Marshall Elad of Vagon Castle, where the PCs are training as squires, continued their training. He puts them through their paces and then asks them to go check out a rumor of a bear up near Imber. Elad thinks it's probably just a dog, but you know how peasants are.
30 September 2012
27 September 2012
Hey folks! Been a while. So here's what I've been up to:
1. I've been playing a lot of Dungeon Crawl Classics. I collected the session reports here:
http://rpggeek.com/geeklist/144678/idiots-adventurous
That has links where you can go to read all about how stupid we are. I had a blast, and then the GM apparently needed a job and had to move to the big city. Sheesh.
2. I decided to start GMing Pendragon, specifically the Great Pendragon Campaign. Here's a copy of the rough session report:
After my Call of Cthulhu (2nd - 6th Edition) game kind of stalled out, and two of my favorite players moved away, and two of my other players revealed that they weren't really that into the game anyway ... it was time to reevaluate.
While running through The Complete Masks of Nyarlathotep is still on my bucket list, I decided to take a crack at one of the other things on my list. Enter the GPC!
I've never GMed KAP before; just played. Only two players could make it, so we took it small and slow.
We're playing by the book, using King Arthur Pendragon: Edition 5.1. Supplement-wise we are definitely using Book of the Manor (2nd Edition), probably using Book of Armies, maybe using Book of Knights & Ladies later but definitely not now, and probably not using Book of Battle.
I walked them through character generation using the Salisbury family history to make some Cymric characters. I love the history tables; not only do they create a sense of grounding for your character but they create connections with the other characters -- "hey, our grandfathers both fought at the Battle of XYZ!" (or whatever).
Spring, 485 AD!
We went through the beginning adventure in the book. Marshall Elad of Vagon Castle, where the PCs are training as squires, continued their training. This "adventure" is really just a method to walk them through the basic mechanics. Which is fine, but Squire Nidian remarked that it was very similar to the beginning of CRPGs. This feeling was enhanced when Elad asked them to go check out a rumor of a bear up near Imber. At least no one was asked to clean out a basement full of rats.
Turns out there was a bear! Nidian, whose family has a proclivity for hunting, quickly outpaced Squire Owain and found the bear! The bear was pretty tough, so Nidian decided to cut and run. He found Owain and they went back together to make short work of the beast. The local priest bound their wounds and got the peasants to clean and dress the bear, giving them its hide as a prize and as proof of their deed.
On the way back they found a pair of bandits beating up a peasant and decided to charge! Unfortunately for Owain, his target rolled a critical and spitted Owain on his spear, taking him to 1 HP. Owain was a mess but they managed to get him back to Vagon.
Back at Castle Vagon, Sir Elad was suitably impressed! Not with Owain getting skewered to within an inch of his life, but with their general leadership and heroism. Owain was bedridden for a few weeks but was eventually able to get up and around -- just in time for a messenger to arrive for the Marshall. They've been summoned to Sarum by Earl Roderick!
At Sarum they hobnob a little with the castle folk, and then Earl Roderick calls Owain and Nidian up in front of the assembly and knights them! Arise, Sir Owain! Arise, Sir Nidian!
We called it a night there. King Uther has summoned Roderick and his knights to aid in an attack on the Saxons!
01 June 2012
Session Recap, 21-Apr-2012
13-Aug-1924
The investigation of the MacAllister building continues. Many of the paranormal occurrences seem to be tied to The King in Yellow, but the play itself is impossible to find. Even information about it is in short supply.
The investigators have some good ideas, such as going out into the artistic community. Only one person, a theater director at small Bohemian theater, has ever head of it -- and only due to a former friend ranting and raving about it shortly before he was committed.
They return to the building that night and continue to explore the mysterious floors that appear only at night. A few experiments are conducted that seem to establish that continuity and persistence of reality is hazy at best -- items left at certain places are sometimes there upon return, and sometimes not. The same door, opened in quick succession, sometimes opens onto two completely different rooms.
They retreat to the local eatery and discuss. Although not directly related to the plot, they learn the tragic backstory of how the father of the neighborhood deli owner was banished from England and brought his family to America in shame. (Backstory listed in the first comment, below.)
Going back into the building the following night, strange things continue to beset the investigators and slowly drain away their sanity. They focus on two things: Finding the missing girl, and trying to discover who or what is behind the play. Many of the strange events in the building have some kind of puppet imagery -- is there a puppet master? If so, who? There is some concern, entirely justified, that finding out might be physically or mentally fatal.
Some specific events:
- A dog, a large mastiff, is found running down a hallway on one of the night floors. It appears friendly. Sir Richard puts an improvised rope collar and leash on it, and takes it out of the building. He lodges it in a kennel. So apparently things can be brought out of the night floors. Are there any consequences to taking things out of the night floors into the real world? They certainly didn't feel any barriers being broken.
- A locked and shuttered window is found in a living room that opens upon a dining room with a similar locked and shuttered window at the other end. That window opens upon a conservatory with a locked and shuttered window at the other end. That window opens upon a tea room, and so on. The rooms appear to go on endlessly and clearly cannot be contained within the building's external walls in any way.
- A hole is found in a wall that leads into a large series of caves. George Platt wanders them, marking his path with chalk. Unfortunately his chalk marks appear to be getting altered by someone or something and now he is truly lost. He comes upon a room with a series of alcoves, all containing ornate and unique bottles. A strange sommelier hails him and hands him a bottle with Platt's name on it, and a corkscrew. When Platt takes them, the sommelier collapses into his robes -- his hands, feet, and face were nothing more than crude mannequin constructions, but there was no substance to him. Platt opens the bottle and hears a whisper: "You are the cause of your friends' death." Or maybe it was "friend's death;" it's impossible to know which one for sure. Platt's electric torch starts flickering and he is barely able to find his way out back into the night floors.
- They find an elderly man claiming to be the manager. His name is Henri de Cavaldo Castaigne, and he has never heard of ARTLIFE, Cynthia LeChance, or any of the actual managers. Castaigne has a slight accent and claims to be from a country called "Carcosa."
- Professor Hawkins finds a large mirror. In the mirror, he is wearing archaic party clothes. Behind him, visible only in the mirror, is a large crowd of similarly-dressed people. At the back of the crowd but standing apart from it, is a huge and tattered figure, draped in yellow robes, whose face is completely obscured by a ragged hood. Is this the mysterious King? What is underneath the hood?
Again a retreat to the outside before dawn. More questions than answers. Luckily they have all the time in the world, right?
The investigation of the MacAllister building continues. Many of the paranormal occurrences seem to be tied to The King in Yellow, but the play itself is impossible to find. Even information about it is in short supply.
The investigators have some good ideas, such as going out into the artistic community. Only one person, a theater director at small Bohemian theater, has ever head of it -- and only due to a former friend ranting and raving about it shortly before he was committed.
They return to the building that night and continue to explore the mysterious floors that appear only at night. A few experiments are conducted that seem to establish that continuity and persistence of reality is hazy at best -- items left at certain places are sometimes there upon return, and sometimes not. The same door, opened in quick succession, sometimes opens onto two completely different rooms.
They retreat to the local eatery and discuss. Although not directly related to the plot, they learn the tragic backstory of how the father of the neighborhood deli owner was banished from England and brought his family to America in shame. (Backstory listed in the first comment, below.)
Going back into the building the following night, strange things continue to beset the investigators and slowly drain away their sanity. They focus on two things: Finding the missing girl, and trying to discover who or what is behind the play. Many of the strange events in the building have some kind of puppet imagery -- is there a puppet master? If so, who? There is some concern, entirely justified, that finding out might be physically or mentally fatal.
Some specific events:
- A dog, a large mastiff, is found running down a hallway on one of the night floors. It appears friendly. Sir Richard puts an improvised rope collar and leash on it, and takes it out of the building. He lodges it in a kennel. So apparently things can be brought out of the night floors. Are there any consequences to taking things out of the night floors into the real world? They certainly didn't feel any barriers being broken.
- A locked and shuttered window is found in a living room that opens upon a dining room with a similar locked and shuttered window at the other end. That window opens upon a conservatory with a locked and shuttered window at the other end. That window opens upon a tea room, and so on. The rooms appear to go on endlessly and clearly cannot be contained within the building's external walls in any way.
- A hole is found in a wall that leads into a large series of caves. George Platt wanders them, marking his path with chalk. Unfortunately his chalk marks appear to be getting altered by someone or something and now he is truly lost. He comes upon a room with a series of alcoves, all containing ornate and unique bottles. A strange sommelier hails him and hands him a bottle with Platt's name on it, and a corkscrew. When Platt takes them, the sommelier collapses into his robes -- his hands, feet, and face were nothing more than crude mannequin constructions, but there was no substance to him. Platt opens the bottle and hears a whisper: "You are the cause of your friends' death." Or maybe it was "friend's death;" it's impossible to know which one for sure. Platt's electric torch starts flickering and he is barely able to find his way out back into the night floors.
- They find an elderly man claiming to be the manager. His name is Henri de Cavaldo Castaigne, and he has never heard of ARTLIFE, Cynthia LeChance, or any of the actual managers. Castaigne has a slight accent and claims to be from a country called "Carcosa."
- Professor Hawkins finds a large mirror. In the mirror, he is wearing archaic party clothes. Behind him, visible only in the mirror, is a large crowd of similarly-dressed people. At the back of the crowd but standing apart from it, is a huge and tattered figure, draped in yellow robes, whose face is completely obscured by a ragged hood. Is this the mysterious King? What is underneath the hood?
Again a retreat to the outside before dawn. More questions than answers. Luckily they have all the time in the world, right?
08 April 2012
Session Recap, 7-Apr-2012
12-Aug-1924
A few days of investigation and research. Talking with the apartment manager reveals that all of the tenants -- not just the missing Abigail -- are three months behind on their rent and facing eviction. Curious.
Interviewing the neighborhood business indicates that the tenants have completely withdrawn from the community. They have not patronized shops, bought groceries, etc. Curious.
Sir Richard receives a family request to negotiate a business deal back in Boston and had to leave. The transient population of Manhattan is safe, for the time being.
The rest of the trepid heroes -- George Platt, Evelyn Joans, and Herr Doktor Professor Victor Hawkins -- decides that a night spent in the missing woman's apartment might provide insight.
A few days of investigation and research. Talking with the apartment manager reveals that all of the tenants -- not just the missing Abigail -- are three months behind on their rent and facing eviction. Curious.
Interviewing the neighborhood business indicates that the tenants have completely withdrawn from the community. They have not patronized shops, bought groceries, etc. Curious.
Sir Richard receives a family request to negotiate a business deal back in Boston and had to leave. The transient population of Manhattan is safe, for the time being.
The rest of the trepid heroes -- George Platt, Evelyn Joans, and Herr Doktor Professor Victor Hawkins -- decides that a night spent in the missing woman's apartment might provide insight.
14 March 2012
Session Recap, 10-Mar-2012
08-Aug-1924:
An telegram from Jackson Elias! They travel down from Boston to New York to meet him in his posh room in the Chelsea Hotel. He welcomes them in, and asks them to look into something for him -- he has a friend, a retired police captain, whose daughter, Abigail Wright, has gone missing. She was a painter, living in a Manhattan in a building for artists. Jackson would, of course, check it out himself except that he is leaving shortly for Kenya to do more research on his next book.
The party heads out to the apartment building, having gotten the keys from Jackson. The woman's room is a shambles -- hundreds of random items glued to the walls, carpet ripped up, etc. They decide to itemize the room's contents and find a few odd things....
An telegram from Jackson Elias! They travel down from Boston to New York to meet him in his posh room in the Chelsea Hotel. He welcomes them in, and asks them to look into something for him -- he has a friend, a retired police captain, whose daughter, Abigail Wright, has gone missing. She was a painter, living in a Manhattan in a building for artists. Jackson would, of course, check it out himself except that he is leaving shortly for Kenya to do more research on his next book.
The party heads out to the apartment building, having gotten the keys from Jackson. The woman's room is a shambles -- hundreds of random items glued to the walls, carpet ripped up, etc. They decide to itemize the room's contents and find a few odd things....
04 March 2012
Newspaper Clipping, 19-Jun-1920
MURDERERS HANGED
NAIROBI (Reuters) -- Five Nandi tribesmen, convicted ringleaders of the vicious Carlyle expedition massacre, were executed this morning after a short, expertly-conducted trial.
28 February 2012
Session Recap, 25-Feb-2012
The party decides to split up. George Platt (private eye) and Sir Richard Sharpe (dilettante, hobo-murderer) head to Woonsocket, the benighted country town.
Professor Victor Hawkins (archaeology, Cambridge) and young Evelyn Joans (plucky reporter) stay in Providence. Hawkins uses his academic pull to secure a private research room at Brown. Luckily it is summer break and he has a high Credit Rating. They then go to the local dog pound and casually secure a dead dog. Like you do. Hawkins wants to experiment on the "essential saltes" theory.
Returning the corpus canis to the university, a long alchemical procedure is carefully followed. At the end of which there is a small pile of blue-gray powder in the room, looking suspiciously like the powder in the many vials theystole liberated from the underground chamber of horrors. Licking his lips, Hawkins performs the hermetic counterpart.
He casts the spell and suffers a mild shock as his mind reels. Then Hawkins and Joans both gasp as they see a smoking pile of powder suddenly form into a dog. Hawkins freezes and gibbers.
The dog totters a bit, then growls savagely, leaps at the catatonic professor, and starts tearing into his throat. Young Miss Joans, not one to wilt in the heat of battle, pulls her .32 from her purse and puts a bullet through it. Then another through its brain once it releases the professor. A confused janitor shows up and the duo bluffs him. How did a rabid dog get in here? What's the meaning of this? Don't you know who I am? Etc.
Our heroes take this whole series of events as an excellent sign.
Meanwhile, in Woonsocket, Platt and Sharpe park several miles out and hike through the backcountry into town. The better to avoid authorities, you see. Sneaking up to the back of the police station, Platt cracks his knuckles, approaches the lock, and critically succeeds. The lock opens to him like a lover and they sneak in, electric torches at hand. Locating their friend's desiccated corpse, they quickly load it into a body bag and then leave.
They then proceed to schlep a dead body several miles through the backcountry in the dead of night. Due to Sir Richard's experience with night maneuvers in the War, this goes off without incident.
Our heroes take this series of events as another excellent sign.
Reuniting the next day, they formulate a plan. Hawkins reduces their friend's body to its saltes. They bottle the residue and then go to the asylum to pay a visit to their "friend." Luckily it is July 4th and most of the employees are out at festivities. Platt, the only American amongst a party of Brits, takes the opportunity to be briefly but obnoxiously patriotic.
They sign in as visitors to the asylum. Dismissing the orderly who escorted them to the padded cell, Platt and Hawkins enter. Joans and Sharpe stand watch. Their "friend" in the cell asks if they've had a change of heart. Platt says yes, and gets out a chloroformed rag and immediately presses it up against the man's face, crushing him in his deadly embrace. The man is straightjacketed and outmatched by Platt even on an even footing, so there is little he can do except squirm until he loses consciousness.
Hawkins casts the reversal. They both gasp and startle as the fiend's body withers into powder. They carefully sweep the saltes up into a little pile and scoop it into an empty vial.
Emptying out the vial of their friend onto the floor, Hawkins again casts the spell, and suffers the consequences. Their friend stands before them in shock. He slowly looks around as realization dawns, and begins to titter, then laugh madly. "Do you have my book?" he asks. "I need my book. There is so much, so much. The beauty, between the spheres. You've heard it [looking at Hawkins]. The burning in your eyes tells me. MY BOOK!"
"Sorry, Brian," says Platt, and chloroforms him. They strip him naked and then put him into the straightjacket, unconscious, and leave him on the low padded bed. They then march merrily out of the asylum and wish the desk clerk a happy fourth. They pause on the way to scatter the saltes into the Atlantic.
SO:
- they have almost certainly destroyed a long-dead sorcerer.
- they have an evil book which one party member wants to burn.
- they brought their friend back to life, probably driving him mad in the process and doing little to dissuade him from his obsession with black magic. Luckily he is safely locked up in an asylum where there is no possible way he could ever escape and cause problems for the PCs, ever.
- they are not especially welcome on the Brown university campus.
All in all, a good night's work!
But wait, what's this? A telegram from their good friend Jackson Elias? Ah, good old Jackson, just back from abroad! Let's go see what he needs and toast his good health!
Professor Victor Hawkins (archaeology, Cambridge) and young Evelyn Joans (plucky reporter) stay in Providence. Hawkins uses his academic pull to secure a private research room at Brown. Luckily it is summer break and he has a high Credit Rating. They then go to the local dog pound and casually secure a dead dog. Like you do. Hawkins wants to experiment on the "essential saltes" theory.
Returning the corpus canis to the university, a long alchemical procedure is carefully followed. At the end of which there is a small pile of blue-gray powder in the room, looking suspiciously like the powder in the many vials they
He casts the spell and suffers a mild shock as his mind reels. Then Hawkins and Joans both gasp as they see a smoking pile of powder suddenly form into a dog. Hawkins freezes and gibbers.
The dog totters a bit, then growls savagely, leaps at the catatonic professor, and starts tearing into his throat. Young Miss Joans, not one to wilt in the heat of battle, pulls her .32 from her purse and puts a bullet through it. Then another through its brain once it releases the professor. A confused janitor shows up and the duo bluffs him. How did a rabid dog get in here? What's the meaning of this? Don't you know who I am? Etc.
Our heroes take this whole series of events as an excellent sign.
Meanwhile, in Woonsocket, Platt and Sharpe park several miles out and hike through the backcountry into town. The better to avoid authorities, you see. Sneaking up to the back of the police station, Platt cracks his knuckles, approaches the lock, and critically succeeds. The lock opens to him like a lover and they sneak in, electric torches at hand. Locating their friend's desiccated corpse, they quickly load it into a body bag and then leave.
They then proceed to schlep a dead body several miles through the backcountry in the dead of night. Due to Sir Richard's experience with night maneuvers in the War, this goes off without incident.
Our heroes take this series of events as another excellent sign.
Reuniting the next day, they formulate a plan. Hawkins reduces their friend's body to its saltes. They bottle the residue and then go to the asylum to pay a visit to their "friend." Luckily it is July 4th and most of the employees are out at festivities. Platt, the only American amongst a party of Brits, takes the opportunity to be briefly but obnoxiously patriotic.
They sign in as visitors to the asylum. Dismissing the orderly who escorted them to the padded cell, Platt and Hawkins enter. Joans and Sharpe stand watch. Their "friend" in the cell asks if they've had a change of heart. Platt says yes, and gets out a chloroformed rag and immediately presses it up against the man's face, crushing him in his deadly embrace. The man is straightjacketed and outmatched by Platt even on an even footing, so there is little he can do except squirm until he loses consciousness.
Hawkins casts the reversal. They both gasp and startle as the fiend's body withers into powder. They carefully sweep the saltes up into a little pile and scoop it into an empty vial.
Emptying out the vial of their friend onto the floor, Hawkins again casts the spell, and suffers the consequences. Their friend stands before them in shock. He slowly looks around as realization dawns, and begins to titter, then laugh madly. "Do you have my book?" he asks. "I need my book. There is so much, so much. The beauty, between the spheres. You've heard it [looking at Hawkins]. The burning in your eyes tells me. MY BOOK!"
"Sorry, Brian," says Platt, and chloroforms him. They strip him naked and then put him into the straightjacket, unconscious, and leave him on the low padded bed. They then march merrily out of the asylum and wish the desk clerk a happy fourth. They pause on the way to scatter the saltes into the Atlantic.
SO:
- they have almost certainly destroyed a long-dead sorcerer.
- they have an evil book which one party member wants to burn.
- they brought their friend back to life, probably driving him mad in the process and doing little to dissuade him from his obsession with black magic. Luckily he is safely locked up in an asylum where there is no possible way he could ever escape and cause problems for the PCs, ever.
- they are not especially welcome on the Brown university campus.
All in all, a good night's work!
But wait, what's this? A telegram from their good friend Jackson Elias? Ah, good old Jackson, just back from abroad! Let's go see what he needs and toast his good health!
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