Wednesday, July 29, 2009

last minute cancellation

Hi everyone-

I apologize, but I won't be able to run the game on Saturday. I know that we'd planned to play, and had all agreed on the dates, but I am unable to attend.

I think that we can still finish up the quest on 8/18, without much trouble, if you're interested in finishing.

Sorry.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

A Response from Pavo Baradin

It's wonderful to hear you are a like-minded compatriot, my dear bard. You phrase the message a bit more . . . militantly than I might have, but I think we understand each other to a point. You made reference to my "order," however. There is no order and, really, that's kind of the point. My message is all about being free of enslavement to religion, so it would turn me into the evil I preach against were I to make myself the head of an order. So while I'm flattered by the offer and sincerely hope you do sing the praises of freedom from the gods wherever you go, please don't turn me into a figurehead for that message. I'm flattered, but that's not what I'm about.

By the way, you know the paladin heals by conveying the power of Heironeous, yes? If you would truly demonstrate integrity in your message, I hope you will refuse any such healing should an opportunity ever arise. We wouldn't want your songs to be mere empty words, after all, if they are to have the power of truth behind them.

Monday, July 20, 2009

A conversation with Pavo Baradin

As the group settles in for the night, I look for a time to speak to Pavo somewhat away from the others, tucking the symbol of Fharlanghn around my neck under my shirt before I reach him...

"Good evening Monsieur Baradin, it got rather cold on us didn't it? Not that it ever gets very warm on a glacier I suppose eh? I was thinking as we traveled that your message is both refreshing in a world filled with so many priests hawking the power of their god in much the same way a snake oil salesman does... It got me thinking, if you ever settle down from your wandering path, those such as myself might be perfect heralds for your order, for who other than yourself extols the virtues of man more than the bard? Certainly, the powers manifested by a cleric will show itself in our tales from time to time, but they are stories of we mortals, seizing the reigns of our own destiny and changing the world for the better...not sitting in our homes praying to some distant deity to whisk in and make our lives better like some capricious planar parent! The tales of brave adventurers seem to fit hand in hand with reinforcing your message of the strength of men to be the masters of our own destinies, don't you think?"

Monday, July 13, 2009

next session!

Shortly after crossing the Kantele River, the trees start to thin. The wind seems colder and stronger without the forest acting as a windblock. Around mid-day, the cold sun hides behind the clouds and snow starts to fall. By twilight, your vision and movement are hampered by the newly fallen snow, which drifts around your knees. The cruel wind cuts at any exposed skin, and makes seeking shelter seem like a good idea.

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

One Shot

First of all, you people are boring. Eight voters (at least), nine votes cast, and not a single vote for Hollow Earth Expedition. Apparently I'm the only one here with a deep love of 30's adventure pulp. I think you guys should broaden your RPG horizons. Not that there's anything wrong with classic Gygaxian fantasy--don't get me wrong, I love that stuff too. I'm just saying....

Anyway, the tally at this point appears to be 4 votes Ptolus, 3 votes 4e, 1 vote Rise of the Runelords (Pathfinder, aka, just another 3.5 campaign, and 1 vote for Call of Cthulhu. If this were an election, I would say that Ptolus had won.

So, whenever I do actually get around to running a D&D campaign, it will probably be Ptolus (and I will hope that my inexperience as a DM won't make it suck). I suppose this is a good thing, I need to get some value out of that massive and not inexpensive tome at some point--other than the entertainment value of just poking through it on occasion over the last three years. And those of you who have been wanting and waiting to play in the "City by the Spire" have been doing so since long before 4e was even on the horizon, so I almost feel like I owe it to you. So Ptolus it (probably) is, and the 4e campaign is on the backburner for the time being.

So, I'm looking at the life/RPG landscape for the next few months and this is what I've come up with. Most likely I will, in fact, end up back in KC. This isn't 100% certain, but I have such a strong desire to be there that, unless I find a job I simply cannot refuse somewhere else, that is where I'll be (although, this is still a possibility, since at this point ANY job might be a job I simply cannot refuse). However, I do still need to study for the bar over the next three weeks, and then find a job, an apartment, settle into a job, etc. etc. etc. Meaning, of course, that I won't have much time to prepare or run a campaign for the foreseeable future. Besides, Lummox still has something percolating (I hope) and Scott has mentioned a continuation of his summer game into a Pathfinder campaign, so you guys can get your fix somewhere else in the meantime (and me too, if I'm there-- I might have time to play even if I don't have time to DM). So, I'm thinking of saying tentatively that a Ptolus campaign may start, maybe, possibly, I think, perhaps, in early 2010. Say,... February? Or maybe March. I'm not committing to a date just yet.

That being said, I turn now to the title of this post. I stumbled across an adventure at Valhalla's Gate a couple of weeks ago that really jumped out at me. It's a 1920's Call of Cthulhu adventure that should be pretty easy to cram into one or two game sessions. And since I bought the Chaosium Basic Role Playing (BRP) book on a whim last summer--I have the rules to run it with. BRP is pretty easy to learn since it is mostly skill and percentile based, so I don't think that will be a problem for people only playing one game. So, I propose a one-shot game (or two, depending) for a weekend in the fall. Perhaps a non-Japanese themed weekend in September?