New ACK Kickstarter

Autarch has finally started their kickstarter for their Lairs & Encounters Book for Adventurer Conquer King System.

It is usable with most OSR clones and neo -clones.

The production of all of the ACK books to date have been stellar and I have quickly become a fan of the system.

I had used some ACK references in my previous S&W campaign.

I am plaining on running my next campaign using solely ACK.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/autarch/lairs-and-encounters

Post Con Wrap Up

Greetings,

I have not posted in a while, due to work and school. I have not however forgotten me blogging.

That being said, I have still managed to get some gaming in, including attending a local fantasy convention.

http://www.conjurationcon.com/

My gaming group hosted several panels about fantasy role-playing.

In addition, I ran two sessions using Sword & Wizardry Whitebox.

This is probable one of the best rulesets to use at a convention due to the simplicity of the rules.

I had players ranging from people who never played to veteran players who played the original D&D whitebox.

In hindsight, I really wished I had taken pictures during the game, but it would have broken the flow I had developed.

All of the people who played told me they enjoyed the game. Many of them ended up attending the panels we hosted.

One of the best compliments I got was when one of the youngest players told his mother who was also gaming with us he did not want the game to stop and wanted to keep gaming.

My next project is to start taking pictures of some of the new miniatures I have recently painted.

My wife has started to help me painting miniatures.

I have recently started reading my pdf copy The Sinister Stone of Sakkara. I am considering writing a review of this once I am done.

BattleTech: Alpha Strike Wars of Reaving: Battle of the Kerensky Blood Chapel

I have not posted anything in a while due to work and school, but I have managed to do some roleplaying, painting and wargaming over the last month or so.

I have recently started playing Classic Battletech and Battletech: Alpha Strike down at Treefort Games in Fayetteville, Ga.

This past weekend, We played a huge battle replaying a historical event in Battletech History, the Battle for the Kerensky Blood Chapel.

A little background about Battletech Alpha Strike First,

For centuries, the armies of the Great Houses have fought to reclaim the glory of the fallen Star League, sending regiments of their elite MechWarriors into battle across hundreds of worlds as humanity slid inexorably toward a new Dark Age. The coming of the Clans – descendants of the lost Star League army – did little to stem the slaughter.
It only raised the stakes.

BattleTech: Alpha Strike is a fast-playing form of the BattleTech game of futuristic, armored combat. Developed for the modern tabletop miniatures wargamer, this book brings players the ability to wage war on land, sea, and air using the Quick-Strike game system in BattleTech: Strategic Operations. BattleTech: Alpha Strike, like its forerunner Quick-Strike, draws upon a hybridization of the BattleForce rules also available in Strategic Operations, together with the miniature game rules presented in that same volume which allow for hexless terrain play. BattleTech: Alpha Strike includes support for both hex-based and hexless game play.

In BattleTech: Alpha Strike, themed around the Clan Invasion, each BattleMech (or other game unit) is represented using a series of Unit Cards, which are highly abstracted derivations of the respective Record Sheet for each unit in "classic" BattleTech. (While BattleForce uses the same abstraction to group 'Mechs into lances, Stars, centuries, or level IIs, BattleTech: Alpha Strike should treat each 'Mech as an individual unit.)

As with "classic" BattleTech, a player's goal is to use his force to achieve his objectives, which generally involves the defeat or destruction of opposing forces. However, the game's use of BattleForce Unit Cards and rule options allow it to play at a much faster (though less intricately detailed) level of play than "classic" BT. Complete with sample armies and a ready-to-play campaign system, all you need besides this book are dice, miniatures, and tabletop terrain to fight for control over the Inner Sphere on land, sea, and air – one world at a time!

Battle for the Kerensky Blood Chapel.took place during the War of Reaving:

During the Jihad era, contact with the Clans in Kerensky Cluster was lost. Scant reports from Intel retrieved would reveal that the Clans in that distant realm of space are engaged in intense conflict. The conflict would leave the Invading Clans residing in the Inner Sphere cut off from all contact with their distant home.

A few days after that fateful Council meeting the Wolfs landed two harvest cluster at the Kerensky Blood Chapel. Within a few hours the watch operator erased all material of the great founder and its line with the goal to deny the other clans the access to them. Warriors from the clans react on their own and fight broke out for the legacy of the Kerensky. The event was the catalyst for the chaos which erupted. All other Inner Sphere based Clans retreat under fire back to their awaiting Dropship. Most get offworld. The riots and fights continued for several days because every clan called to annihilated the bloodnames of their enemies. Even civilians took up arms to defend the honor of their respective clans.

The Battle we fought out was the attempt by all of the clans to wipe out the Wolves and take the Kerensky Blood Chapel. I played Clan Ghost Bear and it was a blast. Using the Alpha Strike Rules we played ten turns. The Wolves hung on till the end and won. It was a bloody fight.

The wall around the Chapel was custom made with replaceable section so that damaged walls and breaches could be placed when it was damaged, It was created by the local game club, the ASWA.


'

Bring Out Your Lead 2015 / Gen Cant Weekend Part 1

With Finals over and sometime to paint and catch up on my hobbies. I finally had some free time to do some gaming. This weekend was a big week for gaming. In the US, Gencon, the granddaddy of gaming cons was taking place. In the UK, it was BOYL, a multi-location event. Since I could not attend either one of them, I decided to push some lead locally.

Starting Saturday, My friend and I played some Lion Rampart at Meeple Madness.

Lion Rampant is a set of rules designed for fighting historical or Hollywood battles in the medieval period from the Norman Conquest to the Hundred Years' War. This period is well suited to large skirmish gaming as played with Lion Rampant as it was a time of anarchy, feuds, robbery, and raiding. Become Robin Hood, Richard the Lionheart, Gamelyn, William Wallace, Llewellyn the Last, or other legends and leaders from the colorful, dangerous medieval period. 

Lion Rampant is ideal for players who wish to collect medieval miniatures without wanting to muster huge forces or spend time learning complex rules.
Gameplay is very simple, and requires the player to use units in the correct tactical way: knights are great at charging down enemies but less useful for guarding convoys, while spearmen are jacks of all trades and masters of none, and bowmen are to be feared at distance but easily cut down if you can get close enough. An army usually consists of 6-8 units comprised of 6-12 individually based figures (making it ideal for 15mm or 28mm games), and is led by a Leader, who may have some unique character traits that affect game play and provide some opportunity for role playing. The action, however, focuses very much on the small units involved in the battle rather than individual characters: each unit moves and fights independently, assuming that they follow your orders rather than just doing their own thing. Command and control is just as important on the battlefield as the power of a mounted knight.

Some army lists are provided, and guidance given for players seeking to create their own forces, but this game is not army list-heavy. The rules include a good number of scenarios, which are important to this style of gaming.

This is a fantastic medieval skirmish game that is easy to learn. It uses a point based system for building your troop roster. The beauty of the system is that everyone uses the same exact troop types.

There is a ZERO CHEDDAR system which means Power Gamers and Min-Maxers are going to hate it.

The book has a list of scenarios that you can play and that is what we did. Neither my buddy or I actually had enough medieval minutes to field an full force.

I did have a boat load of painted warhammer fantasy dwarfs (Oldhammer and newer stuff).

My friend has a bunch of undead from a number of board games he had bought. So it ended up being ...

Laird Fergus MacCracken and Clan MacCraken 

(Scottish Dwarves)

Vs. 

Evil Ash and the Army of Darkness

Battle #1 - Blood Bath

Basically we lined up across from each other and had at it. Technically it was a draw as by the end.

The Clan is ready for battle

Crossbowmen and Miners

Troll Slayers (Fierce Foot) and Bugman's Ranger (Bidowers)

Laird's Retinue of Mea-at-Arms and Hammerers (Foot Serjeant) 

After the dwarves repeatedly failed several activations, the undead took the initiative and poured across the field

The Standoff

Battle #2 - Hammer and Anvil

Add caption

I won this battle thanks to my two units of Foot Serjeants who I had formed into Shillatron or Shieldwall. 

Sword & Wizardry vs. Barrowmaze Session 8

Sword & Wizardry vs. Barrowmaze, Session VIII

The Campaign Continues....

Welcome brave readers to a new harrowing tale of my players once again braving the perils of the Barrowmaze.

We missed a couple of weekends due to a vacation but we are back on track.
I introduced a new wrinkle into the game. Adventuring and Roleplaying Goals that the party could earn additional experience points. The player's really seemed to enjoy them as they all managed to achieve all of the RP Goals
Allow me to once again introduce the party

The Party

All of the original and replacement members of the Crimson Blades are now dead, leaving only Bartik, the first and only hireling they hired, still alive.

Eulogy for the Crimson Blades

Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises,

Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.

Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments

Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices

That, if I then had waked after long sleep,

Will make me sleep again: and then, in dreaming,

The clouds methought would open and show riches

Ready to drop upon me that, when I waked,

I cried to dream again.

- Caliban, The Tempest, Act 3, Scene 2

Now introducing our new party, The Swords of Saint Ygg,

• Sir Bryce, Human Male Paladin of St. Ygg,  Member of the Order of the Crimson Cross. A shining beacon of knighthood and chivalry. Gleaming armor and perfect teeth, the very image of a dashing hero.

• Brother Cade, Human Male Cleric of St. Ygg, Member of the Order of the Crimson Cross. A devoted brother of the church and defender of the faithful. Boon companion and advisor to Sir Bryce.

• Sister Jade Lotus, Human Female Monk of the Temple of Lo Pan.  Student of the White Crane Style, a tiny woman of striking beauty that is only matched by her foul mouth and broken common.  She was recently hired by Sir Bryce who witnessed her clear out an entire tavern.

• Skylar, Human Male Fighter (Secretly a LE Assassin). Dark hooded warrior, who while waiting for his next assignment, found himself in a party of do-gooders.

• Proximo, Human Male Guide (NPC), Hired in Helix, he led the party to the Barrow Mounds. 

3rd Day of Planting, The Barrowmaze 

The heroes extracted themselves from the Barrowmaze and headed back to the Village of Helix to tend to their wounds and bury the dead. During the journey in the growing dusk, Bartik disappeared and Skylar decided to go look for him. The rest of the party continued on. They would eventually reach Helix without incident and fell into their beds at the Brazen Strumpet exhausted.

4th Day of Planting, Village of Helix

The party woke up and started sorting through the treasure they had acquired. Pawning off much of the loot, several members of the party discover they finally had enough experience to level up. The party spent most of the day mending their gear and resting. Sir Bryce and Brother Cade reviewed the aspects of the quest they were on. They were not just simple adventurers; they were on a mission for the Church of St. Ygg. Late that day a small caravan arrived with some new persons of soon to be interest. 

5th Day of Planting, Village of Helix

The next day rain began to fall steadily. Brother Othar of the local temple of St. Ygg was hosting a important meeting with Sir Bryce and party. Brother Othar was familiar with the reasons for Sir Bryce being in the Duchy, a quest to destroy the evil at the heart of the Barrowmaze. Reinforcement from Iron Motte had arrived the night before. These new were arrivals were introduced to the party.

• Arcus the Arcane, Human Male Magic-User, cultured, erudite and inebriated spellcaster

• Brother Hung Lo, Human Male Monk of the Ten Pan House, student of the Drunken Monkey Fist Style

• Reginald Hammond, Human Squire, Member of the Order of the Crimson Cross (NPC)

• Rogyer Murtaugh, Human Man-at-Arms (NPC)
• Martyn Riggs, Human Man-at-Arms (NPC)

After introductions were made, Squire Hammond presented a holy artifact to Sir Bryce, the Finger Bone of St. Ygg. This item was given to aid the paladin in his quest to destroy the evil in the Barrowmaze. In addition to this they had laid in a large amount of supplies.

=======================================================================

 Blessed Finger Bone of Saint Ygg 

This most holies of holies is the actual finger bone of Saint Ygg. When Saint Ygg, transcended and became the God of Righteousness he left his mortal shell behind. His bones have become powerful relics and are greatly prized.

Abilities

• Allows Lawful Good Clerics to Banish Undead as if they were one level higher
• Allows Lawful Good Paladins to Lay on Hands as if they were one level higher
• Allows Lawful Good Monks to have Armor Class as if they were one level higher
• Automatically begins glowing with a Light (5’ Radius) when in the presence (within 10’) of the Undead
• If the finger bone is crushed and St. Ygg’s name is invoked it will explode with a brilliant light. (see below)

Divine Spirit Bomb

• Blast Radius: 25 FeetDamage
• vs. Chaotic 6d6 Dmg
• vs. Neutral 4d6 Dmg
• vs. Lawful 2d6  Dmg. 

 =======================================================================

Sister Jade Lotus, tired of the meeting and stepped outside for some fresh air. As she looked across the village she noticed a man walking towards here. She recognized him as being a fellow countryman from the Kingdom of Syama. He stopped in front of her, looked her in the eye and spit on the ground. He proclaimed himself Song Hu, and he had come to avenge their master.

FIGHT!!

A classic martial arts duel proceed and there was much fun had by all. Brother Hung Lo jumped in and saved Jade. His reasoning, a chance to whoop some White Crane butt. After being questioned by the Duke's Guard about the fight, they were released. 

6th Day of Planting, The Barrowmoors.

The newly reformed party set forth to once more brave the Barrowmaze. During their travels they came across a camp that had been ransacked and the inhabitants murdered. They followed a trail and soon caught up with a raiding party of lizardmen who had a captive from the camp. A bloody battle ensued with them. The party managed to best the creatures with only their henchmen Riggs dying. The captive turned  out to be a Priestess of Herne who helped the heal the wounded party members.

Highlights

• Hung Lo rolling 5 critical hits
• Proximo the torch bearer managed to kill 2 lizardmen

The party decided to turn back and escort the priestess back to Helix.

=======================================================================

Due to commitments with work and school, I need to give up the DM seat to focus on school. So this campaign is going into hiatus for a bit. One of my players who just finished school, will be bringing back our 2nd AD&D Forgotten Realms Campaign.

This senseless loss of life was brought to you by

Carl Douglas and Kung Fu Fighting

Sword & Wizardry vs. Barrowmaze Session 7

Sword & Wizardry vs. The Barrowmaze, Session VII

Or How I stopped being afraid and embraced the carnage.

The Campaign Continues....

The time has come again for my players to once again brave the horrors of the Barrowmaze. The game got off to a delayed start as we had a couple of birthdays to celebrate. 

Allow me to once again introduce the party

The Party

All of the original members of the Crimson Blades are now dead, leaving only Ivana who was a late addition to the group and Bartik, the first and only hireling they hired, still alive.

• Ivana Humpalot, Dwarf Thief, chaotic evil buxom dwarven lass whose murderous intent is only rivaled by her libido. 

• Bartik, Human Guide (NPC), promoted to henchmen for surviving this long

Deceased Party Members

• Al`Kashid Jaffar Rahim Abdul Grazzzhalaz AKA Al-Jeezra, Human Paladin, A magnificent warrior beloved by all (except Roscoe) and scion of Horus, accidently killed by Shy Greenleaf
• Shy Greenleaf, Male Halfling Thief and pint sized killing machine, killed by falling out of a tree
• Ehith Splinterra, Elven Magic-User, 1,400 year old elven 1st level wizard, killed by skeleton
• Ridley, Human Fighter, Busty Young Female Fighter killed by spider bite
• Jarvis, Human Cleric of Herne, also known as Jarvis the Shitty Tailor, killed by centipedes
• Splendiferous Finch, Half-Elf Fighter/Magic-User, known for fantastic hair which upon his death was discovered to be a wig, impaled with spear
• Rosco Coltrane, Human Fighter and wannabe Paladin, who died when his armor failed to protect him.
• Jimminy, Human Albino Wizard, had his head split open when his own bodyguard missed his target and hit him instead.
• Seamus, Human Ranger dedicated to the god Herne, fumbled stunned himself and was killed for his troubles.
• Wart, Human Ranger dedicated to the god Herne, killed his employer and got himself killed.

The Wall of the Dead

For this campaign we are pinning all of the dead characters to the wall, They all get the Red Dragon of Doom Stamp and are denoted on how they died.

The Wallpaper Dead, Coming to AMC

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now a  Message from Our Sponsors

This meme brought to you by RBDMU.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Session Seven (Spoiler Alerts)

Ivana calmly cleaned her nails with her dagger while she listened to the death screams of her party. She smiled when she heard Fitch's garbled scream. Bartik looked around and then looked at Ivana and then asked "What now Boss?"

DM Note: As part of Ivana's backgrounds and dark secret, she was secretly a coward and hated elves. She was never going to get involved in that fight and if the half-elf got killed, bonus!

Ivana pondered this for a minute, as she sat and thought. It was then that she spied an approaching party of adventurers. 

"Oh look a fresh crop of patsies....oh I mean "Our Saviours"

The approaching party was a group of humans led by a dashing warrior, 

DM Note: All the player's whose characters died last session had drawn new characters from the Fresh Meat Folder. Never in a million years could I ever have a party like this again.

Now introducing the 

Swords of Saint Ygg

============================================

Sir Bryce, Human Male Paladin of St. Ygg, A shining beacon of knighthood and chivalry. Gleaming armor and perfect teeth, the very image of a dashing hero.

Brother Cade, Human Male Cleric of St. Ygg, A devoted brother of the church and defender of the faithful. Boon companion and advisor to Sir Bryce.

Squire Adric, Human Male Squire, (NPC) Sir Bryce's faithful squire, one man cheering section and religious bigot. Constantly reminds everyone how great Saint Ygg is and how Sir Bryce is a beacon of light and holiness.  Everything that happens good or bad, he will exclaim because "God Wills It".

GOD WILLS IT!!!

Sister Jade Lotus, Human Female Monk of the Temple of Lo Pan.  A tiny woman of striking beauty which is only matched by her foul mouth and broken common. Hired by Sir Bryce after witnessing her clear out an entire tavern.

You! Round Eye! You lookie at my titties.

Skylar, Human Male Fighter (Secretly a LE Assassin). Dark hooded warrior, who while waiting for his next assignment, found himself in a party of do-gooders.

of course I am a good aligned fighter! Just look at me

Proximo, Human Male Guide (NPC), Hired in Helix, he led the party to the Barrow Mounds. 

and last but not least

Felipe Consuela Conchita 

Alvarado Galarraga de Pena Gonzales 

aka Consuela Banana Hammock, 

Human Drag Queen Bard, (Secretly a Neutral Assassin). 

Shit, need I say more? And yes, she had the fruit hat, Brother Cade kept picking fruit off it.

 "Chica, Chica Boom Chic," "O Tic-Tac do Meu Coração,"

The meeting between Ivana and the Swords of St Ygg was one of the funniest things I had ever seen roleplayed in a while. Between Ivana mistaking Sister Jade for a skinny halfling, to much sexual innuendo it was a good 30 minutes of pure hilarity.

Ivana gave them a sob story about how her party has been attacked and asked Sir Bryce for help. He,  of course, could not refuse and led the charge to finish of the animated statues. It was a short fight. The party looted the tomb and buried the dead.

The Tomb of the Dark Arts

The party decided to explore some of  the other barrows and quickly found a sealed tomb. They began to crack it open when two Coffer Corpses came shambling up.

DM Note: This is a unique monster that I had never seen before, Barrowmaze Complete has a Monster Manual Section that has a lot of monsters I had never seen before. There is however no entry for Pterodactyls, which is an listed random encounter, they are also missing from the LL and S&W rulebooks. An minor oversight, Mr. Gillespie's I would love to know what you used.

Luckily Consuela had acquired the magical longsword from the previous barrow and was able to dispatch the two creature, which were not affected by normal weapons. In addition, the party all made their fear saves. They finished cracking open the tomb and acquired a magical book which they did not open. With nothing else of interest, they decided to check out one more barrow before heading back to town.

The Mound of Secret Stairs

The party searched the already looted tomb, Ivana was able to discover the trigger that caused a secret staircase to be reveled. The party got into a proper marching order and descended into the depths. They soon find themselves entering the Forbidden Antechambers of the  Barrowmaze.

DM (Me): OK Gang, I need a marching order and I need to know what you are carrying.
Sir Bryce (Clark): You mean what we are carrying in our packs?
DM (Me): No, I need to know what you are wielding.in your hands.
Jade: (Val): He is wielding JUSTICE!!!

The Tabernacle of Forgotten Gods

The party immediately encounters a group of skeletons roaming the hallways and gets the drop on them. The fight goes quickly. Skylar did manage to fumble and his sword skittered into the tabernacle. Ivana, Brother Cade, and Skylar explored the tabernacle while Sir Bryce, Consuela and Jade searched the skeletons and a closet off the hallway.

Ivana missed finding a pit trap and it took the combined efforts of Brother Cade, Sklylar and Jade to pull her out.While this was going on, Consuela and Proximo stirred up a nest of Giant Centipedes. Consuela was bitten twice and fell out of the closet (that got a lot of laughs). Having failed two saves, Consuela died. Sir Bryce and the three hirelings managed to dispatch the rest of the centipedes. 

The rest of the party gathered around poor Consuela and Brother Cade began to give him/her last rites. Ardic, once again, began to go on about how great Sir Bryce was and how it was god's will that Consuela die. Ivana has been listening to this insipid ponce go on and on. He had not stopped prattling since she meet this group.

Ivana chopped the head off one of the centipedes and while no one was looking backstabbed the squire with the poison pincers in the hopes of making it look like he had been bitten during the fight,

However Jade and Sir Bryce saw her do it. Sir Bryce drew his sword and killed Ivana with one blow.Skylar tried to stop him but barely managed not to get cut down in the process.

Shocked at the brutal murder of Ardic, the party decided to return to the town of Helix to give Consuela and Ardic proper burials. Ivana's body, they stripped and dumped into the pit trap.

DM Note: Some people may wonder why I let this happen. Ivana was played the way she was designed, a chaotic evil thief. All of the players were cool with how things were handled and it was considered good roleplay. My players were more upset that I killed Consuela. 

TO BE CONTINUED......... 

This senseless loss of life was brought to you by

The Fraternal Order of Rat Bastard Dungeon Masters