Scenic Dunnsmouth Prep Wrapped Up

I'm Excited to Run Scenic Dunnsmouth

I finished doing the village set-up yesterday.  Lots of pig farmers in the version of Dunnsmouth I rolled up, lol.  All that's left to do is get the village placed on the big campaign map.  I'm holding off on getting this and a few other things on the big campaign map because I want to do the southern part of the map all at once. 

In Other News

We resumed playing Year of the Goat Campaign last Sunday.  The PCs made it to Halwic encountering many refugees from the fire, plague, and mimics.  They spoke to the Abbess of St. Forsythia and learned what they could from her about where the mimic(s) popped up.  Next session they'll inquire with the head of the family that was victimized by mimic(s) to investigate further.  Material I worked on during #DIY30 was very helpful to me!  Fun session.

A Post Mortem of My #DIY30 Experience

I Could Have Done Better

I didn't complete as many of the goals I laid out for myself as I hoped.  I'm not disappointed in myself, I'm just seeing how I misjudged how much I could finish in the time allotted. 

Near the end, my blog posts were rather truncated and probably a bit boring to read.

As far as the spirit of the challenge, I did less DIY and more adapting and converting of pre-written modules.

I Could Have Done Worse

I worked on RPG stuff 30 out of 33 days from September 1st to October 3rd and every day I worked on RPG stuff I also blogged about it.


The area on my campaign map where we left off the campaign last year is much more fleshed out and three out of four cardinal directions (from where they are located) have something nearby ready for the players to stumble upon and interact with if they choose.

Although I had hoped to produce more original material, thus adhering more closely to the DIY nature of the challenge, I did the work that I thought would be immediately useful in my home campaign.  That just happened to be adapting/converting a couple of  modules I had previously chosen for placement on my campaign map near where the PCs are located and likely to explore soon.

Parting Thoughts On My #DIY30 Experience

Participating in this RPG blog challenge was beneficial to me in that I felt I had to do RPG work everyday no matter how I felt or how much time I had to write/map/design in a particular day.  Working on my campaign everyday illuminated some of my writing inefficiencies and time-wasting tendencies.  Although I didn't complete as much as I wanted to when I set goals at the beginning, I still accomplished a fair amount of work and when I go back to running this campaign, I'll feel more confident about the encounters and adventure hooks that are available to the PCs in this area of the map.  I would like to do #DIY30 again, maybe early next year!


New Mini-Challenge for Myself

The goals that went unfinished will be rolled over into a new challenge I've set for myself.  After completing #DIY30, my blog was at 82 posts.  So the challenge for me will be to get to 100 posts by the end of 2018.  That will require 1.6363636364 posts per week until the end of the year.  Lol, or two posts a week most weeks.  #MOCKORANGECAIRN100  There, it even has a fucking hashtag now!


If You're Reading This I Want to Hear From You

Did you participate in #DIY30?  What did you think of your experience?  Why are you reading my blog?  What are you getting out of it?  What did you eat as a snack at that last game you DMed or played?  No snacks?  Are you fasting, lol?

#DIY30 Day Thirty

Three Rooms Left...

I worked on level three of the Broken Hammer dungeon and got so close to finishing today!  I'll wrap it up tomorrow, then it's on to the Treeblossom Village.  This wraps up my blogging of my #DIY30 challenge.  In a day or two, I'll do a post mortem on my efforts, but in short I'm happy I did it and happy it's ovah!  Thank you to anyone who has followed along.

#DIY30 Day Twenty Nine

Penultimate

I'm nearly finished with #DIY30 and there are six rooms left to adapt/convert in the Broken Hammer dungeon level three.  After I finish up the dungeon it's on to the last part of the "Strange Bedfellows" adventure, The Treeblossom Village.  I knew it was going to take a lot of work to convert and adapt this adventure to my campaign needs, but I didn't realize it was going to dominate the second half of my #DIY30 challenge and then some!  I'm happy to have gotten so much done with this, though.  I'm making it my goal for October to do a little RPG work everyday, but I'm going to reduce my blogging to once or twice a week.  Still quite a bit of stuff to finish on the #DIY30 goals list I made for myself and I want to keep rolling with this momentum I have.  If you've read this post and any others, I would welcome your comments or questions!  Did you participate in #DIY30?  What did you accomplish during those 30 days?  

#DIY30 Day Twenty Eight

Level Two In The Can

I finished up the Broken Hammer level two and have moved on to level three.  It has about a third of the rooms of level two, so I should finish it up more quickly.  

#DIY30 Day Twenty Seven

Operation Wood Pile Complete:)

I finished the last cords of firewood on Friday.  Then I was gloriously lazy Saturday.  Today I almost finished the conversion/adaptation of level two of the Broken Hammer dungeon.  Like I said earlier, I'll run my #DIY30 work into October as needed, so looks like I'll be finishing up on the 3rd.  The Broken Hammer dungeon has a third level, so I'll get started on that.  When I complete this challenge I took upon myself, I'll keep working on the projects I didn't get to, but at a somewhat reduced pace.  I'm thinking I'll work on stuff enough to write two blog posts a week.  We played D&D 5e this morning.  It was the second session of this arc of the campaign.  Early stages, but lots of fun!  The DM for that game is setting us up for some scary stuff, I think!

#DIY30 Day Twenty Six

Progress Was Made....

But not as much as I predicted yesterday, lol.  I got more done with the wood pile, but I chipped away at level two of the Broken Hammer dungeon a little, too.  I might finish the wood stacking tomorrow, but no promises.

#DIY30 Day Twenty Five

It's My Birthday

I turned 40 today.  I took the day off from wood stacking as a present to myself, but I worked on the Broken Hammer dungeon level two.  Only nine rooms left to adapt, maybe I can crank through it and the wood pile tomorrow.  We'll see how it goes.  My birthday celebration turned out to be an awesome BBQ.  We're having a warm fall, so far, here in my corner of the NW.  Soon though, the short gray days will have their reign!

#DIY30 Day Twenty Four

Same Shit, Different Day

Stacked wood, worked on Broken Hammer dungeon level two, rinse and repeat.

#DIY30 Day Twenty Three

Another Day Another Wood Pile And Level Two Session

More wood in the shed, more conversion work done on level two of the Broken Hammer dungeon from "Strange Bedfellows."  Probably gonna be the same story from me over the next two days.

#DIY30 Day Twenty Two

The Woodpile And The Dungeon

I started to stack wood today.  It's going to take a few days to get it all in the wood shed.  Also managed to get a little work done on the Broken Hammer dungeon level two.

#DIY30 Day Twenty One

Little By Little

Another session slogging through adaptation and conversion of level two of the the Broken Hammer dungeon from the Swords & Wizardry module "Strange Bedfellows."  Only eight more days left in the month... I'll let #DIY30 run into October for any days I miss in September.  Only missed one so far, but I have real world chores to do outside this week and I'm not sure if I'll be able to fit those and this project into each day.  I've been slacking on getting the wood pile out of the driveway and into the wood shed.  Gotta download some podcasts and just GITURDUN.

20 Quick Questions to Illuminate My "Year of the Goat" Campaign Setting

First of all, gotta give credit to Jeff Rients for posting these questions over on his blog Jeff's Gameblog.  They can also be found in his excellent adventure Broodmother Skyfortress, published by Lamentations of the Flame Princess.

Second, I started my campaign in early 2015.  I didn't have much of this stuff defined at the beginning of the campaign, so many of the answers to these questions evolved during play.  We've been on hiatus for about a year, as two of us started small businesses, and I was unable to put the time and energy into my DM prep that I feel is necessary for me to run a fun game.  I think I've mentioned before I'm a prep heavy DM.  I've taken some steps towards being a more prep light DM, with some success, but that saying "a tiger can't change his stripes" is correct in my case.  I started writing answers to these questions several months after I received Broodmother Skyfortress.  I'll be using different colors of text to show the progression of my answers as I was not able to answer all the questions in one go.  I still have a few to answer so I will be coming back to update this when I flesh out those areas of my campaign.

5/17/17 entries will be written in BLACK.
6/28/17 entries will be written in GREEN.
8/23/18 entries will be written in BLUE.

1.  What is the deal with my cleric's religion?

I have three somewhat well defined religious orders and about four or five others that I've not gotten very far in defining.  
     A.  Church of the Covenant AKA Church of George, this is the Christianity analog.  This religious order is inspired by the real world practice of Veneration.  So instead of the worship of Jesus, this order is worshiping my fantasy version of St. George the Dragonslayer.  We only have one PC cleric so far and this is his order.
     B.  Temple of Tycho.  Tycho believers espouse gambling, chance, luck, and calculated risks as sacred to their god.  PCs have encountered a friendly priest/scholar in service to Tycho.
     C.  Knights Order Medical.  This order was briefly mentioned in A Stranger Storm, the adventure from the LotFP Grindhouse Referee Book.  The NPCs that I've portrayed have been labeled as "creepy Scientologists" (are there any other kind, lol?) by the players.  So I've decided it's a mystery cult that's a cross between Scientology and NATO Military Force with an absolute obsession for cleanliness.  Most large cities and towns will have a Knights Order Medical bathhouse/laundry.  PCs tortured and executed Sir Boris, a member of this order.  He was really a Mimic, but the PCs didn't know that until they killed him.  Knights Order Medical is now a bit unfriendly to the PC group, lol.
     D.  The god or gods of the ancient lizardfolk.  The lizardfolk are believed to be extinct (they aren't.)
     E.  Demi-human deities.  Nobody is playing a demi-human so far, so I haven't even decided what's going on with their gods.  Or if they even have gods.
     F.  Druidism.  I've used druids as NPCs.  Until I get someone playing a druid, I'm not putting much thought into this.
     G.  Beliefs of the Shoum.  Taking inspiration from Kevin Crawford's Shou in the Ride Tide campaign book, I've bundled goblinkind together into humanoids called the Shoum.  Haven't worked out their religious system, yet.  Probably gonna keep borrowing stuff about them from the Red Tide setting if it will fit into my campaign.

2.  Where can we go to buy standard equipment?

Cities will have both expedition suppliers and smiths.  A small village might have a smith with some armament skill and usually a market, farm stall, or someone willing to sell or trade surplus food and sundries.


3.  Where can we go to get platemail custom fitted for this monster I just befriended?

4.  Who is the mightiest wizard in the land?   

Once it was Lord Vortulak, before his path intersected with the Queen of Nephilidia...

5.  Who is the greatest warrior in the land? 

Lady Uljana Chernetsk.  Her estate rests outside the garrison city of Glister.

6.  Who is the richest person in the land?

The Khan, Iman Mehdizadeh, who resides in Khyan-Hrapp Royal Palace located in the capitol city of Chizhova.

7.  Where can we go to get some magical healing?  

Cure Light Wounds-  Can be cast by clerics (PC and NPC) of Church of the Covenant, Temple of Tycho, Knights Order Medical (and other religious orders as I make them up) for 250SP

Cure Disease-  Can be cast by clerics (PC and NPC) of Church of the Covenant, Temple of Tycho, Knights Order Medical (and other religious orders as I make them up) for 350SP

Cure Serious Wounds-  Can be cast by clerics (NPC) of Church of the Covenant and Knights Order Medical (all PC clerics can do this if they have spells at this level) for 400SP

Cure Critical Wounds-  Can be cast by clerics (NPC) of Church of the Covenant and Knights Order Medical (all PC clerics can do this if they have spells at this level) for 450SP

Heal-  Can be cast by clerics (NPC) of Knights Order Medical (all PC clerics can do this if they have spells at this level) for 500SP

8.  Where can we go to get cures for the following conditions?

Poison-
Disease-
Curse-
Level Drain-
Lycanthropy-
Polymorph-
Alignment change-
Death-  Ain't no cure for death, son.

Undeath- 

9.  Is there a magic guild my magic-user belongs to or that I can join in order to get more spells.

No.

There was a magic school up until recently... then Mimics happened.

10.  Where can I find an alchemist, sage or other expert NPC?

11.Where can I hire mercenaries?

Most towns and cities have a notice board for hiring small numbers.  The capitol Chizhova and Glister, a garrison city, would sometimes have larger numbers of mercs.

12.  Is there any place on the map where swords are illegal, magic is outlawed, or any other notable hassles from Johnny Law?

"Black Magic" is a serious crime.  Black magic being defined as casting a spell intending to harm another.  Smaller settlements may have broader definitions of Black Magic.


13.  Which way to the nearest tavern?

We'll go by city/town listing the taverns I've got currently.

Chizhova-  The Inn of the Stealing Fat Golem
                   The Rotten Stump
                   Stink Drink (in the sewer tunnels)

Denton-  The Good Cup

Glister-  Inn of the Shining Djinn

Halwic-  Inn of the Silken Sow's Sleeve
               The Owl and the Whistle Public House
               The Rich Wolf Tavern

Harmony-  The Joyful Harp Tavern

Stone's Throw-  The Gold Crown Tavern

Thorbald-  The Soldier's Rest Inn and Tavern

Tragidore-  One-Eyed Hrothgar's
                   The Grey Vampire
                   The Sputtering Otter

Uhniv-  The Weeping Harpy Inn

Crossroads-  The Inn of the Incontinent Vicar (just south of Argyle and east of Tragidore)
                     Wildwood Inn (west of Denton)

14.  What monsters are terrorizing the countryside sufficiently that if I kill them I will become famous?

Mimics.  Vampires.


15. Are there any wars brewing that I could go fight?

Various areas on my campaign map are set to trigger warlike conditions if the PCs travel far enough.  If you picture the continents of Europe and Asia, my campaign setting is roughly Ukraine.  There is a war brewing in "Bavaria" (the Better Than Any Man adventure module,)  "Fantasy Fucking Vietnam" (Quelong adventure module,) and ...


16.  How about gladiatorial arenas complete with hard-won glory and fabulous cash prizes?

17.  Are there any secret societies with sinister agendas I could join and or fight?

From Zak Smith's Playing DnD with Pornstars Blog I'll be borrowing the Cults of Tiamat.  They are The Black Wing of Tiamat, The Red Hand of Tiamat, The Pale Eye of Tiamat, The Cobalt Claw of Tiamat, and The Jade Fang of Tiamat.  Duvan'Ku a death cult.  The Ckult De Ghul:  collective only in reference, this isn't one single cult, it's actually a number of small cults of myriad undead lords, vampire voivods, and skeletal schemers.  There is a Spider Cult when I decide where I'm placing Scenic Dunnsmouth on the map.

18.  What is there to eat around here?

19.  Any legendary lost treasures I could be looking for?

20.  Where is the nearest dragon or other monster with mad fat treasure? 




   

 


  

#DIY30 Day Twenty

Texts About the Upcoming 5e Game

Happy Mabon

Inching towards the equinox, almost there!  I started the adaptation work on level two of the Broken Hammer Dungeon this afternoon.  I might get to play D&D 5e this weekend! We'll see what my character Shaena the Halfling Rogue is going to do after meeting a midwife who's whole village was slain by EVIL FORCES.  The DM for our 5e campaign is new to DMing, but he's got a great imagination and I think it's gonna be a fun game.

#DIY30 Day Nineteen

Level One Done

I've converted/adapted what I've needed to for level one of the Broken Hammer Dungeon from the Swords & Wizardry module "Strange Bedfellows."  Tomorrow I'll get started on the second level.  I hope I get done adapting this module before the end of the month because I want to get more original work done during #DIY30.

#DIY30 Day Eighteen

#DIY30's MVP: AC Conversion Chart from the LotFP Grindhouse Referee Book

There's A Crack In The Sky....

I'm nearly finished with the conversions/adaptations for level one of the Broken Hammer Dungeon from the Swords & Wizardry module "Strange Bedfellows."  Just three more rooms and I can start on level two.  I've been leaning pretty hard on the handy-dandy AC Conversion Chart from LotFP's Grindhouse Referee book.  Tonight's #DIY30 soundtrack courtesy of The Klinik.

The Klinik, Fever
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2vrJs2Nrms

#DIY30 Day Seventeen

Members of Goblin and Dario Argento

It Was A Nitzer Ebb And Goblin Kind of Night

Man, synthesizers and drum machines are really helping me ride out this #DIY30 thing, lol.  I started going through the dungeon of the module "Strange Bedfellows" changing all the goblinoids into Shoum, converting AC, and downgrading gold coins to silver pieces.  I'm still working on level 1 of a 3 level dungeon, so we'll see how long it takes to get this conversion business out of the way.  I forgot this module had one more part besides the dungeon; a druid tree-fort encampment is at the dungeon's other entrance, opposite from where the PCs enter.  Thankfully it's a short section!

#DIY30 Day Sixteen

"It's not safe to go out, it's not right to stay home"

More Cabaret Voltaire getting me through this "Strange Bedfellows" module.  The circus adaptation is done to my satisfaction.  Instead of traditional goblinoids, there will be Shoum; instead of Ogren, there will be Shoum Witches.  Tomorrow I tackle the dungeon section of this module.

 Cabaret Voltaire, Don't Argue

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5-1HG2oU_M

#DIY30 Day Fifteen

Cab Voltaire, Just Fascination

Soundtrack Was Cabaret Voltaire, Christian Death, and early 90s Dance

I almost bailed on #DIY30 today, but I soaked in the tub, took a little nap, and fuckin' RALLIED, lol.  The soundtrack helped.  So what did I get done?  I worked on adapting the circus from Swords & Wizardry module "Strange Bedfellows."  I am about a third or half way done.  I'll finish tomorrow.  It's mostly condensing descriptions, changing AC, and downgrading gold coins to silver pieces.

Cabaret Voltaire, Kino
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4IAnSdtbNY

#DIY30 Day Fourteen

Wizard's Tower and Dwarven Delve

I've decided to keep working on the G+ Flailsnails game today.  I'll get back to my Year of the Goat campaign tomorrow or Monday.

The Wizard's Tower is 70 miles northeast of Hohnberg located near the coast.  It's occupant has been touched by the Red Tide.  Now a Tide Cult along with the former wizard are hatching foul schemes here.

I've placed the Dwarven Delve about 50 miles northwest of the village of Meredune and the Temple of the Iron Prophet Allia Howe.  It's just over the border into the Shou Lands in the Godbarrow Mountains.  The dwarven clan that had once called this delve home were nearly wiped out by pestilence and the survivors fled to another delve.  It's now occupied by Shou.

Both of these encounter locations need a few more details and the mapping done, but I feel like I have a great start to my future Flailsnails game!