Beneath the Ruins Maps

Adam, the OSR ambassador to Kickassistan, made an excellent point in the comment section of my map post below.  Why not post all the maps for the published levels of Beneath the Ruins?  Why not, indeed?  Henceforth, you can click your mouse above for all five juvenile scrawlings, as well as whatever future levels get published.  Perhaps soon I'll post the sideview.

Incidentally, we'd love to hear any stories from those who've run, or played in, Beneath the Ruins.  Those I've heard so far were hilarious and I really enjoyed seeing how individual referees modified and reskinned sections.

Beneath the Ruins, Level 5 Map

 

I hate flipping back and forth to check out the map when I'm reading through a module, and if I run the module I always end up copying the map out.  Here's a copy of the map for level 5a, the Emerald Halls, for any who feel the same way and don't want to jack up their mint condition WMLP #5!

Black Pharaoh Foiled! Our First Labyrinth Lord Campaign Concluded

Wow! Tonight my small group completed a campaign that stretched 1.5 years. For many, I'm sure that isn't a very long time, but it was the first campaign for two of my players and my first in about 20 years. We used modified BX throughout and their characters reached 7th/8th levels after defeating tons of cultists, drug brewing mutants, giant phosphorescent ants, schizophrenic blobs, etc. They explored the Magus Xoth Ragar's mysterious laboratory, engaged in espionage against the notorious Black Hand in Pentastadion, and ultimately tracked the Black Pharaoh to his abominable pyramid in the desert. Great fun and lots of great ideas by these unpredictable players. Even though three of the main characters died, they were integral parts of the story that was made, so it proved once again the strange alchemy that makes a D&D campaign so satisfying. For now, I think I've earned my reward and will take a month or so off to recharge, read, and get the next campaign ready. One of the players has graciously agreed to DM for a bit. Woo hoo!

Dee-Deedly-DEEEEE!!! Fight On! #13 Magazine is OUT!

The newest issue of the freshest old-school rpg mag is available on Lulu.  Behold, below, the Table of Radness/Contents:

Table of Contents The Swashbuckler (Calithena) 3 Elves as Green Men (Walt Jillson) 4 Variant Kindreds (Age of Fable) 5 Grognard’s Grimoire (Erin “Taichara” Bisson) 6 Cantrips Gone Wild! (John Laviolette) 7 Battle School (Ken St. Andre) 10 Mysterious Laboratory of Xoth-Ragar (Alex Fotinakes) 15 Knights & Knaves (Andrew “Venomous Pao” Trent) 22 Creepies & Crawlies (garrisonjames) 25 Artifacts, Adjuncts, & Oddments (Hudson Bell & Cal) 27 Slaughter in the Salt Pits (Gabor Lux) 28 The Library of Karvu Naudra (Jason Vasché) 33 An Unfamiliar Encounter (John Larrey) 36 The Goblin Market (Richard Rittenhouse) 40 Bonus Tables (Jeff Rients) 45 What is this Monster Scared Of? (Dustin Brandt) 46 Fruiting Towers (Patrick Wetmore) 47 Tricks & Treats (Andreas Davour & Wayne Cayea) 58 Mythal (Calithena) 61 The Tale of an Egg (Baz Blatt) 69 The Darkness Beneath (Makofan) 78 Champions of ZED (Daniel Boggs) 98 In the Shadow of the Catskills (Michael Curtis) 111 Scramp! (Richard Rittenhouse) 116 Education of a Magic User (Douglas Cox) 120 Top Tips for Tunnels & Trolls (Big Jack Brass) 121 Doxy, Urgent Care Cleric (J. Linneman & K. Green) 122 Front cover by Liz Danforth. Back cover by Ravi Shankar (cartographersguild.com). Fight On! logo by Jeff Rients. Ken St. Andre illustration by Mark Mena. Interior art and cartography by Anthony Stiller (3), Alex Schroeder (3,16,19,81,85), Ndege Diamond (4,15,18,22,23,64,94,117), Michael Pacher (4), Tom Gordon (mindspring.com/ ~tgordo: 6), Kelvin Green (7,43,122), Black Blade Publishing (blackbladepublishing.com: 8), David A. Ullery (elfwood.com/~davidaullery: 9,10,11,12,14,22,24,27,31,33, 35,56,66), Brian Mangino (20), Toren Atkinson (thickets. net/toren: 20,59,69), Richard Jean LeBlanc, Jr. (21,86), OSRCon (osrcon.ca: 24), garrisonjames (hereticwerks. blogspot.com: 25,26), DEI Games (deigames.com: 26), Hudson Bell (27,106,107), Gabor Lux (29,30,32), Jason Vasché (33), Liz Danforth (34,77), John Larrey (37,38, 102), Kevin Mayle (44), Kevin Vito (47,51), Patrick Wetmore (48,53), Kesher (50), Lawrence Raymond (60), Jennifer Weigel (jenniferweigelart.com: 61,67), Baz Blatt (72), Greengoat (73), Patrick Farley (74), Robert S. Conley (batintheattic.com: 78), F.C. Brandt (bainst.com: 84,91, 119), Lee Barber (91, Creepies & Crawlies logo, Knights & Knaves logo), Jason Sholtis (99,110), Philp H. Smith (112,113,114,115), Katje Romanov (119), Douglas Cox (120), and Peter Schmidt Jensen (121).

Oh Snap! It's the new Fight On! Magazine #12

Yes. It is here, and it's got the science with the fantasy.  The following is copied straight from Calithena's post because it's kinda late and I'm pretty buzzed:

Mutants! Androids! Robots! Pure Strain Humans! Fight On! is back, with another 88 pages of gut-wrenching, laser-pulsing, fist-pounding action! Rules variants, tables, adventures large and small, science fiction and fantasy, races, classes, monsters, spells, magic items, NPCs, history, opinion, and lore can be found herein! Featuring art and articles by Mark Allen, Ian Baggley, Lee Barber, Erin "Taichara" Bisson, Daniel Boggs, David Bowman, Simon Bull, David Coleman, Fat Cotton, Michael Curtis, Liz Danforth, Ndege Diamond, Ron Edwards, Kelvin Green, Tim Kask, John Larrey, John Laviolette, Lester, Gabor Lux, Heron Prior, Jeff Rients, Chris Robert, Zak S., Alex Schroeder, Jason Sholtis, Tim "Sniderman" Snider, Jennifer Weigel, and this issue's dedicatee James M. Ward, alongside many others! If want to take your FRP experience to the next level, don't delay - buy this issue and Fight On!

The print version is available here: http://www.lulu.com/product/16258333

and the PDF is available here: http://www.lulu.com/product/16258563

To encourage you to check us out, we have put two other products on SALE along with the release of Issue 12. These prices won’t last forever! The Fight On! Compiled Compilation +4, combining our first four fabulous issues under one cover, can currently be purchased for $19.99; and Roll the Bones, our well-reviewed collection of fantastic fiction, is available for just $14.99. We’d be honored if you checked one or both out!

The compilation is available here: http://www.lulu.com/product/15712103

and Roll the Bones is available here: http://www.lulu.com/product/14939306

If you buy by the end of the day TOMORROW (July 15), you can save even more on all of these – lulu is offering a site-wide discount of 20% off everything with the coupon BIG (BIG305AU, BIG305UK for some foreign readers), making this one of the best times to check us out for the first time or check back in if you’ve missed a few issues! While you’re at it, check out some other lulu gaming products – there is a ton of good stuff on there from all kinds of producers.

Thanks for your interest, and whether you pick up an issue or not, keep fighting on!

Table of Contents
Champions of ZED (Daniel Boggs) 3
Fast Company II – Nonhumans (Schroeder & Shieh) 11
It’s All in the Cards (Michael Curtis) 12
The Tomb of Kaman-Doh Rey’d (David Coleman) 17
The Apen (Andrew “The Venomous Pao” Trent) 20
Geologians (Tim “Sniderman” Snider) 22
The Witch Doctor (Scott Moberly) 24
Knights & Knaves (Barber, Green, Rients, & Cal) 25
Grognard’s Grimoire (Erin “Taichara” Bisson) 27
The City State of Dusal Dagodli (Gabor Lux) 28
The Darkness Beneath (Heron Prior & David Bowman) 32
Education of a Magic User (Douglas Cox) 44
Doxy, Urgent Care Cleric (J. Linneman & K. Green) 45
Sir Tendeth (Tim “Sniderman” Snider) 46
Creepies & Crawlies (T. Snider and Jeffrey P. Talanian) 60
Monstrous Ecology (Ron Edwards) 63
Random’s Assortment (Peter Jensen & Random) 64
Curses Gone Wild! (John Laviolette) 65
Artifacts, Adjuncts, & Oddments (Jason Sholtis) 67
Treasure Types (Simon Bull) 68
Dungeon Modules: The Rondo Rooms (Jeff Rients) 69
Pigdivot! (Chris Robert) 72
Where the Action Is (Zak S.) 80
Merlyn’s Mystical Mirror (Gabor Lux & Jo Kreil) 84
Notes from a Master (James M. Ward & Tim Kask) 86

Front cover by Mark Allen (marjasall.com). Back cover by Kevin Mayle. Fight On! logo by Jeff Rients. Jim Ward photos by John Sapienza, Jr. and Breck Ward. Interior art and cartography by Jason Sholtis (4,9,21,67), OSRCon (osrcon.ca: 6), Fat Cotton (7,80), karenswhimsy.com (10), Anthony Stiller (12,64), Black Blade Publishing (blackblade publishing.com: 13), Liz Danforth (15), Hudson Bell (16), David Coleman (17), Netherwerks (netherwerks.blogspot. com: 18,42), Lawrence Raymond (18), Ndege Diamond (19,33,40,47), Lester (22,60,61,86), Centers for Disease Control (24), Kelvin Green (25,45,65), Lee Barber (26,51, Creepies & Crawlies logo, Knights & Knaves logo), Alex Schroeder (27,34), Gabor Lux (28,29,30), Antonio Sant’ Elia (31), Robert S. Conley (batintheattic.com: 32), Heron Prior (37,48,51,52,53,57), Bronze Age Miniatures (bronze agemin.com: 41), Douglas Cox (44), Tim “Sniderman” Snider (46), DEI Games (deigames.com, 46), John Larrey (54,63), Ian Baggley (62), Jennifer Weigel (69,74,79), Matthew Howerter (70), Kevin Mayle (72), Greengoat (75), Peter Schmidt Jensen (83), Henchman Abuse (henchman abuse.blogspot.com: 84), and F. Douglas Wall Publishing (fdouglaswall.blogspot.com: 85).

Lost Continent Session 33

(As of late, I've been waffling on whether to post write-ups of our Lost Continent sessions, knowing that I have never really done this before and most anyone reading it would be jumping in mid-story.  Well...I decided to go for it anyway.  Those who find them tedious can easily skip the posts, and it will serve its main purpose well: helping me and my players remember what happened when, and remain recollected when the details of the campaign proliferate.)

Session 33

Bellor Ruthenia, 5th level Moravian Shieldsman
Zoe of Zoe, 5th level Colonist Thief
Tune of Santa Monica, 6th level Stranger Sorcerer
Itchy of the Brotherhood of the Dawn, 7th level Colonist Cleric
Shaan Solo, 7th level Colonist Bounty Hunter

The party has been working out of Pentastadion for the past few months, adventuring professionally as "The Company of the Belching Dragon".  They have taken on odd delving jobs outside of town and under Pentastadion itself, and have attracted the attention of one of the powerful Syndics.  Her attendant, Rolando Blackman, recently negotiated with them, and they contracted to do a practice job: to explore and map a newly discovered underground complex accessible only through the cellar of a brewery in the warehouse district of Pentastadion.

The last session (32) found the Company venturing through the strange hidden door behind the brewery's mash tun again, descending a long stair and exploring what they would discover was the Den of the Thief Kings.  They cautiously moved through several decrepit rooms until they entered a small gallery with portraits hung on all the walls.  Two disparate figures stood on the far side of the room, stock still and unresponsive, staring at a large portrait of a human man.  Upon inspection, the two figures turned out to be a scruffy barbarian type, with pale skin and scant clothing, and a tall, thin, erudite looking man in a robe.  Both appeared alive and well, but completely still.  Tune judged them frozen somehow, perhaps by gazing at the portrait, and had Bellor throw a cloak over the painting.  They examined the rest of the room and found nothing, so as a last measure, Itchy called upon the power of Solus to banish any magical effect in the room.  In a flash of action, both men came to life.  The barbarian spun around and, seeing a sinister figure at his shoulder, stabbed the man in heart.  A tense standoff ensued between barbarian and adventurers while the robed man's life quickly ebbed away.  After attempts at communication proved futile, the party slowly backed out of the room and left the barbarian some space to leave safely.

More exploration of rooms followed, with the discovery of an empty lair and a shadowy altercation with foul humanoids resembling hyenas and covered with coarse bristling fur.  Arrows, plasma blasts and arcane bolts of energy flew back and forth, and several hyena men were slain.  The battle brought on fatigue, however, so the Company retired to a defensible room and locked themselves within for the night.

Session 33 began with the Company rising from a fitful rest in the small room.  Shaan smelled the odor of oil, while Zoe could hear several figures moving in the hallway outside.  Abandoning the better part of valor, Bellor threw open the door and Itchy charged into what he assumed was combat.  He guessed right and was able to engage the last two of the hyena men before they escaped down the hallway.  Itchy slew one, but the other shot a flaming arrow that brought fire licking all about the cleric's divine boots.  Itchy ran to escape the burning oil and Shaan sniped the last of the bestial fiends with a powerful blast of his plasma rifle.

The Company paused to catch its breath, then continued to explore the rest of the Den.  Among other things, they found a prop room used by an ancient thieves' guild.  Costumes and wigs filled numerous chests and wardrobes, but the main attraction was a raised platform set before a mirrored triptych.  A multitude of chains hung down with handles on them.  Itchy was the first to ascend the platform and pull a chain, finding himself immediately 30 lbs. heavier!  Disgusted but undaunted, he pulled again, and was rewarded with a Fu Manchu.

The Company moved on, encountering a shrine to Hermes wherein they gambled with the god, and other less exciting rooms.  (I can't remember anything else, honestly).

When they finished mapping the floor, they ascended the stairs and were immediately intercepted by Rolando Blackman's henchmen, who directed them quickly through panic-stricken streets.  Something was very amiss in the city by the sea.  But that's where we leave our party...

[I've forgotten big chunks of these sessions, apparently, and must set about fixing that by writing notes soon after the next session.]

Next installment: Panic in Pentastadion!

Under Pentastadion

To Itchy and Tune,

Here's a little map I put together from what I knows and what my buddy Treddo's herd.  I thot you guys could use the help and you've always been big tippers.  Let me know if you guys ever wanna hear some more stories about all those twisty places under Pentastadion.

Thog

 

(Thanks to Dyson for the map making lessons he's posted!)

The Mysterious Laboratory of the Magi Xoth-ragar

This is coming soon.  We played through it and had a blast, so I'm thinking of posting it up on the blog somehow (this will take some technological fumbling on my part).  Anyone have advice on how to post something that 8 pages or so?

Megadungeon Design: Honeycomb Hideouts

I've been fascinated with Megadungeons for a long time, reading all the great blog posts and forum threads on this adventure-site/play-style/philosophy and mulling over all the possibilities.  I have a megadungeon placed on the Lost Continent, in fact.  The party adventured there quite a bit and it was pretty rad, even.  But we've also encountered a sticky issue.

My players are not that excited about exploring just for the sake of exploring.

They like to have particular reasons for going into some deathtrap, for one thing.  They take their roleplaying pretty seriously--not in terms of making weird voices or wearing costumes, but in regards to making decisions in-character rather than as a player.  By that I mean, Brian wants to be able to come up with some reason why Shaan (a deadly, but soft-hearted, bounty hunter) would want to wander down into a dark place where demons eat kittens and wait for larger meals.  He doesn't need much reason, mind you, but something either he creates or I create.

One easy fix for this is the utilitastic Megadungeon Missions Table by Al over on Beyond the Black Gate.  I've used this several times to generate a seed for an adventure.  I'm lucky that my players follow hooks like a googler follows hot elven chicks.

So, partly in response to the style of adventuring we do, and partly because of how I like to draw maps, I'm experimenting with a new type of megadungeon: the honeycomb hideout.  This might not be new to others, but it's different than what I've done before.  Basically, it's a megadungeon made of numerous interconnected mini-dungeons.

Lo, verily I say unto thee...scanned, badly drawn dungeon maps will follow.

Hall of the Fallen: Arthur the Fighter

And so passes into legend Arthur the Fighter:

Bold and eager for Adventure, Arthur climbed the dizzying heights to the Keep on the Borderlands.  He impressed the Castellan immediately when he interrupted his conversation with the Captain to offer the services of a trained warrior (and rolled a really good reaction roll).  Just at that moment the Castellan had been describing the foul hooligans who had lately been entering the keep, looking only to quaff ale in the tavern and lounge in the common room.  "Where shall I find a man stout of heart and eager to quench his thirst for renown by slaying dark creatures?", he asked.

"I'm down", replied the hero.

The hero thus ventured forth into the black caves of chaos, in search of goblin heads (worth 5 gp a piece) and a lost expedition in need of resupply.  He found them and mounted a successful attack against a group of guards.  But alas, the second contingent they encountered (he and his retinue of uncoordinated torch bearers) was much craftier, summoning forth with a sack of ill-gotten gold the furious Ogre.  Spears flew, goblins screamed, torchbearers cried, and blood flowed.  The dirty goblins died or fled, but still the Ogre pressed on, receiving blows but dropping meatshields, nonetheless.  Finally, when hope seemed to return, the cruel Ogre rolled a natural 20 and his knobby club showed Arthur the way to Valhalla.

May he rest in peace.

Maps, Overland Travel and Finding the Cool Stuff

I've been fooling around with different ideas on how to run the wilderness parts of my campaign.  I have a pretty big sandbox map (23x28 3-mile hexes) and wanted to add interesting things into each of them, as a 3x3 mile hex is approximately the size of my hometown!  I don’t think I was really wrapping my head around the size of my map until I google mapped an area that is commensurate in size.  Instead of being the size of North Orange County, for instance, one side of the map to the other is the same distance as my workplace to San Diego!  That’s two hours hauling ass in the car!  Then I realized that one hex is approximately the size of my hometown and, as there are at least a couple interesting things in that place, each of my hexes should have at least one cool thing in it. 

So, characteristically, I dove right into filling my hexes with rad things, without taking into account that there are…

…644 hexes on that da** map.

So I pondered this in my tiny brain for a moment, and came up with a plan.  I decided to create a whole bunch of cool things like tribes of intelligent, vampiric rabbits and triceratops birthing grounds and keep them on a list until the PCs find ‘em.  In theory, there’s still 644 awesome things spread out on the map, but I don’t have to come up with them now, nor do I need to write them out.  The characters, after all, are usually burning horseshoes around the map, trying to get to some location ASAP.  So they’re not likely to run straight into the cool thing on a 3-mile hex.  On the other hand, if they want to slow down, they’ll be more likely to find the interesting caves or ancient alien hot-air balloons.

The trick for me will be probability tables used to determine what the characters find as they travel.  I determined three “layers” of discovery: general terrain, special features of the land, and landmarks.  Passing through a 3-mile wide area, you’re bound to get an idea of the general terrain—whether its forest, desert, swamp, or other.  You may also notice some special features—an oddly shaped hill or deep crevasse.  Finally, if you’re lucky (or unlucky), you’ll discover the special feature of the area—the aforementioned bunny encampment, for instance.  Note that this is supposing the hex is not obviously filled with a massive castle or some other easily apparent monstrosity that blind people could see on a foggy night.

I’ve yet to playtest this, but I think it’s going to do the trick for me.  Am I reinventing the wheel, though?  I know I’m not that well read in newer rule books and honestly don’t remember even being in the wilderness much as a player in my youth.  Perhaps tables like this exist already.  I’d like to see how others do it, too.  How do you handle it?

Back in the Saddle...

Wow, I've been out to lunch.  Work, life, bla bla bla [excuses].

Let's blog about old school RPGs again!

The Lost Continent campaign has been rolling on.  In the last session the party finally located the Great Library, magically hidden on a sub-level of Ki'hago.  They got their library cards and slipped in just in time to witness a nasty fight between several toothed books.  There was much paper shredding and excitement.  They then uncovered some valuable information regarding the relics of the Black Pharaoh and got into a scuffle with some dog-sized dust mites.  Tune, the futuristic magic-user, was able to copy down some valuable information about Continental history and find a spell he might be able to use.  Now to escape Ki'hago again and be into the fresh air!

Excuses for Adventure: Optional Character Backgrounds

Why has your new PC decided to embark on a career in adventuring?  He is seriously considering delving into dark holes in the ground where he knows nasty creatures dwell.  He is embarking on a journey that will most likely include regular bouts with grave danger, wandering from one end of the continent (or dimension) to the other, etc.  There must be some sort of powerful reason…

1. Running away from a battleaxe wedding.  “I never should have asked her to go to the barn with me…”
2. Running out on a boring/laborious/unpleasant apprenticeship.  “If the master makes me warm up his coffee one more time, I swear…”
3. Running away from trouble.  “I did it like this.  I did it like that.  I did it with a wiffle-ball bat. So…”
4. Modern man lost in another dimension.  “Remember ‘Army of Darkness’?  Yeah.  All I need is a frickin’ chainsaw arm.”
5. Sent on a quest.  “The Order says I need some field experience, so you don’t happen to know where I could find the Shrine to Evil Chaos, do you?”
6. In search of the duchies.  “I like money—plain and simple.   Nasty monsters have the best bling.”
7. Revenge.  “Ever since his mother was eaten by bugbears he’s just itchin’ to go out and kill everything that lives in a cave.”
8. Ideological.  “Evil must be vanquished!”
9. Ideological.  “Do-gooders must be vanquished!”
10. Cursed.  “That evil wizard mumbled something and now I’ve got to keep moving every month before people start to get suspicious.
11. ...

Thinking of running some modules...

I find myself in an interesting position.  I own pretty much every cool D&D and AD&D 1e module that was made, but have never actually run one.  This is doubly weird because they also bring back crazy nostalgia for me.

When I was a little guy, AD&D 2e was either just on the horizon or had hit the shelves.  However, that stuff was expensive!  At least for me, as a poor 12 year old, it was.  So my RPGs came from the Swap Meet.  Ah, that magical land...I picked my first Moldvay Basic there for about $2 and never looked back.  I loved it with all my heart, and didn't care that it was 8 years old and had already been redone by Mr. Mentzer.  That's also where I began picking up old used modules, and how I find myself so hooked up now.  I remember buying X1: Isle of Dread and wandering past the chaotic stalls of the swap meet, poring over the new monsters and imagining how I would slay players with the tricky Araneas.

So I had every intention of running those awesome adventures, and read them for hours.  My problem was that I couldn't wrap my head around them as a kid.  And so I knew even while I read them that I wouldn't be able to swing one.  I got into the habit of stealing ideas and making my own little adventures (practically a mandatory activity for all DMs) and never actually came around to running even the simplest of modules.

But now...now I might be able to do it.  I think, having been able to get a college degree, I should at least be able to run a passable version of one of the great modules.  Am I right?

So I have the very happy task ahead of me: reading through the many modules I have and deciding which could be slipped into my campaign.  I think it will be a nice dash of variety for both me and my players.  Maybe we'll love it, maybe we'll hate it.  Who knows.  But I'll finally be able to follow through on that 12 year old's inspiration.

Anyone have an opinion as to which I should run?  As I said, I have almost all of them.  My only restriction is that my players are right around 4th or 5th level, so it'll have to be in that range.

My Newest Purchase...

I'm very excited about this!  I've just purchased my first product from Lamentations of the Flame Princess, the latest highly-rated adventure Hammers of the God.  My excitement, however, is not merely because of the great reviews this is getting or because I have played many short adventures written by James Raggi and have always been very impressed.  It's because Raggi seems to have done some sort of mind-meld with me (poor guy) and created a product that sounds like it fits perfectly with what's upcoming in my Labyrinth Lord campaign!  Yes!