USRPS Mash Up cont.

I am using Scott Malthouse's Unbelievably Simple Role Playing System to create PC's for superhero role playing, and now wish to begin creation of the second player character, a Time "Agent" who now is stuck in the campaign's time period.

Her equipment has been damaged by unanticipated temporal interference and has effectively cut her off from returning to her space/time origin. This interference is manifest in some action by the first PC and his use of untried time traveling abilities.

A trouble shooter of cosmic conflict, our time agent has access to advanced equipment and training. Until now. Being stranded in the past she has lost the ability to replace damaged or lost equipment. A highly skilled human, she may have a list of "specialisms" as such;

Detective Work +2, Wit
Ranged Weapons +2, Action
Combat Driver +2, Action

I could have chosen to give her some electrical or technical specialism as fitting to a future tech setting, but then why go through the trouble of wrecking her transport equipment?

The importance of a "hooky" character role to play for the PC is important with the USRPS. The lack of a lengthy rule set (the core is a mere seven pages of text) will require increased table talk for all involved. Players as well as GM's.

If someone wants to play the stranded time agent, the background story should give enough information of their nature to help players chose a character they would enjoy playing in the campaign setting. If players wish to create their own PC, the pre generated characters provide good examples of great archetypes to play.

Her specialisms make her a clear action oriented  superhero. With the powerful tools available from the unimaginable future she can more than take care of herself. I break her attributes down this way;

d8 Action
d10 Wit
d6 Ego
Rolled 9 for Hits

That's it for the bones of the character. The rest is to be fleshed out in descriptive terms with the GM. Good character concept questions worth discussing would be what type of equipment does she find herself with, why was she being sent back in time for to begin with, what was the nature the temporal disturbance and its relationship to our first character?

None of these character concept questions need a lot of detail. I like to look to Fiasco from Bully Pulpit Games and the game's set up rules for guidance. Their thoughts on how a good background story for a player character is done is essential reading for a game like USRPS.

Gone are the piles of stats, attributes, powers, endurance points, stun points, speed points... a Champions character creation process could take two hours, or more!

Next we will take a look at these two quick superheroes and how they interact with the Champions Universe and plot an adventure with some of Champions own sourcebooks.

A USRPS/Champions Superhero Mash Up

USR by Scott Malthouse looks to have drawn sizable buzz in the geek community and I threw the system at my Champions adventure books to see what became of the mash up.

The superhero genre was one I first embraced with gusto after the D&D glowing fan boy attraction began to dim under the games disappointing role play mechanics. 

I was choosing between Villains &Vigilantes from Fantasy Games Unlimited and Champions from Hero Games. I ordered a back issue of some gaming magazine which gave a review of the different systems. It could have been in Dragon Magazine, I don’t know. 

While I was attracted to the wide open system of character generation, Champions turned out to be a cruel joke in state of the art game design. Math and dice heavy, the game rules were another product which helped hide the potential inherent in role playing games behind a voluminous rule set. It was another case of players not being placed front and center of the story. At least for me. Maybe others had better success with complicated rules when they were thirteen, but for me dense rules hindered more than helped. Not that I would have been aware of this back then. Besides, Champions was the only thing on the shelf at Toy City in Fort Eddy Plaza when I managed to gather enough bread for purchase. 

So maybe “Unbelievably Simple Role-Playing” would be the trick to tame the hundreds of dollars of Hero products which once dotted my dusty bookshelves. I am down to a few items left so I pulled out the campaign sourcebook “Millennium City” and the adventure sourcebook “Sharper Than A Serpent’s Tooth”.

 With only seven pages of text USR puts all the creative elements in the players and GM’s hands.

Your starting character is created with three attributes and three “specialisms”.

Assigning your attributes is simple. 

Really think about your specialisms though. Besides adding a +2 for your attribute skill rolls, which is how you resolve everything, it is the three defining elements of your character. 

The premise of the system is these three freely chosen game elements, these specialisms, give you all you need to flesh out your characters strengths, powers, and abilities. Let us see how such premise holds up against a wild card character as a player character superhero. 

The two initial characters I came up with are;

a gifted scientist from Millennium City who has discovered the ability to time travel, and

a time travel agent from the far off future.  

A superhero is nothing if not the story behind his origin. Spiderman was created through the bite of a radioactive spider, Batman from the terror of violence, and Superman by the color of Earth’s sun. Our intrepid scientist has created a machine which he believes will allow movement back and forth through time. On his first experiment he succeeds, but with some ramifications. He is not sure where he has been and he is not sure what happened to him on the trip. All he is sure of is the journey has fried his experimental equipment and by the mere thought of a past event he finds himself at that place in time. Travel back to his last recalled present moment is possible as well, but conceiving himself in any future which has not occurred yet does not result in a time “jump”.

I wrap this unique ability around the specialism “Enhanced Movement, Time Travel +2 Action”. In the spirit of an Unbelievable Simple Role-Playing I am capturing the entirety of this character’s time travel superhero ability in this one specialism. The fact that it gives a +2 to his Action attribute roll will aid in many tasks including combat.

The next specialism is easy to conceive, “Theoretical Physics +2 Wit” is a nice tag for a comprehensive knowledge of the latest scientific thought.

A third specialism is causing me some consternation, but I finally settle on “Persuasion +2 Ego” to simulate the characters ability to convince others of the soundness of his science, to secure research grants to fund his experiments, and his expertise in navigating the competitive world of scientific research found at most prestigious schools of learning.

So the three attributes are simply selected per the rules and now I have three abilities (a power and two skills), this character has started to take shape. All that is now required, and insisted on by the rules set, is a background story.

While I let this new superhero's back story percolate I'll move on to the "Time Agent" character concept...

OpenQuest Character Creation; Searching Sailor

My OpenQuest Fantasy Adventure #2 is a dark fantasy setting. Unlike Adventure #1 which has all the trappings of "classical" fantasy, #2 requires the players to create human characters in a world where life is cheap and integrity is a liability. Much in the spirit of the great gaming blog Tales of the Grotesque and the Dungeonesque or the horrible fantasy books The Game of Thrones, everyone is out for themselves.

I find these type of settings where the world is a swirl of grey instead of black and white suite good character development. In fact, rely on it. Since everyone is a turd what sort of polish can you bring?

OpenQuest is great for allowing a player to create a character quickly with much depth of character.

I also am not above providing pre-generated characters for a new group to chose from. Since I am still attempting to accomplish the blog's main goal of regularly playing role playing games with other people in the wilderness, immediate gaming with minimal prep is essential.

I also aim to give the players opportunities to organically foster group relations with "believable" hooks, themes, and plots. A well appointed list of character backgrounds with just enough detail to make the character interesting to play, fight and die can only help deliver a dynamic player group from the outset! This means you will want to offer your players many different character choices. Pick a system which allows you to generate characters quickly!

Starting the campaign in a city offers legitimate reasons for characters of diverse races and backgrounds to be found together, and with intriguing character descriptions it makes it even easier to start table dialogue.

One such character I can offer as an example is The Searching Sailor. Here are the background notes which were the springboard for quantifying the character's abilities;

Washed up on the shores as a child, superstitious peasants took you in as a gift from the sea gods. Much to their disappointment you only found happiness on the tips of the waves and the edge of the wind. Soon you left your poor village behind without a second glance and became a daring sailor on the open sea. Your quest to find your true origins has led to family secrets steeped in darkness. Do you pursue these tantalizing clues further? Or do leave them, like the miserable village of your childhood, in the misty fog of past days?

Any player with salt will have no trouble fashioning your traditional sailor skill set; navigation, swimming, cutlass and some other skills of personal preference will get the usual character creation work completed. Where OpenQuest aids in satisfying depth of character, your character concept, is the addition of the Battle Magic school of magic required to complete the character creation process.

My thoughts on Magic in OpenQuest for Non Magic Users comes into play here. For this sailor character I create an Enchanted Item and devise an Elemental Talent to spend the required magic points on.

I call the enchanted item the Brace of Burk, a leather embossed wrist guard. It can predict approaching storms two days out and detect land up to twenty miles away. Yes, I know the OpenQuest does not include these specific effects in any of the listed spells, but if you get anything from the OpenQuest it should be you can make it up. So, predicting weather and detecting land seem to be mundane powers in which Battle Magic would seem to thrive.

The elemental talent is restricted to the realm of Battle Magic if nothing else but to avoid taking on another school of magic such as Divine Magic or Sorcery. The character's latent elemental talent was first awakened when the brace was first donned as a piece of armor. So far it has given the Searching Sailor the ability to communicate with Air Elementals.

Dr. Who Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead (2008)

I might be stretching the definition of "movie" here, but at just about 2 hours I challenge you to find something more frightening than the Vashta Nerada aka "The Shadows that Melt Flesh".

We have mysterious deaths, a monster that hides in the shadows that can strip your flesh bare in seconds AND then use your bones and space suit as a means to walk around.  This is the scariest monster in the Doctor Who universe.  Daleks, aim for the eyestalk. Sontaran, back of the neck.  Cybermen, gold in their chest plate.  Vashta Nerada, just run.

Doctor: "Almost every species in the universe has an irrational fear of the dark, but they’re wrong, because it’s not irrational. It’s Vashta Nerada."

All against the man that monsters have nightmares about;
The Doctor.  When they come after him this is the exchange.

Doctor: Don't play games with me! You just killed someone I like, that is not a safe place to stand! I'm the Doctor, and you're in the biggest library in the Universe. Look me up.
The monsters move  back.

This is a pitch perfect horror episode and no one comes out of it scarred.  I think this quote near the end sums it up.

Donna: How about you, are you alright?
The Doctor: Oh, I'm always all right.
Donna: Is "All right" special time-lord code for... not really all right at all?
The Doctor: Why?
Donna Noble: Because I'm alright too.

Plus not only did this give us one of the scariest monsters for a show known to send kids hiding behind the sofa. It also gave us River Song who might be one of the most interesting characters in the history of Doctor Who.

"When you run with the Doctor, it feels like it'll never end. But however hard you try you can't run forever. Everybody knows that everybody dies and nobody knows it like the Doctor. But I do think that all the skies of all the worlds might just turn dark if he ever for one moment, accepts it. Everybody knows that everybody dies. But not every day. Not today. Some days are special. Some days are so, so blessed. Some days, nobody dies at all. Now and then, every once in a very long while, every day in a million days, when the wind stands fair, and the Doctor comes to call everybody lives."
- River Song.

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!

OpenQuest Character Creation Point Total

I've spent some time creating characters with Newt Newton's great fantasy rpg rules OpenQuest, and I have to admit to the few house rules I've settled on.

If my addition is right, the overall points used in creating a character are 255. If you decide to have your character have the powers of Sorcery or Divine Magic they get +40 pts towards either their Sorcery or Divine Magic skill. There are some additional restrictions on how the points can be distributed amongst the characters abilities and skills, but it seems 295 is the uppermost point total for starting character creation.

As I've mentioned in other posts on my blog, I really dig the "Open" of OpenQuest. Therefore I've decided that players can spend the 295 points any way they want. The only restrictions I would be keen on enforcing is some max limits on attributes as they relate to the race so selected by the player, but that's about it!

There doesn't seem to be any reason to impose any more limits, unless the Game Master is not involving himself with the character creation process with his players.

But that, to me, is an rpg no no. I find GM involvement in new character creation important when beginning a new campaign.

I'm in on Dredd 3D

The future America is an irradiated waste land. On its East Coast, running from Boston to Washington DC, lies Mega City One- a vast, violent metropolis where criminals rule the chaotic streets. The only force of order lies with the urban cops called “Judges” who possess the combined powers of judge, jury and instant executioner. Known and feared throughout the city, Dredd (Karl Urban) is the ultimate Judge, challenged with ridding the city of its latest scourge – a dangerous drug epidemic that has users of “Slo-Mo” experiencing reality at a fraction of its normal speed.

During a routine day on the job, Dredd is assigned to train and evaluate Cassandra Anderson (Olivia Thirlby), a rookie with powerful psychic abilities thanks to a genetic mutation. A heinous crime calls them to a neighborhood where fellow Judges rarely dare to venture- a 200 story vertical slum controlled by prostitute turned drug lord Ma-Ma (Lena Headey) and her ruthless clan. When they capture one of the clan’s inner circle, Ma-Ma overtakes the compound’s control center and wages a dirty, vicious war against the Judges that proves she will stop at nothing to protect her empire. With the body count climbing and no way out, Dredd and Anderson must confront the odds and engage in the relentless battle for their survival

At last, an actual comic book adaptation. I had my reservations about Dredd – The trailer did little to inspire, which made me think this incarnation might actually be worse than Stallone’s horrible campy version.

 But I’m happy to report Dredd is very good. Not only did it put my fears to rest, but banished any memory I had of Danny Cannon’s Judge Dredd. Finally, the Judge Dredd I grew up reading in 2000 AD comics has been rightly portrayed. With so many great films yet to come, I may have to extend my yearly list because of films like Dredd.

 When I heard that Karl Urban was signed on to play Dredd, I knew it was a good move. Urban embodies Dredd, and has his characteristics down to tee. Even the famous Judge Dredd profile looks exactly how 2000 AD artist Carlos Ezquerra used to illustrate the character. Urban is brilliant in this, and I hope he signs on for the upcoming sequels. Oh wait! If they decide to make any sequels! 

Lena Headey (Game of Thrones) as Mama does a superb job – she’s just a nasty piece of work. Just as her Game of Thrones character but with a bit more bite. In a year where we’ve had loads male villains, Headey holds her own in Dredd, and puts in a memorable turn as the Mama. Olivia Thirlby offers good support as the daisy faced rookie and the reliable Wood Harris puts in a solid performance as the slimy henchman to Mama.

 The story in Dredd is very similar to that of The Raid: Redemption. The two judges have to battle their way to the top, to get to Mama. Although I saw The Raid earlier this year, Dredd holds its own when it comes to the set pieces, which are fast, furious and very violent – but almost comically violent?

Visual effects are stunning. The use of the 3D Phantom camera in the slow mo scenes looks extraordinary. One of the few films this year I would definitely say is worth seeing in 3D. Mega City One looks beautifully Utopian, which is how it should look. I really like the look of this version of Mega City One. Big, tall, monolithic buildings in a harsh, dystopian environment look visually stunning. Mega City One in the original Dredd film had a sort of Blade Runner look to it, which I didn’t appreciate as much. 
Gone and erased are memories of Stallone torturing Dredd’s infamous catchphrase ‘ I AM DA LAAAHH’! Dredd is an exciting, visceral thrill ride of a movie. Karl Urban puts in one of his best performances as Dredd.  The reviews for this have been extremely positive. And I hope the box office viewing public are just as generous. Dredd is faithful to comic book and to its main character.
 I’ve given it lots of praise, but Dredd isn’t perfect. It drags in several places to focus too much on character development. Plus the film is much longer than it needs to be. Other than that Dredd is awesome and will definitely deserve a second viewing.

Good performances, action packed and very violent. I recommend you see Dredd, but it may not be for the faint of heart.

I have hopes this R-rated version will deliver the dark world of Dredd which never appeared in the Stallone version!

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.

The Hobbit Trailer

Exciting times to be able to see some of the source material for our greatest modern archetypes hit the big screen!

Dr. Who Season 7 Finale

The first trailer for the Season 7 fall finale of "Doctor Who" has arrived, and it puts Amy and Rory in a life-or-death situation.
"It's a heart-breaking goodbye to Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory (Arthur Darvill) -- a race against time through the streets of Manhattan, as New York's statues come to life around them," reads the episode description.
Titled "The Angels Take Manhattan," the episode airs on Saturday, Sept. 29.
While the fate of The Ponds is unclear, BBC America and executive producer Steven Moffat warned that fans should not expect a happy ending.

Magic in OpenQuest for Non Magic Users

To fully enjoy OpenQuest d100 based RPG from d101 Games one must embrace the author's approach to magic for a fantasy role playing game.

There are three "schools" of magic in the core rules; Battle Magic, Divine Magic, and Sorcery. Unlike fantasy rpg's which limit the use of magic to a specific "class", OpenQuest allows any character at creation to be adapt in the magical arts. In fact every character at creation has to apply six points of magnitude towards the creation of spells whether they are interested in playing some type of magic wielding character or not.

Starting magic is selected by the expenditure of 6 points of magnitude. The player is free to spend them in any manner. A player may choose six individual spells all at 1 magnitude, or select one spell at magnitude 6. Or some variation in between. As stated above, selecting spells from the Divine Magic and Sorcery lists come with some restrictions. This is an attempt to simulate the commitment necessary to master these schools of magic by restricting the amount of character creation points allowed on other skills outside of magic.

But what if you are interested in playing a Barbarian, a Mercenary Knight, or even your traditional Thief? To leave those magic points on the table and not use them would make your starting character much weaker than other players who embrace the use of magic.How should the basic spell list found in Battle Magic be added?

This is where the aspect of "character concept" really shines for OpenQuest. For example I will use Jongo the thieving gnome. Through the character creation steps we've spent some points on attributes, many on the appropriate skills such as Athletics, Deception, Mechanisms, and Dodge. Now it is time to deal with those pesky magic points. Well, since we are playing a nonhuman race, one with a rich literary tradition of magical tricks and talents, it should not be too difficult. Probably the most useful Battle Magic spell for non spell users is Enhance Skill. What thieving gnome would not have an uncanny ability to disappear amongst the underbrush? Or surprising skill discovering hidden traps, or perhaps see normally invisible pixies and sprites?

This is an effective technique for giving your barbarian "berserker rage", or your martial artist a "killing strike". Want your archer to have an effective "called" shot, the enhanced skill spell is your ticket. Creating an elf warrior you may want to add the unusual ability to see in the infrared spectrum. Not a problem with the right application of Battle Magic.

Don't limit yourself to the initial skill list found in Newt's original rulebook. There is no reason why you can't come up with suitable spells which fit your character's concept. Any good Game Master will help you shape your ideas to fit well with the game. Anyone who has ever enjoyed Champions from Hero Games will be familiar with creating interesting effects and abilities from fairly general spell lists.

*OpenQuest uses the Mongoose Publishing RuneQuest System Resource Document.

Getting People to Play

Finding interested gamers in rural parts of the US close enough to play face to face RPG's is difficult if not nigh impossible. By interested gamers I am referring to people (with or without previous RPG experience) actively looking to play. This means you will have to take embark on the risky affair of asking people, who have never considered RPG's as a source of entertainment, to play. Risky because it will feel like high school dating all over again and you will most likely face a consistent stream of rejection.

But you will have to go to any lengths to succeed. And this means sticking your neck out.

Art as Substitute

Abstract art and painting large abstract expressionist oils of my own have sustained me through long droughts of quality face to face role play. At essence, face to face role playing taps the same emotional need for creativity found in any performing art.

Not only can additional creative hobbies nurture your needs, they can also inform your rpg work with an enhanced artistic process. The fact that creative play, physical or otherwise, can make one aware of connections between forms of play... well, now you are getting closer to what it all is about!!!

Open ended dreamscapes, the land of Faerie, a flight to Neverland, any oral descriptive endeavor will constantly need evocative prose. It can be an insatiable beast storytelling, and one must be open for inspiration from numerous sources (music is a big one too) if one is to become a master of the craft beyond mere technical proficiency.

OpenQuest Fantasy Adventure #2

OpenQuest #2 Garenguard

Starting Location; The Foul Sand, a low drinking house in Garenguard, a coastal city of Tellerand overlooking the Sea of Worship.

An alluring sailor approaches your table of commiserating sots.    

“An easy journey into the country,” she says leaning into her second tankard of ale. “You all will still be within the borders of the Duchy. The toughest danger you’ll face are drunken farm boys and their cow faced whores.” 

“I look to retrieve some items from my ancestral home before looters and bandits scavenge the last bits.” She continues, her voice beginning to be drowned out by the evening crowd.

The Foul Sand is anything but a quiet place at the best of times. Now the full evening crowd is just starting to pour into the shabby gambling den calling for wine. 

“It has been abandoned by my ancestors long before my birth. Long before the Empire ever existed, if the tales are to be believed. There may be some treasures forgotten within its cold stone walls still. I wouldn’t count on it. You are all entitled to what you can find; except for the items I seek. 

What I can guarantee you is steady pay. I will pay henchman gold rate per man per day to see me to my home. If you can stomach a return trip back you can pick up day rate to escort me back here to this insufferable city so as I can return to sea.” The sales pitch complete Servesa finishes her drink and sits back against the tavern wall waiting your response…

The collection of six pre-generated characters provides players with full fleshed out adventurers who have some limited reasons to connect, and open ended beginning play opportunities. These play opportunities can lead directly into leaving Garenguard and exploring the greater world. There also is ample opportunity to get embroiled in the dark urban environs of the city of Garenguard as well.

Here are some of the built in linkages found within the pre generated characters;

Cashiered Ranger; your area map has markings you can’t decipher. Perhaps there is someone in the city who could read them? How would you know they were right?

Hunted Magician; straight out of Pulp Fiction, you know you will run into trouble going to your storefront to retrieve your spell book and potions. You will want one of the sword wielding experts coming with you. Once you have what you need you are more than ready to leave town!

Retired Gladiator; local slavers may be interested in your skills, or criminals in need of fresh muscle, or a noble who lost a lot of money betting you to lose. Drinking here in the Foul Sand, seeing the poor wretches and slaves filter in after their day of back breaking labor, all you can see in this city is exploitation. You would be willing to support an adventure out of the city to get away from all the filth.

Disturbed Wizard; Any one following you into the city will be taken on an adventure into the macabre and the chilling. Grave robbers, dream weaver dens, secretive alchemists, and shadows in the dark. All these you converse with in your nightly journeys. You are a user and keeper of secrets. The more horrible and compromising the more attractive. You prefer to gather such pieces of information to be used to your advantage later.

Disgraced Warrior; You are a blank slate which you should feel free to take in any direction. A barbarian far from home, you are anxious to head out into the wild and away from the city. You do retain your campaigning knowledge which can be summed up in the following maxims; 

1. Adjust your ends to your means.
2. Exploit the line of least resistance.
3. Do not renew an attack after it has once failed.

Searching Sailor; You are on shore in search of your family’s lost “luck”. An heirloom stolen from your great grandfather. Your family is said to have fallen into tragedy and ruin since its theft. You are hoping to find the answers to this long unsolved mystery in the old ruins of the once proud family manor. You desperately need to find a group of adventurers to overcome any dangers to be faced. The ranger’s map has markings near the location of the old manor’s grounds. So what if the runes are impervious to your reading skills. No one else knows what it says!

If gangs, cultists, and/or the house guard get up in any of the player’s activities several play sessions could be had before they leave the confines of the city.

Notes on Garenguard

A city of seventy five thousand people, the city is ostensibly ruled by a council, at whose head is the Commissar, a representative of the Kingdom of Tellerand. The other main council members are Kirian Ylestos, the Prince of the Church of St. Cuthbert, and the Mother Superior of the Sisterhood of Silence (see below). Other City Council members (with less influence) include guild masters, the heads of the noble houses, and a few wealthy merchants. People of the town often refer to this body as the “Council of Coin,” because money is a powerful and influential force among its members. The church and guild members are united in their hostility to magic, while the king maintains a University of Wizardry here in Garenguard.

The city teems with guilds. Every type of artisan, smith, or other professional belongs to a guild of similarly trained and employed individuals. These guilds enjoy a strong voice in the City Council. They are particularly supportive of the church and the Commissar. They are more than willing to denounce sorcerers to the church and traitors to the crown to the Commissar. Merchants practicing without guild membership are subject to fines and arrest.

To police the streets, the Commissar of the city commands a force of more than eighteen hundred troops and City Watch guards, including a few dozen elite individuals.

Like every city, Garenguard has a dark side. Here, criminal lords command veritable armies of rogues and assassins, and war amongst each other as well as against the law. These criminals deal in extortion, smuggling, gambling, usury, and prostitution. Chief among these criminals are Menon Balacazar, leader of the oldest criminal syndicate in the city, and the newcomer Kevris Killraven. They are bitter enemies. Depraved assassins called the Vai hunt victims for money, or worse.

OpenQuest #2 Night in Honlaudt

The game master will use the material from TSR’s “The Village of Hommlet” and the ruined moat house as the inevitable wilderness dungeon location. This will come about directly or after any adventures within Garenguard. Rename the village "Honlaudt", increase the paranoia, add ghouls, werewolves, dark spirits, etc. and let the macabre horror begin! What won’t be changed from the TSR source material is the presence of evil cultists attempting to reoccupy the moat house and corrupt the nearby village.

The village dynamics are one of paranoia and fear. During the night evil spirits are believed to roam about spreading disease, and ill-luck. Town folk whisper stories of lurking horrors abroad which kill livestock and kidnapping those abroad at night. Demonic possession, victim of mad cultists, fell beast which feast on blood; all are said to be stirring in the dark forest again.

The Wizard and the Priest wish to keep such hysteria tamped out, and will be relentless in their attempt to hide the truth from the citizens. The Druids wish to protect the people, but risk the repression of the church. The Repellent Coterie of Evil is bent on taking down the whole countryside into black chaos and humanoid ascendency.

 At the Welcome Wench the players will find they are the subject of  polite, but regular questions. One of Rufus' guards named Zert frequents the bar, and pesters any and all from the party with more pointed inquiries. His Most Worshipful Mage of Honlaudt provides the hireling with copper for information of the travelers which pass through the village.

“Traveling the King’s Road are we?” Zert will inquire. “None ever have business in Honlaudt. Unless you are selling iron. Cold iron for the Cold God says St. Cuthbart, and he is one for his cold iron here in Honlaudt.”

The barkeep will tell the drunk guard to shut it. Before the insulted soldier can get any more out of hand Rufus enters the tavern. He is there to take Zert out of the Welcome Wench and bring him to Burne, the village mage. 

"Take the King's Road out of town I would if I was you", he sneers before being roughly steered out into the towns main track by the large captain.

If they take up lodging at the Welcome Wench they can expect a visit from Rufus who will see them off in the morning. He hopes they found their stay pleasant and would they be moving on. Gathering supplies is fine. It gives the locals commerce before the travelers head along the King’s Road, or the seldom traveled East Road. But there has been trouble, and the townfolk don't trust strangers. 

Rufus is aware of “bandits” operating in the area and while he would never betray Burne, he will warn players of dangers on the East Road. But only if they are decently behaved. If they are douche bags he will gladly send them off to appease the mad cultists.

Burne, Rufus, and Terjon are in denial when it comes to facing the danger which lurks in the woods. They believe if enough eastbound traffic is sacrificed their village, and their riches, will be preserved. Soon the High Priest of the Coterie will arrive and demand the village as blood sacrifice, tribute worthy enough to the great god of death Toruk. Toruk comes in the form of an abominable spider slavering for blood.

Any time spent in town will give the Repellent Coterie of Evil and its agents an opportunity to discern what the party is up to. The spies in the village plot against the village’s inhabitants, and are continuously interested in the town’s strength. (4) Repellent Coterie agents will eventually set out to follow the party into the woods when they head out on the east road. The undercover cultists will try and ambush the party at night when they make camp. If the PC’s detect the assassins they will attack immediately.

Regardless of the outcome of the attack it will be noticed some workmen have now gone missing. By the second day Rufus will reluctantly head into the woods looking for signs of them. He will report whatever he finds back to Burne. Burne will not want to involve the Canon of St. Cuthbert as he never stops about the corruption of evil throughout the village. Talk of cultists at the moat house will have him calling for the club to be laid hard on the inhabitants of the village to uncover the source of the corruption. 

Once the party reaches the ruined castle they will have to decide how to proceed. Any attempt to enter the grounds during the day will be met with attacks from the insane cult guards. Not all of the guards will be capable of defending themselves. Roll for each regular’s sanity at the beginning of combat. Each has a 20% of being in a catatonic state due to the unrelenting terror of living with the undead. This does not apply to the leader. While visibly incoherent, he attacks vigorously, all the while weeping inconsolably. 

Trying to infiltrate the moat house during the night will call down the giant frogs which lurk in dank marsh, and undead crawling up from underneath the moat house.  Not only will the players have to cut their way into the moat house grounds, they will have to defend against wandering undead. If the players manage to defeat the hordes of frogs, zombies, and ghouls there is the giant lizard, giant spider, and/or giant snake which hide amongst the upper pile. If the players continue into the ruins they will encounter some of these beasts at their most active time! Be warned, a nighttime assault will be very dangerous. 

The amount of ghouls and zombies which issue forth will be key in establishing lethality of the overall encounter.

The Searching Sailor will want to explore the upper level ruins. There she believes can be found the artifacts of her long lost family.

The diary with her father’s last journey is indeed within the pile, and will be found after a random encounter with one of the three monsterous beasts; 1-2 Giant Lizard, 3-4 Giant Spider, or 5-6 Giant Snake.

Below the surface the players will encounter the villains bent on destroying Honlaudt. They are the instruments of evil attempting to establish the Repellent Coterie of Evil in Tellerand.

The hired men at arms do not go out at night. They are there to guard the undead lords during the day. When the sun goes down the evil henchmen barricade themselves in to protect themselves from roaming undead. Listening to the shambling nighttime hordes have made the men quite insane. The maddened men begin every morning going out the ruined wall, and spearing giant frogs so they can go crap in the marsh. They then return to the interior of the moat house where the lower dungeon squad sends up their days food. Usually game mixed in with human slave. The kitchen is down in the dungeon off of room #12.

The snake obviously needs to be removed from this location. Replace with captured local villagers and travelers. These kidnapped people have been used up in hard labor and are now destined for the stew pot.

The morning feeding crew includes some fighters in the case of an inadvertent attack by the traumatized guards.

The lower levels will find servants of the High Priest maintaining the kitchen and the slaves. The lower level guards are found in the living areas of #10 as well as protecting the High Priest in #16. There will also be a contingent of soldiers out on the East Road looking for victims. They return only when called for or have some prisoners to bring in. 

The High Priest is controlling the ghouls which inhabit the subterranean tunnels throughout the marsh. He has the undead creatures burrowing towards the village. Soon they will be able to come out underneath the village itself and devour the inhabitants.

The High Priest controls the ghouls through sacrifice and magic. If either of these two inducements are cut, the ghouls will begin to attack indiscriminately.

The party will either have returned successful or not. They will either be healthy or not. They will either make themselves easily found or not. But sooner or later Burne will get to ask them questions. 

The conclusion of the meeting should lead to Burne realizing he needs to send an armed party out to the moat house and flush out whatever evil lurks. He will send Rufus and the militia out to the moat house. He will make the players go as well as prisoners of the Kingdom of Tellerand and under the warrant of the church of St. Cuthbert. Either assist in the eviction of brigands and cultists from the moat house, or Burne will send the party to languish in the church’s dungeons. These are the options the powerful wizard offers. 

The party will not be bound for the march, but their weapons and possessions will be confiscated. These will be kept in the wizard’s tower and only returned if the players demonstrate they are men of honor. Rufus will use his judgment out in the field on whether or not to arm the players in face of danger. If his men look like they will be overwhelmed he will most likely arm the players. He will quiz the players about the defenses of the ruins before he makes his approach. He will want to enter through the courtyard, but the rotten drawbridge worries him. The entrance across the stream and through the tower . He will face an attack by frogs and guards during the day. Frogs and ghouls will assault the party during the night. 

The militia should eventually be mauled and driven back to the village. 

You may not want to let the forces of Honlaudt get this far. 

During the night of the players forced return to the village the town will be attacked by ghouls emerging from their underground diggings. The High Priest’s grisly assault has begun!

This will be throughout the village and will give everyone a chance to respond. The players are most likely being interrogated by Burne and Rufus in the church.

Rufus will go for his tower. The rest of the militia men will be heading to defend their families. Rufus will attempt to organize a strike force to go and battle the swarming ghouls. Burne will be devastated at the news of the undead attack. His willful denial of the horror which lurked beneath his feet comes crashing down. He feels as if he has consigned the people of Honlaudt to their doom. He will want to lock the door and not venture out until morning. Rufus turns to the players and asks for their aid…

The conclusion of the adventure should leave the characters in the good graces of Honlaudt and returning to Garenguard with some treasure.