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Cobwebs on the Borderlands, Session 2

The party wander through a heavily-wooded valley, with steep cliffs on either side. Among the foliage, they find a cave. As they get closer to it, a series of explosions occur from all around them, as a tornado of birds erupt in flight. Brindar, Ryka and Fineas take 4 damage as superheated crystal shards penetrate their skin. They have been shot by a gang of troglins hiding among the trees. The gang fail their initiative rolls, so the troglins act first. They fire another volley, no longer with the advantage of surprise and stealth, and the party are unscathed. Furthermore, the troglins' locations have been discovered. Brindar rushes a troglin and deals 3 damage, killing it outright. Ryka stabs with her spear, and kills another. Fineas takes a shot, at a -1 penalty due to cover, but hits anyway, killing another troglin. Nimbus shoots a beam with his staff, and injures a troglin. The troglins have suffered 3.5 losses in 1 round, and try to flee back into the forest. Nimbus blast...

Cobwebs on the Borderlands, Session 1

The party's home village was located in the foothills of the Ring Mountains, to the south of Dragon Lake. The Fish Kingdom fell some months ago, and since then, the village has been quickly depopulating. It is abundantly clear that there is no future for them there, and they must seek a new path.      They have received a letter from an old friend named Nweng who left some weeks ago. Unlike most, who headed towards the southern heartland and the capital city of Rock Town, she ventured into the hills, to a fortified settlement known as Bordland Keep. She says that life there is no picnic, but there is good to be done, and wealth & glory to be won for those bold enough to claim it. Enclosed in the letter is a simple map.      The party has been following the map for days. Through rain and sun they have ventured by foot. At last, as the sun sets over the western Ring Mountains, they catch sight of Bordland Keep, smoke rising from hearths obscured by a ...

Cobwebs on the Borderlands, Party introduction

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This is the party for my solo playthrough of the Keep on the Borderlands (the J.P. Dixon reformatted version), and Cobwebs & Cobblestones. Brindar the Barbarian Human Warrior Proficiency: Climbing Quirk: Superstitious Weapon: Axe Armour: Leather helmet and gauntlets Ryka the Valkyrie Dwarf Warrior Proficiency: ??? Quirk: Ornithophobia Weapon: Spear and shield Armour: Metal helmet and breastplate Fineas the Skilful Human Expert Proficiency: Bow, birdriding, merry japes Quirk: ??? Weapon: Bow Armour: Leather breastplate Nimbus the Magistrate Slith Mage Proficiency: Slithlore Quirk: ??? Weapon: Staff and daggers Armour: None

The Best Session I've Ever Participated In

The system was an OSR homebrew called Daring Subterranean Mercenaries. The campaign started in BFRPG, but my players didn't really grok the system. I know it's simple, but I'm not surprised because 1) I didn't read the rules thoroughly enough to teach it properly, 2) they never made any attempt to read the rules themselves and 3) the rules aren't particularly well-presented for new players to understand. I made this easier on them by designing DSM to be very compact, only have the information that a player actually needs to know (nothing for the DM) and, most importantly, it's visual, inspired by the designs of Better Legends. After a long hiaitus (of about two years), I decided to start the campaign up again, now using my new system, Daring Subterranean Mercenaries. The characters are: Badger (Halfling fighter), Brogun (Dwarf thief), ElfiƱa (Elf mage), Lemon McTall (Elf thief) and Saltie Mann (Human cleric). I made DSM compatible with BFRPG so their characters ...

Canterbury Campaigns

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Canterbury Campaigns. Like the Westmarches campaign, Canterbury campaigns are another style of play with a few basic principles. It is named after the Canterbury Tales, where a colourful group of pilgrims tell strange tales on a long journey. It is designed to allow multiple DM’s to run sessions without worrying about party or setting consistency. It essentially takes a Keep on the Borderland-style home town and puts makes it mobile - the home base is the party itself and the inn is a campfire. It is often lamented that it's hard to make travel interesting. In a Canterbury campaign, the whole thing is travel, but is made interesting by having travel as the setting into which adventures are placed. Characters start in a Home Base, a town on the edge of the Wilderness. It offers rest, information and supplies, but little else. This forces the party on the path to adventure as quickly as possible but gives them a safe spot to get attached to. The Wilderness contains a Final Destinatio...

OSE ... Now With Tentacles!

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— WHAT IS THIS? — This is a set of house rules for OSE. It requires the Old School Essentials Core Rules and the Classic Fantasy books. Only ascending AC is listed. — CLASSES — Class: Slayer Class: Slayer Slayers are adventurers who have sworn to fight the darkness. They are equipped with ancient crafts they can use to defeat their foes and defend their allies. - Requirements: None - Prime requisite: WIS - Hit Dice: 1d6 - Maximum level: 14 - Armour Class: 12 - Weapons & Armour: Any non-firearm - Languages: Common, Ancient Slayers must carry a holy symbol. This allows them to cast divine spells. They can spend time and money on magical research to learn new spells and when they reach 9th level, they are able to create magic items. They may also use scrolls, wands, staves and staffs that channel divine magic. Any of the slayer’s spells can be discharged as a ‘cure light wounds’ or ‘protection from evil’ spell. A slayer may attempt to cast a spell which has been fully de...