Savage Worlds - Vampirates of Caribdus - Session 2

Kicking off the Plot Point Campaign

Last night we officially started the plot-point campaign for 50 Fathoms.  Although our second game of this new campaign, the first was a set-up, more or less, for allowing Accursed player characters to explore the seas of Caribdus.  In "Maiden Voyage," the first leg of the plot point campaign, player characters find themselves marooned on a wild and dangerous island beach and in search of a way back to civilization.  

For those unfamiliar with the term "plot point campaign" I should probably take a step back and give a little explanation.  There are quite a few scripted/episodic campaigns or adventure paths on the market.  In most of these, a game master runs an adventure, and then runs the next one after, perhaps with a short deviation or side-quest.  But typically the adventure arc has to be completed in sequence.  

While plot point campaigns may have a specific set of sequences, they are buried within a full sandbox setting.  Players can pick up a plot point, follow that adventure to completion, and then return to sailing around Caribdus, gaining fame or notoriety, and completing side-quests or even full-length "non-plot point" adventures.  There are also tables for random encounters that can occur at sea or on other specific parts of the map.

So part sandbox campaign, part ship-based hex-crawl, part Wing Commander: Privateer.  Choose your own favorite analogy.  

You may note that we had an additional crew member join our campaign last night, as my good friend (and long-time Savage Worlds fan of everything other than Necessary Evil) Melinda joined up.  You may also note that she is playing a "Masaquani", a race from 50 Fathoms instead of Accursed.  Melinda prepared a couple of characters for the campaign, Alara and an unnamed Shade.  After some discussion it made sense to introduce a character that had some kind of idea about Caribdus and the surrounding isles.  For our campaign, Alara can be the conduit between the monsters of Morden and this new realm.  

The Crew

• Nolan Lobachevski - Vargr Scout - played by +andrew lyon 
• Sobek - Ophidian Mariner - played by +Craig McCullough 
• Fenster - Golem Alchemist - played by +Frank German 
• Marie DeLahaye - Dhampir Witch - played by +Jeremy Land 
• Kor - Revenant Brute - played by +Marc Plourde 
• Alara - Masaquani Treasure Hunter - played by +Melinda Roberts 

Ship's Log

• Campaign Design
• Episode 1: A Captain's Barque

Episode 2:  Maiden Voyage

Summary

The five Accursed from Morden awaken on the shore of a tropical island, near a large piece of the Darkmaiden's Dance's broken deck.  Before they have time to completely get their bearings, a seven foot tall, blue haired masaquani (Alara) breaks free of the tree-line, rushing towards the water while being chased by three Yellow Tails (brightly colored velociraptors).  Hoping that she can shed some light on their situation, the monsters aid the woman.  Marie uses her fear magic to terrify the lizards, and Kor throws the ship's broken deck on top of one.  

After she calms down, Alara explains that her vessel, the Rebecca, sunk off the coast of this land, called Torath-ka, and she escaped on one of the ship's "skiffs".  Alara offers to take the monsters to her boat, but claimed that there was crying and chanting in the woods, and she can't leave any of her crewmates behind.  Before getting a promise of aid, Alara storms into the woods, rapier drawn.  The Accursed follow.  

In the jungle, the new "crew" finds the tracks of Ugaks, an intelligent but savage people that hate masaquani and humans.  Following the Ugak trail, the party arrives at a terrifying scene.  A single Ugak roasting the leg of a human sailor dying nearby.  Alara recognizes the sailor as Jasper Garibaldi from the Rebecca.  The lone Ugak is no match for the Accursed, who swoop in and slaughter the savage.  Alara tends Jasper's wounds and Fenster fashions the man a crutch.  Jasper claims that more of the Rebecca's crew are deep within the jungle along a nearby path.  

Alara convinces the Accursed to continue their heroic path towards saving her crew.  Two miles inland the entire team finds a massive pool of red, acidic tar, situated at the center of a stone ruin.  At one end of the ruin an Ugak shaman stands before a 20' tall statue of a Great Monkape.  Along the sides of the ruin are eight Ugak's chanting.  In front of the shaman are six captives from the Rebecca.  Before the party can do anything, the shaman pushes one of the captives into the acid, and the Great Monkape comes to life.

After a few moments of planning, the Accursed plus their new masaquani friend assault the ruin.  Fenster and Marie use their magic to pin down and terrify the Ugak warriors while Kor and Sobek slay the shaman.  Alara starts freeing the hostages while Nolan the vargr fends off the remaining Ugaks.  The main threat to the party is the Great Monkape, who can easily stand toe to toe with the mighty Kor.  Surrounded, however, the Monkape tries to flee until Sobek trips it up with his grappling hook.  Even on the ground the beast is a threat, and with a single swipe of its fist, the creature almost kills Sobek.  A sharp strike from Nolan's claw ends the Great Monkape's struggle.  



Notable Moments

• Alara had quite the exciting introduction to our campaign!  I brought Melinda's character into the game "in media res", before she could tell the group who she was playing.  All the player characters knew was that this tall blue haired woman was running with lizards following close behind.  Frank's played with Melinda before, so he had no problem teasing her that the rest of the group should attack the masaquani AND the lizards.  To add to Alara's situation, I made Melinda roll to make sure she wasn't hit by the piece of the boat that Kor threw at the Yellow Tails.  

• I'll say it now: Kor is a beast!  When attacking the lone Ugak, he did over thirty points of damage with his thrown anchor.  Those dice just kept exploding!  I declared that the Ugak's torso disappeared but his legs, arms, and head all hung suspended in air like a cartoon for just a moment.  The favor was returned lator when my Great Monkape did forty damage to Craig's character Sobek!

• During the scene where Alara patched Jasper's wounds and Fenster fashioned the man a crutch, Marie played a crucial part: lapping up the sailor's blood.  Jeremy's dhampir had no problem tasting some of the pool that was on the ground in front of the man, and almost had a bite of his open wound.  

• The brief synopsis does not reflect how much time was spent between the scene with Jasper and the ruin.  The players spent about fifteen minutes arguing about whether to help Alara with her friends, or just go to the masaquani's skiff and escape Torath-ka.  They went as far as having Nolan track Alara's footsteps in the jungle and on the beach.  But since this is an adventure game, the players eventually agreed to help Melinda's character be more heroic.

• We've played around with some new setting rules, and for this game I allowed player characters to cancel out GM bennies with their own bennies.  I need to read the Accursed rules again, but I think I should've been doing the same... but I didn't.  I don't know if we'll continue with this rule.  My Great Monkape lost an opportunity to soak damage due to a well timed benny.  Poor thing.  

Quotes

"What had fingers and toes and ended up in Kor's mouth?" - a GM's riddle.

"Now Craig, I'm going to caution you to not make assumptions here.  Just because these things are chasing her, doesn't mean they are the bad guys." - Frank had it out for Melinda's character right from the get go.

"Ah... eh... right.." - Marie frustrated at Alara heading back into the jungle.

"When we get to jungle?" - Kor asked while standing in the middle of the jungle.

"He's specialized in poo identification!" - Marc comment's on Andy's character's examination of the poo.

"That's just Kor.  He's... well he's not harmless, but he won't hurt you." - Marie sums up her cohort's strong points rather well.

"There you go dog-boy, you start lookin' for those tracks." - Fenster was so close to giving Nolan a treat.

"Jasper was the cook, which is ironic since he got skewered and eaten himself." - Melinda spent a benny to describe her former comrade.  

Savage Worlds - Vampirates of Caribdus - Session 1

To Sea

After much reading, planning, and preparation, my Tuesday night crew set sail on a journey to some Savage Worlds.  I discussed this mash-up of Melior Via's Accursed campaign setting with Pinnacle's 50 Fathoms in my last blog post.  The players in this new campaign would build characters using rules from the former, while I would run the plot-point-campaign from the latter.  Still, there was a bit of cross-over between the two books.  +Jeremy Land's witch took some air elemental spells, while +Craig McCullough's Ophidian took an edge from 50 Fathoms.  

I found myself challenged with a starting location for this campaign.  The 50 Fathoms plot point campaign starts, obviously, in Caribdus, but the player characters would all hail from Accursed's Morden.  Rather than make everyone come up with even more elaborate backstories on how they came to a new fantasy realm, I thought we'd play an "origin story" style adventure, telling the tale of how these characters followed the Maiden to Caribdus.  

I must have several hundred hours invested in Sid Meier's Pirates!, so when I was trying to think up a starting point for the campaign, the idea of a tavern full captains looking for crew came to mind.  The players could choose which captain to follow, with each offering a different experience as they sail across the Discordian Sea... right into Caribdus.  

I promise, this will be more sandboxy as we go on, but I had to railroad the players a little to get them into 50 Fathoms.  Sorry!  

Before we get any further, let's meet the characters:

The Crew

• Nolan Lobachevski - Vargr Scout - played by +andrew lyon 
• Sobek - Ophidian Mariner - played by +Craig McCullough 
• Fenster - Golem Alchemist - played by +Frank German 
• Marie DeLahaye - Dhampir Witch - played by +Jeremy Land 
• Kor - Revenant Brute - played by +Marc Plourde 

Ship's Log

• Campaign Design

Episode 1:  A Captain's Barque

Summary

Five Accursed souls booked passage aboard the Carrion's Call, departing from Manreia on Morden's mainland, and bound for Port Sorrow for work as sailors, fishermen, whalers, and possibly privateers.  During the journey they learned a bit more about each other's backgrounds, and told tales of their past.  Eventually Captain Conner's barque arrived at Port Sorrow and the Accursed were given directions to the Harrowed Hall, an inn and tavern that catered to those bearing witchmarks.  

Before entering the inn, Marie reconnoiters the building's perimeter noticing a strange figure wearing a plague mask standing on the side of the building.  Nolan follows the figure into a side entrance while the rest of the party enters the stereotypical nautically-themed inn.  The figure is a captain, and he has a discussion in a backroom of the Harrowed Hall with another captain about which of the newly arriving Accursed would best serve on their respective vessels.  

Inside the Harrowed Hall the party meets Landis Marne, a colonist originally from Morden who fought in the Bane War.  Landis tells the Accursed that his tavern is a fine place to sign up for work on the Discordian Sea, and that two captains are currently hiring: Captain Scream and Captain Alia.  Captain Scream (the figure in the plague mask) is an alchemist looking to partake in a whaling expedition for Flask Whales.  Captain Alia claims that she is a merchant who does business along Morden's southern coast.  

After speaking briefly with Captain Alia, the party sits down with Captain Scream and learns of the potential riches of Flask Whales.  Each whale is full of a powerful oil that burns hotter than coal.  The party of Accursed signs on with Captain Scream, and are taken to the Darkmaiden's Dance.  

After a few days on the Discordian Sea, Nolan spots a small pod of Flask Whales.  Captain Scream orders Sobek to steer the vessel close to the whales, and the party snares the smallest of three.  Kor uses brute strength to reel the small, baby Flask Whale onto the deck of the ship, but then the creature's parents arrived.  Two fifty foot long Flask Whale adults crush the keel of the Darkmaiden's Dance, almost ensuring that the vessel would sink quickly.  All hope was lost until the ethereal Maiden appeared in the nearby fog.  

The Maiden calls to Sobek, and asks him to approach.  The crew set the last remaining sails so that the sinking Darkmaiden's Dance could break free of the whales.  Just before the craft plummets beneath the waves, the Maiden disappears, and a loud crack of thunder was heard from all aboard the vessel.  



Notable Moments

• To set the mood for the adventure my daughter Carrie came on camera and played her rendition of "Drunken Whaler" from the video game Dishonored on her violin.

• I loved how each player described their characters:
• Nolan is moody and annoyed by charismatic party members.
• Sobek is quiet.  Really quiet.
• Fenster, a glass golem is a bookish yet upbeat Manreian supremacist.
• Marie is gregarious and extremely friendly.
• Kor has a giant anchor permanently attached to his ankle, but he can use it as a great axe.  Also, the party wasn't sure if Kor was just dumb or extremely forgetful.

• At the beginning of the session I had each player tell me about their most expensive piece of equipment.  Then I told them that they could erase the gear, as it was used for trade to get on board the Carrion's Call.

• Marie used her witchcraft to guide the Carrion's Call into Port Sorrow despite the poor seas, earning a few silver from Captain Conner.  Once the trip was over, Kor explained to the captain that he wanted his fine leather coat back, the piece of gear that he traded to travel from Morden to Port Sorrow.  I felt sorry for the poor revenant, since he didn't know the trade was for keeps.  Fortunately, Marie used her hard-earned silver to pay for the coat, and gave it back to the big lug.

• Captain Scream eventually took off their mask revealing that instead of a single face, the entity had four faces stitched together.  Without the mask, each voice was quite distinct, but while wearing the mask the voices blended together.

Interludes

Interludes are a Savage Worlds mechanic that prompt players to tell stories about their characters' past.  While the player characters were on the Carrion's Call, I let each player tell a tale.  A typical interlude is generated randomly: love, tragedy, victory, or desire.  Alternatively, I offered the players a chance to tell everyone why they were fleeing Morden.  We got some interesting stories...

Kor (speaking of a "Desire"):  "One time Kor down by water and Kor see boats and Kor think boats look pretty and Kor go to boat and give borrowed jacket to nice talky man and then he get on boat."

Sobek (discussing his flight from Morden): "We all did lots of things that weren't very good in the war.  That's the old me.  I left him there." 

Kor (commenting on Sobek's story):  "What war?"

Fenster was supposed to tell a tale of Victory, specifically his own victory, but instead, he wove this long yarn about a Manreian prince turned king (not Fenster), and how he had to pay tribute to another kingdom, sought advice from a witch, and trusted the witch to make war-snowmen.  Frank spoke way too fast for me to write this all out, but it was a pretty long story.  With war-snowmen.  

[GM's Note: Come up with stats for War-Snowmen.]

Marie (speaking of "Love"):  "Well, back in the wars I and my kind, since we look so human, we were often used as spies.  I infiltrated a community and relayed information back to the creature that I served.  Eventually I fell for one of the guys who was working in the area, his name was Hargrove, where I was stationed.  As the war progressed I came to learn that there was going to be an attack on the town.  I warned this person who had grown so special to me.  Hargrove fled across the sea.  That's why I'm here.  I'm hoping I can catch up with him and be reunited."

I have to thank Jeremy for giving me some awesome material to work with!  

While I love all my player's characters equally (most of the time) my favorite Interlude came from Andy.

Nolan (speaking of a "Tragedy"):  "We all came from this war and there is plenty of tragedy to talk about.  We all have gifts, and sometimes these gifts take things away from you.  I had a girl once.  She was a good looking girl.  She didn't know about me.  I tried to keep what I had under wraps.  Unfortunately she was an animal lover, and she had this cat.  I liked the cat alright.  But a man's gotta eat.  One night the curse took me, and I woke up.  I was covered in fur and I didn't know what I did.  She knew what I did.  She didn't keep me around after that.  She chased me away pretty quick.  I haven't been in that town ever since.  You know, I kinda fell for that cat too and things happen.  I lost the cat, and the girl, and my home all at once."

That's right.  Nolan fled Morden because he ate his girlfriend's cat.  

Quotes

"Nolan's a very unkempt person.  He has clothes on." - Andy describes his Vargr perfectly.  Unkempt with clothes.

"Marie is also gregarious... apparently this is a noisy boat." - Jeremy describes his Dhampir.

"So 'Kor' is all you could get out of this guy.  He is seven and a half feet of undead muscle." - Marc describes his meaty character.

"If you could imagine Andre the Giant from the Princess Bride having an anchor chained to his ankle, its something like that." - Marc continues describing his character.

"Kor's not convinced he really went anywhere.  He thinks he just went on a long boat ride." - Marc speaking for his character.  

"Well I'm not quite ready to sell any of my compatriots just yet." - Marie to the boy at the docks.

"Good news, shiny man, Nolan back!" - Kor  

"I'm not sure if they're looking to employ us or buy us." - Nolan was wary of the captains at the Harrowed Hall after spying on their backroom dealings.  

"Kor go with Marie." - Kor

"I pick things up... I put them down." - Kor

"Hey, there are the whales!  Whale ho!"  - Nolan alerts the crew of the Darkmaiden's Dance.

Jim - "... and the whale got a joker."
Andy - "Did we decide to attack Moby Dick on our first tryout?" 

Accursed: Blood Tide - Vampirates of Caribdus

Summer seems to be the time that I kick off the majority of my campaigns, so it should come as no surprise that my "next big game" is beginning next month.  Following a long-term Cypher System Fantasy campaign, I thought we'd switch systems and spend some quality time with Savage Worlds.  While I continue to run mini-campaigns, demos, and one-shots with Savage Worlds, it's been eighteen months since I've run a full campaign, and two years since a campaign with all grown-ups!

In that same amount of time, my Savage Stack of Awesomeness has continued to grow.  Just in the last year alone I've picked up everything for East Texas University, pre-ordered Rippers: Resurrected, and Kickstarted Weird War 1 and Accursed: World of Morden.  At this point, if I don't start using some of these books they are going to come to fuse together in a giant, sentient ball of of jealousy. 

But which one to choose?

I've hemmed and hawed about this for several weeks now, but last weekend I finally buckled down and made my decision.  I absolutely adore the Accursed campaign setting, and had a terrific time running a one-shot for my friends online.  But I'm also really itching to give the 50 Fathoms plot point campaign another go, after my wife and kids' lost their ship at sea last summer.  Since I'm always looking for a possible mash-up I came up with...

Accursed: Blood Tide - Vampirates of Caribdus

(Is the name too much?  The first part was my first choice, but then +Jeremy Land mentioned "vampirates" and I had to use it!)

Borrowing the character design and backstories from Accursed, I'm going to throw those cursed monstrous creatures into the fantastic waters of Caribdus.  Swashbuckling and witchcraft and cannons and curses... it's going to be a fun excursion at sea!  

As I started to re-read all of the setting materials from both Accursed and 50 Fathoms I realized that I needed to give my players some kind of reference guide for character creation.  There are some clear differences with skills, gear, and certainly setting rules.  For the purposes of this campaign, this blog post will serve as reference guide for my players, and anyone else who wants to see what I mashed together.  

Source Material

For the journey that will take our ragged band of Accursed from the Discordian Sea to Caribdus, we will be using the following Savage Worlds books:

• Savage Worlds Deluxe Explorer's Edition:  Fairly obvious choice, at an incredible price point!
• Savage Worlds Horror Companion:  Entirely for the game master.  The players will find out soon enough.
• 50 Fathoms:  Mostly for the GM, this campaign setting book will give us the Plot Point Campaign that I plan on utilizing for sandbox style gameplay.  For players, there is an abbreviated Player's Guide available at Pinnacle's website.
• Accursed:  This campaign setting guide will fuel the backstory of our characters, as well as offer starting edges and hindrances.  For players, there is an abbreviated Player's Guide available on DTRPG.
• Accursed, World of Morden:  Another one for the GM.  This book gives more depth to Port Sorrow and the Discordian Sea, which will be our starting point for the campaign. 

Skill List

Both 50 Fathoms and Accursed have recommended skill lists for player character creation.  The former is fairly standard and in line with the Savage Worlds Deluxe Edition, however Accursed brings back Guts, boots Boating, and offers Athletics and Subterfuge as alternatives to a wide range of other skills.  For the purposes of this campaign, the following skills are available for characters:

• Boating
• Climbing
• Fighting
• Gambling
• Healing
• Intimidation
• Investigation
• Knowledge (Battle, Carpentry, Gunsmithing, History, and Navigation are all common)
• Lockpicking
• Notice
• Persuasion
• Repair
• Riding
• Shooting
• Stealth
• Streetwise
• Survival
• Swimming
• Taunt
• Throwing
• Tracking

Personally I prefer just having players roll Spirit for fear checks, rather than messing around with Guts. It just seems easier, especially for new Savage Worlds players.  Even though we'll be using monster characters, and there will be some horror aspects, I won't be running this as a "horror campaign."  Athletics combines Climbing and Swimming, while Subterfuge combines Stealth and Lockpicking.  While perfectly suited skills for Accursed, in 50 Fathoms it shouldn't be uncommon that a character would have only one half of each of those skill-combos. 

Edges & Hindrances

Characters in this campaign will be starting in the World of Morden, so players are free to choose just about any Edges and Hindrances they can find in the Savage Worlds Deluxe Edition or Accursed campaign setting guide. As the game progresses, they may choose to take Edges and Hindrances from the 50 Fathoms campaign setting.

Due to their connection with the Witches of Morden, Accursed can never take the elemental Arcane Background found in 50 Fathoms.  If they want access to this type of magic they will need to find NPC crew members.  Those that bear the Witchmark may only learn Alchemy or White Witchcraft. 

It should be noted that we will be using the 50 Fathoms resource system, which includes Gold Pieces in the form of "Pieces of Eight." Edges and Hindrances that bolster Accursed's Acquisition Roll system (a skill-like resource die) should not be chosen.

Setting Rules

To help create an exciting and monstrous action adventure feel, I've gone and picked out a series of setting rules from all of the source material. Fans of either of the settings may note that I haven't taken everything from both Accursed and 50 Fathoms, but I didn't want to complicate the game too much. Also, "Savage Intrusion" is new, something that I stole from the Cypher System's "GM Intrusion" mechanic.  

• All Out Move:  Double move as a full action.
• Armor & Swimming:  Subtract the non-magical Armor Bonus from Swimming checks.
• Blood & Guts:  Spend a benny to re-roll damage. 
• Damaged Characters:  Starting player characters can take an additional Hindrance at character creation.  
• Defeat the Caster, Defeat the Spell
• Pain Management:  If a Wound is suffered, spend a benny to turn it into Fatigue
• Savage Intrusion:  The GM can take narrative control of a scene and offer an additional obstacle or threat by paying the affected player 2 bennies.  The affected player must give one of the bennies to another player.
• The Ship:  Should the players acquire a ship, they must deal with Navigation, Upkeep Provisions, Crew, and anything else that comes with such responsibility.  

Accursed: World of Morden

Melior Via had me at this amazing logo!

Okay my dear gamers, and especially my fellow Savages, let's have a brief chat…

Melior Via, the awesome group of folks behind Accursed, is in the middle of a Kickstarter for their new expansion sourcebook: Accursed: World of Morden!  If you aren't familiar with this Savage Worlds dark fantasy campaign setting here's a quick description by +Ross Watson:

"The fast, fun, and furious play of Savage Worlds is a perfect fit for the perils and triumphs of adventure in Accursed.  In Accursed, Hammer Horror films meet Hellboy, and Solomon Kane meets Castlevania. The game world allows players to take on the roles of characters with curses; they are Dhampir (Half-vampire charming rogues), Golems (living creatures crafted from unliving materials, similar to Frankenstein’s monster), Vargr (werewolves), Mummies, Mongrels (men with bestial limbs and other body parts grafted onto their bodies), and Revenants (the living dead)."

Note the section I put in bold.  With that one line, I was sold, and have enjoyed the crazy ride here with my friends and family.  

Boo yah, Melior Via… Boo yah!

Personally, I've run Accursed for my wife and kiddos with a bit of an Adams Family twist.  Here's an example of one of our sessions we ran for #SantaGaming:  Night of the Wereindeer

Accursed makes for great, albeit twisted, family fun!

The original Accursed Campaign Setting introduced Savage World players and GM's to this unique story of redemption, and Accursed: Sand and Stone expanded upon two of Morden's nations.  With the Accursed: World of Morden Kickstarter, Melior Via can deliver gazetteers for the rest of this gothic universe.

That's where you come in! 

It's important to note that the Accursed: World of Morden Kickstarter is already funded.  They knocked out the initial funding goal in less than a day.  But they need a bit more to hit those awesome stretch goals.  So I'm here to spread the word.  

Go check out the Accursed: World of Morden Kickstarter, and see if it's something you're interested in playing.  Heck, for $60, you get a PDF of everything, including the original book!

If you'd like more details about this cool setting, let me offer you a little more insight.  

First, I had the opportunity to interview +Jason Marker and +John Dunn on Living 4 Crits.

Or if you want to watch the game in play, I ran an online session last week with +Francois Labrecque, +Andrew Cady, +Jeff Scifert, +Marc Plourde, and +andrew lyon.  

Also, +Kristian Serrano and +Ron Blessing had a chat with the folks at Melior Via during their +Savage Bloggers Network show:

Finally, if you have any other questions feel free to post in the comments.  

My Summer Game-cation

Too Early for a Mid-Life Crisis?

Recently I turned thirty-six years old, and a cruddy truth set in.  I'm okay with my age, and have enjoyed my thirties much more than my twenties.  I'm wiser, healthier, and much more focused on the things that I love best: family, friends, and gaming with family and friends.  I've even found a balance for my technical age of thirty-six, and my mental age of twelve.  

But on my birthday I did some math.  Eighteen years ago I was eighteen, and every birthday going forward means that I've lived more years as a "technical adult" than as a "technical kiddo".  Kind of an emotional buzz-kill.  When I think about it, though, there are only a few things that I really "miss" about being younger.  One of them is true summer vacation!  

Sure, I'll get some vacation time this summer.  I'll spend a week in Delaware with the family and I can't leave out the big trip to Gen Con with my wife in July!  But that's two weeks… TWO WEEKS… out of a three month long summer.  

Ugh!

My Three RPG Groups

Okay, enough lamenting.  The actual point of this post was to share all of the awesome gaming things that I am going to cram into those short vacations… as well as every waking minute of free time that I have available!  As of the start of Summer Game-cation 2015, here's what I have cooking on the role-playing front:

• The Family - Savage Worlds - 50 Fathoms:  I've wanted to dig into a plot point campaign for a while now, but never gave it a shot.  Since our family hadn't been to the table for an RPG campaign, summer seemed like the perfect time to kick off something new and shiny.  I spent last week reading through the 50 Fathoms Campaign Setting and I'm really excited to share our experiences!  
• Tuesday Night Cypher Online - Numenera - Rasterperch Keep:  I need to be honest… I'm not sure if the players are going to make it out of this Ravenloft-hack in one piece.  We're now two sessions into the adventure, and already two players have lost multiple emotions through Lady Von Zarro - the Level 10, emotion-leeching pool of ink.  
• Our Monthly Live Game:  As you may have read, our live table group finished a long Sherlock Holmes/Dark Sun/Star Wars themed adventure in The Strange, and is now between campaigns.  What to run?

We need to choose a new game for our live group, and the Tuesday Cypherians could experience a TPK (total party kill) at any time in Rasterperch Keep.  But I've got a few adventures on deck for both of these options.  You will notice that these are all published adventures/modules, and there is a reason.  Not only is summer as a grown-up less fun, in my line of work the month of July is absolutely BRUTAL!  So my time to write original material is a bit limited.  Here are the best contenders for Next Campaign:

• The Strange - Heroes of Ardeyn:  I have a lot of old-school, 2nd Edition AD&D adventures that I'd like to run.  But one of my new favorite fantasy "settings" is a "recursion" in The Strange called Ardeyn.  Since the recursion is a Sumerian/Babylonian, sword-and-sandal fantasy world, I can easily use adventures from Al-Qadim, Dark Sun, or other settings to fuel this campaign.  I've already found that hacking AD&D adventures for the Cypher System is a piece of cake.  I've been even more enamored with the idea since reading Ryan Chaddock Games' Ardeyn-themed sourcebook Broken Immersion.  Broken Immersion explores Ardeyn as the world it truly is… an MMORPG turned into a reality through the alien dark matter network known as the Strange.  In this campaign, I'd start the players as natives of Ardeyn, unaware of the existence of other worlds.  
• Star Wars Edge of the Empire - Debts to Pay:  Our live group had a good time running the Beginners Game of Edge of the Empire, and I'd like to try another module before I'd consider writing my own adventure.  Found in the Gamemaster's Kit, Debts to Pay is a short thirty-page adventure.  Knowing my live group, Debts to Pay would take two to three sessions to finish. 
• Numenera - The Devil's Spine:  Long-time readers of this blog may remember that started running Monte Cook's The Devil's Spine early in 2014.  If you are interested in where we left off, here's the last play report (session 3).  I'd really like to go back and restart the mega-adventure!  Initially I was going to run this online, but I realized that one of my players was running it themselves.  If I ran this it would have to be with a different group.
• Savage World - Accursed - The Banshee of Loch Finnere:  I've played Accursed with my children, but really believe that this game would be FANTASTIC with some serious and seriously twisted grown-ups!  A whole group of players as monsters?  Yes please!  The Banshee of Loch Finnere, by Rich Baker, is a twenty page, three part adventure designed for players of Novice Rank… so perfect for a short mini-campaign! As a Savage campaign setting that prides itself as being a cross between Ravenloft, Castlevania, and Van Helsing, Accursed is a blast to play!  

What campaigns are you running this summer?  Are you starting anything new?  Anything crazy?  Let me know!  Please share your experiences for your summer gaming, 2015!

#SantaGaming - Savage Worlds Accursed - Night of the Wereindeer

Kicking off our "Six Short Seasonal Santa Session Spectacular"

• Game:  1 of 6
• Title:  Night of the Wereindeer
• System:  Savage Worlds
• Setting:  Accursed

The Set Up

Happy Continued Hallowthanksmas everyone!  We're getting close to the end of the holiday season, and as you may have noticed from my Thanksgiving posts (AD&D 2E Council of Wyrms and The Strange Thanksgiving Translation Codex Special) in our house, we don't jingle bells, we ROLL DICE!  Yesterday afternoon, I was on Facebook, minding my own business when a few posts came up regarding gaming around the holidays.  I already had four sessions scheduled between my regular games, but I wanted to run something on Christmas day.  Something involving Santa.  Well this idea… snowballed.  

I had quite a few adventure ideas that included Santa, from Numenera to Accursed to AD&D 2nd Edition.  They all seemed so awesome, and I was dared to run them all: 12 days of Gaming!  

Well I'm not that crazy.  I'm just going to do 6.  Six relatively short-length Santa-inspired gaming sessions.

This is the awesomeness that will be known as the  Six Short Seasonal Santa Session Spectacular!  

Or #SantaGaming.  

Or S^6.  

Whatever.

For our first game, we thought that we'd return to the land of Morden and the Avernus family for some Savage Worlds: Accursed.  What better way to feel festive around the holidays than to toss some bennies and chuck those wild dice while dispatching horrific creatures?  But in this dark and foreboding campaign setting, where the players are gothic monsters of myth and legend, what kind of spooky twist can we put on Mr. Claus?  

You're about to find out!

Dramatis Personae

• Avarice Avernus, Mummy Matriarch and Skilled Duelist, played by Jen (Mommy)
• Annaria Avernus, Dhampir Daughter and Scout, played by Evie
• Adelaide Avernus, Shade Daughter and White Witch, played by Carrie
• Rudolpho, Cranium Rat Spokesvermin, played by Cooper (4 years old)

Night of the Wereindeer 

Just north of the city of Augsing, in the land of Morden, there lives a twisted family of Accursed in an estate called Muridae Manor.  Avarice Avernus and her two children, Annaria and Adelaide, had done well for themselves since returning to their estate following the Bane War.  Upon gaining control of their own lands, and thwarting the plans of the sinister and evil Arachnis the Spider Demon (now their servant), the Avernus family was finally gaining favor with some of the locals.

So when Barth Windence Jr., and his wife Mike (pronounced "Mee-kuh," go watch Eurotrip) had a problem at their family farm, they came straight to Lady Avarice Avernus for assistance.  It was the morning following the Winter Solstice celebrations, and at the edge of the Windence farm, in a particularly nasty swamp, something from the sky crashed.  Neither Mr. or Mrs. Windence knew what this object was, but now there were incredibly fast beasts raiding the edge of their farm, stealing their livestock.  

Grabbing their gear, the three Accursed Avernus women (along with their faithful cranium rat Rudolpho) made the trip to the Windence farm, and into the murky swamp.  Just before reaching the fetid pools and muddy pits, the three stumbled across a small makeshift camp, and a very sick and skinny man in a red robe and cape.

"Please help," the man begged.  "Please help.  My pack animals… they are enchanted… I need to get them back." 

The man was laying on the ground moaning, veins turned to black and a stomach that seemed to roil like the sea. 

"Who are you?" asked Adelaide Avernus.

"Kristif," he replied.  "Kristif Kringle" (pronounced "Krin-gluh").  

"Why are you dead? asked Annaria.  

"I'm not dead, I'm just laying on the ground!" Kristif asserted.  

Avarice squinted and then remarked, "You look a lot like my dear friend Nick Papageorgio."

Kristif told the women that he was traveling through the sky in his "flying machine" pulled by nine enchanted creatures.  His mission every Winter Solstice was simple:  fly around Morden to the homes of good little boys and girls.  Then he would capture the boys and girls that he felt were suitable, and take them back to his lair.  In his dreaded home he would force the girls and boys to become engineers to work on his machines.  The chosen few would be transformed into… wereindeer… to power his sleigh.  

"I have a serious problem with your reindeer acquisition methods," Avarice snapped upon hearing the story.  

But Kristif asserted that the wereindeer, now wandering the swamp, had to be returned or they would continue to feast on the local farm animals, and possibly the locals themselves.    Taking a look around, the dhampir scout Annaria spotted one of the fell creatures in the swamps below.  Her incredible vampiric eyesight even let her read the name on the collar, despite the dark clouds screening the sunlight:  Prancer.  The wereindeer was chewing on the flesh of a still living, but mortally wounded horse.  

The Avernus women wanted to take Kristif with them to investigate the wereindeer, but the man just rolled on the ground complaining about his stomach.  From the looks of it, the man's belly was starting to jiggle like a bowl full of maggots.  Annaria insisted that she could take the beast down herself, so the dhampir unslung her musket and crept towards Prancer, careful to stay out of sight and not make a sound.  

With a single shot the scout ended the wereindeer's twisted existence.  

While she reloaded her musket, Annaria felt Rudolpho leap off of her shoulder watched as he scurried up to the dead wereindeer.  Even though he was quite civilized around most folks, the cranium rat had a sincere interest in opening this beast's skull.  

"I want to see inside his brain," announced the rat.  

Annaria soon realized that firing her musket may not have been the best course of action, as she soon spotted eight more massive wereindeer in the area.  Dasher, Dancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen… and Rudolph.  The gunshot got their attention, but her amazing vampiric reflexes still kept Annaria out of their fields of vision.  

Kristif insisted that he needed to get to his sleigh, and that if the party could capture just one of the wereindeer, he could take off and leave the swamp.  This of course wouldn't help the situation with the other seven wereindeer, but it was a start.  The man's belly was now so swollen that it started to split open, and dark fur was coming out of the sickeningly torn wound.  

"What are you!" Adelaide demanded to know.

"I'm Kristif Kringle!" the man moaned, as if this would answer her question.

Soon the man's leg started splitting open, and Avarice decided it was time to get the creepy man to his flying machine before his bloating became worse.  The mummy hefted the man's weight onto her back and followed Adelaide, who blazed a trail around the swamp's edge.  Annaria used sign language to tell her sister and mother that she was going to try and speak with Rudolph, as his shining red nose interested her.

Adelaide and Avarice didn't make it very far before the heavy mummy mommy stepped on some branches and alerted the fierce eyes of three more wereindeer.  Adelaide started preparing her white magic spells while Avarice dropped the swollen and now splitting man to the ground.  It was time to do battle.  

On the other side of the swamp, an inquisitive but good natured little dhampir was noticing that Rudolph the red nosed wereindeer was not a happy fellow.  Unlike the other wereindeer who seemed to be completely transformed into hulking reindeer with full antlers, Rudolph was like a weird man-reindeer mutant.  His hooves had fingers and his red nose was that of a human.  But Annaria's innocent manner helped sooth the lycanthropic man-beast.  

"Please help me," Rudolph begged.  "I don't want to be like this anymore!"  

Rudolph promised Annaria that if she killed the evil mad scientist Kristif, the curse would be broken.  When Annaria told the very reasonable wereindeer that his "friends" were not being so nice, Rudolph stated that the correct magic could sooth their souls.  Annaria then remembered that one of Adelaide's newest spells could help calm beasts!  

"My sister can help you!  But right now she and my mom are in battle with Cupid, Blitzen, and Vixen!" Annaria shouted excitedly.  

Rudolph asked Annaria to drag him to his fellow wereindeer, but whispered in her ear to beware.  

"Kristif Kringle…is a WAR PIG!"  

Meanwhile Adelaide and Avarice were wrapping up their battle with the three wereindeer at the edge of the swamp.  Rudolpho (the rat) had one pinned down and was continuing to gnaw on his flesh.  Annaria managed to stun one with her witchcraft, and slung a stunning spell at another making it easier for her mother to land some hits.  After a few moments, the three beasts were down.  Two were dead, and the last unconscious.  By the time Annaria arrived with Rudolph everything seemed pretty simple.  Rudolph announced to his fellow lycanthropes that the Avernus family meant no harm, and Adelaide's spell helped cool the nerves of the wereindeer left alive.  

That's when the War Pig rose up!

Kristif Kringle had completed his transformation into a full sized were-boar!  Immediately Adelaide, Annaria, and Avarice fled in terror, running away as far as they could before turning to get a better look at the monster.  It was ten feet high at the shoulder, and fifteen feet long.  In its mouth were two massive tusks, and its breath smelled of disease.  

"Ho… HO… HO!"  roared the horrific creature.  It charged forth and rammed its two tusks into Adelaide.  It took everything she had for the little shade to keep it together.  

But once Adelaide regained her wits, she pulled a few components from her belt pouch and cast a new spell.  Immediately the wereboar was stunned, and found itself unable to move more than few inches.  Annaria then aimed her crossbow and delivered a terrific shot straight to the beast's right eye.

THWACK!

Blinded and in terrible pain the wereboar reared back again and prepared for a second charge on Adelaide when he fell to the ground dead.  Kristif didn't even hear the gunshot from Annaria's musket.  

The battle was over.  As Kristif Kringle melted into the swamp, the remaining six wereindeer slowly transformed into children.  After covering them in clothing found in Kringle's sleigh, the Avernus family led the little children back to the Windence farm.  The Windences had no children, and were happy to take these six terrified children into their warm and loving home.  

Kids' Reactions

Carrie:  "It was fun, but insanely creepy, horror-like, and very demented… It's kind of creepy that Cooper decided to eat two reindeers."  

Evie:  "It was… (I want to say this in a very deadly voice) … WEIRD!  I can't believe Rudolph almost died!  And I can't believe the boar is dead!" 

Upcoming Games!

Did this adventure leave you craving more #SantaGaming action?  Well have no fear!  We have five more Santa games scheduled this holiday season, and although this may have been our most terrifying and horrific, there is definitely a lot of weird and wild planned!

• Thursday, December 18th - Basic Fantasy RPG - Santa's Slay with special guest GM Carrie Walls!
• Saturday, December 20th - Savage Worlds Last Parsec - Sleigh Bells Ring No More
• Thursday, December 25th - Numenera - Ninth World Christmas Special, featuring the Three Princesses of Nihliesh
• Sunday, December 28th - AD&D 2E Council of Wyrms - Santa's Elves Must Burn
• Wednesday, December 31st - The Strange - Naughty AND Nice, featuring Agents Dingo and the Cosmos