Under Strange Suns - Session 1 - a Sherlock Holmes/Dark Sun/Star Wars Campaign

"There is nothing new under the sun.  It has all been done before."  - Sherlock Holmes, from a Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. 

My Favorite Translations

When I first got involved with the Kickstarter for The Strange, a Cypher System Role-playing Game by +Bruce R Cordell and +Monte Cook, what intrigued me most was the possibility of adventure across multiple universes and settings.  Given the nature of the alien dark energy network (the Strange itself), and its power to create worlds from Earth's Fictional Leakage, the characters in my Strange campaigns could easily be tossed into any boxed set that I own.  Whenever I open my core book, and start work on adventure design, my entire collection of gaming materials becomes a potential sourcebook for The Strange.  But if there was one particular boxed set that I was hoping to break out of storage, after years lying dormant in a sealed plastic bin, it was Dark Sun!

Dark Sun is a post-apocalyptic, sword & sorcery campaign setting written by Troy Denning and Timothy Brown and produced by TSR in 1991 for AD&D 2nd Edition.  The setting, Athas, was nothing like the high fantasy of Forgotten Realms or Dragonlance.  The traditional races were both familiar yet terrifying: seven-foot tall deceitful elves, cannibalistic halflings, hairless dwarves.  The new races were downright alien: musclebound and never-tiring muls (half-dwarves) born into slavery, thri-kreen mantis-men, and ten-foot tall half-giants.  Magical energy was drawn from life itself, and wizards needed tp be careful to draw their magic from the nearby plant life without turning it to ash.  Those wizards that didn't care about the ecological ramifications of their spellcasting were called Defilers.  Psionics were rampant, and every member of society had some kind of wild talent.  Metal was exceedingly scarce, and most tools were made of stone, bone, or wood.  

Yes, I was very excited to take my player characters to Athas, but I was facing a challenge. Before announcing the next adventure for our monthly Strange players, I offered a little poll featuring some potential fictional leakage options for our campaign.  Two of us had picked Dark Sun, while another two voted for Star Wars, and yet another two Sherlock Holmes.  Three-way tie!  Many game-masters would just pick one of the options, and reveal it in the game.  These three settings could never be mixed into one adventure, right?  

Wrong!  

With the power of The Strange I bring you the first session of Under Strange Suns, a Sherlock Holmes meets Dark Sun meets Star Wars adventure!

*     *     *

When it comes to some of the rules and mechanics Sherlock Holmes is actually covered in The Strange Corebook.  If you are interested in some of the tidbits I used for Dark Sun, I include them near the end of this blogpost.  I'll cover Star Wars when we reach that point in the adventure.  

Andy, Emily, and Barb, excited to be playing The Strange again

Agents of the Estate

• Barbara "Babs" Goldstein, a Strange Paradox who … 
• Works the System on Earth
• Shepherds the Dead on Ardeyn
• Controls Illusions on Athas
• and is played by Emily
• Jacqueline Dingo, a Skeptical Spinner who … 
• Solves Mysteries on Earth
• Embraces Qephilim Ancestry on Ardeyn
• Focuses Mind over Matter on Athas 
• and is played by Jen
• Arlo Coulton, a Graceful Vector who … 
• Is Licensed to Carry on Earth
• Carries a Quiver on Ardeyn
• Fights Dirty on Athas
• and is played by Jeremy
• Chuck Lannigan, a Stealthy Spinner who … 
• Operates Undercover on Earth
• Channels Sinfire on Ardeyn, 
• Crafts Powerful Poisons* on Athas  
• and is played by Andy
• Agent 97 aka "Carol", a Clever Vector who… 
• Leads on Earth
• Leads on Ardeyn
• Bears a Halo of Fire  on Athas  
• and is played by Bobbie
• Dr. Sybil Holloway, a Lucky Paradox who …
• Conducts Weird Science on Earth
• Embraces Qephilim Ancestry on Ardeyn
• Hunts with Great Skill on Athas  
• and is played by Ethan 

* Crafts Powerful Poisons is out of Ninth World Assassins by Metal Weave Games

Well, Jen has to stay in character!

Adventure Summary

After their last mission to Ardeyn, our illustrious Estate Agents regrouped at the Estate Campus in Seattle, Washington for their next mission.  Meeting with senior agents Lawrence Keaton and Conrad Merrick, the agents were told that the dangerous fictional character, Professor James Moriarty, was on the move and recently spotted in Ruk.  It was feared that Professor Moriarty was going to make contact with the Karum, and given his extreme intelligence, he would be a terribly dangerous asset for a nihilistic organization already bent on the destruction of Earth.  The Estate was going to send a senior team of agents to take down Moriarty, but they needed the help of Sherlock Holmes.  That's where the players characters, less experienced agents, would be needed.  Our six Estate agents would be sent the recursion of 221b Baker Street to make contact with Sherlock Holmes and gain his assistance in the upcoming meeting.  Agent Keaton revealed that Holmes had been helpful in the past, and since the famous detective was quickened himself, he visited Earth from time to time.  

Arlo asked agent Merrick, who was munching on a crunch wrap from Taco Bell during the meeting, how he was involved in the mission.  Merrick told the team that he would like an order of fish and chips brought back Chaddock's Corner.  Apparently the fish and chips were the only item to translate back from 221b Baker Street intact.

Once in the recursion of 221 b Baker Street the party worked quickly to make contact with Sherlock Holmes.  Unfortunately, after knocking up, Mrs. Hudson revealed that Mr. Holmes was not in town.  The team regrouped, and decided that two members, Jackie and Dr. Sybil, would go get the fish and chips for Merrick while the rest of the group would break into Sherlock Holmes' home.  

Chuck was a master pickpocket, and easy snatched the keys off of Mrs. Hudson, just as Jackie and Dr. Sybil escorted her away form the home and towards Chaddock's Corner.  Mrs. Hudson thanked the two women for their company before traveling down a dark alley into oblivion.  Keep in mind, the recursion of 221b Baker Street is quite a limited place.  Purchasing the fish and chips was a simple fetch-quest, but before they left the shop Dr. Sybil had a bad feeling that they were being watched.  

Chuck Lannigan used the key to get his team into Sherlock Holmes' house.  After an initial survey of the living room, the only item apparently out of the ordinary was a leather egg on Mr. Holmes' desk.  It was obviously an artifact, and further investigation needed to be done so Dr. Sybil started to break out her lab-gear.  But Chuck just stared at the contents of the shell, a simple worn card-board box sticking out from inside.  

It was an AD&D 2nd Edition Dark Sun Boxed Set!

Yes, I used an RPG boxed set as a "prop"

"So for some reason, Sherlock Holmes was studying AD&D 2nd Edition Dark Sun," Chuck Lannigan stated quizzically.  

The rest of the party stood there and just watched the Stealthy Spinner dig through the contents.  A big fan already of Dungeons & Dragons, Chuck knew that this particular boxed set was special because it was a limited release and should have had a cloth map.  But for some reason, the map was gone.

Andy digging through the boxed set

Nothing else seemed out of the ordinary, so the team met up to discuss Dr. Sybil's findings.  Using her own equipment, despite being somewhat archaic due to the effects of the translation, Dr. Sybil was able to figure out that the artifact was a Translation Shell.  This artifact was obviously created by someone using materials found only in the Strange itself, and by someone who had access to Victorian scientific materials (most likely Holmes.)  The artifact was rare in that it could travel from recursion to recursion, and it could keep one item housed within that would not translate.  Strange, everyone thought, that Holmes would choose to bring a Dark Sun boxed set back to his home.  

Babs wrote a gushing note to Sherlock Holmes telling him that they were in his house and hoping to link up later.  With nothing else out of the ordinary in the home, the party translated back to Earth.  But during the translation, Babs saw a glimpse of a dark female figure, wearing a leather long-coat, a mask, and goggles.  

The party named her "Matrix Catwoman", so we'll just stick with that name for now.  

Back in Seattle, the team followed up with Agent Keaton, delivered the fish and chips to Agent Merrick, and then let Dr. Sybil further investigate the Translation Shell.  The artifact had been depleted, but given the right equipment the Lucky Paradox believed she could get it working again.  Besides the boxed set, and the missing cloth map, the party had no other leads save for the Matrix Catwoman.  So they decided to translate back to 221b Baker Street and see if she was still in the room.  Strangely enough, as they translated Chuck saw Matrix Catwoman standing in the Estate Campus courtyard.  

Now completely discombobulated, the team got back to investigating Sherlock Holmes' home.  Chuck was kept circling the room over, and over, an over again until… wait… what was that?

Chuck walked up to the table at the center of the room, and the wooden surface just started to stand out.  Grabbing some paper, Chuck quickly used some pencils to figure out the impression left behind by the previous writer (Mr. Holmes most likely.)  Already familiar with the Dark Sun setting, Chuck realized that Sherlock Holmes had written out, by hand, the credits listed in the Rule Book.  The first name on the list was Troy Denning.  

Quickly the team returned to Earth, but Dr. Sybil botched the translation, so they ended up somewhere both unlikely as well as terribly coincidental: the Wizards of the Coast corporate lobby.  The team flashed their badges, and told the receptionist that they need to borrow the space for a few quick Tweets and calls.  

Using her twitter handle, @CumberCookie69, Babs decided to tweet Troy Denning.  Dr. Sybil also took part in the conversation.  Here, I'll share it with you:

@TDenningauthor We seem to have fallen into a conundrum, and only your expertise can help us. #Nervous

@CumberCookie69 Will be at GenCon in July, hope to see you there.  

@TDenningauthor Well that's extremely unhelpful.

@CumberCookie69 Sorry to hear that, if its a quick question feel free to PM me.

@TDenningauthor I'm from the Estate… need your assistance

@SybilScience69 Sorry to hear that, if its a quick question feel free to PM me.

Realizing that this was getting them nowhere, Babs decided to "hack the impossible" and forced a Skype connection with Troy Denning's computer.  Troy Denning, author of Dark Sun's Prism Pentad novels, was willing to work with the team once they told him that they were members of the Estate.  When asked if he had any interactions with strange individuals recently, Mr. Denning revealed that just the day before he met the famous actor, Robert Downey Jr., who came to his home.  Mr. Denning was surprised that Downey Jr. seemed to have a strong British accent, as if he was preparing for some kind of role.  Downey Jr. knew that Mr. Denning had a special cloth map of Athas in his basement, held in a unique bone frame.  The unusual bones in the frame were found by Mr. Denning during a hiking excursion out west, and after placing the map in the frame, the world of Dark Sun just felt more "alive" and real.  Downey Jr. offered an obnoxious sum of money for this framed map, and Mr. Denning said he would've been a fool not to oblige the actor.  

After thanking Troy Denning for his help, Babs pulled up TMZ and found out that there was a sighting of Robert Downey Jr. at a Wisconsin Hampton Inn.  Jackpot!  The party arranged for a private jet, and by that afternoon they were in front of the Hampton Inn.  It only took a few more flashes of their badges to get past the front desk, and to the room where Robert Downey Jr. (actually Sherlock Holmes) was supposed to be staying.  Arlo picked the lock, and the team filed in, but they were surprised to see that the room was empty, save for a single framed picture in the center.  It was a map of Athas, held within a bone frame.  There were fractal patterns on the bone, and when Jackie approached she noticed that there was another crumpled cloth map of Athas on the ground.  She picked it up and handed it to Dr. Sybil, who placed it into the Translation Shell.

The team then held their breath, and used the map of Athas and the strange picture frame to translate!  But during their translation, Matrix Catwoman was again seen by the party!

Instantly the entire team was subjected to all the smells of human misery.  Their feet were bound, and they were wearing simple cloths for modesty.  They were in a dark and sweaty room, on board a slave caravan wagon headed for Tyr!  As the team looked at each other, they realized that some major changes occurred…

Jackie Dingo had become a Human Psionicist...

Arlo Coulton was now a Mul Gladiator...

Chuck Lannigan translated into a Half-Elf Bard...

Babs Goldstein was surprised at how tall she was as an Elf Sorcerer...

Agent 97 was surprised at how short she was as a Dwarf Cleric of Fire...

… and the entire team remarked that Dr. Sybil still looked "okay" despite being a Thri-Kreen.

Emily pretending to be Babs, frantically chatting with Troy Denning

Quotes from the Table

"I did bondage work… under cover but not with cover…" - Dr. Sybil mocking Arlo on his time spent in prison.

Lawrence Keaton:  "We have an issue with a certain fictional character…" 
Agent 97:  "Mickey Mouse?" 

"I have Amazon sheets for all my stuff." - … and then Jeremy pulled out a stack of everything Arlo Coulton bought on Amazon.com.  

"I have some 'handerpants', do they translate?"  - Jeremy mocking the GM's hand gear

Dr. Sybil, after walking up to 221b Baker Street:  "Who's gonna knock?" 
Babs:  "I'LL KNOCK!" 

"I will stick with 'Frisky Dingo' over there…" - Ethan decided that "Jackie" was not enough of a nickname for Jacqueline.

"I suggest that we sit down at this dinner table and play a game of Dark Sun!" - Chuck Lannigan was ready to get the real game started.  

"She looked Matrix-like.  Matrix plus Catwoman." - Emily describes the weird figure that only she saw while translating back to Earth.  

"They're kind of jag-offs." - Ethan describes Sorcerer-Kings to the rest of the group.  

Jim:  "Andy, on the dinner table you see something unusual." 
Jen:  "If [Matrix Catwoman] is sitting on the dinner table, that's really unsanitary!" 

Babs to Troy Denning on Skype:  "Chuck Lannigan wants a word with you." 
Chuck to Troy Denning on Skype:  "I'm Chuck Lannigan, and I've played more Dark Sun than most people have played of anything in their lifetime."

Jeremy wasn't sure if this piece of equipment would translate

Some New Mechanics

Do you want to run some adventures in Athas?  Over the last few weeks I've worked with some members in The Strange community to develop a few Traits for the Recursion of Athas.  These three would definitely fit at your table!

Wild Talents (courtesy of +Scott Robinson)

Psionics permeate all of Athas, and so every character, when upon completing translation, gain a Wild Talent, a single random psionic ability.  To generate this random ability, use the  rules for Powerful Mutations, found on page 241 of The Strange core book.  Each player gets one roll, and is given a psionic-skinned version of that power.  

Defiling Magic (courtesy of +Marc Plourde)

Using magical abilities on Athas requires the spell caster to draw the life from plants and creatures around them.  While most creatures can take a small drain on their soul, and just experience a bit of nausea, plant life is another matter.  If a caster is not careful, they defile the land, causing all plant life to turn to dead ash.  This is, of course, the easiest and most direct way to cast spells.  Preserving the plant life is far more difficult, but leaves no permanent harm to the world around them.  Of course in Dark Sun, there is no "grey area", and spell casters must make a tough choice:

• When using a magical revision, or focus ability, should the player character choose to "defile", the difficulty is lowered by 1 step.  
• When using a magical revision, or focus ability, should the player character choose to "preserve", the difficulty is increased by 1 step.

Inferior Materials

Due to the relative scarcity of metal, most weapons and tools are made of bone, stone, or wood.  When using one of these items as a weapon, any roll of a 2 when using an inferior weapon means that the item breaks, and cannot be used until repaired.  If the player rolls a 1, not only do they suffer the GM Intrusion, the weapon also breaks permanently.  

Jen's Pro Gen Con - An Interview with my Gamer Wife

Transforming my Wife of Twelve Years into a Gamer

I started dating Jen back in August of 1997.  Those were some great years!  I was a freshman at Penn State, Matchbox 20 had just released their debut album, and Harrison Ford kicked Gary Oldman off of Air Force One.  The first time I met Jen it was an amazing whirlwind evening, as we walked all over campus talking, and finished up with coffee and cheese fries at the Ye Olde College Diner.  The next afternoon I introduced Jen to my roommate, which meant showing her my dorm room.  Despite the Council of Wyrms and Dark Sun posters, and the totally wicked, custom campaign setting map next to my bed, Jen had no idea what she was getting into with that relationship.  

A year later and Jen was starting to get the idea of what a role-playing game was all about. She didn't seem interested in trying it herself, but let me play with my friends whenever I had the chance.  It took me the better part of a year to get her to a game table.  Jen joined two of my regular players, my roommate Joe and a friend who we all called "Weasel," for a little AD&D 2nd Edition.  We played on the floor of my apartment bedroom, which probably hadn't been cleaned in quite some time.  Jen was pretty freaked out.  We tried again another year later, and I made her a very special character for an AD&D 2E Dark Sun campaign.  Unfortunately she was bored out of her mind and just sat there drawing pictures on index cards.  

This lovely image was her rendition of an Athasian Oasis:

Yes… I saved it.  

But things changed as we got older and our relationship matured.  Having kids probably helped.  In 2011 I got Jen to try the D&D card game "Three Dragon Ante."  By 2012, I was running a few bedtime games of D&D Basic out of the old Rules Cyclopedia for my kids, and Jen would occasionally join as Eric the Cleric.  But at the end of 2013 something big happened:  Jen was introduced to Numenera.  The Cypher System's mechanics broke down some of Jen's "anti-RPG shield" and she began sitting in more and more often.  

Now in 2015 my wife is coming to Gen Con with me in July!  I'm absolutely thrilled, and since it's almost time to pre-register for badges, I thought I'd do an interview with my wife and get some of her perspectives on our incredible hobby.

I hope you enjoy our conversation!  

Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG

Q&A

Jim:  Thank you so much for sitting down on the couch with me!

Jen:  Uh… thanks for having me.  

Jim:  Are you ready for some pretty tough questions?

Jen:  Shoot.  

Jim:  I know that I consider you a gamer convert now, but would you consider yourself a "gamer?"  

Jen:  I consider myself "one who likes to play games" but I don't know if I feel defined by it.  

Jim:  So do you care that I just keep referring to you as a gamer?  

Jen:  Do I care?  No you can call me anything you want to.  

Jim:  Good enough.  What do you enjoy about tabletop gaming? 

Jen:  I enjoy the social aspect of it.  You can invite people over to play games and it gives you a jumping off point for your evening.  You don't just have to stare at each other and think "what do I do?"  

Jim:  Do you remember way back in 1998 when we tried playing AD&D 2nd Ed.?  

Jen:  Yep

Jim:  How would you describe your first encounter with an RPG?  

Jen:  Awful and forgettable at the same time.  

Jim:  Why?

Jen:  Well, the environmental aspect of the gaming event was probably not conducive to a first time introduction to gaming for a girl.  It was in a really gross apartment, with really gross boys.  They were probably gaming veterans and I still didn't understand the point of it all.  For me games always had a purpose, a conclusion… like a winner.  I didn't get that there wasn't a problem to be solved.  It wasn't like "Clue", it was just this open ended conversation that I didn't get.  And it smelled bad, in case I forgot to mention that it was gross in your apartment… 

Jim:  Okay

Jen:  … the air in that apartment was just thick.  Thick with dirt and filth.  

Jim:  Okay

Jen: … like I felt physically ill with it.  I felt like I had a cold from being in there so long.

Jim:  Alright, so maybe it's safe to say that you would've enjoyed the game if it weren't in my relatively unkept apartment?  

Jen:  I still don't know if I would've had an awesome time with it, since it was still so foreign to me.  I just had no reference point for that kind of game.  I didn't know what "D&D" was when I met you, or what it meant to "do roleplaying."

Jim:  So between 1998 and 2012 when you finally sat down again for an RPG session with the kids, what changed about your perspective?  

Jen:  I guess after living with you for "X number" of years I had a better grasp of what it was.  I always enjoyed listening to you run your games.  It also gave me a way to interject my thoughts and comments without getting dirty looks from your players.  Before I was just a weird voiceover, like the heckler whenever you were playing.  I would listen in, and always think of something funny, but I didn't have a way to really convey it.  Not that its any more welcome from me at the game table, but it seems a little more appropriate.  

Jim:  When I offered to bring you into my first Numenera game, a campaign that didn't include children, why did you agree?  

Jen:  Wasn't that the game with my friends?

Jim:  Uh… yes.  

Jen:  Well I didn't want to be left out.  There's a limit to my altruistic nature.  I didn't want to be like "hey, why don't you go hang out with my friends and I'll just stay home and watch the kids by myself."  

Jim:  But you seemed to enjoy the game.  

Jen:  I did, even though it devolved into sexual innuendo every five seconds.  Everything was naughty.

Jim:  Do you think that's because of the group we played with?

Jen:  Most likely, although I can't speak for all of the group members.  

Jim:  Do you think it was the alcohol as well?  

Jen:  Yeah, the alcohol fueled loose lips.  We would've sank many ships, right?

Jen in character, playing Oswin, the Intelligent Nano who Fuses Flesh with Steel

Jim:  I guess.  

Jen:  Isn't that what they say?  "Loose lips sink ships?"

Jim:  They do.  

Jen:  I need to read this before you actually publish it.  I'm tired and have had a lot of Ibuprofen   

Jim:  Okay.  But to come back to the system, what about Numenera, and the Cypher System in general, do you enjoy.  You've played over twenty sessions of Numenera and almost a dozen of The Strange.  What excites you about those particular games?

Jen:  I like the fact that it's not so one-sided.  It's less a dictatorship because I get the chance to re-roll things and I get more of a say of what happens to my character.  I play a part and events just don't happen to me arbitrarily.  Some of those other games you've had me play its like "...hey guess what.  You just got attacked by a pack of wolves and they ripped off your legs."  You can't do anything about it.  You're just Limbless Joe on the side of the road.  

Jim:  So the Cypher System gives you …

Jen:  … it gives you opportunity as a player to not have bad stuff happen to you. 

Jim:  Fair enough.  What are your favorite games right now?  Don't feel like you have to limit yourself to tabletop games.

Jen:  Well… my favorite tabletop game right now is probably King of Tokyo.  It's a nice quick game to play with the kids and I can play with any of them.  It's also something you can teach to new people with relative ease.

Jim:  Any other board games?  

Jen:  Hmm… I mean, I always enjoy games like Rummy-O and Ticket to Ride.  But those games can be lengthy sometimes.  Even dominoes can last forever if you have a bad set of tiles.

Jim:  Going back to the RPG's, which campaign has been your favorite?

Jen:  Well, I prefer anything that I can more easily relate to.  So it's probably The Strange.  Numenera to me is a very abstract world, and with The Last Parsec I don't really "do space stuff" because I can't really relate to space.  I have trouble relating to anything fantastical because I can't visualize it or see myself as part of that world.

Jim:  But in The Strange, your character, Jackie Dingo, takes part in some fantastic adventures, how is it different?

Jen:  You can do outrageous stuff if you still have something familiar to wrap your head around.  I know what it's like to be in a department store, so I can visualize a department store and if a big chasm opens up in the middle of Target I can visualize that in my head.  I can get it.   

Jim:  What about when your character in The Strange went to the fantasy world of Ardeyn?  Did you find that session to be less interesting?  

Jen:  Do you mean when we went down those steps into that place?

Jim:  Yeah, in Eschatology Code

Jen:  I visualized Phantom of the Opera, when they went down into the opera house and it was a whole other world.  I used that as a point of reference in my head.

Jim:  Cool.  So let's shift over to Gen Con 2015.  Why did you want to go?  

Jen:  Well I don't like staying home while you go on a trip.  It's a chance to have a grown-up getaway while still doing the stuff we like to do.  Its just a silly-fun trip but without the responsibilities of being a parent.  It'll just be us.  

Jim:  What do you expect at Gen Con?  What do you think it'll be like, having just seen pictures and video?

Jen:  Very crowded.  I imagine its going to be very crowded.  I don't think that it's going to have exponentially more men than women, but I think there will be more men. 

Jim:  Is that a concern for you?

Jen:  No.  Bathroom lines will be shorter.  

Jim:  What specific events, or types of events, are you most looking forward to?

Jen:  I'm probably most looking forward to going to the after-parties and social gatherings.  I don't really care that much about what I play.  I just want to take it all in and see what you got to see last year.  

Jim:  You mentioned that you wouldn't role-play without me.  Why?

Jen:  Because I still feel very new to it all, and I don't know the systems well enough, and I don't know if anyone else would be as patient to lead me through as you would be.  And I'm not going to play in one of your games, because that would take a seat away form someone who doesn't live with you and have access to your games.

Jim:  But if there was one game at Gen Con that you absolutely wanted to try, what would it be?  

Jen:  Really, any board games that look like they are quick and easy to pick up I'd like to try.  I'll have to go and look through all of the merchandise in the exhibit hall.  I'm not like you.  I don't know what's really out there.  You're a hunter, I'm a gatherer.  You are going to go looking for something in particular, while I'll just be "looking."  

Jim:  Thank you so much for taking the time to meet me here on our couch.  Do you have any closing comments for our readers?  

Jen:  I feel like I should say something witty.  Don't put that in there.

Jim:  Say whatever you want.

Jen:  Don't hate the player, hate the game?

Jim:  Really?  You are gonna leave it with that?

Jen:  Roses are red, violets are blue.  If I can be a gamer, so can you.  

The Last Parsec

She said it!

There you have it folks.  After first saying that she wasn't going to call herself a gamer, she outed herself at the very end.  Very cool.  I'm both thrilled and honored that my wife Jen was open to trying tabletop gaming again, especially the RPG-side of the hobby.  It has certainly given us something to chat about, and another way to bond as a couple.  I'm very glad that I didn't give up trying to showcase new games in our house!

So a few questions for those of you who have read to the end!  

Does your significant other, partner, or spouse take part in your gaming sessions?  

Have you given up on trying to get them to the table?  

Have you exposed your significant other, partner, or spouse to any "Limbless Joe" scenarios?

Let us know your experiences!  

She even cosplays on occasion!

Quattro con Carnage - Session 5 - Savage Worlds

Get Savaged!

 

If you've been following along with our Quattro con Carnage 4-in-1 experiment, you know that we've reached the halfway mark in our little quest through four different systems.  Actually, that's no longer correct, but I'll get back to that point towards the end of this write-up.  This post, session 5, marks an important transition in QcC as we move from systems that could be considered old school renaissance (OSR) to a more modern RPG system.  After two weeks of the stalwart and steadfast Basic Fantasy RPG, and another two weeks of the zany randomness of Dungeon Crawl Classics, we turn to a system that embraces pulp action adventure like no other I've ever tried! 

 

So break out your wild dice, bennies, and playing cards, because its time to play Savage Worlds!

 

For those of you who are new to Savage Worlds I'll give you a very brief primer.  Developed by Shane Lacy Hensley of Pinnacle Entertainment Group (PEG), Savage Worlds is a generic RPG system designed to maximize action-adventure gameplay while minimizing gamemaster preparation.  Compared to the other games we've tried, as well as others on the market, I would consider Savage Worlds to be "medium crunch".  The tagline "Fast, Furious, Fun" used by PEG to describe the Savage Worlds system carries through the entire deluxe rulebook.  Creating a character can take less than ten minutes, or more than several hours if you want to dig through all of those great books you have on your shelf. 

 

Savage Worlds works on a die-step mechanic, so all attributes and skills are ranked in the following order:

 

d4 - d6 - d8 - d10 - d12 - d12+1 - d12+2...

 

To perform an action or make a test the character rolls the die-type associated with the skill or attribute, as well as a wild-die.  The wild-die is always a d6, and only player characters and important NPC's and adversaries (wild-cards) get to roll this special die during a test.  The highest result of either die determines success.  Typically rolling a "4" or higher means a success, although in melee combat a player character must beat an opponent's "parry" score.  The system also uses a concept called exploding dice.  If you roll the maximum value on a die, roll it again and add it to the original score.  If you beat your target number by four points or more, that's considered a raise and extra special goodness may happen, such as additional damage, or an added effect.

 

Here's an example of a typical action: 

 

Marc's character, Lomman, is trying to persuade a group of evil gnomes to back away from a combat.  His persuasion die is a d8 and he needs to typically beat a target of 4 to use this skill.  But since the party had just murdered a whole team of evil gnomes, the GM decides this is more difficult and assigns a penalty to the roll: a -2.  Lomman rolls both the d8 for his persuasion die, as well as a d6 for his wild-die.  The d8 turns up as a 5, which would usually be a success, but at a -2, the end result is a 3.  The d6 rolls a 6!  Explosion!  Marc rolls another d6 and gets a 5.  The total result for the wild-die is an 11, -2 for the penalty, so the end result is a 9.  This is a success with a raise, so the GM decides that the evil gnomes not only stop combat but two of them completely flee the scene in fear. 

 

Quite the opposite of typical OSR games, to build a character in Savage Worlds the players work with "point buy".  There are five attributes for each character:  Agility, Smarts, Spirit, Strength, and Vigor.  As a Novice character with zero experience points, a character starts with a "d4" in each of these attributes, and the player is given 5 points to raise them.  Each point raises an attribute by one step (d4 to d6, d6 to d8, and so on.)  Characters also gain fifteen skill points to do the same, with a cost of one skill point to start at a d4 for a skill, and an additional point as the skill ranks stack up.  Each skill is tagged to an associated attribute.  While it is possible to raise a skill above the attribute it is connected to, it costs two skill points per die type to do so, not one. 

 

To further expand upon a new character, players can choose edges (similar to feats in the d20 systems), as well as hindrances.  Edges give characters new and exciting abilities, magic, and connections to the campaign setting.  Hindrances give the players interesting opportunities for role-play, as well as points that can be cashed in to raise attributes, skills, and buy new edges. 

 

Converting our heroes of Tannryth from Dungeon Crawl Classics to Savage Worlds was a breeze.  Three of the players had created Savage Worlds characters before and only needed minimal pointers in making the translation, which was great!  The results were pretty exciting! 

 

Please note that each character was created with twenty starting experience points, placing them at Seasoned rank, with four additional advances.

Dramatis Personae con Carnage

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

• Attributes:  Agility: d10,  Smarts: d6,  Spirit: d4,  Strength: d8,  Vigor: d8
• Edges:  Mighty Blow, Frenzy, Combat Reflexes 
• Hindrances:  Bad Luck, Cautious, Greedy
• Skills:  Fighting d10, Gambling d4, Healing d4, Intimidation d6, Notice d6, Riding d4, Shooting d8, Streetwise d4
• Spells/Powers/Signature Gear:  Battle Axe (one handed again!)
• Notes:  In Basic Fantasy RPG Umbrin was rather vanilla.  In Dungeon Crawl Classics he was pretty awesome as a concept, but really couldn't hit anything.  Savage Worlds really brought the best features of a classic fighter to the forefront.  I don't want to spoil anything but if there was one character during this first game that really came to life, it was this amazing warrior!

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

• Attributes:  Agility: d6,  Smarts: d6,  Spirit: d10,  Strength: d6,  Vigor: d8
• Edges:  Arcane Background: Miracles, Power Points, Holy Warrior
• Hindrances:  Vow (Ogmios), Pacifist, Quirk (Constantly thinking about Elven ladies)
• Skills:  Faith d8, Fighting d8, Healing d6, Notice d6, Persuasion d8, Knowledge History d4
• Spells/Powers/Signature Gear:  Healing, Smite, Deflection
• Notes:  Lomman's edges and hindrances really flesh out the "cleric" feel of the character.  The wild and crazy disapproval risk is obviously gone, however once Marc rolls "snake-eyes" on a Faith check we'll get to have a little fun with his patron deity. 

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

• Attributes:  Agility: d6,  Smarts: d12,  Spirit: d8,  Strength: d4,  Vigor: d4
• Edges:  Wizard, Rapid Recharge, Power Points
• Hindrances:  Lame (using this for the "weakness" afflicting Rydian while under the effects of the Queen of the Ever After's Quest), Vow, Quirk (gives bad advice)
• Skills:  Fighting d4, Spellcasting d10, Knowledge Arcana d8, Shooting d6, Investigation d8, Persuasion d6, Notice d4
• Spells/Powers/Signature Gear:  Bolt, Armor, Elemental Manipulation
• Notes:  In Dungeon Crawl Classics Rydian was a "blaster master", and little has changed.  If anything, as Rydian has progressed from Basic Fantasy RPG as a "Fighter/Mage" to more of a pure magic-user in Savage Worlds. 

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

• Attributes:  Agility: d8,  Smarts: d6,  Spirit: d6,  Strength: d6,  Vigor: d8
• Edges:  Thief, Assassin
• Hindrances:  Wanted (Major, the Embrace), Loyal, Quirk (Hates big people)
• Skills:  Notice: d4, Climb d6, Lockpick d6, Stealth d8, Fighting d8, Shooting d8, Streetwise d4, Throwing d6
• Spells/Powers/Signature Gear:  Short sword, short bow
• Notes:  Jorin was a thief in Basic Fantasy RPG, and then a small death dealer in Dungeon Crawl Classics.  Now in Savage Worlds Craig was able to take some of the best concepts from both and blend them back into his Halfling. 

Drogos, played by Andreas
Dwarven blacksmith, last survivor of Happenstance, and holy convert to Ogmios

• Attributes:  Agility: d8,  Smarts: d6,  Spirit: d6,  Strength: d8,  Vigor: d8
• Edges:  Hard to Kill, Arcane Resistance, Arcane Background (Miracles)
• Hindrances:  Curious, Greedy, Vow (Minor)
• Skills:  Gambling d6, Fighting d8, Intimidate d4, Repair d8, Streetwise d6, Throwing d8, Blacksmithing d6, Faith d4
• Spells/Powers/Signature Gear:  Trusty Hammer, Spells: Smite, Summon Ally
• Notes:  Since Drogos was the newest character, having just joined during Dungeon Crawl Classics, Andreas had a blank slate with which to work.  While Lomman looks more like a Cleric, Drogos has the look and feel of a dwarven Paladin... albeit one that struggles with gambling, greed, and extreme curiosity!

Happily Ever After

Trapped at the bottom of The Fall, now within the confines of the Ever After, our four adventurers and their new holy blacksmith took a long look around the desolate landscape.  The ground was covered in mud, dirt, and ash, with sickening black pools of stagnant water dotting the landscape every dozen yards or so.  The few trees that stuck straight out of the ground were just broken, leafless branches.  Visibility was reduced to one-hundred feet due to the thick and choking mist, and the only sound was a hissing wind that occasionally would change to a dull, high pitched wail.  But the crew were here for a mission, and with Rydian's physical condition deteriorating due to the Queen of the Ever After's quest-curse, they needed to get their bearings quickly. 

Rations would only last a couple of days, and there were only a few gallons of fresh water between the five souls.  Luckily, they were all adorned in heavy winter gear and were thus protected somewhat from the strange elements.  But they weren't expecting the wasting.  While the team were talking, the four original heroes noticed their new dwarf's hair had turned a bit more white, and his face had aged several years.  Rydian softly explained to the party that non-elves were subjected to this wasting, and that every day there was a risk of supernatural aging.  The elf mage wanted to take the team south-west to the elven cities within the Ever After, but when it was revealed that the Lost Chasm the team sought was to the north-west along the edge of the Fall, Rydian found himself overruled. 

So the team marched, trudging through mud and soot, pushing through damp and weird mires, and desolate landscapes while trying to resist the urge to stumble into the slime below.  But only five hours into their trek the party was subjected to an event that Rydian would later reveal to be an Afterslide.  The entire landscape shifted forty-five degrees to the west, and the party started to tumble.  Luckily for the group they were able to grab a hold of the few trees standing about, and while Rydian missed the branches, he tucked and rolled out of danger.  Fatigued due to the mass of mud that collapsed upon him, the elf still kept from getting dragged underground to his potential doom. 

Unfortunately the Afterslide pushed the party away from the Fall, which they were using as their compass.  But bright thinking by the ex-guard of a foresting company, Umbrin, got the party quickly back on track.  Since visibility was limited to one-hundred feet, the warrior had each party-member stand in a single-file line, with one-hundred feet separating each member.  Slowly Umbrin commanded his "troops" to move in a circle, with his own position acting as anchor.  Since the Fall was only four hundred feet away, it didn't take long to find the shear cliff-face and return to their trailblazing. 

Making camp was easy for Rydian, who had no problem sleeping in the slime and muck, but the rest of the party was less than excited about the prospect of sleeping atop a churning, moving surface.  Umbrin chopped down several trees for Rydian to light with a flick of the elf's fingers, but was disturbed when the broken branches sprouted poor, pathetic faces that started to wail and cry.  No matter, they still burned just fine.  While Rydian told a dark and depressing tale of his Uncle Thad, who had been killed by an Afterslide, the rest of the team set up their camp.  Without sleeping bag or tent Lomman was forced to sit on his shield propped against a tree.  Jorin climbed a few branches and perched himself high above the ground, not too far from Drogos who fashioned several broken trees as a cot.  Umbrin took one look at the elf and figured if the pointy-eared dandy could sleep on the ground, he could too. 

The party was rotating watch, but when Lomman went to wake up Drogos the entire team was treated to the fierce shriek of a terror-filled dwarf!  Drogos stood up abruptly while shaking his arm.  The rest of the team looked on in horror as the dwarf showed that the "tree" he was resting upon had swallowed his limb up to the elbow.  The face on the broken branch was grotesque and obviously quite angry, chewing away with a sickening glee.  Drogos carried the branch towards the fire, hoping to burn it off, when he realized that there were six more pogo-stick like mini-treants hopping through the mud. 

Treeples!

While Drogos burned the branch off his arm, revealing the sore but functional limb to still be intact, Lomman stepped forward and tried to talk the Treeples out of combat.  But the sight of their friends burning, chopped up, and in obvious pain caused the Treeples to react quite violently.  Each of the tall creatures sprouted a pair of splintered arms with razor-sharp points.  Jorin and Drogos were both skewered horribly, while Lomman, Rydian, and Umbrin each parried the rather clumsy Treeples.  Rydian started firing bolts of fire at the creatures, and when multiple blasts did little to affect the tall plant-men, the elf invested his power into one big firebolt that took down a creature.  While Drogos ran forward, hammer in hand, and Jorin pulled the giant splinter from his belly, Lomman ran to the Halfling and started performing healing rites.  There were still several Treeples left, and the party wasn't able to fend them off.  Everyone looked to Umbrin with hope and fear in their eyes. 

Grimly the human warrior turned to the remaining four Treeples and clutched his axe.  Gritting his teeth the savage Umbrin let loose a terrible warcry and started a-chopping!  The first Treeple Umbrin struck exploded in a blast of splinters that sprayed a nearby creature, blasting it into oblivion as well.  Turning his frenzy on another Treeple, Umbrin hacked it in half and then grabbed both halves and swung them at another in a fit of rage.  The rest of the team just looked on with both fascination and disgust as Umbrin murdered every last Treeple standing.  It was truly a mighty deed!

 "I was a guard that worked for a guy that dealt with lumber… so I know how to cut the hell out of some trees," Umbrin quietly stated. 

With the Treeples out of the picture the party sifted through their remains.  Lomman warned the party not to loot the dead in this cursed place but Rydian didn't care.  He grabbed three of the splinters and fashioned them into very effective arrows, while picking up a long "club" that remained on the ground.  The Treeple Cudgel was long and on one end there was a petrified visage of the once-living creature as a club-head.  After a few more hours rest it was time again to move on. 

Another five hours into the next day's march the party saw a figure floating in the distance.  It was an alluring and strangely out of place elven female, dressed in white garments, hovering above a pool of stagnant water.  Everything about this scene felt absolutely "wrong" but the curious Drogos, and elf-lady-loving Lomman just couldn't resist.  The dwarf and cleric had to approach, and when they got close to the pool the beautiful radiance of the image couldn't be denied.  Drogos was especially captivated, and even when Rydian tried to explain that the image was some kind of phantasm or illusion, the dwarf refused to step away.  The elven female moved towards the dwarf and asked if he would like to dance, and Drogos just nodded.  While the elf and dwarf romantically spun above the sickeningly sour pool, Umbrin happened to hear a strange sucking sound. 

Just below the floating feet of the elf, the entire pool had drained and only a mouth remained.  A big, eight foot wide mouth!  It was a Sensual Worm!  The creature's elven illusion soon disappeared and Drogos fell into the beast's maw.  Despite a few arrows from Umbrin and Jorin, the creature had the dwarf in its gullet before anyone could react.  But then it began to belch and convulse.  The worm pushed up and out of the ground, and soon all thirty feet of the creature was laid out above the sinkhole, a giant mass stuck in its throat.  When Drogos tumbled free of the worm's mouth, he explained that he summoned an ogre using his Summon Ally spell, and the ogre was most likely still inside the worm's throat. 

While still trying to figure out what the hell just happened, the party happened to look north along The Fall and noticed another hole in the ground, although this one was much larger.  Could it be the Lost Chasm they were seeking? 

 

Most Notable Quotations

"I took 'hates big people' since Umbrin kinda pisses him off every time he talks." - Craig had no problem selecting his hindrances. 

Andy - "Are there roads in the Ever After?"
Marc - "Where we are going we don't need roads."

"I'd say the hell with town, lets just get this shit done and get out of here." - Umbrin didn't want to waste any more time in the wilds of the Ever After. 

"That dirt ate my uncle!" - Rydian explains his trauma during a bedtime interlude. 

"Ooh, I wonder if the pools are flammable?" - Andreas never found out... sadly. 

"The fact that the trees grow faces when they burn makes me a little iffy to sleep on them." - Umbrin chose the ground. 

Jim - "Your arm is in the mouth of one of the faces in the branches."
Jeremy - "Called it!"

"That's like a GM Intrusion, but we don't get paid!" - Marc was not a fan of the GM using his own bennies. 

"Four weeks!  FOUR WEEKS!" - Jeremy's warcry.  In four weeks of gameplay, Umbrin hadn't been worth a damn in combat.

"Does it do 'treeple' damage?" - Marc punned. 

"I just realized I'm getting swallowed… so… is it watery, is it dry, is it Sarlacc'y?" - Andreas was looking for the right adjective. 

Behind the Schemes

 

This adventure represented our first night in Savage Worlds as well as our first time trying a taste of a classic Hex Crawl.  I had several more ideas that we didn't get to use, including a chase scene with flying undead goblin heads, a second Afterslide, and a Wave of Ash.  They will have to wait for a future campaign. 
 

For most of our group, this was their first Hex Crawl, and I tried to explain that the concept was similar to a fantasy "Oregon Trail."  The party had to find ways to navigate the terrain while doing away with foul beasts and gaining treasure and experience.  We had a bit of a debate about the gear and equipment, and whether or not I as a GM should have let them prepare better for this portion of the adventure.  To me, full preparation would have made the scenario too easy, and I think that the risk of running out of food and water, and not knowing all of the possible dangers made this part of the campaign much more dramatic. 

One other point I'd like to make is that the entire group enjoyed the concept of the Interlude.  In Savage Worlds, during any rest the GM can call for an Interlude, in which a chosen player has to tell a story of their characters' past.  Not only does this give the players a chance to expand upon their backstory, it also helps them develop the campaign mythos as a whole.  Maybe Rydian's Uncle Thad will need to show up in undead form at a later time!

Earlier I alluded that our Quattro con Carnage may not be limited to four systems.  True, I will be running one more session of Savage Worlds and then two of the Cypher System (still using these characters), but then +Marc Plourde will run two sessions of Green Ronin's AGE system, using the Dragon Age RPG sets.  I'm especially excited for this part (which we are nicknaming "Cinco con Queso" for now) since I'll be a player!  More details to come!

Oh, and in case you were interested, I thought I'd provide the stats I used for our big-bad tonight!  Enjoy!

Treeples

• Attributes:  Agility: d4,  Smarts: d6,  Spirit: d6,  Strength: d12+2,  Vigor: d10 
• Skills:  Fighting d4, Notice d8, Stealth d8
• Pace:  4
• Parry:  4
• Toughness:  9(2)
• Special Abilities:
• Armor +2
• Piercing Arm: Str+1d6, AP 2 non-rigid armor

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
9 - Session 1 - Behind the Schemes
10 - Session 2 - Basic Fantasy RPG
11 - Session 3 - Dungeon Crawl Classics
12 - Session 4 - Dungeon Crawl Classics