Kingbeast's Lair

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 na?ve 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.