Rasterperch Keep - A Numenera/Ravenloft Adventure - Session 4

200th Blog Post!  Death Comes at Last!

Last night's session of Numenera was special for two reasons.  First, the corresponding blog-post (this thing you are reading now) would be my 200th Living 4 Crits entry!  

*Applause*

Since my 100th and 150th posts happened to fall on adventure summaries for The Strange, it's only fair that Numenera gets some attention.  

But the second, and perhaps more important reason that last night's game was so fantastic, comes at the expense of my poor friends and players Andy and Marc… since I killed off their characters in this final session of Rasterperch keep.  Rest in piece, Glyquorg and Ralyx.  You were taken from the weird Ninth World far, far too soon.  

I'm not going to apologize for the deaths of these characters, since you'll find out soon enough that it was another player who caused their deaths.  All I did was set up the scene, and make the threats very dangerous, and restrict the players on their rests, and refrain from giving out healing cyphers, and… well… 

… okay, maybe I did create a situation ripe for character death!  

But in an adventure designed to emulate the feel of that original Ravenloft module using the Cypher System, it would've been disingenuous of me not to inject some serious risk into the sessions.  By the time the players started last night's game they were already short on stat pools and recovery rolls, so any threat was significant… especially those causing 18 points of Intellect damage!  To make  matters worse, one of our players who had healing skills wasn't able to make it to the game.  

Following the adventure summary I will be including some of the details from the adventure, and for those of you reading up until this point I'll clue you all in on some of the spoilers!  

Characters

• Chase Rombek, a Mystical Nano who Sees Beyond, played by Frank
• Jak, a Mutant Glaive who Constantly Evolves, played by Craig
• Glyquorg, an Exiled Jack who Controls Animals, played by Andy
• Ralyx, a Mlox Jack who Throws with Deadly Accuracy, played by Marc
• Takkorek, a Craven Nano who Entertains, played by Jeremy
• Garren, a Varjellen Glaive who Studies Anatomy, played by Andreas

Non-Player Characters of Note

• Lady Von Zaro:  "Sister" to Raa-em

Summary

If you missed our last adventure, you can find the summary here.

Now that they were finally inside the keep, the exhausted party of numenera hunters gathered together to figure out their next course of action.  In the center of the room was a burned out mound, the remnants of what used to be a partially re-grown Raa-em.  Chase had noticed that there were wires and cords stretching through grout-lines of the synthi-stone, leading up to what appeared to be a wooden door.  Using a divination esotery, the mystical nano revealed a large, moss covered hall filled with great machinery on the other side of the portal.  The party quarreled briefly about who was going to enter the door first when Ralyx stepped forward and just moved the panels aside. 

He instantly regretted his decision!

A puff of brown filled the air, and immediately Ralyx stumbled back in a coughing fit.  The door wasn’t brown at all, but rather made of synth. The “wood” on the door was a caked brown mold that filled the air after it was touched.  Luckily for the Mlox Jack, he only caught a quick sniff before his gag reflex set in, perhaps saving his life. 

Once the door was open, the troupe peered into the chamber.   Since the Brilliance was still shining outside the windows of the first chamber, light poured into this new hall. On either side of the hall were great machines, fifteen foot cubes with lights and wires working all throughout.  But what got the party’s attention immediately was the moss.  

It was well known, especially to Chase Rombek, that Raa-em was a pile of psychic moss when he was first encountered.  Lady Von Zaro also referred to Raa-em as her “brother”. Perhaps this massive patch of moss, easily a hundred feet long by countless dozen feet wide, was in some way Lady Von Zaro?  How this moss was related to the inky black demoness outside the party did not know. 

Since flames worked so well on Raa-em, Chase decided to use his burning esotery on the green carpeting.  As soon as the flames touched the floor, a terrible feeling of terror and foreboding filled the air.  A psychic backlash of raw emotion pummeled the characters viciously.  Chase was able to resist the horrible waves, and for some reason Takkorek was not affected. 

But the rest of the party endured pure hell. 

Only a few moments passed for Chase and Takkorek.  But Jak, Glyquorg, and Ralyx experienced a full six months of fear and anguish, enduring six months psychically trapped in what felt like a real coffin.  When they finally came to, the three that were afflicted were terribly shaken, and appeared to be shadows of their former selves. 

For the next hour the team rested, and tried to agree on what to do next. 

Jak was the first to enter the great, moss covered hall.  As his feet touched the soft organic material, he suddenly grew fearful but regained his nerve.  Along with Glyquorg the two scouted out the chamber, and discovered thirty two of the cubes, all surrounded and covered in moss and vines.  There were also several exits leading out of the hall, including a great ascending staircase. 

Chase seemed interested in the mechanical cubes, and with the assistance of Ralyx set out to determine their purpose.  Using his scanning esotery, the Mystical Nano figured out that each small “light” was actually a dirt-covered view screen.  With his thumb, Chase cleaned off one of the screens.  The small view screen showed the first-person view of a townswoman doing laundry and engaging in a loving embrace with her paramour.  Takkorek soon joined Ralyx and Glyquorg.  Using his countermeasure esotery, the now Craven Nano disabled the part of the machine cube attached to the view screen of the woman.  At first the screen just went dark, and some green lights below faded out.  But on a similar screen on the opposite side of the cube, the trio noticed a woman lying on the ground.  This other screen was showing the "paramour's" point of view.

Each of these view screens was connected to the consciousness of someone in the town, and Takkorek’s countermeasure succeeded in deleting the unnamed woman from existence. Rather than feel sorry for his actions, Takkorek spent the next several minutes trying to find the screen associated with the bartender he had met earlier.  Once located, Takkorek used his countermeasure esotery to send the bartender off to oblivion. 

While all of this was going on, Glyquorg was examining the staircase. The steep wooden steps headed to the upper levels of the keep, and the Exiled Jack was very interested in exploring. But as soon as he stepped on the “wood” he realized a terrible mistake! Just like the door Ralyx had encountered, these steps were also synth, and the brown wood was “mold!” Catching a full blast of the spores, Glyquorg collapsed backwards in a choking fit.  By the time Ralyx reached his fellow jack, Glyquorg was on death’s door. 

It was becoming increasingly apparent that the party needed to find a way out of this nightmarish place soon, or they would surely perish.

Heading south the numenera hunters came to another doorway, but this portal was free of any mold.   Stepping through, Chase Rombek noticed several large view screens, and one seemed to be active. Upon further investigation and the use of a scan esotery the Mystical Nano discovered the screen to be a control panel connecting the cubes to a great power source located deep within the mesa.  Each of the thirty-two cubes was represented, and thirty one were receiving power.  It appeared that someone, or something, recently diverted power from one of the cubes to the pile of moss formerly known as Raa-em.

Putting two and two together, the team came up with the following hypothesis: 

Upon reaching this “world”, Lady Von Zaro discovered the cubes and realized they were connected to consciousnesses, each full of emotion. The residual emotions from each consciousness sustained Lady Von Zaro’s mossy form. If the party could disconnect the energy from the cubes, it could negatively affect Lady Von Zaro. 

Chase Rombek believed the plan was worth a shot. The nano shut down one of the connections, and immediately the party was awash in deadly emotional waves.  Although easier to resist than the blast that had come after the burning, the soul-crushing psychic energies caused the same effects to those afflicted.  But there was a noticeable effect on the moss, which receded from the disconnected cube and immediately withered and died.

Since everyone was still alive, Chase asked the party one more time if he should proceed with another cube.   Everyone nodded, and this time the Mystical Nano shut down two cubes.  Instantly Glyquorg and Ralyx dropped dead from the psychic wailing, their minds trapped in illusionary coffins for what felt like fifteen years before finally succumbing to death. 

At this point, Chase figured that he could successfully resist shutting down one cube at a time, and it was obvious that Takkorek was not affected.  Jak was the only member of the party truly at risk, and Chase was willing to take the chance with his Mutant Glaive’s life.

So Chase just started shutting them all down. 

Chase and Takkorek watched Jak, waiting for the mutant to fall over dead as each of the twenty-seven remaining cubes were deactivated… but in an amazing feat of mental fortitude the glaive survived! 

Once the last cube was cut-off from the power plant an alarm started to ring out in the chamber.  The remaining three numenera hunters followed the klaxons back to Raa-em’s shrine. On the way they passed piles of dead, gloopy moss.  Not only was Lady Von Zaro dead on the inside, there was an inky black mess splashed against the outside windows of the chamber.  Using Takkorek’s portal esotery, the party jaunted back to the upper level of the keep where they found a glowing white platform waiting. 

One by one the numenera hunters stepped on the platform, and each instantly teleported to the waters just outside of the Latos’ long-dead body.  Desperately Chase and Jack swam to the surface, while Takkorek portal’d back to the boat. 

Modorianna, the Muleni catamaran captain was quite surprised when the party showed up. While it had been hours since they left the boat, for the captain only a few minutes had passed. 

“Back already? What happened to Glyquorg, Ralyx, and Garren?” she asked.

Dead, dead, and… uh… hmm, the three survivors thought to themselves.  Whatever did happen to Garren?

Quotes

"I would be very angry at him for abandoning us, except I don't have that emotion anymore." - Frank's trying to role-play his recently emotionless character's personality

"If I second guessed every time Jim could ask a question, I'd never get anything done." - Marc's right.

"Do you guys want to camp here for an hour?  Do you think we can survive that?" - I was going to throw an encounter at the party while they slept.  Until Frank said this.

"You know what?  You can have one of my XP!" - Jeremy being gracious.

"No, not more wood!  Forget that!  It'll probably send me plummeting to my mold-filled doom!" - Marc wasn't about to try the stairs.

Rasterperch Keep - Behind the Screams

Since not all of the clues were revealed during the course of the game, I thought I'd let you all in on some of the backstory to the adventure.  

Rovi

The "land" inside the Latos' head was called "Rovi".  This domain was designed to be an afterlife for a group of people in a prior world called "The Rewarded".  The Rewarded could have their consciousnesses uploaded into Rovi, to be protected by its Latos guardian for all of eternity.  Unfortunately this Latos wasn't so eternal.  

Although bound by reality and the laws of science, Rovi operated with an appearance of mysticism.  Outsiders would be considered "demons" by Rovi's computers, and the Brilliance could take care of the demons by incinerating them.  Some entities, such as the Vista (a visitant species of psychic hive minded insects), found ways to get around the Brilliance.  When Lady Von Zaro, a sentient mossy creature discovered Rovi, she was able to infest the world's central processing controls.  She was also able to take on a form as a creature from the Rewarded's mythology while outside of the keep itself.. the form of an inky black demon that could actually exist in the Brilliance.  

Lady Von Zaro

To sustain herself, Lady Von Zaro could slowly consume the emotions of each consciousness from inside the keep.  In addition, any outsiders that discovered Rovi would be even tastier.  While the Rewardeds' consciousnesses could keep Lady Von Zaro alive, they left her incredibly hungry.  It was Lady Von Zaro's goal to call to her brother, Raa-em the telekinetic moss, and see if he could come and assist in controlling the Latos body itself from inside Rovi, perhaps making it functional.

Spoiler alert: the name of Lady Von Zaro and Raa-em's visitant species was… moss.  That's it… nothing really that special.  Sometimes I refer to them in my notes as psychic moss, or emotion leaching moss… 

The stats for Lady Von Zaro were pretty easy to come up with… I just stole most of them from The Strange Bestiary!  Essentially her inky spectral form was the same as a Level 10 Vampire Lord with the following modifications:

• Damage Inflicted:  10 Speed (armor applies) with a tendril strike.  Two attacks per round.
• Emotion Eating:  For each successful hit, roll 1d16 (yes, that's a d16… shout out to my Dungeon Crawl Classics friends!) and subtract one of the following:
1. Anger
2. Anxiety
3. Confidence
4. Courage
5. Curiosity
6. Desire
7. Fear
8. Guilt
9. Lust
10. Passion
11. Pride
12. Regret
13. Sadness
14. Shyness
15. Trust
16. Wonder

Fight a level 10 enemy is brutal, but that was the point.  As well as attacking the moss directly, I would've let the party upload weaknesses (such as silver or running water) if they could've hacked the proper terminals in the Keep.

Mossy Von Zaro

As a giant patch of moss, Lady Von Zaro was still deadly.  If endangered in any way, the moss itself gave off a burst of terror that overloaded the mind of the target.  

• Difficulty 10 Intellect Defense Roll
• Difficulty decreased by the number of emotions removed from the inky attack.  At three emotions removed this attack has no effect.  (That's why Takkorek wasn't affected)
• Damage:  18 Intellect
• Special:  Those afflicted experience a period of time, ranging from 1 month to 20 years, trapped underground in a coffin (or any other terrible, hell-like scenario).

Final Thoughts

This adventure had some other tidbits I was going to throw in:  

• More fortune telling from the La Dama and the Vista.
• Some Golthiar roaming the woods to the west.  Actually, if any characters died, my plan was to let them play a Golthiar (out of the Numenera Character Options book) as a replacement.
• A few more personalities the party could observe in town.

Final Ramblings

I'm not sure if my players enjoyed the torment I put them through for these last four sessions, but I had a blast putting them through their respective miseries.  I really enjoy using OD&D and AD&D 2nd Edition adventures in the Cypher System, and am very excited that the Cypher System Rulebook is coming out soon.  While its easy to toss a module into either Numenera or The Strange, and I've done so several times, I hope to spend some time with true Cypher-Fantasy soon!  

If you've done any conversion of old-school adventures into the Cypher System let me know!  I'd love to hear about your experiences!

Rasterperch Keep - A Numenera/Ravenloft Adventure - Session 3

They're Not Dead… Yet!

I have to give my players some serious credit.  I really did throw the "kitchen sink" at the team during this session.  The two encounters they experienced were incredibly brutal, and every engagement with Lady Von Zaro, a 10th level creature, has the potential to cripple this adventuring party.  But I also happen to be playing with a team of seasoned, 4th and 5th tier characters, controlled by some quick-thinking players.  

Hat's off to you guys!  

To make matters worse, I've spent the last three sessions of Rasterperch Keep keeping a very close eye on everyone's stat pools and recovery rolls.  It's not that I distrust the players, but I just want to make sure everyone knows that each point of Might, Speed, and Intellect is very precious.  I also want to show how the opportunity for rest is severely limited, if not completely absent.  

Who wants to take a ten-hour recovery roll in a land where even the trees can kill you?

My inspiration for this comes straight from one of my players:  Frank.  Frank ran the D&D 3.5 Edition of Expedition to Castle Ravenloft for me and some friends back in 2009.  I remember playing a Human Wilder/Paladin, constantly having to watch my psionic power points because I knew I wasn't getting a "recharge" any time soon.  Frank ran Ravenloft as a desperate, fever-pitched struggle where the players characters had no opportunity to rest or regroup.  I wanted to do the same with Rasterperch Keep…

… I wanted my revenge on Frank.    

Characters

• Chase Rombek, a Mystical Nano who Sees Beyond, played by Frank
• Jak, a Mutant Glaive who Constantly Evolves, played by Craig
• Glyquorg, an Exiled Jack who Controls Animals, played by Andy
• Ralyx, a Mlox Jack who Throws with Deadly Accuracy, played by Marc
• Takkorek, a Slaker Nano who Entertains, played by Jeremy
• Garren, a Varjellen Glaive who Studies Anatomy, played by Andreas

Non-Player Characters of Note

• La Dama:  The hive-minded, antlike fortune teller of the Afterlife
• Lady Von Zaro:  "Sister" to Raa-em

Summary

If you missed our last adventure, you can find the summary here.

Enduring several hours trapped within the “head” of a long-dead Latos, infested by an amorphous, emotion-draining vampire, sure does take a toll on a party.  For Takkorek, Chase, Ralyx, Glyquorg, Jak, and Garren, this new and alien “world” was incredibly hostile.  Clearly this wasn’t a place that they could survive, not in the long term, and so the party would have to make every effort to escape.  Putting their heads together, the group took stock of what they knew about the “Afterlife", as the locals seemed to call it:

1. The entity known as Lady Von Zaro, “sister” to Raa-em, could drain emotions.
2. Lady Von Zaro preferred to attack party members when they were alone.
3. Lady Von Zaro only attacked when it was “daylight.”
4. The daylight was filled with a radiant energy – Brilliance – that caused the party members to catch fire, but had no effect on the other, seemingly human people that inhabited the village.  
5. Only the forests seemed to provide adequate cover from the Brilliance.
6. The Brilliance emanated from a glowing sphere, four-hundred feet above a large, castle-like structure resting on a high cliff, one-thousand feet above the village.  
7. The Brilliance could be activated by a “chant”, and Glyquorg happened to learn the chant while in the village.

Although there was some discussion about burning down or destroying the large temple in the village, so as to prevent the townsfolk from chanting, the party instead decided to investigate the massive cliff.  A thousand-foot tall, two hundred foot wide cliff was actually a mesa that served as a pedestal for a great, archaic castle.  From the treeline near the mesa, Ralyx’s keen third eye could make out several interesting structures.  There were several small ledges that could be used as resting places while traversing the steep cliff face.  Closer to summit, at the point where the mesa met the castle wall was a great balcony overlooking the Afterlife, and just below, built into the rock, was a smaller structure with blacked out windows.  Halfway up the mesa, a large, ten-foot wide metal object orbited the stone, trailing thousands of smaller metal chunks in a slowly spinning ring.  

Although the team of numenera hunters searched the base of the mesa for a hidden entrance, none were found.  Rather than find another entrance further up in the western hills, the party decided to scale the mesa.  But by this time Takkorek had disappeared again, along with his ability to create portals.  The Slacker Nano no longer trusted the party after losing his emotional ability to do so.  But Ralyx was able to engage a “far step” trick of the trade, allowing for near instantaneous teleporting of two-hundred foot distances.  Furthermore, Chase had the ability to hover.  Between the Jack and the Nano, they could bring the rest of the party up the mesa in groups of two… but this meant that someone would have to stay behind and wait.  

Before they could start climbing, the team needed to take a break for Garren.  Apparently the Varjellen was again “pregnant” with an egg in his chest cavity.  Using his surgical tools, Garren cut the egg from his chest and placed it on the ground.  Well Glyquorg wasn’t waiting around for another creature to cause the party grief. The Exiled Jack slammed the heel of his boot on the egg, forcing a small, pale creature to burst forth.  Claiming to be called “Pokmal”, the tiny entity begged for its life, but surrendered precious little information.  Since Pokmal hadn’t the time to hatch properly it died within minutes.  

Once Garren caught his breath after giving birth the team readied itself for a climb.  Ralyx far stepped while carrying Jak, and Chase hovered while carrying Glyquorg.  Garren would wait for the next ride before the party followed the same format.  Making their way to the first ledge was easy… but the second proved difficult.  While far stepping with Jak, Ralyx landed on the ledge nearest to the floating, orbiting piece of metal.  As soon as the Mlox Jack landed, the floating hulk blasted him with a barrage of laser beams.  Immediately the Brilliance reappeared and everyone started to smolder.  Chase grabbed Glyquorg and started hovering towards other two party members, but this left Garren behind…

… and the Varjellen Glaive was about to have an encounter with Lady Von Zaro!  

The inky black entity pushed two wispy tendrils into Garren’s flesh, sucking out a massive amount of life-force, along with several emotions.  Not wanting to completely kill her food source… at least not yet… Lady Von Zaro retreated back into the side of the mesa.  Garren took one look at his team fighting the orbiting metal heap, and just slouched against the wall to catch his breath.  He was sitting this fight out.  

Glyquorg quickly turned off the “lights” using the Chant of Brilliance, and then led an all-out missile assault on this construct, an ancient machine that was known as a Dedimaskis.  Chase was able to engage his “open” esotery to bring down the defenses of the Dedimaskis, which degraded its armor.  This created the perfect opportunity for the rest of the party to lob javelins and fire arrows at the automaton’s weak spots.  Once the Dedimaskis broke down, it collapsed on the nearby ledge in pieces… pieces that Chase knew could be converted into Cyphers!

Once rested and restocked, Chase used his remote viewing ability to check out the windowed structure and the balcony above.  Inside the window structure was a shrine, and at the center of this room was a mound of dirt.  But what truly caught Chase’s interest was the patch of moss growing on top of the mound.

It was Raa-em!  

Lady Von Zaro must have created this chamber as a tribute to her brother, but now that he had returned, she was letting him grow again.  Chase could not let this happen.  The party chose to make their way up to the balcony, but as soon as Chase hovered his last passenger, he floated back down and used an “incinerate” esotery to completely remove Raa-em from existence.  

“I finally got your mossy brother!” Chase roared, hoping Lady Von Zaro could hear.  

While the pile of moss burned in psychic agony, it’s “sister” appeared from inside of the castle!

Lady Von Zaro attacked in a fit of absolute rage, striking Jak and Ralyx with emotion-draining tendrils.  Given the strength and power of the entity, the party wouldn’t last long…

… and then Glyquorg had a moment of absolute genius!

The Exiled Jack began the Chant of Brilliance, and Lady Von Zaro disappeared!  Glyquorg guessed that when it was “light” outside, Lady Von Zaro was outside, and gambled that when it was “dark” outside she had to be inside the castle walls.  With this in mind, the party could have a rough control of where Lady Von Zaro would appear.  

Chase returned to the rest of the party, and Glyquorg repeated the chant so that the party could travel to the lower structure and the burning mound.  Unfortunately this allowed Lady Von Zaro to reappear back inside, and she lashed out at Chase and Jak as they broke through the windows.  But once inside, Glyquorg was able to sing the chant again.  Risking the wrath of the Brilliance over the Lady, the lights were left on and the entire party made their way into the lower structure.

Investigating the mound, Chase found that there were wires and tubes built into the dirt.  Lady Von Zaro may have been trying to restore her brother back to life, but she was also preparing to drain him of some kind of energy, and feed it into a device that had to be absolutely massive.  There was a door at one end of the temple… perhaps leading to just such a device.  

Quotes

"Andy?  Wasn't he in the port-o-potty next to the vampire?" - Andreas recalls the last session.

"I'm pretty sure that Jeremy's character would use wormholes wherever possible." - Andy trying to justify what Takkorek would do after his player (Jeremy) lost his internet connection.

"I don't know why we 'shouldn't' go up here." - Marc trying to convince the rest of the team of his plan.

"Can I take my recovery roll?  There's a reason you save them… for oh **** moments!" - Andreas was hoarding his pools … he's glad after meeting Lady Von Zaro

"So…uh…  are you guys ready to go into this balcony?" - Chase may not have been.

"I'm sure this is a 'shoot the globe moment'…" - Frank's "inside joke".  Long story.

"Impulse rules above all!" - And Andreas is ruled by impulse.

"Now if she attacks me and kills me while I'm down there, you're gonna fall like 1000' feet!" - Frank warning Craig mid-hover.  

Rasterperch Keep - A Numenera/Ravenloft Adventure - Session 2

Return to Rasterperch Keep

After a few weeks off, my players and I were back enjoying Rasterperch Keep.  It sure was a special evening!  A couple of weeks ago I wrote a blog post about character death.  Its been quite a long time since I've killed off a serious player character and I don't count the 0-level fodder found in Dungeon Crawl Classics.  Since Rasterperch Keep is a quick, on the spot hack of the original Ravenloft module (with a lot of cosmetic changes), not including real risk would be disingenuous to the evil spirits of the Demiplane of Dread.  So last night I came to the table with an evil glint in my eye…

… mwa ha ha ha!

Sadly I couldn't finish off any player characters last night, but I sure came close for two of them that decided to go off on their own.  I'm surprised Frank, a veteran gamer who has dungeon mastered both the original Ravenloft and the 3.5 Edition remake, didn't warn Andy and Jeremy that it was so dangerous to go off alone…

Characters

• Chase Rombek, a Mystical Nano who Sees Beyond, played by Frank
• Jak, a Mutant Glaive who Constantly Evolves, played by Craig
• Glyquorg, an Exiled Jack who Controls Animals, played by Andy
• Ralyx, a Mlox Jack who Throws with Deadly Accuracy, played by Marc
• Takkorek, a Slaker Nano who Entertains, played by Jeremy
• Garren, a Varjellen Glaive who Studies Anatomy, played by Andreas

Non-Player Characters of Note

• La Dama:  The hive-minded, antlike fortune teller of the Afterlife
• Lady Von Zaro:  "Sister" to Raa-em

Summary

If you missed our last adventure, you can find the summary here.

Chase Rombek had a lot of explaining to do.  Raa-em’s consciousness departed the Mystical Nano’s mind, but no one else in the party had ever suspected that their Chase was a psychic host for an entity formerly known as a sentient patch of moss.  True, Chase had become somewhat distant and detached over the last several months, but most of the random violence he caused was directed against Glyquorg, so it was somewhat excusable.  Still, Chase apologized to his adventuring party, with special attention given to Glyquorg.

While Chase was delivering his apology to the rest of the group he noticed that someone was missing: Takkorek.  The Slacker Nano took part in the battle against Lady Von Zarro, but in the aftermath disappeared from view.  Some of the party members scouted the area for a trail, while Ralyx decided to investigate the nearby trees.  The party was standing in the middle of a deep, coniferous forest, with the canopy protecting everyone from the painfully brilliant light that flooded the nearby fields.  But there was something strangely uniform about the trees that Ralyx found unsettling.  Checking the roots, the Mlox noticed that the trees and the ground were all the same substance, and each tree, at least from the base, was identical.  Ralyx then put his hand against one of the tree trunks, and was surprised when it passed through.  

Casual interest quickly turned to desperate panic as Ralyx realized that he could not withdraw his hand from the tree.  He could move it deeper, but when he pulled back there was no way to free even a millimeter of his skin.  The mlox was trapped!  Fear flooded Ralyx’s mind and he started to scream and shout, blaming the trees for Takkorek’s recent disappearance.  At this point Glyquorg took note of the tree and puled out his water sword.  A blade of liquid water bound in a strange electric field, the water sword was not a solid object.  The Exiled Jack chopped deep into the tree trunk and the entire pine groaned almost as if in pain.  As the tree bent backwards Ralyx felt the grip on his hand loosen.  The Mlox yanked his hand free and took several large steps away.  He would be careful not to make that mistake again, Ralyx thought to himself.  On the bright side, he was able to dig a strange, telepathic cypher from the trunk.  

To help quell some of the party's fear, Chase revealed to the party that Takkorek was nearby, but invisible.  Now that Chase had regained his ability to See Beyond, every spectrum of light was available to his keen, numenera infused eyes.  Chase asked Takkorek why he was out of sight.  Killer trees, brilliant pain, a queen made out of deadly, smoky ink… there were more reasons than not to stay safely hidden away, Takkorek explained. 

Garren didn’t seem to mind this new locale.  In fact, the Varjellen was delighted at all of the new sensations he was experiencing in the woods.  Scouting the forest floor for strange flora and fauna, the Varjellen Glaive came across a weird bug shell, about the size of La Dama’s carapace covered abdomen.  Picking up the shell, Garren turned it over and saw… something… on the inside that gave him a strange unnatural urge.  Immediately he glared at Glyquorg.  

“That was a very wise choice,” the alien voice of La Dama whispered in his ear.

In an instant Garren doubled over in pain and grabbed his chest.  As a varjellen, Garren was able to open up his chest cavity and manipulate his organs, but it felt as if a new, foreign organ was forming.  Quickly Garren pulled his chest bones apart revealing a small, egg-shaped growth.  The Glaive grabbed for his medical tools and carefully cut the egg from the rest of his visitant flesh.  The egg fell to the ground and started to roll on its own… 

… towards Glyquorg!

Not sure of the rolling, slime covered egg’s motives, Glyquorg started to walk away from the mass.  It continued to follow, weaving around the other party members.  Unsure of what to do, Glyquorg pulled his water blade and put the tip at the egg.  The egg continued to press forward, splitting and revealing a small furry mass within.  Chase, Garren, and Ralyx looked on with interest.  Jak gave a nervous laugh and kept a distance between himself and the Exiled Jack.  Takkorek threw up, while still invisible.  Out of the egg popped a small, cute, familiar Shanu.

It was Lemux!  

Glyquorg squealed with glee as he and his long dead friend were now reunited.  The Jack let Lemux climb up onto his shoulder, as a broad smile graced his long-anguished face.  Best friends forever.  

Not knowing what other threats lurked in the pine forest of this strange pocket universe, the party gathered their gear and started heading west.  From the edge of the forest, Ralyx had been able to see a large monolithic keep to the north, about a half mile away and nestled atop a thousand foot cliff.  Perhaps a path through the forest could lead the party straight into the hills without having to endure the exposure of the brilliant searing light.  Unfortunately the edge of the forest eventually led back south until the group reached a strange barrier.  

“The edge of the map,” Chase quipped.  

Looking back through the tree line Ralyx noticed that there was another pine forest just past a stone-block road, just one-hundred feet away.  The Mlox Jack wanted some shade for the crossing, and prepared to create a pine-branch cover.  All he would need was a pine branch… 

… which he grabbed…

… and quickly found his hand stuck yet again.  

This time Glyquorg was ready to free his friend in an instant.  The Exiled Jack hacked away at the branch, cutting it from the thick trunk.  Once the branch was disconnected from the tree Ralyx’s hand slipped free.  Ralyx continued to create his shade-producing implement, but noted that the strange wood was far lighter than any had encountered in the Steadfast or the Beyond.  It also had an artificial composition, with offshoot from the trunk lacking any sort of ring or organic structure.  With the branches lashed together the Mlox took a deep breath and stepped out onto the road.  The cover did its job, but also helping was the fact that the “sun” seemed to be going down.  With the brilliance subsiding, Ralyx was able to gaze up in the sky and see the source of the light.  Rather than an actual “star” in the sky, the light was emanating from a spectacular orb hovering four-hundred feet above the keep.  Slowly the orb’s glow diminished, until night was upon the party.

Chase Rombek moved alongside his Mlox compatriot and took a look at the keep.  Reaching deep within his mind, the Mystical Nano projected his sight to the top of the keep, thus giving him a clear view of the entire region.  There was a town to the northeast that made for an inviting destination however a strange greenish glow separated the party from that size of the region.  Using his remote viewing Chase noted that the glow was coming from a small river separating the southern forests from the northern.  There was a bridge that spanned this river, but it was located closer to where the “insect powered automatons” had been spotted earlier.  

Takkorek preferred to cross the river using his portal esotery, and convinced the rest of the party to approach the river at a narrow gap just west of the bridge.  Jak and Ralyx approached the river first, but noticed a strange effect from being so close to the waters.  The sound of the trickling waters and soft green glow beneath the rippling surface was so relaxing that it was putting both Jak and Ralyx asleep!  Jak was able to hold off his dozing, but Ralyx sat down on a rock and conked out.  Glyquorg was going to approach and assist, but in his ear he heard a devious voice.

“Not near the water, master!  Not near the water!”  It was Lemux, and the small little animal was speaking to Glyquorg.  Never in the Exiled Jack’s mind had he heard a voice come from his animal companion, and the sound was greatly unsettling.  

Perhaps this wasn’t the “friend” he had remembered.  

It took Takkorek but a moment to create a portal allowing the party to span the waters from a safe distance.  Once on the other side, it was only a ten minute walk to the edge of town.  Takkorek and Glyquorg offered to investigate the small village, and see if any information could be gained about this strange land that rested within a Latos’ head.

The two brave numenera hunters didn’t notice anything strange about the small village at first.  It seemed like just another rustic aldeia that one would find far from civilization in the Beyond.  Entering a local tavern, the pair scanned the room.  Several patrons quaffed mugs of a clear brew while a bartender/line cook prepared meals at the back of the main hall.  Most of the patrons seemed human, however at one table the chairs and table were covered in giant ants… the same that comprised “La Dama”.  Upon closer inspection the humans interacting with the ants didn’t seem to notice that they were not of a human origin, leading the jack and nano to believe some kind of numenera was at work.  

Takkorek approached the bar and asked for a beverage claiming that it was quite warm outside.  For some reason this unnerved the bartender, who began to interrogate the Slacker Nano about the heat.  When Takkorek revealed that the brilliant sunlight earlier in the day had “burned” his skin, the bartender shouted “demons!”  Before the bartender could draw a thin bladed sword the nano was gone, leaving poor Glyquorg standing.  

“Look guys…we didn’t want any trouble,” Glyquorg calmly stated.  

The bartender gritted his teeth.  “Only demons burn here in the Afterlife.” 

Glyquorg wasn’t about to wait for an example of what happens to “demons” here in this pocket universe.  Holding onto Lemux, the Exiled Jack ran into the street.  When he was halfway to the edge of town, Glyquorg thought he heard chanting in the distance, and the ringing of bells.  Immediately the brilliant sunlight returned!  Now smoldering, Glyquorg looked to his right and crashed through the window of a small home.  Quickly he learned that the home was occupied however he still hoped for some solace, hastily hiding beneath a large couch.  

That’s when Lemux started spouting off.  “We’re here!” Lemux chortled.  “We’re underneath the couch!”  

Glyquorg begged Lemux to be quiet, but the shanu simply crawled off of the Jack’s shoulder into view of a middle-aged woman.  The deceiving, rodent-sized cat-monkey pointed to the couch, telling the woman that there was a demon under the couch.  In a panic the woman left the home calling for the guard.  

Now desperate for a new place to hide Glyquorg ran upstairs in the home and grabbed a bedsheet.  Wrapping himself in the covering, the Exiled Jack then left the home through the back, spotting a nearby outhouse.  The sheets helped protect Glyquorg from the “sun”, but when he entered the outhouse his skin was nearly on fire.  Out of breath and tired the jack took ten minutes to catch his breath.

Knock, knock, knock.  The sound was coming from the door.  “Is this privy occupied?” a woman’s voice called.  

“Yes,” exclaimed Glyquorg.

Surprisingly the woman didn’t seem unnerved.  “Do you mind if I join you?”

Glyquorg was stunned.  He didn’t know what to say, but simply managed “Why not?”

Big mistake.

Quickly the outhouse filled with darkness, and the woman’s voice became dark and ominous.  It was the Lady Von Zarro, and she explained to poor Glyquorg that she was hungry.  Oh so very hungry.  The Exiled Jack was able to dodge the first inky black tentacle in an amazing feat of dexterity, but the second wrapped around his face, draining Glyquorg of all anger.  Fear quickly set in, and the jack ran outside, into the courtyard, caught fire, and then made his way into the basement of the nearby home.  

Takkorek was having an easier time.  While invisible, the Slacker Nano watched as the humans formed a lynch mob and set out for the “demons”.  Everyone left the tavern except the ants.  They remained behind at their table.  Takkorek went to the back of the establishment and tried some of the food and drink.  It was plain tasting and strange, although it satisfied his hunger.  When he returned to the front of the tavern the ants were gone.

And then the night returned.  

Somehow Glyquorg recalled the words of the “chant” he had heard while running down the road.  Repeating the same chant seemed to engage the “day/night” cycle.  Under the cover of darkness the Exiled Jack made his way out of the home and towards the forest and his friends.

Takkorek left the tavern at the same time, but instead of running to the forest he ran to a temple in the north.  Nearly there, the nano heard the chant again and it was suddenly daylight.  In pain from the brilliant “sun”, Takkorek was close enough to the church to create a portal, and even managed to slip through.  Takkorek was in the temple for but a moment before an inky black wisp wrapped around his waist, dragging him back out of the temple and into the open.  

Lady Von Zarro was now overtop of the poor Slacker Nano, and using her tendrils was feeding on Takkorek’s emotions.  Takkorek tried to bargain with the Lady, and asked why she didn’t just feed on the villagers.

“I cannot feed on the dead, only the living,” she said softly.  After taking her fill, the Lady scooped up the exhausted Takkorek and carried him into the woods.  “I’ll be back for more later, but you have been delicious.” 

“You don’t have to come back,” managed Takkorek, before dragging himself south to the rest of the team.  

Quotes

"Well the first thing I'm going to do is apologize to Andy's character for blowing him up a bunch of times…" - Frank gave contrition a shot, but I think he'll need to continue apologizing for a few more games.  

"No, no!  I swear!  I was possessed by moss!" - Marc mocking Frank's apology.

"I'm pretty sure they don't come from varjellen chests." - Craig was grossed out by Garren's chest baby.

"Uh… not again!" - Ralyx grabs a tree branch.

Andy - "I don't understand the animosity against my dead/undead friend."
Jeremy - "Your varjellen chest baby?"

"Show him your monkey!" - Frank said this… I can't remember when… but wow it was great.  

Rasterperch Keep - A Numenera/Ravenloft Adventure - Session 1

Encounter at Rasterperch Keep

Long ago, during my Dungeons & Dragons years, I played a lot of Ravenloft.  Even though I think I'm a crappy horror GM, I've regularly shared my fondness for gothic horror RPG's.  When I was playing AD&D 2nd Edition in high school, my friends and I would light candles, burn incense, and put on creepy music while we explored the Demiplane of Dread.  

Did you know that the 7th Guest CD had a soundtrack?  It was pretty wicked!  

During my 3rd Edition days I had the opportunity to be a player in Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, written by Bruce Cordell (The Strange).  In 4th Edition I ran over a hundred sessions of "Ravenscape", a Ravenloft/Planescape hybrid campaign, for several high-school buddies via Skype and Maptool.  Despite endless hours spent journeying into darkness, I never grow tired of the twisted setting and its cast of nightmarish villains.  

Recently I was trying to think of a way to get some Ravenloft spirit injected into one of my existing campaigns.  I have a 25th Anniversary Edition of the original Ravenloft adventure, updated for AD&D 2nd Edition just sitting on my shelf, and it would be a shame not to break it out.  Actually, I've never run the original Ravenloft adventure, and while I featured the legendary Strahd Von Zarovich in Ravenscape, he spent most of the campaign as a party ally.  

Since my Tuesday night Numenera campaign wrapped up Pulse, there was room in the schedule to kickoff a new adventure path.  Sure we could've waited for the release of the Cypher System Rulebook before trying our hands at horror, but I'm impatient.  So I decided to kickoff a completely reskinned version of the original Ravenloft adventure, chock full of Ninth World flavor!  My goal was to do a "Spot Hack" of the adventure.  I've done this before, back when I ran "Isle of Dread" using pulpy Steampunk heroes in Clockwork.  The process of Spot Hacking is pretty simple:

1. Pick an old school adventure using a familiar system
2. Re-write/reskin the plot to have it fit the new setting
3. Make up the rest of the stuff on the fly

Okay, okay, there is a bit more planning involved.  I went through both the Numenera and The Strange Bestiaries picking creatures that would be a good fit for Ravenloft.  When we encounter a scene in the adventure that calls for a type of creature, I can easily replace it with something more appropriate.  Even the more supernatural denizens that I grabbed from The Strange can be given a quick, far-future, extreme makeover.  Sure there are a few rules and creatures that I need to come up with on the fly, so keep an eye out for the "Campaign Notes" that I'll include at the end of each adventure.  Fans of the original Ravenloft will definitely notice a lot of similarities, but be prepared for even more twists.  

This is something that you should DEFINITELY try at home!

Without further ado, let's start with Expedition to Castle Ravenloft… er… I mean Encounter at Rasterperch Keep!

Characters

• Chase Rombek or Raa-em, a Mystical Nano who Sees Beyond or a Mad Nano who Wields Power with Precision, played by Frank
• Jak, a Mutant Glaive who Constantly Evolves, played by Craig
• Glyquorg, an Exiled Jack who Controls Animals, played by Andy
• Ralyx, a Mlox Jack who Throws with Deadly Accuracy, played by Marc
• Takkorek, a Slaker Nano who Entertains, played by Jeremy
• Garren, a Varjellen Glaive who Studies Anatomy, played by Andreas

Non-Player Characters of Note

• Modorianna:  Muleni catamaran captain
• La Dama:  The hive-minded, antlike fortune teller of the Afterlife
• Lady Von Zaro:  "Sister" to Raa-em

Summary

If you missed our last adventure, you can find the summary here.

Tracking down the Nano that the party still believed to be Chase Rombek proved fairly straightforward.  Luckily for the group of numenera hunters, massive, hulking, kaiju-sized Varjellen were easy to track.  Somewhere deep within the eastern hills of Draolis Chase/Raa-em was discovered sitting in a field, having just finished a long conversation with the ancient astronaut.  Chase/Raa-em didn't seem interested in sharing his findings, and no one in the party pried.

The trip back to Qi took nearly a month as the band leisurely stopped from village to village gathering information about potential caches of numenera.  Upon returning to the big city, the decision was made to establish a new base of operations.  Given the party's recent negative dealings with the Marish Clan, the rich coastal city of Mulen, located only a few hours south of Qi, seemed promising.  It took Takkorek less than an hour to charter a fast-moving catamaran that could make the journey.

Captain Modorianna was a no nonsense sailor who didn't seem all too interested in making friends.  Her craft was a beast-sailed catamaran; the sail itself was a massive, flat, bird/flish eating, bioengineered creature.  Halfway between Qi and Mulen the ship hit a bump in the water.  Captain Modorianna just figured that it was a drit-reef, and didn't bother to look back at her passengers.  This meant the captain didn't see Chase/Raa-em take a tumble into the dark and unforgiving waves.  

The mystical nano wasn't concerned at first.  Raa-em was in control, and could easily hover up and out of the water.  While the nano pondered what to do next, a large form appeared just below the waterline.  Ralyx noticed the incident, as well as the massive, uncoiling tentacle.  The Mlox grabbed a belaying pin, and threw it at the form, but this didn't stop the tentacle from grabbing Chase/Raa-em, pulling him below the waves.  To everyone on board the ship now witnessing this event, it appeared that Chase/Raa-em was trying to breathe underwater, taking in large mouthfuls of salty death. 

But for Raa-em the encounter was serene.  He wasn't in the ocean, but rather in a beautiful field of grass and wheat.  There was a cottage nearby, the aroma of baking bread filling the air. 

Raa-em didn't like cottages.  The nano called upon one of his esoteries to destroy the structure.  But this only served to wipe away the surrounding imagery, and bring on a new picture.  This time Raa-em was on a beach with a mug full of cold brew.  Before he could truly enjoy the new scenery, the nano realized that he was in the water, drowning.  The tentacle had pulled away, and was getting sucked back into a cave below.  It turned out that despite the nano's tendency to cause pain to the rest of the party, they didn't want him dead.  Glyquorg had jumped into the water and attacked the tentacle directly while Jak and Ralyx peppered the limb with arrows and random thrown objects.  Using his hover esotery, Raa-em pulled himself out of the water and released all of the water from his lungs.

Chase/Raa-em was very agitated by the tentacle attack, as it had blocked a message that he was receiving once he touched the water.  Hoping to get the "signal" back, Chase/Raa-em put his hand in the water and received the following message from… somewhere… : 

"Greetings, master of mind and matter,

I, your former mate in gestation hope to find you well and further enlightened.
I have discovered something extraordinary.  An Afterlife, the afterlife with such joy and happiness that I should never want again. Such joy… such... happiness I will forever be satisfied... perhaps you will too.

I discovered it, just off the coast at the following coordinates [star chart included.]

Below the waves, you will find it.  I beg for you to come... and bring strong souls, with heart and conviction, for those are the kind I like the best.

I look forward to meeting with you again.


Your Dearest Sister"

According to Chase/Raa-em, the signal was over three-hundred years old, and was being transported by the water itself.  In the imagery that the nano received was a star chart.  Chase/Raa-em described the scene to Ralyx, who used some of his strange and eccentric skill suites to craft a crude astrolabe and sextant.  Using the devices, Ralyx was able to determine that the location Raa-em was describing was north, in the center of Ryness Bay just off the coast of Navarene.  

Offered several pieces of numenera by her passengers, Captain Modorianna finally agreed to transport the team to their destination.  With her swift moving craft, it was only a thirty-hour journey to the bay.  Once they arrived, the party realized that they had traveled somewhere special.

Despite the new morning light, the team of numenera hunters were able to make out a strange, bright glow beneath the waves.  At least seventy or eighty feet down, something filled the water with a soft, constant glow.  Captain Modorianna gave the party three, numenera-enhanced snorkeling tubes that would allow the users to travel down at least one-hundred feet beneath the waves.  Chase/Raa-em was definitely going, with Glyquorg and Jak offering to dive as well.  The trip down was amazing!  As the three divers approached the source of the glow, they started to make out an incredible scene.  A twelve foot wide glow rested on the bottom of the bay, and at the center of the globe was a brilliant landscape surrounding a massive stone keep.  

Upon closer inspection the globe was attached to a large, fifty foot long metal and synth body.  Chase/Raa-em scanned the form and realized that this "thing" was a construct called a "Latos".  Chase/Raa-em knew that his kin had to be on the other side of the sphere, so he reached out to touch the Lato's head.  Instantly the nano was teleported elsewhere.  

Glyquorg and Jak quickly swam to the surface and relayed the story back to the rest of the group.  Takkorek was interested in following Chase/Raa-em, but didn't want to touch the Latos' head.  Instead the Slacker Nano tried to open a portal between the catamaran and the interior of the Latos' head.  It took every ounce of energy that the nano had to create the wormhole, but with a loud scream Takkorek succeeded… only to be blasted with a brilliant light.  The nano jumped through the portal, followed by the rest of the team.  Only Captain Modorianna stayed behind.

Once through, the entire band of numenera hunters began to feel the same pain as Takkorek.  The landscape was idyllic and serene.  There was a village nearby, with old-fashioned buildings, thatch roofs, and seemingly normal townsfolk.  On a hill several miles away was an enormous, monolithic keep.  But none of these views seemed to gain the interest of the party, as they were all too busy rolling around on the ground in agony!

Despite this realm lacking a sun of any sort, there was a blinding light flooding the entire field on which the party lay.  The "Brilliance" was not necessarily burning the flesh, rather it was disassembling it, breaking it down through some other means.  Chase/Raa-em lay on the ground writhing, but the rest of the team wasn't going to wait for death.  Grabbing their nano, everyone took for the woods to the south.  

Once in the forest, the shade from the pine trees muted the Brilliance's reach.  Electing Ralyx to take the lead, the party decided to continuing exploring this new realm, under the protective canopy of the pines.  Reaching another clearing, Ralyx went into stealth mode and crept forward.  There was an odd buzzing ahead, and the Mlox Jack didn't want to give away the party's position.  Reaching an open field Ralyx saw a stone pathway, leading from a bridge to the northeast, and continuing west, possibly towards the monolithic keep.  In the center of the path there were three crystalline giants, each standing at least ten feet tall.  The constructs were completely clear, but their "insides" were formed and powered by millions of buzzing insects.  Ralyx tried buzzing in return.  Although appearing somewhat threatening, the three constructs were performing repair work on the road.  Ralyx decided to choose another path, and returned to the rest of the party to report.

The Mlox had no sooner returned when a dozen rat-sized, ant-like insects crawled out from the trees.  The creatures announced themselves as La Dama, a hive-mind fortune teller that inhabited the forest.  La Dama revealed to Ralyx that "she" had heard the Mlox's buzzing, and that he must have known the words of her kind, for he spoke them perfectly.  La Dama offered to tell the fortune of anyone in the party, for a small price: a bone.  The bone would have to come from the one wanting the fortune, however.  No one seemed too interested in surrendering a digit, and La Dama was about ready to open another line of questions when she hissed.

"She comes!" La Dama whispered.  

A voice then called out from all around the party.  "Brother… where are you brother?" the voice repeated.  

An inky black mass rose up from the ground.  The form introduced itself as "Lady Von Zaro", sibling to the entity known as Raa-em.  Raa-em was absolutely delighted at this opportunity to connect with someone from his past, especially another ancient who had formed as he had.  Lady Von Zaro chit-chatted with the party for a few moments before moaning about how hungry she was.  

It was then that the inky creature attacked!

The amorphous shadow stretched out with long, whiplike strands of ink, splashing against the cloth and armor of Chase/Raa-em, Takkorek, and Garren.  Glyquorg barely dodged one of the impossibly fast black cords.  When struck, the afflicted individual groaned in absolute agony, realizing only a few moments later that one of their emotions was completely gone.  The Lady was feeding on the party, but wasn't consuming flesh or blood, but rather feelings.  Making matters worse was Raa-em.  The leaching entity that had gained control of Chase Rombek joined in his sister's bloodlust, turning to Jack to tear him open with an esotery.  Once Lady Von Zaro had taken several "bites" she disappeared…

… and with her Raa-em.  

When Chase was struck by a strand, the effect severed the connection between the psychic parasite and the mystical nano.  Chase was finally free.  

Quotes

"Just to clarify Jim, is Frank in the water because something hit the boat, or did we hit Frank?" - Jeremy wasn't sure about Jim's description.

Marc - "But he [Craig] saw me throwing something right?" 
Jim - "He saw you angrily throwing a belaying pin into the water, at Frank."
Andy - "I clap." 

"Eh… they got it… " - Takkorek woke up and noticed the party was struggling to keep Chase/Raa-em alive.  Then he went back to sleep.

"Where'd the beach go!" - Chase/Raa-em was quite surprised when he was dragged out of the water.

"Once we get there, just imagine wealth, riches, gold beyond your imagination!" - Garren to Modorianna, trying the hard sell.

"She's a woman sailor, I'm offering her cosmetics and flying fish, what more does she need!?!" - Frank.  My wife Jen overheard this comment and said "no deal".  

"Marc is a friend of the insect world!" - Frank references a really old inside joke… long story.

"What if I give you some of my friend's bones." - Ralyx wasn't about to give up his own.

Campaign Notes

If you've stuck with this blog this far, you can see that I've made quite a few changes to the traditional Ravenloft adventure.  I always felt that in Ravenloft the players would come to fear the night, however in Rasterperch Keep it is the "daylight" and the Brilliance that should bring fear and trepidation.  I'm excited to reveal more about Lady Von Zaro, the people of this … place… and the history of Rasterperch Keep, but that shall be saved for future posts!

I don't want to reveal too much about the custom mechanics just yet, but I'm happy to share the following house rules and custom creations from Tuesday's game!

• Tentacle Creature
• Level 6
• Level 5 Initiative and Speed Defense
• 30 Health
• Armor 3 (Water Armor 2)
• Mind affecting tentacle, Intellect Defense roll, Difficulty 7, or the target believes to be transported somewhere pleasant.  Immediately drop one step on the damage track every three rounds should the character be submerged.
• The Brilliance
• Level 5 hazard
• Exposure requires Might Defense roll or take 6 points of Might damage