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Redmark Session 51: A Feast Fit For A … Well Us

June 23, 2019 /

Redmark Date: Third Age—May 17, 1332

A feast fit for a … well us

Outside the pylon, Marcus creates a feast for all to enjoy which grants several magical resistances for the party.

Elran notices that the pommel of the dagger that Katarina used to kill the avatar of Thadus Dool has an Alpha & Omega symbols on it and that it is also loose.  Upon looking inside the pommel, he finds a letter from Sister Sophia to Ghost Dancer. This letter talks of orc raiding parties attacking the city of Stonehelm.

Fire Willow proceeds to give the party a primer of the “Prophecy of Decimus”.  Which seems to indicate that the orcish attacks are indeed following the prophecy.

Marcus gets bored os his own feast and the party’s discussions around going to Omnidia or looking into the attacks at Stronghelm and he begins to interact with the console inside the pylon.

The rest of the party decides that as long as we hold three of the stones Thadus Dool cannot control Threa as he needs all seven.

Marcus gets the group moving to Omnidia.

When all else fails; just holler

The party arrives in Omnidia.  It appears to be a jungle with mountains to the north and south.  As if the party was in a valley.

With no leads on the direction of Lundie’s uncle.  Mundie starts to yell out the name of his uncle “Dundulk!!!  Dundulk!!! It’s Lundie … where are you???” This draws the attention of an owlbear which the party quickly dispatches.

Owlbear attack!
Quintos and Marcus have the idea a better way to find Dundulk might be to Scry on him using the crystal ball that Quintos has with him.  Quinton does this and sees Dundulk in a prison cell. Quinton then uses the crystal ball to communicate with Dundulk.

Dundalk talks of “metal men” of both red and white that attacked his party and now imprison him and torture him.

Dundalk says to the best of his knowledge the other pylon is buried deep within the temple of Hygog.

Shortly after the party is attacked by a wizard in red and several war robots.

Mech Attack!

With well placed Hunger of Hadar spell by Quintos, Marcus’s spiritual guardians, Lundie smiting with his warhammer, and Elran sending fireballs at the foes.  The party finds their first encounter with these metal men, “manageable”. That said, they stay alert and weary, but continue on to the Temple of Hygog.

(See all photos from the game)

Loot Report

  • NO LOOT THIS SESSION

Redmark Session 48: These Blessings Are Really a Curse

May 1, 2019 /

Redmark Date: Third Age—April 21, 1331

Quintos, Marcus, and Lundie notice that they have a second shadow. Ghost Dancer and Ivamel quickly deduce that the three weapons from within the mountain are now causing a an extra shadow to be cast.

Lundie casts Protection from Evil on himself which causes pain for Whelm (the cursed warhammer).

Trying to deduce more about these three cursed weapons Lundie uses a gift of Moradin, Divine Sense, and finds out that the weapons are each inhabited by a Bahl Mimar (a fallen angel).

Trying his best to free the group from these items; Lundie takes out a vial of holy water, creates a circle with it and casts Magic Circle hoping to kep the fiends inside the circle. As Lundie, Quintos, and Marcus try to leave the circle, they cannot let loose of the weapons and keep them trapped within.

Once Magic Circle fails, Ghost Dancer has the idea to ask Fire Willow if she might know anything about the Bahl Mimar. Fire Willow proceeds to give a short dissertation on the Bahl Mimar to the group. They learn that the three weapons are imbued with the spirit of three fallen sisters. Black Razer is inhabited by Mallfesta, Whelm is inhabited by Zullfesta, and Wave is inhabited by Trifesta.

Fire Willow confirms that the weapons need to be taken to the temple outside of Mystkar which will change the weapons back into Bahl Minari. Fire Willow says this should cause the weapons to turn back into Bahl Minri and allow for them to be defeated … in theory.

You’ve seen one temple, you’ve seen them all

When the group enters the temple they find runes on the floor. Ivamel remembers that these runes match those from the portal in the center of the lava filled room on the island of Vrindensia.

The group enters the runes together and are transported to a room with a fire ceiling and obsidian walls. Three women, one in each corner, are in the room; the group in the fourth corner. In the middle of the room in a pile is all of the equipment of the party.

Once the battle ensues one of the sisters cast Power Word Kill on Ghost Dancer and his body falls to the floor below, laying among many other skeletons.

Having noticed that Quintos’s copy of the Vulgate was glowing, Lundie reads from it and this seems to have an ill-effect on the three sisters.

Quintos & Ivamel are able to kill Zullfesta.

Ivamel then becomes a blinding flurry of steel and slays the second sister Malfesta.

Once Malfesta is slain, the final sister Trifesta, teleports away; taking the shards of her sisters with her.

Loot Report

  • Dwarven Thrower
  • A SWORD – A sword that BLACK RAZER turned into
  • A TRIDENT – A trident Wave turned into

2nd Half 2019 Campaign

April 20, 2019 /

I listed a few of the top campaigns I’d like to run someday to the Thursday night crew. Sounds like the tentative plan is for me to fast-track finish the main Redmark campaign (level each session till the end), and then move on to a Traveller campaign, starting with Mason, then transitioning to me.

Campaigns

I rate each of the campaigns below on four points (Sandbox, Recurring NPCs, Campaign Module available, Minis Prep) and give each a score of 1-4, with 4 being the best).

Sandbox City Campaigns

  • 2/4 Redmark City Campaign (D&D) [Sandbox: High, Recurring NPCs: High, Campaign Module: No, Minis Prep: Yes] — Levels 1-8 game set in city-state of Redmark.
  • 3/4 Crimefighters (Fate Core or Icons) [Sandbox: High, Recurring NPCs: High, Campaign Module: No, Minis Prep: No] — Mid-30’s alternate reality Super Noir setting, this time set in NY City.

Space Opera

  • 3/4 Star Wars: Brak Sector Rebels (WEG d6 1e) [Sandbox: Medium, Recurring NPCs: Medium, Campaign Module: Yes, Minis Prep: No]
    — The Brak Sector is a sector of space that serves as a staging area for Imperial Navy missions into the Outer Rim Territories. Rebel forces have made substantial gains in this former mining sector. You play Rebels undertaking missions for the Alliance in this part-Sandbox/part-military-missions campaign.

Hard Sci-Fi Campaigns

  • 4/4 Eris Beta-V (Imperium RPG, Traveller, or Rarescape) [Sandbox: High, Recurring NPCs: High, Campaign Module: Yes, Minis Prep: No]
    — Think Firefly or The Expanse. 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.
  • 3.5/4 Scientorium (Imperium RPG, Traveller, or Rarescape) [Sandbox: Medium, Recurring NPCs: High, Campaign Module: Yes, Minis Prep: No]
    — 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!

Fantasy Campaigns

  • 2.5/4 Middle-earth: Eriador Adventures (Adventures in Middle-earth/5e) [Sandbox: Low, Recurring NPCs: Medium, Campaign Module: Yes, Minis Prep: No]
    — While our Saturday group adventures East of the Misty Mountain, to the West in Eriador, other mysteries await. Delve into the ruins of overgrown Fornost, walk amidst the cairns of the Barrow-downs and venture to the lair of the Witch-king of Angmar himself, the ancient city of Carn Dûm — if you have the courage!

Deferred

Sandbox City Campaigns

  • Mage Cops™ (Rarescape) — Wizard constables tackle crimes-of-the-week in NYC. I do want to run this someday, but want to wait till Rarescape is out of Beta and is stable and robust.
  • Dresden Files (Dresden Files Accelerated or Dresden Files RPG (older Fate edition)) — Original Dresden Files universe characters in a city TBD. (Holding off till I read more of the books).

Pulp / Space Opera

  • John Carter of Mars: Phantom of Mars (Modiphius 2d20 system, simpler than the Star Trek 2d20 system) — Uncover the nefarious conspiracy of the mysterious organization known as the Eidolon as you adventure your way across Barsoom to save the people of the dying planet. Phantoms of Mars will take your heroes on a journey full of pulp-action, intrigue and heroism as they race to uncover the Eidolon conspiracy and see just how far it has spread. (Would be great for theater-of-the-mind and podcast Actual Play, so holding off for now).

Hard 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) (Not very sandbox, and not a lot of recurring NPCs)

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’. (Not on the table for now due to work required to run this)
  • 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.” (Deferred to after Mirkwood campaign)

Mini-Campaigns (~ 3-6 sessions)

  • The Secrets of Cats (Rarescape or Fate) — You play magic cats secretly working to save the world.
  • 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.
Star Wars Timeilne

Star Wars Timeline

April 15, 2019 /

With EPISODE IX: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER coming out December 20, 2019 I’ve decided to read up on the emerging canon novels that took place in the 30 years between EPISODE VI and EPISODE VII. Aside from being an entertaining journey, taking in these novels (mostly through audiobooks during my commute) and perhaps watching some of the TV series will help inform which era I would use for potential future Star Wars campaigns.

Here’s the permanent page:

https://dicehaven.com/star-wars-timeline/

I’ll update this page occasionally as news develops on new canon novels, movies, or TV series and as I work my way through the material. I hope you find it helpful.

— Stan Shinn

 

The crypt fight
The crypt fight!

Redmark Session 47: The Collapse of the Clown Wizard Hell Dungeon

February 6, 2019 /

Standing in a dome shaped room covered in murals of battles long past, the party notices some strange runes on the wall.  With his patron’s gift to read all writing, Quintos notes that the runes mark the entrance to king Melinaus’ tomb. But there is no door to be found.  As they seek a way to find the door, Quintos remembers a word which was described to him as a key; Dagardanganda.  Once spoken, the door opens and the party proceeds into the tomb.

Inside, they are forced to fight a vampire, Corruptus(the ancient wizard that built the tomb), 2 gynophinxes, 2 genies, and some other creature.  Challenging as it was, the party proved to be the better team leaving only the vampire alive, who escaped because there was no sunlight or running water.  What came of him is still unknown.

And, finally, in the next room they find Melinaus’ body.  In his hands is the Tree Sword.  Upon his brow, a diadem holding another Earhjarl Stone.  As they respectfully collect them, Melinaus speaks, “Now, it is over and I can finally rest”.  Immediately, his body turns to ash. The moment is short lived because the earth begins to shake. The magic that once held this place together was gone and the entire mountain began to collapse.

The crypt fight

The crypt fight!

Having finally escaped that “crazy clown wizard hell dungeon”, they make their way back to Mystkar to reunite with friends, loved ones, and just any form of civilization they can get their hands on.  Also, to complete a quest forced upon them by three crazy sentient weapons from the first age. Specifically, Whelm, Wave, and Blackrazor. Interestingly, Ivamel noticed that Marcus(who wields Wave), Lundie(who wields Whelm), and Quintos(who wields Blackrazor) have two shadows now.  Uncomfortable with the weapons desires, Quintos attempts to unattune to Blackrazor. But it won’t let him. Not for 11 more days. Consulting his many gods, Marcus learns that the sword’s and Quintos’ destiny are linked. It would seem that even after all that work in the dungeon that shall not be named, he still can’t use the Tree Sword.  Oh, the life of an adventurer.

Oh, there were also some jungle knolls…for a few seconds.

Gnoll attack

Gnoll attack!

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