Nestled in the deepest jungles of the southern continent, Gowandian tribes live among the ruins of ancient civilizations. Gowandian scholars frequently take pilgrimages to distant lands in order to record major events but many secrets still lay hidden away in the wilds of this remote nation.
Treading through the jungle’s heart, the silence is broken only by the rustling leaves and distant calls of unseen creatures. The air is thick with the enchantment of magic, and the path ahead is veiled in mysteries waiting to be unraveled.
This map reveals a forgotten sacred site where ancient tribes once sought the blessings of Ka-Zaa, the god of magic. Weathered standing stones form a mystical triangle around a statue of the deity, depicting the harmonious blend of mind, body, and spirit required to master arcane powers.
Nature has claimed these ruins with a lush overgrowth. Vines and ferns intertwine with remnants of a mysterious past. Among the crumbling stones, a spiral staircase tempts adventurers to descend into Wakou M’baque, a lost city swallowed by time and the gods.
Conclusion
Keeping this one brief, as I’m hoping to build on it in coming weeks. I had originally intended for the party to be attacked by axe beaks outside the ruins. However, it felt like an empty combat so I opted to just let the tension build as the adventurers investigate the scene. That’s all for now. Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!
As the harvest season draws to a close, the simple people of Novos traditionally fashion crude dolls made of grain to represent the spirits of the harvest. They welcome these spirits to spend the winter in their homes. In the spring, the dolls are returned to the soil and ploughed into the first furrow of the new season. It is through this simple act that the people of Novos honor the Green Man, a revered figure who represents nature and fertility in the region. They believe that this ensures that they will have a bountiful harvest and will be able to survive the harsh Borean winters.
This year, however, something has gone awry in Novos. Farmers harvesting their crop have mentioned that the soil does not seem right. Others report signs of an odd blight affecting the crops. What is more puzzling is the fact that the grain dollies have gone missing. Homestead after homestead report that the effigies have disappeared and all agree that this must be an ill omen.
The village of Novos. Created with Campaign Cartographer.
What the Party Knows
The party has arrived in the mid-sized farming community of Novos and acquired rooms at the Harvest Hearth Inn (location #1). After stowing their gear in their rooms, the adventurers settle in for a hearty meal in the common room.
During the course of the evening, the party will notice the somber atmosphere at the inn. The locals’ faces are etched with worry and apprehension. A successful passive perception check will pick up on the fact that they speak in low voices about the problems plaguing the harvest. They mention how the soil feels different this year, as if it’s lost its vitality. Others express concerns about strange blights affecting their crops and causing them to wither prematurely.
The disappearance of the traditional grain dollies, used to ensure a bountiful harvest, is particularly unsettling to the superstitious villagers. It is likely that the party will not be aware of this tradition, though the villagers will gladly share the tale if it appears that the outsiders are interested.
As villagers notice the newcomers and, sense that they might be adventurers, they will approach the party. With a mixture of hope and desperation in their eyes, they explain the situation and implore the party to help uncover the mystery behind these disturbing events. The villagers promise fair compensation and the gratitude of the community in return for the party’s assistance.
Investigation
In order to get to the bottom of the issue, it is likely that the party will need to carry out some investigation of the local area. The patrons of the Harvest Hearth will suggest the following locations.
Mikhail Kozlov’s Pumpkin Farm (location #2): Being the farm closest to the village itself, the party will be advised to start their investigation here.
A stout and weathered farmer with a grizzled beard, Kozlov greets the party as they approach his farm. The party will notice a sense of despair in his eyes and voice. He mentions the troubled state of his pumpkin patch, explaining that despite all his efforts, the pumpkins have been stunted and shriveled this year, far from the healthy, robust crops he usually reaps.
Upon investigating the pumpkin patch, the party notices several peculiarities. Most of the pumpkins are undersized, withered, and look like they’ve been drained of life. They’re deformed, as if something has sapped their vitality. A successful perception check will reveal that some of the pumpkins seem to bear odd carvings that resemble symbols or runes. These symbols are not part of any known local traditions that the farmer is aware of.
Borea. Created in Campaign Cartographer using the Herwin Wielink overland style.
Church of Ladina (location #3): Since she plays an unofficial leadership role within the village, the party may be advised to pay a visit to Sister Elena Novik, the cleric of the church of Ladina. A dignified woman with silver hair tied in a bun, the priestess expresses her deep concern over the blight that’s affecting the harvest and reveals a few more details.
She informs the party that she has been conducting ceremonies and blessings to seek Ladina’s guidance and protection for the crops, but her efforts have had limited success. The goddess has been silent, which troubles her deeply. She has visited a number of the farms and reports feeling an unnatural presence there.
Sister Elena will stress that the villagers are greatly distressed at the disappearance of the grain dollies and strange malady affecting the crops. She shares the tale of an Anton Baranov who has gone quite mad, reporting seeing odd creatures in the outlying forest. The cleric will explain that Baranov may often be found at the public market (area #5)
If questioned about the odd carvings found on the pumpkins at the Kozlov farm, she will not recognize them. However, she will suggest that the party seek out the aid of an elder in the village named Yevgeny Borislav. Yevgeny is known to be the keeper of traditions and folklore and he might have knowledge about these ancient symbols and their significance. He resides in a ruined tower to the northeast (area #4).
Ruined Tower (area #4): Sister Elena or some of the other villagers might suggest that the party stop at the ruined tower to the northeast of town. This is the residence of Yevgeny Borislav, a dignified figure within the village of Novos. He is an elderly man with a flowing white beard. His eyes still hold a spark of wisdom and he is usually dressed in simple, weathered robes. Yevgeny is a repository of traditions and folklore and has a deep understanding of the village’s history.
The elder recognizes the significance of the failed crops and the disappearing grain dollies. He will tell the party about the Green Man, a revered figure who represents the spirit of nature and fertility in the region. Followers of the old ways used to travel deep into the forest. There they would leave offerings at an ancient alter to the Green Man, ensuring a bountiful harvest. However, this year, it appears that something has disrupted the harmony with the Green Man’s spirit.
Should the party mention the strange carvings seen in Kozlov’s pumpkin patch, Yevgeny will be quite concerned. While he is unable to read the marking, he does recognize them as being Fey in origin and suspects that something unnatural is afoot. He suggests traveling into the forest to seek out the old altar dedicated to the Green Man and leaving a humble offering there to restore the balance between the village and the spirit of nature.
Public Market (area #5): If sent here by Sister Elena or merely passing through, the party will be hailed by Anton Baranov. Anton is a lanky, middle-aged man with unruly, salt-and-pepper hair. He sports a disheveled look, and reeks of ale. The man gesticulates wildly as the party approaches.
“I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you all about ‘em.” He says.
If the party gives the poor soul a moment to speak, he will inform them that he has heard that they are investigating the blight and he knows what is behind it. According to Baranov, strange little creatures have been coming out of the woods at night. He claims that he has seen them dancing little jigs out in the fields. If pressed for a description of the creatures, he will confess to it having been dark when he saw them but that he’s certain that they were goblins, or gremlins, or something of that ilk.
Other townsfolk will gently explain that Anton is known for enjoying his drink. However, the direction that he claims the creatures came from does happen to line up with the direction in which Yevgeny would have pointed the party in, in order to reach the Altar of the Green Man.
End of Part I
That’s all for now. Part II is already complete and you may find it here. Thank you for stopping by.
For the 3rd week of October, I have another encounter that is perfectly suited to fill a Halloween game night. With a few minor tweaks, there is really nothing that would stop you from using this at other times of the year.
This is typical of something that I might throw together for an in-between session, on the heels of the party completing an adventure and deciding what to do next. This does not require a great deal of prep and works great for times when your session may need to be shorter than usual. It is also handy to have something like this ready for times when some of your players will be absent.
Made with Campaign Cartographer SS4 Dungeons of Schley.
The Festival
The premise here is simple. The party stumbles onto a harvest festival being held on the outskirts of a settlement. This is a joyous time and the whole community has turned out to celebrate a bountiful harvest. The key to this type of encounter is to really sell to your players that there is a lot going on.
The are a number of activities for your party to explore but I suggest that you weave in bits from your own campaign. This is a great place for the party to bump in to an NPC that they haven’t seen in quite a while. Someone might notice them from their previous exploits. Perhaps some lackeys from the BBEG turn up to spoil the fun. There are all sorts of possibilities.
Your party should hear the sounds of the festival as they approach. Even if you do not normally incorporate music into your sessions, I think you should consider it for this encounter. Simply playing an appropriate track in the background will go a long way toward setting the stage. There are countless options but in the past I have used this Joyful Festival track from The Ambiance Channel on YouTube. They have a lot of great stuff and are worth a listen.
There will be a number of food and drink vendors at the event. Be sure to at least jot down a few different culinary delights that might tempt your party members. If you want to go the extra mile and actually prepare something for your players, I have included some suggestions in this post.
The Hedge Maze
The main attraction of the festival is the hedge maze. Depending on the size of your party, either break them up or start each member at one of the 4 different starting areas. Once you are ready, they will race to see which group or individual can be the first to make it to the center.
Have each group roll for initiative and from there I would run it like an old school dungeon crawl. Starting with the first group, describe what they see, up until the need to make their first decision. For instance, “The path goes east for fifteen feet and then turns south. You now have to decide whether to proceed to the west or east.” While they are deciding, move on to the next group and continue on like this until someone makes their way to the center.
The winning team will be presented with:
The Medallion of Autumn’s Grace: This intricately designed bronze medallion is adorned with autumn leaves and acorns. When worn, it grants its wearer the ability to cause colorful autumn leaves to whirl around them once per day as a bonus action.
Puppet Show
There is a raucous puppet show set up in the center area of the hedge maze. There are a couple fun things that I like to do with this. The puppet show can be used as an opportunity to lay down some foreshadowing for future events in your story. Perhaps it helps to illustrate just how downtrodden the people are by the BBEG of your campaign. Alternatively, you might use the puppet show to tell the story of some local legend or some bit of lore that you want your players to have.
The other thing I occasionally do is have the puppet show actually be telling the story of some of the party’s exploits. This becomes extra entertaining if the puppets accidentally mess up the story in such a way that it embarrasses some of the party members.
Apple Bobbing
Also located in the center of the hedge maze is an apple bobbing station. Full disclosure, I have seen oodles of takes on this over the years. I do not want to copy anyone but the easiest thing that comes to mind would be to give each player 5 attempts at a DC 12 dexterity check. Every success indicates that the character successfully grabbed an apple with their teeth.
The character with the most apples at the end of the contest will win:
3 Packets of Pumpkin Spice: All nonmagical food and drink sprinkled with one of these spice packets will be rendered free of poison and disease.
The Hatter & Haberdasher
I know that this seems incredibly mundane but trust me on this one. Yes, your players could potentially buy a hat or new clothing pretty much every time they are in a town or city. No, these are not magical hats or clothing.
However, unless you run with a group consisting solely of jaded power gamers, give this a shot. Describe some fanciful hats and garments. Create a colorful NPC, who is hawking his wares and I will bet that you hook at least one of your players who suddenly becomes interested in some new finery.
The Portrait Artist
This one is more of a slow burn but it really pays off in the end. I have done this twice now and it was a hit on both occasions.
A skilled artist calls out to the party and offers to create a portrait, either of them individually or as a group. The artist explains that they only need the party to pose long enough to make some charcoal sketches. Once that is complete, they will work on the piece over the following weeks and produce it for the party once completed.
I have used this as a great opportunity to commission an actual picture of the party from an online artist (of course I do not tell them this at the time). When I present it to them a few sessions later, it’s usually right around the holidays and everyone gets a big kick out of it.
Made with Campaign Cartographer SS4 Dungeons of Schley.
The Tattoo Artist
While some systems feature magical tattoos that enable various abilities, this is purely mundane. However, much like with the clothing options above, I find that this is a hit. Presented with the idea of getting tattoos for their characters, players often take the bait. I enjoy seeing what they com up with, regardless of whether they opt for something to make them look fierce or something in remembrance of a fallen comrade.
Fortune Teller
No Halloween themed harvest festival encounter would be complete without a fortune teller. You can go as deep with this on as you like. If you want to use props, a quick Google search should yield plenty of ideas for using a deck of playing cards, tarot cards, or even something more customized. Alternatively, you could just have the fortune teller use a crystal ball or simply “feel” the spirits.
I like to have fortunes ready for each player ahead of time. Fortunes do not need to be accurate; it’s all in good fun. However, I have found it best to weave in little bits of the story while leaving things vague enough to allow the players to draw their own conclusions.
Conclusion
Those are just some ideas that you could include in a Harvest Festival encounter. Have you ever done anything like this? What else would you add to the mix? Leave me a note in the comments.
That is all for this week. Two more weeks until I head up to the Irvington Halloween Festival in Indianapolis, IN! Thank you for taking the time to stop by and have a great week!
For my 2nd October post I am featuring a sinister squash. As I previously mentioned, sometimes our Halloween sessions are a bit too busy to focus on the meat of the campaign. When this happens, I will try to line up a one-off encounter for the evening.
This week’s entry should not take long at all. When I have used this in the past it has been with a low-level party, usually immediately following their first adventure.
What the Party Knows
The party has just arrived in the sleepy little village of Wiltenshire. The air is crisp and farmers are nearing the end of the harvest season. Despite being what would normally be a festive time of the year, the locals seem subdued.
Having rented rooms at the local inn, the Grinning Gourd, the party is settling in to a well-deserved meal, when a sudden commotion breaks out.
The door to the inn is flung open and a terrified farmer steps inside yelling “Gods save us! He’s back!” At that, he runs back outside and a number of the other patrons immediately stand up from their meals to join him. The individuals remaining behind appear paralyzed with terror, as they seem unable to choose between running for the door or hiding under their tables.
Should the party inquire about the nature of the disturbance. One of the patrons will turn and respond with a wild look in his eyes. “It’s the damned Pumpkin Fiend! He’s come back to kill us all.”
At this point you should tell the party that they smell something burning and can hear maniacal laughter coming from outside.
Wiltenshire. Created in Campaign Cartographer.
What Is Really Going On
Years ago, a young farmer name John Crane fell in love with the daughter of a prominent local official. The two planned to elope but the official did not approve of the pairing. Conspiring with other local farmers, a plan was hatched to dispatch Crane and bury his body in his own pumpkin patch. Each of the individuals taking part in the plot would then divvy up the Crane farmstead for themselves.
Prior to his death at the hands of the conspirators, John Crane vowed his revenge and swore that he would return to burn the village to the ground. The spirit of the wronged farmer clearly intends to make good on his threat and has returned every year during harvest time as the grotesque figure who the locals have dubbed the Pumpkin Fiend.
This creature has a body and limbs composed of twisted, gnarled vines, giving him an eerie and unnatural appearance. His head, the most unsettling feature, is a grotesque jack-o’-lantern with a menacing, malevolent grin. Sinister, flickering flames burn within the hollow confines of the pumpkin, casting eerie shadows.
The Pumpkin Fiend stands tall, his form exuding an aura of twisted vengeance. Vines writhe and twist around his limbs, forming claw-like appendages with thorny protrusions. He moves with an unsettling ease, as if he’s part of the very darkness that cloaks him.
Maniacal laughter escapes from the jagged mouth of his pumpkin head, echoing through the night and striking terror into the hearts of those unfortunate enough to encounter him. This once-wronged farmer has been transformed into a supernatural entity, driven by a sinister desire to exact retribution upon the village that wronged him years ago.
Abilities
Spring-Heeled Leap: As a bonus action, the Pumpkin Fiend can leap up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space that it can see.
Pumpkin Bombs: As a standard action, flaming pumpkins appear in the Pumpkin Fiend’s hands. He hurls these explosive pumpkin bombs at opponents or structures up to 15’ away. Use 10′ area-of-effect (AoE) templates to represent where the bombs land. Players must dodge or take cover to avoid damage.
Burning Debuff: If a player is hit by a pumpkin bomb, they will catch fire, taking damage over time until they use an action to put out the flames.
Fear Aura: The Pumpkin Fiend’s unnatural presence emits a 20’ aura of fear, causing players to make Wisdom saving throws or become frightened. Frightened characters have disadvantage on attacks and ability checks while the aura is active.
Entangle: As a standard action the Pumpkin Fiend can cast Entangle as the spell of the same name.
Wiltenshire. No labels.
The Encounter
There are 8 locations within the main center of the village:
Farmer’s Market
Blacksmith Shop
Grinning Gourd Inn
Stables
Cottage
Mercantile
Cottage
Cottage
Roll a 2d8 once the party decides to take a look outside. The result from the first d8 will indicate a structure that is already on fire by the time the party steps outdoors. The result from the second with indicate the structure that the Pumpkin Fiend is standing on top of, laughing maniacally.
Describe the scene to the party. The villagers themselves do not appear to be cut out for a fight. Some are fleeing, some paralyzed in fear, and the rest are actively trying to put out the fire at the burning structure.
If the party does not engage the Pumpkin Fiend, he will use his actions to continue leaping from building to building and light them ablaze with his pumpkin bombs. If he manages to light all 8 structures, he will caper off into the night, never to be heard from again.
However, If the party attempts to intervene, they will immediately draw the ire of the Pumpkin Fiend. He will attempt to use his Entangle ability to root the party and then burn them with his pumpkin bombs.
If the party defeats the Pumpkin Fiend, all that will remain of him will be his carved pumpkin head. Lifting this lid off this pumpkin will reveal the following items:
Ever-Burning Candle: This seemingly mundane candle will radiate magic. It functions as an ordinary candle and may be blown out. However, it does not melt and never needs to be replaced.
3 Packets of Pumpkin Spice: All non-magical food and drink sprinkled with one of these spice packets will be rendered free of poison and disease.
Mysterious Potion: A potion with an orange hue, labeled “Drink me” When consumed, it grants temporary visions that show the person who consumed it the fate of John Crane. Over the course of a few moments, the whole story of betrayal and murder will play out before their eyes. What the party chooses to do with that information is up to them.
Wrap Up
A selection of our pumpkins from a couple years back.
Thank you for joining me for another week. I’ll be keeping with the Halloween theme for the rest of the month. How about you? Do you decorate at all for Halloween? Do you carve pumpkins of your own? Let me know in the comments below. I appreciate you stopping by.
Halloween has always held a special place in my heart. As a child, it was a time of magic, when dressing up in costumes transformed me into anything I could imagine. Growing up in the 1970s, I can recall donning the guise of a pirate, a gorilla from The Plant of the Apes, and a Sleestak, all before the age of 7.
Those early years of pretend play laid the foundation for a lifelong love of storytelling. As I started reading books, my imagination grew, and when I was introduced to tabletop role-playing games everything truly blossomed.
With the leaves starting to change, my thoughts are turning to Halloween. I love to incorporate the spooky season into my game night, so I thought I share some things I have done in the past. I am going to share some links but only to provide examples. I am in no way affiliated with any of these sites.
Squaring off with the Invisible Man at the Midwest Haunter’s Convention 2012.
Set the Stage
It doesn’t take much to make your gaming space take on a spooky appearance. Simply dimming the lights, lightning a few candles, and playing some ambient Halloween music can go a long way. To take things a step further, some basic decorations can usually be found without making too great of an investment. For overachievers, consider asking each of your players to bring a carved jack-o-lantern to the session.
Perhaps Add Some Food
I have mentioned before that our game nights tend to be accompanied by a meal. Well, for our Halloween session we try to really turn things up a notch. Last year we paired these pizza skulls with hot dog mummies and both were a big hit around the table.
We provided these cocktails, which we dubbed “Spooky Sunsets” for the occasion. For our friends who don’t drink, we whipped up a batch of this copycat Hi-C Ecto Cooler.
Too much bother? Simply buying a bag of Halloween candy and sprinkling it on your gaming table is sure to be a hit with your players.
Run A Spooky Game
Despite definitely getting together for a Halloween session, we often avoid our regular campaign for this night. Sometimes we’ll opt for a one-shot, while on other occasions we may roll with something other than an RPG. Here are a few examples that have fit the bill over the years.
I must have run the classic I6 Ravenloft at least a dozen times for Halloween related sessions since the 1980s. Here’s a link to a great video about turning this old standby into something fit for a single evening’s play.
This is a steal at $4 and if you’ve never tried Call of Cthulhu, you won’t find a better point of entry.
You’d be hard pressed to get much creepier than Call of Cthulhu. Even if you’ve never dipped a toe into this legendary game of Lovecraftian horror, you have plenty of time to prepare (and the price is right). Chaosium is offering the Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition Quick-Start Rules for whopping price of $.04 over on DriveThruRPG. Not only does this include everything needed to get up and running but it also includes the classic adventure The Haunting.
I ran The Haunting a couple years ago for a group that had never touched CoC and everyone was on the edge of their seat. If you do decide to go this route, I strongly suggest watching a couple videos ahead of time, to get a feel for how to best run the adventure. Here is a great example.
While not a traditional RPG, Alice is Missingmight be a good fit. Alice Briarwood, a high school junior, has gone missing and it’s up to the players to get to the bottom of it. Alice Is Missing is a unique kind of roleplaying game in which players only communicate using their phones, sending text messages to each other as they unearth clues about what happened to Alice.
While I’m told this can be played online, we played in person and that seemed to really ratchet up the tension. This one can get a little heavy, so it may be best to play with folks you know well. We had a good time with it and it lead to a lot of good conversation after the session.
Occasionally we’ll forego playing a RPG altogether and opt for enjoying a board game for the evening. There are a number that fit the bill but we’ve found that Betrayal at House on the Hilland Mysteriumboth work nicely.
Add Some Spooky Elements to Your Ongoing Campaign
It’s certainly possible that you want to roll right along with your ongoing game while still giving things a little touch of Halloween. If that’s the case, I’ll try to lend a hand. For the rest of the month, I will focus my posts on maps and little plot hooks that should be easy to fit into an existing campaign. I’ll do my best to help spread a little Halloween cheer that you can share with your players.
Closing
So, do You Incorporate Halloween Into Your Game Night? If so, please take a moment and leave a comment to let me know what you do with your group. I’m always curious to pick up some new suggestions.
While I’ve got you, do you recall any favorite Halloween costumes from your youth (or more recently)? I’m a stilt-walker in my spare time and have spent the past 35 years as a 9’ tall version of Frankenstein’s monster.
That’s all for now. Thanks for taking the time to stop by and have a great week.
For information about the Village of Cross Tree, go here.
Over the course of the past month, I have been including some iconic monsters in my map posts. While giant spiders and green slimes certainly hold a special place in my heart, I suppose you could make a case that the lowly goblin is the quintessential low-level fantasy TTRPG foe.
Considered by many to be no more than cannon fodder, I wanted to put together a mini-adventure that would play out more like an infiltration from an action movie. Sure, the party could likely wipe the floor with any of these encounters. However, if they are not careful, they could bring the whole enclave down on their heads.
If you’ve been following for any time you already know that I try to keep things system agnostic. I would probably suggest this for a party with some experience under their belt (levels 3-4?) but do what works for your game. As previously mentioned, the rooms on their own should be relatively simple but if you play the goblins wisely, there are good chances for things to go sideways.
What the Player’s Know
The party has been hired by the residents of a small village and asked to secure the release of their blacksmith. It seems the poor fellow was carried off by a band of marauding goblins! The goblins are said to live in a simple cave complex outside of town.
Inquiring in town may lead to some rumors about the goblins. Roll a d10 and consult below:
Elven Captives: It’s said that the goblins have captured a group of elves and are using them as forced labor. (False)
Shaman’s Dark Magic: The goblin shaman wields powerful dark magic, capable of curses and hexes. (True)
Hidden Entrance: There’s a hidden entrance to the goblin warren, concealed cleverly to catch intruders off guard. (True)
Cursed Shaman: The shaman is rumored to be cursed and can be easily defeated by a simple chant of “Bree Yark, Bree Yark!”. (False…this is a little call out to B2)
Dragon Alliance: Rumor has it that the bugbear has formed an alliance with a young dragon lurking in the nearby mountains. (False)
Traps: The goblins have set up traps throughout their warren to protect against invaders. (True)
Friendly Goblins: Some goblins are friendly and can be persuaded to help intruders if offered bribes. (False)
Bugbear’s Brutal Leadership: The bugbear leader is a ruthless brute, known for his immense strength and cunning tactics. (True)
Stolen Treasures: The goblins have amassed a hoard of stolen treasures from their raids. (True)
Wargs as Mounts: The goblins ride ferocious wargs into battle, using them to terrorize their foes. (True)
The Goblin Warren
Guard Post: Two goblins sit outside the main entrance to the warren at all times. They will flee at any sign of trouble. Unless the party can dispatch them quickly, things could get sticky. These fellows are cowards so they will not engage with the party. If they become aware of an assault they will immediately flee to area #3.
Guard Room: This is the post for the goblin guards during periods of inclement weather. It is littered with trash and debris.
Pit Trap Ambush: This is a trap area. Surviving guards will run along the right wall to avoid the pit trap. Arriving at area #3 they will arm themselves with short bows and wait for the party. Party members will notice the pit trap covered with brush on a roll of 1-3 on a d6 (thieves on a 1-5). Characters falling into the 10’ pit will suffer 1d6 of falling damage and 1d6 of impaling damage. The goblins will rain down arrows on the attackers and scream for help from other areas of the compound.
Common Area: This stinking room is covered in piles of trash and animal pelts. In the evening hours 6 goblins will be slumbering here. If the guards from area #1 have been making noise for more than 2 rounds, they will groggily be arming themselves. By day, there will be 2 goblins here, 2 in area #5, 1 in area #7, and 1 in area #8.
Kitchen: This is the kitchen area for the warren. During the day, 2 goblins work here preparing mutton for the denizens of the warren.
Larder: This is where the questionable food supplies for the warren are kept.
Bathing Area: During the day, one goblin may be found here, bathing in the spring waters that bubble up.
Warg Kennel: During the day one goblin is stationed here, tending the 5 wargs who are present. The wargs are in cages but will be released in the alarm is sounded and reaches the tender.
Shaman Quarters: The goblin shaman dwells here. This cave smells of incense and spices. Unless warned of intruders, there is a 40% chance that the shaman will be taken by surprise.
Chieftain’s Lair: A bugbear chieftain presides over the goblins. 3 bodyguards attend him. The blacksmith is caged in this room. At any sign of trouble, the chieftain will flee through the secret door to the north. The captive blacksmith is caged in this room.
Rear Guard: A lone goblin guard is stationed here. He is usually dunk or asleep. He “guards” the escape route out of the complex but is unaware of location #12.
Treasure Room: This room is only known to the bugbear chieftain and his 3 bodyguards. This is where all the treasure of the goblin warren is stored.
Wrap Up
That’s all for now. As a little peek behind the curtain, I usually write this part on Sunday evening, fully dreading going back to work on Monday. If you are reading this, you are legitimately helping me to get through the week, so thank you for taking the time to stop by. I hope you have a great week and manage to roll some dice as part of the process.
For the past couple of weeks, I have been preparing for a new game. In recent years, I have found that running a campaign from the months of October through March or April generally yields good results. I only play in person and we live in a college-town, so there are usually a good number of folks available, looking for something fun to do during the months when the weather is less than pleasant.
My girlfriend and I like to make game nights a real social event. Our sessions tend to be more like a dinner party followed by some gaming. We both love to cook, so when we’re really on our game, we will go as far as to try to make themed dishes based on what happens to be going on with the game. If any of you play in person, do you have any special game night traditions? Do you have better luck finding players for winter games?
The current front-runner for my cold-weather sessions would be a fantasy game, as it would appeal to the broadest spectrum of my potential players. That said, I’m feeling a bit of a draw to go with Call of Cthulhu or Paranoia. Assuming fantasy wins, I’ll likely go with Old School Essentials.
Lately, I’ve been following David @ Streets & Spores, who has been sharing recaps of his group’s adventures through Castle Xyntillan. It sounds like they’re having a really good time. While I’ve never run a megadungeon, I’m starting to warm up to the thought of taking an almost West Marches approach to the affair. We would aim to have the party safely back in town at the end of each session. From there, any available players would continue to explore the dungeon each week.
My Campaign Cartographer doodles this week consist of a potential first level for a homebrewed megadungeon adventure tentatively titled “The Halls of Khared Ordus.” That said, I’m thinking I’ll let this simmer for a while. If I do go with the megadungeon route, I’m thinking I might just buy a published adventure and just have fun with it.
Closing
How about you? Do you lean towards writing your own adventures or prefer published modules or adventure paths? If you’ve experienced megadungeons before, do you have a favorite?
That’s all for now. No plot hooks this week, as my real-life job is using me as a chew toy. Thank you very much for stopping by. Have a great week and if you’re looking for more, here are some links:
Today I want to share something from my collection that goes back 40 years. This simple booklet is the 1983 RPGA Network Member Directory.
To my recollection, this was the only version of the directory ever printed.
The TSR RPGA (Role-Playing Gamers Association) was an organization for tabletop role-playing enthusiasts, established by TSR, Inc., the company who made the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) game. Founded in 1980, it aimed to bring together gamers from around the world, providing them with a shared platform to connect. One of the RPGA’s primary functions was organizing and sanctioning gaming events, including conventions and tournaments, allowing members to enjoy structured, competitive play (this was a thing back then) while also fostering a sense of community within the RPG world.
Members of the RPGA received a subscription to the Polyhedron Newszine. This periodical publication offered content for role-playing enthusiasts. It featured articles on various gaming topics, including adventures, rules discussions, and interviews with prominent figures in the RPG community. Additionally, the Polyhedron Newszine often included exclusive game content, such as new adventures, magic items, and character options (not unlike a smaller version of Dragon Magazine).
Members could select the games that they were familiar with as both a player or referee (GM).
In later years, the RPGA rolled out the idea of a living campaign, where the actions of the players would have an impact on the overall campaign story arc. Their first campaign of this type was Living City, a series of adventures set in the city of Raven’s Bluff. I may be mistaken, as this was never my cup of tea, but I believe that this was the start of the concept of organized play. If you know otherwise, please leave me a note below.
With the history stuff out of the way, let me share a bit about this directory itself. A company could never do this kind of thing today but you have to remember that back in 1983 we were pre-internet and most folks didn’t even own a personal computer. The RPGA Member Directory was a comprehensive listing of RPGA members worldwide. This directory served as a tool for members seeking fellow gamers for local campaigns, conventions, or simply to connect with like-minded individuals who shared an interest in role-playing games. Members could use the directory to find fellow gamers in their region and organize gaming events. I used it myself to reach out to meet some local gamers in Rochester, as well as to start a play-by-mail game with some folks in NJ.
The bulk of the publication consisted of page after page of actual addresses.
That’s all for now. Just thought some of you might enjoy seeing this blast from the past.
Yesterday marked the end of my first year of blogging. I have found the endeavor to be quite rewarding, as I had been longing to interact with more people who enjoy this hobby of ours. If you have stopped by to say hello over the past year, I thank you for visiting.
When I started this blog, I knew that I wanted to interact with people and that I wanted to create the type of content that I enjoy reading myself. Over the course of the past year, I’ve written a couple posts about how I go about running my games and each of these has performed quite well.
As with those, I’m not entirely sure that what I’m about to share will land with any of you. However, it’s something that I enjoy, so here we are. I believe I’ve been clear about this in the past but I’m not here to preach to you. I’m simply sharing things that I enjoy, in hopes that you will find something that is useful.
As a GM, sometimes you just know what you want to run. You just purchased a published adventure path or maybe you have a homemade campaign that you have been dying to share. However, on some occasions I find that the process of starting a new game is more about hooking the players.
I find myself in that boat fairly often. I am older guy (53 at the time of writing this) and solely play in-person games. My groups tend to consist of people who are already friends, or at least friends of friends. While these individuals are people I know, they are rarely gamers, or diehard gamers at any rate.
Some of my players join my game because we have played before, some briefly dabbled with TTRPGS back in college, and others have always been curious but have never been exposed to the hobby. Ok, probably a few of them also get dragged along by a spouse or significant other.
While I don’t want to sound desperate, I often feel a great deal of pressure to give the folks a good time. Nobody wants their players to feel like game night is a drag. However, there is also the fact that if I don’t have a group of players, I’m not going to be able to play myself.
When I am ready to start a new game I get excited. I don’t know about you but I find that I start daydreaming about it while I’m at work, when I’m going to bed at night, and all through the day. At this point I will start “fishing” for players. I might start with an email to former players or this could take the form of floating out that fact I’m interested in getting a game together while at a dinner with friends. I’m actually going through this now, as I find that running from October – March or April (with a couple weeks of over the holidays) seems to yield reliable players.
Having discussed the impending game ahead of time, I like to reach out to my players via email and get a feel for them as I am putting a campaign together. This accomplishes two things; it helps me to get a sense of the type of game these people would enjoy but it also allows me the fun of seeing what kind of feedback I receive. I’ve found over the years that I really enjoy this step.
Usually, I will start by polling players on different fantasy franchises and how they feel about them. For instance, it might look something like this:
Following this I will often go back and hit them with another poll about types of plots. This just gives me a general sense of where the interests of my players lie. The second poll might look something like this:
I use the information that I receive from each of these to decide both what type of campaign I think would best suit them but also what kind of adventures I want to start with. I’m not claiming that it’s a magic formula but I have always found it useful. Again, the key fact here is that I ENJOY this. I find it very interesting to see the choices people make. When Bob from accounting is playing and you suspect he’s only playing because his wife dragged him into it, it’s pretty fun to see his responses come in during the middle of the work day and to also see that he added two pages of explanation. This is the stuff that GMs live for.
I may be odd but I don’t give a damn whether my players know the rules, buy a bunch of game books, or anything like that. That will all come with time. In my opinion, a role-playing game requires no more knowledge or skill than simply being able to convey how you would react, if you were an imaginary person, faced with an imaginary situation.
What I want is players who have fun and keep coming back. When I hear that on of my players who never played a TTRPG before drew up plans for assaulting the enemy stronghold during her staff meeting, I know I’ve won.
Wrap Up
That’s all for now. What about you? Do you usually play with people that you know or is it usually total strangers? Do you have any little rituals or traditions that you do before you start a new game? Please let me know in the comments and thank you for stopping by.
If you’d like to see my other posts about how I run my games, here are the links:
Hello. Real life work continues to be a challenge. However, I am stubbornly doing my best to keep my posting schedule regular. This week I am once again going back to the well of classic monsters for inspiration.
My introduction to this hobby was due in no small part to the 1977 animated version of The Hobbit by Rankin/Bass. While many would point to goblins/orcs as being the classic villain of fantasy tabletop role-playing game, I would make a case for giant spiders.
I don’t happen to be an arachnophobe myself but there’s no denying the fact that real world spiders are creepy on their own. The thought of giant versions is particularly terrifying.
Galeton Lumber Camp. Made with Campaign Cartographer SS4 Symbols of Schley.
What the Party Knows
The party has been hired to deliver a bag of mail and sundries to a lumber camp, about a day’s ride outside of the small town of Galeton.
Arriving at the lumber camp the party will be surprised to find that it appears to have been abandoned. While the party expected to see a bustling scene of people chopping wood and going about their daily chores, there is not a soul in sight. Beyond that, apparently even the beasts of burden are missing. Where did everyone go?
What the Party Doesn’t Know
The workers of the logging camp delved a bit too deep into the ancient forest. While going about their work they uncovered a nest of ancient giant spiders.
The queen of this cluster of spiders is possessed an unnatural intelligence. One by one, they picked off the lumberjacks, learning along the way. The spiders would pull one hapless soul deep into the forest. Realizing that his cries would soon draw others, they adopted the practice of always leaving one of their victims alive.
This process continued until nearly all of the lumbermen and their animals were devoured. By the time the party arrives on the scene, only the foreman clings to life. The spiders are holding him at location #5. However, it has been the better part of the day and no one has arrived to help. The spiders are hungry and ready to feed but then they see the party arrive in the camp.
The lumber camp is clearly deserted but it doesn’t make sense. While there are no great treasures present, there are enough personal belongings to make it clear that the lumbermen would have never simply left without taking their gear with them.
A careful search will turn up the quartermaster’s tent, which holds the payroll for the whole camp. Surely brigands or even orcs would have ransacked this and taken everything of value.
2. The Work Site
While there are no traces of horses or mules, it’s clear that they had once been at the camp because the tack and saddlery are evident. Downed trees have been readied for transport but lay abandoned where they were left.
3. Pine Creek
A worn path leading up to Pine Creek indicates that members of the camp regularly used this area to bathe and do laundry. Characters approaching this area will hear moans and screams of agony coming from the northeast. If the party crosses the creek when they hear the screams, consider it to be difficult terrain. The stream is fairly shallow here, though the rocks are slippery. The hill on the opposite bank is manageable but fairly steep.
4. The Hill
Arriving at location #4, the party will be able to see the foreman on the ground at location #5. It is at this point that the spiders will attack. Two will attack from the rear on either side. Two are perpendicular to the party in the trees. Once some of the party members are ensnared in webs, the queen will charge from across the clearing.
5. The Foreman
Should the party be victorious they will find the foreman webbed to the ground here. He’ll be in bad shape but will pull through if he receives healing right away.
Wrap Up
If I were to run this one again, I think I’d focus on some custom mechanics for the spiders. How about you? Any thoughts come to mind?
Thanks for taking the time to stop by. The little interactions I have with all of you really do help to get me through the week at work. Have a great week!
Talaraska 