Adventures at GenCon 2019: A Recap, Day 1

Ah yes... GenCon! The gathering of Nerdom from far and wide. Chaos reigns those 4 days and coins are tossed like so much fodder. Those of us who can make the journey wait for an entire year to spend 4 days and nights gaming and drinking in the best of company!

Day 1:

This day started off early with a trip to the DCC gaming room, followed by several hours of work at the Goodman Games booth. Afterwards I had two play-tests of my latest adventure Seekers ov the Other Worlds.

The 1st Play-Test

This was the first time anyone has played what I've written and the play-test was only 1/5 of this very long and epic world hopping adventure! I had 6 players, all of whom had some experience with DCC and some of whom I had the pleasure of playing with last year.

After showing off Stefan Poag's new cover art for the adventure (see above) we dove right into the thick of it. This Other World is heavily inspired by both Michael Moorcock and H. P. Lovecraft. It's a very dream like reality and is not the standard dungeon crawling experience. In retrospective though I believe I will need to reign in some of these ideas and add a tad bit more structure to the adventure.

One of the main goals for this session was to find a means of getting the "Bridge Machine" running again. This requires the PCs find the needed parts, putting them in the machine and then activating it so that a black rainbow bridge projects in the direction of the floating tower in the sky. (All of which may change once this adventure is finally published, but that's TBD). Anyhow the players did well and in the end defeated this incarnation of the Necromancer with no casualties (gotta amp those baddies up!). 

The 2nd Play-Test

After that session, I had an hour or more to kill before the next session starting at 8pm. In that time I study the mental notes I'd taken and prepared to try some new things. Again I had 6 players, several of which played with me last year! This session went smoother than the last (mostly in part to the fact I had some practice and knew what the hell I was doing).

One of the main segments that both play-test parties went through was a dinner party with a Minor Chaos Lord named the Duke of Yooh, a slime yellow blob with a hefty appetite. All the players had a blast and both parties manage to narrowly escape the party.

We had but one death in this session (I know, I know... I'm slacking). This occurred in a area called The Great White Void. The character had three chances to roll under their luck and failed all three! In the end they begin one with the void, never to be seen again.

In the end the Necromancer was again defeated and the PCs won! After the session had ended (around midnight) I was feeling quite drained, so of course I went over to the embassy suites to drink and hang out! 

So what did I take away from these play-tests?

More structure to the Other World, baddies may need to be amped up a bit, and certain area/ideas should either be combined or abandoned. That said it appeared that everyone was having a blast and dished out some great feedback. So if my play-testers are reading this, thanks for gaming with me and thanks for the support!

Check back later for Part II!

The Next Adventure & Beyond!

I'm finally ready to discuss (or possibly just ramble on and on) in further detail the next adventure module that Owl Knight Publishing will produce entitled: Seekers ov the Other Worlds. This article contains SPOILERS for my previous adventure, Sky ov Crimson Flame, as well as the new one. You have been warned!

What's It All About?

Seekers ov the Other Worlds (hereto written SotOW) continues where the previous adventure left off. At the end of the Sky ov Crimson Flame (SoCF), should the players be victorious, and not massacred, they may well be in possession of the an accursed fleshy dagger known as Atma-khanjr. This dagger is a vile living relic that has a will and desire of its own. It harbors a sliver of the necromancer Balrothhaird's soul and is the key that can eventually draw him to the player's world should the dagger fall into the wrong hands.

Now I have ran this adventure many times with many different players and most of them wanted nothing to do with this dagger at the end of the adventure (rightfully so!). Some even went as far as to throw it off the Keep's battlements into the valley below. Is is all well and good for although SotOW is a continuation of the previous story it does not necessarily have to involve those particular characters. Most of which by DCC standards probably died in the expansion adventure Blights ov the Eastern Forest. That is why I'm considering opening the adventure with different adventure hooks and/or, because the story involves Fate, having a bit of deus ex machina written in. 

So the story goes as follows, the Necromancer split his soul into 5 parts which transcended into the Other Worlds that lie beyond the veil, but a sliver was in put into the dagger (not really put so much as left behind) as an anchor. The players, having acquired the dagger are summon by Fate's servant and are sent on a journey into the Other Worlds to destroy the Necromancer. On each of these Other Worlds the PCs must kill the Necromacner, siphoning his souls into the dagger, in order to destroy the thing (which cannot be destroyed until this happens) all while restoring the cosmic balance in the process!

What I've found while I've been writing this is that I have A LOT of story elements I want to incorporate, too many probably. This is the main reason it's been taking me so long to get anything down. I currently have 10 different word documents open filled with craziness!). I've also decided that, even though the Other Worlds will be unique, it could become monotonous to: Go to World A - Kill Necromancer - Go to World B - Kill Necromancer - blah, blah, blah. Thus I have devised a plan to write a modular adventure module!

Oh yes! Less rail roads, more randomness and in turn more words... My plan is to write all 5 of the Other World adventure settings, but your players may only got to 2 before X happens and their suddenly racing to stop Y and Z!  It's a big undertaken... but I'm going to do my best to write something interesting and re-playable!

The Goal!

My goal (and you people keep on me about this now) is that I want a full first draft before GenCon! I'm currently 50 some pages in and maybe close to halfway? Perchance we can play-test it, maybe we can just discuss it! Who knows! But I need this thing to come out first, because I feel like I have people waiting on both this and my other projects *cough cough* DCC Dune... *cough cough.* But I am determined to focus on this first and foremost.

Well that's about all I have for right now. If you've read this far... thank you! Let me know what you're thoughts may be... Your concerns... Your dreams... Your nightmares... Your FEARS! 

On Writing, Part II

Whew... So this has been a long time coming... I've been riding the wave of life as it were. So without further ado let's continue my retrospective look into the writing of Sky ov Crimson Flame. In Part I I discussed what first led me to write and the developments in some of the major characters. In this segment, I'll be discussing (or probably just rambling on about) the design of the Keep and the over all story development, plus monsters!

SPOILER ALERT: If you haven't read Sky ov Crimson Flame then press no further!

Designing a Dungeon:

As must surely be common knowledge now, Sky ov Crimson Flame is my first major published work in the tabletop gaming realm. Before that I wrote a small piece called The Fell Mountain for Mythoard (Sept, 2015) and before that I merely designed my own adventures for my household games.

Growing up I played mainly 1st & 2nd Editions of AD&D and didn't read many adventure modules. When 3rd Edition showed up I shunned it (probably in part because my old man is a die hard THAC0 guy and in turn I was created in his likeness). It wasn't really until I got deep into the OSR that I finally read a bunch of adventure modules and those mainly of the DCC RPG variety. Long story short, I was doing some diligent research before I ever sat a finger to the keyboard.

Now my original plan was to make something simple, throw it to the wolves and see what became of it, but once I got to writing the adventure grew from a tiny keep with maybe 4 rooms to a much larger affair. When writing, I usually keep a list of things I want to see: a crazy witch, a falling red star, a resurrection of some sort, a necromaner. Those were the four many things for Sky ov Crimson Flame anyways. It was from that list I started tying the story and keep's design together.

In one of the drafts I began this idea that the Crimson Star falls early on in the adventure and from its flames the Keep grows into the massive tower that is reminiscent of the Necromancer's from another world or his past. The PCs would literally be walking on flagstones of fore to defeat the Necromancer before X event happened.

It was getting out of hand... So I toned the story back a little. That's how I write I guess, just vomit everything out onto the keyboard and see what sticks and what needs to scrapped into the trash.

I knew I wanted the players to enter the Keep from the bottom up and so devised ways in which to get them to that point, but always with the mindset of replay-ability. If you've read the adventure you know there are several sections where choices in path must be made or random items are found. This is kind of staple I'm sticking to while writing the next adventure, is it replayable? Would people actually want to run through this crazy thing a second or third time?

So if I were to dish out any sort of advice it's: Is it replayable? Is it too big and does it boggle down the story you're actually trying to convey? If so, trim that sucker down!

Read-Aloud Text:

Looking back on my read-aloud text I wish I had trimmed them down a little more. They seem a bit heavy-handed now and hard to read to a table. I know why... I was trying really hard to invoke a true sense of the horror and macabre in every scene and when I read it aloud to myself at my desk it sounded too cool for school! As I've found out though, that doesn't always work when you trying to read three paragraphs of text to table of gamers. Secretly I must want to be a novelist... I'll do better next time folks :-p!

Table-Time:

The amount of time it takes to play the adventure was major concern of mine as I wanted it to be ran at conventions, etc. I started combining rooms together or taking out whole chunks that just bogged down play. The adventure must keep some momentum if the players are to have fun

The library area in Sky ov Crimson Flame is a major section that can slow play down in the adventure, but only if the players want it to and so it's really on them. If they want to get the hell out of there and to the next area they can do so with a bit of figuring out. 

My two cents: Write the adventure so it only slows down if the players decide to slow it down. Otherwise keep it movin'!

Monsters!

Yeah buddy, good monsters are a major factor to good adventure and I tired (and constantly keep trying) to come up with weirdos to fight. DCC RPG, being the wonderful tome it is, was inspiration enough. The corrupting effects of magic lead directly to the Corrupted Flesh and helped round out the Necromancer's past. 

The opening scene for Evil Dead II was a major influence on the Cherub Head-bats, the fact they are baby faces and not skulls just added to the creep factor. Lovecraft and Moorcock were heavy influences for the randomly generated things that can happen in the Nexus Between Worlds. I can't remember how the Shambling Flesh monster came about, because originally the PCs just fault a bunch a cultists towards the end. Perhaps that concept bored me and I just changed it one day...

This is probably a big, "No, Duh!" but try to come up with original monsters. It's too easy to copy and past from a monster book. No lazy writing for you!

Well that's all I have for today folks. I'm not sure if you find any of this insight, or perhaps lack there of, fun or helpful, but hey... it's free right?  Til next time!

DCC-Dune: Swordhands

The Sword of this Dune-a-fied setting is very much like the Warrior class of DCC-RPG. There are certain changes and flavour text to get it a science fiction vibe, but ultimately that will come in to play through the scifi weapons and adventures.

Shielding Fighting (or Dueling) is quintessential to Dune and I will finally go into detail about it further below!

Swordhand

You are a skilled warrior bound by a sworn oath to protect and serve your House. There is no melee weapon with which you are not skilled. You may be a royal guard, an instructor to the heir, the commander of a garrison, or perhaps all three.

After the invention of the personal shield the use of projectiles became rather futile. Master Assassins became the currency on which disputes were settled and masters of the sword became the necessity for which the noble families were protected. All Swordhands learn their trade on the harsh planet of Hizaal. There after a lifetime of trials the trainees, if they survive, leave the planetary school as adepts skilled in all manor of melee weapons and hand-to-hand combat techniques to join the Noble-house of their home world.

Swordhands serve their houses with the utter most loyalty; however, there have been reported instances of swordhands going rogue. These few often become sell swords and are known to be extremely dangerous.

Hit points: A swordhand gains 1d12 hit points at each level.

Weapon training: A swordhand is trained in the use of all weapons and if using a melee weapon of any kind the swordhand’s initiative and deed dice are both raised +1d.

Alignment: A swordhand is usually always of the same alignment of the Noble-house they serve.

Attack modifier: (Same as DCC Warrior class)

Mighty Deeds of Arms: (Same as DCC Warrior class)

Shield Fighting: See below...

Critical hits: (Same as DCC Warrior class)

Initiative: A swordhand adds his class level to his initiative rolls.

Luck: At first level, a swordhand’s Luck modifier applies to attack rolls with one specific kind of weapon. This is the weapon they were most superior with on Hizaal. It must be chosen at first level and the modifier is fixed at its starting value – neither the weapon nor the modifier changes over the course of the swordhand’s career.

Action dice: A swordhand always uses his action dice for attacks. At 5th level, a warrior gains a second attack each round with his second action die.

Languages: Common, House’s secret battle language, plus 1 additional language for every +1 Intelligence modifier.

Level	Attack	Crit Die/ Table	Threat Range	Action Dice	Deed Die	Ref	Fort	Will
1	+d3	1d12/III	19-20	1d20	d3	+1	+1	+0
2	+d4	1d14/III	19-20	1d20	d4	+1	+2	+0
3	+d5	1d16IV	18-20	1d20	d5	+2	+2	+1
4	+d6	1d20/IV	18-20	1d20	d6	+2	+3	+1
5	+d7	1d24/V	17-20	1d20+1d14	d7	+3	+3	+2

Level	Title (Lawful)	Title (Neutral)	Title (Chaotic)
1	Serviceman	Soldier	Raider
2	Swordsman	Brigand	Brigand
3	Knight	Cavalier	Marauder
4	Champion	Defender	Ravager
5	Master	Adept	Reaver

Shield Dueling

Shield Dueling is a fairly new style of fencing designed to take advantage of the slight vulnerability of the personal shield. With the careful precision of a slow moving object, usually that of a dagger, an attacker can penetrate an opponent's shield. Prolonged shield dueling however is extremely dangerous as the increased friction between the two phase-fields can cause a Phlogiston Disturbance!

To make a precise strike during a shield duel, the attacker must land a successful attack roll when his or her’s Precision is equal to or greater than his or her’s opponent’s current AC.

Below are the basic rules by which the art of Shield Dueling is accomplished:

1. Both fighting players set a d20 in front of their person. This d20 represents their Prescision. At the start of the duel both fighters set their d20 to 10.
2. Both fighters roll for initiative. Whomever wins the initiative attacks first and sets their precision tracker to 11.
3. The attacker rolls his action die (usually 1d20) and adds their attack bonus plus their Agility modifier. If the roll is equal to or above the defender’s AC the attack lands and the attacker raises their precision die by a number equal to their Agility modifier. If the attack was a miss the attacker lowers their precision die by a number equal to their Agility modifier.
4. The defender now rolls to attack following the rules above.
5. If an attacker fumbles their roll they must roll on the Fumble Table (DCC-RPG p. XX) and lower their precision tracker while their opponent raises theirs.
6. If an attacker rolls a critical they score an automatic hit through the shield which wounds their opponent.
7. The Judge rolls a percentage die to determine if the shield duel has resulted in a Phlogiston Disturbance! This is a 2% cumulative chance each round.
8. Both opponents re-roll initiative and begin the second round of fighting.
9. 
   

Post Kickstarter Update #1

It's been quite a while since I last posted an update here (many of my updates currently have been posted through Kickstarter). So today I will combined all those updates into one long post!

On Writing

Before launching the Kickstarter my 0-level funnel Sky ov Crimson Flame was 100% written and ready to go to the printers upon the completion of the campaign and a few remain art pieces. That was before I had even really considered the first 3 stretch goals would be reached followed by the final stretch goal of a newly written 1st level mini-campaign called Blights ov the Eastern Forest. As of this writing it's been a little over 1 month since the Kickstarter was funded and in that month I'd say 90% (or so) of the new adventure is fully written and laid out in Adobe Indesign.

The Eastern Forest adventure setting will consist of 6 different locations with a bestiary of creatures that can be randomly encountered whilst traversing the forest. 5 of the locations will be written by yours truly and 1 is a collaborative piece written by +Clint Bohaty of +Order of the Quill. His current area outline sounds really awesome and I'm really excited to be fleshing out the sordid history of the Eastern Forest with him.

I foresee all the written material for Blights ov the Eastern Forest to be finished within the next two weeks.

On Art

Both adventures are going to feature a lot of artwork from the likes of OSR faves and newcomers alike. Here are some of the most current pieces I've commissioned from +Stefan Poag, each of which were stretch goals for Sky ov Crimson Flame.

0-level Character Sheet Border

Random Item Table Border

Nexus Event Table Border

That's it for now friends. In the coming weeks I will have new artwork and further details on each of 6 locations found throughout the dreaded Eastern Forest!

802%

To say Sky ov Crimson Flame (SovCF)was successful might be an understatement. I still can't believe it took off the way it did and I have at least 420+ people to thank. Our gaming community is amazing and throughout the creation of this adventure I have met a lot of great people through the magic of the interwebs! If nothing else was successful that would have been enough.

What's Next?

Right now I've got three artists working on new and old pieces for the adventure and I'm currently talking to three others for the follow up mini-campaign Blights of the Eastern Forest (BotEF) that was unlocked via Kickstarter.

In SovCF your party travels from the village of Reed through the Eastern Forest and to the Ancient Keep (wherein most of the adventure then takes place). With Blights of the Eastern Forest the survivors of the funnel can then go adventuring for glory and fame as they restore the balance from Chaos to Law.

My idea is to have a mini map of the forest that features highlighted locations that will then be described in further detail. Some of them may be mini dungeon crawls, puzzles or just a mini boss fight of sorts. Along with the new areas the adventure will also feature a random encounters table of creatures found within the blighted woods. New artwork will of course accompany the pages through-out.

As of right now I'm about 4,000+ words in possibly another 6,000 to go!

New Art

The most recent piece I've received for SovCF is the one below by +Nicolò Maioli.

I think this might be my new favorite piece! Well folks that's it for this update. If you backed the Kickstarter a thousand thank yous! If you didn't, well you'll just have to want a couple months to get a copy!

- Cheers!

- Thorin

Light at the End of the Dungeon!

After many months of writing draft after draft, commissioning artwork and banging my head against the wall there is finally some light at the end of this insanity laden journey! For LO & BEHOLD my 0-level funnel Sky ov Crimson Flame has been approved to carry the moniker of Compatible with DCC! (Thanks Joseph Goodman!)

Look! There it is!

So what are the next steps and when can you get this bad boy? Well I've commissioned the last pieces of art and should be getting those in the next couple of weeks. My overall goal for this adventure was not to just release PDF or Print-on-Demand copies, but to have a physical inventory to take to conventions, local shops, and throw at random people walking down the street.

I will be launching a Kickstarter next Monday (Sept. 19th) to raise the funds in order to take this adventure to print. Throughout the campaign (time willing) I will try to run as many session as I can via Google Hangouts or Roll 20.

If you're interested in perusing the Kickstarter page hit this LINK! Any feedback would be helpful; especially if I misspelled something or sound like a complete dolt! 

DCC-DUNE: The Sister-witch

It's been a while, but I've finally got some time to get "back in the saddle," as it were, with all my writing. For those of you who haven't been following these posts or our just jumping for the first time, Feudal Universe (also known as DCC-DUNE) is a gonzo space faring setting to used with the DCCRPG rules. I'm still working out all the kinks because as one would think, it's a strange combination. Today we'll be looking at the Sister-witch character class and yes you guessed it, they're based off the Bene-gesserits!

Sister-witch

You are a sorceress living among a tribe, a concubine in a Great House, or perhaps a maid in secret service.  Every move you make is precise and calculated towards a specific goal, for above all else you are loyal to one thing, the secret organization known merely as the Sisterhood. Your fellow sisters have infiltrated every facet of the Known Universe and currently pull the strings from behind closed doors. Taken from parents you will never know, your childhood years consisted of physical and mental conditioning that have gifted you with almost superhuman powers. It is because of these abilities and the secrecy of the Sisterhood that outsiders often prefer to call you witches and that suits your needs just fine.

A sister-witch can control the gossamer threads that make up the universe controls in subtle ways using her voice or mind known as the Weirding Ways.  A sister-witch is adept in martial arts and with these combined abilities she makes a great ally or ferocious opponent.

A sister-witch, until proven worthy to become a Reverend Mother is subject to a Reverend Mother and must answer to and perform the duties commanded or face exile. Exiled Sisters lose their connection with the coven and their Weirding Ways suffer for it causing any spell to be cast using a d16.

Hit points: A sister-witch gains 1d6 hit points at each level.

Weapon training: A Sister is trained in the use of the blackjack, club, dagger, flip-dart, gomjabber, hidden poison, kindjal, needle-gun, shig-wire garrote, staff, and throwing knives.

Alignment: The Sisterhood as a collective are Neutral. There purpose is merely to observe and guide the Universe along the right path (as long as that path is chosen by The Sisterhood). Every option is open as long as the ultimate goal is achieved and the Sisterhood is benefitted.

Weirding Ways: Unlike the Guild Seers, the Sisters are limited in what they can achieve and fear that flaunting their “talents” will show their hand. When casting spells a Sister uses her Caster level and Personality modifier.

Weirding level: Weirding level is a measurement of a Sister’s ability to channel her weirding ways and is equal to her class level.  For example, a 2nd-level Sister has a weirding level of 2.

Action dice: A Sister’s action dice can be used for attack or weirding checks at any level.

Skills:

• Backstab
• Sneak silently
• Hide in shadows
• Religious Indoctrination

Weirding Ways:

• Truth Sense
• The Voice
• Prana
• Second Sight

• Other Memory (Reverend Mothers Only)
• Transform Substance (Reverend Mothers Only)

(Other weirding ways (aka spells may be added)

Reverend Mother: To become a Reverend Mother a Sister-witch must go on inner quest of the mind in order to unlock the secrets of her ancestors. The inner quest is brought about by an overexposure of the Fumes. The sister-witch does not have to take this journey only however as she is able to project her mind into those around her.

During the inner-quest, the sister-witch cannot be physically harmed as her body, but as she fights the fume exposure her mind may suffer temporary or permanent harm in the form of Intelligence loss.  If the sister-witch dies during the ordeal, she will perish in waking world. Her companions however are merely projections and if harmed will appear to lose hit points and die, but will wake unharmed.

The exact nature of the inner-quest is decided by the Judge, but can be seen as a dungeon crawl of the mind, with some escape which ends the ordeal and changes the character forever. A successful journey will see the sister-witch becoming a Reverend Mother while if her companions complete the journey in full they will see their luck restored. (More on this later.)

Level	Attack	Crit Die/ Table	Action Dice	Known Spells	Max Spell Level	Ref	Fort	Will
1	+1	1d6/II	1d20	3	1	+1	+1	+2
2	+1	1d8/II	1d20	4	1	+2	+2	+2
3	+2	1d8/II	1d20	5	2	+2	+2	+3
4	+2	1d10/II	1d20	6	2	+3	+2	+3
5	+3	1d10/II	1d20+1d14	7	3	+3	+3	+4

Level	Title (all alignments)
1	Acolyte
2	Head Sister
3	Truthsayer
4	Proctor Superior
5	Reverend Mother

If you want to read more of my DCC-DUNE posts just hit the link!