Traveler 5.10: Book 2 Starships Part 4

 Book 2 Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Book 1 is reviewed here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10

A month without internet   

It took over 4 weeks before my internet was restored. And made me realize just how much I depend on so much out of my control. And also, just how lucky I am as that was my only issue a month past the hurricane Helene. I did work from my mother-in-law's house, and she appreciated having someone in the house with her. But it is nice to be back in my own little space I've been in for more than 20 years!

Starship Construction

The next chapter covers all the parts from the checklist. And unlike classic book 2, there are a lot more steps. 27 to be exact! Well, technically 26 as the 1st step is the checklist itself.

Step 2: Starship Missions

Similar to the old one and two letter codes, the mission is determined first. And may even rarely have a 3-letter code. They left the classic codes in for the most part from what I can see, so that old classic ships should share the same codes: C for cruiser, S for courier or messenger. There is a broader, more thoughtful organization for the codes: Service => Activity => Type => Qualifier => Mission => Modifier. Services are Naval, Commerce, Government/NGO/Private and Unclassified. Activity may further break that down for some services, and the type breaks it down even more. Very much a classification system. For example, we can have a Naval Service with Combat Activity of a Defensive type. The Qualifier and Mission seem to be a single line for the letter code, so that a Qualifier of Minor can only have an Escort as the mission (code E), a principal can only be a monitor (type N). Step 2 is the table.

Step 3: Starship Missions

Step 3 is the refinement and a more textual description of the missions. It also includes descriptions of modifiers, such as Intruder probes enemy territory, Patrol operates within a defined region but without scheduled routes. For Spinward Flow over on COTI, there is a Modular indicating it uses modules. He has some mostly house rules that I don't always agree with, but it is his universe to play in.

Step 4: Hull and Costs

Like classic book 2, we have a table that has a size in tons down one side, and configuration codes across the top. This allows us the basic price for the hull based on how it is configured. It also gives the number of squares the deck plan will have, which is really not needed as you simply have to multiply the tonnage displacement by 2. But these books really love their tables! 

We also have pods and barges now available, so we can add external modules to our ships. They are "detachable ship components". Based on rules versus house rules. Though in the end, probably the same thing. 

Step 5: Configurations

We have a few more configurations than before but not anything really new. We have more details on how each configuration is affected by atmosphere, whether they can land or now, maximum acceleration and stability.

T5 Starship Configurations

Step 6: Starship Hull Fittings

Now that we know what the ship is going to be used for, and just how big it is, time for some details. What is the hull made of - plate, shell, polymer, nickel-iron asteroid, organic or charged? And what kind of fittings: floatation hull, fins, wings, lifters, etc. Some are only compatible with certain configurations. And we have a few types of landing gear: skids, legs with pads, wheels. A bunch of little details to make your starship architect happy.

Step 7: Starship Jump Fields

Previous versions of Traveller started expanding just how the jump field works. Traveller 5 consolidates and adds to that. I always thought it as a jump bubble based on a lot of the early adventures and notes, then JTAS has that classic Marc Miller article for just how jump works, and I think that is where we suddenly had choices. The jump bubble is the standard application and produces the jump flash (which does not exist in MTU!). But we also have a jump grid, with wires and conduits. This produces a more refined jump so that you can jump closer to a gravity source. Countering this it reduces the armor value and creates a larger jump flash. I would have made it a smaller jump flash myself as it more closely confirms to the ship itself. But if damaged, you need to use jump pates to temporarily patch the holes. Which are also a valid jump mechanism and apparently how we figured it all out: "The original system for creating a jump field consisted of Bolt-On Jump Plates (one plate per 1 tons of hull)". So we gain a bit of a history lesson as well!

And we have formulas for safe jump distance, which now also take into account your engineer's skill:

D = S/E -K

• D = diameters from gravity source
• S = Jump Field Strength (see chart 07F)
• E = Drive Efficiency (see chart 10X)
• K = Engineer Skill and Jump Drive Knowledge

There is also another formula to avoid initiation interference. Very similar the formula above, and if you roll < 1 no interference. If you feel lucky, you can roll flux but if you roll it you have to use it. 

The charts reference the section and table, so 07F is actually just above the formula, and 10X is in section 10. Though page numbers would be nice, this does allow for revisions without have to adjust page numbers. Though I would think professional layout software would handle all that for you. Jump Field Strength is 100 for bubble, 80 for grid and 140 for plates. And looking at table 10X we have percentages, which the text converts 100% to 1, so that a standard jump drive safe jump, with an engineer with a Engineer Kill of 3 and Jump Drive knowledge is 100 / 1 - 4, or 96 diameters out. Not that 4 diameters out will take much more time to get there, but it does give a bit of additional player impact to the universe. Each ship would have the base calculation, but then you can adjust it based on your engineers, which I think is a nice thing. 

To Be Continued...

Yes, only covered less than a third of this process. And one of these days I will have to see about creating a ship in T5. May redo my old college 200-ton scout ship which was basically the classic type S but scaled up so that you could have 3 decks. The top back deck was a small library with a view port. Even then I really liked libraries. Still was almost a librarian!

1 Month Later

This is the first time I've been in a natural disaster. It was an experience that really impacted me in a few ways. I was really, really lucky, and as I say, my whole life I've been pretty lucky. But it was an odd experience to flush the toilets with buckets of water, cook on my back deck on a camping grill, and go to sleep when it got dark (okay, that last one is actually pretty normal for me! But to be fair I also get up a bit after 4am so that I can get to the gym before work!) It will be years before this area recovers - the road to the old gym (I am now a member of 2 gyms for reasons) goes by the river and there are houses and trucks still piled up against the few remaining telephone poles. It is very post-apocalyptic in how it feels. We drove through Erwin, TN and the river there has carved a whole new cliff face, and dozens of houses that used to be beside the river are entirely gone. 

So, just like my experience as a technical support person for a year gave me a lot more respect for those who answer the phone when you have a problem, I think I'll have a much better appreciation of what survivors go through.

And less than 2 months until Christmas! Wow! 

Storms and Random Weather

In one of the last sessions, our players managed to get safely past a flash flood I had on the random events. Living in WNC, I've seen the real devastation flooding can cause. I had to listen to the winds blow, huge trees cracking then snapping and falling to the ground, taking out anything under them. If this event in the game happens again I may have to to better at picturing the sheer chaos, noise and horror this actually is. I am very lucky - no trees fell on my house, and everyone I knew I thought was safe. It took over a week before I had power, and as I have a well, used buckets for flushing. I still have no internet, and I am working at my mother-in-law's house where she has it all working. I'll probably go into the office Friday.

The day the hurricane blew through after I heard a chainsaw - someone was going down the street and clearing at least one lane to allow traffic through. There were trees and lines all over the road. I helped out, and more people showed up with chain saws. Some neighbors even had tractors and helped haul off trees, and even stood in the bucket of a front loader, to cut down trees higher up. It was really nice to see people helping one another. And that has been mostly what has been happening: people helping each other. Except for the idiots in the gas line who shot someone. So disasters also bring out the worse in some people. But overall, there is more good than bad that happens when these disasters occur. 

I've been in an odd, existential state of mind because of all this. Sadly, I am a person of deep habits, and being unable to live on my routines really throws me off. I did read several books, and with a camp stove I had hot meals and my coffee. My wife even had a camp shower so I could at least rinse off. So I was not living in the wilds. Though I was getting concerned as I was running low on cat food, and sometimes those cats would be looking at me... 

And an old friend I've not seen in a long time got in contact with me: friends we played volleyball with back in the day were killed when their house collapsed on them. I've not talked with them in probably close to 20 years, but still it is sad to hear and know. And sadly, in Traveller terms, more people I know are struggling with their aging rolls, including me. There was a posting that a long-time Traveller fan, Shawn Driscoll has passed as well. Which is why the gym is so important to me - need to hopefully at least keep those physical stats up! Guess writing new software helps with the INT score.

Sorry that this is a bit of a bummer of a post. Sometimes the real world comes calling. Which is one of the reasons I play RPGs, to get out and explore the cosmos, or the fantasy worlds we play in. But we do live in the real world. And while I try to stay optimistic, there are some people who just play these disasters for personal power and gain. Fortunately, most people try to help others.

Hopefully a better blog post next time. I'll probably continue with the Traveller 5.10 overview as I would actually like to complete that. And I may go over some of the .NET stuff I'd like to do for Traveller that would allow people to do things on their computer. Actually - the code I wrote for the UWP explainer is here on GitHub. You can always download it and run it. At least on a PC - I may do yet another version and make it a web application so that it could then be run on a Mac as well. Let me know if I need to post directions. The goal of that project was to see if I could get it to run on a PC & Android. And while I tried I never figured out how to get it signed for the Android app store, and Google recently dropped my dev license as I had not done anything with it.

Cowboys & Dinos II: Session 5 - New Dawn Was Once New Harmony

I am bad with names. Even the names I make up...The 40 acres the character owns thanks to his wife is just outside of New Dawn. Unfortunately, the plat and half the time I talk about it I call it New Harmony. And the characters just left Harmony, which was run by a religious zealot. 

So...originally the township was New Harmony. But Harmony got such a bad rap, the town council decided they wanted nothing to do with that name. In 1862 (one year after the plat was drawn up) the town was officially renamed New Dawn. Retcons can be your friend!

New Dawn

Our characters roll into town at dusk, having only encountered a rattlesnake that Pachy smooshed underfoot. Some of my encounters are geared to people walking along - dinosaurs present an entirely different encounter. At least horses may have reared up for a snake. I just don't think a critter weighing more than a ton is going to worry about something that small.

New Dawn seems a lot friendlier than Harmony: two boys are rolling a hoop down the street; the smell of bison steaks is wafting through the air. Lee, wanting to get in touch with the sheriff but a note on the door indicates he is at Edna's. The group walks to the good-smelling restaurant and see the Edna's sign above the doors. A boy runs out as the group, including 4 dinosaurs, approaches the single-story building. 

"Hi! We ain't got space for all your critters here. You can take them to Colt's - he's got the space down there," and points a bit to the edge of town where a large barn can be seen. "Don't think he's got a perch for yours, Ma'am. And I'm Morgan," he finishes up before rushing back into the restaurant. 

The group goes to Colt's barn, finds an older man there and says he's got the space for 4 bits a night, plus food costs. Two girls peer around from behind him. As the group takes the harnesses and equipment off their dinos, Colt indicates a smaller barn off to the side. "Got space for yer stuff if you want to lock it up," he says. They don't, so just pile the equipment in the barn. Volgol has a fairly large corral, and Colt has some raw bison for the pterodactyl. 

They head back to Edna's, and Morgan meets them at the door to take them to a table. Spying what looks to be the sheriff, Lee goes on over, interrupting the lam man's medium rare bison steak. Looking up, after a bit of conversation, Lee will meet up with the sheriff later that evening. The group, with the exception of Archibald, notice the well-dressed man in the corner listening in apparently. The same man Molly saw walking to the town earlier that day. 

They find the dapper Mannix Durango speaks with a southern drawl (which sadly, despite living in the south the last almost 40 years, I cannot do. Nor even hear any more as I apparently have the aural filters translating things. I honestly could barely understand my wife when I met her, and now I cannot hear that southern accent at all. This is also why I would never want to work at a coffee or donut shop as I do not want to not be able to smell those wonderful aromas!) He introduces himself as someone who hears the spirits, and there was a calling from the Badlands. He plans on going there after a day or so of rest to see what was calling to him. Lee perks up at this, asking if he can talk with the spirits. He can sometimes he says, and Lee wants to talk with him later as well. As he leaves the table, the words "you can trust him" seem to come into his mind. Archibald wonders about people who can puts words in your mind may also be able to hear words in your mind. 

The food at Edna's is good: bison steaks, mashed potatoes, beans and steamed string beans. Edna is only heard in the kitchen, and it turns out Morgan is her son. She apparently had some training in France. She has the only restaurant in the small town. The beer is made by Beautrice, and there are no other liquors in town, except for an occasional crate of wines. Though the last one was a couple months back and the wine is long gone. 

Morgan shows off a giant black serrated claw. No one recognizes it other than not matching any dinos they are familiar with. Morgan says Sargent Thomas of Fort Talon gave it to him. It was from some creature with six legs that took a gatling gun to kill. There is a reason Fort Talon is there and has some surplus equipment from the Civil War.

The group goes to the hotel named The Hotel. As there is just the one there. The man behind the desk, Rufus, indicates there are only 2 rooms left out of the 4. Mannix is in one room, and a man named Rufus Porter has checked into the other. Molly gets room 3, and Archibald and Hambone decide sleeping in the barn loft is good enough for them. Lee goes and finds Mannix while Molly bathes and washes her clothes in the claw-footed tub. Which takes Rufus about 30 minutes to fill up with multiple trips from the stove carrying buckets of hot water.

well, maybe not exactly but Archimedes is as clean as Archibald has ever seen

and Molly cleans up well as well

Bringing out two wedding rings and a large locket, Lee and Mannix talk. He has his small room set up with a candle on the table and attempts to contact Lee's wife and child. He manages to pull their names from Lee's mind but after that, I failed every roll. The spirits were not willing to be found apparently according to Mannix. Lee still drops $5 on the table even though he was only charged $2 as the spirits were not willing to talk that evening. There was more but sadly my notes, as always, are incomplete.

Realizing he still needed to talk with sheriff George Holt, Lee and Molly go to the sheriff's office. Hambone & Archibald have apparently gone to sleep in the loft, though Hambone sees a ribbon tied in a bow on Puddin', and Archimede's horns are fairly glistening. The dinos have been well cleaned and pampered. I was going with Colt's daughters are dino-crazy. Molly will find Volgol cleaned and what looks to be polish on his claws. 

The sheriff finds the same wanted poster for Manual Fuentes, and Lee explains he believes he may be holed up at Hambone's farm. Lee agrees to meet the group in the morning at Edna's as Lee heads back to the hotel. 

Next morning, after griddle cakes and fresh maple syrup, Hambone finds the land office with a young man pouring over maps. They find the land plat with the old town name on it, and find it is all of 2.1 miles east of town. There are apple trees already growing there, though George, the land office man, says they will need some work if you want to make an orchard there. An artesian well halfway up a hill indicates a good place to build a house should he want to. Stepping back outside, the sheriff walks up and that is where we left the game. No fights or battles this round, and a lot of talking from Lee mostly. Everyone got 150XP for the evening. 

Characters met

Mannix "Dragon" Durango - mentalist stranger heading to the Badlands.

Morgan - 12-year-old working at his mother's restaurant.

Edna (only heard her in the kitchen) owner of Edna's restaurant. Trained in Europe, came to New Dawn only with her son.

Sheriff George Holt

Rufus - hotel manager/owner

Colt - stable owner. Has two dino-crazy daughters

Sgt Thomas of Fort Hood - not met but shows up in town and gave Morgan a giant claw

Beatrice - not met but makes good beer

George - land office worker at New Dawn. Seems eager to help

Porter Reid - never met, staying at The Hotel

Strange Art

I tried to get AI to draw me a 12-year-old boy circa 1875 holding a single large black claw. Nothing came out well...but may be useful for other games! 

Lapin - the Rabbitfolk

While D&D did introduce the Harengon, I am going to borrow only parts of that to fit into the Fantasy Trip (and possibly OSE). As well as renaming them to the Lapin. Though most folk call then Rabbitfolk, they call themselves Lapin. 

They are the result of Fey, though not fey themselves. In ancient times, the Unseelie Court thought nothing of meddling of other races and beings. They still feel that way. The Lapin were originally created from rabbits as fast guards: they move fast and multiply fast, so readily replenish any forces. Centuries ago a few escaped into the more mundane world we live in, and live somewhat furtive lives, worried that some Fey Lord may come hunting them. In fact, the Hunt brings an irrational fear to the Lapin and cause them to run away in random directions. If this were OSE there would be a really high saving roll, for TFT 5 dice against IQ to not run away.

Most Lapin are between 3 and half to 4 and a half feet tall, excluding their long ears which can put them close to 6 feet tall. But there are some giant Lapin that tower almost 7 feet tall. They are slower than their smaller cousins but stronger. 

Lapin primarily are plant eaters, but with the meddling of the fey they can also digest meat. They prefer vegetables over meat, though they will eat meat if nothing else is available. Alcohol works faster on them than others, but Lapin never get hangovers and also recover more quickly from over-indulging. 

Lapin villages are rare as most are solitaire creatures. They do not mate for life but stay together until the young are old enough to be on their own. This is about a dozen years and this age is considered adulthood for the Lapin. Both parents share duties for raising their young. There are 2 to 4 babies per birthing (d3 where 1/2 = 2, 3/4 = 3, 5/6 = 4) and genders are random, a 50% chance of either a boy or girl. Lapin tend to make small huts that may only last a couple of years. They only have possessions they can travel with easily. They move around a lot and will work odd jobs so that they can purchase the things they want or need. Few tend to be in towns or cities. Most tend to be expert woodsman and may often be healers, with a broad knowledge of plants and herbs. Lapin tend to have an average lifespan of about 50 years or so.

Despite this, there is something of a Lapin culture. Primarily they are independent, quick to judge, but also fiercely loyal. Having been foot soldiers in the Unseelie battles, they tend to favor the weak and protect those who cannot protect themselves. Those Lapin who have dealt with humans say they are similar to the Knight Errant. They are self-sufficient other than the tools and weapons they may purchase as they cannot create themselves. In general, they prefer to hide rather than fight, but they will always stick up for the oppressed. 

For The Fantasy Trip, Lapin folk are similar to Elves in terms of initial stats. Their starting stats are ST 5, DX 11 IQ 8 and an even faster MA at 14 when unarmored. They can be fighters or magic users and will rarely wear anything more than leather armor as they rely on their speed more than anything else. Unless they take running, though, this speed is generally only for combat as they will tire faster than humans do. They walk at a human pace, though there is more vertical movement than humans. As part of their furtive nature, they are also constantly looking around and sniffing the air. Their noses do wriggle, and as a result get a +1 to most other races for reactions. That and the ears. Which they do not like people touching.

Working up Marianne, our Lapin NPC, we know she carries a light crossbow and can shoot every turn. Meaning she has to have at least a DX of 14 and a ST of 12. Giving her a range of talents bumped her IQ to 10 so she can have Naturalist. Technically she could have more talents, but her experience has given her the strength to use her light crossbow, and the IQ as to have naturalist. As per our last recap, she knew a bit about the harpies, so I decided she needed that skill as well. This makes her quite a bit more talented than our player characters, but as I underplay most NPCs that works out. Heck - I tend to underplay my characters as well...

TFT Marianne

As she mentioned, the rising of the demoness Indhyna is what brought Marianne to this part of the world. The ley lines weakening the barriers between the worlds is threatening more than just this one area. While she has no affinity for magic, nor carries any magical weapons, she is not much against a demon. She will be on the lookout for enchanted bolts for her crossbow to save for those times when she can attack a demon.

The Ultimate Bestiary: Secrets of the Fey showed up. And as Sister Ishbarra was heavily wounded, I can bring in either the travelling Goblin merchant as I mentioned before, or perhaps one of these fey will help:

Alseids, or ‘cervitaurs’ as they are sometimes known, are reciprocally considered ‘cousins’ of centaurs, likely diverting from different points on the same family tree, though both species see the other as something of an oddity. Alseids differ in that their feet bear cloven hooves, and their hindquarters resemble that of a deer or antelope, with a variety of dappled, striped, or countershaded hues. They are significantly smaller than centaurs, their heads no higher than a human’s, and often display horns or antlers with both males and females equally likely to feature short nubs of bone or great, spiraling coronets.

As they know the forest, perhaps if they can make friends (and understand!) they could get a healing salve or two. 

Cowboys and Dinosaurs II: Session 4

Switching to the old west, our characters awaken in Copper Peak on Monday. Hambone heads on down to the land office after breakfast. Clifford English, the government employee at the office shows up at 1 minute to 9, ready to start the day promptly at 9am. Opening the doors, and switching the sign to open, he settles in behind the desk facing the door. Hambone introduces himself and gets to the point.

"I do believe we should have a copy of the land plat around here Mr. Hewiggans," says the bespectacled older man. A few minutes of searching and he can provide a land plat matching the deed Hambone has.

Hewiggan's Land Plat

Not able to take this copy, Mr. English says there should be a copy in the New Haven Land Office which he can have if need be. With the land verified, Hewiggans and the group head out of town, leaving Copper Peak and the fumes of the smelter behind as the head north through the Northern Passage. Sadly, they could only find half a bag of apples for Puddin', her favorite food. I did provide a map giving an overview of where they and where they are going so that they have some context. 

kinda looks old westerny :)

During the slow ride up at Puddin' Pace, they follow the easy-to-follow road. No chance of getting lost. However, the rain constantly increases, and the random encounter rolled up was a bad weather event, flash flood. Molly, sees the rising rivulets turning into rivers up the road, so flies back, flashing her red (danger) and blue (water) kerchiefs. Recognizing the dangers ahead, the group starts moving up the mountain, following Volgol. He finds a perch and makes a rough yet serviceable landing. Archibald has a steam-powered portable cabin essentially: pulling out a big box and a flip of the trigger and a shelter unfolds itself. There is enough room for all the characters, though the dinos are getting soaked through and through. And it turns out the Lee does enjoy Hambone's chicory coffee. Which I've had in New Orleans a long time ago and really enjoyed it. May have to see about getting more at some point. 

The rain finally lets up some, but it is late so the group stays at their mountainside camp site. Next day, they get up early and finish the hike into the next town, Harmony. Because the road is a mess, they move through the woods and travel in the plains. It is a bit longer, and they get into town late in the afternoon. Way back when I was mapping out this place, I decided I did want a zealot church town. Though I'll also counterbalance that in New Haven as there is a small church there, but they are good people. My updated paragraph describing Harmony from the now 90+ page Cowboy & Dinosaur bible:

A small, very religious town - Molly will have to sleep in a “woman’s hostel” (House of St. Mary) and not in the same hotel as the men (The Good Shepherd). Rates are malleable - if you profess being a Christian, $1/night includes breakfast. Otherwise $5/night and no food. Asked: “Are you in good standing with our Lord and pray every day?” If no... There is also a mandatory prayer meeting before supper. Lee will probably get a lot of side-glances, perhaps even direct threats as a “savage Chinaman”. There are woods and areas that the group can camp outside of town if they like, though there is a ⅙ chance that the preacher will come out with some of his larger congregation. 

As they approach, Volgol getting tired from flying in the rain, the streets are empty, but the church appears full as hymns are being sung. Archibald thinks that having church on Tuesday is not quite normal church behavoir. As Molly get Volgol into a dino corral, the church doors open up and people in their Sunday best come out. The preacher, a tall older man approaching 50, large grey beard, welcomes the group. Yet glances at Molly's pants and the consternation many of the congregation are showing raises hackles in our party. 

"Are you one with Our Lord?" asks the priest, and we'll just go with the conversation did not go well. Deciding retreat was a better choice, they decide to move out. Unfortunately, Volgol is too pooped to fly much, and it is getting dark. Fortunately, we decide a stegosaurus can certainly, at least for a short period, carry a pterodactyl. The group leaves Harmony, Volgol perched on the back of Archimedes. They managed a few miles at a pace even slower than our Puddin' Pace®️ and find a good place to camp. But also decide a double watch is called for.

With valid reason - not too long and off in the distance they can see some torches make their way out of the woods. Lee disappears into the woods and sees that there are perhaps half a dozen men and the preacher, the preacher carrying an actual burning cross. Hurrying back, he tells the group what is happening. The characters spread out, ready for combat. As the priest gets into yelling range, more words are passed back and forth. The group is ready for some protective violence when Archimedes uses his telekinesis hat and yanks the burning cross from the preacher. Lee has moved up for an attack as the men decide a burning cross waving back and forth in front of them is something of the devil and decide perhaps town was a safer pace to be. The priest, fired up, did not leave but was quickly taken care of by Lee and knocked unconscious. The burning cross was pressed up on him for a bit, then removed and left next to the burnt but still alive. The rest of the night is quiet especially as they managed to move a couple more miles north, and this is where the game was left. The group may have heard some crunching from the direction of the zealot, but they are not sure. 

I gave out some XP for the game, and then we all yakked. Somewhere in the middle of this one of the players came up with prairie sharks (he did get bonus XP s we all laughed!) and I got DALL E to draw some crosses between bison and sharks, pencil style. I will have to use these in a game somewhere!

Meeting the Harpies

The characters, after leaving Susan, the now ex-cultist, and Clyde, back in the barn with Johann and Juli eyeing their boy eyeing the girl who lured him out to kill him. But - the town is desperate for families to keep the town going, so perhaps they can forgive her. As there are not a lot (or any really) other marital options in Bresselwythe. 

The halfling, Ezmirylda Rixile, shows up with some potions, and eagerly offers them to the wounded. Voilet takes one and is healed 4 points, and Hexis regains 1 point. These were my "big boy" potions I use that cost 4x as much and use a d4 in a bottle. The players need to shake the die out of the bottle though both oddly (well, to me oddly) took the die out and rolled it manually. The halfling seemed almost surprised that neither died (she used to be an expert poisoner but, to avoid arrest and probably a death sentence, she is trying to mend her ways and help people. Just don't look into that back cabinet). 

They head north a bit to see about the missing sheep. They travel a bit and find a herd guarded by two girls, around 12 or so, and at least 1 dog they see around the clearing. Talking to the girls, Dawn and Voilet, being the least threatening, try to see if they can find out what is happening. The girls say that something huge with feathered wings came down and snatched a lamb and flew back up the mountain. Looking around the two see the scuffled ground but miss the scat and anything else (both failed perception checks and no one in this group has woodsman to help with that sort of thing). Talking and planning the rest of the afternoon, they do find 1 large feather. Deimos recognizes it as probably being from harpy, and finally Marianne speaks up a bit about what she knows about them: they tend to be farther north, like living in caves where they can fly out of easily, and no one has ever seen a male harpy.  Marrianne and Sister Ishbarra walk back to Bresselwythe to collect the horses while Hexis creates a net trap (we found that the ropes in TFT are 100 yards. That is a LOT of rope!). 

The characters wait that night, but after the flock leaves (and the wee shepherdesses think it is funny that these adults don't know that sheep are a flock and not a herd. Adults are funny...) Somewhere along here Deimos summons the bear, who eats the fish and does not seem overly happy. I am giving +1 each time he does this, and soon as the player can roll a 12+ on 2ds, the bear will like him. Yep - using the classic Traveller reaction roll. Been using that since early 80s!) Marrianne and Sister Ishbarra return, horses collected. Axe (and still not spelling it correctly) has stayed with Ceteern Gur, the goblin head of the small village. They have things, Goblin things, to discuss. That and the player could not show up.

Deimos had cast an illusion of a bleating lamb, which wandered over the netting all night long. The next day the flock did not return as they were grazing elsewhere. But late afternoon, a dark-winged harpy swoops down and attempts to grab the lamb! Hexis pulls the trap and the harpy is caught!

"Mine! Mine!" the harpy cries out, clutching the illusionary lamb in her talons. While Dawn attempts to explain that the lamb and sheep belong to the people. the harpy is very resolute in that the lamb is hers. I was trying to channel those seagulls from Finding Nemo. Eventually they do tease out of her that she and her flock are here because food at home is becoming bad. But Laura (an odd name for a harpy perhaps but it is what I thought of at the moment!) cannot bargain for her flock - they must see Screea (which is a much better name for a harpy I think). As Deimos dispells the lamb, Laura is saddened but willing to lead the group up to the cave where her sisters are living.

the harpy cave and the "big boy" healing potion

Screea, an orange-winged harpy with a bit more sense than Laura, comes out surrounded by several other harpies. Our group finds that these creatures are from the north, but their normal food and environment is slowly getting poisoned. There is this crystalline growth that is moving from the Terror Lands and the Wizard's Mount. The Mount is at a nexus of ley lines, and one runs south through the Terror Lands towards Edge City, though it stops almost a hundred miles north of that city. But it became corrupted a few years ago, and bad magics are happening. Screea can "smell" magic, a sort of inborn detect magic similar to the gargoyles built-in levitation spell allowing them to fly with wings that are far too small for their dense bodies. She can smell the magic on Deimos. 

After discussing things, she agrees that if the group can do something about the ill magic, the harpies could return to their home and leave the human settlements alone. She is willing to send one of her sisters with the group north. And as it is the same direction as Stubboon's Final Stand, it works out well for them (amazing coincidence, right? 😁)

Being late, the group decides to wait until the morning. The first watch is quiet, but in the 2nd watch, the howling of wolves causes Dawn, who was on shift, to waken the others. 4 wolves attack the group, 2 of them heading towards Hexis, one to Marrianne and another to...dang. I did not write it down or take a picture! 

Dawn shoots an arrow and wounds one wolf, Marianne had moved out too far to be able to shoot her crossbow, Sister Ishbarra was making casting motions with her hands, Voilet was moving to the group and grabbed a burning branch from the fire. Dawn shoots again, as the wolves had charged and none had quite gotten to anyone other than our healing cleric. Whose magic failed her. Dawn shoots and kills one of the wolves attacking Hexis, and Hexis easily kills the other with a single blow. Marianne gets a shot off and kills the wolf attacking her. But Sister Ishbarra gets attacked and takes damage! Voilet throws the branch (and even gets double damage!) and while she hits the wolf, unfortunately the thick fur prevented the wolf from taking damage (and in hindsight, it would have taken 1 point of damage as there is a minimum damage of 1 if I recall). Sister Ishabarra now has her shield and hammer up as the wolf attacks again, causing more damage. But Hexis has pivoted and kills the wolf with a single strike again. The player was happy - like me he tends to roll badly but this time he did well! Deimos attempted to throw Noodles (her staff to snake) at the wolf, but failed and Noodles ends up 6 hexes behind Deimos, and never gets into the game until all the wolves are dead. Throwing spells...

The wolf is dead, Sister Ishbarra is now at half-strength. And she is the only one with any healing capabilities, but I've ruled in my house rules she can only do this for others. And of course no one has any health potions. They also notice that the wolf has some green crystals growing out of it, which may explain why the wolves attacked. Normally, outnumbered as they were, wolves will not attack groups. Screea comes out, and says yes, this is the green corruption that they are running from. Sniffing at Sister Ishbarra, she does not think she is infected. While they clean her wounds, they cannot heal her. 

And that is where we left the game. I gave out 150 XP for the afternoon play. I think people enjoyed the game, and I've made the stakes a bit bigger now. 

Behind the curtain

I am bringing in parts of a supplement (the green crystal growth and the corrupt ley lines). Going to have to re-read that and probably bring in more of it if I can make it work organically. And interestingly this is around where I put the Woodfall town, at the edge of the Terror Lands, so eventually they may find that on their journey to find the Orc's Fist. Which they may have forgotten about...

And I'll have to figure a way to get them some healing potions - I do have a travelling goblin merchant that shows up at opportune moments. Funnily enough the mini I based that character on is the one we are using for the goblin in the game.

And the corruption and rise of the cult are linked together: that corruptions has weakened the barriers between this world and the demon planes where Indhyna is from. Fix one and it may fix the other. Though I do need to re-read what I wrote, and make sure it all can fit together like I thought in the middle of running the game.

And I need to get Marianne's background and character set up. She showed up as I had just painted her, and the damage she was doing was 2d6, so I went with a light crossbow. As she was using it every round, she has at least DX of 14. But I have no idea what race she even is - she is a 5' rabbit!

Marianne

Cowboys & Dinos II: Session 4

It was mostly single encounter that took a bit longer than expected. Still wish we could play this face to face - I'd buy a bucket of those cheap dinosaurs and probably use Lego minifigs :)

 Anyway: the evening goes well, and other than the noises of scavengers working on the downed T-Tex almost a mile behind them, nothing happened overnight. It was a cold, cloudy night. Hambone salted some of the T-Rex meat, and they had roasted T-Rex steaks for dinner once it was dark enough so that the smoke would not be visible.

Before the break of dawn, leaving their dinos (and Smitty's mule) back at the campsite, they attempt to sneak up on the cabin in the dark. Only Lee, the martial artist, managed this, with two characters rolling 20s (which is a critical fail. I've been a little haphazard with rolls but will explain my logic at the end of the post). I indicated that this as far enough away from the cabin that they are being sneaky enough at this distance. I need to handle fail forward a bit better, but I punted.

The cabin has a light on, and the smell of bacon is wafting through the air. I let them roll again as now they are in sight of the small cabin and can see the outhouse behind it (which while I marked on the map, neglected to let anyone know what that box was). The roll was nearly identical, including Molly making a 2nd critical fail if I recall. She managed to walk through a spiderweb, and the spider was crawling across her face. Never a pleasant experience but worse when you can barely see the tree in front of you!

not exactly right but close enough!

Alerted, Clem comes out of the cabin, an oil lantern in hand, looking out into the woods. Lee makes an immediate attack, and so our side gets initiative as the people in the cabin were surprised. Brandishing his staff he knocks poor Clem down, who immediately drops the oil lantern. Which breaks and a small fire gets started underfoot. Hambone is getting closer, and Molly, Archibald and Smitty hang back but are still moving forward. Next round, Clem does not land a punch on Lee, but a rifle has broken through the window right next to the fight. Hambone sidles around the side of the house, inadvertently next to the outhouse. But there is no marshal inside, nor does he blow it up with dynamite. Lee gets shot at 3 times, twice getting hit but only once actually hit has he made his saving roll. He has a martial arts talent that allows him to save against ranged attacks. A critical save (this time a 20...yes, it gets a bit confusing!) means he actually gets a free action to move and attack. But he took a shot to the shoulder giving several points of damage. He also kills Clem, having moved to his "iron fists" which do more damage than his staff. And the fire grows a bit. 

The other window breaks out, and Archibald attempts to pull the rifle from Wanda (the 2nd rifle bearer). He missed his roll, so between the distance, the darkness, and seeing only part of Wanda and the rifle, he could not yank it from her arms. She fires blindly towards Hambone but misses all three times (she was rolling at a disadvantage between the dark and the ruckus in front). Somewhere along here Hambone yells at them to give it up quietly but they did not want to. 

Lee, after killing Clem, leaps through the window and succeeds in knocking down Bart. Hambone is moving around to the back of the cabin as there are no windows on the side he is on. Molly starts moving up to calm the horses, Smitty moves to put out the fire, and Archibald gets a bit closer. Lee and Bart are tussling, and Wanda decides that shooting into a melee combat may not do well for Bart. Hambone breaks into the back window but finds that it is a bedroom, and no visibility to anyone in the cabin. Molly gets a bucket and water from the trough and aids Smitty in putting out the fire. 

Eventually Lee gets Bart knocked out (he was using non-lethal force). Wanda is about to shoot when I think at this point Hambone got into the cabin and has his shotgun on her. The smell of burnt bacon fills the cabin.

They managed to get everyone all tied up, and Hambone is disgusted by the waste of bacon. They get back to their patient dinos and then back to Copper Peak. Along the way they pass a badly wounded triceratops. It was not tee same one as before. Deciding that it was too hurt for them to actually be able to heal it, and not wanting to use all his healing potions, they decide to let nature take its course. Then we remembered Lee was wounded, so rewound to get the first aid in. Archibald was willing to give a potion to heal him, but Lee can channel his chi once a day and do some healing. He was quite insistent on that. Dropping off the two living and one dead person, the collect a reward as they were all wanted. Most of them gave their money to Archibald to help him with his inventions, and they still had plenty from the last time they got bounties.

And that is where we left things.

How I am handling the rolls

Apex has a few rolls, and I seriously doubt I am doing it even remotely correctly. But what I do is that a roll that can be used against an attribute (remembering something, being sneaky) I use a "roll under the appropriate characteristic" so you want to roll low for that. Action checks (leaping through a window, and yes, there is a lot of overlap here!) uses the action roll which is a d6 and generally 4+ succeeds. There are some modifiers from traits or attributes. So there is some confusion on me asking them to sometimes roll low for something on a d20 vs having them roll high on a d6. And of course, fighting is a d20 roll and you need to roll above the armor class defense stat. 

How I am handling the NPCs

Not well. Not great (or even mediocre) at accents, and a bit overwhelmed with running the game to get the NPCs to do more than barely be there. Going to have to re-read those chapters in the several books I have for running games on techniques to improve that. I've got one NPC they will probably meet in a session or two, but poor Smitty is barely an outline of a character. 

And speaking of overwhelmed...

Running games, even with friends I know and trust, still causes me a bit of anxiety. I want to run a good and fun game and feel I really don't succeed well, and then there is this feedback loop from that. *sigh* And I think I am getting worse at social anxiety, which is related, but not sure if it is really something or just me being a hypochondriac. Which is another feedback loop! It is not helping that I had a conversation with my boss, who is fighting to not lose anyone in our department. Which is already running far too lean. And I managed to drown my work Mac laptop - knocked my tea all over it. And I use travel mugs when near computers for that very reason! But it had just been topped off, and I had not closed off the top. So, I have guilty feelings about that. But I did tell him what happened. He does say I have a "brutal honesty". Can't help it...As I told my coworker: the advantage of getting older is that some of the filters do come off. the disadvantage of getting older is that some of the filters do come off.

Yes, sometimes I am a mess! A self-aware mess at least. At least I think - wonder what I am missing about myself?!

Anyway, I'll try & cover the next section of the T5.10 Book 2 soon. Though we may have a Fantasy Trip game this weekend at my house. I do have a few things ready that should take up the afternoon we get to play, as I mentioned in a previous post. Using stuff I have!