We played yesterday, Session 191, and I had a few more notes I'd forgotten yesterday.
- the PCs fought a bunch of slicer beetles. I found it easier to just do TOTM, as they call it, winged ranges, and tracking the monsters by hand. I didn't bother to put all 20 of them into the turn tracker, make sure each token was rotated properly, etc. I just did it on note paper. I may do that for true fodder encounters.
I was hopeful one of them would roll a 3 or something and lop off someone's hand or foot, but none of them did so. The PCs rattled off about a dozen criticals during the fight. You know, against fodder-level defenses, where it hardly mattered. You can't control the dice.
- The PCs gave Harold $120, a full 100% bonus on his asking rate, and asked him to be available in 2 weeks. We'll see - they get a nice bonus on their roll to find him again, and it does slightly increase his Loyalty, too.
Darkspire took a share, and we'll see if he's available again. He might be, if only because I have him in the system. Otherwise I've aked for at least one week before the play date for NPC requests because it's time consuming to make and upload the NPCs, ensure they have a token, name, quirks, etc. and all of that. I don't want to do a bunch "just in case" because I don't enjoy the process of making characters in GCS. My players love it, I find it really annoying.
- I find exploration without the "unlimited LOS view" of Dark Vision more fun to GM. It's a much shorter "you see this and that" and not a lot of "so-and-so sees" and "I tell them that" or what have you.
- the PCs found a broken set of orc ladders, and the thinking was Hjalmarr broke them. Could be. I describe PCs as being like wolverines, except that goal one is destroy anything you can to prevent the NPCs from using it, and goal two is get whatever they can use. So, so many doors, portcullises, ladders, entrances, exits, tools, puzzles, and re-useable items in the dungeon have been pillaged for loot (rarely) and destroyed so the (fill in name of group NPCs) can't use it/lock it/block it/come around behind us/come out of the dungeon/sell it/whatever. I once ran an arch villain in a campaign whose attitude was "don't break anything you might need later" so he didn't stomp the PCs just in case he needed them, tried to keep allies (and even useful enemies) alive, etc. That was a fun exercise, highly recommended.
- Oh, and it's tax day in the US, but not in Felltower, because everything looted under Felltower is tax-free. Because paying taxes in game is very, very old school AD&D, and also very, very annoying to deal with. So I made up a way to not do it.
Fun session.
Monday, April 15, 2024
Sunday, April 14, 2024
DF Session 191, Felltower 129 - Troll Treasure & Orc Holes
Date: April 14th, 2024
Weather: Sunny, warm.
Characters
Chop, human cleric (308 points)
Hannari Ironhand, dwarf martial artist (297 points)
Thor Halfskepna, human knight (310 points)
Vladimir Luchnick, dwarf martial artist (255 points)
Darkspire the Inscrutable, human apprentice (125 points)
Harold, human guard (~80 points)
The PCs gathered in town, gathered rumors, and headed out to Felltower itself. The goal was simple - gain the loot from the trolls slain last time, and then . . . explore around. They managed to hire Harold, a low-rent fighter (asking $60 for the trip), and Darkspire, an Air College wizard, who came for a share. They noted he signed his agreement Marvin Darkspire, Esq. Hannari thinks he might work at Ragnarsson and Sons.
Once in the dungeon, they crossed the pit, but not before Thor fell into the pit and took 22 damage (13 after armor). The perils of low (no) Climbing skill and 20+ HP. They made it across, picked up the trail of the trolls, and then decided it led into too many NMZs and pits. So they went around, checking the room they'd fought spiders in a while back (they'd forgotten that) along the way.
They tried to cut into the mosaic hallway by a disused route, and found it wasn't just a NMZ, but a No Sanctity Zone, either. That wiped out the scout's lightstone. Vlad opened a glow vial and checked the big double doors nearby and found signs of trolls.
They backed off and took the long way around, and into the gigantic room. Darkspire opined the burned wreckage in the room was once books. In any case, they found the troll's trash pile . . . and their loot. They found a 2000 or so silver, 10 gold, a broach, an ornate shield, a helmet, and a tome on constructs.
They took the loot and headed down to level 2 via a trapdoor in that room. In the room below, a curious Thor pressed a button in an alcove, and the floor opened. He snatched the lip of the pit and avoided a fatal fall onto spikes.
Then it was over to the altar. They told the new guys the altar could turn up to 30 sp into gold, so they handed each NPC a bag and had them touch it in turn. Harold got +1 to all of his stats for a day. Darkspire got the transmuting effect (it comes up a lot, actually) and I rolled . . . 3d30 and got 47. So all 30 sp he had turned to gold. Oops. (I'm not sure why they thought it was only 30, but whatever.)
Next, they headed to the orc hole, and in. Some falls (Chop, this time) later, they made it down. Long story short, they explored the caves at the bottom thoroughly, and found nothing except some pits. They made their way the 3+ miles down the tunnel to the exit in the valley north of Felltower. There they found a stockade fence, towers, and patrolling orcs, with a cleared kill zone in front with a bunch of wolf-like dogs laying about.
They saw the place was pretty busy - they called it Orcburg - and backed off.
After they eventually made it back to the dungeon proper, they headed down to the caves where Sterick had been imprisoned. They basically wandered around there for a time, killed 20 slicer beetles, and then headed back home after not finding anything else worth noting.
They did check the spherical room and find a nest of a probably goblin-sized individual, who'd used the broken sarcophagus and twigs and wattle and mud to build a nest. No loot, though.
With that, they headed home, profitable for a change.
Notes:
- Hey, wow, we played Felltower again.
- XP was 1 exploration (they actually went into part of the orc hole no one had bothered to before), 4 xp loot (~600 sp or so each), 1 xp MVP for Thor to learn Climbing. Also because he was very useful when he wasn't Sir Fallsalot.
- It was a fun session despite what on paper wasn't a lot done. The loot was good, the players were focused, and everything went smoothly besides me getting booted from the VTT 2x for no apparant reason. Whatever. At least we gamed and enjoyed it!
Weather: Sunny, warm.
Characters
Chop, human cleric (308 points)
Hannari Ironhand, dwarf martial artist (297 points)
Thor Halfskepna, human knight (310 points)
Vladimir Luchnick, dwarf martial artist (255 points)
Darkspire the Inscrutable, human apprentice (125 points)
Harold, human guard (~80 points)
The PCs gathered in town, gathered rumors, and headed out to Felltower itself. The goal was simple - gain the loot from the trolls slain last time, and then . . . explore around. They managed to hire Harold, a low-rent fighter (asking $60 for the trip), and Darkspire, an Air College wizard, who came for a share. They noted he signed his agreement Marvin Darkspire, Esq. Hannari thinks he might work at Ragnarsson and Sons.
Once in the dungeon, they crossed the pit, but not before Thor fell into the pit and took 22 damage (13 after armor). The perils of low (no) Climbing skill and 20+ HP. They made it across, picked up the trail of the trolls, and then decided it led into too many NMZs and pits. So they went around, checking the room they'd fought spiders in a while back (they'd forgotten that) along the way.
They tried to cut into the mosaic hallway by a disused route, and found it wasn't just a NMZ, but a No Sanctity Zone, either. That wiped out the scout's lightstone. Vlad opened a glow vial and checked the big double doors nearby and found signs of trolls.
They backed off and took the long way around, and into the gigantic room. Darkspire opined the burned wreckage in the room was once books. In any case, they found the troll's trash pile . . . and their loot. They found a 2000 or so silver, 10 gold, a broach, an ornate shield, a helmet, and a tome on constructs.
They took the loot and headed down to level 2 via a trapdoor in that room. In the room below, a curious Thor pressed a button in an alcove, and the floor opened. He snatched the lip of the pit and avoided a fatal fall onto spikes.
Then it was over to the altar. They told the new guys the altar could turn up to 30 sp into gold, so they handed each NPC a bag and had them touch it in turn. Harold got +1 to all of his stats for a day. Darkspire got the transmuting effect (it comes up a lot, actually) and I rolled . . . 3d30 and got 47. So all 30 sp he had turned to gold. Oops. (I'm not sure why they thought it was only 30, but whatever.)
Next, they headed to the orc hole, and in. Some falls (Chop, this time) later, they made it down. Long story short, they explored the caves at the bottom thoroughly, and found nothing except some pits. They made their way the 3+ miles down the tunnel to the exit in the valley north of Felltower. There they found a stockade fence, towers, and patrolling orcs, with a cleared kill zone in front with a bunch of wolf-like dogs laying about.
They saw the place was pretty busy - they called it Orcburg - and backed off.
After they eventually made it back to the dungeon proper, they headed down to the caves where Sterick had been imprisoned. They basically wandered around there for a time, killed 20 slicer beetles, and then headed back home after not finding anything else worth noting.
They did check the spherical room and find a nest of a probably goblin-sized individual, who'd used the broken sarcophagus and twigs and wattle and mud to build a nest. No loot, though.
With that, they headed home, profitable for a change.
Notes:
- Hey, wow, we played Felltower again.
- XP was 1 exploration (they actually went into part of the orc hole no one had bothered to before), 4 xp loot (~600 sp or so each), 1 xp MVP for Thor to learn Climbing. Also because he was very useful when he wasn't Sir Fallsalot.
- It was a fun session despite what on paper wasn't a lot done. The loot was good, the players were focused, and everything went smoothly besides me getting booted from the VTT 2x for no apparant reason. Whatever. At least we gamed and enjoyed it!
Friday, April 12, 2024
Links for Friday 4/12/24
Links for Friday!
- This is the kind of playset I want to play on.
Gaming - D Day Gold Beach
- Love Holloway illustrations like this one from B5 Horror on the Hill.
- Game on Sunday, finally.
- This is the kind of playset I want to play on.
Gaming - D Day Gold Beach
- Love Holloway illustrations like this one from B5 Horror on the Hill.
- Game on Sunday, finally.
Thursday, April 11, 2024
Black Company RPG in development
Thanks to Rob L for sending this one to me:
Black Company RPG in Development
The folks who did Delta Green are doing a Black Company RPG. Interesting. There was a D&D3.5 one done about 20 years back. I'd still play a BC game with GURPS myself. but I'm interested in seeing how it's done in another system. You need to have extremely powerful folks (Dominator, Lady, the Taken, various monsters), heroic above-the-norm types (Bomanz, say, probably Raven, definitely lots of the Rebel generals), and lots and lots of normal folks, many without the baggage of a conscience (most of the characters.) Yet those normal folks occasionally manage to stack things to go toe-to-toe with the extremely powerful folks and come out smiling. In other words, powerful doesn't mean invulnerable yet can still mean capable of leveling a company of enemies.
I'll take a look and I put in for the playtest, although it sounds like you'll need to be a Patreon subscriber to do so. If so, I'm likely out - I pay with my contribution, I don't like to pay to help you - but I'll keep people posted. After all, it's one of my favorite books by my favorite author.
And for those keeping track, I first heard of the book in a sidebar in 1st edition GURPS Special Ops. Thanks Mike Rose!
Black Company RPG in Development
The folks who did Delta Green are doing a Black Company RPG. Interesting. There was a D&D3.5 one done about 20 years back. I'd still play a BC game with GURPS myself. but I'm interested in seeing how it's done in another system. You need to have extremely powerful folks (Dominator, Lady, the Taken, various monsters), heroic above-the-norm types (Bomanz, say, probably Raven, definitely lots of the Rebel generals), and lots and lots of normal folks, many without the baggage of a conscience (most of the characters.) Yet those normal folks occasionally manage to stack things to go toe-to-toe with the extremely powerful folks and come out smiling. In other words, powerful doesn't mean invulnerable yet can still mean capable of leveling a company of enemies.
I'll take a look and I put in for the playtest, although it sounds like you'll need to be a Patreon subscriber to do so. If so, I'm likely out - I pay with my contribution, I don't like to pay to help you - but I'll keep people posted. After all, it's one of my favorite books by my favorite author.
And for those keeping track, I first heard of the book in a sidebar in 1st edition GURPS Special Ops. Thanks Mike Rose!
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Fantasy General: Grinding Out a Win
I have resumed playing Fantasy General as General Marcus.
I think I have two battles left. My current one should put me just outside the Shadowlord's fortress. There is a little side penninsula I ignored, which I'm hoping I can keep on ignoring. In video games, though, one never knows. In WWII the Allies just encircled those "fortress" cities the Nazis set up in France and left them until the war ended. In video games, you might have to clear them before you're allowed to attack the main fortress.
The battle before the last, then, is going on. It's nasty. Rough terrain, spread out objectives, and the enemy has lots of high-experience sky hunters (fighters) and seemingly endless numbers of mechanical infantry units (Mechanus) and cavalry (Rolling Thunder.) They're brutal to take out, and they're backed by Shadow Warriors and Monks of Meo in large numbers. It's been a slog and cost me a lot of pain and I'm not even a quarter done.
I'm enjoying it despite the title - it's a slog, it's a grind. But it's good. It shouldn't be easy. My tactics, though, still work - rush in mobs of Sky Hunters to take out all the units I can easily demolish, hound the wounded, and then let my combined follow-on forces mob the remainder. It's just slow.
I'm interested to see how this wraps up. I enjoy the game in spurts. This is one of those spurts. I hope to finish it this week!
I think I have two battles left. My current one should put me just outside the Shadowlord's fortress. There is a little side penninsula I ignored, which I'm hoping I can keep on ignoring. In video games, though, one never knows. In WWII the Allies just encircled those "fortress" cities the Nazis set up in France and left them until the war ended. In video games, you might have to clear them before you're allowed to attack the main fortress.
The battle before the last, then, is going on. It's nasty. Rough terrain, spread out objectives, and the enemy has lots of high-experience sky hunters (fighters) and seemingly endless numbers of mechanical infantry units (Mechanus) and cavalry (Rolling Thunder.) They're brutal to take out, and they're backed by Shadow Warriors and Monks of Meo in large numbers. It's been a slog and cost me a lot of pain and I'm not even a quarter done.
I'm enjoying it despite the title - it's a slog, it's a grind. But it's good. It shouldn't be easy. My tactics, though, still work - rush in mobs of Sky Hunters to take out all the units I can easily demolish, hound the wounded, and then let my combined follow-on forces mob the remainder. It's just slow.
I'm interested to see how this wraps up. I enjoy the game in spurts. This is one of those spurts. I hope to finish it this week!
Monday, April 8, 2024
Discworld RPG Bundle
There is a Bundle of Holding for the GURPS-based Discworld RPG:
It's $14.95 and nets you the Discworld RPG - normally $30 alone - plus Low-Tech and Fantasy Tech 1. I'm not sure why those two, except that they kinda fit. Whatever the reason, it's a good price for either DW or the two accompanying books, so if you're missing DW or missing those two or all three, it's a good way to fill out your collection.
If you're in, click here.
It's $14.95 and nets you the Discworld RPG - normally $30 alone - plus Low-Tech and Fantasy Tech 1. I'm not sure why those two, except that they kinda fit. Whatever the reason, it's a good price for either DW or the two accompanying books, so if you're missing DW or missing those two or all three, it's a good way to fill out your collection.
If you're in, click here.
Sunday, April 7, 2024
Minor Felltower Work
Sunday is about Felltower, and I think we're playing next week. So I spent it doing a little maintenance.
- I re-familiarized myself with some of the areas I think the PCs may go to.
- I updated a few modules on the VTT.
- I did a little work on the Felltower file itself, just cleaning up some junk that's crept in. Keeping the whole dungeon as one big file has lots of upsides but also some issues with notes that aren't important anymore. Unless something is blatantly wrong (spelling error, rules page reference error, etc.) I just use strikethrough text to indicate something changed.
That's about it . . . Felltower needs delving to live.
- I re-familiarized myself with some of the areas I think the PCs may go to.
- I updated a few modules on the VTT.
- I did a little work on the Felltower file itself, just cleaning up some junk that's crept in. Keeping the whole dungeon as one big file has lots of upsides but also some issues with notes that aren't important anymore. Unless something is blatantly wrong (spelling error, rules page reference error, etc.) I just use strikethrough text to indicate something changed.
That's about it . . . Felltower needs delving to live.
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