Hadrian's grad update update

I think the tentative plan is to meet at JACK STACK on 95th around 7. How does that sound?

Hadrian's Graduation

So, as you all know, Hadrian graduated. Well, we should celebrate, don't you think? This Friday night - let's go eat somewhere, then head to my place for conversation and the possible consumption of adult beverages. Let me know if you plan on showing up, as the size of the group will probably dictate where we eat.

a tale

The crowd gathered closer around the old storyteller, hanging on his every word. He was telling of another of the Red Raven's adventures.

"Bedecked in his signature red cape and red-feathered mask and clutching a bundle to his chest, the Red Raven dove out the window of the tallest tower in the castle, his cape fluttering as he plunged downward," Some listeners gasped, others mouths formed silent O's.

The storyteller went on. "The baron's guards ran to the window and looked far below. The baron huffed and puffed as he came into the room, his face red and sweaty. "Well? Do you have him? Where is the Red Raven? It took weeks to collect those taxes from the villages." The guards pointed to the window and the baron looked out. The Red Raven looked back and bowed with a flourish, then ran into the nearby forest, unscathed after his several hundred foot fall. The baron swore and fumed at his guards for letting the Red Raven escape.

After the Red Raven passed the treeline, he paused to catch his breath, and opened the bundle to reveal a small box, full of silver and silver copper coins, a sparse few gold, and a smattering of gemstones. He smiled to himself and melted into the forest."

"Later that night, the Red Raven approached one of the small villages, with several bags of the coins and gems. The villagers saw his approach and let out a great cheer at the sight of his red-cloaked figure. He threw the bags of coins and gems to the villagers and spoke a few kind words to each, then disappeared back into the night."

The first session

The first session is Saturday. Wow. It's coming up fast. Here's a map of the village that you'll be starting in. Take a look.

It's around harvest-time. And you should have a good reason for being in town, which may include:

• relatives. You're here to help a relative with his/her harvest.
• You've come with a merchant caravan, as a guard or helper.
• Hunting. Good hunting grounds around here.
• Traveling. You're out to see a bit more of the world.
  

Next game update

I wanted to give everyone a quick update so that you didn't think I had forgotten about our next adventure together.

In case you hadn't heard, I picked up a weekend job and am generally working seven days a week. That isn't leaving me with very much time to work on the games.

Yes that's right, games -- Plural. About the same time we finished the Ravenloft quest, my other group came to a general climax in their quest. So now, I am actually pulling together both the upcoming chapter of their quest, and the beginning of yours.

The good news is that I pretty much have story lines in mind for both games and I'm really excited about them. Especially yours. I have a ton of maps to draw and characters to build for both, but the ideation has been largely thought through.

I won't say much more about what your quest will be about or like. For now, I want you guys to enjoy/focus on the game at hand you are playing over the summer. I think we talked about starting this new story in May sometime, but since I'm ridiculously busy, and you are getting your DND fix from other places for a bit, I'm going to ask that we start a little later than we discussed. I'm thinking I'll be pretty ready closer to August. By then my other group will be started up again and you guys will be wrapping up your summer quest.

It might help me to know how many of you are going to be playing and what you would like out of the game. It's too early to start dreaming up characters for this. It appears you scoured your souls for back stories on your most recent characters. I haven't had time to sit and read any of those yet, but I intend to. They looked juicy.

In the meantime, if you guys get together for shorter games, give me a heads up.

Encumbrance

I've been flirting with the idea of encumbrance in the next game. I think it provides another level of realism, having to actually decide where to put treasure and items. What do you guys think?

Increasing Anticipation

I've got a new miniature for Pavo Baradin and hope to have it painted by our first game.

The World Revolves Around D&D

Just saw a spiffy Cadillac CTS with a personalized license plate reading: "400 HP." What are the chances (that I can roll on a percentile die) that it was a reference to Hit Points?