The Broken Lands Session 1

We had our first session of the online Broken Lands game a while ago. Picking from the list of Adventure Hooks that had been provided the party set off for the Tower of Birds.

The Party:
Vanuatu the Vegan (Magic-User 1)
Twig (Thief 1)
Elu (Elf 1)
Buzz (Dwarf 1)
Plus two porters to carry torches and caged chickens in and hopefully treasure out.

The Adventure (aka there will be light spoilers below):
Tower of Birds by Gabor Lux in Fight On! #2
I made a few minor changes - statuary was changed to being statues of Pazuzu and I added Spectral Ravens to location #9 and toned down the laser damage (however, the party never made it to this room).
I also mis-read the map and swapped locations #7 and #8.

What Happened:
The party was dogged in driving towards the top of the tower driving a squawking and flapping chicken in front of them up the stairs (in most dungeons this would have resulted in MANY wandering monster checks).

In the final encounter Twig, the thief, sprinted for the huge gem while the other party members battled the Bird Monsters. He was able to grab it and throw it to Vanuatu the Magic-user (who was back at the stairs) before being slaughtered by the Bird Monsters (he had the magic sword and pegasus helmet). Buzz the Dwarf was also killed. Elu the Elf and Vanuatu (scooping up the gem) made a hasty tactical retreat and hauled ass after the fleeing porters (leaving behind the chickens).

The Tally:
Killed 2 Bird Monsters
The Blood Egg
A sword with a golden pommel
A small statuette of Pazuzu
A small sack with 34 gp
The pegasus helmet and a magic sword remained behind with the fallen.

2,035 XP for the two surviving party members.

What Worked Well/What Didn’t Work Well:
I tried to set up two cameras on my end - one for my face and my viewing (my laptop) and one to show the table, combat maps, drawings, etc. (my phone). However, my lack of technical know-how prevented me effectively setting this up. We defaulted to me just swinging my laptop around to show what I wanted. Also, instead of using the table map I just sketched a lot on scrap paper and held them up to the camera.

Prior to setting out, one of the players asked about a library to do some research about the Tower. I was unhappy with how I handled it.

B/X Sages and Libraries

In a recent online game one of the players asked about a library to do some research regarding an adventure hook. I gave a quick answer to keep the game moving, but was unhappy about how I handled it.

Afterwards, I was thinking about how to handle this circumstance. Going forward, I think I will handle it in one of two ways: 1) The simplest way - there are no accessible libraries. They all belong to sages who obsessively guard access; or 2) If there is a library it provides the same service as a sage but the players have to do the work without the benefit of the expertise and knowledge of a sage to help them.

Using the very brief blurb about sages on page X21 as a starting point, below are some quick (un-play tested) rules I came up with for Sages and Libraries.

The Scope of Work
Ask the question(s) you want answered. The number of words in the question(s) will determine how much it will cost and how long it will take to answer. For each word, there will be a base cost of 100gp and 1 day. Each additional question will add +1 to the word count (in effect putting an “and” in the question). The number of words is a quick and dirty estimate for the level of detail in the question and answer. If using a library instead of a sage, the time is doubled but costs are halved.

• For example, asking a sage, “Where is the blade of the sword of Akekemmon? How can it be fixed?” is 14 words plus 1 for the additional question is 15. These questions will have a base cost of 1,500 gp and take 15 days to get an answer. The same questions at a library will cost 750 gp but take 30 days.

Or you can hire a sage on retainer for 2,000 gp per month. 

And the Answer Is…

Roll 2d6:
2 - Incorrect answer (insert evil laugh).
3-5 - Question answered but at twice the cost and time.
6-8 - Question answered at base cost and time.
9-11 - Question answered. Cost and time are 75% of base.
12 - Answer plus another related fact. Cost and time halved.

If you have the sage on retainer the roll is still made for time required. The DM can determine if the cost varies based on the die roll (additional materials required, sage travel expenses, etc.)

Possible Modifiers:
Sage specialty or library facilities: Up to +2/-2
Difficulty/Obscurity of Question: Up to +2/-2

Note: I have the sneaking suspicion that I have read something resembling this in the past. My apologies for not being able to properly attribute this to whomever it was that provided the inspiration.

The Octozoid

A combination new BX monster and Stupid Art post! Not so hot in the grammar department, but oh well.

The Broken Lands

With our Nightmoor Abbey game going on hiatus, I decided to try running an online BX game for the same crew. I didn't want to run Nightmoor Abbey as for some strange personal reasons I want to play it at the table. Therefore, I sent the following to the players...

Goal: A picaresque, episodic, beer-n-pretzels game

• Using Google Hangouts
• Designed to let me use a bunch of classic and OSR modules
• There will always be 2-4 adventure hooks available to choose from (initial 3 below)
• A few house rules
• Dice rolls are honour system. I will try to roll the DM dice on the camera.

Characters:

• 3d6 in order
• Any class/race for BX or Labyrinth Lord is usable (just run it by me first so I know the source)

The Broken Lands

Welcome to Jekarra the Wicked, the city of thieves, the city of adventure. Throughout the known world, no city is half so notorious. Blackened by fire, soiled by pestilence, and scarred by war, its sandy collection of spiderwebbed tenements and rat-ridden bazaars have birthed some of the worst rogues and villains to ever stalk the storied thrones of the south.

But the City of Thieves, is also a city of chance and adventure, where fortunes are won in a night and lost before dawn. Where gems glint and flare in the lamplight, the might of magic knows no bounds, and a warrior's quick blade and shirt of mail are his best defense. The City of Jekarra sits atop the Cliffs of Leng. The huge 1,000-foot cliff face is pocked with caves, balconies and passageways - some made by the residents of Jekarra over the centuries for uses both mundane and illicit and some predate the founding of the city by millenia.

Cutting across the face of the Cliffs of Leng, the Tartarus Road descends from the city to the Broken Lands below. What caused the terrible landscape of the Broken Lands none know. It is a blasted and forsaken land full of pits, ruins, and dungeons. Wandering this inhospitable land are fearsome monsters, religious fanatics, savage raiders, and worse. However, it is also rumoured to contain treasures beyond measure.

So loosen your sword, keep a hand on your coin pouch, and take these first steps out of the tavern, and through the shadowy, torch-lit streets. A black mist is roiling beyond the precipice of the Leng, and adventure beckons below…

Initial Adventure Hooks:

1. Gerod, the Silver Man, sold you a map for 1 sp. He swore it will lead you to the Tower of Birds in the Broken Lands which contains the Blood Egg, a fantastic red gem.
2. You’ve been hearing rumours of a strange event near the bottom of the Tartarus Road. About two months ago, lightning filled the skies over a monastery dedicated to the Iron God. Rumours say all the buildings of the temple were destroyed in one night by hundreds of bolts of lightning. Some say that the Iron God destroyed his own monks as a punishment for their greed; they claim that the heretical monks had been accumulating great treasures in the underground catacombs beneath the temple instead of maintaining the spartan life required by their God. So far, no one has dared to explore the catacombs, so the monks’ ill-gotten treasures must still be there, ripe for the taking.
3. Long ago a wizard built a tower atop some barrows just south of the Red Massif overlooking the Road of Tombs. Rumour has it the wizard made extensive cellars and tunnels underneath the tower in search of ancient treasures. Fifty years ago the tower was engulfed in green flame. Several of his human servants escaped the holocaust, saying their master had been destroyed by some powerful force he had unleashed in the depths of the tower. The supernatural conflagration destroyed the tower, but tales persist of magical treasures still hidden in the cellars.

Many will likely recognize the hooks.

Stupid Art - Orcs

Nightmoor Abbey - Session 2 postponed

Due to recommended social distancing we decided to shelve this past week's Nightmoor Abbey game. Unfortunately, it will likely be on hiatus for a while.

Nightmoor Abbey - Session 1

How do you do this again?

We sat down for the first session of Nightmoor Abbey a few evenings ago. The first while was taken up with character generation which took a good while, as I knew it would. It has been quite some time since any of us had played 1E AD&D. Once characters were created we had a party made of:

• Miroslav - Human Cleric of Law
• Kazimir - Human Cleric of Law, brother of Miroslav
• Thane - Human pagan Ranger
• Thessia - Human Druid, sister of Thane
• Sir Saptac - Human Paladin
• Zi-bert - Frogling Fighter/Thief

What happened

• After collecting a handful of rumours, the party approached the ruined walled abbey from the north (the direction of approach from the village of Nightmoor). Laying between them and the crumbling walls was an old graveyard with tombstones and a small mausoleum overgrown with vines, weeds and other growth.
• Carefully investigating the mausoleum they found a sealed stone sarcophagus. Careful to leave the sarcophagus alone they discovered a narrow well in the back of the mausoleum that descended into darkness.
• Zi-bert used the vines covering the walls surrounding the abbey to climb up and reconnoissance the area inside. The walls made a large rectangle with ruined towers at the four corners and a gate house occupied the center of the eastern wall. The thorny vines left his webbed hands raw and inflamed.
• Seeing nothing too worrying, Zi-bert returned to the party and the group circled around to the east where the gatehouse and a crumbled section of wall provided two avenues through which to enter the abbey grounds proper.
• In the abbey grounds were the large stone cathedral, another well, and the old remains of a wooden stable. The cathedral was obviously once a large structure but much of it had fallen into ruin but had bits of surprising restoration. Dropping a lit torch down the well, it fell approximately 30-40 feet and landed with a hiss in water. However, they thought that the well shaft might open up before reaching the water.
• Next checking out the old stable, Thane the Ranger caught the sent of a bear den. They were careful not to disturb anything that might be laired within.
• Circling to the south of the cathedral, they found the main entrance - two large iron bound doors that appeared to be more recent additions.
• As the party prepared to open the doors a wandering monster check indicated that the black bear in the old stable was approaching. Thinking fast, Thane the Ranger was able to scare the bear off.
• Entering the cathedral, the party found themselves in the nave and choir. Graffiti covered the walls and one written message caught the party's attention - "Beware of spiders". On the desecrated altar was a severed half rotten goat head and two spent black candles. Laying on the floor in front of the altar was a severed hand. The Cleric brothers tried a simple ritual to reconsecrate the altar. Investigating the altar further the thief found a hidden compartment and discovered that it was likely trapped. He was then able to safely trigger the scythe trap that likely left the five-fingered memento laying on the floor. Inside the hidden compartment was a small sack of gold coins.
• Investigating a few more rooms, the party took notice of a graffiti

  

  Graffiti Symbol

   symbol and the party was attacked by 3 giant rats which were quickly killed.
• The party then found an archway leading to stairs descending down to the first level of the dungeon. Me not being afraid of cliche, the message "Abandon all hope" was scrawled above arch. This is where we called it a night.

The tally

• Killed 3 giant rats
• Scared off 1 black bear
• A small sack of 50 gp.

What worked / what didn't work

• I'm pretty happy with how the first session went. We were rusty and unfamiliar with some of the intricacies of 1E AD&D since we haven't played it in so long. This caused pacing to be a bit slower than I would prefer but it will pick up as we get more familiar with the rules.
• I used a reaction roll to see what the Black Bear did when Thane tried to scare it off. I love reaction rolls. However, and I am likely going to say this a lot, I prefer the simplicity of the Reaction rules in B/X to 1E or 2E AD&D. That being said, it worked well, rewarded Thane's player for some quick thinking, and likely saved the party from a tough fight. 
• We only had the one combat. I envision the first few combats taking a while as we walk through the procedures and my interpretation of how the rules will be applied. For the combat against the giant rats we walked through:
• Closing to Strike - DMG pg 66
• Initiative Ties - DMG pg 63
• Who Attacks Whom - DMG pg 70
• Missile Discharge - DMG pg 63 - specifically firing missiles into melee
• We did Surprise wrong which I will have to correct next session.