THE DEFENCE Of SAN FLORIA: A Short Glog adventure/Session Recap

THE DEFENCE OF SAN FLORIA

I had a GLOG session a while ago that was quite interesting.  I wrote a recap, and I told myself: why not just slightly change it and publish a little adventure? :)

Sources:

Map:  Dyson Logos' Blessed Monastery

Scenario idea:  Skerples' 50 missions for mercenaries

Enemy design:  Spekkio at black rat big hat

NPC guard/mercenary class design:  Petty Sell-Sword

Ruleset:  the GLOG, but I hope that there are enough details here that this could easily be run in B/x or something similar.

Basic scenario concept:  

In this campaign, the heroes are part of a large-ish mercenary company (the Fox's Company), who's captain has made enemies (as they do).  The captain, Ricardo Volpe, receives rumors of a plot to raid a monastery and frame him for the raid.  He sends some of his trusted followers (the PCs) to protect the monastery and his reputation.  There is a roughly 1 week window of time in which this raid will occur.

Feel free (of course) to modify this intro to fit your campaign.   The only real requirement is that the PCs would be seen as trustworthy enough to be hired for this.  If they aren't... you could reverse the scenario on its head and have the PCs be the raiders!

This adventure was play-tested with 4-5 2nd-level PCs using the GLOG system.  

The Monastery:

The Convent of San Floria 

Leader: Abbesss Maria:  A no-nonsense woman with a strong will, with sharp features and green eyes.  She is a bit dubious about this entire situation, and does not trust the PCs entirely, but will allow them to defend the monastery.  She is worried about the relic being stollen, but also concerned about the monastery’s extensive wine cellar, and she doesn’t want it raided or even discovered. Most of the other sisters will stay out of sight and not interact with the party.  She will provide some lodging (sleeping in the hayloft or something of the sort) and food to the party while they stay at the convent.  The convent has about two dozen nuns and a few servants.

Guards:  3 eunuchs, rescued from a difficult situation and devoted to the convent.  No armor, armed with quarterstaves, 5hp.  Will help the heroes defend, but more in a "extra pair of eyes" role - they see their main objective as protecting the convent itself and would rather let the PCs do the fighting.  The leader is Bernard, a boarman, 10 hp.  He did some soldiering in his youth, which makes him both relate to the party and yet not trust them fully.  The guards’ attitude towards the party will depend on how respectful and competent the PCs behave.

The Relic: a silver and glass reliquary containing the Hand of San Floria, said to be able to remove curses during lunar eclipses... it doesn't really matter, it's a McGuffin.  Worth a few hundred gp to the right buyer.

By Dyson Logos, see link above

Monastery grounds:

A wall surrounds the monastery, but in the north and part of the east is "incomplete" - a series of graceful arches beautifies but make it easy to bypass .

The convent is on a large patch of poor soil, used for pasture.  They have little agricultural activity beyond a few apple trees and beekeeping.   About 750 feet north-west of the monastery is a tiny hamlet - a few modest homes where an extended family of shepherds live.  A dirt track leads past it to the nearest town.   To the north and east there is a small cops of woods, and less than a hundred feet to the south there is a small river (15 feet wide and fordable on foot) in a small, bushy valley.

Rather bland, but it shows the layout.  each square = 30 feet.  Taken late in the session.

The opposition:  

Marnie's Movers, a group of petty-sell-swords (designed by Spekkio, I added one member, Burak)

= Marnie (leader) =

F Human

9 9 9 9 14 9

7hp

Atk: +1 / 1d6 dagger [dual-wield]

AC: 12 (leather)

Items: 5 daggers total, 3 rations, shovel, 30' rope, a small insignia of Fox's Company to be left behind.

Treasure: 4gp 8sp various coinage, anklet worth 17sp

Skills: Literate, Brigandry (+2 to checks relating to executing an ambush), LOW CUNNING (+2 Stealth, can perform crude deception)

Appearance: Esmerelda from Quasimodo, but aging and with a few scars and pockmarks.

Personality: Dry and lowbrow. Motivated by greed.

= Burak =

M Dwarf

9 9 14 9 9 9

10 HP

Atk + 0 1d6 (hand axe)

AC: 13 (leather, shield)

Items:  3 rations, matock, large sacks

Treasure: 4 gp, ring worth 3 sp

Skills: Brigand  (+2 to checks relating to ambushes)

Appearance: stout even for a dwarf, black hair and eyes

Personality:  Cautious, suspicious, and protective, sees himself as Marnie's bodyguard.  The voice of "reason".

= Nicolin ("Young Nick") =

M Ratling

9 9 9 10 9 9

5hp

Atk +2 / 1d6 dagger (Fell Handed)

AC: 12 (leather)

Items: 3 rations, shovel

Treasure: 2gp various coinage, locket worth 13sp

Skills: Urchin/Pickpocket.

Appearance: Black fur. Squinty eyes.

Personality: As Todd T Squirrel.

= Percival ("Perc") =

M Ravenling

9 9 9 9 9 11

8hp (Eating Well)

Atk +0 / 1d6 dagger

AC: 12 (leather)

Items: 8 rations, shovel

Treasure: 8sp, 20sp bauble

Skills: Brigand (+2 to checks relating to ambushes)

Appearance: Beak heavily scuffed from clam habit

Personality: Thinks he's funny

= Nicholas ("Old Nick") =

M Ratling

9 9 9 10 9 9

5hp

Atk +0 / 1d6 dagger

AC: 12 (leather)

Items: 3 rations, shovel, lantern

Treasure: 18 sp, 6sp earring

Skills: EAGLE EYE (adv to perception checks), Brigand (+2 to checks relating to ambushes)

Appearance: Greying, with whiskers sticking out in all directions. Rather long and thin face.

Personality: Reticent.

= Winnifred ("Winnie") =

F Badgerling

9 9 13 9 9 9

9hp

Atk +0 / 1d6 dagger [dual-wield]

AC: 12 (leather)

Items: 2 daggers total, 3 rations, whompin' shovel

Treasure: 22sp, 3sp Toe-ring

Skills: LOW CUNNING (+2 Stealth, can perform crude deception), Peasant/Animal Handling, can dig

Appearance: -

Personality: Surly in comparison to normal people, rather upbeat for a badgerling. Still likes animals more than people.

Extra: has a small donkey, named Cheeky. She loves him dearly.

= Alais =

F Human

9 9 9 14 9 9

8hp (eating well)

Atk +0 / 1d6 dagger, 1d6 bow

AC: 12 (leather)

Items: 8 rations, shovel

Treasure: 14 sp, 12sp snuffbox (empty)

Skills: Urchin/Pickpocket.

Appearance: Pale and waifish. Tendency to stare.

Personality: Very intense.

Marnie is cunning and objective driven - she doesn't want to fight, she wants the relic.  Depending on what defensive measures the PCs adopt, she will craft a plan to bypass them (or so she hopes!).  She is a big fan of using a distraction to draw away defenders while the main group sneaks in the back. You can read the recap below to see one example of such plan.

Complications:  

If you feel like making the scenario thornier, a third party may intervene - a local taxman who has a dispute with the monastery for example - a taxman the party may mistake for a raider scout/impostor?  Perhaps a young nun is interested in one of the PCs?  Perhaps Bernard is not a boarman but a were-boar and the full moon approaches?  Have fun!

Reward:

The Abbess will reward the party with a bottle of fine wine each, claiming that they were given to the monastery by a noble a few years ago (true) and that they had no use for it (quite false).  These bottles can be sold for 5 gp each (it's a somewhat famous vintage), or simply enjoyed.  She will also gift them with a large jar of honey.

Captain Ricardo will reward the PC according to their success.  A complete failure yields no reward, a successful defense will earn the PCs 10 gp each, and information about the plot another 10 gp, and perhaps extra equipment from the company store. (adjust according to your campaign, of course)

PLAY RECAP:  

So how did this work in my game?  Explody.  Here is how it went down:

PCs:

Ragno, a spiderling sawbwones (level 2)

Xerses, a dwarven Sorcerer from afar (level 1 sorcerer, level 1 thief)

Mr Bill (level 2 human Zouave)

Violetta (level 2 gnome tactician, player is absent for most of it)

Giuseppe (level 2 human hunter, has a crossbow) 

The party managed to establish a decent rapport with both the local guards and the local shepherds - the later achieved with an offer of a few silvers to the shepherds to keep an eye out.  A few days after arriving at the monastery, they got word from said shepherd of "suspicious strangers" seen lurking in the north (Marnie's men were scouting the scene - they paid the shepherds in coppers, not sliver).

Correctly anticipating a nighttime raid, the PCs surrounded  the monastery with fires at night, so that no one can sneak in unseen.  Marnie, seeing this, developed a plan of attack.

First, a distraction - 3 members (Alais, Nicolas and Winifred) "attacked" from the north at night.  Each carried a long pole, each end of the poll having  dummy carrying a "spear" and a torch, creating the illusion of 6 attacking torchbearers and "more" poorly seen.  Once within about 200 feet of the monastery, they stopped, put down the poles on support (the fake attackers are now "standing on guard") and begin shooting flaming arrows at the building from extreme range.  If a counter attack happens, they run.  But because they start their charge from quite far, it takes a long time for a counter attack to work...    The flaming arrows did little damage, but certainly caused a lot of concern, and the monastery guards went on fire control duty, leaving the PCs to take care of the fighting.

(I'll note that in the GLOG, ranged attacks have significant penalties, and these ranges may have to be adjusted so they make sense for your system.  The attackers want to be close enough that shooting arrows at a far range at a large collection of building is possible, but far enough that return fire has little chance of hitting them). 

In the south, Marnie, Burak, Nicodin and Percival snuck close to the back of the monastery, taking advantage of the distraction and cover from the small river valley.  They have with them bales of hay that they soak in the river and use to extinguish one of the fires, and a ladder to go over the wall.

But Xercese, the party sorcerer, suspects that something is amiss and heads south.   He manages to signal to the others that the mercenaries are coming, but his efforts to slow the invaders down only spur them to greater speed.  He paralyzes Marnie and her dwarven guard Burak, green sparks shooting out of his ears from the magical effort.  But the fat ravenling Percival and Nicolin the ratling are already over the wall and charge him, with Percival yelling "grab the wizard!!!", and they tackle the sorcerer.

Ragno and Mr Bill are rushing south, and Guisepe is trying to flank, but are just a wee bit too far.  Xerces is not hindered by the grapple -he is not a wizard, but a sorcerer, he doesn't need mumbo-jumbo gestures or chants!  He draws his powers for the third time, and paralyzes Percival with a thunderclap!  Nicolin panics, and decides the solution to the "wizard problem" is stabbing!  He misses.  Guisepe fires a bolt but misses as well.

Ragno and Mr Bill are so close!  Xerces decides to turn invisible for a short moment to escape, thinking that Mr Bill and Ragno should be able to handle Nicolin.  But Xerces has used too much magic today, and the spell catastrophically backfires.  For a brief moment he is engulfed in crackling magical energy (tacking 9 dmg) ... and then he *explodes* in a fireball, inflicting 16 damage to everyone within 20 feet.  Xerces, paralyzed Percival and stabby Niccodin are obliterated....   Mr Bill and Ragno, outside the blast zone, can only stare in shock as Xerces's peculiar hat flutters down from a great height...

(note: in the GLOG, the sorcerer is a caster that the more they cast, the more dangerous it gets - the player pushed his luck too far.  They knew they were going to blow up sooner or later!)

The arcane explosion brings the battle to a stop.  Marnie, still paralyzed, is captured by the PCs, along with a few others.  In exchange for their freedom, she tells the PCs all about who hired them.  The party begin to see the outline of a plot against their captain... 

 Thanks to Kwub for helpful suggestions and revisions

P.S.  I have pretty good notes from this campaign, and I think a few of the other adventures are also "decent enough to publish".  The next one will not be a battle, but a "capper" - The Yamac Sauce Capper.  I think we need more adventures in the GLOG - enough classes!

30 years of gaming characters

Inspired by the great Throne of Salt, here is a list of some of my characters in my nearly 3 decades of playing RPGs.  I also got a comment in a previous post inquiring about my gaming history, so here we are.

This is pretty long, so you can skim, there is a conclusion at the end :)

High school and undergrad:

A fire wizard.  (Advanced Fighting Fantasy).   I don't have a sheet of this character, only some memories, and I think this was my first character.  Based on The Elves and the Otterskin, which had an interesting fire mage at the begining.  There were probably a few others (a dwaven fighter I think? Maybe that one was the first?) but it's too long ago.  Interestingly, the Advanced Fighting Fantasy is what gave birth to Troika!  We played in this system for about a year then switched to 2nd ed AD&D.

A dwarven Cleric probably named Durin  (2nd ed AD&D).  Played from level 1-5 ish.   My first D&D character.  Clerics where not great back then, but hey we have to have a healer!  After 5-6 levels I got fed up and we got a henchman to do that instead, and I switched to my next character which was:

Ajax  the wild mage - my first "really good" PC, wild mage from level 5 to 9 (when the campaign ended). 2nd ed, still fond memories.  We did some undermountain, we did some ravenloft, some underark...  Had a cloak of the arachnid and frequent user of Wall of Ice.  Gave my DMs nightmares with the "there-not there" spell.  We had a really good campaign going - 2 fighters, an invoker, a wild mage, cleric henchmen, a psionisist and a paladin.  The GM alternated between the paladin, the invoker and myself - when the party had two wizards going... we could dish out mad damage.  Once near the end, we were attacked by a pirate ship and just... obliterated the enemy ship.

hand drawn PC photos are the best no?

(looking at this image made me realize he had a toad familiar).  I'm surprised I never brought him back...


Shoshiborg :   a Gnome thief illusionist in a Ravenloft campaign, level 3-5 2nd ed.  Had a golden dagger +2.  The 2nd ed thief was weak by itself, but as a multi class it was quite good and really explanded your gaming *and* roleplaying potential. 

 Dain? Nain? A dwarven war cleric using the 2nd ed skills and powers rules, in ravenloft  *very* OP, was almost as good as a fighter with almost full cleric spellcasting.  He was the first character with "I don't want to be here, I want to go back home" problem that would cause him to find ways to shortcut adventures.  (the GM and I had to have a talk).  Level ... 3-7?

Off to gradschool!

Durin (?), a dwarven fighter, a mountain guide.  He really should have been a ranger, but this wasn't allowed in 2nd ed (good riddance on that rule!).  Short campaign but fond memories of it - first one after I left home, introduced me to new friends (who started a high level campaign).

Shoshiborg :   a Gnome thief illusionist 2.0! The abovementioned friends wanted to do a high level campaign, so I brought him back!  (level 11-14)  This guy had escaped Ravenloft and was very paranoid, but relieved to be back to the forgotten realms… and then become stuck in this temple of Helm a few hundred miles from Waterdeep, stuck because it's being sieged by a demonic (devilish?) army (probably the hordes of dragonspear castle module?).  Tons of players (8?),  but eventually fizzled out because we kept killing demons and it kept making no difference.  This ended up being our last 2nd ed campaign, and also my highest level campaign ever.

Cedric:  A human cleric in 3.0 then 3.5, level 1-9, in a *great* Greyhawk campaign.  Cleric of St-Cuthbert with memory problem.  Full on COD-zilla, but also very good roleplaying character - zealous but also pragmatic, a hard balance to navigate.

I could write a post about this campaign alone.  For a while our two main fighters had raven-lycanthropy.  So in a hard fight, they would get so hurt they would shift, the rest of the party would run away, and the 2 ware-raven would *demolish and eat* the opposition.

Ranger:  a 4rth level strenght-built human ranger, that was part of the campaign above, in a "side quest".  I don't remember too much about it, but in the list it goes!

A dwarven Evoker an a dwarven druid.  level 2-7 maybe?  We did a portion of the mega-dungeon return to the temple of elemental evil.  Eventually we had a fight with 2-3 members escaping and the rest dead or captured.  This "halfway to TPK" became an effective TPK as we discussed ways to rescue this and just gave up.  (added this in edit, completely forgot this).

A dwarven ratcatcher (in warhammer frpg 2nd ed).  Fun game, but the players wanted to stick to D&D

A Dwarven fighter/rogue (warhammer setting, 3.X system), also a sort of holy warrior of the god of death (more neutral funereal god, not kill everyone god).  Pretty brutal combo.  Low level D&D works for Warhammer but past level 5 it doesn't really work anymore.

Barracuda, A "leader/spy" in an Archer game, a d20 spy/combat system.  Very high tech system.  One of the very few female characters I have played.

My contact with this group ended a few years after gradschool

Sometimes during this time I also joined a new group, that did *not* play D&D

In the introductory part of the campaign, a modern "fey live among us" urban fantasy, I played an arms dealer.  We used the gurps system.

Rupert, the professor/hermetic mage.  Still in Gurps, still same campaign.  Human, British, an academic with a sword cane, very fun to play.  Even then, 15 years ago, I was interested in old grimoires.  His moment of glory was saving a critically injured party member on the roof by casting a short but very strong defensive spell on said member, pushing him off the roof, then doing the same to myself and jumping off too.  He then managed to drag the injured character to safety while evading police that were converging on the very *loud* battle scene.

I think we ended up blowing ourselves up?

Robert the half-japanese street samurai.  Still the same urban campaign but we are now switching to the far more complex Hero (champion?) 5e system.   He is recruited by an arm of the RCMP that keeps an eye on the fey living among us.  Very sneaky, very powerful in a melee fight.  Also very determined and disciplined.

The campaign ends in an attempt by our heroes to stop "the end of the world" but we explode because one player *didn't tell us about the bombs*.  This player, which I still play with to this day, never lost this habit of sometimes not telling the other PCs crucial bits of information.

the "saving the world" doesn't quite work.  Aliens - "angels" - come to earth and take over.  Things are very messed up, much destruction etc.  A new campaign in this world begins...

Julien Flamel.  (Hero 5e revised edition) A slightly mad, very determined and *extremely paranoid* mage.   His main shtick was beside some fairly basic magic, was, due to a summoning mishap, he could "exchange place" between his normal self and a multi tentacular being from the 5th dimension.  This thing was a combat monster and surprisingly sneaky for a 800 pound land squid.  It usually ate foes.   This was inspired in part by the Words of Changing from a Tad Williams novel.

The character evolved by having more interesting spells, like the ability to summon flying turnip golems, or turn incoming bullets into mushrooms.   Unfortunately, we came to a point where we had to gamble with the goddess of death to get a very important macguffin.  Another PC was *designed* to be a great gambler.  But the player *choked*.  He couldn't risk his precious character.  So Julien, aware of the extremely high stakes and very determined, gave the other PC a disgusted look and took the gamble and... lost (without those gambling bonuses, it was a 50/50 chance).  wan-wan-waaaaaan. 
Jacob:  The replacement character.  A gunsligner with a cyborg eye and a huge revovler, who saw the "angels" as an affront to God.  Given that this was Hero 5e, his gun hit ridiculously hard.  The GM took it away but it didn't really matter.  And that was the end of this long urban fantasy campaign - 2 systems, 4 PCs and over 5 years of gaming.

Edward the Eel Lawyer (hero 5e).  We are switching to super heroes.  My character has aquatic powers, which we all know are lame.  So I also made him a lawyer!  He once stopped a fight dead in its track by shouting "I WILL SUE YOU!!!".   Eventually he had to fight in another battle, and the other PCs (and the GM, who had forgotten), were horrified to realized that he had an inner second jaw like a Moray Eel that could bite the heck out of people.

We switch gear to a simple system and D-level superheroes.

Procyonor, ex lab assistant who gained powers after biting an activist who was bitten by a radioactive raccoon.  He can summon racoons.  LOTS of them.  But he doesn't control them!  Another PC, Cheese Lord, is *very* nervous.

A fashion police hitman:  Hitman on the run, part of a mob that was involved in the world of fashion.  Now part of a cleanup crew.   Has a carcano rifle he stole from a museum that was involved in a very famous crime.   Part of the cleanup involved tons of raccoons.  Campaign ends with world destruction.

kangaroo-like necromancer.  A time traveling game. He became his own great-great-great-grandpa

We then started playing in exalted

A solar exalt - a diplomat/swordsman/sailor.  Could attack 8 times in a round rolling 18 d10 each time.  Dear lord.

A starfish alien ("hiver") in a Traveler game that fizzled out.

brawler/coatch driver , exalted 3e this time.  Would get his clients to their destination no matter what.

At this point, my association with this group ended, after a good dozen year together :/ 

Gamil, dwarven alchemist part of a very decent Eberron campaign that went from level 3 to 8.  The character was tough as nails and fun to play.  I was using a PF class in 3.X and it sort of worked, except for alter self which turns out to be quite broken due to huge AC boost...

Meanwhile, one of the player played a bard who was pretty good at boosting the party but had middling dex, light armor, no defensive magical item, refused to use defensive magic and had *no* constitution bonus.  I built my alchemist knowing that our "fighting line" was mobile and skirmishy, so he was tough.  The bard had to be rescued *all the time*.

A civilized goblin mechanic mage:  Part of an Iron Kingdom campaign that went on for a few levels (2-6?).  It was very interesting - I think that Iron Kingdoms is better than Eberron.

A starwars clone heavy gunner:  In saga (I think?) system star wars game.  We played crammed in one guy's bedroom... not ideal.  It was a good game though, but as many campaign, it eventually fell apart.  A bit too much combat, a bit too samey... PCs... but I have to give it to the GM, there was a lot of good stuff too.

I wanted to try playing 5e, so I joined a number of Play By Post games on the EN World forums:

Darwinimar:  a great bout of collaborative world building.  I really wanted to play a gnome ranger, and we really needed a tank, so I made a sword-and board short sword wielding character.  It was fun, but campaign fizzled out.  Level 3-4

Darwinimar (made with Heroforge)

Grassnoll, a goblin warlock.  He pretended to be a dwarven wizard (mask of many faces).  He also had a patron elder god, the king in yellow, that *already had been summed back to the world*... just hadn't arrived yet, it's a long way!  Campaign fizzled out.  Level 3

Grassnoll (source?)

A Dwarven alchemist.  Nautical campaign, fizzled out fast.  Level 4?

what was your name again? Source?

Lal Kalandar.  Mystical Barbarian  I grew tired of making characters for nothing in PBP, and this guy was in *three* campaigns - one level 1-5, one level 3, and one level 11-12.  They all fizzled out, but overall it was a good experience - I wanted to show that the barbarian class had a lot more roleplaying depth than what is usually depicted (stats weren't great though).  He wasn't an ordinary barbarian, he had the hermit background - a dervish type, a mendicant.  He also was a planar traveler - it was the same person in the 3 campaigns.  The last one was an Al-Quadim campaign and I'm sad it didn't work out... although I mean it lasted almost a year and had a few very cool scenes so... that's a win?

Now Lal I remember! Hisorical documents

Udit the riverman  a thief (level 4-8) who was an NPC in my Yoon Suin campaign.  He wasn't well optimized because he was meant to duplicate the Yoon-Suin version.  In this one he was in one of two campaigns that did the same dungeon at once - I think at one point we had 3 groups going, eventually merged into one.  This was the first time I played a single class rogue, and you know what?  Bravo WotC, bravo, you nailed the rogue in 5e.  We were in a dungeon with various factions, an undead dragon etc... it was *wild*.  Great GM, feel grateful for his hard work.

Udit was a pessimist

Kalorn.  Warlock hexblade5 /eldrich knight 3.  Very tragic, hard hitting Gish.  A bitter mercenary with a "demon" leg that was grafted on him against his will.   I wanted to try something new so in a new arc he replaced Udit.  He had a bat familar - he would kill anyone who hurt it.

Now *this* is an image! by theDURRRRIAN

Rodrigo.  1-5 dex-based battle-master fighter with the spy background, fought with a rapier .  Very fun character - we all made PCs "blind" and we ended up with an archer, a ranger, a paladin, a monk and a fighter.   Played Tomb of Annihilation.

What if Aragorn was a musketeer you say? (seriously, from the Alatrise film)

At this point, after the pandemic bringing me down, and growing frustrated with the PBP method of play, I left Rodrigo and Kalorn behind.  BUT I didn't just disappear from the face of the earth like some people do - are they alive? Did they die? I don't know!  I had a farewell post.  Remember folks, if you decide to leave a PBP campaign, SAY SOMETHING.

About 2 years ago, one of my players and good friend invited me to his face to face campaign.  It's Pathfinder which... is not my favorite... but the gaming has been good.

Malbung Ikrum:   Level 7-10+ bladebound Magus.  I had been intrigued by the Magus, and my friend told me they needed more melee oomph.  So I made Malbung, the half elf half eldarian magus.  His father was a bodyguard of the now dead Eladrin Godess of war.  He hits hard, debuffs, is sneaky and has extremely high intimidate *and* the enforcer feat.  Casts no shadow and can speak with the dead.  Uses "defending bone" and claims it's Mr Magoo, the old janitor now helping him on quests. The campaign is Zeitgest and it is *very very* good.  My only wish was that it was in 5e - Malbung is already restated as a bard college of sword 6/hexblade 3, I'm ready!  :D

Update: Malbung got himself killed, but was too stubborn to die and his spirit lingered in the Bleak Gate.  Once the rest of the party showed up in the Bleak Gate with his body; Malbung's spirit just reanimated it.  He's now level 10 "+1" , where the +1 is the shadow outsider template.

The clothes are wrong but the feel is right.  By Matt136

Telchar (dwarven alchemist level 1-6, juust reached 7 I think) The same group has a rotating campaign, so I decided to bring back the dwarven alchemist, this time in a proper PF game.  We are doing the Kingmaker campaign and it's been pretty good.  Trap-breaker template

Update:  After reaching level 9, I realized I was over-comited, gaming wise, and I had to pull out of the pathfinder game. 

Mariah: Level 10 Spiritualist: The campaign where Malbung died has a "death has consequences" style, so I had to make a temporary PC.  But this was difficult because this is a game with a fair amount of "secrecy" - so the new PC was a "spirit medium" who could contact Malbung's spirit.  This way I didn't have to worry about what Mariah knew - Malbung was guiding her, and she was using the power of  his blade.  How was she able to pull that off?  Little do they know, they are half siblings!  Game design wise, I had a bit of "fun" making a PC that was very different  yet almost identical - pathfinder is strange like that (see https://www.d20pfsrd.com/alternative-rule-systems/occult-adventures/occult-classes/spiritualist/archetypes/paizo-llc-spiritualist-archetypes/phantom-blade-spiritualist-archetype/ ... wow).

Doshma:  Inspired by an old starwars NPC, this was a level 7 mercenary soldier in a short Starfinder game - the "scifi" version of pathfinder.  I was not impressed with the system to be honest, but at least it was fun to game with my friends

Determined to play 5e "for real", I started looking online for a 5e game.  And I was successful!  During this time I also played in a short bastionland game (a charismatic bruiser) and a Drakenduer Glog game (an antling petty swordsman)

Hector di RundaTaurë:  Level 3 half elf hexblade warlock.  A short lived 5e game where we played as incompetent/corrupt cops trying to do good and line our pockets.  He was the "face" of the party and pretty fun.  It can be a mistake to make a hexblade *only* combat focus, and I made sure he had a few "tricks" in his arsenal.  His story was that he was a bastard son in a noble family who had been sent to military school (for Eldritch Knights) but had limited aptitude for it ... until he med a Gith traveler who showed him other ways to reach power (hexblade).  Hector thought his problems were solved, instead he got kicked out of the academy.  Now he works as a city guard in a rough part of town, but Hector plans to use this as a base to rebound and once again reach the higher levels of society!

... well that was the plan.  Alas, scheduling problems killed the campaign.

Melenvagor:  We were going to play the Dragon of Icespire Peak campaign.   As this was a "beginner" adventure, I decided to make a very "classic" concept.  I wanted a very elfy-elf - inspired in part by a line in the Hobbit (or maybe LOTR?) where an elf explains that he doesn't know what a Hobbit means by "magic" - it's just things elves do.  And I decided that the best way to do an "elfy elf" - super dextrous, fast, strange powers, excellent archer, good in the wild - was to make a Kensei monk, with the outlander background.  It worked *extremely* well.  Our party was strong with archery, and we used it to destroy many a foe.  Initially he fought with a sword or a bow, but one day we found a +1 battle-axe under the sea made from a megalodon tooth and ... he became Melenvagor, the Axe-Elf . 

Alas, scheduling also killed this campaign when we were 90% done.  

At this point, the group stabilized the scheduling, allowing us to complete the Storm King's Thunder campaign.  

Soronto:  Level 10 fighter, human, sage background.  I had a LOT of fun playing this wizened old swordsman.  He had taught himself an fighting style based on a Gyth tome he translated and became a psi warrior.  However, at level 7 he was killed and was reborn as a Rune Knight, as he had been spending more and more times studying the giants.  He was instrumental in uncovering the evil dragon's plot.  Even though a dex-build shield fighter is not a great match with the Rune Knight, it turned out to be really good - having a sunblade didn't hurt.  I did not really "optimize" him that much, taking "fun" things like Ritual Caster or Chef (reskinned as alchemy - he had tonics and healing salves!).  I did take lucky, and that's a *fine* feat indeed.

 

R.O.B.O  Level 8 warlock/fathomless, pact of the chain, far traveler background, autognome Our GM then decided to make some kind of crazy time traveling game so... I sort of made a character *very* heavily influence by Chrono Trigger.   As the party already had an artificer, and we needed a "face", I made him into a warlock instead - this patron is his creator(s), whomevere that may be.  He is programmed as a "space probe" - he doesn't need food or air.  He's part of a *very* blasty party - we have an artificer artillerist and a star druid, so a lot of pew pews (and a drow paladin and a bubear barbarian as a very stout front line... but the bugbear was disintegrated by a Trump-beholder... oh poor Goruk, we hardly knew thee!).  I am looking forward to spelljammer being published so I can update the race to an "official" version.  But it doesn't really matter, the game is so over the top :D

Chrono Trigger is *excellent* btw

Mr Butters, level 7 apothecary.  Same group, different GM. This is a playtest of a new class devised by the Dungeon Dudes, and the campaign is their *excellent* Dungeons of Drakkenheim (highly recommended 5e adventure).  Mr Butters is a serious-minded goblin alchemist, who quit the Amethyst Academy after they rejected his research proposal.  He has devised a way (his subclass is "Mutagenist") to use his magic to transform himself  into a hulking brute for a short period of time.  So the result in a small, smart caster out of combat and almost the Hulk in combat - honestly, a rather fun way to play. 

Enfteb Temang, level 5 adjurer.  Because the "different GM" from above has an unsteady schedule, we are also playing with the GM who rant the SKT and time traveling campaign - after we blew up time, we are now starting at the start of history.  My PC is the first wizard ever, and the namer of things.  But somehow, we keep finding remnants of the previous history - things are not ok!  Enfteb is essentially based on this image, and on vague ideas about an old Yoon-Suin wizard: 

Source: https://www.deviantart.com/mattrhodesart/art/We-are-NOT-taking-the-wizard-626887777

I've been finding that the comments I've heard from others about low level wizards to be a bit underwhelming to be correct... but I've been having fun with him anyway.   With this group, I've also played a spore druid and an eldritch knight in one-shot/short campaigns.  

So is that what 30+ years of gaming looks like?  Not quite!  I didn't include the games I ran as a GM... but that's for another post.  Furthermore, there are a host of one shots, trials, short games that didn't last etc that I essentially forgot about or aren't worth mentioning.  Not to mention a quite a few hundred hours of Eve Online, a smiliar amount of time on dwarf fortress or rimworld...

Conclusions

So what can learn from this:   There are definitely some commonalities in my characters:  I like playing dwarves, I like playing spellcasters (and in 5e, warlocks in particular) and/or swordsmen, I like playing characters that are tough and can fight (it's not rare for me to have high saves and AC).  Roleplaying wise there is a strong element of paranoia, determination and *discipline*.  The paranoia is natural - our PCs are under threat!  But I think that the disciplined, hard working/training PCs reflect a desire that *I* was that driven and disciplined.  Oh well.

I'm also realizing that I almost never get to *play* the specific system I want to - if I want that, I have to *run* it.  I wasn't able to play 5e until 2020 for example

Very few campaign last more than 2 years, so the GM shouldn't lollygag too much if they have plans.  My GMing technique, when I have "no plan" is to have 2 introductory adventures *max* and then take a moment to scope the land - where is this going?  Has a theme, a trend, a party goal emerged?  If so, let's go in that direction!  If it's utterly directionless, then you need to give some direction.  Use or write a module.

The last thing I'm realizing reading this is how privileged I am regarding pen and paper RPGs.  I miss the good old days where we would have a 12 hour session every week... but on the other hand, I play in one session 4 hours a week and run a 3 hour session every 2 weeks (so 6 session per month).  Edit: the pandemic increased that to 4 session run per month and play in 6 others  That's... pretty good!  It's only possible if you can make gaming a priority - and not everyone can do that.

edit:  Throne of Salt inspired others:  https://lapidaryossuary.blogspot.com/2020/08/wanna-see-all-my-d-characters.html , https://xenophonsramblings.blogspot.com/2020/08/a-short-history-of-my-characters.html , https://madqueenscourt.blogspot.com/2020/08/let-me-tell-you-about-my-d-characters.html, https://whosemeasure.blogspot.com/2020/08/i-have-been-so-many-people.html , probably others... it's trending :P

edit part deux:  this trip down memory lane made me realize that the system issues of yesterday made me appreciate some of my modern games more.  But I now have very fond memories of the old games! :)  That's why 5e does for me a little, it has echoes of 2nd ed :)

edit part three:  MOAR blogs!  https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/2020/08/sofinho-and-his-heteronyms_11.html , https://blog.orphredhair.com/2020/08/my-roster-of-characters-oh-me-oh-my.html   ,  https://osrdread.blogspot.com/2020/08/25-years-of-my-gaming-history.html , https://princesses-and-pioneers.tumblr.com/post/626371173102616576/personal-player-character-compilation

edit part 4:  when I first wrote this blog I hadn't played any 5e, I've now updated it to mid 2022.  I hope you too have kept playing!

Edit part 5:  From 2023:  It's been 3 years since I've written this post, and I keep updating it.  Why?  Clearly people aren't waiting for it... it's because it turns out it's pretty handy to have such a list! I encourage you to do the same.

Troika UVG! Further conversion notes

Hello

So as I mentioned a while ago, I'm running a UVG game with the Troika ruleset.

I'm not going to do play session reports, but here is what has happened over the last oh, 6 sessions or so:   So far they've gone to the Last Serai, managed to make a killing on vodka, and are regrouping at the violet city for a new voyage.  They have befriended a porcelain prince, the chicken warrior has accidentally joined a revolutionary group AND another porcelain prince is after his body, the inquisitor has a low-grade vome infection and they now have 2 motorcycles.  The group is very keen on finding a Behemoth pearl for Cubina - for some reason they really latched on this side quest hard.  Maybe because they all tried to save the were-pug and failed badly on their rolls?  But I already have plans for this quest now.  I didn't know where campaign was going to go, and it may still veer off in different directions, but well the players have a goal and that's great.

Play-testing is very important, and I thought I should report on my rules finding.

First, my conversion table is... a bit harsh.  It works OK with luck checks but not so much with skill checks, so I've tweaked it:

LUCK BASED			SKILL BASED
2d6	1d20		2d6	1d20
Fumble	Fumble		Fumble	Fumble
-6	1		-6	1
-5	2-3		-5	2
-4	4		-4	3-4
-3	5		-3	5-6
-2	6		-2	7-8
-1	7-8		-1	9-10
0	9		0	11-12
1	10-11		1	13-14
2	12		2	15-16
3	13		3	17-18
4	14		4	19
5	15-16		5	20
6	17-18		6	21+
7	19
8	20
9	21+
Critical Success	Critical Success		Critical Success	Critical Success

It's not perfect, but it's better.

Second, the gun damages is *wild* in Troika! and I have a few thoughts about that.

A: armor is *essential* - even a little bit will greatly enhance player survival.  It can also enhance the survival of villains (but don't give every mook armor).

B:  A better "fix" would be to revise damage... but that's a lot of work, and I'm going to wait for that, because it would mean looking at *all* the Troika! weapon damage.

C:  I will allow players to spend 500 XP to gain 1d3 stamina UP to a maximum of 24.  After that, it's 1000 XP.

Third, a new weapon - the humble revolver:

	1-	2	3	4	5	6	7+		# shots	Weights	range	base cost
Revolver	2	2	3	4	7	9	13		6	1/3 stone	near	75

Lastly I will note that I am collaborating with David Schirduan (ie Technical Grimoire), we are exchanging notes on play tests etc, and he will be publishing a new version of his conversion guide - as he is infinitely better at layout than I am, that should be a far better documents than my rambling blog :P .  We aren't aiming on having identical rules, but I'm confident that our mutual work will make each version better - peer review isn't just for science..   Also, Coins and Scroll is forging ahead full metal on UVG, so read his blog!

The Zeugma Campaign: Gaming in Pseudo-earth

I'm going to try something new - instead of posting a play report of a session, I'm going to post a play report of a *campaign*.  This game happened in 2008-2009, used the 2e Warhammer frpg system (modified), was set on a pseudo earth in 1150, and was centered around the city of Zeugma.  Zeugma was a city in Modern-day Turkey that bridges the Euphrates, and is at the point where the East and West meet.

I have tons of material on Zeugma but... does anyone care?  Well, let's first see what occurred in the campaign (I think some of these can be mined for adenture ideas, given that they were all adventures we ran ha.)  After that, I'll give a few comments on what I learned running this.

(Party members:  Orzad, the dwarven pit-fighter, Amandyl the elven "bounty hunter" (a runaway noble), Peklar the Armenian ex-bandit and Mahmud, the Turkish right-hand man of Jaffar the Merchant.)

1: The campaign begins. Party hired by Jaffar, an ambitious merchant, to guard a rented warehouse where some his goods are stored. It turns out the owner of the warehouse hasn't been paying protection money to the local thieves' guild.

2: Fake brigandry. The party becomes retainers of Jaffar. He asks the party to perform a delicate task - to create the illusion of a heavy brigand presence upon a certain trade route. They aren't to actually kill anyone, just scare travelers.  However, the party is forced to intervene to save pilgrims from Turkish raiders. The party encounters Hassan, a mysterious Turkish bowman, who intervenes in their favor. The party also encounters Stephanos of Trebizon and his group.

3: Lost and Found: The party hears rumors of a lost magical item within the city and starts looking for it. It turns out that this is a training exercise by the local mage guild. However, the party also learns of another, much more powerful item being smuggled in the city - a wand infused with the deadly ice magic, Omptose Phellac. The party makes the acquaintance of Valmaxian, a reclusive elven sorcerer; Agda the witch; Alcanter the Blue; Thrain Silvertouched (the Spirit Satrap) and of Feanaro Culnamo, an "elven” “shop" “owner".

4: Grave Hunt: The scribe Ophelos has found an old parchment indicating the true location of the tomb of Selecus I Nicator, founder of Zeugma (one of Alexander's generals). The city approaches the party to go on an expedition in exchange for a share of the treasure. After a few days of travel, the tomb is found inside a barrow which the locals swear is haunted. After defeating the goblins inside (who were tricking the peasants into making offerings) and the undead guardians, the tomb is secured, will with many historical artefacts and quite a lot of treasure, including the griffin's claw, an enchanted sword made of Damascus steel.

5: Liberation of Carablos: Rumors of war, as Joscelin II is captured by Nur Ad Din as they were ambushed while looking for Turkish raiders. Jaffar has report that the town of Carablos, a critical supply point on the way to Baghdad, is extorting travelers under the order of a new governor. Party investigates and is joined by a mysterious vagrant, Assad the lepper. The governor turns out to be consorting with necromancers and worse, and Assad to be a Turk not to cross. Violent confrontation ensues.

6: The Zeugma Hastildude: Party members take part in traditional martial games, demonstrating archery, riding and swordsmanship. A jousting demonstration is done and is deemed to be a silly western practice. The party does well - Orzad reaches the semi final and loses vs Christophoros, the reigning champion of the melee (Christophoros is then defeated by a newcomer, Du Hamel, a templar). Peklar wins the horse-race, and Amandil reaches the archery finals.  Mahmud is trained by Assad.

7: Property fraud: a complex scheme is unleashed upon Zeugma, where the conman sells tiny parcels of lands to commoners to give them the right to vote. As the next election will be for the Spirit Satrap, religious tensions flare. The party attempts to investigate *and* profit. The conman escapes!

8: A trip to Antep: The party pursues the conman to the nearby city of Antep, as a large bounty is on his head. On the way, meet NubZeb the goblin. Antep situation made complicated by the conman hiring local thief guild as protection, by members of the Zeugma thief guild also being after the bounty, by actual assassins being after the conman *and* by Antep being besieged by the Sultanate of Rum! Nubzeb is instrumental in gaining acess as he knows of a secret tunnel. The conman is killed, his money seized by Antep authorities, and some dwarves escape Antep and migrate to Zeugma with the party.

9: A trip to Abu Kabal: Jaffar realizes that with the disruption from the conman, the success of a Zeugma caravan on its way back from Baghdad is suddenly of grave import. The party goes south to rejoin the caravan and help escort it north back to safety. After traveling 150 leagues, the caravan is found. On the way back to Zeugma, the caravan is beset by a habboob - a sandstorm. 3 desert ogres - far more cunning than ordinary ogres and wielding magic, use the cover of the storm to attack.

10: Anti-Banditry: Antep pays tribute to the Turks of the Sultanate of Rum, who abandon their siege - for now. While the party was away, Jaffar organized a small caravan going east, which was attacked by bandits. Jaffar wants revenge, his goods back but most importantly two things:  a magical ring that "can see ahead" *and* a very valuable slave. The party dispenses justice, retrieves the ring and travels to Edessa, the fallen crusaser city, which has become a camp for slave traders and where the slave has been sent. On the way, the party meets Cengis the mule skinner, and Crius, a large mysterious being guarding a hidden door. The slave turns out to be a Circassian beauty that is highly educated in the codes of law - a bride for the Paper Satrap.

11: A trip to Aleppo: Valmaxian examines Jaffar's new ring and declares it to be not a divination tool but the ring of many parts, which can be used to retrieve an ancient magical item hidden beneath the Citadel of Aleppo - the staff of storms! The party agrees to help. What follows is *extremely* eventful, with earthquakes, the staff retrieved, Joscellin II, count of Edessa, found and rescued and the woman Le-ka, resurrected but put inside a golden automaton, who now claims to be the Avatar of Ishtar, Goddess of love and war.

12: Upward Mobility: Jaffar tries to become a council member on the merchant guild. Someone tries to assassinate "him" - but his servant is the true target. Templars are involved, and the assassin's guild is not happy someone is poaching on their turf. An arrangement is made with the templars - but Agda the witch foresees blood - BLOOOOOOODD!!! Hassan informs party that Jaffar is still in danger. While traveling on protection detail, the party is attacked by would be assassins - but the party proves to be the anvil upon which the local assassins hammer the would be interlopers. Many dead. Jaffar wins election. Amandil dreams of bloody pyramid.

13: Delaying action: Nur Ad Din is enraged by Joscelin II's escape and decides to strike Turbesell (Joscelin's forteress) before Joscelin is ready. Zeugma decides to help covertly - the party, some assassins (Hassans, Assad and *the black dwarf of zeugma!!!*), an Amber mage and other sell-swords (including Stephanos's group) are recruited to start guerrilla campaign. Party convinces goblins to help. Enemy scouts are ambushed, bridges are torched, horses are spooked, siege engines are burned down and enemy mages are furiously murdered. Eventually, Armenian relief force shows up, and Nur Ad Din withdraws.

14: Jailbreak: The Egyptian (elven) Ambassador has learned that Valmaxian has left and is a follower of Set, the imprisoned dark elf/god.  The Staff of storm is a key to release him.  The Blue guild foresees a key "fork" event and are troubled. Agda the witch flees the city. Party has doubt, as Set's imprisonment could be considered unjust. They return to the hidden valley where they previously met Crius (who is no longer present). They do not manage to stop Valmaxian in time, and Set is released at night. Set rises his hand and  blots the moon.  He and declares that there are not four elements, there are five. Once the darkness disperses and the moon returns to normal, Set and his servants are gone.

And that was it!   The campaign had a 2nd arc, where the consequences of Set's release were explored, in 2014, but that would be best kept for another post.  This text was originally a recap for the players starting the 2nd arc.

Lessons learned from this campaign:

1: The Warhammer system works well to simulate a lowish fantasy setting, such as a pseudo earth, and it doesn't have to be used exclusively for the Warhammer setting.  It takes a lot less work to run a game than in 3.X, pathfinder or even 5e, leaving the GM more time to think about more important things (who are the NPCs, what do they want etc).  One of the reason for it is that the great majority of careers ("classes" in Warhammer) are not magic users.

2:  However it is not perfect.  There is a lot of "whiffing" (fights were combatants are all missing each other) at first, some of the rules are a bit peculiar, and the career system *really* isn't for everyone.  One of my players (who later departed, not listed above) had a huge problem with not being able to design his character exactly how he wanted, and instead having to rely on a random roll to tell him what his lot in life would be.

2b:  Adding bits of Dragon Warriors to a game is always a good idea.  Although almost all the adventures were original content, A Grave Hunt heavily borrowed on a Dragon Warriors module.  Goblins and trolls were based on Dragon Warriors description, and I adapted the Dragon Warriors magical systems to Warhammer.

3:  I had a lot of fun running a city campaign, although half the action was outside the city walls.   It requires a good understanding of how the city works, what are the factions, what do they want.  Looking back, I think I should have injected a little bit more chaos in there - I think that once you have an entire city in  your mind, you can become reluctant to shake the boat too much, and that can be detrimental

4:  As I am older, I have reservations now that I did not have back then.  To weave a "pseudo-earth" and the fantasy races, I had the elves being Egyptians (and originally refugees from Atlantis), dwarves were analogous to the Jews, and the Turks were hobgoblins.  I put in a lot of effort to be realistic and not mono-dimensional.  However, I am sure that no matter how well I did it, some would find the very concept profoundly offensive.  I *really* thought Zeugma was interesting (I started taking notes on Zeugma in 2004, I let things percolate in my mind for a long time sometimes), but I'm hesitant to publish the setting.

4b:  While pseudo-earth is "easy" because there is tons of material out there (see https://www.akdn.org/publication/aga-khan-trust-culture-citadel-aleppo-description-history-site-plan-visitor-tour-Syria - I was able to turn the citadel in this crazy multi level dungeon that was historically plausible!) - there are also... links to real life situation.  Aleppo suffered terribly during the Syrian civil war, is it "cool" now to have a game there today?  :/   The second art of this campaign occurred, in part, in the Tarim basin, aka Xinjiang, where the Uighurs are currently undergoing  terrible persecutions.  When I ran the 2nd arc of campaign things were nowhere as bad, now it feels... bad... to use it as a gaming setting.

4c:  This also applies to events of *back then* that still reverberates today - things like the crusades, tensions between faiths (or between the various sects of the same faith)… I think it makes for good gaming material, but it's perilous to publish.

5:  Different groups prefer different style of play and freedom.  I don't like railroading, but on the other hand my group likes to be "pointed towards the plot".  Having a patron saying "I have a problem, take care of it please" and then letting the PCs loose really works well for my gaming group.  I knew what the problem was, who the people involved were and what they wanted, but how it played out depended on my PCs.  Sometimes they really surprised me.