THE APE CAT - A NEW MOSNTER IDEA FROM A LOCAL LEGEND

 

The Pacific Northwest is known for some pretty famous cryptis, most notably the Sasquatch or Bigfoot. There are others such as the giant octopi of the Tacoma Narrows, Tree Octopi, even several lake monsters but there is one that I only recently learned about that seems like the right sort of critter to include as one of D&D's weirdo monsters - The Ape Cat

Known as the Klickitat Ape Cat, the creatures is said to be a large, panther-like cat with a six-foot long tail and the face of an ape, with hair that sticks out. It's said to haunt the area around The Columbia River Gorge where it stalks the waters and bluffs. It is said to mess with electrical devices and compasses. 

In old school D&D terms this gives us an interesting monster that seems like it might carry some sort of electric charge. The disruption of electronics is unlikley to be a thing in a fantasy setting, so we can make this into it carrying and active electrical ability and being resistent to or immune to things like lightning and such. We can even extapolate on the purpose of the long tail. Like the illustration below, it may simply be a swimming tool but we can also make it into an attack, with the Ape Cat using it's tail to lash at or even snare enemies and zapping them with its electricity. 

APE CAT (B/X)

No. Encountered: 1 (or maated pair)
Alignment: Neutral
Move: 150' (50'), 100' (30') swimming
Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 4+4
No. of Attacks: 2 claws or tail*
Damage/Attack: 1d4/1d4 or *save vs dragon breath or 2d10 damage from shocking tail.
Save: F2
Morale: 10
Treasure Type: U

The ape cat is a magical creature of unknown origin, Some say, like the owlbear, that the creature is the magical melding of two creatures though others believe it to be a relative of the displacer beast, though there is little to substnatiate either. Ape cats prefer rocky areas near bodies of water such as river gorges or alpine lakes. They are not found on oceans coastlines though and seem to prefer inland haunts where they can retreat to the brush and trees when not stalking prey or fishing in the waters. 

These creatures have the ability to generate an electric charge and use their 6ft-long tails as a lash with which to attack and stun prey. In water, they can discharge their electicity around them, stunning small prey but not enough to damage anything larger than fish or small animals. When threatened, the air around the hums and their fur stands on end, showing they are charged and ready to strike. 

Ape cats are solitary except during mating seasons, when they pair up, often with the same makte year to year. Ape cats prefer to make their dens in the sides of the cliffs and bluffs they hunt from, digging shallow holeso r using natural cave where they will raise broods of 2-5 kittens. While ape cats are of only animal intelligence, they can mimic humanoid-sounding noises, often giving the illusion of speach without actually saying anything. 

ATARI'S ADVENTURE - A SEED FOR NOSTALGIC ADVENTURE

This early open world adventure game is just begging to be made into an OSR style adventure module. While the story for the game was that an evil wizard stole a magic chalice. You have to brave up to three dragons to find the chalice and return it to its rightful place. Along the way there are some lesser monsters, in the form of a bat that steals things.

This is a pretty bare bones framework but I feel you could expand this into a fun little one-shot or short adventure built on the nostalgia of for the times. The biggest thing to figure out is how to handle the three dragons under the wizard's power. Are these full-on powerful dragons because if so how powerful is this damned wizard?Populating the rest of the setting's mis of forests, hedge mazes, caverns and other castles is just a matter of peppering in the usual suspects.

Making it interesting is the hard part

YOU START IN AN INN

 

There is a stereoptypical beginning to D&D and other fantasy adventures and campaigns. It's tried and true and for soe reason has become a bit of a joke. While yes, it is overused, it is still an absolutely solid place to start things. 

Inns and taverns are THE meeting place in a medieval style setting. While there are plenty of other places to start things off, an inn/tavern is the most universally accessible location besides an open, public space. Other locations may often lack any reason for some characters to be there but everyone eats, drinks, and needs shelter. Inns are also incredibly generic and as such can easily be used to set any number of tones for your adventure or campaign setup. 

The Action Start
In this start, the inn becomes a sight of an action scene that instigates the adventure. After a brief setup, the PCs either knowing one another or having introduced themselves, suddenly find themselves in the middle of some sort of action that starts the adventure. Perhaps the man they are all looking for gets wide to them and springs from the crowd to try to get them before they get him. Maybe that same person tries to sneak out and the character spot him. It could be that the action only indirectly addresses the adventure. Perhaps the city guard, minions of an evil NPC, are in the inn, taking prisoners or searching for the PCs themselves, their master having been tipped off to the characters being there to thwart him?

The Mystery Start
The players have come together and find themselves in the midst of soemthing mysterious that sets off the adventure. This is not just a simple quest giver introducing a mystery plot but something mysterious occurring whole the characters are in the inn. Perhaps a specretal presence makes itself knowm, signifying the beginning of something, even the adventure. They might witness a suspicious interaction between inn patrons. Perhaps the lights or flames in the inn act strangely as a hauntng sound filters in through the windows and doors.

The Unintended Quest
As the party gets to know one another, or as they enjoy their latest rest after a long adventure, something occurs within the inn to make them aware of  a possible quest. This can tie in with any of the previously mentioned sorts of starts. In these sorts of starts something such as a rumor, a tvern tale, a song sun by a bard, or even a curiosity among the decorations fo the inn draw the players into an adventure. Perhaps they ask the inkeeper about a strange monster head hanging above the fire. The bard's song might sing of a place that sounds worth finding. An old drunk mutters something about gold in the dark hills. This sort os start does very much require buy-in by the players.

BUILD YOUR WORLD THROUGH YOUR MONSTERS

 

Over the decades, D&D and other fantasy games have seen the creation of countless monsters for use in games. While there are many monster that are made with specific worlds or settings in mind, most of these are designed with very broad strokes and generally fill the need for an everflowing wellspring of opponents for DMs to throw at their players. Such a generalized approach to monster design certainly succeeds in keeping players on their toes and indulging GMs in their desire to constantly surprise and vex their players, however, this also leads to many game worlds lacking definition and identity. 

I have often heard that players grow tired of fighting the same monsters over and over again but I often wonder if this is a projection of GMs put upon their players based on perceived or even wholly imagined concerns. Many classic fantasy worlds are carefully curated with monsters and other foes becoming integral parts of those settings and providing a ready shorthand for the themes and character of those worlds. Tolkien's world is distinct from C.S. Lewis' and much of this has to do with the monsters that populate them. While Tolkien's world has some familiar denizens such as dragons and giants, many of them are very much unique or at least different rom others. Lewis, instead, chooses to populate his world almost exclusively and quite purposefully with classic creatures of myth and legend (including Santa Claus) and this makes both these classic fantasy realms feel distinct from one another even though they are both recognizeable as defined fantasy worlds. 

It would be easy to argue that these worlds are the products of authors crafting stories and that they are thus very different from gaming worlds. Game worlds are, afterall, made for gaming in and it makes sense that there be a desire, perhaps even a need for a steady supply of new monsters to populate adventures. True as this may be, it is also possible to regulate the flow of new monsters while maintaining a consistent caste of creature that sets the tone and feel of your world. Maintaining a steady but restrained pace when introducing new monsters will go far in establishing the character of your game world and will aid in your storytelling. 

Once you have established the "normal" monsters for your world, you can focus your GMing work on how to use them and build stories including and focused around them. What's more, your players will be able to use this consistency to help engage with the world. When you send your players to a swampy region and it is established, through lore and previous encounters, that swamps are places where lizardmen can be found, the wheels will begin to turn when your players are required to go there. This doesn't mean that you should add in other swamp dwellers or that every visit to the swamps means lizardmen, but it does mean there should be an expectation that such an encounter is very likely.

Setting expectations and maintaining them as a matter of course does not mean creating a boring fantasy world. It means creating a world that lives and breathes and plays by rules and a degree of verisimilitude which you can then use to truly hightlight those things that stand out. If swamps are places where lizardment are found (to use the previous example) and the players start to find swamps devoid of lizardmen, having established the lizardmen's ubiquity should make their absence obvious to your players without you having to specifically highlight that absence. Furthermore, the lizardmen allow you a foundation to build on to the lore of your swamps and they become a vehicle for you to introduce new, but thematic enemies. When the lizardmen go to war with their neighbors, what monsters do they bring with them? Do they ride giant lizards and besiege settlements atop massive war turtles? Are they led to this conflict by a swamp hag who has it in for a local baron who has vexed her? 

The use and resuse of monsters is important to creating a world and while the constant flow of new monsters may be tempting, their inclusions should be done purposefully and with restraint so as not to erode the work you have done in crafting a world that players feel their characters truly live in.

INTO THE CELLAR AND OTHER TIRED OLD 1ST-LEVEL ADVENTURES

Considering other ways to give low-level adventurers interesting adventures 

The stereotypical, almost memish next step after "you meet in an inn," seems to be the ubiquitous kills some giant rats in a cellar adventure. While there are many other first, "training" adventures out there, this is the (in)famous one. What I would like to do here is to present some alternatives to this. These can be added to DMs' collections of ready to go campaign starters or peppered in as filler on a slow night.

The important thing to remember when trying to come up with these first steps adventures is scale and completability. These sorts of adventures are designed to be simple, to the point and able to be completed by beginning adventures but that is not to say they cannot be interesting and challenging. One of the best ways to achieve these goals is to think of what non-combat aspects can be added to the adventure. Consider role-playing encounters, puzzles, tricks and traps that can be figured out by the players as well as their characters. These will ad texture and complexity to the adventure that does not necessarily put the characters in harms way.

If you are going to include traps or hazards, make sure they are not too lethal or perhaps not harmful but only add obstacles to the scenario. A hzard with a rickety ceiling, precariously balanced on some worm-eaten supports needn't fall and hurt characters but could demonstrate the potential for harm while blocking one route to an objective, necessitating the need to come up with a Plan B. Obstacles which can be circumvented through creative means are also a great way to add interesting elements. How do the characters get through that iron grate that keeps them from the room they ned to get to? Is there a way around or oever that bubbling pool of filthy muck?

So what might a few such adventure ideas look like?

THE MERCHANT'S GOLD

The party is approached by a merchant who has need of their aid. He explains that, fearful that he was being followed by robbers, her snuck out to a nearby wood, where he his a chest of coins. Worried that the robbers may still be watching him, he is looking to hire some relative uknowns to fetsh the chest for him, hoping that if he leaves the village on his own, the robbers will follow him and ignore the adventurers as they fetch his chest.

The party (and DM) will need to decide if the merchant is being honest and if they trust him enough to do the job. Of course the merchant may have a contingency. In this adventure, the party mayface a few bandits or perhaps the bandits are fooled and the DM decides that the encounter in this adventure might be another monster who has found the treasure chest. If the DM wanted to make a bit more of a mystery and substantial adventure of it, they could decide to have the treasure be gone when the party arrives, having been taken by some other party. Perhaps a local band of goblins has taken it? Maybe, a local farmer found the gold and, thinking it a stroke of good fortune has taken it home. Now the adventure expands to locating the gold and recovering it from whoever has it.

HERBAL REMEDIES

The party is called upon to venture into the wilderness to recover a supply of a medicinal herb. This can be done in the face of an actual illness or perhaps just to resupply a tapped out herbalist. In either case ,the adventure sets the party into the nearby wilderness in search of the needed medicine. They may be given its location or perhaps are left to locate it as well as recover it. This adventure could be set at different times of the years ot adjust the theming and inherent danger, though as it is an herbal harvest, it would have to be an herb that i available at that season. 

Along the way, the party may encounter various wilderness dangers such as environmental hazards/obstacles or animal encounters. The location of the herb should also be a challenge itself, whether through some of "guardian" or simply being dangerous to get to.

OLD BONES 

Approached by a strange person dressed in robes and a cowl, the party is recruited to go to a local burial site (tomb, graveyard, barrow, etc.) to fetsh a particular set of bones. The DM can decide whether or not the quest-giver is upfront with their motives or not but the goal is just the same. The party may be given specific instructions or they may be more vague depending on how much complexity the DM wishes to insert into the adventure. the chosen location will also determine a portion of the complexity with a graveyard being inherently less complex than a barrow or a tomb. If a very simple location is needed, it could be an isolated burial site, perhaps under an old tree or some such. 

This adventure is best used to introduce players to undead as the site of the bones is perfectly suited for it. Keeping with the goal of making this a low-level experience, the undead should be things like skeletons, a single zombie, maybe even a single ghoul or, if the DM is seeking a more challenging encounter, then select one of the many low-power, less lethal incorporeal undead types. There is still room along the way to place encounters with other creatures but, much like the rats in the cellar, you do not want to have too many additional monster encounters as this will clutter what is meant to be a sort of test-drive adventure. 

For DMs looking to add more complexity to this, consider a barrow or tomb or placing the burial site beyond some hazards/obstacles. These could bae as simple as a stream that must be cross, a swamp that must be navigated or perhaps even being partially up or down a cliff or something as basic as under a rock.

WANT YOUR 5E CAMPAIGNS TO MOVE SLOWER?

One of the main complaints about modern D&D is that character zip through levels too fast. This often creates a game where the players never really have a chance to get to know their characters and their abilities or, in some extreme cases, even get to use a new ability before another is piled on, thus resetting the process. There are all manner of fixes and tricks and tips that have been suggested and created to address this but it seems to me that one of the easiest ways to do so is to take a note from another RPG, Call of Cthulhu. 

To begin with, I am not suggesting the adoption of sanity rules or even Lovecraftian horror to fix your games. Neither of these is really a fit for all campaigns and so does not really work well as a generic solution that can be applied to any campaign. Instead, what I am suggesting is that the game shift from slaughtering hordes of lesser monsters while delving endless dungeons to something more akin to the investigative style of the Call of Cthulhu RPG and increasing the threat of individual enemies so that they each become meaningful and pit your players against opponents that require more nuance and forethought to confront. For a more direct fantasy example, think The Witcher.

Because 5E, as written, only provides for X.P. for the slaying of monsters, simply reducing the number of monsters the party encounters will naturally slow their characters progression through the levels. This, however, is an overly simplistic way to approach this and must be considered only a piece of the puzzle and not the complete answer. Once we reduced the number of monstrous encounters we then need to consider the power level and complexity of the monsters the party will encounter. Of course, more potent monsters will come with greater experience rewards, but since they will also pose a greater threat to the party at any given level, the players will hopefully be encouraged to spend time role-playing and seeking out help or lore that will aid them in defeating these more potent threats. 

The goal here should never be to punish the players by denying them chances to fight for their X.P. but to make each fight become central to a plot and amount to something more than an a never-ending spree of slain humanoids, wild animals and bandits. That's not to say that these sorts of encounters can't fit into this new model, but you can now do away with the need to pad out an adventure with encounters to keep the action going and use role-playing, NPCs and mysteries to pull the players toward these, in my opinion, more rewarding encounters.

The mechanics of this shift in play style is pretty straight forward. Target your encounters to be at least dangerous or greater difficulty level in nearly every instance with the exception being those lesser encounters that push the plot along such as scuffles with NPCs, minions or the freak environmental encounter (wolves, dangerous plants, lesser undead) that build the theme and tone of the adventure. Choose your featured creatures from those that are complex and powerful, looking for those who have multiple resistances and vulnerabilities that the PCs can learn to counter and exploit. Monsters with lair, legendary and even epic actions are most suitable to this style of play. If needed, I fully encourage beefing up existing monsters to suit your needs through simple tweaks such as increased AC, additional resistances and new abilities that fit their theme. I highly suggest that you avoid adding more HP to these modified monsters as this will not add much in the way of interest to the creatures but will certainly turn fights against them into slogs. What we should always be looking for is creatures that can be defeated if only the party knew how. 

Once you have established the central encounter of the plot, you must then spin a web of motivations, secrets, lore, clues, and useful items the party can find to use against these potent foes. This is the meat of this style of play and I cannot overstate the importance of making the majority of such adventures as much, if not more, about the preparation to confront the foe as it is about the confrontation itself. Items that will aid the party in their fight can be normal magical items that one might find in other D&D games or they can be things that resemble lesser artifacts, full of risk and danger themselves. It is also easy to make these key items into single-use items.

So, you have your plot, it's main encounter and a web of investigative clues, tricks and tricks. Why would your players ever want to play this style of play? 

First of all, any use of this method is going to require buy-in by your players but it is important that your frame it to them in a way that assures them you aren't trying to rob them of X.P. or the chance to see their characters improve and truthfully, this is absolutely not the intention of this method. The real goal here is to provide the players with a chance to act less like cartoon action heroes and more like their favorite investigative, problem-solving characters in fiction, movies and TV. Police procedurals, detective stories, true crime podcasts, even YouTube lore videos are what this style of play feeds into. As mentioned earlier, The Witcher is a great source to reference what you are going for. 

You can assure your players that their characters will grow and develop but they will spend more time getting to know their characters. It is also worth noting that their accumulations of lore, secrets, tricks and items that let them combat these more powerful foes will add texture to their characters while they spend a greater span of time at any given level, much like in older editions. The end goal should always be adventure but adventure with more nourishment of the imagination and the player's abilities. Fights will be tough but rewarding and the pre-work of the players and their characters should pay off every time.

ON THE BENEFITS OF REUSING MONSTERS

With the vast variety of monsters available to DMs, it is tempting to try to use new monsters all the time. The temptation of the next challenge or the fear of encounters becoming boring is a difficult impulse to resist, but there is merit in resisting the call toward ever-new and differing monstrous encounters. It has been said that limitless options is almost as bad as no options and this is demonstrated easily in the use of monsters in your campaigns. If every encounter is something new and unique then no encounter really means much of anything. Reusing monsters helps establish a consistency and believability to your game world. This helps establish a sense of place and thematic consistency. 

As your players learn the world, they will learn its denizens and there is a profound sense of achievement for players as they begin to learn the workings of the campaign setting. Not only does this help the players feel they are getting to know the world, this familiarity will start to take monstrous encounters in new directions. The squeaking and fluttering from a dark cave begins to take on a new meaning with your players after their third encounter with bat swarms or stirges and their recognition of this queue will send them thinking and planning how they can avoid another round of blood loss and/or disease. When they encounters orcs again and again, the will start to find out that sometimes orcs can be bribed and that some orcs maybe aren't so keen on other monsters in the party's path.

There is a strange tradition in D&D of withholding monster identities from players and their characters. This often takes the form of a somewhat tedious, cat and mouse game of selective description that seems to serve no other purpose than to gaslight the players. While I recognize that this is generally intended to instill la sense of in-world wonder and mystery I also have to wonder if it is really all that necessary or even realistic. 

D&D is ostensibly based on the model of a medieval world in which the monsters of myth, legend, and fiction actually exist. The people of those worlds live and interact with, war against, and generally fear those monsters. So, if this is the case, why would any adventurer need to stumble through some one-sides 20 questions description of every monster they encounter? 

This is not to say that there aren't monsters worthy of or where a descriptive encounter is not needed and/or proper, but there are a good number of monsters that people would know from their day to day lives. Other creatures would be known through stories, song, family histories, teachings, and other methods of conveyed knowledge. It is for this reason that I feel the creators of the game really did a great disservice to players and the Monster Manual by removing the "Frequency" (and the number appearing for that matter) entries from the monster listings.

Even when using the frequency mechanic, DM's can still free to choose "show" rather than "tell" when the party encounters a new monster. This is especially true when they are travelling a good ways away from their home territory or when they are encountering creatures that are truly mysterious and unusual. Even when encountering common creatures, the DM can still play it close to the cuff. Would a party of beginning adventurers be able to tell the difference between an ogre and a hill giant? Perhaps locally, as in Tolkien's world, terms like orc and goblin are interchangeable? Just like in real-world folklore and legends, creatures often blur together or are even treated as individuals. When the party encounters fey creatures will they be able to distinguish between a sprite, a pixie, a brownie and a leprechaun? 

In the end, there is room for both descriptive monster identification and explicitly stated identification. Character lore skills, background, and even races can also be used as a guide for determining who knows what or filling in the blanks of any description provided by the DM.

Life is a Dungeon

Things I Learned About Life by Playing Dungeons and Dragons

Encounters. Life is full of them. Some are lame, some are cool, some are mind blowing but all of them help us earn X.P. and grow as a character (person). Treasure the great encounters of your life, but value each and every one.

Monsters. There will always be monsters. Real life monsters seldom want to eat your soul, but some of them can be just as harmful. Be brave in the face of them and know when to stand up and fight and when retreat is warranted. Monsters do not always require combat to defeat and sometimes the best way is not the simple way.

Secrets Door and Shortcuts. While these exist, they are the exception, not the rule. Nothing ruins a great game more than stopping every ten feet to check for hidden things. These things are great when they come around but it's important to experience the journey to its fullest whenever you can and use secret doors sparingly.

Traps. Like secret doors and shortcuts, traps happen but they are also the exception not the rule. Looking for traps everywhere can really lead to a serious mistrust of everything and missed opportunities. Most door aren't concealing needle traps in their locks and that rough floor is sometimes just a rough floor and not a deadly creation bent on ending your existence.

Parties. Life is always better with trusted friends and companions. Whether friends or family, make sure to keep them close and do not be afraid to reach out to them for help. Nobody gets throug hthe dungeon by themselves. Solo play sucks.

Treasure. Treasure is awesome. Getting stuff is always nice but it's just stuff. Sometimes the shiniest pieces isn't the most important piece. The Hand of Vecna is just a moldy Mummy's Hand but it;s super cool. 

Experience. Everything in life can teach you something. The small lessons often lead to big things as much as a single life changing event. Take them all in. Make sure you learn. And always remember that boiling an ant hill is cheating.

A Curious Little Tome

I picked this book up at the local Half Priced Books. Four the $5 it cost me, I didn't see a problem with picking up an obscure bit of 3E fun and I cannot say that I regret it.

The book itself is presented in a curious format. It has a lay-flat, ringed spine and hard covers, making it perfect for the tabletop. No trouble getting it to stay on the right page which is critical as this book is set up for a series of presentations that are splashed across two facing pages.

The book is is a series of encounters, or small adventure areas, usually just a few room per map. You get a nicely rendered grey scale map, and a series of descriptions detailing the various rooms presented on the map. There are occasional note suggesting tie-ins with other sections in the book in some of them, allowing you to expand beyond that map if you choose.

What I find most useful about the book is that each of the sections is self-contained enough to allow for a quickie side jaunt but also tie into a larger section if you need something more substantial. Even though it's statted for 3E, it would be no great thing to sub in the stats from whatever version of D&D or similar system you are using.

I see this getting much use in my family game.

-Eli

Snake Cults, River Barges and Giant Voles

The family D&D game has now gone into it's fourth session and coming up on the fifth and so far it's been great fun. We are playing just a couple of hours each Sunday nights, with the occasional bonus session as the mood strikes us. The girls are doing great in the game and I've already handed out some role-playing X.P. to reward their good character play and creative thinking.

The first adventure centers around the trio of characters trying to locate a merchant's daughter kidnapped by a local snake cult (a classic staple of fantasy). So far the players have located the lair of the local cult - a low level temple in a cave. They got a feel for the place but felt ill-prepared and out-numbered so they decided to seek the merchant and ask him for assistance. 

In our campaign setting, one of the primary modes of transit is via river barges and ferries. The party opted to utilize this method of travel and had an interesting encounter with some of the local NPCs. I used this transit time to establish some of the character of the setting by introducing the players to colorful NPCs and describing the local scenery.

While they were in transit down the river, they were set upon by a trio of snake cult assassins that had secreted themselves among the commoner passengers on the barge. The party managed to fight them off, though Halfa (dwarf fighter) found herself close to death thanks to an assassin's blade in her back. The encounter ended with the helps of some of the more capable NPCs, a grizzled fighter named and roving magistrate. After this encounter, the party related their tale to the magistrate and he offered to see them to their destination.

Once the party arrived in the coastal trade city of Fordenharn, they parted ways with the magistrate (known as a Warden) and were met by the merchant, Bald, and his men. They were taken to his manse in the city and the players marveled at a detailed description of the sprawling city that crawling up from the bay to a rocker peak overlooking the sea.

When we had to end our last session, the players had discussed a plan of action that set us up for tonight's session. their intent is to seek help in making the final raid on the snake cult's lair. They have already wasted so many days and there is a frantic concern that they may be too late and that the girl might be either sacrificed or even brainwashed into another follower of the snake god. They want to locate and enlist the aid of the Warden and are hoping to take some of Bald's men with them. We'll see how things go tonight.

More soon,

-Eli

P.S. The giant vole in the titles is a reference to a re-skinned bear that the party encountered. this "new" creature was called a Vole Bear and was essentially a black bear-sized water rat with burrowing claws and gnashing incisors. 

Valderia Ho! - Character Background Packages

While going through some files, I found that I had never posted the finished work that I had done for the various cultural backgrounds that I had intended to use in deference to character races in the mostly human Valderian campaign setting. Each of these represents a combination of abilities and skills that are most befitting the folk of the various regions of the Valderian Empire - 

Valderian Character Background Packages 

Take a look and tell me what you think.

-Eli

Back in The DM's Seat Again

It's been a while but I finally have a regular RPG session again. Surprisingly, this one is with my own family.

With my daughters now 13 and 9 and still interested in gaming, and with a gamer wife it's too good an opportunity to pass up.

I have been trying to get such a game going for a while now, but with the end of summer, the beginning of school and life in general it's been hard to pin everyone down. In fact, it was so hectic a start, that I even hesitated to blog about it until I could see that it really was happening. In the end, I was finally able to get characters made and the game going.

My wife and youngest daughter both made dwarfs, Gerta and Halfa. My wife is playing a fighter and my 9yr old is playing a cleric. She wanted a spell-caster but I was afraid a magic-user would be a little too stand around for her to keep her interested. Clerics are bashy and have magic and so it was the obvious choice without the fiddly neutrality of Druids or the wait for it nature of Ranger or Paladin magic. Don't get me started on Bards.

My oldest wanted to play something different and asked if she could play a "kitty person". I took this as a challenge and created an exotic race of cat-folk that live on an island in the remnants of their once mighty civilization - the Shathra. I worked out a culture, back story and even dredged up some cool art online to illustrate them. I wrote them up from scratch, no re-skinning and ultimately....

They were kitty-people...

Such is the world of RPGs with teenage girls, I suppose. She made the character a fighter as well and so we set out with two fighters and a cleric, none of which are humans.

So far the sessions, of which there have been three, are going really well. We have integrated them as the climax of our regular "Screen-Free Sundays" as a reward for surviving all day without TVs, video games, or even computers. The girls have a knack for gaming which is mostly my oldest girl's doing as she has been running her own light weight D&D/Labyrinth Lord games for over a year now. For both of them, this is their first time playing in a "serious" campaign.

They are still in the middle of the first adventure but have already had a few surprising role-plays and some good ideas come out of it. I have even had to edit the original adventure concept to go along with a few good ideas, the girls had, that I felt deserved capitalizing on. This has lengthened the adventure beyond where I had originally written it but will also allow them to gather some more X.P. before adventure number two.

-Eli

"G" is for...

GITHYANKI

Perhaps it's because they were on the cover of the very first hardback D&D book I ever purchased or maybe it's because they are such awesomely complex monsters with so much going on. Whatever the reason, I have always loved the githyanki and can count them among, if not at the top of my list of AD&D monsters.

In my younger days, I lost my favorite barbarians character, Balor, defending a thieve's guild hall against a githyanki onslaught. He fought valiantly for nothing more than his honor and his word, but could not stand up to the combined might of githyanki warriors, their magic, and the red dragons they rode in on. When the dust cleared, Balor was dead, but I had an epic battle to sing about in that braggadocios way that only a young, elementary school aged gamer can. The thieve's guild fell but the thieves, my friends' characters, were able to escape with the silver sword that the githyanki came for. Later, Balor's son would wander into the world of the civilized and take up a quest for vengeance.

In my later gaming career, I toyed with the githyanki a lot. They were secret agents, dark assassins, minions and at one point the vanguard for the coming apocalypse of my gaming world. In this form, they were not the githyanki, but simply gith, still in the thrall of the ilithids. They were stormtroopers and hunters and I even came up with some strange, twisted ilithid technology for them to use, including a subtle nod to my love of mecha in the form of magical, symbiotic, insectoid armor (idea borrowed from Aura Battler Dunbine and Spelljammer).   The gith minions were not as individually potent as githyanki, but then again they were still minions. However, with the tools provided by their masters they were dangerous in new and different ways.

"F" is for...

FIRBOLG

Ever since I read their stats in the Monster Manual 2, I have loved these giant, good-aligned, Celtic-styled giants. In a game full of evil, malign, savage and otherwise out to get you monsters, especially among the giants, these beardy goliaths are a nice break from the norm.

Pic from CoolMiniOrNot.com

Although they can still pose a threat to adventuring parties, they often have more detailed motives for being so. Instead of hurling boulders at you simply for the sheer sport of it or because they want to grind their bones to make their bread. A Firbolg is more likely to attack a party because they are invading his lands, have taken some of his stock or wronged his reputation or kinfolk somehow.

As much as they can be foe, Firbolg also offer a good chance for something special in a fantasy game - a giant on your side. Being good-aligned, they can just as easily be allies to a party as they can be enemies. In my own games, I have had a Firbolg seek aid from the party, serve as a guide and in one game there was even a Firbolg PC (I was pandering to a player, I'll admit it).

"E" is for...

E. Gary Gygax

Image from http://www.stargazersworld.com/tag/gary-gygax/

How could I not put him in here someplace?

Just as Michelangelo was to David, so was he to his D&D. His creation was the spark that ignited the fire. As much as gaming is and has been an influence in my life, there is a debt owed to this man and his spirit. Sure he didn't create role-playing or games, but he brought them together in a way that changed things forever.

"D" is for...

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS

Likely to be on a lot of peoples' A to Z, but I'd be telling a lie if i put anything else here. Sure things like dinosaurs and dark future might just as easily go here, but in the general A to Z of my diverse hobby, this simple box is likely the most important "D" there is and it has two of them to boot.

For me D&D is the big black monolith to my hobby. I had an imagination and an enjoyment for fantasy and adventure before that, but finding that box and reading those rules was what led to me throwing the dice into the air in slow motion and beating my geeky chest as it opened up the broad horizon of a lifetime of fun and enjoyment. 

In a true Kubrickian moment, fantasy and adventure wasn't just something I did during play time with my friends, it was now a hobby, with focus, purpose, growth and expansion. It helped me express myself. It helped me learn (yes, it really did). Even my mother recognized how it changed me. I had always liked learning before D&D but after D&D I came home from the library with arms loaded with books on any number of subjects.

Valderia Ho! - Building a Humanocentric Fantasy Setting

While Moran exists in a pretty typical fantasy world with all the trappings, Valderia itself is a place that is very humanocentric. The empire was forged by humans who settled on the content from across the seas and who carved out first a niche and then a domain for themselves over thousands of years. To this end, both the Valderian and Lynderman humans of the continent of Moran see their hard-earned lands as theirs and give little consideration to other species who would take it.

Moran has even greater reason for it's very human habitation than most of the campaign world as its earlier elven inhabitants abandoned it unknown eons ago and the dwarves seem content to remain nestled in the under realms. Sure, orcs, bugbears, goblins and hobs all litter the landscape, but you will rarely find pointed ears or a beard among the human populations and there is not a fuzzy foot to be found anywhere. But where does this leave players?

Sure part of the appeal of playing in a fantasy setting is the unique opportunity to play something other than man, so when most of the options are removed, what is left. the answer in the Valderian campaign is greater detail of human culture and an accentuation of stereotype and national flare. This is to say that a human from he continent of Moran is more defined by where he is from than what he is. While Valderians are arrogant blue blooded and aloof, Caravossans are boisterous, rowdy and tough. the rustic folk of Tortionne are a stark contrast to the bravos of Capron.

In the Valderian campaign, human region will be given attribute modifiers, bonus languages, and skills as well as possible special abilities based on its national character, effectively making each a distinct "race" in the setting. These, along with the orcs (discussed another time), allow for a mostly human setting with enough non-human spice to punctuate that thematic point nicely.

Here is what I have so far. This is by no means final, but shows you the direction I'm headed.

Valderia

Reputation: Nobles

+1 INT, +2 CHA, -1 STR, -1 CON, -1 WIS

Automatic Languages: Valderian, Spesian

Bonus Languages: Lynderthal, Dwarvish, Orc, Hobgoblin, Cantolli, Laventine, Elvish, Trade Tongue

Bonus Skills: diplomacy, horsemanship

Tortionne

Reputation: Rubes

+1 STR, +1 CON, -1 INT, -1 DEX

Automatic Languages: Spesian

Bonus Languages: Valderian, Orc, Laventine

Capron

Reputation: Bravos

+1 STR, +2 DEX, -2 WIS, -1 INT

Automatic Languages:  Spesian

Bonus Languages: Valderian, Laventine

Bonus Skills: weapon finesse, con

Ilsetres

Reputation: Artistes

+1 DEX, +2 CHA, -1 STR, -1 CON, -1 WIS

Automatic Languages: Laventine

Bonus Languages: Valderian, Spesian, Cantolli, Trade Tongue

Bonus Skills: weapon finesse, etiquette

Carvossa

Reputation: Pirates

+2 DEX, +2 CON, -2 WIS, -2 CHA

Automatic Languages: Spesian

Bonus Languages: Laventine, Trade Tongue, Sea Cant

Bonus Skills: wailing, navigation

Vospesia

+1 CHA, +2 WIS, -2 STR, -1 DEX

Reputation: Traders

Automatic Languages: Spesian, Trade Tongue

Bonus Languages: Cantolli, Valderian, Laventine, Lynderthal

Bonus Skills: negotiate, appraise

Lotressa

Reputation: Fighters

+2 STR, +1 CON, +1 DEX -2 INT, -1 CHA, -1 WIS

Automatic Languages: Cantolli

Bonus Languages: Spesian, Lynderthal

Valderia Ho! - Getting to Know Moran Part 3

Following up on the home life of the Valderian Empire, I'd like to now shed some light on the predominant religion of the empire. Once again, these beliefs and customs do not extend into The Lyndermarkes nor due they comprise the entirety of all beliefs and practices throughout the eastern parts of Moran. There are certainly numerous cults and minor faiths found here and there, especially in The Baronies which were not always part of the Valderian Empire.

The Divinities

The human lands of continent of Moran is dominated by two prevailing religions, that of the baronies and that of the markes. The faiths are The Valderian faith, which is based around a seemingly endless collection of divinities and the religion of The Lyndermarkes. 

The religion of the realm has no name of its own and is simply known as the Valderian faith. It includes a dozen or so central deities and countless minor demigods referred to as divinities. Most holy men of this religion do not dedicate themselves to a particular god or goddess but instead preach the religion as a whole, observing holidays and rituals as befits the time of year or occasion.

Tolerance is not a strong point of the Valderian way and clerics of this faith are reluctant to give any consideration to the beliefs of others. This is not to say that Valderian clerics are enemies of other faiths or that they have any ill will toward other faiths just that they have no place in their cosmology for others. It has been said that the Valderian way reflects the complicated society in which the people live in. The Valderian faith is presided over by a maternal sea goddess, Mystrael, who rules the various facets of the Valderian world through the divinities, who represent the various key elements of the world. Divinities such as Ephimae, goddess of winds are prayed to for calm sailing weather while others like Demesna are asked for a rich harvest. Beneath such deities are countless minor deities of place, function and occasion. These saints are associated with nearly every element of day to day life and are called on for everything from good marks in school to finding the right boy to take to the country dance.

Most houses have private altars to their favorite or patron demigod saints as well as numerous icons for the more prominent deities of the faith. Children are blessed before these altars. Marriages and funerals are conducted in temples with full ceremony and it is not considered proper to conduct these events without the proper facilities and rituals performed by the proper holy men. Even in the rural areas there are temples devoted to the faith at which all important observances are carried out.

Those who cross the Valderian way are frowned on and often outcast from their families and polite society but that is usually the extent of any punishment meted out by the clerics of the faith. Severe transgressions against the faith are dealt with by the church itself and punishments, in these instances can range from expulsion from the realm, imprisonment, or even death. Though it is believed that they will do so, clerics of the Valderian way do not often wait for their gods to punish transgressors.

The relationship between the Valderian faith and the states of the realm is a tenuous one. Few princes and noble and not even The King will outright defy the church but few of them truly feel they are beholden to it either. Nobles and merchants often do their expected duties in the eyes of the church while carrying on a secular existence that is more detached from the teaching and beliefs of their faith. They are, however, careful to keep any inappropriate behaviors or actions either where they can be excused or where the church cannot prove anything with any surety.

The main interaction between the clerics and nobility of Valderia is in the sanctifying of their ranks and any important proclamations, dedications, or other pronouncements. Without the official recognition of the clerics of Valderia, no noble can be certain that the common folk will accept such rulings. In many cases such recognitions of state affairs are assured by generous donations to the local temples or by the promise of favors to clerics or their causes.

The center for Valderian religion is in the capital city of Daletres where the original shrine to Mystrael can still be found at the pinnacle of the modern altar in the Grand Temple of Mystrael. All cities in the baronies have a primary temple dedicated to Mystrael. These are either stand alone or part of a greater temple complex such as in Daletres where the temple complex is nearly its own township. Whether a part of a complex or also stand alone, there will then be numerous temples to other divinities with those most important to the city or barony being more grand than the others.

Off the coast of Lotressa there is a chain of islands known as the Entrails of Parassadore. These islands have been sacred ever since High Diviner Arnesto Ilcaba had a vision of The Great Divinity of The Sea, Parassadore. Since then the islands have been considered clerical lands and comprise a vast expanse of gardens, orchards and monasteries.  Here the Sea Diviners have amassed the wealth of Valderian knowledge and insights into huge libraries. It is also here that the empire’s most advanced and well-crafted ships are built. The islands are also home to a navigator’s college where those willing to pay for the education can learn all the greatest secrets of sea navigation. Parassadorian are much sought after far and wide, even in Lyndermarkes.

Valderia Ho! - Getting to Know Moran Part 2

Today I'd like to share some general information on the humans of the Valderian Empire. 

For the most part, the Kingdom of Valderia and the Seven Baronies all share a common culture, with the exception of the Barony of Karrmarke in the north which is culturally more like the Lyndermarkes. Each barony has it's own local character and customs, but the predominant culture reflect those norms exported from Valderia over the centuries of conquest and consolidation that have brought them all together. The Lynderrmarkes have their own distinct culture.

We will begin with home life and the character of the people of Valderia.

Home Life

Valderians are known for their love of life and their origin as merchants and traders has left them for a taste for the finer things. Cities and towns in Valderia are famous for their numerous open-air eateries, balconies and enclosed patios. Nearly every family home is built around a center garden patio where most meals and social gatherings are conducted. More well-to-do Valderians may have several of these, themed in different ways even having secreted patios accessible by hidden doors and passages. Such patios are known as “lover’s gardens” and are often used to carry on affairs that the rest of the family or community should not be privy to.

Household life in Valderia is known for its verve and the peoples’ zest for life does not stop at the portal to their homes. Patriarchal and fraternal in nature with fathers, brothers, uncles and sons taking up the pinnacle positions in the household. Despite this, it is wrong to assume that the women of Valderia are without power. No man alive in Valderia willingly invites the vengeance of an angry woman. In fact, Valderian women are known for their long-memories for transgressions against them and the ends to which they will go to meet out their revenge. But for the most part families of this land live harmoniously if not a bit raucous.

The average Valderian family consists of a mother and father and their 3-4 children. If alive, the parents of the father will live with him as will his unmarried sisters. It is not uncommon for a father’s bachelor brothers to live under his roof, but this is only until they can set out on their own, something that is greatly encouraged. Wealthier families tend to have fewer children, having learned long ago that too many heirs can make for a short life of any nobleman or merchant. Servants are employed by most upper class households with servants being paid a monthly wage or indentured for a predetermined period, often as recompense for some debt owed by themselves or their family. A typical household with servants will have two to three servants for every adult member of the household and an additional servant for every child in the house.

Outside the cities of this land, the rural people of Valderia live in a fashion similar to their urban brethren. Farmsteads are arranged around an open, cobbled courtyard, usually with a decorative but none-too-functional gate which is more often used as a trellis for grapes or berries. Servants are not employed by rural families as they often have extended families that are more than capable of fulfilling the needs of any individual household. Once again, fathers and their wives live under the same roof as their closest relations. Rural Valderians often have anywhere from 4-10 children per couple. One difference, in rural areas, is the tendency for married siblings and children to remain in or close to their family homes. It is not uncommon to add new buildings or rooms to existing enclaves when a brother or sister is married or has children. This ensures that the family stays close and maximizes the available labor of the family as a whole.

Villages in the outlying areas are collections of craftsmen and small mercantile families who provide services to their rural farming neighbors. These villages are also focal points for social gatherings among the rural folk as well as the locations for public markets. Public postings and any national business are also conducted in these villages and public posting boards display any communications from the state or local authorities. Villages do not maintain militias but all have some form of alarm system that can quickly communicate emergencies across a large area. Every farm and villa is expected to lend a hand to the common good when these alarms go off.

Valderia Ho! - Getting to Know Moran

In the last post regarding my possible Valderian campaig, I showed off the map (above) and provided a few general notes on the continent. I'd like to now start a small mini-series within the main series filling in the specifics of the Valderian Empire as well as a bit of info on the continent of Moran.

Overview

The Empire of Valderia is an imperialistic nation that occupies the vast majority of the continent Moran on which it is found. Born from the wealthy merchant state of the same name, The Kingdom of Valderia now controls either directly, or through treaty, all of the neighboring human states. These states comprise the Seven Baronies, the three Markes of the Lyndemarke, as well as the settlement frontier of Westholde. Though not an official state, there is also a region of military holdings, mercenary camps and warlords known as The Marchlands.

All the people of the baronies, with the exception of those from Karmarke, share a common ethnic heritage though there are four distinct sub-groups: Valdar, Spesian, Laventine and Cantolli. These four “tribal” groups are distinguished by linguistic character and minor cultural differences determined by their region. Nearly all folk of the baronies speak their own regional dialect as well as that of neighboring regions. The Laventine people of the Barony of Isletres are the most distinct of the peoples, having a refined culture of grace and gentility that exceeds the pomp and courtly corpulence of Valderia. All nobles of the baronies speak Valdar as a requirement of courtly manner.

Westholde and The Marchlands are a hodgepodge of languages, dialects and jargon. The islands of Carascossa are technically part of the Barony of Carvossa and therefore Spesian even though their population is a rough mix of all peoples.

Lyndermanne or “Markers”, as they are often referred to with some disdain, are a distinct group of hearty men hailing from the north. They speak a different family of languages than those from the Baronies. Even the men of Karmarke still speak Lynderthal even though most of the nobility of that barony now speaks Cantolli and Valdar. It should be noted that Lynderthal varies little from group to group due to strict social and religious strictures on language and its use.

To the west of these lands is a region populated by various humanoid tribes, clans and even kingdoms. Orcs, bugbears, hobgoblins and goblins all have their regional territories though there are few formal borders or recognized boundaries other than traditional territorial considerations.

Hope you enjoyed this first peak at the makeup of the Valderian Empire and its neighbors.

Take care,

-Eli