Contact Information:

jay@vanishingtowerpress.com
Showing posts with label classic fantasy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label classic fantasy. Show all posts

Sunday, January 12

Death in Rom'Myr

The last session was a continuation of coming to grips with the denizens of the Pale Knight's Palace. They had indeed returned to the Aticorn with the 8 threads from the vampire lord’s cloak, and the creature of Faerie did release the party from the peculiar geas laid upon them. But they had left the young Violet behind in the nightmarish palace. None of the warriors could look each other in the eye if they left their potential meal-ticket lost and uncashed. So instead of pushing on to the realative safety of Le Freniae, the party turned around and marched back to the ruined structure which just last night held an alien conclave and was racked by terrible explosions. The daylight did little to relieve the gloom saturating the steep, forest hollow. Once inside they wasted little time plowing to the room of dragon eggs and the broken throne room. The 3 eggs which were left behind last night appear now to be gone. The throne room was appropriately barren, but the unbelievable events which overtook the group last in this room left behind signs of the awful reality which had transpired. 
Clues wrapped in a dropped communique hinted at deep conspiracy on now a cosmic scale. But nothing yet seen prepared them for the colossal marble snake coiled in the center of it’s room of rampage. Not a hallucinatory dream after all. Stone it was made and still it breathed and slumbered. Above the beast, as if suspended like an acrobat, the silvery beauty, the alien and powerful Aladonia floated like a billowing cloud over the rubble. Her advisory, the grotesque talking hair-skin thing, was no where in sight. An unoccupied alchemy lab provided insight on the child-snatching which they were bearing witness to. Their bowels turned to water as a closing, suffocating trap threatened a TPK and still no sign of the lovely Violet. Questions dogged their every step; what with the stealing of children? What was the significance of multiple dimensions filled with strange beings? And how was all this going to pay? 

Friday, January 19

Some Dolmenwood Tavern Adventure Hooks

All who pass through Castle Brackenwold stop for a drink at the Four Captains whether they are searching for work, information or adventure.


The following adventure hooks can be found out at the dirty, meager tavern:
  • The lord of Castle Brackenwold is offering 500 gold(or silver) for the head of an insurgent peasant leader at the Shanty Wood woodcutter's camp. Those interested should report to the sergeant at the barracks. This is being advertised on a flier tacked on the wall.
  • A disinherited noble seeks brave men of honor to help him restore his estate which lies to the south east on the open plains. He is buying rounds of drinks in attempt to sway the disinterested local riffraff.
  • An exhibition to find a route through the unexplored Machswold is looking for stout explores to join their team. Those who help with the success of the exhibition will earn shares in the King's Trading Company. The troop of twelve explores is about to leave for Prigwort. There they will camp for several days as they prepare rafts to cross the Groaning Loch.
  • Two old sisters, one of them armed with an aged long sword, the other robed leaning on a walking stick, know of a ruined monastery. They believes there is a hidden tomb beneath, undisturbed, because it is protected by an unusual lock. There should be enough wealth in such a place to make everyone fabulously wealthy. She has an odd lodestone she claims is showing the tomb is not far north of the castle in the Brackenwold.
Here are the stats for the two old "sisters":




Wednesday, January 17

Dolmenwood Gypsy Encounter

For those who want to add a cliche forest road encounter for their Dolmenwood Campaign I present to you the Gypsy Wagon




Encounter Results

Gypsy Wagons: Either encountered making their way, or pulled up in camp the Gypsy Wagon is a hodgepodge of useful and baneful encounters. If the PC's ignore the Gypsy Wagon they will be unmolested. If the PC's stop to talk with the Gypsies they will be shown to the Matriarch of the caravan. She will offer any assistance her meager train may offer; provisions, information, first aid for the injured. All she asks is to pick a card from her deck of fortunes. This request will be made after assistance has been rendered and much feasting and dancing has been had in the camp. Grab a deck of normal playing cards and pull one. While only one card is being pulled the set up should be of an elaborate fortune telling reading within a heavily curtained wagon. Lighted candles and cheesy effects will give the Matriarch the appearance of a typical entertainer, but her readings do have power. Have one of the PC's pull a card while you hold the deck and snicker. Regardless of suit read the description for the matching numbered card. After much shuffling of books and papers, state;

Ace: “Happiness and joy are for those who sleep. Your journey will leave you dead and alone.” The PC's are encouraged to spend the night with the Gypsy caravan. If they do each character will be visited by strange dreams while slumbering. These will leave the characters uneasy with feelings of dread in the morning which are hard to shake. From now on the Matriarch will have a sense of the character's well being while in Dolmenwood. When out in the wilderness and the party is in distress she will dispatch woodland animals once which would be appropriate to provide some form of immediate aid.
Deuce: “Beware treachery, especially from those you trust.” Moving forward in the campaign every time the party gets a favorable reaction roll from NPC's there is a 15% chance the NPC is actually playing the Party false and will attempt to deceive, rob, capture or kill members of the Party. Once they are betrayed the curse is broken.
Three: “The future is pregnant with disaster.” For the next three days the Party will have a daily encounter which will go poorly or poses some kind of threat.
Four: “Act swiftly or all is lost.” Upon hearing this fortune if the PC's immediately press on they will encounter someone who will be able to provide aid and/or useful information on their current adventure. If not, if the Party actually stays the night with the gypsies they will awaken with the camp having moved on. Besides not waking to the departing camp the party as a whole is light 50% of their hard currency or foodstuffs.
Five: “Unify, even with your enemy, or all is lost.” The next encounter which requires a reaction roll if the one who drew this card is present than the reaction will at least be favorable.
Six: “You cannot afford the luxury of trust.” The next time the PC's ask someone an important question (not a gypsy) and are told the truth the one who drew this card is sure they are lying.
Seven: “Reckless abandon and chaos are your only friends.” The next time the PC's flee an encounter the one who drew this card will not be caught.
Eight: “Search deep beyond the meaning of oaths, even if it means torn hearts pulsating in your blood stained hands.” The first time the PC's are lied to the one who drew this card will know it.
Nine: “If you wish it, it will come. If not now, then you must take it by force.” When the PC's first encounter treasure or receive a reward for deeds done they will receive an additional 100 pieces of gold.
Ten: “War! You will witness the devastation of armed conflict.” The next time the PC's are in a walled settlement it will fall under siege by whatever appropriate force makes sense to you.
Jack: “Do not temper lust, lay waste.” The next time the PC who drew the card is in a tavern they get wildly drunk and must roll on the “Carousing Mishap” table of your choice.
Queen: “For the future be clouded, trust that blood will flow.” For several nights hence a werewolf will stalk the party. While the first two nights are black with dark clouds on the third night the sky will clear pregnant with a heavy, full moon. Then the night beast will attack. If the PC's are not alone than who the werewolf attacks needs to be rolled randomly. If the PC's are indoors or underground they should be able to avoid the beast's rampage. The darkened two nights prior will give the PC's an opportunity to notice they are being stalked if they are keeping a sharp watch.
King: “Faith in the old gods is misplaced. Ruthlessly stamp out heresy.” The next time anyone of the Party present at the reading encounters a Cleric they will be accused of being dangerous blasphemers of the one true faith and will be driven from the holy person's sight.
Joker: “Disguise yourself from you kin, they seek to pull you down.” One time a PC will not be recognized by an enemy seeking them out. The PC will have to be present at the card reading to have a chance of being unrecognized in the future. This will apply to all PC's present but a PC can only benefit from this effect once.
Advertisement: Random roll (1D10) from the 1e DMG random encounter chart page 174.
1 is a Dungeon Encounter,
2 is a Underwater Encounter,
3 is an Astral & Ethereal Encounter,
4 is Psionic Encounter,
5-10 is an Outdoor Encounter.
Yeah, I know, how the fuck do I do an Underwater Encounter on a woodland road? I leave you to your imagination. Besides this table entry is useless without the DMG so you might have to just make it up anyways.


Monday, September 29

What I like about my Carcosa Campaign

Well, it's not really mine, I just play in it.

I took the plunge a year ago to participate in a Google+ campaign based in Geoff Mackinney's Carcosa  setting to play a Sword & Planet game. The non-medieval geometry inherent to the Carcosan world at least guaranteed I would not be interacting with the usual drunken dwarves, bored innkeepers or goblin infested slime coated tunnels which I had hacked my way through since high school.

I hoped the alien environment would force me to approach my play different. What good is gold on a landscape absent of society, safe water, and food?

I hoped it would interest me.

I was curious how OSR rules would handle this kind of setting and I was anxious to try out one of these new retro-clone systems which seemed to be firing the engines of these online gaming opportunities.

As far as the Carcosa game material being offered by the DM through the setting book, this has been great. While bandits and wolves in the woods and along the trails of your average feudal realm can put me to sleep, I seem to really perk up and pay attention when my PC is a half naked savage ducking terrifying dinosaurs, and storm cloud sized amoebas trying to traverse the naked plain or navigate fern choked swamps. The game world makes me feel more threatened due to my lack of familiar reference. How much of the game material we adventure through is from the world book, what is created by the DM and what is hacked from other published sources I don't know. The DM is the one who knows that. But I can say I do feel like I am in a savage alien world racked by terrible powers beyond my PC's comprehension. Once again, mere survival feels like a tremendous victory day in and day out.

Resource management. From torches to ray guns, where to acquire these different resources which increase my chances of survivable can be very difficult to lay your hands on let alone use correctly. Everyone knows how to use a +1 sword, magic wand or a rare and valuable gem, or at least give it a relative game world value. Buzzing robot insect halo surrounding a glowing pylon? Hard to tell what it represents or offers. Once again, pushing me to be more imaginative in my game play than I might have.

This also applies to experience points. Treasure is rare. Items of wondrous power are hard to find. They are either already possessed by some bad ass, or are difficult to access. Mineral wealth is also hard to dispose of. Old Ones are hard to buy off. It forces me to create a different metric for success each game play beyond resource stock piling. I can't just loot my way to a flying squadron of Carcosan's mounted on telepathic bats equipped with stereo speakers blaring Zepplin and shooting lazer beams out of their eyes. I'm going to have to do some work.

Social interaction. It becomes more of a challenge to interact with NPC's when traditional motivations may not apply. What does a spawn of Fasha really want and what does that have to do with me? All good game elements which will encourage me to stretch my imagination a little bit further again.

These elements all conspire (and more I'm not recognizing right now I'm sure) to make me place my individual game session play as infinately more valuable than the accumulation of abstracted experience points and "leveling up".



Sunday, August 3

Last RPG Purchase was Basic Fantasy from Lulu

Since TSR's Basic Dungeons & Dragons with the Erol Otus cover in the magenta colored box was my first rpg purchase way back in 1981, it seems fitting my last purchase was the wonderful retro clone Basic Fantasy Role Playing Game.



With all the free material of quality available online, including Basic Fantasy in PDF format, I've forced myself to be real frugal with actual cash expenditure on rpg books. But Basic Fantasy did it right for me. A free PDF led to a Lulu purchase of the perfect bound, publish on demand copy of the game. The cost of the book was, like ridiculously low, and with a shipping discount being offered it was a no brainer.



The game gave me the house ruled tweaks I wish I had thought of while retaining all the flavor of the great game I first came to love.

I have further modified my Basic Fantasy with the best aspects I find from LotFP (also available for free in PDF format), and all those folks making cool character sheets, free adventures, Game Master aids, etc. just make this product one of the best rpg deals going.


Friday, November 29

USR Halberd Character Generator

Peter Gagliardi has made a fine character generator for Scott's USR fantasy rules. Link to the generator can be found at Gags Dev website here.

Gets one into a game quick!

Sunday, October 27

So I'm playing now

Instead of talking about how I want to play role playing games now.

Not truly face to face, but on line.

Outside of my face to face scrum of a railroad adventure mashing up B10 Night's Dark Terror with Chaosium game mechanics, I have not enjoyed face to face play since 1988.

But the live play via on line video chat has been really enjoyable, and has let me try these lovely games once again.

But answer me this. Why are people thirty years later playing D&D the same way I played it when I was eleven? Seasoned gamers wax poetically on player agency, sandbox play, collaborative story building, the thrill of open ended adventure and what if. Why role playing games are so off the hook when it comes to social entertainment compared to watching sports or pitching horseshoes with your buds. All sorts of heady stuff.

Finally, it seems to me, there are a plethora of experienced players loose on line available buying into the greatness of the medium. I find them blogging, playing, creating, publishing here on line.

While available technology such as video chat has allowed instant gaming opportunities gathering a good gaming group is still something to cherish, and takes work. I feel very lucky to meet complete strangers on line and get nothing but good vibes, good cheer, and a good time. Now lets play. Okay, we head to the caves. How many days travel? Okay, what do we hear? We rush in. What do we see? Faaack.  My first on line game with the OSR was a trip down eleven year old lane.

Yeah we were playing B2 Keep on the Borderlands, a well known adventure relic, but that whetted my appetite all the more. I looked forward to tackling a long ago played treasures with a more informed, and enthusiastic intent.

So I was completely mystified why most PC's were against any other plan than to march directly to the caves, charge in, and have to with whatever came our way. My PC has survived three hack and slash approaches. Just barely. Bumping and grunting against psychotic subterranean foes. Jabbing spears into each others vitals, letting the probability die fall where they may. It has left me with meager gains, and a character still breathing. Not much else. I ponder a better way to ring the caves like a blood soaked rag filled with diamonds. I ponder the absurdity of the economic system of the Keep itself. I ponder the validity of stumping into someone's home, slaughtering them and their family, and taking their valuables.

My mistakes in this situation are numerous. I've not asked other players around the virtual table what their expectations for the game are. I have not asked my DM what his expectations for the game are. I have not stated my expectations for the game at the outset. And I sure as shit did not think to make the Thief take a full wineskin of oil with him into the ogre cave. We could have easily torched the beast while he slumbered on his rancid bear skin bedding. Could have spared Anselm the retainer's poor life.

A lot of it probably has to do with going along to get along. Finding a game to play live, whether in the flesh or through the internet, with others which fits your time schedule isn't always easy. And I truly enjoy talking with all the players around the table trying to forge an exciting adventure.

But I find a lot of resistance from the group to. No one seems interested in, say, muck stables for three months at the Keep. Watch the coming and goings of the place. How many wagons of food a day does it take to keep people fed, how far do these goods come from, do the hired guards seem satisfied with their pay or is their a high turnover, is the Keep ever attacked by the monsters from the caves, do the people love their Lord, what relationships exist among the inhabitants of the Keep? Does anyone live outside its walls? If I'm working out of this place paying top dollar for food and lodging why doesn't the group start wholesaling to the Tavern, Provisioner, Smithy, etc? Why are players reluctant to approach the caves of chaos from above, and spend days watching the comings and goings of the place? To recon, gather information of the world in which our PC's inhabit so as to begin to find the tools we need to exploit our surroundings, satisfy our ambitions and goals? But I only find my character in front of some cave entrance trusting to the luck of a d20 roll.

It is most likely these interests of mine are just not the interest of anyone else in the group. Then clearly I am barking up the wrong tree. I'm sure I'm barking up the right game though :)

Wednesday, April 24

Just Received Basic Fantasy...

And had a blast creating some old school PC's straight out of the book. I printed out some of the BFRPG 8"x10.5" Notebook Paper Character Sheets, and got to rolling ye olde 3d6's!

My initial character rolls left me with Strength, and Intelligence as my two highest stats sitting at 11. If I understood the rules on Combination Classes on page 6 correctly I decided to go with a Human Fighter/Magic User. This would mean "Daegan Fiend Seeker" would need a total of 4,500 XP's to achieve 2nd level, but would enter the game world fully armed, armored, and sporting the ability to Read Magic, and cast Protection From Evil (this spell was rolled randomly)! I chose race Human for the additional 10% XP bonus.

For my second character the ability scores were all 12 or above with Wisdom and Constitution as the highest at 14, and Charisma garnering a +1 bonus as well at 13. Can someone say Cleric! "Lamithe Vor'gund, servant of Balach" looks to be a perfect companion for Daegan, a learned warrior dedicated to crushing fiends of darkness.

So, yeah, I'm showing my role play upbringing  was solidly based in D&D Basic boxed set, but I feel I could take complete newbies to role play and easily help them create satisfying fantasy adventure heroes with Basic Fantasy.

If I happen to be so lucky to gather a game group somehow someway here in the wilderness of the High Rockies I wouldn't hesitate to use this rules set as an introduction to role playing games.

Thursday, January 31

Erol Otus' Map in White Plume Mountain

Is so evocative, so accessible, so ready for any fantasy hungry GM to put his stamp on it that I have to make my attempt. I feel like my three characters from fantasy campaign #1 are suited for the role. The campaign ideas I sketched out in the initial post are essentially story hooks seeking to set the party onto adventuring. A straight forward quest. I need only to shoe horn this intriguing destination into the campaign setting suggested by the three starting characters.



Saturday, January 19

Hacking Hommlet

Other bloggers have taken an interest in revisiting this 1979 gaming classic and prompted me to adapted this module to suit my imagined dark fantasy campaign.

Reading the other blog posts has me appreciating more and more Gary Gygax's advice to freely adapt modules for your personal game. For example, in Patric Halter's post Moathouse Operational he comments on the difficulty, stat-wise, of this introductory adventure. Taken as a whole the module contains a wealth of stats, is stat deep. The miserable little village is spelled out in excruciating detail, and yes, the evil cultists which inhabit the moat house are a formidable bunch for a small group of beginning dungeon delvers to defeat.





That is if you assume the whole rotten lot can fight as a well trained, highly organized combat team. I don't see a cohesive, tightly drilled combat team inhabiting these grounds.


I imagine a squad of deranged men driven insane by the horrors in which they live.

For example, the bandits posted above ground seem to have to spend most of their time holed up in the tower with Giant Frogs inhabiting the moat and a giant lizard, snake, and spider sporting lairs in the ruins just outside their door. Once the sun sets it gets even better; shambling ghouls craving flesh roam about the swampy grounds along with the more active beasts described above. I don't see how this batch of guards could be anything but insane after enduring such nightmarish conditions day in and day out.

My point is, the "human" adversaries at the old ruined moat house would be under incredible strain, in my opinion, from the putrid rot summoned forth by their diabolical masters and I would have their combat effectiveness reflect this in game play.

In town, paranoia and superstition run loose through empty streets. The townspeople shut themselves behind their door for fear of the shadows at night. The church, the druids, and the town mage are all designed to be in collision course with each other and the outside threat to their town. Enter into this teetering goatscrew comes the player party.

Their coming should cause a tipping point which tilts the table and sets all npc parties into action. What these actions are, or could be, is not defined. Here the GM would need to give all the usual suspects their own agenda, and a plan they intend to follow. Here is where I would try and establish the conflicting relationships of the npc's, and carry them out.

For my dark fantasy campaign, if the player characters decide to pursue adventure opportunities in this part of the sand box, it is quite simple: The evil priest is commanding the ghouls to extend the catacombs beneath the moat house all the way to town. He has been extending them to the graveyard, abandoned wells, forgotten cellars, etc. When reached he plans on unleashing the undead hordes upon the village in a night terror of destruction. The priest of St. Cuthbert, and the town mage conspire to keep the true nature of the danger the town is in from the everyday citizens. They are in denial of the presence of dark evil closing in, and will attempt to silence any who would believe otherwise. The druids look for stout hearts to give them aid. The work on the new castle is slow, delayed. The foundations keep foundering in unstable ground. Sink holes appear in what should be stable ground.

Per Gary's command you are to utilized this adventure module, and any module you pick up, to help create the larger sand box you want for your characters to play. And the Village of Hommlet gives you plenty of "factions" in which to play off fantastic relationships in a heroic world.

Thursday, October 4

Puck the Wood Elf and Divine Magic in OpenQuest

Fitting out the triad of new characters for my traditional fantasy campaign using OpenQuest by Newt Newport is Puck the Wood Elf. As a warden of the Vlaymoor who worships the Lady of the Forest this gave me the chance to test the third school of magic found in OpenQuest; Divine Magic!

Unlike Jongo and Xvorgast, Puck is to be the "fighter" of the group. He will have good (53%) starting combat skills and better (49%) Natural Lore skill then the thieving gnome and magic using dwarf in the party.

But this does not mean we are going to neglect using the open nature of OpenQuest to craft the exact character we have in mind.


Some Battle Magic spells are too important to pass up for our deadly woodland guerrilla fighter. Enhanced Perception and Deception will be attributed to racial abilities while the Enhanced Close Combat, and Ranged Combat skills are part of the training each warden in the service of the Lady receives.

The true Divine magic spells, or "Gifts of the Lady", will be Call(animal) and Illusion. A warden is never considered more than an initiate until he is able to establish a relation with a "totem" animal. For most this is one of the great wolves which prowl the Vlaymoor. To be a wolf rider in the forest is to be a recognized as a fierce warrior and to be feared. The bond established between warden and totem animal is strong, and to willingly put such a gift from the Lady in careless jeopardy risks her wrath. The ability to call down the power of Illusion is directly tied into the wardens preference for surprise and subterfuge when confronting traditional enemies of the forest; goblins and men! Each one of these spells was taken at one point of magnitude so Puck has a total of six different magical abilities in which he needs some improvement at.

It also indicates in the rules, from one short example, that it is appropriate to give up to a +25 point bonus as it relates to the characters choice of deity. Perhaps to offset the implied restrictions which come from following ritualistic dogma over the free flowing manipulation found in straight Battle Magic and Sorcery? Therefore I bestow Puck with an additional 25 points to Natural Lore skill when withing the bounds of the Vlaymoor Forest. He may be young (225 years of age) for a warden, but it is his home!


Xvorgast the Mighty's Sorcery for OpenQuest

The second character I generated for my traditional fantasy campaign using OpenQuest is a dwarven sorcerer.

Like Jongo the Gnome, the choice of attribute scores, and skill package was fairly straight forward as pertains to creating a dwarf. After playing fantasy rpg's for many years I kind of know what to pack into a standard dwarf character.  Since I am creating a magic user I make sure Xvorgast has a decent Academic Lore skill. This should help lead him in the direction of obscure texts riddled with ancient spells of power!

This exercise in character creation is to test the "openness" of Newt Newport's OpenQuest system itself, and a typical fantasy trope as a magic wielding dwarf should be fairly easily created. And it was. With six points of spell magnitude to spend creating a starting magic user is incredibly easy with OpenQuest.

My character concept for Xvorgast the Mighty is a reclusive dwarf pouring over ancient tomes in attempt to tap into the old power of the dwarves long forbidden, neglected, and shunned. Xvorgast will have left the academic halls of established magic disgusted with the "theoretical" magical studies offered and return to the dark ruins of the Iron Flow Hills to brood upon the powers which once were...

So this means at least one point spent on the Battle Magic spell Read Language. This will be all the practical magic our dwarven wizard will have left the respected halls of learning with. Using this simple spell he has teased out the elemental lore hinted at in the standard texts. For after all, isn't the ancient power of the dwarves rooted in these primordial powers? Therefore I bestow on Xvorgast the Sorcery spell Wall of Fire at 2 points and Animate Substance(stone) the remaining 3.

This gives our young (113 years) dwarf magic user with three spells total. Xvorgast will have to get out and put that Read Language talent to the test if he wants to build on his elemental spell list!

Monday, September 24

Jongo the Thieving Gnome's Battle Magic

My OpenQuest Fantasy Adventure #1 is cast in a decidedly traditional fantasy setting where the main characters are creatures of fairy tales; elves, dwarfs, gnomes, pixies, centaurs, dragons, etc.

Here is the thoughts which went into the write up for Jongo's character as I followed the rules for character creation;

All abilities begin at 8, so I mold them into a picture of a typical gnome of the Vlaymoor Forest, the starting point of the campaign. Adjustments of note would be decreased SIZ and increased DEX, and POW.

Nothing fancy with the skill package. I do decide to forgo high combat skills. Jongo is a thief and prefers to go about his business unnoticed. I did sink many points into his Mechanism skill.

I divide his 6 magic points into inherent racial abilities and magical artifacts.

 For the gnomes racial abilities I choose Enhanced Deception (2), Enhanced Athletics (1), and Enhanced Influence (1). The last two points are spent on creating the two magical artifacts I want the character to posses. The first is called the Crystal Clock, a small time piece Jongo keeps on a chain in is pocket. It allows Jongo to Enhance Perception when searching for Faerie Folk, and other magical creatures friendly to the Fay. The other artifact is a willow wand embued with a spell known as Woodland Paths. Casting this spell from the wand allows Jongo to pass through dense thicket and other difficult terrain as if it were clear.

There you have it. Besides crunching the numbers to get your desired starting values this player character is ready to go.

Friday, August 17

Classic Fantasy vs OpenQuest

The short answer;

"Class" vs "Open"

The Long Answer (explained);

As Newt Newport mentions in his introduction to OpenQuest's rule set, the "Open" in OpenQuest refers to the ability to create fantasy settings and characters in a completely unrestricted manner. This is in distinct difference to Mr. Leary's approach to the genre with "Classic Fantasy", a Chaosium monogram. Classic Fantasy attempts to model Dungeons & Dragons directly to the Basic Role Playing D100 system.

Both authors accomplish their goals well and demonstrate how well Basic Role Playing (BRP) responds to "Homebrew" creation and game play.

Leary hews closely to the Dungeons & Dragons canon by first identifying the types of characters players are able to play. A characters "Class" is all enveloping in the world of Gygax, its game function mainly concerned with resolving the characters combat interactions and whether or not the character survives encounters. Each class has the requisite limitations which define these capabilities as compared to those of other classes. A players choice of race also carries the same net of limitations which further narrow the scope of capabilities, and therefore define the player character.

Newport's fantasy mash up, on the other hand, begins character creation with a brainstorming session, requesting each player to come up with a character concept. As the author explains; "A character concept is a one sentence summing up of what the character is all about." The rule set continues on as a guideline in how to translate the character concept into your fleshed out character sheet.

I love this type of game experience myself where the initial player character, while not all that powerful yet, is still a product of my imagination. This is the element I felt was always missing from D&D; the inability to play a character concept completely of ones own imaginings.

I was quickly able to come up with intriguing character concepts off the one sentence rule. It started to become a game of interest and brevity; Disturbed Wizard, Searching Sailor, Cashiered Ranger, Disgraced Warrior, Hunted Magician, Retired Gladiator, Etc... If you are manic about gaming all the best aspects of fantasy found in literature, or being open to new inspiration you can do this well with OpenQuest

But if you are looking to go Gygaxian, you should go with Classic Fantasy because, well, Leary has already gone through the trouble of converting the standard classes, races, and spells. A lot of hard work, I assure you. Unlike Dungeons & Dragons retro-clones, launching a D&D campaign with BRP's Classic Fantasy does allow much more in personal customization of your character class, mostly do to the use of a skills list, and the players characters are more robust overall. Running some friends through TSR's B10 Night's Dark Terror proved Classic Fantasy characters can chop through goblins and minor undead well. Proper tactics assure swift death to surprised opponents. True to BRP form, once these tables are turned on players, swift death can ensue. All in all, Classic Fantasy will give you a great D&D game without the garbage mechanics of Old School, retro or otherwise. Those who do not like a d100 system should not even bother.

And that is why I use OpenQuest. If you are looking for a great system for your own fantasy creations, classic or otherwise, OpenQuest gives you the tools to go right at it! It does put more weight on the Game Master. The GM will have to be invested in the brainstorming session during character creation with the players. Or the GM can offer pregenerated characters. Either way, it means more hands on time by the GM.

For me, this takes the form of ripping off literary sources, as well as available game aids to create classic "styled" fantasy adventures based off of what the players come up with characters. In case the players come up with character concepts which suggest other genres it is good to have several flavors of opening adventures to plug them into. Like I said, OpenQuest will demand a great GM if the group is role playing complete homebrew campaigns. Otherwise you will be practicing the time worn tradition of converting published adventures to your game :)

Monday, August 13

B10 Night's Dark Terror, First game out west was back east...

I truly saw hope for a face to face RPG this summer when I went back east to see family. It took insistent Facebook posts to many former gaming friends and a willingness to go anywhere at any time, but I achieved it. I managed to get two other players across the table with Player Character Sheets in one hand and polyhedral dice in the other!

What follows is the after action report I generated to commemorate the occasion. We played TSR's B10 Night's Dark Terror with BRP's Classic Fantasy rules by Rodney Leary.


From the private diaries of Princess Illiria:

A tale of bold adventure as written by Lady Illiria Callathian of House Callathian in the month of Klarmont this common year of 978 from the home of my father, Lord Callathian. May his spirit always lend light to the protectors of the realm. This is a tale of the brave clansmen of Sukiskyn Steading and their valiant defense of their homes against a rising tide of evil which threatened East Karameikos, if not all of the great Duchy itself. Guided by the steady hand of Ethan the Pure, relying on the forest lore of Darkin Youngshanks, and aided by the strength of the mighty Traldarian warrior Udoben I am able to relate to you all the dark days of adventure which befell us all…

PC’s have no trouble holding the steading against the goblin squads which attempt to overrun the buildings. Assessing the damage the attacking monsters wrought the clan’s leader, Pytor, is completely despondent. With the theft of his entire herd his successful horse operation is ruined. He begs the PC’s to try and save his animals from the clutches of the goblin hordes. He reminds the elf princess that the pregnant mare is amongst the captured. The pressure to rescue the herd of whites is indeed great. The cleric uncovers religious fetishes carried by the goblin dead which indicate the two goblin tribes worship the ancient beast lords the Dog, and the Bear.

The party consists of the elf princess who is always accompanied by her ranger body guard, the visiting cleric feels compelled to investigate the threat of the beast lord cult, while the fighter who is under Pytor’s employ is ordered to lead the expedition. The four will be able to travel on the horses they arrived on. They leave by early afternoon quickly on the heels of the retreating goblin horde.

Knowing they were only hours behind the fleeing horde, the PC’s take deliberate care to stay just off the monster’s heels. The ranger mostly ranged while the party stayed put, bringing them up once he had scouted many leagues ahead.

The frightened herd of Sukiskyn whites is spotted across from a wooded hillside with a rocky brook trickling along the front. The primitive paddock is constructed of thorny bunches of brambles grown into a thick, dense mass approximately four feet high. Two wargs loiter outside the one opening. The horses are too frightened to attempt to run or leap the thorn bush walls. The horses have the capability. They could easily leap the paddock walls, and outdistance the wargs, but they are too gripped with fear. 

The PC’s count the number of horses in the paddock, and look for the pregnant mare amongst them. They notice it is only half the herd. 21 total horses are in the thorn paddock, and the pregnant mare is not among them. 

The elfin princess cast forth arcane symbols in the air breathing strange words of power and a white wisp, tendrils of delicate smoke begin to rise from the earth around the 2 menacing dire wolves. Unaware of the subtle clouds enchanted qualities, the fearsome creatures doze gently into a sleep. With the only outside guards neutralized, the party boldly approaches the goblin’s front door. The stout wooden door has a crude lock keeping the handle from working. The elf’s lock pick set does not have the appropriate tool to unhinge it so the ranger, and the fighter?cleric? jointly kick it down. The warriors force their way into the entry. After lighting torches one of the party members (I believe it was either the ranger or fighter with spear) moves down the passage way. Confronting the goblin blockade they quickly overrun the position, and continue on.

They push their way into the main hall of the underground goblin lair. Here the goblin shaman with the rock pythons has assembled his personal guard to meet the attackers. He immediately throws two squirming snakes and one manages to wrap around the elf’s arm. The guards rush the party. While the elf struggles with the crushing grip of the rock python, the warriors make quick work of the goblins. It takes a moment to stab the aggressive snake, but not before the elf’s arm received significant crushing damage. Chance to cast spell has been reduced by 25% until healed. The party takes a moment to attend to the wounds received in the two quick melee sessions. The cleric and the elf received wounds which require attention. While administering the triage, the party forgets about the other Rock Python the dead goblin shaman had hurled. It strikes from the shadows and bites down on the elf’s leg causing a wound. With this minor annoyance dealt with the party investigates the room a bit. Here they find a small box with three bottles of potion, jewelry, and coin. They also turn up a wounded goblin (or one of them surrendered?) and do a fast interrogation. Confirming that the goblin raiders are making for the Lake of Lost Dreams the fighter kills the goblin. 

The party is now confronted with the issue of the split herd. The pregnant mare is believed to be essential in the goblin’s plans and whatever the goblins are up to should be stopped. Unchecked goblin aggression and sorcery can only spell doom for countless Traldarian homesteaders. But to forge ahead onto the lake would mean leaving the current horses they just secured defenseless and lost in the Dymrak forest.

The ranger smartly asks if he knows any helpful information about the Dymrak and wants to roll against his wilderness lore, and folk lore skills. Scoring a good roll, he knows of Loshad, a centaur. He is rumored to be a self appointed keeper of the Dymrak and the creatures which inhabit it. Surely if he could be summoned he could be entrusted with the safekeeping of the horses. The fact that they wish to pursue even more horses and save them from the black goblin beasts should say the woodland druid to their cause. There is a glade in which the Vylari elves pay homage to the keepers of the forest not far from here and the ranger recommends they make an attempt to contact Loshad. The elf and the cleric agree to accompany the ranger and try and call the on the centaur while the fighter chooses to stay and guard the horses.

The ranger knows the fabled greeting verse but says he is not good at such things. The cleric steps forth and gives his best oration in the woodland glade. Presently a centaur appears flanked by three majestic war horse and gives the group a greeting. The centaur listens intently  to what the PC’s have to say and offers a bargain.

Loshad agrees to take the 21 Sukiskyn horses under his protection but if the PC’s would like them returned to Sukiskyn Steading they will have to destroy the earthly champions fighting on behalf of the Dog and the Bear. These two loathsome servants of evil crave power over the Dymrak and wish to feast on the blood of its denizens. Upon delivering their heads to this glade Loshad will release the horses from his care. 

He does forewarn the party they lack the weapons of power to face these demons. That they are men transformed by the disease of lycanthropy and will take special care to defeat. The path to the lake will bring you face to face with danger, but also on this path will you find the tools you need to be victorious. None have called on the vanquished beast lords of old in countless centuries, and the goblins should not be allowed to try herald their return. All this Loshad discloses to the PC’s. 

“Ask the Vyalia elves who watch the lake for where such weapons of power can be found. Ask for the weapons of the huntsman because the beast is loose.” And with that the mighty centaur vanishes into the forest with his body guards and the herd.



Upon returning to the Viper’s lair they find the fighter bereft of horses. He explains three magnificent war horse came galloping into the glen and led the herd away. He was transfixed by the brilliant singing which emanated throughout the surrounding forest. While the language was not intelligible, the effect was exhilarating as it was calming. He assumed the negotiations with the magical centaur went well.

Resuming their journey now on foot (as all the horses went with Loshad’s heralds) the PC’s arrive at the Lake of Lost Dreams .

Travel Times
48 miles from Sukiskyn to the Viper’s lair.
27 miles from the Viper’s lair to the Lake of Lost Dreams.
27 miles from the lake to the Tombs on the Hill.
63 miles from the tombs to Sukiskyn.
21 miles from the tombs to the Were beasts lair.
59 miles from the lake to Sukiskyn

At the Lake of Lost Dreams the PC’s are confronted by a much larger goblin horde than they had encountered during the fight for Sukiskyn steading. The Viper, Red Blade, and Wolf Skull tribes are joined by at least one other goblin tribe. Maybe more. The number of goblins is over two hundred and fifty with at least a quarter of them mounted on dire wolves. The additional horses captured in the raid are held against the edge of the forest under the surrounding gaze of 4 wargs. The horses have been hobbled so they cannot run away. On the shore the goblins are roasting horseflesh over great fires while the goblin kings argue with a thin man clothed in yellow . The angry man is backed by a group of fearsome hobgoblin bodyguards. A smaller squad of goblins is finishing a raft which they are loading the pregnant mare onto. The raft is adorned with horse skulls and markings of the beast lord cult. 

While the PC’s deliberate on what to do five elves make their appearance out of the night. They are a group of Vyalia elves and they believe the yellow robed magician intends to summon the beast lords by performing an ancient ritual at the temple on the island found in the lake. The goblin horde has been gathering on the lake shore for the past several days seemingly in anticipation of the blood ritual. The elves implore the PC’s to aid them in their attempt to thwart the summoning ritual.

While the Vylia elves are forbidden to step foot on the island itself, they can show the PC’s a secret stone path which leads across the water to the island. They inform the PC’s that there is a temple at the center of the island which was dedicated to the Grey Gods, the gods of the Vylian elves. But the beast lords were ascendant, and the Grey Gods were cast out of Mystara. Not until the coming of man, and the High Clerics where the beast lords and their demon allies cast from the realm and the age of man established. But the temple on the island had been desecrated and a great evil laid over it. Insanity and death befell any of the Vyalia who dared tread in the once hallowed halls of the temple. The great artifact, the White Mirror, was turned toward the summoning of evil. The “Black Mirror”, under the hands of mad necromancers of old, would  call forth the black beast lords to walk the earth among elves and men. Great sorrow poured forth from the mirror and only after the total annihilation of all the sordid priesthood’s acolytes and the dark knowledge they possessed were the beast lords stopped. The elves fear the magician is going to try and open that long dormant gateway once again.

The elves promise to help free their white horses from the clutches of the goblins if they make an attempt to stop the summoning ritual. 

Once upon the island the party sees the magic user leading a group of 4 hobgoblins and the pregnant mare. At the temple 4 hooded acolytes are positioned around a central alter. Torches adorn the temple, while the hobgoblins have each a torch as well as a rope attached to the horse. 

The party wastes no time on the attack. Conjuring another sleep spell the elf is successful in knocking 2 of the hobgoblin guards unconscious. The ranger sinks an arrow into Golthar which brings him to his knees. Additional volleys are sent at the nearest acolyte striking home. Suddenly the temple is shrouded in a cloak of darkness yielding no more visible opponents. 

The 2 hobgoblin guards on their feet howl in anger and charge the party wielding large broadswords. The sword play is protracted with the charmed hobgoblins shaking off the sleep spell and joining the fray. Fortunately the party is able to maintain a 2-1 advantage and cut down the guards beneath multiple attacks.

Approaching the darkness enveloped temple the cleric boldly runs up the steps and in. Satisfied the mist only affects vision he is shortly joined by the rest of the heroes. A visible blood trail leads to an iron ladder leading into a stone lined chamber below. Two acolytes standing in the shadows attack the party with knives. The mad eyed fanatics are dispatched and their robes turned out. They are inscribed with Dog and Bear symboligy while the sleeves have stitched in an attached pair of gloves made of tough layers of leather. The fighter and the elf don the robes in an attempt to appear as the cultists. The elf listens at the opening before descending. Exploring the level they notice the original motifiefs to the Elvin lords is scarred and overwritten by much more primitive hieroglyphs. Inanimate skeletons found in the anti chambers leads to party to conclude that they are burial chambers. And who is to say they are not?

The elf makes a successful dodge roll after grabbing hold of the stair without using the gloves inside her robes. A critical success avoids all damage while a blue white crackling discharge erupts in the room. After much discussion about being careful, the fighter and elf head down the next ladder. Once on the deepest level of the temple the elf once again leads the way down the passage. A failed spot roll leads to the dart trap being triggered. Failing the second consecutive dodge roll the elf sinks to the ground unconscious with a dart in her ankle. The rest of the party decides to leave her there and press the attack. Bursting through the door the fighter? and cleric? Fail sanity rolls and are immobilized by the sights before them. The elf is protected from the maddening inducing properties of the mirror by the fact she is rendered senseless by the dart venom. The remaining upright character gets entangled with the two remaining acolytes while Golthar pleads for aid from the appearing Dog and the Bear. Without the blood sacrifice of the unborn stallion the Dog and Bear could not step through the mirror. Without the consummation of the blood pack their powers are diminished, but they would send what aid they could. The beast lords tell the magician to look to their champions Balikask and Kalakask to lead the goblin tribes and return the Dymrak to the domain of night. The beast lords urge the magician to strike soon as his path is now being thwarted by the will Lords of Light. With that they fade and Golthar, wailing in anger, departs the underground chambers in a foaming black comet. 

The chamber is left with the bodies of the two dead acolytes and the smoldering black mirror. The party smashes the mirror with their weapons and departs, but not before the elf regains her senses. The elf is on the verge of attacking the party when the mirror is smashed. She is immediately released from her increasing madness. Fleeing the lower chambers they find the mare roaming the island and return to the mainland. 

Here the Vyalia elves approach the successful party again, and suggest freeing the horses from their hobbles. With the goblin band unaware of what has transpired on the island they could charm the dire wolves, and give the horses the break they need to flee into the forest. With the protection of Lorshad being extended to the creatures of the forest once again the elves feel once released the horses will find themselves to Loshad and come under his protection. At least they will be free of the goblins and the stew pot. The elves urge the princess to bring the mare back to Sukiskyn as soon as possible. One of the Vyalia leads the PC’s safely away from the lake and on the path to Sukiskyn.

The party makes the journey back to the steading with only the mare in tow. The journey is uneventful. There are no further encounter with roving bands of goblins, though signs of their passing can be found by the sharp eyed ranger.

Pytor is relieved to see the mare returned in good health. He had already given her and the unborn foal up for lost. The lack of any of the rest of his herd has him totally despondent though. He doesn’t see how they will ever recover the lost herd. If the heads of the were-beasts are truly required to earn the horses release Pytor laments such a task could be accomplished. The steading has no such weapons of power to thwart such evil. The idea of melting down silver into weapons is discarded as impractical as what little silver could be gathered no one on the grounds possesses the skill to manufacture. It would seem the Tombs on the Hill as suggested by the Vyalia would be the only known place in which to find enchanted items.

The party sets out three days later after the new young stallion is born. They do not now have the luxury of riding on horseback. Pytor refuses to lend any more to the PC’s. The journey on foot takes five days as they skirt the edge of the Dymrak forest. This is to avoid being spotted on the open plains to the north while keeping as much distance between the party and the goblin horde. 




Upon arriving on the rocky hills where the tombs can be found the party examines the portals on each. They all appear to be blocked up with a stone door sealed in with mortar. Choosing the tomb of the warrior they look for traps before chiseling away the old mortar. The PC’s do not intend to let the terrible visions inflicted by the evil presence of the tomb turn them away from their labor. Once inside and they resist the stench of death the PC’s penetrate the length of the tomb and confront the two weirds. Successfully turning the undead terrors, the cleric strides forth and claims the silver tipped spear gripped in a statue of human warrior. This propels the globe wielding fiends at the rest of the party who have fun engaging the elusive shades. The battle is over quickly though. The characters combat skills so far have kept them from serious harm. They return to the outside, and rest for the night. 

In the morning they tackle the next tomb entrance. This one leads them to a crystal coffin containing a mummified corpse. The presence of the PC’s and the close inspection in which they give all the frescos is too much for the starved ghoul and it leaps out at the characters. It is brought down under a flurry of sword strokes leaving the ghoul in shreds. The crystal coffin is shattered without trouble and the jewel encrusted mace is taken up by the lusty cleric! Successful incantation of a perceive spell reveals the ancient weapon has magical properties.

This leaves one more tomb to be braved. Close inspection reveals an additional entrance from the main. Upon receiving the seductive and pleasant visions delivered by the unknown enchantment surrounding the main entrance, the PC’s decide to proceed through the newly discovered secret door believing it to be the “safer” of the two choices. Once inside the damp, rough hewn chamber beyond they are immediately set upon by the living statue guardian inside. The acidic ooze which spills from the creature manages to ruin a spear and a broadsword before the creature is reduced to a bubbling, caustic pool. Reaching the finished stone chambers beyond they come across the last weapon in which to provide the edge they need, the Huntsman’s Knife. An enchanted, silver edged short sword worn by rangers who fought against the were creatures and demons in the beast lords dark armies of old. After realizing they had avoided any traps by entering the tomb from the secret entrance the party retreats back out the way they came. 

Standing once again in the daylight the characters agree to rest and discuss their next move. 

The elf princess will want to eliminate the were-beasts so as to secure the release of her father’s new stallion. She holds no illusion that Pytor will not give up the new born without the return of his livelihood. The cleric would like to inspect the room in which he retrieved the mace and the mummified remains of the body which held it. His scientific interest has been piqued. The writing on the mace is entirely foreign and the mummy had unnatural physiology which he had no time to examine in any sort of detail. The fighter is concerned for the safety of Sukiskyn steading and wants to know what to do about the goblin horde at large. He is extremely anxious to return and see to the homestead’s defenses. The ranger will want to see the centaur’s task completed as quickly as possible. He wants to get the princess back to Rifflian as soon as he can. Baby horse or not.

What does the party do?

And so 7-1/2 hours were spent most pleasantly. Look forward to my next trip back east, maybe a game session once every two years?