The Ever Expanding Dungeon : Session 28 pt 1

Sitting at a table in the noisy Zealous Dagger, Ygg, his eyes blurred slightly by the mulled wine, surveyed his compatriots. 

They were a mixed lot indeed: from the white haired violet eyed elf to the tall mustachioed footpad, the Rat King to the one-eyed magic user, and not to forget the rather surly and burly fellow with two axes slung from his belt. They had arrived in Chevelle a few days ago. Ygg, required by the duties of his office, set about meeting with the sheriff and some of the townsfolk. Sister Linkat was much beloved and he would have his work cut out for him, especially since he planned to follow her footsteps into the dungeon that claimed her life.

The party made their final preparations with little knowledge about the dungeon itself, the only information they had was the directions to the entrance loggers had discovered nearly 9 months ago. They had all heard the stories about the town’s own Perceval, about the brave and righteous Sister Linkat and the mule that will live its days well cared for by the fund she had set aside for it before her last adventure, about the defense of the town from wanton destruction from marauding ghouls unleashed from the dungeon, and attacks from a power mad wizard bent on razing the village.

They also heard the darker side, tales of the townsfolk lost in the depths of the dungeon as they tried to earn quick coin carrying torches, about the many many men and women, human and otherwise, who made the trek out and never returned. As one local observed, never had their been so many funeral pyres in such a short period of time.

As they prepared to adjourn to their rooms, a stooped old man, wearing the classic hooded cloak to make his face all but invisible, shuffled over to their table. 

His long white beard spilled down the front of the cloak and to Ygg it looked as if the beard grew right out of the man’s chest, as there was, as far as he could see, no face attached to it. From the folds of his garment the old man produced an ivory scroll tube, sealed on both ends - the wax thick and yellow had dripped down the sides and hardened there, giving the appearance of ridges. With a flourish, he tossed it into the center of the table, amongst the half filled mugs, the picked over pheasant, the apple cores and grape stems, and cheese rinds.

As suddenly as he appeared, he was gone - absorbed by the darkness of the tavern and the noise of the crowd.

“These things always start this way, “ said Eomond.

“What things?” asked Ygg.

“Adventures. Epic tales of survival against terrible odds in underground passageways where gold is but a sword thrust away!”

Eomond’s excitement was infectious. Lykidas, oldest amongst them, save for the elf of course, eagerly opened the tube and drew out its contents. A map of a huge sprawling underground complex,with incomprehensible notes here and there on it unfolded before them.

“Is that blood?” asked Zilliniy.

It was.

Blood stained, dirt and grime smeared. Worn with time and many hours in a harsh environment, the map was clearly hard earned.

“Do you think...” but before he could finish his thought, Eomond spoke up.

“It has to be. Thats how these things go!”

The party adjourned to their rooms, but none slept much that night, as the excitement of tomorrow and of the dungeon they would explore, the adventures they would have, the troubles they would face and the treasure they would find, raced in their minds.

Things Get Stabby in Skalafell

[This is a summation of 2 sessions - the first was quite brief

After thinking it over, it seemed to me that it would be easier for Ariale, and I imagine many people new to RPGs generally, to play a single character, in this case, Fjörgyn. Charlie Bucky was present as a side-kick, necessary from a survival point of view, but not from a learning of the game viewpoint. 

Enter Black Streams : Solo Heroes. I really like this product, which sits atop any b/x-type game, and hope to put it to use in a solitaire game someday, but in the meantime, it will make it far more likely that Fjörgyn can survive just fine on her own, with a few henchman hired here and there.

The 1st of the two sessions began with a discussion about how to play RPGs, sandboxes, player driven adventure, etc. I think it will be obvious in a minute.]

Fjörgyn and her party made their way out of the dungeon and back to down, after their harrowing encounter with some fire beetles that left the party pretty beat up (see last write-up). They could hear horrible wailing and moans coming from the desecrated shrine of the Forgetful Bear, but there were other things to do.

After resting over night, Charlie Bucky parted company for Hedeby and a life in the big city. 

Although  Badir and Zelligant didn't notice it, there was a gleam in Fjörgyn's eyes when she dismissed them for the day. 

Zelligant went to spend the day plying his trade (he's a tailor remember). Badir headed to the tavern - really, where else do masked wanderers spend their days?

With the henchmen departed, Fjörgyn set off to pay old man Alfarinson another visit. Along the way, her eyes darted about looking for a gift for the voodoo-witch doctor-hermit-type, and found an antler to gift to him.

The old man was working near the side of his hut, drying a deer skin over a fire. Fjörgyn approached and after a brief exchange, accused him of being one of the cultists and. basically, the embodiment of evil. He told her to leave, but she refused. With elven reflexes, she snatched the antler out Alfarinson's hands and stabbed him.

Unfortunately, the furs and leather he wore absorbed much of the blow and she only managed a minor wound. Instead of dying, he was enraged. He reached down and grabbed a flaming log, and it was on!

To her surprise, no doubt, the old man put up a tough fight - and it didn't help matters that part way through the battle, a divine light shone around him, which clearly rejuvenated him. Just as Fjörgyn finally managed to cut the old man down, she heard a shrill scream behind her and turned to catch a glimpse of a little girl running back towards the front of house.

A moment later, the door slammed shut.

Around back of the hut, she found a dirty, thick glass window, and could only make out a door opposite on an interior wall. After covering the body with the deer skin, she first thought about trying to seal the girl inside, but, given that the door opened into the hut, that would prove difficult. As thunder and then rain moved in, she kicked the door down.

Finding nothing, she made her way to the door opposite, and knocking it open, found herself in a small bedroom - the same room she had spied from outside. After lighting the lantern near the bed, she rifled through the suspicious lump of skins and furs, but found no one. 

Her search was interrupted by the sounds of heavy clomping on the front porch, followed by a man's voice calling out "We know you're here Old Man!"

Reflecting on the 5th Session of Trelleborg

As you may or may not have seen, on Friday, I ran the 5th delve into the dungeon beneath Trelleborg. I was "sold out" until a day or two before, and then had someone drop. I lost another about an hour before game time, but picked up someone else, so I had 6 by the time we sat down to play.

I have mixed feelings about the session - although with a few days perspective, i think, overall, it was OK. 

One of the techniques I read about recently, and I'll be damned if I can remember where, suggested setting up a scene exactly as it always is, and then add a "but..." to it. I think it was on GnomeStew. Anyway, it seemed right to me that there would be a group camped not far from the dungeon - and the smoke from their fires would be big news in town(the ruins can be seen from the village, since the ruins are atop a big ol' butte.) I mean, who in their right mind camps near ruins over a well known dungeon? 

The players weren't terribly concerned (they tend to roll over anything in their way), but they did want to investigate.

Now, I try not to expect anything - I don't do "my precious story/npc/trap/etc." I try not to guess more than at a surface level what my players will do(for one I don't know WHICH players i'll have by start time). But, I guess I was hoping the players would take some decisive action - either ignore them or engage them with some purpose.

Except, they didn't really coordinate any kind of plan that I could tell, so I have no idea WHAT that was. One character tried to call the campers out, and of course they refused, and instead told him to come to them because they had booze.  That lead another to go right into their camp, and a few crept around to watch from the woods.

Admittedly, I failed here - I could have had the group attack the players, or accidentally reveal something they didn't intend, or had the spying show something (which I realized on the drive home. Not a terribly helpful time to think of it!). But I didn't want it to default to combat, so I let the dice decide and the reaction check came up overwhelmingly friendly! I suppose that probably undermined whatever the party was planning. 

When the campers reacted positively to the lone PC entering their camp, he asked for ale, and what flashed through my head was the chapter by Robin D. Laws in Unframed: The Art of Improvisation for Game Masters, about petitioners and granters, and why social interactions sometimes fall flat: no one knows what they want. I knew we were going down the slope of a "Why have this encounter?" Encounter.  So, I tried to throw in a suspicious action on the campers part, which was met with more watching and waiting for the campers to do something.

To use another term I have learned from that book, there was a lot of blocking going on.

Blocking isn't necessarily a bad thing, nor is it always intentional - in fact, i think in this case it was all inadvertent.

When they said they were spying, I told them what they saw, but nothing I described called for any kind of action. Having blocked their proposal of "I'm spying" with "You see some pretty mundane stuff", they probably saw no reason to offer anything else. When I finally did describe something that was suspicious (my offer), they decided to wait to see what would happen (a block) rather than take action and try to stop it.

Eventually, the whole encounter fizzled to an end, despite introducing a mysterious bad-ass of a figure. Fortunately, the dungeon itself went many times better.

Next time, if they tell me they are spying, and the campers are harmless, the answer isn't "you see this, that and the other, but nothing unusual" but , "You see this that and the other. Clearly they are of no threat to you and are not worth further involvement". They might decide I'm lying, but that's on them. 

If it IS something they should be concerned about, then the answer shouldn't be  "you see this, that and the other but nothing unusual" and then reveal something only later, during further interaction, but rather, "you see this, that and the other, and holy crap! there's crazy ass Satanic symbols all over their cart which is covered in fresh blood!"

I want them to have agency and to play in the sandbox, so, in order to encourage players to drive, I need to do a better job of making enticing offers when their goals in a situation are unclear even to them, in order to give them something to riff off of that will let them move things along in whichever way they would like to go (not that they will get the results they want, but that they are steering this crazy train).

Afterwards, I talked with the new player - he had never played b/x before and he loved it. He even loved the interaction with the campers.  And it didn't even bother him that his dwarf died in the last room of the night. That definitely helped change my opinion of the session, from a definite negative to a positive, if only because someone else has been exposed to the joys of old school.

Happy Father's Day

I hope the dad's out there had a happy and stress free day today.

I was up at 4:30 AM with my little man, he wasn't doing terribly well, acting out and getting easily upset, and in my sleep deprived stupor, I wasn't able to pin it down, until 7:00 AM when I realized something was probably hurting. 

Children's Advil and 20 minutes later and he was his normal self. 

Later in the day, he was supposed to take a nap while I took a much earned dad-nap, and if it failed he was supposed to help his mom and her boyfriend do some work around the house. About two hours later, i woke up to my son's tears and screaming.

Apparently, dad hugs were needed before he could calm down; he quieted down and ended up falling asleep in my room for an overdue nap, which was followed by some brief dad-son grocery shopping and picking up Chinese take-out. 

He's a light in my life, so the tough days always are totally worth it in the end. Although it can be a struggle in the moment, that's for sure.

To keep thing's gaming related, I treated myself to some WWI minis as my fathers day gift to myself and they arrived yesterday:

My gift from my son and his mother will arrive within a week or so, HaT WWI Austrian Infantry and HaT WWI Austrian Infantry Heavy Weapons. 

I didn't mean to start a new gaming period - i swear!

The Ever Expanding Dungeon : Interlude

As I mentioned, I wouldn't be able to play a session of The Ever Expanding Dungeon this week; I'm prepping to run the 5th session of my old-school b/x dungeon crawl (The Dungeon Beneath Trelleborg) at my FLGS on Friday night.

However, I did get around to two things:

I'm switching rules systems. 

I love LL and the b/x it is based on, but since I am running two social b/x games at the moment, I'm getting my fill. Add to that, I recently read Swords & Wizardry: White Box and I experienced the same sense of excitement I felt as a 10 year old reading Modlvay's basic D&D. Unlike DCC, which I get the same feeling from, this rule set is simple and very close to what I already know.

The differences are minor except when they aren't. Nearly all weapons will do 1d6 damage and all PCs use the d6 for their hit die, although, not all classes roll a new hit die with each level. There are no bonuses for a high strength, unless you're a fighter and then it's XP. Dex has no impact on AC.

S&W works with either ascending or descending AC, and for giggles, I'm going to try ascending (Blasphemy!).

I also rolled up my new PC and did some "hand-waving" to advance the story:


Some 6 months since Sister Linkat and her party disappeared in the dungeon, a new face arrived in the village. Sent by the Bishop of the Church of the Hedonistic Lumberjack, ostensibly to look after the spiritual needs of the flock that the good Sister had tended to, Ygg (C:1), servant of the Hedonistic Lumberjack and, former Librarian of the Coven of the Shattered Kings, yearns for the opportunity to explore dark and dangerous places that, until now, he has only read about.

Along the way he assembled a band to join him.

Ygg will be joined on his adventures into The Ever Expanding Dungeon by:

Character	"Player"	Class	Level
Lykidas Magic User	Rod Thompson	MU	2
Zilliniy Fairweather	Alea iactanda est	ELF	2
Eomund	Jacko	F	2
Leegand Dhun, from the Wave-worn Island	Kelroy was Here	T	2
Runolf Svensson	Bluebear Jeff	F	2

For comparison, here is the original party:

Irongrim - F:1, HP 7
Brother McCleary - C:1, HP 7
Malazar - M:1, HP 6
Theodotus - T:1 HP 5
Feldspar Greytooth - F:1, HP 8
Throm (torchbearer): NM:0, HP 2
Perceval (porter): NM:0, HP 3

I will go through and read everyone's back story and then get ready to play next Wednesday. Fitz-Badger, if you see this and want to submit another character to replace your last one, please do!

Nuts! Final Edition : First Patrol AAR pt 3 (In Sight, Shooting, Crisis Tests)

We now resume our battle already in progress...

The Germans are all REP 4 and so would roll 4 dice for In Sight, except they are active, so they only roll 3. The US leader, Sargent Orecchiette, is Rep 5, and so rolls 5 dice - except the Germans are concealed and thus rolls only 4.

A success is a 1,2, or 3 - we tie with 1 success each. In case of tie, the rules say roll again, so, I roll again. The second time, the Germans win it 3:1.

My men are totally in the open (I thought about having them go prone at the end of their move, but then thought, "Nah! I got this." ) and so the results are horrific.

The MG-42 rolls 6 dice and targeted the first 3 men. A rule I don't remember from Nuts! 2.0 is that for every inch between figures, the shooter has to allocate 1 die to the empty space. 

The rifles and SMG target 1 each.

• Theodotous, was hit, but passed 2, so he is knocked down but can carry on.
• Irongrim is Out of the Fight and Blarg is Out of the Fight
• Orecchiette also passes 2 and is knocked down but can carry on normally.
• Pvt Linkat  was both fired on and suffered a man down, so he rolls the dice once and checks to see which is the worse result- he passed two and between those choices, the result for Man Down was worse EXCEPT he was Outgunned and he should have Ducked Back.

The PEF in the woods advances through the German line and thankfully is nothing.

Turn 5 -Germans 4, US 1

Well, crap!

Before I did anything else, I had to check to see if the Germans will pursue their objective. So, I rolled on the NP Pursuing the Objective table (p. 76) vs. their Rep of 4. They passed 1 die and since I wasn't on the enemy's flank, they would move in accordance with their objective.

Wait. What was their objective?

Under the NP (non-player) Enemy section it notes that on your first patrol, they are on a patrol (1-2), Defend (3-4), or Attack (5-6). I rolled a 6, so they were on an Attack mission. I decided that their objective would be to take the red-roofed farm house.

With that squared away, I rolled on the NP Infantry Movement - Attack table.

They had 2x as many figures as I had on the table (not Out of the Fight, that is) and got a bonus die. Of course, they passed 2 and their tactic would be to fire with the LMG team, while the rifle team moved around to my left.

The MG-42 opened fire on Orecchiette , Linkat and Theodotus

• Theodotus is hit, no damage, but he scores a knock down result. He's already down, so he stays there.
• Linkat is Out of the Fight.
• Orecchiette  is not hit, but received fire. He scored a carry on,but he's outgunned, so he stays prone (but now in Duck Back).

The   rifle team then advanced and opened fire - Orecchiette is killed, Theodotus is Out of the Fight.

this picture was taken after turn 6, but it shows the aftermath of turn 5.

Malazar and Manchiever attempted to fast move around the house but I rolled 5 and 6, so Malazar made it, but Manchiever, a Rep 3, passed 0d6 and can’t keep up.

Since Malazar came into LOS, I had the sides check for In Sight. 

The Germans had two groups (at this point, the MG-42 team was still in the woods). Each group rolled its own In Sight. 

Malazar beat them both, and got the jump on the Germans. He opened up on the LMG gunner and missed.

The gunner passed 1 on his Crisis Test, and since he's not outgunned, he snap fired. Malazar is hit, but he passes 2d6 and  is only knocked down.

Turn 6 - Germans 2 , US 1

The last PEF advances into LOS of Malazar and Manchiever - I roll to see what it is and pass 0d6. WOO!! Finally, some luck!

I check on the NP Pursuing the Objective table and then the NP Infantry Movement - Attack table: the Germans advance and regroup.

I'm outnumbered and outgunned. And, since discretion is the better part of valor, I have Malazar and Manchiever scuttle off the table.

Nuts! Final Edition : First Patrol AAR pt 2

We resume our patrol (click the pictures to enlarge).

After these pictures were taken, I decided to add some stone walls to the houses. Such is life.

Turn 1 - I rolled 1d6 per side and tied with 6s. That's greater than the Interest Level of 2, so no random event.

Turn 2 - Again I rolled doubles this time 2s. Because that's less than or equal to the IL, a random event is triggered (random events are optional. I like them, so I figured what the heck. I mean, how bad could it be?

I dutifully rolled on the random event table and got sniper. Since I was treating my squad as 2 groups (Cpl. Malazar, Pvt. Perceval and Pvt. Manchiever in one, and all the rest in the other), per the rules, I rolled first to see which group the sniper would target, and then which figure in the group.

As luck would have it, the sniper targeted the BAR group, and shot at the gunner, Pvt Perceval. To resolve the attack, I rolled 1d6 to add to the sniper's Rep 4 and scored a hit (which was easy since the target was in the open). 

The d6 for damage was 4, and since the Impact of the weapon is only 3, Pvt Perceval got a chance to escape death.

Rolling 2d6 on the Infantry Reaction Test, using the Recover Test row, Perceval, at Rep 5, had a good chance to skate through. 6 and 2. Oops. He only passed 1 and was Out of the Fight.

I rolled a Crisis Test (Man Down) for Malazar and Manchiever - Manchiever, at Rep 3, unsurprisingly passed only 1 and he hit the dirt (duck back-goes prone) but Cpl. Malazar stood tall.

Turn 3 - I rolled and AGAIN tied, this time with 5s. I figured it was time to switch dice.

Turn 4 - US 4, Germans 3.That's more like it.

And here, because the total is 7, I should have checked to see if I got reinforcements, since my die was higher. But I forgot to do it! Noooooo!

Malazar ordered Manchiever to grab the BAR as they moved to get a bead on the farm house.

When there's a building, the assumption is there's a PEF inside which gets resolved when you're within LOS and 12". 

Rolled 2d6 against the Enemy Interest Level to see if PEF in building was anything.

this picture was taken at the end of the US 1/2 of the turn, hence the narrative inconsistency.

The building PEF resolved by pass one die - this means nothing is there, but,the next PEF roll will use 3d6 to resolve, and take the two lowest.

Orecchiette's group took off for a Fast Move towards the house - unlike the previous editions, the Fast Move rule is written as +1/2 movement for each d6 passed. I rolled 1 set of d6 for the group: 2, 6. That means the all pass one. Movement is 8", so 12" total (8" + (1/2 * 8") ).

The German half of the turn:

The PEF farthest from my force passed two dice, and as a result moved 8" towards me, using the hill and 2nd building as cover.

The next farthest from me also passed two dice, moved 8" to the edge of the woods and triggered an In Sight between the PEF and Sgt. Orecchiette's group.

First I had to resolve the PEF though.

Because of the result I got for the building PEF, I rolled 3d6 instead of 2d6 vs the Enemy Interest Level, counting the lowest two. The PEF passed two dice. A roll of a single d6 told me to roll on the Enemey Reinforcements Table, rather than the Enemy Defensive Position table. When I rolled on the reinforcements table for the Germans, I found it was an infantry squad.

Germans get 5 + 1d6 men per squad and I rolled a 4.

Ugh. I guess it could have been worse.

Up next, the In Sight check, shooting and chaos!

Nuts! Final Edition : First Patrol AAR pt 1

Rather than dive in with a platoon vs platoon game, I decided to send a squad out on a patrol mission (p .74). 

First I generated the terrain, using the rules on page 59. It's pretty much the same as previous editions. 

The board's overall terrain type was clear but individual sections had hills, woods and buildings as follows:

Section 1 - Clear
Section 2 - Hill
Section 3 - Hill
Section 4 - Woods
Section 5 - Clear
Section 6 - Building
Section 7 - Clear
Section 8 - Building
Section 9 - Clear

To generate my force, up to a full squad, I used the American force table (identical to Nuts! 2.0). US squads start with 7 + 1d6 men. And i rolled a 1. Of course.

Interestingly, in Nuts! 2.0, the Patrol mission was called Reconnaissance Patrol and you could take up to a platoon. I much prefer the smaller force for a patrol.

I decided the NCO would be a Rep 5, but I'd roll for the rest. And the dice were very kind (some of you may recognize the names):

Sgt. Orecchiette - Rep 5 - SMG
Cpl. Malazar - Rep 5 - SA Rifle
Pvt. Perceval - Rep 5 - BAR
Pvt. Linkat - Rep 5 - SA Rifle
Pvt. Irongrim - Rvp 4 - SA Rifle
Pvt. Theodotus - Rep 4 - SA Rifle
Pvt. Blarg - Rep 4 - SA Rifle
Pvt. Manchiever- Rep 3 -SA Rifle

I opted not to use a Star, and I left off the attributes, to keep things simple for my first real attempt at using this edition.

As in Nuts! 2.0, the scenarios in the core rules have a list of the steps to take to set them up, with references to the necessary pages in the rule book.

• My first step was to establish my Investment Level. In Nuts! 2.0 this was called Activity Level. The Investment Level is functions the same, as far as I can tell - the big difference is that it isn't randomly generated
•  According to the rules, both sides start with an IL of 3. Except, patrols are 1 level lower, so both the US and the Germans will start with an Investment Level of 2.

• Which also takes care of the second step, Establish the Enemy Investment Level.

• I decided my squad would enter in section 7.

• I generated 3 PEFs (Possible Enemy Force) markers, 1 behind the crest line of the hill in 3, 1 in the woods in 4, and 1 behind the woods in 4.

• In Final Edition, all PEFs are Rep 4 and I can imagine why this was changed: in the previous edition you rolled 2d6, and kept the lower as the Rep, which half of the time led to very low Rep PEFs that didn't move much if ever. Still, as a solo gamer, I might use the old method now and again for the variety it provides.

At this point, the table is ready for play to begin. I'll continue the write-up in the next post.

Nuts! Final Edition - 1st Impressions

As I noted on Friday, I received my print copy of Nuts! Final Edition from THW (I got the PDF immediately on purchase, but I only skimmed it).

Borrowing the approach taken in CR3:FV, the book has review paragraphs and sample situations that gives it a workbook like feel. I think this is a good approach but it would help if they showed the answers to the questions somewhere (For those that are not directly in the text itself. if they're there, I haven't seen them yet).

Most of the first 29 pages is similar or identical to Nuts! 2.0. The most obvious difference is the In Sight check.

Unlike Nuts! 2.0, both sides take the test. This check is based on, but not identical to the test in CR3:FV. Instead of individuals acting in order of number of successes, the group with the leader that scores the most successes gets to take an action, in order of REP, while the other group can only react. 

One thing not addressed, or not clearly, is how to handle things when an active group (Side A) triggers the In Sight for two or more enemy groups (Side B). The problem specifically is the modifiers - if one group for Side B has concealment and one group does not, does Side A subtract a d6 or not?

I decided that yes, they did. For those not inclined to make their own rulings, I suggest submitting questions to the THW discussion forum. They are VERY responsive.

The second notable change is the reduction of reaction checks. The familiar checks are still there, but the table is better organized and looks less intimidating. 

I've only worked through some contrived examples, but, so far, I am quite happy with these rules - the In Sight looks like it might eliminate some of the frustrations I felt with the previous incarnation.

For me, the real test will be trying to run a game with a platoon , using the War Against Japan supplement (that supplement assumes a platoon vs platoon or more as the standard encounter, rather than squads that you find in the core book). I'll probably give that a go this week.

Excuse me, I GURPS-ed.

The other day I was invited by one of the players in my Trelleborg campaign  to join a 1x a month campaign he is starting. The system: GURPS 3rd ed.

Friday night, we met for the character generation session.

I once tried to create a GURPS character using the quickstart rules, but I didn't get very far. This time, with someone with the core book and compendiums for the advantages / disadvantages, I was able to create a complete character.

It's really weird to use points to build a character when you're used to rolling some d6 and constructing the character as you go. Still, it isn't difficult - and, I suppose I could have built a character to meet a concept, instead, I looked for disadvantages that seemed like fun and let my concept develop as I "shopped."

When all is said and done, I like the concept I have - a surgeon, trained by the army, who suffers from solipsism and extreme motion sickness, and who performs illegal back alley sterilizations for women who don't want to be breeders for the state.

The game is set in what is now the near future, although when the setting was created it was a bit further off. One of my co-conspirators is a chemist (the character that is) and I'm not sure what the other player is going to bring to the table, since they weren't there. In any case, we're not in pseudo-Medieval Europe anymore, Toto.

We also did a sample combat just to see how it works. Conceptually, I think I get it - at least at a high-level. Actually playing it though, never mind memorizing it, is going to take some effort.

My goal, besides getting to play in a game that sounds enjoyable, is to learn GURPS well enough that I can make use of the WWII sourcebooks I have and either run some very detailed small scale skirmishes with miniatures, or perhaps run a small straight up GURPS WWII role-playing campaign.

Nuts! Final Version Arrived! (Plus some other stuff that arrived not too long ago)

I went out to the mailbox today and to my surprise, my printed copy of the Nuts! Final Version rulebook was there.

Since I've ordered and received several sets of rules in the last month or so, I thought I'd do a group shot:

The Pacific was a find at the library book sale two weeks ago. It's quite a tome compared to my usual reading, so it might be a while before I can muster the fortitude to confront it. I also just finished No Bended Knee: the Battle for Guadalcanal, so I could use a break from the PTO for now.

The WWI rules were inspired by my reading of The Guns of August (a book I thoroughly enjoyed). Until I read The Guns of August I had only a barebones grasp of WWI. I'm not saying I'm an expert now, but I know more than I did and that's a start. And I find I want to read more about it. 

So, yeah, I fear a new wargaming period in my future.

The Ever Expanding Dungeon : Session 27

Just as a reminder, there are 3 PCs in the dungeon right now:

Sister Linkat C:4
Sylana C:2
Gutzom the Dwarf D:2

***
“That was odd” said Sister Linkat.

Her companions gave her blank stares in reply.

“I could swear 6 months passed by while we stood here.”

“Sister Linkat, the evil of this place must be getting to you. No such thing has occurred. My beard hasn’t grown an inch, see?” said the dwarf, stroking his beard, almost with a hint of disappointment.

Shrugging it off as yet another disturbing occurrence in this foul place, Sister Linkat took her place next to Gutzom as he forced open the door to the south.

At the intersection, Sister Linkat briefly recounted the death of Perceval as the party stopped a moment to decide which door to examine first.

[Is there anything obviously distinguishing about either door?C: 6 50/50, 21, yes. There appears to be a foot print headed towards the door to the south, but the door West looks as if it has been undisturbed for ages.

The party opts to listen at each door - Southern door first:

Sister Linkat and Gutzom listen while Sylana keeps an eye on their back? 5 and 6 neither hear anything

They try the West door - 2 and 4, again nothing.

Does anyone recognize the print? Chaos: 6, Unlikely. 24, yes. 1-2 Linkat 3-4 Sylana 5-6 Gutzom -

4, Sylana recognizes it.]

Sylana stooped and identified the track as that of a ghoul. So sure of it was she, that Sister Linkat, ever cautious, suggested they try the West door first. Of course, Sylana prefered to fight the undead; she didn't take up the mantle of the Hedonistic Lumberjack to skirt combat. Debate ensued.

Meanwhile, as the two clerics went round and round the issue, Gutzom again stroked his beard thinking if he squinted just right, it was indeed a touch longer than he recalled.

[Wandering monster, 5, none.

Here I used my group decision making mechanism. THe question to be decided is Does the party go to the West door?

First, I decided the strength of the PC's conviction towards their point, and then added that to their Charisma.

Sister Linkat 12+very unlikely (+2) = 14
Sylana - 11 + very likely (+2) = 13

The difference is added or subtracted from a 50/50 roll on the Mythic Fate Chart. Since lower values are Yes on the Mythic Fate Chart, it's -1 on roll to favor Sister Linkat.

44 -1 = 43, they’ll go Sister Linkat’s way. ]

Gutzom forced open the door, which thankfully wasn't trapped, to reveal a tiny 10' x 10' chamber. A great flapping of wings startled the party as two giant bats, themselves surprised, awkwardly flew to the ceiling.

[Check reaction for bats. Friendly. I decide that means they just ignore the PCs]

The bats appeared uninterested in the party and after laughing off their surprise, Sylana and Gutzom observed that the glowing orbs in this room were somewhat dimmer than usual.

A quick survey of the room revealed some carvings in the stone wall, initials and simple pictographs.

[Is this anything anyone can understand? Chaos: 5, Unlikely: 16, Yes.
Roll Rory's cubes: Drop ball, mask, monkey - r- roll drop ball and get crying]

Sister Linkat squinted at the crude marks and informed the others that they told the tale of a hero donning an expressionless mask to climb down into the pits of the underworld to find his lost love.

With the bats ignoring them, the party opted to go through the southern door.

[Using my Traps for Doors and Chests tables, I found that door was stuck,but not trapped.
It opened into a 50 x 10’ room with 3 exits
Contents: Empty
Purpose: fungus/mold garden

I decided to use Mythic to setup the Scene:

All along the floor and up the walls and even on the ceiling a vast forest of fungus and moss grows, the walls long having collapses to reveal the earth behind them, and trickles of water coming in through the ceiling.

Check vs Chaos level, 1, scene is altered]

Beyond the door, the remnants of a vast garden of fungus and moss clung to life - something or someone had tried to smash and hack everything in sight; shattered mushroom caps and stalks littered the floor and scorched walls revealed an attempt to eradicate the garden completely.

“Best be careful - either someone was a violent maniac or something in this garden attacked them” said Gutzom. Trusting the dwarf’s knowledge of underground things generally, neither Sylana nor Sister Linkat felt compelled to do more than listen at the various doors.

[The doors East and South revealed nothing, but the West door gave away its secrets:

Listening at the West door, Sister Linkat heard a low growling and gurgling.

For some reason, unknown to me, I decided this qualified as setting up a scene, and so I checked against Chaos of 5, and rolled a 4: Interupt Scene]

As Sister Linkat moved to place her ear on the door the door, it burst open and [Here i went to the Wandering Monster tables and rolled: ghoul. !@#@#!!@#] four grey-skinned man-sized creatures with faintly glowing eyes of red, and hideous teeth of yellow and black rot snarled at her.

With surprise in their favor, the ghouls attacked the stunned cleric and dropped her where she stood - paralyzed, but not yet dead, her eyes full of hate for the undead and fear of her possible fate.

[Second round, the ghouls won initiative 4 to 2 and moved into the room to attack]

The ghouls must have recognized the air of holiness surrounding Sylana, Adept of the Hedonistic Lumberjack, and three of them attacked her, while only one bothered with the dwarf.

Like Sister Linkat, Sylana dropped to the ground, heart beating, blood racing, but completely unable to say or do anything.

Gutzom, at first, thought he might be able to drive the ghouls away - although no elf, he was fairly resistant to their paralyzing attack. Despite wounding one, he otherwise made no head-way, while he continued to suffer wound after wound. [This refers to round 2]

[Round 3, Gutzom won and I decided he'd fall back defensively out the door in the North wall through which the party had entered]

Gutzom was loathe to abandon his comrades to a horrible fate, but he could see his situation was untenable He had one hope, to fall back through the doorway and use its width to limit their ability to attack him.

He fell back and braced for their onslaught.

On they came, a ravenous pack of hideousness. The dwarf swung away fighting for his life, fighting against evil, fighting for his comrades.

But, Gutzom's luck ran out - the ghouls dropped him to the ground, paralyzed, blood streaming into his eyes and out of his nose, matting his hair and beard, a curse frozen upon his lips.

***************

TPK.

That was unexpected and completely angering.

After swearing up a storm, I calmed down and decided that I will roll up another character, and recruit a few more from those people left on the post where I put out a call for characters. 

So, session 28 will begin in the village with a new party set to head into the dungeon. Somehow they will come into possession of the map, of that I am sure. Perhaps someone, or some thing, wants adventurers to test their mettle in the dungeon, and the map is simply bait for the trap.