Max Enters the Dungeon Realm...

 On this lazy Good Friday, Max and I had the opportunity to sit down and play a little Dungeon Realm. There is nothing quite like father and son sitting down to play at the gaming table. 

Max opted to play Zortan Graeme, human wizard, and Telles Heroshall, human cleric. The village elders hired the pair to eliminate the goblin threat. The two adventurers were led to the forest ruins by a local forester. Immediately upon entering the ruin's perimeter, the goblins attacked. 

During the skirmish, several of the gobs escaped down a staircase to the catacombs below the ruins. Zortan and Telles descended into the darkness led by Zortan's magical light. The flooded ruins that awaited them was crawling with the little humanoids. 

They battled the sentries and realized that the there may be more goblins than they had first thought. Soon the goblin crossbows were taking their toll. 

Zortan decided to cast invisibility and scout ahead, leaving Telles to deal with the goblins on this side. The wizard had spied a teleportation platform and made a decision to see where it leads, deducing that the goblins probably used the teleportation platform to quickly cross the river. He stepped onto the pad and was instantly across the river on the other side staring into the eyes of goblins left to guard the platform. The poor gobs were confused though, having seen the eldritch light that happens when the platform is used but seeing no one. The wizard hastily left the platform; good thing, too, as the goblins fired their crossbows anyway. While Telles battled for his life, Zortan infiltrated further into the ruined walls of the catacombs. That's when the wizard saw the goblin shaman, his two pet giant spiders, and an ogre! Zortan knew they were in trouble.

Instead of attacking the shaman and his bodyguards, Zortan wisely decided to stay invisible and gather more information about his opponents. While doing so, however, the ogre smelled him but was quite confused as to why he couldn't see what it smelled. 

Zortan quickly and quietly cast a teleportation spell of his own that took him back across the river. 

By this time, though,  Telles had fallen to some well-placed crossbow bolts . Zortan made the decision to save his comrade. He turned himself invisible and made his way to the teleprotation platform, grabbed his unconscious companion's ankles and tried to pull him from the grip of a measly goblin. All three were teleported back across the river. 

Zortan tried to send a magical bolt into the persistent goblin, but the little guy resisted. It immediately attacked the wizard, but Zortan managed to evade the creature's short sword and this time successfully cast his spell, sending the goblin to its doom. Quickly, the wizard grabbed his companion and high-tailed it out of there. They returned to the village and plan on hiring some extra muscle before returning to take care of the goblin menace once and for all. 

Making memories one gaming session at a time. 

A Busy Few Days in the Lives of the Heroes of Larm

 Blue the Half-elf bard decided that diplomacy might work where force of arms did not. He boldly went forward to parley with the goblin chieftain. Weaponless, he entered the goblin encampment to discuss the terms for a peaceful co-existence. The negotiations went rather well all things considered. The gods only know how it will turn out...

 The druid stayed behind to keep an eye on the goblins, while the remainder of the group returned to Larm. There they reported to the mayor and Commander Arbogast. Both are skeptical of the tenuous deal Blue struck. They are willing to wait and see as they have nothing to lose. 

The Heroes then decided to pay a visit to the mad hermit Erkmar to tell him that the Temple of Thaxon is now freed from its curse, but they found that he may just be a bit too far gone into madness to be salvageable. They have decided to send word to the Temple of Thaxon in Dolmvay to request a priest of their order come and try to ease the suffering of Erkmar. 

The druid, Lavender Thyme, keeps feeling the misery of the old town tree and continues her quest to discover what ails the town symbol.

Then the Heroes turned their attention to trying to solve the mystery of who or what is stealing the goods of local merchant, Dankomar. In the midst of the investigation, a young girl comes running into town saying that her dog had been taken by a creature with claws. The Heroes of Larm sprang into action and headed toward Witch's Hill, south and east of the city. There they found an ancient ruin and no sign of the pooch. They found a rather ominous hole and made their way into the subterranean levels of this nameless ruin. A spider and fragile clay golem awaited them. The spider incapacitated over half the party before finally being brought down. The golem was shattered by barbarian and exploded, releasing a massive stinking cloud. The half orc dragged his group out of the nauseating mist and now they are resting against the walls of an ancient ruin, looking for a little dog. 

Here is the bard Blue's account of the events above. Much better written and wittier than the above. Enjoy!

 http://www.wolfandmoose.com/starshield/pmwiki.php/CC/041811

The Goblins Have Their Day...

After returning to Mayor Caius Rusticus, the Heroes of Larm collected their pay for clearing the mill. Now that he knows the group is trustworthy, the mayor requests the Heroes see the leader of the militia, Commander Arbogast, for another mission involving the recent goblin attacks that have been plaguing the area. 

Arbogast is excited that the mayor has sent these powerful adventurers to take care of his problem. The militia is just not big enough to take care of the menace. 

A scout, a girl from town, Gesa, who is very comfortable in the wilderness, has located the goblin encampment. Arbogast sends her to guide the Heroes to the goblin's camp. 

The Heroes opted for a direct assault, incapacitating the goblin tree sentries. However, after sending a sonic blast into the main skirmish line of the goblins, battle frenzy got the best of the dwarven cleric, and he rushed in contrary to his usually level-headed wise ways. He was felled immediately by goblin arrows. 

The rest of the party made their way into the encampment and took cover and recovered the felled cleric. Things just got worse from there. The Heroes of Larm had to rely on the not-quite-adequate cover of the illusionist's obscuring mist spell to save them from the goblin arrows. 

Eventually, the goblin chieftain felt he had lost too many soldiers and threatened to slash the throat of the unconscious druid until the Heroes left his encampment. They did, and the goblins returned the druid unharmed. 

Now the Heroes are licking their wounds and basking in the healing ability of the dwarves as they plot their next move. 

Regardless of what they decide, they know they must be more cautious on their next foray into the enemy camp if they are to rid Larm of the humanoid menace...

Adventurers Become Heroes...

The Heroes of Larm emerged from the Abandoned Temple of Thaxon after defeating the foul undead that plagued the place for years. They found evidence that it was the vile god, Grimic's work that brought the Temple to ruin.

After their excursion into the temple, the mayor asked them to help the miller with a bit of a problem. They became exterminators. All in a night's work.

The Company of the Starshield Gaming Society Delves Into the Haunted Temple of Thaxon...

 Tonight the adventurers continued their exploration of the Haunted Temple of Thaxon wherein they found a glowing sword, the restless remains of the former priests of Thaxon who called this temple home, and that illusion magic really doesn't do much against the undead.

This post will be brief as to allow Blue, half elf bard extraordinaire, to provide you with his take on his and his companion's most harrowing journey into the bowels of the cursed ruin. Stay tuned for a link to his journal.

As for my take, let me say how much I am enjoying the Village of Larm. It really feels like slipping on a comfortable old coat: fresh nostalgia at its finest.

The Starshield Gaming Society Returns to Castles and Crusades and Discovers the Village of Larm

Tonight we returned to Castles and Crusades. We had set it aside for the universality of Savage Worlds; however, nothing lasts forever, and nostalgia sent us back to the days of defined classes and the dominance of the d20. I will only run 3 systems in my old age: Dungeon Realm, Savage Worlds, or Castles and Crusades. Last week we took a vote, and the winner was: C&C. 

Most of us are 40-something gamers (some of us are 30+) who have been playing RPGs since we were 12. We are The Starshield Gaming Society, and thanks to one of our founding members, Weezoh, we now have our own official dice. Aren't they cool?

After getting a feel for what my players wanted, I opted to dive into the OSR and purchase the Village of Larm and the Ruins of Ramat, all published by Brave Halfling Publishing and their partner, Arcane Creations. I am really impressed with the quality of their products and the commitment they have to giving their customers an excellent and authentic old school experience. 

Six adventurers made their way to the small borderland village:

a human illusionist

a human barbarian

a dwarf paladin

a dwarf cleric

a human druid

a half elf bard

They all made their way to the Borderland village of Larm for their own reasons: some seek adventure, some seek a challenge, all seek treasure. While in Larm, the group's paths crossed, and they all realized that destiny had brought them together. They had been made to feel welcomed at the Borderland Tavern and the Church of the Wise Mother. Now, they seek to purge the abandoned Temple of Thaxon, which was once a place of good but is now infested with evil. 

Here in this small borderland village, these adventurers seek to become heroes. Only time and the gods know whether that will happen or whether they may find a violent end in the pursuit of glory and gold. 

And here is the travel journal of the half elf bard http://www.wolfandmoose.com/starshield/pmwiki.php/CC/032111

Rules Tweaks Part 4: Spell Casting Proficiency

This time around, I am adding a tweak to Magic-users. When I was developing the core rules, I felt that improving an Attribute each level would be enough for the Magic-user class. After all, they can cast pretty much any spell with a successful Skill Roll. I figured a player would improve the Magic-user's Skill Attribute at each level and thus improve the character's effectiveness. Now that we have several games under our belt, I see that in the mid to upper levels, that might not be enough. I originally figured the Magic-user would gain magic items like a Staff of Spellcasting which would add an additional die to the Skill Roll when casting spells. That is great, but occurred to me that that might not be enough. After all, casting spells is an art and a skill that should get better with use.

Therefore, I am adding the following Special Ability to the Magic-user class:

Casting Proficiency: At every level divisble by 5, a magic-user casts spells at -1 Casting Modifier. Ex: -2 CM at 10^th level etc.

Now the Magic-user's ability will increase at a reasonable rate. I also nerfed the Casting Modifier for the Attack spell to -1. Now I feel the Magic-user character has a bit more to look forward to as she advances in levels beyond a better Skill and some magic items.