Quattro con Carnage - Session 1 - Behind the Schemes

Taking my Cypher Players Back in Time

When I first cooked up this crazy, 4-in-1 campaign idea, I was torn on whether or not to create a brand new group of players or drag one of my current groups through the romp.  Considering that my free time around the holidays would allow me to be a bit more experimental, I chose the latter option because it was quicker, and enlisted the help and support of four of my regular Cypher System players.  So my pals Jeremy, Andy, and Marc, from my most recent Another Sun Rises campaign, and Craig from Numenera: Tales of the Broken Mask, rose to the challenge and agreed to roll up their brand new shiny Basic Fantasy RPG characters.  

Although generally confident in my GM'ing and campaign design, I was a little nervous of how the experiment would play out.  

Of my crew of four, only two (Craig and Andy) had played OSR games with me before: Basic Fantasy RPG and Adventure in the East Mark.  But virtually all of the sessions were one-shots.  My other two players and I have been involved almost strictly in the Cypher System and a little Savage Worlds.  Going from Numenera all the way back to the early 80's was going to be a big change for this group.  

But by Tuesday evening, 8:45 pm, we were at the point of no return!  

If you want to read the results before moving on to the soft underbelly of the session design, here's the link to the full play report.

Jim's Rules for New OSR Players

To get my players in the zone for this campaign I first wanted to give them a brief set of tips for helping them translate (to use a term from The Strange) back to the Old School Renaissance style of play.  This is what I shared:

1. You are low-level… act like it:  Unlike other role-playing games, there is a lot of risk for a low-level group of adventurers, and even 3rd level player characters are at a serious risk of death and dismemberment from the most simple of enemies.  Two hits from an Orc can take out your trusty Fighter!
2. Caution is always the best defense:  Traps, monsters, and terrible magicks lurk in every corner of the adventure, so always be on the lookout.  Barging into a room without checking can cost you valuable resources very quickly.  Slow down, this isn't Pathfinder!
3. Conserve your hit points, ammo, and spells:  A 3rd level adventurer probably only has an average of about 12 hit points.  Strength limits carrying capacity, and thus the arrows and bolts you can carry.  Vancian magic means you forget a spell after you cast it.  Keep this all in mind before you spend that resource.  
4. In non-combat situations, rolling dice is a last resort:  Probably my most important rule.  AD&D 2nd Edition had proficiencies, and 3rd Edition had skills, but in basic Dungeons & Dragons these didn't exist.  Try to role-play these situations instead of just rolling dice.  Don't enter a room and ask for a "perception check", rather, listen to the GM's description and then ask questions.  If the GM mentions a carpet, and you would typically roll a "search check", ask to lift up the carpet.  If you want to talk to the bartender and gather information, tell the GM what you are saying exactly and be descriptive.  
5. Describe your actions with detail:  If you are going to do something that may require a roll, such as some kind of surprise attack or use of a thieves' skill, describe your action in detail beforehand.  Maybe this will lead to a benefit or modifier to the score.  Creative description always improves the game.  
6. Use equipment whenever possible:  A lot of your tools are the exact solutions to the problems you are facing.  Carrying around a 10' poll doesn't give you a bonus to perception, searching, or spotting.  It will actually set off the damned trap for you!  
7. Don't be afraid of hiring NPC's:  Death comes quickly and easily in OSR games, especially the OD&D retro-clones, so why not bring on some cannon fodder!  Always be on the lookout for someone who will take a hit for you.  
8. Encounter balance does not exist:  In 3rd and 4th Edition D&D there were great charts that helped plot out proper encounters for player characters by level.  In basic D&D, even though its obvious that a group of 3rd level characters shouldn't face a trio of green dragons, there really was no handy-dandy chart (that I know of) that mathematically generates proper XP levels.  In other words, don't expect that the game master has placed a group of monsters perfectly designed to give your party a survivable challenge.  

First Feedback

At the end of our session I asked the players for a little feedback on game-play in Basic Fantasy RPG.  This is what I got:

Jeremy shared, "I enjoyed it more than I expected," but asserted that he was definitely used to having more flavor directly injected into the characters at the point of design.  "Since there wasn't anything, I was expecting [Umbrin] to come off as pretty vanilla."  There was a little disappointment with his attack modifier however, as Jeremy's character, the human fighter, only had a 14 strength.  "Makes me said that I have the same attack bonus as everyone else in the group," he said.  

During the week leading up to the start of the campaign, Andy brought up some of his issues with the Basic Fantasy RPG core book.  On many of these I have to agree.  The layout is certainly a challenge, with certain charts necessary for character generation, like base attack and saving throws, being located in totally different sections.  But when it came to the game play "Its a whole lot better than creating characters!" Andy said.  "I like it, it is a lot of role-playing."  Andy did point out that a lot of the game was getting made up on the fly by me, the game-master, which I do have to admit is completely true.  If I didn't know a rule right then and there, I'd often tell the players to roll a d6 and we'd figure out what it meant.  Quick and dirty method, perhaps, to keep the game going.  

Marc's comments had more to do with his character's role in the party.  "Playing the lawful cleric is a challenge.  Everything I do, I feel like I'm pulling teeth just to get the other player characters to go along."  I agree with Marc, who plays Lomman much like an AD&D 2nd Edition Paladin, and he was lucky that there aren't any chaotic party members!  It will be interesting to watch the dynamic between the virtuous and valorous Lomman and his three party members: a halfling gangster, a "greed-is-good" mercenary, and a dark and brooding elven spell caster.  

Coming Soon

I think our group did pretty well with their first adventure in Basic Fantasy RPG, and I'm very excited to continue our campaign.  This upcoming Tuesday we will finish the current quest, the Fountain of Health, and begin our transition to Dungeon Crawl Classics.  I'm going to wait until the next Behind the Schemes to talk about adventure design, so that I don't give any spoilers!  

Miss a Quattro con Carnage Post?  

All of the fun so far:

1 - OSR Across 4 Systems

2 - Before I Write the Setting I Map It!
3 - Creating Your Basic Fantasy RPG Character
4 - Appendix Nintendo
5 - Tannryth Campaign Setting - Primer
6 - The Beauty of 3d6
7 - Hometown Heroes-in-Training
8 - Session 1 - Basic Fantasy RPG

Quattro con Carnage - Session 1 - Basic Fantasy RPG

Dramatis Personae con Carnage

• Umbrin, a guard-for-hire from Tannryth once in the employee of a wealthy Archon, played by Jeremy
• Lomman Senan, a devout crusader of Ogmios looking to enforce some "justice healing", played by Marc
• Rydian Ornitiar, an elven relic-hunter who longs to recover a lost family artifact, played by Andy
• Jorin Everlast, a pilfering halfling initiate to the Embrace who just "made bones", played by Craig

Our Story So Far

Autumn morning, 307th Year of the Crossing

The small town of Zerlina's Rest was once a shining oasis for the Tannri people.  Having sustained a terrible war in their native land, a small band of Tannri soldiers and refugees passed through the Warlock Gharlan's portal to this place of solace along Redfrog Lake.  This is commonly referred to as "the Crossing."  A small halfling village rested nearby, and together the humans and little-folk forged an important bond.  The area was not without its own unusual flavor.  This new land was obviously darker, and more foreboding from their bright and shining jewel of a nation.  Rain was common, and every morning a thick mist of fog would roll in from the lake.  A tower-bound sorceress, whom the halflings paid homage to, was also a neighbor, and the Tannri refugees were careful to pay their own respects.  First called "Last Rest" by the humans (the halflings had no particular name for this village, just calling it "home"), when Lady Zerlina, savior of the refugees, would finally pass after years of protecting this new realm, the town took up their first hero's name. 

But that was three centuries ago, and much has changed.

The great city of Tannryth, on the eastern edge of the Queen's Forest, has been the seat of Tannri commerce and power for quite some time.  The wealthy Convocation of Lune, an oligarchy commanded by the Seventeen Archons, controls most of the realm from within Tannryth's mighty walls.  Zerlina's Rest slowly faded into just a unique stopping place for merchants and caravans traveling from Fallingdale and Happenstance on the way to Tannryth and beyond.  Despite the best efforts of Prelate Jarro Dumont, selected by the Convocation to oversee Zerlina's Rest success (for the Tannri are a commerce-focused people), most would agree that little can be done to improve the town's place in the realm. 

In such a dark and dangerous time, a failing town was in dire peril from threats, both those from the monstrous beasts outside the walls, and petty politics within.  But this strife created opportunities.  Recently four bold adventurers came together in Zerlina's Rest, bound simply by an understanding that each claimed abilities that complimented the others: a soldier, a priest, an arcanist, and a burglar. 

The soldier, Umbrin, was a skilled guard who had recently left the employ of the Archon Rand Lavos.  The city-born Tannri served for eighteen months as a simple caravan protector, traveling the Queen's Forest Road between Tannryth and Zerlina's Rest before crossing a crooked Sergeant-at-Arms.  Hoping to find a way to regain the favor of the Archon, Umbrin thought he could prove himself as an adventuring fighting man. 

The priest and crusader, Lomman Senan, grew up in a family of justicars in service to the militant Order of Zerlina.  Although the values of bringing order and justice to his native town of Zerlina's Rest and the surrounding territory were important to young Lomman, he always dreamt of following in his near-famous uncle Callum's footsteps as a crusading Cleric of Ogmios.  When his uncle fell in combat, deep within an ancient catacomb, it would be Lomman that would reclaim the priest's body.  Later, when it would be time to recite the holy words of Ogmios in the temple, Lomman would do so while hoisting his uncle's mighty mace.  But over the past decade, worship of Ogmios has fallen out of favor, as the Cult of the Awakening spreads its own message amongst the people.  Nowhere has this been more felt than in Zerlina's Rest.

The arcanist, Rydian Ornitiar, an elf of Aarenia, came to Zerlina's Rest adorned in the blue, vivi-fox pelt robes of his ancestors, and wearing a pointed yellow hat handed down to him by his millennias-old grandfather.  Ancient by human years, but quite young by elvish, Rydian was a relic-hunter, commonly traveling between the Ever After and Fallingdale to trade in artifacts that could only be recovered in the dreaded misty wastes beyond the Fall.  On this journey, however, Rydian was looking to return an enchanted item back to his people: a legendary bone dagger known as the Cat's Claw.  After Rydian discovered the wondrous object, he was beset upon by spectral thieves who stole the blade.  Rydian believed the tower-bound sorceress in Zerlina's Rest was behind the theft of the important artifact, and the young elf would make a name for himself by returning to Aarenia bearing the bone blade.   

The burglar, Jorin Everlast, still felt the pains of his initiation into the notorious halfling thieves' guild known as the "Embrace."  Well known for their strict code of honor, high expectations, and severe punishments for those who fall out of favor, the Embrace only accepts the most accomplished young rogues into their fold.  For Jorin this was both a blessing and a curse.  The young halfling recently "made bones," surviving the initiation, but only with the obvious intervention of his uncle Gadfrei.  Although technically a member of the Embrace, Gadfrei made it clear to his nephew: "Now you need to earn this... or the suffering will be far worse and certainly final." 

The Fountain of Health, Part 1

Adventure by Ann Dupuis, first featured in Dungeon Magazine Issue #39

The four adventurers were seated at a plain oaken table planning their next big "quest."  The previous evening, all four heroes managed to clear the Silver Reed Inn of a minor vermin problem in its wine cellar, much to the delight of owner, Averick Daggerditch.  Old Averick  was a questing rogue during his earlier years, and repaid his vermin slayers with a free night's stay, breakfast, tea and one mug of ale.  The team was low on gold, however, and they needed to take on a major quest to keep themselves afloat and maintain their adventuring lifestyle (murder hobo-ing).  Luckily at the the Silver Reed there was always the Posting Pillar.  In the far corner of the room a chewed up and near-busted vertical beam rose from the floor.  Long past its point of serving as a support pillar, this beam was where quests could be shared with the travelers who almost always stopped at the Silver Reed.  

Umbrin, already finished with his mug of ale strolled up to the Posting Pillar and gave each mission a quick glance.  The last was written in a strange script, so the warrior crumpled the parchment up into a ball.  He returned to the table with two missions in hand, while Rydian angrily left the table to pick up his fellow adventurer's refuse.  

The first mission was posted by Sister Bethany, of the Temple of Ogmios. The young daughter of Rhadaro, the town's dwarven armorer, had been poisoned by goblins while out foraging east of town. Since the Temple was failing, and no high priest assigned, the herbal remedies that the good Sister could provide were not working.  Someone needed to find a cure!

The second was posted by a man named "Erik", on behalf of the village of Happenstance to the west.  Erik made claims that the village had been trapped in "winter" since the end of summer, and that the weather was causing great harm to the people.  Erik asked to meet interested parties at the Silver Reed Inn later that evening, after dinner was served.  

When Rydian couldn't make out the strange symbols on the page, he handed it to Jorin.  The halfling thief instantly recognized the dots, dashes, and images as "Thieves' Cant" from the Embrace.   A man named Brennan wanted a pail of milk from the old Wrenwald Estate on the far side of Redfrog Lake. This request made Lomman gulp, as he shared the legend of the Wrenwalds and their cursed homesteading at the edge of the Lunar Fens.  

Jorin pushed for the opportunity to please the Embrace, but Lomman's commanding voice and tone won the crew over temporarily.  The mission to the estate would require a boat, which they would need to acquire.  The mission to Happenstance seemed tempting, and was worth consideration, but saving young Oarei (the armorer's daughter) would not only enhance their status with the Temple of Ogmios, but it could gain the permanent assistance of a great armorer.  So the party finished their drinks, thanked the two waitresses (Maeve, cousin of Lomman, and Favaria, a young indentured girl) and headed out for the Temple.  

Entering the old and dilapidated church required Lomman to push past a small trio of "Dreamers."  The cultists worshiped the Awakening Ones, ancient deities that once walked the realm long before the Tannri endured the Crossing.  Embracing freedom, youth, and chaos above all, the Dreamers called out the the crusading priest and mocked him viciously. But it only took the grim cleric to draw a line in the dirt between himself and the women to make them back off.  They may have been trying to cause a little grief, but they weren't suicidal!

Inside the Temple of Ogmios Sister Bethany greeted her dear associate Lomman warmly and offered the party the little information she possessed.  None of the tinctures or herbal poultices in the Temple proved to help the poor little girl, and she now only had days to live. Sister Bethany feared that the church's inability to save Oarei would further disillusion the parishioners to the wise power of Ogmios and into the dark, yet inviting arms of the Awakening Ones.  The Sister shared the name of a hidden ruin, called the Fountain of Health, which could possibly provide healing waters to save the young girl.  

The minute Umbrin heard the term "healing waters" the business-minded Tannri guard fell in love.  Selling healing water could make him rich!  Looking for more information, the four adventurers cut across town to the armorer's shop.  Greeted by Thimna, Oarei's mother, and eventually by Rhadaro himself, the dwarves recited much that Sister Bethany already shared.  The armorer also showed the party a finely crafted, near-magical shield that he built with his own hands: the Shield of the New Mountains.  Forged out of weird-iron, and strong against breath weapons, the shield could be payment to the party, if they agreed to the mission.  Umbrin, knowing that time was of the essence, asked for horses for the trip, and Rhadaro agreed to do what he could.  The armorer would leave with the party in the morning, his wagon and two dwarven ponies to carry the slower adventurers and the dozen or so ceramic jugs that the team bought to stock up on healing water.

Now that the dwarf armorer was signed on as part of the adventuring troupe, the team headed back to the Silver Reed Inn, to gain more information and rest up.  Rumors of the Fountain of Health abounded in the inn.  Some said that it was part of a temple once dedicated to a capricious old god.  Several more whispered the word "minotaur" when the name "Fountain of Health" was even mentioned.  Although the name did not invoke fear like the Wrenwald Estate, no one in the town seemed to know anyone who ever visited the place.

Which meant untouched, unclaimed treasures to this greedy little band!

Still, one additional dwarf would be helpful, but a trio of strong guards would be even better.  When Umbrin saw three of his former compatriots, Mindt, Brak, and Serathos playing Three-Dragon Ante in the corner, a plan was hatched.  Umbrin talked the three into joining the team, and then had his halfling compatriot Jorin take part in the game, aided by Rydian's magic.  Any winnings would be paid back to the guards for their service.  Unfortunately the "shaming" that Lomman was giving his team over cheating must have messed up the hands, because Jorin ended up paying out.  But the coins didn't stay in the pockets of the guards for long.  Eventually they agreed to split some of the treasure and come along for the short mission to the Fountain of Health.  

Umbrin did happen to notice a strange man and the bar, who he figured was "Erik."  When the fighter introduced his party to the Rifter, Erik started his big pitch.  Happenstance was engulfed in a terrible and snowy winter, and the burgomaster believed that a nearby place of evil was the cause.  Hoping for some adventurers, Erik was sent to fetch them that evening, as not a moment could be spared.  The party joined their fighter, and listened to Erik, but decided that they couldn't do both missions.  So instead, the ancient and wise elf Rydian shared some words of arcane secrets with Erik:  

"Go find some things I know exist that will take a while to procure, like, you know, feathers of somethin' or other, or some plants that grow over here, and boil it in a pot and spread it over the door frames, then burn it for a while, then winter will go away after a few days."

Erik was completely enthralled by the elf's brilliance, and after paying the party left the inn at that very instance to procure a few chickens and try the ritual.  Needless to say, this would not have the desired effect in Happenstance, but we'll get to that later.  The next morning the entire team set off for the Fountain of Health.

The five hour journey to the Fountain of Health started on the Queen's Forest Road, but eventually took the party on a path into the shadowy woods.  The team wasn't a half-hour into the forest when Rydian's sharp ears picked up a sound:  Dire Wolves!  A pair of the beasts, each ridden by two goblins, came tearing after the wagon and its guardians.  Rydian instantly cast a spell on Lomman making the crusader's armor incredibly mighty.  The first pass of the wolf-mounted goblins left Brak dead, and a crossbow bolt felled poor Mindt.  But the team was not without their own special tactics.  Lomman baited the creatures into striking his massive frame, while Umbrin, Jorin, and Rydian peppered the wolves and their riders with missiles.  When the last wolf collapsed, Umbrin hefted his battle axe and walked up to the dying goblin, putting him out of his misery.  

… to be continued …

Most Notable Quotations

Umbrin - "You want to help out a broke ass church?"
Lomman - "As a member of the broke ass church, yeah!"

"Unless you have a mast and sails stored in that bodice…" - Umbrin to the poor, rather inexperienced waitress trying to help point the party towards some boats.  

"You certainly shouldn't worry, she's in very good hands… I think." - Umbrin to Thimna, mother of Oarei, the poisoned armorer's daughter.  

Jim - "He returns with this beautiful, beautiful circular shield…"
Jeremy - "Dibs!" 

Lomman - "Being good is its own reward." 
Rydian - "I think 'stuff' is a good reward." 

"FOR I SHALL MET OUT JUSTICE HEALING!" - Lomman's war cry

"First of all, stop calling me short stuff…" - The joke was getting old for wee little Jorin.  

"Nothin' says 'ominous' like a big-ass pointy hat." - Erik the emissary from Happenstance to Umbrin.  

Miss a Quattro con Carnage Post?  

All of the fun so far:

1 - OSR Across 4 Systems

2 - Before I Write the Setting I Map It!
3 - Creating Your Basic Fantasy RPG Character
4 - Appendix Nintendo
5 - Tannryth Campaign Setting - Primer
6 - The Beauty of 3d6
7 - Hometown Heroes-in-Training

Quattro con Carnage - Hometown Heroes-in-Training

Almost Ready

It's almost time to unleash the fury of my players on this crazy, 4-in-1, old school campaign.  Over the last couple of weeks I've been sharing blog posts about campaign design, maps, and character creation, in the hopes of giving you at least a small glimpse into the convoluted mess that is called "Jim's Brain."  Now, with just a day before we kick off this grand experiment, all the planning and preparation is entering a new phase of design: the campaign introduction.  

I consider the first few adventures of a campaign to be an extension of early campaign design.  Campaign design never ends.  Sure, the game-master is handing over a lot of the creative energies to the players when the campaign begins, but solid work should still continue as the game progresses, especially in those critical early games.  Expect whatever you want from those player characters when you see them on paper, but until you've met them in-game, you have no idea what kind of train wreck awaits your storyline until you see them in action.  

For the first adventure I always have a lot of materials prepared, and try to provide as much story and flavor as possible to the starting locale and any non-player characters.  This is especially critical when I'm crafting a sandbox campaign.  Rather than giving the players a story on rails tomorrow, I'm going to be handing them the keys to a small town called Zerlina's Rest.  I want the town and its residents to come to life for the players, and give them the feeling that anything is possible.  I'm spinning character connections, adventure hooks, side-quests, obvious allies, potential villains, and a clear flavor for this campaign all in the very first sessions.  I've combed through dozens of Dungeon Magazines and old adventure books that I have, and have chosen and modified several that can occur nearby, of which the players will need to choose which direction to go.  Those paths they don't take may even lead to some unlikely ramifications.

To put this in video game terms, I want this to be a truly open world.  

So without further adieu, let me introduce you to the first four player characters in this rather unique romp.

Dramatis Personae con Carnage

Umbrin, played by Jeremy
A guard-for-hire from Tannryth once in the employee of a wealthy Archon

• Human Fighter
• Level: 3
• Alignment: Neutral
• Str: 14,  Int: 10,  Wis: 10,  Dex: 12,  Con: 11,  Cha: 12  
• Hit Points:  13
• GM Note:  The first picture that Jeremy sent me of Umbrin was the 8-bit, fire-haired fighter from Final Fantasy 1.  When I started working on the backstory for the first adventure, I named the 7th Archon of Tannryth "Rand Lavos".  Rand is the name of my first fighter from Final Fantasy 1.

Lomman Senan, played by Marc
A devout crusader of Ogmios looking enforce some "justice healing"

• Human Cleric
• Level: 3
• Alignment: Lawful
• Str: 10,  Int: 12,  Wis: 17,  Dex: 8,  Con: 10,  Cha: 9 
• Hit Points:  14
• GM Note:  Marc came up with an incredible backstory based on his class and gear.  Lomman's uncle Callum was an adventuring cleric and crusader who perished in "some ancient catacombs."  When Lomman brought back the remains, he took up his uncle's mace (Ogmios' Gavel of Light) to do some "justice healing".  As an FYI, I don't know what "justice healing" is, but Marc brought it up in an important G+ conversation, so we're going to figure its some kind of special unwritten power.  

Rydian Ornitiar, played by Andy
An Aarenian relic-hunter who longs to recover a lost family artifact

• Elf Fighter/Magic-User
• Level: 2/2
• Alignment: Lawful
• Str: 13,  Int: 18,  Wis: 8,  Dex: 15,  Con: 12,  Cha: 8
• Hit Points:  13
• GM Note:  Andy dove head first into the Final Fantasy games for backstory surrounding Rydian.  His elf's name resembles a certain caller/summoner from Final Fantasy 4, he's dressed like Vivi from Final Fantasy 9, and he's searching for an ancestral artifact known as the "Cat's Claw", which he says was in Final Fantasy 1.  Andy's a bit bummed that Basic Fantasy RPG doesn't allow for Final Fantasy 7 or 8 style summoning abilities.  

Jorin Everlast, played by Craig
A pilfering initiate to the Embrace who just "made bones" 

• Halfling Rogue
• Level: 3
• Alignment: Neutral
• Str: 14,  Int: 9,  Wis: 10,  Dex: 16,  Con: 12,  Cha: 11
• Hit Points:  10
• GM Note:  The term "Made Bones" came straight from Craig.  He wanted to play a member of the Halfling Mafia, and we came up with "the Embrace."  Rumors say that the higher ranking members of the Embrace are actually undead.  No one outside of the organization has ever proven this to be true… yet.  Thanks Craig for giving me some campaign ideas! 

Miss a Quattro con Carnage Post?  

All of the fun so far:

1 - OSR Across 4 Systems

2 - Before I Write the Setting I Map It!
3 - Creating Your Basic Fantasy RPG Character
4 - Appendix Nintendo
5 - Tannryth Campaign Setting - Primer
6 - The Beauty of 3d6

#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

Quattro con Carnage - The Beauty of 3d6

Three-Dee-Six

Do you remember back when creating a D&D character meant 3d6's, in order?  You'd grab those three little cubes, and stare at the blank character sheet and wonder, "who is this going to be?"  Would he or she have a high dexterity, a low strength, an average charisma?  That moment just before rolling up a character in old-school D&D and AD&D was always so special, so magical.  You knew that, in just a few moments, you'd have a pretty good idea of who you would play in the next adventure or campaign.  

You were about to meet someone special.

This "magic" disappeared towards the end of my AD&D 2nd Edition era, when my Dungeon Master at the time started letting us roll 4d6, drop the lowest, and place them in any order we wanted.  No one in those parties had a decent charisma, and unless you were a cleric, your wisdom was in the tank as well.  3rd Edition was no better, and 4th could be seen as far, far worse in this regards, as point-buy took over for the beauty of "luck."  

How pleased I was when I discovered OSR, and how so many game masters, players, and groups still enjoyed games where everyone at the table had a randomly generated character!  

In our little "Quattro con Carnage" experiment, we are starting with Basic Fantasy RPG, which means traditional, old-school, 3d6 in order character generation.  But for players used to modern RPG's, those who haven't touched an OSR game before, there can be some challenges after the dice have fallen.  

A Question from a Player

I received a message today from one of my players:  

"I'm having a weird problem.  There's so little to this character mechanically that coming up with a character has been difficult for me to do.  I don't have the usual touchstones for working on background and personality."

My suggestion was the following:  

"You are right, there isn't much to them.  But that means you are free to fill in virtually all of the space that's empty… Look at your stats.  If your intelligence is a 7, why is that so?  Maybe you didn't study as a kid?  Your strength is a 12 because you helped work the family farm.  That mace you carry?  It's an heirloom… Your family has always had a clergy member serving Ogmios… It was passed to you."

While I don't want to assume that the player didn't already think of this to begin with, it does bring attention to a common theme in modern RPG's:  the watering down of ability score importance.

Look at 3rd Edition D&D or Pathfinder.  For many players (I was quite guilty of this) the six ability scores are really just a place to get bonuses for skills and abilities.  When you perform an action, its either coming from a skill check or an attack modifier, where only a portion of the modifier is donated from the core attribute.  On top of this attribute bonus are skill points, feat modifiers, situational bonuses, magic item bonuses, and so on and so forth.  The ability score is buried, and low scores overcome in such ways that it's barely given notice.  

Sure, a half-orc barbarian with an 8 charisma is going to be seen as an uncouth brute, compared to the elven bard with a 17 charisma.  However is there really that much of a difference between a pair of characters with scores only separated by a few points, but sharing similar skill point allocation?  I would say that the skill point allocation and feats would end up having a powerful impact on character build, so much so that they create the backstory for PC.  

There are a lot of modern games just as guilty of this, including two that we are going to be playing in this 4-in-1 experiment.  Savage Worlds has Edges and Hindrances that build a character's backstory and personality, while the Cypher System has Descriptor and Focus.  By the time the character is finished "mechanically" in these games, the player knows these PC's without ever having to think about it.  

Not so in most OSR games.

Take away most of the fluff - skill modifiers and feats, edges, foci, descriptors, perks, and flaws - and ability scores becomes much, much more important.  You could go even deeper and add a little backstory for the character's equipment!  Anything that is left blank… well that's for the player to fill in.  

A Holiday Example

You may have seen on Google+ or Facebook, that my family and I are running a series of special RPG sessions over the holidays that we are calling the Six Short Seasonal Santa Session Spectacular.  During this time, we're going to play six different games, from Savage Worlds to Numenera, but my daughter Carrie has volunteered to run a special Basic Fantasy RPG session called "Santa's Slay" (again, thank you to +Marc Plourde for another great name suggestion!)  

In this game, I get to be Santa (that gave me a chuckle), and the rest of my family are going to play different characters from the Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Christmas special.  After thinking about my player's question, I thought I would share my character creation of "Santa", and how I would role-play his ability scores…

As you can see, I rolled pretty poorly, but at least I got a 15 in Intelligence, which gave me the ability to be a pretty great magic-user!  Santa's brilliant, really sharp and full of all kinds of knowledge, probably because he travels the world each year and gets to spend so much time pondering the wisdom of the universe.  But sitting in a sleigh is pretty sedentary, so his strength has suffered (8).  Being rather overweight has made Santa a bit clumsy (dexterity of 7), and all those cookies have given him a bit of a "sugar dependency."  He's now quite addicted to peanut butter cookies, and that's all he thinks about, which impairs his common sense whenever he's doing anything besides eating cookies (wisdom of 7).  Although he's got a good heart, all those years at the North Pole with the elves means that his patience is worn thin.  His low charisma (7) reflects his inability to deal with people anymore.  At this point, he'd rather just spend time with his reindeer.  

For those of you new to OSR gaming, when you look at that sheet and see very little to role-play with, don't forget: that's what makes these games great!  The more white space on the paper, the more room you have to fill with your imagination!  

Happy gaming!

Miss a Quattro con Carnage Post?  

All of the fun so far:

1 - OSR Across 4 Systems

2 - Before I Write the Setting I Map It!
3 - Creating Your Basic Fantasy RPG Character
4 - Appendix Nintendo
5 - Tannryth Campaign Setting - Primer

Quattro con Carnage - Tannryth Campaign Setting - Primer

Realm of … Something

Yes, I'm going with this title:  Tannryth: Realm of … Something.  I'm totally serious.  I have a list of what the "something" could be:  darkness, twilight, shade, entropy, and filth are just a few of the options.  Didn't like any of them, so I've just been referring to the setting as "QcC:TRo…S" to anyone who inquires.  As I've stated before, if you have a better title, please share!  I'm certainly open to suggestions.  +Marc Plourde gave me "Quattro con Carnage", so maybe you can be next in helping me craft a cool description of the world!

Since we'll be starting the campaign next Tuesday, and I have players creating characters right now, I thought I'd share a brief history of the setting, as well as some key details that may interest players and readers of the blog.  Earlier this week I reflected on my history with old school electronic gaming, and how it helped shape my earlier years as a fantasy gamer.  Since I envisioned Tannryth to be a setting that embraced everything I loved growing up as a gamer, both PC/Console and Tabletop, there are a few things I injected into this setting.  

I wanted the world to be very similar to the Dark World in the Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.  There was a world of light and high-fantasy once, and the main race of humans comes from that place, but it is now gone, never to be found again.  I wanted a massive, mysterious, mist shrouded domain to take up much of the land, similar to the Evil Forest in Final Fantasy IX.  In Tannryth there is a feature called the Ever After, hidden from most of civilization and separated by an incredible rift called "The Fall".  The Fall also serves as a resource for endless dungeons and caverns, easily accessible as the world falls away into the Ever After, further revealing places to delve.  More to come on these features!      


If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to share them!  Also, if you have any cool ideas that you think I should toss in let me know.  

A Brief History of the Tannri

by the Elven Sage Qualanthorus 

There are two human civilizations in the the realms surrounding these realms, the northmen commonly referred to as "those of the Icerift" or "Rifters", and the people of Tannryth.  For the purposes of this history we will just be looking at the the latter, for they are the newcomers to our strange land, having only arrived in the last three-hundred years.  The "Tannri" came from a faraway place known as Tannryn, sealed from our world by a gate through the Brilliance.  Tannryn came under attack by forces form beyond and waged a long-fought war against this unusual and terrifying opponent.  Eventually the enemies were at Tannryn City's gates and the Queen had one last hope: send her most valiant knight through a portal created by the dark Warlock Gharlan to the "Lands of Shadow" [GM's Note: I hate this title, but I'm leaving it in for now.]  

The knight's name was Lady Zerlina, and along with three-thousand souls, a mixture of warriors and refugees, they filed through the Warlock's Portal two by two to a new land.  On the other side they found themselves by a murky lake, the surrounding territory inhabited by a small people they dubbed "halflings."  The few halflings that lived in the territory along the lake joined with the humans and created a small fortified town that the Tannri called "Zerlina's Rest".  A temple to the Tannri's chief deity Ogmios was constructed, and the priest and clerics began their mission to proselytize for their god.  

In the years to come after the Tannri came to this land they waged a war in the thick forests to the east of Zerlina's Rest against the Orcs.  The horrible, brutish humanoids numbered in the thousands, and Lady Zerlina only had a hundred trained soldiers, and several hundred farmers and halfling mercenaries, but due to the enchantments of the Warlock Gharlan, the Tannri won.  Included in the spoils of victory was a massive ruin that the Orcs called home, nestled on bank of a beautiful lake.  When Lady Zerlina captured the ruin, and destroyed the remaining goblins and orcs, an outpost was created within its walls.  

The outpost became a village, and soon "Borrowtown" was a bustling place of business between the other major civilizations in the region.  The Elves of Fallingdale and the Ever After came to the Tannri with both gifts and a plea: Jharune, their chief god, was not pleased with the humans spreading the word of Ogmios in lands where the neutral elven deity was long revered.  The dwarves of Grimmgate came with terrible claims that the Tannri's coming to this world was causing horrible effects throughout the land, lengthening "the Fall", and creating a stretch of hills and mountains to the north in less than a day.  Even other humans came to Borrowtown from faraway Icerift, sharing the boons of their raids in exchange for gold and treasure.  

Lady Zerlina would eventually pass-on to the afterlife, and the Warlock Gharlan left Borrowtown for the New Mountains in search of portals to another "mirror" to this dark world called "The Brilliance" by the dwarves.  The remaining soldiers and closest followers of Lady Zerlina created the Order of Zerlina, an organization sword to protect the Tannri people and all of their holdings throughout the world.  The people of Borrowtown, now a major city, renamed their new capital Tannryth.  

Over three-hundred years later and Tannryth is controlled by the Convocation of Lune, a collection of seventeen Archons who are the richest men and women in the city and surrounding lands.  Since there was a distinct lack of nobility in Tannryth, the wealthy gained the positions of power, first in Zerlina's Rest, and then in the capital once it was constructed.  Each Archon commands his or her own army, and while the Order of Zerlina is bound to defend the peoples and territories from threats unknown, its often the armies of a particular Archon battling another that causes the most strife and peril in the immediate region.  

One last point of note would be the existence of "The Awakening Ones".  These chaotic entities dwell in the Brilliance, and are a collection of lost, dead minor gods and demons who have been slowly reawakening ever since the Warlock's Portal brought the Tannri to this realm.  The Rifters to the north sometimes pay homage to these powers and patrons, calling them the "Sleepers".  The Cult of the Awakened, consisting of individuals who call themselves Dreamers, is a growing movement that began in the New Mountains with claims that these powerful beings are now aware, active, and engaging in bringing knowledge back to the Realm.  Once existing only on the fringes of civilization, the Dreamers have operated in Tannryth openly for the last decade.  

Too be continued…   

Miss a Quattro con Carnage Post?  

All of the fun so far:

1 - OSR Across 4 Systems

2 - Before I Write the Setting I Map It!
3 - Creating Your Basic Fantasy RPG Character
4 - Appendix Nintendo