103,602

 

Source: https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths

The COVID-19 pandemic passed another milestone, with over one-hundred-thousand deaths in the UK where it's cited on the death certificate (103,602 as I write this). The figure is higher if you account for complications. We're now squabbling over vaccines when we should be working together. The vaccine programme is being spun, so the first dose is counted as 'being vaccinated' when in reality it's 'partly vaccinated'. Meanwhile, people continue to die, often cut off from loved ones, and whole sectors of the economy are suffering from lockdown and the Brexit deal.

Source: Facebook, unknown

We have the highest death rate per capita in the world and have been consistently behind the curve. The whole 'save Christmas' and then 'get the schools back' (for a day so they can infect each other) just made things worth. Boris Johnson is rightly getting the blame on this, but it's his government, formed from his party's MPs, most of whom support him and follow him. That's 364 individuals. 285 deaths for each one of them.

I have little faith that we will be out of this until the latter part of this year. I fear we will end the lockdown early in March 2021 to avoid headlines like 'a year in lockdown' rather than look at the risks. I have no confidence that there is a viable plan going forward; last time one was shown, a hole was blown through it with the Christmas relaxation. Time to dig in some more, and hope the toll doesn't become too high.

30 January 2021

Curse of Strahd - S2E10 - slaughter of the innocents

        

We return to the game on the wedding night of our two knights as they and the rest of the party are in a desperate battle on the roof of the Blue Water Inn against three vampire spawn.

Our dramatis personae:

Ser Alys de 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.

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. 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

Roscoe Tosscobble (a halfling Cleric of Life, a follower of Diancecht, god of medicine and healing, former hermit and companion of Ser Adon), played by Jag (Jagusti). Lawful Good. 

November 14th. The Feast of St Andral. Late evening.

A desperate fight developed on the roof edge, as one of the vampire spawn grabbed Ser Alys and dragged her up the slippery roof to the apex. Ser Adon, lashed out, called on the power of his god to hold the other spawn in place and chased his lover and her captor up the treacherous slope. Catching up, he smite the fell creature twice with a radiant blade, and then it was blasted to ash by Gaddock with a burst of magic missiles. Ser Alys swayed but caught herself before she fell. Meanwhile, Kelwarin continued to blast his witch bolts, arcing through the night like lightning into the minion of Strahd. The party's eyes were seared with the blast of a bolt of radiant energy from Roscoe, shoving the creature off the roof and blasting it into ashes as his spiritual weapon punched through it. 

Seeing what had happened, the third creature of darkness fled across the roof into the night. The party briefly considered pursuing the spawn, but decided that they didn't know what else was out there. Strahd himself could be around. 

Rictavio gave Roscoe a start as he found him trying to collect up ashes from the creature that he had killed in case they had some value. Ser Alys picked up a brass key that had tumbled from the spawn that had tried to kill her as it dissolved into ashes. They all returned into the bar for drinks, and Gaddock soon established that the key had been lifted from the spares in the Inn's kitchen. A worrying situation; had someone let the vampire's in or could they get in because it was a public house and all are welcomed?

The party celebrated and drank to the small hours. At 5am they retired to bed, drunk, but happy that their friends had married safely. 

November 15th. 

A lazy start to the day, and some ribald but good humoured joshing for the newlyweds. Gaddock heads into town and manages to sell off some of the items that the party found in Graenseskov at the Hag's house  to raise funds. He fails to understand the content of the two scrolls that he has beyond that they have conjuration magic and are written on tanned human skin. Roscoe - still disguised - tries to find out more about Lady Kosti, who had him arrested for mentioning Strahd against the local rules. He draws a blank beyond the fact that she's not from here and she may be one of Lady Wachter's posh friends who sometimes visit. 

He does find out that Strahd destroyed the nearby town of Berez in the last two hundred years because the people there had resisted his courtship of one of the young women who lived in the town. They'd killed her to stop her being turned, and Strahd had flooded the town and fallen upon it with wolves and creatures of the night, killing in discriminately to avenge Marina, who he appeared to have loved. Berez has been deserted ever since, sunk in a marsh. There is a standing circle there, and a monument to Marina in the marshland, raised by Strahd to remember his lost love. No-one goes there because it's dangerous. Those that do try and visit do tend to never return.

After a leisurely lunch, the party head to visit Milivoj's family in the poorer part of town, to hand over the collection that they'd made for them. On reaching their house in the eastern end of Vallaki, they discovered the windows part boarded up, but the door a little ajar. Kel's keen elven senses picked up the smell of blood, so he cast a light spell on his staff and slowly and carefully entered. There were three small children asleep in the bed. On closer examination he realised that they were dead, drained of their blood. He gestured to the knights, who followed in quietly. Hearing a noise from the next room, he saw the young girl he'd talked to the night before. Gently, he talked to her. She looked dazed and asked him to help her younger siblings, who wouldn't wake. She couldn't find her big brother. 

Breaking the news gently, the girl responded almost calmly, in a dazed manner. They realised that there was something else in the room. Sending the girl outside to the two halflings and the gathering crowd, the two half-orcs moved the bed, revealing the vampire which had escaped the night before. It started to wake, and Ser Adon cut its head off in a mighty blow. The head started to try to move towards the body, so Ser Alys broke a broom handle in half, and stabbed the creature of darkness through the heart. It woke, wailed and expired, turning to dust. They all trudged back to the Inn and Kel persuaded the Innkeeper, Urwin, to take the girl on as a servant. She was distraught once the creature died; it was as if her senses had returned. A few quiet words had the Church taking appropriate steps to bury the bodies with precautions. Gaddock suggested that next time they find a vampire, they peg it out for the sun to deal with.

That evening, the two newlywed knights had their dinner invitation for them and their retinue with Lady Fiona Wachter. They arrived promptly and were ushered into to the parlour where they had drinks with their host. She had the arrogance of nobility and a contempt for those without royal blood. And yet she seemed more sane and organised than Baron Vargas. She was extremely polite to the retainers, and took Ser Alys' more coarse ways without once looking shocked. Still, Ser Adon did check to see if she or any of her retainers were undead, drawing on his god's powers. Fortunately not.

The conversation soon moved to the situation that Vallaki was in, with an incompetent Burgomaster who held ridiculous festivals that did nothing to save people from Strahd. In her view, a more competent administrator with noble blood should be installed in his place. The key to this was removing his enforcer, Izek Strazni, who the guard and people of the town were terrified by. If the characters could help, she could assure them that they could have a safe base to work from in Vallaki and the town's thanks.

Ser Adon seemed to think that this made sense, and promised that they would think over the suggestion and give her an answer the next evening. They were promptly asked back for drinks the next evening starting at 6pm. Lady Fiona would have a friend around - Lady Karelova - and it would be splendid opportunity. She promised to introduce them to her sons the next day, assuming that they weren't drunk. Roscoe again tried to find more out about Lady Kosti and why she would have a grudge, but draw a blank on a good reason why. It was clear Lady Fiona felt that reporting a commoner who broke the law would be her friend's duty.

Meanwhile, Kelwarin had a feeling in the back of his head that something dark was close by. He could hear screaming in his mind, from behind him. He excused himself and went outside, only to see a dark, elf like figure disappearing into the gloom. He recognised him as the elf that had been with Strahd. Kel messaged a threat to the agent of evil, then went back into the warmth of the house. He was back in time to hear Ser Adon thanking Lady Fiona for the meal and promising an answer once he'd discussed the proposal to topple the Baron to save the town with his wife and retinue. Lady Wachter seemed happy with this, and promised to introduce them to her wastrel sons if they weren't worse for wear. The party failed to mention that they'd met them already at the Blue Water Inn in the public salon. Then they all headed home to the pub for a good night's rest.

GM Notes: The fight was over much faster than I expected. The party focussed down opponents; I nearly got away with dragging Ser Alys off but it failed at the last moment. The visit to the Milivoj family home reminded the party of the stakes that they are playing for and the threat that the creatures of the night present. They're now getting drawn into politicking for the control of Vallaki. Is Lady Wachter - who would probably be ruthlessly efficient but unwilling to challenge Strahd - a better candidate for the role of Burgomaster than Baron Vargas (who is clearly losing his grip)?

27 January 2021

Curse of Strahd will return on 10th February 2021.

My Top 25 Most Played New Music Tracks from 2020

I do still buy music (despite having a Spotify account). Yes, I'm a dinosaur, but it's partly due to the fact that I have ripped several hundred CDs and shared them onto the cloud using iTunes Match. I did consider Apple Music when I went with Spotify, but at that point, it didn't have a web-player (which I wanted to access at work and on my Chromebook) and I'd also heard horror stories about losing all your synchronised music if you ever downgraded your membership. So Spotify is used by me for checking out music, and as the main player for the kids using a Family account. I use iTunes Match much more, and I still pick up CDs, especially if I like the artist (or if they aren't available digitally like some of the All About Eve albums I've added recently.

I set up a smart search in iTunes to explore what I'd listened to most from the releases last year (2020). They're a bit flavoured by the eldest, as he does listen to iTunes as well (although that stopped at Christmas when he moved to his own Apple ID). Also, music released in earlier years that I discovered this year isn't included, so Marillion's 'With Friends from the Orchestra' and 'All One Tonight' and Simple Minds' 'Live in the City of Angels' both don't make it into the list. I've linked to the tracks on Spotify if you want to check any of them out.

All Blessed - Faithless

The clear winner for me in 2020 was Faithless, who returned with a new album 'All Blessed' in the back end of the year. Maxi Jazz is no longer doing vocals, but it's an absolutely glorious album, with the soaring highs and relentless beat that I love about the group. This takes 12 on the top 25 slots; that reflects that Nathan and I both really like this and had it on heavy rotation. The top track played was 'Synthesiser', but I think my favourite is actually 'I Need Someone'. Both feature Nathan Ball on lyrics. 

Time - Alan Walker & Hans Zimmer

The next highest artist was Alan Walker, with Time. This is a sublime remix of one of Hans Zimmer's themes from the film 'Inception'. It's good enough that sometimes I've ended up with the two versions on rotation and not realised that I've had them on for quite some time. Nathan discovered this one, and I shamelessly adopted it. Both tracks are in the top 25.

Baby Pink and Blue - Josie Man

The third artist was new to me and was an impulse buy after I was listening to Radio 6 in the Triode app early in the lockdown. The track is Baby Pink & Blue by Josie Man, which is a slinky, upbeat number from 'a LOVING boothang'. Jill liked this and I think it may have ended up on one of her playlists.

Nostalgia for Infinity - Hats Off Gentlemen It's Adequate

The fourth-placed artist was Hats Off Gentlemen It's Adequate with the album Nostalgia for Infinity. There are two tracks in the list; the highest placed is Century Rain, and the eponymous track is also there. All the tracks on this album are inspired by the SF books of Alastair Reynolds and are prog rock. A post on Reynold's blog put me onto it and I'm glad I checked it out. Extremely enjoyable.

Imploding the Mirage - The Killers

Fifth-placed are The Killers, with three tracks from the album Imploding the Mirage. The tracks are 'My Own Soul's Warning', 'Caution' and 'Fire in Bone'. I think these are driven mainly by Nathan's listening, as I didn't really get into this album the way that I did for some of their previous releases. It felt very much like they were doing it by numbers, a bit on auto-pilot. I was surprised that they weren't higher, but I think that Nathan did listen to them a lot more on Spotify. That said, they have the second-highest number of places in the top 25.

Physical - Dua Lipa

The next track is Physical by Dua Lipa. This is one of Jill's and quite fun. Very much not my kind of thing but enjoyable. By that, I mean that I wouldn't have bought it myself, but I like it enough to listen to it.

La Silla - Steve Rothery

Steve Rothery's La Silla comes next. This is soaring guitar set beautifully and dreamily without vocals. Rothery is Marillion's guitarist and knows his stuff, and this is a mellow and floating track. I'd definitely recommend it.

What Moves - LA Priest

The next track is What Moves by LA Priest. I picked this up from the same session that I discovered the Josie Mann track. Aidan loves this for some reason. It's a spiky track, which grooves along. Fun.

Will-o-the-Wisp - Pet Shop Boys

The Pet Shop Boys make a late entry with Will-o-the-Wisp, from their recent album Hotspot. Despite being around from the early 1980s, they still create energy filled and interesting tracks which tell stories. This one is an almost wistful reflection on lost love, the one that got away.

The Mandalorian - Beyond the Guitar

The final artist is Beyond the Guitar, who released a wonderful guitar version of the theme from The Mandalorian. Definitely worth listening to.

So that was my top played music from releases in 2020. What was yours?

24 January 2021

First Impressions - Warlock! Goblins!

The Goblin Hordes approach!

Warlock! Goblins! is the latest book from the Warlock! roleplaying game line that I've picked up. There is another, but I've yet to order it. I'm starting to struggle to keep up with Fire Ruby Design's release rate at the moment!

TL;DR: I like Warlock! Goblins!; it presents a really viable way to introduce goblins into your game as something different to the usual plague of low hit-dice humanoids to be cut down. They have unique characters and a very different outlook to the communities previously described. I think I'd most likely use this book to introduce goblins as a non-stereotyped feature rather than running a completely goblin-focussed campaign. I could easily see a goblin character turning up in Grim Biskerstaf if I run another game there.

The hardcover book follows the format and trade-dress of the previous releases and is eighty-four pages long, with plenty of black-and-white artwork. Unsurprisingly, it is focussed around the subject of goblins and their kindred. I should mention that I am credited in the book, as I contributed two random goblin encounters to the Discord brainstorm which Greg Saunders decided to add to the book. I've not received any payment beyond my name in the book, and I'm happy about that as it gave me a chance to give something back to the very active Warlock! community. As ever, hardcopies are produced through DriveThruRPG's print-on-demand process.

This supplement leans into the Warhammer and Fighting Fantasy inspired flavour of the game setting but does a great job of making goblins more than carbon copy green-skinned hordes of monsters. It begins by taking the reader through the various different goblin kindred; goblins and hobgoblins (plus their pet hobhounds) are followed by other creatures that associate with them. Bugbears (evil scheming goblinoids often found in leadership positions in goblin kingdoms), grotlings (dog-like kobold-like creatures), night trolls, ogres and even the giant spiders that some goblins like to ride. Orcs are a rumour (and there's a related random table about the truth in that rumour). 

The next section dives into the goblin's deity, Dragon, and the various aspects that they worship. Three different aspects are described, starting with the Watchful Eye. If a goblin tribe is worshipping this aspect, they are likely to be open to trade and have good relations with their neighbours. After describing the aspect, the book details the kind of goblin organisations that you could encounter during such an aspect. In this case, we have Snaggletooth's 'Sledheads', a goblin courier service using dire wolf pulled sleds, each with a driver and bowman. As usual, there's a random table that gives some plot ideas (in this case about the cargo). The other two aspects are Slumbering Wrath (when the goblins are preparing for war) and the Dragon's Fire (when they go to war). The aspect worshipped will depend upon the local Dragon priest's interpretation of their god's desires. This could put them in tension with the clan leadership, especially as priests are known to have a liking for hallucinogenic mushrooms.  Clans are covered next; they can range from a few hundred to thousands of individuals. Multiple examples were given for the enterprising gamesmaster to draw upon. Goblin warfare is also covered; it's very individual, and there are a set of amusing tables which describe the custom headgear, weapons and armour. 

The book has a set of unique magic spells for goblin spell-casters, fueled by the magic of the Dragon, and they're all a bit weird or disgusting. There's some information on Goblin Markets, and also a table of 20 random Goblin Encounters. 

The book then adds in goblins as a community that you can play, with six basic careers and three advance careers. These are very flavourful; they include Hedge Wizards, Pedlars, Mushroom Farmers, Tinkerers and Guttersnipes. The advanced careers include Emissarys, Spelunkers and Sporcerors. All of them add something unique in flavour, with interesting background elements. Like all careers in Warlock! being a goblin doesn't affect your physical stats. 

The book then discusses goblin settlements before working out an example with Blackspike, a former dwarven shrine which has been occupied by the goblins. This uses a Dyson Logos map and gives plenty of ideas for the gamesmaster about how the settlements work along with ideas for plots and encounters. This is further expanded by the scenario 'Into the Muck' where the characters become embroiled in a plot that could determine the future of Blackspike. Like previous Warlock! scenarios, this has been described quite loosely, with plenty of space for the gamesmatster to develop the adventure. 

There are some minor typos which may well have subsequently been corrected as I ordered it the day that this came out.

I like this book; it presents a really viable way to introduce goblins into your game as something different to the usual plague of low hit-dice humanoids to be cut down. They have unique characters and a very different outlook to the communities previously described. I think I'd most likely use this book to introduce goblins as a non-stereotyped feature rather than running a completely goblin-focussed campaign. I could easily see a goblin character turning up in Grim Biskerstaf if I run another game there. 

19 January 2021

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

Curse of Strahd - Some thoughts on Vampire Spawn

A Vampire Spawn (D&D Beyond)

The characters in our Curse of Strahd campaign are presently engaged in their third encounter with vampire spawn. Their first encounter was a brutal fight where they destroyed the spawn absolutely with very little threat to themselves. That encounter taught me a lot. Five characters (second level at the time) concentrating all their resources on a single target and prevailed very quickly. They took out the ability of the spawn to regenerate with radiant attacks, and I made a rookie 5e GM mistake and messed up disengaging, taking some opportunity attacks.

After the spawn, Aco Koslov, was brutally exterminated [1], the characters - for a while - thought that they had faced a real vampire and 'they weren't that difficult'. The players - especially Alex and Tom - knew otherwise. I learnt a lot from that fight. I needed to understand the tactical rules at the heart of D&D combat better, and I needed to represent the opposition better. This led to me starting to reading 'The Monsters know what they're doing' and reading through the stat blocks in more detail. I also started digging into r/curseofstrahd and other resources on running the campaign for ideas. The aim wasn't to kill the characters but to stretch them. Make the victories all the sweeter in the darkness that wraps Barovia in its folds.

The second encounter was brutally dangerous. Our somewhat overconfident (and now fourth level) heroes went to intimidate the coffin-maker and carpenter Henrik van der Voort, who they knew had arranged for the theft of a relic which had protected the town from the minions of Strahd. They never considered that the minions may actually be there and the battle was soon joined. Things rapidly escalated and the characters found themselves facing six vampire spawn at close quarters. They claimed victory when they talked to the townsfolk afterwards, and burned down the building the spawn were in. They knew they had killed three, but although they claimed the deaths of all six from the fire they weren't certain. The burning masked the fact that they had retreated from the fight, their lives in danger.

There were some important differences in this encounter. I'd got a much better understanding of how the vampire spawn would operate; at heart, they are ambush predators which can ignore physical threats to some extent (due to regeneration and damage resistance). They also have an innate ability to climb on walls and roofs. If they strike and grapple, they have a chance to drain a target, regenerating more damage, and they also make it easier for their fellow spawn to hit the same targets. They can also push frontage limits by attacking from above, hanging from the ceiling.

This is driven by their innate Spider Climb ability. It gives a huge amount of flexibility for a DM on how they can operate. The ability is described in the stat block as follows:

"Spider Climb. The vampire can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check."

This is a truncated version of the text from the spider climb spell. 

"Until the spell ends, one willing creature you touch gains the ability to move up, down, and across vertical surfaces and upside down along ceilings, while leaving its hands free. The target also gains a climbing speed equal to its walking speed."

So my interpretation on this is that we have creatures who can move freely on walls and ceilings, on awkward surfaces - like roofs - and have their hands free to engage. Looking at the picture of the spawn from the Monster Manual (and D&D Beyond), they aren't wearing anything on their feet, so this makes sense. So we now have a monster that can move with what is effectively a fully 3D parkour style. This means they can use the environment to their advantage. The confined space that the battle took place in added to the danger faced, especially when some of the spawn went over the roof to flank the party.

We're now in a third encounter. Three vampire spawn against a party strengthened with the return of one of their original group who has the advantage of having the ability to cast radiant bolts. The battle has escalated quickly, and now we have two party members (the fighters) on the roof with three vampire spawn, with the others firing spells off from below (or more precariously from a ladder). 

It's deliciously balanced. Either side could win, or withdraw. The possibility of death exists for the characters and the vampire spawn know that they could also die. They've lost friends to the party; they want revenge, but they aren't going to risk futile destruction. We broke the game mid-fight due to time restrictions, and there's been a lot of discussion on what needs to be done to win by the players (across the WhatsApp group, the Discord channel and the Tavern). Both sides need to do the same things; make sure the battle is on terrain that favours them, focuses attacks and withdraw to safety if it looks like they can't prevail.

Another element that is worrying the players is that the vampire spawn were waiting in one of their rooms. There's a meta-gaming element that at least two of the players know the 5e vampire spawn stat block and the restrictions upon it. The characters have heard something similar from the Vistani. This leaves the question of how they got in there. The restriction as follows:

Forbiddance. The vampire can't enter a residence without an invitation from one of the occupants.

This leaves the unpalatable thought that someone has invited them in; is there an agent of the darkness in the Blue Water Inn, or are there darker forces at play? Something to be followed up later.

Curse of Strahd is a sandbox; yes, there are plots built into each location, which the characters will stumble into, their actions causing consequences to cascade across Barovia affecting the whole campaign, but there is no over-arching meta-plot. The characters are trapped in a valley ruled by a dark lord, with dangers that they need to understand when to disengage from. The campaign is very OSR in the sense that it is not balanced; player's have agency and can put their characters in extreme danger. The creatures and non-player characters they meet will have their own agendas and won't pull punches. The positive side to this is that the victories will be all the sweeter when they arrive.

17 January 2021

[1] Some may describe Aco Koslov as having been murdered in cold blood.

 

Curse of Strahd - S2E9 - A day of celebrations

       

Tonight's session has three major events planned; the Festival of the Blazing Sun, the Wedding of Sers Alys and Adon and the Feast of St Andral. 12pm, 3pm, 6pm respectively.

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. Imagine a slightly greener take on Grace Jones...

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.

Roscoe Tosscobble (a halfling Cleric of Life, a follower of Diancecht, god of medicine and healing, former hermit and companion of Ser Adon), played by Jag (Jagusti). Lawful Good. 

The party is full strength and ready to go.

November 14th. The Feast of St Andral.

Our brave heroes woke refreshed in the morning, ready to embark upon a very busy day. The orcish love-birds were delighted with all the entertainment that Kelwarin had arranged, including the way that Roscoe Tosscoble was pretending to someone else!

Shortly before midday, the guard commander Izek Strazni arrived and reminded everyone that they were expected to attend the Festival and should be appropriately enthusiastic. Dressed in wedding finery, they headed to the Town Square under brooding clouds and the distant rumble of thunder. The air had that humid tenseness that comes before a storm. The young couple were delighted, as a storm on the wedding night had great positive symbolism in their culture. 

The Festival started with children dressed as flowers walking around and singing songs about how all would be well if everyone kept heart and was happy and resolute. Baron Vargas stood at the stage, watching over as the people of Vallaki tried to show enthusiasm; he glowered at those who didn't engage and beamed at those who were vocally enthusiastic. A group of the Townsmen carried the 15ft wicker sphere aloft around the square to singing, with ritual chants of 'All Will Be Well'.

Finally, the sphere - a giant sun - was placed on the stone dias set for it, and the Baron began to speak. He called out our heroes (with the exception of Roscoe, sorry, "Faygon") for their resolute actions against the darkness, killing SIX vampires and ridding the town of evil. For this, they were to be rewarded with medallions symbolising the freedom of Vallaki. Embarrassed, they accepted. Baron Vargas then started to talk about traitors who allied with evil who could stop everything being well. He condemned Henrik the Coffin-maker, an ally of the devil lord of Barovia, consorting with vampires and plotting against the people of Vallaki. The bedraggled looking carpenter was dragged gleefully to the wicker sun by Izek and shut in. Members of the crowd were called up, ritually splashing the wicker with oil so it would burn. As they did this, the party noticed the first drops of rain.

The Baron took a torch, and - as the rain started to fall - berated the imprisoned carpenter and told him that this was the fate of allies of the vampire-lord of Barovia. He plunged the torch in, only for it to gutter and go out. The crowd went quiet. Vargas demanded that Izek give him another torch, which he did. It guttered in the downpour and as he tried to light the wicker again, crying "All will be Well", the torch guttered and went out. There was silence, and then one of the town guards couldn't help but start laughing. The Baron turned, furious, and had Izek arrest the guard for spite. He ranted at the crowd and the guard, calling them out and saying they didn't understand and put everyone at risk. He ordered the guard tied, and then had his horse brought out. The guard and Henrik were tied behind the horse and the Baron mounted it and started to drag them around the cobbled square behind him. 

Ser Adon started to argue with the Baron, shocking him. He didn't expect to be challenged. Adon argued that this wasn't justice, that the behaviour was wrong, and that the Baron needed to reconsider, to do the right thing. He then started to threaten the Baron that he would bring justice to the situation [GM: Persuade 19 then Intimidation 20!]. Pulling his horse to a stop, the Baron started to get red-faced and argue back. As he did, unhappy with how this was going, Kel used a Mage Hand to release the bindings on the two prisoners, and then loosen the girth on the saddle. Slowly, magnificently, the Baron started to topple to one side, just about catching his balance. As he did, the horse reared, as it thought a firefly went at its eyes because Gaddock cast an illusion at it. The Baron fell to the ground, hurting himself badly.

Meanwhile, Roscoe successfully released the three prisoners still in the stocks from the day before. He did this under the cover of the chaos. Izek got the Baron and his wife up and moving back towards the Burgomaster's house; the Baron was in a confused state, with a broken arm. Fortunately, Ser Adon healed him by laying on hands.

Gaddock freed the two prisoners but then realised that Henrik wasn't moving. Roscoe came over, realising that the Coffin-maker was close to death, and called upon the gods to spare the dying. Gaddock then made the old man drink a healing potion. They got him to one side in cover and told him he needed to leave town. They then realised he didn't know that his entire workshop and his home had been burnt down and he had nothing. The guard who had laughed - Lars Kjurls - said he'd take him out of town and they'd head to Barovia, where he had family. Gaddock pressed some coin on him and told him to go, quickly.

The party retired to the Blue Water Inn for second breakfast. Then they headed out to the Church of St Andral to celebrate Adon and Alys' wedding. They entered to discordant organ music (nice touch, Kel). The ceremony went nicely, with some lovely ceremonial touches like the ritual bonce strike with a club (including the priest) and the exchanging of arms. As they were pronounced man and wife, Father Lucian called for the Bells to be rung. They didn't ring properly clear, so Gaddock went to help the villager as the priest started his sermon. Gaddock did a strong pull and then was horrified. A body fell down, hitting floor at the heart of the church. Fortunately, this was behind the congregation, most of whom were focussed to the front. Pulling the body to one side, Gaddock realised that it was Milivoj, the groundskeeper who had been an unwitting tool of the vampire spawn. He had been drained of blood. 

Gaddock started getting overexcited and rushing around, encouraged Father Lucian to finish up as there was a potential vampire attack. The priest and he had a short exchange; the priest said the relics of St Andral prevented a vampire entering the church. Gaddock wasn't so sure; perhaps something had happened while they had been stolen. They agreed that the congregation and the newlyweds would head back to the Inn for the Wedding Breakfast while the rest of the party investigated. Ser Alys told the others to come straight back to the Inn if they found too much trouble. Ser Adon couldn't detect any undead in close proximity.

Kel led Gaddock and Roscoe up to the roof. As they stepped out, they realised they were now outside the church so potentially at risk of a vampire attack. High up, on the tallest structure in the town, they were soon soaked by rain. Kel and Gaddock headed across to the belltower, finding evidence of a struggle; they concluded that Milivoj must have been charmed or forced to open a window and pass the rope for the bell out. He'd then been slain and wrapped in the rope so he'd fall when the bell fell. The guttering revealed a window opening pole which could have pulled the rope across.

While Kel and Gaddock were checking out the place the corpse fell from, Roscoe took advantage to see where his amber artefact was pulling from; to his reckoning, it was somewhere on the western slopes of the mountain to the south, maybe south-south-east. The most direct route looked like following the River Luna through the ruins of old Berez. Maybe two days travel?

As lightning flashed down, they decided that the highest place in Vallaki was not a wise place to be; they headed down, and set off for the wedding breakfast, leaving the body behind some pews. They arrived wet and cold at the celebration. Good ale and food awaited; a fusion style representing the couple's different heritages. Sausages, Vol au Vents, Venison Steaks, Goulash and fruits, washed down with ale and wine. There was magnificent dancing from the newlyweds. Kel had arranged a drum and axe tribute band and the libations flowed liberally. The best man's speech from the Elf was impassioned:

"In a time of great danger, 

When darkness threatens and the world takes a cold breath,

We need heroes to drive back the old powers that bring only death or travesty of life,

And so it is we lucky few bear witness to the joining of two that are now restoring the world

to what is right, what is just, of peace and prosperity

When the light can shine, darkness is in balance, and the world takes a long and sustaining breath

new times of harvest and the sanctity of life

Where they were separate they did great things, but now together

They will be stronger

The world will be safer

With each other

They will prevail

And as they have found each other

So, we will be free"

Roscoe performed a Ceremony to protect the couple for the next 7 days. More drinking. Kel organised a whip-around for Milivoj's poor sisters, drawing on his innate powers to shift luck in his favour, raising nearly 50 silver, which extras from the party and wedding couple.

Lady Wachter made an entrance, sent her two (drunk) boys home, and then gave the two knights 'and their retinue' an invitation to dine the next night. She said she wanted to discuss the best way forward for Vallaki after today's events.

Shortly after this, a young girl entered as the evening drew in. Kel recognised the slightly vacant stare of the ensorceled. The girl looked around, spotted the two knights celebrating, then turned and left. Kel followed. He talked gently to the girl, finding out that she'd been asked to check the two knights were in the Inn and go and report back to the man with the fiery eyes what she found. Kel asked where this man was; it turned out he was upstairs, in the room which would have been Alys and Adon's had arrangements not been made otherwise for the wedding night. Kel told the girl to go home; he'd tell the man and come and see her the next day. It was clear she was one of Milivoj's sisters and she believed he was away working for the man with the bright eyes. 

She left, so Kel gathered the party together. They agreed that burning down the Inn was a non-starter so they'd go in and fight this vampire. In honesty, Adon and Alys were delighted; a fight was traditional on the wedding night. Gaddock went outside and quietly climbed up using a ladder. Looking through the window, he saw two vampires in the room. The rest of the group headed up the stairs, prepared to break in. Just before they did, Gaddock cast a web spell into the room. The effect was too big for the room and blew the windows open, but made the door harder to get closed. Battle was joined, Ser Adon throwing his magic javelin into one of the creatures, and then Kel used Witchfire on the nearest one, hurting it. Ser Alys' crossbow was ineffectual. Two of the creatures broke free and went straight outside onto the building side. The third one was further injured before it got out and on the roof. The tactic a failure, Gaddock cancelled the spell and the two knights clambered onto the roof where the battle continued.

Curse of Strahd will continue on 27th January 2021

GM Notes: I was rushed preparing, but also happy because I'd taken the time to put post-its on the DM Screen so that I had all the rules I can't remember to hand. Made me a lot happier running. The Festival went better than I expected; it could have been a messy fight, but thanks to clever arguments from Ser Adon, and trickery from Gaddock, the Baron is off-balance. When he gets his head around what has happened, he'll want to make some examples. The web spell backfired badly, and I can see the players underestimating the vampire spawn they're facing again; it'll be interesting how this goes. I'm now playing the vampires as dangerous ambush predators and using 3D for movement. I think the party has the edge but this is not safe; they're balancing 20ft up on a roof. One slip... Anyway, we left the game at the end of a combat turn as Graham needed to go to bed. Hopefully, all the states will be preserved in Roll20!

13 January 2021

Reasons to be Cheerful #2 - rediscovering my music library

Longplay - a virtual shelf for your music.

I saw a reference to Longplay on Daring Fireball, and was instantly interested. I used to love picking through the CDs on my shelves and stumbling upon albums that I'd not played for ages and rediscovering them. These days, my CDs are all stored (and I only tend to buy them for artists that I really like) and most of my music resides digitally on iTunes, crosslinked across the devices using iTunes Match. 

I do have a streaming set up, a family Spotify account, but I use that quite rarely. It tends to be used when I'm on the Chromebook, but I'm more likely to use the noise cancelling headphones and listen via my phone. I'd have got Apple Music but they didn't have any routes to my Chromebook when I got the Spotify account (and I'd also seen several reports that if you cancelled the subscription you'd lose access to the albums you'd ripped and the thought of repeating that exercise with several hundred CDs wasn't attractive).

My 'Addiction' feed

Longplay works quite simply. It displays your albums from the iOS music app as a wall of cover images. You can sort them by orderliness (artist and album), addiction (albums by play), brightness (colour), negligence (unplayed recently), recency (played recently ) and stars (rating). It means you can go a bit High Fidelity on how you look at your collection.

The only interaction is to select the album. It doesn't show tracks. So you can pick an album you used to like and just let it flow. If you want to pick tracks then you can drop into the music app and do it there. But that kind of misses the point.

I've rediscovered several albums that I'd forgotten already this week since I got this, which has been great fun. You can get the app from the iOS stores. It's £2.99 as I write this. It's not necessary, but I like it.

10 January 2021

First Impressions - The Wretched Solo RPG [some spoilers]

The Wretched - a zine based solo journaling RPG

I picked up The Wretched on impulse when I saw it on a Kickstarter notification. It was inexpensive, seemed to have got good feedback and even came with a soundtrack. I was also intrigued at the idea of a solo RPG that I could play myself.

TL;DR: The Wretched is a small, simple, solo RPG in zine format with a feel very like the film Alien. It is a journaling game, with the journal taking the form of audio recordings. It works well, but has limited repeatability. I enjoyed it enough to make the audio recordings.

Physically, it's an attractive 28 page staple-bound zine, with a distinctive cover. The layout is very nice, simple single column done attractively.

The game set up is that you are the last survivor of a salvage ship, The Wretched. Your engines have failed and your ship has been attacked by a hostile alien life form. You went full Ellen Ripley and ejected it through the airlock, but somehow it survived. And it's trying to get in.

You (or your character) spend the game trying to fix the engines, nurse life support along, get the distress beacon going and boost the range of the transmitter. The zine starts with a trigger warning about the themes, recognising that the themes of isolation, fear and struggle may not land well with some readers. The game cites John Carpenter (music and films) and Nine Inch Nails as influences. The soundtrack shows this.

Survival can only be achieved in two ways; activating the distress beacon and then surviving long enough for someone to hear and rescue you. Alternatively, you could fix the engines and leave the creature behind. 

Set up and ready to go.

Mechanics of play are simple. You have a pack of cards with the jokers removed, a single six sided dice, a Jenga tower and ten tokens. The game recommends that you make a recording with a camera or microphone as you complete each day. I didn't. I recorded the cards and the outcome on Google Docs and then made a recording afterwards over a couple of days. I ended up with 31 minutes of recorded material and notes which you can find by using this filter.

Each day, you roll the dice and draw that many cards, and resolve their outcomes. These are clustered by suit - ship systems (hearts), ship structure (diamonds), crew (clubs) and creature (spades). Aces are good (they result in things like the distress beacon being fixed). Kings are bad, and drawing all four will end the game as the creature will find and kill you. Most other cards pose questions about situations, and result in blocks being drawn from the tower.

It's quite immersive, and as the cards draw down, you can feel your doom approaching. The creature is implacable. The ship is wounded. The engines damaged from the collision that brought the creature onboard. The signal from the beacon has a long way to go to get a response. 

I'm dropping a jump break in now as the next part of the review contains spoilers.

Reasons to be Cheerful #1 - A new Bookshop!

Reading Roots, a new Independent Bookshop

I'm really pleased that Wetherby has a new independent bookshop, something that it's missed for a long time. Back on the old blog (I should really find the post and migrate it) I bemoaned the loss of the old Wetherby bookshop which Penny ran for many years. Unfortunately, the lady who bought out the shop when Penny retired made some poor decisions which resulted in it failing. So there was Amazon, and sometime the Knaresborough Bookshop or Waterstones in Harrogate.

Now we have a new shop. I don't buy as many physical books as I used to, but I will be going here first for them for the kids or for books that I want to have as an artefact. They were very friendly and I recommend them. They also have a good (wide selection) for the size. I bought quite a few books for Christmas presents!

Wishing Keira well; I hope the business thrives.

They have the website (linked above), a lovely write-up in Handpicked Wetherby and a Facebook page. They also do mail order should you fancy supporting them.

10 January 2021