Random Thoughts

While sitting on my couch before church last Sunday, I was having some random thoughts.

Five Minute Fights

While my Five Klicks battle was enjoyable and quick (under 30 minutes including set up), I'd also like something I could do in 5-10 minutes. Thinking again about 3 x 3 Portable Wargame and if I can use something similar for skirmishes.

Icespire Stinks

I've been struggling to play the next chapter of my Icespire Peak campaign. I was pondering why that's the case.

• In general, the adventures are pretty lackluster. Also, they don't translate well to solo play. I have to make some tweaks for them to interest me.
• I am stuck on one adventure - the Woodland Manse. I struggle to transform it into a solo module.
• I finally thought up a plan. I'm just going to make it a linear series of encounters - outdoors, first floor, and upper floor, or something similar.
• I want to get this campaign over with so I need to start simplifying the adventures. Perhaps I'll just create a series of five minute fights?

Silly Observation

My eldest cat, Thomasina, loves the D&D channel.

It puts her right to sleep. Perhaps not the most ringing endorsement. :D

To The Lodge

A Ser Killian Adventure

No spoilers today

A New Threat

After their success at Axeholm, Ser Killian and his party get some much needed rest. A few days later. a messenger rushes into town. He comes from Falcon's Lodge, a hunting resort for the well-to-do.

Falcon, the owner of the lodge, sends a missive for help. Orcs have been marauding in the area recently. One band even attacked a hunting party. Falcon wants someone to clear the orcs out.

Naturally, Ser Killian agrees to take on the quest.

Which Route?

The party has two options to travel to the Lodge

• The longer but potentially safer route (orange) is along the road to Neverwinter then by boat to the lodge.
• The direct route (red) has them traipsing through the forest/

Concerned that time is of the essence, Killian decides to head through the forest.

The Journey

The first stage of the journey passes uneventfully.

Once in the forest, however, our heroes get ambushed by a band of orcs (black).

Yes, I'm using Meeples. It helps having some marker to track the combat. But no, I'm not going to invest in miniatures. If I can find some tokens I like, I'll use those. But I'm not painting anything!

It's a bit of a drawn-out fight. Our heroes have no trouble hitting the enemy, but the orcs' armor prevents any telling blows.

Wow. My damage rolls were pitiful.

Eventually, however, the orcs fall. Killian suffered a slight wound, which Martin the cleric heals.

Later, they get attacked by a sentient tree.

Again, their blows have trouble penetrating. Killian calls for them to retreat.

The tree lashes out and knocks Martin to the ground. Its limbs reach out to grab him. Killian and the other turn back to help Martin. Haiden pulls Martin away while Nashad acts as rear guard.

The tree turns on Nashad but he manages to hack into it with his two-handed blade. The tree recoils, allowing the party to escape. 

As they bound through the wood, they hear thump, thump, thump. The tree is running after them! However, it is slow and our heroes outrun the pursuit.

The Lodge

After a few days hard marching through the woods, the party arrives safely at Falcon's Lodge.

What happens next? Stay tuned for more!

Prepping for RPG

In my last update, I mentioned that I wanted to complete a Napoleonic knockout round and an RPG adventure every month. Well, February is over and I already failed - no RPG session. But I made some progress!

Creature Cards

One of the deterrents to my solo RPGing is creating the encounter charts. I've been jotting down the encounter stats in a notebook and then running the game from that. But sometimes (often?) I don't feel like doing the prep work.

The answer is to have cards with the creature stats. Then I can reference them quickly.

I've dabbled with cards before.

• Here's an experiment from 2016.
• And a rather fancy design from 2022.

None of those prior efforts went very far, however.

Recently, I started a new project to make cards for the creatures from the 1st edition Monster Manual. First, I need to convert their stats to my system. I created an Excel spreadsheet to do the conversions, but I am still working on it.

I had some free time this past week and decided I wanted to play. I decided to jot the stats on index cards rather than in a notebook.

I ended up with this - a stack of cards ready for play!

Using the Cards

One of the issues I had with cards is with creating weighted encounter probabilities. Let's take a simplified example. I have two possible encounters - either a bunch of orcs or a dragon. I decide that the party is more likely to encounter the orcs than the dragon. But if I have one card each, then the probabilities are the same. To increase the probability of encountering orcs, I need multiple orc cards.

The solution is ridiculously simple, but I was so caught up in using cards that it did not dawn on me until now. I can still roll on an encounter table. Then I can consult the card for the stats. This saves me the trouble of jotting down the stats every time.

The Experiment

I started the next adventure in Ser Killian's tale using the cards. More on that at a later date!

A New RPG Campaign

I haven't made much progress on my proposed fantasy wargame inspired by Command & Colors. Instead, my thoughts turned to roleplaying.

A couple of months ago, I started a roleplaying campaign using the Dragon of Icespire Peak module.

However, I was running it using Swords & Six-Siders.

But the campaign was short-lived. One player dropped out and then another has been unable to make the last two sessions. Given our inconsistency, I decided to drop the campaign altogether.

I still want to meet up occasionally for some good, old-fashioned dungeon-crawling, so I decided to pull out an old favorite - Four Against Darkness. We'll be able to play even on the days when we are down to 2 players. And because adventures are short, we should be able to finish in one session, so it won't matter if we are missing someone.

However, I just can't leave well enough alone. One of my beefs with 4AD is that the random dungeons are too, well, random. I started experimenting with themed dungeons. I am now revisiting this concept and prepping for our initial 4AD session. My idea is to create an orc's lair. The adventurers must kill the Orc Brute to gain the bounty.

That's all for now. Stay tuned for more updates!

Mine and Shrine

From the Tales of Ser Killian

Spoiler Alert - The following adventure is based on the D&D adventure Dragon of Icespire Peak. You may not want to read this if you plan to play that adventure.

Brother Winston Retires

Once they return to Phandalin, Brother Winston announces that he is retiring from the adventuring game. He will remain in Phandalin and work on rebuilding the church.

Game Note: After 3 "deaths" I think it is time for Brother Winston to hang it up.

PART 1 - THE MINE

After resting in Phandalin, a man rushes into the village. He identifies himself as Don-John Raskin, overseer of the Mountain's Toe Gold Mine. He reports that a gang of toughs seized the mine. He needs someone to reclaim it. Enraged by this act of aggression, Ser Killian readily agrees.

On the Road

The mine lies about 15 miles northeast of Phandalin. They have no encounters on the way.

An Unexpected Ally

Our heroes begin exploring the mine. They discover that a small band of Raskin's miners have holed up in one section of the mine. One of the miners, a brawny lad named Gavril, agrees to accompany the party.

Once again, I converted the published adventure into random encounters. I rolled a boon so interpreted it as meeting the miners.

Cave In

The party continues into the mine. At one point, there is a cave-in. The party escapes but their way is cut off. They need to backtrack.

I keep track of progress using "Progress Points." After gaining 3 PP, the party will discover the objective. However, this turn of events causes them to lose a PP.

Creepy Crawly

They run into a carrion crawler. 

Gruff looses an arrow that buries deep into the monster. Then Haiden attacks, slicing it into bits.

Gruff did 2 wounds in the first round then Haiden did 3 a few rounds later.

Negotiations

Finally, the party runs into some of the toughs. Killian demands that they pack up and leave. They tell him that he has to talk to their boss. One of the toughs runs deeper into the mine and brings back the boss.

The boss explains that orcs have run them out of their home, an abandoned shrine. He is willing to leave the mine if the party clears out the orcs. Killian agrees.

The adventure has an option to negotiate a solution. I rolled to see if the toughs would offer it. When they did, I had Killian agree.

PART 2 - THE SHRINE

Our heroes, including Gavril, head to the shrine about a day away.

Landslide

As they cross the hills, there is a landslide. Fortunately, they escape unscathed.

Orcs

As they approach the shrine, a band of 6 orcs waylay them. 

During the melee, Killian suffers two wounds. Afterwards, he calls upon his deity to heal him. He recovers some of his strength.

I realize that I forgot to account for his medium armor. Oh well.

Trapped

Our heroes enter the shrine grounds and spring a pit trap. Haiden falls in. He is shaken but otherwise unharmed.

More Orcs

The party meets 2 orc champions. 

These are higher level orcs. These count as "henchmen" from my random encounter chart

Gavril manages to hit one of the orcs, severely wounding it. It strikes him back, but Gavril is only shaken. Killian and Haiden kill the other one, then Gruff finishes off the wounded orc.

Next they meet 2 more orcs. They dispatch these quickly.

The Ogre

Our heroes find the leader of the orc band, an ogre. 

They strike it, but it merely shrugs off their attacks.

Armor negated any effect.

The ogre wades into the fray, swinging a large club. It strikes Gruff, and knocks him to the ground (a critical hit!)

Gavril strikes with his pickaxe, burying it deep into the ogre's arm. The ogre strikes back, but Gavril is only shaken.

Taking a cue from my dogfight rules, damage rolls might only shake up the target. I also instituted a "hero" roll, which allows the heroes to reduce the damage by one level. Gavril was extremely lucky. The enemy hit him many times, but he kept getting shaken results.

Killian steps in front to protect Gavril. He stabs and thrusts his blade deep in the ogre's chest. The ogre collapses!

The shrine is cleared. They can return to the mine victorious.

What happens next? Stay tuned!

Fast Play MicroQuest

Back in August, I acquired some fantasy meeples for some fast play dungeon crawls. I only recently managed to use them.

I did not have formalized rules during the game. I just winged it, although I essentially used a variant of MicroBattle.

Since then, I have been working on the rules. Here is what I have so far.

Characters

Each character has the following statistics.

• Class - basically fighters, rogues, or sages
• Level - measure of the character's skill in the class
• Armor Class - none, light, medium, or heavy armor, ranging from 0 to 3 points
• Hit Points - characters start with 2-3 hit points
• Special Abilities - working on these for each class. They'll be short and sweet.

I don't bother with ability scores. I assume that fighters are strong, sages are intelligent, and rogues are dexterous. This simplifies the stats and allows me to keep a party's stats on one index card.

Combat

Combat essentially follows the MicroBattle rules. The player needs to roll a 4 or better for a character to succeed in an action. Advantages add 1 or 2 to the roll while disadvantages subtract 1 or 2.

I determine which side has advantage in the combat by comparing levels. The PCs have an advantage if they are higher level or have a disadvantage if they are lower.

Combat is "player-facing," which means that the PCs always roll. The monsters never do. When the monsters attack, the PCs roll defense.

Damage

In order to reduce hit point tracking, I made a modification to damage. When a hit occurs, roll a D6, with the following results.

• 4-6 - take 1 hit point of damage
• 1-3 - the character is stunned

I'm still working out what a stun does. In my test game, stunned characters had to spend a turn recovering, essentially losing an attack. To speed things up, I may just give stunned characters a disadvantage.

And the Rest

I still need to work out the rest of the rules. But I feel I have a decent start.

Stay tuned for more!

Dragon of Icepire Peak Stinks

No, not the dragon itself. But the adventure is really bad.

I've been playing through this adventure solo and have found it extremely lackluster.

Now some of that has to do with soloing. For example, the Gnomengarde scenario involves a lot of diplomacy, which is not much fun for a solo game. Honestly, however, I would have been bored with it even if doing it with a group. I like combat, and there is very little.

But what set me off on this rant is the Logger's Camp quest. It seems logical enough. Deliver supplies to a logger's camp deep in a forest. But when I looked it over for just a few minutes, I realized...

IT'S JUST UTTERLY STUPID!

Let me count the ways.

1. The adventure assumes that the party travels directly to the camp, through dense forest, instead of taking an easier route by skirting the forest.
2. The party carries the supplies in an ox cart. Try getting that through a forest!
3. But maybe there is a road or path through the forest? No!
4. Why is the camp getting supplies from the little village of Phandalin when the city of Neverwinter is closer and is down river? Ship supplies by boat instead!

This just makes no sense!!!

Microlite 20

Now and then I go on an RPG kick and start researching rules. This is one of those times.

I have designed and played solo RPGs (such as these) using rules of my own design. Sometimes, however, I consider how I would introduce new players to RPGs. Given its current popularity, I think D&D is the best option. Then I try reading the rules for D&D 5E and get a headache.

I recently took a look at Microlite20 Purest Essence.

I checked out other versions of Microlite before, but they never clicked with me for various reasons. However, I really like PE and think it makes a great beginner version. Probably better than any of the D&D 5E beginner products.

By the way, one of the reasons I did not care for Microlite was that it only offered 4 classes (fighter, wizard, cleric, rogue). Where's paladin?! Sorry, it's my favorite class. Anyway, PE offers additional classes as "expert" rules, including paladin. Ahhhh!

Me, Myself, and Die!

I normally don't watch streams of RPG sessions. I tried watching Critical Role before, but I can never get more than 5 minutes in it.

However, I make an exception for...

What's neat about this show is that host Trevor Devall, a professional voice actor, plays solo!

His RPG sessions are great fun. 

• Naturally, he does different voices for the various characters
• He uses well-painted miniatures and terrain, which provide good visuals
• Episodes are short (approximately 30 minutes) and well edited
• He manages to create very exciting and engrossing stories

MM&D is in the middle of its third season, which means you can binge watch two completed seasons! Check it out. You may also get addicted.

You can access the Me, Myself, and Die! channel on YouTube.

The Dwarven Excavation

From the Tales of Ser Killian

Spoiler alert - This is my account of the published D&D adventure, Dragon of Icespire Peak. Turn back if you wish to play this adventure for yourself.

 

When last we met Ser Killian and his party, Squire Haiden, Brother Winston, and Gruff, they had just defeated a manticore. After their victory, they returned to Phandalin to recuperate from their battle.

After a few days, Killian announces to the party, "'Tis time for another quest. To the Townmaster!"

Once again, the surly townmaster merely directs them to the Job Board. Killian decides to take on a mission to warn two prospectors excavating an ancient dwarven ruin in the nearby hills.

About Dwarves

The excavation lay about a day's hike from Phandalin. Fortunately, they did not encounter any dangers.

As they journeyed, Brother Winston regaled them with tales of the dwarves. While rare in the current day, they were more plentiful in the past and constructed some magnificent structures. Some say that there were Fey while others say they were a race of humans cursed by Daeus. Regardless, they are very secretive and distrust humans.

As mentioned previously, I'm changing the campaign background from standard D&D. The demi-humans are going to be rare, and not necessarily friendly to humans.

The Heroes Meet the Prospectors

Near the end of the day, they approach the site of the excavation. Traversing a canyon (E1), the come to a stone wall with an open gate. Killian halloes, but there is no response.

They progress through a ruined settlement (E2), once covered in an avalanche, but now excavated.

They enter a courtyard and approach the entrance of a temple. Grotesque statues adorn the facade.

"Clearly nothing good about his place." declares Brother Winston.

"Indeed," Killian agrees, "but we must complete our mission."

They spy a pair of dusty prospectors, eating a meal beside a fire and warily eying the entrance to the Temple.

"Hello, friends," calls Killian. "We bring you tidings, and a warning."

One of the prospectors, named Dazlyn, invites the party to join them. His partner, Norbus, seems unsure.

The Prospectors Have a Quest

Killian passes along the warning about the dragon. The pair are thankful, but feel safe enough.

"We have are plenty of places for us to hide from dragons," Dazlyn explains, as he points to the stone ruins. "Our bigger concern is what is in the temple."

"Is it evil?" Killian asks with a bit too much enthusiasm. He explains that he is on a quest to destroy evil.

"Not evil per se, but dangerous to human life." Dazlyn responds. He proceeds to tell the party about the gelatinous blobs that inhabit the temple.

"Never fear!" Killian proclaims, "We will put an end to this threat to life." He picks up his sword and shield, and heads for the temple door.

"Master, wait!" Squire Haiden pleads. Killian halts, and turns to face his squire.

"M'lord, we should wait until the morn. The sun is setting, and evil will be most powerful in the dark."

"Fie on that, squire. I don't fear to face evil at its most... evil."

"But we can spend the night praying to Daeus for success."

"An excellent idea," agrees Winston.

"Besides," say Haiden, "in the morn it shall be easier to see the enemy and prevent them from escaping."

And so Killian agrees to wait until morning.

Jellies in the Temple

After a repast the next morning, the party ventures through an entrance corridor (E4) into the temple (E5). Hanging from the ceiling above the altar, they spy a blob.

They enter the room, prepared for battle. Gruff looses an arrow, which strikes deep into the blob. The thing drops from the ceiling and oozes toward the party. Our heroes attack.

Killian's slash strikes deep, splitting the creature in two. Immediately, the two halves merge back together!

"Ack, this sword is useless!"

"Try stabbing!" Haiden suggests, as his spear pierces deep into the blob.

The blob's pseudopods lash out, knocking Killian back. Winston and Haiden rush forward, striking the creature. It stops moving.

"Whew, not so bad." say Killian.

Suddenly, Gruff screams. They turn. He is practically enveloped by another blob.

Haiden grabs him and pulls him free. Winston clubs the creature until it moves no more.

Gruff is badly wounded, his flesh burned as if he were doused in acid.

Winston gets down on his knees next to Gruff and begins to pray over him. Within moments, the burns recede and Gruff recovers.

Exploring the Temple

Our heroes explore the rest of the temple. In a corridor (E7), they find another blob. They kill it easily. Note: A critical hit finished it off.

In one room (E10), they find a skeleton with a silver pendant. Winston recognizes the symbol as the mark of Erlik, lord of death. Killian rips to pendant from the skeleton and crushes it with his bare hands. He tosses the destroyed pendant away. Gruff, however, surreptitiously retrieves it.

"Silver is silver," he thinks to himself.

A Little Disagreement with the Prospectors

Finally, the party comes to a corridor that is collapsed. Unable to explore any further, they return to the prospectors. Killian trumpets their triumph.

"But ye did not get past the cave-in," Norbus points out, "so ye did not clean out the entire ruin. Ye did not live up to the deal."

Killian is livid, "You don't expect us to dig?!"

Dazlyn intervenes and settles things down. He proposes that he and Norbus dig out the corridor, then the party could "cleanse" the rest of the temple. This mollifies Killian, who agrees.

"Of course, we could cleanse it even quicker if we had help." Dazlyn suggests. And with that, Killian volunteers the party to help with the digging.

The Statue of Erlik

After a couple of days of digging, they break through. The corridor leads to a shrine (E11). There, they see a statue with a large, bright green gem. The prospectors' eyes gleam with triumph.

Winston's reaction is far different. "Erlik!" He cries and makes the sign of Daeus to ward off evil.

Killian strides forth, grabs the statue, and smashes it to the floor. It breaks into pieces. The gem disintegrates into dust.

Norbus is livid. "Why did you do that!"

Killian turns, and glares at him. In a fearsome tone, he proclaims. "I am pledged to destroy evil. Do you wish to stop me?"

Norbus is cowed.

Bandits Attack

With the temple clean, Dazlyn thanks the group for their help, and offers payment in the form of some supplies, a few silver pieces, and two shiny stones.

Just as the party exits the gates of the settlement (E2), 4 armed humans stop them.

"We'll be takin' yer valuables, yerr armor, and yer weapons. Drop them nicely and ye'll not be hurt."

"Miscreants!" Killian yells as he draws his sword. "Repent, or suffer judgement!"

The bandits sneer and charge.

Grubb manages to shoot one dead.

Wielding a great axe, another smashes Killian. Our hero staggers back, wounded, but his armor saves him from grievous harm. The bandit is about to finish Killian off when a rock smashes into the outlaw's head. He falls dead.

With two of their number down, the remaining bandits flee.

Killian turns and sees the prospectors atop the wall, rocks in hand.

"I owe you a debt of thanks." Killian says to them. "If you ever need my services, you have it."

With that, they return to Phandalin with no more incidents.

Aside

The party also had to deal with an attack from a greater cat beast, but they managed to pull through.

The Corrupt Forest

A Tweedle & Dunh Adventure

I'm planning on alternating between miniature games and roleplaying. Last week was a minis game so this week I bring you another installment of the Tales of Tweedle & Dunh.

Introduction

After their adventure in the forest, Tweedle and Dunh report their experiences to their master Groombal. He seems very concerned.

He sends them back, but they are attacked by vine blights. Dunh kills one but Tweedle is seriously wounded. They retreat and return home.

A couple of weeks later Groombal tells them, "Prepare to return to the forest. You leave tomorrow."

The next morning, there is a knock on the door. A young warrior, armed with a mace and shield, stands there.

"Good, good!" Groombal says. He introduces the warrior as Jonuz.

"A little extra muscle never hurt. I need you to venture back into the forest and find out what is causing the corruption you found."

So our trio sets off.

The Adventure

The TL;DR version is in bold italics

They make it back to the hag's hut without incident, then venture deeper into the woods.

The party's path through the forest.

They battle a giant spider

They come to the site of their battle with the blights (1) but now pass without incident.

Turning right, they come to a clearing. As Dunh steps in, he puts his hand out to push back a branch. He feels something sticky. He pulls back.

"Wait." he whispers, then shows his comrades his hand. A sticky web hangs from it.

"Spiders!"

The look into the clearing (2) and see a giant arachnid. 

It spots them, and leaps at Jonuz. He dodges. The party all strike, and slay the creature.

The spider's lair is a dead end, so they reverse course. They come across a pool (3) with green, sludgy water. Dead animals lay scattered about.

They discover a dead pool

Tweedle investigates, then announces, "It appears that these animals were poisoned by this befouled water.. There is great corruption in these woods."

They begin to follow a stream that feeds the pool.

They run afoul of some traps

They continue on their way, following the polluted stream. At one point (4), they fall into a pit trap. They managed to pull themselves out, but escape with some bumps and bruises.

Later (5), a swinging log trap strikes Dunh. As he dusts himself off, he comments, "I get the feeling that someone doesn't want us here."

"Indeed," Tweedle agrees. "Let's step more carefully from now on."

They battle some cursed elves

Eventually, our heroes come to a clearing (6), where they spy 4 elves. However, there is something off with these elves. Their skin is a dull gray and their eyes are filled with an angry red glow.

Tweedle steps forward, "Good day, good people..."

He gets no further, for three of the elves draw their swords and rush at them. The fourth scampers away down a path that exits the clearing.

Tweedle is caught off guard and cannot get a spell off. However, Dunh reacts quickly. He steps forward, parries a blow, and buries his axe into the elf's chest. The elf collapses.

Jonuz manages to hit his opponent, but gets wounded in return. The combatants begin to circle, looking for an opening.

Seeing that Jonuz is holding his own, Dunh goes to Tweedle's aid. He stabs the elf. Tweedle follows up with a successful strike, but his staff skitters off the elf's armor. The elf turns and slashes Dunh. Dunh ignores the pain and counters, striking down the elf. He turns and sees that Jonuz has also dispatched his opponent.

Panting, Dunh asks, "Why did they attack us?"

"There is something strange about these elves," Tweedle agrees.

Ambush gone awry

Dunh then asks, "What should we do about the one that got away? Should we pursue him?"

"No," Tweedle commands. "I have a better idea."

They bind their wounds, then hide in the bushes surrounding the clearing. Tweedle then casts an illusion of the party sitting in the middle of the clearing.

"I bet that the elf went for help. When they return, we'll surprise them!"

They wait and wait, but no one shows.

"This is ridiculous," Dunh states. "They're not coming. I'm going for them."

He then steps out of the bushes and begins marching down the path. Frustrated, Tweedle just shakes his head and follows, with Jonuz in tow.

They suffer the drider's sting

As Dunh strides down the path, Tweedle then Jonuz race past him. Then another figure brushes by; it's Dunh!

Dunh stops, puzzled. He looks back and sees his comrades.

"Yes," Tweedle expounds, "let the fake us take the lead."

And it proves to be a good plan. As they approach a clearing, the escaped elf jumps out and hacks at the illusory Dunh.

Simultaneously, a hideous figure leaps upon the fake Tweedle. It is half spider and half human!

Dunh rushes the creature and strikes. His axe bites deep into its torso. It lashes with its sword, cutting into Dunh's arm. He begins to feel woozy.

"Poison!"

Meanwhile, Jonuz and Tweedle take down the elf, then turn on the drider.

Dunh and the creature exchange blows. Tweedle casts a protection spell on his pal.

Seeing Tweedle cast magic, the drider turns on him. It strikes, wounding and poisoning Tweedle.

Turning, the creature strike Dunh again. He is bleeding profusely and the poison slows him. The creature is also badly wounded, but Tweedle doesn't think they can take it down. Not in their weakened state.

"Dunh! Let's get out of here!"

Dunh nods his head and limps from the fight. Tweedle and Dunh cover him as they all retreat back down the path. The drider chooses not to pursue.

They retreat and return home

They make it back to the elves' clearing and take a moment to bind their wounds. But they are clearly too weak to continue. They head back. Fortunately, they do not have any encounters on their way home.

What happens to our heroic trio? Find out next time!

Some Game Notes

As I mentioned previously, I've come back to the idea of creating monster cards customized to my own RPG stats. I created some for this adventure.

I didn't actually use them. Instead, I had some unillustrated index cards. Nevertheless, I like the look and will continue to develop them. For example, I notice I don't have room to include special abilities. I also plan to add more monsters.

Ultimately, I'll get them printed at a local copy shop.

RPG Thoughts

I wanted to roll some dice last weekend but did not feel like setting up a minis battle. Instead, I decided to do an RPG session.

When last we met our heroes, they had returned from an adventure in the woods. Their master, Groombal, intimated that some great evil was afoot in the woods. I had intended a sequel, but did not have all the miniatures I needed. Well, that led to some pondering.

Back to Cards?

While I love the look of miniatures, I have concluded that they don't work well for my RPG sessions because I usually don't have painted figures for the monsters I need. As a result, months go by without a session.

I really need something I can pick up and play. This has led me back to the idea of creating monster cards. I did a little experiment.

I took the goblin picture from some paper figures I purchased from Okum Arts. The art doesn't really match the background, but this is the concept I have.

I had previously made some cards, but I had so much info on it that it was rather busy. This time, I simplified to Attack factors (to-hit/damage), armor, and health.

While I like the look, I just don't have much time to work on it, so I ginned up some quick versions on index cards so I could play an adventure. More on that later.

Back to D12?

While working on the cards, I also began to ponder the monster stats. In particular, I thought about experimenting with a D12 again. This would give some more granularity in combat.

• With MicroQuest, which uses a D6, the target number varies depending on whether the enemy is higher level, lower, or the same level.
• With a D12, the modifier could be the difference between levels.

My biggest problems was that my armor classifications (light, medium, or heavy) worked better with a D6. Then I thought that a system that uses D12s for to-hit rolls and D6s for damage might work.

I haven't tried it yet, but am planning on it.

New Campaign

Well, I don't want to re-stat my current characters for a new system, so I am leaning toward starting a new campaign with new characters. However, I'm feeling lazy so I don't want to think up new adventures. Solution - buy a pre-made module.

But which module? Initially, I was leaning to something old school. I even picked up the Temple of Elemental Evil on PDF. Then I remembered that I picked up D&D 5E Essentials last year. It includes a campaign (Dragon of Icespire Peak) for characters starting at level 1 and going up to level 8. I think I'll do that instead.

Converting from D&D

In general, I think I can easily convert from D&D to my rules using these guidelines.

• Divide levels or hit dice by 2. For example, a HD 10 monster would be level 5 in my rules
• AC 11-12 = light armor, 13-15 is medium, and 16+ is heavy
• Generally, hit points = level (in my rules) x 2

I also expect to make changes to the campaign.

• I don't care much for D&D's polytheistic pantheons. I'll replace it with a monotheistic one.
• I prefer a more human-centric setting. There will be elves and dwarves but they will be more like Celtic myth - rare and mysterious. Thus, some of the non-human NPCs will become human.
• I also prefer a lower-magic setting. There will likely be fewer magic items, and fewer spellcasters.

New Characters

For this new campaign, I'll need a new adventuring party, and it should be a full 4+ characters. Here's my thoughts so far.

My main character will be a knight errant (paladin). He is accompanied by

• his squire (a fighter)
• his confessor (a cleric), and
• an archer (actually a rogue)

And a Quick Adventure!

I actually ran a quick adventure last weekend. Tweedle and Dunh ventured back into the woods, where they ran into 2 blights. Tweedle was seriously wounded (down to his last hit point) so retreated from the woods and returned home.

But stay tuned. They have an important mission, and will return to the woods.

LARP and more (or is it less)?

LARP

LARP has been dominating my time lately.

Recently I created a buckler using a foam kickboard.

It measures approximately 17 x 11 inches. I slapped the X (actually a chi) on with duct tape. It's just a placeholder until I paint something.

I did a photo shoot last weekend. I really like how this kit came out.

Our group is inspired by the Byzantine Empire so this is my attempt at a (somewhat) inexpensive kit. The tunic and pants cost <= $20 each. I made the helmet from a cheap Halloween costume item. The brigandine was a bit costlier, but not really needed for the game. It's something I already owned and thought it would look good.

Gaming

It has been a month since my last Tweedle adventure. I have the basic idea for the next one, but haven't got around to playing it. This is largely because I want to illustrate it with miniatures like last time, but the figures need to be painted. This is one of the drawbacks to minis in roleplaying games; you can quickly run out of figures unless you already have a large inventory of monsters.

Family Game Night

We did manage a family game night last weekend. We played Castle Panic, and just managed to stop the invading horde. We were left with just two towers and one wall.

We left the TV on downstairs, which distracted our cat Onyx and let us play the game in peace. Our cat Thomasina was happy.

A Haunted Halloween Adventure

Last Saturday, I hosted an online roleplaying adventure for my wife and two brothers. Naturally, it had a Halloween theme. Here are some of the high points.

Background
The setting was New York in 1877 and the characters were monster hunters. I borrowed the premise from the old RPG Chill.

As neophyte members of SAVE, the investigator Sheerluck Holmes, the explorer Fearing Pangborn, and Dr. Sleep (my wife's character) had to investigate several disappearances in and around the town of Kilmore. The disappearances seemed to center around Caede Manor, a house with a bloody past and a reputation for being haunted.

The Manor House

The Adventure

Arriving in Kilmore, the investigators first visit the mayor, Emil Plumpf. His 12 year-old daughter is the latest to go missing. Plumpf informs them that his daughter was last seen heading to the manor at midnight accompanied by a tall, cloaked figure. There were also other disappearances, primarily from local farms. The mayor does assign a deputy, George, to assist them.

The investigators head to the manor. Once they pass through the gates to the property, the gates shut behind them, the sky grows dark, and they hear a howling. The front door is open, but they decide to circle around the house and enter through a back door.

Guests for Dinner

The first room they enter is the kitchen. A short, rotund man wielding bloody butcher knives beckons them to enter. When they do, they see a carved up human body. 

Cue sanity check. The Doctor is momentarily struck motionless by the horror.

As they try to take in the grisly scene, the chef attacks. Poor George is wounded before the Doctor slices open the crazed chef's throat. Sheerluck is a tab miffed that they could not capture and interrogate their assailant. However, he fashions a stake from the leg of a chair. 

Getting Medieval

They continue to investigate the house. In the drawing room, they find an extensive collection of medieval weapons, once owned by Hector Caede, the original resident of the manor. According to local legend, he acquired a longsword owned by Vlad Tepes. He then went crazy and slaughtered his family before escaping into the night. Fearing finds the fabled sword hanging over the mantlepiece.

As they examine the weapon, a suit of armor animates and attacks. Fearing uses the sword, but he begins to hear voices to kill the party. He drops the sword and pulls out his revolver.

Fearing passes his sanity check and can act as he pleases.

By this time, the Doctor has broken her scalpel and the haunted knight hacked off George's head. Fearing then unloads his ammo into the knight's face. Three 6s - Critical hit! The helmet flies off and the armor crashes to the ground.

In the aftermath, the investigators bind their wounds and arm themselves with some of the weapons in the room. Dr. Sleep chooses a spear, Fearing a dagger, and Sheerluck picks up Vlad's sword.

"Don't," warns Fearing. "I think it is cursed." Sheerluck hears voices that urge him to hold onto the sword. He listens to the voices instead of Fearing.

A Bad Night's Sleep

Next, they head to the second floor. They find some bedrooms with bloodstains. They come to the master bedroom and see a cloaked figure leaning over the bed. He turns, displayed two bloody fangs. They prepare to attack, but the figure turns into a mist and escapes out a window. They check the bed and find a farm girl lying on it. She is dead, drained of blood.

Suddenly a swarm of bats attacks the investigators. Fearing flees the room, but Sheerluck takes a moment to lop of the farm girl's head. He and the Doctor then exit as well, escaping from the swarm.

Attic Antics

They find a staircase to the attic. Hearing muffled sobs, they rush up to investigate. Entering a storeroom, they are suddenly attacked by a man with rotting skin. Fearing blasts its head off, but he feels a breeze as a blade passes close by his head. He turns to see Sheerluck preparing to attack him again. 

Failed sanity check. I was actually going to give Sheerluck more time before he turned, but my brother decided to roleplay.

Fearing grapples the investigator and rips the sword from his hands.

Sheerluck is confused and mutters something about not knowing what he was doing. 

Another sanity check. This time he passes.

As he tries to recover his wits, another undead creature grabs him from behind. Fearing attacks with his dagger, wounding the creature. The Doctor finishes it off with her spear.

A Date with Death

Searching the room, they find a secret panel. It leads into a small room with a coffin. Fearing opens the coffin. A clawed hand lashes out and grabs him by the throat.

A vampire rises from the coffin.

"Who dares disturb my rest?!" he challenges as he continues to squeeze Fearing's throat. Fearing slashes at him with his dagger. Sheerluck attacks with his stake while Dr. Sleep uses her spear. Both manage to inflict severe wounds. But the vampire continues to choke Fearing until he breathes his last. Then the vampire chucks the corpse to the floor and leaps at the remaining investigators. The Doctor impales it and then Sheerluck stabs it in the heart. The vampire dissolves into ashes.

Rescue

Searching some more, the remaining investigators find the mayor's daughter and return her home. The mysterious disappearances cease, and life in Kilmore returns to normal.

But there has been a cost.

RIP Fearing Pangborn

(And don't forget George!)

Game Notes

I created the adventure myself, but I got some help. The picture and floor plan for the manor from This Old Haunted House, on Drivethrerpg.

For the rules, we used Tiny Cthulhu, part of the Tiny D6 series of RPGs.

Tales from the Woods

A Tweedle and Dunh Adventure

One day, Groombal orders our heroes, Tweedle and Dunh, to go into the woods to find briar heart. They'll need to cut down a tree so Dunh brings an axe.

A little ways into the woods, 3 crazed wolves attack.

Before they know it, the wolves are upon them. Tweedle does not have time to cast a spell, so he sets to it with his staff. He manages to KO the attacking him. He turns to help Dunh, who is beset by two. Dunh chops one with his axe and Tweedle takes out the next.

Later, they discover a pool of befouled water. Its contents are seeping through the forest, spreading corruption.

"Something's just not right about these woods." declares Tweedle. Dunh agrees.

Our heroes are attacked by 2 scorpions.

Tweedle casts mirror image to confuse them. One attacks the mirror images, dispelling two before Tweedle offs it. 

Dunh is having problems with the other. It inflicts multiple wounds; fortunately it does not poison Dunh. Finally, Tweedle and Dunh gang up on the last and kill it.

They proceed deeper in the woods. A shambling mound attacks.

Tweedle tries to scare it away with a fire illusion, but the spell fails. Dunh charges, and strikes his axe deep into its side. The axe gets stuck.

The thing grapples Dunh, dragging him into its slimy mass. But Dunh manages to free his arm and grab his sword. He strikes, severing pieces of vegetation from the creature. The thing recoils in pain, allowing Dunh to get free. 

Enraged, Dunh charges, slicing several bits from the creature. Finally, Tweedle smashes it with his staff, and the thing crumples lifeless.

By this time, Dunh is seriously wounded. But they are deep in the forest with no safe place to rest. They press on.

Finally, they come to a hut. They knock and a lovely druidess answers. She invites them into her stone-floored home.

Seeing Dunh's wounds, she offers a healing potion. Dunh reaches for it.

"Wait!" warns Tweedle. "Something is just not right here."

Dunh hesitates. The druidess' appearance changes. She transforms into a hideous hag! With a cry of anger, she fires a magic missile at Tweedle. It just grazes him!

The hag attacks Tweedle, but only manages to dispel his last mirror image. Tweedle casts a protection spell. It fails to stop the hag and she rends him with her claws.

Dunh turns to his friend's defense, chopping into the hag with his axe.

"I think I'm getting the hang of this thing!"

The hag continues to press Tweedle, rending him again. But Tweedle lashes out, smashing in the hag's skull.

🎲🎲🎲

Our heroes spend the night in the hut. They bind their wounds and get some rest. They even find some briar heart.

"I didn't even need this thing," Dunh complains about his axe.

Their return trip home is uneventful. They tell Groombal about their adventures. Surprisingly, he is gravely concerned.

"I don't think the hag was the source of the corruption. There is more evil in that forest than you have seen so far."

GAME NOTES

Lately, I've been watching a YouTube channel called Dungeon Craft. The host talks about a lot of RPG topics, including crafting terrain for use with miniatures. This inspired me to do a little crafting.

I sifted through my 10mm fantasy miniatures for some suitable figures. The best I could find for Dunh was an axe-wielding barbarian. I decided to create an adventure to explain why he switched from sword and shield to axe. Hence the trip to the woods.

I then needed some forest terrain. I had some green felt for the floor. I whipped up some trees using cork, corrugated cardboard, and pot scrubbers. I think they do the job.

I made the stone floor earlier in the week. It is inspired by Dungeon Craft, but much simpler and less realistic. I used corrugated cardboard because I have a lot of it lying around, thanks to ordering pet supplies from Chewy for my 4 cats.

Finally, I started painting some fantasy figures I had lying around.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed some actual pictures of my RPG adventures.

Tweedle's Arachnaphobia

A Tweedle & Dunh Adventure

They Meet Groombal

Once they ensure that the goblins do not return, Tweedle and Dunh resume their journey to town. After an uneventful trip, they arrive. They quickly get lost in the winding streets of the thriving metropolis. At least it seemed thriving to two country bumpkins.

"Now where could Groombal be?" pondered Dunh.

"Groombal?" a passerby replies. "He lives just around the corner, third door down."

I rolled a D6 to see what happened in town. I was just free-forming it, with a 1 being something bad and 6 being good fortune. I rolled a 6.

Soon they are in Groombal's curiosity shop.

"Go away! I don't need help." the elderly, bearded sage complained.

"But my master told me to bring you this book," replied Tweedle as he pulls the golden tome from his backpack.

Groombal stops shooing them from his shop.

"What is this?" he asks, as he takes the book.

Tweedle explains how they found the book, how Doc considered it dangerous, and how he tasked them to bring the book here.

Once Tweedle finished his tale, Groombal replies "Very well. You can stay here with me. But you need to work. I'm sure I can find something appropriate for you.

Into the Sewers

A week later, Tweedle and Dunh find themselves climbing down into the town's sewers.

"This is not what I had in mind when that old bat said we'd have to work!" complained Dunh as the noxious odor of the sewer caused him to wrinkle his nose 

"I know, Dunh. But he needs those spider glands for his research. And, well, that's what research assistants do."

They descend a rusting iron ladder into a room (1). It is swarming with cockroaches the size of a shield. The roaches attack. Both Tweedle and Dunh take wounds, but they fail to hit the roaches.

"Let's get out of here!" yells Tweedle. "Run into the next room!" Dunh nods and they charge through the bugs and into another room (2). Dunh nearly stumbles into a bear trap. They notice other traps in the room, some with a variety of crushed creepy crawlies in their teeth.

The Sewers

Leaving the trap room, they arrive at an intersection (3) and get ambushed by two giant spiders. 

One sinks its fangs into Tweedle, but he pulls away before it injects its poison. Dunh battles the other, slashing upward and slicing open its abdomen. The creature sinks to the ground. By this time, the other spider has Tweedle in his grip, slashing him with dripping fangs. Dunh attacks, practically slashing it into two.

Both are wounded, so they retreat to the previous room to rest and bind their wounds. Refreshed, they continue. They jump across a crevice (4). Dunh stumbles and falls, taking damage. They fight a swarm of smaller spiders (5), pass through an empty room (6) to a large room filled with the bones of past victims. Tweedle shivers in fear.

Note - he fails a Fear test so is -1 for the rest of the adventure.

Backtracking, they fight through some wandering spiders and come to a large room (8), with a nest of eggs. A giant spider attacks them, but they quickly kill it and then destroy the eggs.

Next, they pass through an empty room (9) and a webbed corridor (10). As they struggle through the webs, small spiders bite them, further sapping their strength.

In the next room (11), they come face to face with the queen spider. While Dunh charges, Tweedle casts his mirror image illusion; three more Tweedles appear. The spider flings a web at Dunh. He dodges and set upon the queen. It sinks its fangs into him. He begins to feel woozy from the poison.

At this point, Tweedle considers retreat. He can't see how they can win.

Seriously, at this point, I considers a withdrawal. But I stuck it out.

Then he has an idea. Tweedle rushes up and begins prodding the creature's eyes. It turns on him.

"Tweedle, don't!" cries a shaken Dunh. "It'll get you!"

"I know what I'm doing! Just hit it!"

Tweedle keeps dodging and prodding, provoking the spider. It strikes, but merely dispels an illusory Tweedle. Dunh attacks from behind, but his attack bounces off the spider queen's thick carapace.

"You need to hit it from underneath." calls Tweedle.

"Can you get it to rear up?"

Tweedle smashes the beasts eyes. It rears, hissing in rage. Dunh stabs it. It lashes out, dispelling another fake Tweedle. Again, Tweedle provokes it into rearing. Again, Dunh stabs. This time his blade sinks deep into the spider's soft underbelly. Green ichor flows from it. It convulses and dies.

The retrieve the spider queen's venom sac, and find a few coins. They return victorious to their new master.

GAME NOTES

Once again, I used my MicroQuest rules with a Micro Chapbook adventure.

I experimented today with monster cards. I jotted the monster info on index cards, shuffled them, and then picked the encounter for each room. At one point, I defeated a somewhat difficult foe, and thought to myself, "I won't see that again." That event turned me against the cards; there was less uncertainty about what lay ahead because I could not roll up the same monster again. I think I'll stick with tables for future adventures.