CON REPORT: ReaperCon 2024 Day 1

I might clean this up at a later date with more detail

 Back in action at one of the most steady con in Texas. I brought two ribbons to the con. The first was for my Nightwick Abbey game and the second is one of the nerdiest references I could think of which is the true nature of the "purple worm" in D&D.

I love this part of the con-
great tradition!

DUNGEON DWELLERS Session #1

This is a house system by Reaper Miniatures. It feels to me like an offshoot of 3.5 with some Swords & Wizardry twists thrown in. In the first session, I played a halfling thief who. with my companions, was in charge of guarding a caravan which included the very suspicious Wagon 13. 

• We were awoken in the night by the screams of guards due to orc's breaking through the treeline. As we mounted a defense, my halfling, Gulivan,  got off the first bow shot and an instant kill (I rolled a 22 to-hit and 8 dmg).
• Our wizard managed to "upcast" grease and start laying huge swaths of it in front of the circled wagons while our elf and fighter used cleave to carve up the orcs at a distance
• Worg riders posed our biggest trouble as they learned from the previous line of orcs to leap up on the wagons and avoid the oil. A good fight was had in which we were victorious.
• Orcs made off with the contents of Wagon 13-- total time for this one combat was ~2 hours

Miranda Elkins' NIGHTWICK ABBEY Session #1

After a short break, its on to Nightwick! Alright for this con game the players are tasked with finding the vicar. Down in the Abbey the PCs go. Pre-gen PCs: 4,5,10,13,17, grog,

• In interrogating the surviving alter boy, the players get a map of the first room and once in, they discover a secret door leading to a room awash in dried blood. They decide not to go any further-- because of copious amounts of dried blood
• A little while later they rescue a mixture of man and animal from a group of profane humans wearing the flesh of other men and experimenting on the poor creature: "I'm Bleeder. Because I bleed."
• A little while later after that, the "poor creature" attempts to lead the party into an ambush. Killing Bleeder quickly, they cower the remaining creatures--- who then direct them into another trap...
• After avoiding patrols of the dead, the PCs make it to the kitchen, where they find the vicar tied up like a roasted pig. They successfully turn the ravenous dead about to eat the poor foolish man and square off against the Butcher. In a hail of frogling gonne fire (roll max damage!) and a volly of arrows the PC fight off the Butchera and run out of the Abbey with the rancid butter-covered vicar and make it back!

DUNGEON DWELLERS Session #2

In a surprise, the Ruined Moathouse exterior is drawn on a vynal map to scale! So new "old-school system" and a classic adventure which was new to several members of the group.

• We faced off against 6 giant frogs
• Lassoed some of the rubble and claimed up into the lower right tower, webbed a giant adder, and dipped our weapons in its blood--- after almost poisoning ourselves in the process
• We F.A.R.T'ed on the doors (Find And Remove Traps; new to me), filled the upper right bandit hold with fog, and set the bandit therein on fire! Back to the hell pits of Orcus with you.
• Rounded things off by facing down more giant animals like we were in an early Ray Harryhausen file then called it a night-- all 250gp richer and at least my halfing having split a cache of magic arrows +1

The upper Moathouse to me is one of the best RPG adventuring sites made, especially for cons. The reason is because it first requires the PCs to break into the structure which is great for creating discussion and interplay between, broadly, fighters, magic-users, and thieves. The giant frogs outside are fun creatures to fight. And the bandits inside are generic enough to be anything or have any story attached to them. Even the giant lizard and spider have trust up people which could be conventions goals.

In all a good Day One!

ASIMOVIC ANDROIDS: A Tweak For Mothership Androids

 

Here is a small tweak, untested, for Mothership androids that might help provide a mechanic that makes them feel more unhuman.

ASIMOVIC ANDROIDS

You are governed by the Three Laws of Robotics:

• The First Law: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm
• The Second Law: A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law
• The Third Law: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law

WOUNDS & VIOLATIONS: During character creation tie your highest-ranked skill to the THIRD LAW, your second to the SECOND LAW, and your third to the FIRST LAW.

When you are WOUNDED, remove the lowest law not already marked off. When a paradox occurs between two laws, also remove the lowest law in the paradox.

If a law is removed, the associated skill is removed due to the not-quite-understood connections of the positronic brain.

STRESS & PANIC: When your actions or verbal suggestions violate or hit at violating a law, everyone else gains 1 stress.

Maybe if the First Law is removed everyone else make a panic check.

NOTES

• Hopefully, by tying a skill to the laws, you have a reason to get repairs done which increase utility but at the expense of freedom
• I also hope that by reducing skills with the removal of laws you have a non-human with "no skills" but the ability to kill. Its the nightmare inverse of what human build robots/androids for (mostly- attack AI are different)
• Nope, I've not playtested this at all nor looked at the Mothership RPG when I was writing it out-- total hip fire-- but I think feels good

WHERE HELL COMES TO PREY: Running Nightwick Abbey 05

 

TONIGHT WE DINE IN HELL!

Session 17 of Where Hell Comes To Prey is my weekly (roughly) experience DMing Miranda Elkins' Nightwick Abbey. The last time I blogged about the campaign was here. 

Session 17 Congregants: Grog (F1), Froggi (Fr1), Shiva (R2), Kyte (F1), Maylay (Ch1)

Quiet in Nightwick Village as the party rests, but Grog attempts to get some holy water from Brother Rodrick who expresses dismay that Grog can delve deep in the Abbey but not so deep in his pockets to pay for holy water. Then off to the Abbey they go! (DM NOTE: I am a little ill as I write this so apologies if its scattered)

• PCs decide on hitting up the East Tower and encountering nothing decides to head SW through the door and stumble upon a bizarre choreographed battle between eye-less dead dressed in the Sword Bothers and Realmish Livery. One on each side wears a crown, but the PCs withdraw hitting up instead another room off to the side filled with rusty discarded swords- they collect a lot of silver but potentially at a price as two PC noticed knicks and cuts on their hands.

• 

  The Silent Dance

  The PCs turn northward and get the drop on an ash and fire mockery of a child playing quietly until Shiva backstabs the child and the rest pile in for a beat-down!
• Turning north, the PCs are surprised to find the Abbey has shifted! Just in time for a group of cultists swinging incense to come down the hall. Maylee calls out that they mean no harm and one cultist pushes forward and pulls their hood back– Gertrude! (DM NOTE: The PCs saved her from execution in Nightwick village in Session 16).
• The cultists invite them to dinner prepared by Nightwick’s most famous chef!
• Grog, Froggi, and Kyte choose neither to eat the meat or drink the milky wine of the Abbey and instead endure the cajoling of the cultists who snap at them like hungry dogs
• Eventually, the Chef brings out the meal which consists of a disturbing number of unidentified meats
• Shiva and Maylee agree to dine with Gertrude which nets them +1 HP however it contributes to both of their POSSESSION status effects
• The whole exchange was one of the more RPG-focused sessions and I was pretty pleased with it overall as I kept trying to up the tension by seeing if the PCs who participate in bad things in the Abbey. 
• Eventually, dinner is completed with Shiva and Maylee looking at their blood-soaked hands wondering what they have done. PCs explore a little more but ultimately leave the Abbey much richer!

TENDING TO THE FLOCK

Alright, so 17 sessions into the campaign which is a solid run. I always feel anything over 10 sessions means your campaign is reaching a stable point and your PCs are invested

100 Minutes Of Megadungeon Madness: Two-hour sessions are still a great length. This is still really working for the group. It seems to fit with everyone's schedules and we seem to have a very consistent group being able to join. Sometimes we go a little extra if we get started late but roughly 120 minutes works! 

Time For Exploration Still Short: However, the 120-minute sessions come at a price that is shorter overall exploration and opportunity for XP. In my other Nightwick game, by session 17 we had 2-3 PCs who were level 2 (thieves and 1 wizard) so I might need to change some things:

• Use OD&Ds 100xp/HD of monster defeated: Currently its about 50xp/HD defeated. Now given that combat in Nightwick tends to be both deadly and take up time (by nature of the ruleset) it is a good payoff. Unlike 5e, the players are not going to pick fights in the Abbey because they still are deadly.
  
  
• Passout Completed Geomorphs: When the PCs have fully explored a geomorph, I might need to just give them that geomorph. Nightwick can shift, so they still won't have 100% complete information. And it will cut down on frustration once they have mapped. The ur-goal here is playing the game (by which I mean making impactful choices), so given the compressed time-- let's lean into that.

Expanding Cast Of Characters: By 17 sessions, we've built up quite a large number of NPCs and it was suggested that I provide the players with a list of them and what they want/need-- I'll add that to the player doc.

What's A Good Frogling To Do!?: With two characters involved in cults or the Abbey's nefarious powers it clear what can happen if you do evil acts, but where is the "good"? I think I'll work on highlighting options for the "righteous".... hmm maybe even whip up a sorta half-class.

Downtime in Zyan: Finally, in an effort not to remake tools, I'll try to make a one-sheet that outlines the downtime activities Ben L. laid out in this good pamphlet. That way players have a rough feel of the rules for downtime and what is possible.

I WROTE A LARGE DUNGEON: How I Will Do It Differently Next Time

Be Your Own Goblin King
(Save For Kidnapping Babies)

"THE WINE DUNGEON": You can read about it here. A play report here. Quick pitch: You are dogsbodies hired to retrieve wine from a cellar gone "rancid" and morphed into a dungeon for a wealthy sorcerer whose hosting parties for Salon Season. But funny that no one has seen his three sons of late...

I am currently expanding out LEVEL 2, bringing the total room count to 100, because I feel the story of this dungeon is not finished at LEVEL 1. However, I am also coming to the realization that combining the strongest rooms of both levels could yield a much better dungeon. This fills me with great dread because I really want to push this out before 2025.

So here's what I'd do differently next time I write a dungeon.

DEFINING ROOMS: I would write down notable monsters, treasures, and rooms that define the dungeon. These are the areas that anchor the dungeon and further refine the random stocking

RANDOM ROOMS: I'd also start writing out 1d6 Monsters, Traps, Treasure that define the space that I am thinking about. This helps keep you on an aesthetic theme in the dungeon when it comes to random stocking. This can also be expanded to 1d10 or whatever if you need it.

RANDOM STOCKING: Here is the random stocking table I like:

1-2 Monsters (3:6 treasure)
3 Traps (2:6 treasure)
4-5 Empty (1:6 treasure, hidden)
6 Special*

* Special can just be a room, shrine, or object that can't be moved from the dungeon but can function as a boon/bane; a shrine to Orcus would be a good example

DESIGN DOC: Then combine all the above into a single sheet as a sorta design document along with notes to myself about central "deal" of the dungeon and faction notes. This document would be added too as I think of things. At a high-level it might look like:

• Brief overview of the dungeon
• Hooks (with some factions)
• 1-2 Factions (or NPCs) with wants, gives, goals
• 1d6 Monsters
• 1d6 Traps
• 1d6 Treasures
• Random Stocking table as above
• Inspirational pictures

INTENTIONAL MAP DESIGN: Next, instead of randomly generating the whole dungeon like I did with the "Wine Dungeon", I think I would be more intentional with the map design which makes it easier to create an aesthetic theme and drive the feel of the dungeon.

I would take each of the defining rooms and build ~5 additional rooms that fit its theme. This also conveniently fits the random stocking tables. In other words, each defining room would have a room with:

• A monster
• A monster + treasure
• A trap (30% treasure)
• Empty
• Empty + treasure*
• Special

* Given everyone's shorten play time these days, I don't mind adding more treasure than less in a dungeon, especially if hidden and besides John Romero thinks all maps should at least have 4 secrets.

Do this for 5 defining rooms and you already have a ~30 room dungeon which is often as big or bigger than a lot of things out there.

"FILLER": I don't think adding rooms or hallways which link these key spaces together is "wasted". For instance here I talk about how "empty" rooms can be actionable in a dungeon. Hallways also can be more than counting 10ft squares. I also think random stocking can make for combinations you might not have thought of too. Also restocking the dungeon requires some extra rooms to take on a different purpose.

PLAYTEST: This is about the smartest thing you can do for a dungeon is to run it for 5-10 sessions to see how folks feel about it. My players still ask about "The Wine Dungeon" so I know that it has legs and is a pretty novel take.

So that's it! Other good posts about dungeon design:

• The Two-Week Megadungeon: https://www.paperspencils.com/two-week-megadungeon/
• Mastering the Megadungeon: https://inplacesdeep.blogspot.com/2017/06/mastering-megadungeon.html
• So You Want To Build A Dungeon: https://alldeadgenerations.blogspot.com/2021/03/so-you-want-to-build-dungeon.html
• Dungeon Checklist: https://goblinpunch.blogspot.com/2016/01/dungeon-checklist.html

NIGHTWICK ABBEY: The Purple Eater of People Session 96

 

If these horrid halls of Nightwick Abbey call to you, then please join Miranda Elkins' Patreon!

Previously in Nightwick...

This week's adventurers:

Liminal Space (Changeling 4)
Krupe (Cleric 3)
Lump (Frogling 1)
Blossom (Rogue 6)
Mayfly (Magician 5)
Thekla (Magician 3)
Mectilde (Fighter 5)
Poppy (Fighter 2)

AT THE MEDUSA'S HEAD...

The party assembled once again at the best bar in Nightwick Village after a month-long rest & reprieve. The party decides to rove out down the long road south to see what is going on in the Dark Country and make a mental note of allies and enemies and find some adventure! Two rumors reach the ears of the party:

1. The jousting tourney being held by Ann of Blackleg has reached a bizarre conclusion

2. Gaunta Fat-Staff has been killed in the tourney (this piques Mayfly's interest because Fat-Staff was in possession of a wand at the end of the battle of Vollage)

But departure is delayed as many party members negotiate for a mount as horses are non-existent in Nightwick village and mules are in short supply. Which means you're payin' more for that ass! 21gp per ass in fact. The party heads south toward the ruined manor that once was inhabited by the Corbis

...THEN ALONG THE ROAD...

FROGGER: After a few hours of travel, the party arrives at a troubling sight, before them is a wrecked caravan that contains a well-perforated collection of 20 men-at-arms and 5 froglings. The party takes the frogling badges to return to the VanToad family and then decides to give all a proper burial.

But there was only one broken shovel so...um...yeah...tough on those folks. The bodies The party mounts up and decides to continue to the ruined manor to see if there are some clues to what happened here.

OUR OLD FRIEND, ELGAST: Pushing toward the manor, the party begins following a trail of several hoof and footprints. The party slips to the tree line and Blossom scouts ahead. Returning a while later, our sharper returns reported that a large camp of soldiers had taken up in the manor.

Soon the party is confronted by 11 horsemen, wearing the Bishop's livery, who question what the party is doing. When Mechtilde steps forward to inform them of the tragic fate of the froggling caravan, they seem suspiciously unmoved. Discussion seeming stall with the lead soldier which causes Mayfly to ride up and cast charm person-- "Hey friend!" After learning that the soldier's name was Elgast, the party asks for an escort to the manner. And is a little dismayed that, yes, in fact, there is a large camp of soldiers there to the tune of about one hundred plus led by Lord Dippelt.

As night takes center stage in the sky and the party prepares to dine with the Lord, Mayfly creeps off to find a dark corner to speak with The-Thing-In-His-Pocket and releases it to find out some secrets of this Lord and see if there is anything useful to piler. At dinner, Liminal and Mechtilde learn that the remaining Corbis were run off by this group and that they were responsible for the frogling caravan destruction (PC NOTE: We as a party reacted pretty poorly to that). Why did they kill the caravan? Because the Bishop of Lychgate has deemed no frogling should perform trade anywhere south of Lychgate. The party sets off in the morning.

BLACK DRAGON, FEAR OF A: The party decides to swing through the swamp a little ways before heading into Knightspath. As they are picking their way through the area, a large black shadow flies over them. Looking up the party spots a green-eyed dragon of envy just as it wheels to give them a closer look! 

Understandably panic sets in until Thekla pipes up that in their possession is a potion of Dragon Control. Now instead of hiding the party does their best to attract the dragon's attention. As it lands, Thekla downs the potion ("tastes like chicken") and latches onto the dragon's mind. New goal: destroy everyone in the courtyard back at the ruined manor.

Mayfly becomes visibly upset and tries to talk the party out of this course of action. Mayfly offers instead that we have the dragon reveal is hoard! Great idea thinks the party and so they ask it that information and still tell it to destroy Dippelt's encampment. Mayfly grows more distressed.

With that done, the party turns towards the town of Knightspath.