A Forest Glade

I was working on this for an adventure scene out of Windemere, which may or may not happen. Regardless, I thought I'd see if I could create a more polished type of things others may be able to use. I think a long-term idea is to get good enough to publish small adventures.  Maybe via Patreon or something simple. Long term - I am a long way from that (full of ideas, not full of good editing!). 

Introduction

The adventurers are traveling along a mountain path through the forest, the scent of pine wafting through the air. Pine trees are interspersed with maple, ash and oak trees as the path climbs towards the mountain. Towards evening, close to time to camp, they come across a small creek with a pond below the path. The giggling sound of the creek splashing over rocks can be heard, almost in counterpoint to the sound of birds getting ready for night. In the distance, cows can be heard and there is the faint smell of a distant cow pasture. Shafts of dusty sunlight leave bright spots on the ground, interspersed with deep shade impossible to see into.

There is a small, slippery steppingstone in creek, just above a small waterfall that drops almost a foot into a 30' pond. The pond is a deeper blue than expected for such a small pond. The setting sun is casting shadows, making parts of the trail hard to see. Off to the right, there are a couple of grazing cows. To the left, an open clearing is collecting the last of the sunshine, a series of mushrooms seeming to glow from the sunset. To either side ahead, cliffs start to rise up, the trail weaving its way through the narrowing ravine. Passing the creek, a fallen tree is on the right, and a bit further on, a smaller trail leads to the left, and a small campsite is visible, the fire pit just old ash. 

Encounter Areas

Mushroom Circle

The mushroom circle is a Fey gateway in the full moon. Entering during that phase of the moon will keep you in the Fey wilds for the next month, assuming you can find your way back out. It may only be a moment or years for you, but a month to the rest of the world. During the full moon, flickering will-of-the-wisps will be swirling around. A DC 14 Wisdom roll to avoid following the wisps. The rest of the month, the wisps are still there, but may just want to lead the travelers astray. Same check, failure means you leave your campsite and follow for 1d4 hours, getting lost in the dark woods or even, depending on the wisps' mood, following off the edge of a cliff.

The mushrooms themselves are sought after by magic users and worth up to 100gp per mushroom. They are often used in portal magics, or for ways of capturing the fey. Taking the mushrooms has a 2 in 6 chance of alerting a pack of guardian fey penumbrian (1d4 + number of people stealing the mushrooms). These shape-shifting goblinoid creatures will mob a single character at a time, usually bestowing a curse (generally roll with disadvantage) before they attack. 

Creek and Pond

A Naiad, Verey Ambervale, lives in the pond and guards the waters. Should any trash or pollution be added to the creek or pond or crushing or picking the flowers around the pond will make her angry. If the adventurers are telling tales around the campfire, she will appear as a beautiful woman, and ask for tales of far-off lands. If asked where she is from, she will merely say she lives nearby. If tales are told, the travelers will find that their waterskins will stay full for the next 1d4+2 days. If they attack or anything, she will slip away back to the water and disappear into the pond without a ripple. And their waterskins will be empty for the next 1d4+2 days no matter how often they fill them.

Additionally, if the adventurers are hurt, and ask nicely, and there is a good reaction roll, soaking in her pond will restore up to 1d4 HP a day if they stay in the water at least an hour. If they clean off below the pond first, she will restore up to 2d4 HP a day.

The steppingstone is actually cursed by the penumbrians - they love to cause mischief. DC 12 dexterity check to see if the character slips and falls into Verey's pond, soaking all their equipment.

There is a 1 in 10 chance of seeing the Salmon of Knowledge in the stream above the pond.

Cow pasture

The cows belong to a local Glaistig, Petal Elmstrong, a female satyr. She is a beautiful woman who appears in a long skirt if you see her, a wide hat covering her horns. She may sing at night, a haunting melody that stirs the soul. Any bards listening may try to pen the words and song but will fail. She may be seen drinking the blood of her cows if you sneak around at night. She does not kill the animals she drinks from - she only takes a little from each, enough to feed her without hurting her herd. 

If hearing the song, she may enchant up to 4 people (save on DC 14 Wisdom throw or be charmed). While charmed, she is a trusted friend that needs to be protected. Attacking her cows will cause her to attack, otherwise she may just be a faint song in the wind at night.

Campsite

The campsite is nestled up against the start of a cliff, protected against the wind. Several trees have been chopped down, and there is plenty of downed trees for firewood. There is a 1 in 6 chance of something being left behind from previous campers. Roll 1d8 on the following chart.

1	A small bag full of 2d10x5 copper coins
2	A broken knife, an odd glyph on the blade is missing half
3	A discarded pack, with a missed healing potion
4	A bloody sword stabbed into the stump of a tree, dried blood on blade and stump
5	A magic ring which is actually cursed: -1 dexterity. You can’t take it off for 1d4 days
6	A single gold coin with an open eye on one side, and a closed eye on the other.
7	A whistle
8	A tin cup that can detect poisons

Downed Tree

Mushrooms dot the undergrowth and the fallen trunk. There is a bed of poison ivy at the base. Those with some sort of wilderness or survival skill will recognize this for what it is. Several of the mushrooms make for good soups or may have some healing or poisonous traits. There are also some dark green bushes with red berries growing nearby. These are daphne plants (see plants below).

Adventure Hooks

• Verey is upset: her pond is being polluted by something up the creek. Can the adventurers help?
• Gnomes live near the downed tree, and part of it has crushed the entrance to their home. Can you help? Gnomish rewards may be given.
• Will-of-the-wisps seem agitated. Following them could lead to a hurt fey or animal.
• Looking into the pond you see a beautiful face looking back at you.
• an ackee tree is growing next to the pond, and the dropped fruit is poisoning the pond. 

Notes

I used a few resources in this. The fey are from Professor Gilroy's Guide To Fey I've not read the Wondrous Expeditions: Forests book enough to have anything other than this is a temperate broadleaf/needle leaf forest. Also tossed in some things from a poisonous plants PDF I have which was really well done, though I wish I had a hard copy. There are also some possible ideas from Dangerous Destinations, but I've only skimmed the PDF. I really need a physical book (getting printed now) to use these. It comes with a bunch of maps, and now I see I can make them almost as well as those they have. Meaning I really need to not buy any more maps: I can at least compete competently with those that are professionally published, at least for the battle map level. I still need a lot of practice for the larger maps.

Fey

Basic stats are from Professor Gilroy's book, The Fantasy Trip I am just guessing at. Magic works a lot differently in TFT, so the whole Fey thing would really have to be done a bit different than standard rules I think. Playing the Fey really needs to not just be either/or in terms of attack or befriend: these are your old-school fey and have different ideas of good and bad. Being immortal does that to a person. To really play the fey, there is a lot of randomness, tricks and deals. Their views are a lot different than ours.

Glaistig

• AC 13 HP 8d8+8 40/30 swim STR 12 DEX 16 CON 13 INT 14 WIS 13 CHA 18
• TFT ST 12 DX 15 INT 13

Naiad

• AC 13 HP 8d8+8, 20/40 swim. STR 8 DEX 16 CON 14 WIS 14 CHA 18
• TFT ST 8 DX 15 IQ 14

Penumbrian

• AC 13, HP 5d4-5, 15/30 flying. STR 6 DEX 16 CON 8 INT 18 WIS 12 CHA 12
• TFT ST 6 DX 15 IQ 11 

Plants

From the Poisonous Plants book:

Ackee

The evergreen ackee grows up to thirty-feet tall and produces fruit throughout the year. The ripened fruit is safe to eat, but the unripe fruit contains deadly toxins.  

Ingestion. A creature that ingests unripe ackee fruit must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw, taking 21 (6d6) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. If the saving throw failed by 5 or more, the creature takes another 10 (3d6) poison damage and falls unconscious for 1d6 hours.  

Industrial Uses. Ackee wood is used in foundations, oars, and casks. A fragrant perfume can be made from the flowers. 

Fish Poison. The ackee’s unripe fruit can be pounded into a mash and dumped into a lake, pond, or other body of still water. One dose poisons the water in a 10-footradius sphere for 10 minutes. Any aquatic creatures (including sahuagin and mer-folk) that enter the affected area or begin their turn there must make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw. They take 7 (2d6) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one. 

Food. Characters proficient with cook’s utensils can automatically prepare meals of safe ackee fruit. Other characters must make a DC 8 Intelligence (Nature) check to avoid eating toxic ackee fruit.

Daphne 

This dark green bush produces small, bright red berries. Its oval leaves closely resemble those of a cherry tree. Both the berries and the leathery leaves are very poisonous. 

Ingestion. Creatures that ingest daphne must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or take 10 (3d6) poison damage, 3 (1d6) psychic damage, and be pained for 24 hours. On a successful save, the creature takes half as much damage and is poisoned for 12 hours. The creature must repeat the saving throw every 10 minutes, taking 3 (1d6) poison damage and 3 (1d6) psychic damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one. After two failed saving throws, the poisoned creature also becomes confused for 6 hours. After three or more failed saving throws, the poisoned creature also falls unconscious for 3 hours. After three successful saving throws, the damage from this poison ends but any conditions remain for their duration. 

Contact. Daphne sap is  poisonous to touch. Anyone touching this plant’s sap must make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or take 2 (1d4) poison damage and develops a mild rash.

Anodyne. Characters proficient with herbalism kits and Medicine can make a DC 15 Wisdom (Medicine) check to craft a painkilling cream from daphne flowers. When applied to a wounded creature, this cream grants that creature 2d8 temporary hit points. However, these temporary hit points cannot increase the creature’s hit point total above its maximum. These temporary hit points fade after 4 hours. 

Cure Disease. Characters proficient with herbalism kits and Medicine can make a DC 20 Wisdom (Medicine) check to derive from this plant a decoction that fights infection and disease. A creature that ingests a dose of this substance gains advantage on saving throws against disease for 24 hours.   

Windemere - Silver Pirate Inn

 Run by the half-elf pirate Nohemi Wirididae, the Silver Pirate is a relatively small tavern and inn facing the main square, on the main east-west road through Windemere. The inn has several rooms for rent upstairs, as well as a fairly large barn with stables for patrons. There is an old calliope against one wall, with one of the ex-pirates playing mostly sea ditties in an off-tune way. Inside, there are tales to be told of the Rainy City and Wex's Drift as well as of days plying the savage ocean currents. Occasionally one will hear rumors of Amazons, but the other Elves will quickly make a sign and change the topic of conversation. Many of the regulars here are from the Ocean and talk of the coastal cities they have been through, and the joys of the living in the salt air. When asked why they are here now, they look to the owner, Nomehi Wirididae, tending the bar. The half Elf has a scar across her face that disappears down her neck and she will scowl as the conversation quiets for a moment. The crew of her ship will stick by her, but she was banished from the open water to live her life near the desert sands by a curse. And then she took over Windemere Crossing almost a year ago. The tavern offers great drinks as well as some sea faring favorites. The near constant flow of merchants and caravans keeps her kegs full and spirits from across the world. While not as fine a wine selection as the Sarap Evi in Ceawla (see this post), there are some fine drinks and foods available. There is also a strange bird, a cacklemaw, that is kept behind the bar and fed the scraps. It is quite fat and unable to fly.

Playing with Dungeonfog which has some nice capabilities. And poking around, there are a fair number of asset packs that contain all sorts of interesting art. While I can make battle map style & size maps with Campaign Cartographer, this is a more paint-style editor, so it makes it easier at the expense of a lot more control. It is fun to mess with. Added a dirt trail to the outhouses (1 square rooms, and yes, there are toilet seats in the art. Hey - alcohol is always just rented!)

I've also thrown in references to a few other Kickstarter products I've backed. Figure the pirates would know about the sea places. Though I neglected the Flotsam Fair which is also in the sea. I keep trying to make a more living world but have yet to really get good at it other than in my head. Eventually I'll get to use all, or at least most, of the stuff I am getting. And in the meantime, I do enjoy reading them as they do spark off ideas. In fact, going through a book of rumors & it had some things I can toss out there. And the Phylactory has a fun adventure in volume 1 (and yes, I have all the ones they have made so far in print). And as I think I noted in this post, I have been using a few of the random books to have interesting random things. One of the players says he actually likes it when I open the book & have them roll for me to see what happens. It does make it "living" in the sense that I don't control the entire world. 

And hopefully I'll have time to continue the voyage of the No Refund this weekend. My Traveller posts tend to be the ones that are read the most, and this did start as a purely Traveller blog. And even though blogs are free, I just don't feel I need to have that much of a focus on just one thing.

MTU: Mont Image Preview

As my solo game is going to be headed for Mont next, I do need to work on those details a bit. I did get another world builder humble bundle, and this one came with another world fractal generator from the same people as Campaign Cartographer. Fractal Terrain is really powerful and gives me even more control than the fractal generator I was using before. Plus it is fully GUI versus the command line. Though I do like the command line tool as well. It also allow me to output a series of globe images, and from them I can make a gif!

 

And the big world map:

So there is some potential. I am supposed to be able to export that world into Campaign Cartographer, but so far the results have not been great. I just need to play around with the options a lot to figure that out.

And for Traveller at least, the map has some interesting interactivity. It gives all sorts of info where you have the cursor at:

I'll have a further update later this weekend hopefully, but I was excited by more mapping possibilities, and now the ability to make the gifs (which is via a website that I just upload the sequence of images to) I can have more interesting things as well. Though I'll still use GIMP to make larger globes. I need to re-read some stuff as there was a way to make it look like there was an atmosphere as well. And there was a series on how to make gas giants, so I need to work with that some more.

And happy week before Thanksgiving if you are in the United States!

And finally - I was in Florida last week for a small vacation. And I saw a mermaid!

The show was more impressive simply because, while they do use air tubes, they can still hold their breath a long time!

Apex Session 5: The Tower (a mini-dungeon crawl)

See my session prep here for images and background.

Session 5 started with our heroes getting to the tower. Using his sprinter's boots, Archie managed to leap over the 20' or so of possibly rotten bridge with a rope. Using that. the others managed to cross with only a foot or too finding some rotten spots on the wooden bridge, but no one fell to the 150' chasm below them.

After getting everyone in the entrance room, they started to explore the tower. Archie heard noises from the stairwell and a brief trip down the stairs revealed riding gear and what did appear to be stables, though with human-sized doors on the inside that matched the much larger outside doors they noticed when approaching the tower.

I did my share screen thing and just had the maps displayed: there was nothing really "hidden" and it was easier for everyone I think to have an idea of the actual space. I did use various descriptions as worked up in my notes (and when we're done with this I'll post a link to the semi-organized PDF in case anyone wants to use it):

The Tower

Located at the edge of the badlands surrounding the temple, the tower sits in a ravine, a long bridge connecting it to the badlands. The ravine is where the river flows out and down to the Atlantic. The tower is ancient and the bridge somewhat treacherous. A relatively easy 2+ action check to cross.

Entry room

Inside the characters are at the ground level. A 20x30 foot room, light only by the setting sun streaming through the door, shows a room with scratchmarks on the floor made, and a broken double door at the far wall and a smaller door on the right wall. In the far corner is what looks like a pile of rags. This is the skeletal remains of an ancient guardian; there is a bronze sword with Minoan script down the blade reading To Guard The Worlds There is a painting of what appears to be pterodon riders on the left wall, what was once a magnificent mural but is now faded. Sounds can be heard from the broken double doors ahead.

Staircase room (2)

A 20’ square room with a spiral staircase in the middle. From below you can hear something, or several somethings, stirring about. There is nothing blocking the stairs in either direction. It is dark below as well as above.

First room the right (3)

This triangular room is about 20x20. Rotting desks are against 2 walls. One desk holds a leather-bound volume, written in Minoan. Inside are maps that no one recognizes. There is a map that looks like the area around the temple and what appears to be a door or gateway down a chasm. 6+ action roll with wisdom and class bonuses to apply.

There is also another book, oddly enough in what appears to be ancient Hebrew, with the pentacles of King Solomon described. One, the Fifth Pentacle of Mercury, when the page is opened one of the characters who have not yet noticed a coin, will feel a warmth in a pocket and upon searching, will find it. The other coins will also glow, and each character will get one of the remaining coins (as they seemed to have entirely forgotten about them).

So I finally got the coins for all the users in place, though I may scatter more coins around after reading some of the "spells" and things they have. I also generated a couple more maps, one fairly mundane, the other unknown and strange. They did pick up that it well may be a map of other worlds or realities. The mundane map does show a hole in the chasm they need to cross along with a crystal marker. 

It ended up basically a dungeon crawl mostly: I had encounter tables for the barracks rooms, and they managed to defeat 3 skeletons and pick up 3 crystal power stones that seemed to charge the 3 (or was it four?) crystal swords that they picked up. I did not go over the mechanics but will here, as per my notes:

Crystal Weapons. These are crystal powered weapons. In general, they are a d8 usage die. To recharge you need to find a power crystal and let the weapon stay in contact for 5x1d10 combat turns. They are also, when charged, considerably more dangerous than expected: they ignore armor.

I sort of ignored that recharging info during game play (note to self: read the actual established notes!)

And the tower exploration took most of the game night. I do need to bring in some NPCs soon to have a bit more interaction. I may bring back Jungle Girl, who I did finally work up:

Though I do think perhaps in the morning there well could be a pteradactyl attack as they leave what is now a nesting ground for these flyers.

Apex Session 4 - Preparation

After the previous session almost-missed-it-due-to-me-not-paying-attention (and I have a draft blog of that evening mid-sulk, not sure I'll post that one or not!), I'm doing a bit more work so I won't forget about some of the rolls I want them to make.

The next session they will be continuing up river. There may be some encounters along the way, I've yet to make up a random encounter table similar to Traveller. But I probably will. Today's exercise was working on the rapids and how they will traverse them. I'm using some of the mechanics in the game and also some basic RPG mechanics which I've not yet used in this game.

First, I found a decent map that has 3 rapids. While I do have a lot of map tiles for overland and dungeons and caves, it turns out I don't have any for rivers. I may have to look around so I can make my own maps as needed.

So here we have 3 rapids they need to get up. My ever-growing PDF of notes now has this section for this particular section:

River rapids rolls and role playing. The rapids consist of three rapids. The Apex Queen will be barely able to make it up these, and possibly take some damage.

For each rapid:

For those not holding on to the tiller, make a standard action check (4+, add in dexterity bonus) to avoid a dip in the river. They can make their save roll if the action check fails. For the pilot, same action check to successfully get up the river. There would be a bonus if someone is in the front looking for the best way up, up to 2. For whoever is maintaining the boiler, action check to keep that going. Failing that, roll on damage table below.

Chase mechanics a la rapids: need to get ahead of the river. Roll per rapid to see if you “beat” the rapid or have to retry. Add +1 per player in the front giving directions, & +1 for Archie & Ace.

 I will have to make the narrative exciting - white water splashing, the boat rocking and working hard to go up the rapids. It may take several turns, and each turn they may end up taking some damage and risk falling overboard. This is where the game mechanics come into play.

For everyone other than the river pilot (Ace), each turn they will make a roll to avoid getting tossed overboard. This is the basic action check, and dexterity modifiers apply. With Apex, this is a 4+ on a d6, so a 50/50 chance without any dexterity bonus. If they fail that, they will roll their saving roll to see if they go overboard. At level one, the saving rolls are not great: our Gadgeteer starts at 15, meaning Archie needs to roll a 15 or higher on a d20. Dr. Tong, our Academic, has 14+, our Adventurer Ace is holding the tiller so is exempt but would have a 13+, and our Raider Ilsa is oddly the worse off at 16+. Perhaps Raiders are assumed to be able to avoid having to make such rolls!

The Apex Queen herself may take damage during the "chase" up the river. Each turn, Ace will roll a d6, and add up to 3: +1 just because he & Archie are working as a team, and then +1 per player at the front of the boat giving directions up the rapids. As most of my players won't read this until I bring it to their attention, I may hint at it during game play but let them figure it out. So they need to get a total of 3 points to get up the river: we both roll, and whoever gets the highest gets that point. So if I roll higher, they are still fighting the rapid. And each turn, Archie rolls to see if he can keep the boiler going in the rough water. If he fails, I've worked out a damage table as below for 1d6. I may allow for a saving throw by one player and if they make it, they can prevent the problem:

1. 1 day of supplies goes overboard
2. boiler gets wet, -1 on the next roll
3. fuel goes overboard, -1 on next roll
4. damage to the hull - 1d4 (there are 18 hit points for the boat)
5. damage to the propeller shaft, will need maintenance later as it will slow things down
6. damage to the prop

The last two happened in the African Queen movie, which this is based on (and if I could watch the Jungle Cruise movie, I'd probably grab parts of that. The previews helped me also to decide to make this a bit more pulpy, so "magic" coins and things are now present).

 Anyway, these are the mechanics behind this. I missed having them make rolls to prevent falling in the river last session from that tail whack from the mosasaurus. While I generally play a rules light game, I do want to bring in the mechanics for the game. And I will remind the players that they do have a Grit Point. This will allow them to re-roll or roll with advantage. Page 93 has the rules for that.

I am hoping to have a good narrative of the rapids. A lot may be happening at the same time, and I want a lot of player choices. Thinking if someone does fail their save roll, another player may be able to try & save them with an action roll. Same for losing things over the side of the boat. We'll be making up parts of this as we go along, but I wanted to have a basic framework within the game rules to help me.

Next session should cover the next 1-2 days of travel, which, depending on encounters, should put them at the river origins, a lone stone tower guarding the badlands they will have to traverse to get to the temple. I'll spend more of this weekend working on the rest of that river trip, but have already started thinking about the overland trip as well. Blowing up one of the maps shows it holds up pretty well:

I still miss playing at a table: I do handouts!

Tong's map on parchment with the "magic" coins and a compass rose I have just because

Apex Game - A Bit of Prep

Though it will be a few weeks before I run this game, I dusted off the Campaign Cartographer and tried again to make a map. I've got two versions I'm showing here (and ignore the highlighter - was trying something from a screen shot, and not really liking that...).

The first was supposed to look more like a hand-drawn map. The second I'm going with a professional German cartographer (there are the pre-WWII Nazis in this game - think Indian Jones and that sort of pulpy adventure).  And yes, I could always actually draw the map! I have saved off a lot of packing paper - these long rolls of paper just for doing that. But I am not sure we'll be face to face so a digital map is easier. And yeah, I do have a scanner....I do need to practice hand-drawing maps as well.

There is a port (Port Two in German if translate did not fail me) that the players will need to get to. Then either hiking 6-8 days or chartering a river boat for a 3 day journey up the river. I see alligators and some river dinosaurs in their future. Then at the entrance to the badlands, an overland trip of about 2 days to the base of the active volcano. Here is the ancient temple, vine-infested and who knows who or even what lives there now. Hidden inside are the mystery crystals the Germans want. They hope to power their giant plane with them, as the fragments seem to host nearly unlimited power. Of course, perhaps too many too close together create a chain reaction of some sort...

okay, so there is a spaceship here. Another 0-Hr Kickstarter. The "plane" is really a spaceship as well from a Patreon account I give money to. I like creative people being able to be creative!

Took a mini-vacation in Greensboro, NC and the museum had dinosaurs. The actual displays were really cool: e-ink glass in front of some of the exhibits had active descriptions, some pseudo-3D exhibits, and of course, large dinos!

So I have some encounter images ready to go!

Character 11 of 31: Fantasy Trip - Elf Thief

Taking a quick break back into The Fantasy Trip and its quick character process.

Airdan grew up in the Yuroka Wild, the jungles north of the Kalor Desert and far south of Edge City. Jungle Elves are constantly alert to the changes in the jungle, and often have jungle animal companions. Airdan early on showed a knack for throwing the traditional sha-kens very quickly and accurately. Just when he turned 20, a slaving party came through and managed to capture his sister. Tracking the slavers, he finally caught up with them in Windmere, and managed her escape while also taking from Burgher Thyme Hunt, a slaver. Airdan took a dagger strike across the face, but also managed to abscond with a sack of gold. Sending his sister home, he decided then and there that people should not take advantage of others. He has made friends with Rennor and hangs out with her on occasion as no one saw his face under the scarf he wore that night. 

Hero or wizard? 1d6: 3 = hero. 

General hero type? 3d6: 8 = Thief

Unusual fighter feature? 3d6: 14 = has at least 2 levels of unarmed combat

Race? 3d6: 4 = Elf (and rolling a 5, a male Elf)

Main motivation? 3d6: 8: Desire to right wrongs (so an honorable thief)

Minor motivation? 3d6: Desire for adventure!

Personality on a 2-12 scale, 2 = low, 12 = high

• Appearance: 4. Ugly which is a bad thing for the traditional elf! Going with scarred. 
• Bravery: 8. Middling brave.
• Honesty: 9. More honest than most people.
• Mood: 4. A quiet lad who keeps to himself.

Elves start with ST 6, DX 10, IQ 8 with 8 points. To pick up the unarmed combat 2 means I need an IQ minimum of 11. And going with some of the suggestions, he'll pick up the Lock/knock spell for 3 IQ, and the 2 for the unarmed leaves us with a few points for the sneaky stuff. having 5 more points to spread, we'll bump up the ST to 7 and the DX to 14. He'll usually get to attack first and hit a lot more often. Having 6 more points to spend on skills, I'll go with thrown weapons  for 2 and sha-kens for 1, alertness (2), and climbing. He is a cat burglar thief!

The thrown weapons gives him a +2 to hit things when throwing, so taking into account his cloth armor, he still only needs a 15 or less to hit anything. While not doing a lot of damage (1d-2) he will consistently hit. Additionally he can throw several at the same time with a DM to hit for each. So there is potential for some serious damage. That thrown skill is a bit expensive, as is the lock/knock for him. But he is much more a sneak thief than any sort of physical assault thief. Plus, he only robs from the rich who have gotten their gains by hurting others. And unarmed combat II means he is very effective in hand to hand combat: punches do +2 damage, kicks when hit do a +3 damage, and it is +1 to hit him from the front as he can evade hand weapon attacks. And he can only be wearing cloth armor...so readjusting that as well.

And I do need to spend a LOT of time with Campaign Cartographer tutorials!

Day 1 - Traveller 5 Noble

Day 2 - Classic Traveller Merchant

Day 3 - Classic Traveller Bureaucrat

Day 4 - The Fantasy Trip Goblin Wizard

Day 5 - FATE Vigilante

Day 6 - Mongoose Noble

Day 7 - Cepheus Ground Forces

Day 8 - Cepheus Monk

Day 9 - Mercenary Commando

Day 10 - Cepheus Scout / Drifter

Other Sites Doing the Challenge 

(let me know who I've missed & I'll add them here)

TravellerSandbox

Alesmiter

TardisCaptain

GreenSage

The Other Side

Barking Alien

Secret Tunnels

 Doing a bit of game prep for the next chapter of Corsairs - Secret Tunnels!  Of course, getting carried away playing with some of the Loresmith tiles. They don't exactly scream steampunk mining operations. However, I am going with some natural cave tiles then there are the wildgrowth tiles which will be the repellium mining areas. Perhaps repellium is that greenish hue before processing.

Of course, the players won't get that exact map - I'll see if I can make a more hand-drawn style, perhaps with some Dwarvish runes, to share with the group. And it may not map 100% correctly despite the Dwarves reputation for engineering prowess in the world of Teboa. 

I'm also backing a Kickstarter for some more tiles for the hex mapping software I have. Not as fancy as Campaign Cartographer, but it does make nice dungeon crawl style maps, or hex crawls really. It is more of an overland style mapping system. I did not follow the 1st Kickstarter but got that package in a Humble Bundle for world building - lots of stuff I need to actually go back & read to hopefully make a better world! As I really enjoy world building :)

It is Secret Tunnels as one of the players is basing his character (very accurately as well!) from a character in the Last Airbender series. I did not realize that until I was re-watching the 1st series to get my son & I back up to speed to be able to watch the 2nd series, Korra. I like to start from the beginning when I can.

The map below probably needs some notes: a couple of sections are probably a LOT longer so this is not entirely to scale. And Corsairs is not a dungeon dive type of RPG, but I will stick a few encounters in there, mostly natural ones but somewhere along the line they will meet up with the miners. 

But it is fun making pretty maps. The tiles are really more oriented to making battle maps. While the squares are pretty standard for most RPGs, I can probably stick a hex layer on top to make it compatible with the Fantasy Trip.

And I've been doing a bit of painting and cheap dungeon crafting. I really want to get back to face to face gaming and move minis on the table and roll dice with friends. Printing up stone walls and wrapping around baking soda and small cans makes for nice turrets or curved walls. Or lay flat for the floor. Most of the stuff is (badly but getting better!) painted by me except for those 4 columns with the torches - those are WizKids pre-painted columns. I seem to be making small scenes at my desk. And huh - seems like cat hair gets everywhere! My cats tend to sit on my desk a lot when I am trying to work. Because cats.

Traveller Geomorphs v2

Robert Pearce of Yet Another Traveller Blog has released his updated geomorphs book. A PDF with dare I say delicious mapping goodness inside. He has added end pieces and aerowings and a few other things to help round out ship, building or just play general map making plans. See the post here.

There is a throne room which honestly could be used for fantasy games. These geomorphs are not Traveller specific and could be used for a wide variety of gaming.

These connectors are cool, but now I could use them for that scene in Star Wars in the Death Star. In fact, we could create the location scenes, enough to replay the Death Star sequence. I would not be surprised if that was indeed one of the plans, as there are also large hangar decks. 

Anyway, cool things. 

I've also bought more fantasy specific geomoprhs from Loresmyth. While not sure I'll get to use them a whole lot, there was this sale...and if I ever do get into more commercial style of dungeon creation (who knows, the cost of entry is so low but not sure I could deal with the inevitable nasty comments). I've actually used one for the "cover" of the Lamia's Labyrinth.

Having a hole in the sand can be a good thing!

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!

Upcoming Events

I need to get back to a lot of things...

During the quarantine I've actually been busier working than not: being a developer in my current company means this is a time to get our multi-year backlog moving as most of the other staff were not going to be busy. Then they were, and so there went what we thought would be a time to get caught up. We will never catch up.

As a direct result of working from home, though, I spend a LOT of time in front of my computer. And my free time I want to be away from the computer, so you can see the conundrum. This is entirely unlike that time a decade or more ago when I got laid off, and spent a few hours each day working on the Traveller Tracker software and actually got it basically working, and in a way other people were using. Someone even forked the project. No idea where that ended up.

Anyway, I do have several general goals.

Software

Traveller Tracker

Turns out we can now do a single .exe for users with the latest .Net updates. So my procrastination may be paying off. I've not touched it much since starting a .Net Core version. It has basic functionality for ship classes and ships, but it is ugly. I want something pretty and useful. So I will start that up again at some point. Not sure when yet.

Ruby Free Trader

I've gotten as far as cloning the Ruby Free Trader program, a Ruby iteration of what I was trying to do. Met up this guy over on COTI, and finally made that step last week. I need to look it over and see one of the to-do things, make a branch and see if I can do something. But as he mentioned, a small step is still a step!

Games

Traveller Solo

It has been more than 6+ months since I last took that up. I would like to try to restart that, expand out my Traveller universe, and play with the rules. There has been an interesting melee discussion over on COTI with some cool ways of handling person to person combat in Traveller. I will be running a Traveller game with live people again at some point, but I can still practice. Plus I like my MTU.

The Fantasy Trip

We were managing to play via Skype most Sundays. But the last few weeks we've not managed to get together. Part of that is due to the father building a studio/gym/workshop/game room in his back yard. So when that is done, we'll be able to play face to face probably. Which brings us to the 2nd reason the games have drifted off: TFT is really a tactical game when it comes to combat, and while the screen sharing sort of works, the boys I think really need the 3D version with the minis and all that. Plus face to face is a lot better - they don't have a webcam so we could not see each other either. I need to tailor the games to everyone, though I am also hoping to get the Monday night crew back to a Labyrinth game, either with their old characters or start all over.

Microlite Supers

Playing a really fun superhero game for the Monday group. I am playing a space cat which is a lot more fun than I would have thought. 

His background:

And no, humans cannot completely pronounce his name as there is a bit of body language requiring a tail and mobile ears. Sadly he often just goes by Yummy which is the best approximation humans can get. While not happy, it was easy to train humans to call him that rather than his proper name, Not sure when I'll more fully introduce myself yet.

Yumijan’ Ul’intosa Imuurikasonshinn

Coming from the League of Planets, Yumijan’ is a relatively young member of the League Of Planets (cue Wonder Woman TV series, and Andros as an observer. As I am watching the old series that came up in season 1 and seemed appropriate to borrow). Young being less than 2000 years old. He came to Earth in the Middle Ages, glad he was not a black cat for the times. Seeing that some people, despite overwhelming odds, still managed to care for others, he felt there was something in humanity worth protecting and helping. He as been seen with Ghandi, Kennedy, King and other proponents of peace towards all humanity. He tried with King Henry but that never went well.

Imbued with the cosmic power, he has moved subtly throughout the ages, helping those who help others, usually sight unseen. In the recent uprising, when he saw Rocky, Honey Badger & Melody helping those escape, he joined in and managed to get a collar on as well. He will be helping and guarding them as best he can, but often behind the scenes.

He is a pacifist but, like the Earth cat, can turn on a dime when he feels a more aggressive approach is necessary. And despite being on Earth for almost 1000 years, humans can still confound him.

The League of Planets watches growing civilizations. If the planet becomes a threat to the galaxy, they will step in. The send observers are sent in to watch over centuries, and hopefully guide the planet to a peaceful coexistence to join in with the greater universe when they are ready. Earth has been a contentious system, with a few on the Council ready to have humanity start all over. Those dinosaurs – they had an advanced society that promoted violence and were on the cusp of space flight. A few volcanoes and asteroids stopped them. 

Corsairs

A sky pirate RPG I got via Kickstarter that oddly meshes well with the Windward game I am getting at some point this year. I've been reading a bit up on the rules and this will be the next game the Monday group plays. Argh!

Zombicide:Invader

The SF version of Zombicide. My son & I have played 3 rounds: the intro, then lost mission 1, replayed and won mission 1. It is a lot of fun and easy to understand most of the rules. Plus I've painted a few of those minis and they actually came out well.

Wait, there is more

I want to get better at the various mapping software I have. Just have to take the time to read and watch tutorials. 

I want to get better at painting minis. As above, just takes practice, time and watching and reading tutorials. And as I have a few hundred minis showing up in less than a year I will have plenty to practice on!

The Desert Cave

This time with hexes!

A small labyrinth for a quick side trip to raise money for the horses: the horse dealer has this map, and for only 50% of the treasure they find, will let them have it. The players never questioned why he had this map, and why he has not himself gone to visit the caves. And if they had looked closely, they may have noticed that the map was not particularly old despite the initial appearances. And of course, I've not thought that through either, though I am now thinking about possibilities!

Anyway, the cave is a few miles west of Ceawla, in a ravine that those with woodmen skills will recognize as an old riverbed. The well itself is a jumble of stones, most fallen down. A few walls made of sandstone show that this is an old village of some sort, long gone back to the sands. The well itself is boarded over, and does have a still active trap: 3 arrows will shoot out in 3 random directions (fortunately we play on a hex, so pick 1 hex as 1, and pick a direction and go around, rolling a die per arrow).  They may also note some tracks about the area: those with woodsmen or area knowledge of this area may roll 2D vs IQ to note that they are the tracks of at least one craka beast! See the previous entry for the craka beast stats and image. It is from a Patreon account that has some pretty cool and dark creatures.

There is an old ladder, still intact, that leads down 15-20 feet below the sands and through natural sandstone caverns. This used to be an underground river but has dried up. The passageway is narrow, just barely five or 6 feet wide, meaning the characters have to go single file.

At the junction, there is a deep pit filled with cold water, about 15 feet down. Normal saving throw to avoid walking into the deep hole. Those with armor will sink - the water is at least 10 feet deep! Those with cloth or leather, at GM's discretion, may want to have a -1 DM on their adjDX as their amour will be a sodden, heavy weight for a while (they are underground and it is cooler. Assume at least 30-45 minutes before drying out).

To the north, the map indicates a pile of bones and a chest. Those are both there, though there is yet another hole at the entrance here without the water below, and what looks like may be another level to the labyrinth. It is not, but from the torchlight at 15 feet or so it is really hard to tell.

As they enter the cave, they can hear an odd sound, and rising out of the floor are 1d6-2 beasts, a minimum of two. Adjust for party strength! Craka beasts will attempt to kill magic users first if possible and always have initiative. If they are wounded to more than 75% of their hit points, all will turn insubstantial and float back into the walls, escaping to lick their wounds. They may be waiting for the adventurers on their return trip to the Tent City of Ceawla!

Assuming they kill or drive off the beasts, the treasure chest itself is locked with a non-magical lock. Inside will be gold and jewels as well as a battered book entitled The Watching Book. (yes, another Kickstarter, and I think I know where to place where this book takes place, assuming the players keep it. It is an evocative and somewhat sad exploration of a society long gone. I just thought it was really interesting and I like that people try really different things).

There will be 3d6 jewels, total worth jewels x 100 gold each. Coins from various realms will also be there, including a really odd coin that no one in Ceawla will take. Coins are about 200 gold.

Upon leaving this cave, at the junction, they will hear the sounds of someone or something moving about in the southern chamber. Should they go to explore, as they get close enough they will see that there is torchlight flickering in the chamber. If they make a detect trap roll, they will also note there appears to be a freshly painted eyeball on the walls as they approach.

A Brief Stay In Ceawla

We did manage a Skype session with playing the Fantasy Trip. Now as people who play TFT know, this is a much more tactical game and needs a battle map and tokens to play correctly. We faked it via Google drawing with a hex background & I just moved "tokens" around. Not as exciting as the minis, but at least basic functionality.  The map also benefits from the fog of war: I only drew what they could see as they could see it. Now we can do the same thing with the megahexes but this was an interesting way of handling remote playing.

So, the group said goodbye to the growing Lollipop, and according to Belinda and Wode, this completes their side of the bargain. The dragraffes even managed to leave a small bag of coin somehow. Dragraffes are the magpies of the world and collect shiny things, but they also know how to share unlike dragons. And they seemed truly thankful for Lollipop's return. The characters get paid as they approach the tent city, and will decide later if they want to go back to Edge City with Binky, Belinda and Wode, or continue on.

The guards check in on the group coming in the deepening dusk, and admonish them to not cause any problems. The get to the Sarap Evi, where the dancing Anin is swirling about in veils and finger cymbals. Yet all the Runt sees is the power stone in her belly button. They partake of some craka beast steaks, but only drink water much to the dismay of the Dwarf wine steward, Thrinin Duri. The Runt, greed for a new power stone overcoming his normal fear of fights, hatches a plan to get that power stone. Getting Agaraic to toss him at the dancer as a distraction, Crut is to steal the gem in the confusion. Unfortunately, Agaric does not quite make the throw and the Runt ends of a few feet short and to the side. Crut, noticing the lithe ease in which Anin does a flip backwards to avoid the incoming Goblin, decides it may not be the best of choices to see about stealing something from her. Thrinin, meanwhile, has reached back to the battle axe on the wall, the head being almost as tall as the Run Gubbler, and rumbles out, "You may not want to be starting anything here. What be ye doing?" A quick mention of Goblin toss seems to mollify the stout Dwarf, who reminds them of the same thing the guards said - do not cause a ruckus here. There is an implied threat that is ill-defined.

Leaving not long after, the group decides to continue south to the ancient city of Tuvano, where treasures are hinted at, as well as liche kings and the living dead. But they will need horses to travel, so decide that the next day they will see what is available.

Early morning, they eat some craka bacon and more of the blue waters of the oasis before saying good bye to Wode and Belinda, who start their journey back north. At the small market, they do find a few nags for sale, for but 25 gold each, currently outside their price range (well, except no one asked Nova who has quite a bit, plus the additional 100 silvers, or 10 gold, she got as payment). The horse trader, seeing their plight, brings out a map his third cousin's 2nd child got from a caravan master a few weeks ago. A treasure map that looks like a group of adventurers as themselves could use. He is willing to part with it for 50/50. The Runt starts to bargain but is quickly outmatched by the horse trader, and they stay at the 50/50.

Heading west, our heroic group finds the well in the ravine. Seeing a trap, Crut, without warning, drops a rock and springs the trap. 3 arrows shoot out, everyone but the Runt managing to avoid the feathered shafts of death. Fortunately, his magically enhanced cloth armor absorbs the blow and he is unhurt. Getting down the stairs, searching for traps, Crut manages to overlook a deep, smooth shaft with cold water at the bottom. Falling down, his torch goes out, and he is gasping for air, not knowing how to swim. Jenforth tosses a rope that he manages to catch, and she and the Runt haul our soggy rogue out of the pit. He is at a -2 DX until he dries out - cloth armor can absorb a lot of water!

Heading north at the fork, they find the room with a chest, but also manage to see another shaft leading to what appears to be another level below this one. Ahead they see a chest and some skeletons piled up next to it. Before getting too far, two craka beasts flow out of the floor and attack! The battle is relatively swift, and even though the beasts get 2 attacks per round, they are soon getting hurt and disappear back into the ground to lick their wounds, and perhaps come back later.

The chest has a lock on it, but Crut manages to not properly cast the lock/knock spell and the rusty lock stays locked. The Runt decides to try whacking with his staff, and with a 17 rolled, manages to instead whack his shin as his staff rebounds from the lock. Getting angry he does a magical bolt to hit, and also rolls horribly, and whacks his other shin.

At this point we had managed about 2 1/2 hours of play, and decided this was a good stopping place.

As a side note, the craka beast is in the PDF from earlier. Below is the Google drawing / map and the map from the horse trader. That map is a black & white map - I bought some pre-colored paper that looks like old map backgrounds, and printing on them gives some nice results. I am thinking about putting up more maps, wanted posters, other kinds of handouts.

Not sure what I am going to do with the southern chamber, assuming they actually visit it. But something interesting :)