Debating A Morale System, Part II

In this second part of my search for a Morale system for my Pathfinder game, I'll present a few more options, as before, and ruminate on their utility for me and my game. Morale, as I mentioned before, is something I feel strongly about including in my game, though in practice, I'm unsure if it will be well received, its impact on gameplay and pacing, etc.

This batch of extant rules are all derived from various iterations of D&D, and thus will likely be closer to the system I finally adopt, if any.

The Moldvay Basic system:

TSR Dungeons & Dragons Fantasy Adventure Game Basic Rulebook (Moldvay edit), pB27
...[snip]MORALE SCORES: A monster's morale score is given in each monster description. This score is a number from 2-12. The higher the morale score, the better the morale. A score of 6-8 is average. A score of 2 means that the monster will fight to the death without checking morale. Creatures with a morale score between 2 and 12 will need to "check morale" at some time during a battle, as explained below.
HOW TO CHECK MORALE: During combat it is often necessary to check monsters' morale to see if they will continue to fight. To check morale, roll 2d6. If the result is greater than the monsters' morale score, the monsters will try to retreat or use a fighting withdrawl [snip]. If the result is less than or equal to the morale score, the monsters will continue to fight.
WHEN TO CHECK MORALE: In general, morale is checked in critical combat situations. Two recommended times for morale checks are:

1. After a side's first death in combat (either monsters or characters).
2. When ½ the monsters have been incapacitated (killed, asleep due to magic, and so forth).

Monsters that successfully check morale twice will fight to the death.
ADJUSTMENTS TO MORALE: Morale can be changed by situation (unless the morale score is 2 or 12). Adjustments to morale may be permanent or temporary. The exact adjustments are left to the DM. A maximum of +2 or -2 is recommended; for example, if monsters are losing a battle, their morale score may be temporarily adjusted by -1. If they are winning, the monsters' morale score may be temporarily adjusted by +1.
RETAINER MORALE: The morale score of a retainer is based on the Charisma score [snip] of the player hiring him (or her). Retainers must check morale after each adventure; If the morale check is failed, they will not adventure with their employer again. Retainers do not need to check morale in combat unless the danger is greater than might reasonably be expected. If a retainer is given a full share of treasure for several adventures, his or her morale score might permanently become 1 higher than the original morale score.
...[snip]...

Conversion: Each NPC or monster is assigned a morale score, being a value equal to (5 + Will save modifier). After determining this value, whenever a morale check is called for roll 2d6, and if the value is less than or equal to the morale score, they succeed and are able to stay and fight.
A morale score may be modified temporarily or permanently to the positive or negative by such things as rewards or constant threat. The values modified in either direction should never be higher than +/- 2, and no morale score may go higher than 12 or less than 2.
Pros: This is about the simplest system there is. It takes next to no time to check and is easy to remember, mechanically.
Cons: It doesn't use a d20. In a system with a core mechanic, you want as many things based off that mechanic as possible, for ease of use and when it comes to passing the torch and teaching others. The biggest con here, however, is the assigning of morale scores to each creature. Mixed encounters can make for long bouts of morale checks, and having to double check values to get the scores themselves can take up unnecessary time.

The AD&D 2nd Edition System:

Dungeon Master Guide, pp97-99 "Morale"
...[snip]...
Dicing for Morale
...[snip]...
First, do not check morale every round of a combat. Aside from the fact that this slows everything down, it also creates unbalanced and unrealistic battles. Everyone going into a fight expects a little danger. Only when the danger becomes too great should a morale check be rolled. Just when the DM rolls morale checks is a matter of judgment, but the following guidelines should prove useful.
Check Monster and NPC Morale When:

• The foes have been surprise, but only on the first round after surprise
• Faced by and obviously superior force
• An ally is slain by magic
• 25% of their group has fallen
• 50% of their group has fallen
• A companion is slain after more than 50% of the group has fallen
• Their leader deserts or is slain
• Fighting a creature they cannot harm due to magical protections
• Ordered to attempt a heroically dangerous task
• Offered temptation (bribe, chance to steal, etc.)*
• Told to act as a rear guard, such as covering a fighting withdrawal
• Directed to use up or use a charge from a personal powerful magical item*
• Given a chance to surrender (and have met the conditions for one other morale check)
• Completely surrounded

*In this case, the morale check can be used to see if they agree or refuse.

Table 49: Morale Ratings
Creature Type Non-Intelligent monster Animal, normal and peaceful Animal, normal predator Animal intelligence monster Semi-intelligent monster Low intelligence Average 0-level human Mobs Militia Green or disorganized troops Regular soldiers Elite soldiers Hirelings Henchmen	Morale 18 3 7 12 11 10 7 9 10 11 12 14 12 15
Table 50: Situational Modifiers
Situation Abandoned by friends Creature lost 25% of its hp* Creature lost 50% of its hp* Creature is chaotic Creature is fighting hated enemy Creature is lawful Creature was surprised Creatures are fighting Wizards or magic-using foes Creatures with ½ HD or less Creatures with greater than ½ HD, but less than 1 HD Creatures with 4 to 8+ HD Creatures with 9 to 14+ HD Creatures with 15 or more HD Defending home Defensive terrain advantage Each additional check required in round** Leader is of different alignment Most powerful ally killed NPC has been favored NPC has been poorly treated No enemy slain Outnumbered by 3 or more to 1 Outnumber opponent 3 or more to 1 Unable to affect opponent*** Wizard or magic-using creature on same side	Modifier -6 -2 -4 -1 +4 +1 -2 -2 -2 -1 +1 +2 +3 +3 +1 -1 -1 -4 +2 -4 -2 -4 +2 -8 +2

* Or a group that has lost that percentage of monster or creatures.
** -1/check required.
*** Creatures protected from attack by magic or which require magic weapons to be struck and group does not possess these.

Obviously, following the guidelines above too strictly can lead to illogical situations. Players, once they've learned the conditions calling for morale checks, may try to abuse the rules. For example, they might think to offer surrender terms to every monster they meet, figuring the odds of the morale check might work out their way. [snip]
How to Make a Morale Check
...[snip]To roll a morale check, find the rating that most closely matches the creature. Add or subtract the modifiers that apply to the situation. Some modifiers, such as the number of Hit Dice can be calculated in advance. Roll 2d10.
If the total rolled on the dice is equal to or less than the morale rating, the creature is unaffected and keeps fighting. If the roll is greater, the creature panics and flees, or it takes some other appropriate action.
Failing a Morale Check
When a creature or NPC fails a morale check, its first concern is to escape or avoid whatever situation caused the check in the first place. If it is being overpowered in combat, it tries to flee. If the party's mage is blasting lightning bolts about, it tries to get away from him.
If there is no place to go, the NPC or monster, if it is intelligent enough, falls down and surrenders - provided it thinks the party is likely to spare its life. A goblin is not about to surrender to a bunch of bloodthirsty dwarves because it knows how kindly those dwarves treat captured goblins![snip]
How drastic a panicked creature's flight is depends on the DM's judgment and how much over the base morale the modified die roll was. If the roll was close to what was needed, the creature tries to back out of the combat and find safety nearby. If the morale check was blown badly, the creature just forgets everything and bugs out, casting aside anything that slows it down.
Lawful creatures normally try to fall back in some sort of organized manner - keeping together as a group or, at least, all fleeing to the same place. Chaotic creatures tend to break and run in any direction that promises safety.

Conversion: First, change the 2d10 roll to a d20 roll. Though called a check, I would like to make this roll a throw or save, giving the possibility of fumbles and criticals, with inverted values so that higher rolls are better, as illustrated below with a few additions to the Situational Modifiers.

Table 49: Morale Ratings
Creature Type Non-Intelligent monster Animal, normal and peaceful Animal, normal predator Animal intelligence monster Semi-intelligent monster Low intelligence Average 0-level human Mobs Militia Green or disorganized troops Regular soldiers Elite soldiers Hirelings Henchmen	Morale DC 2 17 13 8 9 10 13 11 10 9 8 6 8 5
Table 50: Situational Modifiers
Situation Abandoned by friends Creature lost 25% of its hp Creature lost 50% of its hp Creature is chaotic Creature is fighting hated enemy Creature is lawful Creature was surprised Creatures are fighting Wizards or magic-using foes Creatures with ½ HD or less Creatures with greater than ½ HD, but less than 1 HD Creatures with 4 to 8+ HD Creatures with 9 to 14+ HD Creatures with 15 or more HD Defending home Defensive terrain advantage Each additional check required in round Leader is of different alignment Most powerful ally killed NPC has been favored NPC has been poorly treated No enemy slain Outnumbered by 3 or more to 1 Outnumber opponent 3 or more to 1 Unable to affect opponent Wizard or magic-using creature on same side Standard or heraldy flown by enemy Standard or heraldy flown by same side Important battle standard flown by enemy Important battle standard flown by same side	Modifier +6 +2 +4 +1 -4 -1 +2 +2 +2 +1 -1 -2 -3 -3 -1 +1 +1 +4 +2 +4 +2 +4 -2 +8 -2 +1 -1 +1º -1º

º "Important" meaning belonging to a powerful nation, general, warlord, etc.. Should one be displayed while also wielding a personal banner or standard, then these bonuses stack.

To make the Morale Save(?), simply roll a d20 against the DC listed, adjusting with the situational modifiers as necessary. A natural 20 results in unshakeable courage, with no further need to test morale for the remainder of battle. A natural 1, however, means that the creature or NPC that failed the roll drops to the ground, paralyzed with fear, as the Cowering condition.
Pros: Not a lot of conversion to do. This system springs from the same basic lineage as the mechanics which I currently run, and so they seem a bit more natural to me.
Cons: Player abuse of the system is mentioned right in the rules, though I'm unsure it would be abused as much as the Scion conversion I posted in part one of this series. It is certainly complicated, as we are again working with arbitrary values, though they are more codified than the Moldvay Basic version.

That's enough for now. I'll be returning with more thoughts and system breakdowns for morale next.

Debating A Morale System, Part I

The title of this post is rather exciting, isn't it? Well, that's about the amount of excitement I actually have towards the subject at hand. I've been kicking around exactly how I would handle morale in my Wilderlands game for months, with a few ideas here and there, but mostly just a firm belief that I want a Morale system in my game.

I've solidified the fact that I do want Morale, and though it might muddy the waters with another mechanic, I try to run my game as light as possible when it comes to dicing, and so I think should add very little in the way of complexity or drag to gameplay.

There are many a game system that has been put out in the past 30+ years that have incorporated Morale systems of some sort, and I have narrowed my focus down to a few that I feel could translate well (usually with a few adjustments here or there) to my own game.

Here are the ones I narrowed down to, with a short view on Pros and Cons, as well as any needed conversion, were I to use them:

A Scion system:

Scion: Demigod, pp88-89, "Morale Failure"
...The Scion can shake an enemy's leadership and seed and outbreak of cowardice among the men. When he makes himself visible to an opposing force's leader, his player rolls (Manipulation + Presence) against the leader's player's roll of (Willpower + Integrity + Legend).[snip]

Conversion: Once per combat, as a full-round action, a character can try to force a route. To do this, the player rolls Intimidate versus a DC equal to the opponent's (base Will modifier + Wisdom score + HD). Only one roll is needed and is checked against all enemies that can see him, up to five times his level. Those affected refuse to attack the character or any group he is a part of for one day per level the character possesses. Likewise, if the roll fails, that target cannot be affected in this way by the character for an equal amount of time.
Pros: This puts the rolls in the player's hands, and gives them control over forcing the rout, giving the PC something to do. Fast gameplay resolution.
Cons: Primarily, player abuse could become a problem. If someone twinks their Intimidate, they could easily avoid every confrontation. The DCs of the roll could prevent this from happening, as they sometimes would be prohibitively high.

A Warhammer Fantasy Battles system:

Warhammer Fantasy Battles, Seventh Edition, pp37-39 "Combat Result, Combat Result Bonuses, and Break Tests"
...Once all the models engaged in the combat have fought, you must determine which side has won. Of course, if one side has been completely wiped out in the fight, the other side is automatically the winner, regardless of the rules given below.
Each side scores a number of combat result points equal to the wounds caused in combat. It does not matter which particular units inflicted the wounds, just add up wounds caused by that side in the fight. Do not forget to add the wounds suffered by big creatures or characters that have not been removed as casualties. Do NOT count the wounds that were saved by an armor save or a ward save (in other words, only count unsaved wounds).
As well as points for wounds caused, a side can claim bonus points under certain circumstances - for example, if it has a standard bearer, if it is attacking the enemy in the flank, or if it is fighting from higher ground.
...[snip]...
Each bonus point is added to the number of points for unsaved wounds inflicted to obtain a final combat result score for each side. So, for example, if both sides cause 3 wounds, the result is a draw, but if one side has a standard it adds +1 to its score, beating the enemy by 4 points to 3. These bonus points can make all the difference between winning and losing the combat[snip].
The side with the highest total combat result score wins the combat. The other side has lost and must take a Break test, as described later. If both sides have the same total, the result is a Draw and the combat will continue in the next turn.
The higher the difference between the winner's combat result score and the loser's, the bigger and more decisive the victory. An 8 points against a 7 points victory, for example, is only a slight win because the difference in scores is only 1 point. An 8 points against a 2 points victory, however, is extremely decisive, as the difference in scores is a whopping 6 points. The difference in scores is important because it is used when working out whether a defeated enemy stands its ground or turns and flees.
Combat Result Bonuses
Extra Rank: ...[snip]... If your unit's formation is at least five models wide, you may claim a bonus of +1 for each rank behind the first that the unit had at the start of that combat turn, up to a maximum of +3.The bonus can be claimed for an incomplete last rear rank, so long as it contains at least 5 models.
If you have several units fighting in a combat, count the bonus from the unit with the most ranks. Do not add up the bonuses from all the units fighting.
The bonus is lost if the unit is fighting to its flank or rear against an enemy unit with a unit strength of 5 or more. Note that this applies while the enemy unit in the flank/rear is combat - if the enemy unit breaks and flees, or is reduced to a unit strength of less than 5, the unit regains its rank bonus at the beginning of the following turn.
Skirmishers and fast cavalry never gain a bonus for extra ranks [snip].
Outnumber Enemy: ...[snip]... If the combined unit strength of all your units in the combat is greater than the combined unit strength of the enemy units, you receive a +1 bonus [snip].
Standard: ...[snip]... If any of your units includes a standard bearer in its front rank, you may add a +1 bonus.
Note that if several units' standards are involved in the combat, you still only add +1, not +1 for each standard. [snip]
Battle Standard: ...[snip]... If the army's battle standard bearer is in the fight, you may add a +1 bonus [snip]. Note that this bonus is on top of the unit's standard, so a unit with a normal standard and the battle standard recieves a +2 combat result bonus.
High Ground: ...[snip]... If you are fighting from a higher position than your enemy, for example, your troops are occupying the crest of a hill, then you may add a +1 bonus. In the case of a fight involving multiple units, the side that has the fighting rank in the highest position gets the bonus.
Flank Attack: ...[snip]... If you are fighting against an enemy unit's flank, you may add a +1 bonus so long as your unit has a unit strength of 5 or more after both sides have attacked. Note that you only count +1 even if both flanks of the enemy are engaged. The bonus is only applied once, regardless of how many flanking units are involved in the combat. If both sides have flanking units the side with the most flanking units gets the bonus.
Rear Attack: The same rules for a flank attack also apply to units attacking the enemy in the rear, except that a rear attack gives you a +2 combat result bonus. This bonus and the bonus for a flank attack are cumulative, so if you are attacking in the side and rear you will receive a bonus of +3.
Overkill: ...[snip]... If a character fighting in a challenge [snip] kills his opponent and scores more wounds than the enemy has, each excess wound scores a +1 overkill bonus towards the combat result, up to a maximum of +5. This bonus only applies in a challenge [snip].
Break Test
The side that loses a combat must take a test to whether it stands and fights or breaks from the combat and runs away. This is called a Break test. You need to take a separate Break test for every unit involved in the combat on the losing side.
...[snip]...
Take the test as follows. Firstly, nominate the unit for which you are testing and then roll 2D6. Add the difference between the winner's combat result score and the loser's. If the total is greater than the unit's Leadership (Ld) value then the unit has broken and will flee.
Insane Courage
Occasionally, in the middle of a battle, the humblest regiment can be filled with steely courage and discipline and decide to stand their ground, no matter what the odds! Such unpredictable occurrences are represented in the game by the Insane Courage rule. This simply means that if a unit rolls a double 1 for its Break test, it will always stand its ground, regardless of how badly they have lost the fight.

Conversion: At the end of every initiative count, certain combat result criteria are checked and tallied, which then determines a winner for the round.
First, each side is awarded a point for every successful attack inflicted on the enemy. In the case of AoE attacks, it only counts as one.
In addition, points may be awarded for extra ranks (exceeding the enemy's numbers by multiples of their own numbers (so if the PC party has 4 people and there are 12 goblins, they would gain +2). This number is in addition to a flat +1 for outnumbering the opponent.
Standards (if displayed on banners) may also grant bonuses, giving a +1 for a personal crest and a (additional) +1 for the recognizable heraldry of a known lord, nation, general, etc. If the standard bearers have become the latter, their colors only grant a +1 bonus, though additional personal heraldry would grant the additional bonus.
Strategic advantages, such as superior flanking or high ground also grants a +1.
Finally, if a critical hit is scored that deals more than the victim's hp total, then an overkill bonus is awarded to the side whose member scored the hit. The bonus is applied on a +1 basis per additional multiple or fraction thereof up to +5. So, for example, if the target had 14 maximum hp and an attack did 38 damage, then the bonus granted would be +2, since it is 1 and a fraction times more than the maximum hp of the target.
These factors are compared against each other and cancel each other out (so if the PCs have high ground, but goblins have a standard, they would cancel each other out 1 for 1). Once the math is done and the winner is determined for the round, the loser rolls to break.
The break test is covered by unit, so if you have 7 goblins and 4 hobgoblins, the group would test separately. NPCs with class levels or otherwise differentiated abilities may be checked by themselves or in their own groups, as determined by the GM. To perform the test, simply roll a d20, modified by the difference between the winner's and loser's combat result, with a DC of 12. If the roll fails, the group has broken and will flee, unless the die turns up a 1, in which case they stand their ground and will fight to the death no matter the odds.
Pros: It's different. Combats can be very mercurial, which seems like it might more closely mimic realistic happenings. I really like the thought of standards affecting morale.
Cons: Too fiddly. Anything that happens every round can quickly get swept up in the current of action and forgotten. The numbers would take some getting used to, and might not be everyone's cup of tea, since it shows its wargame roots.

And there we have just two of the many morale systems I have looked at. More to come, as I work my way toward something I'm happy with. Comments and suggestions are very welcome!

Wilderlands: In the Shadows of Heroes, Session 5

After the goblin ambush, Titanus left the party, seemingly compelled to venture out, perhaps due to the strange man's boredom, perhaps driven by the engimatic "Storm," to herald its coming further.

Ashir, Sheva, and Mark, determined to complete the task they had accepted from the kobold chief, ventured further, eventually coming to the chamber claimed by the goblin chieftain, who apparently fancied himself a king, if the cog bent into the shape of a crown on his brow was any indication. The battle was fierce, the immense king wading into melee as his guard rained arrows down upon the group.

Mark and Ashir both fell after two of the females in the king's harem also came to their master's aid with blades, though their wounds did not prove fatal, and Sheva was able to bring them back to health after finishing the goblins off. Battered and weak, the trio decided to hole up in the king's chamber, barricading the door with goblin corpses for a day and a half while they regained strength.

Shortly after exiting, and not hearing voices from an earlier scouting, they tried to make their way out of the cave complex, hitting a speedbump when a giant mantis that had wandered into the caves attacked them. The group retreated back and waited out the thing's visit, making an escape once they thought the coast was clear.

Upon the road, however, Mark was lost when he mistook the shaking of an enormous predatory plant with what he thought was someone rustling branches while waiting to ambush the party. Sheva and Ashir fought a long-range moving battle against the thing, eventually bringing it low, but losing Mark's body under the plant's enormous mass.

Cast of Characters
Ashir the Silvered, Ifrit Sorceror (Word Caster) 2 - David
Sheva Suresh, Avalonian Human Bard (Dervish Dancer) 2 - Angela
Titanus, Oread Druid (Storm Druid) 2 (retired) - Taylor
Mark, Common Viridian Human Monk (Master of Many Forms/Hungry Ghost) 2 (deceased) - Paul

Musical Inspiration, vol. 8 - Necrophagist

It's certainly been a while since an auditory attack on this here blog, but when thinking of a few more posts, I was also looking for some new music, and remembered this sporadic Saturday treat.

This go around, I decided to toss in some melt-your-face metal, brought to you by the German technical/death outfit known as Necrophagist. (A necrophagist is a person that eats corpses, for those curious.)

Though not lyrically heavy, it could represent a character that's overcome adversity to become a force of overwhelming good, having found the seven (holy virtues), or perhaps has risen to lord over those after being granted power in some way by the seven deadly sins.

On the latter note, "An Antipaladin in Heaven" would be an interesting twist on a classic, I think.


Distracting from your deficiencies
while you point at others.
(Once) enlightened you judge and execute.

To be the only one
to discover the seven,
(To) toss open and pass the gates to heaven.


*As always, I don't own this, blah blah blah.

The Age of Worms, Sessions 8-9

After the party decided to hole up for some rest, a scratching and muffled call could be heard, which led them to finding a trap door with a small inset in the floor that contained several chained corpses, a live varag goblinoid, and various gear, possibly worn and carried by those within the small pit. They retrieved the varag from the pit and tried communication with him, but realized quickly that the only language he could speak was goblin, though he seemed bent on going with them, and brandished a wicked hooked bar as a weapon.

Accepting that it was tagging along, and pressing further in to try to put a stop to the seeding of the green worms, and the creation of undead, the group proceeded through the tunnels to a large chamber that held a large bejeweled statue, and more than a few tieflings, and a few others, some wearing the symbol of Hextor openly on their clothing! With these, there were four zombies and the group as a whole charged in to exterminate this den of evil.

A hard fight was fought, with Sagt and Xan falling to serious, but not fatal, wounds, and with timely healing and plenty of perseverance, was able to win the day, felling all but one of the enemies, which Bade gave chase to as quickly as possible. Sagt pushed the statue, which seemed weak on its base over so that he could pry free a large gem on the thing's head, enamored with the shiny thing (but quite honestly clueless to the fact that it's probably very valuable).

The rest of the party scrambled up the tilted statue to the second level where the escaped Cleric ran, followed by Bade, and all continued after their small companion in chase, navigating further passages and chambers. When we left off, this chase was still going.

Cast of Characters
Sagt, Varag 2 (Racial levels) - Me
Mullins, Gnome Rogue 1/Wizard 2 - Paul
Rosebud, Gnome Warmage 3 - Tina
Able Nightengale, Human Healer 2 - David
Bade, Halfling Fighter 3 - Taylor
Xan, Maenad Duskblade 3 - Andrew

Thoughts: This post covers two sessions more because only one fight happened through both of them than any other reason. The fight was complicated some by darkness and silence and Taylor chose not to have Bade exit the darkness on reasoning that he thought an enemy was still present. His presence in other skirmishes would have sped things by quite a bit, but all in all, I had fun, and my character lived through two sessions. With this new chase, hopefully we can get some momentum rolling again.

Curse of the Crimson Throne, Sessions 8-9

When we left off, we were about to venture up the stairs of the mansion we were to clear out, which we did, and the extermination of the vile demons was quick work for our party. However, when in combat with a stronger being that had breached a fissure in reality, we lost our orc companion to its vile blade, but the thing was dispatched before it could cause too much more damage to human life, or our fair Korvosa!

Though tragic, our friends at the church of Shelyn, through our companion, Horiz, performed rights for our comrade, and we were paid handsomely for the job we had completed. Not stopping there in our quest to find Korvosa a peaceful city once more, we made haste once summoned to Citadel Volshyanek, where we met with Kressida Kroft and a Shoanti barbarian by the name of Thousand Bones. He being a shaman of the Skull Clan who spoke to us of the enmity between our fair city and his peoples, and how though he feels his grandson was murdered, he would rather just retrieve the body and take it home than further disable the tenuous peace held by the tribes and Korvosa.


This proved to be impossible for the man alone to perform, as he found that his grandson's body had been taken by a corpse peddler and sold to a necromancer named Rolth to the Dead Warrens, below the Grey. This sickened even us, and we vowed to help the man find closure in the death of his grandson, and to help further peaceful acts between his peoples and ours, and thus we set off for the Grey, and the Dead Warrens.


To aid in such a dangerous quest as chasing down a necromancer, and to reduce the crowding in the stockades, Kressida released into our custody two prisoners of Volshyanek, one an orc from the northern tribes that reminded me of Shao, whom we were told killed a person (though if murder or with extenuating circumstances, I am unsure) and a ratfolk who was arrested under suspicion of conspiracy to poison the water supply, though he was captured in the sewers (water which we certainly do not drink.) The orc is mostly quiet and seems adept enough with his weapon arm, the rat, however, smells of excrement even now and has the unnerving habit of using a magical hat he owns to appear as a child. This sight makes me hesitant to send him into harm's way, and I feel that perhaps, he clings to that assurety.


At any rate, we ventured into crypts under the boneyard, Gildor bravely taking charge, despite his young age. We encountered various animate skeletons and corpses, and though they seemed to have a magical resilience, we overcame group after group, venturing further and further, encountering what seemed to be their insane masters, wild-eyed emaciated dwarf-like creatures that seemed to take glee in harm of any sort, either to themselves or others, and responded to our parley or threats with only maniacal laughter.


The further we ventured, the more vile and dangerous things got. We encountered a laboratory area where some of the dwarf-like madmen were draining a corpse of its humours with stirges, another chamber where a wicked sewer monster lurked, and even a chamber with magical skulls and snake-like skeletal beasts intent on bringing our lives to an end! After disrupting apparent attempts to animate further dead monstrosities and the destruction of a stiched abomination, we encountered another of the mad murder-glees that seem to be in charge of this place, this one a powerful mage with the ability to conjure dead from thin air and bring to bear powerful life-draining magics, no doubt a lieutenant of the necromancer Rolth! We dispatched this one just barely, but made it out alive.


Along the way, we lost Fanta, in horrible battle versus the sewer beast, but did run into an apparent ally, a goblin intent on the deaths of the dwarf-creatures, who ensures us there are many a passage to go before we can be sure that no threat to Korvosa still lives in these chambers!



Cast of Characters
Shao Goth, Orc Barbarian 4 (deceased) - David
Skeeven, Ratfolk Alchemist 3 - David
Simas VanCaskerkin, Human Cavalier (Honor Guard) 3 - Me
Selene Adivina, Elf Witch 3 - Angela
Fanta, Half-Orc Druid (Urban Druid) 3 (deceased) - Richard
, Goblin Ninja 3 - Richard

Gildor, Human Fighter 3 - John
Rox, Half-Orc Barbarian 3 - Isaiah

Wilderlands 2: In the Shadow of Heroes, Sessions 1-4

This first session of this campaign took place at BGC, before Steve moved off, and included him, Richy, Angela, and David. Session two, we moved the venue to Angela's place and Taylor joined, and in the third session, Paul did, too. The fourth time we met, David rejoined the group, bringing the party up to four members. Though we've had some time-short sessions, things seem to have progressed smoothly and quickly, and the party has accomplished quite alot. Here's a recap so far...

It has been over a year since the attempted siege and coup of the sorcerous traitors and their dread fae minions and cohorts, and life in Bugbear Falls has seemingly leveled out, though with a stronger guard presence and the institution of a strict curfew, as well as severe punishments for those even suspected of being spellcasters.

Despite this, Dal Lago, , has ongoing and newly issued bounties for various monsters and traitors in his neck of the Viridian Empire, which pay out well to those foolhardy brave enough to venture out to get them. It happened that this was just such a time, as two citizens had come to the conclusion that they needed 'more,' though what 'more' was depended on the individual. An entertainer from the Avalonian isles named Sheva sought more riches than just what was beggared from the patrons of the Cliffs, and a Gnome of technical bent named Scotch, whose clan had created reliable firearms and who was contracting their use and sale to Dal Lago's men in the watch and guard. This gnome wanted to test/prove his weapon's effectiveness in an adventuring capacity to further the use (and thus, profit,) for himself and his clan.

To this end, and being short on man-power, which is required for survival in the wild, they contracted two relative newcomers to town, Ashir, an Ifrit from Dimark, in the Desert Lands, as well as his companion, a slight human who seemingly worked for him named Kykas.The four set off from the Falls, headed toward what locals call the Caves of Chaos, a known nesting area for savage and brutish creatures ranging from kobolds to ogres. It was the kobolds which the party were after, as an old bounty that hadn't been discontinued was offering 15 gold per pair of horns from the beasts.


They didn't get far, however, before the group was beset by a giant mantis, intent on feasting on these small little snacks. Kykas quickly lost his life, being torn limb from limb by the massive insect, while the others whittled away at it, and eventually brought it down. With such a crushing blow to morale and with shaken confidence, the party headed back to the safety of the keep, and was attacked by carnivorous vegetation when camping outside the gates because they had gotten back to Bugbear Falls at night.


Upon arriving, Scotch swore off adventuring, having proven to himself, at least, that his weapons were combat ready, and trusting to his craftsmanship to earn him all he needed in life. Sheva went back to work as a dancer, and Ashir generally laid low, being careful to not draw unwanted attention to the fact that he adventured with little to no weaponry. Then came Titanus.


Seemingly clueless and knowledgeable of the world all at the same time, the Oread was quick to spread his prophecy to Bugbear Falls, claiming he was the "Herald of the Storm" and foretelling coming destruction in the form of a storm. Needless to say, the authorities are annoyed, and most residents just think him a little crazy. Sheva, however, struck conversation with him, and shortly, they had decided to venture out into the wilds again. To this end, they enlisted an aesthetic warrior from the Stable of the Rider (church of Famine) and Sheva's adventuring companion Ashir.


The band departed the Falls and had a rather uneventful trip leading to the cave where they had gleaned that kobolds nested in, since they had chosen to rake in gold by collecting the bounty on the creatures. Outside, they were beset by 3 of the creatures hidden in tree branches outside of the caves, slinging into the group, and causing little harm before the group dispatched them, and then ventured into the cave. Shortly after entering, however, Titanus fell into a covered pit which alarmed guards and giant rats, alike, causing many foes to spill into the area, but with smart tactical thinking, the group was able to put down about a dozen of the rats and force the kobolds to retreat.


After this, the party was halted in their further advance by a small warband of kobolds headed by a larger one, who offered a ruby and gold necklace for the lives of the rest of his clan. The group accepted the plea, save for Titanus, who did so only grudgingly, and then was paid in advance by the kobolds to eradicate their goblin rivals from across the canyon where the caves were located. More riches enticed the group, and they set off immediately, finding an empty cave with a large sack filled with small sacks filled with treasure! Though this chamber housed the skeleton of an ogre, presumably the former owner of the sack, the thing thankfully did not animate, and had seemingly succumb to wounds or old age long while ago.


With this haul of coin, cheese, and brandy that took no work to acquire, the party quickly made for Bugbear Falls, deciding to come back at a later time to complete the goblin genocide.This trek would prove to make up for the uneventfulness of the trip there, when they came across another adventuring party facing what could only be a dragon with scintillating blue scales. Both the other party, called The Lady's Seekers, and the dragon itself had taken a few licks, but the beast was quickly dispatched once the spellcasters brought to bear their might, though not before Mark managed to land a blow. Titanus bashed the thing's head in to make sure it was dead and the two groups set to work dressing the creature, taking everything of use, with the more experienced group coaching as they went.


When they finally made camp, another group of adventurers heading home to Bugbear Falls, these the Hammers of Gorum, asked to share camp with them and travel the rest of the way come morning. The assembled groups agreed, and everyone made good conversation and told stories of adventures. When morning came, the three groups set out as one and arrived at the keep early, going their separate ways. Sheva and Titanus to handle finances and contract weapons and armor made of dragon parts, Ashir to create jewelry (his mundane means of income), and Mark to his duties at the Stable of the Rider. After only a day spent in town, the group was again gathered and they headed out to exact their goal of eradicating the goblin tribe in the caves opposite the kobolds.


The trip there only provided the party a glimpse of a wolf and the sight of a creature believed to be an ill omen amongst the church of the rider, a glaring mockery of the Rider in Black, who spreads the ill effects of withering to those whom the Horseman of Famine would otherwise favor. Mark wished to take this news immediately to the Stable, but sporadic hailstorms had him not wanting to suffer the exposure on the long trip back.


And so the party pressed forward, at first re-entering the ogre-skeleton cave and finding a bag they missed completely unmolested on the floor of the cave, but finding no further egress, they back tracked and found another cave which they thought might lead into the goblin's warren. Their speculation was correct, and they managed to survive an early ambush, only to venture further into the complex and busting down the door into a chamber completely filled with hobgoblins. After an awkward apology/flat statement about how the hobgoblins aren't goblins by Titanus, then his replacing the door, the party ventured back down into the lower caves in search of their prey.


There, we left off after they had weathered another ambush by the ravening humanoids.

Cast of Characters
Ashir the Silvered, Ifrit Sorceror (Word Caster) 1 - David
Sheva Suresh, Avalonian Human Bard (Dervish Dancer) 1 - Angela
Titanus, Oread Druid (Storm Druid) 1 - Taylor
Mark, Common Viridian Human Monk (Master of Many Forms/Hungry Ghost) 1 - Paul
Scotch Radister, City Gnome Gunslinger (Pistolero) 1 - Steve
Kykas, Half-Elf Monk (Ki Mystic) 1 - Richard

The Age of Worms, Sessions 5-7

I joined this game a few sessions in, right before the party were to make their second foray into a temple/tomb created by some race the others had discovered were called the Wind Dukes. There, we surveyed the place, seemingly avoiding the worst the place had to offer, until we came upon a great pillar of air and its guardians, beings seemingly made entirely of hard air, which quickly cut down my character, but were defeated thanks to the help of the party's patron and summoned hippogriffs.

After a retreat to recover, the group again delved the temple/tomb, this time with a new member and the full complement of party members. This time, we were more successful and were able to discover a tomb that held a few magic items and the interred remains of what we assumed to be a Wind Duke.

Returning to our patron and gaining information about the items recovered and about the goings-on in the town, which I am still a little unclear on, having joined the group last of everyone playing, we then decided to uncover what was going on at the local mines(?)!

Devising a plan of attack and going in, we as the party, plus our wizardly necromantic patron and his pet owlbear zombie, without too much of a hitch, we finally reached the bottom of the mines, down an elevator, only to be ambushed by Tieflings and a large group of skeletons.

Dispatching them after a pitched battle, we moved on into the complex and came across more resistance, which cut down Corwyn when he was overwhelmed after the Halfling went to chase a possible escapee, which was cut down quickly, along with the group that took out the Cleric of the Laughing God. Another small group was found and slain as well before the group took camp within the compound, then pressed on to find a dire boar in a large chamber in the complex, which was taken out with no casualties by smart thinking of the group.

Cast of Characters
Corwyn Brand, Human Cleric of Olidammara 1/Rogue 1 (Deceased) - Me
Itsok Bluecloak, Dwarf Cleric of Dugmaren Brightmantle 2 (Deceased) - Me
Mullins, Gnome Rogue 1/Wizard 2 - Paul
Rosebud, Gnome ?? ?? - Tina
Able Nightengale, Human Healer 2 - David
Bade, Halfling Fighter 3 - Taylor
Xan, Maenad Duskblade 3 - Andrew

Thoughts
As you can tell from how short this post is, and from the "Cast of Characters" part, I have a big disconnect from this game. It's not that Angela is doing a bad job, it's just, I think, the fact that I've had a bad run of characters lately, and I probably will be more into it than I have been once I have a character that has more investment in the party and actually knows what's going on. I, as a player, of course know, but I valuate my character's usefulness on how much they can actually contribute to the party.
I really like how all the characters are portrayed, and how well alignment and each character's personal views and goals are brought to light, such as Taylor's (almost Chaotic) Neutrality, and David's Healer's avoidance of causing harm to any creature. The game is fun, the group is fun...now all I need is to keep one of my guys alive.

Edit: Inserted missing character information in the Cast part, but shame on me for not originanally remembering my own character's name, though he did die the first session I played of the game.

Curse of the Crimson Throne, Sessions 5 - 7

With a few of the Crown's agents now dead (The Magpie and Jasper,) the party decided to regroup, meeting at a tavern where a couple more barbarians from the northlands had come to relax. One, a tribal shaman that had been convinced to pursue study at the Academae to better serve his tribe, and the other a shaman harnessing the powers of nature, itself. Both greeted Shao Goth in the proper manner of their peoples (except the woman was trying to mate with everyone) and began talks of working together for coin and other gains.

Before too long, another personage, also seemingly of the barbarian tribes, but an elf, was brought in on the talks, and it was agreed that the three barbarians would help Shao Goth in his missions to aid the Crown and help restore order to Korvosa. Upon arriving at Citadel Volshyanek, however, nobody with any authority had time to meet with us, for which we were to gain more employment opportunities, so we did the next best thing, (after a certain messenger crawled into some windows,) we went to see the King of Spiders!

Once in meeting with him, he explained to us that if we were to do a small favor for him, he would reward us greatly for the service. A ship carrying some recently acquired cargo of his was behind schedule, and believed wrecked somewhere along the coast. To add to the frustration for our patron, he had already sent a crew to retrieve the ship and/or its cargo, but had yet to hear from them, either.

Needing the work (and money!), Shao Goth gathered us and went down the coast on a chartered skiff. A day or so into the voyage, into the night, we came upon the wreck, as expected, though no sign of the Spider King's skiff was found, though another craft was moored against the larger ship that carried the cargo. We hailed the boat and made our intentions to come aboard known, then were met with three faces over the deck railing, all of elves, save with skin the color of coal.

Some banter between the two groups ended in both calling the other pirates, and then a crossbow bolt was fired, sparking combat, giving the dark elves the advantage of higher ground and cover, as we had yet to gain purchase on the deck of the larger ship. Shao Goth climbed up swiftly, but everyone else sputtered about a bit in the water on the way to the boat while he cleaved down our foes. Once they were dispatched, though, everyone was able to regroup on the target vessel, and a short exploration commenced, uncovering more of the dark-skinned elves, who also quickly fell to the party swiftly.

A further exploration brought us to the lower hold, where we came across a room with magical wards, into which the druid stepped, and I tried to haul him out before he got hurt, just to be bitten by the phase spider lurking within, myself. The poison of the creature overtook our young mage, and no efforts of the group were able to stave off his death. (Notice how bad things happen to me in holds?) This was a bittersweet ordeal, as the group was able to skeleton crew the ship into Korvosa, uniting the King of Spiders and his cargo, and being rewarded handsomely with the cache of valuable items The Magpie had on her body when she died.

After this mission, and a period of rest and restocking, when en route to Citadel Volshyanek, the party was surprised when a vile creature (an otyugh!) burst from the sewers, waving barbed tentacles and gnashing with its hideous maw. In their endeavor to restore peace to the city, they leapt into action, along with an unknown bystander, to put an end to this thing. The battle was quick, but dangerous, and in the aftermath, Shao Goth offered the bystander, a former Honor Guard of King Eodred, a place within his company, which the warrior accepted, having no place in the current regime.

An entertaining drunkard was met a short while after this, and upon resting a day, the group headed the to Citadel and were contracted with bringing to justice one Trinia Sabor, whom the Crown suspects of the recent regicide of King Eodred II. Simas suspected this was to quell the rising prominence of rumors that the Queen had something to do with the King's death, but kept his mouth shut for safety's sake. Regardless, if this proved to be true, the girl, an artist that had painted the King's portrait not long before and knew the lay of the castle somewhat, needed to be brought to justice for her crimes.

Her whereabouts were well known and upon finding her, a thrilling rooftop chase commenced, with Shao Goth managing to snatch the girl up right before she was able to shake the group. Gildor, perhaps being afraid of heights, stuck to the street level, keeping the chase in view, and surpassing Simas, who had found a secret passage upon the roofs and was trying to map its course for future reference. *nods*

Trinia captured, we returned victoriously to Volshyanek, where we were met with praise of our patrons there, and from an emissary, later, of House Ornelos who had word from his master (The Headmaster of the Academae), that we excelled as hired specialists for certain discriminating jobs. The Headmaster offered us 10,000 gold coins to restore a familial manor to a livable condition, by exterminating certain "pests" from the property, which an ancestor of his did summoning rituals in long ago.

The place was, indeed infested, but with denizens of the lower planes. Vile creatures made of amorphous flesh, hounds seemingly from hell itself, and a manner of pestilential dwarf that managed to make Simas very ill, but had less of an effect on the others, thankfully. All of these beasts on the lower floors of the manor, we dispatched with haste, and are steeling ourselves before venturing upstairs to ensure we exorcise the place of otherworldly taint!

Cast of Characters
Shao Goth, Orc Barbarian 3 - David
Simas VanCaskerkin, Human Cavalier (Honor Guard) 2 - Me
Selene Adivina, Elf Witch 2 - Angela
Fanta, Half-Orc Druid (Urban Druid) 2 - Richard
Gildor, Human Fighter 1 - John
Zero, Human Bard 1 - Koree

Thoughts
The game is still going great, despite some heavy character deaths (2 me, 1 Richy), and doesn't seem to suffer from either missed sessions or alternating attendance from some of the group. Taylor has obviously read the adventure and has prepared well for running it, making it seem seamless, even when things may be glossed over or added.
Speaking of additions, those familiar with the printed adventure will note that the King of Spider's Cargo and the Headmaster's Manor are both side quests that Taylor added himself, to help the party's newer PCs catch up some on xp before sending us further into the adventure path. As stated before, these scenes are transitioned perfectly, and I have to give Taylor much due credit for putting the time and effort into these side quests.
That, and he gets bonus points for the Manor's map being the one from the original Resident Evil.

Edit: Remembered Koree and Richard's character names.

A Slight Facelift

It's very apparent that the layout of the blog has undergone a change. When I started the blog, I felt the brown had an antiquated look, and it seemed fairly classy, but the text column has always been super narrow, even when I fiddled with it in the settings.

I'm okay with light text on dark background, but I know some people have problems with it. At least I didn't go with a garish color on the whole body, or white. Too much contrast would be bad, too.

At any rate, I'm happy with it as it stands now. If you have any questions or concerns, I'd like to see feedback in the comments.

Revising The Duskblade For Pathfinder

Shortly after the conversion to Pathfinder for my first Wilderlands game, I started to think about all the classes being played, and realized that only Steve saw no changes, due to playing a non-core class.

A few months into the game, Paizo released the Magus in Ultimate Magic, but ultimately, Steve decided that while similar, he felt the Magus wasn't exactly what he wanted with Jadazh. While the power scale didn't shift dramatically, there was a slight creep for all the republished classes, and now we had a similar class to compete with, so I decided to see what we could do with the Duskblade, with our revisions informed by the Pathfinder Conversion Guide and revisions made by other players on forums, etc.


Steve and I had worked out a little bit of background for the class before, and I continued to expand that, creating more division between the two classes so that each would be an interesting choice for a character.

Fluff, however, isn't what draws most players.

The first obvious mechanical changes are hit die and skills, but the rest is quite a lot more fiddly. The spell list, for instance, was kept intact to preserve a level of oddity in the campaign, setting the Duskblade apart from other spellcasters with magic unknown to the larger world.

The class is presented in the format used for classes in Pathfinder RPG products. Here's what I have so far, which is subject to change:

Duskblade (Pathfinder Revision) 

Enigmatic and powerful, the duskblades combine the hardy discipline of expert martial artists with the raw fury of arcane might.
Originally the saviors of the goblinoid races, granted their abilities by foul gods to preserve and protect, to lead and to teach the goblins. Treated as both prophets and pariahs within goblinoid society, the magical powers they wield making them distrusted among society even as their martial prowess exalts them, each goblin gifted this way walks a line ill-defined in their present culture, when such gifted beings are seldom born.
Some say the gods are once again looking upon the goblinoids once again, as the number of exalted births is slowly starting to creep upward, however detractors are quick to point out that the race has little hope since some of the new duskblades aren't even goblinoid.
Regardless, the duskblade is almost a match for both a fighter or a wizard, and those gifted with their abilities are well suited to the adventuring life, and a welcome addition to any party.
 Role: A duskblade's path is one of personal preference, as a paragon of war among goblinkind, they are given much leeway in that society as to their actions. Most goblinoids will remain with their kind, serving as spiritual and martial teachers and as protectors of their tribes or clans.
Duskblades who are not goblinoids generally spend most of their time travelling, selling their abilities or trading them in their quest to attain more knowledge of their granted abilities and how to access the power within themselves.
 Alignment: Any.
 Hit Die: d10.

Class Skills 

The duskblade's class skills are Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Fly (Dex), Knowledge (all) (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Stealth (Dex), Swim (Str).
 Skill Ranks per Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Class Features

All the following are class features of the duskblade.
 Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A duskblades is proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with
all armor (heavy, light, and medium) and shields (excluding tower shields).
 Spells: A duskblade casts arcane spells drawn from the duskblade spell list presented below. He can cast any spell he knows without preparing it ahead of time. To learn or cast a spell, a duskblade must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a duskblade's spell is 10 + the spell level + the duskblade's Intelligence modifier.
Like other spellcasters, a duskblade can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. His base daily spell allotment is given below. In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Intelligence score (see Table 1-3, Core Rulebook).
Arcane Attunement (Sp): The duskblade can use the spell-like powers dancing lights, detect magic, flare, ghost sound, and read magic any number of times per day, as the Cantrips ability of a Sorceror. These spell-like powers do not count against his total of spells per day.
In addition, a duskblade may cast acid splash, disrupt undead, ray of frost, and touch of fatigue a combined total of 3 + Intelligence modifier times per day.
 Armored Mage (Ex): Normally, armor of any type interferes with an arcane spellcaster’s gestures, which can cause spells to fail if those spells have a somatic component. A duskblade’s limited focus and specialized training, however, allows him to avoid arcane spell failure so long as he sticks to light armor and light shields. This training does not extend to medium or heavy armors, nor to heavy shields. This ability does not apply to spells gained from a different spellcasting class.
At 7th level, the duskblade learn to use medium armor with no chance of arcane spell failure.
At 13th level, the duskblade learn to use a heavy shield with no chance of arcane spell failure.
At 19th level, the duskblade learn to use heavy armor with no chance of arcane spell failure.
 Eschew Materials: The duskblade gains Eschew Materials as a bonus feat at 1st level.
 Combat Casting: A duskblade gains Combat Casting as a bonus feat at 2nd level.
 Somatic Weaponry: At 2nd level, when wielding a weapon (or holding an item of comparable size) in one or both hands, Duskblades can use that item to trace the somatic component of a spell, rather than using their fingers. This allows them to cast spells with somatic components even while their hands are full or occupied, as long as at least one hand is holding an item of proper size.
  Arcane Channeling (Su): Beginning at 3rd level, the duskblade can use a standard action to cast any touch spell he knows and deliver the spell through his weapon with a melee attack. Casting a spell in this manner does not provoke attacks of opportunity. The spell must have a casting time of 1 standard action or less. If the melee attack is successful, the attack deals damage normally; then the effect of the spell is resolved.
At 11th level, the duskblade can cast any touch spell he knows as part of a full attack action, and the spell affects each target he hits in melee combat that round. Doing so discharges the spell at the end of the round, in the case of a touch spell that would otherwise last longer than 1 round.
 Spell Power (Ex): Starting at 3rd level, the duskblade can more easily overcome the spell resistance of any opponent he successfully injures with a melee attack. If he has injured an opponent with a melee attack, the duskblade gains a +1 bonus on his caster level check to overcome spell resistance for the remainder of the encounter. This bonus increases by +1 at 6th level and every 3 levels thereafter.
 Quick Cast: Beginning at 4th level, a duskblade can cast one spell each day as a swift action, so long as the casting time of the spell is 1 standard action or less. He can use this ability and additional time per day for every four levels beyond 4th (twice at 8th, three times at 12th, etc.)
 Arcane Bond (Su): At 5th level, this ability grants the duskblade the choice to either gain a familiar as if a wizard equal to his duskblade level, or choose a weapon and gain a benefit that is identical to the weapon option of the divine bond ability of the paladin, except the is not limited to the listed weapon abilities, although he is limited to the level-based plus allotment.
 Supernatural Spell (Su): Beginning at 10th level, the duskblade can choose to cast one of his spells as a supernatural effect once per day. A spell converted into a supernatural ability automatically bypasses spell resistance, does not provoke attacks of opportunities, requires no components, and has a Saving Throw DC of 10 + ½ the duskblade’s class level + his Intelligence modifier.
At 14th level, he can use Supernatural Spell twice a day. At 17th level he can use it 3 times a day. At 20th level he can use it 4 times a day.
 Supernatural Critical (Su): At 20th level, when the duskblade scores a successful critical hit while using his Channel Spell ability, he can choose to convert it into a Supernatural Spell as an immediate free action. This use of a Supernatural Spell does not count against his daily allotment of them from his Supernatural Spell ability. Alternatively, if the duskblade scores a successful critical hit while not using his Channel Spell ability, he can cast any spell he knows as an immediate action as long as the opponent he scored the critical hit against is targeted by the spell or within its area of effect; this spell is automatically considered a Supernatural Spell and does not count against the duskblade’s daily allotment of Supernatural Spells.

 The Duskblade

Base

Attack   Fort      Ref       Will

Level    Bonus  Save     Save     Save     Special                                     1^st    2^nd    3^rd    4^th    5^th

1^st         +1        +2        +0        +2        Arcane attunement,                         2

                                                            armored mage (light),

                                                            Eschew Materials

2^nd        +2       +3        +0        +3        Combat Casting,                              3

                                                            Somatic weaponry

3^rd         +3        +3        +1        +3        Arcane channeling,                         4

                                                            Spell power +1

4^th         +4        +4        +1        +4        Quick cast 1/day                            5

5^th         +5        +4        +1        +4        Arcane Bond                                  5     2

6^th         +6        +5        +2        +5        Spell Power +2                               6     3

7^th         +7        +5        +2        +5        Armored mage (medium)                 6     5

8^th         +8        +6        +2        +5        Quick cast 2/day                            7     6

9^th         +9        +6        +3        +6        Spell power +3                               7     6

10^th       +10       +7        +3        +7        Supernatural spell 1/day                 8     7      2

11^th       +11       +7        +3        +7        Arcane channeling (full attack)         8     7      3

12^th       +12       +8        +4        +8        Quick cast 3/day,                           8     8      5

Spell power +4

13^th       +13       +8        +4        +8        Armored mage (shields)                  9     8      6

14^th       +14       +9        +4        +9        Supernatural spell 2/day                 9     8      6      2

15^th       +15       +9        +5        +9        Spell power +5                               9     8      7      3

16^th       +16       +10       +5        +10       Quick cast 4/day                          9     9      8      5

17^th       +17       +10       +5        +10       Supernatural spell 3/day                10   9      8      6     2

18^th       +18       +11       +6        +11       Spell power +6                             10   9      8      7     3

19^th       +19       +11       +6        +11       Armored Mage (heavy)                  10   10    9      7     5

20^th       +20       +12       +6        +12       Quick cast 5/day,                         10   10    10    8     6

                                                            Supernatural spell 4/day,

                                                            Supernatural critical

 Duskblade Spell List

 1st Level - Bigby's tripping hand*, blade of blood*, burning hands, cause fear, chill touch, color spray, jump, Kelgore's fire bolt, lesser deflect, magic weapon, obscuring mist, ray of enfeeblement, resist energy, rouse, shocking grasp, stand, swift expeditious retreat, true strike.
 2nd Level - animilistic power*, bear's endurance, Bigby's striking fist*, bull's strength, cat's grace, darkvision, deflect*, dimension hop*, ghoul touch, Melf's acid arrow, scorching ray, see invisibility, seeking ray*, spider climb, stretch weapon*, sure strike*, swift fly, swift invisibility, touch of idiocy.
 3rd level - crown of might*, crown of protection*, dispelling touch*, doom scarabs*, energy aegis*, energy surge*, greater magic weapon, halt*, keen edge, protection from energy, ray of exhaustion, regroup*, vampiric touch.
 4th Level - Bigby's interposing hand, channeled pyroburst*, dimension door, dispel magic, enervate, fire shield, phantasmal killer, shout, toxic weapon*.
 5th Level - Bigby's clenched fist, chain lightning, disintegrate, hold monster, polar ray, slashing dispel*, sonic shield*, waves of fatigue.

Spells marked with an asterisk can be found in the 3.5 Players Handbook II.


Edit: Sorry for any formatting issues, I'm trying to resolve them. My ability with tables in html is severly lacking!

Scion: Requiem for the Fallen Cities, Sessions 1-4

This campaign got off to a shuddered stop and almost didn't continue after losing more than half its players. Things have leveled out somewhat now, and the story has kick-started into action with the small, eclectic Band. Now, with a few more weeks' inability to run it, I hope it's not dead in its tracks right as things are heating up.

The action so far:

White Sands, New Mexico. It's the beginning of Summer, and a lightning storm has been raging through the area for almost three weeks. There's no movement of cloud cover across the land, though the clouds seem to form and dissipate in natural ways. There's also no precipitation from the storm, just near-constant lightning strikes, though thankfully no living thing has been found to have been struck, nor has many structures.

Each of the Band, during their visitations (which we defaulted to short descriptions instead of scenes in and of themselves, as the players wanted), had been told to seek out lightning in one form or another. This led them all to the town of White Sands, not the famous Missile Testing Range, which sits far outside the city.

Here, they floundered. I suppose the prevalence of inexperienced players and the fact that some of my more experienced players chose to take up meek characters caused this. I know that the experienced guys were really taking a back seat to let the new guys shine, but without some guidance, there was quite a bit of just... mundane living taking place, by the children of the gods, no less! Some of them booked into the tours at the Missile Testing Range, Alex went and talked to a local tv meteorologist about the weather pattern on the pretense of being a New Mexico State student doing a paper, and Sid went to a diner and ate while Eddie went to the diner to try and get his attention...by sitting a few tables down and staring at him, though we had decided that they had formed a Band a few days earlier.

More aimless information-gathering caused many in the band to split, feeling betrayed by their parents, possibly, at the lack of guidance, though Jimmy had prior engagements and promised to return asap. The questioning finally led to the Band learning of two individuals of interesting character, both having a "foreign" look to them, a hulking man and a beautiful woman. Nothing more turned up about this pair, and while waiting for the tour of the Missile Range, Alex drowned himself in drink with Taylor keeping him company.

Then, Steve showed up. A hunter from the South, Steve's element is the outdoors, and he greatly expanded the scope of the Band's search for clues after joining, when he took to the desert and hilly scrubland surrounding the epicenter of the storm (the base). Skirting around the edges of the Missile Range's property, and using his unparalleled knowledge of and skill in the wild, Steve discovered that the lightning was striking randomly in what eventually made a pattern, though almost incomprehensible as it was symbol laid upon symbol. This prompted him to seek counsel at White Sands National Monument, where he was told he could find someone who might know something about native symbology.

While Steve was at the Monument the next day, Alex had sent a ronin kami along and was discussing further plans with Taylor, when Jimmy returned to town from his wrestling engagement. Steve, however, was learning much information, albeit somewhat cryptic, from an park employee named Tom, who seemingly had worked at the Monument for decades...far longer than most people live...and who revealed himself to be a Scion, as well, but did not share of whom, only hinted that his divine patron was dead. Tom did share that an unnamed God had called in some favors to have the storm manufactured as a beacon to Scions to quell what is felt to be a great threat, but that was all he knew and said he would share more once that mysterious God had told him. This was a small lead, but one the group began to discuss immediately, trying to decipher what they needed to do with what little information they had.

Then came time for the tour of the Missile Range, and the monument on it commemorating the first atomic detonation. Taylor had secured spots on the tour for everyone, but Alex remained behind, deciding to try to puzzle things out on his own from the bottom of a bottle. At the Range, Steve noticed some burnt sand around the obelisk itself, as well as some coyote tracks, which was amazingly odd, but stored the information away for when it could be applied in context to things they may know. The tour was informative, and offered a couple of clues, but nothing more. Things, however, were about to heat up.

While Steve, Taylor, and Jimmy (and his ever-present tiger, which couldn't accompany them on the tour, sadly) were on their way back to White Sands, Alex caught a bright flash of light and felt/heard a boom in the distance, turning to get a better look, he then heard another boom and saw flames leap into the air over some buildings a few blocks down. This spurred him into action, as he raced out the door, spoke nice to his motorcycle's kami, improving its performance to competition levels, and raced off to see what was taking place. When he arrived, police were setting up barriers and if the cars that Alex passed were any indication, more police and Homeland Security (the town is right next to an important military installation) were on the way.

Skidding to a halt close to the action, Alex spotted a beautiful woman whose skin looked to be the color smoldering ash, and who, in a display of power and intimidation flicked her wrist and made a police cruiser burst into flames. Epically cool and Charismatic, Alex explained that her heat might not be a match for what the authorities can bring to bear and told her to get on his bike. She did, and away they went, racing down side streets and dodging traffic to elude escape on the magically suped-up bike. Once what he felt was a safe distance, he pulled the bike into a warehouse and began talking to the woman, who said that she had grown frustrated at her and her partner's lack of progress finding what she called the "Path of Fire," and she had attempted her destructive path to perhaps draw out possible Titanspawn or their pawns in hopes of getting a lead. She then explained that her Bandmate had decided to pursue another venture and had left, and she feared he was going to the Missile Range because he felt the military personnel there were protecting the Path of Fire for the Titans.

Alarmed at this, Alex tried to call his Band, but some sort of interference emanating from the woman was preventing him from making the call. Once a good distance away, he finally contacted them, telling them about the other Scion's plan. This prompted Steve to turn around and begin heading back to the Range, while Jimmy and his tiger bailed from the vehicle and started trekking through the desert looking for the man, which they found in short order, having made his skin into solid rock and walking with purpose directly toward the Range. Jimmy spoke to him for a short time while they walked, but gained no further information than the man thought this foreign military was keeping them from the Path of Fire, and that it was imperative to open it to use for the war against the Titans.

Taylor and Steve were able to reach the Range and get entrance to discuss with them a possible threat to base security. At that point, each Scion had sand swirl around them and coalesce into the form of men, one for each Scion, which then engaged them in battle. The Titanspawn weren't very dangerous, and caused little harm before being dispatched back to dust, but it only further infuriated the stoneskinned giant of a Scion, and upon reaching the base, he leapt over the fence and attacked American soldiers, killing a few in short order. Taylor and Steve had just made it outside to see the foreign Scion smash the roof of a Humvee in a couple of blows from his giant mattock.

This is where we left off, with the majority of the Band staring in horrified bewilderment at the destruction wrought by another Scion on soldiers of their country while Alex is holed up in a warehouse with another strange Scion, discussing what they need to do next.

Cast of Characters
Alex Saito, Heroic Scion of Tsuki-Yomi - Taylor
Army Major General (Ret.) Taylor Chong, Heroic Scion of Athena - Richy
Jimmy "Lu Bu" Nguyen, Heroic Scion of Guan Yu - Josh C.
Steve Sherwin, Heroic Scion of Heimdall - David B.
Gambler O'Egret, Heroic Scion of Robin Hood (Retired) - George
Lucas Cain, Heroic Scion of Loki (Retired) - G2
Eddie Noxx, Heroic Scion of Loki (Retired) - Ernest
Sid McCullors, Heroic Scion of Thor (Retired) - Stephen

Something Quick on Races

I was just thinking about humanocentricity in most fantasy and sci-fi, and it led me to thoughts about how to make the non-human races stand out more, to make them more "the Other."

In most sci-fi, I think this might be easier...aliens have physiology that sets them apart from humanity in very obvious ways, be it gills, claws, etc.. This in contrast to differentiating between humans and the other "core" fantasy races presented, such as the elf, dwarf, gnome, and halfling...who are all usually put forth as "short humans" or "humans with funny ears."

In the Warhammer 40k universe's supporting literature, there are several mentions of people not being able to look directly at glyphs or even the physical forms of, or created by, Chaos or the various warp (read: alien) species. I find this to be a unique side-effect of the racial indoctrination practices of the Imperium of Man, and something that can be adapted for use in various, but not all, campaigns. (My Wilderlands game, for example, would be a bad place to use these alternate rules, as Judges Guild has always supported fairly free mixing of more races than any other campaign I've ever known of.)

Now, how to apply this in-game? There are a couple of ways.

The first, and easiest, I would say, is to ignore any mechanics that might be associated with the reactions to races, and incorporate the feelings and involuntary reactions into the descriptions of what the PCs see.

For example, let's say that someone running a D&D game wishes to have the PCs meet an Elf in a grove outside of town. Upon approach, the demihuman is spotted wearing a hooded cloak, and brooks no reaction, but when they turn around and doff their hood, the alien perfection of the creature could stir any number of reactions in your PCs, and it should be described as such. Don't strongarm your players into having their characters feel a certain way. State to them that strong emotions well inside them at the sight, some might be filled with lust, others rage or melancholy at not being as perfect.

This can, and should, be different for every race. Using the same narrative system, let's replace the elf with an orc. Orcs in this campaign may be so hideous and terrifying that no man may truly look into the face of one, their eyes naturally skirting the beast's features, leaving only the impression of hellish terror or "death itself."

This could cause a bit of fun trouble within the campaign when trying to describe a nonhuman to a human. If the guard is in pursuit of a halfling who has absconded with some treasure or another, the guard is going to have a hard time picking out a person who seemed "very mouselike" or "like any alleycat" or "gave the impression of shadows."

This is a fairly extreme example of using the narrative, but can be lightened or even made more heavy-handed, to suit any campaign style. As I mentioned before, my Wilderlands game, to me, seems a poor fit for an assertive approach with this, so I use a dialed-back version of the narrative style, describing the various races with unique flairs, trying to give them something that's more than just "it appears much like a human, except with pointy ears." Elves, for example, have at least one feature that ties them to nature and their fey origins...a recent character, for instance, had hair made of vines.

A gnome, on the other hand, might have eyes that appear to be faceted gems, a dwarf's voice may crack with the sound of rocks clattering together. Simply using your GM-granted power of narrative can go a long way toward creating interesting contrasts with races in your games, and it might encourage your players to pick up a nonhuman race as their next character.

Next, we'll delve into a mechanical representation of the same thing. Obviously, there are a couple of ways to do this, as well, and by far, the easiest is to just impose a penalty to social rolls versus those of various races, but I like fiddling with crunchy mechanics, so let's see what kind of damage we can do.


For the purpose of our rules, I thought I would use a stripped-down version of the Sanity rules from the 3.x Unearthed Arcana with a splash of Predator's Taint from Vampire the Requiem and Fear & Damnation from Dark Heresy for flavor. I'll call this the Composure Roll for these purposes.


First, it's obvious that none of these systems is d20-based, so that's the first change we'll make (thus each 5pt incremement will be represented by a single number on the die.) This will make the mechanic fit more seamlessly into the game, by making it intuitive and easier to recall. Mechanics like this can already be a burden, one of the goals is to make using it as easy as possible for maximum use.

Since Wisdom is usually tied to mental composure, the goal, when meeting the selfsame elf mentioned before would be to roll equal to or less than one's Wisdom score on a d20, subtracting 1 from the Wisdom score for each instance of roll made in the current game session. Optionally, a GM may lower the score an additional point to accentuate the otherness of non-core races, and/or could also subtract one point per 2 or 5 class levels or hit die the trigger has to represent a further departure from the norm with age and experience.

As noted, to succeed, you must roll equal to or lower than the target number, whose base value is equal to one's Wisdom score. Upon failure, however, certain other effects take place. A failure of 4 or less indicates that the character visibly balks, and they take a -2 to all social rolls associated with their trigger.. Failing by 5 or more means that the character is obviously aghast with horror, raising the severity of the social penalty to -5.


Upon rolling a 20, however, the character's mind fails to hold together any composure. Have the player roll another roll, and if another failure comes up, a mental stress occurs.



Here's a nice d10 table for mental stresses, based on "The Shock Table" from Dark Heresy.

1. The character is badly startled, and are treated as nauseated for 1 round.
2. Fear grips the character, and they are shaken for d6 rounds unless another composure roll is successfully made.
3.  The afflicted scrabbles away and cannot willingly approach, as the frightened condition, save that they cannot fight, and may act normally otherwise once they are out of sight of the trigger. Lower your Wisdom by 1 for the purposes of Composure from this point on when dealing with a similar trigger. (i.e., another elf)
4. The character is cowering for d6 rounds, and is shaken for a like amount thereafter. Lower your Wisdom by 1 for the purposes of Composure from this point on when dealing with a similar trigger.
5. The character is panicked for d6 rounds. If unable to flee, may only take half actions, and are at -4 to all attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks. Lower your Wisdom by 1 for the purposes of all Composure rolls from this point on.
6. The character faints, remaining unconscious for d6 rounds. Upon waking, they are also shaken for a like amount of time. Lower your Wisdom by 1 for the purposes of all Composure rolls from this point on.
7. The character is completely overcome with despair and sickness and is helpless for d6 rounds. Afterwards, the character is shaken until they can rest. Lower your Wisdom by 2 for the purposes of all Composure rolls from this point on.
8. The character flies into frenzy, laughing hysterically and attacking allies and enemies alike with all weapons at their disposal, but not with spells or special abilities. This lasts until the character is made to snap out of it (as with a spell) or until they are unconscious. Lower your Wisdom by 2 for the purposes of all Composure rolls from this point on.
9. The character crumples to the ground for d6 rounds, tearing at their own flesh (inflicting melee weapon damage per round). Afterwards, they are exhausted and shaken until recovered with rest. Lower your Wisdom by d4 for the purpose of all Composure rolls from this point on.
10. The character's mind snaps and they become catatonic for d6 hours and may not be roused. Lower your Wisdom by d4 for the purpose of all Composure rolls from this point on. In addition, roll another Composure roll, if this one fails, step this result up to 11.
11. In addition to the effects of 10, your character also suffers a minor mental disorder (worked out between you and your GM, or at GM's discretion) that lasts for d10 rounds, and d6 rounds after each other Composure roll made from now on. Lower your Wisdom by d6 for the purpose of Composure rolls from this point on, unless the additional Composure triggered by 10 comes up a 20, in which case you lower your permanent Wisdom score by 1. (This replaces, and is not in addition to, the lowering of Wisdom from 10.)

 Obviously, these rules stand on the harsher end of things, but you can adjust them to fit your style of game, decreasing the penalties by redefining what the conditions stated on the table represent, or changing the effects totally.

This system was tweaked from a d% system with a d10 system bolted on to make a working d20 system mechanic, and it wouldn't take much work to dig up the original sources and go from there, or take what I bashed together to retrofit into something more suiting your own game's system.