Episode 9: Exploring the Wreckage

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dcc_rpg_cover_small‘Exploring the Wreckage’ is the ninth episode of a Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG actual play podcast. Additional information can be found at http://irontavern.com/podcast.

Session Synopsis

With the fallen disposed of the party attempts to seek refuge in the alien pyramid, though those plans seem ill-thought. With attempts to learn more of the planet through supernatural means, the party leaves the pyramid to descend to the valley floor. A crashed spaceship’s wreckage awaits below. Recovering what valuables they can from a heavily damaged ship, the group retreats to a mushroom forest in efforts to shelter from a menacing storm on the horizon.

Download Link:  http://irontavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Episode-9.mp3

Credits

Intro and outro music is ‘Wrecking Ball’ from 137 from http://music.mevio.com.

 

Naked and On Fire

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photo by Fir0002/Flagstaffotos

photo by Fir0002/Flagstaffotos

Naked and Dead

Back in early 2005 I got a group of people together to play some D&D. It had been awhile since I had played an RPG so I built the group from scratch. There was a guy I was good friends with locally, a guy from work, and two guys found on message boards – one from EN World and one from Wizards. This group is still intact for the most part since its formation with some member changes due to folks moving, etc.

Since I was starting the group I took on the task of DMing. It helped me set the tone for the type of game I wanted to play. Well, my turn in the DM’s chair ended right around six months ending in a TPK (well, near TPK that weirdo wizard with a rat in his pocket fled back into the labyrinth of caves while the arachnid mouther made a meal of the others.)

That probably wasn’t my most glorious moment of running games – though probably my most infamous! In retrospect throwing an arachnid mouther that had 15’ reach and 8 attacks a round against a 3rd level party likely wasn’t the wisest choice. To top it off, that was the first session for one of the players and he lost his character that very first night. (Don’t worry all you folks who are exclaiming how dare I scare someone off from gaming, he is still with the group today).

But that is not Naked and On Fire. That is Naked and Dead.

Learning About Naked and On Fire

Despite not losing anyone from the group, it was decided to not let Jeff run anymore games for awhile. So Chris (a.k.a. Crothian), guest blogger on occasion here at The Iron Tavern, stepped up to run for us. His wealth of RPG experience and memory for things of past dwarfed pretty much what the rest of us had played, run, or knew about RPGs in total.

He brought a homebrew world to the table. A homebrew world with an extensive history shaped by campaigns that had been run in it in years past. He gave us a feat every level. We were rich beyond our wildest dreams by the time we hit 2nd level (like 100,000 plus gold pieces for the party). Behind his back we talked about how this was going to be fun, but man – what a monty haul campaign. We thought we had this campaign locked up!

Then he taught us about naked and on fire. Oh – we didn’t know that is what it was initially. We were too distracted by all these feats! All this gold! Magic weapons getting crafted. Nothing could touch us. Wrong.

No amount of gold or feats could protect us from campaign world decisions by our characters setting off chains of events that shaped the entire campaign. Deals with dragons (we were always making deals with dragons) to keep from dying or to gain in power (though I am not sure it ever really worked like that). Thefts of seemingly innocent artifacts triggering entire wars that spread across the land. And trifling in the affairs of gods. No amount of gold, magic weapons, or feats could solve some of these problems. We were constantly going from one frying pan to another and occasional excursions into the fire itself.

That campaign ended in a TPK around 18th level or so as we fell to a deity, Ftaghn, in battle. Some want to blame Taegan the dwarven cleric, but we know that wasn’t the case (the group doesn’t like it when I play clerics either). The whole campaign was naked and on fire. We still talk about this campaign. We still secretly hope that Chris will show up one game night and tell us our characters that fell to Ftaghn were warped to some other dimension or disruption in time and are still alive – ready to finish what they started.

Running Naked and On Fire

Fast forward to present day and I like to think I run a naked and on fire campaign. The realization sort of hit during one of my online DCC RPG sessions when I commented the group was a bit resource starved and that those times would pass. One of the players immediately commented ‘but Jeffrey, we are *always* starving for resources!” I think that is when I realized I had hit the naked and on fire stride.

Actions in the game mean something. Their effects spread. That sword that was stolen from the crafting wizard’s shop? Yeah – that was being made for a high ranking thieves guild member. Those gems you pried from the statue? Caused the statue to animate and search out the thief – eventually leading to the gems to be returned to the statue. Dead bodies showing up on the doorstep at your favorite local hangout? That can’t be good.

The other element, at least in my game, is a bit of resource starvation. At 5th and 6th level in a DCC game and I am pretty sure my players would love to obtain a magic weapon that did exactly what they wanted. Not one that may or may not be their preferred weapon, with goals of its own.

There is also the always possible element of character death. The characters are high enough level that it takes a lot more to outright kill a character. But the road is tough for the lower level henchman. And we’ve had a wizard or halfling knocked down to 0 off a really good hit or two on just a regular enough basis that the possibility is still present.

Why Naked and On Fire

This style isn’t for everyone.

If you want to always go into a fight knowing your character you built up an intricate backstory for or have adventured with for months and months is going to come out okay on the other side, you aren’t going to like naked and on fire. If you want every problem you face to be solvable or work out your way in the end – every single time – you aren’t going to like naked and on fire. If you want to know that in the end of the campaign you are going to emerge victorious, because that’s how happy stories end, you aren’t going to like naked and on fire.

But if you are someone that ends up on the other side of a fight still alive and feel like they earned it – naked and on fire is for you. If you enjoy complex problems, possibly caused by innocent actions many sessions ago that you have to solve – naked and on fire is for you. And if you emerge victorious at the end of a long campaign and you want to feel like you earned it and it wasn’t a give – naked and on fire is for you.

Naked and on fire can be frustrating at times. But in the end, the campaigns that I have played in or run that have been of the naked and on fire vein have been the most memorable.

The Players Speak: Jargon

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DCC RPG Rulebook Cover w-HeadphonesToday’s post is part of an in-between DCC RPG Actual Play session postings to provide a little more insight into the cast of characters and players that make up the campaign.

Adam plays Jargon the Halfling. Adam joined later in the campaign, but several of us knew him from another online game and meeting up at Origins 2013 and knew he would fit in with the group. Adam writes today about Jargon.

Background

I was fairly late to joining the DCC campaign. I was introduced to Jeffrey and Matt from the early beginnings of a Dungeonslayers campaign. My first actual game of DCC was during Origins 2013, when I got the chance to meet up with Kelly, Matt, Jeffrey, and another gaming friend. A few more one shot sessions were held, and I was hooked. So much so that I bought my first set of Zocchi dice from the man himself on the convention floor.

My playstyle has always been “damage from a distance”, though initially I was not sure what I wanted to play in the campaign. Having a chance to see the player make-up, a Halfling was the only thing missing.

Jargon

Jargon was born from the need for a Luck battery for the party, and as it would seem, was the best choice. His given name is Loford Underfoot, though due to his mushed words as a child, and blatant disregard for repeating himself, the nickname Jargon was given. Through the years, he eventually enjoyed the name and took it as his own. He is an odd little thing, neutral in temperament, though tends to sway easily in the direction of his peers.

Years of ridicule have made him want to be generally accepted by those he holds in high regards (for one reason or another, he looks up to Baptist, no pun intended). As such, he walks a fine line between the neutral and chaotic temperament. He has a secret Napoleon complex, in that he wants to be in charge but only by being a logical voice of reason. He relies on sarcasm and snide comments to make the best of a situation in which he feels he is better than…which happens to be most of the situations in which he finds himself. He is primarily fixated on amassing treasures and riches, and will do whatever he can to ensure he continues growing his own personal coffers.

Combat wise, I play him a bit cautiously and know full well he is a bit squishy. I gained this knowledge during one of the Origins games where I had a Halfling get one-shot and leaving me bewildered at how easily it was accomplished. I prefer the sneak and stab method…or the “shoot the hell out of that short bow” method if the situation can allow it.

Most Memorable Moment

It is hard to boil down just one of the most memorable, even in the short(er) time I have been playing with this group. I would have to say it was the moment Tsanth turned a spell result from himself, and placed it on Jargon. Jargon was dead, as it happens in this session. Fortunately, Tsanth was willing to give the little Halfling a hug of love from the Great Cthulhu. The spell result required Tsanth to brand himself, as opposed to doing so, he placed the brand on Jargon’s chest. It is the first time something like this has ever happened to my characters, and I feel like the snide little remarks that reference the event whenever possible, really play into Jargon’s personality.

Episode 8: Alien Pyramid

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dcc_rpg_cover_small‘Alien Pyramid’ is the eighth episode of a Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG actual play podcast. Additional information can be found at http://irontavern.com/podcast.

Session Synopsis

A metal pyramid sits on a ridge above the now destroyed outpost. Curious the party winds their way up a trail to the base of the structure where they find signs of a skirmish. Pressing onwards the group climbs the structure finding an entrance at the top carefully protected by some entity. What will the group find inside this unusual structure made of metal? Who meets their fate inside this metal pyramid on an alien planet?

Download Link:  http://irontavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Episode-8.mp3

Credits

Intro and outro music is ‘Wrecking Ball’ from 137 from http://music.mevio.com.

Mini Review: The Stars Are Falling

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The Stars Are Falling CoverPurple Duck Games has taken some of their earlier adventures and combined them to form a short campaign arc for Dungeon Crawl Classics. The product was released as The Stars Are Falling and is written by Daniel Bishop, Paul Wolfe, and David Pryzbyla. The compilation includes the following previously released adventures:

I have reviewed each of the above products separately, except for Sepulchre of the Mountain God, here at The Iron Tavern. The links above will take you to the Iron Tavern review.

And though I have not done an official review for AL2, I have run that adventure. It was a great time for the group I ran it for and provided us with a lot of fun. So though it lacks a review here at the Tavern, it is no less great than the other adventures above.

The Stars Are Falling brings all of the above adventures together in one product – available in PDF or Print format from RPGNow, d20pfsrd.com, or Paizo.com.

Two pages have been added to provide a campaign framework for linking all of these adventures together. The suggested order to run these is slightly different than their release order – AL2, AL1, AL3, AL4, AL3 (optional), and AL5.

A 0-level funnel does need to be provided by the judge running this. Portal Under the Stars from the core rulebook is a great candidate for this as a particular event that happens in that funnel can be tied to The Stars Are Falling with minimal work. If your group is already familiar with that funnel, some suggestions are made on how to strengthen ties from whatever funnel you choose to the theme of this product.

The remaining portion of the framework chapter review each component of the compilation and what changes need to be made to tie them together into one campaign arc. These are usually 2-3 bullet points, map adjustments or how to tie legend from one adventure locale to another. These are all easy modifications and do a lot to give the compilation a cohesive feel.

While I have not run these adventures tied together I have run all of them but the finale at some point. They are all great adventures, several of which my players still talk about or haunt them in some fashion. By turning them into a compilation a DCC RPG judge has a great resource they can use to jumpstart a DCC campaign up through 3rd level or so. In addition a great many events will have been set into motion that ideas to continue the campaign should be abundant.

The Stars Are Falling compilation is another great release from Purple Duck Games for the DCC game. Whether you missed out on some of the adventures as they were released or you were looking for a mini-campaign product in adventure path style you will want to take a closer look at this release.

Behind the Curtain: Default System Choice

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PSE1_Kajaks_Kave_Cover_ThumbIn the week following the debut of Iron Tavern Press and our first product, Kajak’s Kave, I suspect some folks are wondering why I chose Swords & Wizardry for the “default” system. There is a plethora of well-written OSR systems available today and to choose one seems a very difficult task.

I wanted to take a little time and explain why that choice was made, specifically for the Pocket-Sized Encounters series I launched Iron Tavern Press with.

Background

I got my start in the role-playing world with D&D Basic, the Moldvay version. Even today the cover of that boxed set is etched into my mind. That set is what launched me on what has proven to be a lifetime hobby. From playing games, to running games, to blogging, to starting Iron Tavern Press. The roots can be traced back to that system.

Of course over the years I drifted away from that initial edition. 1st Edition AD&D, then on to 2nd Edition, and even to D&D 3.x. From there I drifted to Pathfinder and in recent years even more dabbling in various systems. Some just picked up and read through and others taken for more extensive test drives.

Regardless of system I will hold a fondness for the OSR. Especially as my available time diminishes and I need to work the hobby into a fuller and fuller schedule. The light nature of many of the OSR systems allow me to spend more time on the creative and less time on the “crunch”.

System Choice

When I first wrote Kajak’s Kave and the idea of Pocket-Sized Encounters percolated the adventure was written to be systemless. The creatures were simply referenced by name and how many were present with directions to look up the actual creature stats in your rule system of choice. While this led to great versatility it did push work off on the GM.

Around this same time I was doing on the fly conversions of some Dungeon Crawl Classics and Labyrinth Lord adventures to Swords & Wizardry. Converting on the fly was pretty easy, but I was glad I had at least some stats to work off of. Even the inclusion of basic stats for a different system gave me the ballpark of what I would use in Swords & Wizardry.

This experience had me second guessing my choice to go completely systemless for this series. But what system should I use as the default assumption?

It came down to three top contenders for choice of system that I felt were good fits for the series and still adaptable for people to convert to their system of choice. OSRIC, Labyrinth Lord, and Swords & Wizardry.

Each of these systems have their strengths, but in the end I chose Swords & Wizardry for the default system for the Pocket-Sized Encounters line. Let’s take a closer look as to why.

Swords & Wizardry

I’ve posted before about why I like Swords & Wizardry as a foundation system. But there are some factors that also influenced my decision from a publisher’s point of view.

Swords & WizardryThe biggest factor? Swords & Wizardry stat blocks include both ascending and descending AC. To me this is huge. Yes – one can convert even AC on the fly, but to some that seems a mystery or at the very least, not something they feel like doing at the table. Swords & Wizardry includes both a number for ascending and descending AC in the same stat block which removes what I consider one of the larger hurdles for at the table conversion. It also lends itself well to conversion to more complex rule systems such as Pathfinder as well.

Another major reason I like Swords & Wizardry is that the ruleset is available online at d20swsrd.com. It is easily searchable and very handy for a rule lookup when you are away from your books. I find online resources such as these invaluable. Having the ruleset online in such a clean format simply lowers the bar to entry that much more. It even makes things easier for me as I write to be able to look things up quickly.

Though the decision was made after I had chosen Swords & Wizardry as the default assumption for Pocket-Sized Encounters, the fact the Swords & Wizardry Complete PDF is now free to the public doesn’t hurt! Yet another step to keep the barrier to S&W low.

In general I find S&W a very solid foundation for people that like OSR gaming. It is easy to build upon by “borrowing” rules from other places or layering your own house rules on.

All of these factors contributed to why I chose Swords & Wizardry as my default system for this line of products.

The Players Speak: KpNooney-Claus

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DCC RPG Rulebook Cover w-Headphones

Today’s post is part of an in-between DCC RPG Actual Play session postings to provide a little more insight into the cast of characters and players that make up the campaign.

Aaron plays KpNooney and Baptist in the actual play podcast. He joined the group a couple of weeks after the campaign started with a trio of funnel characters. Baptist was the survivor, though today Aaron writes about Kpnooney – the boom canon wizard!

KpNooney-Claus’s (the K and P are silent) Backstory

KpNooney was a share-cropping wheat farmer struggling to make ends meet, but he had a happy life. He enjoyed his work, had many friends and was married to a young woman that he adored. One fateful night, in the midst of a nasty violent rain storm his wife ,Haxinflaxin, went into labor. KpNooney was thrilled for the birth of their first child, twins actually. But the gods had other plans. A small chunk of meteor crashed through the thatched roof of the humble shack, killing Haxinflaxin and the twins instantly and setting off a fire that burned everything KpNooney-Klaus owned to ash.

This event lead the humble wheat farmer into a vicious spiral of depression, alcohol abuse and rage, alienating him from all his friends and family. KpNooney soon left the farm to wander aimlessly, angry at the universe. A chance encounter with a group of adventurers gave focus and direction to the would-be wizard.

“Those guys saved my life” – KpNooney-Clause

He quickly became enamored with the powerful dark wizard Meffridus, whose methods and madness struck a chord with the disenchanted, morose KpNooney-Claus. The cannibal thief Baptist Inklings, seeing the vulnerability of this young recruit, led KpNooney down the dark path of Malotoch, the carrion crow-Goddess.

“At first the kid was just along for the ride, he was like a lost puppy so we let him tag along. But he learned Magic Missile and now we rely on him when we get in a tight spot.” – Baptist

KpNooney found in the adventuring party a reason to live, a purpose and friendship. He is usually quiet and reserved, being a wizard of few words but real handy in a scrap. KpNooney-Clause believes that his two greatest achievements were venturing into the realm of the dead to bring back his mentor, idol and dear friend Meffridus (and that weird fella who thinks he’s a pirate, what’s his name….Gonlex the Hero Bard of Slither’s End) and spell-duelling to death the High Priestess of Mani when the group, successfully, took control of the Mani Temple in the Great CIty

One day KpNooney hopes to be as great a wizard as Meffridus and to have enough power to sacrifice his life saving “Satan’s Glee Club” from certain death..

Kajak’s Kave Now Available

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Kajak’ Kave Now Available!

Kajak’s Kave, the first release in the Pocket-Sized Encounters line is now available at RPGNow!

Livestock disappearing from their pastures, children discovering large humanoid footprints along the creek, rumored sightings of a lumbering giant, and Shaerie the Huntress’ disappearance several weeks ago leave only one conclusion. An ogre has taken up residence too close to town! Are you the brave adventurers to help rid the town of this threat and discover the whereabouts of Shaerie?

A Pocket-Sized Encounter compatible with the Swords & Wizardry rules system for 4th to 6th level characters.

PSE1_Kajaks_Kave_Cover_Thumb

 

Questions about Pocket-Sized Encounters? Check out the Iron Tavern Press page.

Episode 7: The Smoldering Outpost

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dcc_rpg_cover_small‘The Smoldering Outpost’ is the seventh episode of a Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG actual play podcast. Additional information can be found at http://irontavern.com/podcast.

Session Synopsis

Continuing up what seems to be an unending stairwell the group faces another challenge from the fearsome rock worms before they finally reach the surface of this alien planet. Finding themselves in an environ of purple haze the party finds what appears to be a temporary outpost of some size. Several buildings lay in ruin as they make efforts to explore what appears to be a watch tower standing tall above the base.

Notes: In interest of reducing the time required to produce the podcast I am experimenting with slightly less editing in this episode. I still remove gaps of silence and periods of irrelevant talk to the game itself, but you might hear a few more “uhms” or “table noise” than in previous episodes. Feel free to comment if you feel this affects your listening enjoyment unduly.

Download Link: http://irontavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Episode-7.mp3

Credits

Intro and outro music is ‘Wrecking Ball’ from 137 from http://music.mevio.com.

Chromecast and Roll20

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chromecast-imageChromecast

Google entered the streaming media player market with their Chromecast product last year. Priced at $35, the Chromecast is slightly larger than a USB key and goes into the HDMI slot of your TV. It needs auxiliary power through either a USB connection or power adapter. Once installed (which is very easy) you can “cast” certain applications to it – Netflix, YouTube, HuluPlus and such. You can also “cast” Chrome browser tabs to the device from a computer. This opens up a few more possibilities for the device.

We have several streaming media devices at home as we cut cable/satellite years ago. We have an older model Roku that serves our needs very, very well. One of the TVs has Netflix built-in which also covers a lot of our streaming needs. And of course a PS3 that has the ability to stream various forms of media.

So why would I even consider the Chromecast (and the tie-in for this post to an RPG blog)?

Roll20 and the Chromecast

When I read a little more about the casting of a Chrome tab my thought went to gaming and could I cast a tab running Roll20. I did some quick Google searches and it seemed some folks had tried this. With an Amazon gift card I decided to try this out and ordered a Chromecast.

It arrived a couple of days later and I set it up on the main TV in the house. One of the first things I tried was casting a Chrome tab (after installing the Chrome extension). A normal web page cast with minimal issue, though there was a bit of lag between what was displayed on the computer (MacBook Pro) and the screen. Nothing particularly problematic.

The next experiment was to cast a tab running Roll20. This initially worked pretty well, but soon the flaws became more evident. As I worked in Roll20 (removing fog of war, using the drawing tool, etc) the lag became more apparent and the tab would become disconnected from the Chromecast frequently. Typically I could just reconnect – but during a gaming session I’d rather be gaming – not troubleshooting tech.

I have continued to play with “casting” a Roll20 tab and still had intermittent results. The initial page display is fine, but the longer the “casted” tab is used the more problematic the “casting” becomes with disconnects and such.

Conclusion

At the current time I don’t think the Chromecast is quite ready for the use I had in mind for it. I suspect things will improve in the future as Chromecast updates and Chrome extensions are further refined to make them less resource heavy (both network bandwidth and computer). But for the moment my idea of reliably casting a Roll20 tab is not ready for prime time just yet.

I will continue to use the Chomecast and watch as updates to it and the apps that can use it take place. But for the moment – if you were considering a Chromecast for the purpose of casting Roll20 tabs I would hold out just a bit longer.