Game log for 5 August 2018: Holding back from pumping them up

Dramatis personae

Xóran, fox-man scout
Kim, thief
Mayhem, short barbarian
Ash, squire
Grymálkus, whiny cleric of the war god
Caleb, wizard
Áttikos, holy warrior of the sun god
Kôštē, cleric of the farming goddess

Quid occurrit

They investigated. And Ash and Kim tried and failed to live off the land.

After three days of nothing, Kim started trailing Néttōr. He did spot her looking once, but did nothing. They asked around the village about Néttōr, but only heard the tales about his gambling issues.

Áttikos chose to look into the sun to see the way, and saw that the graveyard shone lighter in the midday sun. There seemed little remarkable about the graveyard, other than that there was little grass growing there. Grym didn’t think there were many spirits.

The graveyard was the spot where the Áttikos held the funeral for Višsīvós, the servant who blew up. The gang spent 30 copper on a wooden box for Višsīvós’s little green globules. A day or so after the burial, they checked on the grave, but found nothing amiss about it.

The gang set itself up in the social structure, with the clerics tending to the serfs. Grym gave 25 copper to Krellévos, the village cleric, to pay for free healing, which healed an old lady after a mishap. Over the week, they spent 150 copper to help fix up the village.

The Winter Solstice, the day of the Love Feast, came. The gang went with the villagers to Rēláištiš, where they set up a kissing booth. Mayhem had fun with an orc slave woman, while Áttikos went to bed with the Lady Lummenólē, one of her many lovers that day. (He had a critical success on a default Sex Appeal roll.) Caleb, who had been bummed all week, not only did not partake in the merriment, but he also got a case of the runs, which Kôštē healed. Grymálkus pulled away a few of the boys who tried to go a little farther with the village women than the women wanted.

However, not everyone walked to Rēláištiš. Néttōr stayed behind, and there he met two big men, who gave him a small sack. After this, Néttōr left. The goons dug up the grave of Višsīvós, but only found some dust, some bone shards, and the little green globules. They shrugged, put back his coffin, and dug up the next grave. This time, they found a fresh dead body from a few weeks before, so they rolled it up in a rug and put it on a sack.

And Kim saw the whole thing.

Kim had been in the manor house, and found little of much worth, other than the gilded box wherein Lady Dīdótē kept her clothes. After finding nothing worth stealing (the box wasn’t light), she went outside and watched Néttōr, then the goons. She followed the goons as they walked for a few miles then, once they started walking around some thick woods, she went back to Rēláištiš to meet the others.

Once Xóran heard what Kim had seen, he gathered the others and they left town. Mayhem picked up the trail of the goons, and they followed all day. When they made it to the Sarkērrêne River, they found the wreck of a raft. Caleb Levitated Mayhem over the river, but Mayhem did bad work of fixing it and they lost ground. They pressed on, and after the sun had set, they saw the campfire of the goons. Weary, instead of striking, they set up camp. All night, they kept watch, but the goons did not leave.

The next day, both sets set forth, and the heroes caught up. Kim and Xóran snuck up on the goons, and got first strike. Kim’s did nothing, but Xóran crippled the leg of one. Mayhem and Ash got off bow shots and Mayhem wounded the goon Kim did not, though Ash’s arrow didn’t get through his armor.

Blindsided, the goon on the ground gave in, but the one still standing started to run. Grymálkus and Caleb cast Might 3 and Shield 2, respectively, on Áttikos, who lumbered to reach the others, as did Mayhem and Ash. Xóran and Kim rushed to get the goon who had run.

Kim reached the wounded goon and grabbed him, as did Xóran after dropping his swords. The wounded goon shook off Kim, and the crippled goon started to crawl away. Kim and Xóran kept trying to take down the wounded goon, however, while the others kept trying to reach the fight. Kim, frustrated, tried to kick the wounded goon in the nuts, but missed, while Xóran tried to get his teeth on his neck, but also failed.

Ash and Mayhem at last made it to the others. Ash grabbed the goons’ horse, while Mayhem grappled the goon on the ground. He said, “Man, don’t hurt me, little guy!” and, and like the other goon, was unable to break free. Kim again tried to kick the goon she held in the nuts but missed, while Xóran again was unable to take him down. Áttikos made it to the fight, and got in on the dogpile on the wounded goon. Kim tried to grab his nuts, and somehow, his nuts got away from her grasp.

Nobody had this trouble at the Love Feast!

Xóran roared, which stunned the wounded goon, and at last he brought him to the ground. The wounded goon snapped aware once on the ground and tried to get free but couldn’t, but the crippled goon wiggled away from Mayhem. Áttikos grabbed the leg of the wounded goon, and Kim pulled out a dagger and tried to stab him, but couldn’t get through the chinks in his armor. Xóran and Mayhem each punched the faces of the goons by them, while Áttikos tried to break the leg of the wounded goon.

Kim turned her heed to the crippled goon and leapt to stab him, but missed. Xóran again slugged the mug of the wounded goon, while Mayhem sat on the crippled goon, stopping him. They both cried, “Uncle!”

And Áttikos broke the leg of the wounded goon anyways, making them both crippled goons. This gets the goon talking, who, after Áttikos asked, said they brought the bodies to the Wolfman after paying Néttōr, who didn’t ever watch them or ask what they were doing. What does the Wolfman do with the bodies? “We don’t ask questions of the Wolfman!”

Xóran and Áttikos took the gear of the goons, each grabbing a broadsword, then killed the wounded one, named Praidīvós, by short-drop hanging. Xóran put a note on him that read: “Here lies the penalty for necromancy.”

They then made the other goon, named Soddīvós, tell them where they could find the Wolfman, who said he lived in a fortified cave to the south of the hobbit village of Kīkídzā, which was less than a day’s trip. After this, Xóran ran him through, too.

Res aliae

Names in my game are in a constructed language; couldn’t you tell? Most of the time, I roll on a table of real-world names and translate them based on their origins (I’m a dork), but these guys have real-world names that befit their job: Hans and Franz.

They died like girly-men.

The grappling rules got another workout, this time the ones in Hall of Judgment. They’re easier to handle than GURPS Martial Arts: Technical Grappling, though obviously the same idea. The players thought they worked alright, though were miffed that they’re not as easy as killing right away. I’ll count that as a success, and told Douglas Cole as much.

Game log for 24 July 2018: Strange things are afoot at Érrōn Point

Dramatis personae

Xóran, fox-man scout
Kim, thief
Mayhem, short barbarian
Ash, squire
Grymálkus, whiny cleric of the war god
Caleb, wizard
Áttikos, holy warrior of the sun god
Kôštē, cleric of the farming goddess

Quid occurrit

The heroes set forth for Érrōn Point, taking Bašêr with them, along with Áttikos. On the road, the heroes ran into eight older bandits. The leader, a man with bloodshot eyes, shouted, “Pay up on the toll for the Queen!” Xóran bade the old man to back down, but he spurned Xóran's handout.

The battle was short (in game time; it took over an hour of real time) and swift. Kim went down after her backstab didn't get through a bandit's armor, but otherwise it went fine. Bašêr, the High Cleric of Saundīvós, healed Kim after moping for a bit.

After looting their gear, which included many doses of Monster Drool, Xóran drilled the bandits to see whence they came. One came from Érrōn Point while another two were from Rēláištiš; they were the only ones still awake, as the others were down. They were farmers who had been mercenaries in their youth and now had taken to striking wayfarers owing to bad harvests. Xoran told them to go home and live with their grown children or to kill themselves, and it he saw them trying to rob others again, he would kill them himself. After that, he bade the living bandits to take their knocked out or belimbed brethren with them, and to bury their dead.

They made it to Érrōn Point not long before nightfall. They knocked on the door, and Néttōr’s manservant opened. Right after opening, he spontaneously combusted.

Uh-oh.

Néttōr didn’t like this one bit. Bašêr said nobody did anything to his servant, but didn’t want to upset anyone. Grymálkus, however, gave a long-winded speech about giving everyone the benefit of the doubt, while Mayhem gathered some herbs and gave them to Bašêr to chew.

After a speech and some chewing, Bašêr was ready. “Bring me the foul girdle!” He grabbed Dīdótē and took her outside. Then, with the last light of the day, he undertook the long ritual of casting Remove Curse. While Bašêr was casting, Áttikos was looking into the sky and looking for some sign from Saundīvós.

With the last light of day, the whole crowd lit up so bright that they cast no shadows. That is, the whole crowd other than Néttōr. Áttikos took that to mean that somehow he was shrouded in darkness. Meanwhile, Dīdótē got her godly gastric bypass surgery and went back to being curvy instead of fat.

After all this, the group trudged back to Praigên’s house, and spent the night there chatting. Both Áttikos and Bašêr agreed the shadow was a sign from Saundīvós. However Grymálkus, who took a good look at Néttōr, didn’t think he was possessed. Bašêr said he would undertake an Augury the next morning, which he did do, finding out that Lord Néttōr was indeed in league with dark forces.

So, they took Bašêr back to Mīstássun, then trudged back to Érrōn Point. Áttikos, Kôštē, and Grymálkus chose to preach to the flock of Érrōn Point to give the others cover for snooping. (Kôštē was also bothered to find out that Krellévos, the cleric of Rōripermónē in Érrōn Point, was a womanizing hack.) Mayhem and Kim hid to get a good look at the manor house.

And so they watched it for eight days, until the Love Feast of Lutōdîvē on the Winter Solstice.

Res aliae

Hey, you give your players some rope, and they take it in unintended directions. Which is totally cool. Actually, when I wrote the basics of this, I had no idea just how they'd handle it if they ever ran into it. I’ve given no hints beyond what is here about what is going on with Néttōr. Roman, who plays Xóran and Grymálkus, thinks it’s a vampire.

This is definitely a non-standard Dungeon Fantasy scenario, and some of the players are relishing it. Much of it comes from my attempt to build something of an urban crawl into the setting. Since this area isn't heavily populated, I treated the whole lot of human settlements as a big, dispersed city, and made sure to have the different layers interact with each other. I think this one comes from the noble crawl layer.

My random encounter tables for civilization are the Road Encounters in the D30 Sandbox Companion, and I'm starting to get sick of all the bandits. So I wound up rewriting them this afternoon for future use. Mind you, I still think this is one of the greatest supplements ever written, but I'm getting way too many encounters, especially weak bandits.

Game log 10 June 2018: She didn't sing yet

Dramatis personae

Xóran, fox-man scout
Kim, thief
Mayhem, short barbarian
Ash, squire
Grymalkus, whiny cleric of the war god
Caleb, wizard
Kôštē, cleric of the farming goddess

Quid occurrit

Back in town, the gang bought gear and listened for tales. Four of them heard something worthwhile:

• Xóran heard that an ogre with a mighty sword and his gang has taken over a mine in the north of the Áos Hills, near the wrecked Abbey of the Respectful Warrior.
• Ash heard that undead and werewolves haunt the hobbit village of Kīkídzā at night.
• Mayhem heard that evil cultists had poisoned themselves in their church in the woods, and their riches were still there.
• Grymálkus heard that sexy Lady Dīdótē of Érrōn Point suddenly had gotten fat.

After a week of all this and some colder weather, they set forth in the sun, first for Érrōn Point, planning on going through there on the way to the hills, wherein they would seek help from Mayhem's kin. On the way, they ran into a gang of eight wayfarers. They tried to walk past, but the woman at the fore of the gang dropped her hood, showing her bulging grey eyes.

She was Grádē, whom they had met that summer, and she recognized Kim, who was at the fore of the party. Grádē was oddly  glad to see Kim, and, after asking if Kim and the others had learnt the true path of Ga’an, told her that the other half of her cult was in Fort Rénnutēs, which was in the hills, south of the Zúbrās Mines, and the goons who staffed the keep didn’t think much of her cult. Unbeknownst to Grádē, the path to the Abbey of the Respectful Warrior would take them near Fort Rénnutēs.

Anyways, shortly after nightfall, they reached Érrōn Point. A peasant woman named Praigên told them that Lady Dīdótē, wife of Lord Néttōr, got fat while putting on a girdle to turn on her husband. Praigên was happy that Dīdótē was now fat, as her husband no longer put his hand in his pants upon seeing her.

After learning this, the heroes went to the small manor house and knocked on the door. A well-dressed and handsome man answered the door, and Ash, leading the gang, said, “We’ve come to see the lady of the house.”

The man said, “My wife is not seeing anyone. Go away.” It was Lord Néttōr.

Xórin and Ash said they would help for nothing at all, but Néttōr bet them they couldn’t. When they again said they would help for nothing at all and there would be nothing in it for him if they couldn’t help, he told them to go away and slammed the door.

Praigên let the gang spend the night at her home. There, after drinking a few beers with her husband, Caleb learned that while the village was clean, it stayed small since Néttōr had gambling debts and never had any money.

Now knowing this, Caleb took the heroes back to the manor house the next day. There, after one of the children answered the door and fetched Néttōr, Caleb told him that they knew about his gambling debts, and tossed a glowing rock up and down in his hand. Néttōr was unimpressed by the glowing rock, but Caleb stared him down, and started tossing the rock higher and higher.

Néttōr got the idea. “What do you want?” He opened the door, letting them inside, and they got to see the family painting with Néttōr and Dīdótē, who was indeed quite comely, at least in the painting.

Caleb said back, “First, we want to fix your wife.”

Lord Néttōr shrugged. “Why should it matter that you want to fix my wife? Every guy in the county wants to fix my wife.”

Xórin then shot in, “Is your wife really that good?”

Néttōr stared icily back at Xórin, saying nothing to him, but instead called out for his wife. After some coaxing, Dīdótē came out. She looked much as she did in the painting, but weighed about twice what the woman in the painting weighed. She brought with her the girdle, which was now wrecked, as she suddenly had become fat upon donning it and her sudden girth had broken the girdle. Caleb felt that this was indeed a magical girdle.

Néttōr and Dīdótē didn’t know who did this, but did know a few things:

• Dīdótē had bought the girdle from Makšilíā, a dressmaker in the town of Mīštássun (the heroes’ home) who held a lesser noble title.
• The two had some foes from their misbegotten youth. They didn’t spill any beans, but it was clear that they had been less than lawful.
• Suggên, a friend of Dīdótē from Ōndrûnkš, had lost her husband last year. Again, Néttōr and Dīdótē did not tell how this happened, but Dīdótē said she was helping Suggên try to learn what had happened.
• Prailtûvos, the husband of Dīdótē’s friend Attibélon, had tried to sleep with Dīdótē the year before at some kind of games, but Dīdótē had pushed him away.

While not knowing who had done this, the heroes chose to go back to Mīštássun to see if Bašêr, head of the Church of Saundīvós, could come and banish the curse on the farthings of the heroes. On the way, they ran into a gang of bandits who were trying to ambush wayfarers, but found themselves dead at the sword points of the heroes. Once back in Mīštássun at the end of the day, now richer with the 55 copper and 25 silver they found on the bandits and the 1,500 copper they made from selling the lame gear of the bandits, they found that Bašêr was quite eager to help them.

Res aliae

First, we had a long chat about why I don’t write storylines. In a nutshell, I don’t find them fun, and they’re much harder to prepare since the players will go off the rails. Conflicts? I’m all into them, but I want the players to find the conflict that suits them best.

This session had many reaction rolls, and most of them went well, aside from the first one with Néttōr.

I glossed over the fight since from a game tale standpoint it isn’t interesting. I told the players this at the start of the fight, once the bandits had failed their rolls to ambush, and encouraged them to experiment with combat techniques. In one of my favorite gaming moments, Roman’s eyes lit up when he at last understood why the hit location table was so important, and tried a few tricks. The first was one he called “Trimming the Hedges” wherein Xórin used All-Out Attack (Double) and hit each arm of a bandit, trying to cut off each. Neither came off, but both were crippled, taking that bandit out of the fight. Right afterwards, Xórin stabbed a bandit in the vitals and, the next second, did the same to another bandit. As the second bandit died, Xórin said, “Too bad you can’t tell your friends about me,” and howled.

Steph, for her part, got more used to Mayhem swinging for the neck. After beheading one bandit, he stepped towards another, and “axe[d] [him] out nicely” to cut off his head, too, with a crit: “Momma had a baby and his head popped off!”

Five points. In a takeaway from Whiterock that has jibed with things I’ve felt so far, I’ve chosen to give out five points most sessions, as well as lobbing out the unused disadvantages from the character sheets.