Saturday, August 19, 2023

#RPGaDay2023 Favourite PUBLISHED adventure

 I have a few, to be honest. Sometimes I run them as is, other times I alter them. But one of my all-time favorites has to be the original I6 Ravenloft.

Ravenloft

I grew up on a steady stream of Universal Monsters, Hammer Horror, and Dark Shadows. That's my Appendix N. So an adventure set in pretty much the Hammer Hamlet where I get strange locals and have to fight a vampire? Yeah, that is what D&D was to me.

Ravenloft was TSR's great experiment.  Take the central monster and make him a fully realized character.  Seems odd to ask to do this now, but back then, that was crazy talk.  Gothic Horror in Heroic Fantasy?  Crazy! But it worked.   Sure, Strahd can be thought of as a poor man's Dracula, but he has since become his own monster.

I know some old gamers bemoan "The Hickman Revolution," as it it called, but I loved it. Ravenloft was a literal game-changer for me. Finally, an adversary worth fighting and a REAL vampire too, not the D&D one. 

Ravenloft three different printings
Original, 25th Anniversary Edition, Print on Demand


I even got my original module from 1983 signed by Tracy Hickman.


I have run this one a lot and even in other game systems. It is a lot of fun.

RPGaDay2023

#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 8, Room 19

 The corridor continues on and opens up into a larger cave that is filled with water.  Some areas are 3' deep and smaller characters need to be careful.

Room 19

 This room has seven Lacedons hidden under the water. These creatures are aquatic ghouls and use the same stats save that they swim instead of walking on land.

Ghoul

There are three exits from this room.

Friday, August 18, 2023

#RPGaDay2023 Favourite game SYSTEM

 Favorite game system? Well, I have two, but they are related.

NIGHT SHIFT and WitchCraft

NIGHT SHIFT with O.G.R.E.S. and WitchCraft with Unisystem are not just my two favorite games but also my favorite game systems to use.

Both let me play my favorite sort of game; a modern urban supernatural horror one, but they are both systems I like and have written for professionally.

NIGHT SHIFT is largely a love letter to both Old-school D&D and to WitchCraft. 

I love them both.

RPGaDay2023


#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 8, Room 18

 Room 18 is a corridor leading down and away from Room 17.  As the party walks down and on the corridor is filled with dark stagnant water.

Room 18

The water reaches about 2 to 2½ feet deep. 

Creatures can be felt brushing up against the legs of the party, but none are easily seen, and none can be caught.

The corridor is about 25 feet long and opens up into Room 19.

Thursday, August 17, 2023

Aventuras en la Marca del Este

Aventuras en la Marca del Este
I have been learning Spanish all year and discovered how wonderful the RPG "Aventuras en la Marca del Este" is. I spent the earlier part of this year reading over the rules (the best I could) and then sorta forgot about them.

Well, I want to give a shout-out to the Italian blog Castelli & Chimere (Castles & Chimeras) for reminding me about it today and that the Basic Set (Caja Roja, "Red Box") was free.

You can get yours free here as well

This game is a Spanish language version/edition of the great BECMI Red Box Basic using Labyrinth Lord as a base. Though it has far more style than just a simple clone.

It was translated back into English as Adventures in the East Mark - Basic Rule Set (Red Box), and it is also great, but the original has such a cool vibe and feel to it.

The site that supports the game, Codex de la Marca, has an absolute ton of free material. Enough to keep me busy reading for months on end. 

The official site even has some material, including a Castles & Crusades SIEGE Engine version of the same rules. 

In addition to the Red Box, there is a Blue Box (Expert), Green Box ("Advanced" or Companion/Masters), and a Black Box (Masters/Immortals).  Each also includes a campaign guide for the East March campaign setting.  I really wish I could find physical copies of all these sets, they would be a lot of fun. 

Libro de Brujas?

Does this mean I'll do a "Libro de brujas" (Book of Witches) sometime in the future? I am going to have to say yes. It would make for a great "final project" for a Spanish class and really test me on what I think I know. I have also been reading a lot about Basque and other Iberian peninsula area witches of late so it would be fun to try,

To keep with the same spirit of all the Aventuras en la Marca del Este releases, I would have to make it free. Maybe keep it to a tight 32 or fewer pages.

This idea is still very far away. I need to survive verb conjugation first!

In the mean time I'll keep brushing up on my skills (such as they are) and having some fun and joy of learning something new.

RPG libros en EspaƱol


#RPGaDay2023 FUNNIEST game you've played

 Part two of Favourite Con MODULE / ONE-SHOT is also my FUNNIEST game you've played.

Supernatural-Buffy-Charmed

This one I was at Gen Con a few years back. The adventure was a Buffy/Charmed/Supernatural crossover using the Buffy RPG rules. So naturally, I had to play. Sam and Dean were grabbed quickly, and there was no way in hell I was playing Xander. But that was all fine, the character I really wanted was Piper from Charmed.

I had an absolute blast. Piper was, at the time, the snarkiest of all the sisters. So playing her was great. Ended up with the most Drama Points at the end of the game.  In the course of the game, I burned through about 5 drama points, but I also had earned 6 for role-playing. Of course, having seen every Charmed episode gave me an advantage.  I wish I had remembered the GMs/Director's name because I would have easily gone to one of her other games.

I still have my Piper character sheet here somewhere, and it was really fun. The GM even had taken out the Buffy logo and put the Charmed one in its place.

We all spent our whole time laughing.


RPGaDay2023


#Dungeon23 Tomb of the Vampire Queen, Level 8, Room 17

 Beyond the secret door in room 14 takes the party to room 17.  A small passage leads to a large open chamber. A loud droning sound can be heard from all over.

Room 17

Inside this room are two large Fly Demons.

Fly Demon

Armor Class: 1 [18]
Hit Dice: 8+8**** (44 hp)
Attacks: 4 claws (1d4+1x2), 1 bite (1d8) + disease
Special: Diseased bite, demonic abilities, fear, detect invisible, darkness, drone
THAC0: 12 [+7]
Movement: 90' (30')
  Fly: 240' (80')
Saving Throws: D8 W9 P10 B11 S12 SS 8 (8)
Morale: 8
Alignment: Chaotic evil
XP: 2,608 (OSE) 2,000 (S&W) 3,040 (LL)
Number Appearing: 1d3 (1d6)
Treasure Type: B

Fly demons are known by a variety of names, and they may all be different species or sub-species of demons, but they all have similar characteristics if different overall appearances. All fly demons appear to be a horrid combination of humanoid and fly.  Some smaller species are only 4' long, while larger ones are up to 7'. They have large insect-like wings, humanoid heads, and faces, with large multi-faceted eyes. Their bodies are like that of an insect with six limbs. Each limb ends in a horrid-looking claw.

These demons attack with their four forelimbs. Their back limbs are often used as humanoid legs. Each claw can do 1d4+1 hp of damage. Their bite, though, causes 1d8 points of damage and transmits a horrible wasting disease where the wound continues to eat away at the body converting it to dead flesh. A saving throw vs. Paralysis must be made. If successful, the victim takes an additional 1d8 of acid damage. On a fail, the disease progresses and does 1d8 hp of damage per hour until removed by a Cure Disease or Heal spell. When is victim reaches 0 hp, they will be eaten by any fly demon remaining. 

Fly demons also have the following powers, usable once per day. They can cast an aura of fear in a 30' radius, detect invisible, and cast a sphere of darkness 10' radius. Their favorite tactic is to cast their fear aura and, when a victim gets closer, invoke their sphere of darkness.  The fly demon can also cast the Drone spell three times per day.  These demons take only half damage from electricity, cold, fire, and poison gas. Holy water will do 1d8 hp of damage to them.

All fly demons, regardless of their origin, sub-species, or even alignment, are controlled by the devil Beelzebub, the "Lord of the Flies."  They will instantly obey his summons and will carry his orders even unto their own deaths. When Beelzebub is present, their morale is effectively 12. 

Fly demons can speak telepathically but also do so with their insect-like mouths. Their voices drone and buzz like that of an insect. Warlocks of Beelzebub are often visited by flies of all sorts, including fly demons. The demons are instructed not to harm the warlocks in Beelzebub's pact, but they see all humanoids as nothing more than potential meat.