The Ever Expanding Dungeon : Session 24

Session 24 was played on 10/17

Scene 4 Main Combat/Climax (also Scene 1 Guardian for the Keep)

The weathered door clung tiredly to its hinges despite ample evidence of rot from many seasons of rain and termites, and held fast against the party's tentative efforts to open it. Finally, Dleggit put his shoulder to the effort and rammed the door open. As daylight flooded into the dark interior [I checked with Mythic to see what would happen: Decrease the physical] a chilling howl poured forth from the keep itself.

Does the set up hold? Chaos 5, 6, yes

[all save vs paralysis or run away, Manchiver - 7 fail, Waldu 9 fail, Mule 5, fail, Dleggit 18, pass, Linkat 9 fail, Stacha 19 pass] 

Although Stacha and Dleggit held fast, Manchiver, Waldu, the mule and Sister Linnkat fell back in terror. Even had Sister Linkat the notion to force herself to enter, Waldu and the mule were her responsibility and she chased after them.

Chaos 6

Scene 2 RP/Puzzle for Keep

Dleggit, determined to pay his imagined debt, grunted and offered Stacha a chance to return to the village - she had done her job. [Does she stay? Chaos 6, Unlikely, 01, exceptional yes]. To his surprise, she told him that she was staying because, more surprising, she is Perceval's 1/2 sister and she too would see him avenged.[that was unexpected]

Dleggit lit a torch and passed it to Stacha, and the two entered the gaping maw of the keep.

[Oppress Disruption]

Not unexpectedly, the door slammed shut behind them, the gust blowing out their torch. The earth began to shudder accompanied by the sounds of stone crumbling. With his infravision, Dleggit saw the floor opposite them falling away, the blackness of the hole that was forming getting closer and closer.

Does the scene stay? 8 Yes

Dleggit swung his pack around and grabbed his rope. Quickly, he handed one end to Stacha to tie around her waist, while he looked for something to fasten the rope to.

[Does he find anything? 1-yes and, 2-3 yes but, 4-5 no but, 6 No and, 4 No But]

Nothing useful was in reach, but he luckily could distinguish the tell-tale shape of wooden beams above his head; he thought he might be able to throw the rope over. Roll to hit AC 5? [1 f***]. The rope missed the target, hit the ceiling and fell back towards him.

Has the crumbling floor gotten to him, [5 no but] With the pit growing nearer, he had time to try once more.

This time he put his might into it and 15 (Hit!) the rope sailed over the beam. Is he able to catch the end? Save vs Dex (dex 13, roll, 19 Damn it) The dark made grasping the end difficult and before he could grab hold of it, the floor gave way beneath them plunging them [is it more than 10'? 50/50 31, yes. More than 20'?39, yes.] 30' to the ground below. 

A moment before his own impact, he heard a the indelible sound of a body slamming into rocks, and then he blacked out (he takes 11 HP of damage, but is still alive)

When he finally opened his eyes, he could not be sure of how long he had been out, but the blood from his head was still damp. He looked over towards the direction of the thud and recognized the cold, vaguely human outline. Stacha the tracker died in the fall (she took 13 hp of damage and had all of 4 HP).

Chaos 7

Scene 3 Trick / Setback for Keep (MORE of a trick or setback?)

[I'm at a loss, so i decide to roll:

Decrease Balance ]

Dleggit stood slowly, trying to take stock of his situation. To his right, he could see a tunnel. With now way up, the tunnel was his only choice. As he moved the ground undulated beneath his feet. 

"What manner of hell is this!" shouted Dleggit to the darkness.

This is an illusion to unbalance him, roll save vs spells 4, he fails and so believes the ground is really moving. Despite being a dwarf. He will attack at -2 and move at 1/2 speed]

Does anything attack now? 4 No, but it will next scene]

Have Linkat and Waldu returned? 5, No, but they will find their way to the Keep next scene

Chaos 8

Scene 4 Keep

Dleggit wound his way along the tunnel, stumbling and tripping as the ground rose and fell, but his Dwarven heritage served him well . Ahead he glimpsed a flicker of flame, and soon found the light getting brighter until he entered into a large circular chamber. Some 30' above, lit by the light of several floor candelabras, a man with a long beard and a dark hood cloak addressed him:

"Ah yes, I was informed that a dwarf accepted my note. I thought there would be more of you. Is the woman dead too? No matter. I shall do away with you and destroy that accursed village. My plans have been too long in the making." 

With that he moved some unseen lever and a gate dropped to block the tunnel, barring Dleggit's retreat. With the pull of a second lever, the grinding of a hidden gear revealed hidden cell, out of which stepped a 8' tall, 4 armed mantis man, red eyes glowing, mandibles clicking unintelligible insults towards Dleggit.

Does the scene stay? 8, 5. No altered Is dleggit surrounded to betaken prisoner? 50/50, 19, yes

Revision:

With the pull of a second lever, the grinding of a hidden gear revealed hidden cell, out of which stepped six 8' tall, 4 armed mantis men, red eyes glowing, mandibles clicking unintelligible insults towards Dleggit.

Meanwhile, outside the keep - Sister Linkat prepared to reenter and smashed the door open.

[Has the floor resealed? Unlikely. 62, no]

I realized I would need to know how long it took Dleggit to wander into the ring -i decide it takes 1- 1 turn, 2-5 2 turns 6 - 3 turns. 3, 2 turns.]

Before her, she saw the blackness of the deep pit - concerned for Dleggit and Stacha she grabed the rope and had Waldu fasten it about the mule's waist. She grabbed a torch, left Manchiver in charge, slung her shield on her back, and carefully made her way down to the bottom of the pit.

Does she make it? She's s a bit of a klutz and is doing this with one hand. Save vs Dex 4, 11, she slips and falls to the bottom: (8hp. Does she lose consciousness Save vs Con of 13, 10. Yes

Hearing the crash of metal on rock, Waldu and Manchiver peerd over the edge?

"Sister? Sister? Dagnabbit!" [Does Waldu attempt to go in? Very unlikely? Chaos 8, I roll 02, exceptional yes.] Manchiver briefly looked at Waldu and then rushed to the rope to climb down (and slipped and took 3 HP damage)

"Confounded adventurers and yer death wishes!." The old man muttered and swore as he strapped on his sword and adjusted his studded leather armor. He lit a torch and again peered over the edge[1 turn]

[2nd turn] - he lowers himself down without issue - taking all due precaution] With extreme caution, he made his way down to the bottom, and in the light of the torch, he caught glimpse of the broken body of Stacha. 

[Is sister linkat conscious? Yes, but dizzy] [is the illusion in effect? 6 no and it won't be again. Manchiever is out cold] Sister Linkat pointed to the the tunnel. With Waldu's help she struggled to her feet and together they roused Manchiver. The three started into the tunnel..

[Turn 3 / Round 1]

Dleggit sized up his opponents as they spread out; he would have his work cut out for him. Brining his war hammer up to the ready he erupted with a rage-filled roar that had been building up these past 31 days. [i decided to give him a berserker bonus +2 to hit all combat]

Initiative - mantis 1 Dleggit 3

The party heard his battle cry and broke into a run down the tunnel.

Unfortunately, his rage blinded him and his target side stepped him easily. He now found himself cut off from the tunnel as the mantis formed a wall across the chamber and moved in. As they reigned blows upon him, he withstood it all.

[The mantis prepare to attack - all 6 fail to score a hit]

Round 2

[2 turns at half pace - 30' per turn. 60' total. At a full run Linkat and co. arrive at the iron bars]

mantis -6, dleggit - 6+1 = 7, Waldu and Linkat: 5

Dleggit swings again - 3 + 2 + 2=7, nope.

The mantis attack

2 misses and 1 crit miss (-2 defense, no move)

1 miss, 2 hits, 2 HP damage

Through the bars Manchiver throws a dart which strikes a mantis man - lodging in its shoulder, but the beast fights on.

Sister Linkat says a silent prayer and then hoists the iron gate upwards [To lift the bars save vs str (Linkat)13, she rolls a 15.] with ease.

Round 3

Dleggit will continue to fight, Linkat will charge into the fray and try to divert the mantis from Dleggit

Waldu will do the same, Manchiver will attempt to stay out of sight and in cover by the gate - he'll attempt to throw a dart if the opportunity presents itself

Mantis - 6 Party 4

with the arrival of Waldu and Linkat the Mantis might split their attacks: 1-2 Linkat, 3-4 Dleggit, 5-6 Waldu

1 Linkat - 11 miss

2 waldu - 16, hit for 1h

3 Dleggit - 4 miss

4 Linkat - 18 - 5 HP

5 Dleggit - 19 - 5 HP and dleggit is struck down

6 Linkat  - 6 miss

Steel and wood, stone and iron clashed. A great clamoring of violence raised up from the pit and down down the tunnel. Somewhere in that life and death struggle, Dleggit, who had seen many creatures far worse, fell to the ground. With vengeance on his dying breath, he cursed the wizard who had laid this trap with a restless lifetime of haunting. 

Linkat swings in a rage - 14+1 = hit 4+1 = 5 and kills one
Sister Linkat fighting to reach Dleggit before he was struck, smashed the head of one mantis men, dropping his body in a chitinous heap.

Waldu misses

Does Manchiver have a clear shot? Yes. He throws a dart - 19, hit. 4 hp and kills another!

Manchiver despite the odds succeeded in bringing down yet another with a carefully placed dart.

Round 4
I decided White Eyes might want to get in on this if the party is making a comeback.
Linkat will cast her cure light wounds on herself - she's down quite a bit, Waldu will continue to fight and Manchiver will hope for continued success with the darts, since his Sleep spell would take out his own party and have no effect on such a powerful wizard.

Mantis - 1 White Eyes - 1 Party 2

Linkat's spell goes off and she gets back 3 HP

Waldu attacks 15 +1 Hit for 8 hp, and another one dies.

(the mantis don't check morale)

Manchiver throws another dart 18 and hits! 4 and kills another

Mantis 1 attacks Linkat Miss

Mantis 6 attacks Waldu - hit for 3 HP He's down to 1

Does white eyes get involved? 3, yes but - not a direct attack. He'll flood the whole lower level

White Eyes pulled another lever and the sound of water crashing on rocks filled the chamber - within moments, 6" of water had already poured in.

Round 5

Linkat will heal Waldu, Manchiver will try to throw his dart at the wizard, Waldu will attack

The Wizard will let loose (1-2 magic missile, 3-4 sleep, 5-6 water breathing)

Mantis - 6, White Eyes - 3, Party 4

Mantis 1 Linkat - 9, miss

Mantis 6 Waldu 17, hit - 1 hp, and Waldu is dead

Sister Linkat had been prepping a Cure Light Wounds spell for Waldu, but seeing her faithful servant cut down, she healed herself (7 hp) hoping that she might live long enough to avenge the deaths of her friends.

Manchiver let loose his dart and missd

White eyes casts his spell 5, Water Breathing

the water is now up to 1- 1', 2-5 - 2', 6 = 3', 2 two feet

Round 6

Linkat will make for the tunnel - fighting withdrawal, Manchiver will run for the exit

White Eyes will cast 1-2 magic missile,3-5 Sleep, 6 - Web

Mantis 3 - White Eyes 3 - Party 5

Manchiver races towards the chamber with the rope, while Sister Linkat fends off her attackers and retreats slowly into the tunnel.

Do the mantis men follow? Likely.yes They both attack Linkat and both miss

White Eyes cast magic missile (3 of them)
Seeing the possibility of killing the other who had thwarted his plans the first time, he angrily hurled 3 magic missiles towards her, each striking the target. (and does   12 hp to sister linkat, she's down to 5). To his great dismay, she fought on.

Water up to 4 feet - 1 for all melee attacks.

Round 7

1/2 movement due to water

Sister linkat will take off towards the exit, Manchiver will try to reach rope and climb out

White Eyes will begin to climb down into the water in hopes of getting off another attack.

Mantis 4  - White Eyes 3 Linkat - 3 Manchiver 4

Manchever reached the rope and began to pull himself out of the water. Meanwhile ,White eyes lowered a ladder into the pit to climb down into the rising water.

The mantis attack and 1 hits for 2 hp

Sister Linkat, realizing that she'll soon drown if she doesn't make an effort to get away, turns and takes off splashing through the water as fast as she can.

Water up to 4' 6"

Round 7

With just 20' to go to reach the rope, the whole keep began to shake, stones fell from walls, and ceiling as the water rapidly eroded whatever foundation there was.

Manchiver will climb out and prepare to toss lit oil into water if anyone follows Linkat, Linkat will make for the rope, Mantis will try to reach her, White Eyes will slog forward through the water

Mantis - 3 White eyes 5 Linkat - 3 Manchiver 2

White Eyes made his way towards the end of the tunnel, more swimming than running at this point.

Do the mantis reach Linkat?No, and as they try, one drowns

Can Sister Linkat make it to the rope?2 Yes but she can't climb out this turn

Manchiver emptied two oil flasks into the water from his perch above.

Round 8
Manchiver will light an oil flask and toss the flaming flask into the pool floating on the water surface and hope it ignites and make for the exit, Linkat will climb out and make for the exit

The Mantis will be about 1/2 way into the chamber, White Eyes will make his way into the chamber

The water is at 6' now and only rising slowly.

Mantis - 2 White Eyes 6 Party - 2

White Eyes floated into the chamber dark - he sees Manchiver's torch ahead and above.

Sister Linkat scrambled up the rope as best she could, soaked, wounded and in armor, while Manchiver tossed the flaming flask into the oil pool he had created. 

does it ignite?Yes, but it's too scattered to do any damage

He then runs for the exit.

Round 9 

Linkat and Manchiver race for exit, pulling rope behind them

White Eyes can only vaguely make out their shapes but will cast magic missile

White Eyes - 1 Party - 3

The party dashed out of the door as White Eyes let forth another barrage - are they concealed enough for him to not be able to use mm? 4, No but 

Incredibly and undoubtedly by the hand of the Hedonistic Lumberjack, before the evil wizard could unleash his attack, with a moan and a wail, the keep crashed down in a heap, filling the pit where the wizard floated in water over his head.

The "party" stared at the rubble breaking out of the water here and there, as the water continued to rise ever so slightly, and trickled onto the trail - for now, the town was safe, but at an incredible cost.

Score! Pics of Some Loot From My Childhood I Found in My Parents' Basement

I interrupt this broadcast of the Ever Expanding Dungeon to bring you, Loot Found in My Parents' Basement.

Last night, after dinner, while my mom and dad played with my son, I rooted around in some boxes of my old stuff. Here is the gaming relevant haul:

AD & D Monster Cards. More importantly, proof that goblins are yellow.

Some inspiration. I'm not even sure I ever read it before.

A Groo poster. Just a little something for the man cave.

Some of my TMNT comic books.

The Ever Expanding Dungeon: Session 23 pt 2

This continues the previous Ever Expanding Dungeon post.  Session 23 was played on 10/14/13.

Scene 2, Puzzle/RP

With no time wasted, Dleggit brought the message to Sister Linkat, who knew quite well the power of White Eyes. After rounding up Manchiver, they set about formulating a plan. 

Their best option, it was decided, since none of them were particularly gifted hunters or rangers, would be to hire a tracker to follow the trail of the messenger. 

Word quickly spread among the villagers of their need and within a day they had their (1-3 M, 4-6 F) woman, Stacha the Mourning (is she a PC? 50/50,60, No), an excellent tracker of some renown in the village. Waldu was hired, the mule called forth, and the party resupplied before setting out.

The trail, despite being a day old (day 100) was still warm enough for Stacha. The tracks wound their way north into the tangled forest; to the party's west loomed the great crag that held the Ever Expanding Dungeon.

Does the setup hold? Chaos 5, 7 yes

Scene 3, Trick Setback

With no ideas, I turn to Mythic - Lie Disruption

After 2 days, suddenly the tracks Stacha had been following inconceivably split in two.

"But that's impossible!" cried Sister Linkat. 

Stacha set about trying to determine what could have caused this.

setup hold? Chaos 5, 7, yes

does she fall into a trap? 50/50 89, No. Is she attacked? 54, no

"I don't know how this has happened, but it has. I can follow either fork, but I can't tell you which is the correct one or if either is or they both are."

Sister Linkat observed a few birds tweeting overhead, and then, after a silent prayer to the Hedonistic Lumberjack, cast Speak with Animals, in hopes of getting some useful information from the feathery gossipers. She sweetened the deal with dried fruit and nuts from her rations

Do the birds cooperate? Somewhat Likely thanks to the offering.51, yes

What do they tell her? Ruin Masses - i decide this means White Eyes, who intends to do just that - had something to do with it. but what? Bestow Portal.

The cleric listened carefully as first one bird, then another, and yet another, often tripping over each other, informed her that the rider met a bearded man in a cloak here,where the trail splits. The bearded man read from a scroll and a duplicate of the horse and rider were created which rode off to the left fork.

"The cloaked man then stepped right into that large oak, while the rider rode off down the right trail."

Thanking her feathered spies, Sister Linkat relayed the tale to the rest of the party.

It was a no brainer to examine the massive oak; upon touching it, the tree dissolved and before them stood the ruins of a long abandoned keep, its large wooden door beckoning the friends of Perceval.

The Ever Expanding Dungeon: Session 23 pt 1

This is going to be a multi-part post due to time constraints, i.e. work, on my part!

Day 68 - Day 98 Mourning and rest

After the death of Perceval, the party went about dealing with the loss, each in their own ways. Sister Linkat threw herself into her work, tending to her growing flock. The villagers and the itinerant loggers alike found much comfort in her words,nearly as much as she did.With Perceval's passing she took on the guardianship of the mule - as a final act committed in Perceval’s name, the 22 gp he had on him were dedicated to its care and feeding.

Manchiver, having only briefly known Perceval, was the least affected by the loss. Because of the great suspicion under which magic is viewed since the encounter with White Eyes, the Wizard, at Sister Linkat's suggestion, Manchiver has limited his studying and practice to his room at the inn.

Dleggit was hardest hit, he blamed himself, despite Sister Linkat's attempts to argue otherwise. Sister Linkat gifted the bandolier of 5 silver daggers that Perceval wore to Dleggit. These were the daggers that Perceval donned upon the death of Malazar when he swore vengeance for the death of his friend. She had hoped he would find some motivation, some sense of strength from them, and not at the bottom of one of the many bottles he drank daily trying to forget.

[Mythic 5 room model]

Room 1 Entrance/Guardian

Oppress Liberty]

On the 31st day following Perceval's death, Dleggit, as had become his usual, sat in the tavern ordering an ale mere minutes after the rooster hailed the sun's rise. The regulas, mostly new loggers on their way to one of the camps, were there too, so, at least he didn't look terribly out of place, but he talked to no one. Ordinarily, they would clear out and he would be left alone with his thoughts, except this day he wasn't.

[For the NPC's description I used www.rpgsolo.com 's Mark's Adventure Glyphs. One was a great helm]

Seated at the end of the bar was a new face. A boisterous fellow in leather armor, covered in dust, his great helm on the bar's counter, sat and ate a bowl of gruel and biscuits. When he had finished, he washed it down with mulled wine, wiped his mouth and in a gruff voice said to the bartender, "Ya know where I can find Perceval by any chance?"

The bartender, hushed and with a note of sadness, replied, "Aye, but he has been taken to the next world."  

Dleggit downed his mug and growled, "And I never knew a braver man!"

[is the stranger a messenger? 50/50, 18, yes. Is he hear to deliver a threat? 50/50 14, yes]

The stranger offered his condolences and noted that he had a message he was to deliver to Perceval.

Deleggit offered to take the message and do whatever was needed with it. With a nod and expressing his appreciation, the stranger produced a tightly rolled parchment, handed it over and disappeared before Dleggit could finish unrolling it.

In perfectly formed letters of dried blood, it read: "Your time has come, and my revenge has too. The villagers will pay for your deeds. They shall spend eternity as slaves to Hool the Accursed. - White Eyes the Wizard."

Perceval loved this village and that was enough motivation for Dleggit to pledge to keep this threat from becoming reality.

Some Home Brewed Rules for a Generic Colonial-ish Skirmish

I've taken time the past few nights to play test some ideas I have for rules for future battles on my imaginary island of Helvetica.

My goal was to take what I liked from Soldier's Companion but mash it up with ideas from other systems to give me something that would work a little better for me. That is, something a little simpler.

Here is the result:

 Generic Skirmish Rules for Colonial-ish Games:

Celebrating the Exploits of Heroes, Military and Otherwise, in Lands Foreign and Fantastic While Glossing Over the Role of the Ordinary Person

This is, I think the 4th or 5th draft and is playable, for me, as is.

I do think I might change the Morale section to more of a G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. chaos result in the next iteration.

However, tonight I turn my attention to The Ever Expanding Dungeon and there's no telling when I'll return to modifying these rules, so, I wanted to share what I have in case anyone else finds it helpful.

By the way, the link has also been added to the downloads section.

Packing and Option Paralysis: A First World Problem

As the weekend approaches, it's time for another trip up North to visit my parents for 8 days with the Young Lord Shadowmoss in tow.

Packing for him is relatively straightforward; my parents' basement is a wonderland of toys for children up to about age 10 (for years my mom baby-sat for some friends of theirs, followed by the arrival of my niece and now the Young Lord), so he really just needs clothes, the baby monitor and a few favorite toys. The latter are, relatively speaking, easily identifiable.

I, on other hand, as usual find myself wrestling with what to bring on the "toy" front. Truly, a first-world problem.

I'll be working as usual during the day, and I'll certainly hang out with my folks (unless hockey is on - both of my parents are very into hockey - conversation is then limited to between periods) so I don't need tons of things to do.

Here are my ideas so far:

The Ever Expanding Dungeon - By this, I mean, the map, the character sheets, the D30 GM's Companion, and my booklet of my various solo systems + a printed copy of Mythic GME. Labyrinth Lord is on my Kindle, as is Mythic Variations and JF's 9Qs worksheets. One set of polyhedral dice + a d30 round this out. This is potentially multiple nights of entertainment.

Helvetica Campaign Materials - This would be the map of the island, the map of the tribal regions and my TO&E for Riesling. I spent some of my lunch time today re-working a mash-up of Soldier's Companion and G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. and have thought about bringing a small number of figures along in order to give them some play testing.

Painting supplies - I'm about 1/2 way to completing the first 15 U.S. Airborne for Flames of War from the Open Fire box. Since all the paints I'm using are Vallejo, there's little danger of them leaking in the checked luggage. My magnifying visor and some brushes would complete the setup. My concern is transporting the brushes in a way that doesn't ruin them.

Some 1/32 WWII soldiers - I suspect if I presented my dad with a German vs US skirmish of a weak platoon each, he'd probably play along despite not being a wargamer. Disposable Heroes is pretty straight forward. For solo gaming, the same figures could be used for a skirmish or a small company (2 figures per section 3 sections per platoon, 3 platoons for the company) vs. company action. In any case, I'll have to raid my niece's craft supplies to set up any kind of terrain.

My skateboard - I can't skate at night; it's black as pitch where they live once the sun is down. But, their driveway is a nice flat smooth surface and lunch time skating is always an option. The helmet and elbow pads do take up a bit of space though.

Tony Bath's Ancient Wargaming: Including Setting Up a Wargames Campaign. Given the return to Helvetica, I thought I'd browse through this to remind myself of ideas I saw that I liked and might adapt for a small solo game revolving primarily around platoons and warbands.

Most everything else - movies (samurai, war, documentaries), reading material (rules, modules books, etc.), my zine  articles - are digital and on the Kindle or on Google Docs. So they'll be coming along regardless.

Hmm. Maybe I should just bring it all?

Helvetica Campaign Update: Wherein I Name the Tribes and Determine Their Attitudes Towards Riesling

Earlier this week,  I rifled through some back issues of Lone Warrior, looking for an article on a colonial campaign I recalled reading.

The article in question, Dhunda Revisited by Kevin White, appears in issue #178. In the article, Mr. White expounds on a system wherein his country is divided into five tribal areas and how he determines their attitude toward the British, as well as the means by which those attitudes change.

There's more - it's a long article by Lone Warrior standards - including a supply mechanism, which I may or may not adopt (another article in the same issue, by George Arnold, reminded me that each of us has a different tolerance for the details included in a campaign; too many fiddly bits can sap the inspiration).

In any case, I set about creating the lizard folk tribes and their territories for the entire island. This was done by tracing the existing map and then demarcating and labeling the territories on the new map.

The names I have given below are not the tribal names in their native tongue but short hand names given by the original explorers of the island in the 1790s. The indication of Hostile, Neutral or Friendly followed by a number has to do with their current opinion of Riesling.

Northern Tribes - All formerly allied with Sauvignon-Blanc

• Slitherin - Hostile 4. The shaman of the opening conflict of this campaign was a Slitherin. Of course.
• Serpentors - Hostile 3.
• Cobra La - Neutral 3.
• Cobra Kai - Neutral 3.

Central

• Zartanians (formerly allied with Sauvignon-Blanc) - Neutral 2.
• Dragon Fist (allied with Riesling) - Friendly 4.

Southern Tribes - All allied with Riesling

• Ornithromyans - Friendly 4.
• Unch-unch-unch - Friendly 3.
• Saurons - Friendly 3.

The scale for attitude is based on Kevin White's system of card draws as follows (from most friendly, Friendly 1, to most hostile, Hostile 4):

1. Friendly 1
2. Friendly 2
3. Friendly 3
4. Friendly 4
5. Neutral 1
6. Neutral 2
7. Neutral 3
8. Neutral 4
9. Neutral 5
10. Hostile 1
11. Hostile 2
12. Hostile 3
13. Hostile 4

Major victories for the Riesling forces shift all attitudes towards Friendly, while major losses shift all attitudes towards Hostile (to quote Mr. White, "None of the tribes will want to be allied with someone perceived as weak.")  Minor victories or setbacks have little effect on the broader sentiment, but will effect the specific tribes involved.

Wheren I Finally Paint Some of My Reaper Bones Minis

The painting bug overtook me Saturday night and I finished the first 6 of my Reaper Bones KickStarter minis. Just 194 more to go.

A lot of people think goblins are green. They're wrong.

Why start with goblins and kobolds? Simple.

I have loved koblods ever since I first saw this image in the Moldvay D&D Basic book.

And it seemed to me that if they were going to fight anyone, it'd probably be goblins.

While these aren't my favorite kobold sculpts (the Splintered Light kobolds are my favorite), they will represent my favorite monsters in 28mm. I have 4 sprues of 3 for each side, which is enough for two small warbands for Song of Blades & Heroes, as well as other skirmish rules. I do plan on eventually picking up the Reaper kobold shaman and chief in metal to complete their force.

Another Page from Featherstone : The Riesling Order of Battle on Helvetica

In the first Battle for Helvetica (see the Campaigns link at the top of the blog), I had a very fluid roster of who was in charge of what. 

For this campaign to maintain control of the island, I decided to set out my officers and NCOs in advance, as per Featherstone in the Domestic Wargaming  and Personalized Wargaming chapters of Solo Wargaming and again in Personalized Wargaming in Advanced War Games: Ideas for Wargaming.

The chart was created in LibreOffice Writer, using the drawing tools. The lines appear somewhat jagged in the picture, but are not that way in the document - a result likely due to the process of converting it into an image. It took some 2  hours to create the chart itself, with most of the time figuring out how to fit it all on one .page, and another hour or so to pick all of the names. Only a small handful were identified in the previous campaign.

The names are a taken from German and Austrian (and I think one Bavarian) philosophers, scientists, mathematicians,  composers, political theorists and anarchists. 

For the organization generally speaking, I relied on the rather broad strokes painted in Soldier's Companion and some research conducted online before the start of the original campaign. If I recall, there was no Regiment No. 129 in the Prussian army of the late 19th century which is why I chose it (certainly there was no Helvetica Regiment!). As this is an Imagi-nation, I'm not going to get too worked up about how accurate I am, in any case.

You will notice (if you click the image to enlarge it and then squint a bit) that Heidegger is actually a Lt. Colonel but is referred to as Colonel. He is in fact, the Lt. Col of Regiment No. 129, but is in charge of the combined forces on the island and is thus has the responsibilities of a Colonel.

I hesitated filling in all of the names in advance but figured it would save me time later.

The only corporals (Gefreiter) not identified are those of the Helvetican Feld Kompanies. This is because this is a position held by a native lizard warrior loyal to Riesling and their names are somewhat convoluted when translated to English from their native tongue. They are often quite gruesome as well (you may recall the Sauvignon-Blanc lizard scout, "he who eats the eyes of his enemy").

I do wonder if I shouldn't make a separate blog for Helvetica and any related campaigns but I'm not sold on that idea yet.

Campaign Thoughts for Helvetica

Donald Featherstone's Solo Wargaming is among my favorite of the John Curry reprints. My copy is beat up and well worn, considering I've had it for less than 2 years. If you are not familiar with the book and you play solo wargames or even solo RPGs (there are ideas you can pilfer and tweak, if not directly apply), you should check your local library or pick up a copy.

To those familiar with Solo Wargaming, it should come as no surprise that Featherstone's chapter, "Domestic Wargaming" is among the chief inspirations for how I intend to pursue the campaign.

There's a good deal involved in approaching a campaign in this manner, in terms activity not on the tabletop. This isn't a bad thing, as it's an opportunity for some fun and creative activities. Still, it seems that there exists a general preponderance of campaigns started but not completed and I wonder if too great a space between games wasn't a factor.

Compare it, if you will, to the format I used last time, Bluebear Jeff's simple campaign format which requires minimal bookkeeping and non-game narrative, is focused on tabletop battles, one after the other, and can easily be fought to completion. Indeed, I didn't even need a map to play out the campaign, beyond the abstract map provided by Jeff. 

My map of Helvetica didn't exist until the campaign was well under way, and was made simply because I wanted to, whereas, a la Featherstone (and probably many others), it would have been necessary at the start.

My challenge is to strike a balance between a campaign that moves along at a decent clip, but, never the less, branches out a bit more in terms of these side-ventures (mapping, naming commanders and generating personalities, non-battle events, etc.)

What Worked, What Didn't: Soldier's Companion

As promised, my thoughts on Helvetican Messiah with emphasis on the Soldier's Companion rules.

What worked: 

• The scenario map in the book made setting up the table easy
• Actually, having the whole scenario setup detailed in the book made the setup easy.
• The rules cover a lot of situations, often with illustrations - what counts as a flank attack, enfilade, volley fire, etc. Although I ended up using very few of those rules, it was nice knowing they were there.
• The hit mechanic for small arms - you hit on a 6. That number is modified by a variety of factors. If the number required is greater than 6, you need a 6, and then the opposing side rolls 1d6 against the total modifiers (so if I needed an 11 to hit (+5 total modifiers), I need a 6 to hit, and then if I do roll a 6, the opposing side rolls 1d6 and saves on a roll of 1 to 5).
• Troop formations have an in-game impact in terms of melee, firing, and morale, as well as the usual movement rates. G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T., which I use for the same genre, does not have this.
• Melee is opposed die rolls and the size of the difference determines the result - simple and allows multiple result states other than "winner" and "dead." Multiple attackers on a single defender, the attacker rolls for each attacker and uses the highest number rolled for determining results.
• The seize the initiative mechanic for troops laying an ambush allowed lizard warriors to make contact with the Riesling platoon without getting shot up before they could get there.
• Keeping the lizard warriors in cover meant they could use their Fieldcraft rating to avoid being hit. It proved to be quite effective at slowing their rate of attrition. I also like how Fieldcraft impacts the ability to spot a concealed unit - spotting is done at 5x the Fieldcraft rating, which came into play in the final shoot out.
• Automatic disorder for each unit involved in a melee. This just makes sense. Melee is chaotic, to think you'd maintain your line in this situation is absurd.
• My "solo AI" which was simply a d10 vs the number of lizard warriors in a unit. If the unit passed their morale check, I rolled a d10. If the result was greater ,they faded back into cover to reappear at a different point on the table. This was to give them the advantage I felt they would have in the jungles of their homeland.
• Quick ref sheets in the back of the book were handy

What didn't work:

• Initiative - Against irregulars, regular troops get +1 on the initiative roll which makes it very hard to win initiative for irregulars, at least by my dice rolling. One improbable result was that Major Carnap was able to rally his disordered and shaken platoon, reform line, and then fire upon the lizard warriors without them being able to do anything, since they were a melee weapon only sub-warband. As a solo player, the initiative system doesn't really do much for throwing wrenches in my plans if I'm running the regular troops. G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. with its unit card initiative for the win.

• Morale system - I like the morale stages and the checked result (which can be devastating) but the 2d6 check against a target number, while it worked, seemed clunkier to me than the check against figures remaining. The latter, I find, makes it more likely that units will break as they are withered away. Because casualties do not have a cumulative effect on the morale target number (at least the rules aren't written in a way that makes that clear if they do), you can (and I did) have units with 80% casualties staying on the table.

• Scaling the movement /ranges. This was my fault. The game, from what I can gather, is written for 25mm/28mm and I am using 15mm. So, I scaled the movement and shooting ranges accordingly. This was a mistake - even in G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. i tend to use the ranges as written regardless of figure scale. It wasn't game breaking, but it made things tedious.

• Slow (for me). The game is slow compared to G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. for the same number of figures/units on the board. I understand that not everyone wants to finish playing in an hour or two, but I have very little time to game and need to start and finish in a 2 hour window usually. 1 platoon and an officer (9 figures) vs 1 warband and a shaman (19 figures) took nearly 3 hours to play. Even if I subtract an hour for having to look some things up (which I do with G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. for that matter), I'd still be looking at 2 hours for a very small encounter.

• Quick ref tables for morale should really include some mention of casualties /  forced to rear (for melee) and their impact on the morale number. Also there's a +/- sign missing on the hit number modifier for targets in Column, Mass or Disorder. It seemed to me that it should be -1 (thus improving your chance to hit). 

The Verdict:

I had a great time and was really into the game, but would I use these rules again? 

Probably not - at least, not without tweaking. They were fun, but they were too slow for me. That's my deal breaker. 

So does that mean G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. for whatever the campaign holds? Maybe, maybe not. There is a lot I liked about Soldier's Companion that I'd hate to lose. 

Almost two years ago, I started mashing up G.A.S.L.I.G.H.T. with some of what I had gathered from a brief skimming of Soldier's Companion. I think I may need to revisit that idea now that I've actually played the latter.