Twenty Questions About My Campaign - World of Georic - Burning Trogs Redux Edition

Years ago, I completed Twenty Questions About Wargaming. While that one evolves slowly, I did discover a great post by JRients covering the basic questions that a player/character can bring up at the start of a campaign. A while ago I did his "20 Questions" about the World of Georic.   With a sudden interest in Blue Book gaming, I felt it was right and proper to revisit and revise the 20 Questions for each of my "ongoing" campaigns.  While we haven't played with the original NPCs in nearly 20 years, The original Burning Trogs Rule! Hackmaster campaign still had a few significant loose ends certain PCs would go mental over.  

Everything is based on the world of Georic, the area of the vast Mer Kasp.  Not the biggest sea in most library's geograhica, but of most import to the story.

1. So, what's the deal?

The Year is 1150. It is fourteen years since the First War with the Master ended, almost 100 years since the exploits of Echellon, Talis, and Company, eight years since the short lived Hackmaster campaign, and let's not talk about the 

Zorin Redrock was a Gnome-Titan hero of the Southern Orc wars, an Ambasador-General of the Empire of Barthey, and a two-time savior of the Kingdom of Marakeikos.  His exploits and accolades would earn a normal man an early retirement in perpetual luxury. 

But Zorin was no normal man.  He was a Gnome Titan. 

His former adventuring company, the Burning Trogs had befallen a tragic bit of bad luck at the hands of the Slavers of Roark.  The slavers had managed to capture and enslave a number of notable members.  About half of them made it back alive.  His greatest regret was that Trogs could never exact vengeance onto the slavers. 

Two years after his The War with the Master war ended,  he left his estate for the final time and travelled back to the Gnomish City States.  He convinced the City-States military to sponsor a pirate and slaver-hunting expedition throughout the Mer Kasp.   Unfortunately, Zorin wasn't much of a sailor, as are most other types of gnomes, and the slavers secret bases remained hidden.   

Six years on the sea taught Zorin a lot about sailing, and an utter disgust for human and gnome sailors.  Despite the finest armament on the Mer Kasp, his lack of naval tactics resulted in more than a few crews nearly getting wiped out from pirates.    The City-States decided to recall the ship and its crew from the mission. 

Zorin sank his small fortune into three new ships and tried to outfit them with proper crews, but his reputation for confusing independent merchants, and sometimes naval frigates, for pirate ships preceded him. After a few disasters, a few sunken ships, and a couple of replacements along the way, his two remaining ships are crewed by a swarthy, gung-ho band of halflings. 

This year, the twelfth since he "retired," his haphazard networks of contacts, spies, and informants have uncovered a tiny cove that's almost impossible to navigate.    Only the skilled, or the well-organized could get through, so that means only a treacherous overland march is required to reach it, and possibly even rappel down some cliff faces.  Even worse,  this information could be time-sensitive, and Zorin's flagship, is far, far away.  His second ship is nearby, and it's up to its scrappy halfling crew to do the recon, and possibly assault the pirates there.  

2. What is the deal with my cleric's religion? If you're a human from the western end of of the Mer Kasp, you tend to worship Akana, God of Light and Order. A few offshoot cults have given your god a bad name. Most of the faithful are helping the poor (as well as maintaining a huge bureaucracy and keeping allied kings on the throne).

Of course, one while one major deity dominates, the pantheon it is part of is full of other gods. Guya, goddess of nature, Farmesk, god of war, and even Challon, God of Piegons are part of an acceptable Ferasean Pantheon.  

Around the Mer Kasps, there are other regional, racial, and ethnic pantheons. Halfling and Gnomish civilization prosper, elemental cults and shamans abound out in the east, and the southern coast near  Parthia is a collection of Ancient Summerian and Babylonian gods, as well as the living worship of a powerful man only known as The Master.

3. Where can we go to buy standard equipment?   Most major ports along the Mer Kasp will have standard supplies at reasonable (book) cost.  For any more specialized equipment, the major cities on the western coast (Barthey City, Mirros, and Stronghome) would be your best choice.  

4.Where can we go to get platemail custom fitted for this monster I just befriended? Around the Mer Kasp?  Possibly Barthey, although costs may be double.  Less skilled craftsmen and armorers are in Mirros,   Otherwise, one would need to go inland to the Dwarven or Gnomish communities.

5. Who is the mightiest wizard in the land?  Wizard towers dot the countryside, although to fit the stereotype, most wizards do not interact with the public.  The greatest concentration of great wizards is the confederation known as Hermetus, which is essentially a kingdom made up of wizard towers and the lands they protect.  The most powerful spell-caster is Terari, a former Emron Ambassador to Marakeikos, who renounced their loyalty, and became head of the Marakeikan Magic School in Mirros.  Second may be whatever mage is working with the Slavers of Roark to permanently hide their lair, a "Shadowmage."  And somewhere, the aptly-titled "Bargle the Infamous" is hiding.  Any information that we've had on that wizard has either under-represented his powers, or vastly exaggerated, so no one knows the truth. 

6. Who is the greatest warrior in the land?  Despite baronial knights, and adventurers using the village as a home base, Torm Touchberry (12th level thief), is regarded as the greatest warrior. He has survived too many wars, trained too many men in the militia, and is rumored to have fought alongside the Red Mage on that fateful day when the Baronial wedding was interrupted. Part of the legend says that whatever tried to stop the wedding was defeated, but not entirely vanquished , and hides in the Nightwood Forest across the Pathfinder River from town.

7.  Who is the richest person in the land?  Royalty and nobility control the most.  While much of his political and military power has been taken, the greatest treasures in the Mer Kasp region belong to Arsaces XXII of the Parthian Empire.

8.  Where can we go to get some magical healing?  The Churches of Akana and Guya offer magical healing for a sizable donation.  Just make sure you're gnome-kind if asking a cleric of Pangrus for a spell.

9. Where can we go to get cures for the following conditions: poison, disease, curse, level drain, lycanthropy, polymorph, alignment change, death, undeath?  The three churches above cover most of those. Barthey, Mirros, Stronghome, and Shelley Harbor should have the capabilities to handle lycanthropy.   Only the Church of Akana has powerful enough clerics  to ressurect, and Challon does not deal well with undead.

10. Is there a magic guild my MU belongs to or that I can join in order to get more spells?  Mirros in Marakeikos hosts both a notable Magic Unviersity, and a thriving Magic-Users guild.  

11. Where can I find an alchemist, sage or other expert NPC?  Every sizable port city will have a host of experts, although many would suggest the libraries of Parthia are where to find true experts in their fields.

12. Where can I hire mercenaries?   Barthey has been a staging ground for human mercenaries the moment the Ferasean Empire fell centuries ago.  Both Halfling and Gnome marines and infantry are available in Stronghome and all of Gnomish City States. 

13. Is there any place on the map where swords are illegal, magic is outlawed or any other notable hassles from Johnny Law?  Until the slaver city can be discovered, there are no noted criminal hotspots on the western half of the Mer Kasp.  Further east, into Hyrkania, Khwarizm, and Khaziria, there are fewer laws, and anything that is not culturally apropos if considered a crime, with varying penalties.   

14. Which way to the nearest tavern?  Plenty of fine establishments in every known port.  The halfling crew of Zorin Redrock prefer to take their leaves in the halfling port of Santello in Stronghome.  There, all races frequent the Dusty, Heaving Keg.

15. What monsters are terrorizing the countryside sufficiently that if I kill them I will become famous?   Rumors of sea monsters are as thick as the further lies told about them.  Each nation sharing a coastline with the Mer Kasp has a host of problems inland.  

16 Are there any wars brewing I could go fight?   The western coasts have established political and trade agreements, some of which could be interpreted as alliances.  Parthia has machinations around the eastern coats, and the various Galmar tribes could invade the northern countries, with very little true resistance.  

17. How about gladiatorial arenas complete with hard-won glory and fabulous cash prizes?  Legal fighting pits are around the Mer Kasp, although none are as glamourous as central and western Talaishia.   True fighters would either venture down into Khemmet and Parthia.

Akorros, Treibezond, Barthey Empire

18. Are there any secret societies with sinister agendas I could join and/or fight?

The Academy of the Flaming Sword - Mercenary and Battle Mages

The Plague Lords of Mangrus - Actively seek to spread disease through the region.

Arcana Vehm - Actively seeking out damage, to record for their own dastardly plots, and destroy all other shreds of evidence. 

19. What is there to eat around here?  Western Mer Kasp is known for it's variety of fishes and grains for loves.  Eastern regions have less of a meat portion, supplemented by more nuts and dates, and even fish eggs!

20. Any legendary lost treasures I could be looking for? This region borders on some of the oldest civilizations in recorded history of man.   Treasures abound just under the surface and in any abandoned ruins, although centuries of searching have unearthed many of them.   The one relic that has been rumored to be around, but never confirmed, is the horrific Death Wand of Kan'neer.

#RPGaDay2022 - Day 16 - What Would Be Your Perfect Game?

 Day 16.  The inevitable middle day of #RPGaDAY2022, 15 days in, 15 days to go.

The topic's been asked before, and I rarely stray from my usual answer, "What Would Be Your Perfect Game?"

The Short Answer

Session 0:  Hackmaster 4th Edition - "Everyone roll up a halfling pirate."

Seriously.

The Long Answer

The Year is 1150. It has fourteen years since the War with the Master ended.  

The life of a halfling sailor is a peculiar one.  The towns and shires within Stronghome do fund a merchant marine and a traditional navy to protect shipping interests sailing on the Mer Kasp, but it is not the preferred career.  

Halfling sailors are not in high demand, either.  With the exception of searching in small crawl spaces, or getting a responsible person to man the crow's nest, sailors of at least moderate stature are preferred.  When eccentric gnome titan was setting up a personal privateer navy over a decade ago to settle some old grudges, he showed no bias to any race, and the pay was quite attractive.   This personal armada has gone through a number of ships, and hundreds of sailors, most outright leaving, others succumbing to illness, pirate attacks, or general incompetence.  

There was a fascinating evolution of the crews over the past decade, that, for the two ships remaining, the entire crews are halfling.  It could be that the short folk tolerated some pay cuts over the years, or that the new recruits did not know what the older members had started out at.  It could be that this eccentric Gnome Titan burned too many bridges with too many folk, but so long as enough food was coming out of the galley, no halfling would complain too much, much less leave. 

Or it could be that the Halflings left, young and old, believe in Zorin Redrock's personal vendetta against the Slavers of Roark.  The Slavers had terrorized all the races and nations of the Mer Kasp for generations, enslaving whole villages, sending them to their secret cities and outposts to be sold to distant countries for unspeakable sums.  

Over the years, nations, nay alliances of nations had conducted sweeping searches for the Slavers and their key port of Roark, yet the Slaver's ships proved to powerful and elusive, most were so fanatical that they would rather kill themselves than spill their secrets, and even in death, clerics were unable to pry the secrets out while contacting the spirit world. 

It seemed unimaginable that some wackjob could succeed where massive undertakings had failed miserably, but the remaining crews, many green around the gills, felt a sense of loyalty to their employer.   Redrock rarely participated in patrols anymore, preferring to work on logistics and other behind-the-scene operations, but the crew couldn't feel anything but motivation while working alongside him.  

A recent attack on a regular pirate cutter by your ship, the Vengeance may have netted the first significant leads in years.  After a vicious boarding action, where all the pirates were killed, a map was discovered revealing a secret pirate cove.  It would not the first time such a map, or a cove were uncovered, but this one had a symbol of a speared fish marking the location, the symbol of the Slavers of Roark.

Now, the cove was much too small to be the actual city of Roark, but it's an incredible discovery, and if your planned raid nets any further goals, perhaps your team could report this directly the "Savage Admiral" himself and hopefully get personally rewarded before going on the next step of this crazy crusae.

After we wrapped up the Burning Trogs Rule! Hackmaster campaign, circa 2004, most players have been happy tying up loose ends and moving on from their adventuring careers.   For General Zorin Redrock, Plenitatory Ambassador for the Barthey Empire, Revenger of Frandor's Keep, he focused on the one failure he was not around for.   

During the last days of the Siege of Frandor's Keep, Zorin, his trusted pal Whitey, and the party's torchbearer, Coreena, left the Trogs to join the Gnome Titan Legions marching to relieve the keep.

While they were gone, the remaining party members at the time were kidnapped and almost enslaved by the Slavers of Roark.   The four members, Cecelia Darkspruce (half-elf warrior priestess of Sif), Gwendalyn Lorax, half-elf druid, Brother Thomas, a human monk, and Marek the Learned, a double invoker, all managed to escape the ship and into the City of Roark itself.    The group broke out of the city under heavy pursuit,  but with the deaths of Marek and Brother Thomas (allegedly by fire-breathing velociraptors, the other two separated, and it was months before everyone was finally reunited.  

Despite fantastic success, fame, and fortune at Frandor's Keep, Zorin has not been able to live down that he was not around to save, or possible fight with, his friends.  He's made it his mission to destroy the Slavers by any means necessary.    

Of course, finding an elusive slaving ring that's been around for hundreds of years is one thing.  Trying to do it without sailing experience was problematic.  He's lost most of his fortune, most of his ships, hundreds of men, and possibly the years of respect his previous career had garnered him. 

But those slavers will pay. 

The true GM pitch:  Players will start as halfling sailors on Zorin's ship, Vengeance, prepping for the biggest raid of their career.  If successful, they just might find out some information on the Slavers of Roark, and with that Zorin may have to get the band back together to level Roark, and any other outpost they discover.   

This is my dream campaign, that allows the crunchiness of Hackmaster and a chance to get everyone together (probably online), recruit my other players who hadn't participated in the Burning Trogs to fill out the ranks, and finish A1-4 with righteous vengeance and furious anger.

(Trogs Redux) #8 - Night's Dark Terror

Phinious Whistelteets, a half-elf bard of Riffilin blood, trying to live up to his merchant family standards. His charming personality was going to get him a number of enchanted and rare items in a deal with the prominent Nubian merchant in Verge. Of course, his fear of light war horses and his deadly allergy to cheese was proving problematic on this journey.

Arnold, another half-elf bard of far more considerable blandness

"Keebs," a Gnome Titan BattleMage, and frighteningly the only competent fighter in the group.

Froedrick Cobblepot, a Gnome Cleric of worshiping the halfing goddess Yondalla. Very recently retired.

28th of HexDec, 1142 - Village of Verge, Kingdom of Marakeikos  

The group was approached by a local, Stephan Sukiskyn.  Representing the interests of his brother, Pytor, he was looking for solid adventurers looking to make solid coin escorting a herd of all-white horses to the elven settlement of Riffilian.  The caravan of horses began in seven days.

29th of HexDec, 1142 - Village of Verge, Kingdom of Marakeikos

With Froedrich quietly relaxing in his new-found retirement, the party needed to hire the services of other adventurers for healing, and perhaps some spellcasting might by helpful.  

Without much discussion, they picked up a cleric of the illegal Cult of Halav, named Danut Boichev.  

Danut

The search for a spell-caster was even more daunting.  They ultimately settled on a surface-living albino Drow named "White Thunder" Gomez. 

"White Thunder"

35th of HexDec, 1142 - Homestead of Sukiskyn, Kingdom of Marakeikos

The party rushed to reach the homestead in the last few flecks of dusk, only to encounter cries of battles and flames over the trees.  A massive goblin raid on the homestead was being conducted. Our heroes rushed to the battered gate, ignoring a pursuing pack of dire wolves with goblin riders.  There, they caught their breath for only a moment, as the portions of the palisade were being breached by yet another group of these endless goblins. 

36th of HexDec, 1142 - Homestead of Sukiskyn, Village of Verge, Kingdom of Marakeikos

Overnight, they aided the defense of the homestead, fighting off wave after wave of this goblin attack.  Finally getting a chance to introduce themselves to Pyotr, he explained numerous goblin tribes had been raiding numerous homesteads in recent weeks. One of the tribes stole their 42 white horses, pending sale in Riffilian, and double the pay would be offered just for the recovery of them.  An additional share would be paid if the safe recovery of Stephan could be made.  He disappeared during the attack, and Pytor was afraid he was held prisoner... or worse. 

2nd of SeptDec, 1142 - The Wildlands, Kingdom of Marakeikos

With the help of two of the homesteaders, 32 of the 42 white horses were recovered and returned back to Sukiskyn.  The party had dispatched most of the Yellowfang tribe, but in interrogating the survivors, discovered than Stephan might very well be the guest of the Wolfskull tribe.   As a great surprise, Froerick quickly cancelled his retirement and had arrived at the homestead with a new companion, a Gnomeling cleric named Or'elle Boffintoe.  Pyotr agreed to half the profits of the horses, in return for the safe recovery of his brother.  

3rd of SeptDec, 1142 - The Yegenev Homestead, Kingdom of Marakeikos

A day later they arrived at the Yegenev homstead, burnt to the ground. After Orel and Keebs debated a deity's ability to direct his clerics on hunches (or talking chipmunks), they moved into the deep woods.

The weather turned bad, freezing rain and the occasional gale force wind. They encountered a half a dozen giant vampire bats, followed a few rounds later by four large goblins being led by an even larger goblin wielding a two-handed sword and giant white wolf that had a freezing breath attack. They fought off the bats and goblins, but allowed the giant goblin and wolf to get away.

  

8th of SeptDec, 1142 - The Petrified Forest of the Wildlands, Kingdom of Marakeikos

Inside a petrified forest, sat a ruined keep, now the home of the Wolfskulls.  

The forest was completely petrified, even the leaves on the trees were turned to stone, the underbrush and a few wild animals as well (Orel snatched up a stone bunny to perform "miracles" on later in his preaching career).

The six had fared well thus far, but the wear and tear of combat finally caught up to him.   Another five vampire bats attacked them and they ripped the party apart.  Phineas' knee was damaged beyond the power of healing anyone possessed.  A later encounter with some of the Wolfskull goblins saw poor Froedrich's skull smashed in.  The captured (and tortured?) goblins provided the location of the where Gregor was being held, Xitiqua.  

Unfortunately for the survivors in the party, the inhabitants of the lair were hobgoblins, and better armed at that.   While the group killed many, encounters with jade statues, and other accessories for the goblin Warlord Vlack were too much for them.  

They never made it back to the homestead, much less Verge.  Stephan was never recovered, however all attacks and rumors of attacks by this group, these cultists, simply seemed to vanish.  

The goblins, working for this Cult of Janus, had obtained ten white horses for the leaders diabolical rituals, as well as a number of ancient Traldaran tapestries that had been hanging at the homestead.  Combined with other tapestries that they had collected, revealed a hidden valley north of their headquarters in Xitiqa.  With a small army of the remaining hobgoblins and gnolls, Illyana meandered through the mountains until finding the entrance to the valley.  They encountered short, stocky human Tralda, and the dog-face Hukkuta.  When the evil visage of Janus appeared, with all her power on display, both Tralda and dog-man bowed down in front of her.  

The heroes had saved Verge but at what cost for this civilization?  And worst yet, no one knew where this berserk Janus was, save a certain Druidess of Verge, and her elderly Pixe-Fairie companion....

GM Notes:  And with that, my third Hackmaster campaign, the one to reignite the remains of the first one, fizzled in a desolate goblin lair, far north of Cloudland Castle.  While it was not a success, it did set up a number of characters for their post-Burning Trogs lives, especially one particular Gnome Titan who has yet to have many mentions in the preludes to Burning Trogs Redux.  

The other benefit the campaign TPK was the transition to the long running Call of the Cthulhu 1920's campaign.  Like the original Burning Trogs Rule!, the storyline has been completed, but I did a much better job setting up 1927-28 if we happen to return to it one day.

I did find some notes on the survivors:

• Clarkos will return to Vadevicsny and help train the baronial militia. He will not adventure again. He will return the land gift to the baroness.
• Lorrigaard will establish a shrine to Echellon in Verge and, by 1147, establish a formal church in Sulescu.
• For Galdor Melwasul ("Strom"), the mad elf survived the orcs and is settling his land deed along the NE edge of town, using the underground lair of the the orcs in B11 as their compound of destruction towards the orkin races!

My notes of the campaign mention the wounds to Froedrich and Phineas.  Phineas was simply a level 12 crit to the knee, which hindered him and obviously the group as well.  Froedrich was hit by a level 17 critical to the side of his unprotected head. How bad is a level 17 crit? How about 4x damage, a broken skull, -7 to hit, -7 to Dex -5 movement, immediately fall unconscious and suffer a severe concussion and obtains the flaws migraine.

That was the beginning of the end for the campaign.

Next: A return to the Star Wars d6 campaign, with episode #23, a relaxing "Holiday" TO BE POSTED 12/14.

For the Burning Trogs Redux #9? I'll link it if it ever happens, but I will say it might involve midgets and a rowboat.

(Trogs Redux) #7 - A Quiet Return from House Emerald

The "heroes" of Verge:

Phinious Whistelteets, a half-elf bard of Riffilin blood, trying to live up to his merchant family standards. His charming personality was going to get him a number of enchanted and rare items in a deal with the prominent Nubian merchant in Verge. Of course, his fear of light war horses and his deadly allergy to cheese was proving problematic on this journey.

Arnold, another half-elf bard of far more considerable blandness

Froedrick Cobblepot, a Gnome Cleric of worshiping the halfing goddess Yondalla.

"Keebs," a Gnome Titan BattleMage, and frighteningly the only competent fighter in the group.

20th of HexDec, 1142 - Village of Verge, Kingdom of Marakeikos

Our "heroes" returned to Verge from their caravan duty with a minimum of fanfare.   Something happened on their journey, that much was obvious.  The party came back sporting some new equipment, courtesy of the legendary Gnome Titan House Emerald:

Phinious - a magic shortsword

Froedrick - magical chain mail that fit a gnome (!) and an enchanted footman's mace.

Arnold - a magic shortsword

Keebs - an enchanted dagger and a ring of defense

27th of HexDec, 1142 - Village of Verge, Kingdom of Marakeikos

Within the week, details of the caravan job emerged from the drunken party members' lips each night.

The caravan was basically a wagon driven by a lone kobold going to dwarven settlements in Argivia. Allegedly, the group (almost) peacefully subdued a riot of refugees coming from Barthey, and defeated a pack of orcs who tried to ambush them.  It had been a set-up arranged by the kobold, so the group decided to hunt the creature down to the ends of the Georic.  

Searching for the treacherous kobold, they came upon an abandoned manor for House Smaragdi (Emerald) gnomes. House Smaragdi's Gnome Titans were the finest warriors of the ancient lands, defending the Argivians against the hordes from Parthia (and Yarbay). It was the climatic battle of that war that produced the fabled Fromm Tyre swords, the ultimate gnomish weapons. 

Something like this may happened to House Emerald.  The stories were varied, yet quite sketchy.

In their time searching the manor, none those swords were to found inside, but the group did find many documents relating to House, and (at Keeb's insistence), sent them by courier to House Emerald in the Gnomish City-States. Rewards were obtained, curses were lifted from the manor, and Froedrich threw in the towel, claiming his adventuring was driving him slowly mad. 

He kept the armor and mace on sheer principle.

GM Notes:  I had absolutely no data on this adventure when I initially compiled this Actual Play.  I had copied some data over to a Blogger Page Draft some time later, and when I read it, I uncovered exactly the data you see above.  

Next: #8 - Night's Dark Terror

(Trogs Redux) #6 Rumors and The Near Innuendo

The "heroes" of Verge:

Phinious Whistelteets, a half-elf bard of Riffilin blood, trying to live up to his merchant family standards. His charming personality was going to get him a number of enchanted and rare items in a deal with the prominent Nubian merchant in Verge. Of course, his fear of light war horses and his deadly allergy to cheese was proving problematic on this journey.
Arnold, another half-elf bard of far more considerable blandness
Froedrick Cobblepot, a Gnome Cleric of worshiping the halfing goddess Yondalla.
"Keebs," a Gnome Titan BattleMage, and frighteningly the only competent fighter in the group.

 
17th of HexDec, 1142 - Village of Verge, Kingdom of Marakeikos

Great celebrations took place in Verge once word of the party's attack on Illyan's Keep (now referred to as the Citadel of the Cult of Janus) was confirmed, but there were already fractures in the group.  Clarkos was first to leave, taking his share and heading back to Vadevincsy.  Lorigaard tried to work with the group a few days more, but left one morning for Danaan before the others woke up after a night of hard partying.  

22nd of HepDec, 1142 - Village of Verge, Kingdom of Marakeikos 

In the downtime between adventures, a wealth of rumors and knowledge came up will staying at The Burning Ox Inn (The inn owned by the halfling “Mayor” Sam the Wise):

1. Piotr Suikyn, brother of a wealthy horse merchant, is looking for guards for a horse caravan near Celsior.
2. Caravan jobs to Sulescu. Most traffic leaves either south or north, so the Pcs would have to walk back to Verge (or anywhere else).
3. Caravan duty into Argivia is becoming more and more difficult as Barthey refugees turn to crime and violence to survive. Good coin can be earned, though…
4. Of course, better, nay, phenomenal coin can be earned by those courageous enough to venture through Barthey and into Parthia, whose lands are in the control of the Master. Soon can become instantly wealthy with just one trip. Others simply die a horrible death.

Interesting goings on in Marakeikos:

1. Mirros, the capital city is rife with adventuring possibilities. The largest city in the Kingdom is a major port and full of colorful characters.
2. Celsior: The keystone of the kingdom, Celsior has less adventures within its walls and more possibilities for business contact.
3. Califon (and the western frontier) The Queens opening of the orcish frontier to homesteaders has brought in an up swell of people into the area, good and bad. 
4. Vadevincsny: agents from Vlachia are rumored to be crossing the border and laying the seeds of dissent. Good thing the Baroness has returned from the Crusade against the Master! Too bad she didn’t kill the Master!

A regular night at the Burning Ox

Possible leads from the Burning Trogs, the famed adventuring company headquartered in Verge:

1. The old fort west of town, now named the Citadel of the Cult of Janus,  has been cleared out, but the most renowned castle in the area is Cloudland, located southwest of the Verge. Rumored to originally be a citadel for the Ancient Ferasean Empire, over the last few hundred years, it’s also rumored to have housed goblins, frost giants, gnomes, dwarves, evil warlocks, and it’s most recent occupants a group of heavily organized grunge elves. Long before the Trogs settled their organization in Verge, they cleared out the castle and the first few levels of the dungeons below. Stories the Trogs tell vary, but it appears that the damage from the foray was harsh, losing a large number of allies, and forcing Mutumbo and Nina (the owners of the current trading post) to return early. The queen’s military advisors recommend seizing the castle to make a much needed fort along the southern border, but they have neither the plan nor the manpower to do so. The group that takes the castle could very well sell it to the kingdom and be set for life. Continual surveillance of the area indicates the grunge elves still operate as they did 10 years ago, with small but well trained forces manning the castle’s towers. 
2. Just for all to know, leads to the appearance of Janus are few if not completely non-existant
3. Military couriers from the Gnomish City-States arrived to the Trog’s HQ with a package. Head Trogs are quiet on the contents, but rumors within the underlings say it was probably for Zorin Redrock, the greatest Trog warrior, who is still fighting in Yarbay against the Master. Zorin spent a few years with the Gnomish City-States Navy, trying to find those pirates/slavers who dishonored the Trogs over eight years ago. Revenge may be soon coming if the package is of any great import.

And with all that data, the party hired on as caravan guards into Argivia and Barthey.

Next: #7  The Return from House Emerald

(Trogs Redux) #5 The Queen's Harvest

The new heroes of Verge:

Phinious Whistelteets, a half-elf bard of Riffilin blood, trying to live up to his merchant family standards. His charming personality was going to get him a number of enchanted and rare items in a deal with the prominent Nubian merchant in Verge. Of course, his fear of light war horses and his deadly allergy to cheese was proving problematic on this journey.
Arnold, another half-elf bard of far more considerable blandness
Froedrick Cobblepot, a Gnome Cleric of worshiping the halfing goddess Yondalla.
"Keebs," a Gnome Titan BattleMage, and frighteningly the only competent fighter in the group.
Clarkos Metropoulos - Former Baronial Guard of Vadecvinscy who wields a pole arm
Lorigaard Moosaka - Neurotic priestess of Echelon, the god of the ocean, and her pet pigeon.

10th of HepDec, 1142 - Ligere's Tower, Village of Verge, Kingdom of Marakeikos

Upon clearing out the basement of the Wizard Ligere, our heroes were met my his wife, Marie, and an elven woman, Gwendolyn Oakland, the Druidess of Verge... and possibly all of Marakeikos.

Gwendolyn Oakland, Druidess of Verge

After dealing with the unwelcome intruders that infiltrated the cellar, Gwendolyn got straight to the point.

"The queen referred to in the note you brought is known to me. Her name is Ilyanna and she is a fighter of some ability.  She is an intensely chaotic, and a vicious and evil person."

"It is clear that she is trying to raise and army to attack Verge, and is possibly quite far into her plans.  If she manages to conquer Verge, it might be the political motivation to earn a title and grant of the surrounding land by the Crown.  Such is the way of politics in this realm."

"There of numerous ancient keeps dotting the countryside. We've narrowed the location down to two.  We'll assign some local militia to scout out the location.  If you're willing to scout out the other, and perhaps harass the troops, it would be greatly appreciated.

Of course, the party volunteered their services.  

12th of HepDec, 1142 - Ilyanna's Keep, Village of Verge, Kingdom of Marakeikos

Ilynanna's Keep was built into the side of of the mountain, quite secure, but creating some odd blind spots for a small group to approach undetected.  With a quick review of the dozens of goblins and larger monsters moving around, it was quickly decided to distract the guards and infiltrate the Keep.  

Lorigaard and Clarkos drew the attention of the tower guards and some goblins at the gate.  They lured the gate goblins away, allowing the others to take advantage of another blind spot, slay the remaining goblins inside the gate, and surprise the hobgoblins in the towers.   

In a stroke of rare tactical genius, the group unwisely alerted a group of orcs from the Dark Web tribe to their existence, but in the subsequent chase, stowed away inside the gatehouse and trapped them outside the walls.   

With a substantial part of the garrison trapped outside, the party decided to set as much on fire as possible, only engaging in goblins, hobgoblins, or even orcs in small groups of three or four.  

Following Keeb's lead, the group went into the main building of the Keep, and into its dungeon.  Outside of a violent Ogre, they didn't encounter much  in the way of resistance.  When the hobgoblins finally discovered the Dark Web Orcs on the other side of the gate, and details on the treachery, a quick sweep of the grounds led them to the basement.  The party had one trick up its sleeve

Despite trapping themselves, they secured themselves in a cell, and realized the ogre's pet owlbear.  After sniffing and screeching at the party, it turned its attention on the humanoids closing in.  It was not anywhere close to a fair fight. 

This allowed the party plenty of time to search the throne room and personal chambers of Ilyanna and her underlings, but the chaos allowed them enough time to flee... if they were in the Keep at all.

14th of HepDec, 1142 - Ilyanna's Keep, Village of Verge, Kingdom of Marakeikos

The wilderness was full of evil on the way home, but ultimately the group met up with two very disappointed individuals in Clarkos and Lorigaard.  They all returned to Ligere's Tower to update them on their success.  Gwendolyn was quite pleased with their daring raid, and troubled by Ilyanna's elusiveness.  Most worrisome was not the details of the group's foray, the goat-head imagery, the half-eaten human bodies used to placate the monster, rather a few documents left in the keep, by a Lieutenant of Ilyannna's named Merkul.   Ilyanna was not the mastermind of the invasion.  That title was reserved to a small god of tremendous power and great anger, whom everyone served unconditionally.  Merkul at least showed some contempt to his boss, naming the whole arrangement a dangerous cult.

The Cult of Janus.

Next: #6 - Rumors and the Near Innuendo

(Trogs Redux) #4 Ligere's Castle

This session the heroes are:

Phinious Whistelteets, a half-elf bard of Riffilin blood, trying to live up to his merchant family standards. His charming personality was going to get him a number of enchanted and rare items in a deal with the prominent Nubian merchant in Verge. Of course, his fear of light war horses and his deadly allergy to cheese was proving problematic on this journey.
Arnold, another half-elf bard of far more considerable blandness

Froedrick Cobblepot, a Gnome Cleric of worshiping the halfing goddess Yondalla.
"Keebs," a Gnome Titan BattleMage, and frighteningly the only competent fighter in the group.
Clarkos Metropoulos - Former Baronial Guard of Vadecvinscy who wields a pole arm
Lorigaard Moosaka - Neurotic priestess of Echelon, the god of the ocean, and her pet pigeon.

9th of HepDec, 1142 - Village of Verge, Kingdom of Marakeikos
Before the p8arty left for Ligere's Tower, Arnold and Phineous decided to have a 'sing-off' to determine who would get the magical chain mail. Arnold sang something between a famed ballad and a song patterned after "Yo Mama" jokes. Phineous simply choked on his wines from the content of Phineous' song and could not continue (GM Notes: He rolled a 99),

After being greeted by the butler they were led to a sitting room where they were introduced to Mrs. Marie Ligere, wife of the wizard. She informed the group that Ligere had died more than seven months ago. However she could locate the people he would normally deal with within a day or so. She did propose the group help her clean out the basement. It seems there were two items that she needed retrieve from her husbands laboratory and she didn't go down herself. If the group could get those items to her by tomorrow night, everything else downstairs was theirs to keep.

The party descended a metal spiral staircase, went through a door, and proceeded down a hallway, only to have the floor collapse into a pit. Damage was light, and Keebs was lifted up to attach a rope to the door so everyone could climb up. As the knot was tied, a bell rang somewhere within the dungeon and a large man appears on the far side of the pit, looks at Keebs and stretches his arms across the pit to smack the Gnome Titan. Then, a small metallic orb with a spinning blade around its center comes flying down the corridor and starts attacking Arnold who was climbing up the rope. The little metallic sphere couldn't penetrate Arnold Magic Chain Mail (it only did 1 pt of damage per hit) and turned it's attentions to Phineas, still stuck in the pit. Phineas destroyed the sphere for 26 points of damage with a dagger (Most Damage Award) and the rest of the group dispatched Stretch Armstrong.

After some healing, cursing, and Froedrich changing his pants, the party discovered the passageway to the spiral staircase was now blocked off by a huge stone wall. The party pressed forward investigating the room that stretch came from and then entering a fancy tiled bathroom. Keebs had the misfortune of entering the bathroom first and a green slime fell on his head. Keebs dashed to the bathtub to wash it off only to find no water in the tub. Froedrich remembered how to kill a slime and set Keebs on fire, which set off his multiple personality (Angry Dwarf). As the slime disappeared, Keebs started talking in a Scottish accent and slugged Froedrich across the jaw. He then realized the other characters in the room where putzes and left the room (shirtless, as the slime ate the leather armor). The party watched "Weird Keebs" turn right, then heard a door open and slam as Keebs casually walked past the doorway to the bathroom. A few seconds later, two more of the metallic spheres went flying down the hallway. A few moments later they flew into the bathroom. Dispatching them quickly, they found Keebs unconscious in the hallway (eep no spells!) with no memory of what happened. He did grab a plush human-sized bathrobe to keep him warm (which he threw off before each ensuing combat, turning him into a bare-chested gnomish pugilist.)

Things sure didn't get better, going into the room "Dwarf Keebs" had peeked into they found a huge study. Scrounging up some Vellum and a few random books,

Arnold took a grappling hook and rope and ripped out the drawers of the study desk. This set off the paralyzing gas trap which caught only... poor Froedrich, the others ran out of the room to let the room clear before they retrieved the cleric.

Clearing out that corner, the group moved to the next portion. They came upon a lounge with a magical fireplace, comfy leather chairs, and a huge picture of Ligere. (DM Note: I believe it was Steve who asked, "Is Bruce Campbell in here playing the piano?" So now the portrait of Ligere was Bruce Campbell with a short white beard. ")

The next room was a dining room, complete with chandelier. One round in the room, the chandelier began shooting out bolts of light, potentially blinding party members. As that occurred, a side door swung open and three zombies attacked. Phineas was blinded by a bolt and proceeded to grab a chair to attack the zombies, only to crack it over the head of.... Froedrich. Froedrich then ran out of the room to parts unknown. After dispatching the zombies the party recovered a now-disgruntled Froedrich, calmed him down and proceeded. After rummaging through the kitchen the party found a stairwell leading down and an adjacent with a plaque that read "Do Not Enter! Guardian is Dangerous and Very Hostile - L" They decided to avoid them... After finding a pantry full of cheese (Phineas is deathly allergic to cheese) the group was attacked by a pack rats, and Froedrich locked himself in the pantry "I ain't taking this shit anymore" The group called it a night, again calming the temper-tantrum gnome and called it a night.


10th of HepDec, 1142 - Village of Verge, Kingdom of Marakeikos
The next day, after much needed healing, they headed down the stairwell to... a coal room. Of course they found a secret door, got waylaid by some zombies and got into the inner sanctum. This is where the shit began hitting the fan. The first room they entered was full of alchemy supplies and material components, as well as a old mage who looked a lot like Bruce Campbell.

The mage just yelled "What the fuck?!!" tossed his worktable to the side and charged the party. Keebs ran off, Froedrich soon followed. Phineas took an egg out of his pocket, slammed it in Arnold's face, and finished casting his (Shift Blame) spell. Unfortunately not only did the wizard fall for it, Froedrich did as well. As the party fought the wizard (who fought with his fists), Froedrich futily attacked Arnold's back with his flail, cursing him out, "He's not fuckin' dead. Die you prick, just die!!!"

Luckily for the group, this image of Ligere was some sort of guardian simulacrum, and they could continue.

Froedrich wouldn't talk to Arnold for the rest of the adventure.

The next encounter would nearly cripple the party, Hoo-ray Rust Monster! The monster took out Froedrich's armor and weapon and Arnold's magical chain mail. The rust monster then chased them around the lower levels. The party managed to stall the 300-lb creature by blockading a doorway with the doors that the rust monster had eaten the hinges off of. Shirtless Keebs started to wrestle the monster then tied a rope around it and then tied the other end through the hole for the door knob in another door. That kept the rust monster at bay...for a while.

 Without his prized magic armor, and a magic longsword which failed his saving throw and got cracked the previous day, Nichols went suicidal, making Arnold charge through the last door of the lower level. The party fell upon another party of adventurers: A dwarf fighter in plate, a cocky human fighter, a grel mage and a crazed, drooling gnomish cleric. The mage blinded Phineas with a darkness spell, the human fighter chased shirtless Froedrich actually knocking him out. Arnold and Keebs took out the dwarf, blind Phineas was more effective, wrestling the closest person and then stabbing them repeatedly. Keebs turned to the mage and down to his last two hitpoints lost imitative to a magic-missile-casting grel. At the last moment, Froedrich dove out of nowhere and disrupted the spell (Froedrich had reached his low pain threshold, passed out, and no one could hear his whining over the combat.)

The party dispatched the rest, save the mage who Keebs treated as his own private Guantanamo Bay. In this area the group found the tiara, as well as a pile of magic items. After healing and performing another comical act with the rust monster, they went to the upstairs room with the sign and pretty handedly destroyed a gargoyle, even though Arnold was still at death's door.

They found a secret entrance which led to the servant's quarters in the tower upstairs. There they met Mrs. Ligere, Gwendolynn Oakland (pregnant leader of the Burning Trogs), and one dead butler.

The butler had let in the other uninvited adventurer, with hopes he would just take a share of treasure and handsomely retire far away. Mrs Ligere discovered this treachery, luckily with Gwendolyn already in attendance.

Next: #5 The Queen's Harvest

(Trogs Redux) #3 - The Tomb of Petrides

5th of HepDec, 1142 - Village of Verge, Kingdom of Marakeikos

Phinious Whistelteets, a half-elf bard of Riffilin blood, trying to live up to his merchant family standards. His charming personality was going to get him a number of enchanted and rare items in a deal with the prominent Nubian merchant in Verge. Of course, his fear of light war horses and his deadly allergy to cheese was proving problematic on this journey.
Arnold, another half-elf bard of far more considerable blandness
Froedrick Cobblepot, a Gnome Cleric of worshiping the halfing goddess Yondalla.
"Keebs," a Gnome Titan BattleMage, and frighteningly the only competent fighter in the group.
Clarkos Metropoulos - Former Baronial Guard of Vadecvinscy who wields a pole arm
Lorigaard Moosaka - Neurotic priestess of Echelon, the god of the ocean, and her pet pigeon.

With the voulge-wielding fighter from Vadevicsny and a strange cleric of Echelon, the party waded through hordes of undead in the lower levels. It had been ascertained that the zombies were all fresh, created from recent kills. Any leaders, or perhaps a necromancer to create the zombies, had escaped by other means. On a corpse that was being prepared to be turned into a zombie, they found a letter to the wizard Ligere warning of some crazed queen planning on attacking Verge....

With that disappointment, the party was surprised, as their recent kills, including an Orkin wardawg descended into the lower levels in undead form..  The party was able to defeat them, but it was assured that any evil doers got away.

Well, shoot, that guy's not in the dungeon....

Next: #4 - Ligere's Castle

(Trogs Redux) #2 - Two New Adventurers Passing Through

Phinious Whistelteets, a half-elf bard of Riffilin blood, trying to live up to his merchant family standards. His charming personality was going to get him a number of enchanted and rare items in a deal with the prominent Nubian merchant in Verge. Of course, his fear of light war horses and his deadly allergy to cheese was proving problematic on this journey.

Arnold, another half-elf bard of far more considerable blandness

Froedrick Cobblepot, a Gnome Cleric of worshiping the halfing goddess Yondalla, made even more amusing by his ramblings on how the halflings "stole" the one true god from the Gnomish pantheon generations ago.

"Keebs," a Gnome Titan BattleMage, and frighteningly the only competent fighter in the group.

4th of HepDec 1142, Village of Verge, Kingdom of Marakeikos
Returning to Verge with the High Priest, Yuri, the party became minor celebrities. After days of celebration and recovery, Yuri called them to the temple.

"Clearing out the orcs only solves a short-term problem," the cleric explained, "Not only will someone, or something else filled that emptiness, but I know that there are deeper corridors, and if my short adventuring career taught me anything, it's that deepe corridors next further experience for young heroes."

Assuming the worst was further down in that cave, the party agreed to look for "fresh blood" to join the party ranks. Many favorable adventurers had come and gone while they agreed to help save Yuri, Only two new adventurers appeared far-more competent than when"Strom" showed up in town to help.
Clarkos Metropoulos, a retired Baronial Guard from the far northern Barony of Vadevicsny. His family was forced to join the resistance when Baron Gustav died and nefarious pretenders tried to ascend the throne.

Clarkos

During the War with the Master, humanoids armies overwhelmed Vadevicsny and it was the brave exploits of Governor-General Cecelia Darkspruce that finally vanquished the evil Baron Edric. Clarkos volunteered to join the Governor-General's expeditionary force. With the Barony safe, his family could finally return after many years. Clarkos served in the military with distinction, taking part in the invasion of Vlachia during the Black Eagle War, before earning his role in the true Barional Guard.
With his service fulfilled, he retired and decided to take a shot and become an adventurer. He arrived in Verge with a small backpack and the following items:

• His voulge from his early days as a Guardsman
• His ceremonial padded armor (treat as regular padded)
• His chainmail coif 
• A donkey name "Kimona"

A lengthy vetting process in the inn involving a number of rounds of drinks also pulled another tasty morsel: Clarkos was in possession of a document which proved ownership of a few acres of wilderness near the Village of Verge in southern Marakeikos. He wasn't interested in selling it off, rather trying trade for some valuable magic items.

Coming from Danaan, was Lorigaard Mooska, an adherent of Echelon, a Rogue God of the Sea with his philosophy of the Three-Pronged Trident of Life.

Lorigaard

Lorigaard brought little to the operation, besides her clerical healing, a pack goat name "Little Octavius," and Pietro the Pigeon. She also made unsubstantiated claims that she could influence and control most animals. That could be an advantageous thing, but concept of Clarkos' pole arm and her mighty Trident in the lower dungeon seemed most advantageous.

Next: #3 - The Tomb of Petrides

(Trogs Redux) #1 The Festival of King Halav

It's the Year 1142, Seventy Years after the Third Ferasean Empire was formed, only to collapse forty years later. Six years after the Burning Trogs brought peace to the continent by uniting the forces of man, elf, dwarf, and gnome against the hordes of The Master.

The PCs
Galdor Melwasul, a male drow with a deranged look in his twitching eye. Years of fighting orcs intruding on the Shadowlands has left a strong racial hatred of the creatures, and a head injury that makes him force people to call him "Strom." In a convoluted last will and testament, he inherited a home somewhere on the outskirts of Verge, in the Kingdom of Marakeikos. With the growing crowd of traveler journeying to attend the Festival of Halav he tagged along with a group of adventurers for added protection:

Phinious Whistelteets, a half-elf bard of Riffilin blood, trying to live up to his merchant family standards. His charming personality was going to get him a number of enchanted and rare items in a deal with the prominent Nubian merchant in Verge. Of course, his fear of light war horses and his deadly allergy to cheese was proving problematic on this journey.

Arnold, another half-elf bard of far more considerable blandness

Froedrick Cobblepot, a Gnome Cleric of worshiping the halfing goddess Yondalla, made even more amusing by his ramblings on how the halflings "stole" the one true god from the Gnomish pantheon generations ago. But be aware, if one would push the theological matter with a duel, he would immediately give in. (Low Pain Threshold, Wuss of Heart, and a psychotic aversion to halflings)

"Keebs," a Gnome Titan BattleMage, and frighteningly the only competent fighter in the group.

1st of HepDec 1142, Village of Verge, Kingdom of Marakeikos.
The group arrived in Verge late at the night before the great festival of Halav, most made small talk with Mayor Tom, the innkeeper at the Burning Ox (except Froedrick... damn halfling bartender). They managed to get sleeping spots in the common room but were they snagged a common room and were startled in the pre-dawn hours by a great commotion. The church of Halav in town was in flames and all the clergy killed or taken by Brigand Orcs... (cue the Drow complaints that orcs were good for nothing but target practice).

The head priest of Verge, Yuri "the Healing Guy" had been taken and two search parties had already left to look for him. The father of one of the slain clergy, an older man named Janner, offered to track the orcs for the party, so long as they brought him swift justice....

After a four hour hike in the woods, the group arrived near a series of well-known orc caves. The drow's battle cries eliminated any element of surprise, and a purely comedic combat against three orcs ensued. After just about every combatant drops their usual weapons, then scrambled to pick up anything, the bards were wielding an orcsish pole arms, the drow was running around with an empty crossbow, complete with sounds effects, and cowering behind a large rock, was a gnome cleric than that soiled himself.

Realizing that speed was the only option, 'Keebs' deducted the location of the Orc Chieftain, the Shaman, and two lieutenants.

sans one Orc Lieutenant

The combat was long and arduous, with Phineas ultimately hiding in the same cell Yuri the high priest was in. Yuri (and Phineas) were retrieved upon the party's victory, and they used the drow's racist ramblings to distract the orcs and allow the rest to get back to Verge.

The party returned to Verge to great great fanfare, and after a quick nap, Yuri could begin the Festival of Halav.

So far the group is hesitant to return back to the cave, without back-up. They have met Mutumbo and Nina, as well as a very aloof Turvel who id'ed they're magic items for a small fee. The drow still hasn't shown up in town....

4th of HepDec, 1142 - Village of Verge
The brave adventurers were wary to return to the orc caves and explore further. The drow had been last seen being chased by six orc brigands and an orkin wardawg, so despite the decrease in 'mud-people' comments. It also meant the group was in desperate need of (non-halfling) fighter types, and was desperately be searching for some replacements/additions.

DM Notes: This is the start of a "lost" Hackmaster game I ran after I moved back into the area, circa 2007-2008. I love Hackmaster to death, but it is not suited for once-a-month gaming sessions. We did get to revisit and expand upon portions of Marakeikos that the Trogs once traipsed across, but at the end of this campaign, I turned to Call of Cthulhu for a much better fit for our limited style of play, and the rest is history.

Galdor the drow was the last time I've ever seen my old high school friend "Crazy Darryl." Definitely all D&D nerd stereotypes cranked up to 11. One-hundred percent certified crazy. I still apologize to my friend Brian for driving him up to my house to game, it was strange. So, with that being said, it's understandable that he wanted to play a drow who acted like Strom Thurmond in his Dixiecrat days.

Last known communication with Darryl, he was traveling in Albania.

Next: #2 - Old Problems, New Help.

The Christmas That Keeps on Giving

Thanks to COVID, the cuts at the Postal Service, and additional COVID-related staffing issues at the Postal Service, this holiday season has been a series of one delay after another.  On Monday, we received three different packages from three different companies.  All were Christmas presents ordered PRIOR to Black Friday.  At least Amazon has the decency to cancel an order at the last second, rather than leave us hanging.  

Also caught up in the USPS nightmare was my sister's big box o' presents to the family.  Priority Mail from Philadelphia to Wilkes-Barre?  $18 and TWO WEEKS delivery time.  

The good news is that the wait was worth it.  Everyone loved their items, and I was colored intrigued 

Field Notes produces a whole range of handy little memo and note books.  The graph and dot-graph paper books are intriguing enough, but I received sets of their 5e Gaming Journals.  

Knowing my forte, I immediately opened up the Game Master Journal.  Within the 64-page journal are pre-printed pages for campaign conception, deities, local Kingdoms, adventure recaps, and general scheming.   The Burning Trogs Redux has been calling to me recently, and one journal I will use to review and consolidate all my notes, if indeed, things ever get off the ground.  The second journal?  I'll stash that away for another concept...

In a world of online gaming and Roll20 character sheets, the concept of a 5e Character Journal is somewhat lost, but as a hand-held history of everything from concept to creation to level-by-level documentation (if you dig that stuff.), to pages and pages of space for notes and character development.

And yes, there's two pages for a character sheet data.  It's pretty sweet.  

I also received a set of field notes own pencil line, an a pair of of the dot-graph note books, great for dungeons, maps, or setting up your own.  Character sheet for a game other than 5e.  

Now if I can only get my sister (and brother-in-law's) gifts to the post office.   Like I've said for the last ten months, it's been a long year.

Future Dispatches from Long Ago

I'm so done with global warming.  We've received triple the normal amount of rain for May, so between the sump pump working overtime and the grass taller than hobbit every week, I'm ready for the drought they were dreading in April.

While I waited out the most recent thunderstorm, I finally completed my biggest writing bugbear, episode #69 of the Ballad of the Pigeon God.  I know #59 just hit this week but *spoilers* I'm working on coordinating the big finale into coherent batches, all while keeping track of a few dozen people/entities/groups.  As I was gearing up to finish the entries in the journal, I had predicted 60 weeks of posts, but even now, episode #69 was split yet again.  I would not be surprised if the last post of this run reaches #75.

Seventy-five reaches the end of Summer, so the question can be raised, "ViscountEric, what will you fill Tuesday mornings in?"

My Summer at work appears to be much busier in years past, so I don't know how much writing I can slide in during lazy afternoon.  My pending concept is tentatively titled Lost Dispatches from a Distant Age.  The goal is to compile, in my normally dry, redundant prose, what exactly happened in my high school D&D campaign (still in the World of Georic).  After 28 years or so, I'm going to keep things vague, using an extremely young educated traveler documenting the deeds the of the heroes. or the aftermath of their actions.   This will allow me to place certain towns and adventures on the "new" (only 18 years old) map of Georic.

With Dispatches, I'll be able to expand into the other campaigns between high school and the Pigeon God.  Heck, perhaps I'll figure out better titles than "Army Campaign", the "Dreamscape  Learn D&D Campaign",  "The Evil Doers Campaign, and even the two session D&D game I ran in Basic Training, Fort Jackson, 1992.

The Dispatches project should create a huge buffer for me to develop Adventures in Gulluvia into a full storyline (separate from the Georic stories).  I've got eight episodes of the campaign somewhere between outlined and completely finished.  Fortunately, we've been pretty consistent playing our Monday night 5e game, so there's been no reason to dust off the back-up.  We'll need to play some face-to-face over the Summer to get things going.  Gulluvia has a story, and an end, so I can anticipate thirty or so sessions to fulfill that.

Finally, my long-running holy grail, getting the Burning Trogs together again, hasn't picked up any steam, but I have found a min-treasure trove of date.  The one campaign I didn't plan on covering at all was the short Hackmaster campaign that I ran immediately after I got married.  In my eleven year old memories, I ran three Basic D&D modules, my buddy Darryl from high school ran a deranged drow named Strom Thurmond, and it ended with a TPK... and a transition over to the Call of Cthulhu campaign currently on indefinite hiatus.

As I meandered through my old Hotmail account, I looked in my Sent Messages.  Everything prior to 2006 had been deleted, but there were some interesting emails about my wedding, the bachelor party, and lo' and behold, multiple recaps of sessions I no longer recalled.  It looks as if our heroes had multiple adventures (at least 5), had included other players, and had a boatload of interactions with some of the original Burning Trogs still residing in Verge. 

Not only am I going to decipher these notes and turn them into Actual Plays, but I will state that these adventures, conducted five-years game-time after the conclusion of the Burning Trogs Rule, are the first episodes to cover Trogs Redux, the relaunch of the Burning Trogs.

But for now, I have 300 drafts and over 70 scheduled posts.  I need to start playing and writing.

And for those interested, I make no goals for games this weekend.  I plan on checking on my drying basement, cutting some grass, grilling some food, and listening to the back catalog of the first 60-70 episodes of Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff that magically became available on my feed.

And fan mail to answer.  I'm just as shocked as you are!

(Hackmaster) Burning Trogs Redux #0.4 - Ambassador-General Fonzie Schlepprock Circa 1148

As the group creeps ever closer to doing something with Hackmaster, I bring up an interesting update to the Burning Trogs characters.  Despite the love and adoration for the Pigeon God series, seeing what's up with characters in more recent campaigns isn't hitting the gamer sweet spot that it should.  We'll see if anyone remembers once we get around to mentioning "Lord Fonz"

Ambassador-General Fonzy "The Fonz" Schlepprock
Lord of Neufonzstein, Circa 1148
8th Level Gnome Titan Fighter
Align:  NG,  Ht:  3'4"  Weight:  84 lbs   Class: UMC   Age87
Birth:  Legit, Mom:  Living, Loving.  Dad:  Living, Loving.  Heritage:  Honorable
Siblings:  1 illegitimate sibling, brother, younger (alive)  normal relationship, share Mom.
Ambidextrous
Base Movement:  9
XP:  125,365

STR:  16/19
INT:   16/97
WIS:  07/52
DEX: 13/97
CON: 12/49
CHA: 16/75
COM: 11/81
Honor:   Average

Hit Points:  46
AC:  1
Total Bonus:  +4/+7 (with +2 Short Sword)

PP:  481
GP:  24,043
EP:  2790
SP:  2470
CP:  8107

XP: 147.760

Weapon Prof:
Short Bow
Dagger
Short Sword Specialize (2/1 attacks, +1/+2 )

Talents:
Blind Fighting
Defensive Bonus (+1 Bonus to AC)
Short Sword Bonus (+1 Bonus to Hit)

Basic Gear:
Breeches, Tunic
Belt, Gloves,
Cloak
Large Belt Pouch
Backpack
Flint and Steel
Wineskin
Whistle
Rations (7 days/standard)
Rations (3 weeks, iron)
Winter blanket
rope.
1 Burning Trogs brass signet ring
Crowbar
Grappling Hook
War Pony with tack/bridle/saddle

Fine Silk Garments

Normal Weapons.
2 normal short swords
short bow
60 flight arrows
2 dagger


Armor
Medium Shield (+2 bonus to AC  -  4/3 damage remaining)
Studded Leather (  4/ 2/ 1  )
Ring Mail   (   6/  2/  1  )
Field Plate (24/12/10/8/6/4/2/1)

Magic Items
"Paingiver"  Shortsword +2  - if wounds another, must save vs spells or writhe in pain for 1d6 rounds.
Scale mail +1 (Human)
Dagger +2
Dagger +1
Peritapht of Health
Potion of Fire Resistance
Ring of Warmth

SKILLS:
First Aid Skill Suite   24%
         Cauterize Wounds
         Sew Own Wounds
         Sew Wounds
Street Cred               41%
Feign Toughness      30%
Liar, Skilled              51%
Flex Muscle              28%
Weapon Maint.          Auto (10gp/month)
Shaving/Grooming    Auto (25gp/month)
Groin Stomp              23%
Rousing Speech        47%
Mingling                     26 %
Culture and Etiquette (Barthey) 28%

Languages  
Gnomish                    100%
Common                     23%
R/W Gnome                27%
R/W Common             33%

Flaws:
Loss of eye (left)   -1 to hit
Self Absorbed
Enmity to Dwarves
Chronic Liar

Property:
Estate in Treibezond  (Neufonzstein), Duchy of Sarbonia, generates 10,000 gp/yr.

Neu-FONZ-stein (as in the German castle neuschwanstein)
He is also entrusted with general day-to-day operations of Balzmaca (Janus') in 1140 and Aiden Teppe (Cecelia's) 1143.

The Lord Fonz has built a museum/shrine of himself as an annex off the main building...similar to a british "adventurer's club" - think trophies adorning the walls and hallways of things he has acquired or "killed" (real or imagined):

• Taxidermy animals or heads hanging from the walls 
• Statues (from fictional heroes with a great back-story: i.e. mahogony carved "Brutis the Giant Slayer" found in the basement of the estate of the former 4th Baron of Cressida) 
• Weapons: Numerous "magical" weapons, mostly named items without magical powers, usually just creative props to tell a story.
• ​Paintings 
• Relics 
• Gifts acquired during his ambassadorship when he brokered great deals between warring heads of state 

​He is constantly acquiring new things to continually fill up his museum, and when he starts to run out of space, he contracts new workers to build another wing. On top of the museum stands a statue of himself, at least 3x his size, raising his sword in one hand and a giant "thumbs-up" on the other.

Twice per year, he holds a gala in the "Shrine of the Fonz" (FONZ-A-PALOOZA, baby!!!). There's  music (medieval rock-n-roll, cause he's still The Fonz), dancing, much drinking and eating, and after obligatory toasts to the Fonz by various guests, he then proceeds to regale his guests with all the stories of his latest exploits and how he acquired all his newest trophies, as well as a few "fan-favorites" when requested. It's a "can't-miss" event!

Awards, Medals
1 Phalera Tetracross (Giant medallion from Barthey Empire, to be inserted in armor)
2 Civic Crowns of Barthey (Gilded wreath of olive branches)

Obsidian Medal of Barthey (for heroism during the siege of Akorros)
A pile of ribbons and awards from Celsior and Marakeikos for actions during the civil war.
A pile of ribbons and honors from the Gnome Titan Legions picked up during random trips to bazaars.

Schlepprock Clan
Location:  Southern Gnomish City-States
Race:  Gnome Titan, some normal gnome mixed in
Social Class:  UMC
Alignment:  NG
Clan Religion:  Pangrus
Family Honor:  115
Notable Family Contacts:  None
Hereditary Grudges, Enemies, and Allies:
Dwarves of Ahzur Khai (grudge)