C&C Session 2 at Guardian

Just finished session #2 over at Guardian Games! This week, Dan was able to come, and rolled up a mysterious Druid. So mysterious, he's never even mentioned his name - he just threw in with the party as they set off to track the bandit Gritznak and his band of goblins. The 10 of them (Czarh the Halfling Rogue played by Matt, Bozniak the Human Knight played by Jon, the mysterious Human Druid played by Dan, the six militia men, and Klint the Leper) set off to follow the Gnoll and his wagon load of ill-gotten gains. The elder of the town, Eryl of Hoskin, had secretly put a hole in one bag of grain, so there would be a trail for the party to follow.

The party tracked the Bandit north along the Dunderry river to a stone bridge where the wagon crossed. Spotting the grain trail, Gritznak collapsed the stone bridge and forced the party to backtrack half a day's journey. After fording the river and setting up camp, they spot a strange blue glow on the horizon. The next day, they follow it to the northeast, choosing to follow it instead of the tracks that Gritznak's warband had left coming into town.

Along the way, the party was beset by mischievous pixies, engulfed in magical darkness, and warned by a gigantic ghostly serpent, among other things. Despite each of these trials, the party continued on, and came upon a ruined tower of white stone, with a majestic Lammasu standing guard. The Lammasu proved to be friendly, and guarded them while they slept for the night. The gnoll bandit and his goblins were not here. Czarh was able to read a bit of inscription along the inside of the ruined tower. "When all the Towers of Hithel are located, the way to the Tree of Life will be made clear." According to the Lammasu, though, All other Towers of Hithel were destroyed.

In the morning, the party continued northwest through the hilly terrain, catching glimpses of a black tower in the distance. Horns rose like a crown from the top of the tower. When they crested the final hill towards the tower, however, they came upon only a pile of wreckage. Outside, they found the cart of the village, empty, and signs of the horse being butchered. The blood trail led into a hole in the wreckage, an entrance into a subterranean lair.

Slinking down a set of stairs, Czarh found a group of four goblins, who the party easily dispatched by luring them out with cattle calls. Instead of an easy meal, the goblins found an ambush! The last goblin was tortured for info and revealed the demon statue inside was a magical alarm. It could only be disabled by a blood. Each member of the party let a drop into the bowl, which boiled and smoked, but the party was able to pass with no ill effects.

The party then went, room by room, through the gnoll's lair. They passed through a store room and several winding passages, avoiding a sagging floor which looked like it might crumble if passed over. They found a stable room where six riding wolves were kept, and a gnoll stablemaster kept coming in to quiet the barking animals. Czarh hid beside one of the stables and when the stablemaster turned to see what the wolf was barking about, BAM! Backstabbed! The stablemasters four goblin servants burst in, but were quickly dispatched by a swarm of heroes and militia men.

This is where we stopped off for the night. This week we won't be meeting up because of Gamestorm! (though I've been too sick to go the first two days)

Briarus - NPC Creation exercise

So I just read an excellent article at http://www.campaignmastery.com/blog/eight-lifeboats/. One of the bits was about coming up with NPCs on the fly. So I decided to come up with a random guy starting with 3d6 in order stats. It's easier to come up with someone interesting if you've got a hole to fill - the random parts might not fit perfectly, and you have to discover why. But I didn't have anything in mind when I created...

Briarus, priest of St Bermain

Str 11
Dex 11
Con 7
Int 11
Wis 12
Cha 9

Briarus has trained all his life at the temple of St. Bermain, Andolan god of agriculture and defense of the home. Briarus dreams of one day becoming a Shepherd, one of the wandering warrior-apostles of St. Bermain, though he knows deep inside he doesn't have what it takes. He's been living in the farming community of Tallos for several years now as part of his training.

He uses his prayers to grant wellness and prosperity to the villagers, though he's never really become part of their lives. At the yearly Harvest Competition, Briarus witnesses young boys lift tree trunks and hurl stones that he couldn't budge. The first year he lived in Tallos, he actually joined the Grand Race. Little did he know that the race had no rules, and he was knocked unconscious in the first leg. Since then, he's waited on the sidelines to apply St. Bermain's blessing of healing on those wounded in the games.

Briarus has a meek and shy personality, with a slightly english accent out of place between the farmers' crude tongues. Though he's had little life experience during his years at the temple, he can often find a bit of wisdom from the teachings of St. Bermain to apply to the situation. He's never without his trusty staff, if only to lean on when the fierce autumn winds rush through the valley.

Briarus' life has recently taken a turn when a beautiful healer named Deidre moved in from a nearby town. She uses herbs and powders to heal the villagers where Briarus must call upon his god. Filled with respect for her craft, Briarus is also driven towards her beauty and generosity. Unknown to him, Deidre sees through Briarus' awkward exterior to a soft-hearted and caring man underneath, and is waiting for him to overcome his nervousness and make the first move.

(If I were to use him as an NPC, I'd totally have Deidre kidnapped so he could go along with the PCs and try to help rescue her. But the more I write about him, the more I want to play him as a PC!)

High-Low

Got distracted this morning looking at dice games and I found one that would be really simple to include in an RPG. High-Low is a very simple game, but I hacked up a version that could be played by a table of players (in game or IRL). Everyone places a bet in center of the table and then holds their open hand on the tabletop; palm up for High, palm down for Low. Then the shooter rolls the dice.

If the results are between 2 and 6, all players with palms down (Low) split the pot.
If the results are between 8 and 12, all players with palms up (High) split the pot.
If the result is 7, the shooter takes the pot.
If the result is doubles, winners are determined by whether the roll was high or low as above. Then, the shooter must pay out seven coins to each winner.

The shooter rotates every three throws, to keep things fair.  A person may stay in the game but abstain from betting in a round by making a closed fist. Typically, bets are low, to encourage speedy play and simplify splitting the pot.

I want to introduce this game by having an NPC teach it to the PCs. Commoners would use copper coins, soldiers would use silver, and merchants might use gold coins. I imagine more complicated games might be in use by the nobility.

Toridoki

Toridoki
No. Encountered 2-12, 10-60
Size: Small
HD: 1 (d6)
Move: 20 ft.
AC: 15
Attacks: Weapon (as weapon), Antler Charge 2d4
Special: Telepathy (Antlered animals only),
Saves: Dex, Int, Cha
Int: Average
Alignment: Neutral Good
Type: Humanoid
Treasure: 1
XP: 10 + 1/hp

Toridoki are short, one-eyed forest dwellers. Their hands and feet are oversized, and they are covered on their heads and backs with a rough coat of chicken feathers.A pair of branching antlers grow out from above their eyebrows. Like a stag's, these antlers grow larger and branch more as a Toridoki ages. unlike deer, however, both male and female Toridoki grow antlers. Different families of Toridoki have antlers that resembled different animals: elk, moose, deer, etc.

Toridoki make their homes in forests, and are fiercely defensive of their territory. They are slow to trust but very loyal. They live in villages of 10-60 Toridoki in treetop huts, carefully constructed to blend into the forest canopy. They farm mushrooms and fruits, as well as construct traps and hunt for small game. Toridoki encountered away from the village will be hunting parties, consisting of 2-12 Toridoki led by a veteran who fights as a 3rd level ranger.

Toridoki fashion weapons from wood and stone, blessing them with nature magic to work as well as steel. They favor spears and maces for battle, and short bows for hunting. They carve armor from wooden plates (scale mail equivalent). They are excellent at setting snares and other woodland traps. For every village there is a spirit shaman who casts as a 3rd level druid and often has a jackalope familiar.

Toridoki have a connection to animals in the forest, and honor any who must serve as food. They boast a special connection to deer, elk, moose, and other antlered animals that verges on telepathy.When in trouble, a Toridoki may call one of these animals to rescue it. In battle, the animal will fight as a Herd Animal (M&T 48). In cases of all-out war, Toridoki ride antlered animals as mounts. Toridoki treat antlered animals as equals, always asking permission to ride them, and mourn them when other hunt them for food.

C&C House Rules

So here's what I'm going with for house rules. I may add or subtract from this list, and none are 100% set in stone. If there's a better way to play, I'm open to it.

Here's my list of Castles and Crusades house rules


UPDATED 5/29/12 - After GMing with these rules and playing under different ones, I'm revising my chosen house rules. 3d6 is changing to 4d6 drop lowest. Also, I'm returning to the default initiative rules. Also added clarifications regarding the upkeep costs.


Tweaked SIEGE Mechanic – I use 15 as the challenge base to determine total challenge class, and give +5 bonus to SIEGE checks for Prime scores. This results in slightly easier SIEGE checks, as well as easier math for me, as I don't have to bother calculating the CC based on Prime/Secondary stats. I'll have to update the character sheet from a checkbox to a number bonus in the Prime column.

Ability Score Generation – To determine ability scores, roll 4d6 and drop the lowest die and then arrange to taste.

Simple Encumbrance – Encumbrance rules are loosely followed. I'm not going to bother with it most of the time, but if it gets out of hand, I reserve the right to check and make you drop some stuff if you're carrying too much.

Simple Upkeep – I charge a flat amount per day for food, lodging, and other around-the-town necessities. This is dependent on the economic level of the area and the desired lifestyle, as shown on the chart below. Some options may not be available in some areas. This is based on a roaming lifestyle - renting rooms, buying tavern food, etc. For sedentary life, as a normal farmer or citizen would have, reduce these prices to one-fifth.

Living quality	Price per day
Extravagant	8 gp
Good	3 gp
Common	1 gp
Poor	5 sp

FLAILSNAILS Compatible – Characters from other versions of D&D or D&D variants are accepted into my games as long as they adhere to the FLAILSNAILS conventions. Higher-level characters will be handicapped as per the default handicapping chart. Powers and skills from other versions of D&D will be replaced by SIEGE checks though those identical to class abilities in C&C will function normally.

Sunday C&C game went great!

So the Sunday Castles and Crusades game at Guardian Games was awesome! Matt from work joined me and Jon from meetup.com as we got introduced to C&C and created characters. Jon rolled up a Human Knight (thought he dice weren't kind, which turned out to be a kind of foreshadowing), while Matt rolled a Halfling Rogue. After briefly purchasing equipment, they headed out on the West Way towards Malforten to rid the countryside of the gnoll bandit Greetznak. The two adventurers, along with a local leprous woodsman and his dog, ran into some trouble from a pair of bugbear in the forest. After dispatching the hulking beasts, they returned to town and gather some of the town's militia men to help in their quest.

I was gonna try to run C&C by the book at first, but I couldn't help myself and started house ruling right out the gate. I'll post a list of my house rules next.

Ravnica cards needed

So, there are quite a few cards from the Ravnica set I do not have. I thought I did, i remember playing them and having 10-12 of each. And then I remembered that was when I was drafting on MTGO all the time - I don't have any of these in physical form. Anyway, This is a call for help from people in the area - if you have any of these cards and would be willing to part with them, please contact me!

 

Dryad's Caress
Farseek
Lurking Informant
Dimir Infiltrator
Barbarian Riftcutter
Greater Mossdog
Gather Courage
Disembowel
Shambling Shell
Consult the Necrosages
Coalhauler Swine
Goblin Fire Fiend
Stone-Seeder Hierophant
Sundering Vitae
Brainspoil
Bramble Elemental
Elves of Deep Shadow
Gaze of the Gorgon
Galvanic Arc
Ordruun Commando
Rain of Embers
Sabertooth Alley Cat
Seismic Spike
Sell-Sword Brute
Sparkmage Apprentice
Surge of Zeal
Viashino Fangtail
Selesnya Evangel
Dimir House Guard
Seeds of Strength
Infectious Host
Clinging Darkness
Roofstalker Wight
Necromantic Thirst
Goblin Spelunkers
Sewerdreg
Mortipede
Perplex
Thoughtpicker Witch
Compulsive Research
Drift of Phantasms
Drake Familiar
Convolute
Courier Hawk
Gate Hound
Grayscaled Gharial
Quickchange
Muddle the Mixture
Strands of Undeath
Civic Wayfinder
Centaur Safeguard
Shred Memory
Flight of Fancy
Dizzy Spell
Stinkweed Imp
Peel from Reality
Terraformer
Caregiver
Vedalken Dismisser
Golgari Signet
Conclave's Blessing
Siege Wurm
Transluminant
Zephyr Spirit
Boros Fury-Shield
Faith's Fetters
Votary of the Conclave
Leave No Trace
Dromad Purebred
Wojek Siren
Selesnya Signet
Tidewater Minion
Boros Signet
Veteran Armorer

I know, it's a lot. If I have to buy them for a quarter each at rainy day, I might as well just buy one of the complete common sets online somewhere.

The Fortress of Mad King Bitterstone

Long ago, Seamus Bitterstone was a proud and just dwarven king. He was well-loved by his clan, and artisans from across the land came to have their wares displayed in his Hall of Excellence. The Bitterstone fortress was located under a great hill, and boasted a network of mines which tunneled deep into the earth. It was in these mines that King Bitterstone's madness began.

After receiving a beautiful onyx and ruby statue into the Hall of Excellence, King Bitterstone's temperament began to change. At first he began wandering the halls, then demanding to lead the mining expeditions. His clan was joyous at first – the greatest dwarven kings always led from the front, whether in battle or mining. But soon the King started claiming the most precious metals and gemstones for himself, instead for for the clan as was traditional. Where were some murmurs of dissent, but no dwarf is short of a lust for wealth.

Then, the King laid claim to all the crafted works in the Hall of Excellence. This had long been a place for the crafters to display their works for a time, before selling them or putting them to work. It was a great honor to be accepted into the Hall, and guaranteed a craftsman's recognition by his peers. The King betrayed this reputation and denied all requests to return his newly acquired treasures. Several mages had created massive Golems to be displayed, and Bitterstone activated these machines and set them upon any who attempted to enter the Hall.

Over the years, he grew paranoid and convinced that everyone was jealous of his wealth. He closed the fortress to all those outside his clan, though by this point few wanted to visit. Eventually, he killed or exiled all the members of his clan as well. With his final breath, it is said, Mad King Bitterstone collapsed the entrance to his great Fortress, forever ensuring the sanctity of his treasures.

In time, the Mad King faded from the memories of the people, and the location of his great fortress was lost. Many explorers and treasure hunters search the wind-swept hills and rocky crags to the north, where the fortress is believed to exist. If one found even a fragment of the hoard gathered by King Bitterstone, it would make them rich beyond imagination.

(I'm going to be designing The Fortress of Mad King Bitterstone as a low level dungeon for Castles and Crusades, using the Engineering Dungeons book I just got. Stay tuned for the layout and description!)