(Gamma World) This Is Not a Test #4 - Against the Not Possible

 Our heroes, the De Facto Explorers exploring Level A, Inc for the Restorationists.

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

Sonny Helianthus: a sentient sunflower artifact examiner with Restorationist ties. 

Slitheran Wurmtail (aka Squiggles): a mutated earthworm scout looking for trouble

Sneaky Pete: a mutated weasel scout.  Pete's telepathy and night vision take a backseat when he whips out his electrical powers.

Lathar Bracken: a pure-strain human from River Bend.  He's got the muscle, the face, and a mount for most encounters.  Lathar's trusty beast of burden, No Name, travels wherever he does.

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

Sonny was proud of himself.  The cards they had found in the storage closet of the ancients appeared to detect to the unseen poison of the Glow, and the box was some sort of communication device of the Ancients that was still powered.

That pride was cancelled by Pete uttering a few words:

"Guys, we've got company."

A large floating piece of living metal hovered into the room it was immediately identifying Lathar and scanning Sonny. The creature seemed quite entranced, or perhaps confused, with the mutated plant.  

Pete scurried under the living metal, beneath the table and popped his head out on the far side of the room.  

Lathar stepped forward to distract the living metal's attention from Sonny.  "I'm new here, what do I have to do?" 

 With that exchange, Squiggles squeezed behind him and headed out into a hallway.  Checking the first door and finding it locked, he moved onto the second door and snuck inside before the living metal realized anything was amiss.  

The room was filled with a bunch of large picture screens on desks.  Only one had the glow coming out of it.  

The living metal addressed Lathar, "Identify yourself, intruder."

"I am security agent seven, I'm new here."

"There is no security agent seven on staff."

"What security agents do you have on staff?"

"Unknown, questioner does not have security clearance."

The original computer voice spoke up, "I'm still here." After that, another series of paper emerged from the center of the large table in the room.

Lathar grabbed a stack of papers, "Hey, I just signed my papers."

The Living Metal apparently was satisfied with that answer, but then proceeded towards Sony, hiding behind a chair, and Pete, still stooping behind the table.  

Lathar dropped his stack of papers, reached into his satchel, and poured oil on the backside of the living metal.  Not seeing a reaction, he set the oil on fire.

The original voice spoke up again, "Possible facilities breakdown.  Room 33.  Dispatching maintenance."

Sonny fronds struggle to push the wheeled chair further away.  The living metal stood still.    Three arms emerged from the robot to attempt to extinguish the flames.

The original voice made another announcement, "Fire detected. Room 33.  Unauthorized personnel on the floor."

Sonny's retreating chair hit a rubber mat on the floor, stopping his momentum, but allowing the flower's strain to spin the chair in a circle, exposing him to the flaming, living metal. 

With smoke and automated messages overwhelming the room, Pete fired off both his flintlocks into the living metal.  One bounced off the living metal.  The second ricocheted and hit a sprinkler, setting off all of the sprinkler heads in the room. 

The living metal became disoriented and began shooting a variety of weapons randomly.  The party members still in the room began scurrying for cover, and mixing flintlock fire with the occasional sword swing, to little effect.

A flash of light, paired with *pew-pew* sound, came out of of the living metal and Sonny's main stem was injured and he fell prone.  

Pete slid between Lathar's leg and stabbed at the living metal with his rapier.  A shock of electricity arced off the tip and encased the flaming creature, with no noticeable result. 

The scrum tried to move around the table, with the living metal feebly attempted to put out the fire, and only getting two significant shots to almost subdue Pete.  Red lights were flashing and numerous general messages were being announced, asking for more staff to arrive at Room 33

Amid the chaos, Sonny signed his name to a random piece of paper and shoved it into the receptacle in the large table.

"Doctor Helianthus, we've found you! You are in grave danger. Help is on the way!"

"Wait!  Security alert is a big understanding.  These are my escorts.  Stand down, stand down!"

"There is no authorization on file for escorts."

"What?  You lost the requests?"

"We don't lose anything, Doctor.  Let us secure them and we can get the required authorization."

"My procedures involve them.  They're my test subjects."

"The fate of humanity depends on it."

Next: #5 - Paging the Doctor

Happy Halloween 2023!

Jinkeys, That's Not a Mask! from Worlds in Miniature

In a world where I was clearing out an old Facebook archive of saved links and pages, it's no surprise some seasonally-themed games came up.  On that's particularly awesome, but not something I have any target to emulate was Worlds in Miniature using Ganesha Games' Fear & Faith game with the Kooky Teenage Monster Hunters supplement to run a scenario using Scooby Doo and the Mystery Inc Legos/minifigs. 

(Gnome Wars) West Side Sortie

Earlier in the year we had a Gnome Wars scenario focused on infamous Scottish Golfer Robert McHope.  He had conducted a whirlwind affair/kidnapping with a Swiss Princess, and the subsequent rescue attempt amassed large causalities, adding even more insult to injury when McHope dumped her just a few weeks later.  He's since began a relationship with a Japansese Saki waitress named Hanashi Mokuhyōa.  The Swiss never forget a slight, and using their odd maritime laws, were able to abduct Hanashi, and are holding her pending trial, where they shall charge her all crimes committed by McHope and probably sentence her to death.  

McHope had plans to the end the relationship with her within a week, but he feels a strong obligation to rescue the crazy dame, so under cover of darkness, three jolly boats have been lowered from McHope's ship, the "Sail Through"  to break her out of prison.

Only the faint light from the town illuminated McHope (R) and the other two boats.

Robert McHope and the Band of Buoyant Brits

Objective:  Rescue Hanashi Mokuhyōa from prison and return her to the Sail Through

Deployment:  Three jolly boats with five troops and two sailors ready to row from the Sail Through.

Special Rule:  Two rowers can move the boats 3".  Up to two additional figures can help row and each add 1" of movement.  

Special Rule:  With the sea wall, and dockhands working on cargo, the jolly boats can only dock against empty docks (one per dock).

Special Rule:  Only McHope can resuce Hanashi.  Once he enters the prison, he spends the next two full turns inside, fighting with the guards and freeing her.  On the following turn, they may both make a full 12" move.

The Harbor for Porto Generico

The Swiss Militia of Porto Generico

Objective:  Prevent the rescue 

Deployment:  Only two militia are on duty (one half-asleep in the tower, the other sleeping the other half near the jail).  The other militia are only alerted once the first gunshot is fired.

Special Rule:  The tower may make a spot check each turn (8+ to spot the boats).  The guard may do the same if a figure would be within line-of-sight. 

Special Rule:  Reinforcements:  Beginning two turns after the first shot, the militia rolls d6.  On a 6, an additional unit of 10 militia arrive on the town edge (left in picture) of the board.

Those waves look funny...

The Brits make good effort, maximizing rowers to try to reach the docks.  However the guard in the towers must had keen vision for a moment, for he spotted the second boat, and fired a lone shot that was completely wide, but alerted the militia at the tavern.

The militia poured out of the tavern haphazardly.  Between them and the guards on duty, a few shots pinned down the middle boat, and forced them back into the cover of the boat.  The senior sailor in charge of the boat, Seaman Jones tried to brave the volley of fire, but he quickly dove into the water.  

He did not emerge.  

While the other boat was pinned down, McHope's team disembarked.

That boat served up  plenty of distraction for McHope's boat to land nearest the tower, shoot the guard in it (and if the shot didn't kill him, the fall to the ground did for certain), and dash towards the jail.

Despite the militia organizing on the shore, the survivors of the middle Jolly boat, managed a few lucky shots, wounding militiamen, and forcing them to fall back.  That bolstered the men's moxie, and they began charging across the dock.

The outside prison guard decided to run up and hold the high ground.

McHope told his men to use the tower base and an adjacent building, while he skirted the back alleys.  Initially they thought he told them NOT to do that, so they lined up in the middle of the street and fired on the the milita.  

Quick wounds resulted in them falling back to the desired spots.  

Meanwhile McHope waited for the militia to further advance to sneak behind them and enter the jail.

While McHope's plan to sneak in worked perfectly, it resulted in horrible losses for his men.   If not for third jolly boat saving the day, all would have been lost. 

The third jolly boat, commanded by Captain Goodnplenty and his trusty pooch, Kibble, actually landed first, landing on the closest dock in the furthest part of town.  

With great stealth, they navigated up the streets to make an attack from the rear, only to have the Captain highly polished buttons betray him, the glint catching the eye of one militia who had ascended to a roof.  With a quick shot, the good Captain was hit in the chest and lay motionless.   

The men continued, charging towards the house, but none were faster than the Captain's loyal companion, Kibble.  The dog rushed to the building bashed open the door and somehow reached the roof (hey, an incredible roll was made!)., and launched at the militiaman before he could react.  

Again, if the attack didn't kill him, the plummet sealed the deal. 

Meanwhile, the front echelon of militia moved towards the wounded and dying British, the second group held back, only to be surprise by the Captain's men.... and a wounded but quite alive (and angry) Captain Goodnplenty!  A volley in the militia forced them to find shelter inside a building. 

The captain of the militia found himself all alone, and dashed towards his shaky forward ranks, only to see two the middle boat British turn the corner and slaughter all but one!  (The second boat drew a 2 (roll 2 dice per action, and with four shots, decimated the line).  

The militia captain turned the corner and quickly dispatched the British with his sword.  

Right about this time,  Robert McHope and Hanashi emerged from jail, a number of guards laying on the ground inside.  The Saki waitress had acquired a sword the scuffle, and both came out swinging.  

McHope pushed aside a militiamen and took a mighty swing with his weaponized golf club at the militia sergeant.  

The sergeant deftly parried the club his halberd, and locked the Scotsman up.    Then McHope froze and fell to the ground, the sword of the militia captain tasting blood for the third time in these early morning hours.  

Hanashi swung wildly at the militiaman blocking her path, but soon she was surrounded by the captain and sergeant as well.  

None of them gave the mere prisoner the respect they deserve, and her wildly swinging sliced the captain's throat, killing him a few agonizing moments later.  

The other two doubled their efforts to bring her to the ground, alive, but gravely wounded.

Both breathed a sigh of relief, only to turn to a volley of bullets from Captain Goodnplenty's men. 

With the alarms of the city ringing, and most able-bodied men filling the streets, it was time to leave.  The good Captain grabbed McHope, Hanashi, and one heavily wounded marine they found crawling towards the dock and quickly headed back to the ship.

The jolly boats were a bit emptier on the way back, save one.

In a slow and deliberate attempt to play smaller skirmish style games with Gnome Wars, I cracked open a copy of Fistful of Lead and essentially combined Gnome Wars shooting and movement with FoL card-based initiative as well as wound and recovery rolls.    Smaller attempts at Gnome Wars without medics were way too quick and way to bloody, so the chance of forces running away (the militia) and heroic recoveries (like Captain Goodnplenty) made it worth setting up the table.  

The scenario West Side Sortie, was originally part of the Orcs in the Webbe series for Flintloque/Slaughterloo.  The one special rule I forgot was the militia reinforcement rule.  Each turn after the first gunshot, on a roll of 6 on 1d6, another militia unit would appear on the far side of town.  I completely forgot, although I did do the rolls after the fact and the first reinforcement wouldn't emerge until turn 6, then turn 10.  The race back to the boat might have been a bit more exciting.

Alternative Armies has a nice catalog of small scenarios that seem perfect for more experiments with the (unofficial) Fistful of Gnomes.  

And for those odd fellows who wanted to see how our "heroes" fared, I rolled on the Post Game table for the important figures either wounded or knocked out of the game. 

1. For the poor sot they saved, that was wounded early on, and rolled "mid" each time to stay wounded, and crawled halfway to the jolly boat before being rescued:   (2 - Just Winged Me!) A cup of ale and an extra ration, and he was good to go.
2. Captain Goodnplenty (6 - It's Not Bad).  If we reused McHope's crew, he would miss the next game.
3. Militia Captain (4 - Just Winged Me?)  Apparently he was saved by the nearby cowards who ran away and will now command without a voice (I'm getting Negan vibes with this).
4. Hanashi Mokuhyōa (2- Just Winged Me) Superficial wounds, or perhaps she knew exactly when to play dead.  McHope does have a thing for princesses, Saki waitresses, and actresses.
5. Robert McHope (9 - Shot full of holes) The sword blow and near death experience has made him think twice about any heroics.   He would be unavailable for the next game and earned the "Sissy" trait (-1 to close combat rolls).  Stick with you long game, Mr McHope.

Another Month of Gaming (November '23)

 Issue #285 of Game Trade Magazine should be available at your FLGS or online in pdf form here. 

ViscountEric's Gaming Want List

Exalted Funeral

Duckquest RPG ...................................... $25.00

It appears that Exalted Funeral is the clearing house for the Duck fantasy RPG from New Zealand, that I originally saw on Kickstarter.  Considering I think I'm still waiting on the Village of Omlette Kickstarter rewards, getting a copy of the actual rulebook sounds awesome.

ViscountEric's Money-Is-No-Object Want List

Nothing

The Imaginary Store List (The Pegleg Gnome)

Arcane Tinman

Dragon Shields: Christmas 2023 Brushed Art ................. $13.99

Dragon Shields: Christmas 2023 (Japanese )Brushed Art . $13.99

Dragon Shields: Christmas 2023 Playmat ........................ $24.99

I usually don't mention CCG supplies, because it feels like listing each individual polyhedral die in the catalog by size, shape, and color. There are too many gimmicky ones that fly under my radar, or I would focus too much on one particular weird design.  But as stores are already chock full of Christmas stuff, it begs the question, where is the Christmas-themed stuff?  Many gamers already consider themselves rebels, so buying and using a Santa Claus playmat in March isn't much of a stretch.  As I'm writing this post as I review GTM for the first time, I'm hoping there's some last-minute holiday solicitations, because, as some show on HBO once said, winter is coming, and sales still trickle in post-holidays. 

Bandai Co.

One Piece: Official Sleeves

Blue Rondo Games

Crabs in a Bucket ................................. $25.00

Calliope Games

Patrician: Towers of Influence ............. $19.00

Chessex Manufacturing

Lab Dice 7:  Polyhedral 7-Die Set Display (18 sets) 

Speaking of great items for holiday sales.  The test tubes are kitschy enough, and they won't impale someone sitting on a stocking like the dice cubes.

Cubicle 7

Doctor Who RPG: Second Edition - Adventure Book One .......... $39.99

Doctor Who RPG: Second Edition - Adventure Book Two .......... $39.99

Warhammer 40K Wrath & Glory RPG Starter Set ............. $39.99

Time to add "Rant" to my blog post tabs.  The Adventure Books cover "the highlights of the world's most beloved Time Lord's amazing adventures."   These sound like just amusing reference, of which I've grabbed a few off clearance from the nearby chain bookstore.  At no point in the duplicate descriptions, does Cubicle 7 explain WHY you should buy either book, save one is Classic Who and the second is Modern Who.

Deck & Dice Games 

The Dice of Death & Dismemberment .................... $25.00

Another bad attempt at a rant.  Twenty-five bucks for what appears to be seven customized 12-sided dice isn't a bad price nowadays.  I've seen 2 and 3 dice games with fancy dice but traditional pip faces go for the same price.  That's still a bit mind-boggling.  

Devir Americas

The White Castle .................................................. $39.99

Dire Wolf Digital 

Dune - Imperium: Uprising .................................. $60.00

Evil Hat Productions

Girl by Moonlight RPG HC .................................. $30.00

Exalted Funeral 

Elder Oak: Darkly Psychedelic Dungeon ............... $16.00

Folk Arcana ............................................................  $20.00

Kosmosaurs ............................................................. $30.00

Liminal Horror ........................................................ $12.00

Convoke What Doom Ye Angels Hath Wrought ..... $15.00

Creatures of a Dying World: .................................... $20.00 each

Issues #1-3 available

Garth Grimgar's Guide to the Flora of The Dying World .. $18.00

Running Out of Time: Cyberpunk RPG .................. $20.00

Tannic: Dual Statted Adventure ............................... $20.00

Ultraviolet Grasslands: Second Edition ................... $50.00

Ultraviolet Grasslands: Map Pack ............................ $12.00

Ultraviolet Grasslands: Referee's Screen .................. $15.00

Ultraviolet Grasslands: Synthetic Dream Machine ..  $15.00

Vopal Almanac .......................................................... $30.00

Fanroll

Dice Rolling Scroll (Black or Leather) ................... $19.99

I'm still trying to grasp my head around dice towers, now this old man who yells at clouds needs a portable surface to roll dice.  Maybe it prevents dice from rolling off the table, but twenty bucks to avoid possible back pain seems a bit much.

Free League Publishing

Alien RPG: Building Better Worlds ......................  $44.99

Lord of the Rings RPG: Ruins of Eriador Campaign .... $39.99

Lord of the Rings RPG: Tales from Eriador Adventure.. $39.99

Mutant Year Zero: Ad Astra .................................... $39.99

The One Ring RPG: Tales from the Lone Lands .... $39.99

The Walking Dead RPG:  Core Rules ..................... $57.99

The Walking Dead RPG:  Starter Set ...................... $39.99

The Walking Dead RPG: Base Dice ........................ $19.99

The Walking Dead RPG: GM Screen ...................... $24.99

The Walking Dead RPG:  Stress Dice ..................... $19.99

Everything Free League does is beautiful, so The Walking Dead could be a huge hit.

Iello

Ancient Knowledge ............................................ $49.99

Dwarf King ....................................... $17.99

Foodie Forest .................................... $17.99

Konami Digital Enterainment

Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG: Fire Kings Structure Decks

Mongoose Publishing

Traveller RPG: Companion Update 2024 ............ $49.99

Monte Cook Games

Rust and Redemption RPG ............ $49.99

Nerdy Pup Games

Dungeon Date ................................ $353.00

Paizo Publishing

Pathfinder RPG: AP Season of Ghosts 4 - To Bloom Below the Web ..... $26.99

Pathfinder RPG: Flip- Mat Classics - Arcane Dungeon ..... $16.99

Pathfinder RPG: Flip-Mat - Data Center ............................ $16.99

Pegasus Spiele

Djinn ..................................... $69.99

Memoarrrr! ............................ $16.49

Prey Another Day .................. $14.95

Pokemon USA

Pokemon TCG: Scarlet & Violet - Paradox Rift Boosters

Pokemon TCG: Scarlet & Violet - Paradox Rift Build & Battle Box

Sirius Dice

Black Lotus 54mm Spindown D20 ................ $59.99

I've been ranting about costs all month, but this one hurts my brain.

Snowbright Studio

Cozy Companion: All Things Nautical ........... $20.00

Cozy Companion: Mushby Mysteries ............. $20.00

Cozy Companion: Rad Pollinators ...................$20.00

Cozy Companion is a bi-monthyly guide to all things warm and cozy in tabletop gaming.  Cozy adventures, recipes, crafts, interviews, fiction, even game reviews written by cats.  I don't know if I'm the target demographic, but darnit, I want to be cozy too!

Steve Jackson Games

Munchkin: Marked for Death Mini-Expansion ........... $11.95

Munchkin: Cthulhu 3 - Unspeakable Vault ................. $11.95

Munchkin: Snakes Mini-Expansion ............................ $10.95

Tribes ............................ $24.95

Wizards of the Coast

Magic the Gathering CCG: Lost Caverns of Ixalan

As usual, Bundles, Bundle Gift Editions, Collector Booster, Draft Booster, Set Booster, and  Commander Decks

Wizkids

D&D Classics - Monsters K-N .......................... $89.99

D&D: Replicas of the Realms - Green Dragon Trophy Plaque

D&D: Replicas of the Realms - Red Dragon Wyrmling Foam Figure

D&D: Icons of the Realms - Adult Time Dragon ...........$99.99

This is either the moment of critical mass for the hobby to further explode or market saturation.  "Time" will tell.

D&D: Icons of the Realms - Whirlwyrm ....................... $49.99

D&D: Icons of the Realms - Planescape Booster Bricks

D&D: Icons of the Realms - Planescape Character Set ... $49.99

DC Heroclix - Iconix - Superman Up, Up, and Away! ..... $19.99

Marvel Heroclix - Avengers Hellfire Gala Premium ......... $69.99

Marvel Heroclix - Captain America From the Ice ..............$24.99

Marvel Heroclix - Iconix - First Appeance Avengers ........ $54.99

Marvel Heroclix - X-Men Hellfire Gala Premium ............ $69.99

(Painting) Lair of the Boloto Rusalki

Cleaning up the office/gaming room, I rescued some half-painted figures from a tub of wargaming miscellany and finished them up with little issue.

The Deep Ones are part of the Deep Ones Mutant Fishman pack by RAFM of which I already painted up the third figure back in September.  After a casual glance, I believe the altar/sarcophagus and statuette are from a different RAFM set, but I don't have the other figures in the set.  

These creatures are members of the the Boloto clan, a perverse and decrepit family which rules the town of Ust'ye Kem in Northern Russia without resistance.  The Imperials refused to tread near the town, by foot or by sea, and even in darkest of times, the Soviets refused to even acknowledge this town existed.  

All the Soviets, save one Alexander Mikoyan.  He disobeyed direct order from the SV-8, infiltrated the town as a poor peddler, befriended Adrik the Rusalki, and attacked the (barely) underground Temple of Dagon.  The combination of mythos magicks and high explosives tore a hole in the ceiling, letting the River Kem flood the chambers.  It's unknown if the Boloto Rusalki have recovered from the attacks, but their efforts were hampered with Mikoyan absconding with their idols and a number of other trinkets.  Rumor has it that only some of the items made it back to his masters in the SV-8.

And in the category of "Refurbished" I simply painted up the base and threw some sand on a pack of Cobblestone Castings Armed Archaeologists I picked up at Wally's basement during Historicon. The paint scheme is a little too neutral for me, but they've got paint on and I can used them as a rival league for Pulp season 4, whenever that happens. 

Next in the queue:  The proper painting bench was finally unearthed from craft supplies, strewn paint bottles, and complete disorganization.  Rumors that the final Pulp project is on the table may be true, but I also have some sci-fi building kit bashing going on, and my old line-up of refurbishment projects, fantasy minis, and maybe something new to talk about in the near future.

Project 350: Two steps backwards to finally go forwards, perhaps  484 (320/164) up  479 (318/161).  The cool posts keep trickling in, and I'm doing my best to save all the campaign links in one post.  Gamma World is still up-to-date, with a draft post ready for Monday, with some extraneous dialogue that didn't fit last session's post written up.

🧙‍♂️(Georic Gazetteer) Gran Duchy of Alois

Gran Duchy of Alois

Pantheon: Ferasean, with heavy Halfling and Citlek mythos influences

Ruled: Duke Cassius Silvershield (Crown Prince of Crosedes) and Duchess Wendolin Larendin
Capital: Yelden  (55,000)

Other Cities: Brymstone (40,000), Village of Thurney, Nobquin's Keep (of Alois), Dayolen, Halfling towns of Dovedale, Worchire, and Earthwind Forge

Language: Ferasean

Flag/Emblem:  A black antelope on a golden field

Coinage: Crosedean Standard and coins from the Six Crowns are interchangable
Important Personas: The Bishop of Yelden, the Archdruid of Ys, 

Alliances: Crosedes satellite state, Trade with the Six Kingdoms and Senzar

Hostilities:  None

Open Warfare/Skirmishing:  Rebel activity and terrorism over the last 15 years.  

Intrigues: Plot by Anon-Maxis to usurp the throne prevent the inevitable merger of Alois and Crosedes.  Alois Liberation Front (ALF) rumored to be ruled by lycanthropes.

Demi-Humans:  Halflings, Gnomes, and a large concentration of Gnomelings.  Goblins of Shano-Kyr, Orcs of the Severed Leg, Grel tribes in the small forests.

Magickal Devices:  The sword Imprimus, the Net of Storms in the Temple of Neptune, the Stone of Antipathy.

Thumbnail Sketch:  The author is grateful that Alois does not start even earlier in the alphabet, for as a destination for travelers, it is wanting.  This country, for most of its history a part of another nation, has inhospitable coastlines, bucolic agriculture, and besides a well-maintain road running through it (and a large temple to the god Neptune), only attracts tourists if they are returning to visit family.  

Prior to the Ferasean Empire, Alois was a collection of Keltic human lords, Stout halfling, gnomes, and subsequently large population of gnomelings.   At the foundation of the Kingdom of Crosedes, the lords pushed for a single duchy encompassing all of them, and the King obliged.  They willfully joined the resurrected Empire of Feraso as the Gran Duchy of Alois, in 1072, and upon it's collapse in 1120, continued is independence.

Yelden, from Aldriv's Revenge

It recent years the unfortunate murder of Duke Aldriv in 1130 and later discovery that his brother, Prince Cardor, was responsible, sent the Duchy into turmoil.  Alois was forced to accept the Duke’s 18-yr old daughter, Wendolin, as Duchess and halfling minister Dalcom Minifumes as regent. A marriage was arranged between Wendolin and Cassius Silvershield, Crown Prince of Crosedes.   Upon his ascension to the throne of Crosedes upon King Geoffrey II's death, Cassius is for certain going to reunify the two nations.  Further complicating the situation is that Wendolin has only given birth to twin girls: (Alemir and Olemil).  They are 13 years of age at this writing.  Unsubstantiated rumors has hereditary rule falling under a complicated male-only primogeniture under Crosedes, so Cassius might be willing to give up being King, and further break away with the country to ensure one his daughters on the throne of Alois in the future.

Alois' position makes it difficult to influence.  The City-State of Anon-Maxis sits at the furthest western tip, and is only accessible by the Halfling Road, which runs the length of Alois.    The port city of Brymstone is the only harbor in the country, so influence for the other Six Kingdoms much go through those docks.   The Kingdom of Crosedes has always held an assumptive role of influence, due to geography, but they assume too much, as the entire Crosedean naval fleet mutinied as the Ferasean Empire fell, providing the Alois with an oddly superior presence on the seas that almost rivals Senzar.

The armies have never been an outward threat, since Emperor Leif III's failed invasion of Albion over 600 years ago, and the military leaders have since been content to defend the countryside, or influence an alliance. 

While the capital of Yelden is their largest city, and where all government function occurs, the port city Brymstone is the most prominent city.   Ruled by the Drakaan family (of the Barony of Drakaan fame),  the port is the gateway to imports from the Six Kingdoms, Senzar, and other far-off lands.  

There are no formal schools, colleges, or universities in Alois, the closest and most notable school that will find students travelling through the duchy is the Anon-Maxis Academie Sorcerie D'Ys. 

Gnomish Cottage Industry works well with Halflings agriculture for hundreds of years.The city walls encompass at least one ancient shrine, the White Tree. This is found in the poor area of The Backs (near

location 16). It consists of a small circle of gray stones, set about a gnarled tree, which is said to blossom once every ten

years.

Folklore claims marvelous restorative qualities for the flowers, including a cure for madness, and strange experiences for

anyone sleeping inside the circle. There is also a story of a cleric of Akana who attempted to cut down the tree and was

Religion:  Akana is the official state religion, but Keltic mythos (most notably the White Tree in Brymstone), Halfling and Gnome Gods proliferate through the countryside.  

Geography of Note: 

Castle Brodeln: The residence of the Arch-Duke and Duchess is the only castle in Alois. 

Castle Brodeln

Temple of Neptune in Byrmstone:  This temple is a true anomoly on the continent, much less the region.  Neptune is an Ispatlian bastardization of the Xellnic god Poseidon, and has not been used for almost a thousand years.  What this temple is doing along the coast of the Farsky Sea, a thousand miles from any other lost Neptune shrines, but it was in Brymstone during the original Ferasean expansion, meaning it may pre-date some of the Keltic settlements. 

Temple of Neptune

Illicid Lighthouse:  

The White Tree:  Another relic within Brymstone, this ancient Keltic shrine consists of a small circle of gray stones, set about a gnarled tree, which is said to blossom once every ten years. Folklore claims marvelous restorative qualities for the flowers, including a cure for madness, and strange experiences for anyone sleeping inside the circle .  There is also a story of a cleric of Akana who attempted to cut down the tree and was turned to stone.

Mentions of Alois in the Blog:

The Journey of Mutumbo Episodes #1-6 take place in Alois, but since they are the first Actual Plays posted on the blog, they're bereft of geographic knowledge.  I've retroactively name the first unnamed village in the story Thurney, and Dayolen is the last town before reaching the outskirts to the City-State of Anon-Maxis.

Ballad of the Pigeon God #75 - Where are They Now? wraps up that Actual Play, but it specifically mentions that Geoffrey II (Grandson of the Dread Lord) married off his son Cassius to build back the trust with Alois.

Lost Dispatches of Feraso #86 -  The quick mention of Krull's Crossed Swords Mercenary Company, and possible action in Alois.  

Mepacon 45 - Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

 In a world dominated by two girls playing AAU basketball most weekends in the spring and in the fall, local cons for Dad are the first to suffer.  

I had managed to attend the last Fall Mepacon, now in its new location at the SureStay (by Best Western) in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and it was a hoot, but Millie's tournament deep in Central Jersey that weekend, plus Maja's volleyball games Friday night seemed to nix things.  But I had an Ace up my sleeve.   As I didn't want to fork over hundreds for a hotel room at Jersey prices, and dearest Mom still lives halfway between me and the tournament (and only 10 minutes from the con), I would use my good children credit and sleep there both nights.  Millie's games were 8am and 2pm on Saturday, so that nixed that, but I had a hastily hatched plan. 

After Maja's game, I took the turnpike down and flew down to check out the site.  While I don't recommend this for your own local con, and definitely not the big ones, I hung out in the public hallways and just ran into people, some of whom I haven't seen in 20 years!

God we all got old.  Thankfully only half of us got fat. 

The one big change starting this spring was that the convention got the use of the main ballroom, which added a LOT of square footage. 

Fun ViscountEric Flash Fact:  Twenty-three years ago, that ballroom was supposed to be host to my wedding reception to the first woman I was engaged to.  That didn't transpire, but I swear it was bigger back then.

Needless to say, it was packed Friday night.

To take advantage of the con to reconnect to some folks face-to-face for few minutes unmolested, I simply went over to registration and handed them a donation for the charities of their choice, and I headed to Easton to grab some rest before a 5:30am wake-up.  

As I reported in my usual AAU post, I discovered the times of Millie's late game changed from 2pm to 10am, so I slowly figured out if I'd have the energy to come back and enjoy the con as a proper paying member. 

Spoiler: I did. 

Before I jumped in the car on Saturday morning to drive back from Jersey, I spied a few Facebook posts highlighting the massive auction.  

This picture is just what was left when I got there.  I heard the buyouts were hot and frenzied.  

It also continues to confirm my other analysis that we are heading towards contraction in the boardgame industry... but not quite yet.  More on that later.  

Honestly, I paid for my time, ran into some old-timers to the con scene, some other old friends, some people I graduated high school with in 1992, podcasters, soon-to-be-published authors, and a whole host of good people, all the while stalking through the auction tables for deals, like we had in the days of yore. 

Those were few and far between.  

The high points for me on Saturday were all during the auction.  I'll be honest, the Mepacon "starting at a buck" auction that I ran 23 years ago has transformed into something wholly different. Buyouts were required for items to go to auction (minimum $10), and the starting bid was either 2/3 or 3/4 of that.  And while there were some cheap bastards back in the day (I was one of them), people were spending crazy money on used games, largely sight-unseen.    Halfway through the auctions, we confirming on gaming retail internet sites that folks were bidding three or four dollars above the MSRP for games that were still in print and some retailers had on clearance.  I haven't been the demographic for a lot of things for a long time, but stupid money was being spent that I'd rather see go to charity, the vendors, or just buying more stuff. 

First was just an enjoyable time sitting in the back of the room during the auction, cracking jokes with two gamers and Ken Newquist from the Lair of Secrets Podcast, mostly regarding the three plush owlbears the one dude bought with part of a well-earned bonus.  The owlbears were part of the Metal Weave Baby Bestiary, and at $35 apiece, seemed to be the most reasonably priced items during a stretch of the auction.  Just a lot of jokes regarding spaying and neutering, a fantasy version of The Price is Right, and a lot of "For only 3 electrum a day, less than a mug of fine dwarven ale, you can sponsor a baby owlbear so it won't be used as filler xp for a low-level party" jokes.

Second was the appearance by "EricFromNJ" as he is known as a frequent emailer on the Happy Jack RPG Podcast.  We've been friends for nearly 30 years, we haven't been face-to-face in nearly twenty years.  And he brough his youngest son for roleplaying and Battletech.  It was a grand old time. 

Site: The SureStay is a fine site for the con, and there's still some more room to grow.  However, it may not stay trued to it's name for long.  Rumors of a potential sale of the hotel grew a murmur that the Convention Director, Katie, tried to quell with basically, "We're staying here until some definitive news changes that, and if and when that happens, we'll work like hell to find an acceptable site."  Not everyone was completely happy with that, but it went over better than most HMGS announcements go, so they have a much more loyal fanbase.  

Food:   With the expansion of the grand ballroom, they served traditional con food (hot dogs/hamburgers/fries/drinks/snacks at incredibly reasonable prices.  They also seemed to staff the restaurant and bar with a handshake agreement of "if you people keep coming in to order food/drinks, we'll stay open."  Most people seemed satisfied.

Events:  A healthy dose of D&D, other fantasy, a TON of board/card games, and even a full slate of Catalyst-sponsored Battletech events. 

"Ashe Winnebago" himself, my friend Droz, deciphering a Solaris map.

 

Dealers:  A full slate of vendors, with a waiting list.  The Portal is a major sponsor and is the largest gaming retailer, but they always provide the "fun" vendors with the custom crafts, statues,  or gaming adjacent stuff.  The only purchase I made was from Quigley's Cakes, "The Cupcake Ladies", who were double-booked and sent a third emissary to sell their wares.

Swag: I didn't actually buy anything during the auction.  Heck, I didn't even use my awesome bidder card (42 did not answer all my questions regarding the auction, much less the universe).  I picked up a few items from the pre-Auction buyout and two from the leftover buyouts for the items that didn't sell, or didn't even make to auction.  

• A complete set of all five KODT Hack! decks... for a buck!
• The In Pursuit of Par golf boardgame from 1986.  This one is screaming an two-hour timeslot at the next Mepacon (more on that later).  It is a simply brilliant concept of three double sided erasable boards representing 18 holes, measuring sticks for woods, irons, and putting, plus "modern" 80's polyhedrals.
• Afrika Korps - The Avalon Hill Classic it was charity so I paid around retail mostly to round off the price I paid for...
• Wooden Ships and Iron Men so I could pay exact change.

Soo.... Mepacon 46 is right in the middle of AAU season, April 19-21, 2024, hopefully back in Bethlehem.   If, by some miracle it's not an AAU weekend, it's also happens to be my 50th birthday on Saturday.

And with a vague theme like this: 

It's obvious a ViscountEric Birthday Extravaganza as a sub-con is in order, a "This is Your Gaming Life," as you would, with all the hits: 

1. The first convention game I ever ran (Talislanta, The Crystle Dungeon, circa 1991)
2. My favorite convention game in the 90's (GURPS: IOU - Scavenger Hunt, perhaps converted to RISUS)
3. My Little Pony
4. Lost City Reverse Dungeon
5. Perhaps a Legions of Steel game or two? 
6. Attack of the Atomic Reptile Bikini Women... in 3-D!  Never a convention game, but fills a two hour slot.

Or perhaps I can finally run my ultimate idea for classsic Car Wars:  GenCon Food Truck Road Rally.

Heck I could do Gnomes and Gnomish Space Marines, the possibilities are endless if the schedules agree.  

(Gamma World) This Is Not a Test #3 - Artificial Offers

Our heroes, the De Facto Explorers investigating the possible ruins of Level A Inc: 

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

Sonny Helianthus: a sentient sunflower artifact examiner with Restorationist ties. 

Slitheran Wurmtail (aka Squiggles): a mutated earthworm scout looking for trouble

Sneaky Pete: a mutated weasel scout.  Pete's telepathy and night vision take a backseat when he whips out his electrical powers.

Lathar Bracken: a pure-strain human from River Bend.  He's got the muscle, the face, and a mount for most encounters.  Lathar's trusty beast of burden, No Name, travels wherever he does.

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

Watching Sneaky Pete and Lathar run away from the Dome of the Ancients, possibly part of Level A, Inc,  Sonny turned to pop his head back through the open window of the Dome.  It could see the giant jaguar head floating in the air, preparing for attack, but then it made an audible yelp and vanished. Multiple entities could be heard scrambling in the dark.

"Hi, I'm back!"

Sonny could hear, in his head,  "Go away!  Go Away! Nothing to see here."

"I am looking for someone else."

"They're not here! Go away!"

Sonny bellowed down the thirty feet to the floor beneath the dome, "You don't even know who we're looking for."

"Doesn't matter, there's nobody here but us."

A second voice entered Sonny's mind, "Don't tell him there's more than one of us. Tell him there's lot of us.... oh crap, he can hear."

"Don't worry, I figure that out already."

Lathar and Pete were almost back near the river when their compulsion to run abated.  Both were quite winded as they made their way back up to the hill.

Back at the dome, the hidden cat people kept insisting to Sonny that the group go away.  

"Go away, there's nothing here..."

"Can we talk? We're looking for..."

"Nope, nope, nope, you're going to eat us."

"I'm a plant!"

The second voice chimed in, "Stop speaking with the talking plant, he will eat us."

Pete finally reached Sonny, half speaking into the down, half gesturing like he was talking to himself.

He peered down and yelled, "You guys hungry?"

A single weak voice responded, "Yes"

The weasel chucked some ration down towards what could be an excellent hiding spot.

A single cat, with yellow-golden fur with black strips and a handful of dots, emerged from the clutter, sniffed the food, and brought it back to their spot. 

"Just keep that vile plant away. He worships the vengeful sun god."

Sonny was perplexed "I do?"

Pete continued, "Have you seen anyone in your travels?

"No, silly, that's why we like it here, no one else?"

"Here, have some more food, have you seen anything for Level A Linc?" 

"Sounds like a horrible place, do vile plants live there?"

"No, I don't think so. Are there any other rooms down there."

"There are stairs, but we have been visited them, nothing has come up ."

Pete got little more out of the cats, Lyonne and Puma.  Pete provided a bit more rations to them, which they somehow levitated to their hiding spot. He bid them adieu and advised they scour the grounds

After an hour, Pete found a much smaller dome around a group of trees.  Digging it out from a thick covering of dirt, Pete put his hands on the glass... and fell straight through.  

As the dust cleared, Pete cleaned himself up to find himself on a large table, staring up at his friends to gathered around the collapsed window.  The room's circular walls had different windows from the dome, but their apparent views were snow-capped mountains.  

The ones still above had a better view.  The weasel landed on a dark wood table the could fit numerous weasels on it, with a dozen fancy chairs surrounding it.  

Lathar tied a rope off and descended to check on Pete.  It appeared the weasel had land on a machine on top of the large table.  The machine had a series of button and knobs.    The only other objects of note were a series of three doors on the far side from the wall. 

Once the room was secured, the other came down, and Sonny began examining the machine.  Turning some knobs and flipping random switches, the fake windows with snowy mountains turned to blackness. 

Lathar moved around the table to get a better look, but the machine began to spark.  The black walls turned with and "LEVEL A INC." spinning around the circular walls. 

Lathar was satisfied, "There, we're here!"

The words continue to spin around the round a good half-dozen times before stopping at the wall opposite the three doors.  The words eventually faded out of the view, with a symbol of a triangle with an eye inside of it fading in to replace it.  

A mysteious voice boomed from the non-existent corners of the room.  "Please do not damage the equipment, we are unsure when the Splurbombs will return."

Sonny didn't miss a beat, "What's a splurbomb?"

"The splurbombs do all the facility maintenance and repairs."

"What is your purpose?"

"I am the great intelligence of the Level A Inc"

"Awesome, we have so many questions, but have you seen any recent travelers."

"Of course, I see all...."

"Has there been a winged snake man here recently?"

"Processing, processing.... there needs to be additional splurbombs before processing may be completed."

"What is the process of splurbomb?"

"Splurbombing is went we avante the drellech.  Once those processes are complete, I may complete your request."

"Is there anywhere we can assist with the aid in that process?"

"Now that you mention it," and with that, a number of new noises could be heard throughout the room.  

The group heard a whirring sound by each chair, and the backside of each headrest open up and a compartment is revealed.  Inside each one was a single, sealed envelope.  Somehow, with puff of air, the envelopes flew out of the compartment and towards the party members.  

Sonny picked up his envelope.  Inside was a letter with "Level A Inc" as a header, 

I, Sonny Helianthus do hereby accept a lifetime post at the Level A, Inc as faculty/staff. for Panaschalante. I immediately resign all other paid positions in favor of this one. In return, my every need and desire within these walls shall be granted. I swear to uphold the principles of preservation and management of the assets of the Level A, Inc.

Pete''s letter was identical, although the position of Splurbomb appeared to be offered. 

Sonny addressed the computer, "So all great seeing eye."

"I am just a computer, not some stylized deity."

"Point taken,  but I don't believe we want to work here forever.  Is there a shorter term?"

"But we need good employees to help with the facility."

"But we don't know what the facility does for the scant moments we've been here."

Lathar's letter provided him a lifetime security position.  He was intrigued.  

"Do I get a weapon?"

Coming out of the compartment of each chair was a writing implement.

Lathar continued, "Can I see my office before I sign? If I'm going to live here forever can I see where I'm going."

"One moment, processing."

Pete agreed, "When you're splurbombing, you need to know where you're going."

"I'm sorry, you currently to not possess the card clearance to see facilities... still processing previous requests."

Lathar nonchalantly walked over the first door. and found an closet with an odd box the size of a human hand with random buttons and small switches, some rectangular keycards, and a couple curiosities.  Upon further review, one item was a writing implement like the ones that came out of the chairs.  Another item was a medallion, 3-inches across, with a large industrial chain.  The letters "XII" were proudly displayed on the medallion. 

While Sonny was pre-occupied with the items, Lathar walked over to the far door, and found a completely empty closet.  

Pete moved over to the center door and a large piece of Living Metal floating in the doorway. 

Next: #4 - Against the Not Possible

Mandatory AAU Basketball Fall 2023 Rant - Weekend #3

 A third weekend of AAU is down, only one more to go.

This weekend sent Millie’s team into the vaguely described land known as Central Jersey.  Somewhere between Princeton and Asbury Park is the Sportika Complex.  Imagine My Big Greek Wedding was a sports movie, and it would be played at Sportika (You know... the Greeks invented basketball)  The last time the program ventured down this way it was a total sweep for all the girl’s team, so much so that people pondered playing the girl’s teams up for the remainder of that fall, and the then 8^th grade not only did, but wreck a few varsity divisions in the process. 

Even better than a questionable schedule of opponents was the actual schedule itself.  Nothing like driving 150+ minutes for an 8am game.  The girls went down with their mother Friday night, but I had a more ingenious (and cost-effective) way.    

After Maja’s Junior Varsity game on Friday, I would drive down to Easton to visit my Mom, stay the night and only pull off 90 minutes to get to Sportika. 

Throw in one fun complication:  Mepacon was occurring this weekend right down the road from my Mom’s.  A quick recalculation and I could at least stop into the con site, say hi to some friends, since the game schedule would complicate things on Saturday and Sunday.  More on that in a forthcoming Mepacon review.

No matter what folks might say driving towards New York City at 6am on a Saturday was a pleasant, if  it weren't for the increasingly harsher downpours the further into New Jersey I went, by the time I fully turned south and passed Rutgers' stadium in Piscataway, there was so much water, I thought some magnet fisherman were going find me in the car in thirty years.   As the sun finally emerged as I reached Sportika, I refilled coffee at the Wawa next door and ventured into.... a schedule change?

When I left for my Mom's the day before Millie had the unenviable schedule of 8am and 2pm games against some second tier competition.  Sometime during that drive, the 2pm game became 10am, against Team Sharpe's 7A team, a quite worthy opponent, and our 8am opponent was NEPA NXT.  

We drove 3 hours to play an 8am game against a team that's 20 minutes up the road from us.  But they were always a worthy opponent, so the Sportika curse might not have been lifted. 

Now I'm not sure, but I don't believe Millie's team would have won the game if the original schedule held.  It's was beyond 8am ugly, with selfish play, poor decisions, and when they did pass, I've seen more precision in drunken frat house ping pong.  NEPA did finally put all their good players from three teams into one, but even with the size difference, Millie's crew only lost by 8, 46-38.  

The 10am against Team Sharpe got a the advantage of the morning wake-up call and the arrival of a missing player, and that was barely enough, only securing the lead in the last four minutes, and winning 37-34.  

With a 1-1 record, they weren't mathematically eliminated from the 1 vs 2 championship game on Sunday, but looking at the lopsided schedule-making, it would involve one of the undefeated teams getting into a bus accident, by a crashing airplane, while a cruise ship was running aground.   

With an early day surprise, the girls went with their mom for the hotel and two days of shopping, while I moseyed on back to the Lehigh Valley, and actually paid admission to Mepacon.  

With a late (4pm) game, and no chance for the championship, I pondered doing extra stuff around the house, for Mom, but I simply picked up the leaf blower she wanted, tested that out, and grabbed more Wawa before I crossed the Delaware.  Millie's Aunt and Uncle were planning on stopping in from Philly, and I didn't want to make the adulting any more difficult.

What wasn't difficult was their game.  The usual Sportika type of team finally showed, and when they finally scored with 4:00 left in the first half, Millie's team was already up 35-2.   It's easy to do what your supposed to do against an inferior opponent, but it was nice to see everyone actually doing that after a season of issues.  They quadruple-checked the other final pool games, but the bus, airplane, and cruise ship were all going different directions.  

Now, no one stayed for the championship game, but the Team I labelled the Team Sharpe 7B team went undefeated, and ended up beating the NEPA NXT team 45-42 in the championship.  While they were quite competent, they also had the weakest overall schedule for the weekend, so perhaps they were better than everybody, perhaps the coach put some of the 7A girls on the roster (a big no-no, but NEPA was nowhere to be found when they played, so how would they know who was who?)

In two weeks, the Fall AAU ends in Spooky Nook, the same weekend as Fall-In!   I hope everyone considers it a tune-up for school ball, when they kicks off a week later.

(Painting) Zombie Pirates from Dollar General

 In a world where I moan and complain about the cost of plastic minis, I present to you Zombie Pirates from Dollar General.

These bad boys were hiding in the Halloween section and at eight for a buck, I could not resist.  These figures are between 45 and 54mm and were a little top-heavy, so I added pennies for weight. 

By count I painted up a pack and a half, and have the same in reserve.  

What nefarious purpose am I using these oversized undead scourge of the seas?  A Halloween game is forthcoming. 

Next in the queue:  There's this small and odd phenomena occurring on my painting bench:  space.  Packing the pirates up has freed up more space for the Pulp project, but there are some Cthulhu figs and the next minis for the Reaper Bones "One Piece at a Time" project that are working out nicely.

Project 350: Despite some cool posts from other gaming blogs, I'm holding relatively steady at 479 (318/161) from 477 (319/158).   All Gamma World Actual Plays up typed up, stretching out all the way into July of next year!