Ok, because my players read this, I'm not going to go completely behind the curtain, but want to shed a little bit of light on the things I try to do as a DM. For current players, it might take some fun out of the game if you read this post, so you might want to skip it. I rather recommend that you do.
1. Don't give the players time to settle down. Force them to make their decisions quickly. See below, where "Urik Rorham" made Kal and Sol decide right now whether to accept his offer.
2. Force conflicts regarding their beliefs, associations, and allegiances upon them. See below; Kaloei d'Phiarlan has agreed to work for/with Urik in direct opposition to orders from her father, who is also her superior within the house. Which allegiance will win in the end, house, or country? (If, indeed, Urik IS representing Aundair. He says he is. He hasn't proved a thing.)
3. Make your NPCs memorable and cool, and even let them be heroic, but don't make them cooler than the PCs, and don't let them outshine the PCs. If you need to bring an NPC in as the cavalry in order to save the day and prevent the dreaded TPK, you should only do that if you have to.
4. By the same token, I strive to make my NPCs memorable and worthy of the PC's time and interest; I come up with backgrounds, motivations, plans, families, skeletons-in-the-closet, etc., for my NPCs just as if they were a PC I was going to play (the important ones, anyway). I may do this after they've entered the game; many just start as a name I tossed out there. But once you've got all that stuff, it makes the character that much more interesting for you to play, and for your PCs to play with. I'd talk more about this, but I think I'd like to later on devote an entire post to NPC making and keeping (and recycling- once you have a good character in the bag, never be afraid to bust him out for a different campaign, group, world, setting, etc).
5. Make the players believe that you don't pull your punches or fudge your die rolls, even if you occasionally do. They aren't heroes without the serious threat of danger and death. Make them believe that you and your monsters and evil NPCs are that threat.
6. By extension, don't be afraid to wax a PCs if you have to. See that whole "threat of death" thing. If a character does something monumentally stupid, fails to prepare, or gets overconfident, he should face the consequences. This is a hard line to walk; kill too many characters and your players will stop caring about them. If your players believe that you'll never kill a character, they'll know that no matter what they do...no matter what risk they take, what corners they cut, or mistake they make...they're deathproof, and it won't matter.
7. By further extension, I believe that the game...and me, as the GameMaster...should reward risk-taking. The characters should be heroes. Heroes are risk-takers. Heroes do foolishly brave things because they're the only people who can, or because it's the right thing to do, or because they jolly well feel like it. Popular culture examples of foolish risk-taking fantasy/sci-fi heroes abound; Mal Reynolds of Firefly, Han Solo, and Captain Jack Sparrow are just three of the most prominent, but hell...even that whole "Fellowship of the Ring," we'll march right into the enemy's teeth to destroy his super-weapon thing was pretty damn foolish, wasn't it? And it's the undisputed archetype of the epic, party-dynamic fantasy story/campaign. The point is, let your players succeed when they attempt something whacky and foolhardy, so long as they do so with the proper intentions, motivations, and goals.
8. If you're playing an "heroic" game (and I prefer to, as a GM and a player), in order for your players to be heroes, evil has to be evil. Evil with a capital 'E.' Evil may do any of the following, and should: kill, rape, maim, steal, kidnap, bribe, cheat, torture, and lie. And they shouldn't just do that to anyone; they should kill or kidnap people the PCs hold dear. They should try to arrange confrontations on their own time, their own ground, in their favor. They should tell huge and horrendous lies. They should steal from the vulnerable. They should never hesitate to be absolutely as evil as you can make them. Employ dark magic. Make pacts with demons. Use vile magic items. Torture a PC or prominent NPC if they get the chance. But they shouldn't do it without purpose; all these acts should be done to advance some agenda, unless you're villain is just some crazed madman, in which case he might very well act randomly. The bigger the villain, the bigger the hero who finally brings him down.
I think that's a good start at a look at my thought process as the DM. Please share your own thoughts.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
To Mini or not to Mini?
The way Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 is designed, you are clearly expected to play with miniatures. It is widely believed, as well, that the next version of D&D will be a minis-based board game with no roleplay content of any kind supported. Some argue that's already what it is.
I say, and I think it seems self-evident, that that is entirely up to the GM and the players; roleplay IS up to you, and the game is what you make it. No ruleset destroys roleplay unless you let it. There is roleplay at my table; it is part and parcel of the game. Witness, below, the description of Session 2, wherein no combat happened, pure roleplay, investigation, legwork, discussion, etc.
However, the question I really want to examine here; is it worth including minis in the game? I say, so long as you're careful with it, miniatures can add a dimension that actually makes the game run smoother. If you've got a battlemat, mini use eliminates the questions over space, facing, distance, and settles the "my character couldn't have been effected by that fireball!" argument once and for all. The trick is to not let mini use get out of control.
There is also the fact that minis get expensive. I'm sure Wizards of the Coast touts that their minis are a cheap alternative to the old classic metal figs made by companies like Reaper. They're plastic, they're already painted, fully assembled; play right out of the box. However, with Wizards D&D minis, you have to buy blind, and they're collectible. So if you really need a beholder mini for an upcoming game, you better just keep buying booster packs until you find one. Magic: The Gathering is clearly the worst thing that ever happened to gaming; once you make something collectible and you suck your public in, you can really get them over the barrel.
Of course, there are other options; many companies still make metal minis, and the paints, and you can still go that route. There's also sculpy, the "clay" stuff that you can easily sculpt into the rough size/shape of odd monsters (and, if you desire, bake in the oven to make permanent, then paint- no sorting through $80 worth of booster packs to find a beholder). So, personally, I think as time goes on in this campaign, we're going to add minis for large-scale combat, to more easily keep track of the things minis help you with.
One of the things minis can hurt, though, besides the wallet, is the imagination. The reason D&D, and RPGs in general, work better at the table with other players than on a computer screen, whether in MMO or single-player format, is that the table game doesn't place limits on your imagination. In a video game, your character is defined for you; the boundaries are set by the graphical representations the game makes. Sure, you can customize to an extent, both visually and with the numbers, but not nearly as much as you can in a tabletop game. You can imagine plenty more than any computer game can come up with. Not just as regards what your character looks like, but his/her gear, family, background, attitudes, preferred tactics, signature moves, witty lines, quotes, etc. Computer games are not going to let you do all of that. You might want your character to have a particular haircut, meaningful tattoos, a certain motif to their weapons and gear, a personal sign in the spells they cast, a particular style of singing or playing the lute or the bagpipes. In a tabletop game, you can do all that. The limit is only your own imagination.
Minis can change that; once you've taken something cast in tin or pewter, you've defined it, and in defining it you've limited it. You can search high and low for the perfect mini to represent your character, but chances are you won't find one. You'll find one that's close, but not perfect. And then, forever, your character looks like the mini, and not necessarily how you imagined him. Unless, of course, you have access to sculpting tools, clay, pewter, and casting facilities, in which case, you can make whatever mini you jolly well please. In that case, F you.
In summary, the point is, minis can help the game flow easier, but they can damage the imagination involved by placing limitations on it.
I say, and I think it seems self-evident, that that is entirely up to the GM and the players; roleplay IS up to you, and the game is what you make it. No ruleset destroys roleplay unless you let it. There is roleplay at my table; it is part and parcel of the game. Witness, below, the description of Session 2, wherein no combat happened, pure roleplay, investigation, legwork, discussion, etc.
However, the question I really want to examine here; is it worth including minis in the game? I say, so long as you're careful with it, miniatures can add a dimension that actually makes the game run smoother. If you've got a battlemat, mini use eliminates the questions over space, facing, distance, and settles the "my character couldn't have been effected by that fireball!" argument once and for all. The trick is to not let mini use get out of control.
There is also the fact that minis get expensive. I'm sure Wizards of the Coast touts that their minis are a cheap alternative to the old classic metal figs made by companies like Reaper. They're plastic, they're already painted, fully assembled; play right out of the box. However, with Wizards D&D minis, you have to buy blind, and they're collectible. So if you really need a beholder mini for an upcoming game, you better just keep buying booster packs until you find one. Magic: The Gathering is clearly the worst thing that ever happened to gaming; once you make something collectible and you suck your public in, you can really get them over the barrel.
Of course, there are other options; many companies still make metal minis, and the paints, and you can still go that route. There's also sculpy, the "clay" stuff that you can easily sculpt into the rough size/shape of odd monsters (and, if you desire, bake in the oven to make permanent, then paint- no sorting through $80 worth of booster packs to find a beholder). So, personally, I think as time goes on in this campaign, we're going to add minis for large-scale combat, to more easily keep track of the things minis help you with.
One of the things minis can hurt, though, besides the wallet, is the imagination. The reason D&D, and RPGs in general, work better at the table with other players than on a computer screen, whether in MMO or single-player format, is that the table game doesn't place limits on your imagination. In a video game, your character is defined for you; the boundaries are set by the graphical representations the game makes. Sure, you can customize to an extent, both visually and with the numbers, but not nearly as much as you can in a tabletop game. You can imagine plenty more than any computer game can come up with. Not just as regards what your character looks like, but his/her gear, family, background, attitudes, preferred tactics, signature moves, witty lines, quotes, etc. Computer games are not going to let you do all of that. You might want your character to have a particular haircut, meaningful tattoos, a certain motif to their weapons and gear, a personal sign in the spells they cast, a particular style of singing or playing the lute or the bagpipes. In a tabletop game, you can do all that. The limit is only your own imagination.
Minis can change that; once you've taken something cast in tin or pewter, you've defined it, and in defining it you've limited it. You can search high and low for the perfect mini to represent your character, but chances are you won't find one. You'll find one that's close, but not perfect. And then, forever, your character looks like the mini, and not necessarily how you imagined him. Unless, of course, you have access to sculpting tools, clay, pewter, and casting facilities, in which case, you can make whatever mini you jolly well please. In that case, F you.
In summary, the point is, minis can help the game flow easier, but they can damage the imagination involved by placing limitations on it.
Session II
Session 2- April 28, 2007
Disclaimer: Some of you reading this may recognize certain names; if I have stolen a name from you, rest assured I know I have, and I use it for an NPC because I like how the name matches the race/character type. If you recognize the name as an NPC or PC of mine from a previous campaign...as you no doubt will with two, in particular, that are mentioned in this post...please do not make comments revealing what you know about the characters attached to those names, since my current players don't know anything about them. And, for my current players, I am not just re-treading an old campaign, but I am using elements and plot-threads I've used before, to see how they play out with a different party and different circumstances.
No massive run-on sentences this time, I promise.
As you may recall from the last post, the party had subdued the human man known as Garth of Thaliost, and his elven companion, who remained unnamed. A thorough search had turned up two sets of ID papers for the woman, one blank, but still notarized by House Sivis, making it a felony in most of Khorvaire. The second named her as Kaloei d'Phiarlan, which we remember is the name of one of our intrepid heroes.
After thoroughly tying up their unconscious foes (a task made more difficult by the utter lack of "Use Rope" skill amongst the party) the party gained the following important tidbits from Garth; a finely crafted light crossbow, a pair of plain daggers, three vials of unidentified fluids, a key (hrmm) and assorted scraps of paper written in cipher.
Coded papers mean the bard's time to shine! Bring on that "Decipher Script" check.
Oh. What's that? You rolled a 3. Back to utter uselessness for you, lute-plucker!
All Kaloei was able to discern from the papers was that they represented correspondence between Garth and someone with a "Y" figuring prominently in his name. A thorough search of the barge commenced, uncovering a sizable smuggler's compartment with an assortment of goods typical of the kind smuggled out of Thrane (exotic peppers, silver, artwork) as well as a locked strongbox. Hmm.
As Kal and Sol discuss just who is going to attempt to open that box with the key they found, the party is struck by how desperately they need a rogue. Then they realize that with the key, a trap probably wouldn't go off anyway. (I let them off easy- what kind of paranoid operator keeps his strongbox trapped to the point that the traps have to be disarmed even when he uses a key? Not the kind who gets taken down by 1st level adventurers, that's what kind). Inside the strongbox were the following; 3 stacks of freshly minted Thranite platinum, a small sack with 5 red gems, apparently rubies, and a piece of paper. On the paper? Six names, with a line drawn across the first 3, and the last:
Aldaryn ir'Mentir
Lhas Terask
Vidania Acker
Pietra of Whiteroof Ward
Riann Nagel
Agate Corleis
Further interrogation of Garth reveals little; his female companion is named Elazarre, but that's all he knows about her, except that he was ordered to aid her however was necessary. Seems he was really a bagman, there to meet with a contact named "Iyerke," feed him names, and pay him off. (Ah, the lowly bagman; is there anyone more vulnerable, less capable, and less appreciated in the shady world of schemes and plots? I think not).
With night now firmly settled on Fairhaven (and nursing serious wounds) Sol and Kal decide to drag their captives off to the nearest Watch station. A bored Watch Corporal on desk duty, named Bacher, is suddenly overwhelmed by the actual apprehension of criminals and presentation of evidence (Garth as a smuggler, Elazarre as a forger). What Sol and Kal failed to take into account was the fact that Soledyn doesn't have ID papers...which means the Watch is obligated to detain him and attempt to establish his identity (I just love it when players stumble into something like that; it's a free license to interrupt their plans). Fortunately for him, there is an Aerenal Embassy and he is a member of the Deathguard with a strong family history; an envoy is dispatched to that Embassy to see if identity can be established.
Luckily for him, within a couple of hours a representative of the Deathguard...the equivalent of a high-ranking NCO (Elves don't have sergeants, right? I mean, it just doesn't sound right. An elvish sergeant? Gnomes, maybe. Halflings? Possibly. Dwarves? Absolutely. Dwarves are perfect sergeants, born to it. But elves? Picture R. Lee Ermey, only ethereally beautiful, pointed ears, flowing hair, spewing curses..."I didn't know they stacked dragon-shit so high in Aerenal"...it just doesn't work) named Ederrion Jhaelian shows up. Tall fellow. Thin. Masked. Armed. Spooooooky.
He points out that Soledyn can prove his identity very simply; Kal averts her eyes, there is some rustling as Sol pulls down the straps of his pack armor, and Ederrion goes away satisfied, claiming he will send over a representative of House Sivis to draw up identity papers for Soledyn, and that he'll start issuing him orders. After all, four years isn't all that long for the elves, and Sol is still a member of the Deathguard.
Eventually, after repeating their story several times, Sol and Kal are allowed to leave the Watch house, but told to stay in the city, and leave an address they can be contacted at. Giving the Cask and Flagon as their address, off they go to investigate.
Then, remembering they're injured, they seek out a House Jorasco enclave, negotiate the price of simple healing and cots for the night (ten gold apiece- two of their "liberated" platinum coins) and then they rest. Well, rest like elves, which is to say, float above the covers in the lotus position, then wake up with perfect hair and bright eyes, refreshed, ready to face the day. Go team Elf!
Finally, all healed up, they set off to investigate. First up is figuring out just who are these people on the list and how to track them down. Seeing as how they were still close to Whiteroof Ward, they decide to go ahead and investigate the name "Pietra of Whiteroof Ward."
Deciding the best place to start is at a local joint for breakfast, they make discreet inquiries. One nat 20 on a Gather Info check later (plus the glint of ready coin) and a waitress is telling them what she knows of Pietra of Whiteroof Ward; a half-elf of Fairhaven, of the itinerant river-gypsy half-elves, she was barely more than a child when, "ten or twelve years ago," her family's boat went up in flames. There were only a few survivors, but the girl was left without family. A hired hand, a dwarf by the name of Duvrin, was given stewardship and custody over the girl, and the last anyone heard, the two of them had set off to Sharn.
Ten years makes for a cold trail, but it was about the best they came up with. The only other info they came up with regarded Lhars Terask. A veteran of the Last War, he disappeared a scant few weeks ago. People he knew him, including Torth, the owner of the Cask and Flagon, say he came back from the war a bit cracked. Big deal; lots of vets came back from the war cracked. But apparently there were a few incidents around his neighborhood, of people, especially kids who though it a fine prank to sneak up on the veteran whose nerves were shot, becoming absolutely terrified of him. When he disappeared, not too many people were asking questions.
On to the Cask and Flagon to see what became of their first captive, the changeling thug from the Dark Daggers. Turns out that the gnome bagpipe player who shares the stage with Kaloei, name of Flimble, went ahead and took said thug home, back to Kreelo, the leader of the Dark Daggers. His reasoning, to Kaloei, was that she oughtn't burden herself with the emnity of people like Kreelo. And, he brought back a message; the Dark Daggers were working with Garth purely as a matter of smuggling, offering their help and taking their cut. They had no interest in drawing the emnity of a Dragonmarked house, and the thug who signed on to do so would be dealt with. Satisfied with that explanation (and looking a little odd at Flimble, who they had previously known to just be an innocuous little pipe player, but was now dealing with criminal gangs and positively dripping with weaponry) they sought to do some more investigating, but were then summoned off to the enclave of house Phiarlan. Kaloei's father, it appeared, wanted a word with them.
And he did have a word with them. Several words. The Watch had informed house Phiarlan of the assault upon one of their heirs. Kaloei was summarily bidden to return to the house enclave, to either teach or perform with a Phiarlan-approved troupe, and to quit her obligation to Torth forthwith.
So, naturally, she went back to the Cask and Flagon to play her lunchtime set. And play she did, well enough to earn a few silver. During her performance, though, two figures slipped into the bar; Corporal Bacher, and an unfamiliar one. Dressed in fine but plain clothing, visibly armed with a longsword, with a businesslike air about him, the man introduced himself to Kaloei as Urik Rorham. Not a Watchman, though Corporal Bacher clearly deferred to him. He requested Kaloei speak with him, and, no stranger, perhaps, to the needs of discretion, Torth dismissed all customers from the area of the bar (following the old D&D rule that all tavern owners are retired soldiers/adventurers, Torth is a veteran with an old but well-maintained bastard sword hung over the bar, so people listen when he coughs) . His interest lay in her and her friend's apprehension of Garth of Thaliost. And where was her friend, one Soledyn Lumenars (wisely, Sol had vanished into a corner of the inn)? Well, at any rate; Garth was a known associate of a person Urik was interested in, one Iyerke d'Tharashk. This Iyerke was, he went on to say, perhaps connected to the disappearance of some Aundairian citizens, but he had as yet been unable to convince the Sentinel Marshals to look into the matter. Kaloei reacted to the mention of disappearances visibly, especially once Urik dropped some names; Aldaryn ir'Mentir, Lhas Terask, Vidania Acker, Agate Corleis. With keen senses (and a high sense motive check!) Urik pressed the point; what did Kaloei know?
At this point, Sol and Kal decided to come clean; they showed Urik the list, they explained what they'd found and how and why. Urik Rorham explains that he is in need of some assistance; that while he serves the best interests of Aundair, his resources are not without limits, and what he'd very much like is for someone to take a trip to Sharn and see if they can track down this Pietra of Whiteroof Ward, and perhaps determine what connects her to the other names on the list, and why Iyerke and Garth were interested in her. He knew of an Orien caravan leaving in the morning, and could arrange passage, if they agreed right now. He'll give them the name of a contact in Sharn, and arrange for them to keep him informed via Sivis messaging services; there'd be a Sivis detachment with the caravan.
They agreed. The caravan leaves when next we meet.
Disclaimer: Some of you reading this may recognize certain names; if I have stolen a name from you, rest assured I know I have, and I use it for an NPC because I like how the name matches the race/character type. If you recognize the name as an NPC or PC of mine from a previous campaign...as you no doubt will with two, in particular, that are mentioned in this post...please do not make comments revealing what you know about the characters attached to those names, since my current players don't know anything about them. And, for my current players, I am not just re-treading an old campaign, but I am using elements and plot-threads I've used before, to see how they play out with a different party and different circumstances.
No massive run-on sentences this time, I promise.
As you may recall from the last post, the party had subdued the human man known as Garth of Thaliost, and his elven companion, who remained unnamed. A thorough search had turned up two sets of ID papers for the woman, one blank, but still notarized by House Sivis, making it a felony in most of Khorvaire. The second named her as Kaloei d'Phiarlan, which we remember is the name of one of our intrepid heroes.
After thoroughly tying up their unconscious foes (a task made more difficult by the utter lack of "Use Rope" skill amongst the party) the party gained the following important tidbits from Garth; a finely crafted light crossbow, a pair of plain daggers, three vials of unidentified fluids, a key (hrmm) and assorted scraps of paper written in cipher.
Coded papers mean the bard's time to shine! Bring on that "Decipher Script" check.
Oh. What's that? You rolled a 3. Back to utter uselessness for you, lute-plucker!
All Kaloei was able to discern from the papers was that they represented correspondence between Garth and someone with a "Y" figuring prominently in his name. A thorough search of the barge commenced, uncovering a sizable smuggler's compartment with an assortment of goods typical of the kind smuggled out of Thrane (exotic peppers, silver, artwork) as well as a locked strongbox. Hmm.
As Kal and Sol discuss just who is going to attempt to open that box with the key they found, the party is struck by how desperately they need a rogue. Then they realize that with the key, a trap probably wouldn't go off anyway. (I let them off easy- what kind of paranoid operator keeps his strongbox trapped to the point that the traps have to be disarmed even when he uses a key? Not the kind who gets taken down by 1st level adventurers, that's what kind). Inside the strongbox were the following; 3 stacks of freshly minted Thranite platinum, a small sack with 5 red gems, apparently rubies, and a piece of paper. On the paper? Six names, with a line drawn across the first 3, and the last:
Aldaryn ir'Mentir
Lhas Terask
Vidania Acker
Pietra of Whiteroof Ward
Riann Nagel
Agate Corleis
Further interrogation of Garth reveals little; his female companion is named Elazarre, but that's all he knows about her, except that he was ordered to aid her however was necessary. Seems he was really a bagman, there to meet with a contact named "Iyerke," feed him names, and pay him off. (Ah, the lowly bagman; is there anyone more vulnerable, less capable, and less appreciated in the shady world of schemes and plots? I think not).
With night now firmly settled on Fairhaven (and nursing serious wounds) Sol and Kal decide to drag their captives off to the nearest Watch station. A bored Watch Corporal on desk duty, named Bacher, is suddenly overwhelmed by the actual apprehension of criminals and presentation of evidence (Garth as a smuggler, Elazarre as a forger). What Sol and Kal failed to take into account was the fact that Soledyn doesn't have ID papers...which means the Watch is obligated to detain him and attempt to establish his identity (I just love it when players stumble into something like that; it's a free license to interrupt their plans). Fortunately for him, there is an Aerenal Embassy and he is a member of the Deathguard with a strong family history; an envoy is dispatched to that Embassy to see if identity can be established.
Luckily for him, within a couple of hours a representative of the Deathguard...the equivalent of a high-ranking NCO (Elves don't have sergeants, right? I mean, it just doesn't sound right. An elvish sergeant? Gnomes, maybe. Halflings? Possibly. Dwarves? Absolutely. Dwarves are perfect sergeants, born to it. But elves? Picture R. Lee Ermey, only ethereally beautiful, pointed ears, flowing hair, spewing curses..."I didn't know they stacked dragon-shit so high in Aerenal"...it just doesn't work) named Ederrion Jhaelian shows up. Tall fellow. Thin. Masked. Armed. Spooooooky.
He points out that Soledyn can prove his identity very simply; Kal averts her eyes, there is some rustling as Sol pulls down the straps of his pack armor, and Ederrion goes away satisfied, claiming he will send over a representative of House Sivis to draw up identity papers for Soledyn, and that he'll start issuing him orders. After all, four years isn't all that long for the elves, and Sol is still a member of the Deathguard.
Eventually, after repeating their story several times, Sol and Kal are allowed to leave the Watch house, but told to stay in the city, and leave an address they can be contacted at. Giving the Cask and Flagon as their address, off they go to investigate.
Then, remembering they're injured, they seek out a House Jorasco enclave, negotiate the price of simple healing and cots for the night (ten gold apiece- two of their "liberated" platinum coins) and then they rest. Well, rest like elves, which is to say, float above the covers in the lotus position, then wake up with perfect hair and bright eyes, refreshed, ready to face the day. Go team Elf!
Finally, all healed up, they set off to investigate. First up is figuring out just who are these people on the list and how to track them down. Seeing as how they were still close to Whiteroof Ward, they decide to go ahead and investigate the name "Pietra of Whiteroof Ward."
Deciding the best place to start is at a local joint for breakfast, they make discreet inquiries. One nat 20 on a Gather Info check later (plus the glint of ready coin) and a waitress is telling them what she knows of Pietra of Whiteroof Ward; a half-elf of Fairhaven, of the itinerant river-gypsy half-elves, she was barely more than a child when, "ten or twelve years ago," her family's boat went up in flames. There were only a few survivors, but the girl was left without family. A hired hand, a dwarf by the name of Duvrin, was given stewardship and custody over the girl, and the last anyone heard, the two of them had set off to Sharn.
Ten years makes for a cold trail, but it was about the best they came up with. The only other info they came up with regarded Lhars Terask. A veteran of the Last War, he disappeared a scant few weeks ago. People he knew him, including Torth, the owner of the Cask and Flagon, say he came back from the war a bit cracked. Big deal; lots of vets came back from the war cracked. But apparently there were a few incidents around his neighborhood, of people, especially kids who though it a fine prank to sneak up on the veteran whose nerves were shot, becoming absolutely terrified of him. When he disappeared, not too many people were asking questions.
On to the Cask and Flagon to see what became of their first captive, the changeling thug from the Dark Daggers. Turns out that the gnome bagpipe player who shares the stage with Kaloei, name of Flimble, went ahead and took said thug home, back to Kreelo, the leader of the Dark Daggers. His reasoning, to Kaloei, was that she oughtn't burden herself with the emnity of people like Kreelo. And, he brought back a message; the Dark Daggers were working with Garth purely as a matter of smuggling, offering their help and taking their cut. They had no interest in drawing the emnity of a Dragonmarked house, and the thug who signed on to do so would be dealt with. Satisfied with that explanation (and looking a little odd at Flimble, who they had previously known to just be an innocuous little pipe player, but was now dealing with criminal gangs and positively dripping with weaponry) they sought to do some more investigating, but were then summoned off to the enclave of house Phiarlan. Kaloei's father, it appeared, wanted a word with them.
And he did have a word with them. Several words. The Watch had informed house Phiarlan of the assault upon one of their heirs. Kaloei was summarily bidden to return to the house enclave, to either teach or perform with a Phiarlan-approved troupe, and to quit her obligation to Torth forthwith.
So, naturally, she went back to the Cask and Flagon to play her lunchtime set. And play she did, well enough to earn a few silver. During her performance, though, two figures slipped into the bar; Corporal Bacher, and an unfamiliar one. Dressed in fine but plain clothing, visibly armed with a longsword, with a businesslike air about him, the man introduced himself to Kaloei as Urik Rorham. Not a Watchman, though Corporal Bacher clearly deferred to him. He requested Kaloei speak with him, and, no stranger, perhaps, to the needs of discretion, Torth dismissed all customers from the area of the bar (following the old D&D rule that all tavern owners are retired soldiers/adventurers, Torth is a veteran with an old but well-maintained bastard sword hung over the bar, so people listen when he coughs) . His interest lay in her and her friend's apprehension of Garth of Thaliost. And where was her friend, one Soledyn Lumenars (wisely, Sol had vanished into a corner of the inn)? Well, at any rate; Garth was a known associate of a person Urik was interested in, one Iyerke d'Tharashk. This Iyerke was, he went on to say, perhaps connected to the disappearance of some Aundairian citizens, but he had as yet been unable to convince the Sentinel Marshals to look into the matter. Kaloei reacted to the mention of disappearances visibly, especially once Urik dropped some names; Aldaryn ir'Mentir, Lhas Terask, Vidania Acker, Agate Corleis. With keen senses (and a high sense motive check!) Urik pressed the point; what did Kaloei know?
At this point, Sol and Kal decided to come clean; they showed Urik the list, they explained what they'd found and how and why. Urik Rorham explains that he is in need of some assistance; that while he serves the best interests of Aundair, his resources are not without limits, and what he'd very much like is for someone to take a trip to Sharn and see if they can track down this Pietra of Whiteroof Ward, and perhaps determine what connects her to the other names on the list, and why Iyerke and Garth were interested in her. He knew of an Orien caravan leaving in the morning, and could arrange passage, if they agreed right now. He'll give them the name of a contact in Sharn, and arrange for them to keep him informed via Sivis messaging services; there'd be a Sivis detachment with the caravan.
They agreed. The caravan leaves when next we meet.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Meet the Party/Session 1
As stated above, the campaign launched today, April 21, 2007. Let's meet the party.
Kaloei Tialaen d'Phiarlan
The rare zaftig elf (5'1", 128lbs- that's random height&weight generation for you. If I may digress, those kinds of dimensions on an elf with an 18 charisma? What kind of measurements might we be looking at here? Purely an intellectual exercise, you understand. Discuss) and a proud scion of House Phiarlan. A student of the Demesnes of Song and Memory, the latter in her lifelong home of Fairhaven, the capital of Aundair, Kaloei has recently declared her adolescent "independence" by landing a gig at a local veteran's bar, The Cask and Flagon. It pays in room, board, and the occasional tip earned by her stirring renditions of The Fall of Thaliost, a poignant Aundairian ballad paying tribute to the city and lands lost to Thrane in the Last War. It doesn't pay well (total haul to date: 7 silver, 8 copper) but it is a gig. And what more can any musician ask for than a regular gig?
Soledyn "Sol" Lumaenars
Aereni Elf, Deathguard Ranger, proud son of a family full of "Seekers of the Light," which is to say, Aereni Paladins. Wields a mean handaxe, one pair at a time, and if he needs to whup on some Karnathi Skeletons, he just flips them over and wields their heavily weighted ends as clubs (sure, it's not in the rules, but it was such a cool idea I said why the hell not?). And whup up on some Karnathi Skeletons he has, as Sol spent his time in the Last War on the Cyre/Karnathi border sending some undead minions back to the rest they'd been denied. He managed to be just over the border in the Nightwood, patrolling, when the Mourning came. His squad...including his sister Leida...weren't so lucky. After a fruitless eighteen months roaming in and out of the borders of the Mournland, Sol has taken to wandering, hoping to catch any word of his former squadmates. If, beneath the crude leather armor vest he wears, there are the blackened, angry edges of what appears to be a scar on his shoulder...one that doesn't change, or heal...well, he's not talking about it.
Nacho McChumpie
This will remain the name of the third character...rumored to be a druid, possibly of House Lyrandar...until such time as said druid is actually named and able to attend a gaming session.
So, here's roughly how the first session went down, in one drastically run-on sentence:
The intrepid party (consisting only of Sol and Kal) are killing time at the bar in between Kal's sets, when a new guy at the bar offers her five gold to sing a patriotic song (the aforementioned Fall of Thaliost), which she does so well that there are tears, and so the guy asks that if she's really as patriotic as her singing would suggest, she should come see him outside in twenty minutes, which they do, after wisely armoring up because even a D&D version of Mr. Magoo could see this plot hook coming, and when they get out there he gestures them into an alley, where two thugs are waiting with saps to try and knock Kal out, begging the question, who the heck'd want to capture some lowly bard chick, only they don't have so much time to ponder the question because they knocked one sucka out but the other one ran away, thankfully trailing blood to give Sol a clear path to follow, but only after they did the legwork to find out the changeling who was trying to bushwachk 'em was a member of Fairhaven's biggest criminal gang, the Dark Daggers (criminals never have a great imagination) and guess where they operate...the docks, which is exactly where the trail of blood heads, and the information they extracted (via a slightly confused but ultimately effective good cop/bad cop routine, which is hard to achieve when you're looking at less than 200 combined pounds worth of elf) from the one they captured only confirms this, so off our interpid heroes go to the docks, and after some bribing of the dockmaster (first attempt, with silver, earned only a snort) they find out where the boat they're looking for is, and off they go, settling into a determined and effective skulk in full view of the boat, where they see a distinctly feminine shape heading in for a discussion with whoever's already on board this particular river barge, which, they determine via good listen checks, happens to be Garth, the same fella who beckoned Kal outside in the first place, and Sol remembers he saw a similar looking woman watching the fracas in the alley where all this started, so they attempted an ambush but that got detected due to feet on creaky old dock boards, and so each group ambushed the other, which ended with thug#2 from the alley-ambush dead in the water (literally), Garth unconscious, and the woman, so far still unnamed, subdued, but the really interesting part is that she has the Least Dragonmark of Shadow in roughly the same spot Kal does, and among her papers include fraudulent (but Sivis-marked) ID papers naming her as Kaleoi Tialaen d'Phiarlan.
Cliffhanger ending!
Kaloei Tialaen d'Phiarlan
The rare zaftig elf (5'1", 128lbs- that's random height&weight generation for you. If I may digress, those kinds of dimensions on an elf with an 18 charisma? What kind of measurements might we be looking at here? Purely an intellectual exercise, you understand. Discuss) and a proud scion of House Phiarlan. A student of the Demesnes of Song and Memory, the latter in her lifelong home of Fairhaven, the capital of Aundair, Kaloei has recently declared her adolescent "independence" by landing a gig at a local veteran's bar, The Cask and Flagon. It pays in room, board, and the occasional tip earned by her stirring renditions of The Fall of Thaliost, a poignant Aundairian ballad paying tribute to the city and lands lost to Thrane in the Last War. It doesn't pay well (total haul to date: 7 silver, 8 copper) but it is a gig. And what more can any musician ask for than a regular gig?
Soledyn "Sol" Lumaenars
Aereni Elf, Deathguard Ranger, proud son of a family full of "Seekers of the Light," which is to say, Aereni Paladins. Wields a mean handaxe, one pair at a time, and if he needs to whup on some Karnathi Skeletons, he just flips them over and wields their heavily weighted ends as clubs (sure, it's not in the rules, but it was such a cool idea I said why the hell not?). And whup up on some Karnathi Skeletons he has, as Sol spent his time in the Last War on the Cyre/Karnathi border sending some undead minions back to the rest they'd been denied. He managed to be just over the border in the Nightwood, patrolling, when the Mourning came. His squad...including his sister Leida...weren't so lucky. After a fruitless eighteen months roaming in and out of the borders of the Mournland, Sol has taken to wandering, hoping to catch any word of his former squadmates. If, beneath the crude leather armor vest he wears, there are the blackened, angry edges of what appears to be a scar on his shoulder...one that doesn't change, or heal...well, he's not talking about it.
Nacho McChumpie
This will remain the name of the third character...rumored to be a druid, possibly of House Lyrandar...until such time as said druid is actually named and able to attend a gaming session.
So, here's roughly how the first session went down, in one drastically run-on sentence:
The intrepid party (consisting only of Sol and Kal) are killing time at the bar in between Kal's sets, when a new guy at the bar offers her five gold to sing a patriotic song (the aforementioned Fall of Thaliost), which she does so well that there are tears, and so the guy asks that if she's really as patriotic as her singing would suggest, she should come see him outside in twenty minutes, which they do, after wisely armoring up because even a D&D version of Mr. Magoo could see this plot hook coming, and when they get out there he gestures them into an alley, where two thugs are waiting with saps to try and knock Kal out, begging the question, who the heck'd want to capture some lowly bard chick, only they don't have so much time to ponder the question because they knocked one sucka out but the other one ran away, thankfully trailing blood to give Sol a clear path to follow, but only after they did the legwork to find out the changeling who was trying to bushwachk 'em was a member of Fairhaven's biggest criminal gang, the Dark Daggers (criminals never have a great imagination) and guess where they operate...the docks, which is exactly where the trail of blood heads, and the information they extracted (via a slightly confused but ultimately effective good cop/bad cop routine, which is hard to achieve when you're looking at less than 200 combined pounds worth of elf) from the one they captured only confirms this, so off our interpid heroes go to the docks, and after some bribing of the dockmaster (first attempt, with silver, earned only a snort) they find out where the boat they're looking for is, and off they go, settling into a determined and effective skulk in full view of the boat, where they see a distinctly feminine shape heading in for a discussion with whoever's already on board this particular river barge, which, they determine via good listen checks, happens to be Garth, the same fella who beckoned Kal outside in the first place, and Sol remembers he saw a similar looking woman watching the fracas in the alley where all this started, so they attempted an ambush but that got detected due to feet on creaky old dock boards, and so each group ambushed the other, which ended with thug#2 from the alley-ambush dead in the water (literally), Garth unconscious, and the woman, so far still unnamed, subdued, but the really interesting part is that she has the Least Dragonmark of Shadow in roughly the same spot Kal does, and among her papers include fraudulent (but Sivis-marked) ID papers naming her as Kaleoi Tialaen d'Phiarlan.
Cliffhanger ending!
Starting a Game
You know, what with the internet and all this making the world smaller and crossing cultural divides people are doing these days, it oughta be easy to get a gaming group together, right? Just put up a couple of posts on various websites and you'll be gaming in no time.
Not so dang fast.
I started putting up posts at various forums...Giant in the Playground, Enworld, Nearbygamer...in early March. Finally, today, on April 21st, I was able to get a game together, with three players. Two of them, I already knew. One is my fiance and lives with me, so that was an easy sell. The second is a classmate. The third is the one person that my internet efforts managed to turn up. Now, thankfully, he has proven to be an extremely fun, cool, intelligent and with-it dude. But why only one person? How did this happen?
My suspicion is that it has something to do with where we are, which is Washington DC and its suburbs. Full of yuppies with a little too much money, not enough time, many desperate to seem cool and relevant and uninterested in D&D games. Now, bear in mind, I got lots of emails from fairly hard-core gamers, but they didn't seem too interested in what I presented as the style played at my table, with an emphasis on roleplay, character development, and fun over rules-faithfulness. These hardcore sorts wanted elaborate miniature setups. One wasn't particularly interested in that "early-level, beginning of the campaign stuff, it's boring."
To which I say, you aren't hardcore at all- you want badassery handed to you on a silver platter. Go away. Or, you don't want to flex your imagination, you just want to roll dice and get high numbers and feel like you have some power in your otherwise pathetic life. Either way, I don't need you at the table.
Regardless of the small numbers, though, I'm looking forward to the campaign. I have three intelligent, well-read, creative people. None of them have played 3.5 D&D at all, and so I don't have to worry about extensive rules quibbling getting in the way. Often I find people complaining that D&D has too many rules that get in the way of the fun. Well, to them I say, if the rules are inhibiting fun, ditch/modify/ignore the rules. Skip Williams isn't going to audit you and decide to take your books away.
Anyway, so, the campaign has launched; Eberron, 3.5, rules lite. Which means I ignore any rules I feel are getting in the way of people having fun and being heroes.
Not so dang fast.
I started putting up posts at various forums...Giant in the Playground, Enworld, Nearbygamer...in early March. Finally, today, on April 21st, I was able to get a game together, with three players. Two of them, I already knew. One is my fiance and lives with me, so that was an easy sell. The second is a classmate. The third is the one person that my internet efforts managed to turn up. Now, thankfully, he has proven to be an extremely fun, cool, intelligent and with-it dude. But why only one person? How did this happen?
My suspicion is that it has something to do with where we are, which is Washington DC and its suburbs. Full of yuppies with a little too much money, not enough time, many desperate to seem cool and relevant and uninterested in D&D games. Now, bear in mind, I got lots of emails from fairly hard-core gamers, but they didn't seem too interested in what I presented as the style played at my table, with an emphasis on roleplay, character development, and fun over rules-faithfulness. These hardcore sorts wanted elaborate miniature setups. One wasn't particularly interested in that "early-level, beginning of the campaign stuff, it's boring."
To which I say, you aren't hardcore at all- you want badassery handed to you on a silver platter. Go away. Or, you don't want to flex your imagination, you just want to roll dice and get high numbers and feel like you have some power in your otherwise pathetic life. Either way, I don't need you at the table.
Regardless of the small numbers, though, I'm looking forward to the campaign. I have three intelligent, well-read, creative people. None of them have played 3.5 D&D at all, and so I don't have to worry about extensive rules quibbling getting in the way. Often I find people complaining that D&D has too many rules that get in the way of the fun. Well, to them I say, if the rules are inhibiting fun, ditch/modify/ignore the rules. Skip Williams isn't going to audit you and decide to take your books away.
Anyway, so, the campaign has launched; Eberron, 3.5, rules lite. Which means I ignore any rules I feel are getting in the way of people having fun and being heroes.
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