Nerd!

With all the recent posting on Tolkien recently (his birthday was yesterday), I'm reminded of a turning point in life - that point at which many of us realized our interests were somewhat... different than those of most kids. In the age of the "Successful Nerd", such as Bill Gates, Vin Diesel, Stephen Colbert, etc, its easy to forget that not so long ago it wasn't quite so fashionable to embrace one's differences, especially in the schoolyard of the late seventies!

For me, that realization came after the Christmas break of my '78-79 school year. After some significant nagging at my parents, I finally got taken to see Bakshi's Lord of the Rings movie. I was enthralled by the movie, it being the first time I can recall seeing a book I loved be represented on the motion picture screen. This, of course, was long before I felt the need to nitpick how true a film stayed to its source material; it was a simple joy to see Aragorn, Legolas, and company hacking their way through the orcs of Moria.

So I went back to school after the break, elated, and asked everyone I knew if they had seen it too.

Blank stares.

That, and the occasional contemptuous "isn't that a cartoon?"

Not only did no one else see the movie, I was actually made fun of for liking it!

Now, this wasn't the stereotypical "jock vs. nerd" stuff you see on TV, there were no swirlies, wedgies, being shoved in lockers, etc. In fact, my usual crew and I were the jocks, huge Steelers fans (this being whilst our fledgling hometeam, the Bucs, were still the "least winningest team in NFL history"), and had a reputation as brawlers. But the difference hung over my head, nonetheless, and was expressed by the other kids in more subtle ways (which probably bothered me more than a wedgie), even the other kids in the "gifted class" . So I learned to keep my newfound love of fantasy to myself.

Fast-forward to that spring, when it was time for the county Gifted Program Art's & Crafts Fair. This is where all the "gifted" students work on individual art projects, and get together at a mall so our stuff can be judged. Still enamored with Tolkien, I bought some little lead figurines I had spotted at the local hardware store (a pointy-hat wizard, a ranger, four halflings, etc), and painted them and made a little diorama to glue them to and presto - I had the Fellowship of the Ring all set to go and win some ribbons (I did in fact get a red 2nd place ribbon in some category or other)! This being the seventies, you could still drop off a few hundred 8-12 year-olds at the mall unsupervised and let them wander around.

During my wanderings, I spied a group of slightly older boys clustered together in a quiet corner, many of them with flat, blue-sponge-filled boxes full of the same sort of minis I had just painted. Going in for a closer look, I realized they were playing some sort of game with them. It wasn't long before they noticed me loitering nearby and began to eye me skeptically.

Inside, I battled with myself. If I let myself natter on about my geekly love of fantasy and curiousity about what in the world they were doing would I be welcomed, or scorned? What's a nine-year-old to do!?

Taking a deep breath (I think), I threw caution to the wind, and said hi. And what I made for my art project, and what I liked to read, and could they tell me what impossibly cool-looking game they were playing with those impossibly cool-looking painted minis, and... And they were pretty cool about it. I spent the rest of the Art Fair hanging out, and while I wasn't completely aware at the time that I had found a new hobby, I was very much aware how nice it was to find out that I wasn't alone.

Oh, and they thought the Lord of the Rings flick was cool, too.

Magic Items for 1st level characters

Hope everyone had a Happy New Year!

Occasionally I'm tempted to throw those squishy 1st level characters a bone (I know, I'm a big softy), so here are some magic items appropriate for a 1st level character to be gifted as "starting equipment".

Magic User: Staff of the Apprentice

This staff is typically made of sturdy wood reinforced with brass caps at either end and engraved with arcane runes from top to bottom. They are usually distinct in appearance from one school or master to the next, and are typically given to a young Magic User upon "graduating" to a full-fledged 1st level apprentice. The staff allows the magic user to cast each of the following, once per day: dancing lights, detect magic, and read magic.

Cleric: Amulet of the Acolyte

This is an ornate amulet or holy symbol, bearing the device of the cleric's patron, given to young clerics upon achieving the status of a full-fledged 1st level acolyte. It is typically made of brass or iron with a thin plating of silver or gold, and sometimes inlaid with gems. When brandished, it allows clerics to turn undead as if they were 1 level higher, and also allows the cleric to cast, once per day, protection from evil.

Fighter: Sword of my Ancestor

Not necessarily a sword, this is a weapon, sometimes ornate, sometimes plain, that has typically been hanging over a mantelpiece for most of the young fighter's life, and is given to him or her when they first set off in search of adventure, along with the tale of that brave ancestor's adventures (perhaps with a legacy which may come back to haunt and/or favor the character later in the campaign). While the weapon is not magical (most of the time), once per day the character can draw upon the small amount of magic remaining in it, or perhaps spirit haunting it, to make an attack as if it were a +3 magical weapon. Unfortunately, this is stressful to the old thing, and any "natural 1" rolled during such an attack results in the weapon being irreparably broken.

Thief: Such Clever, Cunning Instruments

This is a set of small tools, picks, and other devices crafted by the thief's master and gifted to him or her upon "graduating". They are typically carried in a small, waterproof leather pouch that may be easily concealed beneath the thief's outer clothing. So cunningly are the tools crafted, that the thief's minimum chance to open locks or remove traps is 40%. Of course, once the thief's own abilities surpass 40% in those skills, the tools are of no more use to him or her and they typically pass them along to the next neophyte burglar.

The Hexcrawl in Actual Play

Here's a sample from my campaign journal, again from the summer of '07, when I was running a lot of hex-based action. I use my campaign journals to keep track of dates, locations, and the players' most important actions. Its proved to be a great tool for running a cohesive wilderness game, and is also a good way a remembering some fun sessions that occured years ago!

Session Journal: 4436 Portly Pomp Month(4)

PP17 Hex8-3519 Party encounters Giant Slug en route to Onhir, just on the border of Arthiop mudflats. Slug injures Belegost with acidic spray. Magnus loses halbard in action, draws greatsword found in Witch-queens fortress. Kills slug in one great chop, which creates a blast like thunder.

PP18 Hex8-3411 Barrens devoid of usual dire rats. Reason becomes clear when party encounters large pack of Denuvian dragon-dogs, a reptile/wolf crossbreed not seen in great numbers since the days of the Orichalan empire. Unnaturally cunning and well-armored. Party decimates them with missle weapons and several spells from Rho.

PP19 Onhir Party met by borderwardens 3 leagues outside of Onhir. Forced to wait for special permission to enter city due to presence of the partys dwarven ranger Horthe. Permission given, elven slaves given into the care of Onhir.

PP20 Onhir Annual Beltene Fete of Brilliant Fire celebrated in Onhir. Party made guests of honor for return of slaves. Festivities include phoenix rebirth, ceremony of the fire witches, blessings of the groves by druidic circle. Other guests of feast include a visiting Antillian merchant and Lady Cilborith of Anatal. Party is gifted with masterwork strength bows by the Onhiri. Horthe adopts runt elven hunting dog (cooshee) as his animal companion.

PP21 Onhir Rho pays after-midnight visit to quarters of Cilborith to talk shop. Surprises assassin just entering sorceress' chamber. Kills him instantly with empowered fire spell. Cilborith rewards Rho with Pearl of Power 2, identifies partys takings from DCC17 for free. Notables include Thundering Greatsword (now christened "SlugBane" by Magnus), a type-2 Bag of Holding, a string of lesser Prayer Beads, and a ring of Counterspells. Antillian merchant and his retinue are discovered to have left mysteriously in the night, and a search of the assassins corpse reveals a tattoo consecrating him to Harmakhis.

PP22-30 Onhir Party spends next week or so recuperating, selling loot, repairing equipment, training, researching, and carousing. Also participates in Dire Boar Hunt in the forest, with Magnus scoring the killing blow. Rho and Cilborith spend much time together talking shop before she departs back to her small city in the Ered Perack.

Session Journal: 4436 Yellow Moon Dog Month
YMD1 Onhir Party departs Onhir in full strength, determined to reach CSIO by the War Festivals (YMD28 ) .

YMD3 Hex8-3408 Encamped for the night by River Magevin, 4 giant spiders steal silently into camp, drawn by the horses. Man-at-arms Nok on guard duty, takes poisoned wound while alerting camp. Party quickly roused, spiders killed or driven off without hardship. Wounded spider tracked to lair in the morning. Among the desiccated corpses hanging there is found a +2 Dagger and about 60gp worth of various coins.

YMD4,5 Hex8-3308 Party reached Bellystone Ford, invited to stay at Southmarch Castle under Lord Cairnols hospitality. Party treated to performance by some of the best bards in Altanis. Tibal participates on zither, only barely restrained from practicing his pick-pocketing arts on his fellow musicians by a stern eye from Magnus. A feast that night features flank of catoblepas, a rare and dangerous delicacy.

YMD7 Hex8-3105 Party climbs up into Black Baron Pass. Horthe soon notices trail of a band of ogres, probably lying in wait to ambush travelers through the pass. Stopping their party well before a natural ambush point, PCs leave NPCs behind with wagon and horses while they advance to surprise the ambushers. PCs assault ogres, driving them from the cliffs with little trouble. Horn sounds from wagon party down the trail. The party has been duped, a larger party of ogres led by a huge raging chieftain tears through the small caravan like wildfire. Party arrives to find their companions all dead or dying, only the cooshee pup still standing defiant. They rush forward into pitched melee. Magnus and Belegost are both taken down to negatives by the savage ogres, and Horthe is nearly felled as well. Things look ill until a well-placed Deep Slumber from Rho takes down the chieftain and a nasty sneak attack fells another ogre instantly. A few flee but are taken down by Rhos spells while Horthe revives Magnus and Belegost with a wand of CLW. One remaining ogre surrenders. The party takes stock of the damage: the wagon is smashed and worthless, at least half of their provisions are scattered and ruined, 2 horses slain, and they dig graves on the bluff overlooking the pass for 5 long-time NPCs: Dewer and Nok, the 2 men-at-arms, Ofreda the cook, Dalmidge the teamster, and Chuffrey the page (a teenage thief rescued from the streets of the CSIO) who actually put up a good fight against the Chieftain before meeting a gruesome end (-18hp!). Of all the supporting cast, only Sergeant Hancy (leads the partys men-at-arms) and the Cooshee are able to be saved by Belegosts healing magic. Gathering the surviving horses and provisions the battered party continues north with heavy hearts!


DMs notes
*I would have allowed the party's ranger to discover the tracks of the other ogres, thereby discovering the feint, but they never looked around, just took off - getting cocky!

*It took all of 3 rounds(!) for the ogres to decimate the party's caravan. Leaving the ogres 2 rounds to begin looting before the party arrived back on the scene, already a little battered from the first fight.

*The party's fighter, Magnus, actually fumbled his first attack against the ogre chieftain, and "SlugBane" flew out of his grasp. The ogre chiefatin then scored a critical hit against him, dropping him in 1 hit. The cleric Belegost got dropped by a critical hit from a thrown javelin. Fortunately, the elven wizard Rho had only engaged in melee in the first attack and so had a full complement of spells for the next attack, which made the difference between victory and a possible tpk.

*The sole-surviving NPC, Sergeant Hancy(War3) has been with the party since their 1st adventure "Whispering Cairn" and received enough xp in this fight to reach level 4. Most of the other NPCs were recruited during DCC3, and Chuffrey was "saved" from the mean streets on the way to DCC17. Ofreda was notorious for making stew out of every monster the party killed. Other than the ubiquitous "red-shirt" men-at-arms they go through all the time, they'll have a hard time replacing the rest of them, and a grudge against ogres for some time to come...

*The party is concerned about the assassination attempt on Cilborith, and wonder what the connection is to the temple of Harmakhis. They will be following up on this in the CSIO, especially Rho, who has taking the attack on his "girlfriend"(if you can call a terrifying 9th level elven wizardess "girlfriend") personally.