with. My first thought was that this quack was gonna paralyze my for life. I was a approached by a man who was well into his 70's if not 80's, and he referred to himself as Dr. Feelgood. (OMFG, I'm gonna be a paraplegic!)</span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: red;"> Well, I was in so much pain that I was willing to take the chance. I went into his treatment room and he started pointing out areas on my back that have caused me problems for years. I didn't think much of it because he's probably seen hundreds of people there and it's just a safe bet, general diagnosis for him. I wasn't there for my back, but my neck and I told him so. Still he continued working my lower back and eventually up to my neck. The thing was Dr. Feelgood was actually hitting the bad spots dead on. I had a knot behind my shoulder blade for years, this guy found it nearly instantly and one adjustment and it was gone. He didn't bother with the other side of my back and that's when I thought to myself he might be the real deal. After he got an amazing amount of pops in my neck, the pain was gone. I was kind of nauseous and lightheaded the rest of the day and my headache returned with an increased severity. I was bitching at my wife for wasting the $25. The next morning, I apologized to her for being an asshole. I was so freaking wrong. Dr. Feelgood indeed. My back felt great! The pain in my neck was gone. I felt like I was in my teens again! The pain stayed gone for another day and then returned. </span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: red;"> Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I bragged to all of my family about this guy. Even though my headache had returned, it wasn't as severe as it had been. What I discovered was that my family members were a bunch of assholes and not for the reason you'd think. Apparently, they knew all about this amazing man and had been going to him for years. But I guess they didn't want to share this incredible secret (Jerks). </span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: red;"> I went back to him the following Mondays and I got some of his story. He was a family doctor for years and retired in 1984. In '91 he opened his chiropractor clinic to help some of his friends with their pains. He's only open three days a week and spends the other days with his other job, golfing. He uses the money to pay his insurance and rent. But let me say this, he could charge a fortune for his skills and be worth it. He doesn't advertise, but apparently he's busy all day long just from word of mouth. From the times I have been there, his waiting room has been half full every time. And he's fast. Each time I was in and out in 30 minutes. He's spends between 5-8 minutes per patient, and does an awesome job. His office is unimpressive as it sits between a tiny dry cleaners and a BBQ joint, with a small Subway on the the other side of the dry cleaners. I can't say enough great things about this guy, but I can say I wish I had found him a decade ago, when my father started going to him.</span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: red;"> **Update to posts**</span><br />
<span style="color: red;"> Living in a very rural area, my internet is intermittent, but I will be back to posting game and story related posts soon. I have a work around going on right now, but I think I have a short term solution that may help. If not, then I will only be able to post when go over to Eric's house and use his connection, which is sporadic timing at best.</span>Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01380008665525765247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184791937128081230.post-43697616078153265112012-10-26T06:47:00.002-05:002012-10-26T06:47:07.403-05:00A little off my chest<h2>
<span style="color: red;">Time for some explaining:</span></h2>
<div>
<span style="color: red;"> First off I'd like to say that I've not posted in a month and wanted to explain why. About 3 or 4 days after my last post, I got a headache. It wasn't a migraine, I've had those before and this isn't even close. This started with a soreness in my neck and some sharp pains behind my left eye. Since it's that time of year for me, I thought it might be sinus pressure causing it. But the headache wouldn't go away, it's a constant pain that hasn't relented in 4 weeks now.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: red;"> The last couple of weeks, I've sat here and tried to write. But it is hard to concentrate, I keep losing my train of thought and simple words escape me. It took me a couple of minutes the other day to explain to my wife that I wanted a diet coke. My mouth kept saying diet coffee and I couldn't think of the word coke. For those that know me, understand that I take pride in my mind, and this was a little daunting for me. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: red;"> This post is taking me some effort to keep my thoughts in order. Hopefully after my appointment next week, I can get some relief. </span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"> Anyway, I just wanted to apologize for the lack of posting and hopefully I'll have some more up soon. </span></div>
Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01380008665525765247noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184791937128081230.post-14307837439569547302012-09-28T06:32:00.001-05:002012-09-28T06:32:33.970-05:00Railbox Plans #1 Concept Art<h2>
<span style="color: red;"><u>I'm not great, or even good at art so if I can't steal it from the interwebs then I'm screwed. But here's some art I acquired while working on the campaign</u></span></h2>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2gVFBBdb2eD68VmIwLjxT0RnX2QZI-L-KqU56uFHeoHy2495g5YjQbEarBFRsFbRmoB01xn2z5FmNeIwxnh4WqDU1q-YmiGzEOWG3eWx3jr9e4RpxoDYGBjc_cvbyhZQ_e2nFl0h4lx0/s1600/antique-prosthetic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2gVFBBdb2eD68VmIwLjxT0RnX2QZI-L-KqU56uFHeoHy2495g5YjQbEarBFRsFbRmoB01xn2z5FmNeIwxnh4WqDU1q-YmiGzEOWG3eWx3jr9e4RpxoDYGBjc_cvbyhZQ_e2nFl0h4lx0/s320/antique-prosthetic.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;">Probably my favorite design</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-opQ-TRhdH5rMoT9DTTZ7bDfOu00w4dCA27xxWgKiWc1Jgc3FXEDDQvG458pR1cACO4-awzOVbQ5_JQJSUmlA1Q7ypW4sR8joQM1JxTk6Cpcd5GjQo6qRZAfi4U669ga_HpOABrHcr-0/s1600/tumblr_lpl1cnPFmo1r0xxz3o1_500.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-opQ-TRhdH5rMoT9DTTZ7bDfOu00w4dCA27xxWgKiWc1Jgc3FXEDDQvG458pR1cACO4-awzOVbQ5_JQJSUmlA1Q7ypW4sR8joQM1JxTk6Cpcd5GjQo6qRZAfi4U669ga_HpOABrHcr-0/s400/tumblr_lpl1cnPFmo1r0xxz3o1_500.png" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;">Full arm replacement</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ3exyi72gOi4NKVzCEq0DGA53I57v-6ecN84_13SRfkye4zTIyNNrtjQlcEaunVH1hFclzZqaxAy6X_cGakFW-JgtldajP5rbyjdxhpH_dDmtF-iO-bOUiONILpL4e-bIXho8-kpLHlg/s1600/gotz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ3exyi72gOi4NKVzCEq0DGA53I57v-6ecN84_13SRfkye4zTIyNNrtjQlcEaunVH1hFclzZqaxAy6X_cGakFW-JgtldajP5rbyjdxhpH_dDmtF-iO-bOUiONILpL4e-bIXho8-kpLHlg/s320/gotz.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;">One type of hand replacement</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdZTbeG8FS6DBLGR7lRLxhs50y05AN8dZxMKwZBGMzDTgHSi9Ua8ktMZ1D2JK15Mpdzy9HcDRvQ02cYuZeE48XgkEg_-u2ULuCyLOC_9TsIKZoY7JIN5OfiYewK-tiLlJx4X2Bz1zym6E/s1600/thumbs_778-hand01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdZTbeG8FS6DBLGR7lRLxhs50y05AN8dZxMKwZBGMzDTgHSi9Ua8ktMZ1D2JK15Mpdzy9HcDRvQ02cYuZeE48XgkEg_-u2ULuCyLOC_9TsIKZoY7JIN5OfiYewK-tiLlJx4X2Bz1zym6E/s320/thumbs_778-hand01.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;">Similar to the above </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAtUg_RWV6C-ISRQvUp9EZ4mp3tqvih_S7j6dv2NjE8xXe1V7_F_hz-cEybcefuhLUqYlDQEgXkExi5SbGRRCxBzDf5z1BA3KmWkJ4hVSVgfQhoK9uxGIvAeoy16wWcUblGmMi_VB3bHI/s1600/99a0bb24800b2df203997c72ad2cded7-med.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAtUg_RWV6C-ISRQvUp9EZ4mp3tqvih_S7j6dv2NjE8xXe1V7_F_hz-cEybcefuhLUqYlDQEgXkExi5SbGRRCxBzDf5z1BA3KmWkJ4hVSVgfQhoK9uxGIvAeoy16wWcUblGmMi_VB3bHI/s1600/99a0bb24800b2df203997c72ad2cded7-med.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;"> I know this is an arm but I kinda like it for legs</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKt_Sfy2X0r5sTay5SicrkbxMJAtLUJAGNzlUWvAZy-kKTLbvf9nVXR6Ez3iCcmvdo9h0M9Ya1w6L0KM6dymc4Kew-Pn6NeFh2H2DStaylEN3KV0TY-MRwEMmYASpEMUTVoGg79PJlGIU/s1600/13-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKt_Sfy2X0r5sTay5SicrkbxMJAtLUJAGNzlUWvAZy-kKTLbvf9nVXR6Ez3iCcmvdo9h0M9Ya1w6L0KM6dymc4Kew-Pn6NeFh2H2DStaylEN3KV0TY-MRwEMmYASpEMUTVoGg79PJlGIU/s320/13-01.jpg" width="139" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;">I couldn't find any legs I liked</span></td></tr>
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Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01380008665525765247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184791937128081230.post-61551942627160245712012-09-27T13:15:00.002-05:002012-09-27T13:15:54.436-05:00Railbox Plans #1 What's up with the crazy Elves strange metal? and Is that a cyborg arm in your pocket?<h2>
<span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span><span style="color: #ffd966;">But first some back story;</span></h2>
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<span style="color: red;"> Eric is and easy guy to talk with, but when it comes to planning on Ganth, a hard guy to talk to. First off, he's a full time student/dad/homemaker. That's right, he wears the kilt in the family. I'm actually making jibes at him, since my kids told me that mom wears the pants in this family.</span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"> But he tends to stay busy and has poor communication skills. He's slow about replying to emails, texts, facebook, G+, and hates talking on the phone longer than 2 minutes. Actually, that sounds a lot like me, so...</span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"> On the bi-weekly gaming sessions we discuss some on Ganth. From those discussions, Eric has started making the maps, races, and classes. And I write the fiction. I'm lying a little, sometimes I bring candy too. Enough joking aside, this is Eric's baby. He kept these characters and adventures with him all these years. Ganth is his original idea and his concept. He let's me help and I'm grateful. If it was my world I'd do things different, but then again if it was my world, it would have already fallen apart. And with the creation of my own corner, I try to defer to him on most major ideas without giving too much away to him as a player. To free up some constraints, we decided that anything he liked from my campaign would be incorporated into Ganth and anything he didn't like would be left out or rewritten into a way that fits with his concept of Ganth.</span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"> From our discussions, my concept for the campaign were that Ganth is a world that has the following:</span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"> High magic with heavy chaotic nature and harsh repercussions for magic</span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"> Life means little to anyone other than themselves</span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"> The world itself is dying at an alarming rate</span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"> Divine magic is <u>nearly</u> nonexistent</span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"> So with those concepts I came up with the following ideas:</span></div>
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<h3>
<u><span style="color: #ffd966;">#1: Elven Metal</span></u></h3>
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<span style="color: red;"> Elves are Fae in Ganth and cannot touch iron or steel. As immortals this is one major setback. I tried to figure a way to give them some kind of help. I know there are fantasy metals like mithril already in most games, but I don't want to use someone else's concept and in all the other settings the fantasy metal is much stronger than steel. It's not a disadvantage if the metal is stronger and being immortal they need the disadvantage. I initially thought one of the regular weaker metals and alloys like copper, tin, brass or bronze, or even using obsidian. But I didn't like any of them because they don't have a fantasy feel. So I invented two new metals, Moonsilver and Heartstone.</span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"> Moonsilver is a soft, white silver metal, stronger than copper but weaker than iron. It's also rarer than gold. Against weapons of iron or steel, moonsilver armor loses 1 AC, and moonsilver weapons lose 1 to attack rolls against steel or iron armor. But the major factor with moonsilver is it's natural attraction to magic </span><span style="color: #ffd966;">(-25% time reduction/+25% chance to magically enchant)</span><span style="color: red;">. So for magic items in game, the majority of them are moonsilver. Obvious exceptions would be weapons or armor that only appear in a human only society. We haven't created them in game yet but imagine Aussies were only humans there, so no enchanted boomerangs made of moonsilver. </span><span style="color: #ffd966;">(I know they're wooden, it's just an example)</span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"> Heartstone is a super soft, pinkish metal. It is a semi-solid </span><span style="color: #ffd966;">(imagine jello)</span><span style="color: red;"> that can only be found inside large veins of moonsilver that do not touch any veins of iron. If heartsone is touched by anything other than magical means or moonsilver it instantly solidifies into a hardened state that cannot be harmed or destroyed by any means. Heartstone can only be forged through powerful enchantments and pure moonsilver. </span><span style="color: #ffd966;">(pure meaning completely untouched by iron or steel) </span><span style="color: red;">Once forged, heartstone is as strong as steel and can be enchanted with the simplest of means. </span><span style="color: #ffd966;">(-75% time reduction/+75% chance to magically enchant)</span><span style="color: red;"> Moonstone is to magic items as heartstone is to artifacts. Most </span><span style="color: #ffd966;">(not all)</span><span style="color: red;"> artifacts are made from heartstone. Heartsone should be and is VERY rare. Even in it's ruined state, heartstone is highly prized by most of Ganth's wealthy nobility. A few wars have started over a lump of heartstone smaller than a human thumb.</span></div>
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<u><span style="color: #ffd966;">#2: Cybernetics</span></u></h3>
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<span style="color: red;"> I know it sounds a little crazy for cybernetics in a fantasy setting, but stick with me here. I have always loved cybernetics, I'm not sure if it was growing up with a few of my close relatives having artificial appendages or my love of sci-fi, but in almost every Palladium Game</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span><span style="color: #ffd966;">(Ninjas and Superspies, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Robotech, Heroes Unlimited, and Rifts, but not Palladium RPG since it's just fantasy based)</span><span style="color: red;">, GURPS</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span><span style="color: #ffd966;">(not gonna waste the space for every conceivable GURPS rule set)</span><span style="color: red;">, Car Wars, Battle Tech</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span><span style="color: #ffd966;">(Before and after it was called Mech Warrior)</span><span style="color: red;">, Star Wars, Star Trek, and so many others</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span><span style="color: #ffd966;">(I'm sorry for anyone I forgot but I would also like to thank my parents and of course god...sorry watching the Emmy's)</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span><span style="color: red;"> I make either a cyborg or someone with some kind of small cybernetics</span><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span><span style="color: #ffd966;">(Like optic or hearing upgrades)</span><span style="color: red;">. I've seen everything from warforged to drow magic/radiation cybernetics to gnome steam powered in a fantasy setting, but none of them felt right. Then it hit me, goblins. </span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"> That's right, goblins make cybernetics. Not all goblins make cybernetics but a certain clan does. This currently unnamed clan of goblins discovered how to make living metal. After near annihilation at the hands of humans and their iron weapons, the chief of the clan went to his shaman and ordered him to find a way to make a metal stronger than iron that would not burn them. </span><span style="color: #ffd966;">(Goblins like Elves are Fae and unable to use iron or steel)</span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"> Several failed attempts and the deaths of multiple assistants, the shaman discovered a way to make a metal stronger that steel. The first step of the process was to make an alloy, named Kruxsteel after the goblin shaman Krux, with iron and moonsilver. The alloy made a perversion of moonsilver and made it unusable to goblins, but the shaman found away around that. With powerful magics he discovered how to bind the living soul of a brownie to an ingot of Kruxsteel. Any pain from the steel in the alloy would be passed onto the soul of the brownie bound inside. </span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"> It was the secondary effect from the binding, that Krux never expected, that made the alloy a true prize. Kruxsteel was actually alive! If forged into a door handle it would actually open or close without being touched. If damaged, kruxsteel would heal itself over time. Unfortunately with brownies being pacifists, kruxsteel could not be forged into weapons or armor. It wasn't until after the chief removed Krux's left hand for failing to make a kruxsteel weapon, that he decided to try to make appendages. Once he forged himself a new, and much stronger hand, Krux crushed the chief head and became the new chief. After that day the entire clan started crafting and selling their magically limb replacements. This clan of goblins have since spread out into new areas and have amassed a monstrous amount of wealth. They currently offer limb, eye, and ear replacements for a hefty fee. </span><span style="color: #ffd966;">(10,000 GP for simple working ear up to 1 million GP massive arm replacement with +4 strength -2 dex)</span><span style="color: red;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"> </span><u><span style="color: #ffd966;">Upcoming in Railbox Plans #2: Are all gods created equal? and What's this dimensional rift doing here?</span></u></h4>
Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01380008665525765247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184791937128081230.post-85062808105398972812012-09-17T13:04:00.001-05:002012-09-17T13:04:48.514-05:00Railbox is dead /mourn<h2>
<span style="color: cyan;">Warning!! Adult Language used.....</span><span style="color: #990000;"> </span></h2>
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #990000;">Well the railbox campaign is over. If 5 months of silence didn't clue you in, then I will. First off we have had trouble getting a group started and staying together(for over two decades). And when I say trouble, I mean everything from players not showing or canceling last minute, then never returning, to group members getting into an all out war. Several groups have fallen to the wayside and we moved on. I'm not sure how many campaigns have been tossed out by myself or Eric (or ERIC! as he seems to prefer). But we start over. Now </span><span style="color: #990000;">I will not apologize for zero posting in five months, but I will explain why. </span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #990000;"> This last group only consisted of Eric, Nick, and myself. Not much to start with, but it <i>was</i> a start. Unfortunately after our second session (which I was in the middle of typing up the post for) Eric called and said Nick was quitting. I took it badly, not within hearing of either Nick or Eric. I was pissed off. I said, to myself, what's the fuckin' point of even trying to put another damn group together. Hell it took us a year of no group to get Nick to play. It took Eric even longer to get Nick to consider it. Before I go any further I want to say that I understand why Nick quit and I respect his decision. I don't agree with it, but he's a grown ass man who can make his own choices without my help. I am not, nor ever was, mad at Nick for his choice. But I was mad at the situation.</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #990000;"> Eric and I continued our bi-weekly gaming sessions, but I didn't bother to post. I couldn't see the point. It wasn't until two weeks ago when Eric asked me when was I going to post again, that I realized why I hadn't posted.....</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"> I was sulking.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"> Over the last five months, I was sulking. I could call it soul searching or dreading the public cancelling of another campaign, but that's bullshit. I was sitting at home looking for a million reasons not to post. The serious soul searching was done years ago when our last large group fell apart. I had asked all the questions from WTF to did I do that? I discovered that while losing rpg groups sucks, I would continue to try, purely for the love of the game. I know some people don't like me. I know I'm an asshole, a jerk, a guy that doesn't care what you think, and I honestly don't have a filter. I say what I feel, when I feel it, and it usually takes me a few seconds to realize I may have fucked up. I don't ever intend to hurt someones feelings by what I say, but it happens alot. I try to apologize to people for it when I first meet them, but it doesn't help. In groups I tend to keep a fair lid on it, but I've been known to spout off. So of course, I blame myself for some of those groups. Eric, for some unknown reason, has been able to see through my crap and stay with me over the last three decades (3? Holy Hell, we're old men bro). After the last soul search, I realized that losing the group wouldn't bother me so much if I didn't truly love the game.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"> I know I should take the same policy with the gaming groups as I do the characters(ie. it's just a game and no crying because Tom the Allthumbs died, he's just a piece of paper), but I can't. I enjoy the game, maybe too much. I'm almost 40 (not for 6 months after Eric's old ass though) and I love role-playing games. So every failed group or campaign sucks. But every new group or campaign makes it that much more fun. </span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #990000;"> Now back to the premise. The railbox is dead /mourn. Long live the next group. I will have a few more stories rolling out soon, but I needed to get that out. Also I will be posting the rest of the campaign in future weeks. Feel free to cherry pick. Lastly, I will be posting a rant in the next few days, completely off the subject, but I don't Facecrack or Twit(intentionally misspelled) and I really need to rant. So feel free to ignore my Razor Rant post.</span>Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01380008665525765247noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184791937128081230.post-12739586322939105992012-09-10T11:36:00.000-05:002012-09-10T11:36:35.896-05:00WWF II: The Ring and Stiletto<span style="color: #990000;"> After five years of searching, Zachalion had finally found it. The vein of moonsilver was large enough to make the tools.</span><span style="color: #990000;"> But the greatest surprise was not finding a vein of moonsilver this large. It was size of the massive heartstone inside that caused him to have a glimmer of hope. </span><span style="color: #990000;">Not only was it large enough to forge the ring, he might have enough to forge a blade for the stiletto. The Sisters must to have been looking over him. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"> Unfortunately, there wasn't enough to craft the entire weapon. Using another heartstone to craft the hilt may cause the magic to be unstable. But that was a problem for another day. Now, he would spend the next few months purifying the ore, to insure that it had never been touched by iron. </span><span style="color: #990000;">After the purification process, he could then craft his moonsilver tools. The rituals would take just under a month to prepare the tools and heartstone for the forge. Working day and night, he would have the blade and ring ready to enchant within six months.</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #990000;"> He was comforted by the knowledge that the killer of his father and sister would be dead within a decade. By this time next year, he would begin his mission and Wynter would face the flames of his vengeance.</span>Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01380008665525765247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184791937128081230.post-31670117423478633132012-04-10T14:06:00.004-05:002012-04-10T14:06:40.916-05:00Railbox Game 1<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2sAmNE8MUdZDywlRxq4zIC9bSwXN1ePg4GqFE8tf47km0Apewj39FpEL6BJuT5o_DAtK4Bl_kCrRHdWvgkwA1dX8yLA_bYDpE5Z5On7ux4rja9Zh0vzy-n2Llviekkxg6gUBxEc1gXYg/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Mage Symbol" border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2sAmNE8MUdZDywlRxq4zIC9bSwXN1ePg4GqFE8tf47km0Apewj39FpEL6BJuT5o_DAtK4Bl_kCrRHdWvgkwA1dX8yLA_bYDpE5Z5On7ux4rja9Zh0vzy-n2Llviekkxg6gUBxEc1gXYg/s200/003.JPG" title="Mage Symbol" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: cyan;">(1) Mage's Symbol</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #990000;"> Friday night's railbox started off a little slow. Eric's sons joined the group so we had 2 new fighters to roll up, Chuck</span><span style="color: cyan;">(Human)</span><span style="color: #990000;"> and Meat</span><a href="http://daggerarts.blogspot.com/2011/09/ganthian-orc-ten-thousand-thousand.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: purple;">(Prynn)</span></a><span style="color: #990000;">. The characters got their freedom and 200 gold to buy equipment. Nick's illusionist, known from now on as Blecyn aka The Illusion Nazi</span><span style="color: cyan;">(1)</span><span style="color: #990000;">, spent his on spell research. Being a recently released slave, he only had access to one spell, hypnosis. Before the adventure started, he researched and learned color spray. I was a little lenient with the rules, also considering he's a third level illusionist that's been a slave since first level. (MGMR)</span><span style="color: cyan;">*</span><span style="color: #990000;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"> Eric's thief, known from now on as Dirk, spent the pre-adventure time buying equipment and tracking down the thieves guild. After several failed attempts to discover the thieves guild, the adventure started. The group decided to continue helping Dirk find the thieves guild. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"> By pure luck alone, they decided to go to a tavern called Rumblegut's, which is the secret headquarters for the thieves guild. Dirk picked three pockets, Blecyn was casting a few cantrips to help</span><span style="color: cyan;">**</span><span style="color: #990000;">.</span><span style="color: #990000;"> While picking the second pocket, a slip of paper was placed into </span><span style="color: #990000;">Blecyn's </span><span style="color: #990000;">pouch. The paper read,"The punishment of unauthorized theft is five years. Magical assistance is ten." Not quit sure how I wrote that since I left the info card at Eric's. On Dirk's third picked pocket, the thief then tugged on Blecyn's pouch. </span><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Net gain from pickpocket: 16 gp, 15 sp, 2 saw blades, a plumb-bob, a shiny red gem, and 1 note from thieves guild.</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"> The group did notice three very big men, failing horribly to act nonchalant, approaching them. As the group readied to flip the table and begin attacking, Dirk felt the sharp point of a dagger press into his ribs</span><span style="color: cyan;">***</span><span style="color: #990000;">. And a voice whispered," Relax, they're only here to make sure you remain safe into our sanctum." The guards and the thief led the group into the back hallway. From there they opened a secret stair and entered a large room. the thief explained the rules of the guild, which guards could bribed, and the fees and services of the guild. He also offered the party a retrieval mission for a magical bone longbow with green leather wraps. The reward would be 1,000 gp.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"> The group decided to go after the bow. But before heading out to the Green Caves, they attempted to sell the shiny red gem. Blecyn tried to magically fool the merchant. Making a 20 on his save, the merchant took the handle of his dagger and smashed the shiny, red glass crystal.</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"> The first day the away from Krixen's End was uneventful. That night the group camped near a small pool of water(unmarked on player map). They also encountered a specter, who charged the group with payment for use of his pool with," Life for a life." The party had the choice of either fighting the specter or paying the toll with the life of a child(due within 5 months). The party chose the latter</span><span style="color: cyan;">(they are playing evil-aligned characters)</span><span style="color: #990000;"> by stating they would raid some goblins and take their children, so the specter allowed them to leave. </span><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Net gain from encounter: </span><span style="color: #e06666;">- their lives or the lives of 4 children.</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"> Around mid-day at a watering hole (marked on player map), they were ambushed by a pair of giant spiders. One pinned Dirk, and the other missed Chuck. Meat's battle ax chopped the so far into the first spider that he almost hit Dirk underneath. Blecyn, Chuck, and Dirk finished the second with ease. </span><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Net gain from encounter: 7 giant spider eyes(for future spell materials) and 4 venom sacs(for poison use). </span><span style="color: #e06666;">They missed out on the lair.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"> The rest of the second day remained uneventful. During Blecyn's watch, they were attacked by 3 goblins mounted on hyenas. After a couple of close battles, the party survived with no deaths. Knowing that these particular goblins were worth 1 gp per Black Ears goblin head, 5 gp per hobgoblin head, and 1 gp per hyena pelt, they took the heads and skins. </span><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Net gain from encounter: 11 gp (which NOBODY wrote down), 3 Black Ears goblin heads, and 3 hyena pelts. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"> The next morning, they entered the Green caves. Following a rough (not drawn) map they found the entrance to The Crypts of Unspeakable Chaos. In the entry chamber they find some piles of bloody clothes. The chamber is made of rough stone walls and they decide to start searching for traps and hidden doors. The noise from their search draws the attention of three giant lizards from the southwest. They decide to take a strategic retreat back through the entrance which is too small for the lizards to pass. </span><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Net gain from encounter: nothing.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"> The group decides now that they know the location of the caves, they will head back to Krixen's End and pick up supplies. </span><span style="color: #990000;">We called it a night after that.</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: cyan;">* MGMR- My game, My rules. </span><br />
<span style="color: cyan;">** Ganth is a high magic world. Most people in Ganth have access to cantrips. </span><br />
<span style="color: cyan;">*** Sorry Eric, I didn't know the pencil was that sharp. Man he really jumped.</span>Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01380008665525765247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184791937128081230.post-91241237379012107732012-02-15T15:40:00.002-06:002012-02-15T15:40:35.693-06:00Old Friends<span style="color: #990000;"> The tower of Tyrin stands above Wynter, like a rotten sliver of stone and iron. From atop this perch of the gods, stands two figures. One is short and bent and looking out over his city. He is completely unaware of the second, much taller figure looming behind him. </span><span style="color: #990000;">Until he says,</span><span style="color: #990000;">" Greetings, old friend."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"> "So," the stooped figure tensely asks," you've finally come to kill me then?" </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"> With a small sigh the tall man says," No. Unlike you, I do not kill those whom I call friend."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"> With plenty anger, and some fear, the short man responds," I did what I had to."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"> F</span><span style="color: #990000;">or several long moments, </span><span style="color: #990000;">the tall man stares in appraisal at the smaller figure. Finally, he bows his head mournfully and says," Mongoose, I'm not here to take your life. I'm here to give you a final chance for salvation and peace."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"> "Lies," Mongoose says with a sneer," You only come to tease me. You spout your lies about peace and salvation. But I know the truth. With this blade, I am free from your touch, Harvester. </span><span style="color: #990000;">You come to trick me into releasing it so you can finally have your revenge, friend." He spits the word friend out with disgust. </span><span style="color: #990000;">Continuing, he says," No, my old friend, I will not give up that which keeps me safe. In fact..."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"> Mongoose reaches up to his left ear and fondles a shining gem. With a smile on his face, he says," You do not wish to kill me. You want to give me the.."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"> "STOP!" Jaccob roars. "You think that bauble's little magic will work on ME?! You were always foolish, but I never thought you were a fool. That earring will never be able to affect my kind. As one of the three facets of Life, I am beyond the simple magic tricks your feeble kind could possibly dream of."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"> Mongoose, slightly cowed, responds," Yeah, I know. If it were only that simple. But with this blade, you cannot touch me. It is I who could destroy you." He raises his right arm towards Jaccob. In place of a hand, lays a metallic claw made of a black, ethereal material. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"> "I do not doubt," Jaccob sighs with sadness in his eyes," You could destroy this body. But you could not destroy me. I do not come to tease or torment you. I call you friend, because you truly were my friend, once. I have returned to you after these long centuries to repeat my last warning to you, and to plead with you one final time."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"> With distaste on his face, Mongoose turns away and says," Say what you have come to say and leave me be."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;"> "I have seen where this path you walk leads to. I watched, helplessly, as our old friend Straahd was slowly lead to his doom. The path he chose took him from my grasp as well. But in the end, he was more of a fiend of Chaos, than a person. This path you choose is the same as his and will truly destroy you, as well."</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"> "Do not compare me to that insane fool," Mongoose shouts. "I am not some crazy gnome, who's half mad, half suicidal. His fate is not mine. His lunacy ran rampant through the realms for over four hundred years! My sins are nothing compared to his!"</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"> Mongoose, with a cocky smile creeping upon his face, continues," </span><span style="color: #990000;">Or yours for that matter, if I remember correctly. With this blade, I am removed from your touch. And as such, you can not see what happens to me. You have no power over me."</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"> "Oh, you would be surprised, by what I can see," Jaccob, with a dread filled voice, says," I see many things and know these truths to be fact. Curiosity can cause more pain than any other emotion. The Coin of Life, placed in all mortal souls, has three sides. Ebon broke my heart. And I destroyed the world. I am more than aware of my sins. And next to mine, yours are nothing. </span><span style="color: #990000;">I will wear my sins and suffer my punishment for the rest of my existence.</span><span style="color: #990000;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"> "And I can see more about you than you think. Your true weakness is fear. Your greatest fear is death. So, I am here to give you one last assurance, your fear has caused you more suffering than any hell you could imagine. I bear you no ill will and harbor no hatred or vengeance against you."</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"> "Just get on with it. I tire of this game." Mongoose said in exasperation.</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"> "Very well then," Jaccob sighs," I'll repeat my first warning to you, deliver unto you an additional warning, and as a parting gift, I give you the truth to one question. Use it well. </span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"> "Firstly, my initial warning from all those long years ago. Seven times you will witness the rise and seven times witness the fall of Wynter. If you do not relinquish that blade before the eighth fall of Wynter, you will have a choice to make. Keep your soul and</span> <span style="color: #990000;">d</span><span style="color: #990000;">ie as a child of Life</span><span style="color: #990000;"> or lose your soul and</span>
<span style="color: #990000;">live as a child of Chaos."</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"> "You've said this all before." Mongoose says," And you will not trick me, Jaccob. I freely make my choices and you cannot stand it. Now what is this new warning you have for me?"</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"> "Do you recognize this?" Jaccob asks holding up up a large, golden coin in his hand.</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"> "Yes. It looks to be a Heidracht coin."</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"> "This coin caused the death of a good man this evening. I met with the man personally and before he left this world he was on the trail that would have led to your doorstep. Lord Thistledown had two coins minted special for the birth of his two children. This one has the face of his daughter on it. The other, his son. Of course you already know what befell the lord and his daughter. What you do not know is this. The twin of this coin is coming to Wynter and will cause the eighth fall. And that blade you wear will belong to him."</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"> With a chill running down his spine Mongoose asks," How do you know this will come to pass? Do we not all have free will? If my choices are truly mine, the how does anyone know my fate?"</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"> "I can say no more of these things my old friend. Unless one of those is the question you wish to be answered."</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"> "I have no use for your answers. You will not help me with my wishes. And I doubt you would be honest in the answer. So for the final time begone." Mongoose turns his back to Jaccob and starts walking to the door.</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"> Jaccob says in a mournful voice," I have always been honest with you. And we will see each other one last time. But sadly, I know what your answer will be. And unfortunately, you will ask me the wrong question."</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"> Mongoose opens the door and asks, with a small laugh," Since you know what the punishment for my sins is. What is the punishment for yours?"</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"> "So be it. When everything is gone and nothing remains. In that void I shall remain for ever alone with him. My punishment is the same as his. In the end, I cannot be destroyed. But it isn't farewell yet. I will be there when your choice is made. And that was the wrong question."</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"> Mongoose could see his shadow sharply etched into the wall in front of him. As a brilliant light flashed from behind. When the light vanished, he heard a metallic clink. He turned towards Jaccob and saw that only ash and the </span><span style="color: #990000;">Heidracht coin remained.</span>Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01380008665525765247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184791937128081230.post-83167749801535787472012-02-03T11:25:00.000-06:002012-02-03T12:56:19.469-06:00My Railbox attempt<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwm5AoAecKeogzh6oEY-cAOSZ59OI3WF8f-XXite8pfwrgXhe7EEfGcoIjjZc_V8Hk9fbIWAbrVC8Vn0AZag5TA3gmgHMOrTnVLZOxvNJk-jmiwqGoqMJDLYgNW-3GG9s0wh-u3Jpm0Gw/s1600/Player+handout+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwm5AoAecKeogzh6oEY-cAOSZ59OI3WF8f-XXite8pfwrgXhe7EEfGcoIjjZc_V8Hk9fbIWAbrVC8Vn0AZag5TA3gmgHMOrTnVLZOxvNJk-jmiwqGoqMJDLYgNW-3GG9s0wh-u3Jpm0Gw/s320/Player+handout+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Player's map</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">Inspired by </span><a href="http://stirgessuck.wordpress.com/2011/01/21/slacking-through-the-sandbox/" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">Stirges suck</span></a><span style="color: #990000;">. I ran across that post a few weeks back while researching for one of my tales, I started using the slackbox idea to make the locales and adventures for my heroes. After realizing that I was putting waaay too much work for a few short stories, I thought maybe I could throw my hat back into the DM ring. I haven't DM in a decade now. Usually when I DM I either take the lazy way out and run a module or I spend way too much time plotting out an adventure to railroad my players through. I say railroad because I always tried to set up almost every possible scenario so I could have fall backs for when the player, inevitable, turned left when they should go right. I was basically writing a choose your adventure book, instead of allowing for player imagination, I was basically writing the story that I would use in some of my tales. The players were basically allowed to choose which directions the characters would go but in most cases, I already had that mapped out. Let me tell you, it was way too much work.So I hated to DM.</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"> Now the idea of running a sandbox scared the hell outta me. I knew that I would never be able to plan out every situation in a large enough area to make sandboxers happy. But I also know that a long time ago, more than ten less than twenty years, I had a friend living with me. He and I would alternate DMing our two characters, his was a dwarf and mine was something weird (they usually were since I'd gotten bored with the standard a long time before then). All we had was the three core books and </span><a href="http://newbiedm.com/2011/09/02/classics-unboxed-forgotten-realms-campaign-setting-2nd-ed-add/" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">The Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting</span></a><span style="color: #990000;"> for 2nd edition. So using </span><a href="http://newbiedm.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/dsc09632.jpg?w=1200&h=" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">this map</span></a><span style="color: #990000;"> we started our characters out. Now we were both pretty busy at the time so we played about an hour every couple of days. So with almost no prep we relied on storytelling and random encounters. We had a freakin blast. It was the last time that I remember having fun as a DM.</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"> So I said," Screw it." I called Eric up and asked him if he would mind me trying out a sandbox campaign in Ganth. He said with a little trepidation," Sure." Right now, it's not in the BIG BOOK of GANTH yet, but we'll see how it goes. It's not my place to tell you what's in that book, so far, but maybe this will be a sneak peek. I do plan to have a few random tables(including some adventure hooks), npc names, lair locations, and a couple dungeons ready. The dungeons will be drawn, hopefully in some unique ways, and have a few key encounters but I'm going to try flying without a safety net. We'll see how it goes.</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGhcIMUS_eOxk2V2nIJ3OqvS1UE9b8UdWHAMyDuBrxFP2cPXJFYVHvTcgFlDYMdRiXk5-6TkklLq5kF78b1t87s-FgGCOjNStCi1NcGF5bVvv6GMdOPDNac9yCwT-VIbBDgQziHrF61_U/s1600/Krixen's+End+Player.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGhcIMUS_eOxk2V2nIJ3OqvS1UE9b8UdWHAMyDuBrxFP2cPXJFYVHvTcgFlDYMdRiXk5-6TkklLq5kF78b1t87s-FgGCOjNStCi1NcGF5bVvv6GMdOPDNac9yCwT-VIbBDgQziHrF61_U/s320/Krixen's+End+Player.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Krixen's End</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"> The players will start off in Krixen's End as recently released slaves. I allowed no clerics or paladin's, since they wouldn't survive the slavery. The character's also start off as third level characters for this railbox. The were originally first level when they were captured and sold into slavery, I decided to say after five years in bondage they gained the extra levels. So ends the rail part of the box. Now on to the sandbox version.</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">So far the guys have chosen to make a dwarf thief and human illusionist. Both are neutral evil, we'll see how that works out. We could use a couple more players but as of now these two will have to learn to survive. Let's hope </span><a href="http://daggerarts.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">Eric</span></a><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span style="color: #990000;">and </span><a href="http://mcnerderson.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">Nick</span></a><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span style="color: #990000;">make some interesting tales.</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"> ALSO, as a side note, there will still be Tales coming. I'm currently writing up the first few parts of The Fall of Wynter. Hopefully, I can get the first post up in the next few days.</span>Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01380008665525765247noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184791937128081230.post-13367622876261180062012-02-02T10:29:00.000-06:002012-02-03T17:01:56.158-06:00Wynter Will Fall<br />
<span style="color: #990000;"> Wynter. The glimmering city of rot. It's shimmering spires and majestic citadels rise from the land like festering boils on the face of Ganth. The wounded city, doomed forever in it's own beautiful death.</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"> The city of Wynter is locked eternally in a war between Law and Chaos. Since time immemorial, Wynter has been the center of commerce, art and knowledge. But trapped beneath it's beautiful surface lies avarice, envy, and pride. The putrefaction slowly creeps into the city's heart over generations. With the disease comes the clarion call for destruction. Following the razing, either self-inflicted degeneration or the purifying flames of the just, the city is slowly rebuilt.</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"> Only the ancient histories of the elves or the memories of the eldest dragons could possibly know how long the city of Wynter has been locked in it's endless cycle of death and rebirth. No one living knows how many countless faces the city has worn. With the inevitable turmoil one truth remains constant, Wynter is doomed. </span><span style="color: #990000;">Wynter is known in all languages of Ganth. In many it is a warning, a feeling of dread, or a source of excitement and adventure. To all races, Wynter means City of Man.</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"> And soon Wynter will fall again.</span>Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01380008665525765247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184791937128081230.post-42359224648401777112012-01-31T13:58:00.001-06:002012-02-03T17:10:22.568-06:00A little about Jaccob Sorrow<span style="color: #990000;"> "I said she poisoned you." Jaccob replied.</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"> " So are you taking me to a healer?" Kellin asked, a tremor of fear began form in the back of his mind.</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">"Sort of," Jaccob paused a moment and said," This isn't going the way I intended. I'm usually better at this. But I'm meeting an old friend soon. I haven't seen him in a very long time. And I've looked forward to this moment with both anticipation and dread. So my nervousness is causing me to lose focus on the task at hand. So with my sincerest apologies, allow me start again.</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">"My name is Jaccob Sorrow. To some people my name is familiar, to you it is not. I have been known by many names. Some think I'm some horrible demon who walks around in robes and carry some wicked edged blade and look like</span> <a href="http://th08.deviantart.net/fs44/PRE/f/2009/085/d/6/Skeletor_by_rachellerosenberg.jpg" target="_blank"><span style="color: cyan;">Skeletor</span></a><span style="color: #990000;">"</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">"Who?"</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">"You wouldn't know him. Sorry. Flustered. Some call me Black Knight, Thanatos, or Harvester of Souls. I am Death Incarnate. And to tell you the truth, I don't really care for edged weapons all that much. As a matter of fact, when I was an adventurer, I used a maul."</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">Kellin stopped and asked," So, I'm dead?"</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">"Yes, sorry again," Jaccob smiled at Kellin and said," The assassin's poison killed you with the first drink. You saw me as you died and you've been walking with me ever since. Most people see their death coming and are prepared. They go on to their own person afterlife. Some souls never see their deaths coming and without that knowledge it takes them time to understand. Normally I appear to them at the moment of death to assist them. You are one of those souls."</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">"I have a son," Kellin began to plead.</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">"I know."</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">"I have to see him, tell him.."</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">"Tell him what?" Jaccob interrupted. "Are you going to tell him you died? That's not possible. If you want to see him, that's what the afterlife is for. Well, for some anyways."</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">Jaccob turned Kellin towards him and said," You are dead. Your son will grow to be an honorable man. It will be long years before you meet him again. But you will. </span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">"I do not appear before souls of evil men. Allowing them to wonder as a spirit is the greatest kindness I show them. The hell that some of them have created for themselves makes my avoidance of them a blessing. Until you accept that you are dead, you will wander this world as nothing more than a phantom. You will not be able to touch or even interact with anyone or anything. Eventually, you will not even know that you were alive and become some mindless spirit forced to forever roam. Good souls, like yourself, do not deserve to suffer beyond your death."</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">"Once again," Jaccob said," I humbly apologize for my ramblings. And my wish for you to accept what has befallen you this evening and move on to your pleasant afterlife. Now I must leave you to your choice. I have a very important appointment that I cannot miss.</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span>Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01380008665525765247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2184791937128081230.post-2146774441898235152012-01-25T07:16:00.000-06:002012-01-25T07:16:16.898-06:00Terraria is crack<span style="color: #990000;">First off let me say, I hate you Eric. Terraria is crack and I blame you.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #990000;">Secondly, I have been stuck in that stinkin game so much I haven't posted the continuation of my first post. And I have other tales to spin. Tomorrow, hopefully, I'll post the rest of that story and then move on to some others that I have in the works. </span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">Sorry for the delay. And I hate you Eric</span>Seanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01380008665525765247noreply@blogger.com0