Cowboys & Dinos: Session 7 & 8: At the Farm

I have a few miscounts in the session counts in the posts! But we finally got back to a real session, and probably next to last depending on how the next session goes. I did leave this game at a cliff-hanger (well, to be honest I thought we'd get there before we did, so now it is a cliff-hanger).

A missed recap I present here from the post I put into the Discord channel where we played:

the sheriff and you all head to Hambone's farm, Vogol I believe was left behind. Seeing smoke from up the hill on the far side (eastern side of the land as New Dawn is about 2+ miles to the west of the 40 acre farm). You split up a bit, leaving the dinos at the edge of the property. Molly, not known for her stealth (again she had 2 horrible rolls, just like the last time she was sneaking about!) manages to break a few loud branchs and then there are gunshots from the small lean-to with the fire in front. Mason (yes, it is the villain) shoots and misses as Lee starts to move closer. the sheriff, Hambone and Archibald are a bit behind Lee, and Archibald swallows an iron-hide potion. They keep getting closer and Molly has moved around the other side, shooting her gun to hopefully distract the outlaw. Hambone finally makes a shot that hits and Lee barely gets missed a couple more times before the final rush and gets a critical blow to knock Mason out. They drag him out, and the sheriff Holt, Molly and Lee head back to town while (I think) Hambone & Archibald survey his property. there are a plethora of apple trees that will need some maintenance if he wants to make an orchard, and the artesion well has some of the best water they have ever drank - cold and clear. And pretty sure that is where we left the game.

In the next session (several weeks later due the hurricanes and things), we started where we left off. Archibald and Hambone settle down for the night, a toasty fire outside of Archibald's pop-up house. They hear what sounds like a tree crashing, then another. Rushing out, guns in hand, they find that Puddin' and Archimedes both had eaten far too many fermented apples. As it is late fall, the apples have fallen, and they can ferment I believe. And both players rolled a 1 on the action die, and I decided that both their dinos are now falling down drunk. And took out a few of the trees as an ankylosaurus and a triceratops are pretty big dinos. And we found that dinos do snore and do sleep lying down. 

Back in town, Morgan, Edna's son, met Sheriff Holt, Molly and Lee carrying in Mason Fuentes. He was clamoring about Bobby & Mary seeing a living scarecrow on the outside of town. While the sheriff took note, and Lee was all about going to find this living scarecrow, Holt decided that the tales of children ranked lower than him getting his dinner. There will also be a delay for the $500 reward of at least 2-3 weeks as the sheriff does not have that much cash on hand. He will send a message down to Aurora to get the reward money from the state. Or territory, whatever this place happens to be at this time. 

Over at Edna's, our group sees Mannix and a military man eating and talking. Morgan, when getting their food, says that is Sergeant Thomas, the Army man who gave him that big black claw. Molly & Lee see the sergeant rise, shake hands, and Thomas says he will see Mannix at 7am sharp over at Colt's barn. Apparently, a squad came to town to visit the blacksmith to see about some repairs on a gatling gun they use at the fort. Mannix takes his hat, and with a tip of the top hat to Molly, leaves the restaurant. 

Lee, deciding with Molly's firm help, goes to knock on Mannix' door after they finish their dinner. The dapper gentleman from the south welcomes them in, and they try again for a seance. My first roll was a total failure for Mannix, as the spirits were not willing. Mannix, noticing Molly's expression, tried again and could read her mind that she that he was a flim-flam man. "Ahh, " said Mannix, "there are doubters out here interfering with the spirits. Perhaps we can try again." Next roll I also failed, and then right before they decide to give up, I have a really good roll and get Mannix to describe Lee's wife and 3 children. He then said that they were in a good place and going on a voyage to the next life, and that they did not blame Lee for their deaths. I had 1 last good roll, and Mannix managed to tell Lee in his head that there was nothing to forgive, and they were happy. And yes, Mannix is a flim-flam man, but one with of heart of gold. His full write-up is here if you want to read about him. And yes - there was something ethereal calling him from the badlands, just as the tunnel machine called to Archimedes. 

Next day, Molly & Lee head back to Hambone's while our erstwhile campers managed to get their hung-over dinos loaded and ready to go. They met about half-way, perhaps a mile outside of town. Hambone noticed a glint in the woods, and they head off to investigate. After a bit of hunting and searchingm they find that the preacher from Harmony had managed to find them. He had been tracking them, a gaunt scarecrow of a man with a cross burned on his chest. Clutching a singed bible and burnt cross, he curses at the "heathens" and then gets headbutted by Lee's pachysaurus. Which knocked him out and almost killed him. Which Lee then did a few minutes later after some discussion. Then further chopped him up to make it easier for the scavengers to eat. Lee is a pretty violent law man. 

While deciding what to do next, this almost was a place to stop the game: Hambone was ready to settle down, Lee was willing to help and be a part-time deputy, and Molly has a business back in Aurora. But I did a little railroading and "Archibald pulled out his newspaper clipping" but then the players took it from there. They decided to help him find this machine (and no Hambone, it is not a tipped over silo) and head back to town.

They tell the sheriff what they did so there would be no surprises. While Sheriff Holt was not happy about the frontier justice, and will not countenance that in the future, he understood why they did it. Getting some more dynamite (you never know when you may need to blow up a T-Rex) they head out towards the fort. 

A few hours later, flying ahead Molly hears several rounds of gunshots - the gatling gun was being fired. She circles back to the group with a red bandana, and ready for anything, the group moves forward to find the wagon with the soldiers and Mannix being attacked by what appears to be a giant millipede! And that is where we left the game.

Cliffhanger!

Levi, Fire Elemental

 My face to face every-other-Saturday gam is going to start a new game when at the other house (we alternate houses and when here we are running a Fantasy Trip game). It is a home brewed game that takes place in Solomia, 1990s. The basic premise:

You are all created beings, coming to an awakened state by events around the world. Summoned, awakened or even constructed by a cult called the Sons of Prometheus, you are all believed to be a tool to achieve peace in the world and Somalia is anything but that. You will awake and you will realize what you are but not know where you came from and why you are here. Your Awakening is a violent, chaotic process and you realize quickly that you have come into being earlier than you should have. Death and blood surround you and yet there is a serenity that builds as you find yourself in a darkened place, cold stone around you and odd looking folk removing you from a stone casket or other form of tomb. You have questions to answer...

This GM really likes to start player characters without a lot of knowledge as to who they are sometimes. I've had some memorable characters that evolved over the game play (and some that just never succeeded many rolls, but they were also memorable!) We were going to start today but alas, the GM was unwell. The last few weeks have been chaotic for getting together, and with the looming holiday season, it won't get a whole lot better any time soon!

My concept for this game, pending GM approval (as in re-reading that above, my stone casket is miles away and was melted in my chaotic birth). I am aiming for the 70s Incredible Hulk vibe in some ways, as you wouldn't like Levi when he gets angry. But Levi is also afraid of that side of himself though as time goes on, hoping he will figure out that he is the Elemental. Not doing the Avengers "I am always angry" schtick. Which was fun, but I am a child of the 70s (technically the 60s. Yes, I am old! Though no longer the oldest in my Monday night game group! Happy birthday Jim!)

Levi Doe

Summoned from the burning planes that some call Hell, Levi came as a burning flame that destroyed the Sons of Prometheus cult in the border town of Doolow. He was pulled to existence to destroy their enemies but instead destroyed that cell. After the raging fires of his birth destroyed the entire neighborhood, Levi staggered out, a dazed and naked man. Thinking he was a survivor of the terrible flames, he was taken to the hospital. Not knowing who he was, or where he came from, the staff named him Levi Doe. In a daze in the middle of the night, amnesiac and gaunt, he wandered out of the hospital. The ensuing weeks were more a blur than anything else and Levi eventually found himself on the coast, in the capital of Mogadishu, dressed in ragged jeans and a frayed vest. With vague dreams or nightmares of burning soldiers in the desert haunting his waking hours.


Keyword: Unleash: add 2 dice to the pool when activating your power
Form: 4 / 1
Psyche: 3 / 1
Will Power 2 / 1


When human, he is a normal human. But when he gets upset enough, his elemental form comes out. While his elemental form remembers all his other memories as a human. But none from the time before he was unleashed and even those early memories are smokey and it was not until he got to Mogadishu that his Elemental memories were finally coherent. When he reverts back to normal, he only has vague memories of what happened. But the memories are starting to come together, and he recognizes the beast within as who is though he has no idea how he came to be. Other than a small tattoo on the back of his left hand of flames.

not sure what the human form will be

and while I do not have fire-themed dice, I do have some oversized gelatinous cube dice that could be from Levi's home plane of existence!

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!