Curse of Strahd - S5 Interlude 1 - Lore from the Amber Temple [Spoilers]

  

Our heroes have learned much in the Amber Temple. What follows may be considered a spoiler. You have been warned. 

First Impressions - Colostle - a solo RPG adventure

Colostle - a whimsical roleplaying experience

Colostle is a 65-page colour hardback solo roleplaying game written and illustrated by Nich Angell, released following a successful kickstarter campaign. Subsequently, Nich has set up a patreon which supported the creation of extra material which has subsequently been released in "The Room lands" expansion.

TL;DR: Colostle is simple, whimsical and effective game which looks like a lot of fun. Colostle is definitely worth exploring if you fancy a solo journalling roleplaying experience. It's beautifully illustrated and well written. 

It was the artwork which originally caught my eye. I've never hugely been into solo games, unless you consider the Traveller RPG systems for starship and world design as solo gaming. More recently, I've dabbled with games such as "The Wretched", which I've shared here on the blog.

The Colostle is a huge castle, so big that its rooms hold fields, valleys, oceans and mountains which can be explored. Exploration is perilous; beyond the natural hazards of creatures and environment, there are also the Rooks. These are strange automatons which lumber through the world, guarding its mysteries, sometimes threatening settlements. Rooks, if defeated, are a source of weird technology and power.

Characters are defined by four elements: their calling; their nature; their class; and their weapon. The game uses cards to drive its mechanics (there's a really nice set created to go with the game) and journaling to record the outcomes of adventures. It's open- ended rather than a choose-your-own adventure format. Ultimately, the procedurally generated method may be repetitive, but it relies on your imagine to interpret the outcomes.

A character's calling can be selected from a card draw, or a player can chose their own reasons for adventure. This is the reason your character is adventuring, the thing that has drawn them from the safety of a settlement. I think a card draw makes sense for your first few play throughs. Nature represents the way a character behaves; again, there's a table to use if your inspiration fails you.

A character's class will determine their Exploration and Combat scores. There are four basic classes: the Armed; the Followed; the Helmed; and the Mounted.

• The Armed have integrated an arm bearing some kind of tool or weapon from a Rook to themselves. They're slightly better at combat than exploration.
• The Followed have a "Rookling" companion which follows them around and helps them. The Rookling is likely able to do a magical attack. That said, this partnership is at its best exploring, although it's average at fighting.
• The Helmed have harvested machinery from the heart of a Rook which allows them to access the magical technology which underpins the way that Rooks work. They are poor at exploration but the power they can access make them very strong in combat.
• Finally, the Mounted ride a mechanism taken from a Rook, giving them a swift and easy way to traverse the colostle. They are very strong at exploration but weak at combat. In many ways, they're the opposite of the Helmed. 

Each class describes typical character traits and provides prompts to help you flesh out your background. Magic exists in Colostle, but primarily as a flavour; it can be used in combat, but it doesn't change the mechanics in play.

The heart of the game is the exploration phase. Each turn, you draw a number of cards equal to your character's exploration score (typically two to five cards). You review the cards you've drawn against a table. They can trigger events with people and creatures or structures and objects depending upon their colour. Each individual card has a unique result. Some of those results give the choice to use specific modules for oceans or cities which tailor results to those environments. Once you've drawn your hand of cards, you can chose the order in which you resolve them. If combat has been triggered, you get to choose when that occurs in your narrative. There are sub-tables if you trigger an event or find an item.

The Ocean module works in a similar way, but introduces weather as a new challenge. Once you're sailing, you'll need to find a new coastline to disembark and return to a landward quest.

Cities are built from Rooks, and are places to buy equipment, find quests and obtain information. They always have a Hunter's Guild, a Tavern, a Merchant and a Housing District. They'll also have some additional amenities determined by pulling more cards (typically four). You determine these by referencing a table again. Some of these give opportunities to carry out quests and earn treasure. Others give a chance to spend treasure and raise your ability scores. For example, dining out in the gourmet district and spending treasure at a restaurant can increase your exploration score. Cartographers will pay treasure for maps of quests that you undertake. 

When you visit the Hunter's Guild, you can take a quest. You'll end up facing a Rook opponent and will gain treasure if you successfully defeat them and return to the city to claim your prize.

The Housing District is a space to meet people and add in a roleplaying narrative to your journal. The Tavern provides an opportunity to share and learn. Stay overnight, trade an item and gain ability points.

If you have enough treasure, you can buy a house in the city, which gives the opportunity to heal fully, and also use the city's trade caravans to return swiftly from a guest (without drawing more exploration cards).

The next section of the book discusses what happens if you should ever ascend high enough to reach the battlements. Few have reached them, and even fewer have returned because they're very dangerous. More tables are given to help explore this region; you'll need to make choices between stealth and reward. If you are very lucky, you may unlock access to another character class, The Within. This could be the end of your character's story or the start of whole new adventures.

The book also includes a cute two-page map of the known Roomlands, more for inspiration rather than mechanics. It matches the wonderful art style which drew me into the game initially.

The final section of rules deals with combat. It gives the procedures to create an opponent, be they person or Rook. Rooks are far more dangerous, and can easily overmatch a character if they're large.

Combat proceeds with your opponent drawing a card for their first attack (typically, a person will make one attack whereas a Rook can make three to five attacks). You'll have drawn cards equal to your combat score as options. You allocate one of your cards to face that attack. If it is higher, it beats the attack. If it is lover, you take a wound. Equal scores mean no-one wins. If you win with a card of the same suit, you score a critical hit and your opponent loses their remaining cards and are disabled. You otherwise win a combat by defeating the majority of the attacks against you.

Defeating a person leads to treasure. Defeating a Rook leads to the reward you generated when creating the Rook and an ability point increase. If you take wounds, they reduce your abilities after the fight concludes. If a score hits zero, your character dies. You get to decide, na natively, how fast your character heals (or if they do).

And that's it. A simple, whimsical and effective game which looks like a lot of fun. Colostle is definitely worth exploring if you fancy a solo journal ling roleplaying experience. It's beautifully illustrated and well written.

19 September 2022

First Impressions - Ruins of the Lost Realm (The One Ring 2nd Edition)

Ruins of the Lost Realm (...of Arnor)

I hadn't planned to review (or even read this) yet, but when "Ruins of the Lost Realm" arrived earlier this week, I decided to give it a quick skim and then put it aside until I read the new core rules for The One Ring roleplaying game and possibly the starter set too. But here I am, having found myself reading the book properly and not wanting to stop.

TL;DR: "Ruins of the Lost Realm" is the first supplement for The One Ring 2nd edition. It's a good basis for a campaign. It doesn't have the depth or epic feel that "The Darkening of Mirkwood" had in TOR1e but has still got the scope to make the players feel like they're making a difference. It's gorgeously well presented and well structured to use, and should be fun to play.

Ruins of the Lost Realm is the first sourcebook released for Fria Ligan's refresh of "The One Ring' (TOR hereafter) which was massively successful at Kickstarter. it came out of the stretch goals and describes the region of Eriador, focusing upon the lost kingdom of Arnor and its successors. It's been a while since I read the first edition TOR book that covers this area, so I won't be making a comparison.

Physically, it's an attractive 120-page full colour hardback book with a red ribbon bookmark. The end leaves have a map of the city of Tharbad at the front and a region map of Eriador for travel at the back. The book has a bowed spine (like a more traditional hardback novel) as seen on Vaesen and Forbidden Lands rather than a flat spine (as seen on first edition TOR). The cover has an attractive linen finish rather than a glossy, smooth surface. I love the artwork, which is very evocative. There are colour plates in the style of the cover for chapter headings and lovely line-art scenes of characters and locations.

The book also includes a fold out map of Tharbad, which it envisages as becoming a base for a fellowship to operate from or return to for supplies and rest. Tharbad is the largest city in the region, but a shadow of its former self following the floods in 2965, after the Fell Winter. It's worth noting that the map is loose, unlike those seen in Wizards of the Coast D&D books like Curse of Strahd. Originally a Numenorean port located up-river to support logging operations and later trade between the two kingdoms, it managed to survive the war with the Witch King of Angmar, but now continues in a steady decline. The city is now led by a former bandit chief who married into local nobility to become respectable. Located south of the Shire, the Grey Havens and Rivendell, it is a lonely city with few settlements around it. This is a melancoly setting in decline. Perhaps the fellowship can hold back the darkness for a while, but this is a region with everything stacked against it.

The first chapter focuses on Tharbad and the regions around. The city is described in detail, starting with its history going back to the First Age, covering its glory days as the town that was shared between the two kingdoms, and then how it has fared since the fall of Cardolan, the last of the successor kingdoms of Arnor to fall. It won't surprise you that it's a shadow of its former self. The text describes the various districts in Tharbad, calling out key and interesting locations and people. NPCs have text describing their background and situation, with a quick summary of their occupation and distinctive features. They don't have stat blocks, so the GM will need to draw upon the TOR Core Book or improvise. Tharbad is at a crux point;it barely qualifies as a safe haven in the lone lands, and the actions of the characters will determine its fate.

The chapter continues on to describe surrounding areas such as Swanfleet (a marshland with rumoured giant swans) where some of Tharbad's populace fled following the Great Flood. Lond Daer is another point of light. Queen Nimue was acclaimed to rule the settlement after she killed a sea serpent that menaced the surrounds, perhaps after seeking advice from Gandalf the Grey. Lord Daer has a history going back well into the Second Age. It was a significant Numenorean port until the tidal waves of the Island's downfall caused huge damage, permanently flooding part of the town. Five tall towers still stand in the flooded ruins, reaching up to the stars.

Going west to Blue Mountains, there's the Dwarf-Hall of Harmelt, long time source of riches. Since the restoration of Erebor, the Hall has become increasingly isolated, as the iron mines to the north have become abandoned as the dwarfs refocus around the Lonely Mountain. The proud dwarfs dig deep, searching riches and security.

Much of what remains of Cardolan is ruined and abandoned, with old buildings, towers and strongholds being adopted by those that remain as parts of farms or small villages. The forest of Eryn Vorn lurks menacingly, a peer of Fangorn and the Old Forest near Bree-land and the Shire, a survivor of the forests of the First Age that has not suffered the axe and fire of men and dwarf. Needless to say, it's a dangerous location to visit. The chapter ends describing the Lone-lands of Minhiriath, which initially appear utterly deserted following war and plague. However, look close enough and there are small, hidden hamlets that the Rangers protect and also fisherfolk near the shores.

The second chapter - "A Gathering Storm" - outlines the threats to the region. These come from Black Numenoreans, the White Hand of Saruman, and Raiders from Dunland. Each is treated similarly. An overview is given of the threat, and then key foes are described including full stat blocks. This includes their motivations and rivalries. A timeline is given, explaining how things may play out if the characters don't intervene. Some of the timelines contradict - there is space for events to be caused by differing actors dependent upon emergent play in the campaign.

It's worth noting that Saruman is not - as yet - an agent of the Enemy. However, his actions in Eriador, seeking ring-lore and investigating what happened to the One Ring could bring his agents into conflict with the fellowship. Alternatively, they could end up being offered employment by the White Wizard. That may well lead to an interesting meta situation with players who know Saruman will become a bad 'un, but whose characters will have seen no evidence of this at all.

The chapter ends with a short description of other shadows which could threaten the region. The concluding one is the long defeat; this part of the world is doomed to decline until the Shadow is lifted and the King Returns.

The final chapter describes twelve landmarks scattered across Eriador that the characters can visit. They're written up in a style that reminds me of the adventure sites in Fria Ligan's "Forbidden Lands". There's just enough description and background to run an adventure there. Each one has a map, with key locations and foes described. The danger level of the sites is not consistent; there is no structured route between them to protect characters unlike an adventure path or some of the D&D campaigns. That's not a bad thing (indeed, it touches some of my OSR tendencies), just something to note. However, if you want to find out what happened to the treasures of King Arvedui of Arthedain, you can expect trouble! You can visit the White Towers, take a risky forest journey into Eryn Vorn, sail on Lake Evendim and take a journey to see the view from Weathertop. Mount Gram (now an Orc stronghold) and the lands of the Angle are also described. Rivendell isn't, as it's covered in the material with the Loremaster's screen. All these locations provide interesting hooks to interweave into the overarching plot from the shadows facing the lands.

The book concludes with a page of optional rules and guidance for the lore master, and then a useful index.

"Ruins of the Lost Realm" is a good basis for a campaign. It doesn't have the depth or epic feel that "The Darkening of Mirkwood" had in TOR first edition, but its still got the scope to make the players feel like they're making a difference. It's gorgeously well presented and well structured to use, and should be fun to play.

19 September 2022

Curse of Strahd - S5E9 (50) - Dark Powers revealed

  

Our heroes have battled their way into the Amber Temple, only to parley with one of the temple's guardians, Neferon. They've managed to convince the reformed fox-like fiend that they are not there to liberate the dark powers trapped within, and have gained his blessing to consult with Exethanter to see if he can assist.

Our dramatis personae:

Ser Adon de Rouge 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. Married to Ser Alys.

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 Alys de Adon-Rouge of House Starbright (a half-orc Fighter with a soldier background, currently the leader of the town militia of Daggerford), played by Tom (Guvnor). Lawful Neutral. Imagine a slightly greener take on Grace Jones... Married to Ser Adon. 

also featuring: 

Ireena Kolyana (a human warrior, daughter of the Burgomaster of Barovia, Twice-Bitten reincarnation of Strahd's unrequited love, Tatyana) - upgraded as a sidekick.

and introducing:

Muriel Vinshaw (a member of the Keepers of the Feather, travelling with the party to repay them for rescuing her),  a wereraven upgraded to a sidekick (yes, I know that breaks rules as she started at CR2 but frankly I don't care)!

All characters and sidekicks are level 8. This was the first game in a few sessions with all the players back.

__

18th December, Morning.

They left Neferon with his warning ringing in their ears; do not disturb the Dark Powers or - no matter how much I like you - I will be forced to destroy you. Ser Adon, Ser Alys and Kasimir the Dusk Elf went back towards the parts of the temple they'd already visited as they feared that the somewhat pitiful and dubious wanderer they'd found in the lecture hall, Vilnius, was up to no good and they wanted to prevent a situation arising with Neferon. They headed out across the vast, dark floor of the temple to the stairs they'd come down earlier.

The rest of the group, Muriel and Ireena along with the Mage Gaddock and Kelwarin the Sorcerer were shown a set of stairs ascending up into the darkness. Their lights reflected off the polished stone, and somehow the immensity of the darkness felt more. Neferon warned them that Exethanter wasn't quite what he used to be, but should be able to help them. Just mention his name, and they should be fine.

The stairs opened into a large chamber, well lit by floating magical lights, not unlike those that they'd seen before. The room was comfortably furnished with chairs, sofas and reading desks and tables. At the far side was a huge staircase spiralling downwards. Six large bookcases lined the walls, piled high with every form of book and scroll that you could imagine. Each bookcase had a fixed ladder, and it was only when their eyes followed the line of the ladders upwards they realised that there was a vast space in the mountain above hollowed out, and that the bookcases carried on up into the darkness. A few lights floated further up. A gentle snoring was coming from an armchair turned slightly to the side.

The warriors tracked back across the balcony, and through into the eastern chamber with the shaft that Gaddock had carefully avoided dropping anything down. Looking down, they could see flickering lights and hear some voices. More significantly, a rope and grappling hook had been secured to a light fitting on the wall and braced with some wood from the broken furniture they'd previously found in the room adjacent to the one where Roscoe Tosscobble had met his end. Ser Adon dropped a stone down, guessing that there was perhaps a 30 foot drop down. His eyes met his wife's and they silently agreed that they needed to go down and address whatever evil shenanigans was going on below. They grabbed hold of the rope and prepared to drop below.

The snoring came from a robed figure, who appeared to have dozed off reading a book. Cautiously Gaddock tapped the shoulder of the sleeper, using his magehand. It startled awake, looking around. "What, a new apprentice? What do you need boy?". The figure turned, fumbling for a pair of glasses which had fell to the floor. It - he? - turned towards Gaddock revealing a drawn face with tight skin and the bones obvious below the surface. The eyes were empty sockets burning with magical energy like s small star within. Gaddock patiently and calmly introduced himself, knowing full well what the creature before them could be. In return, Exethanter introduced himself, but muttered something about that not really being his name and asking Gaddock if he knew what his name really was. Gaddock demurred, but explained why they were there. Kel supported him. Exethanter told them to take seats, and magically tea and more cake appeared.

Landing awkwardly on his ankle, Ser Adon took in the seen around him. The chamber was lit by three flaming skulls which were agitatedly circling Vilnius. Vilnius was muttering words before a large, rough-cut amber block (perhaps five foot wide and deep, and eight feet high). He held an amulet of some form in front of him. A darkness came off it, whisp-like, swirling towards the sarcophagus in front of him where it connected to a dark form, not unlike a woman's shape, within. The tone of his chanting was raising. Something was keeping the skulls from acting as Neferon indicated that they would. As Ser Adon drew his blade, igniting it with radiant power, Ser Alys landed cat-like behind. Sensing extreme danger, and a darkness behind evil, Adon cut Vilnius down burning him with holy energy. The connection between the sarcophagus and the amulet broke. Adon and Alys heard an angry female voice in their head, offering them power and the chance to become an avatar to spread the power of the power contained within the amber, if they would just take up the amulet and free them. They looked at each other, and smashed the amulet. The skulls continued to circle as Kasimir landed below.

The conversation with Exethanter was revealing but deeply frustrating as it went around in circles; it seemed that there was something wrong with the mage's recollection, some kind of block on recent events. When he was distracted, he could forget who he was talking to, and yet his recollections of the past were clear. He recounted how Strahd had changed from a proud warrior prince to an older, angrier and more jealous man. This was prompted by seeing Ireena, who he insisted upon calling Tatyana. He was confused by her, as he could recall her jumping to her death when Strahd sealed his pact with the Dark Powers, slaying his brother and family and all those at the wedding feast for Sergei and Tatyana. He part blamed himself; he had missed that Strahd was exploring the knowledge of the Dark Powers they'd trapped within and forming a bond with Vampyr. He'd freed that power through the anger and bloodshed he'd spent slaying his family and retainers. Vampyr was freed, ripping Barovia into the Mists and empowering Strahd. 

Kasimir asked the two warriors to protect him; this was the right place to complete the ritual to obtain a way to free his sister from Strahd's embrace in the crypt; he expected the flame skulls to react badly as he wasn't carrying an amulet. Reluctantly, the two warriors agreed. Kasimir started a dark chanting holding a silver and crystal vial in front of him. Instantly, one of the flaming skulls spat fire at him. Adon and Alys attacked the skulls. Kasimir continued to chant, oblivious to the fire licking him from his burning cloak. It was short and brutal. The skulls fell under the concentrated power of the two warriors, the last one blasting them all with a fireball. As they picked themselves up, Kasimir groaned; he looked older and drawn. In his hand was a vial with a black shimmering powder or liquid. He looked at them, and explained that with this, they could free his sister Patricia, who Strahd had long since imprisoned in the catacombs. There had been a cost on his part to obtain this; he looked diminished, somehow. 

Gaddock and Kel asked Exethanter about freeing the Fanes and asked could there be a way to do so. The archmage nodded in agreement; he headed to a stack and stood on the ladder. With a word of command, the ladder whisked him up into the darkness. A floating lantern followed him and they could just make out that he was pulling out volumes from the shelves, using a mage hand to reach them from the ladder. Exethanter returned down, and repeated the action on a few more shelves. Soon Gaddock had a pile of books and scrolls to study in front of him; Exethanter warning him that the protections in the temple would not allow books to be removed and told the wizard that he'd have to make his own notes instead. Gaddock looked excited at the opportunity to find out more. Kel looked bored. He asked Exethanter about Castle Ravenloft, and whether there were plans her. Exethanter mentioned that the architect used to stay here before that terrible accident. There weren't plans, but there was a scale model. Kel, Ireena and Muriel asked Exethanter to show them where it was. He agreed to point them in the right direction.

Taking Refuge...

Kasmir exited the crypt using a misty step spell, whereas Alys and Adon took the longer route, climbing up the ladder. As Adon recovered the rope and grappling hook, he realised that they were his own. It appeared that Vilnius had stolen it when they were resting up after the battle with the Amber Golem. They decided that they needed to rest and recover, and more importantly keep out of Neferon's way as they may well have broken the one restriction that he placed on them. Kasimir looked happy, but drawn. He walked like an old man, something that neither of the half-orcs associated with Elves. They took refuge in the room with Roscoe Tosscobble's corpse, trying to keep warm and planning their escape with their friend's body.

Exethanter took the three adventurers out through his chambers, and onto the ruined balcony above where they'd eaten with Neferon earlier. He pointed out a door on the wall and told them that it was 'through there', and not to disturb anything, or to provoke his former colleagues. He also told them to call out for him and wait to be collected rather than coming straight back into his rooms. After perhaps 30 minutes of searching rooms that included a banquet, a burnt corpse and more, and a pretty intimidating overwatch by flaming skulls, they found the model of the castle. There wasn't much detail of the crypts, but they took the time to familiarise themselves in case it helped later.

Meanwhile, Gaddock was deep in study when Exethanter arrived back. He broke off reading and gifted Exethanter the book that Strahd had given him written by the architect, describing his transformation to a lich. Exethanter skimmed through it, then looked at Gaddock. "You're right you know. I have all they symptoms of being a Lich, but I cannot find the soul bottle, nor remember ever being anything but this. It's most unsatisfactory, not knowing." He then looked at Gaddock and asked if he could tell him his true name, because with that he could unlock what happened. Gaddock explained he didn't know it. Exethanter said he wished his old friend Neferon had come back from his travels, he'd been away for years. Gaddock gently reminded Exethanter that Neferon was back and had been for some time. The Lich harrumphed and poured more tea before returning to his book. After a moment, he reminded Gaddock that he'd be welcome to stay and join the Order to protect all this knowledge. There'd be a chance to study and learn and do something worthwhile. Gaddock declined, again. He returned to taking notes on how to free the Fanes and how to summon Vampyr and bind him back into amber.

GM Notes: Lots of talk and hunting for answers. A dangerous game in a crypt. Secrets and lore on how to free the Fanes and also how to bind Vampyr (because Strahd will not die if they fail this). The three members of the party who studied the castle will each gain an instance of advantage if they link they activity back to they study they did here when they're in the castle. Another nominally evil creature (lich) that isn't. Now I need to write up some lore...

17 September 2022

#HorizonsLIVE - a timely reminder of my insignificance

Infinite Singularities

Last night, as surprise birthday present, we went to see Brian Cox, Robin Ince and Professor Alice Roberts  at #HorizonsLIVE at the First Direct Arena in Leeds. Some of our family friends had been kind enough to get the tickets, and Jill nearly managed to keep it a complete secret. Usually someone lets slip if she's doing a surprise like this, but it was only revealed as we had dinner just before we went out when she managed to wave her phone in front of my face with a picture of the Brian Cox and an internet link on a WhatsApp conversation.

At the beginning of things.

Now, it wasn't really Jill's fault, as she was in last minute negotiations to bring one of Aidan's friends along because Nathan has managed to catch the lurgy at school during his first week back. The tests say that it isn't COVID, but it's floored him. You always know that he's tired if he decides to go to bed early. It's a shame because he would have loved this. He's watched the Wonders series several times and loves space, science and facts. He's less fascinated by the mathematics, but this would have been perfect for him.

Behold, the Singularity!

It was amusing at the start when Brian Cox referred to the show as a lecture, then recounted that Robin Ince had told him not to do that when he's charging these prices!

Exploring Spacetime

The show was a grand tour of the universe, cosmology, astronomy, mathematics and physics, with a dash of biology. Professor Alice Roberts was the guest for the night, and provided a great counterpoint to Professor Brian Cox. Robin Ince just had fun puncturing Brian's bubble and making everyone laugh.

 

Robin Ince in flow

There was one moment of drama when a fuse blew and the AV system failed. Robin Ince was onstage then in the middle of an anecdote. He handled it brilliantly, and managed to keep the audience engaged during the five minutes or so it took to bring it all back. He then launched back into the anecdote, which ended up feeling a bit like a shaggy dog story.

Professor Alice Roberts on stage

The audience were encouraged to tweet questions about the show and pretty much anything that had come to mind, which Robin Ince presented as MC to Brian and Alice. That was amusing and inciteful.

More of the show

In the heading of this post, I mentioned a timely reminder of my insignificance. That was because this was a birthday present. But my fifty odd years pale into insignificance compared the 13.8 billion years that the universe had been around, and the 4 billion years that it has taken life to develop on Earth. Multicellular life has been around for 600 million years, and mammals only go their break when the dinosaurs died back after the asteroid impact 66 million years ago. Humanity's ancestors develop in the last million years, and we only truly started our technological development with agriculture, perhaps 4,000 years ago. Earth is one planet in 9 (I'm still counting Pluto) orbiting a single star in a galaxy of 400 billion stars within an observable universe of 2 trillion galaxies. 

How can you not feel insignificant with numbers like that? We are a tiny blip in history and space. And yet, if nothing intelligent is there, the universe is meaningless because nothing is there to give it meaning. The show talked about the potential for existential angst when you explore the science of nature around us, and I get what it means. We sit here, focussed on all these 'big' things in our lives, and in the big scheme of things, they're trivial. Yet to our tiny lives, they're huge.

The show ends with a disclaimer on screen that if you find the facts presented here disturbing that you need to take it up with nature, because that's just how it is. It also ended with Public Service Broadcasting's "Go", which amused me. During the break, Aidan had said that he felt that PSB's "Race for Space" album would have been more appropriate than Mahler's 10th symphony for the music. He went away joking that perhaps they'd listened to him.

All in all, a fantastic evening (although the less said about the challenges of parking in Leeds if you approach the Loop from the wrong direction to where your carpark is located, the better).

11 September 2022

 

Gaming update - start of September 2022

 

The doughnut of games

The update at the start of September shows 32 games played in total. I was GM in 21 of them and 7 games have been face-to-face (Revelation and the home Mausrítter games). I'm probably ten games down on where I should be having missed North Star and then helping to mess up the return to Trail of Cthulhu's Eternal Lies.

D&D5e, in the form of Curse of Strahd, is half the overall games played, which also means that the Roll20 VTT is the dominant platform that I have used. It's definitely been going through a steady upgrade path this year and the AV element appears to be pretty rock solid now.

Gumshoe overall comes in at second place, split between Trail of Cthulhu and the Yellow King. Mausrítter has suddenly jumped up to equal third place, as I've been running for the kids.

Furnace is coming, which will add 3 new games and 5 sessions to this; who knows, I may make a game a week equivalent this year!

10 September 2022

Curse of Strahd - S5E8 (49) - Into the Temple

 

Our heroes have just met some of the Mountain Folk who have taken refuge in a room of the Amber Temple accessible from a fissure, probably caused by an earthquake. It's still early in the morning, and first light hasn't reached the rest of the mountain canyon yet.

Our dramatis personae:

Ser Adon de Rouge 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. Married to Ser Alys.

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 Alys de Adon-Rouge of House Starbright (a half-orc Fighter with a soldier background, currently the leader of the town militia of Daggerford), played by Tom (Guvnor). Lawful Neutral. Imagine a slightly greener take on Grace Jones... Married to Ser Adon. 

also featuring: 

Ireena Kolyana (a human warrior, daughter of the Burgomaster of Barovia, Twice-Bitten reincarnation of Strahd's unrequited love, Tatyana) - upgraded as a sidekick.

and introducing:

Muriel Vinshaw (a member of the Keepers of the Feather, travelling with the party to repay them for rescuing her),  a wereraven upgraded to a sidekick (yes, I know that breaks rules as she started at CR2 but frankly I don't care)!

All characters and sidekicks are level 8.

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18th December, Morning.

The Mountain Folk tried to discourage the party from entering the Temple, saying it was a dangerous place with evil spirits. One of their group had entered and been incinerated by something. They'd not stop the party entering but it was clear that they believed they'd be unlikely to meet again if they did.

The party headed out into the eery light. The sky was lit from dawn but no light was directly reaching the canyon floor yet. The human's lit torches and Kel cast a light spell to help Gaddock. They searched but found no entrances other than the ominous staircase. The black granite temple looked imposing in the half-light and the amber statues of hooded figures had some kind of unnatural glow in the light.

Adon and Alys led the way down the stairs, the others trailing behind a little in case of trouble. At the bottom of the stairs, they reached a short corridor sheathed in amber, exquisitely carved and prepared. The floor was a polished black stone. The two warriors noticed some arrow slits in the wall and cautiously checked through them. Both rooms seemed long abandoned, but the eastern wall seemed to have a body slumped in it. Gaddock established it was frozen using his mage-hand, but it was difficult to see properly. They'd have to find a different way if they wanted to.

The corridor opened into a large balcony and there was clearly a huge open space ahead in the darkness. For some reason, the darkness seemed oppressive and even the half-orcs had to strain to see. Gaddock caught a glimpse of some kind of flamed light high up on west wall, and then it was gone. Perhaps it was something dangerous? Perhaps it was nerves? Something made him think that it was a flaming skull. Something about the place put people on edge, like whispering ethereal voices at the back of their mind, just out of hearing, chanting and singing. Ser Adon could feel an oppressive evil nearby, perhaps below them.

There was a large amber double-door to the west, lit by a faint flickering light within. They carefully checked it out before realising that the room they'd taken refuge in with Mountain Folk was behind the amber-carven doors. They turned around and headed to the eastern end of the balcony. The doors here were open, and a chamber lay beyond with a dark shaft broken into the floor. There was an amber pebble beside the opening, and Adon turned around to Gaddock and said "Don't you be a fool of a...". At which point bickering broke out with Alys taking Gaddock's side accusing Adon of playing to stereotypes. They bickered loudly for a few moments, only to stop when they saw the halfling lifting the pebble with his magehand. Everyone held their breath for a moment, only for Gaddock to bring the pebble back to himself. Looking down the shaft, there was an uneasy darkness below. They debated covering the shaft but decided it would be prudent not to disturb it at all.

Searching the area, they discovered a door in the wall to the east. It opened into the remains of some kind of bunk room, perhaps a barracks. The furniture had long collapsed or perhaps been broken. They noticed a concealed door in the carvings on the east side of the room; opening it cautiously, they discovered the corpse they'd seen previously. Approaching, Gaddock and Kel recognised the boots. The frozen body, covered with rime was revealed to be their lost friend, Roscoe Tosscobble. Frozen solid, he sat there with a gentle, calm smile, mediating on his amber hearthstone and holding an amulet. A feeling of despair and sadness passed through the party. Adon swore to avenge his friend. They carefully covered him with a blanket, planning to recover the body later; the amulet and hearthstone were recovered in case they gave a clue to the nature of the Temple.

They headed north into a large corridor that led from the chamber with the well into the darkness. To the left, the corridor opened like a balcony into the space below. Again Gaddock suspected that he saw something in the darkness across, a flickering light. They found a door on the west wall, and opened it, discovering what appeared to be a lecture theatre for training mages. Advanced magical formulae where on the slate board, and the room was permanently lit by four magical candelabras. They decided to rest for a while and take stock. As they did, they noticed movement and realised there was some one hiding here. After some cajoling, an emaciated man with diseased features emerged. He introduced himself as Vilinius; he'd crossed through the mists looking for a cure for his family from a horrific disease but had realised the temple was too dangerous. He asked if the party to help him find the magical lore to save his family; of course they agreed, but there was a degree of suspicion about him, perhaps because of his annoying mannerisms. 

Resting, they became aware of the deep cold of the Temple. It cut into their bones; soon, Ireena was shivering and turning blue, and Ser Adon's armour was frosting over and his teeth chattering. Kel drew Ireena into an embrace and managed to warm her; Ser Alys took a more direct route with her spouse and slapped Ser Adon hard in the face and told him to 'pull himself together'. That worked too.

They all headed out into the darkness, turning north. The corridor flooring was cracked, perhaps by the earthquake they suspected to have happened. It ended with open double amber doors. Adon looked through and saw a jackal-headed amber statue nearly as tall as two men. As he stepped in, it turned and said 'You are not permitted to be here" before slamming him hard against the wall, twice. Winded, Ser Adon struck back, hitting hard but not seeming to stop the creature. Muriel Vinshaw rushed in to help, and Ser Alys drew her greatsword and stepped into the fray drawing its attention.  Adon healed himself, fortunately, as he was struck again. Fortunately, Ser Alys' crescendo of attacks smashed the golem into pieces as her sword sang. The room was earthquake damaged; they pressed on, going onto a balcony that looked out into the temple floor. 

They could vaguely see the outline of a statue in the darkness, when suddenly there was a streak of light and a fireball erupted around them. Half the group dived into a nearby room, the rest back to where the golem remained. A very proper voice said "You are not permitted to be here. You must leave this place now. The secrets here are protected from the darkness." Ser Adon yelled back that the party was here for those secrets to help them defeat Strahd and that whoever it was had better not get in their way. This was met with another fireball being thrown into the room where they'd duck in, burning and singeing them all. Muriel and Adon were in a bad way. They couldn't see where the attacks were coming from, and they were being hurt, badly. The wall on the far side started to have flickering flames at what appeared to be arrow slits; definitely flaming skulls.

The group that had pressed into the room found a staircase downwards behind a concealed door; there was a taint of death and darkness that way. They realised that otherwise it was a dead end. Downwards didn't seem the sensible thing to do, so they ran. The voice said told them to leave this place. They all took refuge in the lecture theatre to heal up.

Once recovered, they crept out of the lecture theatre to hear the disembodied voice talking to itself. "Disturbed again, how frustrating. I was deeply into that book and they broke my flow. I'm fed up of these treasure hunters after dark secrets. They need to be protected; so much of this falls to me because Exethanter hasn't been himself the last few centuries. Oh well, perhaps I'll get a decade or two of quiet this time. Twice in a week, how frustrating."

They decided to see if they could sneak down the other side of the Temple. However, even with light's dowsed, the voice called out "You know I can see you. I warned you." A dialogue ensued. Somehow, Gaddock managed to talk into a parley. He bravely headed down into the darkness, soon coming towards the statue. Looking around, he couldn't see where the voice was coming from. The statue was of a hooded figure, he went around it and saw steps upwards. Starting to mount them, there was a click, and a voice behind him said "No, not there, this way". He turned to see light from a door in the back of the statue, with a foxlike creature silhouetted in it. Introductions followed; Gaddock was introduced to Neferon, a librarian and protector of the temple. He was taken up into the statue, which had three floors and shelves of books and scrolls about magic. In the head of the statue, they had tea and cake, and Gaddock explained their reason for visiting the Temple; the fact that they wanted to free the Fanes.

Neferon decided that the others could come down too. The balcony to the west had collapsed, providing a good place to set up an impromptu picnic. The others came down, while Gaddock helped Neferon set some tables and cake and more tea.

They established that Neferon had been here for centuries. Adon realised Neferon was some kind of fiend, but he didn't radiate evil; rather, if anything he was good. Adon asked if Neferon was of the lower planes, and the mage replied to the affirmative, tartly responding that you shouldn't believe everything you read as everyone has an opportunity to choose between the darkness and the light. They also established that there were flaming skulls overmatching them to the west. Neferon said they were his former colleagues who had elected to continue their servitude to the Order, protecting the dark secrets kept here. There was a bit of a discussion about the rightness of using undead creatures, but it felt like Ser Adon's heart wasn't fully in it, especially when Neferon pushed back that it was the choice of the mages involved to do this.

They discussed Strahd, learning that he was previously a regular visitor (and welcomed). He had not been unlike Ser Adon and Ser Alys in those days; bright, strong and full of hope and passion. But as he aged he changed.  Ser Adon explained how they planned to defeat Strahd, by bringing back the Fanes and severing his connection to the land, then killing him. Neferon looked sorrowful, and said that they would fail. The party argued that they had stout hearts and explained their successes so far. 

Neferon looked sad, and shook his head. He explained that would not be enough. Strahd had died before, but comes back. They could only permanently defeat Strahd if they defeat Vampyr. They looked confused, saying that they'd kill Strahd the Vampire. Neferon patiently explained that Vampyr was a dark power that Strahd had released from entombment here in the temple, sealing a dark pact. Vampyr escaped and drew the spaces between worlds to itself, the mists that surround this place, the place that it naturally existed. When Strahd killed his family and was slain, the pact was finally sealed and Barovia drawn into the mists, Vampyr's escape concluded. To destroy Strahd and bring Barovia back from the Mists, they would have to destroy Vampyr as well.

They asked if there was a way. Neferon grimaced and said they'd have to asked Exethanter and consult the library. The problem is that Exethanter is no longer himself; the years have taken their toll. However, if they said Neferon had sent them, he should be helpful. Neferon finished by giving them his blessing to consult and research but they were in no way to approach any of the dark powers entombed in amber below. If they did, he'd have to destroy them, utterly. The party agreed.

Neferon also politely asked Gaddock and Kel if they'd like to join the Order protecting this temple, and even joked that they had good death benefits. They declined.

As they cleared up and prepared to go up the stairs to meet Exethanter, they realised that Vilinius was no longer with them. They mentioned this and Neferon observed he was probably a seeker after darkness. They should watch for him and be careful. Often such folk followed amulets that led them through the Mists, unwitting servants of the Dark Powers within.

GM notes:

This was the most dungeon-like we'd been and Roll20 did it brilliantly (once I realised that the page had daylight set initially. It was creepy with the lighting. I also deliberately put a track from the Cranes (Watersong) on repeat at low level to put people on edge. The amber golem fight showed that the place was dangerous as Ser Adon was almost down on death saves (one more hit would have done it). Adon also, luckily, saved against being effectively slowed.

Neferon's defence of the Temple was also scary; how can you fight something you can't see? Neferon was only using the lower end of his powers too. Several characters could only have taken one or two more hits.

They've effectively neutralised the main attacks the temple will make against them, provided they don't mess with the captured Dark Powers. They've also found out more of Strahd's back story and realised that killing him alone probably isn't enough.

It was sad to see the ending of Roscoe Tosscobble; it was something that Jag and I had discussed in advance. His quest had always been to find the Temple, perhaps unwittingly drawn there by a Dark Power, or perhaps drawn by something that the Order had created to find like-minded souls.

8 September 2022

Mausrítter - that difficult second album

Ready to go.

So, after a few days of delay due to work and the busy social life of the kids in the last week of the school holiday, we returned to Mausrítter on Saturday evening. We quickly picked up where we left it, and they interrogated Ernie, a member of the Dedratz bandit gang, discovering that most of the mice in Stumpsville had been captured to be given as a gift to the Cat Lord, Balthazar. The cheesemakers would be safe, as the Balthazar was a legendary gourmet, but the rest of the mice were likely to become convenient playthings and snacks. They also found out there were only four more rats in the town. Leaving Ernie trussed up with the sleeping town guard snake (an idea which would prove fatal to Ernie), they headed out to see what was happening in the great hall. The Troubadour mouse got his disguise kit on and pretended to be Ernie. Through a mix of bravado and cunning, he got the snake flute off the other rats (who were in the middle of a huge cheese and wine party). They released the snake, only to found that Ernie was missing and the snake had a more-than satisfied look and a suspicious bulge in its stomach.

Drawing the snake down into the great hall, a fight developed, with one of the player mice going down almost straight away to a critical (Into the Odd's engine is brutal). Through clever use of the snake, which ate a further two rats, and determined battle, they defeated the rats. Interrogating the survivor, they got an agreement to be shown the hideout that the rats were using, perhaps four miles away to the north. They helped to secure Stumpsville's doors, and set out in the morning with their rat prisoner to find the townsfolk. They stopped at Oaksgrove to report on the trouble and to ask for help for the survivors.

We left the game at that point. It was interesting, as the eldest was getting into character and the youngest was enjoying himself but doing a full mess around. It was the kind of behaviour I hadn't seen since when I first played RPGs (I was his age and it was with school mates) and it was a bit frustrating, but he seemed to enjoy himself. We pressed on and prevailed.

Looks like I'll need to generate the woodshed adventure site as they want to go on. Nathan is also asking about D&D and other games; are they more complicated with more options was his first question. He observed that although games like Minecraft Dungeons (which Aidan loves) have the vibe, they have a lot less options. It'll be interesting to see how this develops.

4 September 2022