Bleeding for science...

COVID free... for now.

So the COVID-19 antibody test (part of the Ipso Mori / Imperial College study for the NHS) arrived and I have duly stabbed myself and bled for science. Apparently, I am coronavirus anti-body free (although there are loads of caveats in the testing guidance). Photograph of result taken and uploaded to the study. 

I was randomly selected via NHS records and invited to take part in this.

Take out for me is that I have every reason to be careful and protect myself and others. But that hasn’t changed. 

Somehow this reassures me, despite watching the ongoing trainwreck which is the Westminster Government's failure to manage the pandemic with the resultant impacts on people and the economy. The science is sound, but for how long? Already Public Health England has been scapegoated and is to be replaced by a new agency, yet they have the clearest and most informative communicators of where we are. 

Alas, once the science is ignored, all our political leaders bring to the table is blustering waffle to dissemble from their past failures and a gabbled gallop through new restrictions, hoping that no-one realises that they could have acted weeks to avoid the consequences and impact of the latest u-turn.

161 deaths for each member of this government so far. [1]

31 October 2020

[1] https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/deaths

(58,925 / 364 MPs)

The Stories Return...

One of the weird side effects of my Mum passing away is that I found it really hard to read any fiction. Roleplaying rules and supplements were fine, but something just wasn't working with fiction. I'm really pleased that I seem to have got over that towards the end of this week, finally finishing "Babylon Berlin" and then wanting to dig straight into another book. I was a little thwarted by the Kindle running low on charge, but it's nice to be able to escape like this again.

It's strange in some ways; my Dad's escape, while he stayed with us, was to dig back into an SF series (CJ Cherryh's Foreigner) that he hadn't read for years and his copies had been lost when they moved to Portishead from Cheshire. My mind wouldn't rest on a novel at all.

First Impressions - Warpstar! Core Rules

Warpstar! Taking the Warlock! engine into space...

Warpstar! arrived at the same time as Warlock! Compendium 2, a 242-page hardback digest-sized book with artwork and trade dress similar to Warlock! except that the book has a silver tint rather than a sepia/gold tint.

TL;DR: Warpstar! is very much a space opera game; it's not hard SF. The feel is a blend of the original Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, Laserburn and some of the 2000AD settings like Strontium Dog. The game engine is simple, hackable and the setting leaves more than enough space to expand upon with your own ideas. The game feels very different to others out there, with shining technology and hope present. This isn't grimdark, but I could imagine it feeling very noir and dangerous in the locales that player characters would frequent.

The game is very much built on the same engine as Warlock!, which I've discussed at more length in a previous post so I won't dive in here. The significant changes include that the rules for talents have been integrated into the game as has the way of expressing the statistics on non-player characters (denizens). Both of these mechanics were also released for Warlock! in Compendium 2 (which came out the same day).

Combat has been refreshed; the biggest changes relate to ranged weapons; you can now carry out a flanking action to try and get the drop on the enemy by making an athletics roll. If you succeed, you get +5 on your skill roll, but if you fail you face a -5 on any dodge tests for the rest of the round to signify that you've been caught in the open. You can also attempt to pin the enemy down which locks them in position and gives them a -5 penalty. Of course, you've got to make a successful spot check to do this; if you succeed you don't damage them. 

One really nasty rules change is for surprise attacks; if you succeed, the victim goes to 0 stamina (no matter how much damage you roll) and the damage rolled is used as a modifier on the critical table roll, which is absolutely brutal. Snipers will be feared.

Weapons are described with a code such as M2d6+1E. This is a medium weapon which does 2d6+1 on a hit and rolls on the Energy Weapon critical table. This amalgamates what was in the rules for Warlock! together and feels a bit more SF.

Starship weapons are discussed in detail; they use the same kind of coding. The starship rules gloss over their use against human scale targets, saying that the two are on such different scales that they cannot be intermixed; however, the vehicle rules mention that damage from vehicles to starships should be divided by 3 and from starships to vehicles should be multiplied by 3. As vehicles use the same weapons as characters, this gives a route in.

Starships travel by warp and are controlled by Minds, limited AIs rather than the full Banksian Culture style intelligences. They can operate all aspects of the ship, but most operations benefit from a human in the loop. Starships are described in terms of their manoeuvrability, the ship-scale guns that they carry, the anti-personnel guns they carry, how good their scanners are, their armour and a structure value (which is a surrogate for stamina on a character). There are a number of examples suitable for a party and their adversaries, plus some bigger vessels which may be encountered. Starships have their own critical table.

Other vehicles are covered; these are defined by manoeuvrability, guns, armour and structure (although this is now on the same scale as characters rather than starships). Again, they have a separate critical table.

All characters have the potential to manifest the warp in the form of Warp Glyphs. These are effectively like spells and psionic effects. They are either standard or opposed. Standard glyphs just need a skill test to activate, whereas opposed glyphs need the character to win an opposed warp focus skill contest as these attack an opponent directly. All glyphs need stamina to work. Rolling a 1 triggers a second check (just like spells in Warlock!) that will force a roll on the mishap 'warp bleed' table should they fail again. There are a set of mutation tables like those seen in the Warlock! Compendium to use should the warp twist the characters when it bleeds through. There's a list of 36 warp glyphs for characters and their opponents to have access to.

The final sections of the book describe the galaxy; the setting is 'The Chorus', an empire far in the future when the location of Earth has been lost. The Autarch leads the Chorus from the planet Jewel, balancing the demands of the Hegemony (the military and the feared Nova Guard in their powered armours), the Merchant Combine (whose ships and goods are the lifeblood of the Chorus) and the Warp Consortium (an alliance of technologists who have developed warp and other technologies) to maintain peace and stability. The Autarch partly achieves this by controlling the supply of Cadence, a drug which will give users immortality. Worlds are ruled by great houses whose approach varies widely. Aliens (denizens) and robots are common and described along with a basic discussion of technology. There's a section on denizens, which also provides a bestiary, and the book ends with some advice for the games master before the character sheet. There's no introductory scenario.

This is very much a space opera game; it's not hard SF. The feel is a blend of the original Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, Laserburn and some of the 2000AD settings like Strontium Dog. In fact, I can imagine many of the stories in 2000AD in the early 1980s (when I was reading it) being playable with this game without changing from the Chorus setting. The game engine is simple, hackable and the setting leaves more than enough space to expand upon with your own ideas.

I like what Greg has done here; it feels very different, with shining technology and hope present. This isn't grimdark, but I could imagine it feeling very noir and dangerous in the locales that player characters would frequent.

Recommended.

26 October 2020

First Impressions - Warlock! Compendium 2

Warlock! expands further with its second compendium.

The second expansion compendium for Warlock arrived this weekend, one of three releases from Fire Ruby Designs this month (The others being Warlock! Griff's Vale and the SF take on Warlock!, Warpstar!). Expect a review of Warpstar! to follow soon as that arrived in the same parcel and Griff's Vale in a few weeks once it's delivered.

TLDR; The Warlock! Compendium 2 contains four themed sets of modular expansions which enhance the basic game and add plenty of material to support roleplaying with hooks and mechanics that encourage play. The material here will be a benefit for players and referees alike. Plus the addition of Goblin and Dwarf black powder weapons promises to be explosively entertaining.

Warlock! Compendium 2 follows a similar format to the previous Compendium. It's split into four distinct parts and is very much a modular expansion. You can choose what you want to draw upon, but it's written so that they all integrate nicely together if you need them to. The book itself is a 107-page casebound hardback very similar to the previous releases, with the same simple trade dress. It's not art-heavy, but the pieces all work well to evoke the feel of the genre that it's trying to emulate.

Full disclosure: a big chunk of the second part was written originally by me and tidied up by Greg Saunders. I hadn't seen the rest of the book before I bought it, and I have no remuneration from writing it or producing this review. It was written as something for me to use that I shared with the Warlock! community on Discord in case it was of use to them. I'm hoping to get Warlock! to the game table sometime soon. 

The book opens with a detailed two-page table of contents, which works effectively as an index.

Part 1: Character Options predominantly gives you options to add more flavour to your character and add in hooks that can be drawn upon by the GM or players to drive the game. There are random tables for you to select your height, frame, hair and skin. The later isn't about colour or race - the introduction is very clear that the Kingdom is a diverse melting pot - but rather about if you have any distinguishing features. You can give yourself a 'cruel misfortune' from your past (a bit like the dark secret idea in Vaesen) and also a 'memento' that means something to you. It doesn't serve a mechanical purpose, but it's another hook to draw upon. There's a random table to select where you came from, why you want to adventure, how you met the party. You can also generate a 'dark secret' which is a somewhat nastier thing than the misfortune option. The final background tables round out with 'where you last saw your sweetheart', a table of contacts that you know and a list of names. All these tables aren't necessary, but rather serve as sources of inspiration.

The section then moves onto the first modular expansion to the rules; your character can have a unique talent. As is typical for Warlock! you roll two dice and pick the result you prefer from two d20 tables. Each of the talents gives you a mechanical advantage in a situation which can affect skill rolls, combat outcomes or give you another ability such as Witch-sight or boosted abilities. I like these as they add something unique to your characters which doesn't overpower the game.

The second modular expansion is the addition of Passions. These can be positive or negative (desire/loyalty/love/respect/devotion/uphold vs. hate/fear/vice) and can be invoked once per session to gain a +5 bonus if you go with the passion, and a -5 bonus if you go against it. Each character has a positive and negative pair to start with, and they only change if the story dictates and the GM agrees. As a mechanic, it's clearly inspired by Pendragon but provides a mechanic that reinforces the character concept. I like these as they round out the character description along with traits.

The final modular addition in this section is the addition of a simple reputation mechanic. You can have different reputations, which can be positive or negative. Mechanically, the reputation score can modify dice rolls (typically in social interactions) positively or negatively by the level of the reputation. It's a simple and effective system.

Part 2: No Rest for the Wicked opens with the section that I wrote, which relates to experience. The core rules discussed experience gains as being typically 1-3 points. I decided that I wanted to make this more systemised and to reward leaning into your character's traits and career, so I drew upon inspiration from various games I've played (Liminal, Free League's Year Zero Engine, various Powered-by-the-Apocalypse games) and split the award of experience into three areas. You gain an advance if you learned something new from your adventure (this is the one for turning up), you gain another advance if you follow your traits or passions (even if they get you into trouble) and the final advance is gained if you act in line with your career. I'd produced a list of two or three options for every career (basic and advanced, from the Compendium or Kingdom) which Greg standardised as giving two options and GM's discretion for each career. I hadn't seen the passions when I wrote this and I think the addition of those in really adds something.

The second module in this section adds rules on how to earn your crust between adventures. These draw upon the use of their career skill. Failure on a check can cost you money or saddle you with debt. As is traditional in Warlock! there's a random table which allows you to discover who you owe money too if none of your colleagues will bail you out.

The third module adds downtime actions, which reminds me a little of Blades in the Dark. You can relax and increase your pluck and renown (more on pluck below). You can seek out equipment, information, or training. It's a simple system that will help with a campaign.

Part 3: Cruel World starts with rules for Shock, Fear and Terror. This is the sanity mechanic for the game and deals with unsettling encounters, creatures and situations that cause fear, and encountering something directly terrifying like a dragon or a demon. This is dealt with using a new statistic, Pluck. The higher your starting Luck, the lower your starting Pluck. You make a pluck test by rolling a skill test and adding your pluck value as the skill. Failing can reduce your pluck value, or end up with you fainting, freezing or fleeing. There are tables for the three different stimuli. If you hit zero, you gain a permanent affliction from the event. There's a table for this, which is effectively a mental damage table. Obviously, this needs to be used with consideration of your players. You only regain pluck through long term major story element successes.

There's a really nasty expansion of the rules for sicknesses which includes infections, poisons and diseases. If you use the infection rules and don't clean a wound properly, you can end up dying from it. This takes me back to the days of the original Cthulhu Dark Ages results, where any physical damage was to be feared. It will push the lethality of the game up. There are additional rules for poisons; with three nasty examples (including tomb rot which can result in your conversion to undeath). The diseases section adds three examples of disease ranging from the disfiguring to the lethal. I'd use these modules, especially the infections section with care.

The section rounds out with rules for Black Powder weapons. You can have sophisticated weaponry sourced from the dwarfs or more explosive and crude goblin technology. In all cases, misfires are not something to be looked forward to!

Part 4: Adventure! changes gear and discuss the construction of scenarios. It draws upon by Christopher Booker in the seven core plots to stories and discusses how to apply them to story design using six key points of story structure (drawing upon work by Michael Hague). This is good, sound advice and is followed by random tables for inspiration that links back to the discussion.

The final part of the section includes a table of sinister cults and a table of factions in the Kingdom. This is followed by a method to define Non-Player Characters in a consistent way, using a career skill level as a basis. There are twelve example NPCs which you can just drop into a campaign to finish the section.

The two pages have an expanded character sheet example which includes all the new rules.

So what do I think of this? I love the modular approach that has been taken with Warlock! and the expansion compendium volumes. You can draw on material in these to enhance your game with the minimum of fuss. Some of the expansions (Passions, Reputation, Pluck) really enhance the game, to the point that I think it would make sense to roll them back into the core rules if they are ever expanded.

This is a solid expansion with loads of useful material which will enhance rather than overwhelm your game. Recommended.

My other Warlock reviews are here:

Warlock! Core Rules

Warlock! Compendium 1

Warlock! Compendium 2

Warlock! Kingdom

Reflections on running Warlock!

Warlock! Griff's Vale

Warlock! Goblins!

Warlock! Phantasmagoria

Warlock! Three's Company

Warlock! Black Edition

Bonus: Warlock! VTT sheets for Role

25 October 2020 

Curse of Strahd - S2E4 - Love of the Father

The Guvnor couldn't join us tonight as he was meeting his new grandchild, so we were a player down again with the potential of encountering Strahd himself. The session was nearly scuppered by my having to go to Peterborough with work at reasonably short notice for a meeting that was then cancelled as I drove down. I couldn't escape until late on because the Teams meetings I had on were all spaced too close together to get back up the A1. I ended up rushed and late because of lane closures due to a lorry crash and a delay getting out. However, we got just over two hours of play in, despite my lack of preparedness.

Our dramatis personae:

Ser Alys de Rouge (a half-orc Fighter with a soldier background, currently the leader of the town militia of Daggerford), played by Tom (Guvnor). Lawful Neutral

Kelwarin (Kel) (a half-elf Sorceror flush with the powers of wild magic, an outlander), played by Graham (First Age). Chaotic Good.

Gaddock Teeg (a halfling wizard and former prizefighter), played by Alex (Doggetay), Neutral Good

Ser Adon of House Starbright (a half-orc Paladin, from a knightly background, with two human retainers and a priest), played by Paul (dr_mitch). Lawful Good.

November 9th

The party went back to the Burgomaster's house and brought Ireena and Ismark up to speed on what had happened. As the sun was setting, they proposed that the funeral be held first thing in the morning. All the party took oaths that they would prefer to be slain or destroyed rather than to rise in undeath.

November 10th

Securing the family's two horses to the cart, and respectfully placing the coffin in the back, the party and the Burgomaster's children headed to the Church, the streets filling with Barovians who watched on, mists swirling around in the early morning haze. They saw that the people split into two; some dressed dribbly and downtrodden, others dressed brightly and full of smiles. None of them followed to the Church.

When they reached the Church, the Burgomaster's heirs asked where the Priest was. Ser Adon explained that he was a Paladin and would perform the service. Eloquent as ever, he convinced them. The reality was that after Kel's warnings about the Church and Father Donovich's son, Doru, they didn't want to get him involved. Ser Adon's senses showed some kind of undead - they assumed a vampire - in the crypt below the church and the presence of others nearby.

Between them, they dug the grave in the family plot, digging up earth filled with bones and insects. The service began late morning as the mists started to thicken. Kelwarin cast a light spell on the side of the church, illuminating the proceedings as the mist thickened. Ser Adon carried out the eulogy, accelerating when they heard the sound of horses and a carriage coming up the road.

As they came to the end of the prayers, which concluded with the Paladin threatening to slay the Burgomaster if he rose again, they saw a tall figure looming out of the mist, surrounded by loping wolves. The lord of Barovia was back. He called out for Tatyana to come to him, and Ireena looked confused. Strahd then locked eyes with Ismark and asked him to bring his sister to him so that he could take her safely home. After a moment of confusion, Ismark started calling out to his sister to come with him. Gaddock broke one of the windows, cast a spell at Strahd and then climbed up calling Ireena with him. Ireena climbed up, and Kel pushed her through before he cast a witch bolt at the Vampire. The heavens called and lightning came down, only to be met by an answering blast from Castle Ravenloft which dissipated the attack. It got increasingly confusing (I was struggling with Roll20 as I'd started late) and Ser Adon used his divine powers to try and hold Strahd in place while they entered the church. He then climbed through the second window which Gaddock had opened. 

Kelwarin also escaped through the first window, into the church. There was the sound of a scuffle towards the entrance and some cries, and then a dark, handsomely dressed elven figure with a scimitar fled the church. Kel pursued, running past Father Donovich who had been slashed and was bleeding out. Looking out he saw a carriage that the figure was getting into, as wolves ran around it. He firebolted the carriage and set it on fire. It started to pull off into the mist.

A voice from the bell tower called out for Tatyana again and told Ismark to bring her to the castle. Ser Adon had a moment of doubt; had his God's power not been enough to stop Strahd? Ismark started to approach his sister, who started towards him as the voice called to her again and again.

Suddenly Kelwarin was slammed into the door, as a thin, wiry and desperate form - Doru, escaped or freed. Clawed hands grabbed him and then the teeth sunk in, and the creature started to suck his life force and blood out with apparent desperation. Ireena stabbed the creature when she saw what was happening but it seemed to hardly notice, focussed on the blood that it craved and had been starved from. Ismark called to his sister and she turned towards him. Gaddock cast a spell which blinded the creature and yet it still seemed to sense where its victims were. Ser Adon laid hands on the priest to heal him, and then drew his blade and entered the battle, invoking his God as he struck the creature of evil. Grimly, it held onto Kelwarin, sucking, sucking and draining his very life. Gaddock fired magic missiles into the creature. Kel broke the grip it had on him, and blood gushed from his neck. Father Donovich pulled his son to him, yelling "Don't kill him, it's not his fault", pulling his son close to feed on him, but his son was already weakened. 

Kel and Ireena managed to break the hold of Strahd on Ismark, bringing him to his senses. Ser Adon struck one more blow, and the creature burned and then fell away into ashes. Father Donovich started crying in despair. 

There was a loud bang above them; parts of the roof fell in and small fires were started. The party and priest retreated and spent the rest of the day and night in the Crypt amongst the graves and bodies of the congregation of old. Gaddock dreamed of Doru's fateful choice to attack Castle Ravenloft, a doomed expedition despite the presence of a firebrand mage. No one really slept.

11th November

At first light, they emerged to the smell of charred wood. The horses had been torn apart by wolves. The party gather supplies, planning to head to Vallaki the next day with Ismark and Ireena. They managed to secure a horse to pull the cart. 

They discussed contacts; they were certain that they wanted to research how to lift the curse of vampirism and how to slay Strahd. They'd heard that there was a library at Krezk, some 15 miles down the valley. Perhaps this would be a good place to go after Vallaki?

GM Notes: This was a hard session as I had to do all the pre-work for Roll20 that I usually do in advance on the fly. Add to that the fact that Roll20's chat (and dice rolling) window was flaky requiring reloads of the screen. Plus I needed to add vision to all the tokens. Painful. Fortunately, the players were patient. I also find it frustrating that rules like grappling aren't kept together in the rules on the compendium; as I only had the adventure sourcebook and the screen from the Essentials Kit to hand it slowed things up. Fortunately, I have an Alex who has played 5e a lot so could let me know! 

That's Barovia Village mostly done (for now); I just have two minor threads to tie into this as they leave next session.

Strahd, of course, is not yet fully engaged with the characters and is toying with them. They got a hint of his powers today.

Curse of Strahd will return on 4th November 2020

22 October 2020

Furnace XV Online - Short and Sweet...

A Wicked Secret 

So this weekend was the 15th Furnace, and probably the one which I've had the least need to prepare for than any other. No rush for badges, no furniture moving, no hunts for coffee, and the annual expedition to KFC was right out. Thank you, COVID-19.

I'd offered two games; "A Wicked Secret" from the eponymously named mystery collection for Vaesen and "ReEnlightenment" for Tripod (Wordplay 2). The latter used my 'Utopia' setting. I have to confess that my head was not in a good space as we prepared, thanks to Mum's death, so I found it harder than usual. In the end, the player's in my Tripod game graciously accepted Graham (First Age) substituting a game of  Scheherazade to entertain them. Meanwhile, I drove my dad home to Portishead.

"A Wicked Secret" was the mystery in the collection which leapt out at me when I read it, and I took advantage of the fact that I am playing in Dr Mitch's Vaesen campaign at the moment to lift the four characters that we have in play; a doctor, a private detective, a hunter and a servant. I then added a young vagabond to the mix.

The players -  Sue, Jag, Remi, Ant and Gareth - were a great bunch; they embraced their roles and we headed towards a climax that was rather too late (we wrapped at 00:40). They successfully solved the mystery and seemed to have fun. The end felt somewhat tense.

Roll20 fell over once; I had to reload the page, which was annoying as there's a bug on the NPC page of the Vaesen Character Sheet where the skills randomise. Discord was mostly solid. I need to allow more time when running on line, as it seems to be inherently slower.

All in all, a fun game; I wish I'd had the headspace to play and run more, but that's just how it was.

Thanks to the players, and to Graham and Elaine for all their support.

12 October 2020

Edit: One of my players in the game, Sue, added a review on her blog: https://savagespiel.blogspot.com/2020/10/furnace-xv.html?m=1

Curse of Strahd - S2E3 - The future is revealed...

  

Dr Mitch couldn't join us tonight so the rest of the players decided that the best way forward was to explore all the subplots rather than go straight forward with the plot as we left it. As a result, I ended up parking where I thought we'd be going until next time. No plan survives contact with the enemy, sorry, the players.

Our dramatis personae:

Ser Alys de Rouge (a half-orc Fighter with a soldier background, currently the leader of the town militia of Daggerford), played by Tom (Guvnor). Lawful Neutral

Kelwarin (Kel) (a half-elf Sorceror flush with the powers of wild magic, an outlander), played by Graham (First Age). Chaotic Good.

Gaddock Teeg (a halfling wizard and former prizefighter), played by Alex (Doggetay), Neutral Good

Ser Adon of House Starbright (a half-orc Paladin, from a knightly background, with two human retainers and a priest), played by Paul (dr_mitch). Lawful Good.

November 8th

The rest of the night passed without any more disturbances from the creatures of Strahd, and the vampire himself did not return. Ser Alys, Kel and Gaddock decided to investigate the fate of Gertruda, as promised to her mother by Ser Adon the previous day. Ser Adon consulted with Ismark and Ireena on plans for how to get their father buried and her to Vallaki and safety.

Ser Alys started her questions at Bildrath's Mercantile, the only notable store - overpriced, of course - in Barovia Village. Talking to the proprietor, Bildrath Cantemir, she established that Gertruda was from a very sheltered background with an overly protective mother. She had often come to the store on errands, but less often lately. She used to hang out with Gloreena and Elizabet who lived across the square. Bildrath assumed that she'd been taken by one of the creatures of the night, as there hadn't been any Vistani in town to spirit her away. Taking one last look at the eye-watering prices, Ser Alys left to seek out the girls.

Meanwhile, Gaddock headed back to the 'Blood on the Vine' Inn for second breakfast with a helping of gossip. The barkeep, Arik, was as taciturn as ever, but very soon he managed to be entertained by the lovely Alenka, who came out from the kitchen to chat with him. He found more about the mage who came and tried to lead an attack on Castle Ravenloft, an attack which had been defeated and left people missing. Apparently, the Priest Donavitch's son Doru was one of the few who had returned but no-one had seen him since and people were afraid to visit Church. She also discussed who Gertruda's friends were, and suggested that perhaps she had ended up at the castle as Count Strahd often took 'brides'.

Kelwarin headed to the Church of the Morninglord to meet with Fr Donavich to try and find if there were any clues to Gertruda's fate that the priest knew about. As he reached the church at the edge of town he suddenly realised just how exposed he was. To the north of the church was the cemetery and beyond that the heart-stone of rock which Castle Ravenloft was built upon. The mists swirled around as he knocked on the scarred, burnt and clawed doors. Something had been trying to get in. The prayers stopped and a hoarse voice called out to him that they were coming. Kel heard a scream from somewhere in the building. Entering, he met the wide-eyed stare of Fr Donavich, a man who was clearly struggling to hold it together. The church was smashed up, and Kel heard tortured cries from a room by the entrance, cries to a Father, asking to be fed, saying that he hadn't been fed since he returned. Father Donavich admitted that it was his son, Doru, who was 'unwell' and needed to be locked up for his own protection. Kel realised that the son had probably been turned by the Count and decided that going to meet him was a bad idea, especially as he could hear the boy pleading to his father to bring the visitor to him. Instead, he went with the priest to the altar and prayed for the salvation of his child and the village, a prayer he feared was unanswered. Kel promised to try and help the priest save his son, and left as soon as he could - forgetting to mention that they needed to arrange a funeral for the Burgomaster as well.

Ser Alys visited Gloreena and Elizabet's house and met their father who seemed to have no spark of life or personality, a bit like the barkeep. His wife, a cheerful woman, soon came to the door but wouldn't invite her guest in. After some persuasion, she let the girls talk to Ser Alys across the threshold. The girls confirmed that there was no special man in Gertruda's life - although she had talked about a dark, handsome stranger with piercing eyes who she had been seeing. They hadn't believed this, assuming that it was an idle daydream. Suspicious, Ser Alys headed back to the store and ended up having a conversation with Bildrath's somewhat simple nephew, Parriwimple, who was much the same age as Gertruda. He knew nothing about a boyfriend and clearly liked Gertruda. However, Ser Alys was convinced that the boy had not been involved in any foul play.

Our three brave adventurers regrouped at the inn just after Gaddock had finished second breakfast, at which point they ordered first lunch. They found Gaddock talking to Lavinia (Sorja) who had sent her sister back to the kitchen but added little to the gossip. They asked more about Madame Eva and resolved to head out of town for the four miles journey to the Vistani encampment beside the Tser Pool, for which they'd obtained directions. Their plan was to ask Madame Eva for a reading of Gertruda's future using the Tarokka.

Setting off, their journey was uneventful. At the River Ivlis crossroads, they discovered an old gallows and spotted that a raven was watching them again. As they left the gallows behind, they heard a noise and turning, saw a hanged figure swinging on the gallows through the mist. Gaddock suddenly realised that it looked just like him, but the others didn't see this at all. They just saw a human figure, not a halfling. When they checked, there wasn't a body hanging from the gallows at all.

Reaching the pool, they swiftly met Madame Eva and crossed her palm with silver for a reading of Gertruda's future.

The first card - the past - was the Enchanter, symbolising that someone had bewitched Gertruda and ensorceled her away.

The second card - the present - was the Donjon, symbolising that she was held somewhere from which she couldn't leave.

The third card - the future - was the Elementalist, symbolising that the child's nature would be changed fundamentally.

The party immediately suspected that she must be in the castle. When Madame Eva asked them, they agreed to have their fortune read, thus tying their futures into the skein of fate that the Dark Powers have wrapped Ravenloft in.

Madame Eva dealt five cards on the table, and this is what she saw.

2 of Coins — Philanthropist
This card tells of history. Knowledge of the ancient will help you better understand your enemy. Look to a place where sickness and madness are bred. Where children once cried, the treasure lies still.

7 of Glyphs — Charlatan
This card tells of a powerful force for good and protection, a holy symbol of great hope. I see a lonely mill on a precipice. The treasure lies within.

2 of Swords — Paladin
This is a card of power and strength. It tells of a weapon of vengeance: a sword of sunlight. I see a sleeping prince, a servant of light and the brother of darkness. The treasure lies with him.

Raven (Queen of Clubs)
This card sheds light on one who will help you greatly in the battle against darkness. Find the leader of the feathered ones who live among the vines. Though old, he has one more fight left in him.

Ghost (King of Hearts)
Your enemy is a creature of darkness, whose powers are beyond mortality. This card will lead you to him. Look to the father’s tomb.

Confused about what to make of their fate, the group decided to spend the night with Vistani and to hire a Vistani hunter with dogs to help them to try and find the trail for Gertruda the next day. During discussions around the campfire, the party found out more about the actions of the Mage M---------- who had led the uprising against Strahd the year before.

November 9th

The next day was mainly spent combing the woods and roads around and in Barovia Village with the dogs, searching for a scent of the missing girl. The party also went high enough up the slope to see the rest of the valley. They found a scent back near Gertruda's house, and a snag of a dress which suggested that she may have been taken into the air from on top of the roof above the well the family used. Checking her room, they established that there was evidence (handprints and wear on the lock) which suggested that Gertruda had found a way to get outside despite the efforts of her mother, Mary, to protect her. 

Retiring to the Blood on the Vine, they discussed whether they should try visiting Castle Ravenloft to see if she was there. Gaddock was convinced he could charm Strahd. Undecided, they resolved to get the Burgomaster buried before they took the next step.

GM Notes:

This ended up being a very different session to the one I'd planned (but that can wait), with lots of investigation and no combat. The game has just reset from my perspective, as my initial Tarokka reading has now been overwritten. It's getting interesting. This was the tenth session in the campaign and we are 12 game days on since we began. Worth adding that the reading for Gertruda was completely random and made up and worked wonderfully.

Curse of Strahd will return on 21st October 2020.

7th October 2020

Daddy-Boy: Complete Poem and Scan of Book

"Daddy-Boy" - Poem on Flickr

These are the words and images of a poem which was very important to my Mum. It was the first one that she learnt by heart and my sister and aunt read it at her funeral. Context: my grandfather was serving in the Eighth Army - the Desert Rats - in North Africa during World War Two, driving what his brother Fred referred to as an 'animated sardine tin', an armoured car.

I have no idea of the provenance of the poem; the author and who published it, when and why are unknown. I can imagine that it was something that may have been provided to the families of soldiers serving in the war, but it may be something different. If you know more, please share!

Full text of the poem below the cut.

First Impressions - Troika! Numinous Edition

Get Troika! they said, so I did

Several people I know recommended Troika! to me, and it's been one of the darlings of the UK OSR movement so what else could I do but back the Kickstarter when it was announced. It arrived over a year ago and I read it cover to cover pretty swiftly at the time, and then parked it. I know at the time it was one of those games you read, like and then think "Will I really do something with this?" simply from the shelf on which it was placed. It's in the RPG cupboard rather than immediately adjacent and available. It wasn't in the sell-on pile. And there it stayed, right until I read about Acid Death Fantasy and bought that Troika! setting on impulse. I've talked about that setting elsewhere, so I thought it was worth looking at the rules once more.

TL;DR: Troika! is a delight, both in terms of the light and simple - but comprehensive - system and the setting implicit from the backgrounds of characters and enemies. There aren't many science fantasy games out there, making this feel unique and very different. It's sharply crafted and stylish, and a good base to build from, as can be seen with the Acid Death Fantasy expansion (which although very different, could easily be in the same universe). The artwork is distinctive and adds to the flavour. It's definitely worth exploring.

The Troika! Numinous Edition is a 118-page full cover hardback book, printed at what I think is A5 (but I'm willing to be corrected). The artwork is quirky and unique, and very evocative, and shares an artist with Patrick Stuart's Silent Titans. The game defines a setting through the backgrounds of characters and their possessions and also with a very tightly focussed - and somewhat bizarre - introductory scenario. The setting is best described as science-fantasy.

If you've played any of the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, the character stats will feel familiar; you have Skill (rolled on d3+3), Stamina (rolled on 2d6+12) and Luck (rolled on d6+6). Your character gets some standard possessions and then you roll a d66 to find your character background. It's random. Although I'd probably let a player decide which way they read the dice (sucks if you roll doubles, lady luck has pigeon holed you).

Each background has an illustration, a short paragraph loaded with hooks, possessions with give further hooks beyond their immediate usefulness. Often you have an either/or so you can choose how this plays out. Finally, you have some advanced skills. These define what your character is really good at. Or maybe not, if you base Skill is high.

Core mechanics use 2d6. You roll equal to or under a target number (which is either just your Skill, or your Skill plus Advanced Skill) or you roll versus. That's typically when you're competing against something, for example fighting. You add your Skill and any appropriate Advanced Skill to the role, looking to get higher than your opponent to succeed.

You may have to test your Luck to avoid consequences. This is a 2d6 roll under. Whenever you do this test you lose a point of Luck, which is a finite resource. Luck recovers every eight hours or so. You can test your Luck to break a tie in combat or use it to increase the damage that you roll if you successfully hit.

There's an option to Test your Luck if your Stamina hits zero to have your character be incapacitated rather than dead, but it's only an option. If you hit zero Stamina, you're dying and will be gone when the current combat round ends. Messy. Stamina regenerates from resting, and can also be boosted by eating provisions.

The initiative system is a bit different; each character gets two tokens, and their opponents get a variable number of tokens based on how nasty they are. An end of round token is added, and then the GM pulls the tokens from out of a bag. Thus turn order is completely random, and it's possible that the end of the round could come before you have a go. This means that advanced planning isn't something that you really need to be doing; you need to think on your feet.

Damage is rolled on a combat results table; you roll a d6 and reference the weapon type. Weapons that aren't included are interpolated from the others on the table. Shields give a reduction to the roll made, not the damage itself. Armour reduces damage, but you will always suffer a minimum of a point.

The encumbrance system is simple; you have a number of inventory slots and the order is important, as the further down your bag they are, the more chance that you can't pull them out in a hurry.

You can't increase Skill, Stamina or Luck from experience, but you can increase Advanced Skills by rolling over your Skill total on 2d6. Once skill hits 12, you're very unlikely to raise it. If you find a teacher, you can learn new skills, with your aptitude for this determined by your base Skill. There is a list of Advanced Skills but you're encouraged to make them up if appropriate.

There are several pages of spells; these cost Stamina to cast plus a roll under your (advanced) skill with that spell. Double 1 is always a success, and Double 6 gives a trip to the OOPS! table, a d66 table which - amongst other things - can turn the unsuccessful wizard into a pig. Mmm. Bacon.

There's a collection of enemies, which are mostly unique. The scale of Dragons reminds me a little of Gloranthan dragons. Troika! dragons are "beings of hyper-light, unburdened by base matter, able to sort across the dark sea of sky between worlds. They're immortal but can manifest to cause base damage and wanton destruction, knowing that they cannot be truly hurt. Tower wizards are also entertaining; basically, they're wizards-gone-feral who raise towers and give magic a bad name. All in all, it's a great bestiary to perplex and threaten your players with.

The final section is the introductory adventure, called the Blancmange and Thistle. The characters have all recently arrived in the city of Troika! perhaps even on a Golden Barge pulled between planets on its Golden Sails. They have booked into a hotel - 'The Blancmange and Thistle" - and end up in the unfortunate situation that they have to share a room on the sixth floor and they must attend the party on the roof garden or cause offence. So, they get to take the lift or the stairs and events ensue. It's a very unique feeling adventure but gives a great way to bring a disparate party together. Attending the party leads to a series of plot hooks for future delights.

The book rounds out with character sheets and the OOPS! table across the end covers.

Troika! is a delight, both in terms of the light and simple - but comprehensive - system and the setting implicit from the backgrounds of characters and enemies. There aren't many science fantasy games out there, making this feel unique and very different. It's sharply crafted and stylish, and a good base to build from, as can be seen with the Acid Death Fantasy expansion (which although very different, could easily be in the same universe). The artwork is distinctive and adds to the flavour. It's definitely worth exploring.

4th October 2020

First Impressions - Acid Death Fantasy (Troika!)

  

Acid Death Fantasy - a supplement for Troika!

TL;DR: I found Acid Death Fantasy gaming juice. Easy to read, with plenty of plot hooks which started my GM brain fizzing. I dug out my copy of Troika! and quickly re-read it; I definitely prefer this setting to the default one, but you could quite easily overlap the two as space travel in the Golden Barges is a thing. The setting has echoes of Dune, the Dying Earth and probably Dark Sun (although I've never read that). You could lift the material here into most game systems but why would you bother going beyond Troika! as that's so light. For me, this book is a win, big on inspiration. Admittedly, I'd have preferred some more development of the 'What to do next' section, perhaps with some basic adventures but I'm more than happy with what I have here. 

I picked up Acid Death Fantasy, a supplement for the Troika! RPG on impulse. I loved the cover and the vibe and was tempted by another review by Ramanan Sivaranjan which I stumbled on in his blog in my RSS Feeds. 

The book is strongly illustrated and is a forty-five page hardcover. Like Troika! the setting is predominantly provided through the text in the character backgrounds. There are two pages of setting, but this is just an introduction to the greatest city in the desert and the Thousand Sultanates, ruled by the Many-Crowned Monarch from her tower in Shurupak. 

There is a d66 set of backgrounds, all providing snippets of background and hooks for an adventure like the characters which I've posted. These excited me much more than the backgrounds in the Troika core book. Character generation takes five minutes at most, although you could do it in less if you didn't write it all out. Characters have skill, stamina and luck as core characteristics and then a set of unique possessions and advanced skills to set them apart. It's a shame that the backgrounds aren't all illustrated but the ones that have been drawn look fantastic. 

The next part is a d66 set of enemies, including the devious Freshwater Grubs, the young of the Great Worms, Azure Apes and even AI Hover Tanks. Their descriptions provide further inspiration and plot-hooks to draw upon. As well as the basic statistics, each has a mien table, which allows you to determine what they're actually up to. 

The book winds up with a random set of tables to generate Sultanates, and then a half-page on what to do next. There is a colourful and evocative map of the Monarch's domain (unscaled).

So what do I think about this? 

I found this gaming juice. Easy to read, with plenty of plot hooks which started my GM brain fizzing. I dug out my copy of Troika! and quickly re-read it; I definitely prefer this setting to the default one, but you could quite easily overlap the two as space travel in the Golden Barges is a thing. The setting has echoes of Dune, the Dying Earth and probably Dark Sun (although I've never read that). You could lift the material here into most game systems but why would you bother going beyond Troika! as that's so light. For me, this book is a win, big on inspiration. Admittedly, I'd have preferred some more development of the 'What to do next' section, perhaps with some basic adventures but I'm happy with what I have here.

My thoughts on Troika! itself are here.

4th October 2020

Acid Death Fantasy - Troika! Character - Serf

  

Acid Death Fantasy - a supplement for Troika!

Serf

You were a serf in one of the Thousand Sultanates, toiling in the desert and merciless heat only to have the fruits of your sweat snacked away by your supposed betters. No more. You stole some arms and armour and set out to seek your fortune. 

Stats
Skill: 4
Stamina:20
Luck: 10

Advanced skills
2 Swordfighting
2 Dodge
2 Strength
2 Awareness

10 silver pence, a knife, a lantern & flask of oil, a rucksack, six provisions
A family relying on the wealth that you send home, a stolen sword and stolen modest armour

How obviously stolen is your armour? Would your former masters know who you are? Would they care?

Acid Death Fantasy - Troika! Character - Coated Squire

 

Acid Death Fantasy - a supplement for Troika!

Coated Squire

You never wanted to actually dip yourself in the Plastic Sea and condemn yourself to a slow death. Instead, you're a hanger-on; a chronicler of desperate fights and a shameless fanboy. You know much of the theory of battle and none of the practicality, because - well - you might get hurt. You enthusiastically shout advice from the sidelines.

Stats
Skill: 6
Stamina:19
Luck: 8

Advanced skills
4 Tactics
3 Strategy
2 Etiquette
1 Run

10 silver pence, 2 knives, a lantern & flask of oil, a rucksack, six provisions
1d6 drafts of Chronicles regarding Coated Men
A crude, homemade banner depicting your favourite (living) Coated Man.

Once per encounter, you may Test Luck on behalf of another. This is your yelling advice at them from the sidelines. They don't have to follow your advice but they must decide before you roll.

So, your banner - is it the Coated Man you currently accompany? And how will you keep him alive? It's a long, hot and dangerous journey back to the Plastic Sea if you need to find another Plastic Knight. 

First Impressions - Xanathar's Guide to Everything (D&D 5e)

Xanathar's Guide to Everything. Including his pet fish.

TL;DR: Xanathar's Guide to Everything has some useful rules options and expansions published in it which will add to any campaign, particularly if you are rolling your own. There are interesting new spells and plenty of guidance. The character options add new flavour without feeling like a splat book. In my opinion, this expansion to D&D falls into the 'useful rather than essential' category.

 

Xanathar's Guide to Everything is a rules expansion for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. It fits into a similar space and style to the first edition AD&D Unearthed Arcana book, with character options and much more. Indeed, I think that some of the material in this book came from the current "Unearthed Arcana" playtest rules which Wizards of the Coast share through their websites.

I'm not the natural target for such a book, as additional crunch has long since lost its attraction to me. However, as a teenager I used to repeatedly pour over the information in rule books, reading and re-reading them to get them into my head. These days, I have far to many new rulesbooks and settings and far less time available, a reversal of my youth. Anyway, I picked this up as the new Eberron: Rising from the Last War sourcebook requires it in addition to the three usual core books. I'd tried to get it earlier in the year, but found out that the text was being updated with some errata, so wanted a 2020 copy. In the end, after four months of waiting for my FLGS to restock (and they knew I was after it), I ended up buying it from Amazon for about £12 less as my patience ran out. I'd assumed that this would be the 2017 printing, but it was the 2020 version so I was quite pleased about that.

The conceit about the book is that it is the notes of the crimelord Beholder, Xanathar, who lurks in a hideout somewhere under Waterdeep. There are lots of acerbic notes from him scattered throughout the book. They don't really add anything to the text, but they are amusing.

The book is the usual D&D format, 192 pages long in this case with a picture of Xanathar's pet fish front and centre with the Beholder lurking behind it. The contents are broken into three main sections - Character Options, Dungeon Master Tools and Spells. There are two appendices, one focused on shared campaigns such as the Adventurer's League, and the other being a selection of random name tables for non-humans and humans. The human ones draw on Earth cultures.

The Character Option chapter provides some elements to expand out a with more flavour (for example a table of tattoos for the Barbarian) and alternative paths to pursue. For example, the Sorceror gains access to three different types of sorcerous original, and the Warlock gains different patrons such as Celestials and Hexblades. On a quick read, none of this is likely to break a game and they provide some welcome variety. There is also a life path option to build a backstory, which may be fun to use if your players aren't exactly sure what they want to achieve.

The Dungeon Master' Tools chapter provides some rules expansions (falling rate, sleep, adamantine weapons) and also provides guidance on using the various tool kits and task difficulties related to it. More detail is also provided about spellcasting; some of this included using a grid (which in theory should be useful for my Strahd game on Roll20). There is guidance on encounter building and then about twenty pages of example encounter tables for different locations (which kind of bored me). Guidance is provided on trap design (including examples) and then downtime options are expanded. The section rounds out by discussing when to award magic items and more tables...

The chapter on spells provides plenty more, including those for summoning demons and devils. There are some fun spells here which I can imagine player characters wanting to get their hands on.

All in all, it's a useful supplement, but not one that I would have rushed out to get if I hadn't bought the Eberron book and discovered that it was important to it.

3rd October 2020

Acid Death Fantasy - Trokia! Character - Alqai

   

Acid Death Fantasy - a supplement for Troika!

Alqai

Your people toil beneath the sands, digging out shards of metal from some long-forgotten war. You're stout, wrapped about with a shell, like an armadillo, and have four arms. The life of toil and war without the sun left you wanting and so you set out into the world above ground, preferring not to encounter the Dune Riders with whom your people have warred for as long as the elders can remember and more.

Stats
Skill: 5
Stamina:23
Luck: 7

Advanced skills
3 Smithing
3 Metallurgy
2 Mace Fighting
2 Sneak

10 silver pence, a knife, a lantern & flask of oil, a rucksack, six provisions
Shell (as modest armour), 2 maces, 2 shields

Did I mention you've got four arms?

Acid Death Fantasy - Troika! Character - Petty Priest

  

Acid Death Fantasy - a supplement for Troika!

Petty Priest

You are unpopular - religion is uncommon amongst the peoples of the wastes, yet you truly believe. They blessed you with such powers, how could they not be a true god?

Stats
Skill: 4
Stamina:22
Luck: 8

Advanced skills
3 Spell - Assume Shape (p58)
3 Spell - Tongue Twister (p67)
3 Spell - Fire Bolt (p61)
1 Preaching

No possessions - they will care for you.

Construct your own deity using the spells you have been blessed with as cues.

Acid Death Fantasy - Troika! Character - Freshwater Grub Agent

 

Acid Death Fantasy - a supplement for Troika!

Freshwater Grub Agent 

You are an agent for one of the rare and ruthless Freshwater Grubs, leading their criminal empires from their Aquarium-Thrones filled with precious, filtered water. You've been extensively trained and well paid. Unfortunately, someone wants you dead.

Stats
Skill: 6
Stamina:17
Luck: 12

Advanced skills
3 Disguise
2 Dodge
2 Sneak
1 Laser Pistol fighting
1 Swordfighting
1 Run

10 silver pence, a knife, a lantern & flask of oil, a rucksack, six provisions
Self Charging Laser Pistol (as Pistolet, d3+1 uses per day), shortsword, Desert-Cloak, Finery-in-a-Bag, Disguise Kit.

A hitman on your tail, and perhaps a secret mission.

‘A LOVELY LADY’ – (Elizebeth) Karine Mooney - Eulogy

 

Below the break you'll find the Eulogy that my Dad and I gave for my Mum during her Requiem Mass at St Joseph's Church in Portishead yesterday.

Dad's parts highlighted like this.

Books in September 2020

This has been a strange month; I haven't really had the appetite for fiction since my mother died on the 9th of September, but I have read several RPGs cover to cover. I just haven't wanted to settle into the comfort of a novel. Some of the RPGs have already appeared as 'First Impressions' posts, and others will follow as I get to them. 

I've also started working through William Dalrymple's 'The Anarchy', which is a history of the British East India Company, using a mixture of Audible and Kindle to work through it. It's a pretty shocking story of the realities of empire-building and throws into horrible relief on how the present crop of politicians who hark back to the British Empire appears not to understand on what it was built. If they do, they're delusional that we could reclaim that position of influence as a nation.

Anyway, the one fiction book I managed was 'Meddling Kids', which I enjoyed greatly.

Meddling Kids (Edgar Cantero)

This was enjoyable; it is a very knowing mash-up of Scooby-Doo, the Famous Five and Lovecraft. The set up is that a group of young adults come back together to solve a mystery from their past. In the late 1970s, they'd formed the 'Blyton Summer Detective Club' and solved a number of cases when they were eleven and twelve. However, the ending of the final case had never seemed quite right, and -when the criminal who they had caught was released thirteen years later is released - one of the Club decides to get everyone together. All the club member's lives had not taken the route that they'd planned, and this is a chance at redemption.

The writing is clever and often breaks through the fourth wall. It wears its influences with pride and is quite funny in parts. I was surprised to find out that it is a translation from Spanish. These elements lift it up from the humdrum; had they not been there, I wouldn't have enjoyed the book so much. Enjoyable.

2 October 2020