Lamia's Labyrinth

I got started on this then realized I have a Corsairs game tomorrow night I needed to prepare for! So the previous post goes over that, along with some re-reading of the rules, and printing out some stuff & actually putting it into my notebook, hole-punched, so I have it handy. And better organized than the pile of papers.

Anyway, I went through the Dyson maps I do have and found an interesting one that is about the size I want to deal with. And I like my name for it. 

I took the map, dropped it into GIMP and added a layer. Using the mosaic distortion allows you to add hexes. Played with the size a bit until I got the size that seemed about right for the corridors. The save that off as an image, and load into Google draw as it is a lot easier to deal with text in that. And added a sandy looking background. Added numbers per room, then realized the Corsair game was coming up. So that is as far as I got. The plan is:

1. add a few traps to the map from one of the trap manuals I have
2. add at least a couple of things from the various PDFs I've bought via Kickstarter. There are a few that are actually in separate PDFs (a gauntlet here, a helm there, that end up with a composite affect versus the individual bonuses they may give).
3. maybe drop in one of the Decks of Silly Things.
4. throw in a few characters which is the entire reason they *may* go into the Lamia's Labyrinth.
5. decide if this is a bad lamia or a good lamia. She may still want to eat them.

There are 18 locations marked on the map, and perhaps a couple I've not marked I'll discover when reading through some of the PDFs.

I also need to figure out why this is here, and buried in the sand. Will there be clues to the lost city of Tuvano? I'll need to read through that & take any notes that may be useful for running that adventure. 

Plus I've been dropping other Kickstarter locations in my world: the Yol'Najj Forest is just over the mountains south of Tuvano, the Riany City has been hinted at but not located yet, Willow has yet to be situated. I've stuck Wrex's Drift off the bay there, as well as So'lan is in the same bay. Off-map is the island of the Amazons. Lots of stuff I can add as needed. When we finally get back to playing!

Fantasy Trip - next session

No real session planned yet. The Skype sessions fell off as this game really needs maps and figures to play the dungeon combats well. But I can at least plan out the next session or two.

We left our characters leaving the desert city of Ceawla and heading to the ancient city of Tuvana, a city out of lost legends but rumors of vast magics and treasures. Tuvana is one of the adventures from a Kickstarter for the Fantasy Trip, and of course I got the hardback book and the megahexes. We've played one of the adventures out of the book and suffered our first character death. 

The trip out of the desert will take about 2 days to reach Tuvana, and I am going to add a labyrinth delve for them by using one of the encounters in Desert Encounters, throw in some treasures from some of the other PDFs I seem to be collecting, and possibly throw in some dungeon encounters once there.

I printed this map out on some vellum preprinted paper, and it really looks like an old map. I thought it was cool.

There will be a late night meeting of a lamia. Now, in classic Greek myths, according to Wikipedia:

Lamia (/ˈleɪmiə/; Greek: Λάμια), in ancient Greek mythology, was a woman who became a child-eating monster after her children were destroyed by Hera, who learned of her husband Zeus's trysts with her. Hera also afflicted Lamia with sleeplessness so she would anguish constantly, but Zeus gave her the ability to remove her own eyes.

"Lamia" was also used as a bogey word to frighten and discipline children.

There are other versions with snake bottom halves, as per the DailyLifeWithaMonstergirl site:

The Lamia (ラミア族 Ramia-zoku?) are a reptilian liminal race with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a snake. A mono-gendered (female) demi-human race, Lamias are predatory carnivores that form tribal villages on the outskirts of desert oases, their serpentine tails are powerful enough to rend steel.

The picture from the PDF shows the lion version, so we'll stick with that one for a description. We will let the players make INT rolls to see if they know the darker side of the lamia (probably a 5D roll vs INT except for their guide who does have local knowledge of the desert, and the lamia are desert creatures.

I will create my desert dungeon that she needs help with. I do have a few tiles from Loresmythe but will probably use a hex mapping program as that will work best with the megahexes. And there will be at least a couple of the dungeon encounters, treasures and traps from various sources I have, either through far too many Kickstarters I've backed or a few other places (I did a Humble Bundle and one of the PDFs is a lot of very interesting, and funnily illustrated, traps. I've yet to put in too may lethal traps, fearing a party kill. But perhaps it is time to see just how fast our characters learn to be a bit more careful in the labyrinth. 

Here's a map I started with those geomorph tiles. While pretty, and mapping it to hexes & megahexes would not be complicated, the players would never see this map. Well, perhaps after the thing was entirely explored.

And while I do have a lot of mapping software, I also have a giant stash of Dyson maps from that same Humble Bundle I think. So perhaps I'll delve into that stash to see if there is something I can use.  And perhaps a monster from one the of few Patreons - though I think most of those creatures fit into a more deadly RPG I need to print up & play I think. A real old school, you are going to die grim setting RPG. Would fit my Monday night group perfectly!

The Elemental City of Athukthad

The Elemental City of Athukthad, also known as Sunshi Troph by the original tribes that inhabited the city, is a small city located along the southern trade route at the junction of the Duchy of Windmere, the jungles and the Kalor Desert. It is a town of low, adobe buildings decorated with banners and tapestries of brilliant colors. The city is known for its rich plethora of merchants and craftspeople who create wonderful rugs, tapestries and clothing full of vibrant colors. This location has access to the grasslands and their multitude of plants that have an amazing assortment of colors, as well as the jungles that have at least as many plants that may be used as dyes. The grasslands are full of sheep, llamas, alpacas and other fleece bearing animals with some of the finest wools produced in the Puddlejumpers Quarter.

There are guards about the walls, a huge merchant quarter, camels, and a lot of noise. This is not a quiet town. There is enough water for all, and guides can be found to trek through the desert for those getting off the trade route to head south.

For our group, it would be 3 or 4 day ride along the merchant route to get to where the dragraffe Lollipop needs to go; heading directly south it is a 2 day trip. If they can find the oasis. And I think the dragraffe is starting to get antsy in his travelling wagon. So 4 days may be pushing it, or so I will indicate to the players!

The Elemental City also got its name as one of the origin stories is that a sand elemental created the city in a single day at the behest of a wizard. While the wizards don't deny this, nor do they confirm it.

The city has a few guilds in it, such as the Mechanists Guild, the Wizards Guild and a large Mercenary Guild. Guards are often used for travelling caravans. There is no known Thieves Guild as thieves tend to have severe and often fatal punishments when caught. Searching for such a guild could also have dire consequences. The Hanging Garden next to the Judges House is not for the botanists nor the faint of heart.

I'll have to see about comong up with some additional information, but it is a warm and inviting city yet has some dark undertones.