In Search Of The Unknown

So...huh. Looks like I do have another post or two left in me before 2023.

Holiday playdates have been going on this week...Wednesday, we had Maceo over and Lo and Behold, the kids did not want to play laser tag, sing karaoke, or show off their Minecraft creations. Nope, they wanted Dungeons & Dragons and nothing but. 

Not only that, but they're starting to get to the point they can sit and engage with the game for hours without needing 'brain breaks.' Kid got over to our house around 12:20 and after 15-20 minutes or so of the usual catch-up with buddy you haven't seen in weeks, they had butts at the table and ready to go. And stayed that way till 5pm. Could have continued, but we had to kick the kid out at 5 since we had plans to hear Beethoven's 9th at the Seattle Symphony in the evening. 

[it was magnificent, by the way]

However, the kids did NOT want to run with their beefy, mid-level (elven) assassins. Instead, they wanted to make brand new 1st level characters. Reason being: level restrictions. Knowing they were starting to reach the top end (well, being more than halfway there) and seeing the writing on the wall, they decided to move onto new characters rather than invest more time in the old ones. The new characters: an elven thief ("Donc"), a human ranger ("Luther von Dink"), and a human cleric ("Brother Dank").

[yes, Dink-Donk-Dank...there was some silliness involved, and that's fine. Always some jitters/nerves when starting out...we can always retcon and rename later if we want]

Luther had a rolled strength of 18/93, which makes him the second-strongest ranger to have graced our table (Diego had previously had a ranger with...natural!...18/00 strength that perished in Hommlet). Using my updated height/weight tables we determined he was 6'2", 313# , giving him roughly the same size and build as Drew Desjarlais of the New Orleans Saints (I pick Drew because he's from Ontario and most rangers should be modeled after Canadians). 

Donc is typical of elven adventurers in my campaigns: a lowdown scoundrel with a debased and incorrigible disposition. I don't get it, haven't these kids ever watched those LotR films?  I suppose Diego ran a Legolas clone in his early days, but...well whatever. Mace just likes roguish wastrels with pointy ears. 

Sofia refuses to play elves (half-elves are okay). She joined the game a little belatedly, jumping in with a new cleric to round out the party. Clerics aren't her usual shtick, but so long as her character can wield a flail (her preferred weapon) she's generally unbiased in what she plays. 

SO...yeah, new characters, so no Desert of Desolation reclamation project. Which is, you know, fine. It's not really ready anyway...and, as with my (similar) Ravenloft project may end up being for lower leveled characters than the 5th-9th range, more like 3rd+.

[what I'm actually doing is reworking the whole thing as a more open "sandbox" environment for exploration with various interconnected plots/factions, all laid over a map of southern Idaho...however, the dungeons/monsters get bigger/meaner/tougher the deeper one gets into the desert. Fewer purple worms in the west than in the east, for example]

New characters need a new adventure and I decided to run B1: In Search of the Unknown, an adventure that I haven't ever run "straight" (at least, not in recent memory). For my world, Quesqueton is located in the Cascade foothills, just outside of Issaquah, up the side of Tiger Mountain in what the internet tells me is "the Issaquah Alps" (I have never heard this term and I've hiked Tiger dozens of times over the years). The party was hipped to the location by a local thief ("Garbo," halfling) who was willing to sell them a map to the 'legendary stronghold.' Little did they realize this is just the local scam business, and all number of adventurers have picked the place over during the last couple-three decades.

Turned out to be a fun little romp. My players are pretty solid with regard to adventuring logistics...outfitting themselves with lanterns, oil, donkeys, saddlebags, rope, rations and water. Upon locating the entrance to the old fortress, their first priority was building a shelter for the animals and a base of operations for themselves. Initial scouting found old guard stations that...with modification...could act as a makeshift stable. Thus securing their pack animals, the delve proceeded.

It was soon apparent the the place had long been picked over by prior invaders. Various vermin-type monsters were found and dispatched (giant rats, a pair of primitive troglodytes), as well as humanoid looters (gnolls..."we hate these guys"). A small tribe of goblins were found to be squatting in the fortress barracks and negotiations were struck up with them and bloodshed avoided altogether. 

Lots of neat discoveries...B1 has a lot of "interactivity" within it, leaving aside monster encounters and plunder. The famous "pool room" accounted for quite a bit of fun, with the players using fish from the "fish pool" to test the waters of the various magical pools. Much harm was avoided in this way, though the cleric still managed to get himself magically silenced, prompting the adventurers to depart (no voice, no spells).

The treasure take wasn't bad for their initial excursion: in addition to a scroll of clerical spells, they recovered a bit more than 500 gold pieces worth of salvage, with some 'big ticket' items (a marble statue, a beautifully carved rosewood bedroom set) left behind and marked for later carry-out. Plans were made to return to town and hire mercenaries, using acquired loot, for the removal of these exceptionally heavy/bulky objects (the statue in the lounge has no weight but is described solely as a "life-sized" marble statue; the Venus de Milo is a bit larger than life-sized and weighs some 900kg. Based on some rough dimensions and the density of marble, the statue probably comes in somewhere between 1500 and 1800 pounds).

But, overall, it was a successful little venture. Three-ish hours of delving netted the characters a good amount of experience, and if they can somehow recover that statue, they should all level up (even the ranger!). Personally, I would have tried to harness the goblins as a work gang, but they'd still need some sort of cart to get the thing back to town (some seven miles distant on foot). An interesting quandary.

Anyway. Good fun. Not sure what 2023 is going to hold as far as gaming is concerned, but it's nice to see the kids are still interested in that old edition magic.  If I get another post off before year's end, it will probably be some sort of "review" or discussion on new resolutions. Time to make the kids some breakfast. 

Happy Friday, folks!

: )

Q is for Quasqueton

[over the course of the month of April, I shall be posting a topic for each letter of the alphabet, sequentially, for every day of the week except Sunday. Our topic for this year's #AtoZchallenge? Revamping the Grand Duchy of Karameikos in a way that doesn't disregard its B/X roots]

Q is for Quasqueton, the mysterious fortress featured in Mike Carr's adventure module B1: In Search of the Unknown.

Many folks have cherished memories of B1; a lot of first-time D&D players cut their teeth on the module. Personally, I've only run it once: with my brother back in 2010 after modifying the content substantially for mid-level play. I'll probably get around to running it again some day, and properly (maybe for my kids), but it's tough when the adventure needs so much prep from the DM to work (as a teaching module, B1 leaves many encounter areas to be stocked by the new DM).

The reason I don't have much experience with the module is because I never owned the thing until recently. B2 was my "introductory adventure;" B1 was written for (and included with) the ORIGINAL D&D Basic set, the edition we Bloggers refer to as "Holmes Basic." My copy of B1 was acquired back in 2009 when I came across a (used) box set of Holmes (no chits) that contained the adventure (my initial thoughts are here, for the curious). As a Holmesian relic, the module is not entirely suited for B/X play (though it's easy enough to convert), and some readers might be wondering why I even bring it up for this particular series, as it antedates the publication of Karameikos and the Known World by half a decade (a lifetime in terms of the hobby's primordial origins).

Once again, we can hold Mentzer responsible: his re-printed wilderness map of the Known World in BECMI's Expert set included the location of (what I assume are) all the then-published "B" and "X" adventure modules. B1 is located deep in the northern foothills of western Karameikos, near the mountain origin of the Achelos River, which flows to the coast (eventually emptying into the Bay of Halav by way of Blight Swamp).  Fortress Q is not shown on the GAZ1 map, nor is it mentioned in the text of the Gazetteer, but it's clear from the landmarks on the Expert map where the "hidden" stronghold is located.

"Hidden" is a pretty relative term, in this case. The text of the adventure states the hidden fortress of Roghan the Fearless and Zelligar the Unknown was located "far from the nearest settlement, away from traveled routes, and high upon a craggy cliff" specifically because they were not interested in unwanted visitors. However, it's clear from encounter areas strewn with recently deceased bodies and the relatively picked over nature of the site that there are at least a few adventuring souls that have found their way to the fortress. Heck, the adventure starts with the PCs acquisition of a map to the complex!

Not sinister enough for
Zelligar and Roghan?

Which is fine...it helps make some sense of the adventure (and gives plenty of justification for the "low level" nature of the site...the biggest treasures and monsters have already been taken out, both literally and figuratively). As usual, I advise folks to check out GusL's excellent review/analysis/ideas for this module. Despite his critique, he provides a great blueprint for how to run the adventure in a way that's both sensible and properly challenging/rewarding.

So let's talk about the adaptation of B1 to the Karameikos setting. The first thing one needs to grok is that In Search of the Unknown is NOT a "generic" site for exploration...it contains a lot of background material and setting information in its pages, some of which doesn't jibe with the history of the region as presented in GAZ1:

- Roghan and Zelligar only ceased 30 years prior to the start of the adventure. That means they disappeared to fight "northern barbarians" around the time Duke Stefan, Baron Ludwig and all the rest were moving in.
- Prior to this (and within living memory...certainly for elves and dwarves) they had been "heroes of the people" having fought off a large barbarian horde that attacked the region.
- The construction of their fortress, even before their fight with barbarians took over a decade "and the work of hundreds of slaves and laborers." After the defeat of the horde, they worked for several years more, adding to the fortress, and presumably continuing to use additional workers. Many of these would still be alive, or have drifted into communities.
- While the pair took "most of their henchmen and associates" with them into the wilderness (when they disappeared), many they did not, including Roghan's mistress, their advisor, the captain of the guard for the fortress, etc. It's clear from the text that these individuals and other servant types (I doubt they used their menial orc servants for cooking, but who knows?) eventually left when R and Z failed to return. There aren't a whole lot of places they could have gone, especially not without an armed escort.

One more thing to realize: this adventure was NOT originally written to fit with the Known World ("Mystara"). At least in MY copy (the monochrome cover) there is a note on page 6 stating:

"In the mythical WORLD OF GREYHAWK (available from TSR) the stronghold can be considered within any one of the following lands -- the Barony of Ratik, the Duchy of Tenh, or the Theocracy of the Pale."

This note is removed from the later, "brown cover copy." Reviewing mine, I can see it clearly appears written to work in the AD&D system, based on the NPCs of different race-class combinations (dwarf thieves, elven fighters, etc.) that were later edited out of the "straight Basic" version. Also, certain titles in the NPC names ("Servant of Saint Cuthbert," etc.) implies use in the Greyhawk setting. Concepts like "The Great Church," "The Secret Church," and "The City Afar," sound cool, but don't really work with Mystara as written, except perhaps as euphemisms.

So I'd probably change that, and let the "fluff" of the module fill out game world.

[here's a different question that really nags at my brain: Who are all these berserker guards that are in charge of the place? If they've been waiting 30 years (because they're fantastically loyal to their masters or something) doesn't that mean they're all well past their prime?]

There are plenty more unanswered setting questions that arise from this pair of adventurers who were "dedicated to perfecting their craft." From whence did they come? Where did Zelligar receive his magical training? Who is this demon idol that they casually worship (it's not an extravagant temple...more of a personal shrine)? Roghan has a brass dragon skin on the wall (brass dragons were a part of Holmes, not B/X or BECMI)...where did this come from and what does it imply? Magic mouths? Not a spell in ANY form of Basic.

In a BECMI setting, with its "everything is codified" sensibilities, this weirdness doesn't work great. In B/X, it works but just becomes "weirdness," which may not be what you want.

"Raaargh!"

And dammit, who are these "barbarians" supposed to be? The Republic of Darokin with its disciplined, Swiss Pikemen-like army is hardly what I call a "savage horde" (and neither does frothing halflings from the Five Shires). Another invasion of humanoids? That doesn't really work with the whole Song of Halav legend (it's not like King Halav returned as foretold). *sigh*

So here's the idea that comes to my head for revamping B1 for use in a B/X Karameikos:

Fifty-some odd years ago, the wizard Zelligar "the Unknown" arrived in the region of what would someday be called Karameikos. Perhaps he was encouraged to adventure in the land by his patron demon; perhaps he was expelled from his country of origin (Darokin? Glantri?) because of his necromantic practices. Perhaps it was simply a teleportation mishap.

Regardless, he found himself in foothills of western Karameikos. Turns out there was an indigenous population prior to the coming of Stefan and his Thyatia cronies...a hardened, iron age culture living in small agrarian communities...more tribal clans based extended families than anything that would be called villages. Here was a superstitious lot, easily cowed with displays of magic, easily manipulated...and Zelligar found it the ideal space to create a base of operations.

But one "barbarian" showed no apprehension of the strange wizard. Roghan (later called "the Fearless") was more intrigued by the stranger than worshipful. Desiring companionship and needing an interpreter (not to mention a strong right arm), Zelligar adopted the young Roghan as a protege, gifting him with enchanted armaments the likes of which had never been seen by the primitive hillmen. So equipped, the two began to explore the wilderness, especially the northern mountains, that were full of both fell beasts (like dragons) and treasure hoards built from mineral wealth of area. Successful in their undertakings, they eventually came to build Quasqueton as described in the module background.

Unfortunately, their relationship with the hillmen of the area were far from amiable. To the hillmen, the pair's worship of strange and foul gods was despicable, as was their taking of slaves from the hill tribes, forcing Roghan's own people to work alongside orcs taken in raids. What was worse, Roghan's and Zelligar's own henchmen and soldiers were drawn from the most vicious and violent of the mountain tribes, people who were known to practice human sacrifice and cannibalism. Eventually, the hillmen rose up, united, and marched on Quasqueton, only to be brought low by the martial might of Roghan and the sorcery of Zelligar. Much tribute was taken from the defeated tribesmen, not the least of which was the beautiful Melissa, eldest daughter of a great chieftain of the hillmen. Roghan was smitten at first sight and, bringing her to his stronghold used much of his wealth to construct suitable accommodations for his most cherished prize.

Fair Melissa, on the other hand, saw Roghan as a traitor to his own people and looked for a way to revenge herself on the adventurers. Knowing that murdering the warrior would do nothing to remove the pair's tyranny (would not Zelligar simply find another man of greed and ambition amongst the hill tribes?), she instead endeavored to seduce the wizard himself, with Roghan none the wiser. Thus manipulating both men, she arranged for the pair to embark on a dangerous venture from which they would never return, due in no small part to her sabotaging of their gear and poisoning of their supplies.

It was shortly thereafter that Stefan and his ilk arrived in the region. Searching out potential rivals for his control of the land, the archduke's henchmen made forays into the north, following rumors of a "secret fortress." However, none who found it actually lived to tell the tale, as the hillmen still secretly guard Quasqueton, regularly posting their strongest warriors (the berserkers) to prevent other adventurers from discovering and "setting up shop" in the fortress. The hillmen remember the past, and while they are content to let the "Archduke" and his pet barons rule in the south, they want no more foreign lords exercising their will over their lands.

Been watching too much GoT...

[by the way...Happy Triduum to folks that celebrate the Easter holiday! I shall be pretty busy the next couple days (aren't I always?) especially as it's my daughter's 5th birthday. I might not get around to my "R" post till Sunday night]

B1 Aftermath: The De-Brief

[continued from here]

Despite killing off my brother's two characters in three weeks, and wiping out almost his entire cast, he was still willing to go back down into the dungeon and immediately rolled up a new character. However, we ended play for the evening, and I was willing to hold him off on going back to Castle Q. I wanted to move onto a new adventure, having sprung most of the "surprises" from B1 (I forgot, the final battle included a couple mummies as well...taken care of quickly by the party).

In de-briefing (i.e. on the way back from the bar), AB had no unkind words for the hand he'd been dealt. Talking to him again tonight, he still didn't. "It didn't stop me from playing the next day, did it? We're still playing again on Thursday, ja?" But this has often been my experience when DMing games...characters die but the players want to come back for more. Really. Even my poor wife, the FIRST time she played (not the Keep on the Borderlands adventure I described awhile back...a BECMI adventure in Threshold from either Mentzer Basic or Expert, played a few years back)...she rolled up three characters and had each of them killed in fairly quick succession, but kept wanting to play. Her main reason for not wanting to play RPGs has to do with her "becoming to attached to the characters."

Now contrast this with our experiments with Mordheim...possibly my favorite game ever published by Games Workshop. We played one match, and I destroyed her...and she never wanted to play again. For whatever reason there is a difference between playing someone one-on-one and acting as an "impartial referee." Even though I'm not gloating or yelling "In your face!" at my wife over a wargaming table...it's hard to watch one person's dice rolls remove individual playing pieces from a game board. A DM though...he (or she) is simply interpreting dice rolls and describing "what happens." The DM's not really trying to kill you off, is he?

Well...

Anyway, while I've had people crumple up character sheets at the table (which always annoys me...what if the character gets brought back to life with a spell?), I can't recall anyone who let the death of their character ruin the play of the game. Which is why it has always been weird to me that so many game groups make such an effort to keep player characters alive, fudging dice rolls and whatnot.

Not that I don't understand it...even my Old School buddy Kris has said, "Dying is no fun." BUT the Doctor also notes that "Dying is part of the game." You take character death off the table and the challenges...and the triumphs!...mean a lot less to the players.

Well, anyway, back to the debriefing of Thursday's game: though AB had no issue regarding his character's death, that's NOT to say he didn't have some complaints about the game...specifically, he felt there wasn't ENOUGH back-story.

The whole confrontation with Z and R had given him a momentary epiphany regarding the nature of Dungeons & Dragons in general. "What the hell ARE we doing here?" he asked. "Basically, we're not doing anything more than knocking over these guys' house!" Home invasion. Burglars. Nothing lofty or "heroic" regarding their actions at all.

Faced with the realization didn't make him want to quit the game, nor did it detract from the fun...after all, all his characters to date have been Neutral in alignment. He just hadn't really thought of the whole r'aison d'etre for being there in the first place. Yes, the adventurers were a group of members with varied skills seeking treasure, willing to risk their lives in dangerous situations...and looting some higher level adventurers' stronghold was a certainly part of their M.O.

However, it left him curiously un-satisfied at the end.

My brother wanted there to be more reason for his mission. More "backstory" is the term he used. "I got more backstory from the random rolls for how the characters knew each other! What we needed was more of THAT." He actually suggested I create random tables/charts for why they were in the dungeon in the first place.

Huh?

We were playing an adventure module...a modified one, but still a module. It presents a scenario...a reason for being there. A background is presented, and your characters are supposed to be motivated to be there. Treasure. Danger. The whole nine yards, ya' know?

It didn't seem enough to him.

On pondering, I guess it wouldn't have been enough for me either.

I'm going to consider the question more for our upcoming Thursday night game and think about what (if anything) I can do about it. Right now, I can only look at it in terms of myself and my feelings.

It's the same old chestnut, chewed over at the Forge multiple times, relating to the ability of story magically emerging in-play. For some people...maybe those over the age of 13 (15 or so for males) there's an interest in their RPG being about something. An idea that more is at stake here than simple house-breaking and tomb-robbing. And there's this great hope that when we are done with a play session, we can "look back on what we've wrought" and see some sort of existing coherent narrative tapestry...a "story" that has been created by the events of the game play.

It's tough to do this with RPGs not expressly built to facilitate this agenda...like Dungeons & Dragons. And yet, I'm not really ready to junk D&D in favor of an indie-fantasy RPG that addresses story directly...I prefer the abstract systems of B/X D&D as written for a fast-paced, exciting game that provides all the means one needs to create a fantasy world.

Maybe a random motivation or "kicker" chart IS needed. Certainly both the Hats and the Relationship tables have been highly successful so far.

The Last Expedition into the Unknown

[we'll have to see if this ends up being a two-parter post or not]

Thursday night, in continuation of last week's game, my brother ("Shmutzy the Sorcerer") led his band of merry men (and women) back to Castle Q...with a WAGON (Expert set page X9, description X10) pulled by four draft horses and the idea they were going to make a REAL dent in the treasure pool.

Going up to the cave entrance they found the door to the stronghold had been replaced with a shiny new one...heavy oak and brass bound.

Hmm, that's interesting, thought AB. But that's why we brought the dwarf along.

Grouch is unable to batter the thing down. "It appears to be barred and/or locked." Grouch still has his magic battle axe...you want to chop it down?

Nah, then they'll hear us coming. Wait can we set fire to it? We have oil...let's do that.

Yes, setting fire to the front door is a much more subtle way to make an entrance.

We both laugh at the thought of "smoking 'em out." Though, ABles still hasn't bothered to think about who "them" could possibly be. I know. Check out this false rumor made true:

(F) Zelligar and Rogahn have actually returned to their stronghold, and woe be to any unwelcome visitors!

I had decided over the course of the intervening week that the party had done enough damage in the stronghold on consecutive visits that Z and R had decided it was time to organize a defense against the invaders, who were sure to return.

Using his new and improved map Shmutzy and Co. made their way down the long corridor, ignoring the side alcoves, including the ones with secret doors (defensively places) already discovered by the party in prior expeditions.

We don't want to go that way this time...we're heading straight back to the treasure pool.

They found the end of the corridor blocked by sticky webs...as if from a giant spider. Hmm...

While still trying to decide what to do, a voice boomed out from beyond the webbing, "Who dares invade the stronghold of Zelligar and Rogahn? What business have you here besides trespass and base thievery?"

AB considered the question. Why the hell are we here anyway? We're basically just knocking over some dudes' house huh? Um, yeah. I guess he's got us dead to rights.

As Grouch approached the webs to try to cut through them, a trio of magic missiles struck him. At the same time a roar from behind signaled an attack from several ogres led by an enormous knight in shining armor!

All hell breaks loose.

Selma the witch uses her wand to polymorph an ogre into a scurrying rat before being felled by a second one. Carey and Grouch charge back to help out and Shmutzy launches a fireball from his own wand at the webs setting them on fire and illuminating the form of a cloaked and hooded figure beyond. Carey the halfling then charges the wizard who launches several spells (charm person, polymorph other), all of which are saved spectacularly. Shmutzy tosses a fireball into the ogres but Rogahn comes through nearly unscathed thanks to a ring of fire resistance...Grouch, on the other hand takes quite a blast and Rogahn caves in his his rib cage and several vital organs with a huge blow of his sword. The dour dwarf dies scowling.

Carey nearly manages to finish off Zelligar with a dagger blow. In the next round Z gains initiative and (panicking) shouts a word of magic and disappears. Damn, says AB, he can teleport too? Carey runs back to help Lady Troya with the remaining ogre. Rogahn pushes forward and hacks Shmutzy for minimal damage. The slash reduces the magic-user to half his hit points. Shmutzy casts mirror image and surrounds himself with a few friends.

Then: elation and disaster. Carey and Lady Troya take down the final ogre and a masterful polymorph other spell from Shmutzy the Sorcerer transforms Roghan into a slug. However, a FWOOOOSH-kaboom! signals the beginning of the end as the INVISIBLE Zelligar sends a fireball of his own hurtling down the hallway into the melee.

Oh...he didn't teleport after all...was Shmutzy's last thought before perishing, a flaming scarecrow of cooking meat and blackened bone.

Carey charges back up the hallway, dagger poised to strike. Zelligar takes no chances with the indomitable halfling and seals the corridor with a wall of ice. The halfling curses, gouging at the barrier in frustration.

[I should note Zelligar was an 8th level magic-user...he used every spell in his repertoire except wizard lock and sleep. Rogahn I wrote up as a 10th level fighter with 18 strength due in part to his weight training regime (see room XXXVII)...not that it helped against a fourth level spell]

Carey and Troya decided to take out their frustration on something that bleeds: Rogahn the slug. Rather than retreat from the dungeon they continued to hack and hew at the slug (in B/X, a polymorphed individual retains its original hit points). This continued for several rounds...until a troll appeared, again through the same defensive secret doors (directed by Zelligar, of course). Carey decided to engage the huge humanoid...who achieved initiative, grabbed the halfling, and ripped a chunk of skull and brain from his head with a vicious bite (the troll hit the little guy twice, reducing him to -2 hit points). The cleric, deciding to leave the troll to its meal, chose to flee rather than continue the fight.

Later AB and I agree that after the loss of both her ex-fiancee and her husband...as well as all her adventuring companions...the Lady Troya decided to hie herself to a nunnery.

Full post-game analysis to follow.

[by the way...the 2nd half of the Seahawks game just started and the 'Hawks picked off a pass for a TD. Score 21-6 over the 49ers. Hope it holds...Go Seahawks!]

Once More Into the Unknown

Two weeks ago, my brother and I sat down at the Baranof to play a little D&D. Since then we have met on subsequent Thursdays, including last night. This appears to have turned into a "regular thing" for us, surprisingly. Surprisingly because there have been so many years since we actually gamed together, surprisingly because how we've both grown and developed over the years...and really surprisingly as I thought he'd totally sworn off table-top gaming altogether.

But whatever...it appears both of us have matured over the years somewhat, though I am still gleeful at getting the opportunity to F with his characters, and he still takes delight in needling me and my wanting to be "more serious" in the game. We seem to have reached a happy medium of gaming.

And the beer helps, of course.

; )

We'll have to see what happens when we have a couple new people join us. Steve-O really wanted to show up last night, but it was his roommate's birthday and they were hanging out in Mountlake Terrace (a far northern suburb). He even asked if there was any chance we could game later this weekend, but my schedule was pretty well booked except for today and he's working a 24-hour shift, so...eh, maybe next week.

Nearly pulled a change-up to Top Secret (1st edition only, please) last night, in fact, seeing as how we'd originally planned for two players and were down to one. However, my brother was late in meeting me last night and I completely forgot this idea as we headed out the door to the bar.

Now those who read my post last Saturday know that AB's newly created character was a magic-user named Shmutzy. And I'm sorry I never got around to posting Part 2, but wine tasting and general relaxation took as much out of me as the driving back-and-forth to Yakima thing. Here are the notes from LAST WEEK's adventure in Castle Q.

- The five party members set out for Castle Q: Shmutzy the Sorcerer, his wife Lady Troya the cleric (6th level), Zaras the Magnificent (7th level MU), Carey the Clever (6th level Halfling), and Grouch Stonehelm (6th level dwarf). Shmutzy was determined to correct prior mapping errors and get some real treasure, his appetite having been whetted by the 1000 or so gold coins found in the owl bears' nest.

- But his FIRST order of business was to collect the dwarf's plate mail armor which had been dumped into a pit/pool of water trap. Recall the party had previously been upended into a pool of water by a false door trap, and that the dwarf had disrobed to save himself from drowning? Well, for whatever reason (possibly because AB forgot about it until they'd reached the caves), they did not bother replacing the plate mail back at town. So AB was determined to fish the armor out of the pool. And anyway, he DID have the spell Water Breathing (recall I made him roll spells randomly? This was one he felt was useful enough to keep).

- Now for those who missed it, remember that I had previously decided all false rumors/legends were now TRUE, and all true rumors/legends were now FALSE. One (previously false) legend in B1 is:

(F) The treasures of Zelligar and Rogahn are safely hidden in a pool of water.

I had already previously decided that the water trap was the pool in which the villains' treasure was hidden...about 70,000 gold pieces worth.

But AB had no knowledge of this.

- I tried (honestly!) to dissuade my brother from searching the damn pool, but he was totally insistent...all because of being penny-pinching (I remember now) about the dwarf's damn armor. So they cast water breathing on the halfling and lowered him into the pool, forcing him to dive in the dark searching for the armor while the party suspended a lantern over the water by means of their rope. And what do ya' know...the halfling starts coming up to the surface with handfuls of coins and jewels.

Oh, man...was it on.

- The adventure quickly changed from a "dungeon exploration" adventure to a "treasure recovery operation." Through a rapid design of ropes and cooperated man-power, they strung up lights, and the bag of holding (looted previously from Meaty's corpse) and put the halfling on "dive duty" bringing up a steady stream of (tiny) handfuls of loot.

All I was left to do was roll for wandering monsters.

- I'm trying to remember exactly the order in which monsters appeared. Overall, there were four wandering monsters encountered before the bag of holding had been filled and the halfling being mercifully hauled up to dry. There was a wandering owl bear "guard," a pair of kobold "servants," and a pair of ogre "guests," before the final encounter (a gelatinous cube sweeping the hallway). One of these first three encounters (the owl bear or the ogres) managed to surprise the party and Shmutzy, being a might jumpy blasted the thing with his wand of fireballs, inadvertently singeing Grouch and completely smoking Zaras due to their placement. After the death of one of their own, the party was more active in setting a guard while the salvage op was in full swing, and the other monsters were dispatched without hitch.

- A word about gelatinous cubes: what the hell? Despite having a guard set, the thing still managed to achieve surprise (they have a higher than average chance of surprise anyway), but how does a thing that fills the entire 10' x 10' corridor sneak up on you? And how exactly does it "attack" anyways?

Well, it DID achieve surprise and it DID successfully attack Grouch. I described this as "suddenly, Grouch gives a gurgle and you see him suddenly suspended in mid-air, apparently caught in some sort of clear, jelly-like substance filling the corridor." Shmutzy hit the thing with three magic missiles and the damage was enough to absolutely destroy the thing, dropping Grouch to the floor.

- After completely filling the bag of holding and realizing there was (literally) tons of treasure still underwater, the party decided it was time to head back town. Rather than burying their treasure or storing it with a local merchant (or trying to exchange it for gem stones or something) they invested in houses, buying a mansion-sized stone building and a normal wood building. Talk about capitalism...AB wanted to make sure the "re-sale" value would be good and was somewhat wary of getting into the "real estate market." I explained that it wasn't 21st century U.S. economy we were talking about here, and he finally pulled the trigger on the purchases...sheesh!

This transaction also led to a party altercation and the near-death of Shmutzy at the hands of Grouch. Grouch was already peeved with Shmutzy for a variety of reasons: hitting him with a fireball and frying Zaras, looting his best friend's body (Meaty) and keeping the best magic items and/or giving items to his wife (the cleric), as well as generally talking down and heckling the dwarf and his Charisma of 3. After buying the houses, he announced that Shmutzy, Troya, and Carey would live in the big stone mansion while Grouch would be relegated to the wood house, "so as not to stink things up when we throw parties and such." Grouch had finally had enough and after rolling a quick Reaction roll and coming up snake-eyes, hit the sorcerer with his axe!

Rather than retaliate, Shmutzy played the Gandhi/pacifist card and fast-talked his way into Grouch letting him live. A few concessions were made and the party was once again a whole (if slightly dysfunctional) family. However, the "curse" of Castle Q seemed like it was still in effect...another False rumor was being proven true with each visit to the dungeon:

(F) The place is protected by the gods themselves, and one member of any party of intruders is doomed to certain death.

Two visits and two party deaths. But AB had no knowledge of this legend (and even if he had, how would he know whether it was true or false?). The rest of the treasure was used to buy a wagon and a pair of draft horses and (after hiring a new magic-user: Selma the Witch) the party was ready to head back to the mountain stronghold for a new session of looting.

That trip would be resolved in last night's session.

Back Into the Unknown (Part 1)

Two thursdays ago, my brother and I played B/X D&D at one of the perpetual fixtures of Greenwood (Seattle)...the Baranof restaurant and bar. This last Thursday I asked AB (my brother) if he want to play again.

"Hell yeah."

So instead of hanging with the local Greenwood game group (the Emerald City Gamefest, who indeed were playing some form of house-ruled Dungeons & Dragons that night), AB and I went straight to Baranof's, ordered a pitcher of beer, cleared a table in the empty and closed restaurant, and pulled out the ol' D&D books and dice.

Those who followed the earlier posts know that I was running a modified version of B1: In Search of the Unknown. I'd adapted it for levels 5-7 (with appropriate strength monsters) and reversed all the rumors (so that the false ones were true, and the true ones all false). My brother's character...a 7th level fighter with 18 strength named "Meaty"...had his back broken by an owl bear at the end of our last session. Honestly, I wasn't sure what we would do this particular evening...I brought Death Frost Doom along, thinking we might start a new adventure...but ABles wanted to pick up where we'd left off.

The middle of combat in other words.

There were only two owl bears left, one having been reduced to smoking ash by Zaras the Magnificent's lightning bolt. Between the four party members remaining, including Grouch the (literally) naked dwarf, I wasn't able to kill any of the other party members, and they finished the beasts and looted their nest for 1000 gp worth of coins and small gemstones. Satisfied to loot the body of their fallen comrade, they went back to town to find a "new leader" (i.e. my brother wanted a new character to replace Meaty).

Rolling 3D6 in order for ability scores can definitely be 'hit or miss.' Personally, I've learned to really work with the "less than optimal" characters this method creates, and enjoy the challenge of playing 'em. However, the first two sets of attributes were even LESS "less optimal" than normal, and my brother doesn't have quite the tolerance for this kind of thing as me. "Yeah, we're not going to hire those guys."

Well, there's only one more individual in the tavern that's 'adventurer caliber,' says I, meaning: you get one more roll. The last guy was likewise not-too-great, but my bro' took him like a good sport. With only a 7 Constitution, the options of Halfling and Dwarf were out, and he was a little peeved that the character's 13 strength suggested only a Fighter...and a lesser one from the burly Meaty to boot.

'You know that you can be anything else, right? You could be a magic-user with that 11 intelligence, and all it would mean is that you don't get a bonus on earned XP.'

High intelligence doesn't do anything mechanically?

'Besides adding languages and giving magic-users an XP bonus? No.'

All right, I'll try a magic-user.

He still ended up dropping the strength to 9 and boosting the Intelligence to 13 (some XP bonus is better than none), and he created Shmutzy the Sorcerer (7th level magic-user). Spells were rolled randomly, but I allowed him to change any one from each level. The only change he made was to switch Hold Portal for Shield, though he spent all three of his 1st level spell slots memorizing Magic Missile. His last 1st level spell was Read Languages, not Sleep, which was only briefly considered before being discarded...Sleep really is more useful in the beginning levels than it is at mid-high levels (it would have done zilch against the owl bears, for instance).

Shmutzy's randomly determined magic items included a wand of fireballs, a ring of spell turning, and a helm of teleportation. Since we were still using my B/X Headgear tables, it was decided the "helm" might take a different appearance from a standard helmet...and it certainly did! After several dice rolls it was determined he had a long tasseled hood, multi-colored (albino white and dark brown), with a figurine ornament. AB suggested we scan his character sheets so you can see his illustrations, and perhaps I'll do that when we get back from Yakima.

Finally, we decided Shmutzy had a prior relationship with one random member of the party. Turned out it was Lady Troy (or Lady Troya, as we started calling her) the cleric. Rolling we found...they were married!

This provided us both with a pretty good laugh considering the prior week's adventure, where Lady Troya had gone off on an adventure with her ex-fiancee. We decided they had argued a bit, perhaps over the inclusion of "Meaty" in the party, and Shmutzy had decided to sulk in the tavern while his wife went off on the adventure. Now that Meaty had "met his destiny," Shmutzy was willing to re-join the group...though not without giving them a hard time for their "pathetic mapping" (AB had decided he needed to re-map the dungeon as his previous napkin scribblings was less than satisfactory). We decided there had been a long-standing rivalry between Meaty and Shmutzy, though the magic-user's brains and charm (Charisma 14) had won over fair lady despite a shaky constitution and serious muscle deficit.

Re-stocked with manpower, the party was now ready to re-enter Stronghold Q in search of adventure!

[a few notes...folks may be un-impressed with the use of random charts to develop intra-party relationships/backgrounds, and I understand that. After all, experienced role-players and/or ones that have long relationships with each other at the gaming table often develop these kind of "back stories" on the fly with no problem. My brother is NOT what I'd call an experienced role-player...he played D&D, Shadow Run, ElfQuest, and the usual TSR RPGs as a kid (Gamma World was a favorite), but never with any great "depth." For him, role-playing was a fun game, not an exercise in method acting, nor a creative writing exercise. However, he is imaginative/creative...once we use these random tables, he is totally able to riff off them and collaborate on working out character backgrounds. Not that we spend a lot of time on this...I don't think ABles is really interested in character immersion of any depth...but having this info available gives a backdrop to work within, and makes the actions taken - and the consequences thereof - more meaningful, and often, more entertaining!

While it appears the Thursday night gaming at Baranof's is becoming a regular excursion, I'm still treating this as a "one-off" game, NOT the beginning of a campaign. In thinking about this now, I'm probably making a bit of a mistake if I DO plan on turning these sessions into a long-term campaign. Should "Shmutzy" (or whomever) survive more than 1 or 2 sessions, AB may very well want to "continue" with this character rather than "start from scratch" in a new campaign with a new character. However, that's a bridge I'll have to cross once I come to it. Right now, it's enough for me that I've got a Thursday night D&D game going. Heck, Steve is supposed to be joining us this week. We'll see if that actually occurs.]

D&D at the Baranof (Part 3)

[continued from here]

I'll spare you the suspense: my brother's character was killed.

By owl bears.

How awesome is that?

It went down like this:

Asked AB what marching order he wanted to assign to his party. He replied (after only slight deliberation): Halfling, then Dwarf, then Cleric, then Meaty (the fighter), then the Magic-User last.

Really? You're really going to let everyone march in front of you? When your character is a 7th level fighter with an AC of 1 and, like, 30+ hit points?

'Yeah. How do you think my character got to 7th level?'

I can see why the Dwarf with the 3 charisma is your best friend. C'mon...you're going to let your ex-fiancee walk point before you do?

'Ok, fine, Meaty will walk IN FRONT of the cleric...jeez!'

And so off they went.

There are quite a few doors in B1...stuck, wooden doors that need to be kicked open. AB liked to go through doors...they would break down most every door they encountered. Generally, he would have Grouch (the dwarf) do the honors. Unfortunately, I was rolling extremely poorly for door opening rolls and despite his 16 strength, ol' Grouch ended up bruising his shoulder more than half the time. After every failed roll, Meaty would shoulder his way to the front of the line and blast the door down with his 18 strength...grumbling the whole time.

The first inhabitants the party encountered was in the stronghold's kitchen: a trio of kobolds were busy cooking up something for the lords of the Fortress Q.

[yes, Rogahn and Zelligar were both healthy and present in the stronghold. Remember that all False rumors were True and vice versa. Rumor #18(F): Zelligar and Rogahn have actually returned to their stronghold and woe be to any unwelcome visitors!]

Do you want to attack the little dog men?

'Um, well, no...let's try diplomacy first. Does anyone speak kobold?'

[I have to say, I was shocked with this approach from my WoW-addled sibling...is it standard practice in 4th edition games to talk to the encounters rather than attack? I guess my brother is a throwback as well]

Hmm...it appears the only character that speaks kobold is your best friend, Grouch the dwarf.

'Grouch will talk to them!'

I roll reaction modifying for Grouch's Charisma of 3 and the kobolds attack, only to die quickly and messily. My brother and I laugh over our beers at Grouch's attempt at "tactful greeting."

A few long corridors, a couple storerooms, and a bit of being lost in the twisting turns of Castle Q and the party finds itself in Zelligar's indoor garden chamber. Unfortunately, I'm mean and there are several shriekers present who start to give off a keening wail as the party's harsh torchlight lights the darkened room.

Shriekers are 3HD apiece (!!) and it takes several rounds for the characters to kill them. Dicing for wandering monsters, I find a lumbering owl bear ambling down the corridor to investigate the noise. The characters nut up and gang bang the thing dropping it in a single round, though Meaty takes a blow from a forepaw (a taste of what was to come). As usual, I was rolling 6s for initiative, even though I couldn't open a door with the same six-sider.

The next encounter took place in the "visitor's lounge" where my notes read "evil centaur." The evil centaur was checking out the life-size marble statue of a beautiful nude woman. Deciding to try negotiating again, the party this time put forth "Lady Troy" (the cleric) to do their talking. At first, the horse-man was well-disposed to the pretty lady in the chain coif as they tried to bluff their way into some useful info. However, he was eventually tipped off by their drawn and bloodied weapons and when Meaty opened his mouth to lie his ass off, the Reaction dice came up snake-eyes and the centaur attacked.

And died. Quickly.

Per the module, the statue is "obviously of great value" but is nearly impossible to move due to its great weight. AB decided Meaty would throw his bag of holding over the thing and knock it over (possibly using the party's 10' pole as a suitable lever). I'd had a couple by this time and decided this was a fine plan, though the statue took up most of the room in his bag (which can hold half a ton!).

More wandering, including finding and perusing Zelligar's bedroom (Big Z wasn't there...I had him located in his workshop/lab) didn't net them any more treasure...I can't recall why they didn't loot the wizard's bedroom; I believe they even left the books that looked valuable if un-decipherable.

I should note that my Virgo brother was mapping the whole time...drawing on a spread-open napkin with a pencil. Despite a lack of graph paper and my conspicuously dubious measurements ("the corridor extends 50 or 80 feet and then turns left...") he actually did a pretty good job of mapping. Later he remarked:

"Keeping a good map...or even a half-assed map...is a real time-saver. That part in the southeast where we were lost was mainly due to beer, but otherwise I had a good idea where to go and how to get out with just a few scratch marks."

[I am paraphrasing]

Eventually their lack of a thief (or their general disregard for safety) got the better of them and they blundered into a false door/pit trap that dropped most of the party 40' into a deep pool of cold water. Faced with dis-encumbering themselves or risk drowning, AB decided that Meaty would dump the statue and Grouch would strip off his plate mail, while the Lady Troy would try to tread water in her armor. Fortunately, all of the party members were able to make their swimming checks and the magic-user (who had NOT fallen in the drink) was able to help them out with a length of rope. 'I'll come back for the statue,' vowed Meaty. Such was not to be.

Finding the stronghold's armory was not nearly as big a coup as they'd expected...most of the gear was broken, old, or otherwise useless. However, they could smell treasure nearby and they anxiously pressed on. Kicking in the door at the opposite end of the armory they found themselves in the stronghold barracks facing several "guards:" three owl bears!

While the magic-user's lightning bolt spell left one monster in smoking ruins, AB may have overestimated his chances against the remaining two beasts as Meaty and Crouch waded into melee, Lady Troy providing healing and Carey doing his usual 'floating.'

[by the way, a 6th level halfling with a 12 strength and a +3 dagger does just fine in combat when you're using the All-Weapons-Do-D6-Damage rule]

Grouch, no longer wearing plate mail, was quickly scooped up in a bear hug and took massive amounts of damage. Meaty, still wearing his +3 chain, was also hit with every single attack of the owl bear (including the automatic hug attack). Unlike the dwarf, Meaty did not have 42 hit points. Despite the cleric focusing all her healing power on the fighter, the second round saw him take enough damage from the beast's hug to bring him to -2 hit points.

Quickly I rolled on my 50 Ways to Die table: "a massive blow crushes your spine killing you instantly." The owl bear had broken Meaty's meaty back!

As we had finished our pitcher at this point and it was 10pm (we' been playing close to two hours), I decided to call the session rather than finish out the fight with the NPCs. As it was, the fight was shaping up to be at least a half-TPK (Grouch was well on his way to joining his best buddy in the Happy Hunting Grounds)...and since Lady Troy was NOT carrying a raise dead spell (I guess she was level 6 after all), I figured it was time to head home to wife and beagles.

"It was the damn claw-claw-bite that did me in," analyzed my brother, something I've discussed on this blog before myself. Beware the big creature with the multiple attacks, for they are truly the most dangerous game!

I have to say that I really had fun gaming with my brother, and just being able to walk into Gary's the next day and tell Tim, "yeah, my brother got taken apart by owl bears"...man, is that just a fun phrase to say! Makes me smile just thinking about it (owl bears are definitely on my Top Ten List of favorite D&D monsters).

Anyhoo, AB is thinking of playing again, and perhaps I'll skip the Thursday ECGF game in favor of beers and B/X at Baranof's from now on...Lord knows, it was one of the best times gaming I've had in awhile (face-to-face play, adult company, booze...what more could you want?). If we do, we might pick up where we left off and we might not...ABles has been saying he's interested in play-testing the B/X Companion, so perhaps we'll take my half-finished adventure module for a spin. It might be just the push I need to get the damn thing ready for publishing!

; )

D&D at the Baranof (Part 2)

[continued from here; sorry for the delay!]

A little more than a year ago, I managed to pick up an old, sepia colored copy of B1:In Search of the Unknown, an adventure module first written and published (I presume) to use with the Holmes Basic D&D set. B1 is a module I've never had a chance to run or play, and I was excited to try it out with my brother.

The module IS a little "tweaked" from the adventure as originally written. For one thing, I've chucked all the monster and treasure lists from B1 itself, instead making the adventure in the Level 5-7 (Expert) range. Tougher monsters, bigger treasures in other words.

Oh, yeah...I also decided to mix it up by making every false rumor TRUE, and every true rumor FALSE. Now THAT's a game of a different shade (especially considering I had to write up R and Z...the adventurers to whom Castle Q belongs!)! When I told the Doc about that he thought that was a crazy idea, "the false rumors are always the really extreme ones!" Yeah, that's what makes it more fun.

It also means I only had to stock half the dungeon. Two of the true rumors (now false) included:

- the dungeon is un-finished

- the dungeon has more than one level

Answering both those questions "no" made my prep time A LOT shorter.

Anyway, house rules were as follows:

• Straight B/X
• No variable weapon damage (all weapons do D6)
• Two-handed weapons add double their strength bonus, though still striking last

Um...is that it? No, wait we also used my three beautiful, random tables: B/X Headgear, 100 Reasons, and 50 Ways to Die. Remember those?

And wow, they worked great! Really. My brother does a little cartooning, so he drew each character's respective headgear on their character sheet to better picture them...and the relationships (I made him roll for Meaty's relationship with all four NPCs) really helped give Meaty interesting ways/reasons to interact with the other NPCs, as well as providing insight and backstory for his character. For example:

Carey the Clever (Halfling 6; headgear: hat with feather) - they met each other when meeting on the road, neither giving way, and fighting a duel with each other that ended in a tie. Considering that Carey is a halfling with no attribute above 12 (3D6 in order remember?), and Meaty has an 18 strength, AB was much more inclined to allow Carey his "clever" moniker. The little guy MUST have done something ingenious to fight the burly warrior to a stand-still.

Troy the Righteous (Cleric 6 or 7, can't remember; headgear: chain coif) - were once betrothed/engaged but one broke it off...they're now friends. From this relationship, we deduced that "Troy" was in fact female, the Lady Troy (or "Linda" or Lady Linda of Troy). This made for several interesting scenes in dungeon, when Meaty was forced to choose between pragmatic solutions and not being a total heel regarding his ex-lover. As the Lady Troy tended to stay close to Meaty and provide him with healing, it appeared she might still be carrying a bit of a torch for the guy.

"Grouch" Stonehelm (Dwarf 6; headgear: Roman-style helm) - best friends. What does it say when your best friend is a dwarf with a charisma of 3? Grouch was yet another victim of the 3D6 in order roll and was consequently one surly SOB. And yet he and Meaty were best friends. They worked well in tandem (being the heavy hitters, while Carey acted as a "floater" or "striker"), but eventually we decided they were best friends simply because they had out-lasted all prior adventuring companions. They definitely had a mutual respect for each other's melee might.

[BTW, the last guy's relationship never really came up in play, though I thought it might be interesting:

Some Magic-User, name un-remembered (Magic-User 7; headgear: short conical cap) - shares a secret psychic bond.

This never actually came up in play as AB took an immediate dislike to the "pansy" magic-user (though he used less complimentary terms). Usually relegated to the back of the party, Munio (I think his name was) was treated as a nuisance despite my attempts (as DM) to make him nothing but utilitarian/helpful. For whatever reason, ABle had a chip on his shoulder for this guy from the get-go...perhaps because he attached the moniker "the Magnificent" to his name...I really don't know. Regardless, AB was hostile towards the guy and I couldn't really figure out how to make the "psychic bond" work so it didn't get used.]

I will write more on the actual adventure...later. There's still some discussion with AB as to whether or not he wants to continue the mission or not (you'll see why when I post the next bit). But regardless, I'll give you the full run-down from last Thursday later this afternoon/evening.

: )

["full run-down" posted here]

D&D at the Baranof (Part 1)

So it didn't happen the way I thought it would, but I finally had a chance to play D&D last night (Thursday)...with my own brother of all people!

The original plan was to run a game at the Thursday night meeting of the Emerald City Gamefest. Unfortunately, things being what they were this week, I totally half-assed and botched the whole thing. First, I didn't get my game on the schedule until Wednesday night (*sigh* ...computers), then I was running around doing too many things Thursday after work. The end result...I didn't actually get to Wayward till 7:30 or so, and the gamers already had a game going...about 8 people playing Truth & Justice.

They invited me to join 'em but I really didn't feel like it...I'm kind of tired of being the newb that arrives late and has to get filled in on the rules as well as the story. Plus I really didn't want to play T&J or a superhero game anyway. I've been jonesin' for some B/X action for about a month now and well...drinking coffee and getting jittery throwing down hero narrative just didn't appeal.

So I left, and waited outside for my brother.

Yes, AB is back in town...got back from North Carolina about 10 days ago and has been staying with me and the Mrs. (as usual) while searching for a job and a new place to live. Now I've mentioned before that ABles isn't big on the nerdy RPGs anymore (he's a World of Warcraft fan when he can afford the account and the computer...so much more cool), but tonight he was in the mood to play and had asked to tag along to game night. He's been pretty jazzed about the book publishing thang, but tonight he claimed he was simply bored.

I was waiting for him outside because (on the walk over) he had decided he needed to run down to the smoke shop to get chewing tobacco.

When he came up he wanted to know why I wasn't inside.

"It's a no-go," I explained. "They've already started and there're no stragglers waiting for another game; everyone's just playing around one big table."

Well why don't we join 'em? Asks he. If they already have eight or nine people what's one or two more?

"We could join, but I don't feel like playing in a crowd tonight, and I didn't really want to playthat game. Let's just grab a beer from the bar and head home."

Then he proposes that WE play...just one-on-one. Like the old times.

I am taken aback. AB has not played D&D...or any role-playing game...in close to 20 years.

"Ok," I say. "But let's go play somewhere we can drink." And off we go to the Baranof.

The Baranof, or just "Baranof's" as Greenwood folks tend to call it, is just about the sleeziest, oldest dive bar / greasy spoon in the 'hood...possibly in North Seattle. It has managed to outlast many, many eateries, bars, and businesses in the area over the years...including McDonalds! It is beloved by many, possibly due in part to having Seattle's longest happy hour: 6am to around 8ish, if I remember correctly. When my buddy's bar burned down a few years back (also in Greenwood), I took him to Baranof's to drown his sorrows as it was the only bar open that early in the morning and serving stiff drinks. Hey, what are friends for?

ANYway...AB and I went to Baranof's which advertises on the door: "Bad food, warm beer, lousy service." Inside, another sign says "Beware pickpockets and loose women." The restaurant portion of the place was just closing (it was around 8:30), but the waitress told us it was no problem if we wanted to order a drink from the bar and hang out in a booth in the dining room. We got a pitcher and did just that.

AB asked if I had characters already made up. Yes. He wanted to roll up his own character and take along a few "companions." No problem...I provided him with pencil and paper. "How do you do this again?" he asked. I explained we were playing B/X so characters were rolled up the old fashioned way: 3D6 in order. Like a champ, he remembered the proper ability score order.

His character ended up being a fighter with an 18 Strength (after dropping his Intelligence from 13 to 9 and increasing his Prime Req from its initial value of 16). Wisdom and Dex were both 7 and everything else was average. After discarding the names "Meatball" and "Bolognese" (the latter was "too Italian") he decided on just calling his character Meaty. Meaty was 7th level and started the game with a handful of magic items rolled randomly: chain mail +2, shield +2, war hammer +1, and a bag of holding. He wanted to roll his hit points randomly...and I discovered I had not a single eight-sided dice! What?!

Fortunately, Baranof's is right next door to Gary's Games, and the shop hadn't closed. I ran over there with 2 minutes to spare, purchased a few random dice of varying sides (including two D8s) and made it back before AB had finished his pint.

Of the eight pre-gens, we decided he would have four joining his party: two would be under his control and two under the DM's. He was allowed to know their names and classes when selecting party members, and nothing else. He chose a halfling and a cleric (which he would control) as well as a dwarf and magic-user, which would be left in the control of the DM (the four pre-gens left behind? A fighter, an elf, a thief, and a second magic-user). It was an interesting selection for sure.

So ready, we began his adventure:

B1:In Search of the Unknown.

[to be continued]

In Search of Module B1

In my earlier post about the Holmes Basic set, I mentioned that the adventure module B1: In Search of the Unknown had always intrigued me, mainly because 1) I was never able to locate a copy and 2) I couldn't figure out why my Basic set (the Moldvay version) came with B2 as the introductory module. Wouldn't it make more sense to include B1 as the introductory module to the Basic set? Of course, at the time I was unaware there had already been a Basic D&D set.

So now, I've had a chance to read and consider B1, taking into account prior experiences and adventures, as well as the differences between Holmes, Moldvay, etc. And having considered all that, despite not yet running/playing B1, I can safely say:

This is an excellent module.

Now, of course I can't bump it onto my top ten list (since one of the criteria is that I must have played it...either as a DM or PC...to grade it). But there's a distinct possibility it could land on the upper echelon if I ever DO have the chance to run it.

And here's the reason I give it such high marks. It's not because of its "re-play factor" with its semi-random monster/treasure coding; I've seen this kind of thing before with TSR introductory modules, specifically Top Secret's TS:0.

It's not because of its low gradient of challenge, excellent for 1st level characters (probably moreso than B2, even).

Rather, it's the adventure itself. The objective of B1 is not "unknown" at all; it is very specific: the mysterious stronghold of a pair high-level adventurers that have gone missing. The party finds a map to the adventurers' hidden lair and decide to ransack it while the "cat's away." Basically, the adventurers are in the business to do a bit of house-breaking and petty larceny. How punk rock is that?

Then the adventure itself: the stronghold "Q" that the PCs burgle is set up in all ways except the stocking of monsters and treasure. This is a dungeon that "makes sense;" the rooms are the bedrooms, labs, trophy chambers, and barracks of the high level adventurers, their henchmen, their mistresses. Store rooms and armories, as well as the occasional trap or magical experimentation room are all logically placed. I imagine that exploring Q is very much like going through the mansion of some rich, paranoid, eccentric. Each room is excellently detailed, including a few hard-to-move items of value that carry the consequence of allowing their owners to track any would-be thieves (should said owners ever return)...tons of actual role-playing consequences inherent in an introductory adventure!

The best part about something like this is that is eminently scalable. The owners of stronghold Q are never detailed. Since there are no set encounters, it is easy enough to add higher level challenges to the game (bugbears instead of orcs, purple worms instead of carrion crawlers, etc.). For mid-level adventurers, simply adding a "0" onto the end of treasures found would probably be enough to make the module worth their while. Maybe the owners of the stronghold are levels 9 and 10, maybe they're levels 20 and 21...the adventure background and room descriptions can be used "as is" and the monsters simply geared to match the PCs expectation. That's the real "re-play" value of B1.

Anyway, I dig it a lot. I may very well pull the adventurers in my B2 campaigns (my wife and nephews) to send them off "in search of the unknown." It would seem to be a fairly short delve, easily cleared out (assuming they don't get lost in one of the several magical traps that abound), and one that would give them a decent boost in XP and treasure prior to their return to the Caves of Chaos.

Very cool...I am glad I picked it up.