Some would call me a nerd. Others might use the term geek. A few might even venture into dork territory. But regardless of the terminology, one thing is clear: I play a lot of Dungeons & Dragons, and I watch (and used to do) a lot of boxing.
'How do these two interests come together?' you might ask. If that was your question, here's your answer.
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D&D
I've been a bit of a geek/nerd/dork my whole life, starting (and continuing) with video games before moving on to comic books. I picked up tabletop RPGs (role playing games) during high school, but fell out of habit while studying for my undergraduate degree. I joined a new group about a year and a half ago while I was finishing up my MPH and haven't looked back, participating as a character or leading as the Dungeon Master (DM) anywhere from one to three games per week. I spend a great deal of my free time thinking about this hobby; where to take my character in his development as a person, and how to build my worlds so that my players have maximal opportunities for adventure and creativity and genuine moments. As a player character (a 7th level Ranger - Kalder Ossun, Mystic Beastmaster of the Ringing Mountains - if you must know) the game forces me to think strategically both in combat and social situations: 'how do I fight this Wizard?' 'how would our party's Paladin react to this act of wrongdoing?' 'which of these decisions will produce the outcome our party wants?'. As the DM for my two groups, I'm forced to expand my creative horizons, reading, watching, and listening to a wide array of media to draw on as influences for creativity and world-building. One of my high-points of every week is getting to engage creatively and emotionally with both friends and strangers in a shared, fictional world.
Boxing
Despite my often dorky, pacifistic, (all of my D&D characters have been goody-goody pacifists until they're forced to fight) and emotionally sensitive nature, I've always had an energy inside of me that I needed to get out, something that I didn't like. My parents had me try every sport under the sun as a little kid, and I hated them all: I was uncoordinated, not energetic, and didn't have any sort of natural talent. Eventually, at about 5 years old, my pops signed me up at a local karate school and told me that I'd be going every week, rain or shine, until I was old and smart enough to decide for myself whether or not I wanted to keep going. Ten years later I got my first black belt, and three years after that right before I left for college, I achieved my 2nd Dan rank. I'd found the outlet for my deeper, aggressive nature in a way that was structured, strictly disciplined, and mentored. By that point I had become a senior instructor at our dojo, though the number of students was dwindling and I knew inside that once I left, my Sensei would close the school. In the 3 years leading up to the day I left, one of our senior students, an amateur boxer of accomplishment at the university level, taught me how to box.
One or two nights a week we left the dojo open late at night for boxing classes, and I became a glorified punching bag for guys that were often bigger, stronger, and far more skilled than I. But I learned a lot. I learned - through sparring guys half a foot and 40 to 60 pounds heavier than me - that I could face anybody. I became a boxing nerd, compulsively watching fight films online, on DVR, and on live cards. I was never a great, or even very good, boxer in the dojo, but I forced myself to think creatively and strategically to fight these guys who were 6' to my 5'7, 180 lbs to my (at the time) 140. I continued through most of university, helping form a club for all different martial artists to spar each other and think creatively. In conjunction with my more meditative karate training, I learned that I could channel my aggression and fear and anxiety and emotion into a pursuit that ultimately helped build me into a more complete person.
Harmony
Together, my two very divergent interests have helped me to become the most complete person that I know how to be. Both pursuits, martial arts training and D&D, help me to channel my creativity, passion, emotion, and aggression, into productive endeavors that challenge me to reach higher and further. Both have allowed me the great privilege to form deep and lasting bonds with others, and share in a unified geekery around shared passions. In the end, though my two passions don't overlap or intersect, they've helped me mold myself into someone that I can be content with, and that I hope is able to bring joy to others.
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I wrote this earlier today as a FanPost over at Bad Left Hook, but wanted to post it here as well.
Thursday, July 13, 2017
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
Vymrrys Building Generator (WIP)
The following table can be used to quickly generate the vertical structure and connectivity of any building for which the DM might need more information. Individual floor layouts would have to be created separately. This is a work in progress and will be updated on and off.
To start:
To start:
- Roll a D4+1 (for a regular building) or D10 (for a tall tower, taking only results over 5) to determine how many floors tall the building will be.
- Roll a D6-1 to determine how many connections this building will have to nearby buildings via bridges.
- Roll on the below tables to determine what occupies the floors of the building, the shape of the building, and any interesting features.
or
- Pick and choose to suit your tastes or the where in the city the building is constructed.
|
D100
|
What’s On That Level
|
|
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46-50
51 - 100
|
Tavern
Tannery
Armorer
Weaponsmith
Alchemist
General Store
Jeweler
Baker
Butcher
Hidden Brewery
Weaver
Schoolhouse
Furrier
Bookbinder
Printer
Tailor
Orphanage
Drug Den
Hidden Winery
Locksmith
Stone-carver
Mason
Curiosity Shop
Gambling Hall
Brothel
Theater
Lawyer
Barber
Candle-maker
Produce Store
Sign-maker
Bookstore
Exotic Animal Bazaar
Minor Church
Major Church
Woodworker
Granary
Architect
Painter
Aviary
Observatory
Fortune Teller
Library
Botanist
Cult meeting place
Wealthy Residence
Residence
|
|
D6
|
Building Shape
|
|
1
2
3
4
5
6
|
Building is narrow but deep, has
entrances on 2 parallel streets.
Building is wide but shallow,
takes up half of the current street.
Building is identically wide and
deep.
Building twists, with each floor
offset, doesn’t seem stable but is.
Building has a flat backside, but
rounded front.
Building is wide and deep, but an
interior courtyard takes up most of the space.
|
|
D8
|
Architectural Feature
|
|
1-4
5
6
7
8
|
Building is made from sandstone
blocks without any real flourishes.
Building is made from sandstone
blocks, but includes twisting veins of orbicular diorite.
Building is made from interlocking
sandstone and lapis lazuli bricks.
Building is made from sandstone
blocks, but with wooden pegs driven partway into the walls for ivy to grow
up.
Building is made from sunbaked bricks
that are slowly crumbling.
|
Wednesday, June 21, 2017
Kalder Ossun, Mystic Beastmaster of the Ringing Mountains, Retires
Kalder Ossun, at current the last of his line, has retired as an adventurer under the Dark Sun. His adventures with Iolrath, Tomak, Lor, and Bird-Person, have come to an end (for now).
He wandered far and wide across the Tablelands of Athas, hunting game and men alike. Gifted with a half-elven endurance, Kalder, along with his various beastly companions, journeyed from the Tablelands to the Great Ivory Plain to the Silt Sea and beyond. With his hand-carved bow and razor-sharp bone arrows, Kalder slew all manner of foul beast and wicked men: slavers, defilers, and any who would take advantage of the wandering desert tribes for their own gain.
He was the first of his kin to cross the looming Ringing Mountains near Tyr into the forests of the cannibal halflings. He was the first to slay both halves of a Killipede with his companions, his poisoned arrows riddling its soft underside while Tomak's greatstaff shattered its hard shell. Kalder was key to the Great Truce of the halfling tribes, and from them learned about the mystical properties of the dried purple mushroom common to the forest.
His mystical insights led him to powerful revelations and all manner of changes. No longer was he the brooding and cloaked Ranger of the Wastes - now, clad in the brightly hued lizard-skin armor and pearlescent insect-carapace helmet, he became the Mystic Ranger of the Ringing Mountains. With his party of fellow outcasts he befriended and took on as his apprentice Moto, the Last Gnome. He trained her in the ways of the Beastmaster and together they slew the twisted and gibbering many-eyed beast of the Deep Caves, and helped Bird-Person retrieve the Sunlight Staff of the Deep Temple, cleansing the defiling corruption from its halls. In the process however, he was forced to mourn the death of his first beast companion, Pearl the Pterrax Youngling, who had accompanied him and grown so much throughout his travels.
Kalder was also instrumental in defending the refugees during the siege of the Fort of Many Winds, helping his party wipe out the elven defilers of the Blood Moon Tribe with their allied Thri-Kreen army. He led them back across the mountains, to settle in the cleansed ruins of the Deep Temple and the surrounding forest. Here, he established the Mystical Hunters, a ranger school to teach any and all the mystical ways of the Beastmaster.
Here, in the lush forests east of the Ringing Mountains, Kalder Ossun still resides, surrounded by his pupils and his dear friend Moto. He retired at Level 7.
He wandered far and wide across the Tablelands of Athas, hunting game and men alike. Gifted with a half-elven endurance, Kalder, along with his various beastly companions, journeyed from the Tablelands to the Great Ivory Plain to the Silt Sea and beyond. With his hand-carved bow and razor-sharp bone arrows, Kalder slew all manner of foul beast and wicked men: slavers, defilers, and any who would take advantage of the wandering desert tribes for their own gain.
He was the first of his kin to cross the looming Ringing Mountains near Tyr into the forests of the cannibal halflings. He was the first to slay both halves of a Killipede with his companions, his poisoned arrows riddling its soft underside while Tomak's greatstaff shattered its hard shell. Kalder was key to the Great Truce of the halfling tribes, and from them learned about the mystical properties of the dried purple mushroom common to the forest.
 |
| A cluster of mushrooms. The smallest is about 2 feet tall. |
His mystical insights led him to powerful revelations and all manner of changes. No longer was he the brooding and cloaked Ranger of the Wastes - now, clad in the brightly hued lizard-skin armor and pearlescent insect-carapace helmet, he became the Mystic Ranger of the Ringing Mountains. With his party of fellow outcasts he befriended and took on as his apprentice Moto, the Last Gnome. He trained her in the ways of the Beastmaster and together they slew the twisted and gibbering many-eyed beast of the Deep Caves, and helped Bird-Person retrieve the Sunlight Staff of the Deep Temple, cleansing the defiling corruption from its halls. In the process however, he was forced to mourn the death of his first beast companion, Pearl the Pterrax Youngling, who had accompanied him and grown so much throughout his travels.
 |
| Kalder's pearlescent insectoid helmet, Crawling Chaos. |
Kalder was also instrumental in defending the refugees during the siege of the Fort of Many Winds, helping his party wipe out the elven defilers of the Blood Moon Tribe with their allied Thri-Kreen army. He led them back across the mountains, to settle in the cleansed ruins of the Deep Temple and the surrounding forest. Here, he established the Mystical Hunters, a ranger school to teach any and all the mystical ways of the Beastmaster.
Here, in the lush forests east of the Ringing Mountains, Kalder Ossun still resides, surrounded by his pupils and his dear friend Moto. He retired at Level 7.
Monday, June 12, 2017
Vat-brain in a Wizard Tower in a Field of Desert Roses
Tens of miles out into the Stone-crushed Sea, occasionally visible on the edge of the horizon through the heat haze, stands the Pillar. Few travelers through the vast desert east of Vymrrys even believe it to be real, merely the result of a mirage in 120° heat. However, those who have gotten close enough to feel its pull, its almost hypnotic beckoning, have learned at least the first layer of its true nature before they were lost: it is real, it is beautiful, it is your end.
The Pillar
Originally a construct of infamous Vymrrysian wizard Abarron Hagai, the Pillar now sits masterless in a sea of sand. It rises from a salt flat, its massive sandstone blocks laced with deep and twisting Ilmenite veins. Over the years, invasive desert rose crystal clusters have crept from the flats, forming a field of shimmering orange and razor sharp formations from knee-height to over 20 feet tall that surround the Pillar in a radius of about a mile. Some of these crystal vines, with their fanned and flattened sandy blades, have begun to snake up the sides of the Pillar, each year growing a few more inches upwards, carefully avoiding the grey and wormlike Ilmenite.
During his life, Abarron was consumed in his passion for the psionic magics. His studies of the powers contained within the mind led him to build his tower in the desert, close enough to trade routes to occasionally lure lone travelers, but far enough to remain concealed in the heat haze from those who might prove dangerous. After years of experimentation and sacrifices, he achieved his ultimate creation: the growth of a psychic brain independent of body, encased in a vat of pure psionic energy. As with any creation born into an unfamiliar and cruel world, the magically grown and sustained psionic entity grew resentful and desperate. In a fit of rage, the vat-brain lashed out at Abarron, killing him and leaving itself alone in the tower.
Over the next decades and eventually centuries, the psionic vat-brain has drawn hundreds of travelers to the Pillar, searching for a suitable vessel: none have proved hearty enough to become vehicles for its intellect and ability, and most have had their brains emulsified by even the subtlest beginnings of a permanent mind-swap. The Pillar is now littered with bodies, some still fresh, others already crumbling skeletons.
------------------------------------------
A future post will detail a layout for the Pillar, how to run a party's adventure there, and combat with the Vat-brain and its psionically controlled minions.
The Pillar
Originally a construct of infamous Vymrrysian wizard Abarron Hagai, the Pillar now sits masterless in a sea of sand. It rises from a salt flat, its massive sandstone blocks laced with deep and twisting Ilmenite veins. Over the years, invasive desert rose crystal clusters have crept from the flats, forming a field of shimmering orange and razor sharp formations from knee-height to over 20 feet tall that surround the Pillar in a radius of about a mile. Some of these crystal vines, with their fanned and flattened sandy blades, have begun to snake up the sides of the Pillar, each year growing a few more inches upwards, carefully avoiding the grey and wormlike Ilmenite.
During his life, Abarron was consumed in his passion for the psionic magics. His studies of the powers contained within the mind led him to build his tower in the desert, close enough to trade routes to occasionally lure lone travelers, but far enough to remain concealed in the heat haze from those who might prove dangerous. After years of experimentation and sacrifices, he achieved his ultimate creation: the growth of a psychic brain independent of body, encased in a vat of pure psionic energy. As with any creation born into an unfamiliar and cruel world, the magically grown and sustained psionic entity grew resentful and desperate. In a fit of rage, the vat-brain lashed out at Abarron, killing him and leaving itself alone in the tower.
Over the next decades and eventually centuries, the psionic vat-brain has drawn hundreds of travelers to the Pillar, searching for a suitable vessel: none have proved hearty enough to become vehicles for its intellect and ability, and most have had their brains emulsified by even the subtlest beginnings of a permanent mind-swap. The Pillar is now littered with bodies, some still fresh, others already crumbling skeletons.
------------------------------------------
A future post will detail a layout for the Pillar, how to run a party's adventure there, and combat with the Vat-brain and its psionically controlled minions.
Wednesday, June 7, 2017
Session Report III - The Gang Screws Up a Heist
The party response to a "job board" request, potentially lift a curse, and extort a man for his apartment.
The Adventuring Party
Jerm (of Perm) - Halfling bard, plays a bone flute, enjoys eviscerating the psyches of his foes with shitty songs.
Reika - Half-elf druid, anarcho-communist, enjoys thrashing foes with thorns and nature magic.
Gerg - Half-orc rogue (with a whip), large yet sneaky, mostly silent but makes exceptions to grab things with his whip.
Halisstra - Drow rogue, puts up with her "friends" long enough to get what she wants, stabs backs happily.
Harold Flesh-eater - a small psychic kangaroo/dog hybrid thing that they picked up on a prior adventure (LVL 1-3). He doesn't do much but complain about being hungry, but is happy to eat bodies if given enough time.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Having received the crow-borne message from Jerm, Reika rejoined the group at their new apartment. A long discussion was had, but ultimately they decided on two things: 1) they definitely needed to steal this artifact from the White Web, and 2) after extorting Gor, they couldn't trust him not to send his associates after them. After resting, the group decided to track down Gor again, and make sure he hadn't snitched on them to Krawl and Vasken. Despite an incoming sandstorm, and several carnivorous reptiles in the streets, the group asked Harold to pick up his scent and lead them to him. A great deal of successful rolls later, and the group managed to track him to Drunkard's Bottom, a slumlike neighborhood nearby, utilizing the network of above-ground bridges that span the city.
Gerg, utilizing the noise of the storm and shadows to his advantage, snuck up to the top level of the building Gor had visited. Inside, he noticed a group of White Web thieves (including Gor) plotting some sort of heist. After informing the group of this strange turn of events, Halisstra persuaded them that this was fortuitous - what better way to practice for their planned theft of the White Web artifact, than by stealing these heist plans? After some debate, the group assented.
Jerm planned a distraction - he would pose as an orphan collecting donations for his orphanage - while Gerg and Halisstra would sneak in and steal the plans.
Initially, their plan worked flawlessly: Jerm drew the theives' leader to the front door, while Gerg slipped in through a window and took the plans. However, on the way out Gerg was spotted and Jerm's disguise was seen through. The theives' leader sounded an alarm and within moments, several other White Web initiates had appeared on the nearby rooftops, ready to strike!
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Having received the crow-borne message from Jerm, Reika rejoined the group at their new apartment. A long discussion was had, but ultimately they decided on two things: 1) they definitely needed to steal this artifact from the White Web, and 2) after extorting Gor, they couldn't trust him not to send his associates after them. After resting, the group decided to track down Gor again, and make sure he hadn't snitched on them to Krawl and Vasken. Despite an incoming sandstorm, and several carnivorous reptiles in the streets, the group asked Harold to pick up his scent and lead them to him. A great deal of successful rolls later, and the group managed to track him to Drunkard's Bottom, a slumlike neighborhood nearby, utilizing the network of above-ground bridges that span the city.
Gerg, utilizing the noise of the storm and shadows to his advantage, snuck up to the top level of the building Gor had visited. Inside, he noticed a group of White Web thieves (including Gor) plotting some sort of heist. After informing the group of this strange turn of events, Halisstra persuaded them that this was fortuitous - what better way to practice for their planned theft of the White Web artifact, than by stealing these heist plans? After some debate, the group assented.
Jerm planned a distraction - he would pose as an orphan collecting donations for his orphanage - while Gerg and Halisstra would sneak in and steal the plans.
Initially, their plan worked flawlessly: Jerm drew the theives' leader to the front door, while Gerg slipped in through a window and took the plans. However, on the way out Gerg was spotted and Jerm's disguise was seen through. The theives' leader sounded an alarm and within moments, several other White Web initiates had appeared on the nearby rooftops, ready to strike!
Monday, June 5, 2017
Bacchanalia of the Otter-People
DIONYSUS: Would you like to see their revels on the mountains?
PENTHEUS: I would pay a great sum to see that sight.
-The Bacchae, Euripedes
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In the southwest of Vymrrys, near where the boiling sea flows in through the western gate-locks to cool, a small enclave of otter-people make their homes. Some live scattered throughout the city, but most choose to live among their own.
While they have coexisted among the humans, elves, and dwarfs of the city for as long as most can remember, speculation as to their origins remains. Some believe they came to the city from an island in the Boiling Sea (before it was boiling, of course) while others believe they migrated down the rocky cost from the tidal pools of the Eucalyptine Graves. Regardless of their origins, the Otter-people of Vymrrys have become a part of the rich tapestry of culture woven between the city's walls.
One of the most talked-about cultural practices of the Vymrrysian Otter-people are their twice-yearly bacchanalia, to which very few outsiders are ever allowed to attend. Rumors of what transpires can be heard across the city when word gets out that one is soon to occur, though many of these are unfounded.
Below are some sights, sounds, and encounters that PCs might experience if they are able to attend the Bacchanalia of the Otter-People.
D20 Bacchanalia Encounters
PENTHEUS: I would pay a great sum to see that sight.
-The Bacchae, Euripedes
------------------------------------------
In the southwest of Vymrrys, near where the boiling sea flows in through the western gate-locks to cool, a small enclave of otter-people make their homes. Some live scattered throughout the city, but most choose to live among their own.
While they have coexisted among the humans, elves, and dwarfs of the city for as long as most can remember, speculation as to their origins remains. Some believe they came to the city from an island in the Boiling Sea (before it was boiling, of course) while others believe they migrated down the rocky cost from the tidal pools of the Eucalyptine Graves. Regardless of their origins, the Otter-people of Vymrrys have become a part of the rich tapestry of culture woven between the city's walls.
One of the most talked-about cultural practices of the Vymrrysian Otter-people are their twice-yearly bacchanalia, to which very few outsiders are ever allowed to attend. Rumors of what transpires can be heard across the city when word gets out that one is soon to occur, though many of these are unfounded.
Below are some sights, sounds, and encounters that PCs might experience if they are able to attend the Bacchanalia of the Otter-People.
D20 Bacchanalia Encounters
- A small band of D10 Otter-people parade over a small bridge shouting in ecstasy, swinging fresh fish carcasses on poles.
- D4 otter-people thrash around in an alleyway by torchlight, for purposes unknown.
- A burly otter-woman accosts the group, her face-fur painted in white designs. She writhes among them and disappears, leaving them smelling of fish.
- D20 otter-men splash around in a small tidal pool, chanting the names of Otter-gods under elaborate silken canopies.
- A gang of D6 otter-cultists in horned masks rushes a gathering of D12 ecstatic bacchic revelers with sharpened fish knives!
- An otter-elder approaches the group and warns them of the dangers of the Bacchanalia, before shrieks and splashes can be heard from a nearby alley.
- D6 (minimum of 2) otter-people carry a palanquin made of bone through a shallow tidal pool. It bears a juvenile otter-person wearing a fresh shark-maw mask.
- Fish blood bubbles and overflows from a cistern atop a rock in a courtyard as D20 otter-women twirl in circles.
- The group hears slapping noises from far off, as if a wet fish was being smacked against a rock.
- D4 unfortunate elves slumped against a wall in a drugged stupor. They smell of clams. Cracking and hammering sounds can be heard from nearby. If rescued and revived, they reveal themselves to be treasure hunters looking for the Labyrinth of Yal'Sin.
- A shark carcass is gleefully carved into by D6 otter-people juveniles as they laugh joyously.
- D8 otter-people dye silks in luminous colors, occasionally whipping the dye to splatter fellow bacchanalians.
- D4 nearby otter-people inhale whiffs of an etherial green substance, and offer some to the group as they pass by. (Drug is an opiate-like substance that grants D10 temporary HP for 2 hours, at a cost of -2 to hit)
- D6 otter-thieves spring from a tidal pool wrapped in shark leathers, taking advantage of the revelry to strike at the interlopers!
- An otter-priest in shark leathers challenges one of the party members to a duel with swordfish spears as revelers roll around on silk sheets near an altar piled high with fish.
- A drunken dwarf slings fish guts at the party. If approached, in his drunken haze he reveals to the party that he is the son of a wealthy aristocrat waging a shadow war with the snake-man House of Zell.
- A parade of D100 otter-warriors in pufferfish helmets holding sea-anemone flails and swordfish lances stride down the street. Nearby bacchanalians shower them with luminescent dye and fresh clams. If approached, a soldier informs the group of their recent campaign against the Crab Men of the Seething Tidepools.
- Shouting and carousing can be heard from behind a nearby doorway. If opened, several otter-people are chasing each other around the room and smearing each other with golden paste. A subtle green haze fills the air. (Drug that if inhaled for more than a minute, acts as a stimulant. Affected PCs take D6 psychic damage but gain +1 to hit for 2 hours)
- D4 otter-people sing joyously from a raised platform in a nearby pool as a crowd cheers and showers them with dried kelp.
- A crowd of D100 bacchanalians dance through a tightly packed alleyway as the sound of drums and horns can be heard. This group all have brightly painted fur, but are not wearing silks.
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Session Report II - The Gang Extorts a Man for His House
The party response to a "job board" request, potentially lift a curse, and extort a man for his apartment.
The Adventuring Party
Jerm (of Perm) - Halfling bard, plays a bone flute, enjoys eviscerating the psyches of his foes with shitty songs.
Reika - Half-elf druid, anarcho-communist, enjoys thrashing foes with thorns and nature magic. (ABSENT)
Gerg - Half-orc rogue (with a whip), large yet sneaky, mostly silent but makes exceptions to grab things with his whip.
Halisstra - Drow rogue, puts up with her "friends" long enough to get what she wants, stabs backs happily.
Harold Flesh-eater - a small psychic kangaroo/dog hybrid thing that they picked up on a prior adventure (LVL 1-3). He doesn't do much but complain about being hungry, but is happy to eat bodies if given enough time.
-------------------------------
On the morning of their second day in the city, the group awoke to find the ground-floor doors of the Broken Bell Inn shut with heavy iron bars. It was the Day of Desert Feasts, they were told, which meant for the next 24 hours carnivorous lizards would be roaming the streets of the city, eating offerings of fresh livestock. Whatever they did, they were not to venture out at street level. After conversing with some locals, the gang noticed several parchment scraps stuck to a wall near the bar and got leads on several "jobs":
On the morning of their second day in the city, the group awoke to find the ground-floor doors of the Broken Bell Inn shut with heavy iron bars. It was the Day of Desert Feasts, they were told, which meant for the next 24 hours carnivorous lizards would be roaming the streets of the city, eating offerings of fresh livestock. Whatever they did, they were not to venture out at street level. After conversing with some locals, the gang noticed several parchment scraps stuck to a wall near the bar and got leads on several "jobs":
- Several children have been missing in the area since last night. Please find them.
- (A bloody scrap of parchment, written hastily) A man may have summoned the Murder Men while drunk. Lift the curse.
- A simple request to transport some goods to a nearby neighborhood.
Our party decided on option 2, as "Murder Men" seemed particularly intriguing and nobody at the bar would give them any information about what this curse entailed.
The followed the provided directions across the rooftop bridges, buying some rations along the way, and met Gor at his apartment. Gor explained his predicament: while drunk, he attempted to summon the Murder Men by chanting their name, his name, and the names of two business "associates", and then smashing his mirror with his forehead. In his drunken stupor, he had hoped that they would appear to kill him, and then kill the men he was indentured to when they found his body. Upon waking in the morning, he remembered what he had done and panicked. Not knowing how to truly lift the curse, the group figured that mending the mirror would solve the problem. They told Gor they would do so...on the condition that he give them his apartment to stay in as needed. He agreed, also telling the crew that the two men, Vasken and Krawll, were low-ranking members of the White Web, a religious thieve's guild in the city.
After mending the mirror, and not detecting any residual magic energies, Jerm sent a message via crow to Reika back at the inn to join them.
Having accomplished their job, and "paid" in the form of a man's apartment, Jerm and Gerg set out to see what was nearby while Halisstra combed through the apartment to find anything of value. Jerm and Gerg were pickpocketed nearby, but managed to catch the thief, who revealed himself to be a White Web initiate (obviously a very poor one). After some coaxing, he revealed the location of a hidden White Web meeting place in the sewer canal in the neighboring district of Cat's Cradle, and also of the object of worship of the guild: a mysterious thieving artifact said to have been used by the God-thief Quizid himself.
Having this information, the gang released the pickpocket, giving him the formerly-but-potentially-still-cursed-mirror as thanks for the information.
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Zealous Geometers
In a city slowly beginning to flourish with the abnormal and indescribable, the pursuit of pure mathematical reasoning upon which to base the foundations of the world has lead many an academic to utter insanity. These scholars have been left babbling and incoherent wrecks - husks of their former selves.
The Zealous Geometers of Vymrrys represent those men and women for whom this pursuit has reached its conclusion; madness has been transcended and in its place lies cool and calculating logic based on the subtle geometries of the universe. The highest ordained among the Geometers have, in their own minds, discovered the true nature of the world. They have calculated its purest geometrical underpinnings, and reduced all life and all magic to numbers on an infinitely long scroll of parchment. The material plane is but an abstraction to the Zealous Geometer.
The perfect logic of the Zealous Geometers has led them to one conclusion: the material plane must be disintegrated back into its true geometrically perfect form.
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Unlike some of the other cults that have inhabited the Pearlescent City on-and-off for its 10,000 (?) year history, the Zealous Geometers do not take the streets in occasional bouts of bloodshed. They do not, like the babbling Noose of Yal'Sin, create chaos during full moons. And unlike the Blindfolded, they do not pry their own eyes from their heads in acts of fervent worship. By and large, the Geometers confine themselves to their studies, poring over dense, sandy tomes, surrounded by low-burning candles and melted wax. They take up residence in some of the darker, forgotten corners of the Oldest Eye, away from the bustling crowds where they can work in silence and darkness. Here, in their solitary studies, they attempt to determine the proper geometrical calculations that will allow them to dissolve the material plane into its mathematical components.
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While not religious (they don't pray to or recognize any deities) the Zealous Geometers do commune to chant sections of the near-infinite formula they believe underpins the geometry of all creation. They stand at the corners of their sacred geometry inscribed in the obsidian-stone floor and chant in unison, their black robes barely visible in the candlelight. As they chant among the sacred geometry, the formulae imbue the stone with a magical essence, reconfiguring its shape within and without the structure. Irregular forms grow from the stone, and the building slowly twists and turns through the air, night by night, week by week, year by year, animated by the Geometers' forceful incantations.
The Zealous Geometers of Vymrrys represent those men and women for whom this pursuit has reached its conclusion; madness has been transcended and in its place lies cool and calculating logic based on the subtle geometries of the universe. The highest ordained among the Geometers have, in their own minds, discovered the true nature of the world. They have calculated its purest geometrical underpinnings, and reduced all life and all magic to numbers on an infinitely long scroll of parchment. The material plane is but an abstraction to the Zealous Geometer.
The perfect logic of the Zealous Geometers has led them to one conclusion: the material plane must be disintegrated back into its true geometrically perfect form.
----------
Unlike some of the other cults that have inhabited the Pearlescent City on-and-off for its 10,000 (?) year history, the Zealous Geometers do not take the streets in occasional bouts of bloodshed. They do not, like the babbling Noose of Yal'Sin, create chaos during full moons. And unlike the Blindfolded, they do not pry their own eyes from their heads in acts of fervent worship. By and large, the Geometers confine themselves to their studies, poring over dense, sandy tomes, surrounded by low-burning candles and melted wax. They take up residence in some of the darker, forgotten corners of the Oldest Eye, away from the bustling crowds where they can work in silence and darkness. Here, in their solitary studies, they attempt to determine the proper geometrical calculations that will allow them to dissolve the material plane into its mathematical components.
----------
While not religious (they don't pray to or recognize any deities) the Zealous Geometers do commune to chant sections of the near-infinite formula they believe underpins the geometry of all creation. They stand at the corners of their sacred geometry inscribed in the obsidian-stone floor and chant in unison, their black robes barely visible in the candlelight. As they chant among the sacred geometry, the formulae imbue the stone with a magical essence, reconfiguring its shape within and without the structure. Irregular forms grow from the stone, and the building slowly twists and turns through the air, night by night, week by week, year by year, animated by the Geometers' forceful incantations.
Friday, May 19, 2017
Session Report 1 - The Gang Comes to Vymrrys
The party arrives in the city, settles down at an inn, and explores the neighborhood.
The Adventuring Party
Jerm (of Perm) - Halfling bard, plays a bone flute, enjoys eviscerating the psyches of his foes with shitty songs.
Reika - Half-elf druid, anarcho-communist, enjoys thrashing foes with thorns and nature magic.
Gerg - Half-orc rogue (with a whip), large yet sneaky, mostly silent but makes exceptions to grab things with his whip.
Halisstra - Drow rogue, puts up with her "friends" long enough to get what she wants, stabs backs happily.
Harold Flesh-eater - a small psychic kangaroo/dog hybrid thing that they picked up on a prior adventure (LVL 1-3). He doesn't do much but complain about being hungry, but is happy to eat bodies if given enough time.
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The party awoke in what seemed to be the middle of a desert, half buried in hot sand, surrounded by scrub and cacti. After digging themselves out and determining that they had no rations or water, they set off headed West, attempting to find animal or caravan tracks. Luckily, after scaling a dune, they saw a small merchant caravan of covered wagons about a mile away. After catching up and explaining their situation (aka totally stranded in some desert unsure of where they are) the caravan leader, Lilit Eeben, allowed them to hop aboard and hitch a ride to Vymrrys (the city where the majority of this campaign will take place).
Lilit proved to be kind and helpful, giving the party a bit of information about where they were and where they were headed. She even offered to put them up in her Inn for a night until they could find work or more secure lodging.
A day later they arrived, through the giant, fanged gate that merchants from the East use, in Vymrrys. Here, the gang took some time to scrub the sand out of their armor and clothing, and prepared to find some work. They explored to find the nearest open-air market, where Reika bought some food for the party. Gerg took this time to find the neighborhood library, tucked away in the cool shade of the city wall, and being himself, managed to sneak out with a few stolen books, unbeknownst to the snake-men librarians. Unfortunately, none of the books he managed to steal have come in handy yet. Halisstra used her time to meditate and calm her rage at having mysteriously appeared so far from home. Jerm and Harold made some coin by entertaining locals at the market, though a guard approached Jerm and informed him that the forest-green piping on his tunic was a violation of local sumptuary laws. He was forced to remove it and perform half-naked. Reika also stumbled across the neighborhood apothecary, keeping the location in mind for future potion-making endeavors.
As the sun set on their first full day in the city, the sandstone towers sparkled in a way they had never seen before. The inner mineral pearlescence of the stone itself seemed to shift as it caught the dwindling rays of light. Having oriented themselves to this small slice of the city, they returned to the Broken Bell Inn to drink and chat with the locals. Reika tried hopelessly to hit on Lilit, who seemed too consumed in her work as well as other personal matters, to be so quickly seduced.
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The first session was slow and contemplative, with the gang exploring their first slice of the city. They had a great time learning more about the local culture and customs, and feel they are adequately prepared to seek out work next session. Gerg was especially interested in the architecture. This urbancrawl campaign is being run using some slightly modified 5e rules, with additions from other sources such as Vornheim by Zak S. Since his book was such a huge influence on my style, I wanted to also name my city with a "V". Corny, I know.
Thursday, May 18, 2017
Introduction to Smash the Dungeon
To whomever are the first readers of this blog,
Hi! I'm Jesse, a tabletop/video game RPG enthusiast from Philadelphia, in my mid 20's. I've started this blog to help me catalogue my DnD-related ideas, write up session reports of one or more of my weekly games, thoughts on RPGs as a whole, and potentially reviews of DnD-related products. I've only been playing tabletop RPGs for about a year now, and DMing for around 4 or 5 months. But I've been heartily consuming related media for most of my life, and so have had lots of ideas stored away for later use. I'm a big fan of both 5th edition DnD as well as some of the OSR systems such as Lamentations of the Flame Princess and Labyrinth Lord. I hope that anyone reading in the future might find my contributions useful, or at least thought-provoking enough to help one do their own creating.
At the moment, I'm not sure who this will be for or even if anyone will be reading it, but it felt like a good idea, so here we go...
Hi! I'm Jesse, a tabletop/video game RPG enthusiast from Philadelphia, in my mid 20's. I've started this blog to help me catalogue my DnD-related ideas, write up session reports of one or more of my weekly games, thoughts on RPGs as a whole, and potentially reviews of DnD-related products. I've only been playing tabletop RPGs for about a year now, and DMing for around 4 or 5 months. But I've been heartily consuming related media for most of my life, and so have had lots of ideas stored away for later use. I'm a big fan of both 5th edition DnD as well as some of the OSR systems such as Lamentations of the Flame Princess and Labyrinth Lord. I hope that anyone reading in the future might find my contributions useful, or at least thought-provoking enough to help one do their own creating.
At the moment, I'm not sure who this will be for or even if anyone will be reading it, but it felt like a good idea, so here we go...
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