Thoughts of a Depressive Diplomatist: Old-School Essentials

Showing posts with label Old-School Essentials. Show all posts

Saturday, 3 August 2024

RPG a Day 2024 - Day 3: Most Often Played

Day 3: Most Often Played RPG

Well I hate to be boring, but it's a short answer - Old School Essentials. It's a system I've been playing since it was known as BX Essentials. It is just so very simple to use.

When I can, I try to broaden my horizens. As I said on Day 2, I've been playing in a Shadowdark game and have been GM-ing Dark Places and Demogorgons (the original version, not the OSE edition). The last was part of a conscious attempt to move away from traditional fantasy. I'd like to play some more Sci-Fi or horror/investigation. I have a little list of games I'd like to try out on my regular group, but it might be forever before we get around to them.

A month or so ago I had my first forray into Savage Worlds (in the Solomon Kane setting), which I enjoyed. Frankly, since I'm not playing so much online (old time readers may remember that in Lockdown I was playing up in three or four games a week), my choices have narrowed. I also have a little list of games I'd like to try out on my regular group, but it might be forever before we get around to them.

Later this month it's The Norwich Games Con, which is a chance for me to try new things. Last year I played in three different con games; this year because of scheduling it would only be possible to play in two, and so far I've only signed up for one.

RPGs at the last NorCon

Friday, 2 August 2024

RPG a Day 2024 - Day 2: Recently Played

Day 2: Most Recently Played

Our face-to-face group currently has two GMs, myself and AN Other. In theory we meet every week and alternate who runs what. In practice, of course, some weeks we don't meet at all and in others not all of the five of us can make it (in the latter case we generally skip RPGs and have a boardgame night). The summer months are always even more tricky for scheduling than usual.

Most Recent Face-to-Face. Back on 10 July. The other GM is running a home-brew seting using Old School Essentials. It's a nice, well-thought out world, and we're pootering around nicely. She claims that we're a lot less inclined to kick doors down than the other groups she runs for!
Most Recent I GM'd. In June? For the same group I ran Survive This! Dark Places and Demogorgons. It's basically a 1980s kids on bikes set-up. Meant as a one-off over two sessions, the group got crazily invested in their characters and want to continue. I'm not sure where to take it, but it'll be a monster-of-the-week with an underlying (and possibly never encountered) arc.
Most Recent Online. At the same time as these too games, I'm also taking part in an online campaign using the Shadowdark system (which is a very nice, playable one). The GM likes to throw in dark folky elements: my PC has pushed his luck by joining a cult and is slowly turning into a corn-dolly. We're currently engaged on a side-quest that will, if we are successful, result in the end of the world. For reasons, I've missed the last couple of sessions. I haven't played since 5 July.

Wednesday, 14 June 2023

Gaming in March-May 2023

A very belated update, partly because I'm finding Illmire heavy-going.

1 March - The Evils of Illmire (OSE)
15 March - The Evils of Illmire (OSE)
21 March - Sundays in the Shire (Under Hill, By Water)
29 March - The Evils of Illmire (OSE)
18 Apr - Sundays in the Shire (Under Hill, By Water)
10 May - The Evils of Illmire (OSE)
31 May - The Evils of Illmire (OSE)

The Evils of Illmire

The face-to-face group ('The B-Table') I GM for are currently playing The Evils of Illmire.

1 March - Session 5: Never Be Rude to Old Women in Fantasy RPGs

As the Party was recovering from the last session's slaughter they were joined by Yancy, twin of the now-deceased half-orc Clancy. He'd escorted two new PCs and a hirling to catch up with them (Convenient that, eh? We also had a flashback to the hiring fair). After introductions - the new PCs were Dalk, a Ranger, and Collum Phobetora, an Illusionist - and while debating what to do next, they had an encounter with another group of cultists. After a very effective use of the Sleep spell, they tied the cultists up and left them to die of thirst and starvation.

Then they went to investigate the Misty Lake and Fishfolk (they'd previously been given this quest by the lumberjacks). Dalk was unnecessarily rude to a old woman who they found living in a cave - he actually said that he wouldn't talk to anyone who hid their face to someone who turned out to be a Medusa! He paid the obvious penalty.

Fortunately, Connie the Barbarian had earlier had some positive dealings with another Medusa, which included learning their language. (Both that and this apperance of a Medusa were the result of random tables, nicely tying together.) This placated her and she gave them some info on the Racoon Tribe/Fishfolk that they'd missed picking up on last session. She also told them that the secret of getting to the Fishfolks' underwater dwellings was to befriend the Froglings, who had gadgets for breathing underwater. Eventually, she even de-petrified Dalk.

Another trek led to the Froglings' village in the forest canopy. An audience with the Matriarch let the party know that she was happy to help on condition that they first rescued some younglings, who had been captured by the dastardly Mantismen (Illmire is a little railroady). Cue training montage, while the party spent a couple of days in Frogville. (In retrospect, I realised that I could have had the younglings kidnapped while the the party was learning to use the breathing aparatus - thus removing the obvious quid pro quo and letting the party decide whether to rescue the infants or not.)

They set out into the swamps with a couple of Frogling warriors, and soon had their first encounter with a Mantis ambush. Through interrogation of a captive they determined that Mantismen have no redeeming qualities and that the children were probably still alive ("they have to be starved for a week to make their flesh worth eating").

We left them as they discovered the Mantis-mound.

15 March - Session 6: Hostage Rescue

Reinforced by another couple of Froglings (the Matriarch having had a vision of "much death" if the they went into the Mound by themselves), the Party moved in to rescue the Frogling children.

With close-quarter, chamber-to-chamber fighting there was indeed "much death". Before the final confrontation with the Queen, two PCs and a Frogling ally had been killed (one of the PCs by the Mantis' nifty decapitation action) and 21 Mantis we dead. After that, the Queen was a pushover and the survivors managed to rescue the children (and two replacement PCs).

Back to Frogville, where there was much rejoicing. They stayed there for a week, training in the Froglings' underwater breathing apparatus and whips.

29 March - Session 7 : "Much Death"

Another session with a dispiriting amount of bloodshed. The Party made an abortive attempt on the underwater entrance to the Fishmen's caves. Having met Giant Caimen and Electric Eels on the way, they weren't in the best of conditions when they reached there. A tussle with guards left one PC and an NPC dead without even getting into the caves. They sensibly withdrew.

There bad luck with random encounters continued. Having fallen asleep on watch, they were attacked by Vampire Bats, again with fatal results. They made it to the loggers camp where they picked up their mule [and new PCs].

On the was back to the village the party encountered three wolves. Having killed one and driven the others off, they found that they had been protecting a litter of cubs. The imediate reaction was "Yah! We have wolf cubs!". But as they tried to removed them the vanquished wolves returned and wouldn't give up until they were killed. The reaction now was "We've killed all these wolves, the cubs can't survive, we can't care for them. We'll have to kill them!". In the end [after a lot of debate] they took them to the loggers' camp to be raised their.

10 March - Session 8: Back to the Plot, or Not?

Stephen

Heading back to Illmire Village, the party encountered a Lizardman, who turned out to be a servant of the Medusa ("My Missstresss calls me... Ssstephen"). He offered them a side quest - to recover a Blue Jewel from a wizard's tower. His Mistress would offer a suitable reward.

Arriving at the village, they went to the house of an associate, which they found empty. And stayed their for the night. The next morning they went to the mill/bakery, where they learned that things hadn't improved in the days they'd been away. The associate they had wanted to visit had died of the Illness, and his son was now staying with the miller and his wife - but she had also come down with the illness.

Our Ranger determined that it was time to consume some mushrooms in order to determine just what was going on. After some false leads, he finally discovered that the water from the village well was poisoned [at which stage the Druid pointed out that she could have told them that...]. While the Ranger still had the ability to discern magic, they went back to the abandoned druid's hut and gave it a good turning-over. The Ranger, who had the munchies, raided the vegitable patch.

Then it was time to talk to less friendly villagers [most of whom were confused as only one of the party survived from their last visit to the village]. After selling loot to the jeweller, they met the tanner's wife, who asked them to search for her missing husband - they had to tell her that they'd found his body in the mantis-mound. In her distraught state, she let slip some clues about his cultist activities.

Back to the inn, where they had surprisingly little difficulty picking up the post for their dead predecessors. They decided to have a good look in the cellars so, later that night...

...They went down and found that the inn was kidnapping lone travellers.

31 May - Session 10: Burning Bridges

[The rescued travellers were convenient, as we had a new player and were able to introduce her PC.] As well as the prisioners, there was extensive evidence of Cultist activity, include the dreaded mindphage worms [which are quite squidgy and easy to kill] and a rather convenient letter that proved the the Cultists were on the Party's trail. To nobody's surprise the inn's cellarman turned out to be a cultist. To Dalk's (fatal) surprise he had access to a suply of potions. The gaff being up, the Party sent a message to their allies, letting them know that they should leave the village and meet them at the loggers' camp.

A few days were spent at the camp, making plans and nursing wounds. It was decided to take up Stephen's offer of a side-quest. The first attempt to get to the tower was stymied by an encounter with a [familiar-looking] Ghoul and another withdrawal to the loggers. Having finally got to the tower, they found a bear's lair [fortunately empty], stirges and animated furniture. Two of the party had the indignity of being killed by a table [one by falling into its burn wreckage while drenched in oil].

Sundays In The Shire

21 March - The Great Raddish-Nobbling Scandal

See my detailed write-up here.

18 April - The Great Goblin Battle Re-Enactment

Despite side-plots concerning the Friends' rivalry with the drinkers from the Bear & King and Ebs finding that his nemisis and rival tax-collector has unjustly seized a cow (filed away for further use), the session was mostly concerned with the anniversary of the Great Goblin Battle.

Let Justice Be Done!

This aniversary was to be marked with a re-enactment organised by Capt Bigglesthwaite of the Little Wincing platoon of the Knights of the Old Road (assisted by the long-suffering Sgt Oldbarrow).

Naturally, everyone wanted to take part, and auditions were held. Three-quarters of the village turned out dresses as Doughty Misstress Oldbottom, who had helf off the Golblin Horde by throwing well-aimed turnips until relieved by the Brave Lads. Sadly, none of the party got the star part, being evenly split between Brave Lads and Goblin Horde. The re-enactment went well, despite the contingent from the Bear & King unjustly targeting the Friends.

The Friends had gathered together the makings of a Great Feast, which they held after the celebrations. There was a rather sordid side-plot to catch Beryla Hogspen (the rival tax-collector) and Capt Bigglethwaithe in a compromising position, but (fortunately) this came to naught.

Saturday, 4 March 2023

Fruit of the Kickstarter: BX Advanced Bestiary

This rather nice book arrived this week.

Todd Leback, BX Advanced Bestiary: Vol 1 - Monsters A-D, Third Party Games (2022), 134pp, many illus.

A nicely produced hardback by Third Kingdom Games, the pdf of which is now available on DriveThruRPG. It's a companion to their Populated Hexes series and Old School-Essentials. This volume covers Ape, White (three variants) to Driver Ant* (six vari-ants).

*Though I don't know why this isn't 'Ant, Driver'.

The stated aims are, firstly to take the monsters in the OSE Basic book and expand them with varients and options and, secondly to add some new ones with the same flavour. Typically, an entry gives optional special qualities to add a little spice and then variations on the monster, each with their own stat-block and entries. Perfect for those jaded parties who groan at meeting Wild Boar again!* Because this is supplement to exisiting bestiaries, it doesn't give or repeat the stats or details of the Common or Standard Beast, meaning that you'd have to have both volumes open, so it's probably not best for running encounters on the spur of the moment.

*There are four variants of Boar, and special qualities like 'Hard to Kill' and 'Terrifying Charge'.

Tuesday, 28 February 2023

Gaming in Feb 2023

Having to take a lot of odd days off work before the end of the leave year in March, I thought I would be able to get to some of the regular weekend games I normally have to miss. Of course, it didn't work out that way...

4 Feb - Rambling Through the Shudders - (Dungeon Crawl Classics)
7 Feb - The Evils of Illmire - (Old School Essentials)
15 Feb - The Evils of Illmire - (Old School Essentials)

Rambling Through the Shudders

A one-off using Dungeon Crawl Classics rule system. I'm not sure what I make of DCC. The system itself seems nice, but the (admittedly less than half a dozen) games I've played seem thin. This is probably because they were one-off 0-Level funnel games with the sole intent of winnowing out characters.

In this game, four of us set out with four characters each, we met ghosties and were subsequently reduced to five characters between us. So far so good - meh! But it was an enjoyable evening and a good session.

The DM is giving some thought to running another game with our newly-levelled characters and my regular group is also signed up for some DCC tournament action, so I may get a better feel for it all in the near future. [Sadly, since I wrote this at the beginning of the month, I've heard that the tournament is off as only two teams signed up for it. Nevertheless, there may be opportunities for more DCC action as the year progresses.]

The Evils of Illmire

7 Feb - Session 3: Let's Give the Elf a Big Hand

The party picked up the pieces following the death of Darius, the more flamboyant of our thieves. They continued on towards the Loggers' Camp, where they were welcomed with hospitality by Rigdorf. He told them more of the district's lore and offered them a quest - to stop the raids by the pesky fishfolk. He even lent them one of his crew - the half-orc Yancy (new PC) - to help in their search for Yorivar, the missing Druid.

Deciding to carry on with this search before taking up any more side-quests, the party skirted around the Impenetrable Thicket, avoided the Misty Lake, and ended up stumbling across the Lost Crypts.

These they entered, immediately encountering a group of hostile culitsts. Having fought them off, they attempted to interrogate a captive who, though he spouted some interesting doctrine about The Fearmother, gave little information of practical use before managing to comit implausible suicide. Perhaps the items recovered from the bodies would give more clues...

Delving further in, the party discovered puzzles and iconography that suggested that the crypt-builders had some affinity with raccoons. They discovered that the crypts weren't empty, having to fight off two determined fire beetles and later finding a half-rotted mummy. (Much hilarity, when a disembodied hand grabbed at the leg of the Elf paddling in the mirky crypt-pool.)

We wound up the session with the party trying to navigate a skull-lined room, which they guessed might be a classic step-in-the-wrong-place-and-get-an-arrow-trap, and then confirmed the hard way.

15 Feb - Session 4: Did Someone Say "Skeletons"?

Exploration of the crypts followed. The party carefully (and slowly!) navigated the trapped room, only to find that the next one contained two Guardian Skeletons. These they fought, rather than retreat back into the potentially leathal room (they didn't trust several hints that they'd disengaged the mechanism).

The Guardians were - naturally enough - guarding the final room, which contained the tomb of the chief of the Racoon Tribe. Unfortunately, he was also an Undead Spellcaster and a rather tough cookie. In the fight that followed, not only did they loose their only remaining NPC - Jonas Redeye the Goatman - but also out longest-surviving PC - Eldar the Thief. One other PC was serverely wounded and unconsious, and another had received an arrow in friendly-fire.

Sensibly, the survivors decided to hunker down and spend the night barricaded in the tomb room. Our Friar was able to apply healing herbs and, after a night's rest, call upon divine healing. Despite strange nightmares, everyone rested and even had the time to rig up prank traps with frying pans.

Cheiftan's tomb looted, time to go home you'd think? No! Our intrepid crew pressed on...

Further corridors, further rooms....

One contained five more animated skeletons, which were successfully turned by the Friar and ran off into a dead-end. Rather that leave them harmlessly bumping away into the wall, the party decided that it was best to pick them off one-by-one in case they became unturned later. Of course, the party had seen a lot of action, and it only took one good hit from a skeleton to kill Yancy our Half-Orc Lumberjack.

Two PCs and an NPC down, and you'd think that it might not be best to open any more doors. Or, if you did and there was a sarcophagus in the room, to keep clear of it. Especially, it contained the skeleton of the tribe's pet Dire Racoon...

Our final casualty of the day was good old Friar Ignatius Luncheon.

Of the five PCs and one NPC who'd entered the crypts, only two were still alive. Now it was time to go home.

Tuesday, 31 January 2023

Gaming in Jan 2023

12 Jan - The Evils of Illmire (OSE) - face-to-face
26 Jan - The Evils of Illmire (OSE) - face-to-face

The Evils of Illmire

New year, new campaign. My regular group has embarked on The Evils of Illmire - and there's a lot in it!

12 Jan - Session 1

A couple of random tables for what happened on a caravan journey worked well (I will certainly steal them in future for other campaigns), and we ended up with a nice little montage. Rumours were picked up; inevitably, some larceny took place; one member met a mysterious, shrouded fellow-traveller who taught her to speak Medusa; and (might this lead to something else?) another was invited to join a cult.

They then had a jolly time at the circus. Ignatius won a pie-eating contest (and - completely unrelatedly - got food poisoning) and the others got various stuffed toys from rigged booths. They went to see the fortune-teller and the big-top show, where they attempted to sabotage the big-cat show.

Then to the village. They went to the inn where they got a medium-sized info-dump from the barmaid and did some nocturnal snooping in the kitchens (they’ve decided not to eat there anymore!). The next morning, they met the new priest at the temple (who didn’t make a good impression) and attempted to interview the mayor (who’s too ill to see them). All in all, a very good session.

26 Jan - Session 2

On the second day in town, the party continued to meet new people including a nice couple who'd been told that Illmire was a good place to open a boulangerie, a youngster with a sick Da and various tradesmen. They explored the missing druid's cottage and had an evening in the tavern, where they meet the elusive landlady ("Who's not feeling herself") and chatted to the Old Boys in their corner. There was more nocternal exploration (this time onto the roof).

Next morning they attended a revival meeting before heading out towards the logging camp.

Unfortunately for them, on the way they were identified as a likely snack by some giant falcons. Judicious use of a Ring of Animal Control meant that they got away, but not unscathed - Darius our thief was killed.

Tuesday, 10 January 2023

Gaming in Dec 2022

COVID at the start of the month and other illness in the second half of it put paid to any gaming in Nov 2022, but I got back into the saddle for December.

11 Dec - The Beast of Errinsford (OSE) - face-to-face RPG
20 Dec - Grimbo Chrimbo (OSE) - face-to-face RPG
29 Dec - The Beast of Errinsford (OSE) - face-to-face RPG
31 Dec - Stonehell (OSE) - face-to-face RPG

The Beast of Errinsford

The group at our LFGS that I DM for are currently playing The Beast of Errinsford, loosely based on the module The Black Wyrm of Brandonsford by Chance Dudinack.

11 Dec - Session 3

Having successfully looted the barrows for the magical weapons necassary to defeat the Beast, I thought I would throw in a little something extra to show that there are consequences to PCs' actions.

Since the beginning of the campaign, the party has had several tussles with Goatmen, and have had a habit of stealing their kit (fair enough) and desecrating their bodies (one of the party in particular has chosen to start a collection of teeth). As a result, I had the Goatmen do a raid on the villages, beat up some favorite NPCs (who had difficulty telling the story with no teeth of their own) and taking hostages. The Authorities (Constable "Beefy" Ward) expected the party to sort this out and, with a NPC knowing a secret way into Goatman HQ, we were all set up for a 'Die Hard' rescue.

Then the party decided to go in through the front door and negotiate! (Due to natural wastage of PCs, only two of them could be linked to the massacres, and they stayed in hiding.) Reaction rolls were remarkably high but, even so, the Leader insisted that "blood called for blood" and demanded the perpetrators be delivered within 48 hours.

And now the party got creative. They decided they could deliver bodies and claim to have meted out justice. But where to find a dead dwarf and 14-year-old girl? Let's just say ...that they managed it.

29 Dec - Session 4

Now there was nothing stopping them going out, defeating the beast, collecting the reward and finishing the campaign.

Kitted up with magical weapons, a salve that gave some protection against breath weapons, and a newly-formed alliance with the Goatmen, they set out (hastened only by the declaration by one PC that he was only a few days from retirement). A well thought out ambush was laid out, back-stabbing attacks and potions were used to good effect, and the beast was vanquished.

Home for tea and medals. Next stop, Illmire!

Christmas One-Off - Grimbo Grotto

20 Dec

As a seasonal treat, I GM-ed the "Christmas farcial horror adventure" Grimbo Grotto by Goblin's Henchman. I'd run it for my Discord group back in Dec 2020, but never for a face-to-face session. It was a blast!

Attempting to rescue a kidnapped Ent, the Party battled Diddy-Men, Candy Golems, the Giant Putrid Gravy-Spewing Undead Turkey, Mimics and Cloakers, and (last but certainly not least), an evil cult of Werereindeer.

Stonehell

30 Dec

To round off the year, I got to sit on the players' end of the table for a session in which we entered the Stonehill mega-dungeon (a campaign that scheduling doesn't normally allow me to attend). No loot was recovered, but some decent mapping done. And my Gnome proved himself adept at hiding in giant mushroom forests while others did the fighting.

Monday, 24 October 2022

Gaming in Oct 2022

16 Oct - The Beast of Errinsford (OSE) - face-to-face
21 Oct - Trafalgar Day game - Blood, Bilge and Iron Balls - solo wargaming

The Beast of Errinsford

The group at our LFGS that I DM for are currently playing The Beast of Errinsford, loosely based on the module The Black Wyrm of Brandonsford by Chance Dudinack.

16 Oct

A depleted party carried on with their side-mission of ~~looting~~ collecting magical weapons from the tomb of Sir Errin and his companions. They had a brief encounter in the marshes with ~~Bullywugs~~ Gullygugs, but managed to pay a toll with a mirror and a toy clay pig.

They got to the barrow, met the sole survivor of another group of ~~looters~~ explorers who (surprisingly, seeing that he was a Goatman, they didn't kill and defile on the spot). There then followed a surprisingly careful and efficient sweep of the barrow, in which they defeated miscellaneous pests (fricassee of rat) and mollified the undead souls of the ancient heroes. One of the party - Gimli the Elf - was killed by a giant spider. There only being two surviving PCs, an unfeasible amount of XP was awarded for the masses of treasure they recovered.

Blood, Bilge and Iron Balls

21 Oct - Trafalgar Day

Write-up here

As it was Trafalgar Day, I had of course to have a go at the battle itself. I used Collingwood's leeward column as the set-up for a solo game using the BBIB rules.

Inevitably, the British fleet suffered heavily on the approach to the Combined line. It didn't break the line, as the Combined Fleet decided to break and move into melee sooner rather than later (not having to worry about the bigger picture of the battle). It soon became rather messy and, when I called it after almost four hours of play, It was a British defeat.

I still have a lot to learn about age of sail tactics and placing ships where they can be most effective.

BBIB has served well for what I wanted it for - an intro to naval wargaming. It lacks nuance though, and I'm wondering whether to move on to something with a bit more granularity - possibly the Two Fat Lardies Kiss Me Hardy.

Friday, 14 October 2022

Gaming in Sep 2022

4 Sep - The Beast of Errinsford (OSE) - face-to-face
7 Sep - Traveller
18 Sep - The Beast of Errinsford (OSE) - face-to-face
27 Sep - Blood, Bilge and Iron Balls - solo wargaming
30 Sep - Blood, Bilge and Iron Balls - solo wargaming

The Beast of Errinsford

The open table OSE game at our FLGS is becoming so popular again that we've made arrangements for a second table for when too many people turn up. I volunteered to GM it and, given less than a week's notice, decide to dig out the campaign I ran online earlier in the year. This is The Beast of Errinsford, loosely based on the module The Black Wyrm of Brandonsford by Chance Dudinack.

Of course, in the first session the party went off in a direction that the other players never reached... Player agency!

4 Sep

Constable Ward -
my favorite NPC

The party had an ice-breaking encounter with a wild boar, entered the town of Errinsford, where they met several of the leading inhabitants (upon some of which they made a better impression than others). There was a big info-dump (with more to come!), before an afternoon's stroll in search of the delayed caravan ended with a leathal encounter with goatmen and the desecration of bodies. Then home for tea and XP!

18 Sep

Joined by an old friend, the party continued its interviews with the townsfolk, getting madeleines and Maderia wine (and some lore) from Fr Willem the priest before deciding to head out to see Vivienne, the witch that lives in the forest. On the way, they came across the body of an elf being devoured by giant centipedes, which managed to poison Winston the dwarf. Vivienne got their trust by curing him and, over tea, told them about the curse that had created the original beast. Yet another tussle with goatmen - this time they didn't desecrate the bodies, but instead fed them to the wolves.

On Day 3 of their stay in Errinsford, Derek the thief cased out the abandoned General Store, while the rest went to spoke to Riffin, the traumatised hunter who is the only known survivor of an encounter with the beast. After picking up their packed lunch, they then headed out of the village, with the aim of getting to Sir Errin's tomb to reciover magic weapons. They renewed their acquaintance with the local bridge-troll, who gave them directions, and had a night in the woods. Sprites were plied with spirits.

Day 4 saw them come to the border of the marshes. There they came across a strange shrine, which they debated robbing, but instead made offerings and petitions. This led then the the missing Friar Dirk, who had spent the last few days in a pit after unsuccessfully trying to loot it. Over elevenses, Dirk told his story.

Classic Traveller

7 Sep

Our band of Free Traders did a bit of arms smuggling, almost immediately returning to the site of our last crime. Contracting the Corporate goons who'd previously employed us as assasins, we were offered a black-bag job. We very efficiently managed to exfiltrate a turn-coat scientist with minimal casualties.

Blood, Bilge and Iron Balls

27 Sep
30 Sep

My solo play of a version back in August of the Battle of San Domingo, 1806 at The Games Table worked out well, so I thought I would give it another go. At the end of the first session, the rear of the French line had been forced to strike, but more damage had been done to the British van. There was enough to call it as a French victory, with a good chance of them successfully withdrawing. However, I thought I'd carry through on the scenario and and see if the approach of the rest of the British squadron made any difference.

In the end it didn't, the French were able to concentrate their fire as the British came into range, and ended up winning the day.

The Games Table...

Although I obviously didn't need much scenery for the BBIB game, I thought I'd share a couple of pictures of that on the neighbouring tables. This is one of the reasons The Games Table is an excellent place to play a game.

Monday, 29 August 2022

Gaming in August 2022

After a few month's break, I plunged back into gaming.

1 Aug - Classic Traveller - face-to-face RPG
3 Aug - Blood, Bilge and Iron Balls - solo wargaming
5 Aug - Blood, Bilge and Iron Balls - solo wargaming
6 Aug - Barrowmaze (OSE) - face-to-face RPG
8 Aug - Classic Traveller - face-to-face RPG
13 Aug - Blood, Bilge and Iron Balls - solo wargaming
15 Aug - Blood, Bilge and Iron Balls - solo wargaming
21 Aug - Barrowmaze (OSE) - face-to-face RPG

Classic Traveller

1 Aug
8 Aug

My first face-to-face RPG session since a Hallowe'en one-off game of 'Chill' last year.

This session was an experiment by the GM to see if there was any interest in running Classic Traveller as an open table. Not only did he have the table-full above, but also others waiting. As is his Old School way, everything was player-led and randomly generated.

In classic Traveller style we had five deaths in character creation (not me!) - much to the amusement of the staff at The Games Table.

We then spent a lot of time trying to find trading opportunities, before hitching our star to a local smuggler. During our week in hyperdrive, a great deal of speculation took place on whether our inexperienced gang of newbies could over-power the heavily-armed and experienced crew. In the end, we went along quietly, and made a small profit on our trade goods.

Almost immediately ater hitting planetside we got hired as assasins in a corporate war. A fortnight was spent on survellance and planning before we carried out an old-school mafia hit, gunning the exec and his bodyguards down in the street as he visited his mistress's appartment.

Blood, Bilge and Iron Balls

It's that time of year again! With International Naval Wargaming Day (INWarD 2022) on 6 August, my mind turned to playing some solo games. I wanted to sit down for an afternoon and do a fleet action, but first I needed to familiarise myself with my ruleset of choice - Blood, Bilge and Iron Balls.

I've decided that I quite like BBIB. It may be too simplistic for some, but it suits my needs nicely at the moment.

3 Aug

In a single-ship action, Sir Henry Fearless of HMS Possum (74) faced-off against a Frenchman, with predictably disastrous results.

See write-up here.

5 Aug

This session was based on an engagement in which two British frigates engaged a French 74 on a lee shore.

About an hour in, I realised that I was forgetting an important rule. This had the effect of reducing the British firepower by 57%, but the French by only 22%. I played on under those conditions, but perhaps unsurprisingly, both frigates had struck their colours by Round 7.

13 Aug

Same as above, but now with added marines!

In the end, only one ship's marines got to fire (once), and they missed. This was because the frigates failed to engage the 74 at close range. After a game of long-bowls, the French managed to withdraw and complete their victory conditions. Nevertheless, I've made a record everyone's positions and damage, and may play it as the start of a chase-engagement (a bit of a forlorn hope for the British, but we'll see).

15 Aug

And I finally got the fleet action I'd planned for INWarD, courtesy of a big table at my FLGS. Write-up here.

My version of the Battle of San Domingo, 1806, played solo over four and a half hours (refreshments were on hand!). On this occasion, the French won. Highlights included the collision of two British ships and the French piling fire into the confusion.

Having a big set-up at The Games Table worked very well, I will do it again.

Barrowmaze

6 Aug

Regular readers will know that this is a long-term, open-table game at my FLGS. With lockdown and me now working on Sundays, I've not been to a session since March 2020.

Six years has passed in game-time, during which time my character has been wandering the earth, preaching the Word of Solis and, in particular, telling of the Solstice Miracle that took place in our stronghold. Unfortunately, he didn't survive this delve, but his legacy lives on.

21 Aug

My new cleric turned up at the stronghold expecting to start his training, only to find his mentor dead and they weight of his responsibilities thrown on his shoulders.

We took our new boats for a spin and got lost in the marshes, ending up near what looked suspiciously like a dragon's lair and a temple occupied by a Medusa. We beat a retreat back to the barrows we knew!

Going to the entrance we'd planned to start in, we had a successful delve, defeating a Black Pudding and finding what we hope is the key to a locked door that's been holding us up. We then fell foul of "one more room" and had an encounter with a couple of Mummies, which left one PC dead and another comatose with Mummy Rot (we abandoned him).

Apparently smashing the capotic jars doesn't destroy Mummies.

*smash* *smash* *stamp* *stamp*
"Any effect on the mummy?"
"He's absolutely furious."