Kingbeast’s Lair

Chapter 7 – The Menace From Sumatra – Session #14

Date At Start Of Game: 1/4/1894

[Author’s Note: This episode is the fourteenth session. Note that the order of the events in this record may not be the exact order that they occurred in the session.]

• After returning to Oxford and passing through an uneventful holiday season the group enters into the new year. While walking across campus one afternoon the PC see a small group of students protesting a new labor movement. As the PC walk by some constables enter the scene. From a short hallway a man stumbles out. He is dressed in a hat, gloves, dark glasses, and trench coat. He stumbles into the constable who gently pushes the man back. To the surprise of the constable and the PC the man collapses! As he hits the ground his hat and glasses fly off. He starts muttering, “Save Susan! My Susan!” As the PC approach a wisp of blue smoke emerges from his mouth. His eyes are missing and only a blue goo like substance remains. His skin is aged and he smells like he has been dead for weeks. Tredge searches his pockets while Burton grabs a nearby banner and wraps up the body. Singh chases down a cab which he spies leaving the scene. He marks the cab with a thrown knife then returns to the group.
• In the office the group examines the body and their clues in more detail. The man is dressed in light clothing that has not been changed in some time. It is shredded and very dirty. The trench coat is from a high end clothing store called Rotbridge & Sons. His pockets contain loose change and a slip from the East India Shipping Company. The slip is addressed to a Mr. Alfred Windebank. Senemut and Burton examine the blue goo under a microscope. It is a type of fungus or spore. Senemut feels that it could be contagious. With that the PC leave the body in the care of the constable.
• The PC first decide to visit the East India Shipping Company. At the company Tredge pretends to be Alfred Windebank and picks up 5 crates. The crates contain carefully cataloged botany samples.
• Singh visits the cab company where he eventually tracks down the cab that dropped off Mr Windebank. The cab driver, whose name is Jarvis, distinctly remembers the man and comments that he swayed back and forth in the cab. He picked the man up from the Norris Hotel.
• At the Norris Hotel the PC claim to be friends of Dr Windebank and get access to his hotel room with a well placed bribe. In the room they discover a picture of Alfred and his wife Susan. They also find a strange blue egg shaped stone and a diary from Alfred. The diary mentions dealing with a Dr Granger. According to the diary Dr Granger disappeared one night. He came back several nights later. After returning he dismissed all of the local help and even made some type of advance on Susan. The diary claims that Granger has gone mad.
• The PC quickly discover that Dr Granger is a professor at Oxford. The visit his office but he is not present. They break in and search around. There are many strange texts but a bulk of them are about tropical diseases. While they are searching around Dr Granger shows up! The PC immediately start questioning the startled professor. He denies all claims as that of the madman Alfred Windebank. When shown the diary he consider that proof that the man is not “altogether right”. Eventually he dismisses the PC telling him that he has important work to do. The PC leave the doctor but decide to start following him…

Date At End Of Game: 1/4/1894

Chapter 6 – Plant Y Daear – Session #14

Date At Start Of Game: 12/12/1893

[Author’s Note: This episode is the fourteenth session. Note that the order of the events in this record may not be the exact order that they occurred in the session.]

• As Nathan turns to stone and small goblin like humanoids jump down in the grotto the PC jump into action. Singh grabs Helen in a headlock preventing her from casting spells. Abdul knocks down the stick structure angering the little creatures. Senemut draws his sword and tries to hack at the creatures. All the while the creatures poke at the PC with stone tools and cast evil eyes. While Helen tussles with Singh, Abdul grabs the locket and threatens to break it. This stops the little creatures in their tracks. Not knowing what to do they turn to Helen who gives them direction. In one effort they attack. Abdul breaks the locket and Senemut smashes the black stone. This sends them into a frenzy. Eventually Singh stands with Helen and begins to run out of the grotto! The little people chase until the end of the small canyon then turn back. The rest of the PC emerge with Nathan’s stone corpse. The PC then tell Helen that they will release her if she will turn Nathan back into flesh. They also tell her that she must not threaten Nathan again. She agrees and changes Nathan back into flesh. As Helen walks away she changes into a large snake and slithers into the canyon.
• With that the PC close up the estate and head back to Oxford. They take Nathan under their wing and inform him about the NAGS. He is excited about the offer which also allows the PC to closely watch his development.

Date At End Of Game: 12/14/1893

The fine folks at 12 To Midnight are hosting another drive to collect funds for autism research.  The topics of RPGs and autism are very important to me so I wanted to post their event on my blog.  I encourage everyone to head over and see what you can do help.  Note that they may update the site on Friday December 5th to add news on money from sales in December going to autism.  Watch this site for the details.

Chapter 6 – Plant Y Daear – Session #13

Date At Start Of Game: 12/07/1893

[Author’s Note: This episode is the thirteenth session. Note that the order of the events in this record may not be the exact order that they occurred in the session.]

• The PC return to the Oxford campus on the afternoon of December 7th. Waiting on the desk in the study is a package addressed to Senemut. It is from a friend of his from Egypt, Colonel Albert Hardwicke. Singh also worked with Colonel Hardwicke in Africa. An enclosed letter describes the contents of the package and asks for help in its identification. It also asks that the PC not discuss the stone with his nephew Nathan. The contents of the package include the letter and a brick shaped rock of black stone with strange runes engraved along one edge. After some time Abdul and Senemut are able to translate the ruins. They are from an ancient culture that predates the Romans in England. The writing says, “We who remember the ruined great cities honor their memory with this relic, for it is a reminder that those cities were once, and shall rise again.” The letter says that Albert should return to London in a few days so the PC decide to wait. Two days later his name appears in the obituaries. After speaking with local police the PC discover that Colonel Hardwicke was murdered in a small village in northern England. The brief file says that he was bucked from a horse then beaten and stabbed. Singh knows that Albert is an accomplished rider and very tough. With that the PC follow the return address on the package in an effort to find Albert. The return address is a very small village near Wales called Abrsyonan.
• After travelling to the village the PC ask for directions to the Hardwicke estate and the local constable at a local tavern. Singh and Burton stay behind at the tavern to ask questions about the Hardwicke’s. Strangely the bar goes silent. People do not want to speak about the Hardwicke’s. The PC find two villagers to question. One is willing to talk after some drinks but the other leaves with a disgusted look on his face. The PC learn from the man that 20 years ago Albert came into the bar in an uproar. Apparently his sister, Clarissa, had been beaten and raped. A group searched the woods but did not find the culprits. Nine months later Clarissa gave birth to a son, Nathan, but she died in childbirth. The man also gives Burton and Singh the name of some locals who worked on the estate.
• Senemut and Abdul speak with the local constable who is as much of a farmer as a lawman. He explains the body and the fact that Nathan came into town yesterday and is now at the estate. As it is late he offers to lead the PC to the property in the morning. Before returning to the pub to stay for the night the PC speak with the locals who worked at the estate. The wife was the midwife for Clarissa. She explains that Clarissa gave birth to Nathan then went into a frenzy! She called him a monster and tried to strangle him. After a day of sedation she seemed better and they tried to give her the baby again. This time she pulled a dinner knife on the child. That night Clarissa was found dangling from her bedpost.
• On the way to the estate the PC take in the lovely countryside. The terrain is hilly with scrub brush and sparse copses of tree. Initially the PC go to the murder site. It has rained since the body was found but the PC still notice some strange things in a perimeter around the site. They find small stacks of rocks that are not natural. In another area they find branches laid out in a particular pattern. While searching Singh sees movement out of the corner of his eye near a group of stones. When he runs over he finds only a large rabbit hole and some footprints from what he thinks must be a barefooted child.
• After a few moments Nathan Hardwicke rides over. He asks the PC and constable to join him at the estate. This gives the PC a chance to speak with Nathan and to look around. The PC find Nathan to be a young naïve bookworm. He studies history at college and seems intrigued by the mystery of his Uncle’s death. Nathan begs to help the PC solve the murder. It is also apparent to the PC that Nathan knows nothing of his twisted birth. He also claims not to even have known about the estate until the reading of his Uncle’s will. The estate was left to him. The PC do NOT enlighten Nathan at this time on the story around his mother. While searching around the estate the PC find freshly inscribed writing on a well wall. The writing roughly translates to, “Home.”
• The next morning the PC return to the site of the murder to follow up on the strange markers they found the previous day. Before leaving Singh leaves a message on the front porch that says that they want to talk. While searching for more markers Burton sees Nathan talking with a strange woman in a green dress. When the woman notices Burton approaching she finished her conversation and walks behind a small hill where she vanishes. Before leaving Burton’s sharp ears hear her final words to Nathan, “The woods hold delicious secrets if you know where to look. Maybe one day I’ll show you.” Nathan seems captivated by the woman who he says is named Helen.
• By following the markers and using Senemut’s knowledge of local lay lines the PC find a small path leading to a tiny canyon grotto. In the small areas is a small earthen mound with a cage like structure of branches on top of it. Hanging from the front of the branches is a golden locket. On top of the branch cage is a rectangular spot the size of the black stone. Carefully Burton reaches over and opens the locket without moving it. When he touches the locket everything seems to go deathly quiet. Inside the locket is a cameo picture of Clarissa and the words, “To Clarissa with Love, Albert.” With that the PC decide to replace the stone. Almost immediately after replacing the stone the PC hear footsteps approaching from the narrow path behind them. The woman in the green dress emerges. She thanks the PC for returning the stone then addresses Nathan. She asks Nathan if he feels the pull from the land as he is one of them. She begs him to stay with them as according to her this is his home. Nathan seems dumbstruck. He asks the PC what he should do. At that point the PC relate the story of his birth and the fact that these people are very likely the ones that killed his Uncle. Although confused Albert agrees with the PC and decides that he does not want stay. When he makes this decision the woman says that he MUST stay with them. When the PC start to try and usher him out she starts a spell which turns Nathan into a statue! As she speaks her skin turns from soft white to a scaly mottled green…

Date At End Of Game: 12/12/1893

-== What is it? ==-

Fudge 10th Anniversary Edition is the latest print release of the Fudge universal role-playing game system from Grey Ghost Press. As a universal system it is intended to be used for modeling many different genres. Fudge was previously an acronym for Freeform Universal Do-It-Yourself Game Engine.

The book has a color hard cover and an entirely black and white interior. The book is full sized and is 319 pages in length.  I have been running my first Terra Incognita Fudge based campaign now for roughly a year. I started playing Fudge by buying Terra Incognita and this book. I have read the book cover to cover.

-== What I Like ==-

I think my favorite thing about Fudge is the simplicity during play. Fudge is a very fast system. Combats move quickly and player actions are very easy to model. If something isn’t clear in the rules you do as the rules suggest and “fudge it”.  This is pretty easy to do once the fundamentals of the systems are learned. At a high level Fudge is a success based system where two results are compared. The person with the highest result wins.

As the system is universal once learned your players can move with you from campaign to campaign and all they have to worry about are any rule changes you plan on making.

As a GM I love the ease in creating bad guys. My Terra Incognita game has a heavy monster hunting flair and I find it very simple to make even the most complex beasties in minutes with only minor cracks of the book.

-== What I Don’t Like ==-

One key thing to remember about Fudge is part of the old acronym…”Do-It-Yourself”. That is really key. Fudge not only gives the GM the tools for changing the rules they really expect it. They expect the GM to set skill lists and stats. They expect the GM to choose a character creation method. Etc. For the “tinkerer type” GMs this is a really great thing but for others it may at first be daunting. I have a LOT of experience with the Hero System but in my opinion Fudge is another rung down the “GM as game designer ladder”. In the future I plan to do an entire article about universal systems and Fudge will be a part of it for sure.

As laid out the combat system works alright but it has some strange bits that take some time to get used to. For example, when two targets attach eachother in HTH combat they role against eachother. The one who roles highest hits and the one who rolled lower misses. The guy who hits does more damage based on the differences in the rolls. On the surface this is simple but in play it really shows differentitation issues. If someone is really good with knives there might be no chance for the other person to ever hit the target. Even the distinction between someone who is Good versus someone who is Mediocre is critical. Another odd situation occurs if a ranged attacker goes up against a HTH attacker. In this situation both attackers go against very low targets values. The result is that both completely blow away eachother. There are some house rules to help out but out of the book this is how it plays.

It is blatantly obvious that the book was created by piecing together various Fudge articles from different authors. In makes the book very difficult to read and utilize in some respects. The tone changes…sometimes the implementation of various concepts is handled differently. The effect is jarring.

The artwork on the cover and interior is very poor. This is a book that a consumer would not pick up unless prompted by a friend or store clerk. The interior art is mostly stolen from publically available sources and it very inconsistent.

-== Summary ==-

Overall Fudge 10th Anniversary is an interesting product to get if you want something quick and dirty but are willing to make some changes to the system. The $35 price tag is a bit steep but not insane.

I give it 6 out of 10 paws.

GeekDad posted another winner about roleplaying with kids.  This one has more practical advice.  It is worth a read.  Here is a link to the article.  Great stuff.

Ok…this is hilarious…

-== What is it? ==-

Faery’s Tale Deluxe from Green Ronin Publishing is a role-playing game where players take on the role of pixies, brownies, sprites, and pooka. Everything that is needed to play is contained in the book.

The book has a color cover and an entirely black and white interior. The book is 6” x 9” and is 96 pages in length. I have not played the game I have only read the book.

-== What I Like ==-

I love the way that the book tackles the fae genre. The list of abilities is concise and uncluttered. You won’t see entries that people don’t want to play. Also each entry is explained with an example if there are multiple levels of effect.

The mechanics are very simply and I think they need to be for a game geared at younger players. On neat thing with the mechanics is the fact that they are additive only. You don’t have to worry about subtractions, multiplication, etc. Great touch. The only mechanic I’m hesitant on is the way the dice are totaled. The mechanic is to count the evens and odds. I guess that works but I almost wanted something simpler. I think custom dice with fairies and goblins or similar would be really great. There are dice on the Green Ronin site but they still have pips and rely on even and odd. I would have liked to see them go even farther.

The artwork is fantastic. It conveys a real sense of the fairy world and in playing a fae. Often pictures are angled from the view of the fairy and contain a great sense of wonder. The amount of artwork is just about right. There is not so much artwork that it impacts the text or layout in a poor manner. Very nice.

-== What I Don’t Like ==-

The adventures are a bit too open ended for introductory younger players in my mind. In some ways I was hoping that at least one of them was a bit more railroading. I know that sounds strange but when first starting with young kids I find that it helps…especially the first session where folks are learning the rules.

I also would have liked to see more sample character and possibly ones provided with the adventures. Maybe each having their own page with a picture and a summary of their abilities. It would be really nice to have details on each ability with the character sheet.

-== Summary ==-

I really like this product and I think it fills a great hole for younger gamers. My complaints are not serious and can be corrected with some minor work by the GM. The price point is fine at $20 for the print copy. I think $10 is a deal for the PDF.

I give it 8 out of 10 paws.

Geek Dad posted another winner.  He has a great article posted on role-playing with kids.  Check it out. 

[ FYI.  I am currently working up a review of Faery’s Tale that dovetails nicely with his stellar overview article.  Watch this space for details.  ]

The game log has been updated for session #12.  Check the link in the left pane for details.