Biggz Troop – Session 20

[More Yule Day combat and the finding of much loot!]

[This game uses Adventures in the Green, a RPG based on the original rules for the world’s most popular roleplaying game.  These rules are under development with Draft C available here.  Game sessions happen an average of once a month.  This session happened May 15, 2021.]

Biggz’z Troop, CAC (Chartered Adventuring Company):

Biggz Bigguns of the Big’uns Clan – gender neutral goblin Family Priest (5th level Cleric)

Porkins – male human Conjuror (5th level Magic-User)

Tiny – male minotaur Swashbuckler (5th level Fighter)

Tor Wind – male human Swashbuckler (5th level Fighter)

Mannin Darkshield – male dwarf Robber (3rd level Thief)

Kunigunde Gruber – NPC female goblin Footpad/Petitioner (2nd level Thief/1st level Cleric)

Hirelings:

Larn the Linkboy – male human hireling linkboy

Isidoros of Delphis – male Tolk hireling translator [specifically, German to Mü]

Deniska – female human hireling bodyguard [for Larn]

Ivan – male human hireling bodyguard [for Larn]

Bernagi – male human hireling bodyguard [for Isidoros]

Hardkira – male human hireling bodyguard [for Isidoros]

Sunday, December 25, 523rd year of the Empire

2:00 PM

Biggz arrived at the mill site the adventurers were hired to “make safe”, observing smoke rising from both behind and from the front doorway of the ruined building on the far left.  Biggz was irate as they specifically told Tor and the rest NOT to explore the ruins until Biggz got there.  Tor explained that they had not, in fact, gone into the ruins but were walking around them when they were attacked by phase spiders and burned some of the webbing to keep the spiders away.  This set Mannin off [he was still upset about the lost value in phase spider webbing] and made Biggz angrier as there might have been living villagers trapped in the webbing who were now burned to death.  Tor had not thought of that and was somewhat chastened when Biggz yelled at him about it.

Biggz ordered the hirelings to remain at the impromptu camp and guard the supplies while the adventurers did a perimeter search of the ruins.  The building on the far left was designated Building 1.  As the area behind the building was now known to be thick with phase spider webs, they walked along the front of the building to the right side.  On the side of the building was an open doorway facing a small courtyard area between it and the next building [Building 2].

Tiny looked into the doorway and found two gnole guards standing a bit back in the shadowed hallway.  The gnoles did not speak Mü nor did Tiny speak any of the languages the gnoles spoke.  Porkins stepped up and was able to speak to them in German.  The gnole guard asked if the adventurers were there to return the stolen emeralds.  When Porkins asked, “what emeralds?” the gnole guard clarified with, “the ones the villagers stole from us.”  Suddenly Porkins had an idea where the emerald given to Biggz by Ulf had come from.

Eventually the conversation ground to a halt once it became clear to the gnoles that the adventurers were not there as negotiators nor to return stolen goods.  The lead guard whistled and many more gnoles stepped out of doorways along both sides of the hallway.  The fight started with three gnoles shooting crossbows at Porkins, hitting him twice.  [I should have had Porkins transform into his wererat form here but didn’t think about it until after the combat was over – missed opportunity here to have the rest of the party discover Porkins was a wererat and have him go to town in melee against the gnoles.]  The fight was hard fought, but with Tiny blocking the only doorway out of the building, the adventurers kept the gnoles bottled up and killed them all but a single prisoner.  While coup d ’gracing the last of the gnoles [targets of a Sleep spell from Porkins], Tor discovered that his magic sword, Ologbane, also worked against gnoles [being gnome/troll hybrids].

After the fight, Porkins questioned the lone gnole prisoner who was very tight-lipped.  Mannin checked the bodies [once asked to by Tor], finding on average four emeralds of varying qualities on each gnole.  The rooms the gnoles had come out of were barracks with two sets of bunks in each room.  There was also a set of stairs leading down below ground, but they were choked with rubble and other debris.  The adventurers estimated it would take several hours to dig the stairs out, so they decided to wait until they were done searching the rest of the above ground ruins.  They also realized that none of these rooms connected to the left half of Building 1.

The prisoner was walked over to the camp so the hireling guards could keep an eye on him.  Once done with that, the adventures continued their perimeter search of the ruins.  They verified that the back half of Building 1 was filled with phase spider webs.  They then reversed course and walked around Building 2.  Building 2 was smaller than building 1 and only a single story tall.  It did not run all the way back to the cliffs.  On its left side was a closed door and a paved path that led to a door on Building 3.  Biggz cast Detect Traps on the door to Building 2 and detected none.

Tiny attempted to force the door open but failed [it was barred from the inside].  Porkins cast Knock and loudly blew the door open.  There were gnole guards waiting on the other side [warned by Tiny’s attempt at forcing the door].  The gnole guards were supplemented by four more gnoles in better gear, but with Tiny and Tor blocking the only exit, they did not last long.

The entry area had a hallway from it to the only other room in this building, which was a trophy room.  On display were three swords, a rack of potions, several pieces of fine jewelry [most with emeralds], and several bags of coins of both gold and copper.  Porkins used Detect Magic to verify all three swords were magical, as were the potions and one piece of jewelry, a ring.  The magic swords were carefully bundled up for later investigation and everything of value was swept into various loot bags for later counting and evaluation.

Finished looting the room, the slightly giddy adventurers followed the overgrown path to Building 3.  Tor had Ologbane check for traps and none were detected.  [Why doesn't he do this more often?  Because his player can be a bit of a Bluto when playing and forgets the non-combat things his gear does.]  Tiny forced the door open.  This building was in worse shape than the other two.  The interior walls had collapsed and they could see daylight filling the far end of the building.  The daylight perfectly outlined the two owlbears nesting in this building!

With an outraged screech, the owlbears launched themselves at the adventurers.  Biggz cast Bless on the troop before the actual fighting started [a requirement of the spell].  Tor stepped up next to Tiny to face the enraged owlbears.  Tiny’s shield was shattered by one of the clawed attacks made at him.  Tiny struck back with his axe while Tor and the second owlbear nicked each other.

Kunigunde and Biggz both hit the second owlbear with sling bullets.  Porkins hit the first owlbear with three magic missiles while Tiny and Tor both concentrated their attacks on that owlbear.  The owlbears hit both Tiny and Tor but for minimal damage.

Porkins cast Magic Missile again, targeting the first owlbear and killed it!  The rest of the adventurers concentrated their attacks on the second owlbear to varying success, injuring it.  It finally clawed Tiny solidly, but another round of attacks killed it with Tiny striking the killing blow.  The adventurers quickly searched the owlbear nest, finding a single necklace of stout gold chain.

Somewhat injured and tired from the long day [especially those that had been up before dawn], the group decided the were done exploring for the day.  They returned to where their supplies and the prisoner were being guarded and picked everything up.  Biggz did not want to try camping adjacent to the ruins like the villagers had, but also could not take Porkins back into the village.  As a compromise the adventurers scouted and found a suitable campsite protected from the chilly winds.

After camp was set up, Porkins explained to everyone [excluding the gnole prisoner] that he had lycanthrope and would change again that night when the moon rose.  Biggz explained that they and Tor had supplies to bind Porkins for the night.  Biggz understood if not everyone wanted to stay at the camp for the night and they would escort anyone wishing to stay in Stralbruck instead, but asked that anyone doing so not tell others about the situation.  Once the silver cords and steel chain were displayed, most agreed to stay at the camp, but Isidoros [for the Yule festivities more than anything else], Bernagi, and Hardkira [mostly to keep an eye on the Tolk interpreter] opted to go back to the village.

Biggz and Kunigunde escorted the three plus the back to the village and the Brass Dog.  The village had a winter fair still going on, much to Isidoros’ delight.  Once the three were dropped off, Biggz took Kunigunde and the prisoner to Helmar Schleiden’s home to report in.  Biggz discovered that the lord knew nothing of the issue with the emeralds and chose to not enlighten him.  Lord Helmar instructed Biggz to drop off the prisoner at the village jail for later trial.  After the meeting with the local lord, Biggz dropped the gnole prisoner off at the jail and then left the village.  On the way back to the camp, Kunigunde had many questions for Biggz about Porkins’ condition.

End of Session

Behind the Green

[I compressed the fights with the gnoles to keep this report shorter.  Overall, I was underwhelmed by the performance of the gnoles in combat, especially compared to their reputation from the Lord Dunsany short story.  I’m thinking of increasing their hit points to two dice and possibly adding in some regeneration to reflect their troll heritage.  I’m saving the hyena-men version of Gnolls for use as Cynocephali (dog-headed people) elsewhere.]

[Originally, my rules had all monsters (and PCs) only getting one attack, but I’m beginning to see why they were given multiple attacks as the original rules developed.  Monsters do not get Strength bonuses to hit or for damage, so the PCs quickly outstrip the monsters in damage potential.  I’m sticking with everything doing 1d6 damage.]

[As a result of the large amount of treasure, not including the magic items, everyone leveled.  Several people lost some experience points here as the amount they received would have pushed them up two levels.  Per the original rules, those who would have leveled twice are stopped at one point shy of the next level and any extra experience is lost.  This included Kunigunde, even with the half experience she recieves as an NPC.]

Biggz’z Troop, CAC

Session 01, Part 1

…

Session 19, Part 1

Session 19, Part 2

Session 21, Part 1

Biggz Troop – Session 19 – Part 2

[Later that night, things get hairy and the next day dawns cold.  Plus, spiders!]

[This game uses Adventures in the Green, a RPG based on the original rules for the world’s most popular roleplaying game.  These rules are under development with Draft C available here.  Game sessions happen an average of once a month.  This the second half of the session that happened April 24, 2021.]

Biggz’z Troop, CAC (Chartered Adventuring Company):

Biggz Bigguns of the Big’uns Clan – female goblin Family Priest (5th level Cleric)

Porkins – male human Conjuror (5th level Magic-User)

Tiny – male minotaur Swashbuckler (5th level Fighter)

Tor Wind – male human Swashbuckler (5th level Fighter)

Mannin Darkshield – male dwarf Robber (3rd level Thief)

Kunigunde Gruber – NPC female goblin Footpad/Petitioner (2nd level Thief/1st level Cleric)

Hirelings:

Larn the Linkboy – male human hireling linkboy

Isidoros of Delphis – male Tolk hireling translator [specifically, German to Mü]

Deniska – female human hireling bodyguard [for Larn]

Ivan – male human hireling bodyguard [for Larn]

Bernagi – male human hireling bodyguard [for Isidoros]

Hardkira – male human hireling bodyguard [for Isidoros]

Yggsday, December 24, 523rd year of the Empire

Evening

Tiny was awoken by the sounds of fighting and screams from outside The Brass Dog.  Always interested in a fight, he picked up his [magical] axe and went downstairs.  In the common room, Tiny discovered that the staff of the inn had closed the shutters and barred the door.  He convinced them to unbar the door so he could go outside [an easy task when one is a minotaur and carrying a huge axe].

Outside Tiny found the villagers wielding weapons [some very improvised] and chasing some creature through the streets.  When he asked what was going on, the villagers paused.  Tiny did not speak German nor did the villagers speak Mü and they were clearly wondering if they were going to have to fight this minotaur in addition to the other thing.  Tiny made gestures with his hands and his axe and the villagers realized he was with them in tracking down the monster they were hunting.  This greatly encouraged them.  Maybe they wouldn’t have to be the ones to die or get injured after all!

Tiny and the villagers chased the monster around the buildings inside the village walls.  Whatever it was, it was quick and Tiny never got a good look at it.  It eventually ran up some stairs to the wall and leapt over it to the cold ground outside.  It then fled the village area just as Tiny got to the top of the wall.  Tiny contemplated just hopping over the wall himself and continuing the chase, but in a rare flash of insight he realized none of the humans would be able to follow him, so he stopped.  The villagers took this as a sign that the minotaur had scared off the monster and now considered the minotaur one of them.

Near the end of the chase, Biggz awoke to the noise [the roaring minotaur helped here].  Biggz immediately checked Porkins’ room and found it empty with the window open.  Biggz realized that Porkins had changed again and feared the results of a conflict with the villagers.  Biggz closed the window and straighten the room a little before heading downstairs.  It was time to go outside and see if they could avoid having their magic-user murdered by an angry mob of villagers.

Once outside, Biggz learned the chase was over and the monster had escaped.  This greatly relieved Biggz, who then inquired if anyone had been injured.  Several villagers had been and Biggz started healing them and treating their wounds with wolfsbane and holy water.  The local priest noticed this and discretely asking if the use of the herbs was necessary for these wounds.  Biggz replied, “Yes.”  The priest then took Biggz to other injured villagers he had treated so she could apply her herbs and holy water.  To avoid a panic, the priest explained this extra treatment as something to avoid the wounds going bad.  He eventually introduces himself as Father Solomon, the village’s priest.

Once the wounded are treated and Tiny sent back to the inn, Father Solomon and Biggz have a quiet talk about why Biggz knew treatment for lycanthrope was necessary.  Biggz confessed that the “monster” was one of her friends and that she had only learned the previous day that he had lycanthrope.  Biggz felt that they would be able to remove the curse soon, but possibly not for a week [Biggz was close to leveling and gaining access to Remove Curse].  Until then, Biggz wanted to keep things bottled up.  Father Solomon saw this as a dangerous to the village as there was still one more night of the full moon.  He agreed to assist Biggz but needed to spend some time on other responsibilities [the next day being Yule and a major holiday].  Further, he required that Biggz keep her friend out of the village the next night to keep the villagers safe.  Biggz accepted this and the two agreed to meet in the morning the next day to discuss further options.

Sunday, December 25, 523rd year of the Empire

Dawn

Biggz woke up Tor and Mannin by pounding on the door to their room until one of them opened it.  Rather rudely, Biggz talked only to Tor and in Gobbly [the language of goblins, which Mannin does not speak].  Biggz explained to Tor that there was a monster attack on the village that Tor and Mannin slept through, but the monster was actually Porkins, who had lycanthropy.  Biggz needed Tor to take Tiny and go out into the countryside to find Porkins, who should be human again but mostly without clothes, in the winter.  Tor accepts the mission and went to find Tiny.  Biggz switched back to German and told Mannin that the group would be heading out after Noon and would he please pack up everyone’s gear and keep an eye on things here at the Brass Dog.  Mannin knew that Biggz was hiding something and was a bit sore about it, but he was there to meet a syndicate obligation so he agreed.

Tor found Tiny down in the common room eating breakfast.  Tor attempted to explain the situation to Tiny, but Tiny just didn’t get it.  Tiny eventually worked out that the two were going looking for the monster from last night and he was good with that.  Tor stopped trying to explain while he was ahead and had breakfast.

Outside the Village

Porkins awoke, sore and cold, in a copse of trees, barefoot.  His clothing was blood-soaked and there were parts of some animal around him with clear signs they had been gnawed on.  He stepped outside the copse and discovered he was in farmland with a farmhouse nearby.  It was very cold.  Porkins tore the bloodied sleeves off his tunic and then staggered to the farmhouse.

Once there he banged on the door and called for help.  The farmer and his family took Porkins in and asked what had happened to him.  Porkins claimed to be part of a group on their way to Stralbruck who were attacked by bandits.  Porkins claimed he was the only one to escape and he had been wandering without shoes and proper clothing for hours.  The farmer and his family bought the story and helped get Porkins cleaned up and gave him some spare clothes so he could get to Stralbruck.

10:00 AM

Biggz met with Father Solomon in the clergy house adjacent to the village’s church.  The two talked over their options, but it was a frustrating conversation for them both.  Father Solomon eventually offered the use of two long silver cords to bind Porkins when he changed again.  That would keep him from harming any villagers or farmers and will give the two of them another month to secure a permanent solution [although they differed on what that solution might be].  Father Solomon asked Biggz to came back by the church after the Noon services and he would have the supplies ready.  Biggz agreed to this and returned to the Brass Dog to wait.

Roughly at the same time Tiny and Tor stumbled across Porkins in his new coat and shoes, walking the road to Stralbruck.  Porkins was nervous about going back into the village and he convinced Tiny and Tor to follow a new plan.  Porkins and Tiny will circle the town and head to the mill site the group is supposed to investigate and wait there.  Tor will go into town and get the rest of their belongings and the rest of the group and meet Tiny and Porkins at the mill site in a couple hours.  Tor agreed to this.  Porkins spent the trip to the mill site trying to explain to Tiny that he, Porkins, was the monster last night.

10:30 AM

Tor arrived at the Brass Dog, having detoured to a smith to purchase three feet of steel chain [all that was available] and four horseshoes.  At the tavern he found Biggz in the common room eating a late breakfast.  Tor explained to Biggz that he and Tiny had found Porkins and what the new plan was.  Biggs rolled their eyes and explained they needed to wait to meet the priest again for some additional supplies to bind Porkins, but the rest of the group should go to the mill site and wait there for Biggz.

Tor went upstairs and collected a grumpy Mannin, the hirelings, and all the group’s supplies.  The group set off to the mill site just before 11:00 AM.

Noon

Mannin, Tor, Larn, Isidoros, Deniskva, Ivan, Bernagi, and Hardkira arrived at the mill site and met up with Tiny and Porkins.  The mill site was at a bend in a low set of cliffs with a stream flowing across and in front of the ruins.   The area had been partially cleared of trees and brush, exposing the ruins.  The ruins [only recently learned about] were several stone buildings, some two stories tall.  They were ornately decorated with stone statuary as part of the decorations and two of the buildings were connected by a walkway above the ground floor.  The camp site the workers had used was obvious and quite abandoned.

The adventurers stashed their gear and supplies [NOT at the abandoned campsite] and decided to investigate the outside of the ruined buildings.  They crossed the stream at a point where the workers had thrown in some large stone blocks to step across.  They went left to circle around behind the first building on that side.

The area behind the building where it was close to the cliff-side was clotted with spider webs, starting just past a collapsed corner of the building.  While the adventurers were peering into the building and trying to avoid stepping on the webs, four giant spiders appeared and advanced on them.

During the first minute of combat, the adventurers attempted to shoot the spiders.  Most missed, but Tor “hit” one and saw the arrow go straight through the spider to no effect.  Mannin ordered Larn to light a torch while dropping his bow to ready a melee weapon [I don’t remember if he uses an axe or a sword].  Tiny was bit by one of the spiders but the others failed to do the same.  The adventures struck several blows against the now corporeal spiders.

Tor switched to his sword but observed the spiders phase out during their moves.  None of the adventurers’ melee attacks actually landed, wafting through the spiders.  Then the spiders came in to bite, becoming solid again but failing to connect.

Before the spiders could phase out again, Kunigunde was able to hit one of the spiders with her sling.  The spiders moved to attack multiple targets and Larn got his torch lit.  The spiders had initiative and attacked.  Two of them bit Tiny, one bit Kunigunde, and one bit Mannin.  All felt the spider venom start stiffening their muscles, but only Mannin fully succumbed to the paralysis [the rest made their save vs. Poison].  Tiny and Tor each hit a spider.

Before the spiders phased back out [which happens as a half-move action], Porkins finally decided to use a spell, casting Magic Missile and peppering one of the spiders with three missiles.  The spiders phased out and the one Tiny had hit twice fled the area.  Tor readied his shield.  One of the remaining spiders bit at Tiny but shattered his shield instead of landing the blow [Tiny’s player wanted to avoid Tiny becoming paralyzed], the others missed.  In return, Tiny killed one of the spiders.

Using the window of vulnerability between the spiders' bites and being able to phase back out, Porkins cast another Magic Missile at the same spider and killed it.  The last spider phased out and moved to attack Tiny.  Tiny and Tor attacked first, but the spider was still out of phase and they failed to injure it.  The spider failed to bite Tiny, rebuffed by his armor [and low armor class].

The last spider took hits from Tiny and Tor and decided that it had had enough.  When it next phased out it fled the combat.  Tor took the lit torch from Larn and set fire to the webbing inside the building while Kunigunde used her staff of healing on Tiny.  The webbing inside the building caught fire and started giving off smoke, which the adventurers used to cover their retreat back to their camp site.

1:00 PM

Mannin’s paralysis wore off and he berated Tor for burning the webbing as phase spider silk is magic and commands a good price.

End of Part 2

End of Session

Behind the Green

[This was my first time using Phase Spiders with my rules and I found the description of their powers in OD&D…lacking and possibly broken.  I described this back in my April posting on Rule Descriptions - Phase Spiders and the Combat Sequence, which you can read there.  I also explain the Combat Sequence I’m using there.]

[I didn’t remember it at the time, but I am now amused that Mannin was the one who ordered the torch be lit before they knew the spiders were phase spiders and then ended up complaining when the torch was actually used.]

Biggz’z Troop, CAC

Session 01, Part 1

…

Session 19, Part 1

Session 20

Biggz'z Troop – Session 19 – Part 1

[After three weeks of downtime, the Troop gets a job offer and travel to Stralbruck.  Porkins has a confession to Biggz.]

[This game uses Adventures in the Green, a RPG based on the original rules for the world’s most popular roleplaying game.  These rules are under development with Draft C available here.  Game sessions happen an average of once a month.  This session happened April 24, 2021.]

Biggz’z Troop, CAC (Chartered Adventuring Company):

Biggz Bigguns of the Big’uns Clan – female goblin Family Priest (5th-level Cleric)

Porkins – male human Conjuror (5th-level Magic-User)

Tiny – male minotaur Swashbuckler (5th-level Fighter)

Tor Wind – male human Swashbuckler (5th-level Fighter)

Mannin Darkshield – male dwarf Robber (3rd-level Thief)

Kunigunde Gruber – NPC female goblin Footpad/Petitioner (2nd-level Thief/1st-level Cleric)

Hirelings:

Larn the Linkboy – male human hireling linkboy

Isidoros of Delphis – male Tolk hireling translator [specifically, German to Mü]

Deniska – female human hireling bodyguard [for Larn]

Ivan – male human hireling bodyguard [for Larn]

Bernagi – male human hireling bodyguard [for Isidoros]

Hardkira – male human hireling bodyguard [for Isidoros]

Downtime between November 20 to December 11, 523rd year of the Empire

During this downtime, the adventurers pursued individual projects, summarized as follows:

• Porkins learned Rope Trick and added it to his spellbook.  He also underwent his second transformation into a wererat during the full moon on November 24 and realized he had lycanthrope.
• Tor went to Grossestadt to pick up the magical plate armor he commissioned.  He paid the remainder of the agreed cost [half up front, half on completion].  He then returned to Smolberg.
• Biggz also went to Grossestadt to file the necessary paperwork for the adventuring group to make them a Chartered Adventuring Company.  This provides some protections for their activities and title to their loot [assuming there is no prior claim] in exchange for paying a yearly renewal fee to the Empire.  Without these protections adventurers can be charged for murder for killing the wrong kind of people in a dungeon or have their hard-earned loot confiscated by a local noble on whose fief a dungeon might be located.  Biggz also posted new notices that they were looking to hire another cleric and placed an order with Hugh for another enchanted sling [for Kunigunde].
• Tiny and Kunigunde lived like rockstars in Smolberg, partying until late in the night, sleeping in, and generally living large.
• Mannin lived quietly, doing his best to not draw a great deal of attention to himself, especially from law enforcement.
• [The entire group paid their upkeep for November (I forgot to ask for it previously) and for December.]

Sunday, December 11, 523rd year of the Empire

Biggz, sitting in the Little Ox tavern and working on some paperwork, was approached by a human in fancy clothing.  After verifying that Biggz was Biggz, he introduced himself as Ulf Thorhallson.  He explained he was a representative of the village council of Stralbruck.  Not recognizing the name of the village, Biggz asked where Stralbruck was and Ulf explained it was part of County Mandersheid-Scleiden-Virreburg, a small principality to the north.  The village had recently secured the right to build a mill on a nearby stream and sent workers to clear the site before the winter snows came.  Shortly after the work started, workers started disappearing, six so far.  The village council wants that stopped and decided to hire the group that cleared the goblins from the Smolberg Watchtower.  [This is something the PCs are currently known for doing.]

Biggz was interested in the job and asked what it paid.  Ulf explained the job paid 1000 gc for making the site of the mill safe from whatever was taking the villagers.  If Biggz was willing to sign a contract for the job, Ulf was also authorized to pay out an emerald as a deposit over and above the coins.  Biggz asked about the status of any loot taken from whatever was making the villagers disappear.  Ulf agreed that anything secured in the process of stopping the disappearances would belong to the adventurers.  Finding the deal fair but curious about the emerald being offered, Biggz asked to see it.  Ulf looked around to verify they were not being watched and then pulled a small velvet bag from his belt pouch.  From it he produced a cut emerald about the size of an acorn and displayed it to Biggz.  Biggz was impressed and asked when they needed to be in Stralbruck.  Allowing for travel, Ulf agreed that the adventurers needed to be in Stralbruck to start work no later than the 29th of December.  Biggz agreed to the terms of the contract.  The two of them then completed and signed two copies of the contract, Ulf taking one copy and Biggz the other.  Ulf handed the emerald over to Biggz and departed.

With the contract and emerald in hand, Biggz rounded up the members of Biggz’z Troop and explained the job.  The group discussed what supplies they needed to take with them for the trip.  They decided to purchase 10 new shields for the fighters to use [I use Shields Will Be Shattered, so the fighters burn through a lot of shields].  Not certain what accommodations there would be, Porkins bought a tent and the company bought a second one.  They thought it would be wise to hire some additional bodyguards for Larn and Isidoros and they should pay Larn, Isidoros, Deniska, and Ivan for a full month as they would be out of town for at least that long.

Biggz went over to the Guild of Condotierre, Linkboys, Roustabouts, and Stevedores to make the arrangements.  She learned that Hardkira and Bernagi were currently available [the group worked with them in the past] and hired them as the additional bodyguards.  She also made use of the Guild's money-changing services to use the emerald for payment and received coin as change, which were used to pay for the other supplies the group wanted.

Porkins went over to Isen’s Book and Paper and purchased a copy of Créatures de la Lune from Isen.  Isen raised an eyebrow at the book purchase and Porkins claimed it was for a job the adventurers had been hired for.  The book was in French and written in three parts.  Part 1 was a general history of lycanthropes, Part 2 discussed the different types of were-creatures and their habitats, and Part 3 discussed defenses against them and their curse.  [Reading through it during the trip to Stalbruck, Porkins would learn that the author, Grégoire de Fronsac, had the most experience with werewolves and very much advocated the eradication of all lycanthropes.]

Finally, Biggz tracked down Aaron Kalteswasser, the river merchant, and asked if he and his boat were available for hire to take the group to Wittlingen (the nearest river town to Stralbruck).  Aaron said he would be ready in the next morning for a reasonable fee.  Biggz paid the fee and told Aaron to expect 12 passengers in the morning.

Moonday, December 12, 523rd year of the Empire

In the morning all of Biggz’z Troop and their hirelings arrived at the town docks and boarded Aaron’s river boat.  The trip would take 10 days, first heading down the Jeetzel River to the Wasser River and then up the Wasser.  Unsurprisingly, the boat of heavily armed adventurers was not bothered during the trip.

Cromsday, December 22, 523rd year of the Empire

The river boat full of adventurers arrived at Wittlingen and docked mid-morning.  Biggz thanked Aaron and the group started walking.  Stralbruck was the better part of three days to the east.  Luckily, there were inns along the way as the route from Wittlingen to Stralbruck was reasonably well traveled.

Freysday, December 23, 523rd year of the Empire

Realizing that this would be the first night of the full moon, Porkins was forced to confide in Biggz that he had lycanthrope and would likely change into a wererat when the moon rose.  Biggz was shocked that Porkins was only now mentioning this.  They discussed their limited options at this point and Biggz agrees to tie Porkins up and lock him in one of the rooms at the inn – it was the best they could work out as the sun was already setting.

Yggsday, December 24, 523rd year of the Empire

Dawn

Porkins woke up, partially dressed, in a small outbuilding near the inn.  He snuck back to the inn and was able to re-enter his room through the window without anyone noticing.  The room was a mess from the thrashing around he apparently did to get free and his rope was fairly shredded.  He finished cleaning just as Biggz arrived and unlocked the door.  They were both concerned that he would change twice more this lunar cycle.

Mid-afternoon

The group of adventurers arrived at Stralbruck.  Stralbruck was a large village with a wall around it and a noticeable church.  At the gate Biggz explained who they were and showed the contract.  The gate guards directed the group to The Brass Dog, the best [only] inn, and explained where the local lord lived in town.

While most of the group spent the remaining afternoon securing rooms at The Brass Dog [rooms had been set aside by the local lord for their use], Biggz and Porkins went on separate missions.  Porkins went to the local church to determine if anyone had access to Remove Curse “in case whatever was making the villagers disappear could invoke curses.”  The priest in charge told Porkins the village was small and did not have anyone capable of removing curses, but it would only take a week or so to get someone here.  Porkins thanked the priest for the information and made a small donation to the church.

Meanwhile, Biggz reported in with the local lord of Stralbruck, Helmar Schleiden.  Helmar was somewhat nervous when discussing the job.  He eventually admitted that the number of missing villagers was now 14.  He gave directions to the location of the ruins where the land was being cleared for the mill.  This made Biggz raise their eyebrows as Ulf had not mentioned any ruins.  Biggz decided to not ask about the ruins – it would be easier to claim any loot in them later than ask for permission now.  Biggz left the lord’s home to update the other adventurers.

Shortly Before Sunset

While finishing an early dinner, Biggz and the rest were accosted by a human in wealthy merchant’s clothing.  He introduced himself as Grimbold von Virreburg, a prominent member of the village.  He sought verification that the adventurers had accepted the contract and would have things “settled in a timely fashion.”  Biggz asked why Grimbold had not asked the lord and Grimbold stated he “didn’t want to bother his lordship with merchant fears.”  Grimbold told Biggz he was concerned that the disappearances would stop commerce in the area as the Yule celebrations were already subdued.  He reiterated that he was glad the adventurers who cleared the Smolberg Watchtower were on the job and said his farewells.

Oleg the bartender, who was delivering a round of drinks as Grimbold was leaving, offered the opinion that he heard a rumor that it was ghosts taking away people.

End of Part 1

Behind the Green

[So, there is a huge time gap between session notes.  That’s because I stopped writing up my session notes for this campaign back in 2019.  I did so for a couple of reasons, mostly to do with feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the personal projects I was handling at the time.  Since then I brought the major writing project I was working on to a stopping point.  It was not complete, but it was a project that consumed a lot of my personal time used someone else’s IP.  I started to feel burnout on it and realized if I finished, I couldn’t do anything with it but give it away free.  Recognition is great, but it doesn’t pay bills and I was feeling very financially precarious at the time.  I set a date to get the files into good enough shape that I felt they could be made public without terminal embarrassment and then posted a link to them on my primary blog, Bugbears for Breakfast (look for the sidebar links to The Game).]

[Once that was wrapped up and handed over, I concentrated on writing my clone of OD&D – Adventures in the Green, the rules I’m using to run this campaign.  I’m nearly done with Draft C of the rules and have posted PDFs of Book I and Book II.  Book III was targeting to complete Draft C by the end of June, but it now looks like a July thing as it has a lot of Referee advice and needs some serious thinking for the re-write.]

[In the meantime, I feel I have more personal bandwidth right now and so I’m resuming typing up the session notes for the playtest campaign.  Rather than go back over a year ago and try and catch up, I’m starting with the current action.  I will gradually go back and fill in the gap, but don’t expect it soon.  I don’t want to burn out on any of this, so I’m taking it one piece at a time.]

[I also recently learned that I’d been spelling Biggz’ name wrong (I was using only one “g”).  This happened when the character was asked the name of the adventuring party while filing the paperwork to become a Chartered Adventuring Company.  I’ve corrected that error going forward.  Sorry, Biggz.]

Biggz’z Troop, CAC

Session 01, Part 1

…

Session 19, Part 2

The Imperial Calendar and Tracking Time

So my campaign is set in an analog of the Holy Roman Empire, roughly around 1400.  This made German the "Common Tongue" and allows a mix of small to medium sized principalities competing with each other for prestige, influence, and land.

As a result, I wanted a recognizable calendar but not the same calendar used in the real world.  Doing some online research, I looked at the Roman calendar, particularly that of the Republic, which puts Ianuarius [January] and Februarius [February] at the end of the calendar year.  This version of the calendar inserts an Intercalary Month into the middle of Februarius so that there are three weeks of Februarius, the intercalary month of Mercedonius (27 days), and then the last week of Februarius every other year.  There is also an extra day thrown in at the end of Feruarius every fourth year.

[Incidentally, this made years average out to 368.75 days over a 4 year span.  There was a 24 year cycle where one of the longer years was left out to bring things back into better alignment, but still the calendar crept forward compared to the seasons.  On top of which, the pontifex of Rome determined when the intercalary months actually happened and, as they were politicians, would add or withhold the intercalary months to their own benefit.  This is why Julius Caesar [yes, THAT Julius Caesar] reformed the calendar, creating the Julian calendar, during his short stint as ruler of Rome.  The Julian calendar did not rely on human intervention to stay in synch with the seasons and actual dates could be fixed to the start of each season.  It was more complicated than this - I recommend reading the Wikipedia article on the Julian Calendar if you are interested.]

I've decided to use some of the Julian reforms, so the months will have the same number of days that the modern calendar does, but I'm keeping the old names and order of months, starting the year at the Spring Equinox on 1 Martius.  This is to replicate that some races live longer  and can more easily pass information along without losing as much along the way.  Plus, the gods actually speak to their clerics, so keeping a religious calendar in a certain order has more gravitas than in the real world.

Therefore, the months are as follows:

Martius	(31 days)
Aprilis	(30 days)
Maius	(31 days)
Iunius	(30 days)
Quintilis	(31 days)
Sextilis	(31 days)
September	(30 days)
October	(31 days)
November	(30 days)
December	(31 days)
Ianuarius	(31 days)
Februarius	(28/29 days)

And to keep things all together, the days of the week are:

Sunday
Moonday
Hernesday
Magusday
Cromsday
Freysday
Yggsday

[These I developed for the Barrowmaze campaign I've run one season of so far.  The players became familiar with the day names there so I ported them over for this campaign.]

Now I told you all of that so I could talk about this: tracking time in a campaign is important.  Porkins is high enough in level to know more spells than he has now, but learning them takes time, on the order of a week per spell level per spell.  He also wants to research a couple of spells which take just as long.  He also does not want to miss out on experience or treasure.  So to meet these demands, he either has to convince the party to not go out adventuring for a couple weeks [or more] or suck it up and miss out on some adventures.  Luckily for him, another option is about to happen.

The other reason to keep track of time is weather.  It isn't summer all year long [unless it is in your campaign], and so the seasons should happen.  I suddenly realized that it is December in-game and winter should be very noticeable.  So I've started emphasizing how cold it is outside, especially at night.  The players know that sometime soon the winter storms will happen and pretty much all travel will stop for a couple months.  I should have done this nearly a month ago in-game, but I wasn't paying attention so it is happening now.

With two months of forced down-time, Porkins should be able to update his spell selection and do research on a couple subjects he has put on his To Do list.  Biggz is looking at taking over the Watchtower as a residence and place of business for the group.  This will require codifying their maps of the various levels, planning on where they want to block off sections underground so their areas are secure.  That will require the hiring of an engineer and several weeks of planning and discussion with the engineer.  Plus they need to negotiate a grant or title from the current owner, a down-on-his-luck noble who owns a lot of the land around Smolberg, but also has a lot of debt that he inherited with it.

That's it for now - more later.  The session notes for the campaign will resume tomorrow (6/15/21) but I'm jumping to the beginning of the current story line at Session 19.  I'll fill in the gap between sessions 2 and 19 as time permits, but it will be infrequent as I want to move forward.

 Later!

Animal Encounter Tables in OD&D

So in OD&D, animals are broken into "Insect or Animal, Large" and "Insect or Animal, Small" and given the minimum information necessary for fighting them. In Supplement III there are revised wilderness wandering monster tables that incorporate all monsters in the original 3 books plus those from Supplements I through III. I was looking at the Animals subtables for ideas on what kinds of "insects and animals" were expected and the tables are interesting in the places they suggest. The entries for "Clear" terrain and "Woods" are clearly modelled off the American Midwest. The only two that stand out to me here are Wolverines and Giant Lynx, mostly because I'm from Texas, which bridges the American South and the American Southwest and the wolverine and lynx are from northern latitudes. The Mountain table seems more the Rocky Mountains due to the Giant Rams and Giant Goats, but could also cover the Alleghanies (the mountain range that runs up and down the American eastern seaboard). The "Optional Mountains" is clearly the Ice Age and is interesting because "Neanderthalers" appear on a list specifically of animals. "Jungle-Like" exists because they didn't know the word "savannah" or were trying to cover savannah and jungle, but didn't have space in the layout for a long word like savannah. Apes and Warthogs in a jungle? Check. Hyenas, Elephants, and Rhinos? Not so much, let alone Buffalo, "Herd Animals", nor Lions. The Swamps/March table features expected animals (at least for swamps/marshes on the North American continent) but also includes Lizard Men on an encounter list specifically of animals. The "Optional Swamp" includes dinosaurs for your Forgotten World locales. Note, these are dinosaurs as known in the 1970s, so a mish-mash of ages: Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops, "Bronto's", stegosaurus, and "Pter'dyle" (which I assume is a badly abbreviated "pterodactyl"). What struck me most was the inclusion of Lizard Men and "Neaderthalers" on tables specifically for animals. Lizard Men already appear on the Swimmers table, so they are possible encounters on River and Swamp terrains, so why add them to animals as well? "Neanderthalers" appear nowhere else and are separate from Cavemen, a type of "Men". The suggestion is that both are bestial and not civilized at all, which puts them below orcs, the stereotypical savages of early D&D. Not much else to say and I feel like I'm starting to meander, so I'm going to stop here. Later!

Rule Descriptions - Phase Spiders and the Combat Sequence

[I'm deep in the process of writing my own version of the OD&D rules.  I'm also running a monthly campaign to play-test through the rules and find things that are missing or broken in non-obvious ways.  This post is about one of those things.]

The party of adventurers recently ran up against a group of Phase Spiders inhabiting part of some ruins the party was hired to investigate and "make safe".  I used phase spiders for a couple of reasons: I had not used them yet in the campaign and they would produce a solid challenge for the PCs.  I kinda knew how phase spiders work, so I expected things to be interesting.  Unfortunately, it was nearly a roadblock instead of interesting.

Once the combat started, I looked to see how the rules handled their phase ability.  What it said was:

"When attacking or being attacked, the phase spider can shift out of phase with its surroundings, bringing itself back only when it is ready to deliver its poisonous bite."

There are several problems here.  First, does this mean that once combat starts, phase spiders are always out of phase, except when they roll for their attack?  If so, this is very broken as:  

"When out of phase they are impervious to nearly all forms of attack, although a Phase Door spell will cause one to remain in phase for 7 melee rounds.  Oil of Etherealness and Armor of Etherealness also put their wearers into the same phase as this monster when it shifts out of phase."

If that is not what it means, when do they phase in and out?  Is there a time limit between going from one state to the other?  How are the PCs expected to deal with this?

So I had to adapt this to something reasonable.  To explain what I did, you need to know some about how combat works in my rules.  I'm using the combat sequence from Philotomy's Musings, which means a modified version of the one from Chainmail.  It provides more options for movement and shooting/casting than the "I go - You go" method that most RPGs use now.  Here is the combat sequence for Adventures in the Green:

Combat Sequence

1. Initiative: Both sides roll 1d6 for initiative; high roll wins.
2. Missile/spell: In initiative order, both sides may fire missiles, cast spells, etc.
3. Movement: Side with initiative moves up to half move
4. Movement: Side without initiative moves up to half move
5. Missile/spell: In initiative order, both sides may fire missiles, cast spells, etc.
6. Movement: Side without initiative moves the remaining half move
7. Movement: Side with initiative moves the remaining half move
8. Missile/Spell: Unengaged combatants may fire missile, cast spells, etc.
9. Melee: Engaged combatants fight one round of melee.

Spell casters can only cast one spell per combat round, but there are three point where they can choose to cast.  Same with ranged fire (unless they do not move and get a second shot).  This method also means that those with initiative have the option of running away or cutting of those who try to run away, as those with initiative get the first and final moves.  Also, there are no attacks of opportunity, once you are in melee combat, you are pinned there until your opponent dies or you do [there are some options here, but too much detail for this discussion].

So back to phase spiders.  Phase spider can shift out of phase as a half-move equivalent.  When they attack in Melee, they phase back in and attack as one attack.  This lets them attack but leaves them vulnerable until their next Movement, when they can go out of phase again.  With their next Movement in step 3 of the sequence, they are vulnerable to melee attacks that come after them in initiative and the first spell casting step of the next combat round.

As OD&D does not have a Hold Action possible action, opponents cannot simply wait to attack and therefore have a narrow but usable window of opportunity.  This leads to opponents wanting to lose initiative to they can make their melee attacks after the spiders phase back in as part of their attack.  Spellcasters using quick spells [1st and 2nd level, which have no delay] can attack in the first Missile/spell step (step 2).  This gives PCs tactical options, which I consider important.  Also, spiders out of phase do not pin combatants in place, so opponents can flee if they chose to do so (although phase spiders are very fast when out of phase with a 15" movement).

The next issue was the "poisonous bite."  I decided that phase spiders have a paralytic poison.  This seems more in line with Level 4 monsters.  Save versus poison after being bitten or become paralyzed.  They will wrap you up after combat is over and eat you later.  The poison is probably long acting, so 1d6 hours seems reasonable, although a Cleric with access to the 4th-level spell Neutralize Poison will cure the paralysis.

That's it for this topic.  I'll post more as I find things to discuss/share.  Let me know if you have any questions about the rules or how they deal with something.

Later!

 

Outcasts – Session 03 – Part 1: Taking It to the Goblins

[The adventurers return to the cave and work on clearing the level, primarily of goblins but also in general.  I also introduce the rule “Shields Will Be Shattered” to great effect.]

[This game uses a modified version of the first ever roleplaying game.  These rules will be released as Adventures in the Green RPG in the (far) future.  Game session happen once a month.  This is the second half of the session that happened November 23, 2019.]

Player Characters:
Bigz Bigguns of the Big’uns Clan – female goblin Village Priest
Lars – male halfling Apprentice thief
Porkins – male human Medium
Tiny – male minotaur Veteran
Tor Wind – male human Veteran


Sunday, Sextilis 17th, 523rd year of the Aegean Kingdom
The trio of adventurers, Bigz, Lars, and Porkins, located Tiny drinking in The Little Ox tavern.  [Its real name is The Elk and Oak, but Tiny misinterpreted the sign out front.]  The tavern is just outside the Smolberg’s South Gate.  Tiny was there drinking with a human [Tor Wind] and both were drunk and speaking Mü, which the trio took as a good sign.  The trio informed Tiny and Tor what they had been up to and what the plan was for the next day.  Both Tiny and Tor are up for it.


Moonday, Sextilis 18th, 523rd year of the Aegean Kingdom
The ragtag group of adventurers gathered in the morning at the job board in the Smolberg market square.  The job of clearing the feral goblins from the Watch Tower was still there, but also still paying 150 gold coin.  This was a minor disappointment as the group was hoping the bounty had gone up again.  Maybe next week.

The group went to the docks and took a ferry across the Jeetzel River to Waldrand.  There they headed south on the River Road to the forest and left the road to circle the hill the Watch Tower was on.  They circled around to the south-southwest corner of the hill to the cave entrance hidden by small trees and bushes there, arriving at 9:00 AM.

The adventurers entered the cave mouth.  They checked the main cavern and the two side caverns to see if anything had changed.  The dead rats in north cave and the skinned giant ferret carcasses in the south cave were starting to smell a bit but nothing was out of place.  The group squeezed through the narrow passages in the back to the corridors under the Watch Tower.  This was uncomfortably tight for Tiny, being an adult minotaur, and a bit cramped for the two humans [Porkins and Tor], but the halfling and goblin [Lars and Bigz] were completely comfortable walking through.

With a choice of directions [west to a room or east to a corner and a door], Lars snuck east to see what was around the corner.  The door had faded crudely painted skulls in black paint on it [I missed this in the initial description, but this is when they would have noticed].  Around the corner the corridor continued a short way to a wide room.  Lars snuck closer, using his bullseye lantern to only light the floor in front of him.

The room was sixty feet wide but only twenty feet deep.  Off to the left was a set of stairs coming up from a lower level and on the stairs were two goblins with a giant ferret on a leash.  They saw Lars, who turned and ran as fast as he could back to the other adventurers.

When Lars came back around the corner at speed, he whispered that two goblins and a giant ferret saw him.  The adventurers prepared as they could hear the pursuers getting close.  The giant ferret rounded the corner first and was peppered with range attacks from Tor and Bigz.  Then Tiny chopped it with his axe, killing it.  The goblins came around the corner immediately after that and attacked Tiny but both failed to connect.  Tor and Bigz missed one goblin with their ranged weapons, but Lars killed it.  Tiny and the other goblin traded attacks, Tiny’s killing the goblin in one hit.

Just as that fight ended, the adventurers heard two other goblins behind them say, “What the…?”  The adventurers turned and saw two goblin guards peeking out of the room behind them.  Tor attempted to kill one but missed.  Bigz was able to kill the other goblin, but the first goblin turned and ran, calling out an alarm.

The adventurers moved into the room the goblin guard had fled into and discovered there was an open passage to the south, in the western corner, that they could hear the guard running down, and another northwest passage from the northwest corner of the room.  Lars darted ahead and pursued the goblin down the southern passage by himself.  The passage turned west, went on a bit and then turned north again.  Lars stopped at the corner of the turn to the north to listen.  He heard the goblin guard telling a group of other goblins that intruders were attacking and had already killed the other guard, Fritz.  Liking how the last fight went, Lars stepped around the corner to see the fleeing guard surrounded by four more goblins and the smallest hobgoblin he’d ever seen.  They looked at Lars and drew their weapons.  Lars turned and ran as his plan seemed to be working.

Meanwhile, the other adventurers set up an ambush at the southern passage with Tiny waiting beside the passage opening.  Tor, Bigz, and Porkins waited at the entrance to the room, Porkins keeping an eye out behind them in case more goblins showed up from that direction.  When Lars returned, he quickly told the rest that five goblins were pursuing him and then stepped next to Tiny to take part in the ambush.

The goblins, not being dumb, did not charge into the room blindly – they pushed the scrawny hobgoblin in first to see what happened.  Tiny cut the hobgoblin in half with his axe.  Lars stepped out and attacked with his sling but missed.  Thinking they know what to expect now, the goblins attacked.  Lars and Tiny killed two of them as they advanced, but the lead goblins attempted to stab Tiny with their spears and missed.  Tor moved from the room entrance [northeast corner] to the northwest passage so he could get a line of fire with his short bow to the goblins but his shot missed.  Bigz followed but had the same luck shooting her sling as Tor had with his short bow.

Lars switched to melee and killed another goblin.  Tor finally hit one of the goblins but failed to kill it.  The goblins pressed the attack, splitting their attacks between Tiny and Lars but failed to hit either.  In return, Tiny completely lost his grip on his axe and it clattered to the ground.  Afraid he was going to grab them, the goblins turned and fled.  Bigz and Lars each killed one of the fleeing goblins, but Tor tried to kill the last goblin before it escaped but accidentally shot Tiny instead.  [Shooting into melee can be dangerous, especially when you roll a “1”.]

Tiny chased the fleeing goblin back to the next room where a hale and hearty hobgoblin was just entering the room through a door.  Tiny grabbed the goblin who called out, “Boss!  Save me!”  The hobgoblin swung its longsword at Tiny but missed.  Tiny turned to go back and get his axe for a fair fight, absent-mindedly tucking the goblin up under his arm.  On his way back he passed Lars and warned the halfling a “big goblin” was following.  Unfortunately, being warned did not save Lars.  The hobgoblin came around the corner to where Lars was and cut Lars down in one blow.  Tiny, axe back in hand, stepped back to the hobgoblin and attacked, but missed.  The hobgoblin did not miss and dropped Tiny.  [Tiny’s player pointed out that the hit would not have dropped Tiny if Tor had not shot Tiny with his bow two rounds earlier.]  Tor and Bigz, wanting revenge for their friends attacked the hobgoblin and their combined hits killed the hobgoblin and ending the fight.

Bigz immediately healed Tiny, who survived the near-death experience with only some minor scars.  Bigz then healed Lars who was not as lucky.  Lars’ heart and lungs were damaged by the attack and he would need a week of bed rest.  [I use the Fatality Table from Adventure Conqueror King System when PCs go to zero hit points or lower and Lars’ player rolled poorly if not terribly.  It could have been both better and worse.]  Lars now had a new goal: save enough gold coin to afford having a cleric cast Restore Life and Limb on him.

With the fighting over, the group efficiently looted the goblin bodies and the dead hobgoblin, including taking their shields.  [This is when Tiny’s player remembered that he uses a shield and could have sacrificed that instead of taking the hit.  He was more conscious of that after this fight.]  They also spiked shut the door the hobgoblin had come through, not knowing where it went or if there were more goblins that way.  After that the group was exhausted and took a rest, Lars wheezing in the background.  During the rest the group discussed their options.  All agreed that they had pushed their luck far enough and it was time to head back to town where they would heal up.

Half Past 11:00
The adventurers returned to Smolberg.  The group dispersed, with Bigz and Tiny handling the selling of the goblin loot [which included their armor and weapons].  Shares of treasure were dispersed.  Lars convalesced at an inn for a week [as mandated by the Fatality Table].

End of Part 1


Behind the Greens
[Tor Wind is a new player to the group but an old friend who has been in several of my gaming groups.  One of the primary reasons for adding a fifth player is so the group has at least four players if one of the other players cannot make it, which will happen again in December.  I don’t plan on adding anyone else unless someone drops out permanently.  I’m happy with the current mix of players and the small size of the group and I need to remember that it’s not my group – I’m holding the place for the return of original DM for this group so we can go back to Artesia.  Until then (and it may be another year or so), I’m using this group to experiment with OD&D and rules variants as I write my own set of OD&D rules.]

[I’m not certain if I’m getting too granular with my combat notes.  I’m making an effort to actually record what happens in combat as it happens, but I’m not certain to what end.  Previously, I kept stronger notes about the not-combat stuff and just wrote a short summary of any combat.  For more complex game systems, like HERO System, this can get difficult as there are so many options and more detailed notes are required, plus there are not easy rounds to keep track of.  I may change things later, but for the moment, this is mostly a dungeon crawl and this style of notes seems to fit best.]


Outcasts
Session 01, Part 1
Session 01, Part 2
Session 02, Part 1
Session 02, Part 2


Session 03, Part 2 [Not Written Yet]