Dm game readiness

Well, I have played for the last 4 sessions now with the 2 guys I joined for the 3.5 edition and so far it has been okay. But, how prepared due you feel your DM should be??

The first time I could understand as he was kind of thrown into the mix as DM, the 2nd game seemed to be better as did the 3rd and with all the time we had off with the thanksgiving holiday I was really expecting him to be really prepared and for us to hit the ground running getting the game going for our 4th session. It seemed he was ready having a computer and notes to go on and the session started very good, but quickly deteriorated as he seemed to be running the game loosely just wanting us to find some treasure to use for upcoming battles. Towards the end of the night we ended up fighting and killing a juvenille green dragon rather easily, when I felt he could have made the fight harder, even if our resident magic-user bard the nameless gnome was able to blind the creature with a spell. Which I do not think the DM was prepared for and still could have made the fight harder, but he just let it go.

Now when I DM'd I tried to plan for every contigency, which of course you can not do no matter what you think the group will do, they sometimes come up with something so unexpected it not only works it also throws whatever plans you had made right down the dumper. But, I felt the good qualities of a Dm was to be able to handle these mishaps and continue on with the game as if nothing had happened. I did that with every game I DM'd to the point I always had some sort of back up plan ready and waiting to go in the wings if need be, which I feel helped make my games go smoother and kept the games interesting.

I do not plan to leave this game, my hope is the DM will get better as we go along, it is just nice to be playing in a gaming group again and who knows I might eventually go ahead and DM for awhile when they feel like trying the 2nd edition.

The trek continues

Upon awakening, I looked around momentarily forgetting where I was, then the memories came flooding back to me of being in a cell fighting our way out, then it hit me I remembered my name and what I was anyway. I looked to the nameless gnome blurting out in excitement "My name, my name is Pandar Silversmith I am a fighter/cleric of Moradin. But, that is all I can remember at this point (looking at the gnome) and you surely you must know who you are?" The gnome looked at me for a moment before stating "Well my name is still missing, but my profession is a bard a wandering minstrel of sorts." Looking down at him I patted him on the shoulder "Well, nameless gnome is how I shall call you then agreed." Clasping his arm in a warriors arm shake "At least I can help with any wounds now if need be and mayhaps you can also cast some spells if needed. So what instrument do you play? Lute, pipes, small harp perhaps?" The gnome looked up as we were walking then looking at me finally answered, "I play a concertina."

As we kept walking along the river's edge I looked about the area keeping a wary eye out for any dangers then said to him "I am sorry friend gnome, but I have no idea what that is?" He shrugged his shoulders saying "No offense Pandar it is not a common instrument among bards and takes quite a good deal of skill to master." Stopping for a break and some water I replied "Ah, well I am sure you are very good, too bad you could not find a way to get us some grub, because my stomach is already telling me it is well past time for lunch and breakfast, you would not believe how hard it is for a dwarf to stay in fighting shape." Laughing I added "That also includes drinking various amounts of ale to make sure I stay well hydrated, water is okay, but a dwarf does not live by water alone."

Looking around I looked at the two of us, we were both scratched and bruised from our previous excursions, dressed in our breeches and boots, no shirts and our lone weapon was a battle axe I stole off the gnoll. Sighing, I pushed myself to my feet and helped the gnome up "Well lets hope another day or so to find this elven kingdom, and get some real food, it is hard to believe that elf thought that gem you are carrying was worth dying for to get back to his people. But, I guess anything that could stop the dark elves would be worth dying for, I just wish I could remember more of who I am and where I was from?"

We stopped for the night, this time I did my watch without falling asleep then I awoke the gnome while he stood the next watch, when he woke me in the morning I was hoping to have some new insight into myself, but nothing was forthcoming and looking over at the gnome it was apparent his memory also had not returned. Still the day at least dawned brighter and kneeling beside the river's edge I said my daily prayers to Moradin asking his forgiveness for losing my holy symbol and hoping he might see his way clear to help with regaining my memories and my traveling companion's as well. Once done I decided to see if I could heal the wounds I received in the battle back at the mountain and was relieved to see Moradin did not abandon me. I also healed the minor cuts on the gnome as we again followed the river, my stomach was growling louder as lunchtime came and went, every so often the gnome looked at me and all I could do was small at him assuring him he was not the type of food I was looking for.

Another couple hours past mid-day the gnome heard something coming from the woods, motioning to me we went further in and there were clearly sounds of combat coming ahead of us, crouching we saw a clearing ahead of us and there were 4 adventurers fighting a owl bear, one was clearly dead lying on the ground, a cleric and fighter were battling the creature just as another of their party was crushed by the creature, seeing this group fight the creature, I jumped up and charged the beast, just as it hit the fighter knocking him into the cleric making them both fall to the ground, I swung my battle axe into the creature's exposed flank a mighty thwack being heard as the blade bit deep into the creature's flesh, howling with rage it swung it's arm knocking me into the air it's claws raking my chest. The creature turned back to the fighter and cleric and grabbing the fighter by his arm tore the man's arm from his socket blood flying into the air, the cleric swinging his mace at the monster hit it's head badly and was then soundly knocked back towards the gnome who was trying to see if there was a weapon he could pick up and use to fight the beast. The fighter collapsed on the ground his blood pooling onto the forest floor beside him, regaining my feet I charged the beast again and dodging it's feeble blows was able to land another hit into it's side as two arrows came flying out of the woods felling the beast, then the cleric getting to his feet began running away just as two more arrows flew into his back killing him, not knowing what was going on I dived for cover behind the dead beast as did the gnome behind one of adventurer's fallen bodies. Glancing up the gnome yelled "Wait, we did nothing wrong, we were just trying to defeat that foul best who was attacking this party." receiving no answer he ducked behind the body and looking at me shrugged his shoulders, looking at him with a quizzical look I looked up over the beast and saw a elf come striding out of the woods he was dressed in green leathers and beside him walked a very large wolf, as he slung his bow across his shoulders he reached for his short sword and stepping to the fighter drove the blade into his heart. Looking at me then plus at the gnome the elf replied "Rise, rise good sirs, my quarrel was not with you but, (the elf pointed to each of the bodies) these four ruffians who stole our Crown of Knowledge, I was charged with finding them and bringing back our treasure at any and all costs." Rising slowly the gnome and myself looked at the elf he seemed to be telling the truth and had put away his sword so I went up to him introducing myself as "Pandar Silversmith from Stormbrin (another memory back), and this is my companion the nameless gnome a wandering minstrel."

The elf looked at us both and I then told him how we had been captured and had been put in a cell with another elf by the name of Phalenor and that we were looking for the Elven Kingdom of Athlamor. The elf looked shocked when I mentioned Phalenor's name and wanted to know how he died, allowing the gnome to continue the story I went and found some trail rations that one of the adventurer's had on them and ate till it quelled my stomach's cries of hunger. After the gnome was finished the elf looked at us and said we could take anything we needed from the dead bodies and accompany him back to see his King and Queen who would also like to know first hand what had happened to Phalenor and that the gem their magic-users had been working on did work. The gnome and I combed the bodies getting rations and other essential gear as the elf who said his name was Ristelle said to leave the bodies for the predators of the forest completing nature's cycle, plus he felt no need to bury these thieving scum.

The gnome found the crown on one of the bodies giving it to Ristelle, who gave his thanks and then we journeyed another day to the Elven Kingdom of Athlamor being taken into the elven enclave.

End of 2nd Act.

New campaign with 3.5 rules.

Well, I have begun playing in a campaign (as yet unnamed), it is 3.5 rules mainly straight from the book, no house rules at the moment. There are 3 of us and the DM had us start at 5th level. So we all started getting our characters together with weapons, equipment, a couple of magical items. coming up with backgrounds. As we began the game the Dm threw us a curve ball telling us we had no idea who, what, where, or why we woke up inside a large cell.

I will tell the exploits of the game as seen through the eyes of my character Pandar Silversmith a Dwarven 3rd level fighter/2nd level cleric of Moradin.

I awoke confused not knowing what day, night, time it was or even who I was, confused and trying to get my bearings I looked at my surroundings seeing a medium sized cell about 20' by 20', there where two others in the cell with me a gnome and elf, no bedding and one bucket holding stale water. I went to the bucket and drank my fill, looking outside the cell I saw a gnoll guard as he said we were going to be well taken care of, as a 2nd guard walked by every so many minutes keeping a eye on all of us. I then walked over to the elf as he called myself and the gnome over to him, upon approaching him he said his name was Phalenor and that the gnome and myself and elf had been captured by dark elves (drow) who had used some sort of magic on us that wiped our memories from us, he (the elf) had a gem that kept his memories till he was alone to call them back to his mind. At first I was not sure what to make of this, but his argument was persuasive and the gnome and myself agreed to help him escape as long as we were included also.

The first problem was not having any weapons of any sort and to top it off the gnome did not know if he could fight and neither did I, but to get myself out of this cell I was willing to help at any and all costs as I agreed to go after the 1st gnoll as I was obviously the strongest, the gnoll was facing partly away from us in a chair, he held a battle axe against the chair and we waited for what seemed an eternity till he began to fall asleep, as the 2nd guard passed by the cell we acted, Phalenor was able to open the lock and sneaking up on the guard I was able to grapple him in a choke hold while the gnome grabbed for the battle axe as Phalenor tried to hit him with his fists, missing with each blow, the gnome swung the battle axe almost hitting me instead of the gnoll, still we struggled against the gnoll beginning to make more noise than was intended, finally Phalenor was able to strike the gnoll stunning him as the gnome handed me the battle axe, instinct plus years of training took over and I was able to swing and hit the gnoll hurting him, (I at least knew I was some sort of fighter then) when suddenly the 2nd gnoll charged into the fray, he swung his battle axe hitting me soundly, I shrugged off the hit and swung my weapon into the 1st gnoll striking him and followed through into the 2nd gnoll with the battle axe striking him just as badly as he hit me. The 1st gnoll dropped to the floor and the 2nd gnoll escaping the attacks of Phalenor and the gnome, proceeded to run away farther into the cavern, not even taking time to dispatch the downed gnoll we went running the opposite direction hoping this led to the outside, just as we spied a way out ahead of us two large figures stepped into the tunnel they were ogres.

Smiling I was running up to them when the gnome came flying by me and rolled under the legs of the 1st ogre and then hit the brute with his fists, bringing a smile to my face as I watched him. Not to be outdone Phalenor also outraced me to the big brute blocking the tunnel and hit him with his fists, all before I even had made it up to the ugly monster. The beast swung at the gnome with a giant club, but missed him as the gnome deftly dodged the blow, the elf Phalenor hit him again with his fists and I finally swung the battle axe hitting the brute slicing him a long gash down his stomach, the monster falling to the ground. Turning towards the 2nd advancing ogre, the gnome again struck first, but his blows bounced off the hide of the monster as did Phalenor's, I was able to guide the battle axe into the leg of the monster, as it brought it's club down on my exposed head, I was just able to move in time as the club grazed my head causing me to see stars, the gnome again worked wonders as he created sounds from down the tunnel saying "Hurry, hurry they need our help!" The ogre wasted little time as it turned tail running out of the cavern, this time I did not forget and completed the job of making sure that the 1st downed ogre would never trouble us again, burying the axe head into it's chest.

As we went out of the cavern it was night time, Phalenor telling us to hurry, as we went running blindly down a mountain, Phalenor called a moments respite as he explained about the gem saying he was captured on purpose so he could try out this gem that was invented by the elves at Athlamor? the name having no meaning for myself or the gnome. He told us how to make it back to the elvish land by following the river east towards the great forest, in case anything happened to him he made us swear to bring the gem back to his people so they would know that this gem did work as designed, but the gem would not restore our memories as it held only Phalenor's at the time as we were captured after him. Swearing to Phalenor we began going down the mountain sliding and slipping our way down, just as we began to break though the pine trees onto a lower part of the mountain, the gnome and myself turned just as we heard a thwiip of a bow string sound and arrows began falling all around us, turning we made for the trees, but I saw Pahlenor get hit by a arrow in the back, by the time he made the trees he was foaming blood from his mouth. Phalenor could barely stand but he pressed the gem into the gnome's hand and looking us both in the eyes said "Do not fail me in this, get the gem to my people, you will be rewarded, you can help keep the dark elves from taking our races as prisoners, hurry, hurry I will (coughing up more blood)delay them as long as I can." Grabbing a stick on the ground, Phalenor gave some sort of Elven battle cry as he ran back up the slope of the mountain, the gnome and I ran as fast as our legs would carry us, stumbling and slipping the rest of the way down the slope till at last we made the river.

Throwing ourselves down at the river's edge we both gulped down as much water as we could and hearing no more sounds of pursuit, we moved a little further down the river's edge and collapsed on the ground, I volunteered to take first watch and as the gnome fell fast asleep the sun was just beginning to come up when I also slipped into a deep sleep. Some hours later when the sun was high I woke up as the gnome touched my shoulder telling me we needed to be moving on towards Athlamor.

end of act-1

Rough month

It has been very rough going this past month or so, running to and from the doctors/nursing home, my father-in-law has just lost his other leg to diabetes this past month, along with failing eyesight, but we finally got him home just before thanksgiving which is what we have to be thankful for!!!

During this time I was able to find some guys to play D&D again, but it is 3.5 (ughh). Oh well beggars can not be choosers and the guys I am playing with are really friendly and eventually I may run my 2nd edition game with them as I am the old guy and they do not know much about 2nd edition. One thing we all agree on is that 4th edition is certainly not the way to go as none of us like it or even understand all of the new rules.

I hope to begin blogging regularly again as I will now write about not just 2nd edition thoughts/ideas, but also include the notes on our characters in game play of the 3.5 campaign we have started.

How complete is your Kingdom??

My Kingdom or I should say the kingdom where my players begin there games is fairly detailed as I have 12 known towns/cities in which the players choose to come from and we would develop a storyline about why the players pc was in a certain town, what there background was running/hiding, maybe they were just out looking for trouble or to have fun.

At this point the players would eventually meet the other pc's and we would start the adventure. I have kept most of my original notes over the years to answer any questions about the area the players entered which included maps, dates & etc. I also made a detailed monetary system for the kingdom describing the thickness of the coin and what each coin of the realm is called, plus I had a calendar with days of the week and month's, moon phases. The maps are made using the Campaign Cartographer from Pro fantasy software even though I am not that great at making maps as some of the map enthusiasts out there I always had fun designing the maps and coming up with names for establishments, working on different Coat of Arms for my nobles, and just naming the main npc's the players would evenutally encounter.

For a lot of the establishments the pc's would go to I had made up the various npc's past of why he/she was running that particular business what their alignment was and any other items that could be useful to enterprising pc's, who had the where-with-all to explore other area besides the adventure they had started.

This was another contributing factor to helping keep the world we had invented fresh and new.

Till next time good gaming.

Too many Gods

Too many gods you say?? You bet your sweet bippe, especially in 2nd edition AD&D, yes you could limit the pantheon(s) the players got to choose from for selecting their god if they had a religion. But, even then they could choose from between 10 or more god or goddesses. Usually they selected one that gave their Pc a slight edge or two, letting them have slightly different weapons or magical spells that they might not otherwise be able to take normally.

I was just as guilty as the next player when it came to choosing a god for my Pc also, but when I started my PBP game, I decided enough is enough and came out with a list of 5 gods, finally settling on 6 gods for my players to choose from in the Kingdom their Pc's would be starting their adventuring career in.

The following is a list of my pantheon of gods including a small description of the god there alignment and also clerical and magical spheres they allow access to.

Gods of Arcynia:

Vanthor-God of Light and all that is Good
All lawful good to lawful neutral alignments
Followers include Clerics, Fighters, Paladins
Symbols are some sort of a Sun design
Paladins called Light Warriors
(weapons allowed Swords, Hammers, Maces, Morning Star & Daggers)
Normal Paladin abilities plus when addressing hostile crowd can sway them to his side if he can talk uninterrupted for at least 3 rounds
Clerics called Sun Catchers
(weapons allowed Swords, Hammers, Maces, & Daggers)
Normal Clerical abilities plus can cure disease once per week
Spell access Major
All, Charm, Healing, Sun, Combat, & Protection
Minor access
Summoning, Guardian, Weather
Colors ranging from Gold, to Orange, to Yellow
Avatar is usually of a strong young virile man with gold flowing hair and strong morals

Veleize-Goddess of Magic and Knowledge
Any type of alignment allowed
Followers include any form of Magic-user, Scholars, Thieves
Spell access Major
All, Astral, Charm, Divination, Healing, & Protection
Minor access
Summoning, Creation, Necromantic
Symbols are some form of a globe surrounded by two moons
Paladins called Intellect Bearers
(weapons allowed Mace, Hammer, Swords, Bow, & Dagger)
Min int of 16, Normal abilities plus can cast one 1st level mage spell once per week
Clerics called Mystical Saviors
(weapons allowed Sling, Mace, Hammer & Quarterstaff) Min int of 12/wis of 16
Normal abilities plus can also receive answer?? to one question once per week
Colors range from light Blue to light Greens
Avatars range from a motherly figure to a stern, exotic type of female

Necris-God of Death and all that is Evil
All evil and neutral alignments
Followers include Clerics, Fighters, Thieves, & Magic-Users
Symbols are a form of 2 snakes intertwined within a skull
Spell access Major
All, Combat, Necromantic, Summoning, & Healing
Minor access
Animal, Charm, Protection
Anti-Paladin called Death Dealers
(weapons allowed Swords, Hand Crossbow, Flail, Sickle, & Whip)
Normal abilities plus can take a level of an enemy once per week
Clerics called Life stealers
(weapons allowed Dagger, Sickle, Blowgun, & Garrote) Min wis of 16/chr 13
Normal abilities plus can cause sickness once per week
Colors range from dark Greens to any variation of Black
Avatar is some form of veiled figure either female or male

Perwin-God of Luck
Any type of alignment allowed
Followers include Thieves, Illusionists, Fighters
Symbols are a pair of dice or coins
Spell access Major
All, Charm, Guardian, Healing, Protection & Creation
Minor access
Animal, Divination & Sun
Paladins called Luck Merchants
Normal abilities plus can ask for additional help once per week (+3 to hit)
Clerics called Life Winner
Normal abilities plus can change luck one time per week (+3 to any roll)
Colors range from bright Reds or Oranges
Avatar is usually of a young male or female dressed in leather’s with a mischievous grin and calculated look in their eyes

Lewenares-Elven God
Followers besides Elves also include Druids and Rangers
Symbols include some form of a tree symbol ex.-Acorn’s, Leaves, to just a Tree itself
Spell access Major
All, Animal, Astral, Healing, & Plant
Minor access
Charm, Creation & Elemental
Avatar is of a female elf with green clothing and a light tinge of green skin

Y’Gdaly Strongarm-Dwarven God
Symbol is of one Dwarven arm holding a Dwarven Battle Hammer
Spell access Major
All, Combat, Guardian, Healing, Protection & Sun
Minor access
Creation, Elemental & Divination
Avatar is a stout dwarf in full vigor carrying two battle hammers and always has a never ending supply of ale at hand

As you can see, nothing too elaborate and fairly simple, I am sure I forgot some points to put in or maybe my descriptions are not perfect, but hey as a Dm that is my prerogative and that is what I am going with for now.

Still what I also had planned for my players that as they began to explore the world, they would be uncovering other secret religions or going to areas of the world where different religious pantheons would be encountered.

Till next time good gaming.

What Dungeon Screen Modifications do you use?

In my gaming group when I was Dm'ing I used my own version of the AD&D DM screen, my screen had the pictures on the original screen and then everything else was covered by my own cheat tables.

One was for location of critical hits/called shots using weapon size vs. target size, along with severity of injury. Next table lists Powers check from the Ravenloft Campaign Setting, I figured if some of my players where going to use dark/evil spells as good mages they could be affected by evil side effects just as evil mages using such spells might end up with. The 3rd table was for Fumbles with weapons if rolling a 1 to hit, and the last table had on it the Martial Arts Results, then a list of Armor type A.C. and DP points assigned to each (if the Pc failed to clean/care for equipment they owned or found then the armor would only last for so long before becoming a piece of junk.) and the final section was of a Disarm attempt if called for by Pc or Npc, where said weapon(s) might go if the Npc or Pc were successful in their disarming attempt.

I never really bothered with weapon speed or iniative too much unless some sort of special conditions applied to the Pc's or Npc's. Under a haste spell or slow spell or using a weapon they had never used before. One other thing I had considered having was a table for early firearms, but I was never able to figure out anything that would work and did not like any tables that were out at that time. If anyone has any ideas for that please let me know.

On a side note, the other day while reading a blog, someone had put a link to Gronardia's blog in which he had made some comments about the Ages of D&D back in January of last year. For me the Golden Age of D&D was 2nd Ed. AD&D the one I played the most learning the rules for and Dm'ed. The next versions after that just go downhill for me.

Maybe one day I will use this again or make up something else till then good gaming.