My vantage point on this whole idea of gaming is a little bit different than everyone else's. I started out creating a character (who will make several cameo's) because I really wanted to be a part of the story. As it turns out, life has a funny way of keeping me from most of the sessions that Fletcher runs, but that doesn't mean that I don't want to be a part of the story. In fact, I've been helping Fletcher to sculpt his ideas and mold them into a story that I really want to write down - and perhaps even publish into the Kindle store since self-publishing is pretty easy on a Kindle.
That being said, I'm not going to be nice to the characters in the story like Fletcher may sometimes choose to do. If a character's actions get in the way of the greater story, I'll have no problem making them face consequences, even if those consequences mean death. When I hear about role-playing, I expect each player to be fully immersed in their character. I also expect that just because a player knows something, that doesn't mean the character they are playing does. Each character is but a pawn in the grand story being told, and it is my hope or intention to turn that story into a form of fantasy epic that someone like J.R.R Tolkien or Robert Jordan would take the time to at least glance at, and perhaps even get some enjoyment out of. Aerdus is a big place with a fascinating history - and these characters are helping to write it. Remember that the next time you pick up a die - I'm watching, even if it's from afar.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
"Obey"
Session Notes for 12/16/2009
It was an interesting turn of events this night. All had assembled at the usual starting time (with Matthias coming in at the sound of the bells), and within minutes we were back into the world. When we last visited, the intrepid adventurers had vanquished many brigands in the name of justice, notoriety and not a little bit of money. They had killed the mob, but not the leader of the mob -- and there were more mob types in the camp that lay just ahead.
Tanendur still had one of the brigands under his charm spell, and after much discussion the decision was made to ask "Fred, the charmed brigand" to go ahead into camp and lure the others out of camp, into their ambush. All of the companions hid skillfully in the wooded area surrounding the most recent fight scene, but not before moving the corpses of the vanquished foes to a small area where they were sure to be found. The plan worked swimmingly! Fred led a group of five brigands down the path a ways, going past the hiding troupe. They decided from there to sneak into the camp and, with likely most of the brigands scurrying around trying to find them, they could overtake the leader with little resistance. The plan had no foreseeable flaws, and so they went ahead. Garkor, the Gnome Illusionist, chose to stay where he was so that he could continue to create noises with his cantrip ability to do so, thereby guiding the hapless brigands further and further away from the real battle.
Imagine their surprise when the got to the edge of the forest where the saw Baell, the fast-learning rogue, being held captive with a dagger at her throat and a hand over her mouth by the leader of the brigands, Roland! With a sneer and a revelation to all that he was the one who killed Baell's guardian some years ago, and with the protection of Baell's body, Roland forced the companions to agree to leave the area as he retreated back into the camp, continually using Baell as a shield. once gone from view, Roland quickly forced the rogue into a tent and, binding her hands, feet and mouth, quickly left the area and headed north... but not before cutting Baell's left cheek deeply enough to likely leave a scar. In an effort to confuse the companions, Roland left his own horse and took another instead, heading towards Goodhaven.
The companions, having satisfied their promised agreement to leave the area, and having dispatched the remaining brigands that had come to their senses and attacked the party, immediately returned to the area just outside the camp. While the rest remained hidden among the trees, Matthias quietly moved around the camp perimeter to see if Roland or any of his ilk remained. Matthias did find someone in a tent, but he seemed to be more intent upon gathering his things and vacating the area than staying and fighting an apparent mob of fighters. He quickly gathered his things and left hurriedly to the north as well, trying vainly to keep up with his leader.
Meanwhile Baell, having escaped from her binds, waited beside the tent flap to see if Roland was watching for her to escape.
Long story short, the group reunited with Baell, and after an initial search and chat with Roland's horse (see Spell, "Speak With Animals"), using Torrwin the Ranger's tracking ability, followed off after Roland, eventually leading back to Goodhaven! Very interesting... what could be in Goodhaven that would make Roland want to head there to hide?
Interesting side-note: Paranoia is running rampant in the group. Albreicht and Garkor conspired together to get the truth of what happened once Baell and Roland left the party's sight -- It seems the crew aren't certain that Baell isn't a member of Roland's crew. Via the Command spell, Baell was forced to relate what had happened -- which turned out be exactly what she had told them in the first place! Methinks those two may want to be looking over their shoulder for a while... Baell was rather put out.
Thus ended the evening... could this be the party's first defeat? Will they find Roland and complete the quest? Or will they continue on their master journey to the dreaded MageTower Ruins in search of the artifact that could save the Child Of Light?
It was an interesting turn of events this night. All had assembled at the usual starting time (with Matthias coming in at the sound of the bells), and within minutes we were back into the world. When we last visited, the intrepid adventurers had vanquished many brigands in the name of justice, notoriety and not a little bit of money. They had killed the mob, but not the leader of the mob -- and there were more mob types in the camp that lay just ahead.
Tanendur still had one of the brigands under his charm spell, and after much discussion the decision was made to ask "Fred, the charmed brigand" to go ahead into camp and lure the others out of camp, into their ambush. All of the companions hid skillfully in the wooded area surrounding the most recent fight scene, but not before moving the corpses of the vanquished foes to a small area where they were sure to be found. The plan worked swimmingly! Fred led a group of five brigands down the path a ways, going past the hiding troupe. They decided from there to sneak into the camp and, with likely most of the brigands scurrying around trying to find them, they could overtake the leader with little resistance. The plan had no foreseeable flaws, and so they went ahead. Garkor, the Gnome Illusionist, chose to stay where he was so that he could continue to create noises with his cantrip ability to do so, thereby guiding the hapless brigands further and further away from the real battle.
Imagine their surprise when the got to the edge of the forest where the saw Baell, the fast-learning rogue, being held captive with a dagger at her throat and a hand over her mouth by the leader of the brigands, Roland! With a sneer and a revelation to all that he was the one who killed Baell's guardian some years ago, and with the protection of Baell's body, Roland forced the companions to agree to leave the area as he retreated back into the camp, continually using Baell as a shield. once gone from view, Roland quickly forced the rogue into a tent and, binding her hands, feet and mouth, quickly left the area and headed north... but not before cutting Baell's left cheek deeply enough to likely leave a scar. In an effort to confuse the companions, Roland left his own horse and took another instead, heading towards Goodhaven.
The companions, having satisfied their promised agreement to leave the area, and having dispatched the remaining brigands that had come to their senses and attacked the party, immediately returned to the area just outside the camp. While the rest remained hidden among the trees, Matthias quietly moved around the camp perimeter to see if Roland or any of his ilk remained. Matthias did find someone in a tent, but he seemed to be more intent upon gathering his things and vacating the area than staying and fighting an apparent mob of fighters. He quickly gathered his things and left hurriedly to the north as well, trying vainly to keep up with his leader.
Meanwhile Baell, having escaped from her binds, waited beside the tent flap to see if Roland was watching for her to escape.
Long story short, the group reunited with Baell, and after an initial search and chat with Roland's horse (see Spell, "Speak With Animals"), using Torrwin the Ranger's tracking ability, followed off after Roland, eventually leading back to Goodhaven! Very interesting... what could be in Goodhaven that would make Roland want to head there to hide?
Interesting side-note: Paranoia is running rampant in the group. Albreicht and Garkor conspired together to get the truth of what happened once Baell and Roland left the party's sight -- It seems the crew aren't certain that Baell isn't a member of Roland's crew. Via the Command spell, Baell was forced to relate what had happened -- which turned out be exactly what she had told them in the first place! Methinks those two may want to be looking over their shoulder for a while... Baell was rather put out.
Thus ended the evening... could this be the party's first defeat? Will they find Roland and complete the quest? Or will they continue on their master journey to the dreaded MageTower Ruins in search of the artifact that could save the Child Of Light?
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
It's The End Of The World As We Know It
...OK, not really. But that song has been stuck in my head for hours now, and it kinda gives reference to my subject for today: The continent of Dansim, in the world of Aardeus.
The continent is rather large in size, the biggest in the world of Aardeus. It is primarily occupied by humans, with a small contingent of Dwarves residing in the Southwest corner of the northern part of Dansim in the mountain range of Shofium. The Dwarves have shut themselves off from the general population ever since Godzwar, since their god was the one to blame for the mass destruction of Elund and the great swathe cut into the land just south of Elund and the Shofium Mountains.
Also, there is a small population of Gnomes in the Northwest lands of G'tala Brong. The Gnomish race are an adventurous lot. Their main city of G'fum, while not nearly as large as Goodhaven, nonetheless has brought about many inventions and ideas. The Gnomes spread their knowledge to all races, for a fair price or concession.
The major human city is Goodhaven, named for the protection it provided during aftermath of Godzwar. There was once a very grand city, towards center-north section of the continent, name Elund. It was named after the primary god Elundria, one of the 5 creators of the world. Elund is in ruins now, due to the devastation caused at the ending of the Godzwar.
To the northeast of the Elundian Ruins is the Tower of High Sorcery... or at least it was. Legend has it that during Godzwar, in an attempt to keep the tower secrets from the enemy, the owner of the tower at the time cast a powerful spell that incinerated the tower and surrounding area for miles. He unfortunately had apparently perished in the blast himself, but had destroyed the tower and thousands of undead soldiers along with it. Few, if any, have been to the site since. Some say it is damned, others say the ghost of its former master haunt the grounds to this day.
Almost directly in the center of Dansim lies "The Eye," a huge lake whose shape vaguely resembles a lidded eye. The lake is very deep; indeed, no one has been to the bottom. Fishing villages dot the lake shore, thought no one has been to the center...
More to come!
The continent is rather large in size, the biggest in the world of Aardeus. It is primarily occupied by humans, with a small contingent of Dwarves residing in the Southwest corner of the northern part of Dansim in the mountain range of Shofium. The Dwarves have shut themselves off from the general population ever since Godzwar, since their god was the one to blame for the mass destruction of Elund and the great swathe cut into the land just south of Elund and the Shofium Mountains.
Also, there is a small population of Gnomes in the Northwest lands of G'tala Brong. The Gnomish race are an adventurous lot. Their main city of G'fum, while not nearly as large as Goodhaven, nonetheless has brought about many inventions and ideas. The Gnomes spread their knowledge to all races, for a fair price or concession.
The major human city is Goodhaven, named for the protection it provided during aftermath of Godzwar. There was once a very grand city, towards center-north section of the continent, name Elund. It was named after the primary god Elundria, one of the 5 creators of the world. Elund is in ruins now, due to the devastation caused at the ending of the Godzwar.
To the northeast of the Elundian Ruins is the Tower of High Sorcery... or at least it was. Legend has it that during Godzwar, in an attempt to keep the tower secrets from the enemy, the owner of the tower at the time cast a powerful spell that incinerated the tower and surrounding area for miles. He unfortunately had apparently perished in the blast himself, but had destroyed the tower and thousands of undead soldiers along with it. Few, if any, have been to the site since. Some say it is damned, others say the ghost of its former master haunt the grounds to this day.
Almost directly in the center of Dansim lies "The Eye," a huge lake whose shape vaguely resembles a lidded eye. The lake is very deep; indeed, no one has been to the bottom. Fishing villages dot the lake shore, thought no one has been to the center...
More to come!
Friday, December 11, 2009
Musings and Happenstance
What do you mean, "How did my character get here??"
When fleshing out ideas for the GodzWar campaign, many thoughts ran through my head as to how exactly I could make the experience more than just a Hack-N-Slash meat grinder adventure. After all, it was a challenge. These days, a gamer's options are wide open. It's not like it was in the 80s, when video games were little more than blots on a 16-color screen and adventures were limited to less than one Megabyte of storage. These days, video game graphics are unreal. The scenery in World Of Warcraft (of which I'm a player) is fantastic. The sound is phenomenal, with a soundtrack that rivals many movie soundtracks. Players of today's video games worry little about having their imagination take over. It's all right there, even in 3-D if you wish. How could an old school game like Original Rules AD&D think to compete? And then I had it: Make the story as vivid and full of depth as any novel. You want to hack-n-slash? Go play WoW or LoL. You want to have to think things through and be challenged every step of the way with not only physical challenges, but mental ones as well? Come into my parlor....
The first trick in handling this was to encourage, nay, demand, that all the players give some real thought into their character. Their physical appearance didn't matter too much... no, I meant for them to create a backstory that would be both intriguing and exciting. Each character has their own quirks, their own way of thinking and doing things. Most players try to do this in some way, shape or form, but do they ever really understand WHY their character is behaving in some way? The 7, as they are starting to become known, certainly understand why they do what they do.
Some would argue that this is part of the DM's job, and that I'm just passing off some work to others to make it easier for myself. On the contrary! Having the characters think of their characters to this depth makes my job more challenging. Each one has a tale, and I have endeavored to use that tale to wave a grander story line based upon each history I have received. The effect is dramatic. Each player feels more involved and in tune with their character. The story makes sense to them, because they see things that they've made up showing up in the story. As the characters (and the players) become more comfortable with each other, there is a lot of curiosity about other characters. All this boils down to one thing, and it is the one thing I have been aiming for: Emotional involvement and commitment to the characters.
There is a downside, however. Since the story revolves around the characters and they have become an intricate part of the story line, it can prove difficult when a character actually faces death. This isn't to say I'm reticent to kill a character off -- indeed, given the right circumstance it can help the story immensely... even still, when tales are told, one wants the tale to be of the original, not of the character that came afterwards. I'm really hoping the characters don't die, but if they do, my job as DM is to make the story continue -- and provide therapy and possible suicide watch over the player.
When fleshing out ideas for the GodzWar campaign, many thoughts ran through my head as to how exactly I could make the experience more than just a Hack-N-Slash meat grinder adventure. After all, it was a challenge. These days, a gamer's options are wide open. It's not like it was in the 80s, when video games were little more than blots on a 16-color screen and adventures were limited to less than one Megabyte of storage. These days, video game graphics are unreal. The scenery in World Of Warcraft (of which I'm a player) is fantastic. The sound is phenomenal, with a soundtrack that rivals many movie soundtracks. Players of today's video games worry little about having their imagination take over. It's all right there, even in 3-D if you wish. How could an old school game like Original Rules AD&D think to compete? And then I had it: Make the story as vivid and full of depth as any novel. You want to hack-n-slash? Go play WoW or LoL. You want to have to think things through and be challenged every step of the way with not only physical challenges, but mental ones as well? Come into my parlor....
The first trick in handling this was to encourage, nay, demand, that all the players give some real thought into their character. Their physical appearance didn't matter too much... no, I meant for them to create a backstory that would be both intriguing and exciting. Each character has their own quirks, their own way of thinking and doing things. Most players try to do this in some way, shape or form, but do they ever really understand WHY their character is behaving in some way? The 7, as they are starting to become known, certainly understand why they do what they do.
Some would argue that this is part of the DM's job, and that I'm just passing off some work to others to make it easier for myself. On the contrary! Having the characters think of their characters to this depth makes my job more challenging. Each one has a tale, and I have endeavored to use that tale to wave a grander story line based upon each history I have received. The effect is dramatic. Each player feels more involved and in tune with their character. The story makes sense to them, because they see things that they've made up showing up in the story. As the characters (and the players) become more comfortable with each other, there is a lot of curiosity about other characters. All this boils down to one thing, and it is the one thing I have been aiming for: Emotional involvement and commitment to the characters.
There is a downside, however. Since the story revolves around the characters and they have become an intricate part of the story line, it can prove difficult when a character actually faces death. This isn't to say I'm reticent to kill a character off -- indeed, given the right circumstance it can help the story immensely... even still, when tales are told, one wants the tale to be of the original, not of the character that came afterwards. I'm really hoping the characters don't die, but if they do, my job as DM is to make the story continue -- and provide therapy and possible suicide watch over the player.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
The GodzWar Campaign - An Epic Tale is Unfolding
It All Started So Innocently...
Having become one of the newest members of an outstanding Research & Development group at PaperWise, I found myself surrounded by incredibly talented, intelligent 20-somethings who shared my passion for software development, Star Wars, Nerf Guns... and D&D.
The leader of this team shared similar interests, adding to the list an affinity towards the old-school rules. We're talking about the original AD&D ruleset -- Version 1.0. With he and I sharing similar age brackets, we could both brag about how we vanquished 12 Ogres with bad teeth and temperaments to match. In one particular conversation we had early one particular day, I mentioned a campaign world that I had created during my DMing days, and how we should get together a group to run through this dungeon. "I could DM it, and we could use the old ruleset and show the youngsters a thing or two!" I said, laughing.
Little did I know.
The look of immediate interest on everyone's faces gave me pause. And the next thing I knew, I was delving through my stack of old notes, musings, plans and archives in an attempt to breathe life back into an old world. The leader, whom I will reference using his character's name Mattias, mentioned that he still had a complete collection of the old school books. As impressive as that was, impressed even more was I at how quickly the items were loaned to me so that I may get the grand adventure started.
What started as a bi-weekly foray into fantasy land has turned into a story that could be a tale of epic proportions. While I won't go into a terrible amount of detail here (the players are still in the dark about most of it, and chances are they may read this before I'm ready to reveal what I have planned for them!), I can say that the intrepid heroes will indeed find themselves challenged beyond what a typical D&D session might entail. There are myriad twists and turns in the adventure. Some things they may expect; others may totally blindside them in a night of sudden revelation. There will be horror and triumph, betrayal and sacrifice. It is fast coming to a point where I sit as DM, giddy and excited as I watch the story unfold. The amazing thing for me is that, although I am the creator of the story (with some fantastic help from my friend and colleague, Jason Lowenthal), I also am a an avid watcher of this bi-weekly saga. There have only been a few sessions thus far, but already I have had to improvise the story (making sure to keep the main plot line intact), adapt and overcome. Some things worked well, such as a wagon of brigands turning into a side quest that is still talked about to this day), some... well, some didn't work out well at all (A baby Purple Worm? Really? What was I thinking??). Ah well, no matter. The night was fun and all survived.
All That Being Said...
... This blog will be about GodzWar. As interesting conundrums arise, I will give as much information as possible within this space, being careful not to give away too much lest this be read by prying ears. My hope is that this, along with a wiki that has been started, will be used to create a book or three based upon the adventures of the 7. Time will be spent describing the characters as they are, giving general background information but not detailing anything that shouldn't be known. As well, I'll be giving more information about the world itself. There's a lot going on, much of which isn't known by the players although their characters show know it already. I'm excited already. Let's get started!
Having become one of the newest members of an outstanding Research & Development group at PaperWise, I found myself surrounded by incredibly talented, intelligent 20-somethings who shared my passion for software development, Star Wars, Nerf Guns... and D&D.
The leader of this team shared similar interests, adding to the list an affinity towards the old-school rules. We're talking about the original AD&D ruleset -- Version 1.0. With he and I sharing similar age brackets, we could both brag about how we vanquished 12 Ogres with bad teeth and temperaments to match. In one particular conversation we had early one particular day, I mentioned a campaign world that I had created during my DMing days, and how we should get together a group to run through this dungeon. "I could DM it, and we could use the old ruleset and show the youngsters a thing or two!" I said, laughing.
Little did I know.
The look of immediate interest on everyone's faces gave me pause. And the next thing I knew, I was delving through my stack of old notes, musings, plans and archives in an attempt to breathe life back into an old world. The leader, whom I will reference using his character's name Mattias, mentioned that he still had a complete collection of the old school books. As impressive as that was, impressed even more was I at how quickly the items were loaned to me so that I may get the grand adventure started.
What started as a bi-weekly foray into fantasy land has turned into a story that could be a tale of epic proportions. While I won't go into a terrible amount of detail here (the players are still in the dark about most of it, and chances are they may read this before I'm ready to reveal what I have planned for them!), I can say that the intrepid heroes will indeed find themselves challenged beyond what a typical D&D session might entail. There are myriad twists and turns in the adventure. Some things they may expect; others may totally blindside them in a night of sudden revelation. There will be horror and triumph, betrayal and sacrifice. It is fast coming to a point where I sit as DM, giddy and excited as I watch the story unfold. The amazing thing for me is that, although I am the creator of the story (with some fantastic help from my friend and colleague, Jason Lowenthal), I also am a an avid watcher of this bi-weekly saga. There have only been a few sessions thus far, but already I have had to improvise the story (making sure to keep the main plot line intact), adapt and overcome. Some things worked well, such as a wagon of brigands turning into a side quest that is still talked about to this day), some... well, some didn't work out well at all (A baby Purple Worm? Really? What was I thinking??). Ah well, no matter. The night was fun and all survived.
All That Being Said...
... This blog will be about GodzWar. As interesting conundrums arise, I will give as much information as possible within this space, being careful not to give away too much lest this be read by prying ears. My hope is that this, along with a wiki that has been started, will be used to create a book or three based upon the adventures of the 7. Time will be spent describing the characters as they are, giving general background information but not detailing anything that shouldn't be known. As well, I'll be giving more information about the world itself. There's a lot going on, much of which isn't known by the players although their characters show know it already. I'm excited already. Let's get started!
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