#sessionrecap

 I was a touch late to this month’s Gaming Initiative, but still went through quite a bit of content! Some players wanted to take a break this time, which was fine, hopefully next time they’ll join in this little army! I haven’t yet set up a gaming group besides the initiative but have gotten contact info from a few more (hello ya’ll if you are reading this)! Check out the cool learn by play module here for free!

The Characters

Diana, (Catfolk Ranger, Master of One HP Enders)

Expo (Gnome Named After Markers Nearby, KO’d Twice)

Grr (Bear Man Warrior and Collector of Fine Bone Cutlery!) New

Ivan (Dwarf Tank, One Shots Stuff like a Boss) On Break This Ses

Janera (I Probably Way Misspelled It, Elven Mage Archer!)

Rose (Magey Elf With A Sword Who Missed So Much; Played by my sister!) On Break This Ses

Tomato (Turtle Guy With A Bow; Played by @timothyofumbrella!)

What Happened (Spoilers For Those Who Haven’t Played)

Fresh Meat

 Leaving the Ancient Ruins with the Scepter in hand the adventuring group decided to go past the beach where they were stranded in the first place. They however came across some new members, in the middle of a fight between Wapunny and Wapungo! After many rounds of missing on each side the new members Grr and Janera (like I said probably misspelled it) each got a few kills! Expo the poor gnome was knocked out with a tomahawk crit. They fit right in, taking gruesome trophies from the fallen, and scaring the Wapunny away! The group decided to check out the Big Head, the one which the Wapunny had warned them of before!

Big Head to a Fell Wind

  Finding the large statue to be made of bone, the group decided to investigate further. The land around it seemed to be suspiciously void of life, past it was completely dead! Walking across the peninsula as the wind started to whip some loose sand up, after a particularly powerfully gust of wind revealed a field of bones. These bones of course were skeletons, Expo got knocked out again while Tomato came close to! Mostly Diana and Grr trashed them with multi attacks! The group stalled after that near a grave that seemed to belong to the dream girl, Asha! Grr opened the chest (attempting to read a letter but mostly confusing with growls) and got a magic ring with a secret.

Meeting With the Other Side

 Though the group had taken the side of the Wapunny this whole time they decided to talk with the Wapungo! Getting some more trust of the village through the clever disguise work of Janera. They discovered that not only was the dream girl Asha dead, but that she was appearing to the Chief of the Wapungo as well. They convinced the Chief that in exchange for some resources they would seek out the Sceptor (while of course having the item in their possession already). They also learned of the way towards the mountain, a series of caverns full of sun fearing cannibals which are extending their grasp!

Final Thoughts

 The new players fit in right away, and they made their characters pretty quick, high lighting the simplicity and awesomeness of this system. The group didn’t use any Banes or Boons other than Shapeshift, but did test out multiattack instead, enjoying how easy it was to attack multiple things! This time they didn’t exactly go evil, but that was because they were too busy fighting ‘bad’ stuff, decimating skeletons and restraining their raiding to gain some more information on the island. I highly suspect that the whole ‘enslave the island’ thing is still in the works though, which is off the rails but very fun sounding!

Expanding the Blog

 After missing the last month’s I got a chance to play more tabletop! I ran Open Legend RPG’s “A Star Once Fallen” learn by play module (a physical copy I got for free!). The group was somewhat lighthearted with characters and playing (the best way to play), and we had a blast. Down to the last minute pretty much, around 4 hours. I also gave out some cards to set up my own gaming group at the library after my 18th birthday this month (hi anyone from there).

The Characters

Diana, (Catfolk Ranger, Killer of Spidery Monsters)

Expo (Gnome Named After Markers Nearby, Almost Always Went First)

Ivan (Dwarf Tank, One Shots Stuff like a Boss)

Rose (Magey Elf With A Sword Who Missed So Much; Played by my sister!)

Tomato (Turtle Guy With A Bow; Played by @timothyofumbrella!)

What Happened (Spoilers For Those Who Haven’t Played)

Washing Ashore

 After gathering up their gear and taking in the surroundings, the group sets off. Screams in the distance drawing their attention after much debate. A flock of bat monkeys assaulted a small reptilian humanoid. Tomato scouted it out, then the group came in and just destroyed them! Ivan score a nice one hit with his axe, and the rest sniped a few. The rest attempted to flee but were hunted down, the party even made trophies out of them.

Tree Town

 After seeing such brutality the lizard man was hesitant to bring the group back to its home, but it did anyway. There they learned of the Scepter, received a vial of Slug Juice poison, and gathered some supplies to head off into the jungle. 

Ancient Ruins/Golem Fight

 After Diana had a meeting with Asha in her dreams, the group finds their way tot he Ancient Ruins! Seeing the massive stone door Ivan tries a few times and succeeds at pushing it open! The group decided climbing was for quitters! They dug around in the rubble for a while before finding the Stone Golem! They ran around making pot shots at it for awhile, then pushed a pillar on top of it. They tried to pull out the gem for a few turns while it was on the ground but failed, another batch of turns later and they blasted the gem to pieces in its forehead!

The Bridge

 The group decided to take the bridge to the ziggurat, but were very careful about it. Sending Ivan forward the rest waited, this drew the attention of the Archanid guards! A hard hitting fang hit to the advance scout and they were left stunned for a couple rounds. The rest of the group picked away at the spiders, avoiding serious blows. It was a pretty easy encounter for them actually.

The Ziggurat

 With some clever thinking Rose used Transmute to make the door inside the complex into a glass like substance and the group busted it. Avoiding the trap. Asking a few questions the group awaited in fear of the test. The basilisk was quickly taken in care of however with a massive streak of max dies rolls from Ivan! After that the group just let him have the loot within the room.

Final Thoughts

 The group did their level up after that, and I think really had fun with the adventure! Next month we should be able to finish it up, easy! And based on the musings of the group it may end up with them ruling the island, hehe.

Expanding the Blog

 I was going to post this last Saturday but some other stuff got in the way and I finally remembered today! The party delving into the Sunless Citadel consists of:

Stanley, Human Cleric of Garl (its funny, the gnome of the group doesn’t even worship him)

Lord Plerps, Dwarven Barbarian (because why not a fancy dramatic dwarven barbarian)

Timothy, Human Paladin

Drow Ranger (can’t remember name, homebrewed to be way weaker so it’s balanced)

Apocalypse, Gnomish Sorcerer (A grand name for a soon to be brutal spellcaster) + temporarily switched players as the original wasn’t there.

Mary, Human Bard (who is really bad at singing, and dancing, and instruments.) + now specializes in stand up comedy

 They ended the last session right in front of the tower shell, the only remaining way to get into the complex from the surface. There was a quite obvious trap door in front of the entrance. They almost convinced the gnome to step on it, but thankfully they all decided to just step over. Inside the tower shell itself they found a scene of goblin massacre, one gob was stuck to the wall by a spear, which when the drow went loot crazy knocked it down revealing the name Ashardalon.

 None of the corpses had treasure though so they quickly moved on, two halls went to the north and south, the dwarf however happened to step by a hidden door in the stonework. Which revealed a pocket chamber once home to murder holes and archers, now just a few skeletons and rubble. Of course once they entered the closet sized space said skeletons animated, after a few amazing crits (the bard having one of 32 damage) the creatures were defeated. Each had a +1 bolt and some decent money on them, the other characters felt a little guilty and just gave the (useless to themselves) bolts to the gnome for his crossbow.

 The party went down the southern hall first, their progress halted by a magically locked dragon door, which everyone was too chicken to touch but kept trying to get everyone else to stick their head in the stone mouth. Before they left a dire rat erupted from nearby rubble, and was quickly murdered by the entire group.

 After that they went up the northern hall, finding two rooms one locked by a stone door, the other an empty room with a wooden door. Not to be deterred by a nonmagically door the bard, the barbarian, and even the gnome decided to chop the stone door open. It took three turns of damage to just destroy it, revealing a strange keg with many a pipe sticking out of it. Opening the keg they found water, but didn’t have time to enjoy as a water memphit busted out of it! It took around ten rounds, nearly killing all of them, knocking the gnome into the negatives with a breath attack. After that they looted some gems in the bottom of the keg and retired to the empty room with a still working door.

 On another note the group may have another character coming up, maybe two (since the gaming moderator which tagged in for the gnome quite enjoyed the game!), so I am going to have to up the difficulty a bit, or find some other way to balance it out. Course I could just let em go at, and not stop them next time they attempt to sacrifice a party member! 

 Well it was another fun day at the gaming initiative (at the local library). I didn’t get a chance to run GURPS again, but I did run a full four hour session of dnd 3.0. A rather large party running through the adventure Sunless Citadel. The party consisting of:

Stanley, Human Cleric of Garl (its funny, the gnome of the group doesn’t even worship him)

Lord Plerps, Dwarven Barbarian (because why not a fancy dramatic dwarven barbarian)

Timothy, Human Paladin

A Drow Ranger (can’t remember name, homebrewed to be why weaker so its balanced)

Apocalypse, Gnomish Sorcerer (A grand name for a soon to be brutal spellcaster)

Mary, Human Bard (who is really bad at singing, and dancing, and instruments.)

 As one can imagine this group is real crazy. At their insistance I begin the game off with an encounter. A taste of the Twig Blights of the adventure, basically walking shrubs with poison claws (just dealing one point of damage). They pretty easily killed them off, then went into town to gather info about the citadel itself.

 All the adventurers wanted the hook of Solving the Mystery, as they put it any adventure involving food and mystery is awesome. The other members of the party tried to convince the bard to woo the mayor with the song Camp Town Races, (un)fortunately they decided a much more practical way before I said anything.

 Armed with the knowledge the party found their way to the canyon now host to the fallen, Sunless Citadel (name drop), there goblin graffiti covered pillars, evidence of fire all about and a single robe dangling to a ledge with some stairs. They sent the gnome and dwarf down first of course.The noise they made attracted a pack of dire rats, which eventually drew the whole party into combat. The bard the only one suffering serious damage (and is going to start getting filth fever next time they camp).

 This next part was the last and most brutal of encounters. Once they reached the floor of the canyon, they ended up wading though very loose rubble. Pretty much reduced to 10 foot a round movement, and had to make balance checks not to fall into pockets beneath. Everyone except for the pally fell once (harhar pally joke too) in fact the ranger and cleric ended up getting knocked out by dire rats and almost dying! After some one hour of play they eventually made it past, having only killed one rat from the encounter!

 Hey all, got myself in a FAE mood. This time I ran a match for my brother and sister. Deciding to start a campaign in their favorite setting, Fairy Tail. The characters were two Fairy Tail Guild rookies; Icemaker Wizard Adolva Bulos’i (High Aspect Heiress to Merchant Wealth/Trouble Despises Dark Guilds/Aspect 1 Better Than Everyone/Aspect 2 Member of Rising Star Squad) and Living Fire Wizard Wolflynn (High Aspect Possesses Lost Magic/Trouble Magic Controlled by Emotions/Aspect 1 Likes to Burn Stuff/Aspect 2 Member of Rising Star Squad).

 As you may notice they both are part of the same squad, they are also the only members. Basically two newbs wanting to seem more official. I also decided to stat up their base of operations, A Shady, and cheap magic shop called the Skipping Hat. The old man there rents them rooms at a tenth of the price of every other place in town, “The rats love the prices too!” is the unofficial motto.

 Dubbing the First Session as A Star’s First Light (see what I did there?) the duo decided to take a job to deal with a vulcan infestation just outside of town. A poor farmer is having his business ruined! When they got there though half the field was already destroyed and the farmer was missing, hearing some noise in the remaining corn field (Hard to See Through) the wizards investigate. Wolflynn runs straight into the field while Adolva sneaks around the side. Of course Wolflynn is immediately rammed into by the vulcan, Dealing enough damage to cause a moderate consequence (Broken Ribs) and knock him out of the corn. Quick thinking Adolva responded with an ice hammer to daze the thing for a moment.

 Wolflynn had his chance at getting even, unfortunately for him his anger made him lose control of his fire magic. making a simple fire whip catch the field aflame, the cost of his very powerful magic being control. Adolva again had to solve the problem by extinguishing the fire. The two avoid attacks for another few seconds, then retilate with a combo attack, Wolflynn calming down for a moment to fire whip the vulcans arms while Adolva ends up through a good roll severing one of its legs with icy thorn veins! The vulcan lost control of its possession then, revealing a thankfully uncrippled farmer. He had no memory of the event, the duo take advantage of that by lying to his face about the field of course, and after a few moments rest (Broken Ribs to Turned out They Weren’t Broke) they run off into the woods towards a cave filled with lesser vulcans.

 This last fight was pretty clear cut, Wolflynn nearly collapses the cave, Adolva Ice Spears the rest. After returning for their wimpy 1000j bounty the two come across a job for investigating a possible dark guild in the (homebrew) city of Ramblehoof, of course they head for it! Unfortunately unbeknownst to them it was an S class mission on the wrong board...

 Hey all, a bit of a break from my usually GURPS gming. My friend Tim over at http://timothyofumbrella.tumblr.com/ run his first game of Fate (Accelerated Edition) for me tonight. Dubbed Oceans Chicago (it had to be), I played a mafia hitman, Rick “the Professional”, trying his hardest to get to a safe house after a successful robbery.

With the High Concept: Mafia Hitman, Looking for a Challenge and Trouble: Not as Good as He Thinks, I got into some seriously hillarious/badass problems. I also had the aspect Follows the Old Ways, showing his honorable side. My approaches were: Flashy +3, Clever/Forceful +2, Quick/Sneaky +1, and Careful +0. You can see how awesome it could be.

 Starting out at the bank a group of cops had the gall to try to stop me at the door. In a move that actually worked out, Rick shot the lead cop at the scene in his kneecaps, after wondering aloud if this would be his challenge. After just staring down the other two rookies “The Professional” made his point, and possibly a powerful enemy down the line.

 Seeing a larger force of cops coming down the road, I decided to have Rick send one of the police cars flying down the street to allow him an oppurtunity to slip into an alley. Unfortunately the cops saw me tampering with the car, getting me further heat. After another slip up trying to run, Rick grudgingly surrendered, or so it seemed. Calling on all of Rick’s badassery, he slipped out the cuffs, and after a short tussle, ended up knifing, brawling, and shooting an entire group of cops, action movie style. Unfortunately my Not as Good as Thinks ended up getting me in trouble, as it turned out Rick didn’t take good care of his equipment, breaking a knife he fixed up himself before, and almost getting killed.

 Fortunately I rolled a success even with the negative, running off towards a neighborhood where mafioso’s can blend in. My Not as Good as He Thinks came up again as I bumped into someone that Rick hadn’t successfully killed before. Using my spare fate point Tim was generous enough to let me use my Follows the Old Ways to get the man to give me a bit of a distraction if I would give him a one on one duel. After beating the man (hopefully) to death this time I decided my undecided stunt would be Brutal Boxer, the crowd respected my skill and gave me my distraction to get the popo off my back for a moment.

 Here is the second session, after this it’ll probably be a once a month thing (as that is when the gaming initiative meets).

 Meeting again the heroes actually began to move quietly through the tunnels, disarming every trap they come across as well. Heading towards the Main Nest after a few more minutes of questioning the old kobold.

  Sneakily coming upon the nest chamber, the rogue and wizard picked off a few kobolds before sending in the warrior for some heavy duty tanking. Doing their best to block the way so as to fight only one kobold at a time. The warrior suffered no points of damage through a combination of successful defenses, high DR (buffed up further by the cleric), and low damage from the kobolds.

  Playing a bit of long range annoyance the wizard caught the attention of the priests, being inflicted with Withering Curse, but successfully drawing them away from the warrior. The other priest attempted to use Rat Pack’s Blessing but failed, wasting most of their energy. After tiring out the priests, and slaying most of the kobolds, the cleric went in further and cleaned up the remaining soldiers, dealing some heavy damage with mace attacks.