Tales of the Savage Boreal Coast

[benoist]

Introduction

I am a Frenchman living on the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada.

A few months back, three different events occured which basically would lead me to the creation of this game and thread:

First, I decided to work at the creation of a sandbox and mega-dungeon for two main reasons: (1) some people on the RPG Site needed some advice on the way to create a mega-dungeon, and the campaign around it; this basically led to the writing of said advice, and the creation of an example built live on the thread, the summary of which is still expanding on this board here, on that particular thread, and (2) I could use that stuff I would come up with and use it in my home games from there.

Second, around the same time period, I started playtesting D&D Next with Robert S. Conley as DM, whom you might know here as estar, who wrote the awesome Majestic Wilderlands for Swords & Wizardry, the Blackmarsh setting and many more. Rob is a great DM, and is using Fantasy Grounds in conjunction with Skype in order to run his games online. This basically was my first contact with "live" online gaming, and I really liked it. It proved to me that, despite my isolation, my internet connection could support such a way to play the games, and that I possibly could run my own games from there.

Third, Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea rocked my world. I just love the game, love the feel, love the setting, love everything about it. I've been wanting to run a game with it for quite some time, and I think now's the time to do it.

Means and Intent

I plan to use the sandbox I built for my advice to build a mega-dungeon and the campaign around it to run an AS&SH game online. I selected an area of the world where I think this stuff could fit, and will modify what I came up with to create a synergy between the original material and the AS&SH game itself. The aim here is to create a unique experience for my players so that they can really have fun playing the game for what it is, and discover the pleasures of the sandbox and mega-dungeon which, for some of them, they've never played before (particularly some of my French friends).

Speaking of which, the game would start with my French-speaking friends who are eager to discover the game. I plan on using Google plus hangouts with the a white board application running in parallel so we can hear, see each other and share sketches, pictures and whatnot.

If this experiment goes well, I might run English-speaking games in the future following that format. There are already people interested, and I'm exploring ways in which I could make this work. I'm thinking of using some sort of open game table structure for that, so that players could rotate and the game could keep going without problems.

But first things first: let us start with the French-speaking game and see where that leads us.

The Savage Boreal Coast

To me, looking through the game, the Savage Boreal Coast is pretty much tailor-made for me to run my fantasy setting version of the Central Coast of BC, and particularly the Bella Coola area I pastiched while writing the advice to build the mega-dungeon. So that's basically what I am going for. The valley, dungeon and everything is located on the Savage Boreal Coast of Hyperborea. The PCs will be newcomers to the area and have the opportunity to explore, go seek fame and fortune, and eventually live or die, in that setting ripe for adventure.

I won't give too many details yet because I want this thread to be mostly from the perspective of the player characters, so you get a chance to discover the setting from their points of view and thus get to know more about the world that surrounds them through their own eyes and experiences playing the game. Hopefully it'll make the experience more fun and visceral for you guys.



The First Character: Mercurio Drakonos

About a week ago, I tested Google plus with a friend of mine who'd like to play in my French-speaking game. We tested the hangouts, used Twiddla.com for the white board, and it seemed to work well enough.

Based on that, we started creating a character for the game. We used an honour system for the dice rolls, which basically means that the player, Aurélien, was rolling the dice physically for himself and just announcing the results to me.

Aurélien first chose the type of character he would like to play. The players will generally be used to role playing games, and all the subclass options are by default on the table. Based on this, Aurélien selected an Hyperborean Warlock for his first character in the sandbox (I informed him that the lethality of the game could be high: he seemed receptive to the idea).

We used a 4d6-drop-lowest approach to create the character's game statistics, rolled dice for height, starting wealth and so on following the AS&SH guidelines. After purchasing some basic equipment for his character (armour, sword and board, adventuring gear, you know the gist of it), we started talking about a starting background for his character.

He chose a name for his character: Mercurio Drakonos, which sounds Hellenic enough and could be some bastard form of his original Hyperborean name, a name he might want to keep private for some reason. We established he originally hailed from Khromarium, and that his house was decimated by a raid of barbarians.

Maybe the Drakons would be some of those few Hyperboreans who reclaimed a shadow of their former glories in Khromarium after the passing of the Green Death. Maybe their stubborn attitude encouraged some refusal fueled by their compulsive chewing on lotus leaves to acknowledge that the world around had moved on without them. A denial of a reality which ultimately would have catched up with them and precipitated their downfall, including the sack of their estate by barbarians who could have been under the command of the current elite ruling the city.



Arms of the House of the Drakon known for its Warlocks throughout the Ages of the World

The fact remains: Mercurio Drakonos is an exile who found refuge amongst the crew of a Viking ship raiding the seas of Hyperborea (Aurélien rolled a Secondary Skill of sailor). At some point, wandering in the forests of Hyperborea while the ship and its crew stopped at some backwater encampment, he came to rescue an old crone who seemed to have fallen victim to a starving pack of wolves. He saved her only to find out this crone was a powerful magic user who had been searching for him, and who wanted to teach him the magical arts he wasn't able to master before his House fell in Khromarium. He would thus become a Warlock, like his fathers before him, and learn the ways of both sword and spell. He would learn much under the Crone's tutelage, but would eventually have to leave to get back to the world he wanted to explore.

He kept on traveling with the Vikings. He heard rumors of relatives still being alive and about on the continent. He would search for them, finding a few hints, traces of some survivors amongst his kin, but not much more. He would finally hear about one of his relatives, which has yet to be name, who seemingly made it far into the Savage Boreal Coast, in a valley partially settled by the Vikings, of all people. He plans to go there and find out if there is any truth to these tales.

Perhaps one day he will.

[Ynas Midgard]

This sounds great! I would love to play with you via Google+ once in a while.

[jasonzavoda]

As with your megadungeon thread, an extremely cool post and I'm dying to hear more.

[benoist]

Thank you very much, gentlemen!

Ynas: if the French-speaking game plays nicely and I'm satisfied with the online medium, I'll consider then to go for the English-speaking open table. I'll make sure to let you guys know first when/if I go for it.

[benoist]

Session 1

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Players and Characters

Aurélien C. – Mercurio Drakonos, Hyperborean Warlock, level 1.
Alexandre P. – Unnamed Female, Ixian Cleric of Yig, level 1.

We gathered at 1:00 PM on Google Plus and started a Hangout together. Alexandre had little to no information regarding the game or setting: I had just sent him some information about the character origins (races) and classes available in the game. We started talking a little bit about the nature of Hyperborea. Loading up Twiddla.com, I shared a picture of the map of the continent and started describing its features: the continent separated from Old Earth, the void of the Black Gulf surrounding the Hyperborean sea, kept at bay by the Boreas, the North Wind. Laid out a brief history of the place, the various people that came to the continent, and where we are now.

Alexandre hesitated a little bit between playing a Priest, a Warlock, some type of magic user maybe... and finally decided to settle for a Female Ixian Cleric of Yig once he realized the rules were pretty similar to the O/AD&D paradigm. I explain he can freely discard the character later on if he wants to change, and just play something else, have the Cleric become some hireling instead, etc.

We didn't even bother rolling stats initially (I would have assumed average scores and a high Wisdom in any case, if some roll came up unexpectedly during the session) and just went on to play the game right away. We just had about two hours before us, and all these details could be fleshed out later on.


The Oseberg Viking Longship. Gives a good idea of what Njord's Pride could look like.

Lost at Sea

The characters are on Njörðvartsóhóf, or Njord's Pride, a rogue viking longship of some renown sailing around the Hyperborean sea and answering neither to the commands of the King of Erikssgard, nor the whims of Ymir, their people's tutelary deity. And now Mercurio Drakonos stands on the Pride's deck as the ship is rocked back and forth by gigantic waves and violent winds that only seem to be getting stronger and stronger with each passing minute.

He watches with some discomfort as the captain, a gigantic piece of a man going by the name of Arsulf, laughs and curses both facing the storm. His second, a little rat-faced individual Mercurio only knows as Svein, seems just as worried as he is; and then, next to him, there is this strange woman covered head to toe by a thick cape, her slender, exotic face frozen in some sort of mild expression of both disgust and disbelief as she watches the unbelievable scene playing out before them.

Arsulf is mad, that much is obvious. He laughs, but doesn't seem to realize his crew is quickly losing faith. Enormous waves crash one after the other on the ship's deck. They look at their leader and all they can see is a man gone insane looking up at the stars, shaking his fists at the clouds, oblivious to their own feelings. He turns to the adventurers and asks both smiling and looking suddenly worried: “I do not know if we will make it through the Skarag Coast. Maybe it would be best to head for Kusu's Cove, a refuge of thieves and miscreants hidden somewhere, or maybe we should just trust the Gods and sail right through the thick of the storm, through the islands and reefs praying for their protection... what do you think? Should we tempt fate today?”

Both Mercurio and the Ixian woman cannot believe their ears. They disagree as to where to go next, but one thing is sure: Arsulf has lost his ability to command. He yells contradictory orders left and right, seemingly confident, when in fact he doesn't know what it is he is doing. They try to talk some sense into the captain, but they do not seem to get coherent answers from him. The Ixian woman has enough of this and tries to get rid of the captain, failing to throw him overboard. The men on the ship do not seem to care: they want to survive, to make it through the storm and see the light of day. Mercurio convinces Svein to take control of the situation. The Hyperborean warlock has sailed with these vikings before: he seizes the tiller and follows Svein's instructions.

The Ixian woman keeps arguing with the captain, and it seems the more abusive she gets, the more the captain seems to like it. It is absolutely insane. Out there, through the waves and foam and mist, they all can see enormous shapes that come to life, indistinct, menacing. Piercing through the storm, a first giant tentacle tries to grab the ship. Some in the crew try to escape the ship. There is an attempt made by the Ixian priestess to get some men to use a ballista stored aboard the ship and shoot at whatever is out there trying to grab them.

Mercurio tries to control the ship, pushes and pulls on the tiller. Enormous cliffs suddenly appear before them, just a few hundred feet away, a wave pushing them towards the shore. As the ship is lifted up, bending over dangerously forward, Mercurio sees it: the entrance of a cave, large enough for the ship to go through. Svein yells in his ear: “There! There! This is Kusu's Cove!”

Mercurio almost breaks the tiller, but the ship responds as it is projected through the entrance of the cave, landing on safe waters inside as the storm is kept at bay by the cliffs outside.

They've made it. Hardly anyone present can quite believe it, except the captain who says he knew they would survive all along. Nobody cares anymore. They are safe. For now at least.

They navigate past a gigantic blade of basaltic rock fallen from the ceiling near the cave's entrance. There are lights shining dimly at a distance. Just beyond the entrance, three enormous totems rising from the waters, slightly bent at an angle as though they had begun to sink at the bottom, greet the newcomers silently.

On the other side, on the ship's starboard, the adventurers can see ships partially sunk, abandoned, and beyond, two enormous pillars of stone which partially conceal the numerous lights of a village built on floating platforms and stilts linked by rope bridges. “This is Kusu's Cove,” confirms Svein. “As long as we spend the coin and behave, we shouldn't have too much trouble with these folk.”

That remains to be seen...



Debriefing

It was a good session despite a few problems, like a player not having his dice on hand (I rolled for his character during the session), and the Google hangout ejecting me multiple times from our session, for some reason (this might have to do with the arrival of Sandy on the East Coast, who knows). In any case, we had a good time, quite a few laughs, and had the time to go through the basic introduction of the game.

The goal here for me was to propose a choice to the players, to have them decide how they wanted to handle the rest of the trip with the ship, and go from there. Sure, the choice was a bit blind as they didn't know whether to trust Arsulf and Svein, whether to go for the Cove or try to get through the reef and the storm around them, but I basically have all my contingencies prepared just in case. In the end, as you might see, they chose to go for the Cove.

The relationship between the Ixian priestess and the captain of the ship was particularly hilarious. The player lost his temper quickly with the insane captain, but the more he tried to punch him and kick him in the nuts, the more the captain liked it. It kind of started a bound between the captain, the second, the crew and the Pcs that had the benefit of making us laugh throughout.

Both players liked the game. Alexandre has something of an axe to grind against AD&D (the anti-AD&D feelings in France, at least in the gaming circles I used to play in, were and still are pretty strong, like it's a proto-RPG with broken mechanics and the like).

He said of our game on Facebook: "Great start and great NPC balls crushing. Until I heard of the different spells I could pick up, I did NOT realize I was playing under D&D... it upset my life... again... memorizing the spells is such... nevermind."

To which I answered: "Alex, it's my job as DM to upset your life." ;D

Don't worry for Alex, though. He's a very good friend and a tough nut to crack. He's not going to let that opinion of D&D come between him and a good time with his friends. He will be fine. He actually bought the AS&SH game since that session so... I must have done something right.

[mabon5127]

That was a great story! Sounds like lots of fun. Ixian cleric of Yig. Very nice!

Morgan

[jasonzavoda]

That sounds fantastic and your write-up was great (and I loved the map). Benoist, I am just glad you use your game design powers for good (ASSH or AD&D) and not evil.

[benoist]

Thanks! I feel the weight of responsibility on my shoulders, suddenly.

We should be playing today if all goes well. Something I didn't point out in the writeup is that after G+ crashed on me a couple of times we decided to revert to Skype instead (still using Twiddla in parallel for the white board) and it worked totally fine. We should be using Skype again today.

[Ghul]

You are doing a great job enriching the setting material, Ben, and it sounds like there was some great imaginative player involvement, too. I look forward to your next entry!

[benoist]

Thanks a lot Jeff. The next installment should be up in the next few days, and we should be gaming this Friday, too. I'm psyched about this campaign. This is starting really well, the players really like it, and there's a really good mood/ambiance surrounding the whole thing.

I feel good about it.

[Ghul]

I feel that Jason, Morgan, and you are all doing things as I envisaged: Taking the skeleton framework of a campaign that Ian and I provided, and fleshing it out to make it really all your own. It really makes me happy to read what you all are doing. I think it is excellent.

[benoist]

Session 2

Friday, November 2, 2012

Players and Characters

Aurélien C. – Mercurio Drakonos, Hyperborean Warlock, level 1.
Alexandre P. – Ankh Su Namun, Ixian Cleric of Yig, level 1.

We gathered at 12:00 PM on Skype and loaded map and tokens on Twiddla.com. I placed everything and Alex informed me he had chosen a name for his character in the meantime: Ankh Su Namun, a name the fans of the Mummy series of movies will surely recognize.

We also talk about weapons options. Alex settles on a Khopesh sword (which I rule is fine) and a whip at the moment. He hasn't had a chance to have a look over the various class options in the game yet, but asks me if he'd be possible to switch classes later on. I tell him it's okay with me: either he switches Ankh Su Namun to the class he might prefer later on (soon, preferably, so as to not create too many continuity problems), or he creates another character and relegates Ankh Su Namun to a status of “henchman” to his new character. Either way, we'll just work things out just fine.



When Aurélien shows up both players start sharing pictures of what their characters look like on the Twiddla white board. I'm liking this online application more and more: it's actually fairly easy to use, and once you've done so a couple of times, you start knowing your way around and have a pretty good idea what it is you are doing with it. You can also share both ways, not just one DM to the players, but the players to the everyone as well, which is pretty cool in practice. It's not a flawless site by any means, but very cool nonetheless, especially considering it's free for anyone to use.

The Bargain

Njord's Pride made it to Kusu's Cove. The men are exhausted. The captain, Arsulf, despite his own claims he knew all along they would make it safely there, cannot quite believe they actually did. Svein, his second, is much more pragmatic, and knows when the winds have turned. The conversation unfolds rather quickly: blame is thrown around, the crew obviously has lost confidence in their captain's ability to command, and a resolution must be found before they actually disembark and meet the people of the Cove.

Svein sides quickly with Mercurio Drakonos (Aurélien's character) when the Hyperborean warlock makes his move to strip Arsulf of his rank. The crew is hesitant at first, but ends up backing Mercurio as well. From now on, Mercurio shall act as the captain of the ship, with Svein acting as his second, and Arsulf demoted to the rank of mere leader of the fighting men amongst the crew. It might seem strange for who is not a viking, perhaps, but after some initial protests Arsulf accepts his fate: he knows he has failed his men, and knows the gods would make him pay the price if he did not make amends and lead them to victory in whatever capacity he could still claim as a man. Maybe this was his Wyrd, his fate as a warrior. If he wanted to get access to Valhalla and be lead by the Valkyries to the great hall beyond the Rainbow Bridge where could wait for the final days of Ragnarök, he had to accept it, embrace it, and run with it to the bitter end if need be. The Norns would smile on his fate then, and maybe he would die honourably in combat.

As the crew settles the matter and, like their demoted captain, comes to terms with the idea of following the Hyperborean's leadership, a long skiff approaches with a few shadowy figures manning the oars and a single man holding a lantern at its prow. The man is tall but bent, as if very old. A hood covers his face.

He hails the ship as he raises his lantern: “A-hoy! You there on deck! What brings you to Kusu's Cove?”

The party explains that they are en route for the Boreal Coast, describes the force of the storm they met while sailing along the Skarag Coast and how they finally decided they had to reach the Cove before they sank. The man holding the lantern listens intently. He uncovers his face. It is old and withered. He is bald, though long strands of silver hair hang from the sides of his skull. His grey eyes are deeply set under his brow. He seems to be hesitant at first, listening to the adventurers' tale, but ends up agreeing to lead them to a place where they could moor.

Following the skiff after it turned around and showed the way, they finally secure the ship in a small enclave of the Cove – location (1) on the following map.



Negotiations ensue as they reach the shore and talk to the old man who presents himself as Rel, representative of Edmund Vilios, lord of the village nearby. It is finally decided that most of the men that followed Mercurio Drakonos ashore will stay on the beach and wait for him there – location (2) on the map. In the meantime, Mercurio and Ankh Su Namun will follow Rel to the village and meet with his master there; five viking warriors from the crew are allowed to come along and protect them.

Rel leads the way once again. The group finds out that a whole network of natural and artificial corridors link the beaches around the Coves – location (3) on the map. There, they see many alcoves and side passages which do not look like they have been recently carved from the rock surrounding the area. They have the feeling of being observed, and see the light of their torches reflect in the eyes of some creature somewhere in a side passage, but they do not have the time to investigate any further: Rel is evasive when asked, and advises to keep moving.

As the group emerges on the beach at location (4), a couple of guards armed with spears and wearing great helms, aventails and chain hauberks rush towards them. They exchange a few words before Rel manages to stop them: “Master. We did what we could! We couldn't stop them...”

Rel lifts his hand to cut them before they say too much, but it is too late: behind them, Mercurio, Ankh Su Namun and the vikings can see a young girl trying to run away from a couple of sailors who seem to be drunk, or crazed. She cries for help, runs between the tents that have been raised on the beach...

This is enough for Ankh Su Namun she avoids Rel and the two guards and rushes to the girl's help, soon followed by Mercurio while the vikings stay put and wait, ready to intervene if Rel and his men try to stop them. Ankh Su Namun and Mercurio reach the girl as she is held by one of the men. The other lies on the beach and seems to be having something of a seizure, his muscles convulsing uncontrollably. The priestess rushes to the girl's aid, trips the individual holding her. Mercurio approaches much more carefully and keeps an eye on the sick man who seems to change before his own eyes, as though his shape was morphing from that of a man into another, another shape which would not be human, which would be animal... something like a pig, or a boar!

Ankh Su Namun helps the girl, but the other man holds her ankle, tries to keep her close. He swears, then shivers and starts to change as well! The priestess manages to free the girl and immobilizes the creature. Rel approaches with his men. He nods back at them. They then slaughter the beasts with their lances before either of the adventurers could get answers from them.

Rel appears to be resigned. He looks at the priestess, then the warlock, and then explains himself: “Nothing has been the same since my Lord Utgard died a few weeks ago. Edmund is not like his father. He does not respect the ancient pacts that kept this place safe from the Curse. He rejected the council of the El'Kuth, and preferred to deal with the orcs to not have this place invaded by them. But the Cove didn't like it. It ... awoke. Rejected Edmund's leadership. Doomed us all.”

Rel looks at his guests, and recognizes surprise and incomprehension in their eyes. He sighs loudly. “My Lord will explain. Please follow me now.”

The adventurers follow Rel on a series of bridges made of ropes, and then on the platforms built on stilts and raised above the waters of the Cove. All the faces of the people they see as they walk seem tense, depressed, not happy at all. They finally reach what must have been an inn some time ago. All around the round structure built on a platform raised on stilts, there are warriors, mercenaries, sailors all more drunk and useless than the others. They enter the structure, and see a sign hanging at the entrance: a large, dark silhouette of pig made of iron is carved with the words “The Black Sow.”

They step inside and witness a complete change of mood inside: inside the Black Sow, people seem to feast, drink, eat, screw everything that moves. People hang from the chandeliers. Naked women are lying on the bar covered in stinking ale, waiting to be serviced by the next men who would come around and lift them away. Rel follows the wall of the round inn and starts climbing a set of stairs leading up to a mezzanine overseeing the whole room.

Ankh Su Namun tries to talk to one of the girls. She picks one at random, one who seems to have been left alone for a while. She might have lost consciousness. Ankh Su Namun carries her a moment and looks at her face: she cannot believe her eyes, for she is looking at her own! Everything about this girl looks like Ankh Su Namun: the skin tone, the eyes, the bare breasts, the full lips... it must be some type of copy, or double, some illusion perhaps. She is barely conscious. Ankh Su Namun asks: “Wh... what? Who are you? What is your name?”



“I ... I am Nefertiri. I am the daughter of the sun...”

Ankh Su Namun can see Rel standing at the top of the stairs looking down at her. She has no time to talk with Nefertiri. Maybe the old man didn't notice their resemblance. Maybe if she let her rest here for now, she will be able to catch up later on and figure out why she would be here, now, in that particular state. “Could we see each other outside, here, around midnight?” The nigh unconscious Nefertiri nods to indicate her agreement. “Very well then. Here. Rest, and try to stay away from those men. I will see what I can do for you.” Ankh Su Namun lets go of Nefertiri for now. She follows Rel, Mercurio and the others upstairs.

The mezzanine leads to a platform overlooking the common room of the Black Sow below. There, on a huge pile of cushions, lies Edmund, the Lord of the Cove, a somber, silent man with thick moustaches and no hair on the surface of his skull. Just behind him, a grotesque, hugely disproportionate mockery of a human being: the thing's body amounts to a huge lump of greasy, loose flesh. It's eyes are so deeply set under his brow as to be hard to find in the shapeless, hairless mass that must be its head. Only its belly seems to have enough coherence to be called “round” as in a shape, or a set form. It is probably seven feet tall, maybe more, and entirely naked. A sickening sight for Ankh Su Namun if there ever was one.

The thing looks at the priestess, burps loudly, and licks its lips with a tongue covered with raw, diseased sores that grosses her out to the core.

Edmund welcomes the adventurers with a weary, jaded and deep tone of voice. He then asks them why they have come to Kusu's Cove. They explain how they travelled through the storm and were forced to choose between sailing through it on one hand, the risk the reefs of the Skarag Coast represented then, and seeking shelter here at the Cove on the other. How to them it didn't seem like much of a choice, and how they hoped for the Lord's welcome.

“You are welcome here. Though... I must tell you... after I listened to your tale, I do not know if I can trust your men. How could you answer for their behaviour now if they just let you take over the ship at the first sign of a storm? Let us be... reasonable. I think you should be careful, and I shall assist you. I will keep an eye on your ship and your crew for you.” He smiles. “Just to make sure everything is okay, you know...” He snaps his fingers. A few of his guards depart from the room. The adventurers realize they are his prisoners. “In the meantime, you are my guests, of course, and maybe I could find something for you to do, if you were so disposed?”

They do not know what to say. They do not even know what they would be agreeing of doing on Edmund's behalf. He looks briefly at the amorphous mass of flesh behind him, as if seeking for its approval, and then explains: “My father was a fool. He left me to deal with a few thorns in my side, like these El'Kuth savages that keep hiding in the caves around the Cove and try to undermine my authority. Maybe we could find a way too... solve the problem once and for all. Or you might want to join your crew and remain our guests for a long time. Your choice.”

He then signals Rel to take them away. He tells the old man: “Lead them to their apartments. Let them rest and think about our offer. We will talk again in a few hours.”

Rel, the old man, leads Ankh Su Namun, Mercurio and his viking men away from the Black Sow, to another platform in the village. They enter another round structure, much smaller than the inn this time, and are told to the wait there. They are trapped, the structure surrounded by Rel's men, and must now bide their time...

Will the adventurers accept Edmund's offer? Will they refuse, or escape before they give him an answer? We will find out next time.

Debriefing

We played until 4:00 PM or so. It was a good game session. I liked that the players started taking tools like Twiddla into their own hands to share their character pictures and the like. It made the whole experience all the more interactive.

We had some excellent moments that were completely unscripted, like this part where Ankh Su Namun searched for a girl in the inn that would basically fit her measurements. I asked the player to roll a d100. This would have been a rough estimate of the percentile of compatibility she would find in a potential candidate. The player rolled a 100. So, remembering the name of the character and where it came from, I just extrapolated on a new NPC, Nefertiri, who would look exactly like her on the spot. Who is she? Why is she there? I have no idea yet. I'm just finding it out at the same time the players are.



Now, the set-up of the ship and Kusu's Cove makes the game a lot more fluid and versatile, particularly considering the open table aims of our games. I didn't want to throw the players into the full sandbox of the mega-dungeon valley right away. I wanted them to get used to the game, experience the play style from the get-go, surely, but on a smaller scale which would give them more of an illusion of control and impact on their immediate surroundings. That's what the Cove represents: the sandbox on a smaller scale. I also wanted other characters, henchmen, hirelings, new PCs and the like to be able to join the game at a moment's notice, which influence the roster of characters present on the ship of course, as well as the rosters amongst the inhabitants of the Cove, guaranteeing that I could introduce new character types, including the weirdest ones, as quickly as possible at the game table.

A note about Ankh Su Namun to conclude. The player doesn't know if he wants to stick with her being a Cleric. I don't want anyone to feel like they are stuck with a character they don't really want, especially since they are just discovering the game. I told him he had a number of options: keep playing her as she is, or shift the character class in the first few sessions, or just let her become a backdrop character and create a new one that would fit more what he wanted to play immediately, and more. The point is to welcome players in the campaign and drive home the idea that you don't have to get stuck with one character (or one group) at any one time in the campaign. We'll see what he – and the other players, too – ends up doing with the options offered to him.

[mabon5127]

I like the set up thus far.

I was grossed out by the thing behind the throne as well!

Though you only have two characters I like the fact that a warlock and a cleric can go off adventuring together. I'm not much on enforced party balance. Being able to change you character class later is a good way to get folks to try something a little different as well.

I look forward to the next installment!

Morgan

[benoist]

Nov 19, 2012 14:02:50 GMT -6 mabon5127 said:

I like the set up thus far.

I was grossed out by the thing behind the throne as well!

The players reeeally didn't like the sound of this guy, and how Edmund seemed to seek silent approval from him. I role played him making mostly some sounds, a bit like Jabba, like "Hmmm..." "Whooa...", licking its lips at the sight of Ankh Su Namun and the like. LOL

Nov 19, 2012 14:02:50 GMT -6 mabon5127 said:

Though you only have two characters I like the fact that a warlock and a cleric can go off adventuring together. I'm not much on enforced party balance. Being able to change you character class later is a good way to get folks to try something a little different as well.

That's my thought as well. For a campaign start, and new characters in general, you don't have to be all "oh no you chose that, that's it, you're stuck with it now." It can be straining to the suspension of disbelief if that happens too often, and thus, at some point, you have to say "OK you tried this this and this, now's the time to settle for something once and for all, and don't forget you can play multiple characters etc etc," but all in all it's welcoming to new players trying the game, getting interested, and wanting to just adjust a couple of things with their character before going on with the campaign.

As for party "balance," average party level, encounter levels, X amount of encounters per day and all that jazz. Yeah... that's basically the invention of theory wankers that thought WAY too much about the game in a complete vacuum trying to distill a game play they thought would be "one size to fit them all". It's been going on since 3rd ed. It was crap thinking then, and it's still crap thinking now, as far as I'm concerned.

Nov 19, 2012 14:02:50 GMT -6 mabon5127 said:

I look forward to the next installment!

Morgan

Thanks a lot Morgan. Much appreciated.

[Cthulhu Colin]

Nice work so far, mate, and I have to echo the love for the lumpen mockery.

Colin

[benoist]

Nov 19, 2012 17:53:20 GMT -6 Cthulhu Colin said:

Nice work so far, mate, and I have to echo the love for the lumpen mockery.

Colin

Thanks Colin! We're not quite in the full-on "weird" yet as far as the game's concerned, but we're slowly getting there... hehe.

[Ghul]

Nov 19, 2012 18:53:32 GMT -6 benoist said:

Nov 19, 2012 17:53:20 GMT -6 Cthulhu Colin said:

Nice work so far, mate, and I have to echo the love for the lumpen mockery.

Colin

Thanks Colin! We're not quite in the full-on "weird" yet as far as the game's concerned, but we're slowly getting there... hehe.

Yes, I can see the wheels within wheels building, Ben. It sounds like you and your fellows are having some fun and that you are approaching things with an open mind, allowing for the players to explore their own creativity and goals. Great stuff!

[benoist]

Having a great time, that's for sure!

Sounds like you guys will have to keep an open mind with this game as well LOL. I already told you about the Hydromancer. That was my suggestion to the player, Jean-Yves, who didn't have time the look through the rules before playing: he's one of my French friends who's actually played First Ed and is a huuuge fan of magic users. He also loves the ocean, water, Pink Floyd (Echoes) and all that. So I knew that the prospect of playing some type of water elementalist would please him. Since I had thought before "hey, it wouldn't take that much to flip the Pyromancer to its polar opposite!" I just proposed it right off the bat and Jean-Yves loved the idea. The character will be introduced soon in this write-up.

We played yesterday as well and Alexandre, after considering shifting Ankh Su Namun to a Shaman who would worship the ancient spirits that gave birth to the Egyptian et al polytheism in ancient times, finally came up to me wanting to play a Sorcerer.

Yes. A Sorcerer as in "3.5 D&D Sorcerer." Now, I played myself a Sorcerer in my 3rd ed period and that's one of the additions to the game I thought would be interesting to convert back to the First Ed paradigm if the occasion presented itself. So after considering the aims of this game and campaign around it, the basic idea that we should grab the framework and shape it to make it resonate with us at the game table won: I agreed. We basically discussed some aspects of the class, the player chose his initial spells from the AS&SH Magician list, we converted a few things, and on we go.

Alex always had a problem with Vancian magic. He loves Rolemaster, however, and loves the way 3rd ed took that "LEGO" aspect out of it. I explained that there are some things which, I think, are not reconcilable with a game like AS&SH. I had in mind things like the grid-based combat, the feats-within-feats, the "rules are the game" aspect of 3rd ed, in particular. But the Sorcerer's class principle, that you have a magic user that can cast spells without memorization but is limited by a VERY narrow number of spells known, is something I thought would work well as an additional advanced character class.

So we settled on that yesterday, and we'll see how it goes.

Talk about kitbashing the campaign, man. Hehe.

[Deleted]

I'm the player who embodies the character Mercurio Drakonos. I'm very proud to play with Benoist as a GM, and we both have fun creating the background of my character. I'm eager to continue playing in this Campaign.
Thanks Benoist.

[mabon5127]

Nov 25, 2012 15:07:48 GMT -6 @mercurio said:

I'm the player who embodies the character Mercurio Drakonos. I'm very proud to play with Benoist as a GM, and we both have fun creating the background of my character. I'm eager to continue playing in this Campaign.
Thanks Benoist.

Welcome Mercurio!

Morgan

[Ghul]

Nov 25, 2012 15:26:57 GMT -6 mabon5127 said:

Nov 25, 2012 15:07:48 GMT -6 @mercurio said:

I'm the player who embodies the character Mercurio Drakonos. I'm very proud to play with Benoist as a GM, and we both have fun creating the background of my character. I'm eager to continue playing in this Campaign.
Thanks Benoist.

Welcome Mercurio!

Morgan

Yes, welcome!

[benoist]

Nov 25, 2012 15:07:48 GMT -6 @mercurio said:

I'm the player who embodies the character Mercurio Drakonos. I'm very proud to play with Benoist as a GM, and we both have fun creating the background of my character. I'm eager to continue playing in this Campaign.
Thanks Benoist.

You are more than welcome, monsieur Mercurio!

I thank you for the good times past, present and future, my friend.

[benoist]

Session 3-4

Friday, November 9, 2012; Friday, November 16, 2012.

Players and Characters

Aurélien C. – Mercurio Drakonos, Hyperborean Warlock, level 1.
Alexandre P. – Ankh Su Namun, Ixian Sorcerer, level 1.
Jean-Yves E. – Unknown female Hydro/Cryomancer, level 1.

These two sessions are lumped together because session 3 lasted half an hour, enough to introduce a new character into the game.

I had talked to another old friend of mine, from my high school/university days, actually, and invited him to join our game, which he was eager to do. Knowing the player, his inclination for magic users in AD&D, his love of water, boating, fish, Pink Floyd and all things related to the French Bretagne, and also knowing we wouldn't have the time to create a character organically together before the game began, I proposed the idea of playing an Hydro- or Cryomancer, a character class I would kitbash from the Pyromancer as its polar opposite, as it were. Jean-Yves eagerly approved.

I thus went to work and came up with the first level of the class, including its spell list, which you can read about in its dedicated thread. I came up with the stats and everything, and brainstormed about a proper way to introduce the character into the game, having to deal with the fact that the current Pcs were prisoners of Edmund at the time. I chose to go for a rather direct approach...



The Escape

There is a sensation of pain, of cold isolation somewhere in the dark, beyond a veil of dreams and half-forgotten memories. A feeling of coming to life for the first time; a breath frozen, suspended in time and space, and yet still there, drawn endlessly into a void of nothingness. Some anger. Cries of frustration. The sounds of battle and fury, the sounds of despair far, far away, with their echoes resounding into a present that is already past, the urgency of a fleeting moment which already died to her conscience as she came to notice it. She tries to move, and finds her movements are limited, slow, imprecise. Hampered. She is drowning, or it feels like it. She holds her anchor tight against her chest, and feels its organic, hard surface against her naked breast. She opens her eyes and finds herself dazzled by the surrounding blackness. She tries to fight the numbness, fight the oblivion, and starts to see...

Mercurio Drakonos, Ankh Su Namun and their viking companions are the “guests” of Edmund Vilios, Lord of Kusu's Cove. They have been led to a hut on one of the village's floating platforms to think about Edmund's deal, and come up with an answer for him.

Who are they? What time and place are these? Why? The conscience tries to understand, but cannot. She floats around the scene, tries to take cover into a corner but finds none; the place is round, wooden, foreign to her.

As soon as the adventurers are left alone in the hut they start searching the room, which has precious few pieces of furniture here and there, some curtains and carpets. Nothing of value, obviously, but they both decide its time for them to escape. They move the carpets and start pulling loose boards from the floor. They hear the water's ebb and flow about twenty feet below and soon spot its shimmering movement in the dark of the cave surrounding the hut and village around them. Mercurio looks down, and sees something there, something like a pair of eyes looking right back at him from under the surface of the water, begging for him to help, attentive, reaching out to seize him.

She cannot explain it. She is floating here, right next to the tall slender man looking down at the surface of the water. And yet, yet... she is looking at him from down below at the same time, right in the eyes, desperate to move, to exist, to come into being. She reaches out and tries. She feels a movement, an acceleration, propelled forward by the sole power of her will as the shards of her broken spirit all rush back into her to form a new whole that is not her, and yet very much is.

The body comes flying out of the water, pierces through the floorboards like a canon ball, hits the beams sustaining the roof of the hut above, and falls back on the floor with a crashing sound. Mercurio was knocked off his feet and finds himself on his back, not far away. Ankh Su Namun must have suffered the same fate, for she too now lies in the room, unconscious. The vikings are still standing, holding their weapons close at the ready, not sure what to make of this new deviltry.

Mercurio gets up and inspects the new comer. A woman. Young. With a smooth, tanned skin. Plain lips. Dark brown hair that seems to have been died with some form of orange mud or clay. Gills on the sides of her neck. She is naked, lying in foetal position, holding something tight against her. As Mercurio reaches to try and grab it, she awakes. She looks afraid, forlorn. She doesn't seem to know where she is. She is holding a conch shell against her breast. A conch shell which suddenly vibrates, takes off from her hand and levitates around her, separating into pieces swirling fast around her like so many miniature shields protecting her from harm.

Mercurio attempts to speak with her using an Atlantean dialect. She seems to understand him. He tells her not to worry, that everything is going to be okay. The conch shell gets back together in the palm of her hand. Mercurio uses the curtains to cover her naked body. She seems thankful.

She asks: “Who am I?”

The door of the hut opens. A few guards enter the room abruptly: “What is this? Explain yourselves!”

The newcomer doesn't wait. She jumps through the hole in the water below. The guards are too late to stop her, and return their attention to Mercurio who now holds the unconscious Ankh Su Namun in his arms. “This is it. You will be coming with us and explain all this to Rel.”

Mercurio nods silently to his viking men. They understand him. They move slowly towards the guards, simulating a surrender, and are about to hit them when the hut suddenly shakes on its fundations. “What the...?” The hut shakes again, and loses its stability. The entire structure crashes downward at a 45-degree angle, door first, towards the ocean. All the guards are instantly ejected from the platform, hit the surface of the water and sink like stones in a puddle, weighted as they are by their protective gear. Two of Mercurio's men follow them to the depths. Three of them can hold on to the walls of the hut, the same as Mercurio who still manages to keep Ankh Su Namun secure in one of his arms. She awakes, and tries to help, but to no avail. The whole platform is soon going to collapse entirely. There is not much more time left for them to save their lives.



Twiddla screenshot as we were playing the player characters' escape.

The vikings cut the leather straps of each others' suits of armour, and soon do the same to Mercurio's. They all can hear the commotion outside, the cries and shouts of alarm on the neighbouring platforms. They all jump from the platform and notice that two of its stilts have been partially changed to ice and shattered. The young girl who just plunged before them is floating nearby. She lost consciousness, somehow, but is still holding on to her conch shell.

Ankh Su Namun and Mercurio grab her and swim away, to the east, as fast as they can. They can feel spears being thrown at them splashing into the water nearby. They even see a glowing magic missile flying past them, fired at random to provide some light to the guards remaining on the platforms behind them. But this isn't of any use: they swim away, and escape finally.



They soon make it to one of the platforms near the great pillars of the Cove which separate the village area from the rest of the gigantic cave and its entrance – location (6) on the map. One of the vikings fumbles as they climb the stilts leading to the guard post. As they make it onto the platform, one of the guards runs towards them and asks what is going on. Ankh Su Namun tells him they are followed by men who want to assault them. “Here, look into the water: this drunken viking! This is one of these men!” The guard looks down at the viking... and Ankh Su Namun pushes him overboard. He sinks and drowns with his suit of armour on. She turns and winks at Mercurio's attention: “That's already one down.”

As they prepare to investigate the guard post another soldier comes to meet them: “What is going on, here? Where is my brother?” Ankh Su Namun responds: “Oh! He just fell trying to help us climb up here! There he is!” She points to the water. The guard has a look. She tries to push him... and fails.

The guard turns to face her: “What is the meaning of this?” Mercurio and Ankh Su Namun look at each other, then respond: “Look. We are five. Us two, plus three very mean viking warriors. You're alone here, aren't you?” The guard looks at them both, swallows noisily, and nods. “Right. So you know we could kill you right now if we wanted to.” He nods again. “Alright. Now we might need more men. Men like you, who are willing to switch sides and would work to keep themselves alive. Do you understand?” The guard nods again. “Very well. Pick up your weapons, and show us all the equipment you have here.”

The guard leads them to the equipment in question. They find a lantern, some oil, hooked poles, rope, and even a healing potion which belonged to the guard who perished drowned a moment ago. Ankh Su Namun turns to their new recruit: “Where is yours?” The guard looks sheepish, then puts his hand in the back of his pants and pulls his potion from there. “That's all I got.” Ankh Su Namun picks it up with the tips of her fingers and makes a face. “Well... thank you... I guess.”

They take the next few moments to plan their next move. They ask if there are just two guards at the other guard post north of this position, and the new recruit, Schwarzy, tells them that is so. They plan on taking a skiff here left for the guards to use and make their way there to loot the other guard post – location (7) on the map. They hope to get back on the beach afterwards and find part of the viking crew still there to then take their ship back by force if necessary. They take a few moments to rest, recuperate, pack up their equipment, and make their way to the skiff with their three surviving viking hirelings and Schwarzy behind them.

Debriefing

Fun sessions. We had quite a few laughs, particularly when I made up some silly names for the guards. The first one from the post at (6) was “Arnulf”, and then when his brother showed up I just brain-farted when he was asked for his name as well, and just blurted: “Me? My name is Schwarzy.” It'll be a running gag with next session. These are the kind of hilarious, non-scripted, silly moments which are hard to communicate in a written format like here, so I didn't even try. Likewise with the healing potions. They found one, and when Ankh Su Namun asked for the other which surely was in the possession of the survivor, Schwarzy, they had just recruited, I brain-farted again and he just pulled it up from the back of his pants. The idea of an arse-smelling healing potions sent me laughing so hard that my ribs ached and I had to take a break to calm down. It was hilarious, but then again, that's the kind of infantile, laughing for the sake of laughing moments that you can't really translate into a “story” like this here, on a forum.

One thing I noticed when I did the experience points totals was that the healing potions amounted to some healthy rewards of the PCs. Since they had been playing some pretty combat-less sessions the bump was actually quite welcome, and appropriate in light of what surely was to come.

[benoist]

For reference, since I've been asked: the scale of the map of the Cove is one hex for 160 feet, approximately.

[Ghul]

Nicely done, Ben. It sounds like you are coming along in establishing player immersion. I look forward to reading about their further exploits!

[Ynas Midgard]

Any news on this? Is it still going on? Is there still a plan expanding your campaign to English-speaker players as well?