The Rebellion Arc - 04: Kusseth City

In which a theft, a reunion, and a fireworks festival occur in the largest city in The Known World.

5th of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

The group entered Kusseth City and Xein immediately made every reasonable attempt possible to get rid of the presence of his time in the clink, even going so far as to get fresh clothes, see a doctor, and waste large amounts of marks on reasonably good quality food. Kethranmeer expressed a desire to see his maker, but had no idea where he lived. The group needed to resupply and Kethranmeer led them around the city to various establishments while also heading in the general direction of a friend, and warden, named Traith Harris. 

Before tracking down Traith the group attempted to find a bank of some kind in the hopes that they could cash the bank notes that they found in the brigand fortress. They found and were logged by bounty hunters at KGoB Branch 76345 and set up accounts in the bank and were paid for their bank notes. After leaving the bank the group did more shopping, John and Xein had the good fortune to stumble upon a mechanics shop and were able to peruse some high tech equipment, John finally purchasing an early model steam rifle and using the mecahnist's facilities to craft some homemade explosive rounds. 

With their shopping done, the group made their way to the 37th district of Kusseth City and Kethranmeer, in his frustration, assaulted the door of a station house. With no response from the station, Kethranmeer led the group east to the 39th district and made a scene in front of an apartment building and finally roused Traith from his home. As Traith, a sickly looking human of probably sixty years of age, began speaking with his old friend a series of gunshots rang out nearby. Traith, irritated by the prospect of work in his off time deputized the group and sent them to investigate after memorizing their citizenry numbers. The group discovered that a trio of karthak had assaulted two junior wardens and were in the process of eating them, the group intervened, killed the canines, and reported back to Traith. Traith used a telegraph and notified A'lst that the group was en route and then sent them on their way.

On their way to the 295th district the group ran into a group of bards and everyone remained fairly civil while the bards extorted marks from the group. After that it was a quick walk to A'lst's warehouse, which was fairly robust in nature and filled with a delightful amount of electrical equipment. A'lst paid everyone a ridiculous sum for escorting his friend home and even gifted Xein with a motorized battery that would run his fancy new sword electrically, rather than kinetically. A'lst expressed a desire to catch up with Kethranmeer and make some repairs on his friend's fairly abused body and the group was open to this, agreeing to return in one week's time to pick up their friend. Kethranmeer said goodbye to the group, D'Alton in particular, and they left. 

On their way to an inn called the Waltzing Warhorse the group heard a young girl crying down an alley and moved to investigate. Gidaeon's immense insight into the behavior and attitudes of humans made him suspicious of the girl's false sounding sniffles. Derf, without any sort of investigation, began throwing rocks at her while Manwathiel scaled the side of a building and discovered a dozen members of a youth gang perched above the cul-de-sac waiting for the unwary to "help" their lure. Manwathiel returned to her companions and everyone agreed that they girl deserved to be raped and that they were going to leave. 

Prior to entering the Waltzing Warhorse, the group encountered a somewhat smug looking soldier in the grey of Kusseth's infantry and were handed a message from their friend and ally Reginald E.C. Walthuler that detailed an account of his travels in the Whurent mountains. Upon entering the inn itself the group was accosted by a slightly bumbling (and malformed) thief. The theft of coin was discovered before the brigand could get away and the group chased him up a flight of stairs and murdered him hardcore, rather than dragging him to a warden or reporting him to one. Following that, the group was charged a ridiculous fee for rooms for the next five days to compensate the owner of the Waltzing Warhorse for damages done to the premises. The group spent the next four days holed up in their rooms together doing nothing. 

14th of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

Kussethian Independence Day. Kethranmeer observed the holiday with A'lst, everyone else stayed holed up in their rooms at the Waltzing Warhorse, which is unfortunate because Kusseth puts on a pretty good fireworks show. 

15th of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

Group returned to A'lst's warehouse and Kethranmeer, now new and improved and all shined up, rejoined them. After they left the premises of the Waltzing Warhorse, the owner of the inn lodged a complaint with a local warden and charges of murder and destruction of a business' property were added to the data associated with the citizenry numbers of the group (but not Kethranmeer, because he wasn't there). While wandering the city the group encountered Senior Warden Traith Harris and he told them that he was unaware of their involvement with the Beltan prison break and when he reported their presence in his reports an alert was wired to him by the analytical engines of Kusseth's lawmen and he was tasked with bringing them in. He mentioned that bards play nicer when Jack was out and about and that they were friends of Kethranmeer, so he was inclined to give them a head start to escape the city and his jurisdiction. Everyone procured horses and they left Kusseth City. As they were leaving Kusseth, D'alton stole two horses so that everyone had a horse to ride south, except Kethranmeer. The group rode south with no particular direction in mind, but they followed the highway that led directly to Tolon and crossed the River Nantul. In the evening they took their rest at a traveler's roost and waited for Kethranmeer to catch up. Xein and John attempted to one up each other in terms of pranks, but they were both too perceptive to be tricked by the other one's antics. John took the first watch and heard a rumble of thunder to the east. 

Edit After The Fact: I've mentioned logging numbers and such previous to this breakdown of a scenario. For those of you not aware, Kusseth tattoos a ten digit alpha numeric identification number on each of its legal citizens. This code is used to track the actions of most citizens. Most wards in a Kussethian city have only a few routes to enter or exit, so most citizens are logged in their travels around a city by guards and wardens and such. The code has rules and guidelines in my notes somewhere, but basically uses the citizen's race and social class and background and such to identify them and track their movements. The usefulness of this means of tracking is somewhat debatable, but keeping track of all the numbers and storing data on analytical engines creates jobs in the bureaucracy of Kusseth's Wards of Government. I try not to think about Kusseth's government and economy too much, it leads to stroking out.

The Rebellion Arc - 03: To Kusseth City We Go

In which underground curiosities are discovered and brigands are lit afire and buried alive.

2nd of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

The group woke up and exited the Cavorting Colt and approached the Kemmel foundry. The group met with an Elduman official from the Kemmel foundry and agreed to seek out an ore transport that has possibly suffered road troubles somewhere between Kusseth City and Kemmel, the group was paid 300 marks to investigate and was promised double that when the foundry received confirmation of the wagon's condition and location. The Group stated that they had intended to travel to Kusseth anyways. Over the course of the day the group encountered no wagons, but found a traveler's roost around nightfall. In the roost, they encountered a warrior named Nakmander, last knight of Meroteth who was disgusted at the half-breedness of Xein and D'Alton, he instructed them to seek Meroteth if they had any pride or desire to learn of their true heritage. Nakmander also gave them a decidedly fell bracelet of black iron that glowed green intermittently.

3rd of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

The night passed peacefully, except for John throwing a few bullets in the fire to wake up Xein. The group arose early in the day, setting out for travel almost immediately. Around noon they heard a cannon being fired off up ahead and saw an indistinct shape on the side of the road up ahead. The wagon turns out to be the wagon they're looking for. The group joins the mine representative Ensel, and the four brothers of the house of Ethel and defend the wagon from an onslaught of Dwenoren that had marooned the wagon with tunnels and explosives. After the battle they are paid and the wagon heads off to Ensel, the group find its way to a traveler's roost and sleeps overnight. Xein creates a clever system of pulleys and ropes that leaves John hanging from the ceiling during the night. It is unpleasant. Kethranmeer stands guard. 

4th of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

After another day of travel, the group reaches a traveler's roost after dusk. After a brief discussion they agreed that based on the ability of them all to see pretty well in that dark they decided they should rest for the next twenty-four hours and begin their travels anew at night to avoid the draining heat of the day. They discover that the roost they have taken refuge in is in much better shape than the previous two they stayed at. While moving around and arranging his gear Derf trips over a disengaged tripwire and smacks his face against the stone floor, discovering that part of the floor is actually a wooden board with fake bricks glued to it that conceals a secret shaft cut into the earth. In an attempt to overcome his claustrophobia, Kethranmeer follows the group below. Further investigation reveals that there is a Dwenoren sized complex hidden beneath the roost, somewhat excavated to allow for taller folks to enter it with slight discomfort. The group finds a mix of extremely sturdy Dwenoren construction and shoddily done layman work within the complex, they also find traps and tripwires, many of which are disengaged and no danger. While investigating a mess hall they come across a patrol of Uncout brigands that appeared to be guarding the place, the guards were extremely surprised to find the group in their home and blood was shed. The group finds the end of the hole and finds a loot closet, only managing to open it when Xein cuts it open with his torch, setting off an explosive fire trap in the confines of the small tunnel. As they leave the area and pass an open door they hear the sounds of voices expressing concern about what the Hell happened down here and who killed the guys who were left to guard the place. The group successfully sneaks past the first group of brigands, but immediately finds another in front of them. Xein and Manwathiel jury rig a trap from the remains of the one they set off and some matches and pitch to slow down anyone who follows them, then Derf runs out into the mob of bandits in front of them foaming at the mouth and bellowing like a moose or something. The rest of the group sidles into the room while the bandits are distracted and gets the jump on them. The sounds of battle draw the attention of the first group of bandits, but as they move to investigate they detonate the trap set for them by Xein and Manwathiel. When the battle finishes, Derf and Kethranmeer hold the door closed against the pounding of the brigands behind it and Xein welds it shut. The group safely exits the secret dungeon beneath the roost, but once again they hear voices nearby. They decide to wander outside and face their foes and engage in their most epic battle yet, Kethranmeer and D'Alton very nearly meeting their ends at the hands of their foes. Once they vanquish them they find a key to the loot closet they were forced to cut open earlier. With no more bodies in need of bloodletting before them, the group heaves the bodies down the shaft and closes it up. They continue their twenty-four hour rest period.

5th of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

The group awakes after nightfall and continues on their travels. Before they get out of eyesight of the roost, a dirigible comes swinging low out of the sky towards them, trailing a rope and steam. Out of the cloud of steam belching from the airship a man swings down off of the rope, he bears a heavy satchel and states that he's an agent of Walthuler and hands D'Alton a rolled up scroll from that gentleman of the same name. D'Alton reads an account of Walthuler's travels in Whurent and the group continues on towards Kusseth City, eventually reaching the outskirts of the shanty town around it. They discover that there is construction on the walls and wardens are making patrols through the shanty town, which indicates that new wards will be built for the first time in two hundred years. They ignore the vendors, bums, and pickpockets and approach the gate. They're only forced to wait for a half an hour, and get to see an unlicensed Fell Human try to enter the city. After being logged by the guards they enter the mighty bastion of law and corruption that is Kusseth City. 

Edit After The Fact: It is at this point that we gain Fred and his wife as players.

What I Was Trying To Do

Lately I've been getting nostalgic for The Rebellion Arc, that poor battered campaign that I started writing for 3.5, played with 4e, and switched midway through to Pathfinder while altering background material with each system change. That poor abused campaign where one scenario Derf was a dwarf fighter and the next he was a blind Dwenoren fighter that "saw" things with his sensory spines, and then a few scenarios later he was Derf the Elduman Descended Uncout swordmage and finally Derf the battle sorcerer. I miss that campaign sometimes. I miss those characters.

Anywhosen. So the plot of The Rebellion Arc can be summed up pretty easily. "We busted out of prison, wandered around aimlessly, got into trouble for stealing from a guy, ended up working for him and helping him achieve power to pay him back instead of just giving him the money, then at the last second realized he wasn't such a nice guy and tried to kill him for doing what he told us all along he was going to do."

I call the campaign The Rebellion Arc because while kind of tossing around ideas about what the guys and girl wanted to do, they kind of settled on joining up with a rebellion and Jeremy wanted to successfully pull off the heist his character D'alton had been put away for, which I said I'd do only if he promised to yell, "Where's the van? Where's the fucking van!?"  (Dane Cook anyone?) and he promised he would. So I came up with a few rebellion ideas (Glenwighta/The Fell Peaks, Fell Humans of Hell/Kusseth, Soulless/The Fallen Empire of Man, Laram of Volungshemle/Cenn the Reaver, I think I had one or two more and have forgotten them) and told them about one or two and gave them opportunities to get involved with the others if they picked up the hooks.

The first couple scenarios were really about teaching everyone about 4e and also doing low level stuff to get cash and kind of figure out what the group dynamic was about and kind of about teaching the people with no P&P RPG experience some of the aspects of pen and paper gaming. It was also in part trying to figure out what this taloned and spiky monstrosity of a Soulless was all about. Most assumed he was stupid because he kind of spoke in the third person, if he spoke at all. Later they discovered this was a mannerism of his native tongue, Thoeleknair, and the third person aspect of it was due to the race that spoke it being blind and it being considered rude to not announce who you were before jumping into a sentence.

The first big event was a ghost town that looked like it had been boarded up in preparation for a zombie attack, which is what the group assumed. Nope. Just some Fell Human sorcerers trying to rain fire from the sky down on a Kusseth border town which was totally and completely unrelated to anything else that was going to happen in the campaign. The next big event was in Hell, where the heist took place. They robbed a bank and things went sour and they got involved with Nakmander and began working for him and his rebellion to secure Hell and grow his power so he could strike at Kusseth and free his people and city from its tyranny once and for all.

So they did some stuff for Nakmander. Killed some drunk Fell Human teenagers to cement the alliance with Glenwighta rebels in The Fell Peaks, kidnapped a reaver, rigged an election and put a patsy into power (that was eventually deposed and killed when Nakmander successfully rebelled), fought a dragon, lied to lawmen, started a business, got dysentery, and one or two other things that I cannot recall at this moment. Then the campaign reached the final scenario and they turned traitor and decided to put Nakmander down when they realized he was actually going to destroy Kusseth City with fiery rocks pulled from the sky with sorcery.

The plot of the campaign was fairly basic, oppressed people are oppressed and want freedom, the PCs help obtain that freedom but realize the oppressed people are going too far and decide to fight against them. It wasn't a particularly complex campaign plot and it didn't involve much more than busting heads for the most part. The scenario where they fixed the election was probably the most complicated, and there was minimal combat in that one and at most it involved a few skill checks and the majority was role-playing or planning things out.

I wasn't really trying to do anything unique with the plot. I was experimenting a little bit with sandbox style adventures. Once they settled into working for Nakmander, the sandbox aspect kind of disappeared and turned into a more conventional your quest giver has a mission for you and you go do it kind of campaign. I still think I was able to primarily keep the railroading minimal or nonexistent. They certainly had free reign to do whatever they wanted in the fix the election scenario. I'm not saying they could just ride the train right off the rails during the campaign, but I think I did ok. No one complained about the restrictive nature of the scenarios at least.

I recently had a discussion with Jeremy about what I was trying to do with The Rebellion Arc. I wasn't trying to reinvent the wheel or anything and I certainly wasn't trying to do a save the world style campaign. There were a couple of things I was kind of trying to do though. Not any really super strong clear intent, but I was kind of designing the campaign around a few concepts. I'd been doing a lot of reading and such on the topic of GMing and becoming a better GM so I was kind of trying to depart from previous excursions into world building and campaign construction and such.

One of the main things I was kind of trying to develop was a world that was constantly in motion and didn't just sit around and wait for the players to arrive on scene before things started happening. A lot of times in the past, I built a world and set things up to happen, but then those things kind of hung around waiting for the players to show up to view them or take part in them or to prevent them from happening. With The Rebellion Arc, I kind of set several plots into motion and then just let them roll along to their conclusion whether the PCs were there to watch or take part or not. Now, the players are still the players and the story is still primarily about them, so when they do decide to get involved in things, those things accelerate. Basically, stuff happens on a timeline whether the players are taking part in it or not, but if the players do take part in something they accelerate it. 

So, when the players sat down with Nakmander and joined up with his organization, things started progressing more quickly. Meanwhile, the other rebellion ideas I had set up moved along as well, and some even got involved with Nakmander's rebellion. If the players had peaced out on Nakmander and taken a more active interest in the Rankethlek, Nakmander's rebellion would have slogged along at a slower pace and probably been a lot more costly for him in terms of casualties, while the Rankethlek would have scooted ahead with things and begun fighting Fallen directly, rather than building Steeltown and ignoring the Fallen. It would also have made The Psychogenic Fugue Arc an impossibility.

The other thing that I wanted to do was show that actions have consequences. For instance, D'alton's heist. The group assumed that the bank D'alton had originally tried to rob would be under the same ownership eight years later. They didn't investigate who had an interest in it or anything of that nature. The bank had changed hands, originally being owned by some shady individuals, but when Nakmander started kicking off his rebellion, his first action was to kick mobs and such out of the city. So when the mob using the bank got booted out of Hell, Nakmander took it over. This led to the players getting involved with Nakmander. Additionally, all the faceless mooks and thugs they killed over the course of the campaign had family, they had friends. Just because you drop some 1 hit point minion, it doesn't mean that he doesn't have friends or family that won't be upset. So I crafted the Mysterious Enemies. I based those enemies on some of the more malicious things the group did. One of the guys they hit with a grenade and trapped behind a wolf-iron door that they welded shut. The teenage Fell Humans that were partying in The Fell Peaks that they killed because the Glenwighta told them to. One was the mother of a Kusseth greycoat they got killed for extorting arms suppliers. The brother of their patsy in the election. There were other mysterious enemies, and I had planned for them all to interact with the players during The Psychogenic Fugue Arc. 

I guess the Psychogenic Fugue Arc is the best example to use to show how actions have consequences. The players backed Nakmander and helped build up his power base. When they turned on him and "slew" him, he became obsessed with them. Without that obsession, he probably wouldn't have built himself a clone army of The Robust Five and now be using it to try and conquer The South, and Meroteth might have been reconquered by Kusseth or reabsorbed into The Fell Peaks.

The Rebellion Arc wasn't about morality. The players were thieves and vandals and killed kids and bystanders without so much as blinking. Which is fine. I don't believe in black and white morality for the same reasons I think two word alignments are stupid. It's meaningless. Hekinoe is a world where morality is gray and there are only really shades of more gray. To the Fell Human population of Hell/Meroteth, Nakmander is a shining paragon of Chaotic Good fighting against an oppressive establishment for the freedom of his people from a tyrannical dictatorship. To the average Kusseth citizen, he is a black hearted Chaotic Evil sorcerer that might as well be bathing in the blood of infants after eating their hearts.

Don't get me wrong, some things are bad, period. Rape, pedophilia, etc. But lets look at the bigotry of most average folks of The Known World in regards to sorcery. Sorcerers in most places in The Known World are considered vile and evil, because even the strongest of them can't guarantee that their sorcery won't slip out of control and endanger the lives and well being of those around them. Bigotry is typically a bad thing. However, sorcerers cannot guarantee that their sorcery won't slip out of control and endanger the lives and well being of those around them. You can practice certain methods of spellcasting and utilize certain items to minimize the chance of a misfire, but you cannot guarantee it. So every time a spellcaster casts a spell, he is risking the lives and well being of those around him. All sorcerers are aware of this risk, as sorcery's nature is well documented in The Known World. Does that not make the bigotry of The Known World justified? Does it not make a spellcaster evil for ignoring this danger and casting spells while around other people? Even if you are using sorcery to stop some sort of disaster of mass casualty proportions, you still can't guarantee that a sorcerous misfire from your efforts won't be worse in some way. 

To continue, The Rebellion Arc was about choices and their consequences and about a world that lives and breathes and doesn't sit around waiting for the players to interact with it. Things are still happening in The Known World, even though my players are wandering around Orcunraytrel, and I like that. Makes it feel like the world is more than just window dressing.

You may have noticed that the past two days have had posts kind of detailing The Rebellion Arc appear on the blog. I've decided that I am going to post the logs of each of the scenarios from The Rebellion Arc here on the blog, one a day for five days each week. I'm doing this because my Orcunraytrel players don't really know about The Rebellion Arc, beyond what Eric and I have mentioned. I'm also doing it because I need a break. I've been feeling kind of drained and am having a difficult time creating a post I am happy enough with to actually post, so I think I need a bit of a break from creating new content. 

The Rebellion Arc - 02: Kemmel and Mesl

In which heads are successfully (more or less) laid low.

16th of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

Everyone gets in a meal and a bath. Hector (Aiden Vaux, perhaps that sounds familiar) and Gidaeon free Danny, the bard working in the Cavorting Colt. The bard shorts them twenty marks when he pays them for services rendered and sometime in the night he kills three individuals, one with poison.

17th of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

D'Alton offers his services to Warden Orton, who hires him and any friends he may or may not have to track the bard down and bring him to justice. Orton also logs D'Alton in his logbook. Kethranmeer (being an honorary bard) mentions in his halting fashion that bards must work consistently to tithe back to the colleges and that Mesl is the closest place he could be working. 

18th of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

Travel to Mesl.

19th of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

The group arrives in Mesl and are logged by the guards at the gate. The guards take note that the group seeks friends in Natl, which has been abandoned for about thirty years since the Dwenoren sank it into the earth with tunnels and explosives.  The bard was successfully subdued and chained to Kethranmeer. After dealing with the bard, the group encountered a "professional" adventurer by the name of Reginald E.C. (Ellicott Chatham) Walthuler who promised to make them aware of anything interesting he encountered in his travels, they were intrigued and scraped together what cash they had to help finance him. 

20th of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

Travel to Kemmel.

21st of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

The group brought the bard to Warden Orton, who promptly obliterated the bard's head with a scattergun. He then proceeded to demand the payment the bard earned from Tomlin at the Cavorting Colt. The group claimed the bard had no money when they found him, even though he had paid Gidaeon and Hector when they freed him. Orton took the ten marks the bard had earned out of the reward for bringing him to justice. The group grumbled about it but accepted the payment, D'Alton took a finder's fee out of the reward for getting the job in the first place. The group then proceeded to bring a Vyanth by the name of Renaultlel to justice for reneging on a loan. Xein gave a few coins to a bum, who was then given the bum's rush by Hector. Hector then gave a drunk that attacked a whore in the outhouse the bum's rush. He inadvertently touched male genitalia while doing this. A poor dumb sod by the name of Takil was divested of coin to pay up a bar tab as well. Hector bought a reportedly homosexual puppy. 

22nd of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

Travel to Mesl.

23rd of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

The group arrived in Mesl again and was again logged by the guards at the gate. They met a friendly Vyanth who ran the establishment known as Hey Look! Stuff! And were somewhat put off by the proprietor's friendliness. They discovered that soldiers were exhorting a local Gunderson and Sons representative and notified Warden Cassius of this. The warden then proceeded to unleash murderous fury upon the soldiers of the barracks with his shotgun. Severed heads were placed outside of the Gunderson & Sons shop to indicate that it would be stupid for other soldiers to try extorting money from one of Kusseth's biggest suppliers of firearms and firearm paraphernalia. The group then made its way to Commander Kothos' office and were able to see firsthand the wonders of modern technology when his clerk used a telegraph. Kothos suggested they join the military or join Cenn the Reaver, the group declined both suggestions but were interested in work. Kothos told them of a group of deserters that had deserted and needed to be brought back into the fold, he said soldiers were worth more alive than as examples to other cowards. The group was led to the deserters, managed to convince them that Kothos knew where they were and could end them if he liked, even if they were deserters they were being given a chance to come back alive and in possession of all their appendages. The deserters were young, tired, very green, and almost out of food and supplies. They caved and came back to Mesl with the group. When they arrived Kothos and a mob of veterans were waiting for them and pounded the piss and shit out of them, then dragged them off to the conscript camp. Kothos told the group that he had some paperwork to take care of, but they should get a hold of him in an hour and he would have another job for them. They left for the Kemmel mine. 

24th of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

Travel to the mine.

25th of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

The group arrived while a patrol was entering the mine and so they were luckily able to enter immediately. To the surprise of the soldiers guarding the mine, the group went about their business in a brisk very business-like fashion and didn't dillydally or get in the way. They found their way to the foreman of the mine and he put them to work shifting broken down ore carts around, they met with some success and were paid for their services. Once they recovered from that labor he put them to work patrolling. 

26th of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

Day one of the patrol.

27th of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

Day two of the patrol.

28th of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

On their third day of the patrol they found something amiss in the spot they normally took their lunch in. They discovered a Dwenoren hidey hole and entered it, managing to convince Kethranmeer to enter an enclosed space for the first time in the time they'd known him. They discovered some Dwenoren and some explosives in the bolthole, but feeling outgunned and not wanting the stumpies to blow their tunnels, they left the hole and reported the events to the foreman, who immediately mobilized mine soldiers to investigate the hole. With the foreman having no more work for them, they left the mine and headed to Mesl. 

29th of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

Travel to Mesl.

30th of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

Once again the group arrived at Mesl and were logged at the gate. Kothos was slightly perturbed that they took more than half a week to get back to him, rather than an hour as he had asked, but he still offered them the work, albeit with a reduced reward. They were told to investigate a known Whurent/Kusseth bolthole in the mountains. They did so and entered the tunnels hidden in the cave. In the cave they found a fortified outpost of Dwenoren. They entered, making no attempts whatsoever at stealth, and proceeded to kill anything less than 5' 1" tall. They were only able to penetrate the outpost fully because of a malfunctioning gate mechanism, which Kethranmeer was able to force open with his superior strength. They then proceeded to kill the Dwenoren officers and a welder who was trying to weld a door shut. With the hole cleaned out, they returned to Kothos and were paid after notifying him of the odd door situation.

1st of Fourthmonth, 9995 DK

The group got up and got ready to head for Kusseth when a messenger from Kothos approached them. They were paid 100 marks a piece and notified via letter that the door they found led right into Whurent and their quick action and bloody skillset allowed Kothos and some of his soldiers to enter the door and secure an outpost further into Whurent than even the Great Trench.  Kothos told them to return in three months time when the situation was under control down there if they want some more work. After that they were approached by a representative from the foundry and were told that an ore caravan has gone missing somewhere along the route to Kusseth and that foul play is suspected, they were told that they will receive 300 marks for looking into the issue and double that upon its safe return if they choose to attempt to locate the wagon in their travels. The group opts to wait till the following day to travel.

The Rebellion Arc - 01: Beltan

In which imprisonment ensues and later comes to an abbreviated end.

14th of Thirdmonth, 9987 DK

The group is imprisoned in the Beltan prison camp for a variety of offenses.

14th of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

A plot masterminded by Smiling Jack and various other notables of the Beltan alumni allows them to escape. They head north with Kethranmeer (at this time known as Spineplate or Beast) in tow to Kemmel hoping to lie low and remain off the radar of the wardens and soldiers searching the area for escapees.

16th of Thirdmonth, 9995 DK

Arrive after nightfall on the outskirts of Kemmel. 

Edit After The Fact: This scenario was primarily just an introduction to 4th Edition and Dungeons and Dragons in general for some members of the group. Not much happened. Mostly it was just exploring skill use and combat and utilizing the power system. It was also about choosing an NPC to hang around with. 

Figuring Something Out...

For a while now, I have needed a break. I should have actually taken one when our last campaign ended, but I couldn't stop and make myself do so. I was too excited about the next campaign and how much fun I was having working on it. So I'm trying to figure out how exactly to take that break now that the new campaign is in full swing.

I've gone through a couple iterations of the idea. The first was the background light campaign idea that I was working on for a group of low experience players. The second was an alteration of that idea where it was going to be me, Eric, and Jeremy and our wives. The third was trying to play in Ieanegatniv with Lance and Shawn. The fourth idea was to create a bat shit crazy high fantasy campaign setting based on Josh's 4th Edition test character, God-King Lothorium Axelord. It was pretty ridiculous, hehe. The fifth version is that I've decided to play Gamma World with Shawn, Lance, and Jeremy.

We have the core set of Gamma World, and the two expansions. That is three total adventures, taking players from level one to nine or ten or something along those lines. I like Gamma World, and having the pre-made adventures cuts the work down quite a bit. I am all set to move forward with this idea, like right now, as are my players. However, there is an issue, Lance and Shawn will be playing via Skype.

Normally, this wouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately, Gamma World comes as a big forty dollar box set. You can't buy the rulebook alone so you and your players all have a copy of the rules. Fine, I can handle that. The internets are a wondrous place and I have already found a series of printouts for forty-one of the forty-nine origins. The skills can be explained, and we don't have to worry too much about equipment. Problem(s) solved(ish).

Unfortunately, we have the deck of Alpha Mutations and Omega Technology to deal with. I can't just recite the cards to Lance and Shawn every time they wonder what they're capable of, and waving them under the webcam probably isn't too helpful either. Lance and Should could buy and construct their own decks, but then we play right into the Evil Corporate Hands of Wizards and buy boosters. I am brandishing my fist in the air. The best solution I've come up with, is to either make some manner of Excel spreadsheet and share it with Shawn and Lance so they can peruse it when "drawing" cards, there are like eighty cards though, and I am looking to work as little as possible in this outing. Or, I can just send them an email or lengthy text with the contents of the card, and they can collect them all. Like Pokemon!

Ok, so all the Gamma World issues are more or less resolved, what now? 

I guess I should probably read the adventures and we should play. Heh.

Do I dare?

There are groups that have multiple campaigns, with the player of one GMing the other. This is something I have sought as the goal of a Grail Quest for over a decade and have finally achieved, thanks to Shawn. Other groups have multiple campaigns all run by the same GM. Which is impressive and terrifying.

Last night (which is earlier this week at this point), I was over to the house of my friends Jeremy and Laura. Heather and Serwin soon followed. The main point was so Jeremy and I could possibly finalize some of his thoughts on D'alton and the brooding existential crisis the character was going through in dealing with post-Kethranmeer life. I ended up grabbing a bunch of page protectors from my wife and going through our catalog of old character sheets and protecting them and placing them in binders as well. Fun stuff. Once Old Firebeard came over, I turned myself to the task of getting him squared away for next campaign. He alternately wanted to play a gunslinging pirate with stabbyness and hints of vampirateism and a witch.

Now here is the thing, and my wife pointed this out, I handed Sean Erwin the core book for Pathfinder and said, "Here are the rules, first thing you should do is to look through it and kind of get an idea about what class you wanted to be." I then proceeded to tell Serwin no about thirty seven times. "Can I be an elf?" "No, there aren't any elves in my world." "Can I be an Inquisitor?" "No, there are no divine classes or gods in my world." and so on.

What followed was a discussion with my wife and Jeremy about how perhaps you need a background in DnD to play my campaign, and can't just be thrown to the wolves. We then moved onto a discussion about how perhaps I could do a beginner DnD campaign with people who have little or no experience with DnD in addition to my Hekinoe campaign. It was a tempting and fascinating discussion, and at one point it involved this other group hunting down my Hekinoe group and hatemurdering them.

The problem with doing two campaigns is burnout. I wanted to take a whole month off with no DnD or planning for DnD to recharge the batteries, and now I'm considering immediately running not one campaign, but TWO, in addition to being a player in another. It seems like I've just thrown caution to the wind and said fuck it all. Which is dangerous. To get this far, to make this world and this campaign, I would hate myself if three months into our new Hekinoe campaign I was just like "Fuck you guys and fuck DnD, I'm playing Minecraft."

Now, if we imagine for a moment and say that I am going to do this, how would I stave off burnout? What kind of campaign would it be? Who would play? What system would I use? We can't use my current campaign world, my wife kind of convinced me that it is far too complex and goofy for beginners. Not because I am awesome, but just because it is too overly complicated and even if you have the core rules for Pathfinder, you still need to read a bunch of other materials to figure out what is remotely playable and how it operates. My world has all kinds of goofy alternate rules and feats and traits and flaws and restrictions on races and classes. It is kind of like throwing the kids into the deep end and letting them flounder. Plus, Serwin doesn't have the attachment to the world and characters that the other players would.

So what am I doing here? Considering a new campaign world? Is this a noob group? Not per se, but kind of, and I certainly do not mean noob in a negative or condescending context. Who would be in it? Serwin Firebeard obviously, my wife, Laura, and perhaps Kerry. Martel as well if she wanted to, though she already has a group and is technically a veteran of two campaigns. Basically people interested in DnD, that don't have a ridiculous fifteen years of experience under their belt are who I would invite.

So how would I stave off burnout? How would I keep myself interested?

As a veteran gamer, it is kind of my duty to expose new players to the game. To usher in the next generation so to speak. We've done that with Josh and Jeff, though neither of them really plays anymore as far as I know. Helping to generate new players and new interest in the game and genre is something that really appeals to me, and doing that is something I could definitely be committed to.

The brunt of the work of my other campaign is done as well. We're not starting a new campaign world with the guys, they're just continuing their adventures in a world that is already built. The plot is done and I have roughly eleven thousand words of an outline for it that are basically a collection of plot hooks and adventure ideas. Ultimately the goals will be shaped by the players, rather than me, I just have to make the scenarios, and if we're working under the whole 3-4 hour long session format, that is pretty easy to accomplish with a little bit of dedication. This is not to say that I am done putting effort into Hekinoe, not by a long shot. It just means that the world is there, the wiki is there, the only thing that isn't there yet are the players and the stuff they want to do.

The goal these days is to work smarter and not harder, it makes everything easier. I don't really write dialogue anymore, I write the intent and goals of NPCs and base the conversation with the players on my notes. I don't write DCs, I just keep in mind whether a task is hard or easy and watch the result of the checks the players make. Stuff like that makes everything easier and less stressful on me. I want to carry that over to this potential new campaign.

I have an obsession with making things not a carbon copy of other things. I started with odd things like desert Elves and non-metalwork obsessed Dwarves and whatnot, now I've moved to a place where there are no "normal" fantasy races in my campaign and no race is dark and evil and monstrous, every race is just sort of annoyingly grey as far as morals. I'm going to skip that if I do this second campaign. Everything is bog standard DnD (whatever system we use, but we'll get to that later), Elves like forests and Orcs are evil, all the classes are available and work normally. The background will be minimal, the gods will exist and do godly things and be involved in the exploits of mortals. That way, when you read the book, you know you're reading the actual rules and don't have to worry about them being different than what you're reading.

If I were to do any background, it would probably fairly simplistic. This is a forest, elves live here and have done so for some time. This mountain range is where Dwarves live, and they have lived here for some time. Etc. I think I would create a frontier area full of monsters and lawlessness, like a newly discovered continent or island or something. A place with ruins and swamps and that kind of thing. Then make a big continent nearby and say, "This is where all the old and ancient empires are. You are colonists and adventurers here in this new land, don't worry about the past four thousand years of history. Just go clean up the colony. With swords." I think I would also let the players determine some background, like if they were sick of Goblins are evil and Elves like forest cliches, I would let them determine what things should be like.

Another thing I could do to lighten the load of this campaign is to get a co-GM. By this, I mean an actual GM. Someone to actually run scenarios or work on them if I can't or need to take a break. Now the obvious choice would be Eric, or even Tony if he'd do it. They both have experience. No, though. I would choose Jeremy. Seems an odd choice perhaps, I'll explain. Jeremy really started to get a handle on playing DnD in 4th Edition, more than he ever had in the past decade or more. He hit a rough patch changing to Pathfinder, but he wants to get back to where he was at. The best way to get better at gaming and understanding a ruleset is to run the game, to be the GM and have to find all the answers to the questions the players are asking. Maybe he wouldn't agree to that level of commitment, but he would be my first choice.

The main thing, if I do decide to do this, would be to ensure that the group is very interested in doing so. I'm not even going to help roll characters if they're not genuinely, seriously, interested in playing along. I also want to make sure that we all go in with the understanding that I will drop this shit like a hot coal if it begins to affect my attitude regarding DnD in general or begins to detract from my other campaign. Don't mean to be harsh, I just have a gaming commitment first and foremost to the Hekinoe group.

There is a concern about time. If I am running two campaigns, there will be an investment of time into DnD. Maybe not a shit ton more, but I'll need to let go of something, and that something will probably be the dream of playing Warmachine. Which is not to say I won't buy a figure, I will, because there is one that is perfect for an NPC in my next Hekinoe campaign, but I just don't think it would be prudent to buy a bunch of rulebooks and minis and not really have time to paint them.

The final issue of this whole nebulous idea comes down to system. 4th Edition has a certain amount of ease of use to it that appeals to me. It is easier to learn and easier to GM. It is also less complex, which makes it harder to get what you envision your character to be. Pathfinder has the appeal of being Pathfinder, it is more streamlined than 3.5 but more complex than 4th Edition, so it would be harder for beginners to get a handle on, but when they did, it would probably allow them to get more out of it. Heather and Martel want unicorns, hard to do in 4th Edition, easy to do in Pathfinder (albeit at 14th level, and you have to be good). I'll mostly likely discuss it with whoever I invite and see what they want to do.

Whoa, text.

Job Posting?

So, I bought a reasonably priced (and hopefully effective) USB microphone. Hopefully it will work with Audacity and I can do some recording(if not, I'm sure I can find another program somewhere to do that). Oh, yeah, that is the intent. I want to record our gaming sessions as I believe I said before in a previous post. The intent is not to begin podcasting or anything of that nature, I just want to hear the sessions and interactions rather than be part of them. I'm hoping to listen to what goes on in our sessions and see what I can do to make them better and just generally run smoother. If I can go back and listen to where people are having trouble or where I kind of stutter and stammer and get sidetracked I think I can get some insights into the sessions. Plus it'll be hilarious to listen to our antics, and useful to have them in a portable format that would allow Shawn or Josh to be part of gaming even though geography is working against them. Although I suppose since we are moving into the FUTURE! some sort of video chat could be instituted that would make them actually part of gaming. Scratch that, eight players and a GM would be too much.

On another topic I need an intern, anyone interested? Seriously. I've joked before that Eric and Tony have been my co-GMs at times, but I think I may need help. I've been busy with work and school related things the past three days, which has made it impossible to do any GMing or writing type stuff because they're not as important. I had wanted to do a once over of the scenario this morning to tighten up the final details, but I also wanted to work on the microphone thing, and finish up a scenario-adjacent story. I also wanted to get a hair more work done on the GURPS thing.

Instead of all of that I got a microphone and added some skills to "Savage" Doc Managan (a GURPS character). Oh, and I'm blogging. Anyway, it would really be handy to have another person around to be like "Hey, look up USB microphones and their prices and effectiveness and get back to me before we game. Thanks." It would also be nice to expose another person to the mechanics of GMing and perhaps giving them some experience with it and perhaps get them interested in running stuff as well.

I dunno. Those are the thoughts of the morning I guess.

District 9

I haven't really talked about movies or tv shows much so I figured I would change things up. I saw District 9 the other night with Josh and Jeff and I must say that it was quite interesting and awesome, almost to the point where I'd see it again in theaters if I was bugged to do so enough. I had the benefit of going in with no preconceptions whatsoever, other than knowing that it was a movie about aliens stuck on Earth. I don't watch much tv (at least the kind with commercials) so I rarely see trailers unless someone tells me to Youtube them. The movie overall was really interesting, and rather grim in some spots. Some spots were "Woooo we're blowin shit up with lasers!" but they were relatively realistic and believable, as much as such situations can be believable in the context of this kind of movie. I'm not going to wax philosophical here or talk about thumbs and stars and .5s, those don't mean anything more than saying the movie got two erect penises, a gram of sperm, and a venereal disease. It was a good flick and if you like odd/interesting alien flicks you should be pleased by viewing District 9. Or you might not, some people don't like shit that other people do. That's why rating systems are generally bullshit.

What I Liked: Premise (aliens stuck on Earth). Grim look and feel and commentary on intolerance. Lasers and alien battlesuits. Acting was fairly solid from a bunch of unknowns (to me). The whole documentary schtick. Accents.

What I Didn't Like: ...I dunno, I can't really complain about this movie. It really delivered an enjoyable experience.

My Rating: Six rolls of whiteout and a blank DVD.

Oh Fiddlesticks

Gaming is looking grim for August, this saddens me. A lot. I know everyone is still interested, but schedule conflicts seem like they are a big impediment. I'm not sure how long that will persist, we'll see. Even if schedules no longer become a problem, Eric and Jeff will be enrolling in institutions of higher learning and Josh will be wandering away to the Navy to get his "free" (HA!) schooling. Which means schedules will be a complication again, and we will be down a person. Seems like gaming is in a coma and on its way to checking out permanently. Seems fitting that when I finally get my shit together and we get a sweet group together that it's schedules and important shit that kills gaming, and not my lack of interest. Maybe ironic rather than fitting. We'll see how things turn out though. I have the entire internet at my fingertips and there is a site called EN World that is a gamer haven for all kinds of pen and paper RPGs (the majority of their content is DnD centric though) and they have sections that put gamers together based on location. Not sure how I'd feel about bringing in total unknowns, but nerds/geeks are what they are for the most part. No LARPers though.

...I wonder if we could get Dan back into it.
...Or Tony too, I sense he is not violently opposed to the idea, but I think he'd have to sit down and get into it for that to really happen and as long as he avoids physically gaming he won't be into it.

I had my little crisis of system use the other day, but I think I've pretty well gotten over it. Everything I want to do can be done in 4th Edition, just not as often as I like basically. The example I go to once more is the ray gun. Yes, the ray gun will do fire damage when used for ranged attacks, at least when used with martial powers. However, if you are trained in the Technomancy skill you will be able tweak the settings on the motherfucker and cause a ranged burst attack in addition to the normal effects of your power, this will only be usable once per day. The steam rifle will have a similar situation, normal attacks will push targets, once per encounter you can not a target prone.

I think I just started freaking out over nothing. I kind of tend to get fixated on one little aspect or something, then blow it out or proportion. I think that's part of why I get so easily frustrated by gaming and whatnot. One little thing gets stuck in my mind like a grain of sand and becomes big deal and drives me crazy.

Music: Demise - Hawkwind