"From Kuroth’s Quill" is grodog's regular design column covering the elements of adventure design (and more-specifically dungeon design, given my interest in that topic). I will also wander through the design of spells and magic items; monsters, traps, tricks, and treasures; PC and NPC classes; planes and pantheons; and likely other topics as well. In the blog, I hope to provide practical examples that will be useful in campaign play, to show theory in action.
Showing posts with label grodog's castle greyhawk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grodog's castle greyhawk. Show all posts
This is a presently-unfinished map that I designed primarily during the pre-COVID era:
The Recessive Gallery Level - map by Allan Grohe (grodog)
The map is drawn on 8 spi graph paper, so it represents a fairly large level environment---880' east-west by 640' north-south. That places it solidly among the largest of my dungeon levels, and it's comparable in width to my original design for the first level of my Castle Greyhawk (which has been significantly enlarged more-recently, along with my second level).
Unlike many of my maps, I didn't sign and date this one, so I'm not sure offhand when I created it during the past decade-ish, but I worked on it last in November 2019, probably as prep for running it as a convention game, but I didn’t get quite that far with the keying.
As usual with my unfinished maps, various rooms are orphaned until I determine whether access to them will be via doors, archways, secret doors, or other more-esoteric means of entry.
Some interesting (to me, anyway!) features to note:
Entrances are via the 60’ circular shaft just right-of-center, ramps on the right side, a 20' wide corridor to the south, and a 20’ wide secret corridor on the far left
The area just above the entry shaft is the levels titular Recessive Gallery---a recessed artwork gallery. I haven’t decided exactly what type of art is represented in its exhibits, but I’m leaning toward statues and other physical/magical art emplacements (similar in style but not necessarily subject matter to those in my drowic sage of demonology's home in Erelhei Cinlu)
You’ll notice some triangular doors drawn on the level, and they are in fact triangular in shape and placed in triangularly-shaped corridors, which complicate movement (the triangles are oriented with the point downward)
A few of the rooms are moving, although only one is marked on this version of hte map: the lower-right 40x40’ room
Two multi-level complexes exist: an octagonally-shaped one in the lower-ish left, and a square-ish shaped one in the lower middle right. These extend upward and downward from the baseline elevation of the level, and may reach into other adjacent levels (I haven't determined that yet).
The large skull/lightbulb-shaped room is likely a temple, perhaps to a god of death---perhaps Nerull or Wee Jas or a previously-slain god of death (two of my players' PCs are interested in the god of death: one is from the Horned Society and has been actively worshipping Nerull, while another is a fey bard from another plane and is enamored with an aspect of the god of death from that plane, who may or may not also existing within the portfolio of one of Greyhawk's death gods)
I placed a few repeating room-door mazes in the level, in the tradition of early Gygaxian and Kuntzian map designs
At least two of the large rooms are inhabited by dragons!
More to come as I continue to work through older draft posts and as inspiration strikes! :)
Kron Hills, Gnarley Forest, and Dyvers environs - map by grodog
Since my last Haruspications in Hardby campaign update in July, the PCs have wrapped up their business in Dyvers (selling some poison-smeared gems liberated from a hidden temple to Nerull in Castle Greyhawk to the Executor of the temple of Nerull in Dyvers---and this turned out far better than I expected!), and are working their way back toward Greyhawk. The characters left Dyvers in the midst of Brewfest, on Waterday, the 5th day of that festival, in the year 576 CY.
Night Arrant by Gary Gygax
On the Road
On their way to Dyvers from Hardby, they passed through the bucolic Gnarlvergia region, detailed by Gary Gygax in "The House in the Tree" in his Night Arrant collection. (For those interested, you can listen to Jason Zavoda's readings of much of Night Arrant over on Canonfire! at http://www.canonfire.com/cf/ghnovels.php but unfortunately he did not make it through to record "The House in the Tree" prior to his untimely death in December 2021. This reminds me that someone in one of the Greyhawk-related discord channels suggested that I might carry on with those recordings, perhaps; I will chase that idea down again!). There's not an entry for Gnarlvergia in the Greyhawk Wiki, but that's probably less of an oversight since the region is only mentioned three times by name in Night Arrant. But I digress....
On their way to Dyvers from Hardby, the PCs encountered two groups that turned into useful informational meetings. The first was with the Urûl-Kotár, a group of Flan tribal woodsfolk led by the druidess Cíaran-ap-Tulvea. After some initial tensions, the two groups broke bread together under the auspices of hospitality, and the PCs warned the Flan of two groups of marauding dragons (one brass, and four blue) rumored to be attacking merchant caravans in and around the Hardby region, and the woodsfolk were very grateful: Reaction Roll of 100, before adding 40 for the bard's 18 Charisma to make it a 140% total reaction! This is not nearly as uncommon in this campaign as you might think....
The second encounter of note was with a group of olvenfolk patrolling/hunting for brigands, and they surprised the PCs. They also noticed that one of the PCs (Henry's character Nohr, a half-olven fighter/magic-user from a future alternate timeline of Oerth) was wielding a drowic tentacle rod as a weapon: this was "sloat gaacor" (sloat like moat, gaacor like gay soar)--an elvish taboo cognate meaning "forbidden darkness." The PCs discussed how they acquired the weapon (in their Astral adventure in Zjelwyin Fall), and learned little about the strange nature of the ojbect, save that it gravely concerned the olven captain Sillirifran, of the Moonsilver Pool clan (Ilmkelisil in olven). Still in pursuit of the brigands, the elves departed relatively quickly, but urged the PCs to rejoin them later at their home, Silverwell (Celebthiltin Eithimbar: the "silver shining sparkles homewell"), the source and spring for the Silvern Stream that runs from within the Gnarley to the Nyr Dyv.
The PCs encountered various other animals---wild horses (some of which they captured and sold/traded to the Silvern-Selintan Ranch, with the well-recognized brand $$) and giant weasels (which they killed and skinned)---and NPCs (a merchant caravan on the eastern side of Selintan, including the Womtham magic-user Eriena Nabestiana, who sold some acid and potions to Nersiv), some en route to and within the city, but the woodsfolk and olves may prove to be the most interesting from the lot. Time will tell!
In the City
Negotiations with the Temple of Nerull took awhile, but were successfully concluded after the services on Godsday during Brewfest. The result includes a proposal of alliance with the Greyhawk Assassin's Guild. While Haj worked the Reaper's clergy, some of the other PCs worked opportunity jobs that arose during the festivities:
Cyn performed with two other bards---Zyfor the Black, hailing from Blackmoor, and Cyndalia Tureine from Rel Astra) at the Inn of the Golden Locks; all three performed well, and earned about 100 gp each over the course of Cyn's stay
Nohr and Cyn also acted as translators at Shadows in the Drink (another inn in the western portion of Dyvers) in urgent need of Hobbit and Olven speaking assistance; Cyn made the acquaintance of Lord Gwyndariol from the Vale of Highfolk, as a result of the translations work
Nersiv departed from the rest of the party and from Dyvers on the first day of Brewfest in order to speculate on some wares/commodities offered in the markets: he purchased some essence of will-o-wisp and violet fungi spores at low prices and then chartered an olven hippogriff messenger service carrier to return him to Hardby where he plans to sell them at a substantial profit, in order to then return to Dyvers and purchase an elixir of life available from one of the other merchants before the close of Brewfest
Once the Nerullite business concluded, the PCs left on the 5th day of Brewfest to return to Greyhawk, planning to stop at Silverwell on the way and to take the olves up on their invitation.
Movin' Right Along (the Road, into an Ambush?)
Kermit and Fozzy, on the road again....
At midnight that evening, a large group of goblins passed by the PCs' camp (neither group was surprised), and the goblins split into multiple groups, one of which moved toward the camp. Through a lengthy battle (11 rounds!), the PCs slew approximately 30 goblins in battle.
The session ended with various questions still unanswered:
Where were the goblins heading to, and where were they coming from?
Will the goblins regroup on the other side of the Silvern Stream and reengage, or flee?
Are the PCs in range of the goblins' slingers? (That answer is almost certainly Yes!).
Will the PCs stop to loot fallen goblins, or carry the fight to the remainder of the force, or pursue some other course of action?
As usual, I am looking forward to tomorrow night's game! :D
Today marks Gary Gygax Day, and what better way to honor Gary and the game he and Dave Arneson, Rob Kuntz, Lenard Lakofka, and so many others created and shaped, than to play AD&D.
Without further ado, here are events from one of the current Greyhawk campaigns I DM:
The PCs in our online, twice-per-month Castle Greyhawk campaign (AD&D 1e, currently set in the summer of 576 CY) have been delving a bit into the meaning of the Prophecy of the Six and the Twelve, which they recovered last summer (in real life) from the Astral fastness of The Zjelwyin Fall.
In order to try to mitigate the infernal (divine?) attentions of Nerull and to mitigate a perhaps-baleful curse that might be afflicting one or more of the PCs after they inadvertently invoked divine (infernal?) intervention while looting a hidden temple to The Reaper in Castle Greyhawk, at the recommendations of the local clergy of Celestian, the PCs journeyed south to Hardby, to seek the guidance of Wee Jas. (After all, she too is a god of death).
The PCs communed with the Ruby Queen with one of her Hardby cathedral-complex high priestesses acting as medium. (Yet again, they invoked divine intervention through their fiendishly lucky---and occasionally unlucky---dice rollings: I regularly roll a 100 on 1d100 reaction rolls every session that we play in this game!---and yes, DI rolls are roll low not high, but I digress....).
The questions they posed to Wee Jas were perhaps answered directly by the goddesss herself, the female voice speaking in different tone than those of her high priestess. The PCs asked four questions:
Q: Are any of us cursed by the Reaper? A: Not exactly.
Q: Will placating the Reaper appease his anger? A: Yes.
Q: Can the priestesses here provide direction on how to placate the Reaper's anger? Perhaps.
Q: Will you give us a sign on how to placate the Reaper? Yes.
Part of the significance in Wee Jas' responses is based on how the commune spell works in AD&D: "By use of a commune spell the cleric is able to contact his or her divinity---or agents thereof---and request information in the form of questions which can be answered by a simple "yes" or "no". The cleric is allowed one such question for every level of experience he or she has attained." (Players Handbook, page 49). The fact that Wee Jas spoke directly and broke the "rules" of the divinatory exchange speaks as much as or more than the answers themselves, perhaps.
After the high priestess recovered a day or two from channelling the goddess directly, she wrote the PCs a letter, which contained the additional sign they sought, along with guidance on how to recognize further signs from the goddess, and some additional advice:
Starday, 22 Harvester, in the year 576 Common Year
Esteemed Querants---
Enclosed please find the wisdom of Wee Jas, to aid you in your efforts to achieve atonement with The Reaper:
1. I awoke on this morn having scribed in the night a strange and unsettling verse, which I believe is in response to your queries to the goddess. Her riddling rede means not much to me as yet, but I shall pray for the guidance and wisdom to understand its depths. I have enclosed a copy of her words for you. Do not share them lightly with others, they are for your eyes and ears alone.
2. The rede mentions “ruby roses” which reminds me of a gift that Zagig is purported to have given the goddess prior to his ascendancy. Perhaps it is true, perhaps not, but this gift if it existed is one that his priests may be able to provide more detail about, if you can ever find one of them at temple.
3. Your band’s explorations seem intertwined more-closely with Zagig’s schemes and follies than I would deem wise. If you wish to pursue further learnings about the man Zagig, he was raised in Hardby, and lived here prior to his move northward to Greyhawk. What is not as well-known is that prior to the erection of his grand castle, that Zagig crafted a manse for himself, which he later abandoned once the great edifice stood. Perhaps it may yield some further guidance, although I would assess carefully the relevance of any such rede that you may receive from The Mad Archmage.
4. Lastly, with respect to additional guidance that the goddess may share with you in the form of omens, portents, and other signs of her divine guidance, know that she is wont to communicate through dreams and visions; to employ as messengers and visitations the familiars of magi, and the lawful dragons and undead, cardinals and the phoenix; that she favors the hues of red, ruby, crimson, cardinal, carmine, vermillion, scarlet, and cerise; seek her in the wisdom of the dead and the grave, and in the runes and power words that shape the motion of the world’s living magics.
Go in the light the of the goddess, and may she guide you in this world and the next with clarity and purpose.
Your obedient servant---
Eora Nulnivik, High Priestess in Sable Cathedral of Wee Jas Hardby
(The letter is scribed as a handout in the font Blackadder ITC at 13.5 font size, and fits nicely on a single sheet of paper. I'll post a PDF of the letter in that format once I'm able, preferably using Carlos Lising's very nice parchment background, if I remember to ask him about that at the game this weekend).
Enclosed with the letter was the "riddling rede"---however the handwriting for the poem did not match Eora Nulnivik's hand from her letter. Its text follows, but the formatting won't reproduce well in HTML without more work than I have time to put in at the moment, so I'll post it in PDF later as well. (For reference, the letter's hand was in Edwardian Script ITC 15.5 font size).
Sword of Roses
There lies a scythe in Quariol bound by ruby roses whose petals unfold--- and bleed--- when traitor Winter stalks the skies
staining the hard, frozen ground and exhaling the souls of the soft dead
into bottomless night
Unnamed thing of demons--- forged and sheathed in bitter alchemies of time and flesh woe and bone fang and shadow---
It whispers shrill, cruel secrets in tongues that echo and mock the brood stillness of the woods the worlds
Secrets rising as breaths--- upon the silence stealing steeling the worlds for woe
There in Quariol--- beyond the black lodge of Fenris beyond the roses-shrouded gate
in the vale of madness of pain of despair unending---
There lies a scythe in Quariol
(by Allan Grohe, after Eric Kimball and Robert Gould – Two Man Horse).
A day or two later, one of the other PCs invoked Zagyg's direct attention while at a much-smaller chapel dedicated in his name---but that is for another tale....
Meanwhile the PCs are leaving Hardby to hear north to Dyvers, where they can consult at one of The Reaper's primary temples in the Flanaess.
What could possibly go wrong?
==
I based the automatic writing "riddling rede" on a poem written by Eric Kimball and illustrated by Robert Gould that I first encountered in the art and prints shop of Norm Hood off of exit 7A in the mid-1980s, and adapting it to Greyhawk was a pleasure---and I hope a respectful tribute to their original work:
Sword of Roses by Eric Kimball and Robert Gould (Two Man Horse, 1976)
Being as I'm about to head out to the North Texas RPG Con in a couple of days, I'd better get my GaryCon Report Part 2 concluded! ;)
Continuing from my now-too-long-in-the-tooth Part 1 summary, after running my games on Thursday and Friday of GaryCon XIII, I spent most of the rest of the connvention playing in games (Sunday afternoon excepted).
Saturday, 27 March
1-6pm:
I played in Les "OblivionSeeker" Reno's "Death Master's Gambit: Dead Men Tell No Tales" AD&D 1e adventure---although they do blackmail with some regularity, it seems. Our PCs will
seek to eliminate the blackmail at the source, somewhere in the Wild
Coast....
Les crafted a supremely-cool scenario in which our PCs were pulled into a rather Machiavellian plot:
Your recent adventures began in Safeton. Slanarus Zaal, a prosperous merchant, gathered you together. He felt he could trust you. You’d done work for him in the past, and each of you had proven yourselves to be honorable, in your own fashion, and discreet.
Almost a year ago, letters began to arrive at the man’s office under mysterious circumstances. They seemed to *materialize* on the desk or between a ledger’s pages when the man turned his back for a moment or left and locked the room. To the casual reader, the contents would seem banal—details of a journey, as recorded by a business associate; a jesting but flirtatious inquiry from one of the widower’s former lovers; requests for forbearance from some debtor or other. At first, Zaal was irritated by the intrusion and gave little thought to the texts. Then he realized that the letters were all written in the same hand. He studied them and discovered that mathematical calculation based on the date indicated the number and spacing of written characters to be counted, and each letter’s signature revealed the substitution cipher to translate the letters into a message. When some of you expressed surprise at his ability to decrypt the messages, he smiled and told you that merchants whose business involves transportation of goods often must resort to such tactics to avoid unwanted, official attention. What’s more, the letter followed a method he’d adopted early in his career. No one could know the secret, because all those who had shared the knowledge were all dead....
Things merely got more interesting from there, as Les wove that backstory and our explorations into a twisted scenario with multiple layers of deceptions and betrayals afoot! I've attached scans of my notes, pregen PC, and gameplay map (which is as much notes as it is map, too; I had captured 3 stages of the map during our game):
I had a great time playing, and look forward to gaming again with Les (and the other players in the round, in the future! =)
Our PCs entered the mind of an ice-bound sorcerer (what
could possibly go wrong!) in order to try to awaken him back into the real world. As you can imagine, the setting, encounters, and game rules/environs grew even-more surreal than ASSH's usual blend of REH, HPL, and CAS! Eli did a great job painting the picture for this dreamy landscape and its inhabitants, including creating some illustrations to show us during the game, which really helped set the scene!:
Islands - by Eli Elder
The Castle - by Eli Elder
Eli's game was a highlight among so many good games that weekend, and I really encouraged him to try to publish his scenario =)
Sunday, 28 March
8am-1pm:
Player in Gaetano LeFavi's "Unhallowed Halls of the Sorcerer King"---we'll be exploring an alt-lair of Acererak's before he settled
into his final digs in the Tomb of Horrors---what could possible go
wrong? (Have you noticed a trend yet? ;) ).
Gaetano ran a great game that was solidly grounded in the Greyhawk setting's lore (no surprises there!), as well as Gaetano's version of Greyhawk, of which you can see Sunndi as we explored it during the course of our session:
We spent most of the session doing the prep and investigation for our mission (with probably only the last 90 mins or so at the Tomb of Horrors, where our dungeon excursion began), but it was time well-spent! My notes don't really do justice to the immersive play from the session:
And, like Carlos' game earlier in the con, we all discussed getting back together to complete the rest of the scenario as well!
1-5pm:
I DM'd Paul Stormberg's "Legends of Roleplaying" tourney again this year,
and for 2021 it was "Into the City of Brass" by Rob Kuntz. This is the continuation of the
"(To the) City of Brass" tourney I played in 1987 at DragonCon #1, when I
first met Rob, so it was a treat to revisit the setting from behind the screen this time!
As I expected it was a tough challenge to complete in four hours, and the PCs were able to get through nearly all of the first half of the scenario in the session. (We had a few technical glitches, so we ran a bit long to allow them the full four hour slot).
Since Paul plans to publish Rob's adventures, I won't go into much detail about the game, but we had a great crew of players during the session who discovered some very interesting solutions to the challenges posed in the scenario!
7-10pm:
After wrapping up the tourney, I grabbed a quick dinner, then joined a cornucopia of guests with Jay Scott, Anna Meyer, and Mike Bridges in the "Greyhawk: Ask the Experts & Campaigns" livestreamed seminar. Among the other guests were Denis Tetreault, Eric Boyd, Erik Mona, and Gary Holian (and
likely some other folks since I arrived a bit late as I recall). The Sunday seminar has capped-off the Greyhawk track at GaryCon the past two or three years now, which is a tradition I'm enjoying!
The replay from the seminar is available on Jay's LordGosumba YouTube channel, so you don't need my scrawled notes for this one :D
I took Monday off from work to recover and rest-up =)
Many Thanks!
A big Thank You to Luke Gygax, Dave Conant, Skip Williams, and the rest of the GaryCon crew and the volunteer staff for making GaryCon XIII such fun!
And special thanks to Jay Scott who coordinated the Virtual Greyhawk Con-within-a-Con again this year, and made it even more successful than last year's events! =)
Yet-again, I had a wonderful time at GaryCon this year. Here's the first part of my post-convention recap, working off of my schedule for GaryCon XIII!
Wednesday, 24 March
In our usual fashion, members of the Legio V gathered on Wedsnesday night for our pre-con get-together, which was a fun time as always. We didn't game this year, just hung out and caught up on life, the universe, and everything.
If you're not familiar with the Legio V, here's some info:
The
Lake Geneva Legio V began as a handful of gamers who have attended Gary
Con since its inception. We have grown over the past few years to
include like-minded individuals united by a respect of Gary Gygax and
his legacy. We are the dedicated attendees who love Gary Con for the
camaraderie it establishes, the Game Masters who run games from across
the decades, and the committed gamers who spend these four days in a
fervor of dice rolling and old school good times.
Although
events run as LEGIO V Presents will use a variety of rule systems, our
focus is on games authored by Gary and his contemporaries as well as
those systems whose designers pay homage to these pioneers.
Thursday and Friday mornings - grodog's Castle Greyhawk: Escape from Level 14
Over Thursday and Friday I ran two sets of players through levels from my version of Castle Greyhawk. Both opted to attempt to get away from Level 14, which I first ran at the North Texas RPG Con #1 in 2009, and subsequently at GaryCons #2 (2010), with reprises at NTX and GaryCon #10 in 2018. The scenario premise is:
Escape From Castle Greyhawk – Player Background
You are veteran explorers of
Castle Greyhawk.You have worked as a
team over the past two years to pursue, plumb, and plunder the depths of the
Castle, looting it of treasures and raining doom upon its inhabitants.
Several days of torrential rain finally let up last night, so today you
immediately entered the Castle dungeons, to slay a pair of mated pyrohydras
that you discovered on one of your more-recent expeditions to level 10.Your plan was to follow your normal “wet route”
through the dungeons:
enter the ruins through the breached southern
gates
locate the mobile well in the western bailey, and
descend into dungeon level 2
use the nearby teleporter to move across level 2,
and take the northern stair to level 3
go to the central elevator, and take it down to
level 8
slide down the chute-stair into one of the level
9s
descend to level 10 from the secret stairwell,
move to the lair of the pyrohydras, kill them, and take their stuff
You would normally
have used the long passage from the fens, but with the recent storms, this
entrance and the level it leads to are sure to be flooded.However, things went awry on level 8:one of the stairwells on the level, that lead
to the chute, deposited you into unfamiliar territory, and disappeared leaving
a blank wall for your return path.That
is where you are now.
The Thursday crew chose to combine both of my offerings so it our session became "Kill the Holaki which has escaped from the Four Way Hub Level to Level 14" (or something like that). They did manage to kill the dreaded Holaki, a fearsome creature created by Erol Otus as part of an art commission for members of the Acaeum:
The Holaki - by Erol Otus
In addition to the Holaki, the Thursday crew battled with some new monsters created by my 13-year-old son Henry---a pack of Mind Hounds lead by a Mind Spider. Henry wasn't expecting to battle these--I slipped them into the adventure to playtest them a bit since I knew he'd be playing---and they almost got away with kidnapping some of the PCs (but to what end?....).
Escape from Level 14 - and - Kill the Holaki, player map by Henry Grohe
Henry created both creatures as part of his The Fortress of Alexander 'zine project for a class at school, and our older son Ethan illustrated them:
The Mind Spider - created by Henry Grohe, illustrated by Ethan Grohe
Expect to hear more about Henry's zine as he works over the summer to expand it from a school assignment for publication.
The Friday crew explored in a different direction, so they didn't encounter the Holaki or Mind Spider, but they did encounter a pair of Fire Weirds from The Twisting Stair #3, who proved a vexing foe. They were also the first players to discover the Gaming Parlor on the level, where their PCs were able to enjoy Boot Hill, Chainmail, The Awful Green Things from Outer Space, and other classic TSR board games. (In true grogardly fashion, they opted to battle orcs vs. dwarves at The Battle of Five Armies between the arms of the Lonely Mountain, using Chainmail).
In that chamber they also found a Deck of Many Things, which resulted in several interesting conclusions for the PCs:
Dex's ranger PC drew first, and drew two card with good results on each
Julian's fighter Preson also drew twice, but also drew The Fool as his second card, which permitted him a third draw
Rich's dwarf F/T Archie Rubblesworth drew thrice---twice with good results, but the final pull drew the infernal attentions of Asmodeus himself!
Kevin's bard Joanie Blackheart drew only once, but was whisked away to Acheron to fight Hextor in personal combat!
Robert's druid, Trebor, also drew twice: he gained three wishes, once of which he used to bring all of the PCs back to the City of Greyhawk (including the earlier-slain wizard Silvermane, who spontaneously combusted in battle with the fire weirds); his second draw, however, forced him to change alignment or to be judged---he refused to change, so he ended the session upon the scales of the Cosmic Balance, awaiting the judgment of The Grey Lords!
I used the H. R. Giger tarot for the deck, which set a suitably ominous tone ;)
Thursday, 25 March
Thursday night, I played in Rich Frank's "Lost Temple of Set" dungeon, where we successfully threaded the needle of a very large dungeon level to find and recover the fabled Eye of Horus:
This adventure has been designed to run as a pickup game run for member
of LEGIO V, on the Thursday night of Gary Con XIII. Pre-gen characters
are provided by Keith Sloan, and are identical to those used in his Sea
Lords games, run at past Gary Cons.
Premise: The party has traveled through a jungle to locate an ancient and
forgotten Temple of the God, Set. Set has not been worshipped in any
notable or public way in centuries, most of the old temples having been
thrown down and replaced with temples to other Gods. However, Set,
being a major God, has been able to maintain a cult of worshippers
despite being forced out of the consciousness of most of the population
in this world.
The motivation for the characters is to find the fabled Eye of Horus, a
large piece of jade in the shape of a pointed oval, with the symbol of
the Eye of Horus carved into it, and inlaid with gold. Among the
purported properties of the Eye is the ability to roll back time and
view what happened in the area the Eye is currently placed. (More on
this in the description of the Eye of Horus at the end of this
document.) Indeed, the characters have traveled here to find the Eye,
as part of a larger investigation to find who/what abducted the daughter
of a great King of the Realm.
We had a good time digging around in the ruined pyramid atop Rich's dungeon level, and fought several fearsome creatures within (that we learned afterward were Minions of Set from D&DG).
A fortuitous series of discovered secret doors led us straight to the EHP and his treasure horde, including the Eye of Horus!:
Rich Franks' Temple of Set - player map by Allan Grohe
Rich Franks' Temple of Set - player notes by Allan Grohe
My map shows about 1/50th of the level that Rich designed for our delve, so we got very lucky in our exploration and secret-door-detection rolls!
Notable quotations from the night's revelries:
"We're up to 0.8 Jon now"---Jon was having internet connectivity issues
Set slave kabobs - 50 deep!
"Sometimes counter clockwise is good"
Michael earned the "most valueable elf" award---he was also the only elf PC ;)
I had a wonderful time exploring Carlos 600 CY version of the Flanaess, and role-playing through the grim-and-gritty level 1 scenario with my fellow players:
The Great Kingdom once stood as a testimony to
the heights which mannish civilization could aspire. A place of magic
and miracles where law and order held sway, a proud army ensured its
peace and defended its common folk against the terrors beyond its
borders. But no more. After decades of corrosion from within,
nightmarish horrors now stalk the Great Kingdom, eager to prey upon
those that formed the soul of this once-mighty nation. With its potent
military shattered, few exist to defend these innocents outside small
pockets that have managed to remain intact through the harrows that saw
all they once held dear fall to ruin.
One of these groups is the 9th Division of the Sign of the Crimson Wyvern.
And this is their tale.
The PCs consisted of:
Jono (played by Dave), a young male human Fighter 1 in charge of our motley crew---all out on our first mission
Katin (played by Gregory), a female human Fighter 1, and Jono's (older?) sister, much more cautious than her brother
Gully (played by Emily, Dave's wife), a female halfling Thief 1; she took the lead once we arrived at Caldera's Burrow, where a large group of halflings may have been enslaved or killed by humanoids
Lovian (played by Jeremy), a male elven Magic-User 1 missing his left arm from the elbow downward; the hand is replaced by Bigby's Metallic Gauntlet, but the gauntlet floats mid-air, unattached to the arm that guides it....
Lord Morrow (played by Bill), a male human 0-level Cavalier of Hextor (he may have been a 0-level Paladin, not sure)
Baran Kolvigg (played by me), a male Flan human Cleric 1 of Pelor; I've not played a PC worshipper of Pelor before, so it was fun to explore the sun god through Baran's eyes
Baran Kolvigg - The Nine pregen PC
Our PCs spent 4 days on the road south from Bulwark Keep, and on the way to Caldera's Burrow encountered a creepy female necromancer of Nerull who had animated a large group of halfling skeletons to tend a field---but what exactly they were sowing, we don't know.... We spent the last hour or so of the session exploring the humanoid-occupied halfling burrows, and managed to kill an orcish witchdoctor (perhaps?), turn his halfling skeleton bodyguards, and slay a few orcs as well---all without any of our hapless PCs being slain!
We decided to continue the game after the convention, so you'll be able to follow-along with our exploits, fumbles, and likely-demises in 4K Technicolor, at some point ;)
