CyclopsCon Recap II

It's time for another recap (before I forget most of details!). This time I'll be focusing on my Blights ov the Eastern Forest session. Lets begin!

A Merrily to Our Deaths Do We Go!

Knowing how deadly the forest could be I decided that each player should have at least two 1st level PCs. Almost every player decided to roll up a wizard/warrior combo with not one Cleric among the bunch! (Note: We decided to use the Luck rules for healing via the DCC: Lankhmar boxset.) I provided the group a map of the Eastern Forest, something one of the wizards had acquired from the Elders of the nearby village of Reed. The conclave of wizards huddles up away from the warriors and other vagabonds of the party to discuss their next move and decided that from what they could gather about the Wrook (a soul stealing fiend) there was bound to be some sort of treasure or magic to be had at his hut. So without further a due they ventured into the forest.

Fortunately for them there were no random encounters to be had on their journey (For this session I didn't roll 1d6 for every hex as the adventure says). After about half a days march the branches of the forest began to be filled with hundreds if not thousands of murderous looking crows, much larger, uglier than one's average avian. Though the birds did not bother the party, they did continue to swoop down from their branches every once in a while and called out continuously, creating quite the  cacophony of sounds, and unknown to the party alerting the Wrook that someone was approaching his hunt.

When the party finally made it to a the clearing in which the hunt sat, one of them, at the direction of a wizard no doubt, decided to sneak up to the hunt to take a peak behind the leather straps hanging over the doorway. Before that character could make it halfway across the clearing the flock of crows began to attack! A battle ensued and which things were looking pretty dire for our heroes! A pair of 0-level villagers came running into the forest to help (one of my players arrived late and rolled up 0-level PCs instead of 1st level!) and one was immediately killed! (That player rolled up another 1st level character, who was also slain I believe.)

Eventually using a bit of magic, and the luck of the halfling, the party was able to scare off the majority of the crows. After assessing their wounds they entered the hunt and found a treasure trove piled around the edges of this dirty abode, but something sinister lay in the nest of the next room. (Here I should add that one of the character had a goose they would honk if danger lurked by, or so that character believed his goose did...)

In that room was a nest with 13 two foot tall black eggs. Ghostly faces could be discerned swirling up to the semi-transparent edge of the eggs. Like any good wizards of ill repute, one of them took an egg and stowed it in his backpack. Just as they were about to destroy the eggs and grab the treasure the Wrook arrived in a torrent of feathers, calling them thieves and vagabonds and promising to take their filthy souls to add to his collection!

Unfortunately for the Wrook (aka me, the Judge) I rolled far too low on my initiative and they party was able to get many a whack in, summon a wolf to bite the Wrook's chick legs and popped out one of his golden eye balls. (In retrospect maybe I should have allowed this "big baddy" 2d20 action dice...)

Before he could suffer anymore damage he fled his hut vowing revenge on the party and took off in a storm of wind and feathers to the East! The party, suffering few losses took up as much gold as they could carry and headed back to the village to rest up till their next outing of which was decided to be Jumbii-Beyr Glen, but that is for another post!

CyclopsCon Recap I

Hello everyone! It is the Monday after the first annual CyclopsCon and I couldn't be happier! Though I only ran 3 games I had a blast! This entire venture was a brand new experience for a lot of people including myself. I choice to run my games through Discord and though I had some prior experience with the app nothing I didn't really know that much about. Now however I really enjoyed the experience and will continue to run games through it while we all are stuck in quarantine!

Running Sky ov Crimson Flame (again!)

 

I can't tell you how many times I've run this adventure, you'd think I'd be sick of it by now, but (and for obvious reasons: new players, etc) every experience is different and this go round was just as fun as my first playtest. It should be noted however that I like to change things around a bit, test out new ideas, change the monster stats, and other various things to keep myself interested. I'm counting each one of these sessions as a mini-playtest of sorts so that the 2nd printing will be better than the original and maybe even different than the first.

Anyways on to the session recap! (This weekend is a bit hazy, but I'll try to remember as much as I can.) As some of you may know this is a 0-level adventure. I had 6 players, each with 4 0-level PCs. The first encounter they faced were the wretched villagers, flayed humans whose minds had cracked and were now essentially zombies of a sort. The party as a whole did well with this first combat challenge, but at least one PC went down, his belly having been ripped open and his innards pulled out.

[Judge's Note: Over the years I have learned that if you roll initiative in the standard fashion in a funnel adventure the PCs may over take the monsters before you get a chance to attack. My fix is to have the players roll initiative (a simple d20 roll). I right down their scores and all their characters go in order, but one or two monsters get to interject between the players turns, pop-corn style. I feel like this makes combat more "cinematic". This usually only works when you have a group of monsters or a monster with multiple attacks.]

After the dwarves of the party chanted funeral rites over the dead and gave them a quick burial, the party continue East, heading in the direction of the fiery red star that was falling from the sky. They eventually ended up at the edge of a cliff, where two flayed forms hung crucified. A natural rock bridge lead over the valley to the Ancient Keep. There was a horrid fat bat chewing on one of the corpses. They decide to attack the bat and miss sticking the corpse with an arrow. The bat flies up to the attack  the party and they discover it's actually a child's head with bat wings attached! At the same time the corpses heads pop off and attack, attempting to spear the PCs with their spinal cords.

The party easily dispatches this bunch and decides to quickly rush across the bridge, pressing close against the portcullis as to not be seen from the battlements. One of the PCs (I forget who now) nimbly climbs up the 40' tower walls (they rolled really high!) and peaks over the edge. At the same time they do this they spot a pair of cherub head-bats, cooing and giggling to themselves, as they push over one of the stag-headed gargoyles. The PC climbing has time to warn the party, dropping the dagger in his mouth to do so, and most of the characters below jump out of the way except one who is pancaked by the falling statue.

Other PCs decide to start climbing as the bridge begins to collapse, but another statue is pushed over by other pair of head-bats. When this statue crashes, the entire bridge section collapses and the PCs luckily fall to the ledge below. Another unfortunately PC was splattered! 

[Judge's Note: In the adventure it is written that each PC must succeed a Reflex or Luck save or fall to the valley below. I decided I did want to kill too many PCs this early in the game and waved this save.]

Now on the ledge the party could head either left or right. They decided right, but before they traveled down this ledge one of the PCs just happen to have a cart (don't you just love the nonsensical nature of 0-level PC equipment!) and decided, with the help of other PCs equipment, to build a sort of mannequin by stacking wood in the cart to look like a person, with a carved face and some hair glued on with honey. They rolled their decoy down the rocky trail in the hopes of avoiding a trap.

Well it worked! Three head-bats swooped down and exploded (they had bombs attached to them) where the cart landed. This created a hole in the side of the rock that lead to the catacombs beneath the keep. The PCs entered the catacombs and after some hesitation, his skeleton seemed cursed or had elephantiasis, took the sword from the skeletal remains of an ancient king. A series of steps lead to a backside of a secret door which led to a corridor within the keep.

After inspecting some old tapestries they managed to pick the locks to the library. As soon as they opened the door they spotted a nude figure standing on the balcony. Deciding this person was no good one of the PCs attempting to push it over the edge and MISSED! With a swirl of liquid like movement the things flesh instantly turned around and swallow the PC whole inside it's corrupted puss filled flesh. After a few of the other party members stabbed at the monster (and killed the PC within) one of the players wanted to perform a mighty-deed to decapitate the monster!

(As Judge I decided that if they could hit the creature's AC and roll a 6 on a d6 it would happen and guess what... IT DID!) 

The PC ran and sliced the things head from its shoulders! Being only a husk of flesh the head was caught up by the wind and flew over the edge of the balcony while the rest of the creatures body deflated and melted in to a steaming pile of yellow goo! With the horror gone the PCs decided to explore the Library and found: a scroll (which one opened and was immediately mummified, the rest of the party burned the body lest it rise anew), a box with a face (which ended up being the face of a PC's lover, he lost a point of Intelligence from the shock!), some letters, fleshy pants, and a bottle with a grey phallic thing. 

(At this point we we're at the 3 hour mark at it was 2am on my side of the world so we decided to call it a night and resume at a later date.)

If you liked this story, then consider purchasing my adventure Sky ov Crimson Flame! As of this writing there are only 20 copies left!

Til next next adventurers!

Adventures at GenCon 2019: Day 2, Part II

So where was I... Oh yes! I completed several hours of booth service for Goodman Games then ran No Small Crimes in Lankhmar and by that time it would be around 7pm and I would have been up for over 12 hours at that point I believe.

Between the Lankhmar game and my next session I ate an 8 hour old cup of noodles. (Total noodle cup count would now be at 5? Anyways, I had a great talk with one of my players whilst I hungrily scarfed down my noodles. (Later that night he shared some find moonshine with me). Soon though it was time to play Sky ov Crimson Flame!

Sky ov Crimson Flame!

How many times have I ran this adventure? I mean... I know I wrote it, but jeez... Anyways, I never get tired of, because every since it's released I do something different, try new scenarios, invent new rooms, etc. Technically I count all this as "play-testing" for the eventually 2nd printing release, where I plan to go through a "George Lucas" the shit out of it. (Well maybe not as much as Lucas might, but you get the idea!).

This session was ran from 8pm-Midnight and only 3 of my 6 players showed up, which was kind of a bummer, but we made due as I provided the characters with extra cannon fodder, I mean... PCs. The adventure went down as it always does with the Death Stamp glowing red hot as I killed up characters left and right. 

When it came to the crossing of the Rocky Mount, the players chose to go left. In the book this means an attack from more Head-bats, which in retrospect I wish I would have changed. Instead I opted for an attack from a creature in the back of the module called the Cherub Spider, which entangled one of the PCs in its sticky intestinal webbing. It was a dire situation, but these players were smart and survived with a bit of brains and lucky rolls. 

Later they fault against the Corrupted Flesh which was an intense battle between the book shelves and causes quite a mess, allowing one PC to get utlra HD infra-vision, which unfortunately for them meant they could focus on every detail of this nasty flesh monster (including the swaying sagging ball sack!) which put them in a rage! In the end they over came the creature only to be stumped by the Soul Chamber, which is just a trap room, and killed off about 5 party members.

Later, as they headed up the sloping hall towards the courtyard of the keep, they encounter a Ghost Knight and some great role playing along with some good die rolls had the Ghost Knight joining their party!

The Crimson Witch at the top of the tower couldn't complete her ritual as one of the PCs (the one who controlled the ghost and now believed himself to be the King of the Keep) sacrificed himself by tackling the witch so fiercely that they both plummeted to the rocks below!

What a session! I had a blast, they had a blast, and those three people that didn't show up missed out on all the fun! Oh well!

More GenCon recaps to come!

Remember you can purchase Sky ov Crimson Flame right here!

Adventures at GenCon 2019: A Recap, Day 2

Day 2:

Day 2 began like the day before, waking up early and heading into the exhibitor hall a couple hours before it open to organize the grand selection of Appendix N tomes that were on display at the Goodman Games booth. This was followed by 4 or so hours of working the actual booth before heading into DCCRPG game room and Judging two games back to back! (As a side note I should mention that as of this point I had only been eating cups of noodles from a vendor near by and was determined to eat only noodles! Current cup count was at 4 cups over the day and half spent at the con thus far).

No Small Crimes in Lankhmar!

ATTENTION SPOILERS AHEAD:

This was my first game session for the day and first time actually running the new DCC Lankhmar rule set. If you're familiar with the module, all the PCs are shrunk in size and must venture through the house at a mere 5 inches, fighting hairy spiders, giant cats, and the rats from Lankhmar Below.

Fritz Leiber's  The Swords of Lankhmar is probably one of my favorites and so running this adventure that is obviously inspired by that story was a blast. I had a great group of players, some newbies, so not, but all were having a blast. We had a Wizard who was illiterate and so the player decided that the only way he could cast his spells was through limericks and actually wrote a limerick for each spell he had! Needless to say that blew me away and every time he recited his limerick I awarded him with fleeting luck!

In this adventure the cat is probably the biggest adversary, and threatened the party a couple of times, once from under a door and then again at the top of the stairwell. Unfortunately for me I was rolling low and they were rolling high! One of the PCs rolled a critical and mortally wounded the cat who was then fleeing down the stairwell when the wizard cast magic missile and blew him away!

The end of the adventure was probably the most fun as the wizard got stuck under a steel door. On the opposite side of that door stood a bronze automation. Before the automation could attack the wizard spell-burned a ton of points and summoned a gorilla into the room! The gorilla and automation fought, destroying the laboratory equipment and several bottles which would have helped the party grow to full size. Lucky for them there was another way and with the gorilla's help they managed to unlock a door and eventually undo the curse placed on them.

Check back for a continuation of Day 2 into Day 3!

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!

Free RPG Day: Recap!

Yesterday, as you all surely know, was a religious holiday for the table-top gamer. The day our publisher godlings bestow upon us gifts of free merchandise; of which in return we help peddle in the hopes to convert others into the cult! I'm talking of course about Free RPG Day!

On this glorious day of days I Judged my 0-level adventure Sky ov Crimson Flame for a group who have played table-top RPGs before, but had yet to experience the gonzo nature of DCC RPG. I will not recap the entire section, like I did in my last post, just the goofball highlights!

The Highlights:

• These players were really getting into the role-playing aspect of the game, so much so that one of them was changing his character's occupations and telling me how they were backwoods moonshiners. I warned them not to get attached...
• They are also the fist group of players that wanted to bury the dead as they figured out the wretched villagers were of course from the village of Reed. Most of my other groups are of the more murberhobo variety and could have cared less.
• The first death happened when a Cherub Head-bat bit off a man's face!
• When the Cherub Head-bombs were dive bombing the characters, one of the guys oiled up his duck and sent it flying into the monsters, causing both the duck and the flying head-bomb to  explode!
• The dwarf lowered his pig into the dungeon and asked it if all was clear.
• In the library the PCs found three magical items (from the magic item list provided in the module): The Crow Book, which was used a lot...; the phallic thing in a decanter, which was not drunk but was taken out of the decanter and flopped around a lot ("now your just playing with it!"; and finally the strange scroll, of which killed a player when he broke the wax seal.
• When the Crow Book was first opened it killed some players, the next time it was opened they were trying to kill the Corrupted Flesh.
• Speaking of the Corrupted Flesh, it consumed the dwarf while we was riding his pig in the Library, the pig freaked out and the ran around trying to get the monster off it. 
• The PC with the Love Letter from Belesa found her face in the box and went crazy. He put on the face because he missed her so? I don't know why exactly...
• The Soul Chamber took out another 5 or so PCs again.
• The Butcher Cultist had the upper hand this time around and surprised the party, he murdered three PCs before he was put down.
• Out on the courtyard, the Fleshy Mass was strangling and eating PCs left and right, while the smarter ones ran up the tower to confront the witch.
• The PC that loved through a duck a the beginning decided to tie the Crow Book to the bottom of a goose in the hopes it would open and the crows all attack the Flesh Mass. I judged it worked, but the goose, being followed by a murder of crows, took off towards the village and that when they arrived back everyone was probably going to be dead... The Fleshy Mass only suffered minor cuts.
• On the tower, the Witch's surprise magic missile attack backfired on her!
• The PCs started killing the impaled victims hoping to stop the eldritch light pouring from their faces, which was drawing the Crimson Star closer. In the game, this works and slows the ceremony down.
• In the end, they killed the witch and stop the ceremony and tossed the chaos dagger over the edge of the tower.

I'm not sure if I converted any new disciples to DCC or not, but overall we had a great time!

Session Recap: Sky ov Crimson Flame

Last night I introduced a couple of newcomers to Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG with my 0-level funnel Sky ov Crimson Flame. Out the 20 characters total (this includes 4 rescued villagers) there was a total of 14 character deaths! Below is are the highlights from the session (possible spoilers!), but first the players and their characters!

The DOOMED!

Nothing brings people together like a near TPK!

Jordyn was playing: Laurence the Squire, Cherry Star the Astrologer, Iskamar the Shaman and HuMungo the Grave Digger.

Charlie (not a newcomer to RPGs, but new to DCC) was playing: Baby Dennis the Cheesmaker, Lesley the Cobbler, Fico the Halfling Mariner and Ronnie the Dwarven stonemason.

Alana was playing: Darren the Costermonger, Darrel the Gongfarmer, Dave the Elven navigator and Dan the Ditch Digger.

Will (totally new to RPGs) was playing: Baby Destroyer the Woodcutter, Big Jerry Tea Cups the Trapper, Angeline Gungertoes the Radish Farmer and Mike the Minstrel.

Adventure Highlights:

• Setting out from the village of Reed, the party entered the dreaded Eastern Forest and was surprised by a group of maddened and flayed people. Here the party encountered their first death as Darren was torn to shreds. They soon vanquished the the foes and continued to towards the direction of the falling Crimson Star.
• Death Toll: 1
• Reaching an Ancient Keep, they crossed the bridge, ignoring the Head-bat chewing on a crucified corpse, and attempting to open the gate whereupon Head-bats from the battlements pushed over two statues that came crashing down, breaking the bridge. Surprisingly no one fell to their death!
• The party took the right bend on the ledge around the Keep's rock foundation. I asked the players to determine their walking order as follows: Will, Jordyn, Charlie, Alana. As they wound the bend three head-bats, with explosive bottles tied and lit to their... heads?, were spiraling down towards them. Will and Jordyn's characters pushed on to the backside where the ledge widens, but Charlie and Alana's characters couldn't make it in time. Dave the Elf shot one of the fiends down, but the other two exploded killing, Dave, Dan and Baby Dennis.
• Death Toll: 4
• After the explosion Charlie and Alana's PCs found new opening in the rock and entered.
• Will and Jordyn's characters entered through a grate which lead into a dungeon. From there they found a set of keys and moved on to the stairwell that rose to the next level.
• The new cave turned out to be a tomb of some ancient king with elephantiasis bones. Darrel the Gongfarmer found a magic sword laying with the King! They headed up a set of stairs that lead to a secret door which entered a hall of tapestries. Lesley the Cobbler (being of high INT) began studying these tapestries.
• As Will and Jordyns PCs ascended the stairs they heard footsteps and mumbling. Laurence the Squire stuck up the stairs and peeked around the corner seeing several figures in the dim light. He told Baby Destroying, who flew up the stairs to surprise attack whoever it was and ended up almost killing Lesley as he was studying the tapestries. 
• Now that the party was back together they entered the only room they could, a library and began searching the surroundings.
• Darrel's new sword began glow as if aflame just before HuMungo was attacked by a naked husk of walking skin that split down the middle and consumed his flesh!
• Death Toll: 5
• The Party attacked the creature and Ronnie the dwarf began through potions from a nearby bookshelf at it! (I rolled a random Potion from Fifty Fantastic Functions for the D50 and got one that drained 2d6 STR). Darrel and the Corrupted Flesh were struck by the foul potion that steamed about the room and, failing a Fort save, Darrel's muscles deteriorated and he collapsed on the ground.
• After they defeated the monster, one of the PCs started carrying Darrel around like a backpack until the Shaman attempted to heal him with some herbs and holy water (she rolled high enough and I allowed 3d4 STR healing. Enough to take Darrel from -6 to 1.)
• In the library, Ronnie found a strange tome bound in black feathers, of which he decided to open on the balcony near by. The crows picked his bones from his flesh!
• Death Toll: 6
• The Party also found a box with a girl's face in it. The face was Baby Destoryer's lover Belesa (the first taken from the village) and he lost his mind (losing some INT points from the ghastly reveal).
• While exploring they found a secret tunnel which lead to a strange dug out room. In the room were two iron metal arms. Baby Dennis activated the arms (which would normal encase him in crystal before transporting him to Other Worlds and disintegrating his body, except that he rolled a 20 on his Fort save and survived!) The crystal, however, exploded and sent chucks flying through the room which killed Fico, Cherry Star, Iskamar, Laurence, Baby Destroyer, and Big Jeffery Tea Cups!
• Death Toll: 12
• Skipping ahead the party found a window to the next level just before the Corrupted Flesh regenerated and tried to get them.
• Having heard some evil guy talking on the other side of the door, they busted through and surprise the Butcher Cultist and easily dropped him!
• They evenutally reached the Courtyard and battled and killed with the magic sword the Shambling Flesh monster before heading up the the tower to face the Witch there.
• As they emerged at the top of the tower, the Crimson Star was a huge ball of flames! The Witch was almost complete with her ritual as they attacked and missed in the confusion and blustering winds! The Witch killed Darrel with a brutal stab to the throat! 
• Death Toll: 13
• One of the newly saved villagers, Shakia the Elven barrister managed to take the strange fleshly dagger out of the Witch's hands and push her face down into the pool of blood she was standing in. 
• On the last round, before the Necromancer would have appeared and sent him all into a Nexus Between Worlds they dragged her body out of the sticky bloody muck and through her off the tower.
• Shakia, who had the weird blade, was a possessed and attacking her fellow party members. Killing Baby Dennis, before they wrestled the blade from her.
• Death Toll: 14
• With a 10ft pole they knocked the dagger off the tower into the deep valley below and "save the day!" sort of...

What did I learn?

• I was using the printed module to run the game and there are plenty of places were I say, "Man, I wish I put a comma there" or "Why didn't I think of this before!"
• I agree with a recently Facebook review that there are too many DC checks for what should be obvious things. (i.e. Dwarf masonry checks, etc)
• I changed a few things (with the chance of a die). For example: the door to the Butcher Cultist is suppose to be locked, but at the time their party only had 3 wounded PCs and I knew there were "fresh" ones on the other side if they managed to kill the cultist. So with a percent die of 50 or less the door would be unlocked and they could just barge in, which they did. I also added one more villager in that room to be saved (there are only 3 in the book).
• Sometimes the players roll well and sometimes they don't. They were able to kill the Shambling Flesh Mass easy. It's hard to judge whether a creature like the Shambling Flesh Mass has too few dice or not. In retrospect I probably should have given it 8d6 HD for the 8 cultists it took to make the creature instead of the 4d10 it has.  

In the end there will most definitely be a 2nd or "revised" printing of Sky ov Crimson Flame as I continue to grow both as a Judge and a writer. (Note that I'm not going to "George Lucas" the shit out of it, just add a few things here or there). More than likely this will happen with the printing of my next adventure.

Tromping through the Shudder Mountains, Part 7

Chapter 5: A New Journey

• Slithering through a humid jungle, he was catching up to his prey. Hairy things that within the past few centuries learned to walk on two legs. He thought they looked silly. They couldn't out run him and the male knew it. He turned to face him with a rudimentary spear, but the serpent blade whipped out with a flash, cutting him down. Wet blood spurt on his face and..
• Pinky woke as cold water sprayed his face. What a crazy dream... He looked around. His head was pounding. He was on a raft? Floating down the river? "Where am I?"
• "Ah you're up!" replied an older halfling. He was dressed in old torn and dirty clothes. His hair and sideburns were grey and both poofed out wildly. He smiled at Pinky with yellow buck teeth, "It's me son! Your Father!"
• Pinky looked on the raft again. Only Hans, sun kissed and completely hairless, lay with him. "Father?" Pinky was suspicious. "What happened? Where are the others?"
• "Weren't no others! You and him's all I found. Hellva mess up there?"
• Pinky asked why he left him and his father Frobert merely replied that it was a long story, fit for a better time.
• "Well Dad... Where are we headed?"
• "A town yonder, down the river! Gotta get supplies before our adventure."
• "What adventure?"
• "Oh don't you give it no mind! It'll be great! Just sit back and relax. You still need to rest!"
• So Pinky sat and studied this strange old hobbit claiming to be his father. Eventually Hans woke up and had a lot of the same questions, but his faith some what restored he decided to let fate take over.

• They arrived at the town of Lonelywood around noon, resupplied and met a conjure-man named Dagwood who was planning to make the journey up river anyways and would accompany them. [Dagwood is Alex's 3rd new character as I kept killing his other ones.]
• Frobert explains that he is searching for three ingredients for an elixir he needs. He doesn't specify why... Once they have the ingredients and some spoil water; then Pinky, being a brewer, can cook it up! Frobert promises any treasure they find and of course the chance to catch up with dear old Dad.
• The three ingredients are: The red milk from the lactating Gybrlyywock, feathers from each member of an order of sentient birds, and petals from The-Man-With-Roses-That-Grow-From-His-Hands.
• On their river journey, they come across a giant taking a piss and unfortunately float right between his legs as a waterfall of urine rains down. The giant attacks, Pinky cut off his reaching fingers and Dagwood holds the giant at bay with his rope magic long enough for the raft to reach the quicker currents.
• At one point a large cat fish, with female like features and tiny arms where fins should be, hops on the deck. Dagwood kills the fish and searches it's stomach, finding a strange statue carved in the likeness of woman. They push the fish back in the water and it floats down stream ahead of them.
• Later on they hear a strange wailing, "Sister! Mah Sister!" Several of the Catgals (imagine mermaids mixed with cat fish) are crying over the mutilated body of their sister. Hans calls Dagwood an idiot for killing the creature as he fears they will avenge her if found out. The party silently hits the deck as they get closer and manage to skirt by the mourning Catgals.

Not quite, what I envisioned...

• Some bad directions were taken and the raft is sent down rushing rapids. It gets dashed against the rocks. Dagwood loses his staff. Pinky and Frobert almost drown. Hans continues to let fate decide and lets the waters carry him under, but as he begins to down a branch catches him and he is pulled above the water. He sighs and decides to continue living.
• With the raft gone they must continue on foot towards the mountain in which the Gybrlyywock resides. Along the way they run into a young blonde haired man named Igneous [Alana's new character, a thief. This is her 3rd character too. DCC is unforgiving.]
• Igneous was heading to an abandoned tower, where he heard there may be treasure, the same tower Dagwood was looking to find as it was once used by a powerful wizard.
• They head to the tower and find it abandoned, with very little treasure in the way of gold, but several potions and a few books that are still intact. As they explore the top floor there's a odd cooing sound as a horrible winged man beast lands on the balcony.
• The cooing along with the things bright red swirling eyes is hypnotizing and has it's effects on some of the party. [This has been so long ago now I don't remember the exact details, but the party barely makes it out alive.] When the beast is killed it changes into a feeble old man. Hans heals who he can, but his disapproval is rising.
• After a few more days of travel through the mountains and a few more random encounters; the party finally reaches the mountain of which legends state The Great & Terrible Gybrlyywock lives.

To be continued in... Chapter 6: The Lair of the Gybrlyywock

Tromping through the Shudder Mountains, Part 6

Chapter 4: The House of Cosmic Horror

Our "Heroes" have just recently escaped the ancient underground serpent tunnels, where many horrors were fought, Pinky, the halfling brewer, found an magical serpent blade and Darcy, the elf bard, met an ill fate. Poetically enough they have emerged from the frying pan, to find themselves in the fire! Literally, their town is a flame, as shadowy demons swoop down from the night sky to snatch the children away.

• Tom Dankers runs out from his tavern to embrace Rynila. He was concerned the demons had snatch her away too.
• They ask Tom what the hell is going on and he mentions old man McEvan, an old conjure-man who should have long been dead, but his connections with the devils of the mountains has kept him alive. For years he's been shunned by the townsfolk and just the other day he cursed the town and told them of a reckonin'-a-comin'! The shadow demons seem to be only taking the towns daughters.

• Hans, the mad Braar, becomes enraged! They must stop these fiends! So together, with the help of two of Tom Danker's sons, Don the town drunkard and another fellow who we'll just call Bob (0-levels rolled up for Alex, who was playing Darcy in the last session) they head off.
• The party borrows some horses and races up the old mountain path that leads to the McEvans farmstead. Along the way Pinky spots a pair of glowing eyes watching them from the shadows of the forest. The thing quickly hops away, making quite a racket and they press their horses harder.
• As they reach the farmstead, their horses become frightened, treading no further. Thunderous noises and chanting come from within the half collapsed farmhouse.
• They hear a noise coming from the barn nearby and go to investigate.
• The inside is a mixture of hay and entrails. An old, tumor ridden nag in a stall is chewing loudly. It lifts its head, showing a shout covered in dripping gore.
• The party looks into the stall to find a female corpse tied upside down against the wall. The nag is feasting on her insides from the groin down. Failing a Fort save, Don the drunkard, vomits out his reserve of ale. [Warning: Do NOT Google "tumor horse"]
• Hans puts the horse brutally to death just as four of the McEvans boys jump down from the rafters.
• The boys are all half-wits, caked in mud and hay and sporting crowns of antlers. Incest has turned this family into monsters.

• A battle ensues and the boys are slain, but not before killing Tom Danker's two sons and Bob (the 0-level characters) leaving only Don, the drunkard.
• Rynila grieves for her brothers and must be pressed to continue onward.
• They cautiously head towards the house (and to my dismay avoid the well house all together).
• Inside they find a real shit-hole. It looks as though animals were living there. The floors are covered in filth. Roots and vines grown up along the walls.
• They find the dining room and other one of old McEvan's sons. The younger man snickers under the table saying, "You'll not save them! You can even save yourselves now! HahaHAHA!" Then with a silver blade he slices his throat wide open, gurgling some strange words before death. Rynila takes the silver blade.
• They creep through the house, careful not to make too much noise. Thumping and chanting comes from the rooms above.
• They decide to quickly search some of the rooms downstairs for any of the stolen daughters.
• Entering one room, a loud mewing sound comes from the makeshift crib of antlers and roots. Next to the crib is a pile of dead rabbits and squirrels. Inside the crib they find an Eraserhead baby. Hans puts the baby out of it's miserable life.

• They find a girl's bedroom and a diary. They discover it was Margo's (a 0-level character from the Sour Springs Hollow, who was a witch's apprentice). In the diary she states that her Father wants her to take the Witch-liquor to Tom Danker's wedding. She doesn't want to, but her Father will hurt her if she doesn't, or worse send her to the well. (Margo died in the 0-level funnel).
• In another room, some lump of thing dressed in a filthy and tattered red robe shrinks into the corner as the PCs approach. Its frowning fat face rolls into it's neck. Chubby fingers point towards a writing desk on the other side of the room. 
• The desk holds a large book with writing of an expert calligraphy. The book details the McEvan family tree. Deaths, births, mostly sons. Perusing the book they discover Han's wife and son's name. Reading further it states that she was taken and gave birth to a son. A son he thought was his... A son who drowned in the lake... A wife who then hung herself...
• Han's becomes madden with rage and wants to beat the fat ugly mutant scribe, but is talked down. Everything he believed was a lie and he curses the Sovereign!
• They finally rush up stairs and bust down the doors to the master bedroom. A horrible scene unfolds:
• Old Man McEvan on his knees facing away from the PCs inside a summoning circle surrounded by lit candles. On three sides of the room bloated pregnant young women from the town wail and moan. Mid-wives tend to the victims.
• Old Man McEvan slices his gut open down the middle and begins pulling out his intestines praising an elder god to rise, screaming his name over and over, ''YOG-SOGTHOTH!" Before collapsing in the circle.
• The earth begins to quake and the women scream in pain as a floating, pulsing, bubbling horror pushes out from between their thighs.

• Once they overcome their fear the party moves into action!
• Rynila rushes to free the women, but finds the crazed mid-wives ready to kill.
• Don rushes to help too, just as a spectre rises from the corpse of the old man and attacks. Don attempts to defend himself, but the ghost is too powerful. He falls... (All of Alex's characters have died, again.)
• Pinky attempts to fend off the shadow with his serpent sword and fairs better than Don.
• The young women burst open and the ceiling begins to crack as the elder-god fills the room, spilling over into the night sky.
• Hans, his faith shaken, attempts once more to believe, calling upon the Sovereign for aid.
• The shadow attempts a killing strike on Pinky and the mid-wives surround Rynila while Hans continues to pray.
• Suddenly a wave of heat fills Hans body. He lifts off the floor as his skin begins to glow and his clothling catches fire. His wild unkempt hair and beard burns away. Hans radiates an inner light and the shadows of his bones can be seen through his skin.
• This holy light is released in one gigantic wave that sweeps out in all directions, like a ring, cutting through the elder-god and the house alike. The old farm house collapses and there is blackness as the rubble covers all.

To be continued...?

Tromping through the Shudder Mountains, Part 5

Wherein I start breaking this story down into bulletin points, cause I'm way behind!

Chapter 3: The Serpents Beneath (continued)

When we last left the party (consisting of Pinky, the halfling brewer; Hans, the Mad Braar; Darcy, the elf bard; and Rynila the fighter) they were exploring the underground tunnels of an Ancient Temple in the middle of their town and recently defeated, or rather stalled the gears with chicken meat, a clockwork serpent guardian only to find that something foul has escaped from its slimy cocoon.

• The party follow wet strange footsteps through the tunnels; finding all the stone doors were booby trapped with spraying acid. Discovering the pattern in which to press the carved stones on the frame they were able to make their way further.
• They took a set of winding stairs that descended another mile below ground. The stairs led to a vast oval shaped chamber carved from the earth's crust. A ledge ran around the chamber and, below in a pit, were rows and rows of ledges lined with great and grotesque eggs. At the very bottom was a liquid fire like lava, heating up the chamber and making the eggs hatch. Across from them was a tall albino Serpent Man in red robes!

• The Serpent man was standing behind a set of crystal controls when the party arrived and immediately attacked, firing some sort of energy beam from his wrist!
• The party split up and ran around either side of the chamber.
• Pinky slipped and fell, but grasped the ledge at the last moment.
• Darcy played her flute, attempting to summon her patron Ubtu-galoo, but the Chaos Lord was not listening.
• Rynila and Hans were flaking the Serpent Man.
• As Pinky attempted to climb up; an egg just below him burst open and a hungry lizard thing with needle sharp teeth began biting at his dangling legs. 
• Darcy reached for Pinky when the Serpent Man shot out another ray of fire that burst open Darcy's chest in a blast of gore and flame!
• Rynila and Hans arrived and started beating the Serpent Man to a pulp. Rylina took a serpent styled gold bracelet off the fiends wrist.
• Pinky climbed over the ledge and checked on Darcy, but she was dead before she hit the ground. He grabbed her flute.
• With the eggs below hatching faster and faster, Rynila headed for the controls and started switching out crystals, the liquid fire below began rising, burning all the eggs in the pit as it rose.
• Hans picked up Darcy's body and they all fled back up the stairs as the boiling lava bubbled over the edge.
• Fleeing the party took a wrong turn and ended up in an unfamiliar corridor.
• They decided it was best to just leave Darcy here, she was literally dead weight after all.
• Exploring the hall, they found strange glass alcoves set into the rock wall. Inside the foggy glass here humanoids, some perserved, others mummified and still others skeletons. Then they heard foot steps...
• Following the sounds they found some of the glass alcoves busted open and then they were ambushed by a group of Proto-Shudfolk from the primordial age. 

• Frighten, the Proto-Shudfolk chose to fight! They outnumbered the party and after a round or two of fighting, forced them to flee down the halls!
• They found a door, forced it open, ran inside just before the rest of the Proto-Shudfolk could come through!
• Looking around at their surroundings they felt this hall seemed familiar, as it was rounded like the hall near the Clockwork Serpent. Exploring they found another set of doors, and after a bit of acid spray to the face they manage to open it.
• Inside was a long chamber with a great murals on the walls depicting a race of Serpent-Men all dressed in stylish robes while early man were depicted as enslaved. In the center of the chamber a green tinted metal gauntlet rested on a pedestal and behind it, between two statues of warrior serpent men, was a silver coiled snake. The silver snake's head was raised as if judging the party.
• To some of the party's objections, Pinky picked up the gauntlet and placed it on his hand. Painfully, the scales dug into his flesh while visions of sliding through humid jungle forests, chasing, enslaving and slaughtering hairy man-things filled his mind.
• Coming out of the trance he saw the silver coiled serpent in the back of the chamber and knew it was no mere trinket.
• Raising his gauntlet hand, the metal serpent came to life, uncoiling and sliding to rest in his gauntlet hand. It was a magical relic, half sword, half whip!
• They left the chamber and having found their bearings were prepared to leave this dark place when a shadowy form appeared out of the darkness of the ceiling to attack Rynila. The shadowy, ossified, cat-like demon swooped down on bat-like wings to snatch her, but the party fought it back until it disappeared again. They questioned what just happened, but could devise no clear answers...
• When they found the exit the great clockwork serpent was waiting, but this time it did not attack. They discovered the bracelet Rynila took from the Serpent Man could command the machine. She used it to assist them in climbing out of the underground chamber (and took her dismay her new serpent pet couldn't come with her).
• Back in the upper portion of the ancient temple they sealed off the entrance way and then hear screams from the village outside!
• Running out to investigate they found many houses ablaze, women screaming, men attempting to fend off shadow demons from stealing their children!
• 
  

To be continued in Chapter 4: The Farmhouse of Cosmic Horror!

Tromping through the Shudder Mountains, Part 4

Greetings y'all and welcome to another postin' dealing with the comings and goings of those "heroic" folk in the wild and beautiful Shudder Mountains! Now I know it's been a while since I last spun a yarn, so herein are some of the previous tellings so'en you might catch up!

• Part 1: Wherein we meet the current party who finds themselves in quite a predicament.
• Part 2: The party must unravel their past dreams...
• Part 3: More of the latter it seems, but it sure is interesting!

Now sit back whilst I tell you more about the adventures of Pinky, the halfling brewer, Hans, the mad Braar, and Darcy, the elf wanderer!

When last we left the band they had just barely survived a shadow that was stealing their life force while they were desperately trying to wake from the horrible nightmares it produced. They had finally returned to Hard Scrabble Valley, their home, after weeks of traveling through the mountains from Sour Spring Hollow, only to discover something was a miss! Tom Dankers, was a young man when they were spirited away and now he's in his sixties!

Chapter 3: The Serpents Beneath

The old man put a hand to his chest and stated, "Pinky it's me. It's Tom Dankers..."

Pinky was astonished. How could this be? They were only gone a few weeks.

"You don't look a bit older," stated Tom. "Come have a drink!"

They sat with Tom and drank and told him their tell of how at his wedding they awoke and fought evil spirits. He told them that was 40 years ago and that, "We all thought you was dead! But I reckoned you might return one day. My boys have been keeping up the brewery, though the ale is never as good as when you made it."

"What about Grandma," Pinky asked. And he found out she had past away only few years after he left. Tom's wife was in the heavens. 

The next day the party decided to split up and explore what they remembered of the town, finding it quite the same as when they left. Though the old stone temple, that was used by the Shud Folk as a House of the Sovereign, was grown over and no longer in service as the old Braar had died and no one took his place. They had questioned Han's if he was to be the new town Braar, but he only gruffed something under his breath and left to see his old farm. The farm was dilapidated and the people shunned area and lands surrounding it saying there was a permanent gloom there and that no food would grow since his family had died.

Similar to this Mayan temple, though not as large.

Eventually they decided to explore the temple as it was a center point of interest in all their dreams. Inside they found a stone door buried beneath the sand pulpit. They went to get supplies and tools to lift the stone and met Tom Dankers only daughter, Rynila, a bit boyish and willing to help the party on their new adventure. (My sister joined the game at this time. Creating a 1st level warrior.)

They succeeding in lifting the stone door the next morning and found a large pit beneath. Using a rope they descended into the pit which was round and had four doors in either direction. In the centre was a stone pedestal with a crystal embedded it in. Three columns with serpentine carvings held the ceiling up and sand covered the entire floor.

They found walking through the sand was very difficult and the doors had to be opened by pushing in the right series of blocks, otherwise acid would splash out on them. As they explored, the sun moved to the apex of the temple and shone down on the crystal pedestal which began to hum. Something stirred beneath the sand and churned the floor up. Then a large mechanical serpent with three heads rose from the sand. It's three heads each had a different coloured crystal embedded in the metal that gave it a cyclopic appearance. The heads spun at random and shot out laser beams of different varieties!

There was chaos in the chamber as both Darcy and Rynila climbed the columns in order to jump on the mechanical serpent. Hans stayed at one of the doors attempting to open it as acid burned his flesh and Pinky was stuck on the centre pedestal fearing he would be ground to bits by the metal scales that churned the sand.

A beam like the light of the sun shot out from one of the serpents crystal eyes and cut a column in half forcing Darcy to dive into the sands. Rynila jump off her column onto the serpents back and with a hand full of meat she had stored in her pack she quickly forced it into the exposed gears of the serpent forcing the head to stop swiveling. (This was a Mighty Deed my sister came up with on the spot! What a natural!)

Eh.. Something like that!

Hans finally found the right combination to open the doors and as the meat clogged up the gears the party made for the door. Rynila was the last one through and just as the doors were shutting a beam of cosmic energy struck her from behind. Sores opened all over her body and stunk of death, but otherwise she was unharmed. (This was a laser beam from the serpent guardian that caused insta-corruption!)

Beyond the door they found winding passage ways that lead deep under ground. There they discover three more coded doorways and, using Han's staff so as to not get sprayed with acid, opened them. The first door lead into a chamber with a dried up cocoon hanging from the ceiling and a console before it with crystal levers. The levers did nothing and they soon left to explore the next chamber which was exactly the same as the previous one.

Here they found another cocoon and the console crystals were lit. Touching the crystals opened the cocoon. Out slid a white scaled humanoid to splat against the stone floor. Hans took no time in leaping over the console to attack the vile thing and tripped missing the creature and breaking his staff on the floor. The others followed his lead and smashed the thing into a slimy pulp.

They decided to search the room a little more and found a hidden alcove that contains some well preserved robes. They proceeded to leave the room and heard the slapping of wet feet down the corridor. They ran, following the sound, only to find the third room was empty. The cocoon was split open and a wet steaming pile of goo lay under it.

Following the strange footprints, of some three toed creature, they discovered a secret tunnel sloping down into to darkness. Something was loose and they were sure it was going to be bad news for the town. They decided they to follow it.

To be continued in Part 5...

Tromping through the Shudder Mountains, Part 3

When last we left last we left our party, Pinky, the halfling brewer; Hans, the crazed Braar; and Darcy, the elf musician were each re-experiencing their pasts.  Pasts that were either forgotten, never revealed, or buried in remorse.

During an attack by wolves on a babe and a young woman in the forest, Pinky intervened and was stuck down, his life fading...  Han's was trapped in his old farmhouse, his life force slowly being drawn away from the undead corpses that were his wife and son... And Darcy was forced out of the enchanted forest for summoning an evil demon to aid her Father.  She now treks through the gloomy forest, ever wandering, searching for her sister Duneth.  An every present darkness seems to press down on her.

Chapter 2: The Past is but a Dream, continued

As darkness swallowed Pinky, there remained the slightest thread of hope.  Pinky resisted the darkness and forced himself away from death's cold grip.  Suddenly he woke in a darkened room.  Embers smoldered in the fireplace and beside him lay Hans and Darcy.  Realization came slowly... Was he still in the cabin?  Was all he just experienced a dream?

Again coldness embraced him and a shadowy tendril swung near his face!  He quickly back away and saw hovering, barely visible above the others, a great shadow.  Ghostly tendrils of darkness lay over their faces and even in the darkness he could tell they were pale and dying.  He rushed at the tendrils, weapon draw and slashed completely through it.  His blade would be no good here!

The shadow lashed out for him and with the quickness of a rabbit he maneuvered out of its grasp!  He reached Hans and shook him with all his might, screaming for him to wake.  Pinky could feel his body weakening in the presence of this malevolent shadow with Hans slowly stirred.  Pinky fell to a knee, "Wake Darcy..." he rasped.  Hans, feeling drained as well, moved to wake her.

The shadow moved to ensnare them again, but Hans, using what little faith he had left kept it at bay,  Darcy finally woke and together they fled from the cabin into the night and the torrent of rain.  As they ran, a piercing wail came from the cabin and echoed through the forest sending shivers down their spines.

Without once ever looking back they blundered down the sloping valley and into what seemed familiar territory.  They cross the Old Fords Bridge and enter the town of  Hardscrabble Valley.  Tired and soaked from the rain, they entered the first place they came across, a tavern called The Frozen Axe.  They hardly gave any thought to the building, but knew it hadn't been there a few weeks ago, when they attended Tom Dankers wedding.

The three fell through the door into a pile on the rugged and worn wooden floor.  For being a new building it appeared very old.  At the bar an old man looked up, "Quite a storm out there!  I was just about to close up for the night, but... I still got some hot broth if'n it'll be to your likin'."

The company crawled onto a bench and sat slumping over the table while the old man slowly brought them food and drink.  He passed the mead and broth across the table and Pinky kindly thanked him.  The old man looked at the halfling smiling.  His smile quickly turned to a frown and he dropped his tray, stepping back a bit.  Hunching over and squinting through his glasses he exclaimed, "Pinky?"

Pinky looked at the others, then back at the old man, "Do I know you?"

The old man put a hand to his chest and stated, "Pinky it's me.  It's Tom Dankers..."

To be continued in Chapter 3: The Serpents Beneath...

Tromping through the Shudder Mountains, Part 2

Continuing from my last post of our ongoing Tromp Through the Shudder Mountains campaign; we last left our heroes(?) Pinky, the Halfling brewer; Hans, the manic Braar and Darcy, the elf musician, in quite the predicament.  An angry mob of townsfolk began storming the Temple of the Sovereign after the town's Braar (Priest) was killed by Pinky.

Suddenly, Bildad the cat appeared and meowed, "Follow me if you want to live," as he ran through an open door in the back of the temple...

Chapter 2: The Past is but a Dream, continued

With little hesitation, the three followed the talking cat into the room beyond, only to find they were now separated from each other!

Darcy found herself in a wooded area at night, running from a burning cabin in the distance.  She, now a little girl, is crying.  Something horrible has happened, but what?  She paused only briefly before running deeper and deeper into the forest.  She was suddenly met with stranger; half goat, half man.  The Goat-man spoke, "Hush child.  Hush now.  I will keep you save."  He picked Darcy up and carried her away...

Hans was submerged in cold dark waters.  Sinking in front of him is a young boy.  Feverishly he swam towards the boy, but was quickly running out of air!  Hesitating, knowing the boy was already dead, he let him sink into the water.  As the darkness swallowed the boy he uttered one word, "Father..."

Pinky found himself lying on the side of a forest trail.  A sweet lullaby filled the air.  He looked down the trail and spotted a young woman, humming to herself, carrying a basket.  The woman heard a strange sound and stopped.  Pinky heard it too and to him it sounded like the cry of a babe.  She walked off the trail to investigate a rabbit burrow set in the roots of a nearby tree.  Pinky quietly moved to secure a better vantage point.

Wrapped in a cloth inside the rabbit burrow was a smaller than usual and chubby baby; pink from the chill air.  The woman picked up the baby, quieting it, and started to walk briskly walk home, forsaking the trail completely in order to make better time.

Time seems to have past rapidly for Darcy was now an adolescence.  She had lived with the Goat-man for years and now considered him to be her Father.  She sat in tree near their abode playing a flute carved of bone.  It was a birthday present from her Father.  As she played there was something in the way the leaves rustled that gave her chills.  They seemed to whisper too sweetly... 

She then heard a cry and jumped from the tree, rushing in the direction of her Father who was splitting logs.  When she arrived he was surrounded by a group of revolting, nasty little humanoids.  Though the Goat-man swung his axe with in defense there were too many of the creatures and he was overcome.

The leaves rustled and a voice whispered to Darcy, bidding her to play her flute.  She obeyed and played a melody she neither knew nor had heard before.   The melody conjured a devil of white flame and burning ruby eyes.  The devil bid her hullo and asked how he could be of assistance.  Darcy begged that her Father be saved and the devil agreed, but in turn would ask for something in return upon a later date.  Darcy agreed and in a flash of white hot light the wretched little creatures her disintegrated and devil gone.

Her father was saved and Darcy rejoiced, but because she had used dark magic and conjured an evil the Goat-man said, "You can no longer be allowed to stay here in this enchanted wood.  It is time to seek out your twin sister of whom I have made you forget.  Duneth is her name and she is the one that set blaze to your home so many years ago."  At the edge of the enchanted wood he spoke again, "When you leave this place you will forget me forever.  To you it will all seem a dream.  But do not for get what I have taught you and never again use your flute.  For it's music now belongs to the white flamed devil." Saddened Darcy left.

Hans crawled out of the cold lake and walked cross snow covered fields to his farmhouse.  He did not want to go, but was drawn by some unknown force.  At the door he hesitated for he had some inkling of what he might find.  Finally, he slowly opened the door.  Inside, his wife dangled from a rope tied to the rafters, dead.  Her eyes opened, staring wide eyed and she moved her lips horribly, but only gasps of breathe came.

Behind Hans was the sloshing of wet feet that creaked across the wooden boards of the porch.  He turned quickly to find his son, covered in moss and weeds, approaching slowly.  He screamed and cursed all the gods and devils! This can't be happening he thought; they were dead!  He didn't save them...  He couldn't save them!  He wasn't there...

Pinky followed the young lady as she hurriedly walked home.  The sun was setting and there was a howl that echoed throughout.  Pinky saw two great wolves snarling before the young women.  She dropped the basket and gripped the crying babe tightly.  In her free hand she produced a knife.  Pinky ran to her resuce and tried to fend off the wolves, but they were too great an adversary.  He soon lay dying on the dirt when a whizzing of arrows stuck one of the wolves in the neck and forced the other to flee.  He saw a young man with a bow just silhouetted in the light of dusk just before he faded and a coldest like he'd experienced before engulfed his body...

To be continued in Part 3...

Tromping through the Shudder Mountains, Part 1

The past several months have been exceptionally busy for me.  This unfortunately means, to the distress of my players, I have not been able to continue my campaign through +Michael Curtis' Shudder Mountains.  I thought now would be a good time to recap the adventures my friends have had the (mis)pleasure in playing.

Chapter 1: Sour Spring Hollow

As with most DCCRPG campaigns, one must start with a funnel and the Chain Coffin Box Set came with Sour Spring Hollow, in which the residents of Hardscrabble Valley were celebrating the wedding of Tom Dankers when they were sucked into a time bubble on some god forsaken farm where they then had to deal with malevolent spirits.  I won't go into all the details, suffice to say only three survived.  Pinky, the halfling brewer; Hans, the farmer turn Braar (Cleric) and Darcy, the elf musician.  [Story note: One of the 0-levels was a witch's apprentice named Margo.]

The surviving characters defeated the spirits and now found themselves on a strange farm somewhere in the Shudder Mountains.

Chapter 2: The Past is but a Dream

The three characters were making there way back to Hardscrabble Valley when they got caught in a storm.  They stumbled upon a cabin and took shelter there.  After searching the abandoned cabin they took watches and the night went on uneventful.

The next day they saw that the town was just beyond the valley and couldn't before be seen because of the storm.  They wandered back into town and explained what they had been through.  The young-man Tom Dankers explained that 6 months had past since then, even though the gang only experienced a day's time passing on the strange farm and weeks time in travel.  Tom Dankers told Pinky, the halfling, to go visit his Grammy as she was worried about him.  They other two party memebers decided to accompany him and when they got to Grammy's she had a supper laid out for them (and had been doing so every night since Pinky dissappeared.) [Story note: Grammy isn't a halfling, she is a human, Pinky was adopted and doesn't know his true parents.]

As they ate dinner, a large orange cat, named Bildad, jump on the table and was attempting to get the party's attention.  Grammy went into the kitchen to get dessert.  There was a long bang on the floor as if she fell and Pinky went to investigate.  The Bildad the cat hissed and slipped out the window.

In the kitchen, Pinky found Grammy splayed on the ground, then she started to change (imagine any scene from John Carpenter's The Thing).  Hans, who's a bit bat shit crazy anyways, rushed in and cut off the Grammy Thing's head, then stuff it in the wood stove.  They were all covered in blood when there came a knock on the door.  Pinky, who was the least covered answer and found Braar Gigger, the town's priest at the door, who just wanted to welcome them back to town.  Seeing the blood he backed up, but not before Hans could drag him inside.  They tried to explain what happen, but when they showed Braar Gigger the body, Grammy no longer looked like a beast.  The Braar suggested they go back to the temple at the centre of the town and sort it all out, but kept his eye on Hans.

They headed to the large pyramid structure that was constructed long before the town ever existed and has now been converted into a Temple of the Sovereign.  Inside Braar Gigger, thinking Hans a cold blooded murdering psycho, paralyzed him with a spell and tried to convince the others that he was mad and was obviously seeing things.

Personally, I'm a little fuzzy on the details here as it was months ago that we played, but Pinky stabbed Braar Gigger in the neck when he was ringing the town bell.

Now the whole town was showing up and they were trapped in the temple.  Bildad the cat appeared suddenly and said, "Follow me if you want to live," as he ran through an open door in the back of the temple.

To be continued in Part 2...