A Little Animal Crossing Comedy

My wife and I have been playing the new Animal Crossing video game lately.

We had a little comedy moment recently.

I was playing and wanted to pick something up. I asked my wife "how do I do this?"

She replies "Y"

I respond "Because I want to move it"

"No. The Y button."

"Oh . . ."

Shades of Abbot and Costello.

So tonight my wife asked me how to do something. I said "Y."

She begins to explain why she wanted to do it. I started laughing. She looked at my funny until I elaborated "the Y button."

We did it again.

About the Six Stones of Sorcery

When I was writing the introduction to this new campaign, I started thinking, "well, I am really ripping off the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Infinity Stones." Honestly, it was completely unintentional. Let me lay out my inspirations.

The campaign actually started back in 2019, when I ran a single adventure that I called Chaos Unbound. At the time, I randomly rolled for the boss and came up with a chaos lord. I then intended it to start a campaign against the forces of chaos. I lacked inspiration for the next chapter, however, so the campaign floundered.

The next step came because of YouTuber Seth Skorkowsy. He posts videos about various RPG topics; I find his videos to be interesting and informative. Anyway, I watched his video on saga vs. episodic campaigns. At 17:25 he introduces the idea of a blended campaign he calls the Five Glowing Gems.

The idea is that the campaign is essentially episodic, but has an overall story arc as the characters are trying to collect a series of artifacts (the gems are just an example) scattered across the world.

As I watched I realized that I have done this before. Back in 2016, I started a campaign for my LARP. The players had to recover the nodes of mana, concentrated particles of arcane power. These nodes gave the wielder access to incredible power (sound familiar?). Due to some drama in the group, the campaign fizzled out. But it seemed like a good idea for a Four Against Darkness campaign, especially since Khamen's expertise is in "retrieval."

There were 9 nodes in my LARP campaign, but did I want to do that many adventures? I decided to scale it back a bit. Then came another inspiration. Each node would be guarded by one of the 6 bosses in the original 4AD game! That would give me 6 nodes.

That created the next problem. Six Nodes did not sound very good. I gave it some thought and came up with Six Stones. Yes, that's it - the Six Stones of Sorcery!

As I was writing the introduction, I realized that my Six Stones sounded remarkably like the Infinity Stones. Any resemblance is purely coincidental, but if it worked for Marvel . . .

About Khamen and Candorra

Khamen and Candorra began back in December 2016, appearing on my Tales of the Templars RPG blog (which I have now retired). At the time, I wanted some level 1 characters for an experiment I wanted to run (more about that tweak below).

For some reason that I cannot remember, I decided to create a rogue character. Thus Khamen was born. This was an unusual choice for me; I usually go for holy warrior types. A rogue was really out of character for me. You may notice, however, that I turned him into a reluctant hero - forced to serve the Holy Temple, he has become devoted to repaying his former crimes and doing good, most of the time.

His companion, Candorra is a female elf. Again, I am not sure why I chose that class (like Basic D&D in the 80s, elf is a class in 4AD). Perhaps it was because I hadn't tried those classes out yet and wanted to give them a go.

What I have found interesting is that as I have written their adventures, they have developed a life of their own. I find that I keep inserting witty repartee between the duo. Candorra is normally a strong, silent character while Khamen has a bit of acerbic wit. Candorra will goad Khamen at times. Nevertheless, they have developed a strong, if secret, respect for each other (and Khamen has a bit of a crush on Candorra - we still do not know how Candorra feels).

If you would like to read more of their adventures, check out my Tales of the Templars blog.

My Four Against Darkness Tweaks

With LARPing out of the question for the time being, I have developed a real itch for some fantasy gaming. I decided to reboot a campaign I had started a while back but left hanging. It involves 2 characters that I created for Four Against Darkness (4AD), an excellent solo dungeon crawl game.

Now that I am posting new adventures on this blog, I thought I would tell you a little about the campaign. This turned into a rather lengthy discourse, so I have divided it into multiple posts.

First, let me tell you about how I play 4AD. While I really enjoyed it as written, I eventually made some changes to better fit my personal preferences. Here are changes that I am employing in this campaign.

Two Against Darkness
Before 4AD, I was running some homebrew solo RPGs with 2 heroes (essentially a main character and a sidekick). I found it a little easier to control the characters and it felt a little more cinematic. I actually created Khamen and Candorra to see if 4AD would work with 2 heroes.

I have given them a little assistance here and there to compensate for the missing party members. They start each adventure with a healing potion and I will reduce the enemies to manageable numbers. Sometimes an NPC will join them. Shortening the adventures (see below) also helps.

Overall, I like the change. I feel that I can concentrate on developing the main characters more (and they have certainly taken on a life of their own - but more about that in a later post). By judicious tweaking, I have kept the challenge level appropriate. My characters meet with danger but are not completely overwhelmed. It's been a lot of fun.

Shorter Adventures
I find that I start to get bored if the adventure goes on too long. 4AD does recommend using a time limit or a smaller map if pressed for time. This just felt a little artificial to me. Therefore I took some different approaches to speed up the game and reduce the time needed to finish a dungeon.

• I restricted the map to a 4 x 3 square grid, with each grid equally a room or corridor. This means that there is a maximum of 12 encounters per adventure (although I have done some 2-part adventures). I have a rule that the boss cannot appear in the first half of the map unless the characters complete 5 other challenges. This prevents the game from ending too quickly.

An example of a 4 x 3 grid

• Because I changed the map, I also changed how to determine room shape. It's pretty quick (no shuffling through pages to find the room). I lose a little flavor; the maps tend to be more generic and less interesting than straight 4AD. But I find the gain in speed worth it.

Streamlined room layout generator

• I created an adventure sheet with the encounters listed on it. Before I start the game I fill in the potential encounters. This greatly speeds up the process of determining encounters during the game. It also allows me to create a more focused, thematic dungeon.

A blank adventure map
I fill in the possible encounters before starting

No Loot

I've written about this in a previous blog post but I will reiterate that I don't care for the RPG obsession with acquiring stuff. To me, that is not heroic. Therefore I have dispensed with looting and instead assume that my characters get needed supplies from a patron, usually the Temple (i.e. the church). This causes a couple of issues in 4AD:

• Characters don't have money to bribe monsters. I generally just ignore the reaction tables. Instead, if there is a chance for a parley, I give the party an influence roll (I generally just come up with the needed value on the fly). If they succeed they can avoid combat. In most cases, however, combat is unavoidable. For example, when the heroes met the cultists in the Library, there was no chance for negotiation. In the campaign's backstory, the cultists were deadly rivals to my characters.
• There is no chance to acquire random magic items. I alleviate this by allowing a chance of acquiring magic items after defeating the boss. The patron can also furnish items - for example, I start each character with a healing potion, courtesy of the Temple, at the start of an adventure.

Of course, I don't find these problems to be insurmountable. For me, dispensing with loot has increased my enjoyment of the game.

The Labyrinth Under the Library

A Khamen and Candorra Adventure
Using Four Against Darkness

Part 1A of the Six Stones of Sorcery Campaign

Introduction
Sent by the Temple on a quest to find the Six Stones of Sorcery, our heroes have traveled to the thriving port city of Alatar, in the kingdom of Palmeria. It is a hot desert land, watered by the great river Phiaro and famed for its palms, pyramids, and rumors of mummies. Khamen the rogue and Candorra the elf are searching for clues about the whereabouts of the Stones. And if you are in need of information, there is no better place than the renowned Library of Alatar, said to be the storehouse of all human knowledge.

At the library, our heroes convince the librarian Atoz (yes, a homage to a Star Trek episode) to help them out. He suspects that any information will be contained in the labyrinthine catacombs below the library. However, the labyrinth has been locked shut because of rumors that foul creatures had taken up residence there. Nevertheless, Atoz agrees to accompany the party.

Khamen and Candorra are level 3 each. I added Atoz as an NPC - a 1st level wizard

The Labyrinth
As the party approaches the labyrinth they find that the door has been forced open.

The Labyrinth

"This cannot be!" shouts Atoz as he rushes into the room (1) only to stumble into 3 rather angry cultists. One lashes out at Atoz but he dodges. Candorra shoots one and Khamen stabs another. Surrounded, the last cultist snarls, yells "For Erlich!", and then attacks. Our heroes easily defeat him.

"Erlich." notes Candorra. "That can't be good."

"I suppose they are looking for the same information as us." replies Khamen.

Our heroes proceed through the winding labyrinth, inspecting the shelves filled with ancient scrolls. None have the information they seek. They also encounter a ghost (2), fight off skeletons (3 and 6), dodge a boulder (4), and find a statue (5). Atoz takes some wounds so Candorra uses a bandage and healing potion on him.

They come across an underground river (7). Two crocodiles surge out of the river and attack. Atoz kills one with a lightning bolt; the other dives back into the river and swims away.

After surviving a swarm of scarab beetles and a pack of zombies (rooms 8 and 9), the party comes to a dead end (10).

"There must be more!" exclaims Atoz. "Look for a secret door."

Atoz is correct, and Candorra finds the door. They proceed into a room (11) filled with scrolls. In the center is an altar dedicated to the goddess of knowledge, Almarif. Atoz bows before the altar and feels that his mind is enlightened. I rolled the Blessed Temple, but since I knew that there would not be any more undead, I changed the benefit to one more fitting to the final confrontation.

"Come," says Atoz as he heads toward the next room, "the answer we seek is this way." Khamen and Candorra exchange puzzled glances. Khamen just shrugs and follows, with Candorra at his heels.

The Boss Encounter
(Sorry that this is so long-winded. Scroll down if you just want the bottom line).
They enter a huge cavern (12) with a ceiling that seems to stretch into infinity. On the far side is a book upon a pedestal.

"Is that it?" asks Khamen as he begins to cross the cavern. Then there is the swoosh of wings beating and a huge winged beast descends. Khamen has to leap away from the leonine figure. It is a sphinx!

"Halt." it commands. "I am the guardian of the Book of the Magi. I cannot allow anyone who is unworthy to touch it."

"And how do you determine if we are worthy?" asks Candorra.

"We shall play the riddle game. You must take turns answering a riddle that I ask. Once you answer three riddles, I shall surrender the Book to you. If you miss a riddle you must pay, in blood. Are your ready?"

Atoz steps forward. "Ask your riddles, guardian. We shall play your game."

"Very well, you first librarian."

The sphinx asks the first riddle.

"I know that!" exclaims Atoz. He then proclaims an answer. The sphinx smiles enigmatically.

"You are wrong, librarian." it declares. It leaps forward and rakes Atoz with huge claws. The librarian collapses to the ground. Candorra rushes over to succor his wounds.

"You are next, elf maid." declares the sphinx. Candorra stands to face him and he asks the next riddle. She is puzzled and fails to answer. The guardian lashes out, but she ducks. His claws graze her, drawing blood but she avoids serious damage.

"You seek to avoid payment?" the sphinx asks testily.

Candorra shows him a gash on her arm. "You did not say how much blood." she retorts.

The sphinx smiles. "Very well, then. New rule - if you can avoid my attacks, I shall forfeit your payment. Next is the human."

Khamen readies himself. He cannot answer the riddle but is able to dodge the attack and remains unscathed.

The sphinx turns to the librarian. In a painful, wheezing breath, Atoz says " I am near death's door. I cannot play anymore."

"Take this," says Candorra, handing him the last healing potion.

"I cannot"

"Take it," she asserts. "We cannot do this without you."

Atoz downs the potion. His wounds heal and he is able to stand. The sphinx asks the next riddle.

"Now I know this one." Atoz declares and answers the question.

"This time, you are correct. That is one. Elf?"

Candorra misses again. She dodges the attack but takes another wound.

Khamen readies himself for the next question. When he hears it, he begins to chuckle.

"This is no laughing matter!" Candorra scolds him.

"And you complain about my spending time in taverns!" Khamen replies. Candorra gives him a puzzled look.

"I lost a bar bet on this riddle! But now I know the answer." Khamen then gives the correct answer.

"You are the last one, elf." states the sphinx. "Answer or pay."

She misses again. This time the sphinx is ready for her dodge. He adjusts his attack and inflicts two serious wounds. Candorra falls to her knees. She knows that she must answer the next one, or die.

The sphinx, a gleam of triumph in his eye, asks the final riddle.

Hesitantly, Candorra answers. The sphinx scowls. "That is correct" it says and then flies off.

Aftermath
After winning the riddle battle with the sphinx, the party recovers the Book of the Magi. Atoz pages through it.

"Yes, yes. This information is priceless. I am sure it will have the answer to your question."

Khamen and Atoz help the wounded Candorra along as they retrace their steps through the labyrinth. Fortunately, they make it back without incident. They return to Atoz's office where he begins to pore over the Book.

"I may take some time to find the information you seek. Return in a few days and I will let you know."

"No can do, Atoz." Khamen replied. "With the Cult of Erlich on the loose, we cannot leave the Book unguarded. We will stay here with you."

"Ah yes, that is a wise precaution. Well, make yourself comfortable. It may be some time." With that, he returned to his study.

What will Atoz learn from the Book of the Magi? Find out next time!

And stay tuned for a series of posts this week about this campaign!

MicroBattle: Fire & Sword

On my Battle of Taplaea post, Oliver asked for a copy of my MicroBattle: Fire & Sword rules. I have posted them below.

I designed these rules to give me simple and quick battles using the same core rules for a large swath of history. I use them for battles from ancient times until the end of the horse & musket era (19th century). During this time major battles generally involved clashes between big blocks of troops, which I depict with stands of miniatures.

I do not claim that these rules give an  accurate depiction of battle. They are quick (under a half hour for a game) and simple (I rarely have to refer to the rules), so they meet my design specifications.

Note that these rules are a constant work-in-progress. I often fudge or change things on the fly. In particular, I often tweak the unit stats. If you try these rules, please feel free to modify things to your liking.

Set Up

• These rules are designed for a 6 x 8 gridded battlefield
• I determine terrain randomly, using terrain cards that I created (I use 4 for a 6 x 8 field)

Terrain cards in action
(Top - Woods, Clear x 2, Hill, Bottom - Clear, Hill, Clear, River)
Also have cards for rough ground and fields

• I usually use the army generation rules from One Hour Wargames. It has great scenarios, too. Well worth the purchase price.

Turn Sequence

1. Initiative - Each side rolls a D6. Winner goes first this turn
2. Payer 1 Turn
1. Roll for Activate Units
2. Take Actions (Move and/or Attack)
3. Player 2 Turn
1. Roll for Activate Units
2. Take Actions (Move and/or Attack)

Activation

• Roll two D6s. Take the higher roll.
• Can activate number of units = roll

Movement

• See unit stats for movement allowance
• Move of 1-2 or 2-3 indicates a 50% chance of being able to move the higher amount (roll 4+ on a D6)
• Movement is always orthogonal, not diagonal
• Ranged infantry may move and fire. Artillery may not
• Movement in rough
• Any unit may enter
• Heavy units must roll 4+ to exit

Attacking

• Combat may occur if a unit is within range (see unit stats)
• Range of 0 means that the attacker must be able to move into the defenders space
• Only the attacker rolls
• Each unit rolls a D6 + mods. Hit on roll of Combat Value (CV) or greater
• + or -1 if advantaged / disadvantaged (I determine this on the fly)
• -1 if SHAKEN
• Defender in melee may counterattack if attacker fails to hit

Battle Results

• For every hit taken, units roll a D6. Need to roll Defense (Def) or greater
• Unit is SHAKEN if it fails the roll
• Unit routs (remove it from the field) on a second SHAKEN result
• Unit also RETREATS on a roll of 1
• Retreat = move 1 space toward baseline
• May move diagonal
• Unit routs if it cannot retreat

Morale

• If an army drops below 50% of its initial strength, roll a D6
• Roll for each unit lost after 50%
• Roll of 4+ means that the army continues to fight. Otherwise it retreats (game ends)

Unit Stats

(Move/Range/CV/Def)

From the Shock Period (Ancient / Medieval)

• Heavy Infantry               1 / 0 /4+ /4+
• Auxilia Infantry             1-2 / 0 / 5+ / 5+
• Archers                          1 / 2 / 5+ / 5+
• Skirmishers                    1-2 / 1 / 5+ / 6+
• Warband                        1-2 / 0 / 4+* / 5+ (* 3+ when charging)
• Cavalry                           2 / 0 / 4+ / 5+
• Knights                           1-2 / 0 / 4+* / 4+ (* 3+ when charging)
• Light Cavalry                 2-3 / 0 / 5+ / 6+

From the Horse & Musket Period

• Regular Infantry            1 / 2/ 4+ / 5+
• Light Infantry                1-2 / 3 / 5+ / 6+
• Cavalry                          2 / 0 / 4+ / 5+
• Field Artillery                1 / 4 / 5+ / 6+

Notes: 

• I've been toying with ideas about making light troops a bit more resilient. Perhaps ignore a SHAKEN result if they retreat.
• I also keep toying around with rules to rally troops. In the heat of battle, however, I constantly forget to use them.

The Six Stones of Sorcery

A Khamen and Candorra Campaign

I am beginning a new Four Against Darkness campaign. My 4AD heroes, Khamen the rogue and Candorra the elf, will embark on a quest to retrieve the Six Stones of Sorcery, powerful arcane artifacts.

Below is a rather wordy introduction to the campaign. If you don't feel like reading it all, scroll to the bottom for the short version.
_____________________________________________________________________

It had been another boring week since returning from the battle with the Chaos Lord. Nothing to do but hang around in taverns. Sure, Khamen worked for the Temple (only by an odd twist of fate), but he still would not consider himself a religious man. He could not see himself spending his free time praying at the Temple. So that left drink . . .

As he pulled his mug to his lips, a female elf rushed in - Candorra, his "business" partner. Usually she tried to sneak up on him. Maybe she gave up because of his superior perception. Khamen chuckled at that. She would never admit that he was good at something. She must have important news.

"Khamen," she called between deep breaths. She must have run here. "Come quick, it's important!"
_____________________________________________________________________

A few days later, Khamen found himself on a ship bound for Alatar, the capital of the kingdom of Palmeria. Alatar lay far across the ocean, south and east of his home. It was a land of ancient mystery, renowned for its palms, pyramids, and legends of mummies that walked the earth. Apparently, it was also home of one of the Six Stones of Sorcery.

Only a day ago, Khamen had never heard of the Stones. That changed after Candorra had urgently summoned him to the Temple. There they met the Preceptor of the Holy Temple in Scotsile. He had been Khamen's employer for the past few years, and had sent him on the mission to confront the Chaos Lord.

"Things are far graver than I suspected," the Preceptor began abruptly. "The Chaos Lord was not trying to summon a foul entity into our world. He was trying to commune with a demon."

"What for?"

"For information. About the Six Stones."

Candorra whistled in awe. Khamen was confused.

"What the . . .?" Khamen checked his language. "What are the Six Stones?"

"The Six Stones are powerful arcane artifacts. They were created by the Cult of Erlich, death worshippers, many eons ago. They give the wielder control over arcane power, far beyond any mere wizardry. When the Cult tried to conquer the lands, the Temple fought back and defeated them. The Stones could not be destroyed, so the Temple hid them, scattered across the continents. No one knows where they are now."

"Except demons," Khamen surmised.

"Except demons," the Preceptor concurred. "And if someone were to find all Six Stones . . . "

Khamen nodded. Candorra whispered "Death."

"Precisely," stated the Preceptor. "We are concerned that the Cult of Erlich has returned, and is using demonic summoning to find the Stones. We MUST get them first."

"And by 'we' you mean Candorra and me?" asked Khamen.

"Precisely."

And thus, the duo began their latest quest. There are rumors that the Library at Alatar has information about the location of one of the Stones so that is their first destination.
_____________________________________________________________________

TLDR Synopsis
After defeating a Chaos Lord, Khamen and Candorra meet with the Preceptor of the Temple. He has learned that the Chaos Lord was trying to commune with a demon to learn of the location of the Six Stones of Sorcery, powerful artifacts that have been hidden for eons. The Preceptor is worried that the death-worshiping Cult of Erlich is trying to recover the Stones for their own nefarious purposes. He wants our heroes, Khamen and Candorra, to find the Stones first. Their first stop - Alatar. The famed library of this sun-drenched land of palms, pyramids, and mummies is said to have information about one of the Stones.

What do our heroes find in the Library?
Stay tuned for our next installment!