Greetings from Japan

Hello friends! It's been a while since we've spoke, but I and Sir Hooticus still live, we have just journeyed East. As of this writing I am halfway through my 6 week excursion through Japan with the lady and thus far it's been extremely insightful and inspirational. I've been thinking about putting together a zine for DCC that focuses Eastern mythology, classes, etc, for a while now and this trip is just furthering my urge! This plan is pretty far on the back burner as I still have several other things to finish and I'm beginning to think I'm as slow as ol' GRRM, alas... shikatagana!

I'll be back in the states early December, where I will promptly lock myself away in my dungeon and write till my fingers bleed. Which will hopefully result in a finished module!

- Cheers!

GenCon 2018: Aftermath!

The only shot I've manage to find of me running a game. This was The Emerald Enchanter. I killed 3 of the 6 PCs!

GenCon 51 has come and gone. Along the way I ripped my shorts drunkenly dancing to a Shitty Flute rendition  of Lynyrd Skynyrd's Free Bird whilst scarfing down way too many White Castle sliders at four in the fucking morning... Ran several DCC-RPG adventures, including one session of Sky ov Crimson Flame in which I killed all 24 PCs! (Sorry no pictures because I'm terrible at social media.)

I met up with a lot of old friends and made plenty of new ones along the way. My liver is probably on it's last leg and my memory of some nights are a bit hazy, but overall I'd have to say GenCon 2018 was a success despite the fact I forgot to pack my damn adventure modules... Ah well...

Here are some pics I found of myself... (Sorry no ripped shorts shots! Though I'm sure they're out there)

Talked to this Goat for a solid hour!

A life-like portrait of myself drawn by Doug.

A candid shot from the Goodman Games booth. (And no, I don't know what I'm looking at.)

An advertisement for Hobonomicon! #0

Finally a big shout out to my brothers in arms! Jarrett Crater, Reese Carter & Christian Kessler, who made GenCon and our Mongrel Haus a blast!

Sky ov Crimson Flame Purchases

If you happen to purchase one of the copies of Sky ov Crimson Flame at the Goodman Games booth and you'd like a PDF version, just send me a picture with your GenCon badge in frame and I'll shoot you over a complimentary copy!

On writing:

GenCon has got me pumped to write! I pitched the concept for Seekers ov the Other Worlds to some folks and everyone was stoked on the ideas I had, which in turn has me stoked! Hopefully I can pump out a first draft and get to playtesting. 

Cheers!

GenCon 2018

Hello Friends! As you may well know GenCon 51 is almost upon us! From now until August 6th Owl Knight Publishing is running a sale on all our products! Get 20% off everything in the Etsy store as well as 20% the physical copies of the adventure directly from the website!

For those of you attending the con you can possibly find me helping out at Goodman Games booth, running DCCRPG adventures, or at one of the after hours games! I will be carrying around copies of Sky ov Crimson Flame of which you can purchase directly from me for $10.

GenCon Games I'll be Running:

Thursday, 2nd:

• Sky ov Crimson Flame: 2pm-6pm
• Shadow Under Devil's Reef: 7pm-11pm

Friday, 3rd:

• Blights ov the Eastern Forest: 8pm-12am (why did I choose those times...)

Saturday, 4th:

• The Emerald Enchanter: 2pm-6pm

See you at GenCon!

On & On We Go!

So it's been about a month since my last post, figure it was time for a new one! Since then I've written approximately 70+ pages of the Seekers ov the Other Worlds (not including the pages upon pages of notes, b-sides and other bullshit). I've also manage to actually get a weekly game session going and introduced 4 new people to the magical world of RPGs with DCC-RPG. I've been running my Blights ov the Eastern Forest campaign and after in doing that I'm hopping to learn from some past mistakes, because... whew boy, there's some questionable things written in the module where I've had to ask myself, "What the hell were you thinking?"

On top of that I've been working on another project that I'll be keeping hush-hush at the moment, but it's been nice to step away from the other and focus on another.

All this will be coming to a screeching halt starting this week as I embark on a 3 week shoot for Hallmark. Oh joy! Afterwards I come right back home and then head off the Gen Con! What does that mean for Seekers ov the Other Worlds? Well unfortunately I won't have a first draft ready before GenCon, but I have been slamming pages out like there's no tomorrow, so maybe the days on this shoot will be short (doubtful) and I won't be dog tired and mentally drained (doubtful) after every day.

Anywho GENCON! (Who wants to grab a beer?)

I'll be running four DCC games there:

Thursday, 2nd:

• Sky ov Crimson Flame: 2pm-6pm
• Shadow Under Devil's Reef: 7pm-11pm

Friday, 3rd:

• Blights ov the Eastern Forest: 8pm-12am (why did I choose those times...)

Saturday, 4th:

• The Emerald Enchanter: 2pm-6pm

On top of that I'll be working the Goodman Games booth, meetin' & greetin', drinking heavily no doubt, and spending cash like I have it... So see you there!

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! 

Whoa... Where has the time gone?

Hello all! It has been a long time since I've written a blog post. Five freakin' months! Jeebus, Dagon, Ra! Where hast the time gone? Needless to say, I've been a very busy boy. Unfortunately that business has not been of the gaming variety and frankly I see very little change in that regard. So what have I been up to and more importantly when is Owl Knight Publishing going to print a follow up to Sky ov Crimson Flame? Let's start from the beginning shall we?

Halloween:

During the few two months of the year I was working as a Locations Asst. on the new Halloween film. During that time I manage to fumble the die and stab myself in the palm of my left hand. So for a few weeks there I couldn't really use it. It has healed somewhat, but there is some nerve damage resulting in the numbness of my middle finger which may lead to a surgery to fix it (of which I'm holding off on).

Castle Crusading:

In the month following the wrap of Halloween, the lady and I went to the U.K. for two weeks, landing in London for five days and then journeying West and up through Wales and to the far reaches of the Scottish Highlands, thus gaining some much need XP!

Here I stand before Kilchurn Castle, once the stronghold of the Campbell Clan. In time's now past, the Campbells were the protectors of the Thompsons. Thus, this is as close to home as I can get!

I made a few friends on our quest!

Felt the Quickening!

Everyday was Adventure Time!

Dungeon Synth Album Cover 1

Cover 2

Cover 3

Damn vampires!

 Post Quest:

Now having leveled up, it was time to get to work! Soon after I came back to the States and began writing again, full steam, non-stop! Fueled by caffeine and a mind rattling with possibilities, but here's the problem... I work on too many projects at once... But I'm getting better at focusing, sort of. Then the film-work came pouring in and once I'm in a job, there's no time to write and when there is my brain is so much mush.

Project Update:

So at this moment I think I may have 1/3 of the next adventure Seekers ov the Other Worlds written. "Only a third," I hear you shout. Yes and no! The third is what I have deemed "Good," but I have so much more written; a mess of ideas, semi-fleshed out areas, maps drawn, multiple adventure hooks and endings. I wish I could just write a simple adventure, but I cant...

Believe me! No wants to see this thing finished more than I do. I come up with a different adventure daily, so the fact that I'm "stuck" on this one is extremely irritating... I'm really pushing myself to have a full first draft by GenCon, but it all depends on the calls I get for work. 

The Foreseeable Furture:

Here is what is going to slow me down.... Halloween re-shoots are starting in June, then I have two conventions in August (GenCon and Maskfest), then the lady and I are planning a trip to Japan and S. Korea in November, then Holiday crap... then it's the next freaking year! Ugh...

Here's to getting shit done!

- CHEERS!

The Chronicle Continues!

How long had it been since the Owl Knight and the Barbarian left their nest for adventure! Two months? Three? Time was a blur as the long hours trailed in nothingness. Finally though, after reaching a coastal town, fighting a malevolent she-bitch and carousing every bar about the town; the pair were heading back home. Since returning however, both were feeling distant. How do they start where they left off and what does the future hold?

Pushing Forward

For some of you that follow my other social media feeds you'll know that for the past couple of months I've been working on a film in Atlanta. Though I enjoy my work in the film industry (and it helps pay the bills) it takes me away from all the things I'd rather be doing, such as writing and playing tabletop games. Now that I'm back home I'm hoping that I can push out a lot of content (or at least write a lot) before the next show sucks me into another black hole.

What I'm Currently Working On:

I have several projects that I'd love to see finished. The major one is of course my next DCC adventure Seekers ov the Other Worlds. I really thought I'd have a complete draft by now and even a new Kickstarter going for it, but alas, life had other plans.

On top of that I have several other adventure ideas in the works as well and that whole DCC/OSR Dune thing I was doing.

I've also been working on some board games, one of which I've tried to Kickstarter twice now.

I have a business plan for a bar that may or may not happen and I'm working on getting a cartoon show off the ground.

So yeah... I'm a busy little f*ckin' bee and a little stressed, but it's all gravy baby! So enough talk! Lets get to work!

The Owl Knight's Quest

[A true to fiction story on how and why I've lapsed in my writing.]

There was a long stent in which two traveling companions, a young bearded Barbarian and an over-grown, gruff Owl Knight, sat around on their duffs waiting for the next opportunity for adventure. Sure, there were small quests to be had, traveling from their homeland to a great convention of like-minded savants in the wayward plains of a land known as Indiana, but for many a week the Owl Knight was frantically scribbling in his ancient tomb and gibbering on about writing his latest adventure, while the Barbarian drank much ale and slapped the buttocks of a buxom woman he'd taken to. Now, however, adventure was a foot!

They had gotten a letter from a mysterious fellow about a job in a horrid city in the South call ATL. The fellow mentioned there was plenty of gold to be had if the companions would but travel south for the extent of two months. Both the Owl Knight and the Barbarian were begrudged to take the job, as they had grown accustom to their surroundings. What hurt the most was that the Owl Knight knew he would get no writing accomplished, but because the gold was almost depleted and the call for adventure pulled at their heart strings, they decided to go. So it was with a heavy sigh the Barbarian said goodbye to his woman and the companions set off South.

It has been two weeks since they left and they have traveled and seen much of this new land. The Owl Knight has acquired many treasure troves of books, while the Barbarian has faced many a threat in the form of a Wolverine that takes the form of a man by day! The gold has yet to flow as was promised do to a clerical error within the walls of the main keep, but soon it will rain from the heavens! The morrow begins another week of adventure!

Perhaps to be continued...

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!

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.