Technical Difficulties

 Not sure what's going on with Blogger, but I've not been able to actually publish a post in a bit and I wasn't able to attach photos or anything before. Drafts weren't properly saving, but I have some stuff that I had started working on previously that I hope to hammer out this weekend.

This is basically a test post to make sure everything is working again.

Big Edit: Apparently, I still cannot add images, but it's at least saving drafts and publishing now, instead of eating posts. This is frustrating, but I'll hammer out some stuff to catch up, just without images until I can figure that out.

Big Edit 2: Things work much better on my phone. I don’t understand at all. I guess I’ll write on PC and edit with phone until I get stuff resolved.

Scion: Requiem for the Fallen Cities, Session 3

 After speaking with Keegan, the troupe calls it a night and the next morning gets in touch with Francesca "Frankie" Gutierrez at her restaurant. She's adamant that Keegan is responsible for Ben's death, but the band had already spoken to him, and they didn't feel like Keegan was the one that did it. The also were told that Jessica was living with Ben and decided to follow up with her after they ended their meeting with Frankie.

The band didn't have any luck getting Jessica to return their calls, so they reached out to Elena to see if she could help and Connal decided to consult his raven, which only said "Battlestar Galactica". This led nowhere, but Elena called them back and let the band know that Jessica was in a nearby Starbucks. This led to many groans. They spoke to Jessica briefly in the cafe. She was clearly distraught and seemed genuine in her care for Ben, explaining that he took her in off the streets and was like a father figure to her. 

Jessica suggested they walk to a nearby park and talk further, where she revealed she had seen Ben get killed by a large metal mummy-looking thing. She had brought him a scroll that he said was for summoning something and when the thing appeared, she grabbed the scroll and Ben's journal and took off. Inspection of the scroll turned up no magic associated with the thing, and it was actually a ritual that would allow "separation of self". Jessica also revealed to the heroes that one of the reasons Ben took her in was that she was a Scion of the Titan, Aten, and he knew the others in his band wouldn't stand for one of their "enemies" living among them.

As she talks to them, an explosion of light occurs nearby and there stands the 12' tall creature she had described to them. At the same time, some of the sand creatures from before also coalesce and a single corpse-looking humanoid with terrible burns all over its body. Arne and Yrsa begin to pick off the smaller guys from range while Cahir and Connal engage in hand to hand with the large statue thing. Realizing that most of the baddies are moving toward Jessica, Alex gets her motivated to run for Cahir's men at their van. 

A knockdown drag-out fight occurs, and everyone (except Alex) takes some licks. Cahir's men begin to fire on the sand things when they get close behind Alex and Jessica, and they take Jessica into the van while Alex peels off toward Cahir's Relic car. Imbuing a point of Legend into it and coaxing its spirit to do what he needs, the car roars to life and Alex steers it right toward the construct, crashing onto it and doing enough to finish the thing off. 

Elena arrives on the scene ahead of the rest of LVPD and tells the Band that they need to get out of there and she'll smooth everything over with a cover story that she's gotten from witnesses. Everyone picks up what she's putting down and though Cahir has to leave his car, they all get out of there, which is where we left off for the night.

Cast of Characters
Alex Saito, Heroic Scion of Tsukiyomi - Taylor
Arne Berg, Heroic Scion of Skadi - David
Cahir MacMannus, Heroic Scion of The Morrigan - Chris
Connal MacMannus, Heroic Scion of The Morrigan - Jon
Yrsa Vinter Strand, Heroic Scion of Skadi - Sam

Notes
• This combat ran loooong. I'm not sure what's causing us so many problems when it comes to smooth combat in this system, but we've not hit our stride yet. Other rolling periods seem smoother, but Storypath seems clunky to us. It's really bugging me, because the group are WoD/Storyteller vets.
• I condensed the story once they hit on Jessica. I had a lot more prepared, but I didn't feel a need to drag it out further. They will have time to explore some other parts of it once they dig into Ben's journal some and talk with Jessica more.
• I was expecting the group to be at Legend 2 at the end of this session. I might need to step up the opportunities for them to accomplish deeds. Yet another growing pain with the new system.

A Little Jaunt to Khardtha

 This week, Angela was unable to attend and run her Emerald Spire campaign, so I took the reins and had everyone roll up first level Pathfinder 1e characters while I looked for a published adventure to run. I settled on Patrick Wetmore's Anomalous Subsurface Environment; the party was created and off we went.

I decided on a whim to set the game in my own campaign setting and had our adventurers start in the town of Marstad, close to the western border of Gyr. An entrance to an underground complex had recently opened on the side of a nearby hill and the local government had hastily erected a gate over the opening and posted guards in the event that anything came out. A local mining interest and several members of local government were offering coin to those who explored, and a ragtag group was assembled for the mission.

Spoilers ahead for Anomalous Subsurface Environment!

The group were surprised to find that a long flight of stairs led down from the entrance and the structure was relatively clean and in good repair when they got to the base of the stairs. They first entered a room to their right which contained the skeletonized remains of a humanoid with scraps of clothing and bits of paper. One of the sheets of paper had a note saying they had been trapped in this complex and were being fired upon when trying to escape. The adventurers pocketed the note and moved on.

The group then went down a hall opposite the room they had just checked and came into a large hall almost knee deep with bones with a few passageways leading off and what appeared to be a large stone sarcophagus lying open at the far end. They first check a room on their right which is empty and mark the door leading out of the other side of it for further exploration and backtrack into the bone hall, moving toward the sarcophagus. Suddenly, a screech like a woman's scream erupts from a passage ahead of them and they rush in, fortunately holding the incoming albino humanoids in a chokepoint where they're able to hold their own long enough to force their aggressors back. The explorer's abandon this direction, not wanting to walk into what could be a trap and go back to the large hall. There, they finally make it to the sarcophagus and find it empty. Several small alcoves lie above it on the wall, but nothing can be gleaned, and it is marked for further experiments later if something can be found to fit in the alcoves.

Going back to the empty room from earlier, they move past the door on the opposite side and check another room, which seems to have rusty and dry rotted tools, then onto a room with a clump of lichen covering what appeared to be a complete humanoid skeleton, but below the fungus was only the hips and legs of a skeleton composed of tarnished silver! How the lichen mimicked the shape of the torso, head, and arms was a puzzlement, but a switch on the wall was manipulated by Malar and found to turn on an overhead light and open a secret door when pushed in. Another secret door was found at the end of a short hall and progress was made into a small empty room with a door leading out on the other side.

Traversing through the door and into a short hall brought them to an oddly pastoral scene. Four wooden statues of three-eyed gnomes with conical hats topped with large garnets sat in a circle in the middle of a large trapezoidal room. Woodland murals covered the walls and fake shrubs dotted the floor here and there. During inspection, one of the statues was touched and all four sprang to their feet and began to attack the party! The fight was hard, and the wooden warriors hit hard, but in the end the heroes prevailed and decided to head topside to report their findings and come back more prepared. 

We called it there and may pick this back up if we have another Friday night where the group is short a player.

Cast of Characters
Malar Harken, Human Unchained Rogue 1 - David
Brunus Kegstand, Dwarf Barbarian 1 - James
RiRun, Catfolk Fighter 1 - Sam
Jobin Goldbloom, Halfling Sorcerer 1 - Taylor

Notes
• I didn't incorporate much of the setting into the game, as we wanted to get going fairly quickly. If we play it again, I'll be able to put more effort into expanding what the nation of Gyr is like, etc.
• I was converting ASE as I went and probably erred on the easier side when it came to monster stats. I wanted the players to have fun and feel like heroes. My goal wasn't to TPK, even though the wood golems could have easily done that without me boosting them any more.

The Lady of Fraying Flesh

Astien sheds her wings.
Art by Carlos Quevedo on DeviantArt

 

Once among the best and most beautiful of the Heavenly Host, the sin of wrath consumed the angel Astien's mind while in dogged pursuit of a fiend which evaded her at every step, leaving a trail of mutilated minds and bodies for her to follow. Eventually, the angel turned to cruelty and torture, herself, in order to root out her enemy once and for all. She reveled in leaving behind the flayed remains of her enemy's cultists or anyone else she felt might hold the information she sought.

Wind of her transgressions reached the rest of the Host and her superiors delved deep, hoping to aid their companion and bring her back to the right path. Their investigations led them to find that Astien had caught her quarry hundreds of years ago and put the fiend to the sword but hadn't stalled her great crusade or lust for flaying anyone she deemed disrespectful or unhelpful. Her brethren appealed to their superiors, who decided their only recourse was to cast her down. Her depravity was so great that her fall only created a powerful erinyes lord, The Lady of Fraying Flesh.

The Lady of Fraying Flesh was once radiantly beautiful, but now her skin peels back in random places as if flayed from her body, appearing to be streamers or ribbons flowing from her clothing. In place of her wings, frayed graying ribbons of flesh hang from her shoulders though this doesn't hinder her flight. A ring of razor-sharp blades circles her that she may use if she wishes to attack.

Her court is filled with all manner of grotesque beings that have a penchant for flaying and mutilating. Grand spectacles of torture entertain her guests as they feast on the flesh of sentient creatures and each other. Those devoted to The Lady often self-mutilate in supplication to her and take particular joy in torturing other living things. Often, they may be granted with boons from their mistress that can include painful auras or having their mere touch flay their victims.

Suggested Rules: The Lady of Fraying Flesh is an 18 hit die Erinyes Devil. The blades surrounding her create an effect similar to the Blade Barrier spell as cast by an 18th level caster within a 5' radius around her. She doesn't carry the usual weapons of an erinyes, instead using her blades in combat to fight both up close and at range. Each blade deals damage as a longsword plus the Lady's Charisma bonus. If the blade deals damage, the target must make a Fortitude save DC 19 plus the Lady's Charisma bonus or be wracked with pain as their skin peels back, causing d6 bleed and making the target staggered. A successful save negates both the bleed and staggered condition.

Notes
•The Lady of Fraying Flesh is a powerful fiend from my own Khardtha setting.
•When creating anything for Khardtha, unless specifically stated otherwise, assume Pathfinder 1st Edition rules. If you don't use Pathfinder and want to use something you see on the blog, feel free to reach out and I'll help you convert it.

Tyrant's Grasp, End of Book 4/Start of Book 5

 I'm not sure what session number we're on, so I'll just pick this one up with the number of the book we're in for each post title starting next session.

Also, my apologies to Sam because she narrated this marvelously and it felt fast and loose and didn't feel like it lost steam, but I have no frame of reference for any of the NPCs and I can't find my notebook with names of people (even the PCs), so I only know Tar-Baphon's name. I'll try to revise this post at some point once I find all my information. 

This will be a terrible recap. Thankfully, it was a short session since we decided to go shopping.

Arazni had informed our heroes that they had found the means to teleport directly to face the terrible Tar-Baphon and did so as soon as possible, but the battlefield was stacked against those who would oppose the Whispering Tyrant and Arazni whisked us away to another place. We arrived in a lush jungle, surrounded by nature on all sides and some very large crocodiles not far from where we landed.

Quickly moving away from the ancient reptiles, we were met with an elderly woman named something like Miriam who began to speak to us in a strange language. A little bit of magic later and we were able to communicate, and she offered to take us to her village. The place turned out to be a very large (and well stocked city). We entertained conversation with her, and she let us in on some local info and turned us loose to rest and recover, which we spent shopping for the rest of the night.

Cast of Characters
Teemuk, Human Pyrokineticist 12 - Me

Notes
•That's all I'm going to put, character wise. I know the classes of everyone, but I can't remember anyone's names right now. I never seem to have problems with them when we're actually at the table.
•This is a terrible recap, as stated before. Really, this is all on me, but also it was a lot of exposition as it was the end of one book and start of another. I just lost my notebook with my game notes.

Scion: Requiem for the Fallen Cities, Session 2

 If anyone is paying attention, you're correct that you've seen this campaign name before. A game slot came open and I have been wanting to run Scion 2nd Edition for a while, so I asked the gang if they wanted an entirely new chronicle or to pick up an older one. We decided to revive an older run with the updated rules and Taylor set to work converting his old character while David pretty much remade his with a little more depth and took some joke elements out. The rest of the lot made completely new characters because they weren't in the original run. You can read what happened in the previous chronicle here.

Photo by Mike Mezeul

Tom Begay, a scion of Yolkaiestsan, had continued his lightning storm to call other Scions to the area. His band wanted to bolster numbers because they believed with the increase in sightings of things both paranormal and mythical, that the titans were poised to make a move against the children of the gods. Alex was already staying in Las Cruces and had made contact with Tom on a tip from Steve Sherwin before that group disbanded.

Having all just recently gotten their visitations and hints that they needed to seek out lightning, the four other Scions converged on Las Cruces and started poking around the White Sands National Monument, not far from the city, to figure out what was going on. Tom recognized them for what they are and gave them the run down, though he didn't have as much information, having been somewhat distant from his band since he was working at White Sands. He told the band that he would get in touch with his own group and send word that he was sending them to Las Vegas to meet, so that the more experienced Scions could inform these newcomers about the "coming war."

They agree, exchange phone numbers and go off to their respective lodgings for the night. The next morning, however, they are attacked in the parking lot of a motel as they're preparing to take off by some grayish humanoids seemingly made of sand. The heroes sustained just a little damage before being able to disperse the sandy beings to a cheering crowd of onlookers who thought maybe they were a traveling show or tv or movie stars practicing in the lot. The PCs made their goodbyes to the assembled crowd and headed for Las Vegas.

Along the way, the band would periodically see people out of the corner of their eye on the side of the road, colored ash gray or in the sepia tones of sand but would disappear from sight when looked at directly. Then, another weird thing happened when they stopped about two hours outside of Vegas and noticed that the sky had two suns; one that hung at the midday position and one in the correct spot. Only the Scions seemed to notice this, as Cahir's goons couldn't even see the noon sun.

The group traveled on into Las Vegas, heading to a pin dropped on their phones with no seeming source. They arrive shortly after to a large estate in a nice neighborhood. The house is in the Mediterranean style, with columned porticos and large courtyards. They are met at the gate by two of Tom's band: Shelley, a local politician, and Elena, an LVPD detective. They tell the band they asked to meet here because one of their number, a Scion of Ra named Ben, has been killed, apparently on the eve of his apotheosis, and they are investigating. Since another pair of eyes wouldn't hurt, they ask the PCs to look around and then they can compare notes.

The inside of the house would be relatively spartan if it weren't for the dearth of Egyptian relics seemingly on every surface. Everything is neat and has its place, which makes the next scene all the more striking. The door to the study from the hall is open, but a key is in the lock, showing it was opened willfully, the French doors leading to the balcony are torn asunder. One is completely off its hinges on the floor and the other barely hangs from the frame. Blood is splattered all over the room, as well as a little pine resin here and there. There is shattered furniture strewn about the room and small flecks of healthy flesh near the balcony doors, though if it's from the victim or the assailant is anyone's guess.

Alex checked out the security system, but didn't tamper with it, while the rest of the group went outside into the courtyard and down to the entry gate following a trail that Arne had picked up. The trail eventually ran cold, almost as if whatever it was had just disappeared completely, so Yrsa Read the Runes to seek what their next course of action would be. They knew answer lay in three women and a man so they went back to Shelley and Elena to learn about some people they had mentioned earlier that they felt bad interrogating about Ben's death because they're all close.

The PC band gets contact info for the four and decide to contact a man named Keegan, a Scion of Lugh, since he's the only one not considered part of Ben's band and seemed like a rough character. They find him playing basketball at a park and pull him aside for questions while Connal takes his place on the court, needing to get some energy out. Keegan is forthcoming with his answers and freely admits that he and Ben had physically fought very recently, but that is just how they were. He pointed his own finger at a woman named Jackie, because she was jealous of the newest member of Ben's group.

We left off here. It was getting kind of late and was a great stopping place. Hopefully, this short interview will make the players think of some questions for the others next time.

Cast of Characters
Alex Saito, Heroic Scion of Tsukiyomi - Taylor
Arne Berg, Heroic Scion of Skadi - David
Cahir MacManus, Heroic Scion of The Morrigan - Chris G
Connal MacManus, Heroic Scion of The Morrigan - Jon G
Yrsa Vinter Strand, Heroic Scion of Skadi - Sam

Notes
•David and Samantha chose Skadi completely separately, so this was a pretty odd coincidence. Jon and Chris wanted to play brothers (because being real brothers isn't enough) and went with The Morrigan for aesthetics.
•Sam really carried the fight with the sand things. She was really the only player rolling consistently enough to damage the things repeatedly.
•Bonus points to anyone spotting either the overall theme I'm going for or know where I'm pulling some of the scenario from.

The Emerald Spire, Session 7

This session took place on the 21st of this month, but I forgot to post about it then, so I'm doing it now and have sessions from the 22nd and 27th to post.

When we picked up, we had just put down a cult of Norgorber that had holed up on the 2nd underground level of the ruins. We tied up who we could and tried to get some rest in a secure chamber, but a curious grick interrupted our night. Once Hilde was able to rouse our captives, she negotiated the terms of their release and promised any who repented and wished to enter society a clear way in. 

Only one of their number agreed to allow us to help them turn things around, but the rest of the cultist/bandits vowed to leave the place. This left their leader, a strong-willed woman who would see no reason, so the group decided to turn her in to the Hellknights at Fort Inevitable. And so, we set off for the 6-hour trek back to town with a hopeful convert and a cult leader.

Along the way, a quick encounter [that I can't actually remember the monster of now] slowed us only a little and we were back home before too late. Our first stop was the Citadel, where we met with Lady Drovust, the commander of the Hellknights and de facto leader of Fort Inevitable. We turned over our prisoner, though Dai Lu made clear her ideas about what she thought the outcome would be with the cultist and how she felt about it. Drovust thanked the party for the information they gave her and "gifted" them with a house in town that was all but falling apart in return for what the group has already accomplished and future tasks yet to be named. The band said they would hold to this agreement but would not assassinate people for the Hellknights.

With some of the money that had been gained on adventures, a fund was set aside to begin repairs and we hired the cultist who said they wanted to reform, giving them room and board for free and a little coin of their own if they agreed to begin getting the house in a livable condition.

We left off there. It was a short session, but sets us up better in town and we're prepped for our next expedition down into the lower levels of The Emerald Spire!

Cast of Characters
Barael Orphanbane, Tiefling Paladin 2/Oracle 2 of Sarenrae - James
Dai Lu, Human Summoner 4 - Me
Finley Inox, Fetchling Rogue 4 - Sam
Hilde, Aasimar Warpriest 4 of Shelyn - Taylor
Marigold of Summer, Halfling Zealot 4 - David
Medgi Bienmer, Halfling Spiritualist 3 (Retired) - Sam

Notes
I joined this game at level 2, after I came back from my amputation, so my character would be the noob of the group, but Sam decided to retire her old character after session 5. I'll have to ask her why later; I can't recall her reason.

2023: My Year in Entertainment

This again! As always, if anyone has questions or comments (or concerns, I suppose) I'd love to hear them! Due to medical stuff, a lot of my intake kinda fell off in the fall, so this one is shorter than in the past couple of years.

Books
Werewolf: The Forsaken Chronicler's Guide III: To Transform (White Wolf)
Chronicles of Darkness Gothic Icons (Onyx Path)
Chronicles of Darkness Mirrors: The Infinite Macabre (Onyx Path)
Chronicles of Darkness Ready Made Characters Legacy Security & Courier Service (Onyx Path)
Exalted 1e Quickstart (White Wolf)
Marvel Heroic Roleplaying mini-event Gun Smugglers (Jaysin Jolin)
Pathfinder Adventure Path Council of Thieves Player's Guide (Paizo)
D&D 5e Plane Shift: Dominaria (Wizards of the Coast)
Mythic Solutions (Legendary)
The Phylactery Omnibus (Planet X)
The Phylactery 4 (Planet X)
John Carter of Mars Quickstart Rules and Adventure (Modiphius)
Mythsea: Legends of the Borderlands adventure The Bitter March (UFO/Tabula)
Space 1889 Quickstart (Clockwork)
Vulgar Display of Magic (Planet X)
Pathfinder Planar Adventures (Paizo)
Symbaroum adventure The Promised Land (Free League)
Legacy: Life Among the Ruins 2e Quickstart Titanomachy (UFO)
Exalted 2e Dragon Kings homebrew redux (?)
Exalted 3.5 homebrew (?)
50 More Notice Boards: Quests, Contracts, and Bounties (DropTheDie)
Exalted 3e The Art of Sorcery (VioletDreamer)
1,000ish Weird West Plot Hooks (TheCapedCrusader)
Savage Worlds Super Villain Update (Pinnacle)
Werewolf 20th Anniversary Wild West Welcome to Purgatory (High Level)

Movies
Champagne & Bullets (1993)
Killer Workout (1987)
Black Adam (2022)
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
We Have A Ghost (2023)
The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf (2021)
R. I. P. D. 2: Rise of the Damned (2022)
In the Shadow of the Moon (2019)
The Warrior and the Sorceress (1984)
Stripped to Kill (1987)
Deathstalker (1983)
Deathstalker II: Duel of the Titans (1987)
Significant Other (2022)
Lamb (2021)
M3GAN (2022)
X (2022)
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023)
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)
Columbo Goes to the Guillotine (1989)
The Flash (2023)
Enys Men (2022)
No One Will Save You ((2023)
Bad Things (2023)
Skinamarink (2022)
The Dark and the Wicked (2020)
Gwen (2018)
Infinity Pool (2023)

TV
His Dark Materials, Season 3
The Witcher: Blood Origin, miniseries
Columbo, Seasons 1-7
Servant, Season 2
The Mandalorian, Season 3
Perry Mason (HBO), Season 2
CSI: Vegas, Season 2
Secret Invasion, miniseries
The Witcher, Season 3
Shelter, Season 1
Hellier, Seasons 1 & 2
The Fall of the House of Usher, miniseries
Bodies, miniseries
Survivor, Seasons 10 & 11

Video Games
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag Freedom Cry DLC
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands
The Medium
Bramble: The Mountain King
A Short Hike

Tabletop Gaming These numbers are way off. When all the med stuff ramped up, I kinda stopped keeping track.
(Chris/Me) Exalted 3e - 7 Sessions
(Me) Numnera: Those Who Move Clouds - 6 Sessions
(Taylor) Pathfhinder 1e homebrew - 4 Sessions
(Me) Pathfinder 1e Caverns of the Spore Lord one-shot

Another New Beginning

 Been a while, for those of you who take the time to see if I've posted anything.

This past year has been very difficult for me, and culminated in losing my leg (and almost seven months of income, to boot). That story is not for here, but it did lead me to where I'll be going with this blog.

During my time off, I decided to start actually putting work into my original campaign setting, Khardtha, and also designing generally for the games I enjoy playing. I plan to start posting some of that here, but the majority will be going on my Patreon, which I'm not ready to fully roll out yet. 

I plan to use the blog for sneak peeks and small features of my design stuff to maybe get some traffic over at the Patreon but will likely also post some of that content here after some time has passed. I also plan to pick up my actual play posts and just generally be more active again. This includes going back and cleaning up some of the old posts so they're just a bit more coherent. (This may or may not happen, depending on how much I care when I go back and read)

So there's that. I have a post coming tomorrow, and a couple of things next weekend, but I need to get back in the groove of making myself write.