Deathwatch 40K rpg - Game 2 - Final Sanction continues

Following the killteams introduction with the Imperial Assassin Syndalla the marines headed back out, into the rain soaked sprawl of Lordsholm.

The trio briefly discussed heading further into the Portica District to support in the defense of the primary PDF base, but Brother Varin asserted his Ultramarine command and the trio set off for one of their primary objectives, the Astropathic message and Lord Governor..

Trekking through the city, the marines made few contacts with the enemy.  Those they did encounter scattered into shattered stores or fled down alleyways, now little more than garbage clogged streams under the heavy rainfall.  The killteam made it to the border of the Magistria District where a large white washed wall separated the nobility from the common classes of Lordsholm.  Brother Angus activated his Jump Pack and perched upon the high wall surveying the district.  Clean cobble stoned roads crisscrossed between fenced multi storied town houses. Street lamps illuminated park benches, hedges and flower beds where the cities fortunate dwelt. Magistria was certainly separate to the rest of Lordsholm.  In the distance another set of walls partitioned the Governor's palace and within its confines the Astropath's Tower of Echoes jutted into the dark sky like an alabaster needle.

With Varin and Rafen keeping pace on the ground and Angus scouting from atop the district wall, the marines circumvented it's length finding a heavily barricaded gate.  With joint effort they hauled the debris aside and made their way into Magistria. 

As the three marines stalked through the streets they saw little evidence of the rebellion.  Isolated pockets of graffiti or vandalism marked some properties but nothing else stirred amongst the darkened homes. 

Arriving at the palace gate they finally found signs of life.  Guardsmen in heavy coats sheltered within the shadow of the palace walls.  As the towering marines stalked out of the darkness the guards broke into panic but shifted to nervous compliance when the killteam identified themselves.  With little coercion required the guards informed the marines that the Governor had sheltered all the nobility within the Palace and currently they are enjoying a party to distract themselves from the cities plight.  This was not well received by the Astartes who swept past the guards and headed across the graveled driveway to the opulent buildings which formed the Governor's residence.

The house guards had been informed and failed miserably to hide from the Astartes by hiding behind large plants flanking the main doors.  Nervously they revealed themselves and did their best to compose themselves when confronted by the super humans.  Varin and Angus demanded to know the Governor's whereabouts while Rafen loomed at the edge of the entrances illumination.  One of the Guardsmen found his mettle and invited the marines to follow him, throwing open the Palace doors and striding in.  The trio followed the guard through the sprawling residence, staff and menials concealing themselves in doorways or making themselves scarce in a hurried manner.  As the sound of orchestral music and varied conversation bled down a grand hall the marines knew they had found their 'host'.

The marines strode through the doors finding themselves in a massive conservatory filled with dozens of Lordsholm's rich .  An ornate lattice work of rafters made up the ceiling flowing down to a semi circle of 5 meter tall glass panels, these looked out across the lawns and gardens of the palace grounds to the Tower of Echoes which sat atop the highest point of what made up a clifftop border of the property.  As the party guests looked on the new arrivals with wide eyes and gaping mouths all conversation halted, the string quartet abruptly stopping their melody.  Through the transfixed throng pushed a middle aged man.  A bald head topped his solid form where years of fine living had given to a widened mid section, clad in a royal blue coat, barely fastened with gold Aquila clasps."What is the meaning of this?" barked Lord-Governor Perian Thorsholt through a grey flecked moustache and goatee.  As Brother Angus began a tirade against the Governor, Varin tried to interrupt when dark alien forms dropped from the rafters into the crowd. 

Screams erupted from the nobility along with fountains of blood as the xenos began tearing them apart.  Varin hoisted his boltgun up trying to sight a xenos amongst the throng while Angus thumbed the activation stud on his chainsword and Rafen harnessed warp energy, violet lightning playing over his gauntlets.  Thorsholt grabbed a startled bodyguard and shoved them towards a servants entrance, making an escape as the first Genestealer burst from the crowd at the Astartes.  Varin fired a burst of mass reactive shells into the alien beast, gravely wounded it before it landed where Angus hauled the razor teeth of his chainsword across its form finishing it.  As more Genestealers charged, Varin saw a beast tear through the doorway where Thorsholt had fled.  Urging Angus and Rafen to hold the attackers Varin went after the Governor.  Glass shattered and some of the crowd fled the atrium out into the storm with aliens in pursuit.  With psychic lightning and blade the Stormwarden and Blood Angel engaged the remaining Genestealers.  The Xenos proved a more dangerous foe than the hordes of rebels they had been able to wade through. Claws, diamond sharp rent and pierced power armour while weaving away from chainsword and force sword strikes.  Angus shifted stance and made initial attacks with his combat knife then following with his lethal chainsword when the aggressors were mid dodge.  Rafen used his ornate force sword to parry aside rending claws while lashing the genestealers with his psychic might.

Varin crashed through the doorway, its frame not made to accommodate his power armour.  As wood splintered he saw the genestealer launch from the carpeted floor to the wood panelled wall, springing off that to tear down an outclassed guardsmen.  Thorsholt spared a glance at the guards demise and cursed profusely almost crashing into a transfixed member of the kitchen staff who had obliviously wandered into the passage.  Varin kept moving, his shoulder pads scraping furrows into each wall.  Drawing his boltgun up he stitched bolt rounds at his target clipping it.  The Genestealer shifted its bulk swiftly, spinning around and rasping through its opened maw in challenge.  As Varin made to fire again the beast charged, smashing Varin into the wooden wall.  The Ultramarine spat his hate at the race which had scoured Macragge and smashed his boltgun across its inhuman face.  Massive alien claws found purchase on black power armour while Varin sought to put some distance between his target.  A las shot scored a mark in the wall near the genestealers head and it whipped its head about to screech at Thorsholt who held an ornate laspistol defiantly at it.  This distraction allowed Varin to step back, pumping four bolts at close range straight into the creature.  The carapace buckled and exploded as the round detonated, painting the hallway in alien ichor.  As Thorsholt warily approached Varin through the alien remains Angus peered into the narrow corridor, gore still falling from his chainblade.  "You alright Brother Varin?" he inquired in a cheery manner.
Varin answered positively and with Thorsholt in tow returned to the conservatory to survey the nobility's casualties and make for the Astropath's tower.

In this second session the players made use of squad mode when the genestealers revealed themselves in the Atrium.  Cody benefited with Varin getting to take overwatch shots but Womble and Stu failed their command checks and as the Governor was fleeing they opted to stay in solo mode.  Combat shifted nicely to one on one fights with a dangerous foe, really emphasising the difference between the masses breaking over a power armoured legio and a real individual challenge.  Stu still opted to use his psychic powers in a restrained manner, not willing to 'push' them yet...

Deathwatch 40K rpg - Final Sanction

So after our 'evil' Pathfinder game came to a messy bleeding end at the hands of a Paladin and Mystic Theurge, it was high time I sat back in the GM chair after taking a long break - thank you Womble.

So what did the boys want to play?  We had burned out on Pathfinder/D&D which was fair enough after not really progressing that well through the last couple of campaign attempts.  After looking over the rpg book laden shelves, Deathwatch was suggested and quickly agreed upon.

We were already familiar with the system as we have played Rogue Trader a bit so I only had the Horde and Solo/Squad modes rules to go over.  That weekend we got together and made the Battle Brothers up in preparation for the following regular Tuesday night game time.

Stu made Rafen, a Blood Angel Librarian.  Cody had Varin an Ultramarine Tactical specialist and Womble had Angus, yes Angus!  the Stormwarden Assault Marine.  Now in regards to the Stormwarden's name, Womble and I read up on the Stormwardens and they seem to have a Celtic theme.  After the other two had selected their names from the samples found on their chapter lists, Womble asked if their was any name similar to Angus, low and behold yes there was in the middle of the samples, Angus in fact... so that is why we have Battle Brother Angus complete with an accent to rival that of Fat Bastards.

'

By the time we were ready to play I had nabbed the sample adventure from Fantasy Flight found here.  I always find it helpful to run a pregenerated adventure to start with.  The Fantasy Flight ones in particular ease the GM and players into the extra rules of the game and provide a great example to structure original missions on.  The adventure Final Sanction is set in the sprawling canal choked industrial city of Lordsholm on the Agri-world of Avalos which I am transplanting from the original locale to the Quintas Maelstrom so I can connect the future narrative to the 40k campaign.

The Deathwatch killteam are searching for Inquisitor Kalistradi with whom the Ordo Xenos has lost contact with.  The players enjoyed a very cool introduction which was provided where their transport frigate was assaulted by Tyranid vanguard bio-ships, the Killteam launching their drop pod at the city below.  The drop pod crashed through the roof of a large Imperial chapel and on egress discovered a PDF platoon under siege by rebel forces.

Straight away the players got to experience dealing with Hordes in the game where damage the players cause reduce the magnitude of the enemy horde until they cause the enemy to break from combat or disband.  This is where explosive weapons and flamers excel as they reduce the Hordes effectiveness rapidly. 

So striding out of the chapel into the midst of awe struck guardsmen the Killteam engaged the enemy.  With rain pounding down on their ceramite Varin took position alongside the humans sheltering behind fallen statuary with his bolt gun, Rafen drew forth psychic energy and gathered lightning in his gauntlets while Brother Angus primed his jump pack and launched into the dark sky to enter the killing ground about the defenders.  The rebel forces engaged in waves with numerous crazed wretches surging about Angus and making for the chapel.  Varin unleashed fully automatic bolter fire, the mass reactive shells detonating in the soft tissue of his targets.  Rafen released his psychic power, the lightning dancing amongst the rain soaked attackers.  Angus burst upwards from the surrounding horde dropping a frag grenade which exploded in a fiery ball throwing corpses about like rag dolls, all the while PDF las shots peppered the oncoming forces while stub rifles barked back.

A bellow sounded from a gene enhanced goliath, some labourer nearing the height of the Astartes.  A cheer roared from the rebel forces and the brute triggered a stolen chainsword and charged at Angus.  Brother Angus met the weapon with his own chainblade and made short and bloody work of  his opponent to the dismay of the rebels who broke and scattered back to their fellows in the ruined buildings about the chapel.

As the next horde surged forwards heavy stubber fire raked the PDF soldiers.  Brother Varin called the defenders to hold their position and surveyed the dark structures for the weapon teams.  Angus plowed into the new wave breaking rebels with combat blade and whirring chain teeth.  Librarian Rafan vaulted over the defenses and ran to join Angus, summoning psychic flame.  As Angus lobbed another frag grenade into the ravenous horde and Rafan ignited them with sheets of psychic flame, Varin spotted the enemy stubber teams atop a ruined tower 80 metres across the corpse strewn grounds from the chapel.  Voxing his squad mates Varin fired suppressing shots at the stubbers.  Angus acknowledged the enemy location and burst skywards again descending with crushing force into the enemies about the base of the tower while Rafan held back the rebel advance with Avenging fire.

Varin felled rebels with expert bolt fire allowing Angus to prime a krak grenade at the towers base and as he jump packed to safety the explosion compromised the already unstable structure.  Debris crashed down on the remaining rebels, burying them under tons of wood and steel.  The few surviving rebels fled the chapel grounds disappearing into the ruined Lordsholm streets.

The Battle brothers rejoined at the chapel and were addressed by the PDF officer Captain Ascote who urged them to join him in the chapels interior.  Once inside with rain falling through the hole made by the drop pods entry, the Captain's form shifted and morphed before the marines eyes into a slender female form, that of a Callidus Assasin.  Syndalla introduced herself as an ally of Inquisitor Kalistradi and told the marines she had not seen the Inquisitor since fighting broke out weeks ago.  The Inquisitor's agents had been here in Lordsholm investigating a Genestealer cult when the uprising erupted in violent fury.  Kalistradi had gone off in search of the terrible xenos Broodlord who was exerting it's alien will over the corrupted rebel forces.  Syndalla urged the marines seek out and exterminate the Broodlord, send an Astropathic message from the Tower of Echoes before the greater Hive forces arrived in system and ascertain the location and well being of the Planetary Governor Perian Thorsholt.

That was all the first night and the three players really seemed to enjoy it - you could tell as Cody hardly played with his phone ;)  I must say for a game system, it is one I really enjoyed running and should continue to do so.  The abstract horde mode works really well if you convey the setting and enemy well.  I found myself imagining rebel bodies being flung about as torrential rain poured down, fires burning in ruined buildings providing a backdrop.  The fact that we all play 40k and most of us have read multiple Horus Heresy books didn't hurt either as the boys took to their Astartes roles extremely well.  A lot of reference to the Space Marine video game was made too. Talking to Cody a couple days after the first game, I said that I had pictured Lordsholm looking like Dunwall from the Dishonoured video game and he said that's what he had imagined as well. nice the description I gave worked out then. 

The system lets the players play the marines as they should be, warriors able to plow through normal human forces like the juggernauts they should be.  They did find out in our next session what a real enemy can do if it gets it's claws on them though.

Painting - Evil Greeblies

I have been having a lot of fun kitbashing a handful of evil minions, cultists and general greeblie fellows.  After seeing some fantastic cultists here I was inspired to make my own.  With all the role playing and wargames I play and host they certainly won't gather dust on the shelf.

So I bought a box of Plague Monks from STP and when they arrived rummaged through the left over bits from Cody's Plaguebearers.  Here are the first two completed(minus basing) results.

I was really impressed by all the parchments and tattered robes of the Skaven plague monks.  The first chap has a plaguebearer head, severed heads attached to the plague monk staff and then one of the multiple gleeful Nurglings sitting on the staves top.  The second has the removed tail reattached to the cut off face of a plaguemonk.  I left the bottom jaw in place and I think it works well.  I cut down the clawed feet slightly to give the impression of rag swaddled feet instead.

I have a parchment toting cultist almost finished and Joel, a regular gaming buddy from thebrushofdoom, has said I can have access to his many many Empire bits and pieces to craft more miscreants.

Stone Falls - WHFB - The Night Lord Cometh

Finally we have the tale of what lies buried beneath the Stone Falls

Torchlight illuminated the rough granite walls of the cavern. Lukas' congregation moved aside as he stalked past them. His black robes dragging through the spilt ichor of the arachnids who had until moments ago made this cave their lair. “Put those corpses in the ante chamber, the fallen shall still serve the Night Lord” he barked.

As his followers hauled aside the remains of man and eight legged beast, Father Lukas Gistofarian snatched a torch from the hands of a stooped man, Lukas recalled the man, Pioter had come to their group from the alleyways of Nuln. A life in the powder choked slums of the Engineer's city had robbed Pioter of health and livelihood but here in this group all were equal under Lukas' tuition and guidance.

Lukas held the torch aloft and with a gnarled hand scrapped the lichen from the ancient stone work. Runes from ages past marked the worked stone, a door concealed in the natural rock. Lukas whirled around, his men looking at him expectantly.

“Bring the tools and get to work. This is what we seek brothers, the Night Lord's resting place!”

Robed men from all walks of Imperial life toiled at the door. Their tools breaking the seals set in place centuries ago. Hired blades from Marienburg looked onwards, looks of amusement and contempt directed at the fanatical group. Lukas cared not for the opinions of the mercenaries, as long as they defended his men while they were at task. Their ignorance at the significance of this find would soon be resolved when the Lord of Eternal Shadow walked this world once more.

 

Stale air filled the chamber as the seals broke. Escaping gases from an ages confinement caused a fit of coughing and retching amongst the mercenaries. Now his followers sneered and shared knowing looks. The hired swords may be hardened individuals, but the constitution to consort with that required of Lukas' flock was beyond them. As a pair of heavy set men in tattered clothes shoved the doorway open, Lukas stepped into the darkness drawing his enchanted dagger.

A massive chamber cut from sand coloured stone opened before him. Four thick slab sided pillars supporting the ceiling and dust caked webs hung between them like funerary shrouds. Father Lukas stalked I, drawing a length of twisted black ironwood from the confines of his vestments. Muttering arcane words under his breath, the wand responded and emanated an otherworldly purple light.  

Leading his men, Lukas forged on through these forgotten chambers. Passageways were lit with torches and oily smoke trickled into rooms where the walls were decorated with faded scenes of battle. Images of crude towns set to flame and legions of skeletal warriors marching to war were seen by living eyes for the first time in this age. A well or pit of sorts dominated the centre of the next large chamber. Clicking and scraping noises echoing up from its Stygian depths. Brave or foolhardy men clambered to peer over the bricked edge, one dropping his lit torch into the darkness. The group strained their vision to follow the fire's descent and as it finally hit the bottom far below the men recoiled. Something moved in the depths, undulating past the patch of fitful illumination, something old and terrible, better left to the subterranean world than be seen by the fragile minds of the surface. Even the horrors witnessed and committed by these men were paltry in the presence of what they failed to comprehend below.

Lukas considered stealing a glance but caught himself. He needed his wits about him as unknowable threats could conceal themselves anywhere in these forgotten halls. “Away from there you fools” he cried, his words breaking the bewilderment of the men. “We do not seek what lies below. Our liege will be in an elevated chamber as befits his station in command of the Berserker's legions. Away from there and search these other passages.”

Days passed in the dark barrow, flickering torchlight failing to mark the passage of time. As his men worked at internal seals within the complex. Lukas made forays outside into the forest air,  word had come to him that the curious bastard Otto Mannfried was rushing about the area, spooked at portents and signs. Well so he should be, once the Night Lord was freed these hamlets and hovels within the Reikwald would burn. How dare they lay claim to the Darkthorn wood, when the Nightlord had ruled it with blade and an army eternal.

 

As the excavations continued, alcoves filled with tribute caskets were found.  Coins, gemstones and trinkets of past conquest were ignore.  The material goods were of little concern, let the sell swords who stood guard in the entry caves take their fill when the faithfuls work was complete.  They had found the last door at the end of a long stepped hallway.  Etched into the stonework was a massive knotwork design of ancient tribal design.  In the centre of the swirling mass sat a fanged skull, it's surface stained to an inky finish absorbing the torchlight.  Lukas screeched orders to his followers who burst into renewed action.  Picks and massive pry bars were hefted up the stone steps and labour on the door ensued. 

 

As Lukas supervised the work he was oblivious to what was going on further back in the complex.  Adventurers from Stone Falls had discovered the caves and the mercenaries within.  Negotiations had failed horribly at the ends of sharp blades and crossbow bolts.  The adventurers, an embittered trio had worked their way through the cleared halls dispatching Lukas' followers with extreme prejudice.  They had slaughtered the watchmen and their hounds in the pillared entrance.  The men in the well chamber had all perished to the adventurers magic and weapons, the scout in the group pinning a faithful brother to the very stone walls with the force of his arrows.  A pagan man of the forest split open clergymen who did their best to defend themselves with spear and tools.  The third invader, a man of luminous complexion flung bolts of arcane energy as his malformed homunculus cut apart Lukas' flock with its talons limbs. 

 

The screams of the dying echoed up the staircase alerting Lukas to the grisly demise of his men.  With panic he urged on the labourers.  Swiftly the intruders swept up the steps and set to murder. Lukas called on the power of his wand and ensorcelled the pagan druid with dancing blades.  As his followers bled upon the ancient flagstones a final burst of frantic action had the last standing follower break the seal on the final doors.  A gust of stale air exhaled from the doors, cold seeped into Lukas and the trio from Stone Falls.  The luminous mage fled as a crash of stone sounded within the darkness of the crypt, a heavy metal footfall followed and living shadow crept through the opening.  As the pagan and archer cautiously retreated Lukas turned to witness the resurrection of his Night Lord.  The heavy stone doors rumbled open and a figure clad in layered plate strode out. The towering warrior surveyed the carnage, his empty sockets pooling with living darkness.  Lukas squealed in delight as the arisen warlord took another step toward the interlopers but his euphoria was cut short as the ranger fired a lethal arrow into Lukas' sunken chest.  Lukas' voice devolved into a wet gurgle as blood erupted in his throat, his knees cracking as they hit the stone floor.  He looked pleadingly at the Nightlord but his silent call for help went unanswered as the ancient Wight moved on past, an unknown goal the priority of his reinvigorated undead mind.  When Lukas's skull split upon the cold flagstones his dying sight drank in the image of his risen sovereign ignoring the intruders and disappear from view as he descended the steps.  With the last of his vital fluids seeping away Lukas felt the final defilement as the adventurers gathered their resolve and looted the corpses of about them, his own fingers prised apart and the arcane tool pocketed like a common trinket.  With his final pulse of life Lukas heard the confused mutterings of these men, these living fools.  The Nightlord had been freed and now he would gather the rest of Morkhain's fallen court and these lands of men would burn once more.....

 

...Lukas peered through milky orbs, his mind working at a crawl to comprehend the scene before him.  He moved with faltering steps, his body now one amongst legion.  Across muddied ground stood a wall of scarred timber where tiled and patched roofs sheltered within.  Lukas rasped and worked his rigor stuck jaw, his groan echoed by those animated around him.  A mental push caused the entire horde to surge forward like pieces on a board.  Lukas understood now, he knew even as the mind that was his own faded away, that he would serve the Nightlord, now and until the Empire itself was ash.

Stone Falls - WHFB - The Hand of Sigmar

Today's prelude to the big game has been created by Joel over at The Brush of Doom , he will be commanding the men of the Empire.

Lying in his bed unable to sleep and watching the heavy curtains stir at the window Theogonist Otto Mannfried considered all of the small differences he had observed of late. The air felt thicker somehow the fine food and wine he had grown accustomed to in his piety was tasting off, and the ravens that lived in the Chapel were restless and aggressive.

Assuming that it was just his tired mind seeing patterns where there were none, Otto tried to tell himself that he was being overly vigilant of things that held little consequence and that he should, in fact, be focusing his attention on his work as Head Inquisitor of the Riekwald Forest.

Unfortunately, over the next few days the sensation didn’t go away and instead intensified notwithstanding Otto’s best attempts to ignore it. It instead began to sharpen into an acute feeling of displacement, a persistent pressure in the back of his mind.

Despite his intuition’s insistence that there was some significant disturbance in the normal rhythms of his life it wasn’t until a visiting Sigmarite Seer Sister made a passing comment that be began to pay it any credence. She too had noticed an odd taste to her food and a sinister shiver in the air. Otto had long ago learned not to dismiss the observations of the Sisters and this combined with reports of unexplained phenomena in the surrounding villages was what finally spurred him into action.

A visit to the Wizard’s College in Altdorf was swiftly arranged to consult with the great Gunther Schwarzenhertz. As it happened the visit could not have been better timed as Gunther was preparing his order for an "upcoming struggle" that would test the steel of the Empire, the power of the mages, and the faith of the priests. The final criteria of this supposed struggle made Otto uncomfortable but he made no mention of it to any of his brethren lest they consider him wavering in his devotion.

The Wizards of the Amber Order had heard through the beasts of the forests that a great evil was awakening and calling the allies of dark to his side. The ancient records spoke of a powerful Vampiric evil known as Ithric, His body immune to the holy water, sacred symbols, and silver bullets forged in the Chapels of Sigmar. Otto knew that centuries ago Ithric had been banished from the realm by the most powerful witch hunters of the age. Thereafter, the Light Order had established a silent sentry to guard against Ithric's return. They were charged to wait, to watch, and if necessary cast this abomination from their dimension forever. Reports from the watch spoke of disturbances of Ithric’s known hunting grounds and Gunther pleaded with Otto to join forces with him to seek out the source of the evil and put to rest whatever had awoken. Otto hesitated, asked for time to gather his thoughts and his forces. But really he had to change his breeches.

Upon returning to his chapel, Otto was greeted by his priests who had received a call for help from Marienburg. The rumours had reached the great trading seaport and the merchants were refusing to travel through the Reikwald forest. The call for help spoke of great rewards for all who answered. Otto's cunning mind put the two together. He can join the crusade of Gunther, continue to gain power and influence while expanding his inquisitorial reputation, AND get paid handsomely...not that that was a consideration given his vows of poverty.  

Tomorrow will have the introduction of the last force, my Vampire Counts.

Stone Falls - WHFB - A Master of the Black Arts

The next tale in the lead up to Saturdays game comes from Ryan, who will be my ally in command of the joint Vampire Count forces.

Ithric had always wanted to go one step further that his peers. He dreamed of a life beyond the horizon, going further, discovering more, experiencing everything that life would have to offer. It was unfortunate for him that the lottery of this world had drawn him as a farmer’s second son who would forever live under the shadows of his betters, toiling until the grave, or so was expected of him.

His curiosity with texts and arcane knowledge was piqued in his youth when a travelling nobleman was in the area. Though he was forbidden to interact with the entourage, he waited until night fell and snuck inside the carriage while it was empty. Discovering books of old sorcery and mystic science that he did not fully appreciate, he was immediately enthralled by the potential that was enclosed in the pages.

The theft of the books sparked an outrage that lead to a witch-hunt, and Ithric had to think fast. Not entirely sure of where he got the idea from, he framed another local child who was summarily burnt at the stake. That boy’s face would be present in many nightmares throughout Ithric’s early adult years.

While having to work on the farm during the day, his night forays into noble libraries near and far developed his roguish talents and further expanded his secret cache of knowledge. One night as he snuck out he unwittingly passed a pack of bandits who would later sack his town. Upon his return vengeance burned in his heart, the skies split, and the dead rose. The bandits were not expecting a follow up attack; and while many of their number fell, they were hardy men and Ithric was a novice in the practical arts of his chosen career. He was nailed to a tree and left for the wolves by the remaining bandits.

His sorcery, though amateurish in execution, had a raw power behind it that drew a nearby vampire’s attention. He found Ithric’s broken body barely clinging to life and gave him the blood kiss; one could always use young and talented followers. The vampire had underestimated the young acolyte though, and as is the way of their world the student eventually betrayed the master once he had learned all he could.

The blessing of vampirism had invigorated Ithric, and his necromantic arts had progressed dramatically. The winds of magic blow in strange directions however, and many years later his activates drew the witch-hunters. His library was raided and burnt to the ground. He was gravely wounded, and fled to the south. Vampires are hard to kill and they never forget.

Many centuries passed, Ithric learned many arts from both living and dead - knowledge almost never obtained willingly from the subject. Ithric always knew however that one day he would return to his home, a sleepy hamlet now known as Stone Falls….

Stone Falls - WHFB - Bretonnian Intro

So in preperation for the big game this weekend, the players have been putting a bit of effort into introducing their armies.  Here is an extremely good tale from Wil who shall lead his Knightly forces against the undead hordes.

North West of Axe Bite Pass is a sparsely populated wooded area where only a few hardy souls live. They subsist by burning the forest to supply charcoal for the Empire to the West and for the Brettonian lords to the north. The stretch of land farmed by the charcoal burners itself is fairly lawless despite being wedged between these two human land.  

Old Blackfingers Krevan had been living and burning charcoal in this land for more years than he could remember. Though his wife had died some dozen years ago, he and his young daughter Ondine still survived by making sure that when outlaws and roving bands of Orcs ravaged the local area that they hid in a secret cave whose entrance was just obscured by a series of boulders in the local stream.  This hiding strategy had seen the two of them survive a series of attacks which had recently changed in nature. Where previously, they had been attacked by roving bands who made plenty of noise and were focused primarily on pillage, now increasingly the charcoal burners, especially those living close to the waterfall, were just completely disappearing in the night, leaving only their blood and a sign of struggle in their hovels.

Blackfingers Krevan was preoccupied about the safety of his daughter and was increasingly considering taking her north to find her a good serf-family to marry her into in order that she could be safe from this life in the woods and would guarantee that she could at least have a good bowl of onion soup to drink on holy days.  

It was because Blackfingers Krevan was these mulling on these concerns while burning down some stumps for the best charcoal that he missed the sound of horses moving through the forest. On hearing the snort of horses and smelling the sweat of unwashed men that Blackfingers dropped to the ground and tried to make himself as small as possible. Where was Ondine? The last time he had seen her she was undertaking the weekly wash of the cooking dish in the stream. Hopefully, he thought that she would have time to get into the cave, if only she could hear the horses over the sound of the stream.

The sound of the horses came closer and closer. Blackfingers realised that he was going to get caught if he did not move now. Maybe he could make the cave if he moved fast? He shambled to his feet and bolted for the stream.  Too late…. The riders must have spotted him and he heard shouts as several of the riders reined in their horses to turn and pursue him.

Blackfingers Krevan ran as hard as he could towards the stream. But it was futile, it seemed that this was no ordinary raiding band there were dozens of mounted figures chasing him. A mailed fist smashed his face breaking his nose and several of his remaining teeth. Blackfingers Krevan slipped to the ground unconscious.

He awoke when a bucket of water was tossed into his face. He ached all over and his nose was all pain. As he struggled to focus his bruised eyes he realised that he was surrounded by mailed figures, covered in blood and water he was completely at the mercy of the invaders.

One of the armoured bedecked men moved to interrogate him.

“Serf, before we hang you for fleeing from your liege lord Bois de Lyon and the Knightly Order of the Rose, you had better tell us everything you know about the disappearances in the dark…..”

Stone Falls intro - gaming with a narrative

As with most people I wargame with, we prepare and play our games and lists around a tournament model.  While this is suitable most of the time it is nice to work with a narrative in mind for some fun games.  I have enjoyed slowly working on the Hub for 40k and some of the other guys have shown interest in the actual story going on in and between games.  Now its Warhammer Fantasy's turn.

Next weekend four of us are going to play a 2v2 game of Warhammer Fantasy using 2500 points each, so 5k a side.  Joel and Wil are bringing Empire and Bretonnians while Ryan and I both bringing Vampire Counts.  Joel had suggested a town setting and brought up Helmgart, south of Marienburg.  Now I read into the background a bit more and Helmgart itself is a Fortress watching over Axe Bite Pass, so it was time to pick a neighbouring town.

Around the same time the Pathfinder game I host weekly had come to an awkward halt, as a player had dropped out due to family commitments and our unbalanced party got it's collective arse kicked by a pack of Yeth hounds.  Now as this was my 'break' from GMing I was happy enough to go back to running a game.  The plan was to start on the second part of Rogue Trader 40k Lure of the Expanse, but I felt it was time for an original home grown game, especially as with only 3 players I can organically change the story to suit what they play.

While the players created their new characters we talked about a world setting.  Do we use a commercial one like Faerun for Forgotten Realms(pre 4th ed...) , the Golarian setting of Pathfinder or something else.  We chose a setting of our own creation, dark and gritty as we felt the pregen worlds of the D20 systems were a bit generic fantasy at times.  Not too many Gods for the divine classes to draw upon and start in a localised setting where I dont have to describe the politcal and religious views of other countries yet.  So with  my head leaning towards the Warhammer Old World, Ferelden from Dragon Age and Westeros from GoT, the town of Stone Falls was born.

While the RPG version of Stone Falls is not exactly in the Warhammer world the comparisons and story elements are close enough.  So in the last two weeks the adventure the players have embarked on with their D20s is acting as a prologue to the massive battle to take place on Saturday.

I will share the adventures of Duncan the Eidolon, Marcus the Ranger and Lou the Druid - there was Ferdinand the Magus but ahem... well you'll see.  In the meantime here is the narrative setting from a Warhammer perspective.

North of the Helmgart Fortress, nestled in the dark boughs of the southern Reikwald sits the town of Stone Falls.

Stone Falls is named after a waterfall in the deep forest, whose torrent plummets from a lofty rocky crag into an abyssal pit deep into the earth. No one knows what lurks in the stygian waterways below the forest, but visitors to the Falls hear peculiar sounds from the subterranean depths intermingled with the crashing waters.

Stone Falls the town is situated off the main road, closer to the arterial trade road from Marrienburg than the ones to Carroburg and the capital of Altdorf. The town is normally a quiet place where travellers will divert their wagons and carraiges to seek the warmth and ale of the Drunken Drake Inn within the town's thick wooden walls.

The locals call this part of the Reikwald the Dark Thorn woods, as brambles, briars and thorn bushes grow to immense size. Whether some peculiarity of the soil or stemming from a darker cause, the plant life clamours for space and intertwines so that daylight is a rare sight within the forest canopy. Here in the darkness, tribes of malicious goblins plot their raids and thefts on the townsfolk. The Beastmen, children of Chaos gather around monolithic Herdstones and divine portents from the dark powers. Men with minds addled or murder in their hearts make camp and speak of foul deeds and dark intent.

Some citizens of Stone Falls live in defiance of the danger within the southern Reikwald, making their homes outside the walls. Here in the space between the town and the dark arboreal interior sit small farms. Growing enough for the townsfolk and little else these muddy plots of land provide a clear track of land for the town's sentries to spot any would be assailant. The skilled bowmen who patrol the towns borders have felled many an invader across these fields.

Recently the rangers and woodsmen who brave the Dark Thorn woods have reported an increase in animal attacks. Where normally the fauna will shy away from people, now they charge and openly seek to harm the woodsmen. Spiders the size of dogs and larger have been spotted amongst the shadowy trees and those who still follow the old ways speak of an ancient evil, returned to reclaim its fallen domain.

Pointy Eared Bastards

Last weekend like a lot of my knife eared kin I got the new High Elf book and no matter what the Druchii in Asur clothing are saying on Ulthuan.net I really am very happy with the book. I also picked up the Spell cards and the new Loremaster model.

Now in the round based game (40K) I usually grumble like an unupdated Dwarf at the writings of Matt Ward but this time I think he has put out some good work. The variety in the new army book opens up a lot of options for themed lists that can be usuable in friendly and tournament games. New Core and Rare choices opens it up nicely.

In 30 minutes of sitting down with the book with Joel from Brush of Doom and Ryan, we worked out a nice themed Lothern Sea Guard list using the new Skycutters, cheaper RBT's and a couple new character options. For the hobbyist, viable forces can be built for all off the ten realms I'm sure. I'm still looking at building an army of Saphery/Hoeth, with the new Loremaster Lord choice and IoB Swordmasters I have painted it would look great.

The variety in the book has lead me to make about half a dozen lists, some fluffy and some more balanced but for now I will take stock of my High Elf collection, see what still needs freeing from sprues and with impending Eldar coming see what I can afford. I will post some lists as I refine and get a chance to have a couple games.

However Warhammer Fantasy is not the only place my elven inclinations are coming through. In our Monday night Pathfinder Rise of the Runelords game which I am actually getting to play - thank you Aaron. I am playing an Elven Wizard named Thyll(short for some name long and elven). Im encompassing the Elven arrogance and treating the other party members, especially the human Paladin like simple hirelings. It hasn't been hard to prove my Elven superiority though as I have managed to be the last one standing in a couple important encounters and managed to drop or crowd control our opponents with some well timed spells - whats wrong with spamming level 0 acid splash. As of last mondays game we have reached the lofty heights of 3rd level, so with level 2 spells and augment summoning added to my feats its time for those Thistletop Goblins to get whats coming to them!

So having finally painted the Mage from IoB I can put aside the prepainted D&D wizard and put this guy on the table for the Pathfinder campaign and what will be numerous uses as an Archmage or scroll caddy in Warhammer.

In the third Elven incarnation I have my beloved Eldar which if you believe the word of the internet will be the next to get a new book. This makes me a very happy gamer. Sure I expect Runes of Warding to get nerfed, tanks to be not that points effecient and to end up spending way too much money on new models but they are my favourite army which I have played through multiple editions of the game. Plastic Wraithguard and a giant Wraithknight thing will probably be the first purchases I make to my trusty Wraith forces and if the new Eldar flyer kit is like the Dark Eldar one I'll get a couple of those as well.

Within the next couple of weeks I should get the Elves on the table and with some proxying see what works and what I can get in order for the next event, Horned Rat/Gobbo.

Star Wars RPG - Part 3 - It's all Marks fault!

Long time coming I know but here it is, the final SW rpg post from that infamous 'fun' game...

So with all the players banded together at last! They set out in their stolen courier van to Aramur City's industrial area. They travelled through the city with little delay as most other traffic headed back in the direction of the starport. Leaving the commercial areas they crossed major arterial highways which headed into the mining facilities in the eastern mountains. Taking an exit the van turned down a sweeping off ramp and passed into the shadows of the roadway above.

The headlights of the van illuminated debri strewn across the road in the form of a large dumpster and rundown vehicles. Conan at the controls swerved the wide van to avoid a minor collision throwing the unsecured passengers in the back into each other. As they questioned the ability of the merc's driving blasterfire erupted from behind the dumpster and highway support struts. The panels of the van blackened under the assault and with the other players clamering to react Conan successfully swung the van completely around with it's rear exit facing the assault.

Ryan and Conan exchanged fire with their assailants from the driver and passenger windows with Aaron(the Jawa) clambering over them with jetpack in tow attempting to exit. The attackers looked to be an armed street gang taking advantage of the chaos in this sector, unfortunately a van full of armed player characters are not the ideal victims of a car jacking. Leon burst out and broke right, opening fire from his heavy blaster cannon upon the very outclassed criminals. Cody having kept his toys concealed in the earlier bar fight, leapt from the rear doors, landing in a suitably Neo pose and igniting his twin lightsabers!

At this point and with no regard for the initiative order Mark proclaimed loudly from his seat at the table "Filthy Jedi! Kill him!" or words to that effect ;) There was the expected "Are you really going to say that?" with Mark being true to his character replying in the affirmative and this is where it all went pear shaped.

Mark opened fire on Cody as he was engaging with the crooks. This drew on Stu to defend his fellow Jedi and upon Cody being free of thugs in reach had Mark's character flung within range by a Force push. Leon having spent his time blowing large holes in the crooks decided he'd best defend his bounty hunting mate. Aaron awkwardly clambered free of the drivers compartment and rocketed into the air with his jetapck. Now seeing as the trio of Ryan, Conan and Joel were all seated together at the end of the gaming table they had already worked out their next move. With the other two subgroups clear of the van, Conan gunned the engine with Joel's wookie hanging on for dear life in the back and sped the van back the way they had come towards the onramp.

In amongst the sudden infighting Leon took offense to this act of retreat and sighted the damaged vehicle with his cannon... 1 die roll later and the van and its contents went into a careening flip horrifically damaging the player characters inside. At this point I think it was Ryan who had suffered enough damage to transform his smuggler into a red smear upon the road so he used his force point(which can be used as a get out of the sh!t option) so instead with the shattering of the windscreen he rolled out as the vehicle flipped up and over him to land upon its roof. The other batterd two joined Ryan and they fled for the refuge of some small buildings near the onramp to wait out the fight.

All the gang members were well and truly down or fleeing at this point. Mark had been knocked out cold with no dismemberment as I recall due to some repeated force slamming via Stu, thats right 'force slamming'. Leon was in a game of run around the intervening terrain and blow up the Jedi while Aaron was dropping stun and frag greandes on Cody from his aerial position.

In the end the details are hazy but I think Aaron escaped into the night screaming "Utini!" on the wings of a jetpack at the Jedi. Cody and/or Stu had been dropped by the combination grenade/blaster cannon combo and if Leon was still standing he wasn't in a good position either.

So even though this all went to crap in a can it did leave the RPG virgins wanting more. The Wellington based lads are very eager to start a regular monthly game which is fantastic and I am more than happy to run for them. In whatever system we do end up playing I will enforce one thing, the players will agree to be a functional party before the game starts. This will allow us to avoid the situation that occured, even though if you were there it was hilarious with all the good natured name calling and yelling about that table. I will point out that the players barely got through half of the material I had prepared so this leaves me in a good position to start with in a future Star Wars game.

Tonight after a couple month break in which I played an absolutley useless barbarian(any roll over 10 on that D20 would be nice) I embark on the DM'ing of another RPG game. It will be the start of a story I've had in the back of my head for a while and the regular Levin guys can use the Pathfinder/D&D characters they've used in Aaron's fun game if they want.

Whatever happens tonight it will be ok though, as a certain Imperial bounty hunter won't be there to implode the group =P

Star Wars RPG - Part 2 - B&E Jedi style

Part 2 at last...

After the 'incident' at the bar the three groups of galactic entrepreneurs made their way through the evening streets of Aramur City to the spaceport. Sounds of distressed citizens and traffic grew as they converged on their destination and as they crossed onto the main thoroughfare to the port came across a mass of halted traffic and growing crowd. Still not making any attempt to join forces the trio of groups all made their approached differently.

The Imperial bounty hunters with their Droid dragging Jawa forced their way through the throng to the security guards stationed at the entrance. The guards had no specific details of events in the city but had been tasked with only letting registered ship crews into the port. There would be no exit from the planet though as a forcefield had been emplaced over all docking bays to prevent departure in case of a warranted medical incident. Mark, Leon and Aaron politely presented their IDs and were permitted into the port to check on their ship and stow the Jawa's damaged droid.

As the Imperial trio got access Stu and Cody the Jedi on the run made for an alternate entrance. Shying away from the crowds they wandered off around the exterior wall of the port looking for an access point and soon found one clear of and guards view. With concealing hoods up and a flick of telekinesis from Stu at the security camera out came the lightsabers at last, for the time honoured tradition of busting into somewhere. I swear in all the games I've used over the years the lightsaber is used for cutting through doors, walls and floors more than combat, it is the practical tool of the Jedi in any situation. Stu even made the effort to block line of sight from any bystander as Cody easily cut through the simple door. Scurrying down the maintenance corridor the pair easily blended into the horde of space farers milling about in the central promenade of the port.

The third group of Ryan, Joel and Conan had the easiest passage through the crowd for two reasons. Joel's bikini clad Wookie simply moved through like Moses parting the sea while any civilians who glanced at Ryan's smuggler cleared out of the way quick as his condition worsened, the infection from the bite inducing a feverish sweat and pale complexion. After a cursory examination from security the trio was hastily escorted to the spaceports A&E facility. The waiting room was a mess of different species all spreading wild stories as to what malady had fallen on the city. As Ryan had the only genuine medical issue he was seen immediately by a Mon Calamari doctor. With the 'it's a trap!' comments out of the way various medical drugs and bacta were injected into Ryan's character until the infection was stabilised. The Doctor took samples as to prepare for any further cases. Conan's merc seemed to have staved off any spread of the wound he had suffered but was treated as well for good measure. They were clever enough to question the Doctor about Cerulean Sciences, the company the guards ID badge had identified. The Doctor told them that Cerulean Sciences had an administrative and lab facility in the eastern industrial part of the city. This was also where the start of the public disturbances and injuries had occured. After a failed attempt to convince the Doctor to part with some medpacs they left the A&E.


After stashing the inoperative protocol droid on their ship the bounty hunters made their way out of the docking bay onto the main promenade as the Jedi duo came by(convenient eh). Recognising each other from the bar Stu and Cody concocted a suitably bulls*&t story as to who they were and why they needed passage off world. Mark, Leon and Aaron agreed to give them a ride if they could get leave to depart. Not seeing much else to do in the port other than be jostled about by irate travellers they made their way back out into the city(2 groups combined, 1 to go).

The Mercs - Ryan, Joel and Conan left the port as well with the interest of having a nosey at this Cerulean facility and any carnage ensuing in the industrial sector. Lacking any form of transport Conan spotted a large extremely dirty red hovervan obviously used for a courier service. Looking in through the windows at the mess of food wrappers and debri he decided to persist and break in(yeah we know whose van i'm talking about). While this 'subtle' attempt at auto theft was ensuing the now combined group of Mark, Leon, Aaron, Cody and Stu were approached by a disheveled yet attractive young human woman. Her business attire placed her as a young professional but her unkept hair and tattered clothing showed her to have been subjected to more of the city's current mayhem than others.

She breathlessly introduced herself as Hailen Wordew, administrative assistant to Mills Obera, CEO of Cerulean Sciences. Her boss had dispatched her to find a group of able bodied fellows to escort some important documents and himself to a starship at a facility not under the forcefield subjected by the starport authorities. When questioned as to why the muscle was needed she said that some lifting may be needed and that Mr Obera was in an agitated state and she was simply following orders. Aaron in firm Jawa mindset was already looking for a ride before Hailen finished talking. He spied Conan's ugly Merc making a balls up of unlocking the van and with a squeal shoved him out of the way and easily got the door open. Impressed by the Jawa's mechanical skill Conan assisted Aaron in hotwiring the transport and with a quick pooling of interests all the groups were teamed up at last... maybe this wasn't a good idea though...

Star Wars RPG - Part 1 - its a cantina scene

Last Saturday after a very full day of wargaming I ran a fun game using the Star Wars Saga edition rpg system. As I was going to have a few more players than normal(ideal party size is usually 3-5 players and a game master) I had the guys email me through what they'd like to play so they would be ready before hand.

With Leon's assistance we had pretty much all the characters good to go before we played and with talking to the players throughout the day could nail down their concepts a lot better so the character could actually be functional- looking at you Joel ;)

The cast of player characters were

Cody - human male, angry Jedi close comabatant
Stu - human male Jedi specializing in force powers
Aaron - Jawa with a Flamethrower and a Jetpack
Leon - human male soldier in heavy armour with a massive gun
Mark - human male, trained in Imperial service and hunting rogue force users
Ryan - human male charismatic smuggler - Mal from Firefly/Serenity
Conan - human male, butt ugly dual wielding merc
Joel - female Wookie, unarmed fighting specialist - initial confusion of Joel wanting to be a 'priest type' clarified into him wanting to be a monk type which then made sense

So after a gaming feast of fish n chips we filled my gaming room, distributed the D20s and got started. I gave the players time over dinner to decide whether they knew each other and thankfully the 8 of them split into 3 groups. Cody and Stu being the rogue Jedi. Joel, Ryan and Conan forming an independant trio of freebooters. Mark, Leon and Aaron making a trio of pro Imperial bounty hunters. Now I will refer to the players and characters as one because I didn't actually bother to learn their character names during the game anyway.

The planet of Seeriona sits on the Outer Rim near the end of the Corellian Run. A world whose major continents are covered in jagged mountains and alpine forests. During the Clone Wars Seperatist forces took control of Seeriona whose independant city states failed in uniting to oppose them. The Seperatists landed their driod task forces and began extensive mining operations, plundering the mineral content for their war machines. With the end of the Clone Wars and subsequent rise of the Empire, Seeriona has again become independant and is now in the process of ecological and financial recovery. This has lead to a variety of enteprising businesses establishing themselves in the cities and industrial complexes left behind after the war. With this comes a variety of individuals arriving for fortune, work and whatever they can get their hands on.

In a downtown bar/cantina(yes someone did have the cantina theme on their phone, sigh) not far from Aramur City's spaceport a trio of groups busy themselves with their own business as the day grows late. A weathered Bothan with grey streaking his golden fur tends the bar doing his best to avoid small talk with his current patrons. A pair of human men in hooded jackets sit at the bars end doing their best to avoid eye contact with anyone else. A heavily armoured man sits cautiously upon his groaning seat while his table companions of a chattering Jawa and a clean cut man with military bearing converse. In the bars centre with an array of empty vessels upon their table is a pair of human men and a Wookie. The first, a square jawed handsome fellow plonks a tray of fresh drinks down. The second a scarred, hardened looking individual refills his while the Wookie wearing a yellow... polka... dot... bikini over her shining fur helps herself to more.

From the bars small lobby where a protocol droid watched over the enforced weapons lockers came cries of distress from the droid. With a crash the tarnished droids body clattered down the steps into the bar and stopped upon colliding with the bounty hunters table. A pair a men staggered down the steps, one in a very worn brown jacket and the other in a blue security uniform. Both seemed very inebriated by their manner and incoherent moaning. They stumbled into the bounty hunters table drawing am aggresive glare from Mark and Leon while the Jawa - Aaron, his golden eyes gleaming at oppurtunity slid off his stool to 'assist' the fallen droid(frakkin Jawas).

Admist jeers at the drunkards from the players, Ryan took his beer and threw it into the jacketed mans face and scooted to the far side of the table behind the swimsuit wearing Wookie. At this insult the man let out a shriek and charged at Ryan with grasping hands outstretched. Conan sprung from his seat and grabbed the assailant doing his best to restrain him while other players made their way from their seats towards the weapon lockers for fear of escalation. Joel's wookie swung at the grappled man and with a horrific crack he slumped in Conan's grip his head resting at an unnatural position. While this occured the security guard had sighted the Jawa under the table and made a grab at him, in swift retaliation Aaron drew his hold out blaster he had successfully concealed in his tattered robes and planted a shot dead in the guards chest. With a thump the man fell to the floor with a plume of smoke rising from the wound.

As the two antagonists were now apparently lifeless it was startling to see both bodies start to convulse and develop a feverish sheen. Ryan quick to take advantage as Aaron continued 'helping' the droid, knelt over the security guard and started 'looting' the injured man. As he drew a security card and a cred chip from the pocket, the guard grabbed the offending limb in a vice like grip and bit down hard into Ryan's forearm resulting in a scream of pain. Still in a grappled state by Conan the other man snapped his head about and sunk his now blackening teeth into Conan's shoulder while ineffectively scratching at his armourd chest.

Aarons Jawa retreated from the guard firing shots from his pistol as he scurried under tables for protection. Ryan threw himslef out of reach as Leon, who had now retrieved his heavy rifle opened fire at the guard raking blaster shots into him. Conan maintained his grip while Joel unsheathed his claws and ripped into the deranged man.

Quickly the two were put down... again and the Bothan bartender started hooting and hollering with a variety of colourful language for everybody to get out of his bar.
Aaron grabbed a foot of the now inoperative protocol droid and taking advantage of the confusion dragged it out into the street making for the spaceport while Leon and Mark followed past Cody and Stu who had managed to observe the fight and keep their abilities and lightsabers hidden. Ryan whose wound was unnaturally rapidly worsening found that the guard's card identified him as an employee of Cerulean Sciences, but along with Conan was in need of immediate medical attention so also headed for the spaceport A&E with Wookie escort.

As the three groups all headed for the port sounds of conflict rang through the streets and plumes of dark smoke rose from the industrial sector.

in part 2 - spaceport - getting the characters together

Balancing the Party

For a very long time I have run/hosted table top roleplaying on a Monday night. This tradition goes back some 18 years(jebus!) to when Iw as 14 and my friends and I got some bits and pieces for Dungeons and Dragons, Hero Quest and Space Crusade. Once roleplaying became a regular thing and we had started playing Warhammer Fantasy with the High Elf and Goblin box and Rogue Trader 40k with all its grim dark wonder and confusing rules we got Warhammer Fantasy Role Play which we played on a Monday or Tuesday quite consistently for a couple years.

Following from this we played Vampire the Masquerade, Werewolf and Mage where we ignored all the toss pot bullshit about the depressing world and just had a great time with a high action supernatural setting. By now I was running most games as I was the regular host and accumulated the books and seemed to be organised enough to have a game ready. The World of Darkness games became my own setting with Corporate villains and history spanning 800 years into the past. It was great and one player in particular (Stu) kept and developed the same character for probably 6-8 years!? However I simply burnt out on the setting as I had expended an awful lot of ideas on regular weekly play.

With some changes in players and residences we played many many more games using Modern D20, WHFRP, Star Wars and a hell of a lot of D&D 3 then 3.5. Now for the last year at least we have been playing the Shackled City D&D campaign using the wonderful Pathfinder rules. If anyone out there liked 3.5 and like us was not happy about Wizards of the Coast going to 4th ed just get Pathfinder from Paizo its 3.75 and better.

Now I have run this campaign happily with the players having a couple of fatalities but overall being very successful... until now. They have hit level 10 and the story challenges just got a little harder... and then some. I initially put it down to the party not having a balance of classes - Paladin(tank), Wizard(damage focused), Ranger/rogue(ranged damage and skills) and a Monk(average melee damage). See whats missing? A healer! The paladin did well throwing out Channeled Energy bursts to keep the party going and post combat, healing wands were chewed through quickly but with the increase in monster damage and spell effects the party was sliding.

In an assualt on Cauldron's(the campaign city) cathedral of Wee Jas, the parties Monk martial artist expert fell fowl of some angry Stone Giants and got smashed into a red paste upon the flagstones of the main worship hall. Now the player was not too upset and had been making noises about a character change anyway when I asked 'do you want to run the game?' to which he said 'yeah, can do'.

Now not to the detriment of the other players but this particular one Aaron is the only other one who will actually run a game. He has a bad reputation in that in all the games he has run over the years giving me a break from GM duties he has pretty much ruthlessly TPK'd us numerous times(Total Party Kill). However I had not actually played a game as a player for over a year so bugger it. I will leave my DM knowledge out of the game as best I can and give the party what they've been lacking - some real melee damage. So I made an awesome Elven swordsmen, using a Swordmaster of Hoeth as inspiration I made the most kick arse character I could and awaited the following game.

Well I got to use the Swordsmen and the build worked a charm cracking out 45+ damage a hit but after we had the 'boss' encounter in which the whole party got AoE'd about 3 times before the real fighting started and we barely survived the encounter at all with Aaron getting shit for living up to reputation I decided a Healer would be a lot more useful. So Rogal Dawn ;) cleric of Pelor was born.

We have had two games since then where after a lot of roleplaying mainly around the other party members wanting to use me as an errand boy WTF we are into out next 'dungeon' an ice filled network of chambers with the forms of six armed spell weavers incased in suspended animation filling most rooms. We have so far barely made it past Aaron's supremely devious Ice Devil who firmly put his infernal boot up our collective arse only for us to do a runner prepare and come back for an equally hard fight which we managed to prevail in. Then to have some infernalist Sorcerer with a fetish for Lightning bolts blast seven shades of shite out of us and teleport away before the killing blow got put in him(and taking all his loot with him too!).

However it is nice to be able to rush about in ones turn and keep the party going so they can perform their own roles properly. The Paladin can now barrel into combat and get wailed upon while smiting for all hes worth without having to stop and heal other people. The Ranger can sneak about and shoot like a semi automatic with his flaming longbow without fear of looking to closely at his remaining hit points and our wizard well... hes an elf... suppose I have to heal him too while he rains down fireballs and enhanced magic missiles. Certainly don't have a lack of things to do. However in the odd turns when the health of the party is ok I need to be able to chuck out a bit of magic damage surely. I'll have to scour the book collection for some nasty spells but these level 10 plus monsters just seem to pass their saves and shrug off the effects of anything I throw at them so I'll just focus and keeping the others upright... and next feat I get is going into Leadership so I can take the Swordsmen I made as a companion, healing and uber damage FTW.

Does anyone else who isnt a regular at my place play RPG's? If so what ones or what have you played and enjoyed?

Cleatus the Cultist?

Got your attention?

Had a fairly productive weekend painting wise even if I didn't actually play any games.

Got another 10 Sisters of Battle done so painted this inbred little fella. I have plans for him and his 'kind' as they make great cultists/warrior acolytes for an Inquisition army or whatever you'd like to count it as.

The model is an old GW chaos cultist which I have a few of thanks to Gromm/Emmett giving me his Thousand Sons army many moons ago. He used the cultists as Sorcerer thralls in the old chaos codex, y'know the good one ;) The cultists have been sitting in the box of random imperial and character models with a simple coat of scorched brown the only thing on them. Being partially inspired by the washed out tones of the locust in Gears of War(which after not playing all week I finished yesterday - now they can look forward to tomorrow). The ragged cloth is Tausept Ochre and Iyanden Darksun with Devlan Mud washes. Quite like how he turned out so when I get another batch of SoB complete I may paint another to break up all the red armour.

In RPG news the boys start on the next chapter of Shackled City tonight with the Demonskar Legacy - once they get their xp from last week they should all be 8th level or very close and what has made life easier for them is the return of Womble/Aaron a longtime bud who has been off gaming for a few years because of work hours but hes back and rocking a drunken master Monk which balances the party nicely - welcome back Womble!

Maelstrom arrives - Coteaz on the horizon

Yesterday was a good mail day.

I arrived home from work in this horrific weather to find safe and sound and dry! my Maelstrom order from the final ROW discount and an amazon package.

In the Maelstrom box was the start of my Coteaz list which is still a little bit in the WIP stage. 3 Chimera, 1 Stormraven and my first Finecast model Coteaz himself. A quick check of Coteaz finds him in good condition is is encouraging in relation to some of the negative feedback seen online.

So now I have 4 Chimera, Stormraven, Coteaz, 10+ Karskin inc 3 melta and 6 hotshot which will be warriors, 2 Jokaero(thank you Pete)and a box of varied imperial models I have collected over the years because I thought they were 'cool'.

This project can wait until post Call to Arms when I have finished my painting projects for my mates which is proving to be quite enjoyable.

In the Amazon parcel was the Pathfinder RPG GM screen which I got pretty cheap considering the US dollar is pretty crap right now. I was impressed that I now will rarely need to consult the main rulebook for anything other than spells as the screen has everything I want including xp values on it. Hopefully in the next couple days the Advanced Players Guide arrives as well having had rave reviews online, we shall have to see...