Hyborian Age OD&D

[thegreyelf]

I'm gearing up to start a Hyborian Age campaign. If anyone's interested, I'll campfire it here.

I'll be using my Age of Conan OD&D hack.

I told the group they were restricted to only one magic-using character, in keeping with the feel of the setting. Someone snatched it up pretty quick.

My sorcerer character's player came up with an interesting concept. He wants his character to work for the Nemedian Chroniclers, seeking out lore and evidence that certain legendary tales and exploits actually happened. I told him we can definitely roll with that. He's probably going to begin the game Unaligned, giving him a good 4 failed corruption saves before he becomes evil.

Another player is going to be an Aesir Fighting-Man. A third, while still unsure, thinks she's going to play a swashbuckling pirate-type character, probably in the mold of Belit or Valeria. The rest I haven't heard from yet.

The campaign will be set in the reign of King Conan II, approximately 3 years after the abdication and disappearance of King Conan the Great. Still gives me the standard Hyborian Age layout, with reliable information on the monarchs of the various kingdoms and their political boundaries and situations, but removes me from being slave to the canon, with an open future.

Despite his occasionally heavy-handed hack-job editing, I am considering the 12-volume de Camp/Carter/Nyberg series, plus the de Camp/Carter Conan the Liberator as canon. Conan of the Isles is a difficult one to reconcile, as it contradicts Howard's statement that he felt Conan's reign was a bloody and violent one, marked by Conan eventually being forced into wars of aggression to maintain his nation's sovereignty.

However, using the 12(13)-volume series provides me a stable timeline, and honestly, their straight pastiche work really isn't bad. I think those three guys alone of all the pastiche writers had a feel for Conan's character. It's easy enough for me to transplant the idea of forced wars of aggression to Conan's son, also named Conan.

I plan to modify a few generic d20/D&D adventures, and mix them with some of the Mongoose Conan adventures I've got. I should have enough to take them from solving mysteries in Tarantia to escaping slavery in an east-bound caravan, through adventuring in the Black Kingdoms and finally into Stygia to face down a manifestation of Set himself. I'd like to work something in Zamora in there somewhere; I'll have to see what I can come up with.

[blissinfinite]

Sounds intriguing.
I flipped through your Age of Conan book last week and thought it was interesting.
I'm looking forward to your posts.

[kesher]

Looks great! I look forward to hearing what happens.

As for texts, you might want to also check out The Complete Chronicles of Conan. This puts together, for the first time, Howard's own texts, unedited, in the order in which they were published (or not published.)

I'm not necessarily a purist, but these were all full of life, and there were two or three stories I'm pretty sure I've never read before.

[thegreyelf]

Actually, the Complete Chronicles isn't the first time that's been done. The first time it was done was the Wandering Star / Ballantine 3-volume set: The Coming of Conan, The Conquering Sword of Conan, and The Bloody Crown of Conan. And those three also contain all of Howard's fragments, synopses, letters, and essays about Conan as well. I have them .

That being said, I"ve been considering grabbing up The Complete Chronicles just to have a nice leatherbound (faux or not) single-volume version on the shelf.

[thegreyelf]

Okay, so...I have a player who wants to play a bard (actually, an Aesir or Vanir Skald). I'm fine with this, but overlooked the fact that bards from The Strategic Review have magic spells; I want to do away with this. The question is, what should I replace it with?

I'm thinking a healing ability based on their Lore skill, representing the fact that they know about holistic medicine and herbal remedies. Given that healing magic is all but non-existent in the Hyborian Age, this could come in handy from a purely gaming perspective. The question is, how to adjudicate this without pulling people out of the game? Do I put a set cap on the number of d6 in hit points per day, perhaps based on level? Do I restrict it based on finding materials (the proper herbs and mosses, for example) and time?

What do you all think?

[thegreyelf]

Character generation went very smoothly last night, all things considered (nobody had ever played OD&D before, and I'm using a rules hack to begin with).

The biggest doubt I have right now is that I'm not 100% sure that Philotomy's thief mod will work out very well--I have an Assassin, a Bard, and a straight Thief in the party. Changing the thief's move silently and hide skills to a flat improved chance at surprise will make the straight Thief much less worthwhile as compared to the Assassin and Bard, both of whom have thief abilities but at a lower level. We'll see how it plays out. Perhaps I'll leave the Assassin and Bard abilities as Philotomy's, and convert my regular thief's to 2d6 "skill" rolls.

[thegreyelf]

Session one is in the bag. Seemed to go pretty well. For our first outing I decided to adapt the "Conan the Buccaneer" adventure module from the old TSR Conan RPG (of which ZeFRS is a retro-clone). The great thing about OD&D is that any game adapts to it on the fly, so long as you have a base on which to assign hit dice to monsters.

Before the game I handed each player a page with a single paragraph of "prelude" on it, explaining their motives for being in Messantia, capitol of Argos. Perhaps not surprisingly, they were all there to sign on (for various reasons) to an expedition to a recently discovered island in the Western Ocean which has upon it a vast and (ruined) ancient city. Basic motivations:

Merhotep (Stygian Sorcerer): works for the Nemedian Chroniclers--this is his expedition. His assignment: find out anything he can about this ruin and bring back the information. He has brought with him his slave, a beautiful and educated young Stygian woman who seems to be as much apprentice and companion as she does servant. Her name is Rinan.

Hrogar (Aesir fighting-man) and Valder (Aesir skald): they came south looking for glory and honor, and have been hired by the Nemedian Chroniclers to protect the sorcerer during the mission.

Kristina (Zingaran swashbuckler / fighting-woman): sent by her captain to arrange the expedition, she has a secret motive of her own...

Zamoran thief: (whose player left the group and whose name I have consequently forgotten) fleeing a powerful organization who have put a price on his head, he got wind of this expedition through the criminal underworld and came to Messantia thinking a few months at sea is a good idea to keep his pursuers off his tail.

Lukas (Hyperborian assassin): Came south looking for work, and decided to try his hand at something new. He also has a secret agenda for signing on to this mission...

Decimus (Bossonian archer / border fighter): at the behest of Publius, the aging Chancellor of Aquilonia, he has been tasked with joining this expedition to see if it has anything to do with the disappearance of King Conan the Great, six months hence.

The group came together at the Cup and Trident, a tavern which is detailed in the novel Conan of the Isles. Didn't get to describe it much or really go into detail, but that's okay. It's enough that they're visiting places that have been detailed in the stories--that seemed to lend an air of credibility and excitement to it. Interestingly, the tavern was completely overlooked in Mongoose's Messantia boxed set, so I had to place it on the map myself.

It didn't take long for the group to take the game in hand. I placed them in the tavern, gave a brief description of the surroundings, and eventually they all came together. People established their own character personas very well--three even gave me brief backgrounds to establish what sorts of abilities they might have outside of their class for the lack of a skill system, and a fourth promised one soon. All read the "primer on old school gaming," and seemed to get the idea pretty well.

So it was the expedition was set, and a day later they met at their vessel, a small but sleek 3-masted carrack named the Purple Wyvern. The crew are not at all happy about having a Stygian and a Hyperborian aboard, believing both to be evil, necromantic baby-eaters, but they seem to be fairly loyal to the captain, Antony, and don't make trouble, mostly. Indeed, rather than pick on the Stygian and Hyperborian, they seem set upon forcing their intentions upon the Zingaran swordswoman, who continually has to blacken eyes and bloody noses to prove that she can hang with the men on crew. Eventually, the Zamoran thief begins running numbers for her fights, giving odds (and often winning). The Bossonian makes her a gift of animal pelts, which the Hyperborian and Zamoran help to turn into a cape for her. The Hyperborian and Zamoran discover they have a mutual affinity for knives, though the Zamoran's collection is impressive, representing various cultures from all over the world.

After nearly two months at sea, the ship one day becomes mired in a thick, impenetrable fog from which they can't escape. The wind dies down, and the crew is forced to take to the oars. A few days pass and the fog has not lifted. The crew whispers ill omens, and the Stygian and captain are worried, as they have no sun or stars by which to navigate, and both are concerned they will miss the island they seek. Worse, supplies are starting to run low. The skald mentions (via a bardic lore check) that if need be, he knows a method for extracting the salt from ocean water to make it potable.

On the third day, out of the fog comes a small raft bearing an unconscious and delirious old man with a long white beard, who clutches in his belt what appears to be a bone. The crew bring him aboard and place him in a proper bed, where the skald does his best to try and treat the old man's ailments and revive him. They remove the bone from his belt and clutches to discover it has been hollowed out and contains a map of an island. Eventually, the old man awakens, but proves quite insane. He babbles about the island, which he apparently calls "Atothar," where he has apparently been shipwrecked for nearly 30 years. He rants about great evil, and of a "she" who devours everyone and everything. He tells them that the "cleansing sign" is their only hope, apologizes to someone named Sar'Wik, and dies.

At the very moment that the old man dies, the mist lifts and calls of "Land Ho!" reach the ears of the crew below deck. When news of the timing reaches the crew, they make warding signs and again mumble about bad omens, quietly blaming the Stygian and/or Hyperborian for bewitching their vessel.

The Stygian, after checking the position of the sun, believes this to be the island he seeks. After a consultation with the captain and a look at the map provided by the old man and his bone, they locate a channel leading inland to a large lake, on the shore of which is a place marked "The City of the King." The ship travels the channel and after a day's sail discovers the ruin of a large city. They dock and the heroes de-board; Antony sends the Zingaran with them to keep an eye on things while he keeps the crew in line on ship and works to resupply.

On land, they discover three empty buildings outside the walls of the city, one at each dock (likely harbormasters offices at one point in time). In the first of these buildings, they find piles upon piles of bones--human, animal, and human-ish. Outside, the Bossonian spots several sets of tracks which appear to be canine, but one of the sets is gigantic--whatever made them is nearly large enough to be ridden by a human. In another building, the thief is attacked (and astonishingly, surprised) by a huge snake hiding beneath a pile of rotting material that was likely once rope. After killing the beast, the Hyperborian demonstrates that it was poisonous by stimulating the jaw muscles to drip venom from its fangs. The Bossonian cuts its head off and skins it, announcing that they've got dinner for the night.

They approach the main gate of the city, only to find it rusted fast and unopenable. Etched into the wall is a rhyme in several ancient tongues (ancient Argossean, Acheronian, and Valusian among them) which declares the city clean of all evil influences, and beckons travelers to enter and safely rest their weary heads under the protection of the good king (whose name I am blanking on at the moment).

After a debate about whether or not they can (or should bother to) undertake the work to cut the gate away, the Hyperborian takes a rope, scales the wall, and drops it down for people to climb over. As they do, the Zamoran investigates the gate house, finding nothing but seven skeletons of the average, every day, quite dead variety on the first floor.

The party exits the gatehouse and finds themselves inside the ruins of the Atotharian City of the King.

That's where we broke for the night. Next session should be in 3 weeks.

[thegreyelf]

Session 2:

The party began its exploration of the island. Much more combat today--they had run-ins with a pack of great black wolves, anthropomorphic crocodile-things, and pygmies, and witnessed fishmen swimming in the canal and odd, carnivorous, climbing, ape-things. The Hyperborean was taken down by a lance from a Nightgaunt.

They encountered a young man named Zar'Wik, who is apparently the son of the old man they found on the sea. The boy is treacherous, however, and after kidnapping a young stowaway the crew found, set up two ambushes for the party. The party have now resolved to shoot him in the leg to sell him on the slave market next time they see him.

They went on to discover a number of bodies that are less than a year old, all of whom seem to be the remnants of a shipwrecked crew that Zar'Wik killed or set up to die, and they learned a bit more about the island from a journal found on one of the dead bodies. In addition, they found a number of weapons stamped with a symbol that they assume is the "Cleansing Sign" of which the old man spoke. The Stygian sensed power within the weapons, so everyone took one. The Aesir, a former blacksmith, took the stamps with the cleansing sign upon them, in case he should find the need or means to forge more in the future, though all agree that likely the artifacts are for historical curiosity and value more than practical.

The group currently makes their way towards a large complex in the north of the city, which they assume is (or was, thousands of years ago) a palace. The Stygian believes that it is there where he will find the historical information he seeks, if it is to be found anywhere.

Combat was fast, furious, and fun after a brief misunderstanding involving the reconciliation of D&D AC ratings with Chainmail armor types. I had fun playing with natural 12's and 2's, improvising the results of these. A couple characters took heads off of bodies and pinned enemies to walls and doors with arrows. The Troop Type system was used once, when the party set up an ambush for a group of crocodile-things that were coming at them as they camped out on a tower--instead of going through the rigamarole of doing shot-by-shot combat, I counted the total people firing, then had the group's primary archer roll a single D6, which I compared to the Missile Fire chart on Page 11 of Chainmail. The result of this single die roll indicated that three of the six croc-things were killed charging the tower. I then narrated what happened.

As the remaining croc-things scaled the wall and cleared the top of the tower, the Stygian revealed himself as a sorcerer, pulling from his pouch a fistful of dust which he blew into the air. The dust formed into strange, otherwordly tendrils that surrounded the croc-things, and the remaining three fell over, snoring on the ground. The group easily then performed coup-de-graces on the sleeping monsters.

The Chainmail magic system works well. At low levels it's going to be easy for the sorcerer to fail corruption checks. At higher levels (assuming he makes it through the low levels without racking up corruption penalties) not so much. I'm undecided whether this is a good or bad thing.

The Bard's healing abilities are working out well, particularly since I keep elements in place so that the healing doesn't appear magical. The Hyperborean, for example, is ostensibly cured to maximum hit points, but in game is still unconscious with a sucking chest wound that will take time to heal before he can move about again.

I am, however, now of the opinion that this was a poor module to begin with (and indeed, a very poor Hyborian Age model by any stretch) as the island is a veritable zoo of supernatural creatures, which honestly should be quite rare in a Hyborian Age game. One of the players likened it to Monte Cook's Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, in which Cook sought to place every monster in the Monster Manual somewhere in the module.

A couple players voiced distaste for the fact that ability scores have very little effect whatsoever on the game itself, wondering why bother have a 3-18 scale if it doesn't actually have any real meaning beyond XP bonuses. I pointed out that we are using Greyhawk's rules so they get bonuses for strength and con, and that I've expanded dex bonuses for missile fire, as well as the languages for intelligence, but they still seemed skeptical. But then, these are players who are used to "Stat + Skill" systems, so it'll take some getting used to.

All-in-all, I'm looking forward to session three.

[thegreyelf]

In session 3, the group finally made their way across the river, overcoming a number of traps left for them by Sar'Wik. They battled more pygmies and more croc-things, one of which almost killed the Aesir. They discovered a coin and a fresco both bearing the face of a beautiful woman wearing a crown, the fresco identifying her as the Queen, which they all found odd because until now all of their references had been to a King. The woman also bore a passing resemblance to the young man Sar'Wik.

At length they came to the palace. It getting near dusk, they took up a position atop one of the guard towers and settled in for the night.

After night fell they witnessed a group of creatures apparently emerge through the wall. These creatures the Stygian identified as ghouls, and theorized that they were not walking through the wall, but through a gap in the wall. The group opted to let the creatures go, as they were no immediate threat and battling them would've drawn the attention of the gods knew what else.

Later, a huge black wolf entered the courtyard, then shifted into the shape of a slight human male, though it being dark they couldn't make out any distinct features. The skald identified the creature as a werewolf. It entered the palace, then, about 20 minutes later, emerged and shifted back into wolf form, then left the same way the ghouls did.

The next morning, the group entered the palace to find themselves face-to-face with a 15-foot long thing that had a lupine body, but instead of fur had human hair, a woman's face, and a human woman's breasts. The face was that seen on the coin and fresco. Battle ensued; the party emerged victorious, using the weapons they had found etched with the Cleansing Sign, earlier. In an upper tower they found the remains of an ancient tome of magic, an armory of sorts, and a volume entitled "A History of Atothar, from Its Founding to Omnibelgior."

The Stygian, ecstatic, grabbed up the manuscript.

Next session they plan to complete their exploration of the city and make for the hills. I haven't decided if I'll have the ship come under siege from pygmies while they're out exploring, or not .

[thegreyelf]

In Session 4, the group spent the night in the castle, and in the morning climbed atop the parapets of the palace to see what they could see. The group was determined to give some payback to Sar'Wik for his betrayal of them (and, in the Skald's case, the kidnapping of the girl). They decided their best bet to start was a nearby temple district. When they awoke the next morning they found their Zamoran thief missing.

After fighting off ten more wolves, they made their way to the temple proper, where nailed upon the door they found the dead body of the Zamoran thief. The Hyperborean proceeded to remove the thief's head, answering the group's questioning looks with, "I'm getting paid a lot of money to bring him back. My employers preferred alive with the items he stole, but dead works, too." The group then looted the thief's body and entered the temple.

Inside, they found six more wolves, along with Sar'Wik and the girl (who was unconscious on the altar). The two Aesir berserked and the group attacked. Sar'Wik and his wolves managed to fell two of the group before they finally defeated him and rescued the girl. At this point they decided that with two men down they had what they came for and it was best to make tracks. So they made their way back through the city to the boat, where they found the crew had had a mighty battle with the degenerate pygmies from which they emerged victorious and with the ship intact, but the crew was lessened in size.

They grimly set off for the mainland; when they arrived back in Messantia each member of the party completed their individual missions:

The Ranger sent a messenger to Aquilonia with word that there was no sign of King Conan the Great's passage

The swashbuckler reported to Messantia's king that the crew was not affiliated with the Black Corsairs but that she would keep her eye out for opportunities in the future.

The sorcerer and the two Aesir met with representatives from the Nemedian Chroniclers, where the Aesir were paid for their efforts and the Stygian awarded great prestige within the organization for his return of the artifacts.

The assassin returned the head of the thief to his employers, who paid him for his efforts.

[thegreyelf]

It is currently up in the air whether there will be more sessions. Depends on how my group feels.

We may be looking at a Blackmoor game using either Labyrinth Lord or Castles & Crusades, or a Palladium Fantasy game using D&D 3.5/Pathfinder. Or continuing with the Hyborian Age, shifting to a different system (C&C or LL) or even sticking with it. Again, it's really up to the group.

[EdOWar]

Thanks for posting these recaps, they've been an entertaining read.

[thegreyelf]

Thanks! So far the group seems to want to continue on with Conan. Whether we stick with OD&D or move to Labyrinth Lord is still up in the air. I might, given the more modern sensibilities of my group, tack on a basic skills and/or traits system (perhaps like the one I use in S&S) to give them a bit more "customized" feel.

[thegreyelf]

Session 5, Vengeance of the Golden Skull, Part 1:

After a few days back in Messantia, the group is beginning to get restless and look to go their own ways.

Lukas, the Hyperborian assassin, gets a message from an old friend begging him to meet at a bathhouse in the Dustbiter district for something of the utmost importance and secrecy. Meanwhile, Merhotep is given a new mission by the Nemedian Chroniclers: they fear political instability in Argos and wish him to meet an information broker in a bathhouse in the Dustbiter district. Finally, the Bossonian Archer (whose name is now escaping me) receives a new mission from the Aquilonian court: while Aquilonia is relatively stable due to the method of Conan the Great's abdication, they fear political instability in the surrounding kingdoms--Ophir, Turan, Nemedia, and Argos. They want the borderer to investigate rumors of this instability by meeting (you guessed it!) a man in a bathhouse.

While surprised when they run into each other there, the three accept it stoically and join their contact, who informs them of a plot against the king by a cult known as the Order of the Golden Skull, which is recorded on an encoded scroll. Aside from that all he knows is that apparently there is a Zingaran involved, who is in some way already within the court. He is then abruptly murdered by one of six serving girls who proceed to try and kill the party. Thanks to a sleep spell by Merhotep and some quick and dirty fighting by Lukas and the Bossonian, the group prevails just in time to be arrested by the town guard for the murder of someone else's slaves. As they dress, Lukas secrets the scroll in his boot, and Merhotep discovers small tattoos of golden skulls on each of the assassins' necks.

When the three fail to return to the inn, Merhotep's servant girl becomes concerned and seeks out Valder and Hrogar, the two Aesir warriors, for help. They track the group to the constable's office in the Royal Prefect, where their compatriots have convinced the prefect that not only were they acting in self-defense, but by proxy in defense of the crown. The constable asks that they rejoin him in two days to present their evidence to the Crown Prince, and sets them free.

Lukas feels duty-bound to inform his friend's widow of his demise so the group sets off for his house, where they find the woman and her two children being accosted by three thugs who have come to collect debts the dead man owed. The group quickly dispatches the thugs and rolls them for cash which they give to the widow and recommend she stay in an Inn for a few days until the debt collectors either get what they want or discover there's nothing to get. In thanks, she gives the group a decoded version of the scroll, which tells them the date of the assassination during the Festival of the King's Ear...which takes place in two days. She also tells them that her late husband had been spending a lot of time in the Redboots district, a place where nobody goes that doesn't work there, as it's essentially a giant charnel district where all the butchers and tanners work. It smells of blood and rot, and the streets (and the workers' boots) are stained red with gore.

Lukas then pays a visit to the Assassin's guild and gets a rumor going about an unregistered freelance assassin from Zingara operating in the city. He then hears a rumor about a guy who seems to know about these Golden Skulls, who haunts the taverns of the city and rants and raves about them. Most agree he's probably not long for this world. Lukas resolves to try and track this guy down.

The next morning, the group immediately go to the constable with their new information and he sets up an emergency meeting with the prince, who hires them on as investigators since they have made so much headway so far, even presenting them with a letter of Marque granting them temporary power as members of the King's Hand. The prince is unaware of any Zingarans in the court.

They also discover, thanks to the constable's interrogation efforts on the original slave-girl assassins, that the order is recruiting from slaves and disenfranchised youth, and espouses a nihilist philosophy whereby it must aid in the destruction of all the thrones of the earth, starting with Argos. The members are completely brainwashed, and are apparently being trained out of an abandoned facility in the Arena district by a man named Rolo.

The investigation continues...

[thegreyelf]

The group opted to pursue the lead for Olidaro, the drunken man who supposedly knew about the Golden Skull. After Kristina re-joined the group, they began to hit the taverns and brothels in dockside, where after some discreet questioning they finally tracked down the man.

Through Olidaro's ranting, the group learned several bits of information:

1. Olidaro's ex-wife, Zuthelia, is apparently the founder of the group
2. The group is apparently led by a bitter (and broke) nobleman named Rolovincio, who has gone missing over the past two years
3. Zuthelia used the noble house of Olidaro's family to make connections for her cult, eventually betraying the head of the family and her teacher, a Stygian sorcerer.
4. Olidaro is convinced that a demon Zuthelia summoned is hunting him in the darkness and consequently he refuses to leave the safety of a tavern.

The group contemplated convincing or forcing Olidaro out of the tavern to see what would happen but in the end decided to let sleeping (or drunken, as it were) dogs lie. They retired for the night and the next morning paid a visit to the Stygian sorcerer, who offered to perform a divination spell to hopefully help them find Zuthelia. In thanks, Merhotep offered to bring the sorcerer back "a prize" should they find her. The response was, "I would be grateful. Her heart would be good."

While the divination was going on, the rest of the group (all except Merhotep and his girl) went to visit the nobleman, who also was keen to see Zuthelia dead. Unfortunately he had little information to help them further, but the divination revealed an abandoned house in the Arena district, and the name of the house's owner, as well as a vision of a great serpent beneath the streets of Redboots.

The group decided to track the house in the Arena district first, and after a visit to the city planning office, found what they were looking for--an abandoned building marked with the golden skull, wherein six assassins were being trained.

As the session ended, the group was preparing to enter the abandoned building to face down the assassins; Merhotep had just completed a ritual of illusion to protect himself from harm within, and the group is surprised that there now appear to be three of him.

[thegreyelf]

I will update for sessions 7 and 8 soon. They completed the adventure last Sunday but I haven't had time to collate my notes.

[thegreyelf]

Sorry for the briefness of this post, but wanted to at least knock out the end of the adventure.

In sessions 7 and 8 the characters continued their investigation, shutting down the assassin training facility with the help of the city guard and eventually making their way into the sewers of Redboots, where they faced down Rolovincio, one of the leaders of the cult, and captured him. During his questioning they discovered the identities of all the plotters, and managed through deduction to figure out exactly where they all were. However, time was too short for them to make an effort to assault the keep where Zuthelia (the leader of the entire ring) was camped out, so they opted to set up during the Day of the King's Ear to prevent the assassination when she and/or her agents showed themselves. During their planning and investigations, it came to the attention of Prince Cassio that Decimus is an agent for the Aquilonian throne, working for King Conan II.

While they planned, it came to their attention that Rolovincio had tried to escape and been killed...when this happened he changed form to resemble a humanoid serpent. Merhotep and Valder, comparing notes from history and lore, came up with information about the Serpent Men, how they once ruled the world, how they were supposed to be extinct, and most importantly, they recalled the one phrase of power that the Serpent Men could not speak: "Ka nama kaa lajerama."

They set up so that everyone who entered audience with King Milo would be forced to speak the phrase, couching it as an ancient oath of fealty.

Unfortunately for them, Zuthelia was a powerful sorceress and slipped past with an illusion that she spoke the words.

She attempted to assassinate the king with a vial containing a mystical plague, but the PCs leapt into action and though a couple of the king's royal guard died of the plague, the king himself was saved, Zuthelia and her minions were all killed, and the rest of the serpent men (presumably) driven from Argos.

The PCs were paid handsomely for their efforts, and King Milo wished Decimus to take a show of gratitude (and solidarity) back to Aquilonia for him.

[thegreyelf]

The Age of Conan, Session Nine:
The God in the Dark, Part I

The PCs awaken on a smoldering battlefield, their heads aching, bloody wounds covering their bodies. They groan and pull themselves to their feet, then take stock of the mess.

It was Picts, dozens of them...but this far East? How did they get through the Aquilonian frontier without being beaten back, or at least detected? And when did the Picts get so organized?

Regardless, it happened right here on the Road of Kings itself, barely a day over the Aquilonian border. They took all of the treasure, nearly the entire caravan sent by King Milo of Argos as a tribute for King Conan II of Aquilonia. They took all the horses. Many of the men are dead. And Merhotep's apprentice is missing, also taken as a treasure by the Picts.

As the group works to nurse the few remaining guards who are still alive, the sound of hoof beats reaches their ears, and five cavalry bearing the standard of Poitain, the southern county of Aquilonia and King Conan's greatest supporter, ride into view. These men, members of the personal guard of Count Trocero, have gotten word of a battle on the Road of Kings and come to investigate. The group explain the situation and display several crude weapons laying around as evidence of a Pictish attack. One of the horsemen rides back to town with speed to gather supplies, litters and medics for those still living. Two of the remaining four horsemen accompany the PCs to Trocero's keep, while the last two remain to guard the wounded.

At the Keep, Count Trocero himself takes council with the PCs. He provides them food, rest, and medical care while listening to their tale. The 60-something nobleman cuts an impressive figure: tall and powerfully built, looking even at his age as though he could still swing a sword with authority. He has gotten word from Milo's runners about the treasure for Conan and is convinced that such an alliance with Argos would strengthen the young king's position. So he provides supplies and horses for the PCs to go after the treasure, and sends one of his best bordermen to aid Decimus in tracking.

With the help of Trocero's man Lucius and Merhotep's hounds, Decimus has little trouble by the second day picking up the Pictish trail, even in the rocky mountains. By the end of day two, the heroes are convinced they are gaining on the Picts, but their quarry has at least a full day's head start on them. That night, as the party sleeps, Decimus (on watch) spots a party of Picts sneaking into camp and sounds the alarm. The battle is joined and over within minutes, the Picts handily defeated by the party. Merhotep proceeds to perform a ritual sacrifice upon the one surviving Pict--an act no one moves to stop.

On day three in the late hours of the afternoon, the party comes to a bowl in the mountains, deep and vast. Sitting in the bowl are the ruins of an ancient domed city, built of some kind of green stone. Valder and Merhotep recognize the structure as being of ancient Lemurian construction, but Valder wonders that the Lemurians ever got this far West. Certainly no city of this kind has ever been found this far from the ruins of Lemuria.

Scouting around, the group discovers roads leading into the bowl at each of the four compass points--all but the Eastern road (the one that the group originally followed) are guarded by sentries overlooking the bowl. The group surmises that the sentries for the east road were the hunting party they fought last night.

Carefully, the group picks their way through the treacherous rocks down to the edge of the bowl, avoiding the open road so as not to be seen. As they draw nearer, Merhotep and Valder spot more ruins around the green stone city, these ruins of purple stone built around the green. They surmise that the ancient empire of Acheron must have once built up a structure around the green city, and they warn their companions that it is likely a demon god of some sort rests or resides inside the domed structure.

When they reach the bowl, Merhotep steps forward and in a serpentine language whispers a dark incantation. Tendrils of shadowy black mist-ooze pour forth from his hand and snake their way up the sides of the mountain, where they envelop one of the sentries and he begins to scream and writhe in agony. This "demonic" attack draws the attention of the rest of the sentries briefly, and the characters, one by one, make their way across the bowl to the entrance of the green stone city.

As they enter...we fade to black until next time.

[thegreyelf]

The Age of Conan, Session Ten:
The God in the Dark, Part II

After taking note of the empty carts from the caravan, which have been abandoned near the Eastern entrance to the city, our heroes slip inside the building, where they find themselves in a long, featureless hallway that apparently circumnavigates the domed structure. The sun has set and it's very nearly pitch in the hall, so Lukas lights his bullseye lantern to provide illumination. They creep along the hall, alert and ready, until they come to a break in the hall--whether this break was once a door or gate, or whether it is just the result of walls crumbling with age they cannot tell. But the opening leads into a vast city under a dome. The rest of the city, though shadowy and dark, is not as pitch as the hallway, due to gaping holes in the ancient dome, which allow some moon and starlight through.

They send Lukas and Valder, their two most silent, into the city to find somewhere they can set up shop and take stock of their surroundings. The two scouts discover a mostly intact building not too far off, which the group can get to with apparent safety. Upon entering, they discover six bodies, four of which are ancient, dessicated, covered with cobwebs, but two that have been skinned and are still juicy. From a combination of scholarship and prior experience with the Picts, Decimus, Merhotep, and Valder determine that while it's not unheard of for Picts to flay victims, it's exceptionally rare--this would seem to be some sort of warning or ritual-based act.

Once they are set up within the building, they are able to spot three (literal) points of light in the city, and the scouts set off to investigate the nearest; even from their hideout, Merhotep can sense magic from this particular lit building.

The building appears to be a large mead hall, single-story (as are all the intact buildings in the city), and one room, albeit with alcoves in the walls. They peer through the windows to discover a richly furnished hall, with a dozen bodies dressed in finery slumped over lavish couches, chairs, and divans. On the central table a great feast is set out, with glasses full of a strange, golden liquid.

Suddenly, a man staggers from one of the alcoves, moving zombie-like as though in a confused stupor. He makes his way to the table, upends an entire goblet of wine, stumbles to an empty chair, and collapses, apparently dead.

Valder and Lukas creep back and inform the group of what they've seen. The group, not comfortable with entering the building blind, decide to give it a pass and continue on searching for their missing goods and Merhotep's apprentice.

So the group creeps through the city to another darkened building where they hide while Valder and Lukas check out the second of the three lit buildings. This one is a small house, lit by candles, in which a robed figure scribbles in a book at a desk. Suddenly, the figure's head snaps up, he squints into a corner, then gathers up all of his papers and books and flees. Lukas moves around the building to see where the man goes upon exit, when the city is rocked by an unearthly screech. Lukas breaks into a run, and rounds the front of the building to find the man very dead, his face frozen in a look of horror, his skin sheet-white and his books and papers scattered around him. He is splayed on the ground, but there is not a broken bone or wound on him. Lukas looks around and thinks--though he cannot be sure--that he sees a huge shadow gliding off through the city.

Lukas gathers up the papers and book and with Valder in tow heads back to the group's hiding place. The book appears to be a study of the people in the first building. It appears according to the writings that they are not dead, just in an hallucinogenic, delusionary stupor fueled by the golden wine that they drink. The people in the building were here when the Picts first came, and most avoid the building like the plague, assuming it's a source of evil sorcery and witchcraft. The writings talk about how, occasionally, one or more of the people who drink the wine go into panicked frenzies, screaming in terror and lashing out at things that aren't there.

While Merhotep skims the writings, Lukas, Decimus and Lucius climb atop the building to try and get a better vantage point on the city. Looking around, they note several patrols creeping through the city. Each patrol seems to be comprised of six men--five of whom are possessed of a primal terror and one of whom walks head held high, fearless.

They are, however, able to map what seems to be a safe path to the final lit building, an L-shaped structure near the center of the city. As they creep through the city towards the building, they hear wild screaming and panic. A patrol of Picts comes running around the corner straight for the PCs, who quickly duck into an alley to avoid and watch.

The patrol is definitely fleeing from something in a wild panic. Then, it's as if they're simply swallowed up by darkness. The patrol simply vanishes for a minute, and when they reappear, they are all ghost-white and dead with looks of fear frozen on their faces. Worse, the apparent leader of the patrol is a serpent man.

The group deduce that apparently the Picts and their masters aren't welcome here ("or, Merhotep says," they're very welcome and this is basically just a big pantry.")

The group makes it to the L-shaped building, which consists of multiple rooms and enough windows to get them a good look inside. Within, they see two things of note: in one room a girl lounges on a bed, dressed in fine gowns of black and crimson gossamer. She is apparently of the same race as the people sprawled all over the furniture in the first lit Building. The girl seems nervous--every so often she peeks out the door as if expecting someone to come down the hall. On the bedstand is a decanter of the golden wine, 2/3 full, but she does not seem to be under its influence.

They move to another room, down the hall and around the corner, where another scholar works diligently at a book of his own. After a few minutes, he stands, stretches, and leaves the room. The PCs move about the building, looking in windows, until they note the man walking into the room with the girl...

...only the girl is no longer there. The PCs did not see her leave the room or building, and they dash about checking every window (while one stays to watch the man). She is nowhere to be seen.

The man enters the room, fills a goblet with wine, drains it, and in a minute collapses on the bed in a stupor. Lukas takes the opportunity to climb into the man's study through the window, and steal the book. Valder is surprised that he cannot read the writing, with his command of languages, until Merhotep points out that the book is written in ancient Acheronian, a language which only serious scholars of history and the dark arts can decipher. Merhotep can read ancient Acheronian.

The book appears to be a book of religious ceremonies, rotes and rituals (though no spells) for the worship of Yig, an ancient demon of the Outer Dark. Many believe that Yig and Set are one, but Merhotep is convinced this is not the case, and that Set's cult would be greatly threatened by a resurgence of the followers of Yig. Essentially, where Set's cult seeks to dominate through sorcery, Yig's cult seeks to poison and consume.

While Merhotep reads, Lukas climbs in the bedchamber window and steals the caraffe of golden wine.

At their wits' end, the group tries to climb atop this building to see if they can find anything pointing to where their cargo might be, but witnesses only more patrols (and another patrol swallowed up by the darkness). They decide to make for the Eastern entrance, where the carts were abandoned, and see if their trackers can pick up a trail.

They are successful, but find the trail leads back to the L-shaped building. Looking through the windows again, they find the scholar still drugged, but the girl in another room. At last, they decide they have to enter the building and decide to talk to the girl first.

They first send Valder in to try and talk to the girl as he generally, being an entertainer by trade, has a way with people. However, for the second time he encounters a language with which he is not familiar...but Merhotep knows. The girl is speaking ancient Lemurian. In talking with her, she spins an unbelievable tale that the people in the first building are, in fact, ancient Lemurians, kept sustained and healthy by their addiction to the golden wine, which also leaves them in a catatonic stupor. She herself has broken away from the wine, wishing to live a life, but has been forced into hiding since the newcomers (Picts and Serpent Men) arrived. The other man in the L-shaped building is one of the Newcomers (and so the group summarily kills him in his sleep). She tells them that the Serpent Men have a temple complex beneath the city that is accessible from this building. She leads them to a hidden trap door in one of the bedrooms and the descend into the underworld.

At the end of a long, winding passage they find themselves overlooking a courtyard lit by torches, in which humans (all Hyborian race--not Pictish) commingle with Serpent Men. By their language, the group deduces that the humans are from Nemedia. A bit of legerdemain by Merhotep distracts the inhabitants of the courtyard long enough for our heroes to descend the stairs and make off down one of the side passages. After traversing another series of long, winding passageways, they come upon a chamber which holds the cargo they came to retrieve--guarded, of course, by five humans and three serpent men. During the battle, Lukas is poisoned and forced as a last resort to attempt to quaff the golden wine--he takes only a gulp, hoping that a simple swig will not place him into a catatonic dream state, but will sustain him. His hopes are founded and while he ends up lightheaded, off-balance, and has a hard time focusing his senses on any task, he is able to continue to function.

This battle thus won, the group continues their explorations until they come to a bluff overlooking a temple containing a serpent man priest and twelve human cultists. The priest stands between two braziers emitting plumes of black smoke; he is performing a summoning ritual, and there bound to the table is Merhotep's apprentice. Merhotep manages to disable the priest with a spell, and leaps forward to rescue his girl, as the smoke behind the altar seems to solidify, and a giant, nightmarish creature with a humanoid body with vicious clawed hands, the long, winding neck and head of a cobra, and four tentacles writhing at its sides steps forth. Knowing the creature will turn on the priest first, for failing at the sacrifice, Merhotep hurries to free his apprentice.

True to form, the demon-god catches up the Serpent Man, tears him in two, and consumes him. Valder screams to the assembled cultists that their god has turned against them, and six of the twelve flee in terror. The group does battle with the other six, while attempting to stay out of the way of the demon-god. Eventually, the monstrous abberration chases the lone remaining cultist from the room while our heroes take refuge in an alcove.

They wait until all is quiet and emerge to find the city even more wrecked than before. The sun has risen and there are dead bodies everywhere. The girl who showed them the trap door is still alive, having been smart enough to hide, as is Lucius, the guide provided them by Trocero. They agree to take the girl back with them, and after determining that the demon god is gone, they load up their cargo and return to Poitain, where Trocero congratulates them on a job well done, and provides his personal guard to escort them the rest of the way to Tarantia.

[thegreyelf]

Age of Conan, Session Eleven
Heretics of Tarantia, Part One

Note that for this adventure I am running the Mongoose adventure scenario "Heretics of Tarantia," so there will be spoilers involved

Our heroes at last arrive victorious in Tarantia and deliver the tribute from King Milo to the house of Publius, the King's Chancellor. They are then paid and left to their own devices to spend their time and money (as adventurers do) throughout the city. After a shopping spree to upgrade weapons, armor, spell components, and other various and sundry supplies, they hit the taverns, where to their credit the two Aesir manage to stay out of a potential bar brawl when a drunken lout begins to badmouth the King, focusing on his parentage and barbarian blood. Eventually the city watch shows up and puts a stop to the raging (though to the PCs' surprise, their complaint is that he is threatening a riot and disturbing the peace, not speaking out against the king).

Later, as they leave the bar, they witness what at first appears to be a drunken man in robes staggering towards them. The man, however, then collapses in front of them, a black-feathered arrow protruding from his back. He entreats them to head for the cemetary in the poorest section of the city before midnight, when a group he refers to as "the brotherhood" will perform an unspeakable act of treason and heresy. He then dies.

Merhotep, Decimus, and Valder are able to identify his robes as those of a Priest of Mitra.

The group rushes to the cemetary where they find a group of cultists about to sacrifice a young girl. They rescue the girl and manage to keep one of the cultists alive, though bound and incapacitated, and note that the symbols painted in blood on the girl are those of the cult of Asura, though the symbols, according to Merhotep, make no sense in the way they are combined. Eventually, the city watch arrives on the scene and the group are taken in for questioning. They are questioned for hours, repeating their story over and over to progressively higher levels of authority, before finally they are brought back together in a room, where they encounter a member of the Black Dragons, one of the King's personal elite guard. The guard tells them that they are free to go, but have been summoned to the home of Publius at dawn tomorrow.

The next day, a page arrives to escort them to the Chancellor's home, where they are greeted by another contingent of Black Dragons and escorted to a lavish dining hall. They are bade to sit, and a few moments later, a huge man enters, with smoldering crystal blue eyes, a square-cut black mane hanging over his bull neck, heavily corded arms, and a massive barrel chest. Decimus immediately drops to one knee and exclaims, "Your majesty!"

The man they have come to meet is not Publius, but King Conan II.

King Conan outlines the fact that the situation is getting out of hand already. People are murmering against the Cult of Asura in the streets, and he fears that soon their will be riots and lynching. He does not believe the Asurans to be behind the murder of the priest or the sacrifice in the cemetary, but he cannot take a direct hand in affairs as the cults in Aquilonia are too powerful and his father always espoused religious freedom, a tenet he wishes to continue. So he wishes the PCs to investigate the matter and should they resolve it to his satisfaction they will be handsomely rewarded to the tune of 1,000 silver lunas, plus certain favors (Hrogar, for example, will be allowed access to the King's personal blacksmith, who crafted the fine suits of plate worn by the Black Dragons). The down side is that the King cannot be known to be involved. Thus, the heroes will be given no letters of marque or open authority; however, should they get into too much trouble the King will see to it that they get out of Tarantia.

The group accepts the offer and the king produces the arrow from last night. He informs the group that it was fired by a certain man (whose name escapes me at the moment, sorry) who can be found along a specific stretch of taverns near the docks along the river. The group takes the information and begins their investigation, digging up a few pieces of information about their quarry before gathering back together to exchange notes and plan their next move.

To be continued...

[thegreyelf]

Age of Conan, Session Twelve
Heretics of Tarantia, Part Two

Our heroes leave the King's palace and determine to begin their investigation by seeking out Essenic, the mercenary who they were told fired the arrow which killed Urestes. Armed with rumors that Essenic spends a lot of time on the Avenue of Roses (Tarantia's "red light" district), they head out to "interrogate" some of the prostitutes who live and work in the area. As they travel, they note that word has hit the streets of Urestes' murder, and most people are placing the blame squarely on the cult of Asura. In an effort to slow down the rumors, Lukas applies his background as a seditionist to plant "counter-rumors" which suggest the Asurans might be getting set up. While no one thinks his efforts will stop people from blaming the Asurans, the group hopes that Lukas can at least keep things at a slow boil instead of a pressure cooker about to explode.

One of the heroes ends up with a prostitute who was just with Essenic last night, though she says he was only with her for an hour and wasn't interested in talk. Still, she is able to provide a physical description, which is corrolated by Valder, who pounds the pavement to gather information on the streets. In addition, Valder comes up with some more information about the mercenary, including that he has a wife in the Khorotas Ward who he rarely sees, who works in a laundry, and that he apparently has a house in Khorotas.

Thinking they may need another hand, the group pays a young boy to find Kristina, who headed for the docks a few days ago looking for work aboard a ship, and sets off for the Khorotas Ward. Tracking down Essenic's wife is not difficult; the group asks at a few laundries in the area and are directed to the shabby tenemant apartment in which she resides.

It becomes clear very fast that Essenic's wife has no love for the man, who she calls a "filthy bastard." She tells the group to look for Essenic at a tavern called the Sign of the Lion, and slams the door in their faces.

After a few quips wondering why Essenic would ever want to blow off such a friendly woman, the group heads for the Sign of the Lion. The tavern itself is a rowdy place, and they note that there is already a bar fight in progress when they arrive, though it seems a personal matter restricted to one corner. When they hear someone yell, "Get her! Teach the pregnant dog a lesson!" They sigh and move towards the fray.

Sure enough, they discover Kristina being set upon by eight men. Two others lay on the floor unconscious, one with a bloody nose and another with a black eye. Weapons have not yet been drawn, but the battle looks like it's boiling to that point. Hrogar steps in first, grabbing one man and hurling him across the room. He spins another to face him, and Merhotep casts a spell, mesmerizing the man where he stands. Decimus and Hrogar take the opportunity to club the man unconscious with two mighty blows of their fists. Lukas hurls a dagger into the wall between the legs of a third assailant, asking "How'd you like to become a pregnant dog, yourself?"

Valder hops up on a table and shouts, "Quick! Someone get those men away before she kills everyone in the bar like she did last time!"

Kristina grins and takes the cue to draw her swords. The crowd, ever entranced by Valder's charisma, move to help, and the remaining assailants flee. The group and Kristina greet one another, and Kristina wastes no time informing them of two things: firstly, the fray began because the unconscious guy with the bloody nose "got fresh," and secondly, that she's heard about the trouble they've stumbled into. They in turn inform her that they're working for the king, albeit off the books, and invite her to help. Having nothing better to do, she agrees.

Eventually the group locates Essenic, who has just finished winning a purse over a game of mumbletypeg. They discuss how to approach him and decide their best bet is for Merhotep to become invisible while Lukas and Valder approach the mercenary under the guise of hiring him to assassinate someone. Kristina, Decimus, and Hrogar will take positions at the bar in case backup is needed.

The two approach Essenic, only to be rudely turned away when he flatly denies being an assassin and tells them to be on their way unless they want trouble. Merhotep notes that two of Essenic's three companions seem shaken by the hints dropped, but Essenic silences them both.

Lukas, Valder, and Decimus leave the inn, intent on going to toss Essenic's house, while the others stay behind and watch the mercs. Eventually, after an hour or so more, the mercenaries leave, and Merhotep, still invisible, follows. He witnesses Essenic threaten the two shaken mercenaries, warning them that if they don't keep silent they're bound for the gallows when the authorities find out...and worse if the Brotherhood finds out. He then orders them to split up and get out of town. They go their separate ways.

The party follows the one who seems the most uncertain and takes him into custody, turning him over to the town guard for interrogation. The only new information they get is that he was hired by a man named Parnas to act as backup for the cemetary job last night.

Meanwhile, as the other three head for Essenic's house, a carriage pulls up and a muscular man wearing the robes of a cleric of Mitra leans out and offers them a ride, saying he'd like to speak with them about Urestes' death. They clamber in and he introduces himself as Constantius, high priest of Mitra in Tarantia. He asks them how they came to be involved, what Urestes might have said to them before he died, and what they think about what's going on. He seems at first genuinely concerned over the murder of a priest in his care. But when they hint that they might believe the Asurans are being set up, his mood darkens and he insists that the Asurans, demon worshippers that they are, are clearly guilty when observed objectively and that he would fear for their safety should the people of Tarantia find out they may be siding with the villains in this conspiracy. Our heroes, of course, don't take kindly to what they feel is a veiled threat, but they agree to continue their investigation and share any information they might find with the Mitraeum. He drops them off at the address they've given him (several blocks from Essenic's house) and wishes them farewell, with all the blessings of Mitra.

They find nothing of interest at Essenic's house, but feel that things are starting to come together, though they don't yet have anything concrete. They have a theory, now, that there is an element within the Mitraeum which is extremist and looking to set up the Asurans for some dark purpose which knowing the Mitran faith could be as simple as driving foreign religion from Aquilonia.

They hit the streets to research Parnas, but come away fairly certain that the name was just an alias used by whoever hired the mercenaries. Thus discouraged, they retire for the night.

That evening, in the dead of the night, the group are attacked by would-be assassins in their sleeping chambers. The first one to awaken is Lukas, who hurls two daggers into the face of his assailant, then dashes out into the hall in case his companions need assistance.

He sees, two rooms down, a head fly out of Hrogar's room, and Hrogar steps out. Two more doors down, a body slumps face down from Merhotep's room, blood rapidly pooling around its neck. Merhotep nods to the other two, motions his servant girl to collect the head from Hrogar's assailant, then drags his own attacker's body back into his room.

Between Merhotep and Hrogar, yet another body crashes through the door, followed by Decimus, bloody sword in hand.

The sounds of battle emit from Kristina's and Valder's rooms. The group kicks in Kristina's door and Lukas hurls a dagger through the back of her assailant, as Kristina runs him through with her rapier from the front. Decimus and Hrogar turn to Valder's room, in time to see an assassin leap out of Valder's window, with Valder in hot pursuit.

The city watch is called, and the group rifles the bodies before they arrive, removing from the bodies amulets inscribed with Asuran symbols that the group is now fairly certain are fake. When the watch arrives, the heroes get the distinct impression that the guards have been instructed not to ask too many questions. They clean up the mess, save for Merhotep's room, when Merhotep refuses them entrance, and depart. Later, Valder returns looking rather wounded, and reports that his assassin managed to escape.

The next morning, Valder is awakened by a soft knocking at his door. He issues a warning that he's not in the mood for tricks and he will see his visitor run through at the first inkling of foul play, then opens the door a crack to find a cloaked man who begs Valder to let him in. Against his better judgment, Valder consents. The visitor, it turns out, is Gaulan, a priest of Asura who wants to make it perfectly clear that their cult, mysterious as it may be, is shocked and horrified by the murder of Urestes, who by all reports was a well-liked man, and that the Asurans had nothing to do with any of it. Their loyalty is to their sect and the king, who has supported them more than once in the past, and they merely wish to be left to worship in peace.

He has little new information to give, save to confirm Merhotep's earlier suspicions that the amulets and symbols, though authentic, are fake in that their use in these contexts is nonsensical. He apologizes but refuses to reveal any information about the cult, as it is a mystery cult and goes against their deepest tenets, and says he accepts that this makes his faith suspicious to many people, but that enduring hardship is part of having faith.

He also tells the group that his efforts to use sorcerous means to uncover the identity of the conpsirators have been blocked at every turn. He is, however, able to read the amulets with psychometry and come up with a name for the man who placed the trinkets into boxes which were delivered to the mercenaries. The man's name is Taspius. Gaulan promises to investigate this Taspius and let the group know if he comes across anything. He also tells them that should they need him they need only light two candles and place them in the windows of their rooms, and he will come as soon as he can. He then takes his leave.

The group decides that their next step is to visit the Mitraeum and discover as much as they can about Urestes. As they prepare to face another day....we end for now.

To be continued.

[thegreyelf]

...anyone actually reading this?

[murquhart72]

Those are some looonnng posts! Maybe later, when I have more time...

[thegreyelf]

One of the reasons I asked if anyone was bothering to read. I'm tracking this here, on the AP threads at RPGNet, and on my OD&D blog. Just making sure I'm not wasting time at any of those three places...

[18 Spears]

I'm reading!

[MilkManX]

I am diggin this game. Wish I was in it!

[thegreyelf]

Picking up again tomorrow, but after that I'll probably be on hiatus as the group's GM for awhile (assuming they finish the adventure tomorrow). However, that doesn't mean the game ends...I have pretty grand plans for the campaign and there are miles to go before they sleep >

Just time for someone else to get a turn in the group, that's all.

[thegreyelf]

Was going to type the wrapup today...but I forget the names of some of the NPCs so it'll have to wait till this weekend at home.

[thegreyelf]

The Age of Conan: Denouement (Episode One)

(cross-posted from my blog)

I'm horrible at actually finishing campaign records, a fact that I admit most ashamedly and with all apologies to those who were following along with my Age of Conan OD&D game. To give you at least some sense of closure, let me reassure you that the group did finish the adventure successfully, and quite surprisingly without drawing a single blade.

Well, that's not entirely true. They ambushed a couple of guards and took them out in a round, but that doesn't really count.

Their "final" (for now) exploits were rather impressive and consisted of them using charm, wits and brains to gather evidence to expose the conspirators in the Cult of Mitra who sought to drive all other religions out of Aquilonia by framing the Asurans as murderers and demon worshippers. The mystery cult within the Mitraeum was called the Brotherhood of the Bull and was led by none other than the High Priest of Mitra, and funded by a corrupt noble who was secretly a servant of the Stygian government (which sought to foster chaos and instability within its old rival, Aquilonia). The puzzle was a convoluted one, but one which the players, after a bit of frustration and hitting of brick walls, managed to put together very well. They used a cultist who had gotten cold feet as an informant and erstwhile ally (not that he had much choice) and gathered all the evidence they needed and more, which they turned over to King Conan II. In return they earned themselves the gratitude of their second Hyborian king in their last three adventures.

So now that we have that out of the way, what gives with it being over?

Relax. It's not over, just on hiatus for awhile. We have several players in my Sunday group who are GMs and we try to rotate games regularly so everyone has a turn. I felt I'd held the GM throne for long enough and wanted to give someone else a shot. But I have big plans for the Hyborian world post-Conan the Great, so the game will be back eventually.

So, what did I learn by my first experience running OD&D?

First and foremost: it's freeing beyond belief. Not having everyone tied down by what's written on their character sheet to define what they can do is awesome, though it took some time for my players to get the hang of things like:

• Go ahead and try to tumble around--no it doesn't matter that you don't have any sort of "skill" in Tumble.
  
• Why yes, since we're using Chainmail combat rules, indeed you can try to cleave through a number of foes. Instead of the Man to Man tables we'll use the "troop type" combat tables. Roll a number of dice equal to your "man" rating. Each 5 or 6 gives you a die of damage you deal to a foe of your choice.
  
• Hmm...does event x happen right now...roll a d6; on a 1 or 2 it does.
  

I did house rule a few "modernizations" into the game, mostly drawn from my own Spellcraft & Swordplay, which made the adjustment easier and just helped with some flavor issues. I wanted to remove all dice but d6's from the game, so that it played more like Chainmail might have. Thus, in addition to the combat system, I postulated a saving throw system based on 2d6 and drawn from the magic saving throws in Chainmail's Fantasy Supplement and the save categories in OD&D. This saving throw system can be found in my Forbidden Lore and Age of Conan pamphlets. Also, I like to use Ability Checks, so I adopted my own ability check system from Spellcraft & Swordplay. In addition, I created a broad and general "backgrounds" system whereby players each chose two backgrounds besides their character class, which represented knowledge professions to which they'd had some exposure. Rather than limiting the field, these backgrounds gave a +1 bonus to ability checks where they could justify using said backgrounds. For example, a character might have a background in nobility and court etiquette from his parents being servants in a palace. This would give him bonuses to know etiquette, manners, diplomacy, recognize heraldry, etc. Blacksmithing backgrounds give a character a bonus to repair armor (or more likely would guarantee that with the proper facilities he could just do it without a roll). I know some old-schoolers will likely blanch at this idea, but the important thing to remember is, neither of these add-ons restrict player characters in any way. Rather, they serve to keep the game ever more open and give a bit of mostly flavor-based differentiation between characters. What it is NOT, is some sort of codified skill system. It's more of a way to allow players to add descriptors to their characters which helps me make judgement calls in game. For example, I now know that Hrogar is a blacksmith. I know that Lukas is an apothecary. So when in the middle of the game he asks if he can identify the properties of a given plant, I can immediately say, "you're an apothecary. Yes, you can."

I think of it as a "yes" aid, rather than a restriction. Certainly there are times when attempting to do something without the proper background is tougher or not possible, but even in the best, most over-the-top fantasy fiction the hero encounters things he doesn't know every so often. I maintain and always have, that ability checks and background descriptors are not in any way "new school" or antithetical to "old school" play.

It's true that when you remove other types of dice from play and a monster is defined mechanically and entirely so by its hit dice, monsters can be come a bit ho-hum. An 8 HD ogre, for example, is little different than an 8 HD anything else, special attacks such as breath weapons and poison notwithstanding. This is a problem upon which I'm working, but in the end it strikes me that simple description and player imagination go a long way.

Things I learned that are Age of Conan specific...

The biggest one is that my corruption system needs work. Functionally it's great. The problem is that the slide into evil and inhumanity happens way too fast. It's near impossible to play a sorcerer who is not evil by the time you hit second or third level. I've given Stygians a boost in their corruption saves based on their innate familiarity with sorcery, but perhaps they should actually go the opposite way. I did it as a quick fix to help out the player of my game's Sorcerer. Currently, every three failed saves results in a level of corruption, and three levels of corruption equate to becoming evil. Each level of corruption equals a cumulative -1 save to future corruption saves. After you're evil you start to show physical signs of corruption with each further corruption level you achieve. The problem is that at first level characters need an 11 to save on 2d6 as it is, with sorcerers gaining a +3 vs. spells (which applies to corruption saves). So a sorcerer needs to get an 8 or better on 2d6 to save vs. corruption before penalties rack up. Considering that spellcasting is skill-based in AoC and not Vancian, sorcerers are prone to throw spells more often, and they'll fail better than 50% of their saves. This results in a very fast slide to evil. I am thinking that an increase of failed saves to five per corruption level is probably a better, more gradual slide. Perhaps a bonus to the corruption save if a wizard starts off as good aligned; say, +2. Maybe +1 if the sorcerer begins as neutral (balance) (see my Age of Conan booklet for more on my alignment system, but in brief there are four alignments: Good, Neutral (balance), Neutral (unaligned/selfish), Evil).

Overall, my style of play is perhaps a bit different than some other old school DMs. I am rather loathe to kill player characters, and have fudged events to save lives instead of conspiring to end them. I enjoy somewhat epic, heroic campaigns, so to my minor shame, my players rarely find themselves in danger of immediate death. The play's the thing, as they say, and in our games the shared story creation is the play. I try and give everyone the chance to feel like the big man on campus in game at some point in time. It has, on occasion, failed miserably and led to what one player calls "follow the Jedi" campaigns wherein one player/character rises up above all the others and dominates the game; these are generally failed experiments but thus far I believe everyone's had a good time with all the games we've run in our Sunday group, whatever the system or character combinations may be.

Well, there was that one playtest we did that went really awful...but that's neither here nor there.

I'm kind of rambling here, and am not sure what if any message there is to get out of this particular blog, save that I've had a great time running OD&D and am actively looking forward to my next turn at DM to get back to it. Just a few thoughts for the road. I'm always interested in hearing yours in turn.

That's all for now, folks. I'm out, and remember: crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of the women!