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 Fantasy Trip: 2 Paladins of Mim

Mim, God of Rains. has a larger following among Dwarves, yet there is not a lack of others who worship this giver of the rains. His Goddess sister-in-Law, Blion Goddes of  Lightening, would seem to be a more fitting partner than her sister Bizma, Goddess of Fire, yet Mim is married to Bizma. Sometimes I do wonder what I was thinking back in college, but perhaps opposites do attract.

Regardless, here is an attempt to give an example of the Paladins of Mim. Mim is not a stickler for the rituals, and is as wild as a summer storm crossing the grasslands of Morta. In the Yoll'Najj Range, south of the Kalor Desert, is the monastery, The Sacred Vine. Seated at the mouth of the Jade Rill which eventually flows to the Cutting Fields and the Mycon Swamps, it is a Dwarven monastery carved into the very range itself, with chambers deep in the bedrock. The massive stone doors have vines carved into them, with a cross and shield in the center of each.

The monastery has one of the largest libraries devoted to Mim, but also a variety of other texts, both mundane, and magical, are in the three story library chambers. Both wizards and clerics are here, along with a large supporting staff of monks, cooks, gardeners and others. It also has a strong martial arts training facility to learn the fighting skills necessary to be a Paladin of Mim. While devoted to Mim, it is also a source of employment for the few nearby villages. While winters can be harsh, the summers in the mountains bring about fresh air and cool temperatures. Some peaks never lose their snow in the shadows.  Additionally, there is an armory and three Dwarven blacksmiths that forge the mystical armor for the Paladins of Mim.

A new applicant to the monastery is a novice. Then the acolytes, then it depends on where the character wants to go next. To be a paladin requires some more worldly arts and trains more heavily in the combat arts but still has the priestly aspects to spread about the glory of Mim.

Paladins train at least a year to reach acolyte level. This involves both physical and scholastic training. Paladins of Mim often end up as healers despite the bevy of weapons they are trained in. The Sacred Vine promotes the healing more through culinary arts - the meal spell is one that many paladins in training pick up.

After they achieve acolyte level, they are often given a year for a holy sojourn, visiting other monasteries and shrines, and doing the upkeep for those locations. Shrines to Mim are often buried deep in woods and out of the way places, but always by running water. Other gods and goddesses don't always get along, and often shrines are attacked by other followers from other religious or magical groups.

For a more thorough review of religious hierarchies, this is an interesting link. I may have to expand things out even more - my blogs tend to be more of a stream of conciousness than planned out.

One of the newest paladins is Heigra, a barbarian human from the Kalor Deserts north of the Sacred Vine. A young woman who made the journet through the desert to the mountain site, she has studied the last year the sacred texts, and has passed her initial training with the battle masters. She is ready for her first quest into the unknown.

Heigra, Paladin of Mim Acolyte

ST 10 DX 12 adjDX 11 IQ 10 MA 10

A rangy woman dressed in soft blue cloth armor, with a sewn knife and cross over the left breast, Heigra sports a horse bow over her back and a blessed saber of Mim at her hip. She is on her first journey from the monastery to make a circuit of the forests and swamps south to visit the villages and check on the shrines. She has in her possession an excellent map of the area with the shrines marked. Meeting her on the road on or the trails, she will be willing to share a meal along with some priestly advice about Mim. If she is alone she will move the metal equipment she carries aside and can conjure an excellent meal. 

Weapons and Armor

Horse bow (1d)

Blessed Saber of Mim (fine saber) 2d-2, gives +1DX for use

Cloth armor (stops 1 hit)

Skills

Sword

Bow Knife

Priest

Literacy

Writing

Spells

Meal

The Fantasy Trip: Paladins

After reading about Paladins and their history in D&D  and their real life history (The Smoking Wrym issue 1, one of the Kickstarter 'zines I backed and actually got around to reading last night), I was thinking about how to work that into the Fantasy Trip.

First, TFT has no classes, no automatic skills based on an arbitrary level system. Instead you gain experience and basically trade that for learning new spells, new talents or improved stats. Most players will buff up their stats, allowing them to hit more often and take more damage. But eventually they also start adding skills or spells.

A paladin is a fighter with some sort of noble cause, be it religious, political or something else. The Fantasy Trip leaves a lot of this to the individual gamers - there is no specified religions and few political groups other than what comes up in various adventures. In a way it is like proto-Traveller: it is a great sandbox to play whatever you want. Additionally, they describe how you would set up a thief character based on skills and stats: high dexterity, sneaky skills and probably at least the Lock/Knock spell.

To translate this to my world of TFT, I do have a vaguely defined set of gods and goddess (see this post) Of those I've never really delved into too much detail, except for Mim here, using another Kickstarter supplement to flush out one of my college-originated gods. So let me run with that a bit.

A paladin of Mim is more often a Dwarf than not, but he does have human followers as well. He is a god of the rains, and his symbol is often a knife on a cross. This is often emblazoned on shields and breastplate. Occasionally a trusted paladin may be carrying a holy relic, a magical item. They often will have fine armor or weapons blessed by the priests with magical enhancements.

As a fighter, the paladin is going to want a higher strength to carry big weapons, but a decent enough dexterity to actually be able to hit things. IQ gets the short shrift at least at the beginning. As with all fighters, pick a couple of weapon skills according to how you want to fight. As a GM, if the player is going the paladin route, I'd even allow for a +1 weapon (either +1 DX or +1 damage) that has the symbol engraved on it, or a +1 armor of a similar nature. Low level paladins are just your normal low level fighters, but they have a goal that should be role played for experience points. In my games I've sporadically given an extra 50 XP for players who really play their characters well. Not enough to bump anything up by itself, but added in with other XP it helps.

As the paladin to Mim gains experience and skills, there are certain spells that reflect a character of Mim. The Scour spell (IQ11) allows the player to clean an area of germs and vermin. Clean hands are a virtue as well as food you can eat without worrying about food poisoning. The magic rainstorm (IQ12) is one of Mim's favorites: when casting, a 4 will allow it to last for 24 instead of 12 turns, a 3 will not cost the player any ST to cast: Mim has gifted this to the player. Similarly, the control elemental skill, if calling a water elemental, will give the paladin a +1DX advantage, a fire elemental a -1DX. Oddly the earth elemental also gives a +1DX advantage as Mim is fond of his mother, Alamia, Goddess of Earth. The lightening spell (IQ14) is also a favorite of Mim, and has the same benefits as the magic rain spell if the player rolls well.

As for talents, beyond the wide array of weapons skills, other skills a paladin should aim for are are literacy, to be able to read the sacred scrolls; quick-draw, swimming to be immersed in the rains; shield expertise as a bonus in fighting; toughness. Your standard enhanced fighting skills. Additionally, they should also work on the healing arts to reflect the traditional laying on of hands. The physicker and master physicker skills are handy, and priest and theologian skills to promote the faith.

Here are some examples of a write-up for various items for paladins of Mim.

Sword of Mim: a +1DX blue-steeled sword that has a knife engraved on the cross-piece, the Sword of Mim is given to all paladin acolytes as they enter the world. It gives a +1DX being a finely crafted sword, but only to followers of Mim. To all others it is just a really nice sword with no advantages.

Satquil, Sword of Mim. This enchanted 2-handed sword is also made of blue steel with a gold knife engraved along the blade, and runes across the hilt. Lost for centuries, it never rusts and is always sharp. When handled by a Paladin of Mim, it gives +2DX to hit, does 3d+1 damage, and on a critical hit also does 1D of lightening damage.

Mim's Armor: +1DX chainmail fitted to the paladin, it offers 3 hits of protection but only has a -2DX adjustment. It too is made of a blue steel, and the accompanying tabard has a vine-encrusted dagger on the chest. It is given to paladins once they complete a quest from Mim.

Zadquil, Holy Armor of Mim. Made by the mystic amorourer Bizma, wife of Mim, the holy armor is fine plate armor made of blue steel, with vines engraved in gold along the edges, and a knife on the breastplate. It will stop 8 hits and has a -3DX applied. There is another spell applied that allows the armor to fit whoever is wearing it if they are a paladin for Mim.

Caphriel, Holy Relic. This branch with runes carved into it allows for 2 3D lightening blasts a day. Found by Doras Thundersword, the first cleric for Mim, this branch has been passed down for millennia to the high priests.

Cup of Mim, Holy Relic. There are several of these as most shrines to Mim will have at least one. This cup is always full of fresh rain water when a prayer to Mim is given. Smaller cups can be used 1-6 times a day, larger cups 2-12 times, and the more rare water flask, which holds about 4 cups, can be used 1-6 times a day as well.

On Blogs

Just a short note about blogging in general, and who I've linked to over in that side bar.

Web logging, or blogs, are a public facing diary of sorts, at least in my case. While there are all sorts of inspirational, educational and other sorts of blogs, I feel they are more of a shout out to the world that I am doing something that I think others may find interesting. Way back when Google+ was a thing I'd occasionally post my blog there and generally got a favorable and honestly a feel good from the community at large - it was almost addictive.

Anyway, I don't read many blogs honestly, and this one, which started out to track any software I was writing for Traveller, has ended up to include game recaps and game resources for the games I am running. While I could have another blog, I think I', okay with things like this though I may want to change the sub-title of the blog :)

Anyways, over on the right is the list of sites I do go to on occasion. In the alphabetical order they are:

Another Traveller Blog a really fantastic source from an architect that loves Traveller. The geomorphs book PDF I use all the time to craft buildings mostly but also ships and stations. Plu she has really nice ship plans with clean lines that just yell Traveller to me.

Behind The Claw is actually a podcast of a Traveller game. I'll admit I've only listened to part of one so far, but I would like to hear how other people run games. While my players indicate they do enjoy my games, I feel I could do a lot better.

Far Future Enterprises is Marc Miller's home for FFE stuff. We'll just say it is as retro as the original Classic Traveller. He does have a more modern site as well but this one seems to be easier to get around in. Though it does open a new tab on every link. And it is where to get Traveller 5. While I still don't think there is an actual game in there, there are some amazing toolkits that I use to bolt on some extra-crunch. Not that my players really care about crunch sadly.

Mongoose Publishing of course goes to Mongoose's home page. While I do like parts of their take on Traveller, I do not like what they've done to deck plans as they are unusable and nor do I like what I think is the more British way-out-there-hey-this-could-be-like-Warhammer approach. As a personal opinion, they are more miss than hit to me.

My Traveller Universe is a seldom updated blog of a real Traveler - that guys has been all over. He has some really interesting ideas about Traveller, and apparently is into props at least as much as I am. He has not posted in a while there or on COTI, and I hope all is well.

Shawn Driscoll's Traveller Blog is of course by Shawn Driscoll. He does a lot of podcasts that I have not listened to much, and does some amazing 3D works. He has different ideas about some things than I do, and often comes off as very curt or even rude, but that may just be how he is. And the world needs different views.

Sprigg's Scibblings I've just added. He is doing a page by page read & review of classic Traveller '77. I've got the '81 version I think from the Deluxe Boxed Edition (the box is barely there now). It is cool to hear his view of things, not yet being a Traveller player.  Makes me want to run a Classic game again.

The Frank GM is not a Traveller-specific blog. It is more a GM reference and aid to help GMs play better. I just need to read and apply more of the stuff I read.

Trannstar News Network is another Traveller blog with some interesting house rules and musings. I believe I found this originally via the COTI starport, a listing of web sites for Traveller. Huh - wonder if I should ask the mods to add me? though my blog is not 100% Traveller.

Traveller Advetnures seems like it is a guy like me: gets to play sporadically and likes to play with Traveller. He is also doing a solo adventure, which reminds me that I need to restart that sometime. Plus apparently I am linked on his blog - whenever I find that, I add their link as well to my blog. Back to the web rings!

Traveller Jim seemes to have a lot of Traveller equipment and stuff, though now that I am looking at it, my link is actually broken and he has a post from a few years in the future! But he seems to be a crunchy player. I'd really like to know how well that translates into game play.

TravellerRPG is COTI, Citizens of the Imperium. I actually pay a bit each year for this amazing resource. Though the software behind the site is creaking badly, and it is not always as vibrant and active as it was, there are still so many great conversations there.

Zhodani Base is another great resource as well as a link to other great resources. THey are a lot more active than I am with Traveller. Lots of free stuff, rules, ideas and images. I am a sucker for good deck plans.

One site I've not added but will is the Traveller Map. That is such an amazing site I could spend way too much time in there! Plus he has easy to use APIs - all my stellar maps come from there as I can import my own sector data to generate the classic looking maps. I will probably add it as it is such a cool thing - Imperial Maps. I've even done the jump route between systems to generate handouts for players indicating the shortest J2 route between systems. So much coolenss!

Resting in Ceawla

Our group of adventures rests a few weeks in Ceawla, fully recovering from their recent adventures, living off their craka beast steaks they brought in as well as coin from their adventures. Jenforth, their erstwhile guide, has left as they are not paying her to sit about a couple of weeks while they recuperate from various wounds. The Runt Gubbler spends time honing his ability to draw power from the various power stones he has, while Crut skulks about and practices various acrobatic maneuvers and poses while trying to come up with a new theme song, something reflecting the desert, perhaps. Agaric, our scholarly werewolf, tries to read the book they found in the desert, the Watching Book. It is a history of the people of the Singing Plain, a place he has never heard of. Nova has been offering her services to the various caravans that come along, and befriended many with her kind words and gentle healings. She has also managed to accrue 5 healing potions, between her own crafting and trading amongst the caravans passing through.

Evenings are spent under the watchful eye of Khali Kamel, the Dwarf in charge of the oasis security, and not fond of tossing anyone, even Goblins, about. Crut has managed to stay out of trouble so far, but his fingers are starting to itch. He has been practicing on his companions much to their annoyance. As caravans pass both ways, they continue to hear rumors of cities that always rain. of fabulous islands peopled by all sorts of creatures, of small cities made up of ruined air ships, of Liche Kings at ruined fortresses. At one time Runt could have sworn he saw an Amazon walking through, though to him all human women are pretty tall to begin with.

They learn more of the silent cave people who attacked them one their approach to the Ceawla. Agaric managed to condense the rumors for his companions

The People of the Dunes are a mute race of cave people. Their origins are shrouded in mystery—they have been living in the Kalor desert for as long as any can recall, but never mingle with other people. Rumors are they are from the distant past, somehow transported to the present. Somehow they survive in the desert, so they must have access to water and food. Only males are ever seen, and there is never any sound from them as they attack.

No one has tracked them back: either they all get killed in the raids or they kill all the people in the caravan. And the drifting sands leave no traces.

They managed to get a map of the southern part of the continent (very much a WIP as I am sticking various Kickstarted projects into this map, including the Watching Book, the Yol'Najj Forest, So'lan from the Creative Multi-race Heroes, and a few others). I actually have some packing paper, sort of like butcher paper, so I may try a hand-drawn scrolling map if I can muster the old drawing skills up. 

We've not been playing the last few weeks: theater of the mind, while acceptable for adults playing, is a bit harder on younger people. So our last session was a bit shorter as they get agitated. Plus we've had some nice days between all the rain, and it is really better to be outside playing. My friend and his sons are actually building a shop/gym in their backyard, and he indicates that there will indeed be a gaming table there. Perhaps my old HD TV that has no HDMI as well: I refuse to buy a new TV until I get rid of the old one that still works just fine, but lacking HDMI input is not compatible with much of anything, though he said he would take it. I did see an HDMI to component device at Wal-Mart, so in theory we could use that, But I am wanting to get a smart TV so I can watch Netflix and Amazon mostly. 

Regardless, we've not yet been able to resume our face to face gaming sessions. Our Monday night game is going well, but we're not pre-teen and teenagers with a limited amount of patience and easily distracted. Though I'll admit I am easily distracted. Hopefully we'll be able to play face to face soon - I do have more miniatures and terrain on the way (my collection of toys). 

And my personal status in the lockdown. Living near Asheville, NC, we are still under a few restrictions. As my wife is a cancer survivor with no immune system (amazing how much damage radiation and chemo can do to a person) I take as few chances as possible, so wear a mask when in public spaces and rarely get out (my car had completed died as I had not driven literally for weeks!). And work is changing a great deal: the owner has discovered that out of the 40-50 people working in the office, only 5 or so, which includes me, want to go back. And he has discovered that people can be productive working from home. So he is going to greatly reduce office space and it looks as though I will be working from home forever more. Coming full-circle in some ways: I worked from home for 14 years or so, and really liked it then as it allowed me to really help raise my son as a baby. But now I'd rather work in the office as when I leave, I leave. I've checked in on stuff a couple times this weekend for instance, something that would not happen should I be working from the office. Yes, I know, it is my own fault, and I am working on it. This pandemic will have a long-lasting effect on our culture. Like many previous, large scale social changes, I think we may end up with one of several possible outcomes to this. First, more people will be working from home than before, that if just about guaranteed. But I also would not be surprised if a universal basic income, a universal medical or a universal internet, federally supported process comes out of this. 

Back to Ceawla and an Encounter

Playing via Skype is still not as fun as face to face, yet we persevere. The last Fantasy Trip session, as the adventurers were heading back to the tent city with their new found riches, were accosted by three of the craka beasts, rising up through the sands to surround our poor Runt Gubbler! There was a bit of warning from the kunio, with a bit of chirping like ground hogs. The kunio are native desert animals from the Desert Dwellers Kickstarter Zine from a year ago...

His companions quickly moved to help him, depsite the enormity of the attacking beasts. Of course, two were still injured, though somewhat healed, but there was a third one as apparently they brought friends. The Runt, though surrounded, immediately cast a flight spell on himself. As he was engaged, he managed to shift 1 hex upwards, leaving his feet dangling well within reach of the deadly craka beasts! Crut, Agaric, Nova and Jenrith surrounded the beasts and started to attack as well. The first round proved deadly to one of the beasts, struck dead with two attackers. Agaric managed to hit but the hard, leather like skin deflected his blow. The craka all missed the rapidly rising Runt, focusing their attacks on the magic user.

Next round, the 2nd beast was slain as Runt went higher and cast a 2d lightening blast on the monster below. The 2nd craks was killed, and with a keening wail, the final beast started to turn insubstantial and sink into the sands. Crut managed a critical hit, and killed the beast before it could get away. Unfortunately, the beast turned tangible on death, and his arm was encased in the dead craka beast. Unable to pull it out, Agaric helps to cut him free, yet managed to slice Crut's arm in the process doing more damage to Crut than he levied against the beast.

Nova bandaged Crut up (a master physicker can heal 3 points of damage after a battle). Cutting up the beasts, they managed to get 13 steak filets out of the skinny beasts, as well as some interesting organs and fluids Nova took to see if there were medicinal properties.

Getting back to Ceawla, they give the horse man a few gold, indicating that was half of what they found. Apparently, despite being a horse trader, he was surprised to get anything at all, so seemed satisfied.

Trading the steaks, which go for 40 silvers each at the Sarap Evi, they managed to barter for a couple of weeks to rest up. And that's where we stopped that session.

They all got 60 experience points for the session, and I am thinking I may give Crut and Runt some extra as they played well within character. Agaric's player is a bit more hesitant to get into battle despite being a werewolf as his last character died in session. Perhaps he is a cowardly werewolf, as he is much more suited for scholastic adventures. So with that in mind, he may also get some extra experience points.

The game map we used for that session is below, with about to scale of the craka (nee makdu I tink from one of the people I donate to on Patreon). Trying to play around with tracking initiative and adjDX better - found a white board and may bring that when we finally get back to face to face!

From the Desert Dwellers zine:

Revered  as  sacred,  Kunio  are  trusting  and friendly  animals.  Though  they  do  not  travel  in  packs, Kunio are very social and will follow travelers across the desert, warning them of danger with their chirping barks. Kunio drop "offerings" of large insects or small animals  near  travelers  in  hopes  of  reciprocation. Recieving an offering is considered good luck by many. Kunio  will  help  themselves  to  travelers'  rations.    If threatened  or  not  welcomed  warmly,  they  will  steal something important and flyaway.

On a non-game related note, it has been a crazy few weeks, and not being able to get out of the house much has had its effects on me. I tend to work more hours working from home, and as my work from home is on the same computer I do all this on, sometimes I just want to get away. So this blog is not as updated as much as it could be.

I've also greatly reduced my Kickstarter habit: having a significant pay cut, and soon putting my son on my insurance, has taken away most of my disposable income. Not to worry - I am still in better shape than a lot of others and I am not complaining. I just tend to be financially pretty conservative personally (getting laid off over a decade ago taught me that money may not always be coming in, so plan accordingly!)

And - Happy Memorial Day! Fortunately we got emailed, else I would have probably worked Monday and wondered why no one was answering email or messaging. 

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 :)

Entering Ceawla, and exiting Lollipop?

The group, lead by Jenforth Conefrid, crosses the last dune to see the glint of water ahead. With the sun setting on their right to the west, the trees cast long shadows across the dunes. A warm breeze ruffles the feathers on Binky, and Lollipop starts to bugle. Far behind the oasis, large winged creatures can be seen drifting in the evening sun. A faint bugle can be heard, a musical counterpoint to Lollipop, who is starting to become agitated despite the best efforts of Nova, to calm the dragraffe.

Wode and Belinda, looking south, both smile. Belinda is the first to speak, excitement making her stumble over her words. "Look! You can see some adult dragraffes! Looks like they are heading this way - they must of heard Lolli here or something...this is farther north than they usually fly about to."

Lollipop is rocking his cart, his wings stretching out as far as they can as he stands up. Perhaps no one noticed, but baby dragraffes grow fast, up to half a foot or so a day. What used to be a fairly roomy cart is now quite full of young dragraffe, and the wooden slats are threatening to break.

Not so far to the south, two winged creatures are fast approaching over the dunes, the sound of dragraffe bugling getting louder both from the adults flying in fast, and the adolescent bugling from Lollipop. While the Runt Gubbler watches from the safety of the rearmost wagon, Agaric and Crut watch from near the front of the wagons and the magnificent creatures settle down a few scant yards away, their heads towering above the group as they peer at the young dragraffe and the people holding him in a cage.

Wode, with a sense of awe in his voice, says "The dragraffes are a herd group - they are well known to protect and bring in orphaned young. I think we may have just been saved several more days of journeying - we can let Lollipop out here. He can fly at least a bit, and these two will guard him as they make their way back south to the southern hills."

And before I go any further, I'll get some feedback from the group to see if this is okay. We'll get back to some more traditional adventuring without having to haul a baby dragraffe (which, in reality, would have been a lot more problematical as we made out. And yes, baby giraffes actually do grow about 6" a day!)

Ceawla, City of Tents, part 2B

Ok, just dropping the PDF here as an embedded document and a link to my OneDrive. Never sure if all web browsers can see that embedded document. It is not complete, but I am hanging some rumors and encounters on there. so this becomes a poor version of the 'zines from Kickstarter )(of which I backed an awful lot of, and will try & actually use some of them!)




And here is a link to the same PDF. I *think* when I update the PDF the link is still good. And Happy Monday everyone!

Ceawla, City of Tents part 2

The Well House

The water building is a large, square rock building housing the well house. Dug deep into the sands and into bedrock, fresh water flows up from here to fill the oasis. The water is very cold coming up, and the well house maintains this colder than expected temperature with its thick walls. As water for animal drinking at the oasis is allowed, but filling barrels or other water containers, travelers need to refill their water supplies at the water house. It is this group that pays for the guards, as well as a small tithe on goods going through Ceawla. And the guards are watching visitors.

Thamus Cire is the head of the Well House. Dressed in ill-fitting desert robes, outside the well house is constantly sweating and fanning his face with an ornate fan. Also multilingual, Thamus is a short-spoken man who demands cash up front to the tune of 2 golds per large barrel of water, 3 if he has to supply the barrel as well. While pricy, unless a traveler knows of other water sources, this is the only known one for a days journey or more.

ST 11 DX 13 (12) IQ 12

Long Bow (1d+2), Shortsword (2d-1), Cloth armor under the ill-fitting robes takes 1 point of damage

Bow Weapons, Sword, Area Knowledge, Business Sense, Languages (Common, Dwarf), Literacy, Recognize Value, Streetwise

Water Guards there are 12 fighters of various abilities. Pick from the Decks of Destiny, but the captain of the guard is outlined here:

Khali Kamal An older female Dwarf, she is a veteran of the Plains Giant War from a few years back. Her hair may be greying in her braids but she is still a stout and dangerous foe. She maintains a command tent behind the regular guard tents near the guard tower. She is known to sing and has a melodious voice which is quite surprising to most people who don’t know her.

ST 15 DX 13 (11) IQ 10

Fine Battle Axe (3d; +1 to hit), Leather Amour takes 2 hits

Axe, Expert Weapon in Axe, Area Knowledge, Diplomacy, Shield Expertise, Toughness x2 (takes 4 hits), Bard, Poet, Literacy

Just  a quick note about a lot of this: I've been rolling on the quick generation for the races (p14), and then picking cards from the Decks of Destiny for the stats, as well as using the talent cards as at least the basis for the skills. These are not starting characters, so are not legal from that perspective. They are assumed to have been around the block a few times. For the most part I also do the d6 roll for male or female where even is female and odd is male (I figure guys are always odd anyway...not sure when I started that but I've been using that technique for years for random Traveller characters).

I also use various sites for the names. I am horrible at names (even in my real life programming world - naming is considered one of the hard things in development. You may not think that, but if you write code for a living you will understand!)

Finally, I added a wine list which I'll add here. There are so many wonderful random name generators out there! Prices are per bottle in silvers. Apparently Thrinin has some really good stuff! Some may be race-specific wines. I;d go with the fruity ones being Elven, Horrors and their ilk Goblin or Orc.

River Amigo.............$12

Vibrant Orb.............$14

Fantasy Buzzer.......$16

Strawberry Storm...$18

Capital Rum............$20

Blueberry Wave......$22

Yellow Horror..........$24

Gingerroot Blitz......$26

Black Drop..............$28

Potato Smash..........$30

Light Ale Cooler......$40

Oaken Wave............$60

Tea Wonder.............$100

Mad Blitz................$200

And really finally, I'll probably post the PDF later. All this is out of the document I am working on. I tend to go overboard in world detailing, but this time I am printing it out & putting it in a notebook so I can actually track things! I've yet to come up with a good organizational process despite reading a LOT, but I;ll figure out one that works for me.

Ceawla, City of Tents, part 1

People of Ceawla

There are several permanent residents at the Tent City. Guards tend to be mercenaries and hired for months at a time.

The Sarap Evi

Gauwis Jamis is considered the mayor of Ceawla. He is also the owner of the Sarap Evi, the winehouse at the edge of the waters. A little above average height and just past 50, he wears silks and a turban with a single faceted jewel. This jewel is actually a detect enemies magical item: Gauvis has made enemies over the years, and this helps to protect him. As does his quartet of bodyguards. He tends to smile a lot.

ST 12 DX 12 IQ 14

Sword, Area Knowledge, Languages (Elf, Orc, Goblin, Common, Reptile Men), Literacy, Recognize Value, Business Sense, Assess Value

Bodyguards His four body guards may be drawn from the Deck of Destiny 36 point characters.

Anin Effrin is Gauwis’ dancer. Human, she moves more like an Elf according to some. Unknown to most, she is also a mage and does more than dance: she is a hidden body guard as well. She looks to be in her late 20s with long hair coiled about her head. A small powerstone is inset in her belly button and has 8 ST. The is also a small hidden silver knife in her sash, and a pair of silver hairpins that are enchanted for extra damage and about 8” long.

ST 11 DX 15 IQ 12

Spells Detect Magic, Reveal Magic, Dispel Missiles, 3 hex Fire

Talents  Sex Appeal, Knife, Dancer, Acrobatics, Unarmed Combat I and II

Weapons silver dagger (1d-1), enchanted silver hair pins (1d+1 damage)

Thrinin Duri The Sarap’s wine steward, Thrinin is a Dwarf with a bright red beard and apparently excellent taste in wines. With a Dwarven stamina, he has never lost a drinking challenge. Hired by Gauvis almost 5 years ago from a passing caravan, Thrinin seems to really enjoy wines and has an extensive knowledge of wines from all over the region. He has standing orders with many caravans to bring in new wines. Jovial with a constant twinkle in his eye, he also more of a wine snob than initial appearances would seem. And there is this quite large hammer on the back wall.

ST 14 DX 11 IQ 12

Vitner, Axes, Toughness 2, Languages (Dwarf, Common, Elf), Weapon Expertise in hammers

Fantasy Trip Games - Session 8 Recap

Okay, I've no idea what session it really was, but 8 sounds close. And as the last session was actually a few weeks ago, going by memory as sadly I was not keeping good notes. I do now have a notebook and I've started organizing that, so hopefully my organization will improve.

We had the characters heading out from Sunshi Troph, also known as the Elemental City of Athukthad. They had picked up a guide for the faster desert trek, and heading south over the dunes soon lost sight and smell of the border city. The oasis of Ceawla is about a day's journey south, if you know where to go. Midway through the day, while drinking from the water barrels (and Binky is one thirsty hippogryph) they are attacked by a small scouting party of what looks to be Neanderthals. The attackers did not utter any sounds and were obviously on the offensive. A quick battle came up, the attackers were all killed, and I do think the Runt Gubbler used a bit of magic and Crut's blur ring came in quite handy. Our werewolf friend Agaric is much more a scholar than a fighter yet he launched into an attack as well. I am unsure if this was the battle where, after the enemies were down, he did not manage to turn back into human, and started attacking his new friends. Regardless, soon thereafter he turned and, after cleaning up the minor wounds, pressed on the Ceawla with their guide, I had a name, and I rolled up a female probably so I could use one of the new minis that I had finally painted.  And pretty certain I pulled the card from the fighters card deck from the Decks of Destiny set. But with no notes and at least a month... As I've no stats at the moment, we'll go ahead & make a 35 point character that has the necessary skills (translating some of the woodsman skills to apply to the desert).

Jenforth Comefrid

Human Female  ST 10 DX 14 (12) IQ 12 MA 10

Weapons and Armor

Fine Saber (2d-2; +1DX)

Spear (1d)

Main-Gauche

Leather (stops 2 hits)

Skills

Sword, Knife, Pole Weapons

Alertness, Area Knowledge, Literacy, Naturalist, Running, Tracking, Woodsman

By the end of the day,already running low on water, they come upon the sights of the oasis, Caewla, the City of Tents. I've written up a bit of a a intro to that as a handout, but will also generate a post. But in summary, there is a small oasis halfway through the Kalor Desert if you know where to look. There are also smaller oasis scattered - the People (the Neanderthals are known as the people) live to the north of this oasis but obviously have their own oasis or water. To the east, plaguing the trade route, Raiders live.

As our group comes over the last dune, there is a stone guard tower standing before the oasis. The characters can see two guards up high, with what appears to be long bows and crossbows at the ready. Behind the tower, a fringe of trees surrounds the bluest water anyone has ever seen before, with a few small buildings and dozens of tents surrounding the sparkling waters, the last of the sun making long shadows of the desert trees. Binky is plodding, footsore from the hot sands, Lollypop's head is drooping, tired of being cooped up. Even Belinda and Wade, the drivers, are tired after the combat and traveling in the desert heat all day.

As they approach the oasis, two more guards come out to meet them, and this is where we'll start the next session.

RPG via Skype

The last two Mondays I've been playing Tumbleweed, a Western RPG, via Skype. As the place we normally meet has decided not to host game clubs for the duration, and we're supposed to be quarantined and stay at home, we started via Skype.

Both sessions have gone really well and we actually stay more on point in terms of the game: the 3 hours we played both nights was almost all part of the game. Our face to face games tend to wander all over the place at times, but for me that is part of the fun as well - I learn all sorts of things about comics, old games and stuff.

After I pointed out that we can share screens, we may get a bit more interactive. We've been sharing some images via the chat channel next to the audio. I'm also the only one, I think, with a webcam, so we don't do video although I think that would help a bit as well, or perhaps be distracting. 

While we could play Traveller this way, as it is mostly theater of the mind, The Fantasy Trip does not lend itself to a voice-only session. It's appeal to me is the tactical level stuff that requires the battle map and tokens or minis. And I do like minis!

I've signed up for Roll20 and have been going through the tutorials. That would work for TFT but it requires my Sunday group to get used to using computers a bit more. Our first attempt at it failed as they were having some technical issues on their side, then Bryson came by so I took a break for working out (I've a bit of stuff in my garage, but I really miss the gym!) We'll have to try again at some point, either via Skype, and I use a google drawing that I share for some real-time sharing/editing and they can move their tokens around, or we try Roll20 again. I just have to upload a bunch of stuff to be effective at Roll20, and practice. Like everything, it takes practice.

This is also the 4th week of working from home, and I am adjusting. I get sick at least once a week with fever or something but I think that is more a stress reaction than anything else. I did get to the grocery store last week, so now my wife won't stay here for the next 2 weeks (she is at her mother's house which is 15 minutes away. That's also where Bryson and the dog are, so it is usually just me and the cats here. I cannot blame them - there are a couple of acres and more space to move around outside. But it does get a bit lonely here at times).

Hope everyone is doing well and taking care of themselves through these interesting times. I do need to come up with the next adventure for the Sunday game, one that may be playable mostly via audio over Skype. And I need to work on the NPCs and rumors, make my little corner of Cidri a living world with more than just the labyrinths to delve into!

William Reese Sweeny, miner. And the mini: