Oct 25, 2013

RPG Person Profile

I'm currently running (at home):
An old-school DnD format of my own invention.

Tabletop RPGs I'm currently playing (at home) include:
ODnD dungeons in a FLAILSNAILS-esue fashion with a group of friends.

I'm currently running (online):
The "Hommund 99" campaign in Old School DnD
via Skype and roll20.net

Tabletop RPGs I'm currently playing (online) include:
Just the game I'm running.

I would especially like to play/run:
Old School DnD
Traveller
Cyberpunk 2020

...but would also try:
Call of Cthulu
Anything that isn't very plainly idiotic or published by WotC

I live in:
Florida, USA

2 or 3 well-known RPG products other people made that I like:
Vornheim
Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantast Rollplaying
The D&D Rules Cyclopedia

2 or 3 novels I like:
Frank Herbert's Dune (the whole series, really. Especially Dune Messiah)
Zak Smith's We Did Porn
Craig Thompson's Blankets

2 or 3 movies I like:
Oldboy
God Bless America
Scott Pilgrim Vs The World 

Best place to find me on-line:
www.randemise.blogspot.com

I will read almost anything on tabletop RPGs if it's:

I really do not want to hear about:
Products published by WotC,
Problems that should not be problems because people should have common sense.

I think dead orc babies are ( circle one: funny / problematic / ....well, ok, it's complicated because....)
Something that appears in my games for the purpose of realism. Some players care and some don't, but it's worth it for those players who get another level to think about from it, and it doesn't bother the rest.

Game I'm in are like (link to something)
This
Then this:
Which leads to this:
Or sometimes this:
There's also some of this:
Though I'm not sure what that is...

Oct 22, 2013

Game Summary - Session 6

Having received a letter from a friend in the Adventurers' Guild, the players decided to take up a mission in Termin Bay. They journeyed back down the river and asked around. In the tavern, they met a barman who refused to believe the stories, and a suspiciously helpful fellow named Blake.
Blake volunteered to aid the search, and after a surreptitious Detect Danger spell, they agreed to allow his company.
Journeying into the forest at night, they were unable to find the rumored lair of the hag (or ghost, or who-knows-what), and set up camp, keeping watch on the forest and on their new companion.
In the morning, Blake awakens early to "get breakfast". Roderick follows him only to find that the traveler has truly gone out merely for eggs and firewood.
After breakfast, the group returns to town to meet up with newly arrived companions, and again embarks on the search. After some time, they arrive upon a dilapidated hovel. Investigation yields naught but maggots and stagnant water, but the shed behind the shack is more interesting. There, a large hole underneath sinks into the ground. As adventurers, they obviously descend.
Inside, the path is blocked. Clause swiftly kicks down the barricade, triggering a rain of jagged rocks rigged to fall. Unconscious, Clause is left with Blake by the entrance of the dungeon.
The group presses on through dug-out tunnels, soon finding another pit. Again, they descend.
The dirt gives way to stone, and torches burn in hewn halls. They find stalactites dripping a viscous fluid green and vile. A room nearly filled with it causes them to turn back, and they come upon a great atrium filled with tents, lit by torches. The laughter of children and patter of small feet echoes, and soon the source approaches:
Dozens of small children.
The kids flee at the sight of the adventurers, shouting.
The party examines the tents and adjacent camping rooms for a few minutes, before the children return with a band of teenagers.
"What are you doing here?"
There is much shouting and argument. The adventurers try to ask questions as the teens insist that the group leaves. There are threats: the children claim to be protected by some strange power, but will not name it.
In the end, the adventurers decide to leave. They recover Clause and inform Blake. Back in Termin Bay, the party informs the local guards of the children and their lair. Staying the night in the inn, the group sets out for Riverstadt in the morning. Blake agrees to join the team until the end of the season, when he must return to Lockewood.

In Riverstadt, the party pays a visit to the local Adventurers' Guild. Their next job: An expedition into the mountains of the Northwest to aid in the establishment of a new base.

The day is the 51st of Winter, Year 99 after the War

Oct 12, 2013

Game Summary - Session 5

31st of Winter, Year 99 after the war;

As the players sailed downstream out of Riverstadt, harsh winds and heavy snowfall beset the party. The fields are covered in snow and when the sun sets before they reach the bay, the adventurers lift the boat from the river and camp in the forest.
The blizzard continues the next day when they reach Termin Bay. The town seems empty, with most building snowed in. They return their kidnapped hirer to her sister's home, digging out the door to let her in, and decide to waste no time in paddling upstream in the blizzard to return to Riverstadt.
The blizzard lasts another day, and the party is forced again to flip the boat on the shore, and hikes for hours in the snow to find the shelter of the forest where they can make a fire. Illness affects a couple members of the group. In the morning they hike back to the boat. Snow is still falling, but the blizzard has stopped. The dig out the boat and continue, and the journey up river takes three days in all.
Upon their return, they inquire among the Revelation about a place to fence their stolen jewelery. The Revelation does not deal in foreign goods, but a man says he can arrange a meeting with a former contact the next day.
The party goes to the Red Raven tavern and meets a man to whom they are able to sell the stolen goods. The man tells them that, if they wish for connections who can give them more jobs, he may have a mission. They should decide and return the next day.
Of course they do, and are told that there will be a ball among the elite from Riverstadt and Marsheville in a few days. The Diebenstadt has a lock-breaking device they would like to have field tested, and some documents are located in the building that they would be willing to buy. They will have to acquire suitable outfits, and can gain entry with forged invitations.
The party gears up, and has a tailor make suits to suit them, at their price range, and in a few days they go to the party.
Entering, they attempt to mingle with the upper strata. Eko bothers some noblemen and eventually descends on a young lady who criticizes his cheap suit. The party banters for a moment with the frustrated heiress before she leaves in a huff. A young man approaches, angered that the adventurers have been antagonizing his lady friend. They persist in insulting the man, and before long Eko throws the first punch.
Roderick and Jean slink away (Clause is hidden on the street outside with the hounds) as Eko thrashes the young nobleman. Exiting the ballroom, Roderick and Jean alert the guards to the fight, who go rushing in to end it. The hall is undefended as the two sneak down the hall toward the document room.
Meanwhile Eko puts up a good fight, now taking on the nobleman's two friends, and knocking one out in swift order while blocking and dodging blows. One guard tackles the other nobleman, and the second guard fails to restrain Eko.
Roderick and Jean use the device to break the lock into an office where they gather up documents from a desk and a large chest, which also contains a sum of coins and a signet ring.
Eko tries to stomp another guard on the ground, but the guard manages to rise and draw a dagger. Eko takes his first hit of the night when the blade cuts through his side. Still conscious, he feigns a faint and falls. More guards are called to drag the men out and cover abandoned posts just as Roderick and Jean reenter the ballroom.
Four guards drag out the combatants, bound or unconscious, to the street outside. The party inside rumbles with shocked murmurings and fainting maidens.
Roderick and Jean hurry off down the street. The guards try to awaken the pummeled young men. When he suspects they will imprison Eko, Clause releases the dogs on the guards. One guard falls straightaway. Clause reaches the combat as the guards begin to fight off their canine assailants.
When one guard slays a dog, Eko can feign unconsciousness no longer, and joins the fight. Eko falls. Roderick and Jean, watching from a distance, try to sneak up on the fight. All the guards are down save one, who backs up to the wall. Seemingly of higher rank, he is a capable combatant, but has lost his weapon in the fray.
Jean is forced to come to Eko's aid. Roderick attempts a sneak attack, but is seen, and the guard takes him out. Finally, with all other fighters lying on the ground around them, Clause manages the fatal blow, splitting the last guard's skull.
Jean and Clause flee with their fallen comrades over their shoulders, back to The Revelation.
The next morning Morgan, leader of the Revelation, asks them to leave, to not endanger the gang by fleeing here after their crimes. Clause expresses his displeasure with the operation, and Jean says goodbye.
They reach the Red Raven, but their contact does not arrive. They decide to stay at the inn across the way while the others recover, and keep an eye on the Red Raven.
Their contact arrives on the third day. He says some among the Diebenstadt disapprove of their more obsequious methods, while others could make use of their talents. The decision has been to allow them membership to the coalition of thieves, but some will not do business with them. If they will adopt a more covert strategy, more doors may open.
They are paid for their mission, and given the name of their contact: Derek the Raven ("it's a long joke"). Codes are passed for contact purposes, and Derek is interested in the signet ring. He says he will return in a couple days with an offer.

The day is the 43rd of Winter, Year 99 after the War.

Oct 11, 2013

Game Summary - Session 4

The players, seeking a job, consulted some thieves until they were referred to a tavern keeper on the other side of Riverstadt.
The barkeep gave them the address of a woman who was willing to pay adventurers to kidnap her from her unhappy marriage.
The players gladly accepted the task, and spent the day observing the mansion.
At night they posted Leia as watch and climbed the tall fence. They took a guard by surprise and killed him, then reached the balcony and entered through a window.
They found something of which they had not been informed: an infant child. They spent some time trying to wrestle information from the nurse (as well as physical wrestling) who came to comfort the crying baby. Eventually they simply beat the nurse unconscious and left the charismatic Eko with the baby.
Crossing the hall, they found the master bedroom, and woke the master of the house and his wife. The sir was quickly subdued, as well as slayed a guard who came to the aid of the residents. The woman turned out to be the one who hired them. They took their payment and a jewelery box and left. A house servant begged them to leave the child, but was swiftly punched out. The party descended to the lawn, past the other servants watching in horror.
That same night, they rode a ship on the south river toward Termin Bay.

The day is now the 31st of Winter.