MUTLTI-GENERATIONAL GAMING: Running Dyson's Delve for my brother & nephew

I decided recently to approach my brother and nephew about playing a D&D game online since we all are scattered across 3 states of the US and span 30 years of time.

Two key things to appreciate about this, which is why it's so heartwarming, is that: (1) my brother is 10 years older than me. I remember walking into his room at 4 and seeing him playing D&D with his friends. I never really knew what they were doing, but I did watch the D&D cartoon with him. It would be 1989 and buying 2e AD&D for I really took a step into D&D. (2) When my nephew was growing up, I introduced him to videogames, anime, and board games, turns out what stuck was a love of "retro" videogames-- now he's interested in how D&D influenced them. And his dad never played D&D with him at all.

So to unite the generations, I decided to run a BX D&D (1981) game (using Old-School Essentials) and, since my brother said he didn't think he could do anything too complex other than like a Caves of Chaos run, Dyson's Delve (2019). I also decided to continue to lean old-school by just slowly building out the world as their interest lead- no planning way ahead or trying to set up some grand storyline.  And I even sent them dice from Roll4Initative- my brother's first set in ~35 years.

GAME SET-UP

I was going to have them roll 3d6 down-the-line and run with what they got. Initially, I pushed for them to run 2 characters, but they opted just to start with one each. As a small bit of prep, I read through Dyson's Delve and wrote a small table of motivations for adventuring.

The guys end up rolling two clerics as below:

Generated with 3d6 down-the-line

I also started them out at 2500 XP, which is enough for most classes to be level 2, but not all classes.

The guys also ended up rolling a "1" on the motivations table below:

1. PCs quest to retrieve bones of famous adventuring family ancestors & inter them in the family crypt
2. PCs owe d6 x 10,000 GP to local crime lord
3. A family member of PC afflicted by a disease only cured by well or spring water from the underground
4. The evil duplicate of one PC has kidnapped the princess and fled to the dungeon
5. The "Curse of Sait Ulther" has returned! Five fantastical monster parts are needed to complete the spell that will vanquish it
6. At the end of 10 flights of stairs, there is a dragon who grants wishes

Their goal morphing slightly into this:

The Abbot, a gentle but financially oriented man, and the Prior, a stern and pious man,  have decided to build a reliquary to encourage pilgrimage to the abbey. They decided the task of retrieving the bones of early saints from the local dungeon belongs to members of the clerical order- Bros. Phellinus and Cadfeal.

As so off they go!

SESSION ONE

The brothers skirt the goblin camp in the ruins and head for the cave entrance to the south. Br. Cadfeal used his background in animal handling to intimidate the giant ferrets, fat on killed giants rats, therein. 

From there they delved further into the cave structure and meeting Baron Zigfried, a regal ghoul looking for manners and meat. The clerics were full on the former but lean on the latter. The Baron was stingy with its information but directed them lower into the crypts. And followed.

After finding the tombs of some monks, but no saints, the clerics decided to grab what they could of the humble relics and make it back to the surface. However, the stalking Baron had to be dealt with.

The two clerics took up positions on either side of the tunnel, covering their lantern with a sack, and making loud small talk to confuse the ghoul. The ghoul was not surprised, but the clerics seized the initiative and Br. Phellius landed a critical hit- cavitating the skull! After scooping up the jewelry and magic relics, the clerics made way for home. And level 3.

SESSION TWO

Since the previous session was a hit, I decided to create an abbey proper (see fig 2). To hopefully encourage role-play, I also created the “90-10 Edict” to establish some outlines of cleric behavior and provide links with the abbey hierarchy. I also established that the abbot wants to build two things: an ossuary to saints and a reliquary to humble monks-- because they want to attract religious pilgrims for the gold.

Our two brothers set off once again, but exciting more cation brought along two hirelings lured more by the promise of gold than the clerics’ inspirational speeches (both have a CHA of 7 & 8).

This time the clerics decided to avoid a tussle with the giant ferrets in the south cave and instead build a stake and rope ladder up the west side of the ruin. With amazement in the DM’s eyes they were able to quietly slip up and over the wall and down into the first level.

Luck ran out here as both hirelings missed the two goblin guards and one escaped to find their hobgoblin bosses-- the clock was ticking. With some quick scouting, they found the tomb of St. Ulther! Praise be to AZLAN! And they also found a couple of other sealed tombs that the goblins had marked as containing undead. Not ones to take their eyes off the mission, the brothers Phellius and Cadfeal beat a hasty retreat with bones and hirelings in tow just as 3 hobgoblins reach the top of the stairs.

They drenched the stairs with oil and toss down a torch to erect a flaming barrier to guard their retreat. Up and over they make it again, but now they are caught by a goblin patrol! Gaining the initiative, Br. Phellius charges forward, mace in hand, and with AZLN in his heart. Dice are rolled, bounce, bounce...natural 20!

Eleven points of damage certainly converts the goblin to a corpse and the sight causes the others to flee. The return home is uneventful.

Next session we will see if this particular ossuary can attract pilgrims.

FIG 1: What they have explored in the first two sessions of Dyson's Tower

FIG 2: Since the game seemed to have legs, I whipped up a quick abbey & edicts for the cleric order

KNOCK! Vol. 1: A compendium opening the door on the best of old-school thought

 

KNOCK! Vol.1 from The Merry Mushmen

Is KNOCK! the best RPG thing of 2021? Could very well be. Do you need it? Yes! Its worth 100% of the money. This is a collection of blog posts, writings, and "bric-a-brac" from the old-school scene helpfully bound into an analog print format. Here is Questing Beast's video on the book. And here is Chris McDowell's review.

I agree with both Ben and Chris that, like the hip-hop beats used to promote the Kickstarter, KNOCK! conveys the scrappy-to-slightly-feral, easy, free-flowing, imaginative nature of running an old school DIY game. This is important because frequently the scene gets dragged for its various drama rather than the exciting content and sound advice it produces; this book wonderfully showcases both strengths.

The additional beauty of this collection is that, like the 1e AD&D DMG, it meanders across so many topics: monsters, treasure, traps, player classes, theory behind play, and interrogative thought on older modules. Randomly roll a d200 and you are going to land on an interesting, informative article.

In fact, it is so complete in covering all the topics you need to run a fantasy adventure game, that if KNOCK! had included Knave in a two page spread, this collection would have been a complete RPG!

However, what I can say with most certainty is that you can build, stock, and run a really good dungeon designed with the most current old-school thought on the matter using KNOCK!

The basic advice in Moldvey Basic D&D is to draw a map, place special monsters and treasure first (so the items the dungeon is known for or weapon its rumored to have guarded by the monster rumored to have killed the last chump), then stock using the table below:

Its confusing, but the chance a room has treasure is:
50% if contining a monster, 33% if a trap, & 16% if empty

This gets you going, but how do you make all the above "good"? What is a "good dungeon" anyways? Well, answers to these questions are exactly the sorts of articles that comprise KNOCK! Let me demonstrate:

Dungeon Design

030: Dungeon Check List- 8 things that make dungeons more interesting; allows self-grading
054: OSR-style Challenges- The nature of what you are trying to achieve in old-school design
082: The Overly Thematic Dungeon- How to balance the fantastical with the realistic
112: Livin' Up Those Corridors- Hallways are an interesting places to explore too

Monster Design

016: Monster Design- Using the Lich as a template, how to switch up classic monsters
039: Wandering Monsters- Those 1d6 skeletons can be used to tell the dungeon's story or spark interest
086: Dungeon Geniuses- You always need "special" NPCs to fight, talk to, or bribe or all 3!
140: Complete the Dungeon- Great faction table with goals and secrets
144: Just Use Bears- Want a special monster but agonize over the stats? Just use bear stats.

Neat Traps & Special Not-Traps

080: 8 Statue Encounters- Part of the Dungeon Check List is stuff to interact with-- here's eight.
113: 34 Good Traps- "Save or die" can frustrate players, here's how to keep traps exciting but fair

Good Treasure

089: Better Treasure- "Sword +1 and 500 gp" is not doing it in 2021, here's how to spice it up.
104: D20 Magic Helmets- Switch out all "Sword +1" with these instead; armor- criminally underutilized
116: 300 Useless Magic Items- Dead wizard in a (now more exciting) hallway? Check her pockets.
133: 12 Magic Blades- Better than "Sword +2" & you gotta have your dungeon geniuses packin'

And that's not even half the damn book! I've left out articles on player classes, monsters, dueling, essays about the Keep on the Borderlands, how to create impact in your game, make the stakes matter, a series of beautiful maps, the demon generator, and the 3-4 small adventures!

I hope this series gets at least 6 issues so we can create an omnibus that is all d6 tables. The production is sharp; art beautiful; advice sound; and a great way to fossilize the scene output as digital media preservation becomes unreliable.

JUST THE FACTS MA'AM: Using Sean McCoy's Investigation Sheet in CoC

Does the investigator on the right just think this all
is a bad black mold infestation? Too calm...

Recently, a friend started a pandemic Call of Cthulhu campaign with me using a 1-on-1 set-up. The idea was that my Arkham city investigator, Henry Heart, PI (hat-tip to you Sam Spade & Joe Dimond), could easily be joined by any number of other characters should friends and family want to join us as they desired. The backbone of the campaign would be mostly short investigations and one-shot adventures.

CoC suggestion #1: CoC is very conducive to a one-player and one-GM set-up: combat light and friends can drop-in/-out.

CoC suggestion #2: DON'T BUY ANYTHING- grab some d10s and download the free quickstart rules which are FAR better than the player's handbook for CoC.

Now, I really wanted to stick to the basics of running an investigation. I wanted to actually try to work out suspects, locations, motives, and weapons to give to the cops instead of just jumping to, "Whelp no doubt this is the work of that old slimy bastard of the benthic zone-- Cthulhu!" Yes, I know most CoC stories end in just that revelation (of various colours), but maybe I could also just solve investigations by proving whoever the Arkham cops caught was innocent. Saves the trouble of convincing folks of magic.

This reminded me of Sean McCoy's post on Failure Tolerated about investigations. I particularly enjoy the investigator's sheet he put together in his post and re-created my own in Google Slides. I also agree with Sean that doing actual investigating is where the fun of CoC lay.

For my 3rd investigation, I began using Sean's sheet (see below). This sheet has been pretty great both as a meta-game tool and an in-game object. That duality is what I think is so nifty- it works well in both contexts. This is not how I feel about the "quest log" in D&D which can be a handy tool for the players but feels weird from a character's in-world POV. The sheet also has been helpful in culling the many "can do" courses of action into "should do" actions. Also helpfully points out that while we might understand what is going on (or have a strong guess), we can only prove about half of it to the cops.

Wish I had used one for the first 2 investigations

In the original article, Sean suggested the investigation sheet could be used in "reverse" to help a CoC Keeper establish a mystery. I think this is quite smart advice and so I tried it out using the intro scenario The Haunting from the quick start rules above. And here is what you get:

Investigation Sheet for The Haunting

Now, sure, The Haunting is a decent starting adventure for teaching the players what to do mechanically in CoC. And perhaps the Keeper as well. However, it does not really help me understand how to build a good mystery. The players are told that their client, Mr. Knott, wants them to figure out what happened to the Macario family while living in the Corbitt house so he can clear the property of its bad reputation. The game instructs the players (literally via Handout #1) to seek information at the newspaper, library, and police department and Mr. & Mrs. Macario are in an asylum.

If the players jump to the Marcarios they will learn there is a "spirit" in the house. If they go through documentary evidence they will learn that Corbitt built the house, was sued by neighbors, died, and the will was carried out by Pastor Thomas who fled the state in 1917. Thomas is connected to a shady church that burned. So, there is really nothing to puzzle out except what's in the house- but would new characters be motivated to believe in the supernatural? The meta-logic of CoC is going to cause the players to think so, but why would the characters?

CoC suggestion #3: Anytime players immediately jump to a supernatural explanation out loud, in character or out, as a reason for X events, drop their Sanity by 1d2 representing the character slowing choosing the irrational over the rational; 1d8 if they agree to increase their Cthuhlu score by 1

The PCs could convince Mr. Knott that nothing is going to happen to anyone renting the house. Because all actual evidence points that way- the Macarios went mad and are now locked up. And the investigator sheet points to that too- no other characters have the means, motive, and opportunity outside of a supernatural explanation (Corbitt himself). Open and shut case. If players go to the Corbitt house they can find Walter Corbitt entombed and his murderous will still active. And THAT IS what is causing the problem. But players crawling around in a spooky location trying to find a wraith's tomb behind a secret wall, to me, becomes a D&D dungeon crawl more than a CoC investigation.

I might have not played enough, but I think interesting investigations in CoC would somehow:

• Create multiple likely perpetrators (What if you grab the wrong guy?)
• Have a possibility to close the case with non-supernatural evidence/events
  (How do you convince people of magic without being accused of lunacy or worse yourself?)
• Require rational reasons & evidence to convince the cops or authorities to take action
  (Can't just drop a copy of De Vermis Mysteriis on the Police Chief's desk)
• Save supernatural elements to creating lingering doubt, slow burn, and/or big reveals
  (Was it really the husband or was he in fact possessed? And why have the killings not stopped?)
• Have the ability to get the investigation wrong
  (Person X has no alibi on the night of the murder but does have a motive and opportunity, but the investigators add a supernatural explanation as to the "means" but lack proof that it occurred)

While some of these might be "fail states" they are not. Failure, doubt, and collateral damage drive good people to fringe ideas and unorthodox methods- like seeking occult knowledge and practices. Maybe we can just inject the victim's corpse with a little of ol' Dr. West's serum and get them to tell us who their killer was...

For The Haunting I would keep the undead Corbitt as the true antagonist, but maybe change things:

• Vittorio Macario is innocent, but still had an earlier very heated dispute with his wife about her activities with the Chapel of Contemplation and her wanting to leave him w/ the children
• Pastor Thomas might be trying to gain control of the Corbitt House that is owned by Knott and suggested the property to Macario knowing what is there
• The Macario family would be new members of the Chapel of Contemplation creating further context and possible suspicion about their own activities
• Corbitt House is a legal fight for ownership between Thomas and Knott
• Have a 3rd party burn down the church, but for totally separate reasons unrelated to the case at hand
• Vitttorio's wife knows he's locked up but refuses to testify because she knows he wouldn't purposely do what he did and she's afraid for her safety since leaving town and the Chapel
• Provide some encounters of people looking to stop the investigators like rougher Chapel members not liking their snooping around

Now the investigation sheet looks something like this if filled out:

Vittorio has a stronger reason to be the actual perpetrator. The connection between the Chapel is made more ominous and deeper. Thomas and Knott have some personal hate, which calls into question why Knott is going with "independent investigators" (who might include former bootleggers or mob fixers). And Pastor Thomas also has more suspicious occult activities, but is still not the actual killer.

This whole idea need refining, but I think it had legs just as good dungeons maximize player choice, so should good investigations. Not just a straight line from the client, to the library, to police, to a creepy house to the boss monster and the true source of crime.

DYSON'S DELVE: "Hey babe, you wanna do some role-play tonight?"

 

Dyson's Delve: The Original Mini Mega Dungeon (2019)

SETUP: Partner occasionally likes to role-play a little bit and asked if we could have something set up so whenever the mood strikes we can just start playing. I was looking for my copy of Winter's Daughter, but the closest thing at hand was this Delve.

To shortcut, the character was made by arranging the following scores: 16, 15, 12, 11, 8, 8 which yields a total bonus of attribute bonus of +1. This resulted in the creation of fighter, Princess Rosa, who started at level 2 (2000 XP). Some random equipment later via my digital DM screen and we are off.

BACKGROUND: Deposed from the throne that was rightfully hers, Rosa seeks treasure to build an army and take back what is rightfully hers. 

SESSION I: 

Rosa (F2) took the obvious stair entrance to the old watchtower. Finding nothing in the pulled down broken statue, she heads toward the entrance.

Stopped by two goblin guard who demands she freely handover her gold or she'll be freely handing out her blood. 2 goblins are quickly dispatched as she does not suffer fools, nor goblin reinforcements and she retreats to the South Chamber.

Desperately trying to escape she makes her way down the stairs to Level 1 Main Entrance- noisily. Again she is stopped by one goblin as the other one rushing to bring reinforcements. Rosa ignores the goblin in front of her to throw her mace at the fleeing goblin [gambit- roll 2d20 and scored two hits]. Goblin hit in the back of the head collapses, and the remaining guard flees upstairs.

Following an old cave tunnel, Rosa finds stairs that lead her to Level 2. Lighting a new torch, Rosa stumbles into a den of giant rats who attack her as a source of food.

Because of the goblin fights, Rosa finds the rats a little dangerous, at 2 HP she decides it's best to drop rations beat a hasty retreat back to Level 1. Exploring a ray of sunlight, Rosa returns to the surface and heads back to town.

❤️Princess Rosa- Alive;  💀: 3 Goblins (15 XP); 💰: 11 EP

DM NOTES:

• Goblins hate Rosa and will fortify the upper areas due to goblin deaths
• Goblins should normally demand GP to pass into the tower; extra GP is you want to take your weapons; or can make a bargain to kill corpse eaters on Level 2 (3 ghouls)
• Will try to encourage hirelings given its a solo campaign
• Need to sketch out a small town; maybe just use Beyond the Borderlands

ONCE MORE INTO THE BREACH: Are NPCs an underutilized "overlay" for choice in RPGs?

My previous Into The Breach post here, where I harp on the beauty of objectives: https://icastlight.blogspot.com/2019/04/objectives-for-combat-beyond-kill.html

Here is Chris McDowall on the same game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIknE3GLfbw&feature=youtu.be

In the video, Chris points out the supremacy of choice in Into The Breach. There are multiple, often easy to understand, choices that are provided at all layers of the game starting from the first screen. As you move from mech selection to environment selection, to objective selection, to combat screen, a player is given choice with obvious information or provided additional information just a mouse click away.

Choice is important because it gives players agency. If something goes wrong, they generally will blame themselves not the DM, system, or (lesser still) the die. This is why Call of Cthulhu's "push" mechanic, where you can re-roll a skill check but failure is now even worse consequences, is quite nice. Players get a simple, open, and easy to understand choice: do you want to try again with the stakes for failure raised?

But Chris asks a very important question, what's the best interface to present layers of choice to players in a similar manner to Into The Breach? As he states, if you had three small dungeons: 

• one with a single big monster (20 HD Bronze Golem)
• one with nothing but traps (or spiders that act like traps)
• one full of skeletons (20 1 HD skeletons)

How do you communicate that choice?

This is not trivial given Barrowmaze & Forbidden Caverns of Archia, both are megadungeons with a lot of choices in the form of several mini dungeons, but little of it obvious until PCs undertake the travel to the respective sites and break open the respective entrances, which have differences, but they don't appear to be linked to any definite contents.

So what is the solution to the paucity of information in Barrowmaze & Archia and can act as information overlay a la Breach? I think tavern NPCs.

Roll 1d6 for what an NPC at the tavern knows (& wants):

1 | Dungeon location (can be hired a guide)
2 | Dungeon treasure (will tell the legend for libations)
3 | Dungeon monsters/traps (has related injury)
4 | Location & Treasure (looking for a  cut to give out both; more if expected to provide aid)
5 | Location & Monster (looking to get rid of the monster(s))
6 | Monster & Treasure (haunted by a defeat from the former & still in need of the latter)

While a rumor table could perform the same function, more life is given to the world and the time spent to build the NPC is not for naught. Additionally, it gives NPCs a reason to also go missing, die, or not always be at the PC beck and call because they go off looking for these things themselves.

I think rumor tables are better for seeding knowlege when PCs start a campaign. Give them additional goals to pursue and topics of conversation to bring up to NPCs.

Combining the dungeons above and the NPC knowlege table:

Red: Rolls 1: Knows the location of the dungeon known as "Wood's Hearth"; a dungeon entrance that is perpetually warm year-round (location of Bronze Golem); will lead PCs there for 20 GP.

Fish: Rolls 3: With enough red wine (every glass provide a +1 to a RxN check), will tell the PCs about how their leg was injured in a spiked pit trap; high quality wine will yeild knowlege about how to avoid the entrance trap of the "Red Door in the Hills" (location of the dungeon of traps).

Fetch: Rolls 5: A local thief who is looking for PCs to remove, bless, purify, or remove curse to eliminate the skeletons infesting the "Gray Arch" an old tomb on the outskirts of town off the main road; exact reasons are kept secret, but will pay 10 GP per skull +100 GP if nothing else is touched in the dungeon

CARCOSA: Moons & Seasons

This is a good post about the seasons and moons of Carcosa. I like the post because I don't think enough is done with seasons and astronomy in RPGs. They are some of the strongest representations of the passage of time. Their inclusion can really make a world feel alive and really doesn't require much work.

https://rogues-repast.blogspot.com/2020/04/seasons-of-carcosa.html

A MINI POST on MEGADUNGEONS

MC ESCHER

Nick tells you how to build one.

Sean tells you how to ruin one.

Gus L tells you how to factionalize one.

Patrick tells you how to fill one with the "classics".

LAIR OF THE LAMB: At least 1/3rd of all PCs Escaped

A visual summary of the party's experience in Arnold K's Lair of the Lamb.

The players started with 9 PCs and ended with 3, plus the NPC, Akena, who they picked up in their escape from the clutches of the Lamb. One of my players did take some pretty extensive notes during the session and I'll have to get those on the blog at some point.

As a party, the players were very focused on getting out and generally did not spend too much time trying to find the various secrets. However, I was overjoyed when one of the players finally decided to eat the little green mushrooms they came across and received a vision from the god Shendormu.

The classes in italics above represent what each player picked once they leveled up from a 0-level to 1.

The Lair of the Lamb, I think, is a new classic in old-school gaming. It is based on a universal fear, being hunted in the dark by a monster, yet in the context of a highly interactable swords & sorcery setting which yields strong, strange rewards for player's who take a risk! The module demonstrates through play, how much players can do and have fun with 1d6 HP, a knife, a background, and a goal: escape. The dungeon revitalized.

In addition to a great module, Arnold as written fantastic DM advice, notes, and justification for choices in the module. This provides new DMs and those new to old-school play a solid foundation to understand the goals of the scene and how to ensure a good time. But he doesn't stop there, he has a section of advice for the players as well. Then to top it all off, the factions and setting a described juuust enough a DM can easily spin another 2-3 sessions out as the players move into the location were the dungeon is housed. Perfect. And as much as I love Tomb of the Serpent Kings, I think Lair of the Lamb pulls ahead. But play both- they are free and far better than 90% of what's out there.

MOONBASE BLUES: After-Action Report 2 of 2

 MOONBASE BLUES 

NOW on DTRPG!

Part I Here

<!-- Let's switch fonts again for fun-->
Characters

• Marine Cmd. Dukes
• Scientist: Archeology Ysuko
• Scientist: Roboticist Iko
• Teamster: Nips <!--NEW-->

OBSERVATORY: PCs are able to break away from the fight in OBSERVATORY now with 1.0 hr to go until the strange meteor researches its zenith. They decide to retreat back to SECURITY.

By this time our PCs meeting Nips who is a new player in our game. Born high, but brought low by scandal, dropped off to pay a debt, XXX demanded someone else carry her bags. On the plus side, PCs got a new loadout.

<!--It was interesting to me that the PCs did not go to the downed drop pod for extra supplies -->

GREENHOUSE & MED BAY: Because of the strange blue light coming over the horizon, the completely transparent done of the GREENHOUSE was going to prove a problem. All prior characters were already at Meteor Psychosis Stage 1. Further exposure would not be good. So the PCs decide to hit the floor and crawl on their stomachs. Halfway across the room, Nips is intercepted by two of the light-touched Beloved. Punches were thrown, eyes were gouged, and the PCs were about to make it to SECURITY.

SECURITY: Back through the barricade, but a check of the SECURITY interior revels on floating, giggling light-touched Beloved. Furthermore, the rising blue light reveals clear-epoxy filled holes in the dome that are letting in blue light.

Iko makes a fast break for the computer terminal to insert the emergency protocol card. But in his haste, Iko didn't properly protect his eyes from the blue Truth and was overtaken by Psychosis Stage 2, blackout, but kept inserting blue pens into his body.

Yusko seeing her friend endanger charges into the room only to be overcome by the blue Truth like Iko. Both now have Meteor Psychosis level 2. Yusko blacks out but grasps and scramble for any blue object- becoming increasingly stressed that no objects can be found.

Cmd. Dukes was able to push the blue-light deranged strange away from the group and secure the area. By that time, Nips had returned with the dropped loadout equipment.

Back to the GREENHOUSE & MED BAY: The group intends to travel back across to the GREENHOUSE then up the middle to the OBSERVATORY. It is here that Nips eats the strange fruit in the GREENHOUSE and while not succumbing to the effects of the Blue Truth, does gain an altered perception. 

<!--The player rolls a "0" & "00" on that save so I figure it would be nice to reward the player-->

Alas, the group's plans were cut short as they slithered by through the GREENHOUSE. The "beloved" captured Nips and Yusko and brought them to the OBSERVATORY for conversion by exposing them directly to the blue light via the telescope eyepiece.

<!--Forcing a person to look into the eyepiece immediately causes them to gain 2 levels of Meteor Psychosis-->

OBSERVATORY & GEOLOGY LAB: With the meteor at its zenith, things quickly collapse for the survivors. Surrounded by the blue-obsessed "Beloved", Nips tries to mimic there chants and speeches temporarily earning freedom. She then slinks off to put on a vac-suit without notice to try and escape outside. Iko who hid successfully in the GREENHOUSE has gone unnoticed. Also tries to slip on a vac-suit quietly and without notice (and training)...mostly gets things correct. 

Its then Cmd. Dukes swings into action with a two-pronged plan, his left & right fists, to help by charging the Blue Prophet! Hell breaks loose but Ysuko is able to slip away to don a vac suit too. No zero-G training so she thinks she did everything correctly...maybe.

OUTSIDE THE DOME: The truest of blue fills the landscape bathing it in Truth. Iko and Yusko both have their vac-suit hold seal despite not correctly adjusting it for fit. Nips' is perfect.

<!--I had each player roll a d10: Evens = suit put on correctly; Odds = seal is poor and they start venting oxygen-->

But unfortunately, it is not their physical being that each has to worry about-- for the Blue Truth streaming from the meteor overtakes their souls. All three undo their helmets, join hands, and widen their eyes to know the Truth. Because they have seen the light and it is good.

But Cmd Dukes only sees red! Red is the rage he feels at this terrible situation. Red is the blood from these blue freaks and the smashed head of the Prophet. Red is color that pours forth as he's torn apart in a rage by the remaining Beloved.

<!--To end off the final stand, I had the player roll a d10 and the result was the number of cultists he killed in the last stand each death narrated differently by the player-->

//END OF REPORT

CHARACTERS

• Marine Cmd. Dukes (deceased)
• Scientist: Archeology Ysuko (questionable)
• Scientist: Roboticist Iko (questionable)
• Teamster: Nips (questionable)

LAIR OF THE LAMB: An After Action Report of a Beautiful Funnel Dungeon by Arnold K

GOBLIN PUNCH's Arnold K put out LAIR OF THE LAMB, a 0-level funnel lovingly handcrafted to teach old-school thought and design. I was taken with it because I've always thought funnels are a great way to get new players used to character death, teach non-reliance on character abilities, and drive home survival as a good strategy. Plus, I don't see why DCC should get a lock on the funnel.

The Lair of the Lamb

How I imagined the child-god

Basics: The PCs start off dehydrated in the dark with no resources except a shared knife and the burlap sacks they were cut out of. The Lamb hunts them as they try to escape. Their first goal is to find water.

System: Originally written for Arnold's own GLOG, but I used BX D&D (1981). The modules include Appearance, Personality, and Profession tables which were used. I also added my own "Reasons your characters share this unfortunate fate?" table.

Three players and their party of 9 unfortunates- and why there are here:

1. Hini- athletic, unhinged graverobber- who was so devoted the Temple kidnapped her
2. Kat- beautiful, scheming carpenter- whose roving eye offended the Betrothed
3. Hans- brutish, jocular baker- whose crime was impersonating a cleric
4. Regis- athletic, irate butcher- whose love is a crime
5. Tawny- brawny, cynical wet nurse- fated to make a bad mistake
6. Fritz- boney, scheming butler- loved by too many
7. Brandon- athletic, cautious poacher- whose poverty offended the tax collector
8. Don- delicate, formal architect- who drew the jade coin
9. Kay- pale, proud baker- loved by too many

"Your characters wake up in the pitch-black groggy, thirsty, and with stiff limbs...what do you do?"

1. BOWLS: PCs grope around in the dark deciding if they should rescue more of the people trapped here or if they should just take their extra burlap sacks. The Lamb interrupts them following the arguing of Fritz & Brandon. All PCs are able to pass DEX checks to move around the Lamb which feasts on a burlap sacked occupant.

2. GOATS: The barn animal smells attracted the PCs across the hallway to the goats. They gathered one goat, removed the bells, and took a wooden bowl. The Lamb picked up their scent again, but the PCs heard it coming and ran to the #5 Landing. Oh, and Tawny being a wetnurse, decides to try and nurse her two other companions instead of finding water.

DM note: Sure! Its a very interesting use of a starting profession. I asked the player to roll under 1/2 CON to supply two otherwise it is just 1-- or none in the case of a CON check failure.

5. LANDING: PC who were thrown in here due to religious reasons investigated the steel doors on the northern wall ascertaining by the bas reliefs they were in The White Temple with the abhorrent child of Vandoh (The Lamb). They grab the torch off the wall (light!), the locked chest (heavy!), the gong and hammer (something!), and progress South to #6 Tumblers.

DM note: I tried to limit how much I asked players roll and instead tried to make them support actions/questions with their backgrounds and professions. If it fit: sure you know that or can do that.

6. TUMBLERS: On their way, they kick in the closet door to take a broom (could be used as a torch and another gong). At the mural of the four-handed fish, they fiddle with the tumblers and when the level is pulled Hini, with 1 HP, gets acid in the face. This PC try to fiddle with the tumblers again, but this time with one of the gongs over their heads. No acid, but wrong sequence still, and The Lamb arrives! Tawny charges The Lamb but the all but bitten in half. Half of the PCs are able to move past with a DEX check. The remains PCs push The Lamb back with torches.

DM note: The goat is still alive.

8. THE PIT: PCs meet Akina and take her into the party after she pleads for release. Through questioning, PCs ascertain that escape is to the East and the #9 Fountain is haunted.

9. THE FOUNTAIN: PC risked a trip to the fountain by pushing the goat in the room first and having it promptly succumb to the drowning spirit that haunts the room. That's enough for the PCs and they head back to The Pit to continue East.

DM note: The goat is dead. So The Lamb should be present at the fountain, but at this point they had encountered it rather recently so I thought I would give them a slight breather.

11. COMET MURAL: PCs first attempt to go East but hit the locked door. They pocket the sheep skull and head south to the #12 Mouth Mural.

12. MOUTH MURAL: PCs proceed to pull 1d4 teeth out of the mural for each of their groups. Then start moving south again to the #13 City Mural as they hear The Lamb. But a sacrifice is made! Hans decides to go back into the room and run out with the pole holding up the unstable ceiling. A DEX check is made...and...1 short! Hans is crush by the falling blocks right as he is about to make it out.

DM note: Second sacrifice the PCs made with their characters.

13. CITY MURAL: The PCs pause to briefly morn the death of their fellow captives. Akina pipes up and explains she used to come here is listen to the sights and sounds of the city. The smell of the outside draws the characters to investigate the crack to the south. However, as Fritz pushed through the crack, he was overcome by hoards of biting red spiders and is pulled out by Brandon. Meanwhile, Don investigates west #14 Sarcogphagus and Kat pushes east to the moldy door #16 Mold.

14. SARCOPHAGUS: The PCs briefly investigate the tomb, pushing the lid off and taking the two rings ($$$). They don't bother with investigating the crawl space to the north.

DM note: I was using a slightly earlier version of the Lair of the Lamb. This is changed in the new iteration of the document. Same for rooms 11, 12, & 13 I believe.

16. MOLD: PCs don't bother the mold and want even less to do with it once it starts shifting slightly in its sleep. They instead push on to the east to #18A Ledge.

18A. LEDGE: PCs investigate the room and, with Akina's help, ascertain the smashed structure in the middle is an old elevator. They find the rope and all climb up to the ledge above ending the game.

DM note: Yeah, I might have made this a little more difficult but I was ready to bring the game to a close at 2.5 hours. I thought they did a good job and enjoyed themselves. Certainly, they are ready for part two.

BODY COUNT

Hini- dead- acid

Tawny- dead- The Lamb

Kay- dead- The Lamb

goat- dead- drowning

The map of the area made with Hex Kit and the HPS tile kit.
The adventure takes place in the White Temple

PART II: Brief Summary of the End

MOONBASE BLUES: An After-Action Report 1 of 2

<!--Let's switch fonts to add to the sci-fi mood-->

 MOONBASE BLUES 

concept by D. Shugars
written by I. Yusem
art & layout by W. Denning

itch.co NOW!
DTRPG NOW!

BEGIN REPORT: The crew of the Skiff-class ship Sparrowhawk:

• Marine Cmd. Dukes
• Scientist: Archeology Ysuko
• Scientist: Roboticist Iko

<!--All randomly generated by Saker Tarsos MOTHERSHIP character generator -->

Under the unscrupulous leadership of former corp-union smasher Cmd. Dukes, the three were charting a course to a small lunar facility, AZURE BASE, known in these parts for conducting some sort of clandestine geological work. Dukes was hoping for a quick snatch-and-grab of some valuable intel and a tidy payday.

The three awake in the Security station groggy. All have new clothes on, but only Ysuko has her duffle bag [laser cutter, hand welder, crowbar, body cam, laser cutter (!), mag boots, bioscanner, vacsuit, & other goodies]

<!--I'll try to be brief for each section -->

SECURITY: Automated AI clicks on to assign them AZURE BASE tasks including making the beds in HABITATION and to bizarrely look up in 4 hours. Player divide up equipment, download both FACILITY MAPS, and head to the GREENHOUSE.

<!--MOONBASE BLUES comes with a single page spread of the two interior maps for player use as an "in-game" object-->

GREENHOUSE & MED BAY (glass-domed): Players witness one figure being mutilated in the Auto-doc while a second "surgeon" conducts this grisly procedure. 

The figure in the Auto-doc has his cavity split open. Various blue painted mechanical parts are being put inside. The "surgeon" over seeing this butchery blue wires running through his head, neck, eyes, and mouth in a grisly halo.

Horrified by the butchery, Cmd Dukes tries to halt the process. Ysuko jumps in with the laser cutter. Meanwhile Iko explored the hydroponics and stole a tranq gun from another pair of strange figures. 

Their leader has both eyes replaces by prisms with blue paint seeping from the wounds.

All three characters fend off an attack and make for HABITATION. Iko hot-wires the door control shut and Ysuko curses her luck at poor laser-cutter handeling at point-blank range. 

HABITATION:Before entering Iko hot-wires the door controls again to only permit entry after a certain amount of time. Collecting themselves, Cmd. Dukes loses it- the horrible sights of the disfigured people and Auto-doc mutilation- has caused him to fail his Panic Check and gain a phobia of Auto-docs <!--player specified-->. The other two keep it together- mostly. 

Once through the door, the players are greeted by two groups of the Devoted (as they call themselves): Two figures staring off through the open shutters at a bizarrely blue-lit horizon; two figures viciously stabbing themselves in the arms yelling about their unnatural red blood-- "BLUE! BLUE! NOT RED! BLUE!"

Player make it up to the second floor to both unclog the toilet in restroom B (as asked by the AI)and ransack the living quarters (but make the beds as ask by the AI). New gear as follows:

• 2x foil space blanket
• 1x mouse
• 1x jury-rigged shotgun
• 2x AZURE BASE security protocol punch-card

<!--MOONBASE BLUES also comes with a "I Search the Body" d100 chart-->

Before leaving, the two Devoted staring off into the turquoise horizon warn the characters in unison: "You will see the Truth. You will know the Truth. We will make you. All of you."

OBSERVATION & GEOLOGY LAB: More dismay as the characters are confronted with 5 devoted huddled around the telescope in prayer lead by a woman with a face painted blue and one eye replaced by a prism (The Prophet). Seeking to the right, the characters enter the Geology Lab and are immediately struck by the blue light of a meteor fragment. All three players fail a Sanity save sending their characters reeling with early Meteor Psychosis-- the meteor and its light filling their mind's eye. Even Cmd. Dukes' mouse ran up to it.

Ysuko recovered first and blasted the meteor with the laser cutter. Blue dust, one atomized-mouse, and screams from the Devoted filled the air: "The Heretics have destroyed the ORACAL! Bring them to the Truth!". Two figures jumped Cmd Dukes trying to both crush his skull (20 total health lost) and subdue him with a tranq. gun. Iko had stumbled back to the door out of OBSERVATION but fired off a quick tranq. gun shot into one of the cultist who dropped into a heavy sleep <!--Critical 33 vs 34 COMBAT-->. Ysuko seared off the face of the second Devoted.

 AND WE ENDED IT THERE...PART II

<!--Notes to self for the future and to you the reader-->

• Give the players time in the opening (and prompt them if needed) to: (1) get a sense of their surroundings; (2) divide up the one load-out kit.
• Keep describing the Devoted (both singular & groups) as unique. Really layout for the players how wrong these people have become. If the player gag, cringe, or make a face- I've hit the mark.
• I wish I had prepped a little more about what was in each area. Just to ensure I had enough in-game "stuff" around to help players solve problems since guns are low and they start with nothing. Player-driven solutions using in-game stuff is awesome.
• Keep the stress coming! Drop by drop.

TWO VERY SMART POSTS ABOUT ADVENTURE DESIGN

It's not surprising the GoblinPunch and Necropraxis has some good thoughts on adventure design. I like both of these posts because they help distill the source of the most enjoyment of D&D- player lead/initiated non-linear problem-solving. 

GoblinPunch: http://goblinpunch.blogspot.com/2019/07/dynamism-and-generic-optimum.html

1. The generic optimum is the best plan that's printed on your character sheets.
2. Dynamism is the opposite; it's how much you have to change your plans each round.
3. Nearly all games would benefit from more dynamism.  Let's talk about where it comes from.
4. A common mistake that DMs and game designers make is confusing complexity and dynamism. 
5. Imagine a lich with a bunch of spells and abilities: fireball, finger of death, teleport, disintegrate, counterspell.  It has a bunch of legendary actions each turn, paralyzing people and using cantrips.  As a monster, the lich is fairly complex to run.
6. And yet, despite that complexity, the lich is not very dynamic.  A party facing a lich expects to take a lot of damage every turn.  Most of the lich's abilities do not disrupt the party's plans.

Necropraxis: http://www.necropraxis.com/2019/07/17/adventurers-are-the-measure/

I was curious about the way in which players would choose to interact with various factions rather than intending to subvert tropes, such as, for example, presenting orcs as having a sympathetic subaltern perspective. For example, given two wicked factions in tension controlling different aspects of a dungeon, how would players react? What about two seemingly sympathetic factions locked in internecine conflict?

I wanted to play to find out who would become the antagonists.

In retrospect, maintaining a certain degree of discipline regarding avoiding moralization at the time of populating the setting enabled greater player freedom and, probably, more interesting and complex moral outcomes, without transforming the game into a simplistic morality play, or pandering to the idiosyncratic political ideals of myself or my group of players at the time.