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Posts Tagged ‘sandbox’

Indigo Valley

10 Apr

Indigo Valley is a county within the Kingdom of Men, nestled between two hill ranges whose rock has a pale blue colour that is mined for its lightweight yet strong stone (indigo coloured when fired, giving it a glazed surface that glitters iridescent in the sunlight).

The main settlement if a large town, known as Quiet Town, that lies a couple of miles from heavy forest; wherein a dungeon lurks, at the end of an old forest trail. The other major settlement is the village of Riverside, and there are numerous hamlets and farms that can be found within a few miles of either settlement. The two forests, both home to monsters and a source of timber and game, were once home to elves, but none have been seen in years. The north forest, Oak Wood (due to the dominance of oaks) is known to hold a lair of Orcs, who occasionally raid the nearby hamlets, but are more of a nuisance than a serious threat. The southern forest, however, houses a dungeon of some long-dead wizard, deep in the forested hills. The forest is believed to be named after this mage: the Forest of Grimtooth.

A road cuts through the county, maintained as well as can be, with three inns along the way, to cater to travellers and traders who pass through.

players map

Indigo Valley county

Beyond the borders of this county are the other counties that make up the principality, one of the six of the kingdom. The southern area is known as The Wastelands, and is where the City of Bones can be found, close by the dead forest where one of the Greater Dragons met its demise.

players map

Principality and the Counties

 
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Posted in ACKS, Blog, RPG

 

Paths of the Dead

10 Jan

Last night we finished Death Frost Doom, and while no one died and they defeated the vampire (play report to follow), they have also unleashed 13,034 walking dead into the world.

So I took my area map, decided on what direction the dead would take, and put this together:

Paths of the Dead

Paths of the Walking Dead

The colour-coded arrows will tell me which ‘wandering monster’ chart to use, with each colour also telling me what the chance in 6 is of an encounter occurring, on all arrow-hexes and all adjacent ones too. Haven’t worked out the charts yet, but will have done so before the next session on Monday.

Now just got to wait and see what the PCs decide to do, stuck on the opposite side of the valley from their home-base.

Also, worked out (roughly) that the masses of undead are moving at two hexes every day over difficult terrain (hills, forest), and four hexes per day over plains and trails. By this estimation, it will take about 11 days until the hordes reach the town, including stopping along the way to split off and eat people. The PCs have already been holed up for a day, so the clock is ticking, and the other undead are heading their way (top green arrows). They’ll reach the PCs if they don’t leave the small town they warned straight away.

Looking forward to seeing how things develop from here.

 
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Posted in Blog, D&D, Monsters, RPG

 

The Lottery Dungeon

05 Jan

This is what I’m working on at the moment:

The Lottery Dungeon

Beyond the borders of the civilised lands, in the midst of the Gloaming Forest, lies a strange dungeon of unknown origins. A small town has been built around it, profiting on the treasures that are hauled out of the dungeon by intrepid and foolish adventurers, and by the services offered to such folk.

This dungeon was once known as The Shifting Dungeon, due to the way the interior rotates and moves every few hours; but it is now more commonly referred to as the Lottery Dungeon due to the way the townsfolk allow entry into the dungeon. The town itself has become known as Chancers’ Town, for the same reason: every would-be adventurer who arrives in town has to purchase a lottery number, and every day the Mayor of the town or his Sheriff pulls numbers from a barrel, and whoever has that number gets the chance to enter the dungeon and keep any treasure they find; if they come back at all.

This lottery brings individual adventurers together, forming random parties who delve below, often coming back before the dungeon shifts and seals itself; for this dungeon is only open for a couple of hours a day, and randomly moves so that the doorway leads into a different location, sometimes the same, mostly somewhere else in the dungeon. Most adventurers go in, quickly explore, then come out before they are sealed inside for a day. Those that are trapped inside seldom come out alive.

Gems, gold coins the size of a man’s fist, magical items and ancient scrolls have all been found and brought back out; strange creatures have been found below, as have deadly traps and obscure puzzles. There are crude and partly complete maps to be bought in town, strange and unique magical items for sale to those who have the gold, and services to keep an adventurer’s equipment maintained, their bellies full, and their desires satisfied.

Introduction

The Lottery Dungeon is a fantasy location that comprises the dungeon itself, the town that has grown around it, and the forest that surrounds them. It is placed in a generic wilderness, to allow easy insertion into existing campaigns, and all statistics, equipment and costs, mechanics and so forth, are all designed to be as compatible as possible with classic fantasy game systems.

This adventure setting consists of the following:

  • Chancers’ Town: map and details of the town; rules for carousing and mishaps; encounter tables in town; important NPCs and the services they provide; and details of the lottery itself;
  • The Lottery Dungeon: a five-level dungeon, mapped and locations sketched out; a set of modular dungeon levels that can be added to extend the dungeon in different ways; encounter tables for all levels; details of the rotating dungeon; some tables for added dungeon dressing; notes on keeping the dungeon alive after it has been explored;
  • The Gloaming Forest: area map and a few notable locations; encounter tables for the forest; some ideas on what lies beyond the forest; a ruined tower adventure location for when adventurers need a break from the dungeon.

The Lottery Dungeon  is designed with short sessions and differing groups of players in mind, allowing for a short delve with players who can make it to a gaming session; something that would work well with G+ Hang-Outs, Online sessions, or at gaming stores; but which can still be used by more stable or longer session gaming with no alterations. The dungeon maps will be freely available, with no keys, for use in on-line gaming, and printing.

Also: played on Monday night, and in the depths of Death Frost Doom the players have now unleashed the hordes of undead, and are trying to decide whether to make a deal with a vampire, or try and take him out…

 
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Posted in Blog, D&D, Map Tools, RPG

 

Eternal Empire: Session Fourteen

09 Dec

Three days after leaving the Tower of the Stargazer…

Player Characters

Iral Darkstar (elf L2) / Gideon (fighter L3) / Alvis (cleric L3)

Henchmen

Oswald the Brave and Tomlinson (all Fighters, level 1).

The Game

Return to the Temple

Feeling more confident and better equipped, taking Tomlinson and Oswald with them (leaving Geoff upstairs to have a drink), Iral, Gideon and Alvis light some torches and lead the way back down into the temple below their keep. They first check all the rooms they’d already explored, ensuring that nothing had changed; nothing had. Then they passed through the cavern full of stone sarcophagi, once more leaving them alone, and enter the lair that they had only just started searching before they’d got scared and headed home.

Cautiously, 10′ pole in hand, they check floors and walls, and doors for traps. They find an abandoned laboratory, with old equipment and spare parts that Iral can make use of; including stuff he can use to brew up some potions. They also find a strange mechanical man, with a furnace built into its chest and glass cards that seem to slot into its head. Iral takes the cards, while Alvis and Gideon search for secret doors and find nothing.

Next they find a ruined library, with torn books and paper ripped and strewn across the room. But no sooner have they entered the room, a howl erupts from above the door and some twisted ape-like monster pounces on them. They very sight of it makes their brains ache [losing Intelligence, temporarily] and its howl makes the paper whirl like a tornado, painfully slicing through those caught inside. Everyone takes damage, and the force of it is so powerful that Iral’s shield is torn apart. Thankfully, a combination of sword wings, bolts and a magic missile take it out; as it dies, it melts into the floor, leaving an oily stain behind. Alvis heals his allies, both his own magic and the staff they found.

A search of the library finds the remains of a spell book and some scrolls, which are taken.

Further exploration finds another laboratory, but this one is ruined. Some explosion has torn it apart and scorched the walls, and the charred skeleton of a man lies broken on the floor. A few bits and pieces are salvageable, and Iral find a magical wand (of shield, 3 charges) and they find a secret door that leads into a narrow tunnel that comes out into the private quarters of a wizard’s room; a good search finds a spell book, some lore books, some more scrolls, and a locked chest that is trapped. Alvis manages to disarm it, and they find coins of silver and gold. Gideon finds another secret door, leading out into the woods.

They return to the keep and discuss their options. After looking through the books they found, they discover that the wizard who owned the labs was researching the whereabouts of a holy relic that might be able to cleanse the temple of its evil. This relic was taken by a cleric to deal with an evil shrine on Death Mountain. That seems to be the place the party need to go next, so they make plans and spend a week preparing. As they do, Iral and Alvis also brew up some healing potions to take with them.

End of Session

Next Session: DEATH FROST DOOM!

Tallies

  1. Total Kills: 1 monster, 34 bandits, 1 dead man, 9 mosquito-bats, 1 giant spider, 5 ghouls, 1 troll, defeated a party of three adventurers (but let them go free), 1 gelatinous cube, 1 ape-creature;
  2. PC deaths: 1 (and 1 lost an arm);
  3. NPC deaths: 1 (Bran)
  4. Shields Splintered: 11;
  5. Total XP: 21,697.
 
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Posted in Blog, RPG

 

The Adventurers, the Witch & the Wardrobe

22 Nov

The room is empty except for an old battered wardrobe, nestling in the dank corner. Flecks of ice fall from the door panels, and a chill breeze drifts from inside.

Opening the doors, a blast of cold wind buffets your face, and your breath mists. Inside the wardrobe is a long tunnel, wider and further than any wardrobe interior has any right to be, with a faint, bluish light in the distant. A few feet inside, snow carpets the wooden floor. Further in, the wood turns to stone, then to hard, frozen earth, and the tunnel exits onto a wintry landscape. Snow-clad trees, leafless and bent under the weight of ice and snow, crawl up a steep hill thick with untouched snow. A pale blue full moon looms high on a clear sky full of twinkling stars, and atop the hill is a ring of standing stones.

Climbing the hill, the cold wind blowing snow into your face, you see lights in the distance; a village or town, a few miles off. And behind that, something towers above the land, a jagged silhouette against the starry sky. No lights come from there, only the wind.

Shouldering your pack, adjusting the sword on your belt, you start off down the slope, towards the distant settlement… and towards adventure!

 
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Posted in Blog, D&D, Monsters, RPG

 
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