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Redmark Session 03: Bugbear Patrols

February 22, 2017 / Stan Shinn

Hashar, Servant of Mars

January 28, Third Age 1331 — Midday

As if the name of the place, Bone Hill, wasn’t enough, the sighting of the two bugbears raises new concerns about what forces might lie in wait inside the old keep. Unwilling to risk kicking the proverbial hornets nest without more information, the party begins scouting the surrounding area. Fortune works in their favor and they find find a perfect spot to ambush the two patrolling bugbears.

Thanks to his military training, Marcus is able to orchestrate a text book ambush. With Marcus’ and Lundie’s exceptional close quarters combat prowess, Quintos’ precise magic, and Ghost Dancer’s…eccentric…approach to the bardic ways it goes better than any could have expected with both bugbears going down before they knew what happened. The bodies are dragged off into the creepy woods and buried.

Afterwards, they party does some more scouting of the area and comes across a larger bugbear patrol. With one wearing heavy armor, one looking very much like the mage type, and 6 others this patrol looks much more threatening. Perhaps wisely, the party chooses to wait in silence as the second patrol passes by. Fortune is a fickle thing, however, and Marcus, Lundie, and Quintos are ambushed themselves by some foul undead bat like creature. Quintos is quickly bitten and paralyzed leaving Marcus and Lundie to fend for themselves. They win the day when Lundie sends the evil creatures fleeing in terror of him and his brave little pony. Quintos recovers and, luckily, the patrol passed by none the wiser.

Undaunted, the party restarts their efforts to fully scout the area. Yet again, another patrol is spotted. This time there are only four, and the party returns to it’s previous ambush spot. Once again the ambush is a resounding success. This time the party acts quickly to revive some of the bugbears, one at a time of coarse, hoping to garner some information about the strength of this bugbear garrison. The first revived, Grumpsh, proves useless and is sent to meet his maker a second time. Hashar, the second revived, proves much more useful and surprisingly interested in Marcus’ comments on Mars. Through a brilliant use of the good cop/bad cop strategy Ghost Dancer and Marcus learn much about the remains of the bugbear garrison. As an added bonus, Hashar is intrigued by Mars and shares he has only one chief care, making money. This opens the door for the party to “recruit” him and recruit him they do.

As night falls, Quintos and Ghost Dancer volunteer to attempt a night scout of the castle to see if they can get closer. Near the castle Quintos was not “pondering” women and ale and so he was atypically alert. He manages to notice they are being followed. After a brief game of cat and mouse, the two attack their pursuer. It goes down quickly. Curiosity gets the better of Quintos and he goes to closely examine the mystery assailant. Poking it with a stick earns him more than he bargained for as the undead creature quickly strikes out at him. Again, Ghost Dancer and Quintos end the creature. This time, however, they decided to burn the thing and quickly retreat to the parties camp.

Will this new bugbear ally prove worth the trouble? Has Marcus manage to break the curse of going down in every fight? Has Quintos learned his lesson about poking things with sticks? Will the information gained from Hashar prove true or will it prove false and cost the party their lives?

Towers of Mystery and Ley Lines

February 20, 2017 / Robert Miklos

Our colonists studied the mysteries of the Towers, trying to find a way to travel from point to point without allowing others to do the same. Eventually, the party went through the portal of the first tower, and came upon a large snake and a Kobold Shaman controlling that snake. The party battled, concetrating on the Shaman. Once the Shaman was defeated, the large snake became torpid and nuetral, and the party was able to navigate around it. Loud noises downstairs suggested the rest of the kobolds were bracing for a fight. Instead, the party simply figured out the placement stones of the Tower, and teleported to the third tower. Upon their arrival, a Clockwork Mymidion detached from the wall and defending the Tower. With an annoying metallic “Enemy” uttered everytime it fought one of the party members, a close fought battle went the party’s way. Defeated and deactivated, the party investigated the clockwork device. Part machine, party creature, the Clockwork device gave up a secret. That was, through its visor, the party could see that the Tower and a road to the south sat upon, and were energized, by electric blue Ley Lines. These Ley Lines were enfused by magical power, which the party decided to draw upon. As the tower was invested with a large kobold host (guarding the nearby Kobold King’s Demesne), the party used Calem’s magic missile wand to blow open the large double stone doors leading into the demesne (also taking out several kobold guards). Quickly recharging the wand on the Clockwork device’s wall charge, the party then rushed the now opened passge into the Demesne. After a battle with the remaining Kobold Guards, the party found themselves locked out from an interior door into the Demesne. But they had learned some sectrets about the Towers, and the Ley Lines. The New World seemed very old indeed, with questions answered only leading to more questions. Who layed the ley lines? What was their purpose. Who maintains them now?

Redmark Session 02: In Search of Bone Hill

February 13, 2017 / Stan Shinn

January 26, Third Age 1331 — Night

It is a busy evening at The Minotaur and The Emperor Inn. Before our heroes settle into their rooms for the night, love is in the air.

Carousing at The Minotaur and The Emperor Inn

Quintos and his unseen servant seek to steal the luscious Lyndette, a “waitress” who is more than willing to serve—for the right price, from the warrior Stanford. Stanford is ready to fight, until charmed by Quintos. From there, he agrees to hook up with large-and-in-charge Helga.

Then, Quintos spots twins! He invites Lyndette and the twins to his luxurious room to party Roman-style. But he is unable (or, so he says, ‘unwilling’) to pay the gold and he spends the night alone.

Lundie, too, flirts with a hottie. The bearded dwarf babe, Bralga, shows him to his room, where they shyly compare notes on stone cunning.

Wilbur, the wee Halfling boy, rounds up a crowd to come see Ghost Dancer perform for the evening. The bard sings of the events befalling the group on the way to the Inn:

While Lundie stood on tip-toe to lick the egg-shaped rock,
And Ivamel wrote death with his bow,
Our man, Quintos, with the ladies was all talk,
And Marcus the Orc-Slayer set his squirrel skulls in a row.
Now our Lady Sophia leads us down a path
To claim Urthjarl’s prize and face Orc wrath.

Marcus preaches the God Mars to fellow warriors. Ivamel hustles some gamblers who tell him Pebble Hill will be a safe place to camp. Can we trust the word of those who just lost their mutton money to Ivamel?

January 27

Our heroes scurry about Nimroth, preparing to journey west and seek the Undead Keep foretold in the Augury received at the Lady of the Lots.

Dasheen Elf Assassin

Marcus and Lundie sell him orc plunder, and then rent horses from Captain Hayden, the head of the city guard, and Marcus’s new soldier buddy.

Quintos and Ghost Dancer visit Lord Renaldo, the Merchant Prince. Quintos negotiates for information, offering trade routes to the Imperium. Arilon, the disrespected elf, helps Quintos and Ghost Dancer find the information they need: Bone Hill, the possible location of the Undead Keep, lies just 30 miles to the west.

Just then, all hell breaks loose. Lord Renaldo, by decree, changes the name of the town from the ancient elven Nimroth to Restenford, and declares open season on all elves in the city.

Mobs chase Arilon, who gets away, but throughout the city, elves flee in terror.

Our heroes try to help smuggle out a frightened half-elf, but he is shot dead by the arrow of another elf. The killer elf on the roof turns out to be Dasheen—one of a group of elves who follow the goddess Dashani and believe in racial purity. They will apparently kill half-elves and humans for some unknown end.

In what is becoming his trademark maneuver, Marcus rushes into battle only to fall from serious wounds and face death while the battle rages around his prone body. Lundie the pious dwarf, once again brings Marcus back from the touch of the Roman death god, Viduus, who is about to harvest Marcus’s soul. Marcus is now even more in Lundie’s debt.

The heroes ride to Pebble Hill, which is near the Shrine to Our Lady of the Lots. (Naught! Naught!) They stay with their old friends at the Shrine, and Marcus wins the lots. He receives the following augury:

The ghost must you favor, in battle to lead
The undead will glance beyond him
His presence they will not heed

January 28

Bugbears!

After a delicious breakfast of eggs and beer, the party arrives just before noon at Bone Hill. The land is desolate, the trees dead. Everything seems colder. Deader. And there, patrolling the perimeter, are two hulking humanoids. Bugbears.

What secrets and horrors hide in Bone Hill? Will the heroes even get a chance to discover those secrets—or will the Bugbears prove to be the party’s demise?

Stan’s RPG Bucket List Updates

February 10, 2017 / Stan Shinn

I’ve been keeping tabs on my ‘RPG Bucket List’ for a few years. I just added two more items to the bucket list:

Play ‘The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen‘. Sort of a Fiasco, one-shot party game.
Play ‘Primetime Adventures‘. This is Fiasco-style story game with light mechanics. Would be great for a 1 or 2 hour campaign that would run as a pre-game for evening games or as a b-campaign.

Here are some videos describing the above:

I updated my bucket list to check off the following items which I’ve done in the last two years. Wow, I’m really making progress!

Develop and publish a GM toolkit (DONE).
Develop RPG Convention tournaments or contests (DONE).
Help with an RPG Convention (DONE).
Run a campaign that starts at level 1 and hits at least level 10 (DONE).
Play the same character for more than a year (haven’t done this since the 80’s) (DONE).
Run a licensed game campaign that made people go “This feels like playing the Show.” (DONE).
Run a Star Wars campaign (DONE).
Play or run a Middle Earth Lord of the Rings roleplaying campaign such as 1st or 2nd Edition MERP (Middle Earth Roleplaying, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle-earth_Role_Playing), or The One Ring (now in print, Cubicle 7 http://www.cubicle7.co.uk/our-games/the-one-ring/) or D&D 5e with custom backgrounds (DONE).
Design an interesting, original magic item (DONE, the clock-ticking-down demon sword in a 1st Age Redmark game).
Play or run classic D&D modules which I’ve never played starting with the UK series: The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh (DONE), When A Star Falls, Bone Hill (DONE) and Nights Dark Terror; then on to Dwellers of the Forbidden City, The Hidden Shrine of Tamochan, The Forgotten Temple of Tharzidun, Against the Cult of the Reptile God (DONE), Scourge of the Slave Lords (A1-4), The Lost City, Queen of Spiders (G1-3, D1-3, Q1), and just maybe (with a character I don’t mind losing) Tomb of Horrors (S1).

— Stan

The Tower

February 6, 2017 / Robert Miklos

Our colonists, fresh from saving the lumberjacks from the Kobold scourge, next followed a map found in the Kobold lair to perhaps find a cure for the Bloody Pox. Added to the map was information giving by the sole survivor of the previous colony, Jacob Bluecastle. He let it be known that the Bloody Pox could be cured, and the cure perhaps found in the far off Kobold King’s demense.

So our colonists set out south, towards a tower as indicated on the map. Through snow, across the flat plains, the party journeyed for days until they found a mysterious tower, 80 feet high and alone in the plain. It’s manufacture odd, with technology lost to the current times. The party entered the tower, and almost immediately fought a scouting party of Kobolds who had taken up residence in the Tower. The battle was close, but the colonists prevailed. After finding out information about the bloody Pox and it’s possible origin, the party went upstairs, to find Kobold Artificers had fled, and a strange portal on the top floor. It appeared to be a teleportation device, maybe linked to many others. The cure seemed closer all of a sudden, and yet, wrapped in danger.