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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.

50 Fathoms: Session 31 and 32- The Prince and the Crow’s Last Flight

February 4, 2017 / Jeff Messina

The Prince and the Crow’s Last Flight

Characters:

Kaliferous: Kraken mage
Rodrigo: Human priest and water Mage from Earth
Mordecai: Human Air Mage Puritan from Earth
Crow/Kadian: Atani guardian of the Great Tree

Date: 1/14/17 and 2/4/17

XP: 5 total

Recap:

Part One-

After their pivotal role in the Battle for Baltimus and true to their words Duckworth and Enrico provided valuable information on the possible location of Prince Alain- Tulago.

The Crew struck out immediately and on route discovered a gruesome sight. They found a nearly burnt out ship with the crew hacked to pieces with only a single survivor. This poor fellow was missing his hands, ears and fed his nose. He told the Crew of a pirate ship that attacked them and their “red eyed captain” who butchered his mates did this to him. The description of the evil captain matched James Lowe, the same survivor the Crew rescued at sea over a year previous…and worse yet he was headed towards Tulago. (see “Fun at Brigandy Bay” and “Adventures of Stumpy Pete, Part 1”)

Commandeering the damaged ship and with Crow at the helm, the small fleet arrived at Tulago at night only to find it swarming with seven pirate ships and their crew. While the Liberator’s Wrath hung back, Crow sailed directly to port only realizing his danger too late and was forced beached his vessel in order to escape into the jungle.

Now split, Crow fled into the jungle while the rest of the Crew decided stealth was the better choice. Both parties eventually met up, but along the way fought, killed and questioned several Pirate search parties and did some preliminary scouting of the town. They found Tulago infested with pirates and most of the civilians escaped and living in jungle. They also discovered the true name of the pirate captain: Edward Lowe a notoriously vicious pirate from Earth.

Part Two-

Formulating a plan, the Crew snuck into town pretending to be pirates and managed to locate the safe house where Alain was being held without being caught. Father Rodrigo caused a distraction with the guards while Mordecai and Kal snuck inside the building. There they found several Ghouls and two powerful vampires garding the Prince. Using the power of Faith the Crew was able to drive away the vampires only to find a badly drained and wounded Alain. He told them that Lowe had frantically given his father’s sword to Blackbeard a few days ago in an attempt to keep him from attacking and that the vampires have been feeding and trying to turn him.

Meanwhile, Crow mingled with the drunken pirates and set up carefully hidden chair explosives scattered throughout the center of the festivities. He then took flight and set up a distraction by sabotaging three of the pirate ships causing their magazines to explode. While at the same time setting off the chair explosives. This caused havoc in the town and killing many many pirates.

Unfortunately seeing the ships explode the rest of the Crew, having recovered Alain, ran to the docks only to find himself pinned between the water and a very angry and, much more numerous than they anticipated, mass of pirates. Mordecai cleverly cast flight allowing the Crew to escape but not without taking some damage.

Crow seeing that the pirates were not wiped out and Lowe still alive, bravely flew to face him one on one while while his mates ran to catch up. Crow attempted to use explosives to catch Low unaware, but Lowe proved too wily and Crow got unfortunately got caught in his own blast, wounding him. Edward Lowe then spun and deftly fired two magical pistols point-blank at Crow making him fall out of the air unconscious. To his friends horror, he then proceed to “Clip the little birdies wings” savaging Crows wings and killing him in brutal revenge for bombing his pirate crew. Thus the last flight of Crow ended, but his sacrifice would not be in vain.

While Lowe was preoccupied with his gruesome task, the Crew caught him square in the back killing him instantly. To their great dismay they discovered their friends body and a strange black staff that Lowe had held. Mordecai was instantly drawn to the staff and he found himself bound to its magical energies. This staff was self aware and very powerful, a twin to the one his cousin Solomon Kane used to fight evil back on Earth.

The Crew escaped to their ship without the sword and missing a good friend and unsure where to turn next.

Will this break the spirit of the Crew? Or will they keep fighting to the bitter end?

See full backstory: https://dicehaven.com/50-fathoms-character-crow/

Crow’s Teen Years and life aboard the Liberator’s Wrath
Over the year’s Crow does his duty In the crow’s nest and aspires to be first mate, then captain.
Father Rodrigo gives crow a bible and he learns to read.
He then starts secretly dabbling in blood magic
He later returns to his homeland with Liam, Father Rod and with the help of his friends is purged of the blood magic and becomes a Shanti the nature warrior of his people.
Fighting by the side of the crew they have many adventures.
He sails all over Carribdus and sees almost all the lands, truly falling in love with his world and waiting to save all from the flood.
Later, he Frees Kal from the Great Whales prison (returning to where he was held as a baby), Mordeki saves Crow that day, sees his friend and second mentor Captain Liam loses his life.
He sees the great ship of the Kraken, helps secure the weapon that may help defeat the sea hags.
Meets the Courtesans of Baltamus and throws a mighty party for his family the crew.
Crow’s Last Day- Death at 18 years of age
Something in his stomach was not right, he somehow feared this place. Was it the massive number of pirates that we faced, was it these African slaves, like his first family, being poorly treated by the Pirates. Something did not set right to Crow and he was nervous and tentative in his decision making. He felt a dark foreboding even before they entered village, but they MUST find the sword that may one day save Caribdus.
Then finally in his last day, he is the acting captain (the role he aspired to) and orders the attack on the Pirates to secure the sword that may one day kill the hags.

In this day, he and the crew sneak into the village in pirate uniforms.   Crow will fight bravely on his last day. But regret fills his heart, for to give us a chance to secure the sword and save Caribdus, he makes a tough choice to kill some innocents (the very slaves of his own beginning).
As he lights the secret hidden gunpowder he quotes the book he used to learn to read John 3:15 “That whosoever believe in him should not perish, but have eternal life..” Crow wishing in his heart that a greater power will sort out the innocents he will destroy with this act. A tear running down his face as he explodes bombs by the fire and kills some 60 + pirates and a few innocents.

Then Crow transforms into his carroway screecher form, races to the docs and proceeds to destroy 3 of the 7 ships in the harbor through stealth, transformative magic and guile.

Next as he heads towards a forth ship he sees is friends surrounded and fighting on the beach. Crow feeling that loyalty for his crew abandons his personal attempt sink the pirate fleet and races ashore.

When he arrives, the crew flees with Mordeki’s flight spell to a safer local on the island, but catches a glimpse of the pirate leader.

Crow decides to take the last cask of gunpowder and fly over to attempt to quickly end this fight, some over 300 pirates, not 150 like once thought are swarming the area. Something must be done to cut the head from the snake. In addition, as Father Rod, Mordecai and Cal had freed the noble prisoner, we still weren’t sure if this Pirate captain has the sword or traded it to Blackbeard and to save Carribus we had to know, our lives are worth saving this world.

Crow transforms into carroway flys over, transforms flat on the roof into his normal form, lights the gunpower on a 12 second fuse. He creeps to the edge, somehow in the fire and chaos, he locks eyes with the Pirate Captain. The captain seeing the wick of the gunpowder backs away and fires his flintlock at crow to no avail.   Crow leaps from the building, buoyed by the fire and hot burning flames below, he gains altitude and closes on the pirate leader.
Crow has 6 seconds left before it will explode and he must reach this evil man. Then crow realizing he has the advantage, must wait to see how the captain reacts. The captain fires twice, one deflecting off Captain Liam’s sword hit (what luck) and the second bullet sinks into crows arm. In that moment at crow then launches himself forward gliding above the pirate, he must throw the explosive, and in that moment loses his grip on the bomb. It falls short of the pirate and explodes. Crow it caught in the blast and pulls his legs up to avoid the explosive…
Next the pirate had the advantage moved up and shot twice into crow at point blank range, Crow fell to the ground bleeding out of his brain. Surely damaged in some permanent way as he hits the ground with a crunch..
At that moment, Mordecai, Father Rod and Kal come around the side of the building. They start to engage the Pirate Captain. The vengeful captain lifts Crow up as his lifeblood pours out and cuts off his wing in retribution for crew killing over 60 of his crew and destroying 3 of his ships..   The light of the Shani, flows out of crow’s body, as Mordecai rushes up and swiftly slays the Pirate Captain.
Crow’s spirit flows out of his body, looking down and smiles.   We know the sword is with Black beard, we have saved the young Noble. We are one step closer to saving Carribdus, my life had meaning. I will miss my crew. I go now to merge with the Carroway tree my spirt will give back and enrich my people….
A tear flows down his cheek as he sees his family for the last time……