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Redmark Session 42: We Found Where the Janitor Kept His Keys

January 3, 2019 / Stan Shinn

Redmark Date: Third Age – April 20, 1331

Marcus catches a Wave

As the loot from the crab filled room is passed around. Marcus is handed the trident. It is a sentient weapon that is called Wave. Marcus ponders changing his religion.

Ghost Dancer casts Leomund’s Tiny Hut for the group to rest in. Something must go wrong with the casting this time as inside the hut it is usually warm and humid. Ivamel does not get a good nights rest.

Redmark Date: Third Age—April 21, 1331

A puzzle and golden orbs

The party heads back towards the entrance to the dungeon. Marcus spends some time discussing various points of interest with the sphinx near the entrance. Nothing much comes from this, other than time is wasted. Marcus casts water walking on the group and they continue down the hallway to the east. This time easily bypassing the acid on the floor that stopped them before. Ivamel notices it appears to be some sort of slime.

Coming to a split in the hallway, the group finds a room filled with Flesh Golems. The Flesh Golems are numbered 5, 7, 9, 11, & 13. The Flesh Golem numbered 5 says, “The one not like the others will serve you.” Quintos quickly blurts out “Nine, it’s not prime!”. Number 5 looks downtrodden (or is it Stan) by the quick answer. Now, #9 is a servant of Quintos.

Down another hallway, the group finds a room filled with 9 silvered glass globes. One by one the group breaks each globe. In an effort to determine what to do, Marcus prays to … well no one is quite sure at this point … but it was some god. Finding several items inside the globes (see Loot Report).

Loot Report

Nine keys – from inside the globes
First globe = 600 GP worth of gems
Second globe = Potion of Flying
Third globe = Empty (except the grey ooze and a key)
Fourth globe = scroll of hold person
Fifth globe =magical silver ring that Ivamel quickly placed on his finger
Sixth globe = 600 GP
Seventh globe = grey nuggets (any value) & 3 shadows
Eighth globe = scroll of fear
Ninth globe = 12,000 GP & and a Air Elemental

Pic of Stranger Things 3 Ring DM Binder — Stranger Things 3 Ring DM Binder

All About GM Screens

September 25, 2018 / Stan Shinn

So are GM Screens helpful?

History

The original DM’s Screen of the mid to late 70s was a 3 ring binder which you used to hide your maps and monster stats.

Gary Gygax and his Dungeon

Generally these could be in your lap or propped up on the table.

Stranger Things 3 Ring DM Binder

Later, D&D modules often included a cardboard map which you could pull out and use with one side as a player facing art, and the internal side being the dungeon map.

GM Screen Uses

The primary uses for a GM screen are:

Hiding GM maps
Hiding miniatures of upcoming monsters
Hiding upcoming props and handouts
Hiding GM dice rolls
Providing a GM quick reference

I’ve done some online polling in the past, and generally what I find is that 2/3s of GMs of D&D style games prefer using a GM screen (which makes sense since they have maps and miniatures to hide), whereas about 2/3s of GMs running non-D&D style games prefer NOT to use a GM screen.

Stan’s Technique

It’s all a matter of personal preference of course, but here’s my preferences:

For D&D Style Games

I like to use a thinner version of what amounts to a 3 Ring binder. It’s a two-panel restaurant menu with inserts — art for the players side and a portfolio of clear sleeves (cut out from an art display binder) on the inside. I use it just like a 3 ring binder (in my lap or propped up on the table) but its a lot lighter.

Hiding GM maps — I have them as an insert in the restaurant binder
Hiding miniatures of upcoming monsters — I have a wood chest next to the GMs chair I use for that
Hiding upcoming props and handouts — I hide these in a folder next to the GMs chair
Hiding GM dice rolls — I usually roll in the open, or if needed, hide the roll with my hand
Providing a GM quick reference — I have GM cheat sheets, stat blocks, and adventure notes in the two-panel restaurant menu

Another technique I’ve used is to use a traditional GM screen which GM reference notes but to lay it down on the table — essentially a placemat with a rules cheat sheet.

For Non-D&D Style Games

Usually I do the above, but with a digest sized 3 ring binder, such as my Traveller binder.

Why the smaller footprint? I like the smaller footprint (easier to see over), but whereas D&D has so many maps from modules that look best at 8.5×11″, in story games or Traveller, I don’t have to worry about large maps so I go with my preferred smaller digest size.

Conclusion

It’s all personal preferences, but those are mine! I especially don’t like having to reach over a GM screen to draw maps, and I don’t like hiding dice.

Dr. Presto in Cortex Prime

September 1, 2018 / Stan Shinn

Dr. Presto

Cover Name: Dr. Presto Real Name: Stefano Romano

Affiliations: Solo d6, Buddy d10, Team d8

Values: Duty d6, Glory d8, Justice d8, Love d8, Power d6, Truth d6

Distinctions (d8 or d4 +1 PP): Mystic Defender of Overlooked Victims, Stage Magician, Celebrity in the Spotlight

Power Set: Confusion

Cause Retreat d8 (target retreats)
Friends Are Foes d10 (cause target to attack another person)
Hallucinations d10 (cause target to act in an irrational manner)

SFX: Area Attack. Target multiple opponents. For every additional target, add d6 and keep +1 effect die.

SFX: Multipower. Use two or more Confusion powers in your dice pool, at –1 step for each additional power.

SFX: Darkest Magic. Step up or double any Confusion power for one action. If the action fails, add a die to the Doom Pool equal to the normal rating of that power.

Limit: Focus Item. Lose your cane’s crystal and lose your Confusion abilities to gain 1 PP. Test to recover.

Specialties: Stage Magic d6, Psychology d6, Fencing d6, Sleight of Hand d6

Signature Assets: Crystal pommelled silver sword cane d6

Relationships:

PCs: The Shade (Ralph Messano) d10, The Mantis d8, Mr. Morbidis (Eli Levine) d6, Lucky Devil (Bizhanee Chindi) d6
NPCs: Helen Rourke (Police Clerk) d10, Jimmy “Knuckles” Savage (Small Time Thug) d6, Mickey O’Conner (Night Club Owner) d8

Milestones:

I Am More Than A Magician
1xp when you use stage magic to influence others without using mystic powers
3xp when you gain notoriety for something that didn’t involve using your powers
10xp when you personally defeat a major villain without magic or forsake being a stage performer

Agent of the S.B.I.
1xp when you uncover a secret clue to an erstwhile crime or villain
3xp when you emerge successfully from a battle or conflict
10xp when you defeat a major, named villain or abandon your S.B.I. mission

Background:

Stephano Romano was born in Italy, but is now a naturalized American citizen. He initially lived in New York City with a practice as a psychologist. Dr. Romano’s hobby as a stage magician burgeoned and interest in finding the ‘true’ mystic arts led him to uncover magical powers from the study of ancient European grimoires. After acquiring the ability to confuse people with a crystal mounted on his sword-cane, Stephano turned to a life of fighting street crime by night, seeking to avenge his patients who had psychological scars from the thugs who have brutalized them. Now, relocated to Washington, D.C., Stefano has taken the alias ‘Dr. Presto’ and continued to wage a secret war with the forces of evil.

Oversized Dice from Role 4 Initiative

August 26, 2018 / Stan Shinn

I love the slightly-oversized dice from Role 4 Initiative, so I just ordered a new set for use with Cortex Prime. Quite affordable — only $0.63 per die. I am using different colors for each die type to make it easy to differentiate at the table (and also its great for players new to RPGs who have trouble telling a d10 from a d12, etc.). I’m using Purple for d4s, Green for d6s, Blue for d8s, Red for d10s, and Black for d12s. I’m red-green color blind but these shades are bright and distinct enough even for me to tell apart. Can’t wait to use them in my upcoming Cortex Plus campaign!

You can find them here: https://r4i.us/product-category/dice/

Mini-Series Podcast Games

August 22, 2018 / Stan Shinn

Some one-shots and mini-campaigns I’d like to run on the actual play podcast at some point. — Stan

The Secrets of Cats (Fate Core)

Cats are magical; cats understand sacrifice and the power of names.

A decapitated mouse left on the doorstep or pillow is a powerful ward, and a spell wailed by the cat chorus confers even greater protection. When evil is on the rise and the safety of the neighbourhood is at stake the Parliament of Cats is there to stand firm against the darkness.

Take Silver Ford, for example, a sleepy tourist town near a played-out old silver mine. When kids messing around in the mine accidentally rouse an ancient evil on All Hallows’ Eve, the secret and magical cats of the neighborhood are the only thing protecting their special people from the things that go bump in the night.

Loose Threads (Fate Core)

On the edges of fairy tales live members of the Company—collateral damage from someone else’s Happily Ever After.

Maybe their fairy godmother got lost on the way, or they failed to solve the riddle, or their siblings forgot to save them before riding off into the sunset. Now Company members live on the edges of tales and travel the In-Betweens, helping others like them who need rescuing from ogres, reversing of curses, and freedom from the evil clutches of bandits. People who the stories have forgotten. It’s difficult work, and every story must end eventually.

How will yours turn out?

Masters of Umdaar (Fate Accelerated)

Rise up against the Masters of Umdaar!

Behold the fallen world of Umdaar, home to savage warriors, cyborg insects, and merciless warlords. Oh, and lasers—lots and lots of lasers. The Masters rule with an iron fist, and the people’s only hope are the archaeonauts and their quest for long-lost artifacts of power. But will the Masters get there first? Masters of Umdaar, our latest Fate World of Adventure by Dave Joria, is a retro tribute to such shiny serials as John Carter of Mars, Flash Gordon, He-Man, and Thundercats.

Firefly (Cortex+)

Keep Flyin’! Prepare for thrilling, new adventures in the ‘Verse with the Firefly Roleplaying Game! Set six years after the Unification War, the Firefly Roleplaying Game faithfully branches story elements from the popular FOX television series, while simultaneously expanding on the Firefly setting. Powered by the Cortex Plus system, which emphasizes character interaction and story development, this core rulebook features everything you need to venture into the black, including character archetypes, ship stats and creation rules, locations and planetary systems, a detailed Episode guide, story hooks, and more.

In our campaign, we’ll pick up where Mal and his surviving crew have started a rebellion against the Alliance and now have their HQ aboard a captured Alliance vessel. Your crew has taken over the Serenity and now take various odd jobs between helping out (as best you can) the burgeoning rebellion.

(This will be a continuation and conclusion of this earlier mini-campaign which was put on hiatus).

Gaslight Heroes (Cortex Prime)

Every few centuries, hidden cosmic energies align and make possible the origins of super-powered individuals. In ancient Babylon, Greece, and many other cultures, these rare people wielding their unusual powers became the stuff of legends. Many legends and even pantheons arose based on the half-truths about these super-powered people.

In 1800s London, the ley lines foretold by Stone Henge converge to again enable select individuals to gain untold powers. Now, these chosen individuals begin to discover one another.

But not all these powers belong to benevolent souls. In the misty shadows of late-night London walk both heroes and horrors.

Welcome to the world of the Gaslight Heroes!