Tabletop RPG Podcast and Roleplaying Resources

Month: March 2017 (Page 1 of 2)

Top Stuff I Want To Run Someday (2017 Edition)

Been thinking about the ‘stuff I’m itching to run someday’ so thought I’d jot it down. Interesting how things evolve: see my post in 2016 and my post in 2014 of things I was itching to run in prior years.

Star Wars Campaigns

  • Rebel Military (WEG d6 or Rarescape RPG) — You are Alliance military during the era of Rebellion.
  • Rebel Privateers (WEG d6 or Rarescape RPG) — You play privateers (pirates) working for the Rebellion to harass and disrupt the Empire.

a9fae6c1b8ea2a0ca4902edf6cd14820Hard Sci-Fi Campaigns

  • Blood & Steel (Imperium RPG, Traveller, or Rarescape) — After investigating a space anomaly, a group of fighter pilots find themselves on a starhopping quest to save humanity. (Think Battlestar Galactica)
  • Scientorium(Imperium RPG, Traveller, or Rarescape) — Hidden away by sheer distance and forever shrouded from the minds of the curious lies a mammoth artifact from the previous galactic age, the library of Scientorium. Its strange experience chambers offer passage to a million histories on a million worlds, secrets and technologies undreamed of. Now abandoned by all but its automated security systems and enigmatic caretakers, its workings are oddly twisted and jealous, meting out reward and punishment in equal measure. This is a classic science fiction saga, an epic journey across space and time in the vein of Niven or Heinlein!
  • Eris Beta-V(Imperium RPG, Traveller, or Rarescape) — A team of explorers investigates a magnificent ringed gas giant with its numerous moons. Ancient artifacts of enormous power can be found among the rings and asteroids. Every moon is a unique world to be explored. When the system’s valuable commerce is threatened by unscrupulous agencies, the team must root them out and put themselves at great risk on the icy fringes of interstellar space.
  • Eschaton: The Dark Star(Imperium RPG, Traveller, or Rarescape) — Interstellar explorers investigate a mind-boggling megastructure hidden in deep space. (Think Ringworld)

Fantasy Campaigns

  • World of Redmark: Caress of Steel (D&D 5e) New sandbox D&D campaign based on the 80’s Rush albums ‘Caress of Steel’ and ‘Fly By Night’.
  • Middle-earth: Darkening of Mirkwood (Adventures in Middle-earth/5e)  — The Necromancer may have been cast out of Dol Guldur, but a lingering darkness remains over Mirkwood, a shadow that will grow ever longer as the years draw on – unless a band of brave adventurers step forward and hold back the gloom.
  • Middle-earth: 4th Age Quest (Adventures in Middle-earth/5e) – Adventure in Middle-Earth a millennium before the Lord of the Rings. “Know this, people of Gondor: were it not for the selfless souls in Arnor who with flashing blades and spilled life-blood fought against the Witch-King and his foul blight in Angmar, our free lands would not have known peace, and our bright cities would long ago have crumbled into forgotten ruins.”

Mini-Campaigns (~ 6 sessions)

  • Firefly: Civil War (Firefly Cortex Plus or Rarescape RPG) — Epic mini-campaign conclusion to a Firefly campaign Todd, Mason and Stan were running a few years back.
  • Reich America: The Shadow Covenant (Rarescape RPG) — Resistance fighters uncover a terrifying secret about the Final Reich.
  • Solomon Kane (1600’s Fantasy/Horror/Monster-Hunters) — (Rarescape RPG) — Cut a righteous path in a world of evil! You have seen the path to redemption, a road paved in the blood and bones of the evil you must defeat to save the world from its unholy taint. Face that which preys on men’s dreams, their fears, and their very souls. Walk The Path of Kane. Your enemies span the globe, reaching out from every shadowy corner of all four continents. Men, magic, and monsters of the darkest hearts and basest desires threaten the very world you tread. Humanity is lost without the will and steel of good folk like you.

Redmark Session 06: Always Look Under The Bed

February 1, Third Age 1331

Part I: Rumors

Marcus returns from his day with the brothers at the Temple of the Lots just as the sun rose on this day.  He reported back that they had very little interest in discussing the relationship between their Lady Goddess and Fortuna, although the correlation is clear to Marcus.

He did learn that there are many pious people Stonehelm, people searching for a little “luck of the gods” in their life.  Marcus also learned that there is a guard house by the shore in Stonehelm and it is said that there “things move in the shadows”.

Part II: Hashar and a Horn Must Go

As our band of adventures extinguishes the night’s fire, Lundie makes the case that Hashar must go.  Lundie tells the story of Hashar’s joy in the desiccation of the wizard’s body from the day before.  Ivamel agrees that Hashar must be released from his promise from Marcus.  Learning of Hashar’s actions Marcus agrees that once we know that we will not be attacked in the castle from other travelers, he will release Hashar from his bond.

As the discussion over Hashar goes on, Quintos feels the strings of the dark evil of the world pulling at him.  It is clear to him that the Horn of Bugbearhalla is the source.  As the party, walks to the castle they discuss how they should dispose of the instrument of evil.  Quintos decides to hold the horn for a few more days until it can be hidden or destroyed.

As the party arrives at the castle to resume their investigation, Hashar reports with glee that no one else has entered the castle that night.  Sadly a young bugbear cub that was charged with late watch was found asleep at his post and Hashar imposed a harsh penalty.  As Marcus took down the young bugbear from his crucifix, Marcus agreed evermore that Hashar’s time with party must come to an end.

Part III: Below The Castle


Our band of adventures form into classic dungeon diving formation and wade confidently down the stairs in to the depths.  At the first hint of ghoulish sounds Marcus blesses Lundie.  It was just the right thing as at the bottom of the stairs, the party finds three bugbears undead and one elf undead.  Marcus yells to hold to the line; Ivamel holds the line ready for action; Ghost Dancer tries to make the creatures glow but to no effect’ Lundie charges then swings and misses, Marcus and Quintos find their marks; then the undead elf and Ivamel exchange blows, Ivamel is paralyzed by the foul creatures undead pallor.  From there the group rallies around Ivamel and quickly dispatches the four undead.  They find loot in the room and share it amongst themselves.

The party winds their way through the rooms below and find themselves in what appears to be a grand bedroom.  As the party searches the room, Ivamel and Ghost Dancer find a secret door at the back of the room, at the same time a ghoul under the bed reaches for Marcus who is able to leap back in time.  As the ghoul appears from under the bed, only Marcus fights back the fear of this creature of undead evil.  Through his fear, Lundie is able to summon the shining light of Moradin; and as the symbol of Moradin shines brightly on his shield the ghoul runs for the secret door and right next to Ghost Dancer and Ivamel.  Encouraged by the shining light of Moradin the rest of the party is able to break their fear.  Ghost Dancer is able to make the creature glow to aid his friends in fighting the ghoul.  Lundie charges, his warhammer glowing with the vengeance of Moradin and strikes the creature a mighty blow as radiant light fills the room as Lundie connects.  Ivamel seeing that the creature is affected and that Lundie could swing again yells out to Lundie to quickly strike again and he does, light again filling the room as Lundie hits again.  Seeing yet another opening, Ivamel quickly thrust his rapier into the side of the ghoul and it disintegrates with a pop.

With the ghoul dispatched, everyone entered the room behind through the secret door and seeing a statue of a giant with a chalice at its feet.  Its eyes started to glow and it came to life; only Ghost Dancer was fooled by this illusion.  With quick thinking by both Marcus and Quintos, they were able to free Ghost Dancer from the mental prison of this illusion.  Marcus as a good friend would do was able to lead Ghost Dancer out of the room and Quintos grabbing the chalice and filling it with water, found the water to be holy and convinced Ghost Dancer to drink from the chalice.  The party destroyed the statue, kept the chalice, and continued down the stairs they found in this room.

Descending down 20 more feet the group finds a set of hallways, one leading to a natural cavern area.  The group spots what they assume is a magical staff in a small cave that only has an opening that is 2 ½ feet high.  Ivamel tries to fish out the staff with a grapple and rope.  He almost succeeds when the desire to obtain the staff overcomes Quintos.  Quintos crawls into the cave and as soon as he grabs the staff a monster drops from the ceiling dissolving his armor and trying to attack his handsome face.  Marcus pulled Quintos out of the cave, Ivamel rushes over and while using his newly acquired shield to cover Qunitos’ face, slicing the monster in two pieces.  Quintos not knowing the monster is dead releases dark magic with black tentacles reaching out and hitting his allies.  The monster dead, the party licking their wounds, Quintos examining his newly acquired ornate staff; they head back to camp for another night’s rest.

Part IV: Loot

  • Ghost Dancer
    • 23 GP
    • 19 SP
    • Shield
  • Ivamel
    • 21 GP
    • 16 SP
    • +1 Shield – needing a name
  • Lundie
    • 21 GP
    • 16 SP
    • Suit of Plate Armor
  • Marcus
    • 21 GP
    • 16 SP
    • Chalice of Holy Water – 1x/day
  • Quintos
    • 21 GP
    • 16 SP
    • Potion of Clairvoyance (Audio Only)
    • Blue Dragon Staff – 11 charges

50 Fathoms: Session 33- The Shiani and Hunting Blackbeard

The Shiani and Hunting Blackbeard

 

Characters:

  • Kaliferous: Kraken mage
  • Rodrigo: Human priest and water Mage from Earth
  • Mordecai: Human Air Mage Puritan from Earth
  • Tomas De Orinjo Human Fire Mage from Earth
  • Daxson: Doreen treasure diver native

 

Date: 3/18/17

XP: 2

Recap:

Still grieving the loss of their friend, the Crew decided to bring Crow’s body to Maroa and allow the Atani to perform an appropriate funeral. Not only were their spirits weakened, everyone needed some downtime.

They arrived at Maroa and were let into the beautiful tree city without any delay. Their effort in saving the Elder Tree was not forgotten. However the the Atani people were dismayed to find their Shiani and hero deceased. Elderwind song was stricken but quickly prepared to perform Crows last task: The Melding with the Heartwood.

Windsong brought the Crew, Crows body, and the leaders of the city deep within the heart of the Great Tree and inside the cavern that held the Heartwood. Inside, the Crew was amazed to see it fully healed and radiating with power. Where these was once corruption, was healthy wood now  pulsing with beautiful green light.

The Heartwood rapidly grew a pedestal and Crows body was placed on its surface. Windson then lead the ceremony and spoke for Crow, of his life and bravery. The Crew then followed- regaling his heroism, quirks and stories of their adventures with him.

The seedpod Crow carried with him, now pulsed with Crows Shiani energy and had, since his death, sprouted into a seedling. Elder Windsong took a beautifully carved wooden dagger and cut into Crows body to expose his heart. He then placed the seedling and pod into the wound and stepped back.

Suddenly, enormous amounts of energy pulsed from the Elder Tree and flowed into Crows body. The seedling rapidly grew and within moments was a fully grown young Carroway tree. Crows body was lost in the tangle of roots as the tree rapidly grew. The entire Grove seemed to be both saddened and energized when their new friend joined them. A new Elder Tree was now growing and would soon join the interconnected network to make a new forest one day.

After several days the Crew decided it was time to find Blackbeard and end this part of their adventure. However before they left and old friend Tomas De Orinjo had finally caught up with them and asked to be part of the Crew. He was welcomed aboard and the Crew sailed south to find Blackbeard.

Rumons said Blackbeard was west of Perck and the Crew whether by luck or divine guidance managed to find Blackbeard’s ship, The Destroyer, without any delay. Sailing straight for the giant vessel the flag of parley flying high, they hoped for the best.

What will Blackbeard do? Will he shoot him on sight? Find out next time!

 


Redmark Session 05: The Wizard Who Went Splat

January 30, Third Age 1331

Hashar the Bugbear may be a black-hearted minion of evil, but he’s good to have on your team when you need a magically locked door busted open or an enemy’s body desecrated. More on that later.

Part I: Rumors

Lundie and Ghost Dancer returned to basecamp from their errands, and Marcus sought to commune with Mars at the Temple of the Lots in preparation for the trials that lay ahead.

Ghost Dancer shared with the group some rumors he heard in Nimroth. First, living southwest of Nimroth are a pack of wolves that are supposedly the pets of an evil giant. (With any luck, Marcus can hire him, too.) Second, people say that there is a ruined castle on top of Bone Hill.

Rumor confirmed!

The source also said that the ruined castle was uninhabited.

Fake news.

And, that beneath the castle ruins, a lost treasure waits to be claimed.

The jury’s still out on that one.

Finally, Ghost Dancer shared that he had been to see Sister Sophia at her convent, and had asked her to try to get word to the elf, Arilon, that the party would like to speak with him.

Part II: Marching Order

The party prepared to enter the castle by arranging themselves in Sword Formation. Based on the shape of the sword, however—out of game—the players called it the Freudian Sword Formation.

Freudian Sword Formation!

Back in game, our Freudian formation went up the stairs, discovering a hallway filled with doors. Most of the rooms were empty, and two of the doors were magically locked. Hashar, however, gleefully busted down each door.

Inside one room, a treasure trove of books about the magic arts. Quintos seemed to love the tomes more than the ladies. Frankly, how he caressed and stroked each book made everyone a bit uncomfortable.

In another room, the adventurers found a potion mixing lab. In addition to a spell book sitting on the table, there were eight vials of mystery potions. Daring, brave volunteers from the party each took tiny sips to discern the nature of the potions. Ghost Dancer tried two, Ivamel three, Lundie one, and Quintos one.

There were two potions of superior healing, a potion of heroism, a potion of growth, a potion of animal friendship, two potions that will remain a mystery until someone takes a full dose but they seem cool. And then, of course, there was the potion of age regression. Quintos got that one. Before our very eyes, he morphed from 21 to 16, got acne, and got in trouble for having a messy room. Adolescents are so hard to work with.

Part III: Splat

The last room on the floor was the bedroom of a very vain Magician named Telvar.

This guy. I mean, who hangs a giant painting of himself over his bed?

Of course, behind the painting in a secret compartment was a bag of gems that Quintos discovered.

At ladder led to a trapdoor in the ceiling, but the trapdoor was bolted shot. Hashar tried to bust through but was foiled. Lundie and Quintos both climbed to the door and tried to force it open. All eyes of the party were on them—and away from the window behind them where the vain magician hovered into view and surprised the heroes with a fireball that scorched Hashar, Ghost Dancer, and Lundie for 28 points of damage. The agile reactions of Ghost Dancer and Hashar spared them from half that damage. Lundie’s stout constitution saved him from sure death as he bore the full brunt of the blast.

The party rebounded quickly, pummeling Telvar with spells and weapons. With Ivamel’s hit, the magician tried to hover away from the window and ready another fireball. But in his haste to retreat, he opened himself up to an opportunity attack by Ivamel.

Ivamel hit him! The blow, however, didn’t kill Telvar. The party was sad.

Scene wherein concentration (or lack thereof) became very important!

Scene wherein concentration (or lack thereof) became very important!

The blow, on the other hand, did break Telvar’s concentration, which suddenly terminated his flying spell. And that was when Telvar the vain Magician dropped from sight and plummeted to his death several stories below. The party was happy!

The group plundered his magical robe, a powerful item from the Second Age, for Marcus. The group also prevented Hashar from desecrating the magician’s body. High on victory, the adventurers decided to bust through the barred door on the first floor.

Quintos used his cantrip to bludgeon the door open. Behind it was a room with stairs going down into the dank dark. Halfway down the stairs, Ghost Dancer stopped the group and said, “I can hear what sounds like the undead moaning and shambling down there. Either that, or the stirge-jerky I ate at breakfast isn’t reacting well with my tummy.”

What will happen next? What terrors await the party in the catacombs beneath Bone Hill? Is the rumor true—is there really a great treasure below the ruined castle? Or is the only reward waiting for our heroes…certain death?

Redmark Session 04: Reverse Ambush

January 29, Third Age 1331 — Midday

(Quick recap of the Feb. 23 game)

Stealing up on the castle at Bone Hill, the heroes found themselves ambushed, much in the way they had ambushed the Bugbear patrols the day before. Due to some great alertness, the heroes were not caught flatfooted, and prevailed over their enemies, largely due to the incomparable heartiness of the halfling barbarian Ragnor taking a beating from the bugbear chieftain. Hashar fell in battle but later recovered, but he still smarts from the taunting his former bugbear allies had in calling him ‘Traitor!’ during the battle.

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