#RPGaDay2026 - Day 16 - "Composure"

 Day 16 of #RPGaDay2026 is "Composure," something players and characters have in spades when they don't really need it.  

27 years ago.  College.  The group was still young, but we were navigating the storylines in the B1-9 In Search of the Unknown.  They had chosen the jobs to recover a religious artifact from one Elwyn the Ardent.

No one anticipated the dragon. 

Everyone expected to roll up new characters next Saturday, not be saved by some random goddess Thendara and forced to solve some curse in a mysterious land called Haven. 

There were a few fun moment (See Dag from Day 7) but the group was disorganized and confused, even with hints.  

And this is where Rolf Wolfsblood, Barbarian of the Galmar plans, member of the adventuring party since session 1, finally kicked into glory.

The group had ever-so-wisely split up, Velandro the cleric and his group having tough encounter after tough encounter.

The other group, led by Rolf,  found a very un-barbarian sitting room, set for tea.  Annoyed that there had been no sign of the ruby and the group was becoming even more lax and incompetent than usal Rolf went on a rant,   He kicked chairs, chucked a plate, started screaming at his fellow adventurers. When he grabbed a tea cup to gesture drinking tea like some weak "civilized" human, he was shocked to hear the cup talk in Thendara's voice

Three crystal notes
Two Silver Statues
One ruby sword
All will smash the Demon's Eye
And lift the curse.

Rolf was delighted to notice that the other party members heard the voice too.  He wasn't as crazy as Echelon and his stupid wolf, Pathfinder, who he claimed he could talk to.

Ultimately, Rolf's group met up with Velandro, while Velandro's group was in a running swordfight with a red robed humanoid and a racial mix of minions.  The party reunited and the battle continued to move, right into the throne room.  Dozens of statues of Haven's citizenry stood inside, including an obvious Princess Argenta (and Sir Ellis to Velandro).  Sitting on her throne was a ruby that was at least the size of Rolf's gigantic fist.

With the fight going poorly, the barbarian slew hobgoblin in front of him and ran away!  Most were so overwhelmed by the attacking forces that they didn't notice.

Rolf raced to once of the bedrooms.  There had been a harp there.  Harps make notes!  His muscles barely strained as he lifted the instrument off its base and ran back to the battle!   Upon entering the Throne Room, he held it to the floor and played as many combination of notes that he could find. Some arrangement that he played must have work, for the ruby shattered into a thousand pieces, the evil human and his minions fled, and the still-intact statues reverted back to their living forms.

The barbarian had quietly observed, picking up clues, and just when things looked like they would fall apart for could, he saved the day. 

The curse had been lifted.

The lone picture of Rolf (actually a painting) has been lost to time.  Here's mix of him and apparently George 'The Animal" Steel (Nightcafe)

Alternative Question: One thing that will cause a character to lose their composure?

#RPGaDay2026 - Day 15 - "Endurance"

Day 15 of #RPGaDay and "Endurance" can go into so many directions.

I immediately thought of Hackmaster and the rules I didn't use, combat endurance being one of them. 

The 4th Edition of Hackmaster, the actual license for Pre-d20 D&D for Kenzer and Company, with a overtly healthy dose of parody and over-seriousness.  

And it's my favorite FRPG of all time. 

Fun fact: for a game with giant Gummi Wurm monsters, swiping dice over autographs for good luck, and a critical hit chart that requires a d10,000 , there are only a handful of rules we avoided.

Level Training:   There will be a post this month regarding the millions of gold heroes need to do anything in D&D/AD&D, but with most of low-magic/low-gold games, paying excessive amounts for gold and spending excessive amounts of time for training never appealed to me.  I applied most of the fringe benefits (free skills/skill points).

Threshold of Pain:  Great concept.  If anything alive takes a certain percentage of damage from a single attack, they're incapacitated.  A great concept that ensures that high-level characters or big monsters can still be swiftly neutralized by a lucky, high-penetrating damage roll from a smaller foe.

Except it's another stat I need to keep track of for eight players and the same in camp followers... plus the actual monsters themselves?   No thanks.

And I'll retract my combat endurance answer to start this off.  I avoided Fatigue Factor: rolls to stave off exhaustion in combat.  Essentially, the longer you fight, the more tire someone can be.  Again, much of this is the purview of the GM, and the only fatigue I try to gauge in combat is player fatigue. 

The Alternate Question:  How would you organize an endurance session of your favorite game?

#RPGaDay2026 - Day 14 - "Regard"

 Day 14 of #RPGaDay, and I'm grateful for the alternative question for the prompt "Regard."

"What is a game held in high regard you have yet to play?'

... and I'll add the obvious disclaimer, "... that I WANT to play?"

Honestly, that last part turns a short list into a tiny one.   Maybe Castle Falkenstein, with the journals and playing cards...

But... during my epic weekend at Historicon, Flagbearer Games had a booth, and I did pick up the basic book for Nations and Cannons the Revolutionary War setting for 5e.  

I mean, after weeks and weeks of ad copy during the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff podcast  (YourDadWillLoveThis.com !) I finally succumbed.  And in a gaming group with a social studies teacher, two history degrees, and a guy who re-enacts as the hated British, we might get bogged down into minutiae, but we just might have some fun doing it. 

Alternative Question: What is a game held in high regard you have yet to play?

#RPGaDay2026 - Day 13 - "Strain"

Day 13 of #RPGaDay and I'm feeling the pressure, perhaps the "Strain?"

If cheesy line about pressure creating diamonds, what does strain create? 

Hemorrhoids.

And I'm the king of being the pain in the ass for my players.

Because I like continuity, I like bringing one-off scenarios, or flavor text back.   Not everything, but just enough to remind the players that the characters' actions have influence in the world, if not outright consequences.  

But as I ponder options to talk about strain with my Monday night gaming group, the winning answer came from the guys who experienced it all happen: "When Echelon and Talis ran a barony..."

Day 8 I talked about Echelon and Steve.    Two strange bedfellows who became the best of friends until each died. The whole barony thing is where it started. 

Spring Semester '99 - College - a few of the players are locals, they'd like to continue the campaign.  I set up a whole wizard from another dimension, trying desperately to go back home.  While the party visited the capital city, Talis wisely set up rooms at a local brothel.   For the last session of the semester, Kannex the Wizards researched too well, transporting him... and everything in the brothel back to his home world of Talislanta.

For the summer, we converted our AD&D 2nd Edition characters to Talislanta and went on a series of missions exploring the realm, but also getting more components and MacGuffins for the return journey home.

I had left Talis, Echelon, and their friend Brutus the Gladiator standing right outside the vanished building. 

What the rest of the summer group didn't realize was that I ran two additional sessions for Echelon and Talis' players.  

They returned to their established base outside of Eding... then they remembered why they left in the first place. 

• The Talislanta wizards, Kannex?  He was trying to help the group stop a wedding to the local lord that had been infiltrated with a race of spider-people doppelgangers.  (Seriously, read Ballad of the Pigeon God... it makes sense, but its weird...).  Let's just say that wildly different magic systems resulted in spell failure and spell explosions often. 

When he wanted to fireball a group of spider people charging the altar... a reasonable response and rolled a max critical success.  

His well-weighed response, causing minimal civilian death or property damage essentially nuked the entire ceremony, guests included. 

The battle turned to healing, hunting down rogue spider-people, and putting out the fire at the Blue Wizard Inn, the only inn in-town. 

The good news was the spider-person bridge was killed.  The bad new was many other guests of high status... including Lord Athelstane himself were killed!  

In the aftermath, the leader of a rival adventuring party, sent a runner to the capital, and essentially declared martial law in the village, taking charge.  

The disaster in the center of town, the deaths of many essential villagers just a few weeks before harvest,  and the ncompetent rule of "Prince William" set the stage for a rough autumn.

• The threat of famine for the winter.
• Tornados and storms threatening what was left of the town.
• The secret BBEG revealing himself to be the brother of the king... and Talis had slept with his daughter. 
• An uprising by some of the surviving peasants.. for all the wrong reason.  They torched the manor house and sent Prince William and his non-so amazing friends scattering.
• Columns of fire descending from the sky (it was a good things, but horrible optics). 

It was Talis and Echelon who kept people fed, purchased extra supplies, rebuilt essential equipment and fought off the various threats to this village.

... And if they didn't do it, they had the benefit of a collection of NPCs that had become their friends help them.  

Winter would be harsh, rations meager, but the village would survive...

And to make the wild session end on an ominous note, it was uncovered that the Chateau D'Echelon, there base of operations was still under a loan, and that individual, one Mister Nebuchadnezzar Tinpenny, was within rights to call in the entire loan, due to a number of "Act of God" contingencies in the agreement. 

We left our duo nearing the due date on the first day of Yule, and them plotting how to commit enough heinous acts on the moneylender and his well-earned good squad... and I left them hanging all summer until we reconvened on move-in day, Fall Semester, for a wonderful reunion, no one had seen coming.  

Strain: So far, what is the heaviest set of RPG things you have carried to play?

#RPGaDay2026 - Day 12 - "Loss"

 This past weekend, driving up four hours to see the kids, I vacilitated between the latest episode of Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff, a full album listen of The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets' The Dukes Of Alhazred, and venturing down the Billboard Top Hits for 1992, trying to figure out where things went wrong musically at the end of high school.

Well before Time of Your LIfe by Green Day infested every college, high school, and kindergarten graduation, there was a well documented groundswell of Boyz II Men's End of the the Road, with everyone arms over each other's shoulders swaying.  

Yes, some of us might have been drunk.  No, there weren't any Kindergarten graduations around my area... 

But that did bring up today's #RPGaDay2026 prompt, "Loss", in a "In Memorium" sense. 

In reality, "What character loss had the biggest impact in a campaign.

We could talk about the deaths of Talis and Echelon from my 1998-2000 AD&D 2nd Edition campaign.

We could mention the mysterious death of pilot Tarrie Proleck in our Star Wars d6 campaign.

The sudden and tragic loss of most(?) of the Earthworm babies being held by "Squiggles" in Gamma World.

We might even throw in the disappearance of noted parapsychologist, Dr Nathaniel Millheim in the waning days of the Masks of Nylarlathotep portion of our Call of Cthulhu campaign. 

But to me, the biggest change that affected the game was the disappearance of Dr Clarence Pittleman.

Noted Scientist

Gadgeteer

Telekinetic

Sentient Talking Coffee Bush

A scene from campus (L to R,  Pittleman, Grover, and  a Trustee)

Dr Pittleman was run by Nate, or Norm the Dwarf and Dr Nathaniel Millheim fame.  The character in our RISUS Illuminati University (IOU) game was the glue that kept plot lines going.  

RISUS was always the "holiday" system.  So simple to learn, so easy to make a basic character, that we would normally side around the bonfire late in our "Day of Sloth" (Labor Day Eve) picnic and roll six siders on makeshift tables until we couldn't read the results.  

Dr Pittleman was there for many years... until a bad Skype connection and Nate came back on, Pittleman MIA, but a new character Scissorhands John hitting the stage.

And soon thereafter, Nate stopped showing up to the Monday night games.  IOU is still a fill-in game, complete with teenage Roman Legionnaires, middle-aged talking astronaut chimps, and a real-life person called Buckshot Calvert..  

It's still fun and zany. 

But no one has scienced the fuck out of something, and despite most of my d1,000 chart of IOU plot hooks filled up and ready to go, it's just not the same. 

Squiggles and the babies.

Most things end. What is one RPG loss you still feel?

#RPGaDay2026 - Day 11 - "Tact"

 Day 11 of #RPGaDay and we revisit a often used prompt: "Tact"

My first thought on this one?  There's always a charming character or two in each campaign, but very few that would be tactful.

It's mostly a collection of misfits and warriors, warriors and misfits.  

The requisite diplomatic and negotiating missions are there, with decent success.

But then I think of Sonny Helianthus the 10' tall mutant sunflower in my Gamma World game. 

He's pretty direct, still learning why human subtlety is important. But he's has a much more important trait that lends him to today's post.

Sonny puts the "Tact" into Tactical... Nuclear... Weapon

Sure, he's a reliable member of the Restorationists.  Sure, he can figure out how most devices work, without people dying.  Sure, he's the level-headed four-armed voice of reason.

But after 144 sessions, he's been involved in not one, not two, but THREE detonations of nuclear devices.

An inadvertent self-destruction sequence as they investigated "Level A Inc"

The underground detonation of the Iron Society compound, and their leader, The Mutant Master, just above the Koto Dam. 

And most recently, upon discovering a living metal facility, surrounded by Hoppers, he uncovered, and accidentally set off a small device in the petrified woods a day's walk from the Glow Lands... and no one knows the wiser, except him. 

It could be a fault in Sonny's personality, or it's the high probability of atomic weapons in the printed material I've been using.  

Alternate Question: A character made great by having or not having tact

#RPGaDay2026 - Day 10 - "Secret"

Day 10 of #RPGaDay2026 and they drop "Secret" on us.

I'm a full-time GM, secrets stay locked up in my brain, many forever.   Here's three that live in my head, rent-free, everyday... because I'm the GM.

"Why are there of no weasels in Gamma World?" 

I spoke of this regarding Day 2 and Sneaky Pete.  

Why is Terval Sit the most powerful, but most reclusive wizard in Marakeikos now? 

Despite getting thoroughly trashed at the end of the Hackmaster Burning Trogs Rule! campaign, notes from the Burning Trogs Redux state the immense power and magic item collection he's acquired while being the resident magic expert in Mutumbo's general store in Verge...  If the group does get back together one more time, Terval is going to be a big deal... for unknown reasons.

Why is Tarrie Proleck's soul voice the computer on the Pretio?   

In our Star Wars d6 campaign, some say he was left for dead, others claim he slinked off to die after a shootout in a casino went horribly wrong, but Pretio pilot Tarrie Proleck is dead.... until the ship's computer developed a voice and it's personality mirrors a confused Tarrie.  

Why are things in your Gamma World campaign so much weirder than in the actual (very weird) campaign setting.

Let's just say a more worldly group of players might pick up on plotlines and certain critters/events, and I'm grateful for it. 

Alternate Question: A secret you hope comes out about a character?

#RPGaDay2026 - Day 9 - "Privilege"

Day 9 of #RPGaDay and the prompt is "Privilege."

Outside of the random convention game or the random in-store event, in-person gaming has been a rare privilege, especially for the old group.  

Twenty years ago, the last on-going weekly campaign ended I moved away, got married, and was now an hour away from the regular group.  Game sessions were monthly, if we were lucky, quarterly sometimes once kids were part of the equation.  

We settled on monthly monster sessions of Call of Cthulhu, our group of 20's avatar characters moving from the streets of Wilkes-Barre, a few cross-country trips, finally settling into New York City and, twenty sessions into everything, a simple telegram from their colleague Jackson Elias to throw everything on its end. 

In the end, the actual moment that regular in-person sessions went away was the entire fault of the Imperial Japanese Navy.  

After being intimately involved with the finale of Masks of Nylarathotep, including the death of thousands of Chinese due to a radium bomb, the IJN held the surviving investigators indefinitely for interrogations.  Given the time, and locations of the players, and the personal nature of the sessions, we did everything by e-mail.  

Once the email sessions were over, the Investigators released, the death of the US Ambassador dying under mysterious circumstances (a true historical coincidence on the timeline), and the finale conducted, we never really had more than a random one-shot. for anything... until the Monday night D&D 5e game started up...  A decade later, we've evolved into Gamma World via Star Wars d6, and our only meet-ups are board games during holidays, and wargaming conventions.

I keep mentioning a restart to Cthulhu, and we're probably one more player until we try to arrange another game session, outside of Allentown. 

Alternate Question: Give one reason why it is a privilege to play with your group.

#RPGaDay2026 - Day 8 - "Resolve"

 Day 8 of #RPGaDay and we hit a new prompt, "Resolve."  The alternative prompt is a predictable, "A moment when a character kept or broke their resolve?" 

And my Monday night gaming group throws one out from left field.  

"Remember when Echelon died and Talis' resolve crumbled?"

I did not.

But I have managed to chronicle the entire Ballad of the Pigeon God.

Picture this.  Pennsylvania, 1999.  College, 2nd Edition AD&D.

Talis Makolin and Echelon were the farthest any two could be.

Talis was a lovable rogue of a bard, obviously more lovable with the ladies...

Echelon was some odd man, a priest of some far eastern god of the sea, leading a menagerie of animals with them as the adventuring party travelled, more concerned about his pigeons than his companions. 

Echelon, before the glow-up

When many of their companions simply vanished during a trip to the capital city, they trudged back to their hometown.  They fought famine, villains, and even tornados and foreclosure to keep the village and surrounding countryside together.  

And when the rest of the group finally returned from their multi-dimensional excellent adventure, it was Echelon earning the true honors, becoming the Baron of Eding.  In one of his first acts, he made his friend Talis the first Knight of the Pigeon. 

No one had an explanation for this odd brotherhood, until it was revealed that they were, indeed, (half) brothers. 

Seriously.. if your character backgrounds coincidentally are that close, without player coordination, don't be surprised if the GM takes a part of that and runs with it. 

As the campaign progressed, the King passed away allowing his cousin (the BBEG) to take the crown.  Many in the adventuring party became personna non grata and travelled to escape persecution... and possibly murder.

Echelon and Talis led a group to the south of the kingdom, finding work in the neighboring Principalites of Emron, helping a wizard family keep their rightful ruler on the throne.  

In the midst of a titanic fight between the realm of dream and the real world, Echelon had his brain sucked out my a mind flayer, 

In the midst of this great fight, Talis, the flighty bard who grew to become a hero, lost all resiliency and ran away, abandoned his other friends and fled like a coward.

He even took most of his ill-gotten loot, to write a Dear Norm letter....  quickly chronicling the actions, his cowardice, and his farewell. 

Ultimately, after a series of his own adventures, even getting captured and becoming the personal pet of a cloud giant, when things were most dire, he joined up with the remnants of the group, on an epic quest to acquire the weapons of power to defeat the dark gods coming to destroy the realm.   In an effort to traverse a dangerous trap to acquire the battle-axe Overslayer, Talis slipped off of the treacherous wooden discs, plummeting into the boiling mud below, lost forever.  

The death of Talis was an even lower point towards his renown than that of his cowardice, because:

1) The next PC to attempt to traverse the mud pit, a dwarf name Norm Dingleberry, not only got across with flying colors, but slew the vampire guardian in total darkness, claiming the weapon for his own and getting back safely, to boot.

2) When acquiring the Whelm, Echelon returned from the dead to help put down the giant crab guardian of the weapon!  

By the end of the campaign:

1) Echelon helped defeat the BBEG, the true BBEG (Big Bad Evil GOD), and would ascend into the pantheon of local gods as a secondary god of seas (and definitely pigeons). 

2) Norm was also at that fight, gaining a Duchy, declaring his own independence when the "Happily Ever After" of the kingdom began to crumble, and slowly began to conquer the dominions that had betrayed himself and his friends in those early years. 

3) In subsequent campaigns, there have been rumors and inklings that Talis did leave a number of children to a number of women.  There may of been a sighting or two of Talis signature weapon, "Hummingbird" a Dagger +1, +3 throwing, with a glass orb in the hilt that resembles a tiny lava lamp.

Alternative Question: A moment when a character kept or broke their resolve?

#RPGaDay2026 - Day 7 - "Mercy"

 

Day 7 of #RPGaDay is "Mercy" and to be honest, it's a slam dunk. 

Half the players forgot that there was a TPK.  Others forget being transported across space and time at the behest of a goddess.  A few barely remember how that all turned out (and that's for another prompt!)

Everyone remembers Dag the Kobold. 

My 2nd edition AD&D college campaign, nowadays referred to as The Ballad of the Pigeon-God was an eclectic one, with over a dozen players moving in and out of the game during its lifetime.  

The group had begun playing B3 - Palace of the Silver Princess, using the "not cool" plot device place in B1-9 - In Search of Adventure:  a TPK and getting saved at the last minute by the goddess.

The group was appreciative of the second chance, and was maneuvering through the palace quite handily, when they came upon the ruined library.  

Velandro was the cool, collected cleric of Akana (the state religion), who usually let the warriors take the lead in dungeon clearing.  But upon hearing scuttering amongst the collapsed bookshelves and shattered tables, followed by an audible shushing, Velandro took the lead, forcing the fighters back and he tried to lure whatever creature out. 

After much coaxing, a lone kobold peaked his head out.  Velandro offered food and show of dominance against his fellow adventurers, forcing them further back.   

After a half-hour of pure role-playing throwing a small monkey wrench into a night of dungeon crawling, it appeared that the kobold, Dag, not only swore allegiance to Velandro, but that of his wife and two young children hiding in the rubble.  Although a bit of a worrisome nuisance, Dag & Company helped the party clear out the palace.  

And, as one might suspect.  Dag's family became part of greater party's family, earning their keep, and ultimately leaving with Velandro to study religion, before returning to take part in the big apocalyptic finale.  Dag di Velandro, his wife Daschelle, his daughter Groata, and his son Scrag are all considered heroes of Crosedes, but more importantly, they are the founders of a kobold monastery in Ispatlia dedicated to creating kobold paladins.  

Alternative Question:  A moment of mercy received or given?

#RPGaDay2026 - Day 6 - "Reach"

 Day 6 of RPGaDay and we move to "Reach."

I will again push back the stories of a four-armed, ten-foot tall mutant sunflower, and work towards the alternative question: Who would you like to be able to share RPGs with? 

Between a decade in retail and 35 years of going to conventions, I'm all about introducing new folks to the hobby.  Even in the days where open gaming space wasn't a regular commodity, I'd spend my well earned time off to run a few sessions for kids (under the required watchful eyes of the parentals) to teach them the game and ensure a half-dozen Player's Handbooks would go off the shelf.   I've run all types of games for companies to promote new games. I've even actively offered to run games for folks with an interest, from family friends to my kids' own teammates. 

RPGs are difficult to share.  The time commitment, and the fact that even with minis and terrain, most of what's going on is immersive into the participants'' minds.

Too be honest, for a better showing, one might want to reflect what's being done with the the Father of RPGs: Wargaming.  

I've been active in the historical side of wargaming for thirty years.  The Historical Miniatures Gaming Society, Inc (HMGS) runs three quality shows in the Mid-Atlantic each year.  However, one constant complaint, perhaps the nature of the beast of this branch, is the "graying of the hobby."   It will always be easier to paint up and play 40K, even if one desperately wants to play historicals, because the figures requires are usually less for 40K versus a traditional battle of any era.  

In 2020, HMGS Next Gen, Inc., was founded as an offshoot of HMGS "with the goal to seed and fund the growth of game clubs in the United States and around the globe. By facilitating game-design thinking along with game-based professional development, HMGS Next Gen will grow the hobby and the critical thinking that it fosters."

"Currently, HMGS Next Gen is working with libraries, public and private universities, secondary schools, and corporate organizations. We are composed of facilitators who have seen, first hand, the value of games as a learning tool. Games provide participants with an opportunity to explore diversity, teamwork and camaraderie. This is done through analytical thinking, leadership and stress management."

All that has been occurring, and I know this, because I'm a member of Next Gen, albeit one who focuses on new gamers at conventions.  

Our main organizers are out, sometimes two, three, even four days a week, running different events for libraries, schools, and other organizations.  They are well attended, with not only a few return participants, but a number convincing their families to make trips to conventions like Historicon 

For my part of it, I'm happy I'm not trying to sell a book to them, rather focusing on the energy and enthusiasm for the hobby.  Let's been honest, I've been trying that with RPGs and my other kids since they were wee tykes.... 

2012

Both girls will still play games with their old man, but my oldest, Maja does run large games under the Next Gen banner.

You can best check out everything Next Gen is doing from their Facebook page.

Alternative Question: Who would you like to be able to share RPGs with?

#RPGaDay2026 - Day 5 - The Elden Burden

 Day 5 was the first day of #RPGaDay the stopped me cold.  "Burden"

Picture this: The early 90's, 2nd Edition AD&D is in full speed, splat books firing out.   It is not surprising that min-max elves populated the table.  And too be honest, I'm not a big fan of elves to begin with, and as DM, the deluge of thinly veiled variants of the same thing was getting me pissed off. 

So when I expanded my campaign past high school, I didn't ban elves, I simply made them difficult to play at the table.  

The Elden Burden of Western Talaishia

Queue your Kipling here.  

I'm sure in the ancient times of the Empire, the elves simply signed non-aggression pacts with the barbarian hordes of the east as they overran the First Ferasean Empire.  Hundreds of years later, the elven tribes in the east simply shrank in numbers that hating them was a non-issue. 

A couple hundred years later, the barbarian incursion happens again.  Civilization is ruined, but there is hope.  The mountains of Markovia and Skyforge to difficult to traverse, leaving the wooded Elven Kingdom of Agenmoor as the portal defending the far western empire from total destruction.

For reasons left in the mind of the elven leaders, they simply LET the barbarians through their kingdom, and let a good portion of them return east with nary a trouble. 

So the Elden Burden.  Already a race deteriorating from the inside, now their greatest partner, humankind, hates them with the power of a million wizards.  

After generations of teaching, elves are hated by all people.  Full blown discrimination, slurs involving pointed ears, and heaven forbid if you area half-elf. 

All the min-maxing in the world succumbs to the dark side of human nature. 

We still had our levy of elf characters show up, and most embraced the "hard work and heroism will win them over!"

It doesn't help when your elf, Torm Touchberry, is an ass-grabbing thief, or your virtuous elven cleric, Markuus was simply obnoxious at all times, to all people.  

It's a heavily biased and rewritten history, recalled in episodes #71-80 of the Lost Dispatches of Feraso., but in the village of Eding's darkest hours, the PCs bailed on them, letting the goblins put half of the place to the torch.  The campaign broke down shortly thereafter, but the non-elf PCs stayed away from the Barony.   Torm and Markuus took the burden as members of the adventuring party, and as elves, taking the lashes, the prison time (The local Lord was feeling generous as he needed competent bodies of any sort. Torm's player kept going for awhile, taking the lashes, training with the militia, keeping out of trouble.  

But the time my next campaign started, ten years cannonically after the last one, Torm was a sergeant in the militia, finally earning some respect, but full of the racial hostility towards the elves in the new group.  

Torm Touchberry, the Early Years...

Once the new elves won Torm over, their acceptance was quicker, although they went with the "keep you nose clean, stay humble" track

My Hackmaster games were placed 70-80 in the future, and the racism of the people was tapered a bit, with more elven heroes, but also the recent fall of Agenmoor to the shadow elves...

And nobody came to help them.

When I moved that the next Hackmaster campaign to Eastern Talaishia, the rampant racism was never there. Those larger groups were either far removed from human contact, or simply shrank well prior to the second barbarian incursion.  

Of course, there are tons of elf refugees from the fall of the kingdom, and their strange dialects, differeing culutres and drain on resources might un-surface some old hostilities amongst the peasantry. 

Alternate Question: What burden is a character willing to carry until the end?

#RPGaDay2026 - Day 4 - "Charm"

For Day 4 of #RPGaDay, I really wanted to look away from the magical or social intimate connotations of "Charm," I really did.  

I've watched the movie Tropic Thunder on repeat recently and went to Kirk Lazarus, as Lincoln Osiris, the classic scene, "He charmed the pants off of Nixon, and won a ping-pong competition...."

But none of my characters have done either, so I work my way back in my session to bring up a moment of charm that derailed the characters.  

Dr Robert Wintermute, Professor of History at Miskatonic University, on loan to Columbia University, was a classic CoC investigator.  All the players started playing 20's avatars versions of themselves, so and Dr Wintermute simply lived vicariously through his character while keeping the meta at a reasonable amount. 

Early on in our Call of Cthulhu campaign, there was a lengthy research montage, with most characters teaming up to finish objectives.    Dr Wintermute decided he was fine executing a little Library Use at the local library.  

Until he rolls a 99.   "You've been easily distracted by a young woman..."

"Well, if I'm going to fail, let's focus on my less savory qualities talking with her."

"Roll Persuade"

"02"

Meanwhile, the rest of the group were at their meeting place to go over their discoveries.  Dr Wintermute was no where to be scene... for hours.  

When he finally did reach the others hours later, there was no reason given for his complete incompetence in finding out anything, and certainly no mention of the consenting coed canoodling.

Details are sketchy, even with Actual Play write-ups, but in a scenario with an actual timeline of events occurring, this indiscretion was enough to significantly delay the investigators, allowing certain events to get out of their control.  

This might have also led to "Operation Hobo Justice" but I've visited that beautiful debacle more than once before.

Alternative Question: An enjoyable moment of charm gone right or wrong?

#RPGaDay2026 - Day 3 - "Poise"

 Day 3 of #RPGaDay and we come to a prompt that surprises me.  Not only is "Poise" not something this activity has mentioned at all, but it's a word I rarely use in my 17 years of blogging.  Almost every time I use the word it's in reference to a potential attack, be it an RPG Actual Play or a wargaming After-Action Report. 

So let's largely avoid combat and focus on the poise and demeanor of Lathar Bracken, Enforcer, in my Monday night Gamma World campaign. 

Naming your character Lathar in a post-apocalyptic RPG obviously generates a certain image similar do a 60's TV cartoon character, and over 100 sessions in, we all still default to that image. 

In reality, he's far more nuanced.  A local boy from Riverbend, whose father abandoned him and his mother when he was 12., getting work from the Restorationists since 14, finally allowed to go on missions... as part of the De Facto explorers at 20.  

Everyone expects him to be the brute force, the firepower, but in reality, he's the face of the group, years of working with adults had honed his charisma to act like he was all things to all people.  

And not only is he the most charismatic in the group, in a group with a full-on Restorationist Examiner, he's the smartest one in the group (at least stat wise).  Strength was actually his dump stat!  

Low strength aside, he fails... a lot, and just keeps going.  

He's been ready for action for years, constantly talking about his "Combat Leadership," in and out of game. And when he finally got to use it recently?  The claims were proven true, as he took a rag-tag bunch of mutant plant militia and admirably ambushed a larger enemy force, suffering only moderate casualties. 

His greatest moment of poise comes with his new bride, Thunnelda.   While negotiating ferry passage across the Big River, Lathar agreed to a blind date with the ferryman's sister.  

Thunelda was rough around the edges, covered in face tattoos, and prone to violent outbursts. 

Most thought she was totally unhinged.  Lathar quickly learned that she was, in fact, very "hinged."  

When he walked into her room at her brother's place, Lathar discovered her hobby, addiction, fetish even was hinges, her walls covered from top to bottom with them.  

He didn't run away, rather ordering Bug Nuggets with extra Glow Saunce on an actual date, and defending her honor in front of the townsfolk when no one else ever did.  

He's the only person that's kept her from her violent outbursts, succeeding so consistently that, if he's around, he can instantly soothe her violent tendencies.  It seems pretty obvious after the fact that they would get married.  

And now he and his friends have been on an epic quest to find his father, allegedly far down river, amongst the infamous Black Reeds.  And while the mission was successful, the disappointment with this reunion is tactile.  

And even to the end, Lathar has held the same situation with poise and dignity, even if the other unfairly questioned him.

After meeting his father, and being thoroughly disappointed by it. 

Lathar with the rest of the De Facto Explorers, the Early Days.

.Nott bad for a player whose in his late 50s and that's only on his second RPG character EVER. 

Alternative Question:  How does one character present themselves?

#RPGaDay2026 - Day 2 - "Stature"

When I first did a full review of this year's #RPGaDay, I had pall of dread overcome me, and only hit Day 2.

"Stature" 

Not wanting to go with Gnome Titans and Halflings in Hackmaster... again... I reviewed the alternative question:  What does one character’s stature in their community mean to them?

The best character for that would be Sneaky Pete, the Mutant Weasel Scout in our current Gamma World 4th Edition online game.  

Pete is a bit of a pompous ass, a lone wolf (weasel) scout well before he met the other members of the De Facto Explorers with his one burrow/treehouse, along the Big River, outside of Riverbend. With a weakness to the "Glow" (Radiation) and a strange addiction to yellow curry powder. 

And his one underlying theme he focuses on is the defense of Riverbend. 

It's a miracle in itself that a large threat hasn't levelled the entire town.  Attacks are disorganized and manageable, even with incompetent leadership. 

Pete's been active at "modernizing the town:  building a palisade around the town center, changing training methods and drills, even installing a guard post in the unused church steeple, including installing his friend Sonny Helianthus' invention the "spear thrower" into the tower. 

(And if you picture an automatic football throwing machine amped up to sending other objects flying...  you would be right.)

He does not always have tact. He is not always diplomacy.  But the weasel has passion.

Because, deep down, Pete is desperate.  He wants to be part of the community that's allowed him to exist.   Pete wants more structure.  Pete may also wants to burn the town to the ground.

The greatest theme that has developed over 140 episodes?   Outside of one other oddly deranged character who he barely shares DNA with, he hasn't encountered another weasel since his youth.

He's encountered a lot of weasel-adjacent folks, including an entire ferret community in the Sub-Levels of KIA Academy.  But he vocally and violently dissociates himself from their kind.  

We should be wrapping up an epic quest in the campaign in the next few weeks, and everyone is looking forward for a winter of recuperation back in Riverbend.  Pete's seen families betray and systems fail his friends.  Hopefully he takes that back to the taverns and meeting rooms and keeps improving the town.  

And maybe, just maybe, another weasel will make an appearance. 

Alternative Question: What does one character’s stature in their community mean to them?

#RPGaDay2026 - Day 1 - "Discipline"

We have finally made it #RPGaDay2026 !

I'm coming into #RPGaDay this year with a different perspective.  Over a dozen years of questions and prompts and certain topics are rehashed repeatedly.  I won't link any older post, rather a

Day 1's prompt starts with a serious turn, "Discipline," and I'm grateful the recent onslaught of Dungeons & Daddies ads on social media will NOT steer me in that direction. 

The suggested question is, "Share a character or fellow player who is a strong example of discipline."

He might disagree, but my paragon of discipline would be Hoyce.

Blippy, Hoyce, and Henry, at Hoyce's bachelor party.

For a guy I originally knew as "the veggie hat" guy in college,  a large burly bearded man, aged into a bald, surly older man, he might not be the obvious first choice, but in our Monday night online game, he is the glue that keeps everything together. 

We're using his Google Meet subscription to run the game, so we're already eternally grateful.  He's the first player online Monday nights.   Heck, he's the first person I talked to when this years prompts came up, and we powered through all of them efficiently.

As a player, Hoyce has always been disciplined.  He sticks with his character's structure mechanically, he knows the character background and looks for ways to further develop it.     He adheres to character personality and goals. 

Whether he's a gnome titan warrior, a womanizing bard before it went viral, a Sips'kud Bounty Hunter in Star Wars, or 10-foot tall mutant sunflower in Gamma World, I know he'll play the character concept tight.

Heck, he's the last player to create an Illuminati University character using GURPs, and if that doesn't involve a little discipline for a first time player, I don't what it does.  

I can truly say that when he mentions his own home campaign, spun off from my own campaign, his skill at GMing is such that I actively listen to his own stories... 

Alternative Question:  Share a character or fellow player who is a strong example of discipline

#RPGaDay2026 Starts Tomorrow!

Each August I do two things gaming-related. 

1) Watch videos of the "Running of the Geeks" the first day the doors open for the vendor hall at GenCon

2) Actively participate in #RPGaDay , the community activity where we cover a prompt or topic and talk about our love of RPGS.   

#RPGaDay starts tomorrow!   There's still time to tweet, post, blog, vlog, podcast, or yell from the heavens each day. 

It's really not hard, especially just social media/tweet level.   This will be my 13th year participating.

Here are the prompts again.... 

.... and if you can't think of an amusing gaming anecdote or topic, they've provided near-alternative topics to work from!  

In reality, they're a practical question for the prompt, not a different and unique one. 

You'll see the tags for #RPGaDay and #RPGaDay2026 everywhere.  I prefer #RPGaDay2026 to track year by year. 

1. Share a character or fellow player who is a strong example of discipline.	2. What does one character’s stature in their community mean to them?
3. Poise: How does one character present themselves?	4. An enjoyable moment of charm gone right or wrong?	5. What burden is a  character willing to carry until the end?	6. Reach: Who would you like to be able to share RPGs with?	7. A moment of mercy received or given?	8. A moment when a character kept or broke their resolve?	9. Give one reason why it is a privilege to play with your group.
10. A secret you hope comes out about a character?	11. A character made great by having or not having tact	12. Most things end. What is one RPG loss you still feel?	13. Strain: So far, what is the heaviest set of RPG things you have carried to play?	14. What is a game held in high regard you have yet to play?	15. How would you organize an endurance session of your favorite game?	16. One thing that will cause a character to lose their composure?
17. A satisfying example of a character’s integrity	18. Directness: A fast introduction of a new PC or player?	19. A huge risk taken because of desire?	20. Have the characters kept or broken more promises?	21. Share an RPG charity past or present that moved you	22. An enjoyable moment of grit PCs did or did not tough out	23. An enjoyable moment of good or bad fortune
24. Your preferred distance in any type of RPG conflict?	25. One game you want to get more familiar with?	26. One game you regret not trying?	27. What do you hunger for most from a session?	28. Devotion: Game you have played the most!	29. Labor: Thing you are most willing to work on for a game	30. A game event that you are still proud of.
31. Why does a character think they have an edge?

Another Month of Meeples (August 2026)

 Another month of Meeple Monthly, and I have some old man rants about dice (surprise, surprise!)  

I am pleasantly pleased that there are a few items in my extended want list, including two Lovecraft books.!

Check out the latest issue of Meeple Monthly for more fun stuff, plus a host of random things I'm not listing under my imaginary store.  

ViscountEric's Want List

Nothing

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

Arc Dream Publishing

Delta Green: The Millennium ............................................ $69.99

I'll be ranting about the descriptive blurbs I find in these solicitations.  Full disclosure: I have positive bias toward Delta Green, but the blurb for this product is great... Others this month, not so much.

Chaosium

Call of Cthulhu: Inssmouth .............$59.99

Leyline Press

Mew-Tants! ................................... $20.00

Were-Woofs .................................. $20.00

And then you have the fun RPGs, were you play as cats with superpowers, or you're a dog with a normal job... but you once were human.  I'm a huge fan of the $20 price point for everything except dice.  That seems to be what's in people's hand as their in line to check out. 

The Imaginary Store List (Infinite Shelf Space Games & Hobbies)

Agamemnon Press

Old -School Essentials: Hellcrawl .................................... $45.00

Alderac Entertainment Group

Honeypot .......................................... $24.99

Forage ............................................... $24.99

Alligator Alley Entertainment

D&D 5E: Expedition from the Mysterious Peaks .............. $59.99

This is the perfect example of how NOT to write promotional copy. 
"Expedition from the Mysterious Peaks is an action packed, science-fantasy adventure series powered by 5ee and inspired by iconic adventure classics"
As a store-owner, a company I've never heard of, but sounds like Florida Man just learned D&D, is rehashing stuff with Barrier Peaks nostalgia?  For sixty bucks?   I'd respect my customers more by not carrying it.  AI could write better copy.

Atomic Mass Games

Marvel Crisis Protocol: Dimensional Terror Terrain Pack ..................... $89.99

Marvel Crisis Protocol: Dimensional Incursion Terrain Pack ................ $79.99

Marvel Crisis Protocol: Guardians of the Galaxy Starter Set ................. $99.99

Catalyst Game Labs

BattleTech: BattleMat: Fire & Ice 03: Umber Station ............................ $39.99

Shadowrun: Explosive Decompression .................................................. $49.99

Chessex

Despite all these rants this month, do you know what puts a smile on my face? 

A Chessex dice restock.

Yes, I know they're not licensed, or made of some special material, with a resin sombrero in the middle of each die, but the speckled polyhedral sets are $6.50 apiece, and the d6 blocks are under ten bucks. 

Yes, they were also soliciting their fancy stone, metal, and resin lines (most of which are still overpriced) or the razor edged dice that, by profile would shave on a curve.  But every store needs to figure out what the profit margin vs sales volume suits them the best.  

Creature Creation

Pirate Borg: Adventure: Nagval's Curse ........................... $17.99

Critical Kit

Daggerheart: Seasons of Fear ............................... $27.00

Cubicle 7

Warhammer 40k RPG: Wrath & Glory: Adventures in Gilead ..... $39.99

Da Vinci Editrice

Black Flag! .............................................................. $24.99

Devir Games

Do De Li Do! ........................................................... $14.99

Let's Dance  .............................................................. $13.99

Nascard  .................................................................... $13.99

Envy Born Games 

Meerkat Kingdoms ................................................... $39.99

The Eren Chronicles

D&D 5e: Legend in the Mist: Zamanora: Ballad of the Witch: Core Book .... $49.95

And to be a bit hypocritical, The Eron Chronicles does a great job describing  their Balkan/Slavic RPG setting.  I'm just not going to promote too much because it's solicited as a "Once with Everything."  Core Rules, Campaign Book, GM Screen, and a host of other trinkets. I know it's a successful promotion stemming from crowd-funding.  Don't get me wrong, the Kickstarter went over great, but how many more folks are looking at a comprehensive setting and rules, past the 3,000+ pledges?   Forty years in and observing retail say invest and grow.  An RPG line doesn't have the same utility and restock capability that a paint rack has /rant.

Evil Genius Games

Everyday Heroes: Adventure: The Magnificent Murder of the Great Maskeyne ......... $19.99

Evil Hat Productions

Blades in the Dark: Blades '68 ................................ $45.00

Exalted Funeral Press

Old School Essentials: Fire & Fang: Weird Stone & Sorcery Adventures ............ $30.00

Reverend Werewolf's Old Timey Monster Mania Family Hour ............................ $20.00

Fanroll by MDG

D&D: Octagonal Dice Tray: Ancient Red Dragon ................... $49.99

7-Set: Resin: Eternal Purple & Blue ......................................... $14.99

CATAN: Sharp Edge Resin Dice Set ........................................ $14.99

CATAN: Robber Blind Bag ...................................................... $ 9.99

CATAN: Plastic Civilization Egypt .......................................... $14.99

CATAN: Plastic Civilization China .......................................... $14.99

CATAN: Plastic Civilization Greece ........................................ $14.99

CATAN: Plastic Civilization German ....................................... $14.99

Gamehead Products

Friendly Fishing .............................. $20.00

Pet Quartet ....................................... $20.00

Size Wise ......................................... $20.00

Trick to the Future ........................... $20.00

Wild Magic ...................................... $20.00

Gear Games

High School Cthulhu ....................... $55.00

High School Cthulhu Extra Circular Horrors ....................... $50.00

High School Cthulhu Blasphemous Deck ............................. $18.00

"A crossfire of adolescence and cosmic horror..." although that might be redundant.  A good blurb, peripheral product from a regular favorite, decent price points and only three items in a solicitation?  This might be a winner at the Infinite Shelf Space Games and Hobbies.

Goodman Games

DCC: Dungeon Denizens 2 .................................. $69.99

5e: Fifth Edition Fantasy: Dungeon Denizens 2 ................... $69.99

5e: Fifth Edition Fantasy: 2-Page Dungeon Delves .............. $15.99

Konami Digital Entertainment

Yu-Gi-Oh!  Magnificent Monsters

M Allen Hall

Old School Essentials: Out of the Iron Labyrinth ................. $20.00

Old School Essentials: The Green Ooze King ....................... $20.00

Modiphius Entertainment

Star Trek Adventures: RPG Dice  ......................................... $28.00

When you absolutely, positively, need to get gouged for dice with a Star Fleet logo on a face.

Mongoose Publishing

Traveller: Fifth Frontier War: Consular Envoy ...................... $49.99

Traveller: The Infinity Suite ................................................... $49.99

Osprey Publishing

Silver Bayonet:  Venice - The Alchemist's Legacy... $28.00

Carentan 1944 ....................................................... $25.00

Westport 1864 ....................................................... $25.00

From Trenton to Yorktown ................................... $20.00

Ground Forces in the Korean War 1950-53 vol 3 .. $20.00

Kriegsmarine Norway Command 1940-45 .......... $23.00

Mosquito Units of the Far East ............................. $25.00

Panther vs A30 Challenger ................................... $23.00

The SS "Wiking" Division in World War II ......... $21.00

The Stay Behinds ................................................. $30.00

Target Stopped ..................................................... $28.00

Warsaw: A City at War 1939-45 ........................... $38.00

Pillbox Games

Dead Letters ............................. $30.00

Pink Tiger Games

Melted ...................................... $13.99

Random House

Chess is Life ................................. $21.99

Choose Your Own Adventure - The Mystery Box ... $35.99

D&D - Heroes' Feast Legends of the Table Cookbook ... $40.00

Renegade Game Studios

Axis & Allies & Zombies ................................... $65.00

Severed Books

Sickest Witch - Sickest Wretch: A Non-Witch Class Supplement ..... $22.00

Sirius Dice

7-Set Adventure Dice: Darklord: Strahd von Zarovich

7-Set Adventure Dice: Darklord: Viktra Mordenheim

D&D Mists of Ravenloft: Treasure Packs PDQ

Stillfleet Studio

Picaro!  ........................................ $23.00

Troll Lord Games

Castles & Crusades The Dragon's Crucible Box Set .............. $99.99

WizKids

Marvel Heroclix: Thunderbolts Booster Brick

Marvel Heroclix: Thunderbolts Map and Terrain Kit

Marvel Heroclix: Thunderbolts Doom Sorcerer Supreme

Marvel Heroclix: Iconix- Giant-Sized X-Men #1

(Kickstarter) Hackmaster 25th Anniversary Edition by Kenzer and Company

There are those games that raise up my hope in the world, and let it crash down upon my soul.  

The 25th Anniversary Edition of Hackmaster, now on Kickstarter from Kenzer and Company, is exactly what I expected, and I should not complain in the least. 

The original 4th Edition, actually licensed from the world of D&D/AD&D was my salvation from artsy-fartsy game concepts I was brewing in my head.  It was my game of choice for the early 2000's with epic tales that some of us just talked about last night, including The Journey of Mutumbo and, of course, Burning Trogs Rule!.  A few items have have been sold off as needed plunder, but it still holds a key spot on my shelf, within arms reach, just in case someone summons the call. 

With the license expiring, they removed most of the parody elements, and refined the rules for a completely different 5th Edition in 2009.  While some of the elements from their Aces & Eights western rules  (most excellent) migrated over, marriage, kids, and life in general never got me into that set, or the investment for the beautiful books. 

Disclaimer:  The 25th Anniversary edition is a refinement on the 2009 game. It's now expanded into a four-book set:  The Player's Character Codex, The Player's Guide to Adventuring, a single volume of the Hacklopedia of Beasts, and, of course, the GameMaster's Guide. 

Would I like all four volumes being so triumphant on my bookcase that I would have to buy a new one worthy of their glory?  Sure!  But as I will probably lament during #RPGaDay2026 in a few days, if I do full-on fantasy, "getting the band back together," it would be 4th edition, all the chuckles and clunky rules on display. 

I am, however, interested in the add-ons, so I pledged the $5 tier, hoping to overspend once pricing becomes available:  The Hackmaster dice bag ($20) , the official pin ($20) , the set of d10,000 for critical hits ($15), and the one thing that intrigues me, Gary Jackson's Power Dice. ($20)

Nostalgia might make me wish I just went with the new edition....

Mirke the Meek and His #RPGaDay2026 Companion

 Small podcast rant before I get to Mirke the Meek.

My podcast listening has dwindled down to nearly nothing.   My weekend drives to take care of my mother is always accompanied by Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff, where even the rare sub-par episode would still qualify them for an Ennie. I, for one, loved the tight 60 minutes confines that have characterized the podcast and now play it at x1.2 times to keep my time constraints.  

The Miskatonic University Podcast has been hit or miss for me, and I can't remember when I last finished an episode.  Not saying that I can criticize the topics or the hosts, it's just not hitting the same way it used to, and I'm itching to restart some sort of Cthulhu game.

In fact, in the midst of trimming the shrubbery around my mother's place, I was surprised by an episode of the Nerd's RPG Variety Podcast, and pleasantly amused it was going to be about #RPGaDay.  While the podcast has been a perennial hit-or-miss for me, the fact that the host, Jason, has been on a indeterminate hiatus, I was excited.

It seems his return was to support his fellow podcaster, Mirke the Meek, for an alternative to #RPGaDay that might fit some folks predilections rather than the daily prompts.  

The questions are relatively simple, and six separate areas to apply them:

(1.) What's your favorite ruleset for the genre and why?
(2.) What's this genre's best/most-fun module/adventure?
(3.) What are your favorite media (books, movies, comics, music, etc....) that best fits the genre?

And the areas of discussion: 
D&D as a Genre

Superheroes

Espionage, Spies, and Covert Ops

Sword & Sorcery

Horror

Sci-Fi 

It's pretty basic, and I'll admit, my excitement is just reaffirming my bias.  Since the 10th Anniversary of #RPGaDay, I've mildly campaigned for the return of the basic "Year One" questions that the early years covered.  Stumped on a prompt this year, feel free to call in on the Speakpipe link, or just use the topic for your own purposes.

(Gamma World) Not a Test #127 - Savory Finds

Our heroes, the De Facto Explorers, have decided to embark on an epic quest to reach Lathar's long-lost father, Harkonn.  After side-quests, distractions, and backtracking, the group has made it past Fair-Town and KIA Academy, and have encountered some sort of abandoned facility along the Big River.

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

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.   Looking for trouble in all the right places. The two-time champion of the Fair-Town Queen's Joust.  Recently married to the now-pregnant Thunnelda Haycock.   He had recently received a letter from his long-lost father, and has convinced the others to accompany him to the Wildlands.

Sneaky Pete: A mutated weasel scout.  Pete's telepathy and night vision take a backseat when he whips out his electrical powers.   Apparently addicted to his newly uncovered yellow powder found at "The Pool House"

Sonny Helianthus: an over 10' tall sentient sunflower artifact examiner with four arms, and trusted Restorationist ties. Knowledgeable,  but not a good one with device repairs or upgrades.   Sonny may have recently detonated an atomic device in the petrified woods... although no one else knows. 

Slitheran Wurmtail (aka Squiggles): a mutated earthworm scout, in impromptu power armor, looking for trouble in all the wrong places,  and finding it often.   He  has been subject to genetic testing and developed super-human strength, a more human body, and a thick coat of shaggy white hair.  Recently attacked and kidnapped then left for dead by an unknown group, looking for revenge.  Also pregnant for the third time, and due to deliver badly out of season

Poppy and Speedy: Two of Squiggles' offspring from his first... litter(?) They're now teenagers in worm years, old enough to grab diminutive muskets and help their Manchi and his friends on this epic quest. 

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

Pete crept up towards the fence, revealing a larger complex along the river....

He ventured back to fetch the other explorers, still keeping everyone within a distance needing spyglasses and binoculars.  Pete wandered the perimeter.

Pete: "Guys, there's a lot of footprints in the dirt... I say we go around the wood line perimeter and explore those buildings.... "

Sonny: "By you guys, do you mean you?"  

Pete: "We can completely circumvent this and we can keep going down river."

Sonny: "I mean I think we're all a little curious." 

Squiggles: "Curiosity killed the cat."

Sonny: "Good thing none of us are cats..."

Pete started by reconnoitering the buildings outside the walled area.  At first look there was a three walled building, a huge unobstructed side which seemed to have deep and wide wheeled ruts leading all the way to the river.  The ruts seemed to stop ten feet from the rivers edge.  A quick look around the open area by Pete netted a windowless metal shack without windows and a single door up a short flight of steps, and a broken collection of metal framework behind the three walled structure.

Nothing worried Pete too much, except for the complete absence of bird or even insect noises. 

Pete gingerly returned to their spot, and the rest followed him back along the silent tree line.   The group itself was divided by whether investigating further or if the risk didn't match an obvious reward.  

It was Speedy the Worm who suggested, "If we didn't run into them on along the river yet, that means they must be downriver... maybe we can figure out who they are before they surprise us."

The group decided the young worms' wisdom of learning about potential enemies was worth the short-term risk.

Pete:  "If we hear weapons, or engines, we'll need to split quickly..."

Surprisingly, it was Sonny who noted certain symbols mounted to the outside of the wall... some of them had been deface.  No one had a clue what they were.  

They finally worked their way to the outbuildings and Sonny was particularly intrigued with the damaged metal framework.  Sonny worked his way away from the building, surmising from the half-broken dish and structure, that this had been some form of a communications array, that was intentionally cut precisely four foot above the concrete pad, and somehow knocked over. 

As a sunflower with four arms, Sonny took the dish as a potential shield.  

With back-up this time, they went to the windowless shack, propped the door open, and peeked in.  Along one wall was a long metal table with a number of tools and parts that appeared to be intentionally damaged/destroyed.  Pivoting from that spot, they found a surprise.

Two large racks of Ancients assault rifles, store neatly.  

The group went silent, trying to figure out why there were so many, why there was no ammo... discussions finally starting involving the logistics of carting them away.   Lathar grabbed one out of the rack, inspected it and slung it over his shoulder.  "I'm taking at least one... we just bought ammo back in KIA."

Pete:  "We don't know if these work... Until you fire a round..."

Lathar: "Let's lock and load..."

Sonny: "Here? Right now?"

Lathar: "If these folks get storming back after a single gunshot, we were going to be trouble anyway.   Speedy has spoken."

Lathar grabbed one of his magazine, it locked in easily, he put the rifle upon his shoulder, aiming across the river.

*click*

"I'm still taking mine!"

The group moved towards the half-opened gate....  They ventured towards the three small silo structures, clearly labelled: 

Water    

Rations 

Fuel

Lathar quickly rapped on the first silo.  Empty.

He moved to the second one, creating an odd sound.  "Something's in here."

Squiggle popped around the far side, holding a box.  "I think so!" 

There was a giant hole on that side, exposing boxes of "Rations Ready to Consume (RRC)" filling a third of the container. 

Lathar opened the box, revealing a dozen packages in a tough plas-tec covering.  He pulled one out, reading aloud the markings on it: 

CS LOGISTICS / RRC–M3 / HUMAN USE ONLY

• ☢ LOW RAD STABLE🧬
• MUTANT INCOMPATIBLE
• ⚠ NOT FOR PLANT ENTITIES

Squiggles: "Lathar, eat it!"

The others joined in.... "Lathar! Lathar! Lathar!"

Lathar pulled in tear strip on the pouch, revealing eight items inside.  He opened the rectangular slab labelled PROTEIN PROCESSED BRICK. Inside was a dense beige slab, faintly fibrous, with the physical appearance halfway between overcooked chicken and sidewalk chalk.  Tucked beside the slab was three connected packets labelled "“Savory,” “Smoke,” or “Neutral."   He got as far as ripping open "Savory" and applying the dark brown gelled substance onto the slab before stopping.  

"Who am I kidding, this might be the most dangerous thing here....  I'll try it later."

Discarding peer pressure for a moment, they moved around the closest domed buildings, labelled "MRF".  Each letter was the recipient of progressively more blood splatter, culminating in the most dried blood covering the building door.  

Pete spun the wheel in the center of the door to unlock it.  The room inside smelled stale but clean, with a number cloths hung up to provide privacy or partitioning.   Inside was another long metal table, with remains of a number of smashed tools and instruments, they did find three pistol like items, that weren't guns, but something was loaded into it.  

It was Posey the Worm who opened up a metal cabinet.  A strong smell emanated from it.  Inside were over a dozen glass containers with barcoded labels and various substances inside.

Speedy read the side of the cabinet in a halting manner.  "CS BIO-SEC FREEZER UNIT / LEVEL OMEGA"  

The samples are room temperature, some look like were rotting, save a plant based one, that had tendrils growing out of the sample. 

Pete: "Do any of them read 'Essence of Squiggles?'"

Next: #128 -