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.

Numenera: Those Who Move Clouds, Session 1

When a Shadow of the Demon Lord campaign I was running came to a close, I had everyone vote on what would I would run next, from games on The List (almost 100 different campaign ideas I have on the back burners). It was a close run between Deadlands and Numenera, but Numenera won out and we started the campaign on alternate Saturdays over Discord. 

Awgere

Our campaign starts in Awgere, a coastal aldeia (village) off the Sere Marica known for its salt harvesting operations. The PCs have found themselves in Awgere for their own reasons, becoming acquainted through work or other means. One balmy evening, right as the sun starts to set, an explosion echoes from the marsh nearby the settlement. Many people rush to the scene, fearing the worst for their fellow residents. The PCs arrive to an already gathering crowd to find the remains of a person badly mangled from a localized explosion.

No one gathered could identify the individual, and pieces of scrapped numenera and other devices led Yanusen to believe that a reaction from gathered cyphers had caused the explosion until a device was found that was still functional. Upon activation, the device played an audio message stating "Transmission complete. Mission failure." Interested in what this mission could be, the rest of the group ask Yanu to see if he can get more from the device, which he easily does after manipulating it for a few moments. "Secure objective: Mazen. Return to Astaria rendezvous. Payment upon completion."

This alarmed everyone, especially Mazen, who became even more alarmed when the party decided that the best course of action was to head toward Astaria, putting them closer to whatever group wanted them captured! Plans were hastily made to make the trek overland and after collecting pay and informing those who needed to know where they were going, seeding false information in case anyone was feeding Mazen's pursuers intel, they headed for Astaria on foot.

A more inland route is chosen and the group set off, their travel the first day takes them into the grasslands inland from the coast and they pass a few aldeia until later in the day when they decide to rest at the next one they encounter. The party spots a dead man slumped on the porch of a small hut. He had been dead for just a short time, and some sort of black substance had been placed under his skin from a puncture between his shoulder blades. Finding they could do nothing for the man, they move on. Just down the road, they come across a chimney-shaped building with robed and hooded residents that pass them on the road as they enter a place called Jutte.

Trummel

A man named Trummel greets them as they enter Jutte, asking what their purpose is and offering information if they need anything in the town. He points them to a hostel and the market square for lodging and food and answers a few questions about crime in the area. He answers a question about the hooded people they saw before and bids them well, letting the PCs go about their way. Trummel meets them in the morning and walks them to the edge of town as they leave, making small talk.

Once far from the safety of the aldeia, the group see an oorgolian kneeling on the road ahead, petting two broken hounds he has with him. When it stands, it points to Mazen stating "Give us that one and nobody gets hurt," stating again that Mazen is the one it's after and projecting a hologram of their likeness to confirm. Mazen and their companions balk at this and after a short exchange, Asimra charges into battle. The oorgolian pleads with Mazen to come along peacefully throughout the encounter, but its voice becomes more digitized as the fight wears on, as if encoded. One statement too many and the alien explodes just as he's about to say something else, shredding the sole hound left standing and leaving the group pincushioned with shrapnel.

With the mercenary and his hounds defeated and another clue pointing to Astaria, the band are left pondering what lies ahead as they mend their wounds before setting off again.

Cast of Characters

Mazen,  A Swift Nano who Controls Gravity (Sam)

Yanusen,  A Calm Nano who Commands Mental Powers (Taylor)

Asimra, A Strong Glaive who Works Miracles (Chanz)

Errol, A Graceful Glaive who Fights with Panache (Rachele)

Raide, A Strong-Willed Glaive who Rides the Lightning (Brenden)

Lincoln Ford Mercury, A Strong-Willed Nano who Works Miracles (Chris G)

Notes: 

1. Playing this game on Discord allowed for some of the people not in our normal group to play and made it easier for some of the players who had scheduling conflicts to participate, but attendance has still been an issue. I've called off games a few times before, and we settled on playing Wilderlands when we can't get four players for a session so we don't have a dry week of gaming.

2. I lean quite a bit more into the sci-fi than I think is intended. Assumptions are made that people aren't idiots and terms and basic knowledge would spread at least a little. This might be colored by having played Torment: Tides of Numenera?

Editions in Dungeons & Dragons, or Where Are We, Again?

I'm still working on getting some actual plays up and I have a few other longer posts in the works that are sitting in drafts, but I'm going to hit on some quick thoughts in the coming days, the first of which is some thoughts on edition and how it's defined.

Dungeons & Dragons was first published in 1974 as a box set with three booklets. These weren't the normal Player's Handbook, Dungeon Masters Guide and Monster Manual that we're all used to, their organization was different, but I think the template was successful enough that it's stuck. If anyone is unfamiliar with this edition, let me tell you that it's a different creature altogether than the game you're used to. The layout is a little all over the place and the ties to wargaming are everywhere in the text. I'm veering off course already, but it really is a unique game and though supplements were printed for it, it stands alone as its own beast.

In 1977, two different versions of Dungeons & Dragons were published. Basic D&D, often called Holmes Basic since it was written by J. Eric Holmes, and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Basic released at the start of summer that year as a box set with dice and booklet or the standalone booklet, and featured rules that took characters to third level. As a further disconnect from the Advanced rules, Basic also featured race-as-class, so a player would just select Elf instead of Elf Fighter/Mage, which are the abilities the race featured. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons released later in the year and presented book releases with a format we've been familiar with since. AD&D also featured class/race combinations, multiclasses and most other trappings people associate with Dungeons & Dragons.

1981 saw a slight revision of the Basic Set featuring rewrites and edits by Tom Moldvay. This edit pushed Basic even further away from AD&D. This boxed set featured a red-bordered rulebook and module B2: The Keep on the Borderlands along with a set of dice. This revision was followed in short order by the release of the Expert Set, by Dave Cook and Steve Marsh. The Expert rules expanded character advancement from levels four to fourteen.

Two years later, in 1983, yet another revision of the Basic Set was released. Frank Mentzer's edit, also known as Red Box D&D, was followed in the next two years by four more boxed sets for the Expert (levels 4-14), Companion (levels 15-25), Master (levels 26-36), and Immortal (transcendence) rules. This release of the Basic rules were presented in a more tutorial form to welcome new players.

In 1989, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons got a 2nd Edition release, with updated rules and new character classes. This release was partially made to address the Satanic Panic that had impacted the game in previous years, removing 'evil' items like the Assassin class and Half-Orc race and changing the words demon and devil to tanar'ri and baatezu, respectively. The release schedule started over with the three core books and ballooned rapidly.

The Rules Cyclopedia released in 1991, collecting major rules from the previous Basic, Expert, Companion, and Master boxed sets. Aaron Alston and his team put together this tome as a reference guide for those with a higher proficiency with the game. In addition, the book included two new classes, a guide on conversion between D&D and AD&D and short overviews of both the Known World and Hollow World campaign settings (Mystara).

Also in 1991, a new Basic Set released that not only included a rule book, but a deck of Learning Cards that had rules of play on one side and an example of those rules on the back. The box also included a map, pawns, and dice. This box included rules that took characters to 5th level.

The final Basic Set release came out in 1994. The Classic Dungeons & Dragons Game, as it was called, was edited by Doug Stewart. The set came boxed with PC miniatures, monster pawns, a DM's screen, a map, and dice.

2000 brought a new edition of the main game line, dubbed Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition. This was a major overhaul of the rules that affected all aspects of the game, and introduced what was called the d20 System that led to the formation of the Open Game License. Notable among changes made were the removal of race/class restrictions and level restrictions for characters.

Three years later, a new release of the three core books revised the 3rd Edition, addressing plenty of minor rules complaints and confusions submitted to WotC. This revision, called 3.5, touched on races, classes, skills, feats, and almost every other aspect of the game. Supplements previously released were addressed in errata documents, but no rereleases and the publishing schedule retained its fast pace.

In 2008, another major overhaul of the primary game took place. 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons introduced new core races and classes with a design that clearly pulled from video games with roles like tank and striker, enemy types like minion and elite, and powers with cooldowns and resets. Multiple waves of core books also made this edition notable. Mechanically, this edition deviated the most as each class had powers usable at different times and spells were rolled into this system, as well, making most classes feel similar in playstyle, but differentiating them with power sources and delivery. Every 10 levels (1-10, 11-20, 21-30) represents different themes of adventure; heroic adventurers are establishing their legends, paragon adventurers are affecting regions, and epic characters are world-shakers.

In 2010, a soft revision (though not called that) was released for 4th Edition, called the Essentials line. These books cleared up and revised some rulings while presenting the rules in an introductory fashion.

In the quickest turnaround for a full reworking of the main game line, Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition was released in 2013. 5th Edition returned to many of the basic concepts of the d20 System familiar to players of the 3rd/3.5 Edition, though many rules come from all eras and editions of D&D. Defense values were boiled back down, a universal bonus was applied to skills, attack bonus, saves and other things characters are trained in. Advantage/disadvantage was introduced in a move to boil down granular situational bonuses that plagues previous editions.

Though this is presented as a timeline of release with a little bit of detail for each of the editions, my initial reason for this post is the argument in some groups that 3rd-5th Editions are not continuations of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Does that mean to imply that they're continuations of the Basic rules? There could be an argument for that, I suppose, as the Rules Cyclopedia states it's the second major revision of the BECMI rules, making it a 2nd Edition, of sorts.

Depending on source, there are 5, 14, 17, 18, 23, 28, etc., etc., etc. editions of Dungeons & Dragons. I've read all of those numbers in articles and blog posts, but I don't think I agree. I believe OD&D, the original 1974 release, is its own thing. I also believe BECMI is its own game and Rules Cyclopedia is included in that. Which leaves my absolutely reasonable (yet controversial) take that 3rd-5th Edition is the continuation of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. The "Advanced" name could be dropped since the separate game was no longer in production or supported. This is also supported by the conversion document that showed how to convert your 2nd Edition character and other aspects of your campaign to the 3rd Edition of the game.

A Quick Thought on Domain Spells in 3.x/Pathfinder 1e

 I have a handful of posts I'm currently writing in draft, but I thought of this at work the other night and it's been in my head a fair amount.

The original thought came as this question: Was it the original intention of the designers of D&D 3rd Edition that DMs would assign domain spells, instead of players choosing them?

To which some might say, "No, idiot. You get domain abilities in addition to the spells." Which is fine, but I don't feel like they need be mutually exclusive concepts. Access to domains is granted by every deity to every Cleric that worships them. A Cleric character can choose two domains to represent the aspects of the deity they vibe with that grant slight abilities such as activated bonuses on saving throws against certain effects or weapon proficiencies, minor elemental attacks, or a feat, for example. Each domain has a list of thematic spells implied to be especially granted to the Cleric due to their special bond with their deity.

My proposal: Each Cleric chooses two domains to represent the parts of their deity's portfolio they most associate with, gaining the domain abilities for those, as normal. The DM assigns a domain spell of each spell level available to the Cleric from any domains the deity has access to when the character prays for their spells. Domain spell slots cannot be manipulated as currency for class features or other abilities and can never be left open for later memorization.

This means that a 5th level Cleric of Corellon Larethian prays for their spells and the DM assigns their 1st-3rd level domain spells, which could be from any of Chaos, Elf, Good, Magic, Pride, Protection, or War domains of the appropriate level. I know, it's more work on the DM, but not much, and could be a great tool for foreshadowing; "Why was my character granted Nystul's Undetectable Aura?" You could mix them up and assign them randomly, or in a rigid pattern of repeat, depending on the alignment of the character's god. That could make planning fun. "I'll be able to Dispel an additional time in three days, if we can wait to strike the wizard's tower then."

Anyway, a quick thought. I might implement it. Anyone out there have thoughts?

Wilderlands 4, Session 1

The crew couldn't all assemble for our bi-weekly Discord game of Numenera on the 22nd of April, so I asked if we wanted to pivot to a back-up game so we didn't have a dry week of gaming. Getting answers in the positive, the group began to make first-level Pathfinder characters to play in my take on the Wilderlands setting.

The group started their careers in my homebrew town of Bugbear Falls, a fortified site on the far eastern reaches of the territories held by Viridistan, the fabled City-State of the World Emperor. Having newly made their individual ways there after hearing the promises of wealth and fresh starts in the territory made by the Emperor's court to any willing to explore and tame the marches.

Sitting in the local tavern, The Desecrated House, the newly chartered adventuring guild, the Glorious Slayers, decided to take on a job before their funds started to run out, so they looked at local postings. There were three notices on the board outside the bank/pawn broker:

• Unbreakables estate clearance! Inquire inside!
• A return of a bracelet belonging to Elle, from the river by the Hermit's Shack.
• Rubbings from the fey gate to the east of town. See Syl the Sage for details.

Both of the jobs outside of town seemed appealing and they quickly settled on getting the rubbings, heading to the shop of Syl the Sage. A slate outside reads "Walk-Ins Welcome: Readings, Debates, Research, Taxidermy." The troupe enter and find the small woman surrounded by books, mumbling about proving someone wrong. After introductions are made and business rates discussed, Gregor speaks up and negotiates the terms of the job posted previously. Syl gives them charcoal and paper and sends them on their way.

Once down on the River Road, the party can see the top of the gate, a beautifully carved relief on a cliff face depicting two trees, their trunks covered in runes, branches meeting to create an arch. The fey gate, as it is known, has no opening. A blank rock face is all that greets the party as they approach and take out the supplies to begin making rubbings.

Shortly, however, the party is interrupted at first by one, then another small, blue humanoid coming out of the rock wall as it shimmers and ripples before them, speaking an odd language. They look perturbed, but Echo also speaks the Sylvan tongue and can communicate. They inform her that the adventurer's "kind" had not paid their debts and that they should leave immediately. The little ones seem to personally feel like taking rubbings isn't going to hurt anything and warn the PCs to be gone by the time they come back with their master, at which point they walk back into the gate.

Our heroes speed their efforts and begin to feel immense heat coming from the gate and hear loud, clanging footsteps. They gather their supplies and beat a trail out as quickly as possible by the time whatever is coming reaches their side of the gate, being out of sight and on the River Road back to Bugbear Falls to collect their reward, 10 gold coins and a future research of their choice for free!

Cast of Characters

Gregor and Victoria Palesun, Human Spiritualist 1 and Phantom (Taylor)

Echo Tovun, Elf Magus (Eldritch Archer) 1 (Rachel)

Taric, Human Barbarian 1 (Brenden)

Baila, Halfling Rogue 1 (Rachele)

Notes: You'll notice there are four PCs in the cast, but only two mentioned in the actual body of the session. That's because the players for Taric and Baila left early in the session. I had planned a combat for the session, as well, but put that off when the only two characters left were a Spiritualist and a Magus.

Edit: Changed some names as I've come to rediscover my notes.

Exalted, Sessions 1-5

On alternating Saturdays, Chris runs his Exalted chronicle for our group. The chronicle is set in a modified Creation that mostly plays to how the Exalted setting is presented, but with the agreement that anything that he wishes to change will be changed on a whim, as the events and characters will be presented as the ancient history and some of the most important figures (perhaps gods) of a shared campaign setting in the future, which will mostly host D&D and Pathfinder campaigns.

The Story So Far...

Our chronicle began in K'losis, a city carved into and around a fallen enormous humanoid war machine. There, we had learned some history of the campaign world and that the construct the city was built into is actually the husk of a being from another reality that invaded in the distant past and now there were factions that were trying to bring it and others like it back to life and summon more to this reality! Additionally, it was learned that powerful individuals were involved in these groups, speeding up their timeline by funneling money and resources into their aims.

Reports surfaced during this time of one of the great threats marching across the land as our band made haste to various locations, dismantling cult cells and the portals they had begun to erect. We flew out to face the engine of destruction and were able to dispatch it with the ship's weapons and a sprinkling of our own attacks, then made on our merry way to prevent the onset of the end of the world. 

Our leads took us to the city of Palanquin, where we strong-armed our way into their strange cult politics by having enough knowledge and materiel from capturing and destroying construction from other cult cells, thus locking in our access to the working portal in the city that leads to what we had learned were the giant war construct things' home plane. 

We took the first opportunity to make the jump through and emerged into a barren cityscape. Once we entered we find the place inhabited by the spirits of thousands of the dead, many of which showing signs of physical trauma. Most of these spirits didn't give us a notice, but one approached and engaged us, answering a few questions about the place, then leading us to a building where a council gave us audience, further providing information about the place. We had assumed this was the home plane of the aggressor war machines, but we were told this was also a conquered world, and their undeaths were spent in servitude.

During the trip through the portal, Exton experienced a vision in which an entity revealed to him that in order to fulfill their task of destroying the colossi, they would have to assemble a collection of artifacts. There were eight in total, but it was unclear if all of them were needed, and only a few were revealed. Our "map" was a tome that turned out to be in possession of one of the party, a key, a sword, the Shield of Ancel, the Hands of Tyr, and the Keeper's Dagger.

The form of the last five named and the two unnamed were unknown to us, but we had a start. Exton told the Circle about his visions and the decision was made to cross back into our world to find the artifacts. When we arrived, we discovered that two years had passed, even though we has spent a touch less than eight hours in the other realm. We assessed our situation and set a few affairs straight once we found that our ventures had continued as usual without us, then we took the opportunity to divine where other artifacts could be located.

Our key was in Brightonvork, an island located in the northwest, and the sword was in the Burning Sands, to the south. We decided to head toward the island and made contact with an older lady who explained to us that if what we were after ever existed, it was at the bottom of the ocean with her father's ship, which sank when she was young. It didn't take us long to ascertain the approximate location of the shipwreck and we went diving, recovering a metal rod with no discerning markings on it, as well as some other valuables from the wreck, which were mostly returned to the old lady, after which we set off for the Burning Sands, at which point we left off.

When we pick up next, I will be taking over for the next arc of the chronicle. The Circle knows that one of the colossi are headed to sea, presumably to Brightonvork, and the other is heading in the direction of the Burning Sands. Are these things now moving to intercept any who are trying to retrieve the artifacts? Are they wanting the artifacts, themselves? Hiow do they know about them? The Circle is so far clueless to the actual history of the items.

2022: A Year in Summary

 Always open to questions and commentary when it comes to the lists of media I consume! I write these every year so that maybe if someone sees this, it might act as recommendations. Having said that, I do not claim all things on this list are good!

Books (Many, many of these are 5-40 pages. Sorry I don't have the authors of some)

Trinity Continuum: Anima (Onyx Path)

Shadow of the Demon Lord master adventure Oblivion's Edge (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord Monstrous Pages: Of Monstrous Mein (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord novice adventure The Apple of Her Eye (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord master adventure The Darkness in Shadowturrets (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord expert adventure Feast of the Father (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord novice adventure The Demon's Wetnurse (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord expert adventure The Gorgon's Tears (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord Lands in Shadow: The Kingdom of Sails (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord Unholy Champions of the Demon Lord (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord Lands in Shadow: Weight of the Underworld (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord master adventure With My Last Scream (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord expert adventure Wretched (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord novice adventure The Knife in Your Hand (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord master adventure The Man Who Fell to Urth (Schwalb Entertainment)

The Phylactery (Planet X Games)

D&D 5e Unearthed Arcana: Eberron (Wizards of the Coast)

D&D 5e Unearthed Arcana: When Armies Clash (Wizards of the Coast)

D&D 5e Unearthed Arcana: Creating New Class Options (Wizards of the Coast)

D&D 5e Unearthed Arcana: Psionics and the Mystic (Wizards of the Coast)

D&D 5e Unearthed Arcana: Modern Magic (Wizards of the Coast)

D&D 5e Unearthed Arcana: Prestige Classes and Rune Magic (Wizards of the Coast)

The Phylactery #2 (Planet X Games)

D&D 5e Unearthed Arcana: Psionics & The Mystic, Take 2 (Wizards of the Coast)

D&D 5e Unearthed Arcana: Artificer (Wizards of the Coast)

D&D 5e Unearthed Arcana: Warlock & Wizard (Wizards of the Coast)

D&D 5e Unearthed Arcana: Revised Subclasses (Wizards of the Coast)

D&D 5e Unearthed Arcana: Fiendish Options (Wizards of the Coast)

Geist: The Sin-Eaters 1e SAS: Dem Bones (White Wolf)

Geist: The Sin-Eaters 1e SAS: The House Always Wins (White Wolf)

Hunter: The Vigil 1e SAS: Collection of Horrors Introduction (White Wolf)

Hunter: The Vigil 1e SAS: Collection of Horrors - The Razorkids (White Wolf)

Hunter: The Vigil 1e SAS: Collection of Horrors - Host of the Clutter (White Wolf)

Hunter: The Vigil 1e SAS: Collection of Horrors - Frankenstein's Mobster (not a typo!) (White Wolf)

The Phylactery #3 (Planet X Games)

Hunter: The Vigil 1e SAS: Collection of Horrors - Empty Space (White Wolf)

Hunter: The Vigil 1e SAS: Collection of Horrors - The Man with the Gray Beard (White Wolf)

Hunter: The Vigil 1e SAS: Collection of Horrors - Meeting the Frostbite Girl (White Wolf)

Hunter: The Vigil 1e SAS: Collection of Horrors - Getting Her Back (White Wolf)

Hunter: The Vigil 1e SAS: Collection of Horrors - Body of Evidence (White Wolf)

Hunter: The Vigil 1e SAS: Collection of Horrors - Caveat Emptor (White Wolf)

Hunter: The Vigil 1e SAS: Collection of Horrors - No Escape (White Wolf)

Hunter: The Vigil 1e SAS: Collection of Horrors - Good for the Soul (White Wolf)

Hunter: The Vigil 1e SAS: Collection of Horrors - Serpent's Tooth (White Wolf)

Warhammer Age of Sigmar Battletome: Soulblight Gravelords (Games Workshop)

Hunter: The Vigil 1e SAS: Collection of Horrors - The Mother of All Wrong Turns (White Wolf)

Hunter: The Vigil 1e SAS: Collection of Horrors - Mother to Monsters (White Wolf)

Hunter: The Vigil 1e SAS: Collection of Horrors - Dead to Me (White Wolf)

Hunter: The Vigil 1e SAS: Collection of Horrors - Mr. Theleme (White Wolf)

nWoD SAS: The Devil's Night (White Wolf)

Exalted 2e Scions of the Scarlet Dynasty (?)

Tombpunk: Rogues (Outland Entertainment)

Marvel Heroic Roleplaying What If...? Ed Gross Had Thor's Hammer in His Collection (Margaret Weis Productions)

Marvel Heroic Roleplaying What If...? Bruce Banner Was A Prisoner at the Raft (Margaret Weis Productions)

Scion 2e Nile War Gods (Chris Handforth)

Scion 2e Relics of Origin (Crystal Mazur)

Scion 2e The Deicide Compact (Travis Legge)

Exalted 3e Occult Charm Homebrew (?)

Scion 2e Cheat Sheet (?)

Changeling: The Dreaming The Norse Fae (?)

D&D Dark Sun A Little Knowledge (?)

Mage: The Ascension One-Page Jumpstart A Breakdown of Order: The Alchemist's Schism (High Level Games)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse adventure Curse of the O'Tolley's Burger (High Level Games)

Vampire: The Masquerade 5e homebrew Clanbook: Maeghar (Jasin Holliday)

Vampire: The Masquerade 5e homebrew Clanbook: Ravnos (Jasin Holliday)

Dark Sun Cosmology (David Schwartz)

Shadow of the Demon Lord Monstrous Pages: From Beyond This World (Schwalb Entertainment)

They Came From Outer Space! New Tropes and Archetypes (Onyx Path)

Trinity Continuum Terra Firma: Boston (High Level Games)

Scion 2e The Republican Pantheon (Mike McCall)

Mork Borg module Under the Abbey (Flamberga)

Forgotten Realms module The Dead Tell No Tales (Mikael Mansen)

Demon: The Fallen Angels of Death: Lore of the Slayers (Travis Legge)

Rayguns & Robuts (Planet X Games)

Demon: The Fallen Flames of Perdition: Lore of the Devils (Travis Legge)

Demon: The Fallen Infernal Might: Common Lores (Travis Legge)

Storypath System Preview (Onyx Path)

Trinity Continuum Leviathan: Mabuhay (Travis Legge)

Scion 2e Vampire (Lilith Grishaw)

Scion 2e Mysteries of the Otherworld (David Taylor)

D&D 5e adventure The Haunting of Valentyne Manor (Ryan Loyal Stueve)

Dark Sun Sorceror-Kingmaker conversion for Pathfinder Kingmaker AP (Luke Swadling)

Brancalonia The Daily Jinx #0 (Acheron Books)

Call of Cthulhu adventure Black Goat of New Orleans (Golden Goblin Press)

Vampire: The Masquerade 5e Sioux City by Night (Martlett Games)

Vampire: The Masquerade 5e homebrew Clanbook: Tzimisce (Jasin Holliday)

Vampire: The Masquerade 5e homebrew Clanbook: Nagaraja (Jasin Holliday)

Vampire: The Masquerade 5e homebrew Clanbook: Old Clan Tzimisce (Jasin Holliday)

Vampire: The Masquerade 5e homebrew Clanbook: Gargoyle (Jasin Holliday)

Vampire: The Masquerade 5e homebrew Clanbook: Daughters of Cacophony (Jasin Holliday)

Vampire: The Masquerade 5e homebrew Clanbook: True Brujah (Jasin Holliday)

Vampire: The Masquerade 5e homebrew Clanbook: Salubri (Jasin Holliday)

Werewolf: The Wild West Welcome to Purgatory: Osage Character Option Supplement (High Level Games)

Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition one-page jumpstart Heirs to the Mountains of Madness (High Level Games)

Vampire: The Victorian Age one-page jumpstart A Musical Interlude (High Level Games)

Deadlands Horror at Headstone Hill Player's Introduction (Pinnacle Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord Monstrous Pages: Forces of Nature (Schwalb Entertainment)

D&D 3.x SiglO: 100 Feats for Ravenloft (Dion Fernandez)

Cavaliers of Mars module Witch-Queen of the Shadowed Citadel (Onyx Path)

Where the Crawdads Sing (Delia Owens)

Scion 2e Solo Adventures (Peter Rudin-Burgess)

Symbaroum Throne of Thorns Campaign Overview (Jarnringen)

King Tut's Rootin' Tootin' Extravabonanza (Planet X Games)

Conan d20 to 2d20 Conversion Guide (Modiphius)

Final Fantasy RPG 4th Edition CD 1 (Bruno Carvalho)

A Guide to the Storyteller Adventure System (White Wolf)

nWoD Dudes of Legend (White Wolf)

The Mud, the Blood, and the Beer (Calvin Johns)

Vermilium Jumpstart (White Witch Games)

Vampire: The Requiem 1e SAS: Scenes of Frenzy (White Wolf)

Mummy: The Curse 1e Lore of the Deceived (White Wolf)

Shadowdark RPG: Blades, Guts, and Gold (Laurin-David Weggin)

Dawn of Worlds (Legends)

Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition Believe in Magick! (Sebastian Freeman)

Numenera In Strange Aeons (Monte Cook Games)

Numenera adventure Vortex (Monte Cook Games)

The Strange Impossible Vehicles (Monte Cook Games)

Blood & Chrome 1.1 Technopunk Descriptors (Marlowe House)

Blood & Chrome 1.2 Technopunk Types (Marlowe House)

Blood & Chrome 1.3 Technopunk Foci (Marlowe House)

D&D 5e adventure Shadows of Lastwatch Keep (The Arcane Library)

AD&D adventure DA1 The Lottery (Dan Armstrong)

D&D 5e adventure Crypts of Azarumme (The Arcane Library)

Numenera Cypher Collection I (Monte Cook Games)

Numenera Artifacts & Oddities Collection I (Monte Cook Games)

Shadow of the Demon Lord Monstrous Pages: Foulest Reptiles (Schwalb Entertainment)

D&D 5e Unearthed Arcana 37: Downtime (Wizards of the Coast)

Hopeless, Maine: The Roleplaying Game (Outland Entertainment)

D&D 5e Unearthed Arcana 32: Traps Revisited (Wizards of the Coast)

Shadow of the Demon Lord Victims of the Demon Lord: Only Human (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord Poisoned Pages: Insupposable Instruments (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord Victims of the Demon Lord: Ghosts in Machines (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord Lands in Shadow: Borderlands of Tear (Schwalb Entertainment)

Exalted 3e A Mirror Darkly Abyssal homebrew (?)

Exalted 3e Metagaos Charmset Infernal homebrew (Revlid/?)

Big Eye Chungus (Planet X Games)

Dungeon Crawl Classics 72: Beyond the Black Gate (Goodman Games)

Gods of the Fall Gods Beyond (Monte Cook Games)

D&D 5e Unearthed Arcana 33: Mystic Class (Wizards of the Coast)

D&D 5e module Temple of the Basilisk Cult (The Arcane Library)

Odyssey of the Dragonlords Player's Guide (Modiphius)

Geist: The Sin-Eaters 1e Ready-Made Characters (White Wolf)

Hunter: The Vigil 1e Ready-Made Characters (White Wolf)

Promethean: The Created 1e Ready-Made Characters (White Wolf)

Vampire: The Requiem 1e Ready-Made Characters (White Wolf)

Werewolf: The Forsaken 1e Chronicler's Guide I: To Isolate (White Wolf)

Werewolf: The Forsaken 1e Chronicler's Guide II: To Rebuild (White Wolf)

Comics

Hopeless, Maine Book One: Personal Demons (Tom & Nimue Brown)

Justice League: Last Ride #1 (DC)

Nightwing #74 (DC)

Batman: Fear State Omega #1 (DC)

Movies

Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

Death on the Nile (2022)

The Batman (2022)

The Night House (2020)

Candyman (2021)

The Man from Toronto (2022)

Free Guy

The Cloverfield Paradox

Uncharted

The Black Phone

Ghosts of the Ozarks

Jurassic World: Dominion

Halloween Ends

Nope

The Northman

Champagne & Bullets

Killer Workout

TV

The Witcher, Season 2

The Masked Singer, Seasons 5-7

The Book of Boba Fett, Season 1

Archive 81, Season 1

Castle Rock, Season 2

Burden of Truth, Seasons 1 & 2

The Amazing Race, Seasons 33 & 34

Law & Order: Organized Crime, Seasons 1 & 2

Obi-Wan Kenobi, Season 1

No Cover, Season 1

Stranger Things, Season 4

The Umbrella Academy, Season 3

The Last Kingdom, Season 5

The Sandman, Season 1

Anatomy of a Scandal, Miniseries

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Season 1

The Sinner, Season 4

House of the Dragon, Season 1

Unsolved Mysteries (Netflix), Season 3

Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities, Season 1

Servant, Season 1

Video Games

Battlechasers: Nightwar

Tabletop Gaming

(Jon G)Pathfinder 1e Ruins of Azlant AP, 12 Sessions

Shadows of the Demon Lord: Shadows of Castle Whiterock, 12 Sessions

(Jon R)Pathfinder 1e Game Shop setting homebrew, 1 Session

Numenera One-Shot

Numenera: Those Who Move Clouds, 1 Session

A Return to Things

 Unsurprisingly, another year+ has passed since any content has been posted to this blog.

Also unsurprising is that I'm here to say that I hope to remedy the lulls I've had the past few years, and start posting at least semi-regularly.

You see, my absences have been driven by changes. Changes in workplace, changes in schedule, changes in health, changes in living conditions, and very importantly, changes in happiness. Too heavy for a blog that deals with make believe? Perhaps. True, nonetheless. I have allowed various things and circumstances in my life to dictate my mood and attitude toward almost everything for too long, and I've decided (with the help of some good old introspection) that I'm going to take the things that bring me joy and relaxation back. 

More gaming, more talking about gaming, more reading and just soaking up entertainment, in general. In the past few years, I couldn't tell you about things I've read or watched because they mostly were just to distract from stress.

I want to engage and create again.

Do I still have anyone that follows this blog? Do people still try to engage with my other endeavors, elsewhere? I'm not sure, but I know I want to try to do the things that I have loved in the past and this is one of those things.

More to come! 

My 30 Day World - Who Is the Most Renowned Hero in Your World?

 I'm participating in the #My30DayWorld exercise partially because I want to see how fleshed out my world of Khardtha actually is, and also to see what I can add, prompted by questions I may or may not have already asked myself.

Jumping back into this after a few years. Previous answers to questions 1-3 can be found here, here, and here.

Day 4 - Who is the most renowned hero in your world?

Kronor Makal was the leader of a Filian expedition to a continent that had appeared to the west of the Fartucian continent. Upon arrival, he and his expeditionary force encountered a land populated with a large race of humanoids calling themselves the Uhgur. These "Ogres," as Makal's notes called them, were an enslaved people, forced to toil and fight for a being they described as made of pure darkness.

Makal was a canny diplomat and accomplished battlemage. He led his forces in early strikes to liberate the Uhgur and help them free more of their kin. Though there were tribal enmities to overcome, the ogres fought fiercely against ashen-skinned forces clad in black that could use darkness as a weapon. After long years of war, Kronor led the coalition forces against the stronghold of their mutual enemy, clashing personally with a massive giant seemingly made of shadow. The battle shattered the lands on the southern tip of the continent, and in the aftermath, Makal asked the Ughur if the humans could settle the desolated lands. 

There, Makal built a settlement on the ruins of the enemy stronghold and the Uhgur tribes dispersed to the rest of the continent, returning to their tribal ways and working to cultivate good relations with the Filian newcomers. The Uhgur bestowed the honor of naming the continent Makalus after Kronor for his devotion to freeing their peoples.

2021: A Year in Summary

 Late with last year's list of stuff I read, watched, and played, but here it is. As with the last two years' worth (that I posted in the last couple of days), I have no excuses. As always, I welcome commentary and questions!

2021 Use of Time

Books

People of the Crossroads Continent (Onyx Path)

In Fluid Silence (G W Tirpa)

D&D 3.x Dragonlance Holy Orders of the Stars (Sovereign Press)

Tombpunk: Lo-Fi Adventuring (Outland Entertainment)

Exalted 3e Infernal Homebrew (Sandact)

Elder Scrolls RPG Delve Mode Scenario: Path to Glory (Modiphius)

Scion 2e Quick Character: Annie X (Onyx Path)

AD&D 2e Dark Sun The Player's Guide to Balic (Dark House Rules)

Deadlands Reloaded Independence Day Conversion (Pinnacle)

Deadlands Reloaded one-sheet Death in Dodge (John W Thompson)

5e D&D Unearthed Arcana Rune/Swarm/Revived (Wizards of the Coast)

Exalted 3e Adversaries of the Righteous: Cynis Borok (Onyx Path)

Exalted 3e Adversaries of the Righteous: Regara Feria (Onyx Path)

Exalted 3e Adversaries of the Righteous: Ifraja the Librarian (Onyx Path)

Exalted 3e Adversaries of the Righteous: Harrowing Silence (Onyx Path)

Exalted 3e Adversaries of the Righteous: The Broker (Onyx Path)

Exalted 3e Hundred Devils Night Parade: Mouse of the Sun (Onyx Path)

Exalted 3e Hundred Devils Night Parade: Rantai (Onyx Path)

Exalted 3e Hundred Devils Night Parade: Zicnal of Asmari (Onyx Path)

Exalted 3e Hundred Devils Night Parade: Strix (Onyx Path)

The Underwarrens (Arcane Library)

Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Watcher Sheet (Margaret Weis Productions)

Chronicles of Darkness The Golden Watch (Dawn Prough)

Chronicles of Darkness A Night with Jack (Eddy Webb)

Vampire: The Requiem 1e The Man Himself (White Wolf)

5e D&D Unearthed Arcana: Races of Ravnica (Wizards of the Coast)

5e D&D Unearthed Arcana: Greyhawk Initiative (Wizards of the Coast)

5e D&D Unearthed Arcana: Feats for Races (Wizards of the Coast)

5e D&D Unearthed Arcana: Feats for Skills (Wizards of the Coast)

5e D&D Unearthed Arcana: Starter Spells (Wizards of the Coast)

5e D&D Unearthed Arcana: Wizard Revisited (Wizards of the Coast)

5e D&D Unearthed Arcana: Mass Combat (Wizards of the Coast)

5e D&D Unearthed Arcana: Sorcerer (Wizards of the Coast)

5e D&D Unearthed Arcana: Ranger & Rogue (Wizards of the Coast)

5e D&D Unearthed Arcana: Paladin (Wizards of the Coast)

5e D&D Unearthed Arcana: Monk (Wizards of the Coast)

5e D&D Unearthed Arcana: Fighter (Wizards of the Coast)

5e D&D Unearthed Arcana: Druid (Wizards of the Coast)

5e D&D Unearthed Arcana: Cleric (Wizards of the Coast)

5e D&D Unearthed Arcana: Bard (Wizards of the Coast)

5e D&D Unearthed Arcana: Barbarian (Wizards of the Coast)

5e D&D Unearthed Arcana: Encounter Building (Wizards of the Coast)

5e D&D Unearthed Arcana: The Faithful (Wizards of the Coast)

5e D&D Unearthed Arcana: Quick Characters (Wizards of the Coast)

5e D&D Unearthed Arcana: Feats (Wizards of the Coast)

5e D&D Unearthed Arcana: Gothic Heroes (Wizards of the Coast)

5e D&D Unearthed Arcana: Kits of Old (Wizards of the Coast)

5e D&D Unearthed Arcana: That Old Black Magic (Wizards of the Coast)

5e D&D Unearthed Arcana: Light, Dark, Underdark (Wizards of the Coast)

Warhammer: Age of Sigmar 2e Quick Rules (Games Workshop)

Warhammer: Age of Sigmar 3e Core Rules (Games Workshop)

5e D&D Unearthed Arcana: Waterborne Adventures (Wizards of the Coast)

5e D&D One Grung Above (Christopher Lindsay)

Shadow of the Demon Lord Poisoned Pages: Unhinge the Mind (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord Poisoned Pages: Tooth and Claw (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord Poisoned Pages: The Witching Wood (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord expert adventure The Star's Refuge (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord starter adventure The Slaver's Lash (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord master adventure The Last Train to Darksville (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord novice adventure The Huntsman's Isle (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord novice adventure The God Below (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord expert adventure The Flute of Farewell (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord Monstrous Pages: Slaves in Death (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord Poisoned Pages: Riders of the Wind (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord Poisoned Pages: Power in A Name (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord Monstrous Pages: Odd Monsters (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord Poisoned Pages: Flesh of the Fallen (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord Poisoned Pages: Fever Dreams (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord Poisoned Pages: Dark Passages (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord Poisoned Pages: Children of the Restless Earth (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord Poisoned Pages: Battle Scars (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord novice adventure One Perfect Moment (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord expert adventure A Measure of Faith (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord expert adventure Beware the Tides of Karshoon (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord novice adventure Blood Will Run (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord Lands in Shadow: City of Death (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord Poisoned Pages: Do We Not Die? (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord Lands in Shadow: Freeholds of Nar (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord master adventure The Giant's Tribute (Schwalb Entertainment)

Dungeon Master's Little Black Book (Squarehex)

The Bork Morgue #666 (GWHY)

Shadow of the Demon Lord master adventure Heart of Winter (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord master adventure Measure of a Man (Schwalb Entertainment)

Shadow of the Demon Lord Monstrous Pages: Noisome Beasts (Schwalb Entertainment)

Magic and Shit (Levi Combs)

Movies

Coming 2 America (2021)

Midsommar (2019)

Color Out of Space (2019)

Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)

Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)

Tenet (2020)

Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971)

Thunder Force (2021)

The Tomorrow War (2021)

The Empty Man (2020)

Monster Hunter (2020)

The Keeping Hours (2017)

Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010)

Sweet Girl (2021)

The Old Guard (2020)

News of the World (2020)

Secret Societies [Documentary] (2007)

The Family [Documentary] (2016)

Halloween Kills (2021)

Eternals (2021)

Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin (2021)

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)

The Matrix: Resurrections (2021)

TV

His Dark Materials, Season 2

Into the Badlands, Seasons 1 & 2

The Stand (2021), Miniseries

The Sinner, Season 3

Sharp Objects, Miniseries

WandaVision, Season 1

The Amazing Race, Seasons 26-32

Britain's Outlaws, 3-part Docuseries

Seven Deadly Sins, Season 4

Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Season 1

Jupiter's Legacy, Season 1

The Nevers, Season 1.1

Deadwater Fell, Miniseries

Mare of Easttown, Miniseries

Loki, Season 1

NCIS: New Orleans, Seasons 1-7

Lore, Seasons 1 & 2

Kitchen Nightmares (USA), Seasons 1 & 2

American Horror Stories, Season 1

Knights, 3-part Docuseries

The Normans, 3-part Docuseries

Invincible, Season 1

Ragnarok, Season 2

The Chestnut Man, Miniseries

Cowboy Bebop (live-action), Season 1

Arcane, Season 1

Hawkeye, Miniseries

CSI: Vegas, Season 1

The Wheel of Time, Season 1

Tabletop Gaming

Battletech Escape from New Dennyson (2 Sessions)

(Sam)Pathfinder 1e Wrath of the Righteous AP 2nd Playthrough (5 Sessions)

(Jon G)Starfinder homebrew (1 Session)

(Jon G)Pathfinder 1e Ruins of Azlant AP (5 Sessions)

Shadow of the Demon Lord Shadow of Castle Whiterock (4 Sessions)

Malifaux (3 games; Resurrectionists Loss vs. Outcasts, Resurrectionists Loss vs. Arcanists, Explorers Loss vs. Guild)

*Games with names in parenthesis denotes who ran that game.