Ravenspire "Epilogue"

We play the game to see what happens. 

There's this phrase that gets tossed around a lot in sports: "on paper." On paper, Team A should demolish Team B. On paper, one team has better players/coaches than the other. On paper, this match-up looks to be pretty even. On paper, the Mariners are about an 82 win ball club. Etc.

"Paper" doesn't play the game. "Advanced analytics" and "stats" and "rankings" don't play the game. Perhaps they help set betting lines for sports books (Vegas is pretty good at making money off gamblers), but the games still need to be played. And sometimes teams defy expectations (good or bad)...sometimes in big ways. Sometimes a team like the M's (who I wrote off months ago when they were ten games under .500 and had five teams between them and the last wild card spot) goes on a 22-3 tear, reeling off 14 straight wins, and finds themselves in the driver's seat for a playoff berth heading into the All-Star break. Sometimes a great team like the Sounders lose their best striker (Raul Ruidiaz) and find themselves unable to generate any kind of offense at all without their key piece of the puzzle.

We play the game to see what happens. Because games are entertaining. Being surprised by that unknown is entertaining. My daughter's soccer team won the championship trophy for the gold division in her age bracket in last week's four-day tournament...the final (played Sunday) ended in a 0-0 tie and went down to penalty kicks. The final result was 1 goal made in PKs to 0, with our goalie having to save the final goal. The parents on the sideline were positively shaking by the end of the match...my hands were numb and tingling, my brain light-headed. And I was just a spectator...the players themselves were elated.

We do not play D&D to "tell stories"...at least, I don't play (or run) D&D to tell stories. We play D&D to experience adventure. To have monumental successes and tragic failures. The stories are what get told after the fact about the experiences we have. We play to see what happens...and to be entertained and (hopefully) moved by fantastic events that would otherwise never occur in our lives. Fighting vampires? I hope not!

Picking up where I last left off:

The PCs spent some time getting themselves organized: waiting for the paralyzed Sir Patrick to revive, stripping the bodies of Misha and Ireena of useful equipment (mainly magic items), getting Potter up on his feet. It took them about 40 minutes (4 turns) to get set to go, and their stout henchman was just shouldering Misha's bulging backpack of treasure when a friendly voice quietly called out to them from the darkness: Revlin the Ranger!

[Kieran isn't playing with us, but he asked that we take his character along on our adventures as an NPC. Revlin had been left behind in what was deemed to be a "safe" chamber after he'd been reduced to less than 0 hit points. Unfortunately, Strasha came along and drained him from level 3 to level 1, the shock (i.e. hit point loss) finishing him. Salamander's wishes had revived him and restored his hit points AND sanity (as a heal spell), though not his level, and I decided the NPC had spent the last couple hours wandering the dungeon level, tracking the party with his ranger abilities as best he could by torchlight. Just wrapping up loose ends]

After greetings, explanations, and assorted backslapping, Revlin took back his chainmail +1 and Potter donned Misha's chainmail +2 and the party was ready to vacate the premises...when Helga, Strasha's maidservant appeared.

[in the earlier fight, Helga had been the only half-vampire that had survived...well, to have not been reduced to gaseous form...and while her hit points HAD been reduced to 1, plenty of time had passed to allow her full regeneration]

Helga wanted to negotiate with the players: they had slain her mistress, but she would lead them out of the dungeon and allow them to leave the castle unharmed...with the treasure they acquired...if they ceased their ransacking of the castle. So long as they agreed to never return, she would agree not to take revenge upon the party, nor seek to hunt them. 

What about Strasha's crypt? they asked. Surely there are more "goodies" to be found in her actual lair. "This castle was my Lady's 'lair,' and you have already looted her treasury." 

What about the other vampires we fought...Strasha's 'husbands?' Will they honor our agreement? "I will take care of them...you need not worry that they will trouble you."

What will become of you? "I will become the new Countess Clallam of Ravenspire. I am the only 'heir' remaining to Lady Strasha, after all." Will you promise to leave the townsfolk in peace? "I will rule them as I must. Their lives were not terrible under the reign of Strasha...it is YOU who have intruded here."

They took the deal. 

The party were shown the way out of the castle, found Sal's horse missing (probably taken by orcs servants who left the castle an hour before sundown) and made their way on foot back to Port Angeles proper. Weary, wounded, and over-burdened by treasure, they were within sight of the town when the wandering monster check came up a "1". They heard the howling of wolves: a pack of 10 worgs appeared from the woods some 50 yards away. Deciding to make a run for it, we used the standard evasion rules found in the DMG which gave them a coin flip's chance of reaching the safety of the town lights.

The dice again came up in their favor. The worgs turned away to hunt elsewhere and they beat at the door of the inn till Old Joe was roused from bed to open the door. He forced them to wait outside as he brandished a wooden cross at bedraggled bunch then, satisfied, allowed them shelter. "Hey, we already paid for rooms for a week, remember?" You can't be too careful around here.

Lots of other 'role-playing bits" occurred, but I'll skip that and get to the pertinent stuff:

Even before counting treasure, Potter managed to level up to three with the death of Strasha and surviving the fight with the ghouls/shadows (Diego said, "hey, what did she do to defeat the vampire?!" Well, she was responsible for dispelling most of the half-vamps earlier with the sunblade, she knocked out all of Strasha's mirror images in the first fight, took damage from ghouls that would have otherwise been coming to other party members... "Okay, okay.") Since her hit point roll (a whopping 10 on the d10 plus one point for her CON 15) took her from -9 to +2, I allowed her to return to full adventuring capability without waiting the week of rest.

[this is a particular "house rule" of mine that's been in effect for a while. The instructions on page 82 of the DMG states characters brought to 0 or lower are required to recover for a week, even if brought back to a positive hit point total by cure spells or healing potions, and I abide by that rule. However, it states specifically that a heal spell will allow return to full activity, which for me sets some precedent for a raise to allow such...in my campaign, I give this benefit to characters that manage to level up]

[no, I no longer follow the training rules of AD&D. See my previous list. I have other things for PCs to spend money on]

Once I had a chance to calculate what all was in their backpacks, it turned out to be a pretty good haul (that bag of holding is a godsend). Monetary treasure that could be easily fenced, exchanged or retained came out to 22,804 x.p. worth (based on gold piece value). Monetary treasure that needs to be taken to a larger city than Port Angeles (rare books, really expensive pieces of jewelry) totaled another 15,150 x.p. Magical treasures that the party have used or decided to retain rather than sell (most items) brought in another 12,350 x.p. not including items like Ireena's broadsword +2 or Misha's chainmail +2 (these are items the surviving PCs wanted to keep, but which don't award experience).  With all that glorious experience being awarded, Salamander was able to go to level 6, and Potter and Carnen both to level 5. 

[NPCs Revlin and Patrick did not level, but they also earned lesser shares of treasure IN ADDITION to earning half x.p. as non-player characters]

Considering the amount of energy draining that occurred during their raid on Castle Ravenspire, this still meant each party member ended one level higher than when we started. Not a bad result, despite losing the cleric.

That still left a few unresolved items of treasure. The libram of ineffable evil, the crystal ball (with clairaudience) and the unidentified wand (of illumination) are all items the party has no ability to use...and yet, there are no buyers to be found in Port Angeles for these items, either. The village priest (who agreed to detect magic and heal the party's wounds in exchange for the silver icon of Ravenspire...which will be used to protect the church)...suggested they might find buyers for such items in the Dreaming City, Port Townsend. The sorcerous denizens of the elven citadel are known to truck with demons, practice black magic and pay exorbitant sums for such items...a book like the libram could probably fetch 40,000 gold pieces or more amongst such folk. The party immediately decided a new journey was in order.

[they also decided it was best to get out of town before the local orc community discovered who had butchered their brethren acting as guards and servants at the castle]

Diego asked: but what will be our next adventure, Pops? You don't think traveling through a forbidding wilderness to an elven city of sorcerers to sell a cursed magic tome for huge piles of cash isn't adventure? Oh, right. 

I informed the players that Port Townsend is four days journey overland to an isolated portion of the (Olympic) peninsula. OR they could purchase a small coastal sailing ship, outfit it, and sail there within a day. The latter would be pricey, but they could also purchase a load of timber, say 30 tons (at 100 g.p. per ton)...it's well known that the elves will pay 2-4 times that amount for good cedar wood, rather than log it themselves.  In a town like Port Angeles, such arrangements can be made in a matter of days (or faster, if the PCs are willing to spend more from their bulging coffers). 

The players immediately jumped at the latter choice. "You better not wreck our ride this time!" Well, we'll see what the dice say.

; )

Perhaps now my gentle reader will understand why the word "Epilogue" in my post's title has quotation marks around it...it's really NOT an epilogue, because my players haven't come to the end of their story. Not yet. In fact, they're still young adventurers, just starting to reach what I'd call "mid-level"...there is plenty left for them to do in their careers, even knowing that (as demi- and semi-humans) they will eventually hit a maximum level. They've had success, they've had set-backs, and they've certainly created stories worth telling people about their "adventures." But they're not playing the game for the story...they're playing the game for the experience. And so far they're enjoying it mightily.

Enjoy your day, folks.

Showdown

[if you haven't watched the Ms. Marvel series yet, you're missing out; I might post my thoughts on it later, but it's the best Marvel thing I've seen since Falcon-Winter Soldier, and we ALL know that I am extremely biased when it comes to all things Captain America. It's far more believable than a 21st century Spider-Man (I'm not talking about super powers, I'm talking about a teenager living in NYC) and it didn't make me hate Millennials for a change. Quite the opposite, in fact]

I keep looking around the internet for good 1E material to read, and it is a struggle. There are a couple-few posters on various "old school" forums that are good (i.e. they have experience with the system AND can write intelligently about it in an organized, digestible fashion) but few blogs with sizable content to plumb. SO...just in case there are people like me out there, I'll continue to create some.

When last I left off my tales, the party had just been brought back to life and full health by a couple wishes that came courtesy of an amazing draw from a deck of many things. Mm...so many notes here to discuss regarding how to run such a magic item and its effects (the DMG gives adequate description of what it does but not how, you know? It is the magic item equivalent of a funhouse dungeon). However, decks of many things are the stuff of legendary D&D war stories, so raining on the parade of kids given their first exposure to such a memorable experience is NOT what I wanted to do. A quick gloss went like this:

• Revived characters were left pretty in the same state of disarray where they lay, rather than being zapped into an armed formation in good order. Note, the wishes did not bring back lost levels, waken Maceo's character from the sleep spell, cure Kieran's character's insanity, nor remove the confusion from the NPC fighter. And separated party members (the party was split into three different areas of the castle) were still separate.
• Diego understood that bringing back the dead AND healing the party were two separate wishes and he was happy to roll with that. Easy come, easy go...like experience points and levels.
• Speaking of which: the 10K bonus x.p. from drawing the Jester card put him immediately back to his previous level, and I was fine with that. I would NOT have allowed him to earn more than one free level above what he had already earned (for example, if a non-drained 1st level character had drawn the Jester, I would have only allowed progression to 2nd level), but the magic of the deck was simply acting like a hyper-restoration spell. I'm cool with that. There's only one Jester in the deck anyway.
• Regarding the Knight: again, how to rule this guy? Should the party come across him in the next town they come to? Should he appear the next time the party advertises for henchmen? As a magic effect, I decided to simply allow him to appear, ready for service, although clad as ANY henchman would be (i.e. with no initial equipment). We'll get to "Sir Patrick" in a moment.

Okay, so I made a surprise roll for Countess Strasha as the party leaped to their feet, with a result of her being partially surprised (I said this was probably due to the knight suddenly appearing out of thin air). Given a free action to end the vampire, every party member promptly missed their attack roll. Salamander shouted to his new henchman to "get" the vampire, and he was able to grapple her with a bearhug(!) that she was unable to break(!!). However, in the next round she won initiative and turned into mist before the party could stake her.

Now given a moment of reprieve, Misha the cleric suggested they go back and recover their other party members (at least the sleeping Carnen and the enchanted Ireena). Potter agreed and went with her but Salamander, inexplicably decided to go off on his own...with his new henchman. I'm really not sure what this was about (I don't usually ask players their reasons for doing things during the game, instead just adjudicating what happens, and I didn't have the normal chance to debrief at the end of the session...I'll question him later). Whatever. He and Patrick opened a couple random crypts, first getting a crossbow bolt trap (but finding a nice jade bracelet), then unleashing three shadows (that I had put in place of "giant spiders" who would have long starved to death locked in a tomb). The shadows were pretty hungry as well for living essence and Sal and his buddy were immediately set upon. "My short sword [that Sal gave Patrick] doesn't seem to function, my lord!" "Aaiieee! Too bad I have no armor!" (as the shadows drained the fighter's strength).

Elsewhere in the catacombs, Misha and Potter had reunited with Carnen and Ireena and all were awake, healed, and un-confused. Somewhere in the distance they heard the echoes of battle and the high-pitched screams of distress...

They decided to look for them. The crypt area is pretty labyrinthine, but the PCs were not too far separated. A half-elf's listening chance in 2 in 20: Potter rolled a "1" and so I stated she could distinguish the direction of the battle sounds well enough to track down Salamander. Running up on about the 3rd or 4th round of combat, Misha (now 2nd level) rolled an "18" for her turning roll and sent the shadows packing...good thing, because they'd been pretty beefy (21 hit points apiece).

[the chances of getting those rolls were not good...but, then, neither was the chance of drawing three excellent cards from the deck of many things. Luck, both good and bad, are a part of the D&D game and the ability to weather those results is part of what defines an experienced player. It is also the stuff from which future "war stories" are often spun. Again, I will say that 'fudging' the vagaries of fortune in an RPG like D&D are doing a disservice to themselves and others]

Now regrouped, the party decided it would be best to stick together. Patrick was given the magic battle axe Ireena had been carrying (she already had a magic broadsword strapped to her waist), and they proceeded to explore the catacombs, eventually discovering a barred gate leading to an isolated crypt area: the tomb of Sergei von Zarovich.

[if I ever decide to publish my version of Ravenloft,  I will (of course) have to change all these names to something more palatable. The harbor of Port Angeles was originally named by Francisco de Eliza y Reventa, claiming the region for Spain, and I would probably go with something more Spanish in flavor based on the town's actual history. Maybe. This IS "fantasy land" after all...humans have only been here for a century or three; the "indigenous peoples" of my PNW are all orcs and elves (with subterranean dwarves and goblins being found underground). I have bugbears instead of Sasquatch. Maybe Spanish explorers don't fit...but they fit at least as well as the "von Zaroviches"]

Sergei's tomb is an obvious bit of goodness and peaceful repose in the dungeon. In the adventure module, the coffin lid "opens easily to the touch of any lawful good character." As I've now written upteen times, I don't use alignment in my game, but as far as "lawful goodness" goes, the PCs (especially the assassins) definitely fail to qualify. Instead, I had the thing open to a cleric of the Church (Misha fit the bill), and thus, after multiple (failed) attempts to force the  coffin, the party was finally able to desecrate and loot Sergei's corpse of its plate mail +2. 

Oh, D&D!

; )

Of course, Strasha had not been idle while the party picked through her relatives remains. Being the lord and master of the castle and its undead inhabitants, she rounded up the three wayward shadows and had them lay in wait outside the crypt of her brother. She then opened a different crypt in which she'd imprisoned eight ravenous ghouls (yet another adjustment: the original module had 15 stone sarcophagi in a 10'x10' vault, each containing a wight. No) and sent them to join the shadows. Then she unleashed both groups on the party, casting hold portal on the gate to the tomb to prevent any escape.

We rolled percentile dice to see how much of the magic plate mail Sir Patrick had been able to don: 100%. Okay, the fight was on!

And it was brutal. Misha's turning attempt failed, and the party, spread around the chamber, was charged by the ghouls and shadows based on the defensive positions they'd taken (no surprise). We don't use a battle map for our games, but for visualizing purposes, we set up Lego minis (my kids have a lot of these), with dice to represent the monsters (lots of these, too...and dice can be turned to represent how many hit points remain to an opponent). Patrick and Ireena were both able to down a ghoul before being felled by paralysis; Potter decided to wind her magic horn (recovered from N1 and never before used) only to discover it was a horn of bubbles. She was blinded, and then paralyzed (no ghoul immunity for half-elves!).

Misha and Carnen were having difficulty fighting the shadows. Carnen's only magic weapon being a +1 hand axe (that he is not proficient in) made it a tough fight for the young assassin. Neither he nor Misha were particularly crippled by the strength-draining attacks of the shadows (neither had a strength bonus to begin with), but they still took damage from the 3+3 hit die creatures. Misha's lack of hit points (being...now...only 2nd level, she had a total of 9) proved her undoing, and she was brought to -3 by the monsters. Meanwhile, ghouls continued to feast on their fallen victims, doing automatic damage every round.

Only Salamander was having much success...the ghouls were unable to paralyze him (thanks to his elvish blood), and having been restored in level and HPs he was in fine fighting trim...he was also able to use his magic longsword to good effect, while a shield (instead of his usual off-hand dagger) gave him an excellent armor class. "Can we break their morale?" Nope...they're undead. He moved to dispatch the ghoul raking at Patrick, then intercepted Carnen's shadow as the younger elf moved to aid Potter.

Eventually, it was down to the two elves versus three shadows: Carnen using the sunblade (only fumbling it away once) with hand axe in his off-hand and Salamander with sword +2 and shield. Potter had been stabilized at -8 hit points, Ireena was dead, Patrick was alive but paralyzed, and Misha the cleric was dead-dead-dead at -10. The three shadows were dispatched, but Sal's strength had been reduced to a paltry 15 and Carnen's to an 11. For hit points, Salamander had 12 remaining while Carnen had been reduced all the way down to one (1) hit point.

Standing by the coffin of the vampire's dead brother, the elves called out the Countess to come down and fight them. 

"Certainly. You've both earned death for your desecration of my home."

As the powerful and (rightly) arrogant noble stepped down the stairs into the tomb, confident in her ability to dispatch the two wounded adventurers, eager to personally rip them apart in payment for the trouble they'd caused and the minions they'd slain, Salamander pulled a small vial from his belt pouch: a potion of invisibility! He quickly drained half and pressed the bottle into Carnen's hand, who followed suit.

Strasha cast wall of fire to cover the only exit from the tomb.

The two assassins had a short amount of time to act, and they weren't getting out of the crypt without a fight. Knowing that any attack would dispel the invisibility, they decided to go for broke: Carnen attacked with the sunblade and hand axe, while Salamander attempted to stake the vampire. Both would receive their backstab attack bonus (+4) but Salamander would suffer his non-proficiency penalty (-2) and due to diminished strength (from the shadows) no other attack bonus would be given. 

"Can I use two stakes...one in each hand?" No...the creature only has one heart, after all. However, any successful attack would succeed in staking the vampire. The vamp's low armor class (1) speaks to the difficulty of striking the creature's heart as much as its speed and proficiency at avoiding damage.

Carnen's attacks with both weapons missed wildly. Strasha shrieked in triumph as the elf became visible. As a 5th level assassin, Salamander required a 16 to hit (including all adjustments). He rolled an 18 and drove his stake deep into Strasha's beating heart.

Doh!

"Quick cut off her head!" "With pleasure!" replied the other assassin...and did. They then stuffed her severed skull with holy wafers (taken from the local church and listed clearly on the character sheet) and watched while her body rotted into dust.

More later.

"Get Out Of Jail Free" Cards

I have a VERY busy day today...the girl child has a weekend tournament starting today (did I not mention she has now joined the same premier soccer club as the boy?) with TWO games in Woodinville. Meanwhile, my wife is going into the office and the boy has his own practice, so I have...mm...approximately three hours before I need to wake the kids, get them organized, breakfasted, packed and ready (with solid snacks for later in the day), to drop D at her place of employment (she has a window at 1pm) before zipping S over to the east side. Hopefully, I can pick up some cheap(er) wine (between games) at St. Michelle.

Last night was another late one, but I was in charge of the midnight wrangling and decided to go to bed afterwards. Not that it helped: the old beagle was up at the crack of sunrise getting me up. Tried to go back to sleep...no dice. Now I'm waiting for the coffee to brew while she snoozes on the floor. Man, she is a loud snorer!

Here's how things went down in our game (I'll give the abbreviated, bullet-point version):

• A session earlier, the party (bags laden with treasure, desperate to find the countess, running out of time as far as sunset coming) had encountered the mad butler, Belview wandering in the downstairs passages. Belview (think "malnourished Mr. Carson on crack") is pretty much as written in original Ravenloft adventure. Salamander (Diego) wanted to take the guy hostage at sword-point and make him give up the location of the countess; Potter (Sofia) wanted to follow him around, pretend like they were guests at the castle, and see if they couldn't bluff their way through things (and not just brutalize the poor NPC). Potter won out but, sadly, was forced to swiftly/mercilessly one-shot the butler when he came at her with a hatchet in the kitchen. Diego was livid, now they would get NO information out of the guy! However, Misha had a scroll with the speak with dead spell, and the party decided to call up Belview's shade for interrogation. Misha informed them they could ask FOUR questions; for your enjoyment:

Where is the countess? 'She sleeps...sleeps...in her cold, stone bed..."

Where is that?! 'In the crypts, in her tomb, in the darkness...surrounded by the dead..."

Where are the crypts? 'Beneath the chapel, of course...the stairs that lead down, down, down..."

How can we pass the masonry wall that blocks the stairs? 'Perhaps a pick axe, master...'

Is there any other way into the crypts?!  (*silence*)

• The players had quite good maps of the upper levels and had found the chapel and the stairs (with its barrier wall) early in their exploration (within the first hour or so of arriving). Being stymied at this point they proceeded to explore the larders and dungeon, looking for another way in, but not finding it, eventually ending the session with their confrontation with the flesh golem (as told). 
• Picking up the new session: the party continued their exploration, thinking they were on the right track...and then discovering they had simply returned to already explored rooms via different passages. Sofia suggested they go find a large drill to get through the masonry wall. Diego did not appreciate her snark. Then they remembered the party had not one but TWO potions of gaseous form (found in their last adventure)...could we divide their contents amongst the party members and bypass the wall? Only one way to find out...
• [I had already determined (randomly) how many turns it would take before the vampires would find the PCs. In addition, I decided that any wandering monster results would ALSO indicate discovery by the hunters]
• The plan worked, every adventurer drinking off a third of a potion, giving just enough time (and then some) to pass the crack in the wall. On the other side, finding themselves in the labyrinthine crypts, they waited for each party member to coalesce and reform. In the distance, they heard a long-wailing scream (Revlin the Ranger...left behind in the iron statue room with zero hit points...had just been discovered). 
• Ignoring the side passages, the party carefully proceeded through the main thoroughfare of the crypts, eventually coming to the stairs leading downward to a teleportation curtain. This stymied them though they tried several different ways to circumvent its effects (in the original module, the barrier prevents all but lawful good characters from passing...since I don't use alignment in my campaign, I'd already decided a character must strongly present a cross...or other "holy symbol"...to cross the thing; this the players did not try). While still pondering the curtain, the players were discovered by Paris and Sacha (half-vamps) and the first "big battle" occurred.
• Except that it wasn't all that big: the characters had already found (and were wielding) the sunblade and Potter quickly disposed of the vamps in two melee rounds (dispersed to mist). Salamander was reduced to 4th level, but otherwise the party was fine.
• More searching of the landing (for secret doors) as the party looked for a way past the curtain when the wandering monster result indicated to other vampires showed up: Strasha, her maid Helga, and Duke Davich. Terse words were exchanged. The countess began casting a spell (hold person); the party threw a dagger and disrupted it. The party charged; the vampires changed into mist. 
• More discussion amongst the party members what to do; more things were tried. In the distance, a terrible baying noise echoed through the catacombs: the hell hounds had been released! The party prepared themselves (again) as the pony-sized beasts exploded out of the darkness! Combat was joined!
• A little singed, the party quickly gained the upper hand...however, the demon dogs provided cover for the vampires. First, Carnen (Maceo's assassin) was felled by a sleep spell. Then the party was struck by confusion: Ireena the fighter (an NPC liberated from the castle dungeons) was left standing dumbfounded, while Salamander wandered off into the darkness. Duke Davish attacked...and was quickly vanquished by Potter and the sunblade. The countess and her maid again changed to mist as the party prepared to counterattack. 
• Potter and Misha (now reduced to 3rd level) abandoned the sleeping Carnen and catatonic Ireena to track down Salamander. They found him a few minutes later, scratching at the door to another crypt. Rousing him from the spell they decided, perhaps, that his madness had been fortuitous and that they should indeed try to open the crypt where they'd found him. However, Potter's great strength was not enough to pry the thing open, and their labors were interrupted yet again by words of magic: they turned to find themselves now confronting THREE Strashas and her maid. Misha attempted to use her cross to turn the vampires...and failed. "Drop that thing and bow to me," intoned the countess as she sought to charm the cleric. However, Misha's saving throws remained good and three remaining party members rushed to engage the creatures. 
• The battle did not go well for the party: Misha was reduced to -1 hit points (and 2nd level) by Helga. Salamander was able to dispel one of Strasha's mirror images and reduce Helga to one hit point, but was himself drained again (to 3rd level), with three hit points remaining. Potter managed to strike for maximum damage (24 points!)...but again, this only dispelled the second of the vampire's illusions. Strasha then ripped the throat out of the fighter, dropping him to 2nd level and -7 hit points. The sunblade clattered upon the stones. 
• The countess turned on the lone assassin: "I would not gift you with immortality." She simply kicked him. The damage roll was minimal: 1 point. With Strasha's strength bonus (+4), that dropped him to -2. "You will suffer long in my dungeons. Fetch manacles, Helga."

So ended our adventure for the night.

Except then it didn't...

As per usual we (briefly) debriefed the session, discussing what had worked, what hadn't, who was left alive (Carnen, Ireena, and Sal) and what would happen to them (starvation in a small cell and then zombiefication to replace fallen "soldiers"). The kids were not terribly unhappy about the results (they weren't happy either, but they certainly weren't crying and whining about the session being "unfair"), instead wondering at the power of the vampire countess, appreciating their own ingenuity in getting as far as they did, talking about what they could have done differently...or better.

"Pity we never got to draw from that magic card deck..."

Since it was almost midnight, and we were all a bit loopy (I was three IPAs in...), and because they were being such good sports about what was (effectively) a TPK, I decided to allow the party one more chance. After all, Sal was the one carrying the deck of many things, and he hadn't actually been killed outright (being only reduced to incapacitation)...so I ruled that he could just (barely) work the cards out of his belt pouch and make a draw...one final shot to escape. 

[truth be told, I wanted to see what would happen. Been years since I've seen a deck of many things in play]

Diego elected to draw four. After shuffling many times and making him cut the deck, here's what he pulled (in order):

1. The Jester (red joker): 10,000 x.p. 
2. The Moon (queen of diamonds): 3 wishes (randomly rolled on a d4)
3. The Balance (deuce of spades): change alignment or be permanently destroyed
4. The Knight (jack of hearts): gain a 4th level fighter henchman

An absolutely phenomenal draw! Since I don't use alignment, I ruled he'd have to give up being an assassin and become a straight thief instead (as, in a "normal" game, assassins are required to be "evil" in alignment and the balance would have forced him to change to "good"). He immediately used his first wish to negate the effect ("I wish I hadn't drawn that card!"). He then used his second wish to "completely heal the entire party."

And that's where I called the evening.

; )

Okay, time to get to work. More later.

[EDIT: It should be noted...perhaps...that Diego's intention, with regards to his last wish, was to bring all the dead party members (like Potter) back to life AND heal all their hit points, restoring them to full fighting strength. In effect, this is two wishes, not one, thus blowing the entirety of the wishes granted...something I will inform him of this morning (as I said, I was a bit loopy at the end of the night). Nicely, this should curtail the 3rd wish he and his sister were discussing as they headed off to bed last night: something-something about wishing for all vampires to be destroyed or something...]

"Thriller"

In Seattle, it's 12:41am. My kids are still being wrangled into bed upstairs. Summer nights in a home full of nocturnal animals (the beagle snores loudly, roughly ten feet from where I sit). 

In the Port Angeles of my campaign world, in Castle Ravenspire (my version of "Ravenloft") it is, per my turn counter notes, 9:30pm. The sun set approximately 15 minutes ago, and the vampires are (more or less) fully awake. 

The players, however, have little idea regarding this...they are in a windowless chamber, standing over the body of a flesh golem that the managed to completely surprise and backstab to death (yes, I added a flesh golem. If one is going to go "full Hollywood" you might as well have a Frankenstein monster; the werewolf in the dungeon was already killed...though Sofia's PC was infected with lycanthropy. She'll discover that in a few weeks). The four party members remaining in the group have a grand total of 40 hit points remaining, an average of 10 each. They have no more healing spells, no more healing potions. 

Quite frankly, they seem doomed for destruction. True, they have a deck of many things in their possession, but they haven't quite decided whether or not to draw from it. A wish would really come in handy about now...but none of them know the potential of the deck (my players have never experienced this magic item), only that its magic can only be used once. They're holding onto it as a last resort.

There are a total of five vampires in Ravenspire: the countess and her four (half-vamp) thralls. One thing I now realize: I have almost zero idea what these creatures do upon rising. Certainly they have to hunt and feed (I suppose...D&D vampires are somewhat different from the traditional Bram Stoker nosfearatu), but night is the ACTIVE time of these creatures...and Strasha and her brood do have a domain to run.

Per the MM, a vampire moves 12" or 18" flying (though I infer from the text this latter is limited to bat form). The PHB tells us that movement is five times that over a "known" route, and the castle is certainly familiar territory to its inhabitants. On foot, it would take Strasha all of 10 minutes to traverse the distance from her crypt to the throne room, via the chapel...but would she go through the chapel with its silver icon of goodness? By taking the form of a bat, the countess could fly up the 380' shaft of Hightower peak, down Northtower to the Hall of Honor, and from there enter her throne room with some dignity...by passing through the servant's hall?

No.

The countess...like any nobleman...should have a regular, nightly agenda. No need for servants to dress her...or is there? Perhaps. She does have a bedchamber (currently filled with a living human thrall...well, now a dead human thrall after the adventurers got to her), and a dressing suite and bath. From there (where she could reach via the Hightower shaft) she can descend the Southtower stair, check in with her accountant (also currently dead), before entering her throne room. That seems more reasonable. 

Helga (the half-vamp in the servant's hall) is, of course, Strasha's immortal lady-in-waiting, so it will be her duty (upon rising) to head up the servant stairs to the "Rooms of Weeping" to await her mistress. After aiding the countess in the usual routine, it will be Helga's job to clean and tidy Strasha's apartments, allowing the countess as much symbolic "life" as she can muster. 

The three other half-vamps in the crypts...Duke Davis, Sacha, and Lord Paris...are perhaps "boy toys" of the countess. Upon rising, they are probably left to hunt at their leisure (while the countess attends to the business of her domain), until called by their lady. I'd guess it's safe to assume they'd also be flying up the central shaft of Hightower, as it is the easiest egress from the crypts...so long as one can fly.

Well, then...good enough. Strasha will shortly be discovering the murdered corpse of Gertruda (who Helga has certainly just come across). She will then call her paramours back to her while sweeping her apartments. Hurrying to her treasure chamber, she will find its contents ransacked, her giant spiders dead, and her crystal ball stolen. 

Will she assume the interlopers have absconded with her wealth (as they probably should have)? Or will she instead sweep the castle with her undead minions looking for further signs of intrusion? Off hand, I'd assume the latter...after all, she IS a genius, and it shouldn't take long if the vamps run a coordinated search pattern...plenty of time to mount nightmares and release the hell hounds to track thieves fleeing back to town.

No, it shouldn't take long for the vampires to discover the adventurers...not with the trail of blood and larceny they've left in their wake. It's just a matter of time...a handful of turns...before the party is discovered and the entire clan is summoned to descend on them. 

This may end very badly.

; )

Full Circle

Yesterday, Maceo (another elvish assassin) was able to rejoin our campaign for a four-hour session (one more backpack to fill with loot!)...surprisingly, we were able to get him to join rather plausibly by simply having him follow the trail of bodies and destruction through the castle (we said his character had slept till noon and hadn't got up to the place till 2) all the way to the belfry/treasure chamber. Even more surprisingly, they decided to continue their explorations, eventually defeating three harpies (elvish blood), a flock of blood hawks, a nest of 37ish giant rats, a 5th level illusionist (color spray!), and a mother-f'ing banshee. The clock has just struck 5pm, there is four hours of daylight left, and the party keeps trudging up to tower roofs in their search for the Countess, figuring a vampire must be sleeping upside down somewhere like a giant bat.

*sigh* This is what comes from children not being allowed to watch vampire movies anymore. At least both Mace and Diego leveled up (4th and 5th respectively). Everyone is still alive, but the ranger was driven hopelessly insane following his perusal of a libram of ineffable evil. So it goes.

A couple folks (most recently Stacktrace) have brought up the the subject of my transition from being one of the "leading proponents" of the B/X system of D&D to now being chest-deep in AD&D. Since I've got a couple-four hours to spare, I figured I'd take the time to chronicle my personal history (as best I can) for readers interested in "the Evolution of JB." Not sure that's really enough time, but here goes:

Circa 1981 (age 8, 2nd grade): while at a Fred Meyer store, I see the Dungeon! board game on display and plead with my mother to buy it, citing the fact that it says its for children of 8+ years and I am old enough. Surprisingly, she does so (a fact that surprises me to this day: my mother was never one to cave to a begging/pleading child back in the day). I am somewhat disappointed by what I find inside...I had intended to purchase Dungeons & Dragons having already learned of this game from the playground at my school (and being, by this time, familiar with the terms "class," "fighter," "magic-user," "assassin," "magic missile," "Demogorgon," and "Blackrazor"). Still, the game provides an education into the very rudiments of D&D concepts (dungeons, monsters, treasure, secret doors, expendable spells, green slime, etc.). It contains a pair of green, plastic D6s with numbers etched on them (instead of dots)...the first I've ever seen. I still own this game today...my children have played it extensively.

Circa 1982 (age 8 or 9, 3rd grade): I discover the Moldvay edited Basic D&D box set at J.C. Penny in the toy section, and (again) talk my mother into acquiring it, perhaps explaining that this was the game I originally sought out. Again (surprisingly) this works, though this may have been in November and the idea was that this would be a birthday present for Yours Truly. I have detailed my delight and discovery of the wonders of this set in other blog posts. I read it cover-to-cover, struggle with the module, and instead create my own "dungeon" (a castle map, no doubt based on B2's Keep, that players must besiege).

Shortly Thereafter: my parents host a caucus at our house for local Democrats. I am upstairs in my room running my adventure for my younger brother. One Dem has brought her daughter, Jocelyn (a year older than myself) to the caucus, and my mother asks if she can join our game. I give her a halfling to play. When it is time for her to finally leave, my brother has been killed two or three times, and Jocelyn has infiltrated the castle, avoided all guards and is making for the castle treasury/armory. This is my introduction to a girl who will become my best friend, later co-DM.

3rd grade: I play D&D mainly with my brother and my best friend, Jason. Jason runs a thief named Sneakshadow. Jason is good friends with Scott (they both have single parents...moms...so they share time with each other). Jason's mom is our soccer coach.

Summer of 1983: I meet Matt during the summer during Little League baseball.

1983 (4th Grade): Matt has joined our school; we become friends. Circa November, I receive the Cook/Marsh Expert set, probably as a birthday gift. At a sleepover at Matt's house (I can pinpoint this to December, as I remember watching the Eurythmics video "Here Comes the Rain Again" on MTV), we make him a high level cleric to try the Expert set rules (giving him fanatic followers and sending him into the desert on a quest to find a blue dragon). Matt owns the Dark Tower board game, which I play long into the night after everyone else has gone to sleep. He also has a vinyl album with Conan the Barbarian stories. In later years, we will dive deep into his older brother's stack of Heavy Metal magazines and share a love of Thieves World books.

December 1983: Jocelyn gets me the AD&D Monster Manual as a Christmas gift. It is incorporated into our games, though a lot of it is difficult to parse as we are still using B/X as our rule base.

1984: We play D&D. Sometime in this year, Jocelyn discovers a copy of the DMG at the bottom of chest of old stuff belonging to her youngest brother Lacey (11 years her senior). I am allowed to borrow it on occasion...much of it is difficult to parse or completely alien. However, we begin to use the combat matrices (which seem to line up with the MM) and incorporate the expansive magic item list, especially the artifacts and relics. Some of the effects are waaay over my head (satyriasis? nymphomania?) but sex-change magic is always good for a laugh when your players include both boys and girls. Jocelyn's character, Bladehawk, has become the premier fighter of the campaign and is legendary for escaping death traps. At Jocelyn's home I run a game for four(?) players including my brother, Jocelyn, Jason (I think) and Jocelyn's friend Brian Hackett. Brian has a high level cleric with the blade barrier spell (also a hammer of thunderbolts) which, because we cannot find it in my rulebooks, I disallow. Years later, I will encounter Brian in high school (he was a junior when I was a freshman) and he will remember me respectfully as "The Dungeon Master."

Fall of 1984 (age 10, 5th grade): at soccer practice, Matt brings me a copy of N1: Against the Cult of the Reptile God, asking if I can run it for our group. While at first I am put off by the low-level of the adventure (our B/X characters have reached lofty heights), I begin to notice various strains of weirdness in the adventure: single class elves, "longswords," "ring mail," etc. Reading the cover ("for ADVANCED D&D game") and seeing the level range (1st to 3rd) it finally dawns on me that "Advanced" does not equate to "Expert" and that the MM and DMG must be for this other, mystery game. The key turns in the lock, the veil falls from our eyes, and all is revealed.

The start of 
my AD&D career.

November 1984 (age 11, 5th grade): I receive a copy of the AD&D Players Handbook for my birthday, the only thing I wanted. Now, with my copy of the MM and Jocelyn's copy of the DMG, we can begin playing proper AD&D. I make a high level magic-user character for my (now) friend Scott, both to make use of the new rules (intelligence factor! new spells!) and to put him on par with other long-running PCs Bladehawk, Sneakshadow, and Sunstarr (Matt's cleric). His wizard is named Lucky Drake after a character in a Choose Your Own Adventure book. This will be the core of our group for the next several years.

[EDIT: I now believe that the PHB was a Christmas gift, not a birthday  gift. I still believe I received my first DMG slightly later]

December 1984/Winter 1985: my aunt's boyfriend, a DragonQuest player, gifts me with my very own AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide. No longer forced to borrow Jocelyn's (as she doesn't attend the same school as the rest of us, I don't see her often enough), I can delve the thing and really learn the rules.

Winter 1985: Matt picks up a copy of AD&D Deities & Demigods (cleric guy, remember?) and we immediately incorporate it into our game. Sneakshadow fights Thor and kills him.

Spring of 1985: I discover the appendices in the back of the PHB after trying to figure out references to the psionics and bards in the DMG combat tables (previously I hadn't finished reading my PHB as I assumed it was just "all spells" after the mid-point). I immediately make my own character: a half-elf bard with psionics named Landon Weiguard. I show him to Jocelyn. Jocelyn expresses interest in doing some DMing.

Circa Fall of 1985 (age 11, 6th grade): Jason leaves our school. In addition, his family become Born Again Christians and his mother no longer allows him to play D&D. I see him only a handful of times after this. Jocelyn and I decide to blow up our original campaign and re-start the whole thing (all 1st level characters!) as strictly AD&D. She and I alternate as Dungeon Masters. 

November 1985 (age 12): my brother gives me the Unearthed Arcana for my 12th birthday. Jocelyn already has her copy (and incorporated comeliness and all the rest into our new campaign). I believe I receive my copy of Legends & Lore in December, perhaps as a Christmas gift. This will be the bulk of our "canon" going forward, only occasionally adding bits here-and-there from Dragon magazine or the Mentzer Companion set (which Jocelyn owned). 

1985 to 1988: we play AD&D. DMing duty is split between Jocelyn and myself. When I run, I tend to run AD&D adventure modules, rather than original material. Jocelyn runs a couple pre-packaged adventures including (Ravenloft...though I wasn't present for that) and Castle Greyhawk. At some point we re-boot the campaign a second time (we now distinguish "eras" of play by campaign: the Original Campaign, the First (AD&D) Campaign, and the New Campaign), again beginning characters at 1st level. When we do this, we use the World of Greyhawk map, but add our own material (factions, politics, etc.). We have some DragonLance modules (we are fans of the novels) but only use them for the maps, judging the adventures themselves to be "terrible." As time goes on, Jocelyn does more of the heavy lifting of campaign management...I am (mostly) content to just play. We also venture into other RPGs: we play Marvel extensively, BattleTech, some Star Frontiers. We dabble in James Bond and Twilight 2000; get our first taste of Warhammer 40,000 (the book...none of us acquire minis). AD&D remains our main game, however.

Spring/Summer 1988 (age 14): Jocelyn and I have a falling out. Kids fall out with each other: that's a part of life. Often times, over the years, Jason or Scott or Matt would be "on the outs" with the group, but we would always (eventually, somehow) bring 'em back into the fold. As we were transitioning to high school (the boys...Jocelyn at 15 and already in high school) I was the one that got kicked...and the group never recovered. We all ended up at different high schools, going separate ways.

1988-1991 (high school): I make new friends, some of whom play AD&D. I do not play AD&D with them...instead I play Palladium games (Heroes Unlimited, TMNT, Rifts), Stormbringer, or (later) Vampire the Masquerade. I still collect old AD&D modules when I find them, including White Plume Mountain and Against the Giants. For about a year, I run my brother and his best friend Brandon in an AD&D campaign, up till about level 12. I do this mostly to try modules I've never previously run (including the Desert of Desolation series I3, I4, and I5) and to try re-capturing the magic of my earlier campaigns. It doesn't work and I quit playing AD&D.

1991-1995 (university): I do some gaming, mostly White Wolf stuff (Vampire, Werewolf, Mage, Ars Magica 3E). Towards the end of university, one of my buddies (Joel) suggests we start up an AD&D campaign; I agree only on the condition that it is 1st edition, none of this crap 2E stuff. While he consents, nothing ever comes of the conversation (no chargen, nothing).

1996 (after graduation): while living with a non-gamer girlfriend, I get heavy into WH40K. Fact is, our relationship was heading south (it would be very up-and-down for another year, up through 10/1997) and getting into some kind of gaming felt necessary for my sanity. A game shop close to our apartment ran 40K tournaments. We would break up (and I moved out) before she moved to New Mexico for grad school.

1997-1999: no real gaming, though I meet some guys (Kris, James, Alex) who played D&D in their youth. In 1998 I will run an aborted session or two, and play in James's (single session) attempt to start a 2E game. All of these ended in disaster. The weed probably didn't help.

March 1998: I meet my wife. Having grown up in Mexico, she has never heard of D&D before meeting me.

2000-2002: 3E is released. I acquire copies and run some games, mainly for my friend Kris and a couple randoms whose names escape me. By 2002, I am done. I am still collecting BECMI edition D&D (the Mentzer sets, the Mystara Gazetteers, the Rules Cyclopedia, Wrath of the Immortals) feeling it is the most "complete" version of D&D. I do a lot of solo stuff with it. In 2007 some stuff I wrote about the Greek Gods will get uploaded to Vault of Pandius. Mostly, I end up finding the BECMI edition to be (both) too staid and too childish for my tastes.

2003-2007: sometime in this period, I make the acquaintance of The Forge and indie gaming and start studying game design. I get the idea to write the Great American Indie RPG (trademark pending!). This is all crap, but it starts me down the road of taking RPGs (and my love of them) more seriously. I do not play D&D during this period, though I collect and read a LOT of other RPGs. As far as I can recall, I didn't play any RPGs at this time (some light indie stuff...Capes, InSpectres...with my nephews perhaps). Sometime towards the end of this period, a person posts an Actual Play report on The Forge about how they tried playing an old game of Basic D&D "by the book" and it was actually fun.

Circa 2008: While reading an interview with indie-game designer Kenneth Hite, I am made aware of James Maliszewski's Grognardia and fall down the rabbit hole of Old School D&D blogs. This leads me to a number of sites, the most influential of which is Pat Armstrong's Ode to Black Dougal. Having the fires of nostalgia stoked by memories of my first RPG, I decide to go "back to the beginning," where my love for the hobby first started.

June 2009: I write down a quick list of 100 possible blog posts (to make sure I can generate content) and start the B/X Blackrazor blog. 

2009-2011: I play B/X D&D regularly, mostly off-line (face-to-face), sometimes running up to nine or ten players at my local bar. This three year period more-or-less matches the time I spent playing B/X at the beginning of my gaming career (1983-1985). I write (B/X) books during this time that are still selling today.

January 19th, 2011: my son Diego is born.

2012: I start developing other games: Cry Dark Future (2012), Five Ancient Kingdoms (2013), various indie type games and other genre games using the B/X Chassis. At the time, if I'd been asked, I probably would have said I was showing the versatility of the game (or writing my own fantasy heartbreaker with regard to 5AK). However, I now believe I was beginning to run up against the limitations of the B/X system...I was growing bored. And I was becoming tired of writing my own "support" for the system.

2013-2016: I am in Paraguay until August 2016. During this time, I do not play D&D.  I reflect on it, read about it, blog about it, work on a couple different "new" heartbreakers. There was a lot going on for me (mentally, emotionally) and my gaming thoughts were pretty random. A lot of good reading on the subject of D&D care of Alexis's books...but I had difficulty grokking some of the concepts he was trying to communicate.

April 21st, 2014: my daughter Sofia is born.

2016-2018: no gaming. Back from Paraguay but too busy with new children in a new school and transitioning to that "stay-at-home-American-dad-thing." Blog posts from this time are depressing...reading through a couple makes me think of a dude who is in need of help but doesn't know how to cry for help because he is unaware of how helpless he is. The blog was treading water just to assuage the ego with "relevance." Ugh. 

August 2019 (age 45): I hit rock bottom while attending a Dragonflight Convention; a convention at which I had the opportunity to play four Basic (three B/X!) game sessions with four different DMs. I was done with B/X as my "go-to-game-of-choice." It is still...and always will be...a fine teaching tool for learning the basics of Dungeons & Dragons.

Circa August 2019: I discover Anthony Huso's blog.

Circa 2019-2020: I discover (and start tuning into) the rather amusing GrogTalk podcast. Because they moderate their language, I sometimes listen to the podcast with my son (especially when it's just the two of us on long soccer drives). 

October 2019: I decide that the only way I will ever be satisfied with D&D again is to commit myself wholeheartedly to running a campaign, rather than one-off sessions. Just like I hadn't done since the age of 17.

February 2020 (age 46): I run my children through their first B/X adventure.

March 2020: the COVID 19 pandemic hits in full force. Schools (and most everything else) close down.

April 2020: I decide to go back to the LBBs and play OD&D with my kids, feeling I can simply add to the game (from supplements, house rules, etc.) whatever is needed for the campaign. At this point, I still feel "tinkering with rules" is the thing that will get me to the game I wanted. Ridiculous. This lasted a month or so before I shut it down. I play no D&D for the next six months.

November 2020 (age 47): I begin running AD&D for my children, teaching them the Advanced game.

February 2021: Taking advantage of a Total Party Kill, I start the AD&D campaign over from scratch using Washington State (and the Pac Northwest generally) as my campaign setting. My world has been in existence for 17 months now...longer than ANY "B/X campaign" I ran back in my Baranof days. 

June 30, 2022 (today, age 48): I've now been running AD&D exclusively for nearly two years; we've only barely begun to scratch the surface of play. The system is so robust...and so deep...that I don't anticipate exhausting its possibilities any time soon. Fact is, unless I get sick of my world (which is hard to see happening, considering its "mine" and I can remake any particle of it, any time I choose), I don't see how the game would ever end. It can only grow larger and more developed with time.

Currently, the AD&D books are available both digitally an in Print-on-Demand form from DriveThruRPG. I recommend every D&D player who doesn't already own a set acquire copies of the PHB, DMG, MM, and Fiend Folio. The MM2, DDG, and UA have useful elements, but are not strictly necessary for play. 

All right, that's all for today. 

"We're Rich! We're Rich!"

"We're rich! We're rich! We're really really rich!"

This was the song being chanted (loudly) for about ten minutes yestereve as my players danced around the table, celebrating a particularly large haul of treasure.

Welcome to my campaign.

I have an hour(ish) before I need to start "working," so allow me to tell you a bit about it. The players (a party of four: elven assassin, half-elven fighter, human cleric, human ranger) are currently exploring my re-vamped (no pun intended) version of Ravenloft. No railroad here: the group may have been shipwrecked on the sandbar just off the coast of Port Angeles (that was fun!) but nothing compelled them to stay in town, nor explore/invade the castle of the local Countess (yes, I've a gender-bended "Strahd"). If they'd wanted to, they could have simply purchased fresh horses and been on their way...perhaps to Sequim and from there onto Kingston (a week's journey by leisurely ride). Heck, they might even make a side trek to "the Dreaming City" (Port Townsend); the elven citadel is only some 30 miles round trip off the main road.

But they decided to stay. The town was sad and grimy, somewhat less than effusive in its welcome (though their ship's crew seemed able to get on fine at the aptly named Wreck Tavern), and rather filthy with orcish persons...a small group of whom were drinking at the tavern when the party entered (the orcs paid their bill and left shortly thereafter, not wanting any trouble with armed elvish types). The drinking started in the early afternoon and went long into the evening...though most of the locals muttered their goodbyes and left before sundown. 

Most, but not all. One young man, incredibly drunk, visibly agitated, and belligerently armed became more boisterous...and obnoxious...as the evening progressed. Seems he was unhappy with the local lord and bore a grudge against her for the murder of his family and the (recent) disappearance of his sister: an adventurer who had sought redress for various wrongs and never returned from the castle. Wild stories were spun by the man ("Istmark")...stories of devil-worship and blood-drinking and curses. The Countess was a demon, or a sorceress, or both, and took her due in both lives and souls and was a plague on the town.

To the adventurers, it sounded like normal orc-hate (the countess had apparently forced tolerance of the pagan tribe, who made ready and loyal servants) and bourgeois whinging. However, when Ismark offered to hire their elven blades for the "typical service" (elves having a reputation for assassination) and at twice the usual rate(!), the party quickly reached an accord.

The party set off for the castle in the morning, reaching it just after 8am.

[ugh...sorry, got distracted. Yesterday, my laptop crashed and...apparently...took a huge chunk of my Word documents with it...everything I've been working on the last 30 days or so. Yesterday, I spent a couple hours trying to find a document that failed to be "auto-recovered" (not sure why), but today I noticed even more missing files, including my open Word document on Ravenloft! What the F is going on?!!]

Skip ahead, skip ahead (only have five minutes or so)...the party has now been exploring the castle for nearly seven hours (it is 2:50pm in the afternoon).  For rather obvious reasons, an adventure like this requires meticulous calculation of encumbrance, movement, and game time (in ten minute turns)...sunset in Port Angeles is 9:17pm, and until that time, the castle is far less dangerous.

And it's been dangerous enough. Orcs wearing scale and armed with halberds are nothing to sneer at, but so far...whether by luck or cunning...the party has been able to avoid any encounter or trap that might have otherwise finished them. They've also managed to do a fair amount of murder...slaying both the castle exchequer (accountant) and a peasant girl named Gertrude found sleeping in the master's bedroom (they assumed she was the countess). 

Having killed many orcs (and not a few zombies), the bloodied robbers rather easily discovered a secret door within the fireplace of the study. Putting out the hearth blaze with water from a nearby bath, the adventurers used magic to reveal the obvious gas trap (avoided by holding their breath) and then their elvish guile to find the secret passage to cobwebbed belfry beyond.

Again, the ranger failed to prove much use outside a fight on open ground, as three man-sized spiders surprised the party, one bearing the human to the ground. Fortunately, he was able to survive multiple poison saves and the elvish butchers made short work of the huge arachnids. 

They then discovered the REAL treasure room of the castle (behind another secret door).

While I have restocked much of the module to bring it up to snuff for a standard AD&D adventure (in terms of both monsters and treasure), I haven't spent much time modifying the treasures that were already placed by the authors. Okay, I did get rid of TWO of the three +3 maces in the castle treasury (in favor of a crystal ball with clairaudience for the Countess to use in keeping tabs on her realm) but the general loot is all pretty much the same. Needless to say, 10s of thousands of gold and silver coins means a BIG payday for the PCs...and was the direct cause for their celebration.

The party spent the better part of an hour emptying their bag of holding and re-filling it with the most precious parts of the treasure. In addition to valuable, leather-bound books, silver cutlery, and elegant silken dresses already looted from prior chambers, the players managed to gather the bulk of the gold, silver, and platinum coinage...as well as all the expected magic items, a coffer of gemstones, and a suit of human-sized plate mail removed from a stairway alcove. Their bag and backpacks are stuffed full, as is the half-elf's large sack...a total haul they estimate to be worth somewhere north of 23K in gold. In "real world" terms, that's close to half a million dollars worth of swag...more than the party has ever gathered at one time.

Thus the cause for the dancing and singing.

Abandoning non-essential equipment, the players are now making ready to vacate the castle entirely. They've decided that, at this point, it's probably a better (and safer) option to quietly leave the town than overstay their welcome. They are still considering whether or not to even attempt collecting Istmark's promised fee...they have their doubts that the girl they slew was indeed the countess (she certainly didn't seem like some sort of demon sorceress...also, she bore no resemblance to the raven-haired portrait of the (presumed) noblewoman discovered earlier). Regardless, now that their band is suddenly wealthy, they are disinclined to explore further, simply for the chance to perform regicide.

They're pulling up stakes...while there's still daylight left. About six-and-a-half hours worth.

; )

"Adventure" Design

Just in case any of my readers haven't heard, Alexis is running an adventure writing TEACHING contest with hundreds of American dollars (more than $1K) in cash prices. No, Alexis is not judging the entries...he is only putting up the money. Interested individuals who know how to use a video camera and want to participate should check out the link.

It's an interesting contest. How does one teach someone to write adventures? For that matter, how should one go about writing an adventure? Is it just a matter of having an idea and a word processor? 

Judging by the multitude of published adventures on DriveThruRPG, it would appear many individuals feel they already know how to write an an adventure (and, yeah, maybe they feel it IS only about having an idea and a computer for uploading data). 'Course, that's no guarantee of an adventure being any good.

Perhaps our understanding of What An Adventure Is is lacking these days. The Tom Moldvay-edited Basic (B/X) rules defines the term simply:

adventure -- Any session where a DM and players meet to play a D&D game.

[from the B/X Glossary, page B63]

...but I think the common use and understanding of the term comes from what was once called (and sometimes still called) adventure modules. These are also described in the B/X glossary, a bit more specifically:

module -- Completely designed and challenging adventures available from TSR Hobbies, Inc. that contain maps, keys, background information, NPCs, and other information for use by the DM to use in his or her campaign.

[also page B63]

While such terms are omitted from the DMG glossary, we find a similar definition in the (final) "catalogue" pages of the first edition PHB where it lists other TSR products:

MODULES

Every AD&D module is a ready-to-play adventure setting, populated with appropriate monsters, treasures, tricks, and traps, and including maps, background information, and histories. Though each individual module is designed to stand on its own, several series are specially made to form a connected progression of adventures.

[from the PHB, page 127]

Also of note (same page) is:

INTRODUCTORY MODULES

Each of these modules is especially designed to instruct both the beginning player and Dungeon Master, how to construct and fill one's own dungeons and how to better play D&D for full enjoyment.

The only two "introductory modules" listed are B1: In Search of the Unknown and B2: The Keep on the Borderlands, adventures specifically written/designed for the (introductory) Basic D&D game. T1: The Village of Hommlet (generally considered an introductory module) is NOT, being found in the previous (AD&D Module) section.

Leaving aside the self-referential advertising, these explanations of the term "module" all seem describe a singular scenario: a situational set of circumstances for the players to interact with in a given game session. Especially in the AD&D description:

...a ready-to-play adventure setting...

these modules are not billing themselves as the adventure itself. Which I find fascinating when coupled with the description (from the catalogue) of the Dungeon Masters Guide:

DUNGEON MASTERS GUIDE

This hardbound masterwork contains all the invaluable charts and information necessary to be a Dungeon Master. It contains in addition, guidelines for developing the campaign and for running the AD&D game more smoothly.

Make careful note of that description: in no way, shape or form does it promise to teach DMs how to craft adventures...only how to develop campaigns and how to run the game more smoothly. Neither does the back cover (either of the 1E covers) say anything about writing/creating adventures...nor (so far as I can tell) does the body of the text describe what an "adventure" is supposed to mean in terms of the game.

All of which suggests to me that Moldvay's definition of "adventure" (any session where a DM and players meet to play a D&D game) was MORE than just Tom's invention...it was, in fact, based on an understanding of what the term meant to the creators/publishers of the game. 

"Adventures" are what the players (through their characters) were expected to have every time they came to the table. Whether big or small, meaningful, impactful, or none of the above...D&D was meant to be a game where every time you sat down you were experiencing fantasy "adventure." The information Gygax provides in the PHB for Successful Adventures (pages 107-109) would, contextually, seem to indicate that as well:

...assume that a game is scheduled tomorrow, and you are going to get ready for it well in advance so as to have as much actual playing time as possible -- no sense in spending precious adventuring minutes with the mundane preparations common to the game.

First get in touch with all those who will be included in the adventure, or if all are not available, at least talk to the better players so that you will be able to set an objective for the adventure. Whether the purpose is so simple as to discover a flight of stairs to the next lowest unexplored level or so difficult as to find and destroy an altar to an alien god, some firm objective should be established...

Take a look at that: Gygax is using the term adventure simply in place of the term "game session." Find out who is going to be participating in the [session]. Discuss objectives for the [session] before play. Do not waste precious minutes of the [session] time. Gygax makes it clear (earlier, on page 101) that "adventures" (again, read game sessions) can take place in dungeons, outdoor environments, or cities and towns, and he provides tips and advice for tackling ANY such setting...but as an overall preparation for a game of D&D.

NOT the preparation for a single, particular scenario.

The latter is what modules provided: scenarios that could be inserted (in modular fashion) into one's home campaign. Which is how we used to use them back in the day. Heck, it's still how I use them...I don't need no stinking World of Greyhawk.

So the idea of "adventure writing" or "adventure creation" is a bit of a misnomer. What is being created are scenarios...situations and opportunities that might (and probably should) appeal to a group of players who enjoy fantasy gaming. Adventuring is the act of playing D&D...not the act of tackling a particular scenario.

At least originally. Things change. Now adventures are more than opportunities...they are the expectation of play. A mystery is presented (that PCs are expected to solve). A dramatic story is presented (that PCs are expected to take part in). A formidable threat to the locals/kingdom/world is presented (that PCs are expected to side against and find a way to heroically defeat). When players show up for a game session, the DM has "an adventure" ready for the PCs to face because that's how we do D&D now.  

In my opinion, the game has been diminished because of this: playing this way is like playing an overly complex board-less board game. It's a deck-building game without decks. Far from establishing their own objectives, PCs are left to the objectives presented by the DM who acts (more-or-less) as a proxy stand-in for the "adventure designer." Kind of lame, if you ask me. Especially with the added attitude (sometimes expressed) that "THIS is what we're doing tonight...if you don't want to go on the prepared 'adventure,' then there won't be any game happening."

I've encountered this before...as a player. Both in home games and in conventions. We have a scenario...do it or go home. Which isn't how I run my games (generally. Hmm...I'm trying to remember exceptions). I've left a lot of half-finished modules strewn in my wake over the years: players abandon an adventure for one reason or another and move on to other things. And that's OKAY; it's okay that the players don't care terribly about FINISHING some scenario to completion...after all, D&D is NOT a video game (contained, limited, bounded by its medium).

This is why, when I re-purpose something like Dragons of Despair or Ravenloft, the first couple things I do are:

1. Un-couple it from any restrictions that prevent PCs from leaving (like poison fog banks and infinite dragonman patrols), and
2. Provide the PCs with real reasons for wanting to be there (like huge piles of delicious treasure). 

Because that's how D&D (I'm speaking specifically of Dungeons & Dragons, not other RPGs) is supposed to run. Playing the game IS the adventure. Adventure scenarios (whether in published modules or self-brewed) are opportunities of interest...and that's it. Players may have things they're MORE interested in than plumbing dungeons: finding a husband/wife, building a castle, creating a magic item, discovering a contact with the thieves' guild, whatever. LOTS of opportunities for "adventures" present themselves when you're not shackled to running the plot of a particular scenario. 

Anyway.

I'll probably circle back to this topic when I talk about "the perpetual game" (a post I've been meaning to write for months now. Sorry). In the meantime, hopefully I've given folks something to mentally chew on. If you're interested in describing your own techniques/procedures for adventure writing...er, "scenario creation"...and if you'd like to win some cold, hard, cash, I strongly suggest checking out the contest over at The Tao of D&D. 

Later, gators.

Nostalgia Bias

Recently, I read a retrospective review of adventure module I1: Dwellers of the Forbidden City over at Reviews from R'lyeh. It was less than complimentary, stating in part:

I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City is a module with a huge number of problems. In terms of its most basic design, it has a split personality between the tournament play elements (with advice how to run the entrance tunnels as a tournament, but not the means, since the module is not part of the part of the ‘C’ or Competition series of scenarios) and the sandbox aspect once the Player Characters are in the Forbidden City. The former is highly detailed where the latter is not, the former has the players pushed in one direction, whereas the latter does not. Now whilst at least one of the encounters in the tunnels makes sense, the actual city is underwritten, with little description as to its current state or background as to its origins or who its original inhabitants were, with only the bases for each of the factions receiving any real attention or detail. And of those factions, the Yuan-ti suffer from the same issue. The module also treats its NPCs badly, few of them being named...Further, even the one named NPC in the scenario who will readily come to the Player Characters’ aid, an Elf Magic-User who is the only survivor from a previous expedition, has an unpleasant manner which will only serve to at least annoy the Player Characters, if not completely drive them off...

Worse, I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City ignores the primary reason for the Player Characters to travel as far south as the Forbidden City—the treasure from the caravans. It is completely omitted from the scenario, leaving a motivation to be unfulfilled. And without that, once the chieftain’s son has been rescued, there remains little motivation for the Player Characters to stay in the city. Now, there are plenty of potential motivations and adventure ideas given at the end of the module, but these are not used in the module as written despite the fact that they are infinitely more interesting than the very basic ones of searching for treasure (which does not exist) and rescuing the chieftain’s son given at the beginning of the module. As a consequence of their not being written into the module, there are no sewer systems filled with jungle-ghouls, no lost temple of Ranet, no temple to tentacular thing from another plane, no spy network, no travel back to explore the city in its prime, and so on. 

The fact is, I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City is begging for all of these—and more...

Long-time readers of this blog may remember me writing of Dwellers with glowing praise...I have said, more than once, that it's one of my favorite adventure modules of all time. On my list of most "inspirational" adventure modules (i.e. inspiring me to play D&D) I ranked it #2, just behind Queen of the Demonweb Pits. I likewise ranked it #2 on my personal Top Ten list of all time D&D adventure modules, just in front of Q1 and just behind White Plume Mountain (though I noted that I "preferred the flavor" of Dwellers to S2). I've run the adventure module probably four or five times AS WRITTEN...i.e. without any further development. Truthfully, I never had any need to develop it further, because every party that braved the thing ended up dead or on the run for safer, greener pastures.

In other words, the way I feel about Dwellers of the Forbidden City could be readily compared to the way many, MANY people feel about I6: Ravenloft. 

Here's the thing: the criticism RfR has of Dwellers is fair. More than fair...it's pretty spot on. When he writes:

Wolfgang Baur is right to suggest that the module is best remembered for its monsters...I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City is neither a classic, nor does not deserve its revered status, and it certainly does not deserve to rate as high as thirteen on the list of greatest Dungeons & Dragons adventures of all time by Dungeon magazine for the thirtieth anniversary of the Dungeons & Dragons. As written, it simply is not that good, its tournament versus sandbox style of play giving it a split personality and its sandbox elements severely underwritten and underdeveloped in far too many places for the Dungeon Master to bring to the table and make playable without undertaking a great deal of development work.

...he's not wrong at all. When I've run the thing I had the same complaints: I just pushed hard on the "chief's son" premise, and ignored all the failings of the thing, because the adventure didn't last long enough for those failings to appear. The "competition entrance" is pretty much a linear obstacle course. If you ignore that most of the city is undeveloped, PCs can simply wander the streets until they find one of the (detailed) "faction areas" where the adventure suddenly continues. There is a ton of under-utilized, unrealized potential in the adventure...more, there are a ton of unanswered questions that really demand answers: the yuant-ti, the missing trade goods, timelines of the disparate groups interactions with each other, etc.

Lost cities! Snake people! Killer jungle plants! Hell, there's even an illusionist. I love this sort of thing. But my love of these things undermines my ability to look at the adventure critically and rationally, with the jaded, middle-aged (thus, experienced) eyes that I use for the other adventures I've analyzed (like Ravenloft and Dragonlance). My bias for the adventures I love...and that I have nostalgia for...is just as strong and, yes, irrational as what I see in others.

That's a good thing to realize. It is something I need to be cognizant of.

Anyway, I would disagree with pookie that Dwellers of the Forbidden City should only be considered a "classic" for the new monsters it introduces, or that it should be restricted from such a prestigious designation due to the work a DM needs to put in to make it playable. A classic (when used as a noun) is defined as:

a work of art of recognized and established value

and I think that, with regard to adventure modules, there must be a certain amount of "player mass" (i.e. individuals that have played the adventure) for it to be rightly called a classic. And as an adventure published at the height of the game's popularity...and being present on store shelves for years... I1 probably has that mass in a way that many latter day adventures simply do not. And I think that it has established its value in the entertainment it's provided. 

But I'm biased.

[Ravenloft could also be rightly called a "classic" by the same reasoning and, for the record, I never said Ravenloft was not; I simply said it wasn't a very good adventure based on the rule set for which it was written]