Spes Magna Games

Well, summer time is here, and I’m off until mid-August. I enjoy not working and still getting a paycheck (even though that’s not quite true since I do have curricula to write/update, professional development books to read, a few meetings to attend, et cetera, but you get the idea). The wife decided that my son Giant Boy and I needed to reorganize the library. Over at my Facebook page, there’re a few pictures of the progress. (Feel free to like me while you’re there.)

During the stacking, hauling, and sorting, I came across the map shown in the picture to the above right. (Click to embiggen if that’s what you’re into.) Years ago, somewhere around the 6th-7th grade (around 35 years ago), my friend Fred and I found this map in a desk at school along with a raggedy copy of the OD&D blue book. I have no idea where the blue book went, but I still have the map, which I refound during the library project.

Fred and I started gaming shortly thereafter. We lured a number of friends into gaming as well. If nothing else, it kept us from the running streets (well, not kept from entirely, but moreso than otherwise). Those gaming buddies — Little Greg, Big Greg, Other Mark, Ben, Dan, Fred’s father Big Fred, et cetera — are pretty much all gone now. Big Fred was killed by speeding city truck in the late 80s. Little Greg, Big Greg, and Ben seem to have just dropped off the face of the earth. Dan lives out of town and can’t travel, but I’m not sure why that keeps me from driving up to visit him. I think Other Mark lives in Austin, Texas. Fred died suddenly of an aneurysm several years ago.

It’s that last loss that weighs most heavily. Fred was my brother, and his mom (also deceased a short time after Fred) was my other mother. There’s not a day goes by I don’t wish he were still with us. Reorganizing the library was a bittersweet job. Nearly every gamebook, every character sheet, every folder has some connection to Fred.

The reorganization is mostly done. I ended up tossing a lot of paper: old notes about adventures, old characters sheets that I’ll never use again, photocopies of player handouts, et cetera. Along the way, I found some forgotten treasures, like the map in this blogpost.

It’s fitting, in a way. Most gaming involves getting the treasure. More gold, better armor, a sword with one more plus, and so forth. Those imaginary treasures aren’t quite metaphors, but, then again, maybe they are. There’re memories attached to those tabletop adventures and, as age increases, those memories gradually become most of what we have left of old friends and old times.

Tags: dungeon crawls

What follows is one of the villains from my most recent Quid Novi? mini-adventure, The Coming Storm. In related news, I’ve re-edited the last two Quid Novi? mini-adventures (the aforementioned one and The Ruined Fort) into a single PDF, which is now available for sale at DriveThruRPG and Paizo. The links are in the sidebar on the left side of your screen.

Orc Leader
CR 6; XP 2,400
Orc bard 5/red dragon disciple 2
CE Medium humanoid (orc)
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +10
Weakness light sensitivity

DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 13, flat-footed 15 (+4 armor, +2 Dex, +1 dodge, +1 natural)
hp 58 (5d8+15 plus 2d12+4)
Fort +3, Ref +7, Will +5
Defensive Abilities countersong, ferocity, well-versed (+4 saves vs. bardic performance, sonic, and language-dependent effects)

OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee 2 claws +6 (1d4+2) and bite +6 (1d6+3), or
Melee +1 longspear +7 (1d8+4/x3)
Ranged javelin +6 (1d6+2)
Reach 10 ft. (with longspear)
Special Attacks bardic performance (14 rounds/day), bloodline arcana, claws and dragon bite (5 rounds/day), fascinate (Will 14), inspire competence +2, inspire courage +2
Spells Known (CL 6th; concentration +8)
2nd (4/day) – blistering invective (Ref 14), boiling blood (Fort 14), cure moderate wounds, gallant inspiration
1st (5/day) – cure light wounds, saving finale, touch of gracelessness (Fort 13), vanish
0th – detect magic, ghost sound, mage hand, message, read magic, resistance

STATISTICS
Str 14, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 11, Cha 14
Base Atk +4; CMB +6; CMD 18
Feats Dodge, Harmonic Spell, Intimidating Prowess, Lingering Performance, Toughness (B)
Skills Intimidate +12, Knowledge (arcana) +10, Linguistics +8, Perform (sing) +10, Perception +10, Spellcraft +5, Use Magic Device +10; Armor Check Penalty -1
Languages Aklo, Common, Draconic, Giant, Goblin, Orc, Sylvan
SQ bardic knowledge, blood of dragons, versatile performance (Bluff, Sense Motive), weapon familiarity

SPECIAL ABILITIES
Bloodline Arcana: Whenever the orc leader casts a spell with the fire descriptor, that spell deals +1 point of damage per die rolled.

Claws and Dragon Bite (Su): The orc leader can grow claws and fangs as a free action. These are treated as natural weapons, allowing it to make two claw attacks and a bite attack as a full attack action using its full base attack bonus. The orc leader can use its claws for a number of 5 rounds per day. These rounds do not need to be consecutive.

Ferocity (Ex): An orc remains conscious and can continue fighting even if its hit point total is below 0. It is still staggered and loses 1 hit point each round. A creature with ferocity still dies when its hit point total reaches a negative amount equal to its Constitution score.

Lore Master (Ex): The orc leader is a master of lore and can take 10 on Knowledge (arcana) skill checks. It can choose not to take 10 and can instead roll normally. In addition, once per day, the orc leader can take 20 on any Knowledge skill check as a standard action.

GEAR
+1 longspear, divine scroll (tar ball [CL 3rd], lily pad stride [CL 5th]), potion of aid, masterwork chainshirt, key to strongbox, 2 javelins, plus 175 gp of personal items

Tags: dungeon crawls, NPCs, Pathfinder RPG

I love Dave’s Mapper. If I weren’t already very happily married until death do we part, I’d marry Dave’s Mapper. Well, I’d least ask, and if rejected, I’d write romantic fanfic and post it to a blog bordered by broken hearts.

If you don’t know Dave’s Mapper, you need to, especially if you’re a GM who likes dungeon crawls. Here’s how Dave’s Mapper works:

First, go to the site. I put a convenient link in the first paragraph above. Notice the two frames. The left side of your screen has some helpful buttons, such as the big New Map button. Click it. Click it again. Notice that the map changes each time. Excellent.

Scroll your eyes down the leftmost frame, and you’ll see a list of contributing artists (including yours truly, but I don’t have too many geomorphs uploaded. Yet.) If you click an artist who’s already checked, it unchecks that artist and removes that artist’s geomorphs from those randomly selected for your map. Clicking an artist without a check reverses the process.

Now look at the rightmost, bigger frame that holds the map. There are several buttons along the top. These let you export maps as PNGs, change the map size and arrange of geomorphs, add or remove a grid, and switch from different types of geomorphs (to include a smaller selection of city geomorphs great for generating a neighborhood or two).

Thanks to Dave’s Mapper, you never have an excuse for not having a dungeon map again.

Tags: Dave's Mapper, dungeon crawls