Character Challenge 7: TFT Kobold

Oddly enough, I cannot find gnolls or kobolds in any of the Fantasy Trip stuff I have. And to be honest, I actually don't have a lot of experience with the traditional D&D versions: I actually almost never played D&D until my reappearance at the gaming club after a long break from gaming, College was almost all Traveller, then there was this 15-year gap...

Anyway, my Fantasy Trip group is going to (eventually as our face-to-face gaming took the normal dive in December but not sure what is going on this year) meet up at Stubboon's Final Stand to see about those Orc Fist Gauntlets. I even have a battle map I can use with a tower:

Seeing as there are some choke points, and there are other groups chasing after this, and I've woven in parts of the corruption of magic from yet another supplement setting, I want to have a bit of a battle. And as for some reason I have a LOT of kobold and a few gnoll minis, I want to use them at the table. And in thinking through things, I may even be able to bring in some of the characters in this challenge into the scenario. 

Anyway: back to kobold and gnolls. Not having found anything in the material I have (unless it is in one of the TFT magazines and I've forgotten: maybe I should collect the article titles into a document somewhere). Kobold are similar enough to goblins I think we can start with the same base stats. Gnolls are a larger goblinoid kin, and thinking the base human stats would work as do the Orcs. Which I really sort of disagree with: Orcs should be bigger and meaner. But TFT is at its heart a combat game without a lot of nuances for species. Thinking a small group of Kobolds, who knew of the Kobold mage who created both the sword and gauntlets, are trying to recover these artifacts. And interestingly they will get to the tower not long after our heroes. 

I am also basing some of this on the Revenge of the Horde. Though written for 5e, I can use parts of it (but can tell by parts of it I really don't like 5e, but like Traveller in all its incarnations, there is always something you can use!). But seeing as dragons and kobolds can go together...

Xedris Gorechewer, Kobold Mage

Xedris Gorechewer is the great-great grandson of Snoggiz Beanstalker, the mage who created the Orc Fist Gauntlets and sword. The Kobolds had decided that it was time to retrieve the gauntlets decades before, but they got lost. After searching and following rumors, Xedris has found the gauntlets at the keep of Stubboon's Last Stand. He has established a small war party to retrieve the fabled artifact. Kobolds are not known for being cross-country travelers, so they have hired a band of Gnolls from the to help them in the world outside of their warrens. The party consists of half a dozen Kobolds and twice that many Gnolls from the Tazg Vask clan. They have been making their way south to the keep.

Being of the dragon Kobolds, Xedris has focused often on dragon-like spells. His favorite being breath fire of course. H carries a twisted locust wood staff taller than he is, capped with a small, blue dragon scale. A bit smaller than most kobold, Xedris does prefer to lead from the rear. His staff makes an effective cudgel against the other kobold who are afraid of him. The gnolls tolerate him, and Xedris knows better than to beat on them. He has a whiny voice and does speak Common badly. One of the gnolls speaks kobold and is Xedris' translator for the mercenary creatures. Xedris is convinced of his superiority over most kobold, and while not literate will horde anything with writing on it.

And asked an AI language generator for some language for Gnolls:

Basic Vocabulary

English	Gnollish	Pronunciation
Hello	Grarr	/ɡrɑr/
Food	Grom	/ɡrom/
Hunt	Tazg	/tazɡ/
Water	Vrak	/vrɑk/
Friend	Zarak	/zɑrɑk/
Enemy	Drak	/drɑk/
Home	Narg	/nɑrɡ/
Strong	Vrag	/vrɑɡ/
Tribe	Rakk	/rɑk/
Fight	Gash	/ɡæʃ/
Yes	Hrrr	/hɹɹ/
No	Krrr	/kɹɹ/

Adding Vask for swift to keep up with my challenge in a challenge. 

Character Challenge

Day 1: Halfling Heartsinger

Day 2: Classic Traveller Noble

Day 3: Halfling Reeve

Day 4: Arcane Bard

Day 5: Space Gits Scientist

Day 6: Classic Traveller Army (died in chargen!)

Character Challenge 6: Classic Traveller Army

Not having any real motivation today, I rolled 2d6 for a UPP. Getting 68785A, nothing really stood out. Looking at the CT careers, this character gets a bonus for enlistment for the Army. Though with the low education no DMs on promotions. And oddly I rolled a 3 and she only made it in due to only both enlistment DMs! She may have a rocky career. Or even die...

Hailing from Liberty, Bethany Anne Zushi grew up in a close-knit family that has always been in the military. Following her parents' profession, she too joined the Army. She was reticent grunt in many ways. Though gaining her commission in her first term, she never pushed for a promotion and her commanding officers felt she was just going through the motions to fulfill family obligations. This changed after the Battle Over Swift, where she barely survived. She reenlisted after that but was killed in action protecting a hospital with her squad. She threw herself on a grenade that had been tossed into the ward and saved dozens of patients. She was awarded the SEH, and it is on the mantle of her family home. 

Bethany Anne Zushi, Army Lieutenant, 2 terms, deceased

69785A, age 28, killed in action

Rifke-1, Pistol-1

Term 1 18-22, Lieutenant

She makes survival and commission but missed her promotion. Boot camp improved her dexterity and she picked up Rifle-1. She did make re-enlistment, but just barely.

Term 2 23-26, Lieutenant

Barely surviving the Battle of Swift, fighting with the Zarian Realm, Bethany picks up Pistol-1 to compliment her rifle skill, but is passed over for promotion again. She is allowed to re-enlist.

Term 3 27-30

Bethany dies in combat.

When searching for images on Pinterest for science fiction female army characters, I think 90% of them are white with blond or white hair. And there is a lot more AI art there, though I personally hesitate to call anything AI created art as it is just copying and stealing from human artists. Found some character art I liked though hate that the character is dead. And it may even be AI generated as it is getting harder to tell, and there was not attribution/site for this picture. But such is Classic Traveller!

We are going to say she died saving many civilians, and award her the Starburst for Extreme Heroism. Which is honestly a bit problematic as I really don't know much about the Judges Guild stuff, not having much of their stuff that is setting specific. I do have their starport book and maybe some of their ships. Used to love making up starports too.

Freelance Traveller

And there is a planet named Swift, a Judges Guild thing. Thank goodness for Travellermap.com! But I did manage to get swift in the post.

Character Challenge

Day 1: Halfling Heartsinger

Day 2: Classic Traveller Noble

Day 3: Halfling Reeve

Day 4: Arcane Bard

Day 5: Space Gits Scientist

Character Challenge 5: Space Gits

I'm going to be running a short 2-3 session game of Space Gits. While I really wanted to get a shared universe at the start, so far my approach to this has not worked. One of these years it will, though I am hoping that we'll get other game masters in this universe, and they will add their spin on things.

And yes, Swift is in this post as well! I like my challenge in a challenge. This is also a bit of world building, and I need to make notes in my Space Gits notes about what I've added here.

Space Gits was updated and greatly expanded the basic concept of the game. Gone is the initial Suicide Squad feel as they move into the greater universe. The setting now has other stars and more aliens. I personally feel it loses a good bit of its charm by doing this and becomes more sandbox environment. And yes, I do like sandboxes (hello Classic Traveller!) some games I think do better by remaining small. This setup would work equally well as a Traveller adventure, I think.

Anyway - I have a basic premise set up for the players:

Jupiter Mining Station Ormstom class XM-J-832 is run by the Frii Gas Consortium. Your mercenary team has been hired by EarthGuard (an Earth planetary NGO that tries to protect human culture according to their charter) to locate a Valchet gas probe that has been recovered by the miners. The Valchet want it back, the miners want it off the platform so they won’t get in the middle of anything. And rumors are the Scritch have infiltrated the platform and are also looking for it.

Your job, should you choose to accept it, will pay 100,000Cr. You are to go to station XM-J-832, retrieve the object, and return to Moon Base Epsilon to hand it over to EarthGuard for proper disposal.

  And I need the person who will present this offer, and perhaps go with the group to oversee things. Thinking of one of the earlier Alien movies with that guy from the corporation sort of vibe. And while my character will share the name and face of Carter Burke (and I had to look that up as it has been a long time since I saw that movie!) he has a different background.

In Space Gits, you start out with a 10 in each of your stats, but each species has a few things. Humans get +1 to Health and Intelligence, as well as +1 to Commerce, Drive and Knowledge skills.

Starting stats:

• Strength STR 10 - measure of physical power for lifting, climbing, etc
• Coordination COOR 10 - measure of agility and movement, stealth, etc
• Health HTH 11 - measure of physical well-being for wounds, resistance, and healing rates
• Intelligence INT 11 - measure of knowledge and reasoning
• Will WILL 10 - measure of mental strength for courage, mental resistance and grit rolls
• Personality PERS 10 - measure of your Gits demeaner and charisma

Interestingly, a few of the careers you cannot start out in as the prerequisites are often 11 or 12. However, military intelligence is open to humans. 

Coming from the wastelands of Earth, Carter Burke enlisted in military intelligence. 

Term 1 (18-22 year) Military Intelligence

Basic training increased his STR+1 to 11, and he picks up Investigation +1 and another Knowledge skill for Knowledge +2 and learns his Tradecraft +1 (the ability to read lips, follow people, and know when people are following you. Your classic spy skills. In watching people, Carter picks up a talent:  Aliens +1 (seems fitting and actually what I rolled!)

I also switched the stat from COOR to STR as I want him to be a scientist, so a bit of fudging. 

Term 2 (23-26) Scientist

Switching to the science background because Carter wants to help Earth recover, and after seeing that alien technology may be the key to speeding up that process he needs to know more. He improves his COOR to 11 and an honest roll for Technology+1. And due to a minor lab accident, he gets an upgrade: a cybernetic eye. He also learns First Aid+1, Reasearch+1.

Term 3 (27-30) Scientist

Persevering, Carter increases his WILL +1 and learns about Geology+1. He also specializes in Xenology now (available after a 2nd term in the same career) and gains another Reasrch+2i. He gains another upgrade, this time getting aqualungs. 

At this point the character is about the right age for matching Paul Reiser at the time (give or take, I am horrible at guessing ages. Though guess I could Google that...)

Carter Burke's research has been on the behalf of EarthGuard, a human organization to protect human culture and recover Earth's past glory. He is part of the Swift Technologies Group, the research arm of Earthguard. Upon hearing that the Valchet gas probe has been recovered at Jupiter and thinking that the technology it has may be used to help clean Earth's polluted atmosphere, Carter is the lead science officer and will accompany the mercenaries on their trip to safeguard the recovery of the probe. He carries no weapons but is borderline zealot when it comes to protecting Earth. He is also mildly xenophobic and will not be kind to aliens and thinks they are lesser creatures. 

And wish I knew where I found this so I could credit the artist!

Jupiter Mining Station Ormstom class XM-J-832

Also, cigar boxes make good magazine holders. I don't smoke but apparently you can get cigar boxes from cigar stores for free (at least my sister did and sent me a few). These are bamboo or balsa or some sort of light wood. I've a few more, just need to figure out what to do with them. But I do like storage options!

Character Challenge

Day 1: Halfling Heartsinger

Day 2: Classic Traveller Noble

Day 3: Halfling Reeve

Day 4: Arcane Bard

Character Challenge 4: Arcane Bard

The final new class in Carcass Crawler 4 is an arcane bard: musicians and poets drawn to a life of wandering and adventure. They pick up a wide range of skills becoming a jack of all trades. 

Erin Whisperwind, a human woman of perhaps 20 odd years, has been wandering since birth. Her parents were wandering minstrels, part of the Swift Troup of entertainers. Part travelling circus, part living libraries, and part plain conmen, they travel the countryside and put on shows. When Aigulf came to one of their shows, Erin decided she wanted to explore the world with the Halfling and learn new stories and legends. Between the two of them, they can just about read anything they encounter. 

Her spell book, recently purchased, has the one spell she learned from the seller: read languages. If her native ability to read a language does not work, And Aigul cannot read it, they may resort to her one spell so far.

A tall woman nearly 6 feet tall, she carries a lute and her sword. Her pack carries supplies as well as her spell book. She will often talk to herself while trying to cipher a new language or figure out a puzzle. Quick to judge, and eminently practical, she bears a striking difference to her traveling companion. And while she only picks the pockets of "bad people", she does practice on Aigulf much to his embarrassment. He is still unsure how she managed to nick his knickers while conversing in one of their rambles to the next source of stories.

Character Challenge

Day 1: Halfling Heartsinger

Day 2: Classic Traveller Noble

Day 3: Halfling Reeve

Character Challenge 3: Dina Goldenfoot, Halfling Reeve

Continuing with the Carcass Crawler 4 classes, we present Dina Goldenfoot, Halfling Reeve. 

Born with flaming red hair, Dina was quite the surprise to her parents and was born later in their lives than expected. While her parents doted on her, she preferred the woods and valleys of Swift Vale than being inside. Taking up archery with an almost preternatural skill, Dina became one of the best hunters in the Vale. Catching the eyes of the Reeves, she was soon part of those protectors.

When Aigulf decided to wander the world, she was tasked with keeping an eye on him without letting him be aware. He is entirely oblivious to the number of times she has protected him and rarely wonders why a fresh rabbit would be in his campsite after washing up for his second supper of the day. 

She is quiet and sometimes short-tempered with those she feels are incompetent. Which is most other people for her. She is an expert woodsman and takes care of all her gear meticulously. 

Art Station Link

Character Challenge

Day 1: Halfling Heartsinger

Day 2: Classic Traveller Noble

Challenge Day 2: Classic Traveller Noble

 As today is National Science Fiction Day, figured I need to use the classic science fiction game for my character creation today. And also decided to see if I can incorporate swift into the characters as the Swift Vale from the 1st character was a spur of the moment thing, and I like to have a challenge in the challenge.

Rolling the stats we get an initial (and relatively disappointing) 77554B. Saving grace is the 11 in social, so (rolling even) she is a noble, a knightess. Digging out the Supplement 4 (as there is only so much free time on a workday!) we go through the process. Which for CT is only a few minutes to go through 4 terms of service. Sadly, with her low INT score she never got promoted to go up in noble ranking.

Xandra Olympia Tudor, Knight of the Swift Order, was born on Holiday 1071. Being the 6th offspring of her fecund parents, she was never going to inherit the title. While she did manage to take a position early on in the Imperial government as a Clerk, 3rd class, her civic-minded career lasted 16 years before she decided to try something new. Not the brightest of the children, she maintains a laissez-faire attitude and tends to procrastinate. Which may help to explain her lack of professional growth.

Xandra Olympia Tudor, Knight of the Swift Order

77564B Noble, age 34

Foil-2, Grav vehicle 1, Electronics 1

Term 1

Xandra gets a position in the Imperial government. She learns to drive grav vehicles as she is often acting as a courier and physically transports documents across the world. She also works harder at counter-acting her low education and seems a bit smarter for her efforts. Grav-1, +1 Int

Term 2

Four years of piloting the grav vehicle, and she manages to learn a bit about repairing the balky electronics in the older vehicle as the Imperium does not always keep things up to date. Electronic-1

Term 3

Bored, she picks up a foil and learns to fence in her free time. While not a professional, she manages to at least place in local contests. Foil-1

Term 4

Practicing more, Xandra gains another level of foil. Deciding that ferrying documents from place to place is just not exciting, she decides to resign her position and seek out new employment.

Mustering out

Cr 10,000, a High Passage, and her competition foil.

found on Pinterest with no accreditation

Imperial Swift Order

The Knight's Orders of the Imperium does not formally recognize the Order of the Swift. It is a subsector-based order that is based on public service. Established more than three centuries ago by a Her Lady Cervantes, it is in recognition of swift performance in times of need. It was established after the catastrophic flooding of the capital city and in recognition of those who came to quickly aid others. All members are offered government jobs and over the years it has become more of a bureaucracy than a Knighthood Order. The symbol is a lightning bolt over a cresting wave.

AI art

Character Challenge

Day 1: Halfling Hearthsinger

Day 2: Classic Traveller Noble

Additional Notes

The order was sort of made up in response to the hurricane Helene. I was lucky - no house damage, just no power or water for a week. I've a well, so once power came back, I had water unlike the city. I did not have internet for a month. I was impressed by how neighbors came to help (and I even helped out where I could) so decided a new order for MTU could be useful fluff. It still looks like a disaster in much of the area though my neighborhood is mostly cleaned up as of a couple weeks ago. 

The foil thing came from a Netflix show I watched a few weeks back about a fencing girl in Korea. It was interesting and technically a romance though the main couple ended up not being a couple so was really more about how love does not always work out. I do tend to watch fluffier shows. My life is complicated enough, and I prefer to watch optimistic fluffy things. Though mostly imports it seems.

Character Challenge 1: Aigulf Proudfoot, Halfling Hearthsinger

Aigulf Proudfoot is a stout Halfling from Swift Vale. Which is anything but swift but rather is named after the flocks of swifts that call the vale their home along with several hundred Halflings. Wandering the vale Aigulf learned all of his neighbors' stories until he decided that there must be more stories outside the safety of his home. Taking up his bag, pipe, quills and ink, Aigulf set off to find the world's stories.

Years later, he is still travelling about, digging into legends and stories to find out the truth. He is currently heading to Stubboon's Last Stand to verify the rumors and legends surrounding the errant merchant.

We'll see if I can stick to again even after I said I probably would not. And while I may reference parts of my world, I never said when these characters are visiting places!

This class is from Carcass Crawler 4. Figured I should try the new classes.

Orc Fist Gauntlets

Like a lot of my McGuffins, I really should give a bit more detail on the Orc Fist Gauntlets. Or I already have done so, and I've forgotten. And figure I should attempt to dual-stat for The Fantasy Trip and OSE. As most of my fantasy games run on the same world. Though the actual description works for both, but the effects will differ a bit due to the significant differences in how the game systems handle magic. And in trying to figure it out, the only real difference mechanically is Stone Flesh for TFT and +4 AC for OSE (4 protection is the same as half-plate in TFT, so figuring a bit of that for the OSE AC plate armor).

And thinking ahead, should the group get them, we have actually no human player characters: Elf, Halfling, half Orc/Half Elf, Lizardman and Goblin. Of those, I think we've already said the Lizardman has only 3 fingers and a thumb so probably cannot wear these. And he is the fighter. The Elf and half Orc I think can wear them, but I would think the Goblin and Halfling may have issues with the gauntlets being too large. So, to head off potential arguments, for those characters they will get most of the benefits but due to the size mismatch, still cannot wield weapons requiring more strength as the gauntlets are very clumsy when they wear them and prone to slipping. Modifying them to fit may work but also carries the risk of disabling the spells. 

Orc Fist Gauntlets

More than two hundred years ago, before the Terror Lands became the Terror Lands, roving Orc bands started gathering together to fight humans in a contest to control the lands. Orc Leader Vrhug amassed a veritable army or Orcs at the base of Wizards Mount, ready to cross the lands to strike at Edge City and the human kingdoms. Queen Dithea commissioned a Gnoll Shaman to enchant weapons. Of these weapons, the Orc Fist Gauntlets were specifically created to go against Vhrug and his Orc's Fist Sword. And the battles were fought and eventually pushed back the Orc invasion. The gauntlets and sword got lost over the ensuing centuries. While the sword has recently shown up near Windmere Crossing, the gauntlets were lost until recent rumors put them in the outpost of Stubboon's Final Stand.

A pair of well-made gauntlets of black hardened leather and red detailing, the gauntlets give the wearer strength to wield the Orc's Fist sword, itself an enchanted sword for Orcs that non-Orcs cannot easily wield. It also gives protection to the wearer and will glow with a runic red light when Orcs are within 100 yards. Unkown to Queen Dithea, the gauntlets have a similar affect as the sword: its magic does not work against Gnolls and in fact, acts as a strength reduction and makes the wearer easier to hit when fighting Gnolls. 

Orc Fist Gauntlets

The Fantasy Trip Version

These give the user a +2 strength when wearing them, as well as stone flesh giving +4 protection that does stack with armor and other spells. There is also a detect orcs spell that works for 100 yards. This will allow the user to wield melee weapons without penalty above their normal strength limits. However, when attacking Gnolls, it actually gives a -2 to strength and the wearer must roll 4 dice per attack against their dexterity. It does allow the user to wield the Orc's Fist sword without penalty that non-Orcs have.

OSE Version

Wearing these gives the user +2 strength with all its benefits, as well as +4 to their AC. As above, these benefits are reversed when fighting Gnolls. Wearing these gloves allows a non-Orc to wield the Orc's Fist Sword.

Orcs Fist Sword

Orc's Fist Sword

January Character Challenge

I am not sure I am up to the character challenge this year. I've created a lot of characters over the years and few have been used. And while it is fun to create characters, so far I am horrible at acting as NPCs and even forget they are in the game all too often. 

Late December Musings

That time of year again. 

After working with .NET Core more, which runs on Macs and PCs (and Linux too), I've been thinking of yet again working on a Traveller trade program that works on any platform. But that means it would be a web application, and I do not do well with making pretty views. But the theory would be that users would just download the code, and they could simply type `dotnet run` and go to site on their machine. Basically localhost:1234. But I also recognize that few people would want to do that, so another option is to figure out how to host it. And phase 1 would not even need data persistence: enter in the world's UWP and then I could generate the cargo lots for all the populations or one they specify. Anyway, thoughts on doing this again after so many attempts in the last 25 or so years! Probably because I have fun coding in .NET which is a good thing.

And I started turning into a jackass again at work. Part of that is the frustrations of dealing with a non-technical company. All my previous jobs have been in tech companies and this one actually makes stuff! But it all runs through IT now. Anyway, I started pulling the "I've been doing this a long time" thing and realized I was doing something I did more than 25, 30 years ago. Yes, I've been doing this a long time, but everything is different at every place, and even the technology changes. I've apologized to the junior dev. 

But I also feel I've done something similar with one of my gaming buddies. We were going to see about another shared universe for Space Gits and he put out a really nice idea and some concepts. I just had an issue with 1 part of the description where a sub-light sleeper ship finds a pair of worlds in another galaxy. Yes, that is possible, but he had a time frame of 400 years which, as the nearest galaxy is about 25K lightyears away, a sub-light vessel cannot get there in less than 25K years. He ended up removing the post and I feel he feels slighted or something. And me being an idiot with bad foot in mouth disease does not help. I did come up with some possible ways: wormholes, aliens doing something to speed things up, strange stellar currents that somehow manage to get things moving a lot faster than lightspeed. So, there were ways to do it as he posted, but I fear the way I indicated that it was impossible came across badly. 

Space Gits is also, in some ways, a variation on Traveller I feel. The life paths/previous history mechanisms are the same, though the rest of the mechanics are decidedly not Traveller. But as per the blurb in the intro, I feel it is taking aim at those of us who do like to calculate the fuel, plot the jump points, and deal with the crunch of Traveller:

Space Gits is a simple but fun science-fiction RPG for those that do not want to calculate space travel or worry too much about the minor things but just want to shoot aliens, discover new worlds and engage in space combat.

But this will let me use all those 0-Hr deck plans and ships as I am adding jump gates to this universe. But I am also adding DY-100 sleeper ships, because I do want to open that up in case he does want to run his concept (which I am hoping he does as all his games a fun to play in).

from here, which has a LOT of cool Star Trek deck plans and stuff!

And playing with a different kind of space map, as much as I love Traveller maps:

made with Hex Kit

And for those who celebrate - Merry Christmas!

AI image

Fantasy Trip Game Recap #7

There have been only about 6 or 7 sessions in this game we started last February. The length of time between sessions does make it difficult to keep track of things.

In our last session, our valiant heroes got rejoined with Axz (and still guessing at the name!). Apparently, Clyde and Susan, our hapless late teens who are all sorts of messed up from the cult, are now blissfully married under the auspicious of Bresselwyth's de facto leader, Ceteern Gur. A quick recap of the battle, the harpies saying they will quit taking the sheep if the corrupted magic can be taken away. Finding their horses and moving along. I still have 2 NPCs with them, the silent Sister Ishbarrah and Maria, the Lappin. The dwarf with the huge ram is not with them as the ram is getting some medical attention. 

Towards the end of the day, they see more light than there should be in the forest. Getting to the edge, they see that the forest in front of them has been decimated. Completely logged and barren. Hearing a voice crying for help, the find what seems to be someone half-stuck in a tree.

not completely done painting but good enough and I needed to figure out how to use this mini

Having no idea how to handle the dryad, which Deimos had a bit of knowledge of, they are trying to see what to do when the half-Orc, half-Elf notices something moving out of the ground in the cutting fields. And lo, there were two misshapen creatures, having dug themselves out of the ground, are now stumbling towards our group. A fight of course occurs, with the group trying to keep the dryad safe as they attempt to draw off the creatures. Between makeshift Molotov cocktails, excellent arrow-work, a vine illusion trapping one, and some fancy whip-work and pointy weapons, the creatures are defeated.

more minis that oddly actually fit the description from where this part of the adventure is coming from

While this was happening, a druid showed up and with a healing potion, managed to free the dryad from her now corrupted tree. Our group comes back, and we get a bit more of an info dump: the Cutting Fields are the result of over-logging as New Beryl is trying to rebuild in the midst of these corrupted lands. The creatures are parts from soldiers who have fought and died on these fields over the years, the bad magic making them rise again in odd combinations. He is heading the same way, so Dovak the druid joins the group (meaning now there are 3 NPCs I keep forgetting about in play!) Deimos and Dovak spend a lot of time talking, as Deimos may be learning one of his spells as they travel. 

They stay in Grant the first night, with Dawn singing for her keep. Most of the others sleep in the stables, and their horses are being well-cared for. George, the proprietor of the Red Rover Inn, had a full house thanks for her singing. Nothing much else happened and the group had a good night's sleep.

And pretty sure this is where we left off. I think I'll summarize the next few days as they have two very competent woodsmen with them. There may be some encounters but nothing major. The next session will open at the sight of the ruins of Stubboon's Last Stand. I've a few ideas there for that, as well as several maps I can actually lay on the table, though they are squares and not hexes. Or I could bring out the Dungeons and Lasers stuff as I have enough. But I need to design the castle and encounters in the next week or two.

I've moved the Yol'najj Forest here, so I am using that setting supplement for parts of this. The creatures have a table you can roll up for the number of arms and weapons which is interesting. But the image matches one of the minis pretty closely! I need to apply the points from helping the dryad and killing those things, as what the adventurers do can affect the magical corruption. 

Previous recaps here (and think I missed one)

S1: Sewers, found crypt, rescued Keg https://traveller-ct.blogspot.com/2024/02/to-sewers-once-more.html
S2: return for the crypt, find Ax (goblin rat catcher), Hexis has sword https://traveller-ct.blogspot.com/2024/03/fantasy-trip-game-recaps-two-for-one.html
S3: shopping, get medicinal weeds for sick child thieves, stay at Olmsted farm https://traveller-ct.blogspot.com/2024/04/saturday-fantasy-trip-recap-to-weeds.html
S4: back to Edge City, twin Elf children of possible royal descent. mission to head north for Orc Fist Gauntlets, fight a sect https://traveller-ct.blogspot.com/2024/07/battle-of-sects-followup.html
S5: escort Clybe to Bresselwyth, fight demon, meet Marian Harefolk, stay in goat town https://traveller-ct.blogspot.com/2024/07/battle-of-sects-part-3.html
S6: heading north, meet harpies, fight wolves, find strange green crystals in the wolves https://traveller-ct.blogspot.com/2024/09/meeting-harpies.html

New Games

We had our first session of the homebrew game last weekend, and it went well. Of course, I've enjoyed every game this GM puts out. Playing a bruiser as for me, playing a fighter when learning a new system is the easiest approach: you hit things.

Look at me - trying to base things! 

Levi Doe, my character, is not human but I think, based on the game notes, that eventually he will become human as he manages to destroy Chaos. Issue is that his method of destroying chaos is incinerating people who have chaos in them, generally bad guys. And as he is what is basically a fire elemental, there are no issues as he is always hungry to consume more and more. And in the first game, he did indeed consume a lot, killing a lot of soldiers and in the end, along with the other characters, also killed off another demon. Of course, he was a bit overpowered, so his companions also took damage (similar to a berserker not getting out of the berserker state and just hitting anything in sight). And so, we leveled up a bit at the end of the game, and with that I assume got a bit of human soul as well.

But if that is the case, and here is where things get interesting to me at least, Levi may start to have some remorse about the lives he takes, even if they are bad people. And so far, I've been playing him as just wanting to go back to the flaming planes he is from (an as yet undefined fiery plane of existence: whether Hell or Hades, or more the traditional fantasy trope of other planes we've not really talked about. I am going with Hades-adjacent at least as one of the other players is playing a Cerberus type of dog, and Levi has become attached to the good doggy as he can actually pet him. Along with the Kitsune who helped him a bit as well and sometimes rides on his shoulder when he is in fire mode). 

This becomes a more nuanced and character-driven arc if I follow through on that. I do tend to pick characters who end up a bit morose sometimes, though for reasons. The superhero game we played a while back, with the same GM, had a character, Verner Barrick, that had no memory to start with. As the game progressed, he and I developed his backstory along with the game, and it turned out he was really, really old and hiding from himself to prevent opening a gate to Earth that would destroy civilization basically. I've a feeling Levi, who also does not remember much other than flames and wanting to go home without even knowing where home is, may undergo a similar self-realization as he becomes more human. And curious if he will throw off that humanity if he could go back home or embrace something different than what he was. 

At any rate, this is one our face-to-face games, which as we alternate weeks, means it will probably be January before we get to session 2 since December tends to throw a lot of monkey wenches into getting together. Next weekend they are at my house, and we'll continue the Fantasy Trip game. I'll have to post a recap as it has been more than a month since we managed to play (though I do recap the games here, but I need a recap of the recaps as I think they have forgotten the original intent of their current quest). I did dig out my holiday pans so will have to make something holiday themed. I do like to bake for them.

And finally, this was my wife's and my first Thanksgiving I think we've been by ourselves since we've been together. Since we've met more than 30 years ago, we've usually eaten at her mother's house. But her mother was with another of her children, and our son moved to Minnesota, so there was just us. Empty nest syndrome hit us both hard! And I fear Christmas may be similar as I don't think the child will make it home for Christmas. But that is the point of parents: getting their children able to live in the real world. I just don't like it! Though I do like that we have more leftovers...so there is a bright side to everything!

Cowboys and Dinos: Session 9 and Finale

We left session 8 or so at the cliffhanger of meeting up with a giant millipede. Or centipede - I did not count the number of legs per segment. The Gatling gun had been overturned and Sargeant Thomas was trying to shoot from his dying horse, who had been mortally wounded from the beast before our group got there.

The fight lasted a few rounds with most of the damage getting ignored: the creature had a high defensive value from almost 6" of chitin armor. Few shots made it, even though most of the characters had a rate of fire of at least 3. Even the soldiers had a high miss rate, and rarely did damage. 

Molly was flying overhead to keep an eye on things. Her attempt to drop a blanket over the creature's head, while a good idea, did not work out despite using a grit point to re-roll. Of course, Lee was attacking at point blank range, and then at one point leaps on the monster, jamming his short sword in-between some armor plates. He actually managed to do more damage than the guns. Hambone gets Puddin' to club the beast with her tail and even that did not do a lot of damage due to a bad damage roll. Fortunately, as a dino-rider, when the monster turned to attack, they managed to avoid the hit as there are some good advantages to fighting on your dino if you are a dino-rider class. Molly managed to drop a rope and help get the Army Sargeant back to his group as they were trying to right the gatling gun. Archibald, after few shots and not doing a lot of damage, and hearing that the soldiers had the gun righted and wanted to shoot but Hambone and Lee were in the way. Hambone wanted to shove a lit stick of dynamite into the beast's orifice, but despite 2 rolls kept having horrible rolls. Memories of the T-Rex going splat were not revisited with the monster. Finally the creature, realizing it is heavily damaged, takes off back into the Badlands, Lee still riding it like a bucking bronco. Archibald lifts Lee off before he gets too far, but Lee cannot maintain his grip on the sword as the monster runs off. Molly had made a graceful landing into the back of the runaway wagon and in a couple turns managed to get them under control and heading back to the group. Meanwhile, Mannix, who only has a pistol and you don't bring a pistol to a monster fight, caught back up with Molly and took over the wagon.

The group stays at For Talon overnight, then heads out. Just as in the fight, I keep forgetting my NPC and Mannix was not with them. They had a map to the location of the machine that dug the hole as the Army, while not inspecting it, did find it and part of their job is to track things in the Badlands. 

Drilling Machine, which is what Archibald was looking for

Fort Talon (actually a real fort in MN)

They only find a large hole sloping into the ground where the machine was. Large enough to allow their dinos to go with them, they have to decide what to do. Seeing the purple ichor from the millipede, Hambone tosses a couple sticks of dynamite down the tunnel. Nothing comes out or makes noise, and noticing that after the dust settles, there is warm, moist air blowing out of the hole.

They trek down, and 4 or more hours later they see a light at the end of the tunnel. Getting to the opening, they see a vast jungle in front of them. Off in the distance, amidst a thinning fog. an island seems to be floating down from above and landing in the middle of the jungle. Below them, the large cylindrical tunnel machine was sitting at the edge of the jungle, down the slope. 

And thus we finished this arc of the story. Which is in the same place and time now as where we finished off the vigilante game that I was playing in before this. We are in the Hollow Earth, and there are a lot of potential things that can happen. I may even bring back Jungle Girl - there was an entrance in our first Apex game but no one went there even though it was on the map. They were busy being chased by Nazis so really did not have the time to look. And the 2nd game of Apex, the first round of Cowboys & Dinos, I made the door too small for the dinos. Thinking it would be hard to play with them but not realizing that they were why we were playing that game to begin with!

This is also part of my "all my game worlds are connected" thing. Even though I was not running the vigilante game, I had a character in there. What is in the Hollow Earth? Anything and everything. As I had just finished reading Journey to the Center of the Earth for a pulpy feel for a game, I decided to stick it in there. There are empires there, maybe even SF ones and I can use some of my 0-Hr deck plans. Anyway, it is wide open for the other game masters in my group as well if they want to play there.

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!