Family Game Knights - Attack of the Frawgs, Part 1

Exploring the Chained Coffin

Welcome to Family Game Knights, our regular tour through of the Shudder Mountains and  The Chained Coffin box set.  

For those uninitiated with the Chained Coffin, creative lead +Michael Curtis and the rest of the Goodman Games crew have created a wonderful and vibrant fantasy campaign setting based on Appalachian myth and legend.  As someone who spent nearly every summer vacationing at Hungry Mother State Park in western Virginia as a kid, with many day trips to the Great Smokey Mountains, coal mine tours, and outdoor theater at the Cherokee Reservation, the Shudder Mountains feel right at home.  

It's my intention on running pretty much all of these Family Game Knights sessions in the Shudder Mountains as a campaign.  

Here are our previously spun yarns:

1. Session 1 - Sour Spring Hollow (from The Chained Coffin)
2. Session 2 - Moonricket Bridge (from Tales of the Shudder Mountains)
3. Session 3 - Doom of the Savage Kings (from Doom of the Savage Kings)
4. Session 4 - Doom of the Savage Kings, Pt 2 (from Doom of the Savage Kings)
5. Session 5 - Doom of the Savage Kings, Pt 3 (from Doom of the Savage Kings)
6. Session 6 - Doom of the Savage Kings, Pt 4 (from Doom of the Savage Kings)

Also to note:  I'm working on a Shudder Mountain soundtrack through a YouTube playlist.  Any suggestions?  Here's where I'm at so far. 

The Adventuring Party

• Jen
• Wize Wizard McBride - Cleric
• Evie
• Jeffff - Warrior (she plans to add another "f" after each gained level)
• Carrie
• P. Specs - Thief
• Andy
• Waldon - Thief
• Jeremy
• Sir Huey, Keeper of the Sacred Door - Warrior
• Ella
• Quinn - Wizard
• Frank
• Zzizzle Fenderbender - Dwarf
• Emily
• Farwyn - Elf

Attack of the Frawgs, Part One

Judge's Note: This adventure is our first session of Attack of the Frawgs by +Stephen Newton.  With that said, I'd like to humbly apologize to the wonderful Mr. Newton, and the rest of my faithful readers, for how off track our game went.  But hot damn, it was hilarious! 

I reckon we need to start this week's blog entry with the addition of a new character:  Farwyn the Elf.  Farwyn was a prom queen on Earth, who went to an after-party at a local amusement park and made the mistake of riding the "Dungeon Crawl Classics Ride," sponsored by Goodman Games.  You can all figure out what happened next.  Farwyn got teleported to the Shudder Mountains.  

Crap!

The elf met up with a traveling band of brewers who lived near a lake.  But when a terrible, croaking menace appeared at the lake, Farwyn (and her new friends) were tasked with defeating the fell creatures.  Torfist, the only survivor of a horrible, amphibian encounter, barely returned from the lake with his life.  

So that's how everything started off last night.  It didn't take long to descend into madness.

Before leaving the brewers' camp, Jeffff requested some additional gear to aid in the battle.  Brewmeister Smith handed over the following:

• A suit of hide armor.
• A piece of chalk.
• A lance.

The team left the lance, but took the armor and chalk.  Never know when you're going to need some good chalk.  They then traveled north, and followed a trail of Torfist's blood to the lake shore.  Walden climbed a large tree to reconnoiter the region, noting a watermill nearby, a giant-beaver dam to the south-east, and a floating monstrosity just beneath the lake's surface to the east.  

The party decided to check out the watermill first, which turned out to be a brewery.

Entering the building, Farwyn was attacked by a madman with a bung hammer.  Although clearly out of his mind, and screaming about demons, and certainly not at fault for his actions, Jeffff decided to kill him anyway.  But the man had released a quartet of beer rats to attack the party.  The creatures, however, were little match for the awesome might of the explorers.  

Searching the upper floor of the brewery, Walden noted that a strange, fishbone was stuck in a filter by the mill.  When he picked up the item, he sensed a strange surge of energy in his hand.  The Wize Wizard McBride cast "detect magic" on the bone, and discovered it to be filled with accursed magic.  But Walden thought he could use the bone as a weapon, and was desperate to keep the artifact.

The only problem was that it caused him to croak every two or three minutes.

This alarmed the party, and so they devised a long and convoluted plan to get the item away from Walden.  P. Specs pilfered it from his fellow thief, but then he started croaking as well.  So the Wize Wizard McBride put P. Specs to sleep with a spell, and Walden ended up with the bone again.  Jeffff tried to stab it away from Walden, and Zzizzle attempted to tackle him.  Eventually Farwyn cast "sleep" on Walden, and Sir Huey busted the bone with the bong hammer.

The party then heard a humming sound outside.  Going to the door, they all saw a metal disc lower to the ground, and a four armed, four legged, three eyed, three necked alien with a Punisher t-shirt appeared.  It claimed that it's name was "Halien", and that it wanted to be the team's friend, so long as they engaged in an epic battle.  After some quick negotiating, Quinn offered a trade: no battle necessary so long as she gave the Halien her wrist-computer.  The Halien agreed, and flew away in its flying saucer.

Weird, but that's what you get when Cooper designs part of the adventure.

Following the events at the brewery, the party headed east towards the dam and the floating thing beneath the water.  Half of the party crossed the dam (created by gicasters, or "giant beavers") by carefully walking across the top, while the other half waited behind.  Walden approached the floating shape beneath the water, and saw a trapped gicaster.  He called for the rest of the team to approach, but Zzizzle was busy trying to rescue the Wize Wizard McBride, who had fallen into the dam's structure below, and nearly got mauled by a gicaster.  

Once everyone was near the submerged gicaster, Sir Huey set it free by destroying the rope connected to the trap pinning the creature.  

A Fine Selection of Quotes from the Table

"Is there any good shopping on the way?  I'm gonna need a new dress." - Farwyn the Elf is always looking for a deal.

"... and MY door!" - Judge James pretending to be Sir Huey, pretending to be one of the Fellowship of the Ring.

"If they were mice, it'd be better." - Ella was right.  Some blind mice attacking the party would make for more fun than blind rats.

Frank: "Do you really want to carry something cursed?"
Andy:  "Seems fine to me."  

Campaign Crematorium

• None this session

Cooper's Creation

The Halien 

Part human, part alien, four arms, four legs, three eyes, and three necks.  Good Crom, what the heck is going on with this creature!  I completely let Cooper come up with all the rules for this monstrosity, and it was nearly a nightmare.  Here's where we stood with the Halien:

• 500 total hit points.
• Will agree to be the party's "friend" if they can fight him down to 95 total hit points remaining.
• Three attacks per round:
• Diamond Sword: "Five Attack Dice"
• Pick Axe:  "Two Attack Dice"
• Axe:  "Four Attack Dice"

That's it. 

That's all we had.  Fortunately, Cooper was pretty rational.  I'd think twice about adding this creature to one of your games...

... and be careful letting a six-year-old play it.  

Evie & I Try Conan: Rise of Monsters

By CROM!

When I started getting back into miniatures gaming a few weeks ago, I knew that there was a chance that a marauding Kickstarter campaign could potentially cross my path, forcing me to dive headfirst into a quest to acquire a bunch of figures for my ever expanding game collection.  Leave it to Pulposaurus Entertainment (a new division of one of my favorite gaming companies, Pinnacle Entertainment Group) to resurrect the Conan: Rise of Monsters (or CROM) Kickstarter, with the alluring promise of heroes and villains of the Hyborian Age.

Image from the Conan: Rise of Monsters Kickstarter campaign by Pulposaurus Entertainment

While I wouldn't call myself the greatest of all Conan the Barbarian fans, I'm no slouch when it comes to a certain, special Cimmerian.  Like any child of the 1980's, I got to watch both Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer at a young age.  Truth be told, it wasn't until my twenties that I begrudgingly admitted the superiority of the Grace Jones-less original.  

It was also in my twenties that I finally started reading some of Robert E. Howard's Conan stories.  Although it was one of the first that I read, I still consider The Tower of the Elephant to be my personal favorite.  I wasn't aware that the early, pulp authors often mixed elements of what we would call fantasy and science fiction today.  So the concept of some otherworldly elephant alien appearing in a sword and sorcery story blew my mind!  

Image from the Conan: Rise of Monsters Kickstarter campaign by Pulposaurus Entertainment

The promise of a savage Conan miniature, raging across my beat-up dining room table, taking down evil priests of Set, required me to take a look at this Kickstarter campaign.  Granted, the fact that I've never been disappointed by a Pinnacle Entertainment Group Kickstarter Campaign helped.  The pre-painted miniatures looked awesome, as did the Reaper terrain.  I'd get a chance to look at the rules later.  

Fast Facts

I strongly suggest getting the details about Conan: Rise of Monsters from its Kickstarter page, but here are some quick details at a glance:

1. Conan: Rise of Monsters is a skirmish style miniatures game that pits Conan's "Circle of Iron" against Thoth-Amon's "Legion of Set." 
2. The game features a "Fate Deck" that adds light deck-building elements.
3. The entry, "Conquerer" level for CROM features 30 miniatures (including 2 large monsters), dice, terrain tiles, rules, game tokens, Destiny gems, and Fate cards.
4. The upgraded "Warlord" level adds another 22 miniatures.  
5. The rules system is light and fast, as are the rules, coming in at only 16 pages.
6. The miniatures are all pre-painted PVC.  There is no option for unpainted miniatures, as the game is intended to be played "out of the box."
7. The Reaper terrain that can be acquired at the "King" level, or as add-ons, comes unpainted.
8. As of this blog post, Conan: Rise of Monsters is double funded (around $100K.)

Admittedly, I was a little taken aback after reading further.  I'm a seasoned veteran of RPG Kickstarter campaigns.  I can back at a few dozen bucks and get a slew of PDF's, or raise that to one-hundred and get some nifty physical rewards.  Conan: Rise of Monsters does not come cheap!  The base "Conquerer" level is $150 before shipping, while getting all of the production miniatures kicks you up to the "Warlord" level of $300.  If you want the terrain as well (and dammit I do, but I'm on the edge already), you're at $500.  

If I backed this one, it would be one of the most expensive Kickstarter campaigns I've done. The only two that even come close for me would be last summer's Deadlands 20th Anniversary campaign, and the campaign for The Strange by Monte Cook games.

So $300 to $500 for a lot of swag... but would I like it?  If only there was a way to play it...

... oh wait...

... there is!  

  

Playing the Game

For this Kickstarter, Pulposaurus Entertainment made all of the beta rules, unit cards, and Fate cards available as free downloads on DriveThruRPG!  

FYI, Here's the link.

We set our game up as follows:

• Printed out equal forces of unit cards, 12 points each
• Printed the Fate Cards on plain paper
• We used regular six-sided dice as the Sigil dice, counting 1's and 2's as "Shields", 3's, 4's, and 5's as "Swords", and 6's as "Sigils"
• We used poker chips to mark Destiny (blue), Activated units (white), and Wounds (red)
• We used Lego's with mini-fig bases for miniatures!  

My daughter Evie is the closest thing to a fellow mini's gamer in my house, given her love of X-Wing, so she quickly volunteered for this first session.  

Cooper's already called "dibs" on the second. 

I played as Conan's Circle of Iron, creating the following units out of Legos:

• King Conan (5 points)
• Valeria (4 points)
• 3 Poitainian Knights (3 points)

Evie had to be the villains, because she only does "bad guys."  She went with the Legion of Set:

• Thoth-Amon (5 points)
• 5 Stygian Skirmishers (3 points)
• Dragon (4 points)

Was this a balanced encounter?  It looked like it on paper, with each side sporting twelve points, but to be fair, I wasn't going for balance.  A couple nights before, Cooper and I went through all of our Legos trying to build something that resembled CROM-worthy figures.  This was as good as it was going to get!  

The Battle of the Green Mound

I read the rules the night before, and everything seemed pretty straightforward.  Evie took some time to review the rules while I set up the battlefield.  This being our first game, I knew we'd make quite a few mistakes.  Our goal was to give the rules a shot, get an idea for the mechanics, and most importantly, have a good time.  

I arranged my Poitainian Knights to the left of Conan and Valeria, while Evie put her figures in front of the Dragon.

In that first round, we both carefully crept across the map.  It looked like most of the forces were going in the same direction, although I did sneak Valeria off to my right, hoping that she could get the drop on the evil Thoth-Amon!

When I noticed that one of my Poitainian Knights had a direct line of attack on Evie's Dragon, I "charged!"  In hindsight, we kind of screwed up this rule.  I went and had the Knights do a double move on their charge, but after reading the rules again, this isn't exactly how it works.  Figures can move their full move first, and then need to roll to see how much further they go on a charge.  

Oops!

Not that the charge worked out well for me!  True, my Poitainian Knights killed Evie's Dragon, but the Dragon returned the favor.  In CROM, the defender gets a full attack before dying.  Another rule we left out here was using the Destiny gems... okay, technically we knew "how" to use them, we just didn't realize that we should've.  Destiny lets players add dice to their rolls, either on attack or defense.  Evie could've bolstered the defense of her Dragon, and probably should've.  

Better luck next time!

There was some shooting back and forth between Thoth-Amon and Valeria, until Conan showed up.  Here's where things really felt like an action movie, and I could hear the booming Basil Poledouris soundtrack in my head.  Conan charged the Stygian Skirmishers...

... and killed them all in one swipe!  It really helped to have a Fate Card that let me turn all my "Shields" into "Swords!"  

Thoth-Anon wasn't having any of this though.  

Evie's devilish Stygian Sorcerer kept Conan at bay using the "Terrified" Fate Card, preventing him the barbarian from moving.  Then, a few lucky rolls later, Conan was dead!

Valeria charged Thoth-Anon the next round, and the two killed each other quickly. 

Now I'd consider this to be a draw, or a tie, but not Evie...  Evie considered this some kind of weird victory.  According to my middle-child, just the fact that she prevented me from winning, meant that she won.

I don't get it either.

So how did we do on the rules?  

For the most part, we picked them up quickly.  For the first few turns we were forgetting to use the special attacks and powers of each unit, but by the end of the game they were in full force, as well as Destiny.  

I think the Fate Deck was my favorite element in the game.  Not knowing what cards Evie had up her sleeve meant that every action had potential risk.  The Sigil dice have more swords than shields, and for many figures, rolling a Sigil allows for more potential damage.  But the opposing player's Fate Deck can completely change the course of a battle.  Yeah, it's great that Conan gets to charge in and roll a ton of Sigils, but when Evie's Fate Card made me reroll my entire attack, it changed the entire nature of the round.  

Here's hoping that Pulposaurus Entertainment churns out a TON of Fate Cards!  

Parting Shots

This is a big crowdfunding campaign, with a pretty steep barrier to entry, so let's cut right to the chase.  

Conan: Rise of Monsters seems like a fantastic game for casual miniatures gamers, or those just getting into the hobby who do not have the time or skills to paint their own miniatures.  If you find yourself leaning more towards X-Wing over Warhammer 40K, you may be in this demographic.  

This is essentially MY demographic!

I hate to steal from Savage Worlds, but since it's a Pinnacle product I'm going to: the rules for CROM are "fast, furious, and fun!"  The sixteen pages of rules did leave me thirsting for more.  Having read the rules for Frostgrave recently, and being very familiar with Mordheim, I may actually prefer CROM's system, however sixteen pages doesn't seem to scratch the itch.  I want more backstory, and more flavor text!  Fortunately the Kickstarter campaign promises an add-on book at the Warlord level, and another PDF as a stretch goal.

I'm a bit more torn when it comes to the Reaper terrain.  Let's be clear: I want it!  Just like the Fate Decks, the terrain has mechanics.  But it feels weird for me to be playing with 3D miniatures on a 2D board.  I wish that either A) the terrain was offered as part of the lower level rewards, or B) the terrain was pre-painted.  

For those of you who enjoy painting your own miniatures, this may not be your game.  The Kickstarter states that you can add your own detail, and I've seen some awesome, customer X-Wing paint jobs.  But if you like cutting sprues, adding pieces, and creating your own forces, this could be a turn off.  

Personally, I really enjoyed the game and look forward to playing again with the kiddos.  I'm excited to see where the stretch goals go, and hope that a few more extra miniatures get tossed into the mix.  I can see this as one of the games where the kids wouldn't need me to help them with the rules, although once the rewards arrive, I'm not sure that I'd trust them with $300 of miniatures!  

They can keep playing with the Lego mini-figures.  

DCCRPG - Lair of the Mist Men, Part One

The Adventures of Nutbiter the War-Shih-Tzu

I love animal companions, and the more bizarre the better.  I've had players with wolf companions, bear companions, and even raptor companions.  But never have I ever had a player with a war shih-tzu companion.  I have to hand it to Marc, he certainly had no problem sending that little doggie into combat.  Sometimes players keep their animal companions in the back of the action, perhaps serving as a rear-guard.  But not Marc.  "Nutbiter" was right in the thick of the action for most of last night's game.  

Here's hoping the little bastard survives the rest of the adventure!  

All kidding aside, I can't believe we're down to the last adventure in the Sunken City Omnibus!   This monthly campaign has been going strong for over a year now, and most of the players have a character up to level 3.  I guess we must be telling a pretty decent story to keep everyone interested.  

The Great SCOT Continues

The Free Company, our adventuring party happily enjoying the Great Sunken City Omnibus Tour, completed Perils of the Sunken City and last month moved onto the The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk.  If you're interesting in starting this story from the beginning, here are the previous tales:

• Perils of the Sunken City, Part One
• Perils of the Sunken City, Part Two
• The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk, Part One
• The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk, Part Two
• The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk, Part Three
• The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk, Part Four
• The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk, Part Five
• The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk, Part Six
• The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk, Part Seven
• A Gathering of the Marked, Part One
• A Gathering of the Marked, Part Two
• A Gathering of the Marked, Part Three
• Return to Slither's End

This is an open door campaign, so we can always have new players join our group.  Here are our only rules from game to game:

• Schedule five players for each event
• Hold a sixth seat free for last minute additions
• Players who complete an adventure have "dibs" on joining the next adventure
• Players can bow out, and rejoin later with living or new characters so long as there is a open spot at the virtual table

As always, Die Rodney!

The Free Company Roster 

• +Marc Plourde
• Floyd Pink, Warrior
• Bleh, Herder
• +andrew lyon
• Lil Hammy, Tiny Pig Paladin Statue (advances as Paladin)
• Rikard, Woodcutter
• +Paul Go 
• Imric, Elf
• Ralph, Weaver
• +Jonata Sodre 
• "Screaming" Otto, Warrior
• Borrado, Gongfarmer

Lair of the Mist Men, Part One

The Free Company arrives at Korik's Heart, supposedly the lair of the Mist Men, in search of a way to defeat the fell threat.  At the base of the great mountain, they find a primitive cult conducting a sacrifice of a goat, in an attempt to appease the godlike Mist Men.  The party approaches the cult, and opens up a dialogue with their leader Elock-tad.  Through clever use of words, and an air of fear brought on by Lil Hammy's spellcasting, the team is able to avert a direct confrontation.  

After gaining the trust of the "Greyfolk", the party is taken back to a nearby hidden village.  In return for some scouts to assist them in gaining access to the Mist Men lair, The Free Company offers to introduce the Greyfolk to Razoul, the God-Mayor of Slither's End.  Screaming Otto helps to seal the deal, by telling the tail of the party's mighty victory over Salissak just a few days prior.

Elock-tad selects four of his finest scouts to join The Free Company:  Rikard, Ralph, Borrado, and Bleh.  Bleh was accompanied by his feral War Shih-Tzu: Nutbiter.  Elock-tad also gives a silver torc to Imric, stating that it will help open the portal to the Mist Men lair.  

Once ready for the trek, the Greyfolk scouts lead the team up along the eastern trail of Korik's Heart.  Near the top, the party is beset upon by great boulders.  The Mist Men were aware of the intruders!  While Screaming Otto and Borrado take cover, the rest of the team leaps into action.  Bleh is the first to charge into combat, but he is cut down by blaster fire emanating from the Mist Men "tube" weapons.  But little Nutbiter avenges his master, tearing into one of the Mist Men viciously.  

The rest of The Free Company eventually joins the combat, after "Squire" Rikard creates a shortcut to the platform above using his master's rope and a grappling hook.  Eventually all of the Mist Men are defeated.  Floyd Pink leads poor Nutbiter away, promising the dog future vengeance.  

The opening that the Mist Men guarded leads to a glowing green door.  It seems that there are multiple ways to open the door, either using Imric's silver torc, or by firing at them with the Mist Men tube blasters (just like Metroid.)  Otto offers to enter the portal first, and Lil Hammy ties a rope around his partner's waist, just in case.  But as soon as Otto steps into the portal, he is completely sucked through... as is the rest of the rope and Lil Hammy!  Figuring that they would eventually have to go through the door, the rest of the team follows along.

After passing through the portal, The Free Company finds itself in a circular room with another portal on the opposite wall.  In the center of the room are three black squares painted on the floor.  The chamber has a strange effect on Otto and Ralph.  Otto becomes obsessed with broken toenail clippings and Ralph keeps muttering about "beefy barmaids."  Rikard tries stepping onto one of the painted circles, and immediately falls through the floor. He pops out of the ceiling, falling on top of Floyd.  

Floyd Pink decides that he's done with the chamber, and moves on to the northernmost door.  The rest of The Free Company follows.

As soon as the party enters the next chamber, they are greeted by a beautiful desert scene. The large, circular room shows a panoramic image of a dune-filled sandy waste.  It's gorgeous, until the dozen scorpions appear!  

The party engages the scorpions, that are easily vanquished but incredibly deadly as they attack en masse.  Imric notes that a raised platform in the center of the chamber holds a trio of control stations.  The elf dashes to the platform and manipulates one of the controls.  Instantly the scene changes to that of an area in the Sunken City, and all the scorpions transform into the evil wooden pirate-puppet Commodore Teak.  

"Wrong fuckin' move!" all of the puppets declare at once, as they slaughter Barrado.  

The battle rages on, with most of the puppets falling to either Floyd's polearm or Otto's axe, until Imric turns another key and shuts down the entire room.  Although the scorpions and wooden pirate-puppets were illusions, their attacks were real.  Poor Barrado the Gongfarmer was dead.  Imric gets the team to all climb atop the platform before engaging the third toggle.  This one opens up four weapon storage lockers, each one holding a two-handed sword, javelin, spear, and mace.

With two portals to choose from exiting the room, the team takes the one on the left, leaving the training room.  

The scene in the next chamber is greatly disturbing.  An enormous, two-armed machine fills half the chamber.  Each arm clutches a poor, wretched creature: in one an old human, and in the other a chicken.  On a table in the center of the room lay another ragged human, screaming while two Mist Men performed a perverse experiment.  A third Mist Man on the opposite wall laughs maniacally while unleashing a pair of exo-pigs (beetle hog hybrids) on The Free Company.  There is a loud pop, as electricity surged through the two arms.  The chicken and old man were now gone, and the man on the table was significantly older, and sported a chicken head from the side of his neck.

The Free Company was not about to let this grotesque experiment continue.  Floyd Pink charges the Mist Men at the table and Screaming Otto takes on the two exo-pigs.  In one fell swoop, Floyd polearm sunders one of the Mist Men while fatally pimp slapping another.  But before the great warrior can continue his onslaught, he's carried off by one of the giant arms.  Fortunately the rest of the party provides covering fire with their silver tube blasters and arrows, allowing Otto, Lil Hammy, and Nutbiter to slaughter the exo-pigs.  The last Mist Man is a bit more of a challenge, but he too falls to the ranged attacks of the party.  

Once free, the human experiment on the table states that his name is Saynen, and that the Mist Men are doing all kinds of terrible experiments.  Despite having a chicken head sticking out of his old neck, the man wants to fight.  

Welcome to The Free Company.

Adventure Notes

• Nutbiter the War Shih-tzu:  Init +3; Atk bite +2 melee (1d4); AC 13; HD 1d8 (5hp); MV 30'; Act 1d20; SV Fort +3, Ref +2, Wil +1; AL L.
• Special:  If the master of Nutbiter takes a move action to say the command "Nutbiter, sick balls," Nutbiter's attack, damage, and critical die all improve by +1d.  
• Players and Judges who've already explored Lair of the Mist Men may not remember the silver Mist Men tubes opening the portals like in Metroid.  I've been wanting to toss that mechanic into a game for a while, so I chose this one.  Oh, I also added that silver torc.  No reason, just wanted to put more swag in the game.
• I also added the weapon racks in the holographic training chamber.  I figured that the team could use a little more firepower, especially since there were only four players.  The last two 0-level characters were only wielding weapons that could do 1d4 damage as well.  This could be a great addition for anyone looking to run Lair of the Mist Men as a 0-level funnel as well.  

 

Quotes?

"You are cowards!" - Floyd Pink scolds the Greyfolk.

Floyd Pink - "Come, join us in our quest!"
Screaming Otto - "... and pay your taxes!"

"This is for Bleh!" - Otto the Screamer charges the Mist Men.

"Anyone wanna go first?" - Paul sure wasn't going to volunteer.

"I'm going to pick up the Shih-tzu with one hand, put my polearm on my shoulder, and step through." - Marc's statement embodies all of the reasons that I love DCC and this adventuring party in one sentence.  

"He died as he lived... covered in shit." - Marc about Barrado.  According to Jonata, "barrado" means "covered in poo" in Portuguese.  Google Translate doesn't seem to agree, sir.

Andy - "I lay hands on Floyd's knee."
Paul - "Wouldn't that just be 'lay on knees?'"

"Man, I am a man of history... I don't make math!" - Jonata tries to justify not being able to figure out his attack modifiers.  

In Memoriam 

• Bleh - killed by a silver tube
• Barrado - killed by a holographic pirate puppet

Family Game Knights - Doom of the Savage Kings, Part 4

Exploring the Chained Coffin

Welcome to Family Game Knights, our regular tour through of the Shudder Mountains and  The Chained Coffin box set.  

For those uninitiated with the Chained Coffin, creative lead +Michael Curtis and the rest of the Goodman Games crew have created a wonderful and vibrant fantasy campaign setting based on Appalachian myth and legend.  As someone who spent nearly every summer vacationing at Hungry Mother State Park in western Virginia as a kid, with many day trips to the Great Smokey Mountains, coal mine tours, and outdoor theater at the Cherokee Reservation, the Shudder Mountains feel right at home.  

It's my intention on running pretty much all of these Family Game Knights sessions in the Shudder Mountains as a campaign.  

Here are our previously spun yarns:

1. Session 1 - Sour Spring Hollow (from The Chained Coffin)
2. Session 2 - Moonricket Bridge (from Tales of the Shudder Mountains)
3. Session 3 - Doom of the Savage Kings (from Doom of the Savage Kings)
4. Session 4 - Doom of the Savage Kings, Pt 2 (from Doom of the Savage Kings)
5. Session 5 - Doom of the Savage Kings, Pt 3 (from Doom of the Savage Kings)

Also to note:  I'm working on a Shudder Mountain soundtrack through a YouTube playlist.  Any suggestions?  Here's where I'm at so far. 

The Adventuring Party

• Jen
• Wize Wizard McBride - Cleric
• Evie
• Jeffff - Warrior (she plans to add another "f" after each gained level)
• Carrie
• P. Specs - Thief
• Andy
• Waldon - Thief
• Jeremy
• Sir Huey, Keeper of the Sacred Door - Warrior
• Ella
• Quinn - Wizard
• Elise
• Yenzu - Halfling

Doom of the Savage Kings, Part Four

Judge's Note:  Another week with Doom of the Savage Kings, along with a new creation by Cooper... 

Why is there a picture of +andrew lyon as Rambo?  Well that's how his thief Walden looks whenever he jumps out of the water for a killer sneak attack!  Or at least, that's how Evie envisioned it on her tablet.

Last night's game was a bit chaotic in the beginning, but ended up taking flight as the night went on.  Carrie's friend Ella has been playing with our group for a few weeks now as Quinn the Wizard, and Evie wanted to invite a someone over to play too.  So her friend Elise joined us, playing as Yenzu the Halfling.  This was a big night for Elise!  First time trying out a role-playing game.

I think she had a good time. She certainly had no problem getting into character as a murderous dual-wiedling halfling.

It actually ended up being a shorter game.  By the last session we were right up to the last scene in Doom of the Savage Kings, but it was also really late.  We started the evening with the party preparing to enter the swamp home of the Hound of Hirot.  

But no one wanted to enter the swamp!  There was even some discussion about just waiting another couple days for the Hound to reappear near town, and to attack it on the party's own turf.  Actually that was a pretty decent idea!  But I didn't let the players get that far.  We started a little late, and Elise had to leave early, so I let one of Cooper's monstrosities join the game...

... the Borisyfly!  

The full stats can be found at the end of this blog, but the Borisyfly is a floating animal head and a pair of floating cartoon gloves that all have fire attacks.  This battle ended up being the most brutal of the entire adventure, with the Borisyfly nearly killing both Sir Huey and the Wize Wizard McBride's ghoul companion, Brock.  As retribution, the Wize Wizard McBride cast Word of Command on the Borisyfly head and commanded it to eat it's own hands.  This worked, and the rest of the party concentrated their attacks on the hands as well.  

Eventually both hands were defeated, and the head fled into the swamp.  Victory!

Searching the black miasma of the swamp, the party eventually came to a great cavern with a seventy-five foot drop.  Figuring that this was the lair of the Hound of Hirot, Walden and Quinn quickly scampered down a rope.  At the bottom of the cave mouth, the two could hear deep, and sinister breathing.  The rest of the party was called to come down the rope as well.  

This worked great for everyone except for Sir Huey, who fell the full seventy-five feet and was on the verge of death until the Wize Wizard McBride healed him.  But coming back from the brink of death took it's toll on the poor knight's stamina.  He'd never feel the same again.

Then the Hound of Hirot pounced!

Due to the fantastic rolls by pretty much everyone in the party, this battle ended up being a bit anti-climactic... especially following the epic struggle with the Borisyfly.  An enlarged Jeffff the Warrior easily stabbed and pinned the creature, allowing Sir Huey to bind it with Ymae's manacles.  The rest of the team just wailed on the creature repeatedly, and it was never able to break free.  How sad!  

After gathering all of the treasure and magical items from the Hound of Hirot's lair, the party went back to the village of Hirot for their reward.  As soon as they arrived to a hero's welcome, the old lady Ymae appeared.  She called for the brave Sir Huey, her betrothed.  As Sir Huey stepped forward, and Ymae prepared to take his hands, everyone watched the old crone transform from an aged hag to a beautiful maiden. 

That's when Sir Huey chopped off Ymae's head.  

It was fast too.  One quick critical swipe, and Ymae collapsed to the ground.  

"She was evil!" Sir Huey screamed at the rest of the party as they were chased out of town by the Vinlanders.  The party would need to find a new base of operations in the Shudder Mountains.

A Fine Selection of Quotes from the Table

"I'm part of the millennia.. uh... I mean militia." - Evie making some kind of point.  Still not sure what.

"Four seconds of Jeffff." - Carrie was referring to the "fff" sound, although we all agreed that this would be a great movie title.  

Campaign Crematorium

• None this session

Cooper's Creation

The Borisyfly

I'm too terrified to find out where the Borisyfly idea came from, but given the face, I'm guessing Cooper's design was somewhat inspired by Five Nights at Freddy's.  The Borisyfly is a swamp dwelling creature that consists of a floating head and two floating, cartoon hands.  The head spits fire and the hands each wield a flaming blade.  

It has been widely disputed that the Borisyfly is resistant to all arrows.  Last night Cooper insisted this after Andy's character hit it with his crossbow, but then the entire table started arguing with the six year old that he couldn't just come up with new rules for the monster on the fly.  

Anyway, here are the stats.

• Borisyfly Head:  Init +3; Atk Bite +3 (1d6) or Breath Fire (Ref save DC 14 or take 3d4 dmg); AC 13; HD 3d8; MV 40; Act 1d20; SV Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +2; AL C.  
• Special:  May or may not be immune to all missile fire.
• Borisyfly Hand:  Init +3; Atk Flaming Sword +4 (1d6+1); AC 15; HD 1d8; MV 40; Act 1d20; SV Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +2; AL C.
• Special:  May or may not be immune to all missile fire.