Session XI, Part II

Afterward, the party meets with the Marquise de Courcy, who tells them that she has been contacted by someone who knows where the Marquis de Picard is being held.

[OOC] M asks, "So, why exactly is this our problem?"

[As DM] I say, "Well, the Marquis de Picard is the head of the Adventurers' Guild and has been generally helpful to the party."

To sweeten the deal, the Marquise de Courcy gives the party a Wand of Invisibility, 15' Radius (3 charges).


The Marquise then tells the PCs that they should contact Papa Midnite to find out more about Picard.  Immediately, K and S groan.

[OOC] K says to M, "Papa Midnite is a druid and a running theme in our campaigns is that all druids are dicks."

[As DM] I say, "Well, you know, you guys did screw up his business deal by blatantly lying to him and Gouverneur Đào."

[OOC] M asks, "Wait, Papa Midnite is a druid?"

[As DM] I say, "Yes, PCs are limited to the core four classes, but NPCs can be anything."

When the PCs meet with Papa Midnite and his business partner, Black Dynamite, Papa Midnite is smiling way too much.  Quickly, the party finds out why: in exchange for the information, Papa Midnite wants Zakalwe and Nausicaä to bark like a dog.

Zakalwe fails his Willpower roll but succeeds on a Charisma roll and convinces Papa Midnite that it is in his best interest that the Marquis de Picard is rescued.


The PCs find out that, after the Veiled Society got what they wanted, they sold Picard to a local crime syndicate that runs a gambling den out of a nondescript house in the outskirts of the city:

After some debate, the party decides to use stealth.  To get in, the PCs disguise themselves as servants.

[As DM] I say, "That picture is just for general reference, as slavery was abolished in Fantasy Vietnam due to lobbying from the Church."

Zakalwe tucks his dagger into his tunic, Nausicaä disguises her spear as a broom, and the Second Nameless Magic-User hides his bow under his cloak.  After the PCs convince the porter that they are the new maintenance staff, he takes them on a tour of the gambling den.  In the basement, the porter says they are not to approach the rooms in the southern half of this floor and leaves them in the servants'  hall to get ready for their shift.  

After the porter leaves, the PCs ignore the porter's warning and head out of the servants'  hall and take a left.  Trying to listen in on the first door, the party instead alerts the occupants, who enter the hallway with swords drawn!

The first round of combat is inconclusive, and two more gangsters come out of the next room!

In the next round, Zakalwe and Nausicaä miss their opponents, but the Second Nameless Magic-User rolls a Critical Success and drills a gangster with his bow!

Gangster #1 is slain!

[As Nausicaä] S says to Zakalwe, "Hey, get your butt in gear!  You're being shown up by a Nameless Magic-User!"

[As DM] I say, "You know, Zakalwe could pick up Gangster #1's medium sword."

After the fighter does so, he has more luck and cuts down another gangster!

Gangster #2 is slain!


The remaining gangsters throw down their weapons and surrender.  Quickly, the party finds Picard:

[OOC] M says, "There are *FOUR* lights!"

[As DM] I say, "Yep."

The PCs tell their prisoners to flee and tell the other gangsters that there are intruders.  Using the Wand of Invisibility, 15' Radius, the party escapes without much difficulty during the commotion.

Session XI, Part I

Normally, I'm not keen about roleplaying one (DM) on one (Player), since it feels to me like mental quickdraw with the contest weighted unfairly in favor of the DM.  However, since I've played Arkham Horror solo before, I knew that the board, by taking discretion away from the DM, would rebalance the scales.  

S and I had a lot of fun last session.  A couple of the house rules that worked really well were:

o The fog of war: limiting how far S could see on the board added a lot of tension to the game, as every Movement Phase became a risk/reward calculation!

o The randomized drawing of Mythos cards: by only drawing a Mythos card, with a Doom Track of 12, S knew the game would run between 12 and 48 rounds (later extended to 14 to 56 rounds, after she used two Elder Signs). Consequently, S became increasingly nervous after round 25!

For the last session, I credit the PC with experience for one major achievement:

•  saving the city.

This brings Nausicaä up to 3rd level!

M, a new player, joins the group!  Like D, M is a long time gamer and like D and K, he is an old friend of mine.  M is playing the Second Nameless Magic-User:

o  Str 12, Int 17, Wil 17, Dex 16, Con 14, Cha 11

o Base HP: 7

o Proficiencies: Additional encounter HD, Bow

o Skill Points: Has one point each in Misdirection, Research, Medicine, and two points in Stealth

[As DM] I ask M, "What spells will you prepare before the session?"

[OCC] M says, "Burning Hands..."

[OCC] S says, "Hey, I don't have Burning Hands.  How about we trade?"

[As DM] I say, "Whatever PCs do is their own business."

[OCC] S says to M, "Okay, I'll take all the spells in your spell book."

[OCC] M says to S, "Okay, I'll take all the spells in *your* spell book."

As High Priest Kanye flees Buôn Ma Thuột, the Lieutenant-Gouverneur, who turned around and returned to the city instead of stopping the prison break at Terrible Injustice Prison, moves to intercept.

Suddenly, a war elephant ridden by a fierce warrior woman appears!

The war elephant ROFL-stomps the Lieutenant-Gouverneur and his elite bodyguard!

The fierce warrior woman stares at the party for a few moments and then motions them over, saying, "I don't have all day, you know.  Hurry up and come over here, so I can kill you!"

[OCC] M says, "Okay, I go over there."

[OCC] K says, "Well, given this campaign, I'm pretty certain that that would be an instadeath."

The party flees!

Session X, Part II

For reference, here is the map for Arkham Horror again:

While the depressed-looking teddy bear mopes in a corner, Ranme says that, by trying to asphyxiate the cultists at the Silver Twilight Lodge and getting them to reveal themselves by their summoning a Dark Young, the party has forced the Veiled Society to accelerate their plans: now they are using the Fire of Asshurbanipal to open a series of portals to the Other World, summoning hordes of monsters, though he doesn't know why or where the cultists are located.

Ranme doesn't know but he gives Nausicaä an Elder Sign!

Nausicaä uses the Elder Sign to bring the Doom Track down by one.

[OOC] S asks, "So, where would I go to make some money?"

[As DM] I say, "Well, probably the best place is the Newspaper, as that's where you can get a Retainer."

At the Newspaper, the party first gets $5 for a story and then they get a Retainer!  Unfortunately, it only lasts for two rounds.

At Independence Square, Nausicaä makes a Spot Check and notices her friend Mlle Farahani!

[As Mlle Farahani] I say, "As you may know, the Persian Empire and Roman Empire are rivals and the Roman Empire and Việtnamese Empire are allies.  So, if, hypothetically, an ancient cult discovered an ancient jewel that was a terrible magic artifact, the Persians might hypothetically allow such an artifact pass through their lands if it was intended to be used in Việtnam."

[As Nausicaä] S says, "Yes."

[As Mlle Farahani] I say, "Moreover, say, hypothetically, there was an agent of the Persian Empire who was instructed to allow such an artifact to do as much damage as possible.  However, say this hypothetical agent realized that no reasonable person could stay idly by in the face of this kind of danger.  While this hypothetical agent could not intervene directly, she could perhaps provide intel to a third party."

[As Nausicaä] S says, "Yes."

[As Mlle Farahani] I say, "This hypothetical agent might tell a hypothetical third party that, for help, they should visit Ma’s Boarding House, Velma’s Diner, The Witch House, and Train Station."

After surreptitiously looking around, Mlle Farahani also gives Nausicaä an Elder Sign!

[As Nausicaä] S says, "Thanks for nothing."

[As Mlle Farahani] I say, "Yes, nothing happened here."

Nausicaä uses the Elder Sign to bring the Doom Track down by one.

At the Train Station, the party finds the Marquise de Courcy, the Roman ambassador to Việtnam.  The Marquise de Courcy asks the party for their help to rescue the Marquis the Picard.  After they agree, the Marquise lets her bodyguard join the party for the duration and gives them $5.

Nausicaä gains +1 to Lore and +1 to Fight!

• The PC's new stats:  Max Stamina 5, Max Sanity 6, Speed 2, Sneak 2, Fight 4, Will 2, Lore 3, Luck 2

At Velma's Diner, the party sees B.E.G., the Korean bards from the Gouverneure's New Year's Party.    Nausicaä says that she remember them from the party and B.E.G. replies that it was nice until the nobles starting fighting.  They continue that there are a lot of strange things going on in the city and that they would like to help.

[As Nausicaä] S asks, "Okay, how can you help?"

[As B.E.G.] I say, "Well, things always seem to go our way."

After B.E.G. joins the party, Nausicaä gains +2 Luck!

• The PC's new stats:  Max Stamina 5, Max Sanity 6, Speed 2, Sneak 2, Fight 4, Will 2, Lore 3, Luck 4

In the Graveyard, the party sees a homeless guy babbling about terrible vistas of reality and non-euclidian geometry!  When Nausicaä asks about the Veiled Society, the homeless guy stares into space and says he sees an ancient cult at work in the city.

[As Nausicaä] S asks, "Where is the Veiled Society hiding?"

Suddenly a gate opens at the Graveyard and the party is automatically sucked into the Other World!

[OOC] S says, "NOOOOO!!!!!!"


In the Other World, Nausicaä finds another spell, Shrivelling!


In the Graveyard, the party sees a wizard who introduces himself as Egg Shen.

Joining the party, Egg Shen says that if the party can get within one location of the Fire of Asshurbanipal, he can tell them which direction to go.


When making another round of the board, as the party enters the Merchant District, Egg Shen says he can detect the Fire of Asshurbanipal in the Unnameable.  Heading there, Nausicaä sees the strange shack where Rain and Subotai were mind controlled.  After she avoids the mind control, out of the shack pours dozens of cultists, led by their High Priest!

Nausicaä casts both Wither and Shrivelling, and gets exactly enough successes to defeat the cultists!


Cultists #2-15 are slain!

Their High Priest flees!

[OOC] S says, "Hey, stop using the Fire of Asshurbanipal!"

Session X, Part I

For the last session, I credit the PCs with experience for two major achievements:

• saving the Baroness.

• solving the mystery of the Veiled Society.

Since S was the only player able to make this session, I decided to try something a bit different: we used a simplified version of the board game Arkham Horror for the strategic direction of the game, and used my Olde School D&D homebrew for the roleplaying.

Arkham Horror is one of my favorite boardgames!  Among its many virtues, AH has many RPG-type elements, which isn't surprising since it is based upon the all-time great Call of Cthulhu RPG.  For example, one of the Investigators in AH is Harvey Walters, who is also the sample character in CoC used to illustrate character creation.


My simplified rules include:

• Rather than using the sliders for variable stats, the PC has defined stats.

• The PC's starting stats: Max Stamina 5, Max Sanity 5, Speed 2, Sneak 2, Fight 2, Will 2, Lore 2, Luck 2

• The PC can see up to one location away, but cultists and monsters may be hidden to try to ambush
o The PC can move up to two locations per round, but going farther makes it easier for cultists and monsters to ambush

• Every 1d4 rounds, DM draws a new Mythos card.
o This adds 1 to the Doom Track
o Instead of distributing clue tokens, distribute money
o If a gate opens whilst PCs at that location, they are automatically gated to the Other World and must spend 2 rounds getting back


Here is the map for Arkham Horror:

Background: The PC begins in Southside, where the party fled from the Silver Twilight Lodge and was attacked by the Dark Young!

PC’s Goal: Find out the Veiled Society's nefarious plot and stop it before the Doom Track reaches 12!


Locations:

• The fort is Administration
• The Police Station is Police Station
• Ye Olde Magick Shoppe is Ye Olde Magick Shoppe


NPC locations:

* Known to the PC

• Father Wolfwood ->  South Church
• Ranme ->  Curiositie Shoppe
• Mlle Farahani ->  Independence Square
• Brock Samson  ->  Arkham Asylum
• Lieutenant Tran ->  Police Station


* Unknown to the PC

• Dogmeat ->  Woods
• Bolo ->  Ma’s Boarding House
• B.E.G. ->  Velma’s Diner
• Egg Shen ->  The Witch House
• Papa Midnite ->  Graveyard
• The Marquise de Courcy ->  Train Station
• House Planter ->  Bank of Arkham
• House Builder ->  Uptown
• The Veiled Society ->  The Unnamable

Beginning in Southside, Nausicaä can see monsters in French Hill, a group of men in Uptown bearing a Unicorn sigil, and $1 in the Historical Society.  The party heads over to the Historical Society to grab the cash, and has an encounter where S needs to pay $3 and make a Luck (-1) check for a spell, which she pulls off, picking up Wither!

Heading back to Southside, Nausicaä no longer sees the group of men in Uptown.  Moving to Uptown,  she sees the men with the Unicorn sigil have moved to Miskatonic University and that there's $1 in the Woods.  Heading to the Woods, she comes across a canine that's scared a man up a building!

[OCC] S says, "Do we have any dog treats?"

[As DM] I say, "No, but Rain has some bulgogi."

After giving the bulgogi, Dogmeat joins the party and Nausicaä gains Max Sanity +1 and +1 to Fight!

• The PC's new stats:  Max Stamina 5, Max Sanity 6, Speed 2, Sneak 2, Fight 3, Will 2, Lore 2, Luck 2


At the Science Lab, a crazed professor charges out, pulled an ancient relic from his desk and begins uttering eldritch phrases… and Nausicaä is Blessed!

[As Nausicaä] S says, "Gee, thanks, strange professor guy!"

[As DM] I say, "Ha!  You have the Devil's own luck with these encounters!"

The entering the Unnameable, Nausicaä makes a Spot Check with a +10 penalty and sees the strange shack.  She orders Rain and Subotai to check it out, but they pause outside since they are now mind controlled.

[OCC] S says, "Great."

Heading north, Nausicaä sees House Builder and House Planter fighting in the Merchant District!  The garrison is trying unsuccessfully to separate them.


At the Curiositie Shoppe, the party meets Ranme the Half-Insane Wizard.  With him is a very depressed-looking teddy bear:

Ranme explains that, using the Apparatus, he transferred the soul of the test subject into the teddy bear.

[As Nausicaä] S exclaims, "Why would you do that?!?"

[As Ranme] I say, "For *SCIENCE*!!!!!!!!"

RPGs: The Princess of Greyhawk

Whilst exploring teh interwebs for early advertisements for Dungeons & Dragons, I came across this one from 1977 that I'd never seen before:

What?  TSR (short for Tactical Studies Rules, the publisher) used to use sex appeal to sell D&D?  I was taken aback, especially considering the stereotypical image of gamers.  However, upon further reflection, the above advertisement fits the contemporary zeitgeist: for example, here is the cover for the comedy text adventure game Softporn Adventure (1981), released by On-Line Systems (which was later renamed Sierra On-Line):

The lovely woman on the right is the legendary Roberta Williams, co-founder of Sierra On-Line and designer of the all-time great King's Quest series of graphical adventure games.

Now, if you say that there's no way that the woman in the D&D ad would play RPGs, it turns out that the model was none other than Elise Gygax, eldest daughter of Gary Gygax, co-creator of D&D!  Unsurprisingly, Elise was one of the first PCs in the Greyhawk campaign, the second setting developed for Dungeons & Dragons, after co-creator Dave Arneson's Blackmoor campaign.

Yes, folks, this foxy lady:

is the daughter of this guy:

Groovy!

Session IX, Part IV

The party finds themselves in a dimly lit cell tied back to back.  Subotai mentions wistfully that he could be getting another foot massage right now.  Suddenly, a sinister voice chortles, "We will show you a pain you never knew existed!  BWAHAHAHA!!!" as a scary looking man enters the cell:

The interrogator says, "Let's do this the easy way for me!  BWAHAHAHA!!!"  Then, after the Veiled Society cultist tortures everyone down to 1 hp, he gloats, "Now, we'll give you some time to think carefully about how you answer our questions.  BWAHAHAHA!!!"

Silence fills the room, until one of the Veiled Society magic-users starts screaming in rage down the hall after reading Nausicaä's cursed spell book.  The party laughs.

More silence.

The party hears footsteps approach.

Then, the wiry guy in the velvet suit enters their cell.

[As Zakalwe] K asks, "Haven't we met before?"

[As the wiry guy] I say, "Yes, I'm Rain.  I helped you save the village of Orlane from the Mask of Nyarlathotep."

[As Zakalwe] K asks, "Oh yeah."

The ninja frees the party and, as he leads them out of the cultists' underground hideout, he tells them that the Marquis de Picard hired him to investigate the Fire of Asshurbanipal.  Rain saw the Veiled Society kidnap the Marquis but was unable to stop them.  Then, the ninja tried several times to contact the PCs but kept getting intercepted by the cultists.


[OOC] K says, "Now, how do we get our stuff back?"

[As DM] I say, "Are you sure you want to do that?  There's a bunch of well-armed cultists and everyone is down to 1 hp, except for Rain."

[OOC] S says, "Are you kidding?!?  We're definitely going back for our stuff!?!"

Never get between the PCs and their loot.

After they are healed and re-equiped by Father Wolfwood, the PCs return to the cultists' hideout to steal back their gear.  For the map, I use another great one from Dyson Logos:

Rain leads the party to the storeroom contains the party's loot.  When Zakalwe tries to force the door open, he finds that someone on the other side is resisting.

[OOC] S asks, "Is there a gap between the door and the floor?"

[As DM] I say, "There's only a small half cm gap."

[OOC] S says, "That's all I need to see the target!"

Nausicaä casts Magic Missile, which darts from her fingertip and streaks underneath the door.


Cultist #1 is slain!


Quickly, the party runs inside, grabs their stuff and exits.  Then they decide to get some payback, barricading doors from the outside and setting them on fire!

However, the cultists cast a spell and a Dark Young bursts out of the ground:

Immediately, the party turns around and flees!  The gigantic eldritch horror stomps its way through the streets of Buôn Ma Thuột in pursuit.

Both Nausicaä and Zakalwe fail their Constitution rolls and the Dark Young catches up with them!

After two rounds, Nausicaä and Zakalwe are both down to 2 hp and poisoned but then Father Wolfwood arrives to turn the abomination!

[OOC] S says, "Ha!  I didn't expect to survive this session!"

Session IX, Part III

With bizarre clues and references piling up, the party decides to check in with Ranme the Half-Insane Wizard.

[As DM] I say, "You do remember that you guys owe Ranme a test subject for his experiment, right?"

[OOC] K says, "Oh yeah..."

[OOC] S says, "We've got to find the most depressed sad sack in the city."

After cruising the dive bars and a couple successful Charisma rolls, they convince a poor sod to follow them to Ranme's hotel room with some vague promises and hand the unfortunate soul over to the way too eager semi-demented inventor.

As Ranme straps the nearly unconscious test subject into the Apparatus, the Half-Insane Wizard tells the PCs that the Fire of Asshurbanipal is an ancient magic artifact of terrible power, a wondrous red gem that belonged to a mighty king of long ago, whom the Ionians called Sardanapalus and the Semitic peoples named Asshurbanipal.  The Fire of Asshurbanipal was last seen a millennia ago in a now lost city of unimaginable evil, the City of the Dead!

There are dark rumors that an ancient cult from Arabia Petraea called the Veiled Society has managed to find the City of the Dead, deep in the hazes of a haunted desert east of the Thamūd.

After the PCs regain their composure, they ask the semi-mad magician about the significance of the missing 16 year old girls.  The Half-Insane Wizard says that the Fire of Asshurbanipal is used for ritual magic and that sacrificing 16 year old girls during a blood moon greatly enhances the powers of the eldritch jewel.

The next blood moon is only a few days off.

The PCs ask Ranme where Veiled Society might be hiding their temple, and he replies that the temple is probably at an intersection of ley lines.  The party asks if the semi-mad magician can come up with a possible location and he agrees.  As they step out of the hotel room, the strange Apparatus starts humming and an unearthly light pours forth.

[As Nausicaä] S says to Zakalwe, "Don't look back!  Nothing bad happened!"


Exiting the hotel, the PCs watch a long column of Việt legionnaires heading out of the city.  Accompanying them is an ecstatic Spymaster, who keeps exclaiming, "Now the Caped Crusader will  finally pay!"  The masked vigilante has freed the thousands of Cham wrongfully imprisoned at Terrible Injustice Prison.  So, since Gouverneur Trần is still facing off against the Khmer, the Lieutenant Gouverneur is leading most of the remaining garrison at Buôn Ma Thuột to stop the prison break.


Next, the PCs check in with Mademoiselle Farahani for more information about the Veiled Society, but their Persian friend is uncharacteristically tight lipped.

Then, they decide to visiting the Suione Murder Machine at the insane asylum.  Brock Samson says that he was walking past the orphanage on an errand when he blacked out.  When he came to, he'd found that he'd murdered 50 people, but he doesn't know anything about the missing girls.  Then he breaks down and starts crying.

[As Brock Samson] I say, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to kill those people!"

[As Nausicaä] S says, "It's okay, we know it's not your fault."

Brock Samson begins babbling about being visited by a purple bat.  Zakalwe asks if it was a person or a bat, and Samson replies that he's not certain but it was on the ceiling of his room.

[OOC] S asks K, "Do you think it was the Caped Crusader?"

[OOC] K says, "No, I'm pretty certain it was this guy:"

As they leave the insane asylum, Zakalwe finds a note in his pocket to meet at a certain time at an abandoned factory not far from the asylum.

[OOC] K says, "Of course."

After they enter the factory, the PCs detect movement around them.  They quickly deduce the trap and try to escape through a hole in the roof when Darkness, 15' Radius descends upon them!

A segment later, another magic-user hits the party with Sleep.  Zakalwe fails his Save versus Magic!

Another segment later, yet another magic-user hits the party with another Sleep.  Nausicaä fails her Save versus Magic!


When they wake up, the party finds that they have been taken captive by the Veiled Society!

Session IX, Part II

At police headquarters, the PCs meet the top detective, the Spymaster:

The Spymaster explains that someone dressed in a cape and cowl caved in the District Attorney's skull with his fists, so their top suspect is the Caped Crusader.  The detective adds that, as part of Gouverneur Trần's stealth repression of the Cham, the DA falsified evidence to wrongfully convict thousands of Cham.  The Spymaster believes the motive is partly revenge and partly because the District Attorney opened an investigation to find the Caped Crusader's true identity.

The Spymaster asks what the PCs know about the Caped Crusader.  When they are vague, the Spymaster becomes angry.  Also assigned to the investigation is Lieutenant Trần, who points out that the District Attorney's murder doesn't fit the Caped Crusader's modus operandi, since it occurred during daylight and in front of witnesses.  The party asks if it's possible that someone is trying to frame the Caped Crusader.  At this point, the Spymaster starts ranting and storms out.

The Lieutenant says that a few years ago, the Spymaster tried to arrest the Caped Crusader but was easily beaten to a pulp.  Ever since, the Spymaster has become obsessed with getting even.  Underneath the mask, he looks like this:

[OOC] S says, "Gee, can't they use some healing magic?"

[As DM] I say, "No, he's on full points.  Everything is fully functional."

[OOC] K says, "How about some Iron Age cosmetic surgery?"


As they are leaving police headquarters, the PCs spot Father Wolfwood, who says he was supposed to meet the District Attorney regarding the disappearance of six 16 year old girls.  This, of course, immediately grabs their interest and when the party inquires further, the Inquisitor says that, when Brock Samson flipped out and massacred fifty people in an orphanage, fifty-six people should have been there.  This leaves six bodies unaccounted for, all of them 16 year old girls.

[As Nausicaä] S says, "Well, Brock Samson is a powerful guy.  Is it possible that you, you know... miscounted?"

[As Father Wolfwood] I say, "Hmm… one or two bodies, maybe, but six is unlikely."


The PCs ask Father Wolfwood what he thinks the possible disappearance of six 16 year old girls means, but he's at a loss.  As they are heading back to their hotel room, they think they see the wiry guy again, but he's gone in a flash.

When they return to their hotel room, the party finds a note from the Marquis de Picard  saying to meet at the hotel bar in the evening.  In the meantime, to get some more backup, the PCs pick up Subotai from the spa.

After Picard fails to show up for the appointment, they head to the Marquis' hotel room.  After nobody answers the door, the PCs enter and find signs of a struggle.  Seems like Picard was kidnapped by someone or something that entered and left from the window.  Investigating further, they find references that Picard had hired someone to investigate "The Fire of Asshurbanipal".

Session IX, Part I

For the last session, I credit the PCs with experience for one major achievement:

• solving the mystery of the Baroness' disappearance.

In my campaigns, Player Characters exist in a quantum state, based on Player availability.  Consequently, since D couldn't make Session IX but K could, Lorenzo simply disappears and Zakalwe pops up.  As a lazy DM, I don't bother with an explanation.

The exploding jar of Greek Fire fills half the room with flames as a horde of ghouls rush in!

Drawing the Sword of Glory, Sister Aleena charges forward to meet the wave of undead, as does Brock Samson.  Despite their valiant efforts, three ghouls break past the defensive perimeter and run toward the PCs!


Blind Nausicaä notices that Lieutenant Trần has let go of her hand and Zakalwe sees the young officer draw his sword, as the PCs realize that the revenant, freed from the possessed magic-user, is now mind controlling the Gouverneur's son!

[OOC] K says, "Gee, we might accidentally extinct the Gouverneur's entire bloodline."


Zakalwe yells to Nausicaä to hit the deck as he runs to intercept the three ghouls, who are focused on  charging the sightless magic-user.

Lieutenant Trần prepares to gut Nausicaä… and rolls a critical failure, dropping his sword!

Zakalwe cuts down a ghoul, taking a couple hits in return but makes his Save versus Magic.

Ghoul #1 is slain!


[OOC] S says, "Can I use the wand to try to banish the revenant?"

[As DM] I say, "Yes, but remember that you're blind, the wand is flammable and half the room is on fire."


Nausicaä doesn't connect with the wand but doesn't burn it either.  Meanwhile, Zakalwe dispatches another ghoul without being paralyzed.

Ghoul #2 is slain!


Retrieving his sword, Lieutenant Trần laughs evilly… and crit fails twice in a row, dropping his weapon again!  In the same round, Zakalwe decapitates the third ghoul.

Ghoul #3 is slain!


Thereafter, banishing the revenant is fairly straightforward.  Immediately, the PCs begin looting the place, finding some Dust of Disappearance.

[As DM] I say to S, "I also came up with a custom magic item for you, the Rod of Sex Panther!"

[OOC] S says, "*WHAT*?!?"

[OOC] K says to S, "He's been watching a lot of Anchorman lately."

Also among the sarcophagi in the room, the party finds the Baroness, though they regret freeing her as she's supremely ungrateful and immediate begins getting on their nerves.  They manage to resist the temptation to murder her.  Barely.


Upon returning to Buôn Ma Thuột, Nausicaä visits Ye Olde Magick Shoppe and trades the Rod of Sex Panther for a Wand of Empathy (another custom magic item I make up on the spot) and Potions of Spider Climb and Underwater Breathing.

More importantly, the PCs send a raven to Gouverneur Trần, who's on the border staring down the Khmer army but the Gouverneur keeps her word and writes back, giving her approval for building the coliseum.  Thus, Papa Midnite agrees to not murder the PCs.

[OOC] K says, "Well, at least one less person is trying to kill us."


When the party drops off Brock Samson at the insane asylum, they think that they catch a glimpse of a wiry guy in a velvet suit:

[OOC] K says, "Wait a minute!  I've seen that guy before, right?"

[As DM] I say, "… maybe?"


A few days later, the police request that the PCs come down to headquarters.  Someone has brutally beaten the District Attorney to death!

Video Game Review: The Return of Heracles (1983)

In the halcyon days of the 1980s, there were few computer roleplaying games (CRPGs) that weren't derivative of Tolkien and/or Dungeons & Dragons.  Fewer still sought to provide any kind of educational value for their players.  One of few CRPGs that excelled in both areas was The Return of Heracles by Stuart Smith.

Set in Bronze Age Greece and based on some the most famous tales from Greek mythology, in The Return of Heracles the player(s) assume control of one or more legendary or historical heroes, including Achilles, Jason, and mighty Heracles! Tales of these mighty men and women (and animals) have thrilled audiences for millennia, including myself.  In grade school, I read the fantastic D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths many, many, many times at the local library.

In order to win the game, the player(s) must complete a dozen tasks which, as one might expect from the title, are drawn mostly from the Labors of Heracles, but also include other classics from Greek mythology, such as solving the Riddle of the Sphinx and retrieving the Golden Fleece.  Upon completion, the player receives points (with bonus for speed) and usually gets an in-game treasure, buff or other reward as well.

The game mechanic is simple but straightforward and adds to the breezy fun.  The soundtrack, though technologically an artifact of its day, is apt and evocative.  And, the open sandbox design of the game world avoids railroading, a common problem for many CRPGs even to the present day.

Messr Smith's humor and cleverness are evident throughout The Return of Heracles.  There are 250 NPCs with individual stats, factions and motivations, such as Inebriated Thief and Not-very-smart Thief.   And just walking through a door can be hazardous!

Original, colorful and full of obvious admiration of the source material, this game is a masterwork.  If you're a lover of Sword & Sandal or Greek mythology, The Return of Heracles is perhaps the best CRPG of the era and even if you only have a passing interest, it's worth a look.  So strap on your greaves and hark back to a time when gods and monsters roamed the land.

But do avoid giving an obolus to Charon.

SC's Parting Shot: 10 of 10

Session VIII, Part IV

Leaving Lieutenant Trần outside Hatha with Aleena, Lorenzo and Nausicaä ride up to the outskirts of the rebuilding city with Brock Samson.  As they approach, the PCs are met by the Capitaine of the Garde, who halts his horse at such a distance that the party needs to ride within his archers' bowshot in order to converse.

Undeterred, the PCs move ahead and ask if the Capitaine has seen anyone fitting the descriptions of the possessed magic-user, the hand servant or the Baroness.  The leader of the Garde abruptly says, "No."  The PCs are  unconvinced so they ask if they can enter Hatha.  The Capitaine opens his mouth, looks at Brock Samson, pauses, looks at Brock Samson again, pauses again, and finally says, "Okay."

Inside Hatha, the party sees that, in addition to the militia keeping watch, fixing the walls and training, there are also hundreds of hungry looking and raggedly dressed Cham refugees, who look at the approaching outsiders with suspicion.   The PCs ask to see the Caped Crusader and the Capitaine says he will put in a request and leaves the party to their own devices, albeit under the intense watch of everyone else in the city.

After a couple hours of awkward silence from the Cham, Lorenzo notices a young boy eying his bear meat and offers some.  After the thief rolls a success on his Charisma check, the boy scampers forward and takes the meat, quickly turning and disappearing.  However, soon after, more and more famished refugees come forward and the party readily shares their food.

The PCs hear from their new friends that the Caped Crusader singlehandedly cleared the ruins of Hatha from the hordes of undead by punching them.   Later, the place became an open secret among the Cham as a safe haven and, by ones and twos, they began congregating here.

The next morning, the Capitaine leads the party up the hill to the keep and tells them to wait in the great hall.  It is pitch black.  In the darkness, Brock Samson starts to twitch and then, moments later he starts sweating profusely.

[As Brock Samson] I say, "Umm… I'm not feeling so good."

[As Lorenzo] D asks, "It's okay, you can wait outside, buddy."

After Brock Samson leaves, a growling, barely intelligible voice echoes out from the darkness above the PCs.

[As the Caped Crusader] I say, "SO, YOU ARE THE OUTSIDERS WHO'VE ASKED TO SEE ME?"

[As Lorenzo] D asks, "So, um, is that your natural voice?"

[As the Caped Crusader] I say, "UHHHHH… I'M THE ONE ASKING THE QUESTIONS HERE!"

[After a few moments, as Nausicaä] S says, "Do you know that most of your people are starving?"

[As the Caped Crusader] I say, "THEIR SACRIFICE IS DULY NOTED, BUT OUR TOP PRIORITY IS PREPARING FOR THE COMING CONFLICT!"

[OOC] D says, "I don't think this guy is entirely sane."

[OOC] S says, "That seems to be a running theme for possessors of powerful magic artifacts in this campaign."

The Caped Crusader claims to have no knowledge of the possessed magic-user, the hand servant or the Baroness.  Nausicaä tries to guilt trip him, but he's manically focused on preparing his army.

As the party is leaving the keep, they spot their friend and former translator Mary.  She says that she was the hand servant who betrayed the Baroness out of revenge since Trần's mother, the current Gouverneur of the Central Highlands, killed Mary's parents whilst putting down an minor uprising of the Cham, turning Mary into an orphan.  They also find out that the revenant took the Baroness into the ruins of a nearby archmagus' tower.


With this set up, I had to go with the Tower of Zenopus, the sample dungeon from the Holmes Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set:

Written by Dr. J. Eric Holmes, the first Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set is an interesting document.  It's the last hurrah of OD&D, while also presaging the arrival of AD&D, but it's also its own complete game.  As a teaching tool for the time (1977), the Tower of Zenopus has some useful information for rookie DMs and it's a good introduction to dungeon crawling.


Going into the dark, dusty ruins, the party finds a suspiciously brightly lit, clean and richly appointed library with an open spell book on the desk.  Ignoring the warnings, the PCs rush in to loot the place! Nausicaä fails her Save versus Magic and is cursed with magical blindness whilst trying to read the spell book!

[OOC] S says, "Great, so I'm blind?  Can I use a healing potion?"

[As DM] I say, "No, you're on full hit points and the blindness is magical in nature."

The PCs decide to press on since the Baroness will certainly be dead by the time they can remove the curse on Nausicaä.  With Lieutenant Trần leading the greedy but blind sorceress, the party later stumbles into a death trap.  While Lorenzo is trying to figure out the trap, Nausicaä impatiently uses the last charge of the Wand of Passwall to escape.

Eventually, they find the possessed magic-user, who cackles, "It's too late!" right before blind Nausicaä manages to hit him in the face with a jar of Greek Fire!

The possessed magic-user is slain!

Session VIII, Part III

Nausicaä manages to talk Ranme down by reminding him that the PCs helped out his lizard folk friends in the Borderlands and by telling the semi-mad magician that he's Winning.  Consequently, he releases Lorenzo from the magic net and the latter promptly wakes up.  The Half-Insane Wizard glares at the thief suspiciously for a while but then his attention wanders back to a massive and imposing contraption of glass, metal, tubing and other intricate components in the center of the room.

The above image is, of course, from the classic Dungeons & Dragons adventure I10 Ravenloft II: The House on Gryphon Hill.  While justifiably not as well received as its predecessor, I think that I10 is nevertheless underrated, a new and innovative direction to take a linked D&D module and possessing the same wonderfully creepy atmosphere and an excellent mystery to investigate.  Strahd is still a badass and there's some great advice to DMs about how to tie I6 and I10 together as an ongoing (and challenging!) campaign, where the PCs aren't sure whether Barovia or Mordentshire (or either) are real.


Explaining their situation, the PCs ask Ranme for help with the revenant.  After a moment, he agrees if, in exchange, they will provide a test subject for his experiment, pointing rather too enthusiastically to the apparatus that he is building.  Nausicaä asks about the purpose of the device and Ranme replies that he doesn't know, the design came to him in a dream.

The PCs agree to the somewhat unsound mage's terms but are purposefully vague as to when they will actually provide a test subject.  Ranme doesn't seem to notice and gives them with a wand with one charge that will banish the revenant upon a successful touch, either of the spirit form or as a possessed human.


Next, the party rides out to the spot of Baroness Trần's abduction and meet up with the patrol that is investigating.  The legionnaires say that someone damaged the magic wards from within the camp, allowing the revenant inside.  Lorenzo asks who was traveling with Lieutenant Trần's sister and the patrol replies that the Baroness was accompanied by her bodyguards and her hand servant, a 9 year-old Cham girl from the Borderlands.

[OOC] S says, "Oh no, I know who this is!"

The patrol says that it looks like the revenant possessed the magic-user who killed the other bodyguards, then rode north with the servant and the baroness.  Due to high levels of undead, the legionnaires don't know exactly what's in the vicinity but they've heard rumors that a Cham nationalist, armed with a powerful magic artifact, dressed in a cape and cowl and known only as the Caped Crusader might be in the area.


While heading north in pursuit of the kidnappers, the party has a random encounter during the night.  On watch is Lorenzo, who makes his Spot Check and wakes up Brock Samson just as an unhappy Asian black bear appears!

The Suione Murder Machine yawns, beheads the bear and goes back to sleep, as the terrified thief watches from a safe distance.

The Asian black bear is slain!


Collecting his wits, Lorenzo tells the rest of the party to smoke the bear carcass during their watches and the party continues north carrying hundreds of kilos of bear meat.


Continuing to follow the tracks, as the PCs get closer to the ruins of Hatha, they can tell that they are being observed but are unable to learn more after Lorenzo fails his Hide in Shadows roll!  The party finishes climbing up the plateau and is surprised to see the site re-occupied and being rebuilt.

Lorenzo scouts ahead and, from a safe distance, he can tell that the reconstruction efforts are focused on restoring Hatha's defenses and he sees dozens of scruffy but armed guards atop the walls, intently keeping watch.

[As DM] I say, "Since the Caped Crusader may be around, you might want to leave Lieutenant Trần outside Hatha, as he's a tempting target."

[OOC] D says, "Good point.  Should we leave Brock Samson with the Lieutenant?"

[OOC] S replies, "Are you kidding??  *WE* need Brock Samson in case things go bad in the city!"