tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61370723160422056072024-03-13T09:26:47.798-04:00A Rust Monster Ate My SwordA blog about games and gamers, and various and sundry geek-related ephemera and paraphernalia.Christopher Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17368794259249607299noreply@blogger.comBlogger343125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6137072316042205607.post-36681473809891413772024-01-30T09:59:00.004-05:002024-01-30T10:04:17.484-05:00A Bevy of Beyond the Supernatural Sheets<p> I don't know if anyone out there is still playing <i>Beyond the Supernatural</i> ("BtS"), Palladium's fun* little game of proto-super heroes hunting the paranormal, but I thought I'd share some of the sheets I've been using for the game.</p><p>When I was introduced to my new game group and <a href="https://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/2016/09/scanning-project-meet-fred-carter.html">we began our foray</a> into horror/supernatural role playing, we did so with BtS. Shortly thereafter, one of the members of the group introduced me to the first edition of <i>Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic</i> ("B13"). We didn't play it at that time, but we did adopt B13's intricate (and often hilarious) hit location tables for our games of BtS.</p><p>We played a bunch of BtS through late '89 and early '90, and had a ton of fun doing so. Then, one day around the middle of 1990, I discovered the recently released <a href="https://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/2018/10/rust-monster-reviews-goes-old-school.html">new edition of B13</a>. I snapped up the game, and around Halloween of that year, I ran our first game of pure B13. From that session, BtS was retired, and B13 became our go-to game of hunting the supernatural.</p><p>Over the years, I've been more than happy with B13. I love the game. But I do recognize its shortcomings, and the more I've spent time looking back at BtS, the more I feel we did the game a disservice by abandoning it so soon. We had hardly scratched the surface of its potential, and many times in the last few years, I've thought we should go back and take a deeper dive into it.</p><p>To that end, I've spent some time updating my character sheet and creating other resources for the game, similar to <a href="https://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/2021/04/oh-scary-scary-goodness.html">those I made for my B13 campaign</a>. So, without further ado, here we go (click an image to download the PDF):</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yrSRgx8OwElxP-ooQmmuRS7p_3nVXu9s/view?usp=drive_link" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1650" data-original-width="1275" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivyfFE6hd8GZxPIVNns6RZz4RZsJf2LrPKmsbTqUx9TGy18vGx5eJNHuWa6H7jIOusLbEwHE9YdYIw6qLs_68qc5pEqWrMhQQYGFdvJzFNsoxBO644FQJZtTx3WZLO4Hzwsa08ajjP4o2a1pEg5D_bjK_klouu7JkmoTCn1GD9KWDSVT7JBeoTJL-EUUh_/w494-h640/BeyondTheSupernaturalCharacterSheet4a%20150dpi%20copy.jpg" width="494" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>BtS Character Sheet, this fillable PDF includes one front and two backs - <br />one for mundane characters and one for psychic- or magic-wielding characters</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d8AGjvM5spT1NnCnWw5_Cym61QFqt-cH/view?usp=drive_link" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1650" data-original-width="1275" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM07VGyf46-2GLzZaYlUBPBGSwyPDYf4oSf5h7-1gmO8OpSCWmSEWnOieiC-wI5xbDE_GBGDdUnQiyTXz90M2ELfIfU7RhxG8FHswXP9edsHD-1SH8rB__3fwRPvltYUlDSZ-a1HlaUh6sDB3uIj7-r4V0wm0dhYoyqDU3KqMtdCWnoq-8nydAIDnx6q_9/w494-h640/BeyondTheSupernaturalMagicWorkSheet%20copy.jpg" width="494" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>BtS magic worksheet for magic-using characters</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NEoeHixlBINH7XuEgckvuRp1F0EBM9DX/view?usp=drive_link" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1650" data-original-width="1273" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZynVnkwfsXqUjc2sAkREoz2rrGutIqyPEmi6-beX0ESO9pRSF4Q2Nakyw-IEP03ox80_N22QJH5Ubozr6g3bsDNC1U1MGKIlrFrSvXox-MAKHtG1x-iBJ6C9XJQfJl5VWA277Ca9OBJP-Yx6QO2-dJk6zLgTpiQvhKtmJ4SgI0jP7Zwt7ktaH6Y1l7-lv/w494-h640/Beyond%20the%20Supernatural%201st%20Ed%20-%20Skills%20Summary%20copy.jpg" width="494" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>BtS skills summary cheat sheet</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AFN_28rF_lHCaiJ_rfNLw7CUsGbeMBde/view?usp=drive_link" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1650" data-original-width="1275" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitoOk5ADjmJHc0hCMj2T0IgoyR3gGri8xmi-XuquRrRzC9nNKm4aR8JNPeXh_ywMvV_On_CK4iWcS7ihOOQRk3OuTDzA-gjKo7pc5TMB8tQLGbuT6m3MarYUH7MtymPnfZsoUx4IGm15ZAZVDNxYTpiu2PEWcmtJVxc3I4O_RANJpfSoIE2G4HwyFe4HvN/w494-h640/BeyondTheSupernaturalAdventureRecapSheet%20copy.jpg" width="494" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>BtS adventure recap sheet, for keeping track of the mayhem your PCs get up to</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/10Ry0-X1nDUT81MK-z-k1JlA36IVD3VVR/view?usp=drive_link" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1650" data-original-width="1275" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbupnnnKyjYAtDf1nA0tsv-7HIxf_8ujuowRiWKFXQHg5DSzP9lJoCfnOLnXfuOwh0jC89ZwJ5O66PUaMMKss4tVR7QBUg-rkvLg35c6NuNniN7mETbeQhnsnJDIiZkRhxNegbxz03jauWIy2aVwam_Vf1fYaW6cTKl3MaUw2UWf2jM0IYJJpOnHMi2H2O/w494-h640/BtS_CreaturesCraziesCultistsSheet%20copy.jpg" width="494" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>BtS "Crazies & Cultists" sheet, a fillable PDF for keeping track of your NPCs</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>*And wildly extensible, thanks to its cross-compatibility with almost all of the other Palladium system games. Even before my first BtS session, the game group's existing game master was already mixing in <i>Ninjas & Superspies.</i></p>Christopher Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17368794259249607299noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6137072316042205607.post-30741080206907019432024-01-18T13:45:00.004-05:002024-01-18T13:47:34.084-05:00Scanning Project: A Witch-Haunted Old Town<p>Here's another old piece, my take on <a href="https://lovecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Arkham" target="_blank">H. P. Lovecraft's Arkham</a>.</p><p>I drew this shortly after <a href="https://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/2016/09/scanning-project-meet-fred-carter.html">my introduction to horror role playing</a> vis Palladium's <i>Beyond the Supernatural</i>, which means that it's mostly likely from 1990. I believe this map, and the fact that I had made my first character a resident of that town, led to the next round of our player characters made for that game also being residents. This, in turn, led to the town becoming the center of <a href="https://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/2022/02/my-beyond-supernaturalbureau-13.html">our long-lived horror RPG campaign</a>.</p><p>I'll admit that, aside from a few elements, this town probably bears little resemblance to the place as found in the details scattered across HPL's works. It was less a faithful reproduction of the Old Gent's locale and more a combination of the few details I recalled at the time and a conglomerate of the local college towns with which I was intimately familiar (Clinton, Morrisville, Hamilton, and Cazenovia). It also included a couple locations that reflected real-world ones that had figured heavily in my life in previous years (such as the old, overgrown graveyard on the hill, which was modelled on what we called "The Loomis Gang cemetery"). This approach, I believe, made Arkham something more than of a far-off (not to mention fictional) college town, a place that was more familiar to all of my fellow game group members, as they also knew these towns and their institutions well.</p><p>My Arkham and its map were replaced by the (exquisite!) ones from Chaosium's <i>Arkham Unveiled</i> when that fine tome was released a few months later. But during the intervening period, this was how we saw Arkham, and many fun adventures were had within the area it covered.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaCArUFelN6BfsOHPGPLJeIrgfhWzS01wNeU-wa7g7hygoPz_H3BGdHjHVwj6BEty6NEjTTu8jI3MEg9gn3OUWwh1s1EdOI9T1BLKwKmSKRAzxsa7aPdYb662SXvUCOYC-6JrQwNEDFtjh9vWPLJhBKNg_0HTlYrq-A8PnBPIO-ue0_UOSFf1vRzHd5eSw/s3296/Document_2024-01-16_115911-ArkhamMap01%20copy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3296" data-original-width="2544" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaCArUFelN6BfsOHPGPLJeIrgfhWzS01wNeU-wa7g7hygoPz_H3BGdHjHVwj6BEty6NEjTTu8jI3MEg9gn3OUWwh1s1EdOI9T1BLKwKmSKRAzxsa7aPdYb662SXvUCOYC-6JrQwNEDFtjh9vWPLJhBKNg_0HTlYrq-A8PnBPIO-ue0_UOSFf1vRzHd5eSw/w494-h640/Document_2024-01-16_115911-ArkhamMap01%20copy.jpg" width="494" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Map</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgenKOHKVpM3UwZul0qv1hUA6HXfLeEa6aQ2KrWjBXhntwiW1pKzcWP378QM7k_OjJZD_Hs1ptqCFgkL7oTMVs6XxnK9e8UWkFHda_iCivhdsq6D6QRqTNWSh6VrE07wj4aw4D8u4e6Wtvyp_rG9hYeakPvRdSvV1v04Wy7wJ1cBoRjZwi-bBQzBYGMyQNs/s3319/Document_2024-01-16_115911-ArkhamMap02%20copy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3319" data-original-width="2573" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgenKOHKVpM3UwZul0qv1hUA6HXfLeEa6aQ2KrWjBXhntwiW1pKzcWP378QM7k_OjJZD_Hs1ptqCFgkL7oTMVs6XxnK9e8UWkFHda_iCivhdsq6D6QRqTNWSh6VrE07wj4aw4D8u4e6Wtvyp_rG9hYeakPvRdSvV1v04Wy7wJ1cBoRjZwi-bBQzBYGMyQNs/w496-h640/Document_2024-01-16_115911-ArkhamMap02%20copy.jpg" width="496" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Key</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p>Christopher Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17368794259249607299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6137072316042205607.post-60825704590587506592024-01-16T09:33:00.013-05:002024-01-16T09:50:55.350-05:00Meet Hal Billings<p>I was rereading a few old posts here on my blog ("<i>I</i> wrote that? Huh. How about that...") and got the inspiration to share this little image (drawn by my too-talented-for-his-own-good-why-can't-I-draw-like-that friend, Terry). And to share the story behind it, of course.</p><p>In the early- to mid-nineties, Terry and I were gaming madmen. We'd get together at least once a week in my flat on the second floor of a big, old Victorian-style house, sit down at my amazing, gigantic oak dining room table in my large "study" (which was usually the front bedroom of the apartment) to roll dice and eat food that was bad for us. Most often, these were one-on-one games. Terry was truly my partner in crime in this, as he and I had much the same sensibilities, but he played much more heroic characters than I did. But that was great for me, because I loved telling heroic stories. His style of playing games synced perfectly with my style of running them.</p><p>We tried one game after another during this period - Villains & Vigilantes, Cyberpunk (2013, of course), and Stormbringer being the ones we latched onto the longest, but also dipping our toes into many others, like Vampire: The Masquerade, V:tM - Hunters Hunted, Star Wars (the One True Version - aka WEG's D6 version), Everway, Gangbusters, TMNT, Pendragon, Kult, and many, many others.</p><p>And, of course, one of the games we explored was Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu ("CoC").</p><p>By this point, I had only <a href="https://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/2011/03/scanning-project-dunwich-call-of.html">run CoC once</a>. The game had gone well (it was a ton of fun, actually), but I still hadn't locked into my groove as a CoC Keeper. (That wouldn't happen <a href="https://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/2018/03/why-i-havent-played-call-of-cthulhu-in.html">until two decades later</a>.) But Terry, being the committed role player he was, leaned into the tropes of Lovecraftian horror at every turn, making my game mastering life so much easier. The few games we played were a blast - we probably would have played many more, but when we weren't playing weekly games with the larger game group as a whole, our Stormbringer and V&V campaigns kept pulling us back to them.</p><p>Probably our most memorable game of CoC is the one I'm going to recount here. One of our casual gamer friends at the time had heard about the games Terry and I were playing and asked that she and her boyfriend be included in one of them. I opted to run CoC, and they joined Terry and me in my study one evening to make characters and play a quick game.</p><p>While the trio made characters, I quickly came up with a bad guy and a scenario. I struggled a bit at first (as <a href="https://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/2020/06/from-heavy-metal-to-horror-role-playing.html">often happened</a>), wracking my brain to find a good adventure idea. After a few moments of panic, it came to me: I had recently read the short story "Gray Matter" from Stephen King's collection, <i>Night Shift</i>. It was perfectly Lovecraftian, and all I needed was some bad guy stats and an NPC or two to deliver the hook to the Investigators. While they worked on their characters, I pulled out a <a href="https://rpggeek.com/filepage/71335/coc-3rd-edition-minion-master-sheet-replica" target="_blank">CoC Minion Master sheet</a> and got to work.</p><p>Soon, we were ready to play.</p><p>The characters, who didn't know each other, were shopping in a small market when a young boy ran in, telling them frantically that his father was sick and needed help right away. He ran out before they could do much deliberating, and - being good Samaritans - they rushed after him to render aid. However, when they got to the rundown, darkened apartment building the boy had run into, our friend and her boyfriend put on their gamer hats and, rather than following the child as he ran upstairs, began clearing the lower floor of the building.</p><p>But Terry knew better. He knew that such behavior was unrealistic, and that he had embrace the immersion and follow the boy up the poorly lit stairs - which he enthusiastically did. When they reached the top of the stairs, they found a hallway lit solely by a bare bulb hanging over the top landing. The far end, to which the boy was pointing, declaring his apartment to be "down there," was completely engulfed in impenetrable blackness. As Terry's Investigator, pulp-horror novelist Richard Whitlocke, headed down the hall, the boy remained under the light - terrified of whatever had happened to his father.</p><p>Our friends, whose characters were still checking out the lower floor - for <i>reasons</i>, I guess - told Terry he should have his character wait for them. But he scoffed at them - he knew that wasn't how this game was meant to go, and that what they were doing made no sense in this series of events. He knew too that, to enjoy the game, he had to embrace the story, no matter where that might lead him.</p><p>In this case, it lead him into a dark hallway. Richard drew a book of matches from the pocket of his Chesterfield overcoat and lit one, casting just enough light to see where his next few steps would put him. He repeated this process, moving slowly down the hall. Finally, he was just able to see the apartment door. Another match lit, he approached it - the ancient, worn floorboards beneath him creaking loudly as he reached the door and his match went out.</p><p>As he fumbled in the matchbox for one of his few remaining matches, he heard the floorboards creak on the other side of the door, heard the handle turn after being awkwardly fumbled with, and heard the hinges groan as the door opened. For an eternal heartbeat, he stood in the darkness wondering who - or what - he was about to be face-to-face with.</p><p>He drew and struck the match, and saw this before him:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifc0TlE2gNcyncLyc0aHgV-WvrCXB3mqYkSajEHdA3XuC5mj4gLjbcVCS5_er4BzLNzk6Q_mv4yZd_2-PWITozYXxV8Sw7JeVF8dEnrXPpXYcR11uCaN7pEAKg3bU-oF0YeaAQUKHWoiWa3w-ep2BPE_pQ2P60UfyLTFzxiP3ybHBeWk05KNcFb07z_rmE/s2864/92%20hal%20billings%20fate%20bw.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2864" data-original-width="2268" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifc0TlE2gNcyncLyc0aHgV-WvrCXB3mqYkSajEHdA3XuC5mj4gLjbcVCS5_er4BzLNzk6Q_mv4yZd_2-PWITozYXxV8Sw7JeVF8dEnrXPpXYcR11uCaN7pEAKg3bU-oF0YeaAQUKHWoiWa3w-ep2BPE_pQ2P60UfyLTFzxiP3ybHBeWk05KNcFb07z_rmE/w506-h640/92%20hal%20billings%20fate%20bw.jpg" title="Hal Billings, as drawn by Terry after the session" width="506" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Hal Billings, as drawn by Terry after the session</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>The corrupt thing that had been Hal Billings rushed the Investigator. What followed was a chaotic concoction of screams, lost sanity, wild shots from Richard's pocket revolver, and a harried flight back down the stairs. I believe our friends' Investigators rushed to his aid and used a shotgun - which one of them had, for reasons, I guess - to put down the <i>thing</i> before it could harm anyone. </p><p>The threat removed, we closed the scene on our intrepid adventurers* and on the simple adventure that Terry and I would later dub: "The Trouble with Hal."</p><p><br /></p><p>*Well, make that one intrepid adventurer, and two other people.</p><p><br /></p>Christopher Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17368794259249607299noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6137072316042205607.post-40393814726517063702023-08-02T10:54:00.006-04:002023-08-02T12:19:32.110-04:00Speaking of this Image...<p>I used this beautiful image by Bill Willingham from the <a href="https://www.acaeum.com/ddindexes/setpages/basic.html" target="_blank">1981 Moldvay <i>Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set</i></a> for a previous post (regarding a B/X campaign that, unfortunately, never made it off the launch pad). Looking at it got me to thinking of a few things I've often thought while looking at this image:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I love the party composition - for some reason, this always seemed to me like the stereotypical PC party. (No one ever liked playing clerics back in the day - the most you might get beyond this representation is a thief. Halflings? Perish the thought...)<br /><br /></li><li>A dragon? Not <i>really </i>representative of what a party of adventurers would realistically face at the levels this book covers. (Although, let's face it: we DMs still threw dragons in there - some nerfed hit points, a few out-of-scale magic items, the party had a fighting chance, second-level or not. And if not? Well, it's a big world out there, and not everything is at your level. TPK? You attacked a <i>dragon</i>. I'm not sure what other outcome you were expecting...)<br /><br /></li><li>What's up with the dwarf? Did he:<br /><br /></li><ul><li>Not see the dragon there? Or maybe think it wasn't real?<br /><br /></li><li>Rush in and attack in a bout of dwarven rage, only to suddenly realize (after failing to beat its AC): "Oh, crap - it's a red dragon - we're all going to die!"<br /><br /></li><li>Get suckered into parlaying with dragon, not realizing he was the decoy so the rest of the party could get a surprise round on it?<br /><br /></li></ul><li>Love the fighter's stance - and no going for center mass here. That badass is aiming for <i>the eye</i>.<br /><br /></li><li>That's a wicked cool elf. Don't know why I like her, but I do.<br /><br /></li><li>Speaking of cool, if that's <i>magic missile </i>the magic-user's casting, that dude is <b>doing it right!<br /><br /></b></li><li>That party may be on a short trip to a TPK, but they sure as Hell look awesome doing it. Well, maybe not so much the dwarf*...</li></ul><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqoUjMDlNf5hOFWkX93PotPToNzpf1cbamfAVyYSPuj-ETai-tT7NpWSeEyimz73pHdKiQPBVP545o5PULERg7_wiDs30coDSRU0g1Iv-wha_Z9rVtq655vft558J51BFCz6BO4VCb1rdz8AEjyMwzTi7asikJsRNuy_VRiCEe1Mjjl2cjAYDn8TIXdKwM/s1090/2022-11-02%2012%2001%2012.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="660" data-original-width="1090" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqoUjMDlNf5hOFWkX93PotPToNzpf1cbamfAVyYSPuj-ETai-tT7NpWSeEyimz73pHdKiQPBVP545o5PULERg7_wiDs30coDSRU0g1Iv-wha_Z9rVtq655vft558J51BFCz6BO4VCb1rdz8AEjyMwzTi7asikJsRNuy_VRiCEe1Mjjl2cjAYDn8TIXdKwM/w640-h388/2022-11-02%2012%2001%2012.png" title="My favorite piece of art from the Moldvay Basic Rules book" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My favorite piece of art from the Moldvay Basic Rules book</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>*But, come on, we all know <i>that</i> player. You know, the guy/girl who's always getting into trouble, making less than optimal tactical choices, and/or generally getting screwed by The Fates (usually through their dice rolls) and ending up at the short end of the proverbial stick... Oh, crap... I <i>am</i> that player!</p><p><br /></p>Christopher Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17368794259249607299noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6137072316042205607.post-28369740186038431362023-07-26T12:12:00.002-04:002023-07-26T12:26:37.195-04:00Try a BECMI/Rules Cyclopedia Character Sheet? It's Wafer Thin...<p>So, my first Dungeons & Dragons love is, of course, Moldvay Basic. </p><p>But, to be honest, BECMI via the Rules Cyclopedia* is, hands down, my favorite iteration of the game. That one book, packed with tons of "Basic" goodness, from characters, to magic, to monsters, to a Dungeon Master's Guide, to a mass combat system, to a complete campaign setting(?!), and more, is such an unbelievable artifact. It's a wonder it ever got produced, especially so in a time when breaking products down into smaller, more marketable chunks was TSR's SOP.</p><p>Anyway, enough gushing - here's my BECMI character sheet for you - complete with different back pages for basic characters, Magic-Users, Clerics, and Thieves. Enjoy!</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w1H5ih5bVR-SNldXJCKdtGnHLnYyOv9P/view?usp=drive_link" target="_blank"><img alt="Click to download the PDF" border="0" data-original-height="1650" data-original-width="1275" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVQpSXxHEguTECujbHO5HD_b3CWhtju5Dbcnsi5wgwf5GQyZjgahqSZ7zb5V4mjRAuyG50E1jUle0UfPhccusyiN-XdDQ2TVyfVdUajhRLs6z-LUR8smXYpBp9cvTFOZ85UpMZVuSX4xCoVbM9QBUvm-EOVk1KazFmb5I3I__VX54rCsuaacgIz9X_OXLl/w494-h640/Dungeons%20&%20Dragons%20BECMI%20Character%20Sheet%20copy.jpg" width="494" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w1H5ih5bVR-SNldXJCKdtGnHLnYyOv9P/view?usp=drive_link" target="_blank">Click to download the PDF</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>* One of the greatest products TSR ever produced - possibly, one of the greatest products ever produced for D&D, period - if you like D&D and haven't already got a copy, do yourself a favor and run over to DMs Guild or Drive Thru RPG and grab a POD copy. It's cheap (compared to the ~$200 you'll drop on the same content for 5E, especially) and more than worth it!</p>Christopher Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17368794259249607299noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6137072316042205607.post-11002608493349152222023-04-13T08:08:00.000-04:002023-04-13T08:08:55.423-04:00Mutated Creatures 'round You Stare<p>Stuck in the late '80s? Still playing <i>Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader</i> while blasting Bolt Thrower's <i>Realm of Chaos - Slaves to Darkness*</i> cassette on your ~35-year-old Pioneer 125-watt receiver/twin-cassette tape deck/turntable/graphic EQ system with 20-inch floor speakers? Need to print some new Unit Record Sheets but you lost your original (that you sacrilegiously tore/cut from your book!**) and the Xeroxes have been copied, recopied, and re-recopied so many times they're almost unreadable?</p><p>Your worries are over! </p><p>Here's what you need while you push that yummy, yummy 1,000-point lead army over your far-too-green train mat, around those hills with their flaking railroad flock and exposed bits of white Styrofoam, and act out the agonized screams of the heretics as you grind them into the treads of your homemade cardboard Land Raider:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwlXyG3lo3ME0I8goW9phOpWVrJ7_JFVX4vwjpiBd6zYWQOgZOW2EprxxGgnXGkTvZgsTEfoTLo3uhvR-DcVx4cVnQy_HEAi5jT59YqerwaHI291MdTD2KP4F-JClXhJPvXRBUAugqPZCuECM2ULk61hyUsolfamlH8zZ0m_9hGMKEUISgGQ9UnxeNJw/s1650/Warhammer%2040K%201E%20Rogue%20Trader%20-%20Unit%20Record%20Sheet%201%20150dpi%20US%20Letter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1275" data-original-width="1650" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwlXyG3lo3ME0I8goW9phOpWVrJ7_JFVX4vwjpiBd6zYWQOgZOW2EprxxGgnXGkTvZgsTEfoTLo3uhvR-DcVx4cVnQy_HEAi5jT59YqerwaHI291MdTD2KP4F-JClXhJPvXRBUAugqPZCuECM2ULk61hyUsolfamlH8zZ0m_9hGMKEUISgGQ9UnxeNJw/w640-h494/Warhammer%2040K%201E%20Rogue%20Trader%20-%20Unit%20Record%20Sheet%201%20150dpi%20US%20Letter.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Click to download as a PDF.)</td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>*<i>Or as my friend used to call it: playing Whorewhammer while listening to Goat Blower.</i></p><p><i>**Beware! Inquisitor Obiwan Sherlock Clousseau and his pet ptera-squirrel are coming for you - you have been warned!</i></p>Christopher Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17368794259249607299noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6137072316042205607.post-50334682644828797042022-11-02T12:06:00.003-04:002022-11-02T12:06:53.258-04:00Once More unto the Breach...<p>We're heading back to basic... <i>Moldvay Basic</i>, that is!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWkbL3RPW3Xmegq-m1odSHbECEJIqfynkJNWmli2DEJaFjE84PjhIp6-KTQaUyyhRm48S_X4I5YzcMebWBzYCSbO6YiQlRZrxscyhY3WAFNh7d_E31pGZJCAe7S4OMiJU2ncEEcR0qf0-vhDs7pPvrfx-8-cOQQPYN9ICz0l2jwiLkZTLnB5IXF0x6SA/s1090/2022-11-02%2012%2001%2012.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="660" data-original-width="1090" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWkbL3RPW3Xmegq-m1odSHbECEJIqfynkJNWmli2DEJaFjE84PjhIp6-KTQaUyyhRm48S_X4I5YzcMebWBzYCSbO6YiQlRZrxscyhY3WAFNh7d_E31pGZJCAe7S4OMiJU2ncEEcR0qf0-vhDs7pPvrfx-8-cOQQPYN9ICz0l2jwiLkZTLnB5IXF0x6SA/w640-h388/2022-11-02%2012%2001%2012.png" width="640" /></a></div><p>Stay tuned...</p>Christopher Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17368794259249607299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6137072316042205607.post-20772766066736793632022-10-17T14:35:00.002-04:002023-08-02T06:55:46.360-04:00From the Vault: A Baker's Dozen of Intelligent Swords<p> As my brain starts churning through all the possibilities behind running a <a href="https://www.jvwest.art/home/rpg" target="_blank">Black Pudding-fueled</a> old-school campaign, I couldn't help but bump the following post. Every single one of these will certainly be appearing in the upcoming games...</p><p>********************************</p><p>Continuing with the Baker's Dozen feature, here are 13 intelligent magical swords and their personalities for you to drop into your game to your players' amusement (or dismay, as the case may be).<br /><br />Note: As with yesterday's NPCs, there are no stats here - just names and personalities/distinctive features and a quote. Feel free to add whatever mechanical traits you feel befit these swords.<br /><br /></p><ol><li>SpleenSplitter, a foul-mouthed, war mongering blade. It gets so wrapped up in battle that it forces its wielder to continue to mutilate the bodies of its victims beyond recognition, spewing the foulest curse words the whole time. "You ****! You mother-****ing **** of a ****! How you ****ing like that **** you ****!"</li><li>Milady, a beautifully crafted sword with a low, sensual female voice. She has the personality of a cruel dominatrix, though, and expects to be worshiped by her wielder. "That's right - lick that blade clean! I don't care if your tongue's bleeding - I said lick it!"</li><li>The Defiler, a normal-looking blade that seems to have a normal personality, until it's fighting the undead, at which point it takes on a skeezy, pervy demeanor. "You like that?! Yeah - you like it?! Take it! Stick me in him! Deeper! Yeah!"</li><li>Bloodspitter, a perfect, gleaming silver blade, talks like C-3PO. Has an obsessive-compulsive need to stay clean and a powerful aversion to blood. "Oh god - oh god, there's so much blood! I think I'm going to be sick! Turn me away! I can't look!"</li><li>Gloombringer, a dull gray metallic blade that never gleams or shines, even in the brightest light. Speaks in a slow, droning tone. Always going on about how useless it is to try to improve one's situation and has a fatalistic outlook when it comes to slaughter. "They would have died anyway. Better to cut them down now and save them a life of misery and torment."</li><li>Nightrider, a shadow-black blade with a psychotic nature and an Australian accent. "Toecutter! Can ya see me man!"</li><li>Blasphemis, a dirty sword, in both appearance and nature. It sounds like Andrew Dice Clay, and its crassness and its knowledge of curse words know no bounds. "(As the victim's head is lopped off:) I always said he gave good head! Whoa!"</li><li>Doomfrost, a pale blade that's always covered with a thin rime of ice and that has the personality of a Scandinavian black metal rocker. In battle, it's always screaming and disparaging its enemies. Outside of battle, it's constantly singing in deep growls and ear-piercing shrieks.</li><li>Redeemer, an austere blade with the nature of a religious zealot. Believes that everyone it slays is "saved," and it's on a holy crusade to save everyone. "Rejoice, brother! (As it impales a victim.) Your salvation is at hand!"</li><li>Magnificus, a massive blade with a booming voice, needs to be the center of attention and always seems to be overcompensating for something. "Who's got no thumbs and totally rocks? This guy right here!"</li><li>Ralph, an unremarkable blade, always talks in slurred words as if it were drunk. "This guy's my best friend! I love you, buddy!"</li><li>Cleavus and Cuthead, a set of paired swords - you already know their personalities. "Fire! Fire!" "Dude. Heheh. Heh."</li></ol><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://preview.redd.it/wpm2iwn7xjb11.jpg?width=960&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=ad7c4d41d485d47d71fb3ee812bd321bb0028db7" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="360" src="https://preview.redd.it/wpm2iwn7xjb11.jpg?width=960&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=ad7c4d41d485d47d71fb3ee812bd321bb0028db7" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption">Image from <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/91141s/art_weapons/">https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/91141s/art_weapons/</a></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p>Christopher Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17368794259249607299noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6137072316042205607.post-18295648046533608932022-10-14T13:28:00.020-04:002023-06-15T11:28:36.759-04:00My Stormbringer/Elric! Campaign Lexicon<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKWuDHJOdKt_x50H8xWx0c6li3huNlb0ACxqB4of2gHQRowIarefvvK_hxoWtl9igN1Cl-_mDXiQt82D0T6c6xyc6pFAJhI14s5YSwQsHrgp_vQMfmy80MJj8J_HNMrxH3jeY_RdookOapa6n4PDvVLjZlSBKiS71tzb7XYriO_Iv8JOsQjEpOPTS4gg/s764/Stormbringer-1.jpg" style="clear: right; display: inline; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="764" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKWuDHJOdKt_x50H8xWx0c6li3huNlb0ACxqB4of2gHQRowIarefvvK_hxoWtl9igN1Cl-_mDXiQt82D0T6c6xyc6pFAJhI14s5YSwQsHrgp_vQMfmy80MJj8J_HNMrxH3jeY_RdookOapa6n4PDvVLjZlSBKiS71tzb7XYriO_Iv8JOsQjEpOPTS4gg/w320-h209/Stormbringer-1.jpg" width="320" /></a> While recovering from a bout of what I believe to be food poisoning earlier this week, I was watching gaming-related YouTube videos. (Okay, "watching" implies a certain active participation that I probably didn't really have, thanks to feeling so lousy. Let's say I was passively absorbing YouTube videos.) One of the channels I subscribe to is that of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/MaxWriter/featured" target="_blank">MaxWriter</a>, whose fun-to-read <a href="https://www.yog-sothoth.com/profile/2942-max_writer/" target="_blank">campaign journals</a> on <a href="http://yog-sothoth.com" target="_blank">Yog-Sothoth-dot-com</a>* I used to read voraciously. He has a lot of videos of him unboxing older games and going through his own personal RPG collection that I enjoy watching. (I thought my Call of Cthulhu collection was extensive - his puts mine to shame!)</p><p></p><p>Anyway, this week I watched a video of him going through his envy-worthy Chaosium <i><a href="http://www.waynesbooks.com/ElricStormbringer.html#1990" target="_blank">Stormbringer</a> </i>and <a href="http://www.waynesbooks.com/ElricStormbringer.html#1993" target="_blank"><i>Elric!</i></a> collection. (Which, of course, outshines mine by a mile.) Looking at those box sets and books got me thinking about my own campaign world. I've <a href="http://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/search/label/Stormbringer">mentioned the '90s campaign sessions before</a>, and I revived it in the mid-twenty-teens with a new group of people. (I even included the player character from my '90s campaign sessions as a major NPC patron in the new era, set twenty years later.)</p><p>I've loved the game ever since I first laid eyes on that exquisite Michael Whelan cover of the <i>Stormbringer </i>4th edition book peeking up at me from the racks of B. Dalton Bookseller's role playing game section. I tried once to run it around 1990 or 1991 with my usual game group, but they didn't latch onto it. Fortunately, I was able to get my best friend, Terry, interested in the game some time in 1991. Despite my fumbling a bit with the game - it was a huge divergence from my usual, dungeon-crawling fantasy sessions - our first game session was a rollicking adventure, and our mutual love for the game was cemented. Over the next few weeks/months, we played a series of sessions in a campaign that would ultimately draw inspiration from the atmosphere of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101169/?ref_=ttep_ep_tt" target="_blank">Pirates of Dark Water</a>, the Cthulhu Mythos, the works of numerous pulp fantasy authors, especially Robert E. Howard and Clark Ashton Smith, and the art of <a href="https://www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/stormbringer/" target="_blank">Michael Whelan</a>, <a href="http://frazettamuseum.com/" target="_blank">Frank Frazetta</a>, <a href="http://kenkellyfantasyart.com/" target="_blank">Ken Kelly</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/sanjulian_art/?hl=en" target="_blank">SanJulian</a>, and others, as well as Moorcock himself.</p><p>It was an unqualified blast, with dramatic highs and lows that were dictated as much by the dice as by character action and game master fiat.**</p><p>Later, in 2014, I revived the campaign with my new game group. (Fully switching to <i>Elric!</i> at that time; the campaign with Terry was played almost entirely in <i>Stormbringer</i>. I love <i>Stormbringer</i> - especially the art and atmosphere of that book - but <i>Elric!</i> is the cleaner system and integrates more easily with <i>Call of Cthulhu</i>, material from which liberally finds its way into my Stormbringer games.) The vibe was a bit darker as the group had a more anti-heroic bent, but the sessions were just as enjoyable and packed with dramatic and memorable events.</p><p>Those game sessions - in both eras - were some of the most fun I've ever had role playing. It's easy to get sucked down the nostalgia rabbit hole when thinking about them.</p><p>Yesterday, when I was starting to feel a little better, I dragged out my <i>Stormbringer</i>/<i>Elric!</i> three-ring binder and started poking through its contents. I realized that even though I've probably only run around three dozen game sessions, I have enough material for the game to rival my supernatural campaign. And, thanks to Terry and his own scanning project, I even have copies of the iterations of his player character (including his wonderful illustrations) and brief notes on many of our '90s game sessions. (More notes than I have myself, in fact. I kept track of the titles of the sessions and have the collateral game materials like NPCs and maps, but unfortunately I didn't have the foresight to make any notes on the sessions themselves.)</p><p>In short, I realized that I had enough content to warrant a <i>Stormbringer</i>-related counterpart to <a href="http://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/2022/02/my-beyond-supernaturalbureau-13.html">My Supernatural RPG Campaign Lexicon</a>. So, here we go:</p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">*************************************************</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></p><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Alysaria Swiftwind</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Person</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): unknown</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: Purple Townian burglar</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Stormbringer NPC</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Argoz the Quick</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Person</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): unknown</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: Aflitainian ship captain; assisted Lars, Xia, and Xyklos in returning Baroness Strom to Pan Tang</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Elric! NPC</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Baron Crastis Norn</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Entity</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): The Triple Cross (intro); others</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: Corpulent "baron" who was later discovered to be a demon; recurring nemesis of Drovis; thought slain by Drovis but reappeared decades later as a patron of Lars, Xia, and Xyklos; a truly evil and manipulative creature whose true goals are still unknown</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Stormbringer NPC</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Beasts of Maal-Dweb</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Entity</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): Maze of the Enchanter, Part I (intro)</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: Humans who were transformed into terrible, ape-like beasts by the sorcerer and forced to act as his palace guards; all slain by Lars, Xia, and Xyklos</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Elric! creatures</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Bellenarius</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Person</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): The Horned Tower; others</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: Mad scientist/inventor; created a diving bell and gear that allowed Drovis to travel to the Sunken City in search of the Ebon Shard</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Stormbringer NPC</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Bregg Wanderfoot</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Person</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): Strong Arms Shanghai (intro); others</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: Purple Townian storyteller and gossip</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Stormbringer NPC</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Countess Lucretia</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Person</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): Dagon's Revenge (intro)</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: Melnibonean noblewoman; encountered by Drovis when his ship and her barge were attacked by Father Dagon, who was seeking revenge for their previous encounter (and his defeat at Drovis' hands); Drovis drove him off by impaling him in the back with The Ebon Shard, but Drovis could not pull out the blade and lost it when the sea god swam into the depths</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Stormbringer NPC</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Dalsharra</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Person</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): Maze of the Enchanter, Part I (intro); others</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: Princess of Pikarayd, twin sister of Palsharra; taken by Maal-Dweb and added to his "collection"; rescued by Lars, Xia, and Xyklos and eventually returned to Shalidem; she is a skilled warrior</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Stormbringer NPC</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Drovis Longstem (aka The Crimson Serpent)</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Person</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): Horror at Fang Rock (intro); others</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: Starting out as a simple sailor from the Purple Towns, Drovis quickly amassed wealth and glory, rising to become a self-made Sea King of the Purple Towns</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Stormbringer, later Elric! PC played by Terry Z in the First Era sessions; Elric! NPC in the Second Era sessions</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Ebon Shard, The (aka The Doomshard, The Obsidian Blade, The Black Doom)</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Object</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): The Isle of Cre (intro); others</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: A magical dagger - bronze-handled with an obsidian blade and bearing the eight-pointed star of Chaos; taken from Serina Dym by Drovis; later lost after Drovis stuck it in Dagon's back and the god fled, the blade still lodged in his flesh; sought by Drovis (under duress) and found in the Sunken City - still stuck in the now crippled and emaciated Dagon </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Stormbringer NPC</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Ebon Shard, Order of the (aka The Black & Reds)</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Group</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): Norn's Return/The Mystery Women (intro); others</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: A mysterious cult that were searching for The Ebon Shard; tracked it to Drovis and placed everyone in his Crimson Palace on the Isle of Purple Towns into a mystical paralysis until he found and returned the weapon to them; presumably, Drovis returned the item to them after Baron Norn's death</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Stormbringer NPC group</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Eye of Obkdy</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Object</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): Conversation with Obkdy (intro); Audience with the Oracle</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: Magical stone (held within the Diadem of Obkdy) that is used by the demon's priests to travel to and from his palace</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Stormbringer NPC</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Grendlor Redcheek</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Person</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): unknown</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: Purple Townian slave trader</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Stormbringer NPC</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Gryff Goldmane</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Person</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): Dagon Rising (intro); others</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: Purple Townian sailor, Drovis Longstem's best friend and first mate</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Stormbringer NPC</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Kazarvus Tret</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Person</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): Kirin-Ki's Island (intro); others</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: Melnibonean lord who coerced Drovis into using his ships to transport slave troops to fight for the Xian K'Haarian sisterhood against the Traal on the Sorcerers Isle</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Stormbringer NPC</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><div><b>Kevril Waverider</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Chapter(s): unknown</div><div>Description: Purple Townian sea lord and freebooter</div><div>Meta: Stormbringer NPC</div><div><b><br /></b></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Kirin-Ki</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Person(-ish)</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): Kirin-Ki's Island (intro); others</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: Humanoid cat-bird-man, believes himself to be the last of his kind; encountered by Drovis on the island he lived on in the Oldest Ocean and joined the crew of his ship; later became good friends</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Stormbringer NPC</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Kozor</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Person</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): The Spire of Woes (intro)</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: Pan Tangian, torturer of the Spire of Woes; killed by Drovis while escaping</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Stormbringer NPC</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Larstrom ("Lars") of the Black Doom</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Person</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): Maze of the Enchanter, Part I (intro); others</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: World traveler and knowledge seeker born in Jharkor</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Elric! PC played by Dave F in the Second Era sessions</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Queen Lesyra</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Person(?)</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): City beneath the Sea (intro)</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: Queen of the Sunken City, a submerged city near the Serpents Teeth; she and her apparently human retinue turned out to be deep one hybrids, and the city a deep one city; Drovis found Father Dagon there and retrieved The Ebon Shard from his back, then killed Lesyra with it</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Stormbringer NPC</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Lucaris Midar</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Person</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): Isle of Cre (intro); others</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: Wealthy merchant/smuggler first encountered by Drovis in (and rescued from) the dungeons of Cre</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Stormbringer NPC</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Maal-Dweb</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Person</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): Maze of the Enchanter, Part I (intro)</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: Hyperborean sorcerer stranded in the Young Kingdoms; had a penchant for using his magic to locate the most beautiful women in the lands and transport them to his palace, where he kept them in stasis in his "collection"; murdered by Lars, Xia, and Xyklos</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Elric! NPC villain</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Man-Eating Plants</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Entity</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): Maze of the Enchanter, Part I (intro)</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: Giant plants that protected the garden of Maal-Dweb; based on the Zytil Qaefrom Chaosium's "Ye Book of Monstres"</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Elric! creatures</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Matira</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Person</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): Horror at Fang Rock (intro); others</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: Young woman rescued by Drovis from an angry mob; accompanied him on his adventures from the start; eventually, they fell in love and became inseparable; she was critically injured during the Battle for Xian K'Haar and forced Drovis - against his will - to leave her with the Xian K'Haar sorceresses to heal, and while doing so, she learned to wield powerful magic; later, she was kidnapped from the sisterhood by Baron Norn and taken to his island refuge, where she was reunited with Drovis (after which, believing Norn to be dead, they resumed their eternal love affair and Drovis retired from adventuring)</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Stormbringer NPC; she is not encountered with Drovis in the Second Era sessions - what became of her?</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Obkdy</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Entity</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): Conversation with Obkdy (intro); Audience with the Oracle</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: Giant, many-mouthed demon that possesses oracular abilities and trades supplicants for his "sights"</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Stormbringer NPC</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Obkdy's Palace</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Location/Entity</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): Conversation with Obkdy (intro); Audience with the Oracle</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: Giant demon that serves as the living palace to the oracle-demon Obkdy</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Stormbringer NPC</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Palsharra</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Person</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): Maze of the Enchanter, Part I (intro); others</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: Princess of Pikarayd, twin sister of Dalsharra; taken by Maal-Dweb and added to his "collection"; rescued by Lars, Xia, and Xyklos and eventually returned to Shalidem; she is a music lover and courtier</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Stormbringer NPC</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Sajar Roftis</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Person</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): Horror at Fang Rock (intro); others</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: Captain of the first ship young Drovis Longstem served on; after that ship sank and Drovis rescued Roftis and Lucaris Midar fromt he dungeons of Cre, Roftis went to work for Midar as captain of his ship, The Crimson Blade</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Stormbringer NPC</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Sela</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Person</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): Passing through Troos (intro); others</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: Jharkoran enlsaved by Pan Tangians as a child; captured by Thariks while with a Pan Tangian delegation traveling through Troos and tied up to be sacrificed; rescued by Drovis</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Stormbringer NPC</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white;"><b style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Seliph</b><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif;"><b>é</b></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Person</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): Battle for Xian-K'Haar (intro)</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: Leader of a sorcerous sisterhood that had created a small haven on the Socerers Isle; when a native Traal army rose and threatened to destroy the community, she reached out to her old lover, Melnibonean lord Kazarvus Tret for help; Tret brought his slave army in Drovis' ships to defend the sisterhood; when the charming and beautiful Silphé begged Drovis to also assist, he did; Drovis' actions won the battle, but his love, Matira, was nearly killed; Seliphé - in honor of Drovis's deeds - used the sisterhood's magic to heal her, and offered not only to keep her safe during her long rehabilitation but to teach her their mystical ways</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Stormbringer NPC</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Serif Darim</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Person</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): The Ship of the Black Sails (intro); others</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: Argimiliaran shipbuilder based in Cadsandria; known for his unsurpassed craftsmanship; retained by Drovis as his personal shipbuilder</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Stormbringer NPC</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Serina Dym</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Person</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): Isle of Cre (intro)</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: High-priestess of Goshta on the isle of Cre near the Isle of Purple Towns; offered shelter to Matira and Drovis and his fellow sailors when they were shipwrecked off her island, but betrayed them and locked them up; tried to sacrifice Matira to a large aquatic demon, but Drovis escaped, stole her ceremonial dagger (see The Ebon Shard) and knocked Dym into the sacrificial pool (where she was killed by the demon)</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Stormbringer NPC</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Tobrac Koash</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Person</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): The Spire of Woes (intro)</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: Pan Tangian, head gaoler of the Spire of Woes; killed by Drovis while escaping</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Stormbringer NPC</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Valmara Strom</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Person</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): Strong Arms Shanghai (intro); others</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: Statuesque Pan Tangian sorceress; daughter of a Pan Tangian aristocrat and a Dharijoran noblewoman; encountered by Drovis when her men shanghaied him and made him a slave aboard her galley, which he single-handedly sank in a storm; later rescued from Maal-Dweb's "collection" by Lars, Xia, and Xyklos and returned to her husband, Baron Istvas Strom - only to find she'd been replaced by a younger woman - who had <i>also </i>been taken by Maal-Dweb, rescued by the group, and returned to Pan Tang with them; the whole group was imprisoned within the Spire of Woes but managed to effect an escape</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Stormbringer NPC</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Xian K'Haar</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Location</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): Battle for Xian K'Haar</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: A settlement on the Sorcerers Isle where a sisterhood of sorceresses took refuge; when they were threatened by the bestial natives, the Traal, they enlisted the help of Melnibonean nobleman Kazarvus Tret; Tret coerced Drovis to transport a slave army to the isle using his merchant fleet, but Drovis felt for the sisters and joined the battle with Matira at his side; despite Matira nearly being killed by a Traal spear, Drovis won the day by beheading the Traal warlord, Wotar</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Xia Seastrider</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Person</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): Maze of the Enchanter, Part I (intro), others</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: Purple Townian foundling raised in Oin and unaware of her relation to a fallen Sea King house </div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Elric! PC played by Lili B in the Second Era sessions</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>Xyklos</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Type: Person</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Chapter(s): Maze of the Enchanter, Part I (intro), others</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Description: Pikaraydian and escaped Melnibonean slave</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Meta: Elric! PC played by Michael M in the Second Era sessions</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">*************************************************</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><div>The Lexicon encompasses about 80% of the material I have to go through. I'll do my best to finish it up and keep it up to date as new game material is discovered/added.</div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">* Interestingly, it appears that YSDC has scaled back significantly from the site I recall. And it appears that you can only access it if you're a registered member. More's the pity - it used to be a grand resource for Call of Cthulhu gamers.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">** This campaign marked two changes in gaming for me.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">First, I adopted a more improvisational approach to game mastering. Instead of planning game sessions, I made tons of NPCs, demons, magic items, etc. I relied on my trove of preexisting materials from Dungeons & Dragons as well as other role playing game sources for specific locations. Essentially, I let Terry guide the direction of the game, placing people, things, and events in his path to challenge him as befit the story he was creating. I might prepare something more specific if I had a sense of where he was heading, but the direction of the campaign was almost entirely up to him (and his dice, which were notorious for injecting unexpected drama into the game). I've found that to be the best way to approach running most games (with investigation-type games needing a bit more planning to execute properly) and have used it ever since.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Second, Terry trusted me as a game master. He knew that we shared the same desires as far as role playing went, and therefore he could trust me to allow him room to play the kind of character he wanted to play. He knew that if he attempted risky actions in the name of heroic adventure, I'd support him (and not take advantage of the situation to try to annihilate his character). It was all about crafting a well-told, fun-to-play story for both of us. He got to enjoy the challenges and twists I threw at him, and we both got to enjoy the story that unfolded along the way.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">As a game master, fostering that sort of trust with your players is paramount. Find out what they want from their games and help them <i>help you</i> create the adventures you both want to play.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></div>Christopher Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17368794259249607299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6137072316042205607.post-75692085026835569122022-06-28T15:30:00.056-04:002024-01-18T14:50:22.360-05:00My Supernatural Horror RPG Campaign Lexicon<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiFb5fAUbhCJj6t1hmjfS_8kvwLBEE2e_4wlcQydBeMF5mJ_7BfSIKLfRLb8XkmQ0tOVVYHwVTGeS1pznI6r9BqKLInkR_cxfQbixe2C6ozgiJcb2tvhfHhj-f6JdyPd78DQoR4Ga-U8aGtkv-RewHkHVRd3kRlf5qKF4_S41SQCFOVj5V52tABmXd6bw=s1608" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1041" data-original-width="1608" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiFb5fAUbhCJj6t1hmjfS_8kvwLBEE2e_4wlcQydBeMF5mJ_7BfSIKLfRLb8XkmQ0tOVVYHwVTGeS1pznI6r9BqKLInkR_cxfQbixe2C6ozgiJcb2tvhfHhj-f6JdyPd78DQoR4Ga-U8aGtkv-RewHkHVRd3kRlf5qKF4_S41SQCFOVj5V52tABmXd6bw=s320" width="320" /></a></div>So, recently I was looking through my old PC files and my tons of notes from my horror RPG games of the last three decades or so, recalling the adventures my game group played in our Arkham-based campaign over the course of those many years. We started playing that campaign in my second-ever game with them, <a href="http://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/2016/09/scanning-project-meet-fred-carter.html">a session of <i>Beyond the Supernatural</i></a>. Present were the core founding members of the group: my (soon-to-be) best friend, Terry; my then girlfriend; our host, Aaron; and my (soon-to-be) friends, Craig and Les. That game was awesome, and we attempted (and even occasionally succeeded) to recreate that awesomeness many times over the coming decades.</div><div><br /></div><div>Intermittent interruptions aside, that campaign ran steadily under multiple game masters from 1989 to sometime in 2015 or so, starting with <i><a href="http://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/search/label/Beyond%20the%20Supernatural">Beyond the Supernatural</a></i> and migrating to <i><a href="http://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/search/label/Bureau%2013">Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic</a></i> (with occasional cameo appearances being made by other games, such as White Wolf's <i>Hunters Hunted</i>). Membership in the group changed after that, but I still managed to run a few games in the setting. It was a sprawling endeavor - one that I've <a href="http://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/search/label/Horror">mentioned many times</a> on this site.</div><div><br /></div><div>As I dug through myriad materials, it struck me how that the information was haphazardly scattered between a three-ring binder, four ancient, duct tape-bound folders, around a half-dozen notebooks, and countless electronic files in varying formats. It's a fragmented mess, and it's nearly impossible to consume it all in a meaningful way.</div><div><br /></div><div>I thought it would be nice to make an attempt to collate the high-level details into a more friendly format. I recalled a project I'd undertaken about 20 years ago: making an in-game database (that was searchable via web front end) for our game information and other, "real world" occult listings. I succeeded in doing that (and recently rediscovered the original files and database backup for it) but it was never, ultimately, used by my game group. In the end, I decided maybe that wasn't really the best format in which to collect everything.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then, I recalled something else I had saved in an old Bureau 13 Windows folder: a file called "The Skeleton Crew Encyclopedia." I've long-since forgotten the source, but the file is a lexicon based on the adventures of a role playing game group in their <i>Chill </i>campaign setting. <i>[Edit: With the proper application of a little Google Fu, I <a href="http://community.fortunecity.ws/tatooine/wilhelm/148/intro.html">located the source here</a>.]</i> I've always found it inspirational, and I believed that format would serve as a good foundation for pulling together in one place as much as I can recall of my group's own adventures.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, without further ado, here's the Arkham Group Campaign Lexicon, commemorating all the great times had with many friends over many years:</div><div><br /></div><div>*************************************************</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Abomination, The</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): So It Has Been Written</div><div>Description: Demon; one of The Trio; appears as a massive (seven-foot) headless humanoid with a giant maw in its neck and the physique of a body builder</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Aldacrom</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): Romans 12:19 (intro), various</div><div>Description: Demonic informant, aided the Arkham Group in several investigations</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Andros, Nicholas (“Nick”)</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): Infernus Bug: Part I (intro), various</div><div>Description: Retired Bureau 13 agent and one-time member of the Arkham Group; severely concussed by a zombie thug in Infernus Bug: Part I and became psionic as a result</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic PC played by Craig F</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Arnold (full name unknown)</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Mundane, low-IQ blunt instrument and early member of the Arkham Group</div><div>Meta: Beyond the Supernatural Normal(?) Human PC played by Les F</div><div><br /></div><div><b><a href="https://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/2024/01/scanning-project-witch-haunted-old-town.html">Arkham</a></b></div><div>Type: Location</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Witch-haunted city in Massachusetts; known paranormal hotspot; may actually be a Gate to Hell; home of most of the Arkham Group</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Arkham Group, The</b></div><div>Type: Group/Organization</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Unofficial label for a group of freelance paranormal troubleshooters based in and around Arkham, Massachusetts</div><div><br /></div><div><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjzcO_Czxkq_BEEqOh-XA8BSTBI4Nz6WxoePisDN06oBru0IBlavCMH6PQibYRq4cyGHVyopAlPC8TcElWs-Ep56B9VyQf-VrwZLYd7iT-f4sdkUu3mJ7uMJVXtAJ9R58P9rsJ2pr_VqJqylMeFFR44DUCS_-ODHvf1cur9dgvedgTjju7AAGdNSq-CVA=s3228" target="_blank">Armstrong, Dr. Jake (“New Jersey Jake”)</a></b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): Lamia Cracks Under Pressure (intro), various</div><div>Description: Archeologist and psychic sensitive globe-trotting paranormal troubleshooter; ally of the Arkham Group</div><div>Meta: Beyond the Supernatural Psi-Sensitive PC played by Terry Z</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Barton, Anna</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): The Demon and the Dagger, various</div><div>Description: Modern wizard and member of the Arkham Group</div><div>Meta: Beyond the Supernatural Arcanist PC played by Holly D</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Bicksford</b></div><div>Type: Location</div><div>Case(s): The Shadow over Bicksford</div><div>Description: small town in the Adirondacks; home to a group of private researchers experimenting with "powering up" ley lines; every time the group ran their device it opened a gateway at one of the town's nexus points and let <i>something</i> through - the portal being a little larger each time; in a little over two weeks, several haunting and possessing entities had come through, each more powerful than the last, and the research team had been taken over; by the time members of the Arkham Group got wind of what was going on, the possessed scientists were close to releasing a demon-lord; they were stopped by the Group before the "experiment" could reach its conclusion</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Black, Reginald (“Reggie”)</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): Island of Evil</div><div>Description: Deep one hybrid, brother of Polly Kelly; shot and killed by Zach Fielding, Persphone Tillinghast, and Father Fox</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Black Moon, Order of the</b></div><div>Type: Group/Organization</div><div>Case(s): Infernus Bug: Part II (intro); Infernus Bug: Part III</div><div>Description: Cult that worships Glasilya and funded GenoBiotics Lab’s Maleficus Project; status unknown</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Bodescu, Yulian</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): Ancient Places</div><div>Description: Doomed sorcerer in the service of the ancient vampire, Faether Ferenczy</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic NPC</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Bureau 13</b></div><div>Type: Group/Organization</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: NSA (No Such Agency), a covert US agency answering directly to the PotUS that identifies and deals with supernatural threats; sometime ally and enemy of the Arkham Group</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Butcher, The</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): So It Has Been Written</div><div>Description: Demon; one of The Trio; appears as a short, obese, wide-mouthed human-like creature</div><div><br /></div><div><b><a href="http://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/2016/09/scanning-project-meet-fred-carter.html">Carter, Fred</a></b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): Lamia Cracks Under Pressure (intro), various</div><div>Description: Wise-cracking meathead, nega-psychic and basher of paranormal baddies; author of popular series of urban fantasy books "inspired by" the exploits of the Arkham Group; long-time (and first?) member of the Arkham Group</div><div>Meta: Originally a Beyond the Supernatural Physical Genius, later a Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic anti-psi, later still a Beyond the Supernatural Nega-Psychic PC played by Chris B</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Carter, Jacob Randolph</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): Demention House II: The Other Side (intro), various</div><div>Description: Parapsychologist and member of the Arkham Group; uncle of Fred Carter</div><div>Meta: Beyond the Supernatural PC played by Chris B</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Cartwright, Jeanine</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): Lamia Cracks Under Pressure (intro), various</div><div>Description: Tabloid journalist who writes for After Midnight; briefly a member of the Arkham Group</div><div>Meta: Beyond the Supernatural PC played by Holly D</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Cobb, Mr.</b></div><div>Type: Person(?)</div><div>Case(s): Bad Day at Devil's Gulch (intro)</div><div>Description: Mysterious gunfighter who was known for his celerity with his revolver and his particular drive to hunt vampires</div><div>Meta: World of Darkness Former Ghoul PC played by Craig F in a short-lived Old West game</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Cold One, The</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): A Case of the Uncommon Cold</div><div>Description: Forgotten Russian lesser god, trapped in a golden sarcophagus that was part of a touring exhibition; released by and owes a favor to Meabh Ryan</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Cowley, Esther</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): The Haunting of Cowley Manor</div><div>Description: Daughter of the family that built and gave its name to a “haunted house” outside Arkham, in life she was brutalized (along with others on the estate) by her father then her older brother; she finally snapped and killed them all, as well as her later husband whom she caught cheating; Esther was a latent psi who kept all of the victims trapped on the estate, even after her own suicide; she and her enslaved spirits were banished by members of the Arkham Group when the spirits attacked attendees of a high-school Halloween party that the Arkham Group had been asked by Dave Dietrich (knowing the reputation of the place) to chaperone</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Cowley Manor</b></div><div>Type: Location</div><div>Case(s): The Haunting of Cowley Manor</div><div>Description: Well-known “haunted house” outside Arkham (see Cowley, Esther for details)</div><div><br /></div><div><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWSZs_ncxWMWeVTFcs2LM4tKVgzmd-pAdeQRe5RoC_c1E6jbpAYqJfduM9YFbKL0-7fQXZEWFSdUdOJrG0EAEDW6taasLAWgEfQTSbH6EfiMpovUvmktDS36OinLUbAfzG9zTDCcfv3Dsp0zjfoBOdACHY9J2L6G86t6oIAfUKKNrDloqq3hLJ4nG8xfr1/s3300/BtS_Doc_Page01.jpg" target="_blank">Crane, Ezekiel (“Doc”)</a></b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Retired Massachusetts state trooper, founder of NEXUS, infamously afraid of dead things; retired member and now a close ally of the Arkham Group</div><div>Meta: Originally a Beyond the Supernatural Latent Psychic, later a Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic mundane PC played by Chris B</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Croft, Harold P.</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): The Demon and the Dagger (intro), various</div><div>Description: Electro-/Pyro-/Hydrokinetic monster hunter</div><div>Meta: Beyond the Supernatural Physical Psychic PC played by Les F</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Curtis, Sarah</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Gideon Sperling’s assistant</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic NPC</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Dagger, Demon of the</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): The Demon and the Dagger</div><div>Description: Entity that was bound to a bone-bladed dagger, when released it stalked and fed upon spell users to consume their power; destroyed(?) by Anna Barton, Harold Croft, and Dr. Mordekai</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Death, Angel of (“Didi”)</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): And Death Shall Walk Among Us</div><div>Description: Physical avatar of the universal force of death (looks like a cute goth girl); summoned into human form by a group of Arkham cultists to do their bidding with the inadvertent side-effect of no one in the area dying while the spirit was bound (except the targets of the cult); Sam Richardson separated the spirit from the girl's body; Death now owes Sam a favor</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Dietrich, David (“Dave”)</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Arkham police detective; ally of the Arkham Group and NEXUS</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic NPC</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Dod, Dr. Hannah</b></div><div>Type: Person/Entity</div><div>Case(s): Infernus Bug: Part II</div><div>Description: Lead researcher for GenoBiotics Labs - see Glasilya</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic NPC</div><div><br /></div><div><b>FantastiCon</b></div><div>Type: Event</div><div>Case(s): What Happens at FantastiCon Stays at FantastiCon</div><div>Description: Short-lived Boston-based “fan con” for Fred Carter's <i>Stalking the Night</i> series with several hundred in attendance, one year including a Goshnar cultist planning on using unsuspecting LARPers to enact a real ritual to summon his god; Bureau 13 Agent Jerry Stockwell was mortally wounded during his investigation into the threat but managed to teleport away (to Gideon Sperling's funeral home) before dying; the cultist was stopped by Eli Meadowbrook, Gideon Sperling, and Sam Richardson</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Ferenczy, Faether</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): Ancient Places</div><div>Description: Ancient vampire; after luring Fred Carter, Father Fox, and Persephone Tillinghast to Eastern Europe, it and its minion, Yulian Bodescu, were destroyed by the trio </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Fielding, Ezra</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Psionic “reader” and telepath; Zach Fielding's brother and long-time member of the Arkham Group</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic PC played by Craig F</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Fielding, Zachariah (“Zach”)</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Psionic healer, IT and recruiting lead for NEXUS, Ezra Fielding's brother and long-time member of the Arkham Group</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic PC played by Craig F</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Finch, Commander Edward</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): The Ballycastle Incident</div><div>Description: SAS commander, in charge of the investigation into the strange happenings in Ballycastle, later showed up in Arkham with a group of werewolf-hunting mercenaries</div><div>Meta: Beyond the Supernatural NPC</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Forcas</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): <a href="http://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/2020/06/from-heavy-metal-to-horror-role-playing.html">The Forcas Arc: Part I</a> (intro), various</div><div>Description: Nemesis of and banished several times by various Arkham Group members</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Fortune, Timothy</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): The Thorn Lake Mystery (intro)</div><div>Description: Private investigator and Bureau 13 agent-in-training</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic PC played by Les F</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Fox, Father Aeon William</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Catholic priest at St. Michael’s in Arkham; uncle of Robert Fox and long-time member of the Arkham Group</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic PC played by Les F</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Fox, Robert</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Survivalist and monster hunter; nephew of Father Fox and member of the Arkham Group</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic PC played by Les F</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Franklin, Axle</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Psionicist and monster hunter; member of the Arkham Group</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic PC played by Les F</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Freeman, Lincoln (“Linc”)</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Telepath/telekine and monster hunter; member of the Arkham Group</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic PC played by Les F</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Frigimmon</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): Infernus Bug: Part III</div><div>Description: Demonic power, worshipped by and finally (after years of trying) summoned by Lazarus Kane in Innsmouth, banished by Zach Fielding and other members of the Arkham Group</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Frizlimp</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Demonic imp summoned by Persephone Tillinghast, acts as her spy and servant</div><div><br /></div><div><b>GenoBiotics Laboratories Unlimited LLC</b></div><div>Type: Group/Organization</div><div>Case(s): Infernus Bug: Part II</div><div>Description: Industrial/pharmaceutical company founded and run by Dr. Lazarus Kane, funded by The Order of the Black Moon, producers of the Maleficus Contagion; shut down by the government after the CDC received an anonymous tip</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Gentleman, The</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): So It Has Been Written</div><div>Description: Demon; one of The Trio; appears as a tall, gaunt but dapper (if disturbing) gentleman; only member of the group that speaks</div><div><br /></div><div><b><a href="http://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/2018/10/from-vault-welcome-to-gilbert-island.html">Gilbert Island</a></b></div><div>Type: Location</div><div>Case(s): Island of Evil</div><div>Description: Deep one-tainted island off the coast of Massachusetts; after deep ones rose and attacked the non-deep one residents of the island, the remaining residents disappeared; the island is now completely deserted</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Ghoul, Dimensional</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): The Hackett Springs Mystery</div><div>Description: Interdimensional creature that was attracted to the heightened magic levels of and subsequently preyed upon the residents of Hackett Springs; destroyed by members of the Arkham Group</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Glasilya</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): Infernus Bug: Part II</div><div>Description: Succubus and servant of Frigimmon; in her human form as Dr. Hannah Dod, she was behind Lazarus Kane and GenoBiotics Laboratories Unlimited’s production of the Maleficus Contagion in Infernus Bug: Part II; status unknown</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Golem Master, The</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): The Golem Master</div><div>Description: Super-Psionic entity, destroyed by Fred Carter who used his anti-psi ability to attempt to drain the beings' power, resulting in a psionic blast that blew Fred through time and space and dropped him in the Boston harbor; as a result of the psychic blast, Axle Franklin and Raven Tillinghast gained new powers, and Fred went from Type I Anti-Psi to Type II</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Goshnar</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): The Beast that Ate Harkers’ Corners</div><div>Description: Not-so-great old one who likes to occasionally bust through dimensional barriers and try to eat the Earth</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Goshnar, Spawn of</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): The Beast that Ate Harkers’ Corners</div><div>Description: Formless things that were once humans but were corrupted by Goshnar after he was accidentally summoned by a group of teens reading from a book they should have left in the library</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Grant, Dr. Arthur Joseph</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): The Ballycastle Incident</div><div>Description: Physician, one of several experts recruited by UN to investigate strange happenings in Ballycastle, Northern Ireland, killed when he fell out of a helicopter while the team was fleeing from the village</div><div>Meta: Beyond the Supernatural PC played by Craig F</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Greene, Virgil</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): Infernus Bug: Part I (intro), various</div><div>Description: Rogue Bureau 13 agent, had pinky blown off in Infernus Bug: Part I by cops that were on Lazarus Kane’s payroll; went “into the cold” and is now a paranoid schizophrenic; ally of the Arkham Group</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic PC played by Les F</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Grimm (aka Grimmie-Poo)</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Reanimated mastiff, owned/created by Sebastian Hobbes</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Hackett Springs</b></div><div>Type: Location</div><div>Case(s): The Hackett Springs Mystery</div><div>Description: Village in Vermont, home of the eponymous springs that were magically tainted, raising the natural magical essence of those who drank from them, attracted a Dimensional Ghoul that fed on that essence (and the people carrying it)</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Hamlin, Gerald</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): The Thorn Lake Mystery (intro)</div><div>Description: Medical examiner and Bureau 13 agent-in-training</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic PC played by Craig F</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Hammer, Jonathan (“Jack”)</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): <a href="http://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/2016/10/what-i-did-this-weekend.html">Get Fred Carter aka Lamia’s Revenge</a> (intro)</div><div>Description: Retired supervisor for an unnamed government paranormal-hunting agency; now freelance hunter supported by NEXUS</div><div>Meta: Beyond the Supernatural Natural PC played by Michael M</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Harkers’ Corners, The Beast that Ate</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): The Beast that Ate Harkers’ Corners</div><div>Description: See Goshnar</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Harrison, Agent Alexa</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Bureau 13 agent for the Boston office, former assistant case manager to and now taking the place of Agent Jerry Stockwell; thorn in the side of the Arkham Group (although she sees it the other way around)</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic NPC</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Hobbes, Sebastian</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Necromancer and enchanter, employs a wide array of enchanted objects, including the reanimated mastiff, Grimm and an antique radio used for communing with the dead</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic necromancer/enchanter PC played by Chris B</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Hollister, Raymond "Boom-boom"</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: African-American B13 agent, former ordnance disposal tech; killed and psychically revived while investigating a house that was haunted by the spirit of a young boy - he was shot by one of the town elders after finding out that they had sacrificed the boy when they were young, but he was resurrected in a moment of hysterical psychic strength by fellow psi-healer investigator who had a crush on him</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic mundane PC played by Terry Z</div><div><br /></div><div><b><a href="https://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/2018/10/the-old-dark-house.html">House, The</a></b></div><div>Type: Location</div><div>Case(s): <a href="http://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/2018/10/the-old-dark-house.html">The House that Time Forgot</a>, various</div><div>Description: A house in central Massachusetts that was reportedly haunted; investigating, members of the Arkham Group found that the "haunting" was actually a time loop created by Sita Humphrey in a last-ditch attempt to save her team from an attack by the demon, Zebraxis; the team was a group of paranormal hunters; despite Sita's efforts, when the Group broke the time loop only Sita was still alive; the house contained a great deal of occult and magical knowledge and paraphernalia and was thereafter used as a resource by the Arkham Group</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Humphrey, Sir George</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): <a href="http://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/2018/10/the-old-dark-house.html">The House that Time Forgot</a></div><div>Description: Member of a doomed group of paranormal hunters whose spirits haunted The House</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Humphrey, Sita</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): <a href="http://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/2018/10/the-old-dark-house.html">The House that Time Forgot</a></div><div>Description: Time-trapped mage; rescued by Persephone Tillinghast, Zach Fielding, and Father Fox; handed over to Bureau 13; current status unknown</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic NPC</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Jones, Mr. and Mrs. Milo</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): The House on Willow Lane</div><div>Description: Greedy, bloodthirsty kidnappers in life, their ghosts were among those trapped within the House on Willow Lane</div><div><br /></div><div><b>"Jimmy"</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): The House on Willow Lane (intro), various</div><div>Description: Contact of Zach Fielding; recommended the house on Willow Lane to Zach as temporary lodging while his apartment building was being fumigated, didn't know about the hauntings</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic NPC</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Julie</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Perpetual college student who worked at Pandora’s Box and watched the shop while Persephone Tillinghast battled supernatural evils</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic NPC</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Kane, Aurora</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): Lazarus Rising</div><div>Description: Enemy of the Arkham Group, demonologist and vengeful daughter of Lazarus Kane, deceased</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic NPC</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Kane, Lazarus</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): Infernus Bug: Part I (intro), Infernus Bug: Part II, Infernus Bug: Part III</div><div>Description: Nemesis of the Arkham Group, deceased (shot in Innsmouth by Zach Fielding)</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic NPC</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Kelly, Polly</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): Island of Evil</div><div>Description: Deep one hybrid, shot and killed(?) by Zach Fielding</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic NPC</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Kingsport</b></div><div>Type: Location</div><div>Case(s): Trailer Park Karcists; various</div><div>Description: City in Massachusetts</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Kitteridge, Professor (first name unknown)</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): The House on Willow Lane</div><div>Description: Grave robber and necrophile in life, his ghost was among those trapped within the House on Willow Lane</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Maleficus Contagion</b></div><div>Type: Object</div><div>Case(s): Infernus Bug: Part II</div><div>Description: Demonically spawned viral infection that turns its victims into mindless demon-zombies possessed by and under the control of the demon, Friggimon</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Mayfair, Olivia</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): <a href="http://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/2016/10/what-i-did-this-weekend.html">Get Fred Carter aka Lamia’s Revenge</a> (intro)</div><div>Description: Mage and retired member of unnamed government sponsored paranormal-hunting agency; formerly reported to Jack Hammer, now friends</div><div>Meta: Beyond the Supernatural PC played by Lili B</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Mayfaire, Lavinia</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Witch, owner of "The Witches' Cupboard" shop</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic PC played by Lili B</div><div><br /></div><div><b>McPhee, Fiona</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): The Thorn Lake Mystery (intro)</div><div>Description: Metaphysical shop owner, necromancer/demonologist, and Bureau 13 agent-in-training</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic PC played by Lili B</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Meadowbrook, Elijah (“Eli”)</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): A Case of the Uncommon Cold (intro), various</div><div>Description: Head of security at Miskatonic University; member of the Arkham Group</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic PC played by Les F</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Mead, Dr. Sarah</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): The House on Willow Lane</div><div>Description: Back-alley abortionist and mad scientist in life, her ghost was among those trapped within the House on Willow Lane</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Mordacai, Doctor Jonathan Xavier III</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Psychic "reader" and early member of the Arkham Group</div><div>Meta: Beyond the Supernatural Psi-Sensitive PC played by Craig F</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Monsters, Movie</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): Be Kind, Rewind</div><div>Description: Physical creations of a cursed VCR (video cassette recorder for those too young to remember) that made monsters from horror films watched on it come to life; banished by Fred Carter and other members of the Arkham Group when the VCR was found and destroyed</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Morpheus</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Universal force, god of dreams; owed a favor by Sam Richardson</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Osgood, Eli</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): The Unholy Immortal</div><div>Description: 19th-century occultist; found guilty of murdering his son (sacrificed to his dark god), he escaped and disappeared; was found a century later to be dwelling beneath the orchard on his farm and was destroyed by members of the Arkham Group (see Osgood's Farm for details)</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Osgood's Farm</b></div><div>Type: Location</div><div>Case(s): The Unholy Immortal</div><div>Description: A 150-year-old farm outside Arkham, the farmhouse was burned by an angry mob after its owner escaped police custody; the apple orchard still stood and was luring hapless victims who would hop the old fence to grab some juicy red apples only to be attacked and killed by the spirit of Eli Osgood in the form of a dangerous animal, their blood feeding the unholy trees; the trees fed their victims' life essence down through the roots into Osgood's body, through which they penetrated; Osgood was extremely powerful and functionally immortal until the orchard was burned down and his body found and destroyed by members of the Arkham Group, who descended an old well at the center of the orchard and found the sorcerer's body interred in a chamber below</div><div><br /></div><div><b>NEXUS Foundation</b></div><div>Type: Group/Organization</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Group founded in 1995 and run by Doc Crane after he discovered a sunken treasure ship off the coast of Maine and became a hundred-millionaire overnight; NEXUS serves to fund and equip paranormal troubleshooters across the country; headquartered in Rogue Point, Maine; Zach Fielding runs its IT and recruiting department; closely allied to the Arkham Group</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Nitocris, The Malediction of</b></div><div>Type: Object</div><div>Case(s): The Creeping Horror</div><div>Description: Cursed grimoire capable of summoning and binding the demon, Nitocris; used by a group of important residents of Warrington Falls, Connecticut, when they were teens to summon the demon; their "friend" Billy Saunders dissented and was killed, becoming the accidental human sacrifice needed to call up the being; the group was discovered and exposed by Bureau 13 Agent Ray "Boom-Boom" Hollister</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Nycadaemus, The Heart of</b></div><div>Type: Object</div><div>Case(s): The House on Willow Lane</div><div>Description: The actual heart of a demon; found by Captain Horace Talbott and brought back to Arkham, installed in weathervane atop his newly built mansion</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Pandora’s Box</b></div><div>Type: Location</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Antiques shop in Arkham, run by Persephone Tillinghast</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Parkhurst, Mary</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): <a href="http://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/2018/10/the-old-dark-house.html">The House that Time Forgot</a></div><div>Description: Noteworthy theologian; member of a doomed group of paranormal hunters whose spirits haunted The House</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Pendrake, Parson Samuel</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): Bad Day at Devil's Gulch (intro)</div><div>Description: Devil's Gulch minister who literally wielded his faith as a weapon against the supernatural</div><div>Meta: World of Darkness "Hunters Hunted" PC played by Les F in a short-lived Old West game</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Podmore, Colin</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): <a href="http://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/2018/10/the-old-dark-house.html">The House that Time Forgot</a></div><div>Description: Famed psychic; member of a doomed group of paranormal hunters whose spirits haunted The House</div><div><br /></div><div><b>O’Doyle, Aurora</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Arkham bookstore owner; briefly a member of the Arkham Group; deceased</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic PC played by Simi R</div><div><br /></div><div><b>O’Shea, William</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Catholic priest; briefly a member of the Arkham Group</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic PC played by Terry Z</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Ramora, Alfonse</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): The House on Willow Lane</div><div>Description: Pedophile and murderer in life, his ghost was among those trapped within the House on Willow Lane</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Randall, Alec</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): <a href="http://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/2018/10/the-old-dark-house.html">The House that Time Forgot</a></div><div>Description: Guide and hunter; member of a doomed group of paranormal hunters whose spirits haunted The House</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Ravencroft, Rowan</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Witch; briefly a member of the Arkham Group</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic PC played by Lili B</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Richardson, Samantha (“Sam”)</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: White-haired Enchantress/Necromancer/Demonologist, “good witch” from one of founding families of Arkham; member of the Arkham Group</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic PC played by Lili B</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Rogue Manor</b></div><div>Type: Location</div><div>Case(s): The Mystery of Rogue Point</div><div>Description: Giant stone mansion, home of Doc Crane and headquarters of NEXUS; sits atop an interdimensional gateway</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Rogue Point</b></div><div>Type: Location</div><div>Case(s): The Mystery of Rogue Point</div><div>Description: Town on the coast of Maine, outside which Rogue Manor is located</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Ryan, Meabh</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): A Case of the Uncommon Cold (intro), various</div><div>Description: Sorceress; member of the Arkham Group</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic PC played by Lili B</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Shard</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): Romans 12:19</div><div>Description: Vampire prince; "recruited" Fred Carter, Raven Tillinghast, and Axle Franklin to destroy a creature that was hunting and killing his kin</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Scarlett, Miss (aka Lucy Banks)</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): The House on Willow Lane (intro), The Return of Miss Scarlett</div><div>Description: Born Lucy Banks, Miss Scarlett is the nom de guerre of a 1970’s serial killer whose corpse and ghost were locked in the House on Willow Lane. Her spirit was freed when the artifact (see The Heart of Nycadaemus) trapping spiritual energy in the house was destroyed; she later resumed her murderous trend but was finally laid to rest by Eli Meadowbrook, Father Wainscott and Sam Richardson</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Silvermoon, Michael</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Native American shaman; ally of the Arkham Group</div><div>Meta: Beyond the Supernatural Arcanist PC played by Chris B</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Smith, Ray</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): Detour (intro), various</div><div>Description: Former freelance hitman; ally of the Arkham Group</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic NPC</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Space-eaters, The (aka The Brain-eaters)</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): Detour</div><div>Description: Creatures that drifted through the nigh-impenetrable fog that enshrouded a village in northeastern Massachusetts; extensions of a nameless cosmic horror (see Z'Npoth) that was summoned there, they burrowed into the skulls and took control of their human victims; the demon was banished by members of the Arkham Group with the assistance of Ray Smith</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Sperling, Gideon Seth</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Arkham-based mortician/necromancer; member of the Arkham Group</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic PC played by Craig F</div><div><br /></div><div><b>“Stalking the Night” Series, The</b></div><div>Type: Object</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: A series of novels and short stories written by Fred Carter, loosely based on the Arkham Group’s cases (but not loosely enough for the their liking), featuring protagonists like Father Bill Folkes, mortician Gabriel Sterling, and sexy white-haired witch Sally Mockton, and antagonists like the demon-lord Frocas and the old god Shognar, had a half-season Canadian TV series and a short-lived fan con (see FantastiCon)</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Stilman, Ezra</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Founder of The Stilman Institute</div><div>Meta: Beyond the Supernatural and Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic NPC</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Stilman, Maya</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Current Director of The Stilman Institute, daughter of Ezra Stilman</div><div>Meta: Beyond the Supernatural and Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic NPC</div><div><br /></div><div><b><a href="http://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/2016/09/scanning-project-stilman-institute.html">Stilman Institute for Psychical Research, The</a></b></div><div>Type: Group/Organization</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Organization for the discovery and study of paranormal and supernatural entities, secretive but apparently neutral</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Stockwell, Agent Jerry</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Bureau 13 agent, director of the Boston, Mass. field office and watchdog over the “troublemakers” in Arkham, died mysteriously after teleporting into Gideon Sperling’s prep room</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic NPC</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Stowe, Wilhelmina</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): Auntie Willie's House of Horrors</div><div>Description: A troubled old woman who was a latent psi, she had a stroke and went into a coma, after which bad things began happening around her - "accidents" that severely injured her family and anyone who came to the house she lived in; members of the Arkham Group discovered that it was Willie's nightmares that were attacking people; unsure how to handle it, they finally decided on a desperate attempt to use psionic healing on her brain; despite a massive telekinetic battle and several team members suffering severe injuries during the procedure, the attempt was successful and she woke from her coma; the "haunting" ended</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Sycorax</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): The Cult of Innocence</div><div>Description: "Queen of the Harpies," an enemy demon behind a cult that was indoctrinating young girls at a private girls' school; at large - driven off when Persephone Tillinghast botched an attempt to summon a demon to fight her and instead summoned an angel by mistake</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Talbott, Captain Horace</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): The House on Willow Lane</div><div>Description: Sea captain in life, brought The Heart of Nycadaemus back from some exotic locale and installed it in his house - The House on Willow Lane; died and was buried with his journal, investigators had to dig up his grave and open his (solid gold) casket to retrieve it in order to solve the mystery of the house; Talbott’s body animated (by the lingering power of the heart) and attacked them; was destroyed with shovels and crowbars</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Tillinghast, Persephone</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): Infernus Bug: Part I (intro), various</div><div>Description: Necromancer/Demonologist and antique store owner; member of the Arkham Group</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic PC played by Holly D</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Tillinghast, Raven</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Sorceress and cousin of Perspehone Tillinghast; member of the Arkham Group</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic PC played by Holly D</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Trevere, Anna</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): The Cult of Innocence</div><div>Description: Head of the girls' school that was being used to induct girls into the Cult of Sycorax; High Priestess of the Cult of Sycorax; whereabouts unknown</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Trio, The</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): So It Has Been Written</div><div>Description: Three demonic entities that were inadvertently summoned and given form by latent psychic author, Robert Kline; they terrorized Winter Creek, Vermont, and were stopped by members of the Arkham Group</div><div>Meta: This scenario was liberally lifted from the TV series, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121932/" target="_blank">Extreme Ghostbusters</a>; it wasn't the first (or last) time that show and its progenitor would provide "inspiration" for our horror games</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Unknown, Fear of the</b></div><div>Type: Object</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Computer MUD (later an MMORPG) created in 1995 by Zach Fielding, funded by Nexus, that serves to identify and recruit potential paranormal troubleshooters</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Vampire Hunter Golem</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): Romans 12:19</div><div>Description: Creature created by a mad scientist to hunt and kill vampires, destroyed by Fred Carter, Raven Tillinghast, and Axle Franklin</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Wainscott, Father Lucien</b></div><div>Type: Person</div><div>Case(s): A Case of the Uncommon Cold (intro), various</div><div>Description: Catholic priest at St. Michael’s in Arkham; member of the Arkham Group</div><div>Meta: Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic PC played by Craig F</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Whitherfield, Marta</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): The Return of Miss Scarlett</div><div>Description: Mother of Miss Scarlett, serial killer (with her daughter) in life, even more powerful than her daughter’s spirit in death, put to rest by Eli Meadowbrook, Father Wainscott, and Sam Richardson</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Willow Lane, The House on</b></div><div>Type: Location</div><div>Case(s): The House on Willow Lane</div><div>Description: House once haunted by many nasty spirits; it drew evil people to it, including Miss Scarlett, thanks to the demon’s heart (see The Heart of Nycadaemus) bound into its weathervane, and when they died within the house their spirits were trapped and became haunting entities; they were generally weak hauntings, but when fed by an unsuspecting psychic, they grew stronger; they were discovered by Zach Fielding when he was forced to take a room in the house (which had become a struggling bed and breakfast) and ultimately released when Fielding, Father Fox, and Persephone Tillinghast destroyed the demon's heart</div><div><br /></div><div><b><a href="http://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/2018/10/from-vault-hoary-gambrel-roofs-of.html">Wintercreek</a></b></div><div>Type: Location</div><div>Case(s): various</div><div>Description: Town in Vermont; terrorized by The Trio when they manifested into our reality</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Z'Npoth</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): Detour</div><div>Description: Cosmic horror; when first summoned appears as a vast, impenetrable fog; drifting in the "fog" are slug-like creatures (see also The Space-Eaters), extensions of the demon's will, that find humans and burrow into their heads to take them over, creating mindless zombie-minions under the demon's control, also feeding it power; each consumed creature makes the demon a little more solid; once solid, the demon is nigh invulnerable; encountered (and banished) by members of the Arkham Group after they were forced to stop in the "fog" while traveling to a psychic convention in northern Massachussetts</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Zebraxis</b></div><div>Type: Entity</div><div>Case(s): <a href="http://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/2018/10/the-old-dark-house.html">The House that Time Forgot</a></div><div>Description: Infernal entity; trapped in The House by Sita Humphrey when it attacked her group; freed and eradicated by Persephone Tillinghast, Zach Fielding, and Father Fox</div><div><br /></div><div>*************************************************</div><div><br /></div><div>The Lexicon encompasses about 70% of the player characters and maybe 30% of the games we played. Most of it is from material saved in my myriad notebooks and folders, the rest from memory. We played so many games over the years that I can recall only fragments of many of them (and nothing of many more) so this is far from complete.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'll do my best to keep the Lexicon up to date as new game material is discovered/added, and I plan on going back through it to link any specific content to relevant posts on this blog.</div><div><br /></div><div>[<i>Updated 6/28/2022 - a couple new entries added, a few others edited and/or corrected.</i>]</div><div>[<i>Updated 6/14/2023 - a new entry added ("Jimmy"), a few others edited and/or corrected.</i>]</div><div><br /></div>Christopher Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17368794259249607299noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6137072316042205607.post-72308370512475042542022-03-31T15:28:00.005-04:002022-03-31T15:28:39.619-04:00Just a Note...<p><br />Hey, all. Just a quick note to visitors who may be trying to download a character sheet, adventure, whatever: I closed down my hosting account for the server that housed all of this groovy stuff. As a result, there a likely to be broken links and lots of 404 errors while I migrate these to my Google Drive.</p><p>If you come across such a link, please leave a comment on the post and I'll fix the link ASAP.</p><p>Thanks!</p><p>~ Management</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://media.makeameme.org/created/broken-links-broken-d701e2a1aa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="327" data-original-width="600" height="327" src="https://media.makeameme.org/created/broken-links-broken-d701e2a1aa.jpg" width="600" /></a></div><p></p>Christopher Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17368794259249607299noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6137072316042205607.post-41151892916283750592021-10-25T12:49:00.000-04:002021-10-25T12:49:02.081-04:00Don't Call It a Comeback<p> So, as we're deep in the throes of Halloween season, which means horror gaming roun' these parts, it's time for me to post something seasonal. But this one's not roleplaying related - well, not <i>technically</i> anyway.*</p><p>This is more of a PSA to let readers who might be interested know that I've resurrected my tabletop miniatures gaming-based blog, <a href="https://ahardwonthing.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">A Hard Won Thing</a>. And, apropos of the season, I've done so with a game of supernatural madness and mayhem. </p><p><a href="https://ahardwonthing.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Feel free to creep on over and check it out...</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFbn4YIO5JAdKBr4vRnvlTwi9pTHwPQxcSmbfdpgx03Lz8fwq-NwsH5wWIRkK5P8jLK83ek0yWbb0yr_oF5SfEy9n5QzE5cQqNKYURF28DomwG2v_jS_bxzAiHj37huusxVrh6BAyuHret/s1200/20211023_120113.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFbn4YIO5JAdKBr4vRnvlTwi9pTHwPQxcSmbfdpgx03Lz8fwq-NwsH5wWIRkK5P8jLK83ek0yWbb0yr_oF5SfEy9n5QzE5cQqNKYURF28DomwG2v_jS_bxzAiHj37huusxVrh6BAyuHret/w640-h360/20211023_120113.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>*I say "technically" because as most of us well know, RPGs have their foundation firmly routed in miniatures gaming. To further muddy these waters, the game we played in the post in question involves a healthy dose of character development - possibly more than one would have often found in play in the first RPG in the mid-seventies... so, yeah, "technically."</p>Christopher Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17368794259249607299noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6137072316042205607.post-34842474154828582302021-08-26T13:35:00.010-04:002022-09-20T08:05:29.547-04:00Back to Aerth(e) - Again!<p> As I creep ever so slowly toward the realization of my YouTube channel featuring live play recordings (more encounter-focused than full-on Critical Role-esque play sessions) I started thinking about the framework I wanted use for the game sessions. Which is a long-winded way of saying I started to think more about the campaign world.</p><p>The first sessions are going to be <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> 5E affairs (but, gods willing, they will evolve into other editions of the game and - eventually - into other games all together). My original thought was to keep it straight-forward and set them in the Forgotten Realms. But the more I thought about that, the less I liked the idea. I really wanted to put more of my own spin on the story behind the games.</p><p>To that end, I decided to stick with my earlier concept of using my own, quarter-century-old campaign world: <i><a href="http://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/search/label/Aerth">Aerth</a></i>.</p><p>Aerth (now with an extra "e" at the end - for reasons) began life as a marker-and-colored-pencil creation on gray construction paper. The original names of several of the kingdoms were inspired by (read as: lifted whole-cloth from) the kingdoms from the awesome Milton Bradley board game, <i>Dark Tower</i>. The events and major characters were pulled from my own, older (early 1981 through 1991) campaigns set in my own version of Greyhawk, and later in my own take on the Forgotten Realms (in the form of a much-condensed setting placed on a continent call "Urth").</p><p>Aerth's history and legends grew as more games were played throughout the mid-1990s. A few years ago, I lifted most of this history and transplanted it back into Greyhawk for my more recent <a href="http://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/search/label/Lord%20of%20the%20Pit%20Campaign">"Lord of the Pit" campaign</a>. Many more (seriously) epic characters and their (unbelievably) dramatic tales were added to the setting in that Greyhawk-based campaign. But I've decided it's time to return all the characters, gods, and historical events back to the world on which they <i>really</i> belong.</p><p>This wasn't an easy decision, though. One of the driving factors behind my decision to set the Lord of the Pit campaign in Greyhawk was the inspiration I derive from looking at those beautiful maps. I knew I'd be able to remain more focused thanks to the amazing look and feel of Darlene's creation. My own Aerth map, though attractive, always bothered me, with its small size (letter size at 150dpi) and the huge amount of space wasted on the oceans and massive legend/title device.</p><p>I'd considered recreating the map at a larger size, but that was a daunting prospect. You see, the map - as I said - started life on a piece of construction paper. It then got scanned (at a not-great resolution) and updated to a more modern look, with texturing, colors, new iconography, the aforementioned legend, and gridlines. But I'd made several mistakes when creating the digital version of the map, including creating it at waaaay too low a resolution and embedding the square gridlines directly into the land and water shapes. (And square? What in the holy name of Darlene was I thinking?? Ugh.) And the map was bitmapped, not vector art, so even if I wanted to make it larger, I couldn't do so without it turning into a pixelated nightmare.</p><p>These mistakes all meant starting from, essentially, scratch.</p><p>So my Aerth map sat there in my Windows folders, mocking me every time we crossed paths. It taunted me with its squandered potential and dared me to open the Photoshop files so it could further humiliate me.</p><p>Until the day when I finally said: "Fuck it."</p><p>Yes, I'm almost positive that's what I uttered under my breath when I started opening the multiple Photoshop files and navigating through layer after unnamed, unsorted layer. It took hours of sifting through my past mistakes to start to get a sense of what I was in for. (The issues that crept in because of inherent limitations in the version of Photoshop I'd used way back when to create the first digital version of the map didn't help any, either.) Then many more hours were spent recreating, revising, and enhancing in an effort to get a product that preserved the best elements of the old Aerth, but which felt much more deserving of the name.</p><p>It's not 100% complete yet, but the improved Aerth - now <i>Aerthe </i>- map is close to being ready for actual play. And yes, it's finally the size it should always have been - 36" by 24" (at 300dpi). I'm waiting for the sample print of the poster to arrive for final analysis and study for possible further improvements - I was just too impatient to wait any longer to send it off for printing! With any luck, it will be deserving of continued play in the setting that's literally been under construction for 40(!) years.</p><p>Keep your fingers crossed for me!</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiBEAvHrFDdiKQzM4cJ7E6KQ-OUtdYLlJeMz_CXTE6tTW-G0B0Khs1ohNvtmM92E8EfsCTYwGPr-CdYPyEMusbI0DJ6260DLA7kjAcMxva1ClBaPS-R2Qy_qr-oJaQuiWSOLxiGWUUzovS/s1080/Aerth-New-1_for_web.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1080" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiBEAvHrFDdiKQzM4cJ7E6KQ-OUtdYLlJeMz_CXTE6tTW-G0B0Khs1ohNvtmM92E8EfsCTYwGPr-CdYPyEMusbI0DJ6260DLA7kjAcMxva1ClBaPS-R2Qy_qr-oJaQuiWSOLxiGWUUzovS/w640-h426/Aerth-New-1_for_web.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Here's a sample of the map as it stands now. When it's finally complete, expect other options!)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Christopher Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17368794259249607299noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6137072316042205607.post-28133420044260257152021-04-22T13:52:00.002-04:002021-04-23T23:22:24.475-04:00Coming Soon...<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1aVefyUPmnzbWfjLH0AMh2GYqZaabEkEaxk3dQDudiZoipqPZqb0elejbZM5S6WcUp3pzaovyECLgoA1vENZnC1azBFhRzX63alZvTr4T0zQ7krPbUFafvbJQrtAkqie7iXWFI3kpz9Yj/s2048/BlazingSix-Guns_Cover-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1583" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1aVefyUPmnzbWfjLH0AMh2GYqZaabEkEaxk3dQDudiZoipqPZqb0elejbZM5S6WcUp3pzaovyECLgoA1vENZnC1azBFhRzX63alZvTr4T0zQ7krPbUFafvbJQrtAkqie7iXWFI3kpz9Yj/w494-h640/BlazingSix-Guns_Cover-1.jpg" width="494" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blazing Six-Guns - a cinematic western miniatures game by C. Brackett</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Christopher Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17368794259249607299noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6137072316042205607.post-9438129092504487882021-04-15T11:55:00.012-04:002022-09-20T08:05:55.142-04:00Oh, the Scary, Scary Goodness<p> So, I'm sure I'm the only one who still plays Tri Tac Games' <i>Bureau 13 - Stalking the Night Fantastic</i>, right? Aside from my game group, I've never encountered another soul in my area who had ever even heard of the game, much less played it regularly.</p><p>But play it regularly my group did.<a href="http://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/search/label/Bureau%2013"> I've blogged about our "<i>Stalking</i>" exploits</a> many times in the past. And although I think I've only played it a couple of times in the last several years, my love for it endures. So much so, in fact, that when the mood for a horror game struck me, I ended up going back to <i>Stalking</i> despite spending a lot of time looking over other options, from Palladium's <i>Beyond the Supernatural </i>to Pacesetter's <i>Chill</i> to Mayfair's <i>Chill</i> to the old standby, Chaosium's <i>Call of Cthulhu</i>, and even to other games I've never really latched onto, such as Eden Studios' <i>Witchcraft</i> and <i>GURPS Horror</i>.</p><p>I even immersed myself deep enough into a few of these to spend significant time making character sheets and such. But in the end, I couldn't help but be drawn back to <i>Stalking</i>.</p><p>To some, this will beg the question: why? And to be honest, that's not an easy question to answer. Many of the games listed above are far superior to <i>Stalking</i> on many levels, from layout to design to game mechanics. Many have much more support, even support that's current and ongoing - something this "dead" game cannot boast. (The version I play was released in 1990.) Many have interesting systems that appeal to me more than some of the systems in <i>Stalking</i>. So why go back to that clunky, goofy, maddeningly laid-out game?</p><p>I think part of it comes down to familiarity. I've played the game so much, I can run it in my sleep. (In fact, I'm sure I've literally done so at least once since migrating to the game over three decades ago.) And sure, there's probably a nostalgia factor. I mean, I can't help but fondly recall memorable moments whenever I pick up the book or leaf through one of my two, tattered, held-together-with-duct-tape-and-faith, jam-packed game folders.</p><p>But it's deeper than that.</p><p>I think one of the big reasons I keep going back to the game, and what drew me to it in the first place, is that it mechanically combines elements I love from many of the games I mentioned above, including but not limited to: a wide-ranging, point-based skill system (<i>GURPS Horror</i>); a fear/horror/sanity mechanic (either <i>Chill</i> game for the fear, <i>Call of Cthulhu</i> for the sanity); a flexible, easy-to-house-rule core system (<i>Beyond the Supernatural</i>); a fairly deep system of magic and psychic powers (<i>Witchcraft</i>); and a "We made this!" care and sensibility (something I always felt from Pacesetter's <i>Chill</i>). All of these things are wrapped into a joyous, fun little package that's presented in a tongue-in-cheek manner that tickles my irreverent side to no end.</p><p>(Don't think for a moment, though, that the tongue-in-cheek atmosphere of the game's art and its "Harrison and Friends" examples of play mean the game itself can't be played in a deadly serious vein. It's funny in the way the '80s movie <i>Re-Animator</i> is funny - funny, dark, and deadly.)</p><p>Mostly, the game's just fun, in a way that's hard for me to describe.</p><p>Any-hoo, that's enough waxing poetic about the game. My real purpose was to share a bunch of artifacts I've produced for <i>Stalking</i>. I decided it was high time to take all of the resources I've made for the game in the last 30-some-odd years and give them an update. I've created tons of character sheets, adventure record sheets, NPC sheets, etc. over the years, and they were in much need of being brought into the modern age.</p><p>So, here without further fanfare are a spate of documents for use to anyone out there who still plays this super-unpolished gem of a game:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xqYPyqCs_hNWagnMulEZs1KCtcFG95oT/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1583" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGHs_k19YvYSL5MoL7JhqyWikC0WAKM9ziOBNdyG9am_krtlE10T5n8qCFi8aRMgK42r6-vLWdRTWgkfkorkf0L22GiMmRz7Smtsj-UlHtQmnjMSM1xH6GcgZoK-bASU_9PjEOudffbkSr/w495-h640/B13CharacterSheet.jpg" width="495" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A revised version of my last character sheet - click to download the PDF, <br />complete with two backs - one with magic/psionics, and one without</td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1j5o9g4B7-1xUzWPb991JbiSiG7dPPV1G/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1583" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz84j1g5gXub0l5m1PDtwp5GNWMx_vEeQ4nov9BXNgMzZ6OA_NOeM1oB72q9uqkd5JpxxORPClOcnAdFblZCWF548tAPzRC-Sx-Xnk6Wqg1UHbJ1VjfK6pvpLIIEyQjG6MMYsUvUDeTQyW/w494-h640/B13AdventureRecapSheet.jpg" width="494" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adventure Recap Sheet - something I wish I had completed for every game I've ever played,<br />but, alas, only about a half-dozen were ever filled out (although they at least were for Stalking).<br />Click for the full PDF.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/19E6fwX3Nt0KSO8hIc1JbMzEfOVrPJfCS/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1583" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihSN03g2fghTiYcQRdV__L79kakdRaWbA-ck4THr_zYDd_gGfhAsd8zKUOkj8ldhbaviutCoWlb6qXby6d5rzPazX1rTEPD3NrRwUdUBMAIaj-js-KuVQ1JO3g3u77jrV0fhBKrMltc3Gb/w494-h640/B13BrutesBeastsSheet.jpg" width="494" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brutes & Beasts Sheet - a place to keep track of all your non-human nasties.<br />Click for the full PDF.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YxpV2RM-khaKSFSZTOdmhpXnRyKlBZHX/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1583" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6oHBHQxaGuwg8Zi0cq5dOfE7dXFDjLo6nqt-IVobK0SsPSE6Yw1cN7-Y1C-4CThbFRVrMXiCNoeE3ArWq3W6W-3s9_4Uc4iP2CKMZJ2k0X-_riLxpc1rzBud9ewfFB8puhswXQ3sHCW4d/w494-h640/B13CraziesCultistsSheet.jpg" width="494" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crazies & Cultists Sheet - for your meat sacks, er coffin stuffers, er humans!<br />Click for the full PDF.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QOiDkJ8pg60HB2pIXkckVD11p1Eqgo4G/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1583" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib9vxF5RwGk7ZtCo7wi45n8FQbWWefpFZ7t9Ve4BwYT_ImxH5AqDtPycZ2jJtyZ0GJOmBX7jg_0ErX3Ht_3BVp0sn65K4nUxH13ZMCUBU73daL9g97fJ7SJO79Htpln1BK3NiXqY_MQKOU/w494-h640/B13MagicSpellLogSheet.jpg" width="494" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Magic Spell Log, an indispensable resource for the demonolater in the group.<br />Click for the full PDF.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>(Note: I plan to create fillable versions of the PDFs linked above - watch this space!)</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Christopher Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17368794259249607299noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6137072316042205607.post-32603413782568799052021-03-10T09:23:00.000-05:002021-03-10T09:23:28.692-05:00And Yet More Gamma World Goodness<p> As I continue to ramp up for some first-edition <i>Gamma World</i> play, I've taken a look back at some of the 30-ish-year-old artifacts (heheh) from my <a href="http://www.rustmonsteratemysword.com/search/label/Gamma%20World">history with the game</a>. I spent a little more time with <a href="http://www.rustmonsteratemysword.com/2009/04/disco-mutants-anyone.html">my 1E character sheet</a> and <a href="http://www.rustmonsteratemysword.com/2009/04/disco-mutants-anyone.html">my campaign map</a>, revising and updating them a bit.</p><p>I post them here for your consideration and/or personal enjoyment:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pvQ_j-AmI3JMRVE_czjToHWMWyMO0DCa/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1583" data-original-width="2048" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQwoUmJTTN5O-kq6ArtBW0H4rayZ0brJXt-PmAjkC87LuWqgt5-gmJ7ng631zNawqxPMQcGf2I1-qhIGFzXgXQgirANksKl1OhONhiCPfOX3OD5GGKLOcp466UIx0_0cg6PNgUeOdzbGIr/w640-h494/GammaWorld_Overland-Map-02-300dpi.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pvQ_j-AmI3JMRVE_czjToHWMWyMO0DCa/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">[Click to download the full-resolution PDF]</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TwUZrx1fOvQWdjD3SkZLd9Db2ecS02nV/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1650" data-original-width="1275" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOR6drttDCHe2K6iPszksFbEytvw3WBz-9KzUrMOKws7wQIO-hJVtiAksHObTss_a3v9XFSw9ZiSt_y57sfLH8rgFjCJonRYfcRHGVGNKYPoUheLAGl4RABbevmT4kATg3Hx5DosGJIFRg/w494-h640/GammaWorldCharacterRecordSheet.jpg" width="494" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TwUZrx1fOvQWdjD3SkZLd9Db2ecS02nV/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">[Click to download the full-resolution, two-page (front & back) PDF]</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Christopher Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17368794259249607299noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6137072316042205607.post-55886353471616192822021-03-03T16:00:00.006-05:002021-03-03T16:01:45.407-05:00From the Vault: Gamma World Goodness!<p>[<i>I was considering posting some Gamma World materials I created back in the mid-'90s </i><i>- 1st edition, of course! - </i><i> when I realized I already had scanned and posted the maps. (Oh, my dear memory, how age has taken its toll on you.) So, to lend context to the NPCs and creatures I'm going to scan and post, here's that original post from The Early Days of the Rust Monster blog:</i>]</p><p>Ah, <span style="font-style: italic;">Gamma World</span> - how can you <span style="font-style: italic;">not</span> love a game that has anthropoid rabbits and land sharks? </p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDdPfcxxMg-UPehWFaLd4rJxUiCaB2lzB34ztEb8WjT-Pz9S4S0QazrHyeqLGVV-RJprjBaNOJgS8fZA9ONy6dGAMTRfRIUSWjsfp7o__mQOt3s_dZx5mw16CEdlfhtuiErobZLH4nqffH/s1600-h/RAFM_Outcasts.gif" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324944902901002706" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDdPfcxxMg-UPehWFaLd4rJxUiCaB2lzB34ztEb8WjT-Pz9S4S0QazrHyeqLGVV-RJprjBaNOJgS8fZA9ONy6dGAMTRfRIUSWjsfp7o__mQOt3s_dZx5mw16CEdlfhtuiErobZLH4nqffH/s200/RAFM_Outcasts.gif" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 154px;" /></a>In the nuclear afterglow of <a href="http://www.rustmonsteratemysword.com/2009/04/disco-mutants-anyone.html">yesterday's post</a>, I got to thinking about the game - specifically, about the <a href="http://www.rafm.com/">RAFM</a> miniatures that inspired my first <span style="font-style: italic;">Gamma World</span> campaign, if only via an ad in <span style="font-style: italic;">Dragon </span>magazine. (You remember that little periodical, don't you?) I did some digging around, and finally found the ad in question. The miniatures were called "The Outcasts," and included such brilliantly named characters as "The Vicar," "Pinky the Eunuch," "Scary Mary," and of course, "Pongo Gutbag." (And given how inexpensive they were, I could kick myself for not sending away for them.) </p><p>I spent so much time ogling over these in the mid-80's that when I finally got around to running a <span style="font-style: italic;">GW</span> campaign - albeit a brief one - in the mid-90's, it was only natural that I should include The Outcasts. The first few (and, as it turns out, <span style="font-style: italic;">only</span>) game sessions of the campaign revolved around Pongo Gutbag and his band of flunkies. The PC's were recruited to infiltrate Gutbag's palace and retrieve an artifact. I thought I'd share with you the maps I made for the Massive Overlord's palace. </p><p>Page 1: An overview of the palace grounds and immediate environs, complete with mutated rice paddy and nuke-pear orchard:<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisCL9m_ooNAIbrcElt83rI4FWgr38QvsE2g-gGyc0O7lKblku7SIHE90XjLM1nid-oz0Fgq1bmGG0EzZ-x4OquhC-2LH9CSuxADx_vtHMeLcq-ct7HD76kErny9O2QvHgB2ap4C02CwqUB/s1600-h/img027.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324944371406608242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisCL9m_ooNAIbrcElt83rI4FWgr38QvsE2g-gGyc0O7lKblku7SIHE90XjLM1nid-oz0Fgq1bmGG0EzZ-x4OquhC-2LH9CSuxADx_vtHMeLcq-ct7HD76kErny9O2QvHgB2ap4C02CwqUB/s400/img027.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 308px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>Page 2: Detail maps of the out-buildings:<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuqzxrhvIeKSegLbtiFF7dMfwpqJytZBvgUFYqogOfU4Kj9ZWmYVQjehWP96_E9tPGL2BleEf7lniH9-_61FuoL07B7euy8hwtUBWQ7HRtgm3X6v8PF8oNzUyBrlLNFvV5xXD3cM-MOcFA/s1600-h/img028.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324944166894952754" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuqzxrhvIeKSegLbtiFF7dMfwpqJytZBvgUFYqogOfU4Kj9ZWmYVQjehWP96_E9tPGL2BleEf7lniH9-_61FuoL07B7euy8hwtUBWQ7HRtgm3X6v8PF8oNzUyBrlLNFvV5xXD3cM-MOcFA/s400/img028.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 308px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>Page 3: Detailed map of the main building:<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKODK8zE4v86gMxogSlt6TTmMqIMh6bs4wGLu-auKpLYy6X9NUasHYCAAsuArazutvdapimXFqmN8p7FVzDe9IsflkL6G3yE0JCS8wxx-qLHWHBpDyfQYsAKCTkBLF1OSPb_gUC6LCxT5y/s1600-h/img029.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324943853481525762" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKODK8zE4v86gMxogSlt6TTmMqIMh6bs4wGLu-auKpLYy6X9NUasHYCAAsuArazutvdapimXFqmN8p7FVzDe9IsflkL6G3yE0JCS8wxx-qLHWHBpDyfQYsAKCTkBLF1OSPb_gUC6LCxT5y/s400/img029.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 308px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>Page 4: The Thing What Lives in the Moat (if the nasty, irradiated water doesn't get you, this certainly will!):</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3jVuvqFmvvkN_4HR6FfcoW94DykNIipiaSR4DnMcU2P1Re99CKGYosr7fFa-g0LrLCQpnJ1pcqyr4bTTBfuD5MGQ1MxNVikOJnG_su61G6zgdQ9ZsCEt8RK3hyphenhyphenjeq0CaL0lFdO99LaORq/s1600-h/img032.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5324943607525163986" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3jVuvqFmvvkN_4HR6FfcoW94DykNIipiaSR4DnMcU2P1Re99CKGYosr7fFa-g0LrLCQpnJ1pcqyr4bTTBfuD5MGQ1MxNVikOJnG_su61G6zgdQ9ZsCEt8RK3hyphenhyphenjeq0CaL0lFdO99LaORq/s400/img032.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 308px; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px;" /></a></div><div><br /></div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Christopher Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17368794259249607299noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6137072316042205607.post-4051063769776355532021-01-22T13:33:00.017-05:002022-09-20T08:06:28.651-04:00My Friend, Les<p> My friend, Les, died a little over three months ago.</p><p>I met Les in 1989, if my post-middle-aged memory serves me right, at <a href="http://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/2018/09/bjorn-and-waldo-characters-from-another.html">the first game I ever ran</a> for people who either weren't already close friends or family. Les and his younger brother, Craig, were both there and were really the only complete strangers at the game. We instantly bonded, mostly thanks to our shared love of gaming and of all things geek-adjacent, from mainstream and cult science fiction, fantasy, and horror films and books, to real-world paranormal and the occult.</p><p>Les was a clever, inquisitive person. He liked to figure out and build things, and this side of him carried through to his gaming. He was very much an old-school player, relishing in-game challenges that presented obstacles to be overcome by the player, not the player character (with a die roll). He also had an impressive breadth of knowledge, as did Craig, both of them being voracious readers of many genres. He wasn't a deep role player, though, enjoying the more surface-level and "game-y" aspects of role playing (again, very old school). He ran games in a similar vein, and even in non-<i>Dungeons & Dragons</i>-style games, he was usually a Monty Haul game master. This often led to unspoken friction between us, as I usually wanted our group to engage more deeply with the stories we were sharing.</p><p>Over the decades, we had disputes over other things, as well - it was a turbulent friendship. Les was a shining example of human imperfection. He pissed me off quite often (as I know I also did to him), being a bit of a social misfit and generalist misanthrope. I say generalist because he really wasn't a misanthrope at all - he liked making sweeping misanthropic statements toward generalized groups of people, but ultimately was a solid friend to members of those same groups that he knew personally. He only disliked people in the targeted groups when they were complete strangers. Like many socially awkward people I've known over the years, he liked to talk worse than he actually was. We clashed a few times a year over such generalizations or over other actions that he should have known better than to perform but just couldn't seem to help himself.</p><p>Regardless of all this, he was a good and loyal friend. I'd like to say I was as good a friend in return, but I know that's not true. Because of our differences, I often kept Les at a distance. There was a divide between us that never allowed me to get as close to him as, say, my best friend Terry. I know I didn't appreciate Les as much as I should have, just as I know that's something I'll now bear with me for the rest of my own life.</p><p>I hadn't seen Les in almost two years by the time of his passing. He was ill for a long time, and in and out of the hospital. After an incident where I contracted from him and became seriously ill with an infection after one such hospital stay, I felt like it wasn't a good idea to continue our get-togethers, which had already become fairly irregular. We stayed in touch through my wife, who continued to talk to him semi-regularly. His passing didn't come as a surprise, as we'd been expecting it for quite a long time. When he first became ill, he and I joked often about him being an orc, and that "they'd have to kill him before he'd die," but we knew for months that the time was drawing near. I probably would have visited him in the hospital near the end, regardless of the gulf between us, if it hadn't been for COVID regulations. (His own brother was lucky to be allowed to see him in his final hours. This shit's just totally fucked up.) It was still a shock, though. But because I'd been so prepared for it, I didn't feel as sad as I would have otherwise.</p><p>I never actually cried for him, even at his funeral*, until I sat down to write this post.</p><p>Anyway, the purpose of this post isn't to be maudlin or to look for attention. It's to serve as a memorial to a man who was a huge part of my life, a smart, fun, infuriating, loyal, flawed but fundamentally good human being who deserved better friendship than he received from me. He influenced my life in so many ways, and I know that I owe a huge part of who I am today to him. I miss him.</p><p>Here's to my friend, Les. May he be playing all the games all the time in the Great Beyond, rolling dice with Gygax and Tucholka.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHMHiGSC_b3khl_ssMGOlKFsE6bzVdtcB__6SZvmiY2oYto08w-4AkjgPOTf7oOfDXHL4mJEUzdTzKNzP5d6NO-ktUijBw9rvktD6stPIec-X2NGGuUCK96e0E41oULwK6AooshmTwkK7p/s1647/scan006.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1647" data-original-width="1273" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHMHiGSC_b3khl_ssMGOlKFsE6bzVdtcB__6SZvmiY2oYto08w-4AkjgPOTf7oOfDXHL4mJEUzdTzKNzP5d6NO-ktUijBw9rvktD6stPIec-X2NGGuUCK96e0E41oULwK6AooshmTwkK7p/w494-h640/scan006.jpg" width="494" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDvmFmGkgzcsVkTeDz5q7T5UIcmhPamnmjce-ssBR8aXFIx6zKmhuTM0GQdRS3WgzaxfLvQooTw7DTedGHlrg8zlmKA8nwtjKOd9f4q_8wF2fNz9HEetntfMw7HaEVgDFRS_Y3EDOawmtp/s2048/Document_2021-01-22_131725.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1583" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDvmFmGkgzcsVkTeDz5q7T5UIcmhPamnmjce-ssBR8aXFIx6zKmhuTM0GQdRS3WgzaxfLvQooTw7DTedGHlrg8zlmKA8nwtjKOd9f4q_8wF2fNz9HEetntfMw7HaEVgDFRS_Y3EDOawmtp/w494-h640/Document_2021-01-22_131725.jpg" width="494" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoXKE06Bn57SmsE38mJYGii6OVKkciHlZ-eyvxoh35stTzdwsTfmOzQdi_VH7V228xyqps2_00_SrcI0B8r_G7M2fJnsAzSPOqskvOWFo_uMQXDggrYHwwh6NwlKFhwXDKoWzqXICTEUGk/s2048/Document_2021-01-22_132136.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1583" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoXKE06Bn57SmsE38mJYGii6OVKkciHlZ-eyvxoh35stTzdwsTfmOzQdi_VH7V228xyqps2_00_SrcI0B8r_G7M2fJnsAzSPOqskvOWFo_uMQXDggrYHwwh6NwlKFhwXDKoWzqXICTEUGk/w494-h640/Document_2021-01-22_132136.jpg" width="494" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9KgmyRzjlPj43r5p3rFdk1o2g8gQjn2jn2UOaV6lRjDNc8RgaPxSY5uGpSshpPB2eeavXiEi6x0NYA_gvSJ0pNF9EHbuEzgotL6GGvhu7ArHeUe1dx8hdo5ag09pReHlnkQJ_7bzBBVCf/s2048/Document_2021-01-22_132315.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1583" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9KgmyRzjlPj43r5p3rFdk1o2g8gQjn2jn2UOaV6lRjDNc8RgaPxSY5uGpSshpPB2eeavXiEi6x0NYA_gvSJ0pNF9EHbuEzgotL6GGvhu7ArHeUe1dx8hdo5ag09pReHlnkQJ_7bzBBVCf/w494-h640/Document_2021-01-22_132315.jpg" width="494" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSpK4Y9PxYAGRH-M5I3gqgvJFrVgvf3PUIGHxhcmoYlqViEaR5DQbs-uG0xmOzS8KR4Q_isTco6ufyeFMssGyCYPpaTsshJlyTqyS6she_vVpmzcpobZIs-4Woh6T7pZXHt-OcjG7m1Vhe/s2048/Document_2021-01-22_132510.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1583" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSpK4Y9PxYAGRH-M5I3gqgvJFrVgvf3PUIGHxhcmoYlqViEaR5DQbs-uG0xmOzS8KR4Q_isTco6ufyeFMssGyCYPpaTsshJlyTqyS6she_vVpmzcpobZIs-4Woh6T7pZXHt-OcjG7m1Vhe/w494-h640/Document_2021-01-22_132510.jpg" width="494" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEFfM_VDKwbnriM1OlPlCSK6u5NL6Kj7FmbJADjElZEZf2f0QMy2zAM2YUuwPuLzPiTiHZ1n7oU5fJwCXZjSBZZ3ieYyBWSfTkrqQ8krbccL3TnomRGC3_dZPg0tuSMlDYkyWB4aKrI7lo/s2048/Receipt_2021-01-22_131255.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1583" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEFfM_VDKwbnriM1OlPlCSK6u5NL6Kj7FmbJADjElZEZf2f0QMy2zAM2YUuwPuLzPiTiHZ1n7oU5fJwCXZjSBZZ3ieYyBWSfTkrqQ8krbccL3TnomRGC3_dZPg0tuSMlDYkyWB4aKrI7lo/w494-h640/Receipt_2021-01-22_131255.jpg" width="494" /></a></div><br /><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">*Although my subsumed grief did almost manifest in other ways, as I was a heartbeat away from punching in the head the cemetery caretaker who repeatedly feigned sorrow over his death while getting his name wrong, and then started an argument with the grieving family members over the burial plot...</span></p>Christopher Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17368794259249607299noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6137072316042205607.post-3450548076423248162021-01-20T10:54:00.000-05:002021-01-20T10:54:02.399-05:00The skies are filled with miracles, and half of them are lies<p>Following on from yesterday's post, here's another useful sheet from <a href="https://rtalsoriangames.com/" target="_blank">R. Talsorian Games</a>' <i><a href="https://rtalsoriangames.com/cyberpunk/" target="_blank">Cyberpunk 2020</a></i>, remastered: the "Fast and Dirty Expendables" (aka NPCs) sheet:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t_hI1rc7NuvniObLH2BWgnej4bqlntyH/view?usp=sharing" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1650" data-original-width="1275" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIdHLlbGObVk6iSfGfPPO85FcYW9Ohszrq25ggmF9C9bU4cOJusqcekFYu9yntjaNZu1_l1Q9eDWDCHARhhgeE4V4W7Mzn6HOsGUsIqYD3BC2GhfJbNuYzG8ccQXEq8FDmC3iSMm3cqaZD/w494-h640/2020ExpendablesSheet.jpg" width="494" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Christopher Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17368794259249607299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6137072316042205607.post-15657076118309019162021-01-19T10:18:00.002-05:002022-09-20T08:07:03.979-04:00Got the Metal Beneath My Skin, I'm Chippin' In<p> I used to think those lyrics were goofy - until I heard the Kerry Eurodyne version of the song (from Cyberpunk 2077). Now, not so much.</p><p>Anyway, Cyberpunk's been on my mind lately (thanks to the release of <i>Cyberpunk Red</i>, which I somehow missed and when I poked my head out from under my rock sadly realized it was nigh impossible to score a copy of the full rule book *sigh*). So I decided to revisit my old <a href="http://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/2009/04/got-metal-beneath-my-skin.html"><i>Cyberpunk 2020</i> character sheet</a>. I made a few tiny revisions to it (adding attributions, another watermark image, and a much-needed and timely splash of color) - here's the revised sheet for your gaming pleasure:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cgw9Dm1OFSYDXRNvLKRE0osF04Htneqm/view?usp=sharing" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1650" data-original-width="1275" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP1YHYwBbUDchOFdu5DNrf2zZwdQ6z24g6cFFQmaD6CrfInB2MRni5HvsktZ71E69i28r_E951et-AGOE649Sf_ZlewT2Kn3BXKM6HNLGx6f0X0Gdz0LfbyVX7sG2gMFPCFJgZz5YdL2bJ/w495-h640/2020CharSheet.jpg" width="495" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Christopher Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17368794259249607299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6137072316042205607.post-34871496925156177822020-12-21T10:10:00.011-05:002020-12-21T10:27:47.529-05:00Not in My Game<div class="separator"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj47hyTJUQp0QILIv3BJkioHrOVTJsCaE5CJ2cZOYSsjltW_TjYczqBmA2fmQoaZc2dCvMSy2gduxXPErsqCZ8c2A8xRM3-vF70i5Zt4eFk1sICSLGS3BHoXxIhv9UyYDdMiUMcezdvcPCL/s1683/Pages+from+Dungeons+%2526+Dragons+-+1+-+Basic+Box+Set.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1683" data-original-width="1388" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj47hyTJUQp0QILIv3BJkioHrOVTJsCaE5CJ2cZOYSsjltW_TjYczqBmA2fmQoaZc2dCvMSy2gduxXPErsqCZ8c2A8xRM3-vF70i5Zt4eFk1sICSLGS3BHoXxIhv9UyYDdMiUMcezdvcPCL/w165-h200/Pages+from+Dungeons+%2526+Dragons+-+1+-+Basic+Box+Set.jpg" width="165" /></a></div>While indulging in my yearly bout of gaming nostalgia (as this time of year marks<a href="http://www.rustmonsteratemysword.com/2018/12/ghosts-of-christmas-pas.html"> my first foray into the world of <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i></a>) I found myself perusing an old issue of The Dragon. Issue 31, to be precise. I was amusing myself with the wondrous questions and answers in the first-ever installment of "Sage Advice" (long bows can't be used as direct-fire weapons? Whuh??) when I was stopped in my tracks by the following question, or - more precisely - by the response from Jean Wells:<div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU9_3wUjnhuVxoS-u7TNIWR-Cuez_9oCUPlw0__uu1unhvchoY4zQg0EqPk3RqC5ctxUa55syrzFysW0QrQOvcGu79lchOfOcsAAHHt49l-mKTRqZ8PQpmih_O9Q_yrBKcawazf61UUJ2C/s648/Dragon-31.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="157" data-original-width="648" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU9_3wUjnhuVxoS-u7TNIWR-Cuez_9oCUPlw0__uu1unhvchoY4zQg0EqPk3RqC5ctxUa55syrzFysW0QrQOvcGu79lchOfOcsAAHHt49l-mKTRqZ8PQpmih_O9Q_yrBKcawazf61UUJ2C/s16000/Dragon-31.png" /></a><p></p><p>This exhibits one of the fundamental things that has always bothered me about the default assumptions present in <i>D&D</i>: namely that many of these fantastical creatures are assigned a mundane existence rather than being <i>fantastical</i>.</p><p>The first time I recall encountering this was when I read of the goblin <i>families</i> in <i>Keep on the Borderlands</i>. </p><p><i>Goblin children?</i> I thought. </p><p>To me, this seemed <i>wrong</i>. Goblins, orcs, etc., are creatures of myth and legend. Attributing to them the same properties as creatures of the natural order effectively strips them of their phantasmagorical existences. Furthermore, by making them natural beings as opposed to supernatural ones, the creators of the game made it far less believable that they could be wholly evil, as they're presented (with an alignment of chaotic or chaotic evil, depending on your flavor of the game). Surely, if they are intelligent creatures belonging to the natural order, they have as much capacity for moral range as any other intelligent creature. </p><p>They're no longer avatars of fantastical evil, foils for the heroic player characters, then. They're just ugly, primitive men.</p><p>Where's the fun in <i>that</i>?</p><p>This is why I've always eschewed the default (one might argue, Gygaxian) <i>D&D</i> approach to <i>monsters</i>. These are magical creatures - one cannot ascribe to them the same beliefs, behaviors, or <i>reproductive methods</i> as one does to beings that belong to the natural order. <i>D&D</i> monsters exist outside that order, and this is what makes them wonderous and terrifying. My orcs and goblins are elemental creatures of darkness and evil, dark mirrors in which the natural creatures of the world see the worst of themselves.</p><p>"Orcs are mammals"? Not in my game they aren't!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /></div></div>Christopher Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17368794259249607299noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6137072316042205607.post-61188639288541865752020-06-12T15:26:00.004-04:002022-09-20T08:07:34.297-04:00Conversations with the Other SideLet me start this post with a <b>huge </b>disclaimer: although today's piece is about something that's ostensibly a game, it doesn't involve role playing games.<br />
<br />
This tale comes from a period I call my Inter-RPG-num, a few years during which I had set aside role playing games in favor of hanging out with friends, getting into trouble (or narrowly avoiding it while my friends got into it, to be accurate), getting drunk, etc. The memories I mentioned in <a href="http://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/2020/06/from-heavy-metal-to-horror-role-playing.html">yesterday's post</a> got me thinking about my friend, Walter, and this period of my life, and I just figured I'd share it.<br />
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Feel free to skip this post unless you've a passion for weirdness and the supernatural.<br />
<br />
Although I wasn't playing RPGs or creating content for them after the middle of the 1980s had passed, my imagination hadn't in any way abated, nor had my love of horror. My horror fandom was in full swing in this period, and I have fond recollections from the period between late-'85 and mid-'89 when I wasn't playing games, but my imagination was as active as ever.<br />
<br />
The group of friends I hung out with at that time would have been the freaks if my life were an episode of <i>Freaks & Geeks</i>. They were all younger than me be a couple of years, but I have always felt more at home with younger people than I have with those my own age. I don't even recall how I came to be friends with them, but our common interests had certainly been a factor that drew us together. The main thing that bound us to each other was our love for punk music and culture, which had finally reached our sleepy town in the middle of nowhere.<br />
<br />
But we all also had a love for the horror genre - although I'm sure mine ran more deeply than did the others'. We went to horror movies together, discovered and explored the local cemeteries (always in the dead of night), and were even planning on shooting a horror film using my parents' VHS camera. (The latter, alas, never came to fruition.)<br />
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Then, in the late spring of 1987, something happened to me that would take everything to the next level.<br />
<br />
The origins of the event(s) I'm about to relate stem from that period of my youth during which I was both attracted to and repulsed by all things supernatural and scary. As I've said before, I was afflicted with terrible nightmares almost every night, and the horror and dread I experienced in my sleep colored my day-to-day life.<br />
<br />
I grew up in a 100-year-old farmhouse in the country, surrounded by hills, fields, and deep forests. The ancient, stone-walled cellar was off limits to me, as was the giant attic (which I believe had once been a master bedroom consisting of two rooms and adjoining servants' quarters that had been converted into a bath before the whole area was abandoned and became "the attic").<br />
<br />
So, of course, I frequented these locations whenever I was left unattended.<br />
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The attic was a font of bizarre relics. I had six older brothers and sisters, the youngest of whom was ten years my senior. The attic was where everything they'd left behind when they moved away went to live. It was densely packed with clothes, books, toys, games, etc. I would often go digging for treasure and sneaking promising toys or games into my room. (And I was just as often caught and punished for having gone into the attic. Not that <i>that </i>ever deterred me.) There was one "game," however, that I frequently ran across but never, ever considered bringing out of that dark, dusty attic.<br />
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That game was called "Ouija."<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCKKEwp4CNerBGN-srF0cIH6saWs9aDW4hTGqzrsZKsZBLamKOq0Y4IxCwvbD7YcXuaQv5F8pCd4jAQz_fLuY441wVEAHBi1UfqGukMPXbeS2NWgAsVPsQpmUzLYwpxBtcrAHHzrcmxvd_/s1600/34520924626_31e72bb70b_b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="644" data-original-width="960" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCKKEwp4CNerBGN-srF0cIH6saWs9aDW4hTGqzrsZKsZBLamKOq0Y4IxCwvbD7YcXuaQv5F8pCd4jAQz_fLuY441wVEAHBi1UfqGukMPXbeS2NWgAsVPsQpmUzLYwpxBtcrAHHzrcmxvd_/s640/34520924626_31e72bb70b_b.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image courtesy of Maison de l'Alchimiste via Flickr</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The image above could very well have been of the very box I tried hard not to look at in my regular forays into the attic. It's the same box, in the same or similar condition, as the one I recall so vividly from the 1970s. I didn't know what the box contained, but nothing that looked <i>like that</i> could be a good thing.<br />
<br />
On a trip into the attic with my sister (it was okay for me to go, as long as I was accompanying one of my parents or siblings when they went looking for something) in '74 or '75 I pointed out the box lurking in the corner and asked what that word was.<br />
<br />
"That's a 'weejie' board," she said. She opened the box and showed me its strange contents: a board with letters, numbers, and the words "Yes," "No," and "Good Bye" on it, and a vaguely heart-shaped piece of yellowed plastic with three legs with felt feet and an open hole at its center. "You use it to talk to dead people. It spells out words."<br />
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I was aghast. My suspicions had been on the money - nothing <i>good </i>lurked within that battered old box.<br />
<br />
"You mean ghosts?" I asked.<br />
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She nodded. "But I don't think it works anymore. There used to be a little window here, but it's missing."<br />
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She stuck her finger through the open hole in the center of the plastic piece. I was thankful it was broken - the last thing I wanted was to be in the same house as something that would let dead people talk to me. She laughed, probably because she knew the missing plastic window had nothing to do with the board's ability to function. My siblings loved messing with me like that. Probably because I was naive and gullible.<br />
<br />
For years I would continue to avoid that box containing the broken hotline-to-the-dead.<br />
<br />
For some reason, though, it continued to intrigue me. (The same way everything that scared me also held a strange attraction for me.) I would find myself drawn to it as the years passed, and avoiding looking at it gradually became examining the box. Avoiding touching it gradually became picking it up. And avoiding opening the box gradually became inspecting its contents closely.<br />
<br />
I found myself examining the plastic piece and its open hole. (I didn't yet know that it was called a "planchette.") I looked closely at the hole, at the three tabs spaced evenly around the circle, obviously where the plastic window would snap into place. I wondered how a missing piece of clear plastic could cause the game to be broken. Perhaps the center of that window - which clearly showed a dot in the instructions on the back of the game box - held a small magnet? And the board, beneath the veneer holding the letters, numbers, and words, similarly had small magnets in it? How else could this game spell out words, and how else could the missing plastic window affect the game's ability to communicate with the dead?<br />
<br />
The next step was the logical one: attempt to prove that the board was indeed broken. As my fear of the game waned, I found myself brave enough to set it on my lap, place my hands on the planchette (or the "message indicator," as I knew it by at the time, because that's what the instructions called it), and wait for the dead to speak.<br />
<br />
They never did.<br />
<br />
I was vaguely disappointed - perhaps the board was indeed broken, as my sister had said. I would try this experiment several more times as the '70s became the '80s. At first alone, then with my nephew. But the dead never spoke. Eventually, I gave up trying to coax the broken game to life. I more or less forgot it.<br />
<br />
As the '80s progressed and my once-begrudged, denied love of horror blossomed, I found myself seeking outlets for my passion. Fortuitously, a new technology had also blossomed: video cassettes. With this came the advent of movies on VHS, and video rental stores. I would find myself regularly visiting the local video monger, going straight to the horror section to see what new gems I could find there that might sate my desire for creeps and gore.<br />
<br />
It was on one such trip in early 1987 that I discovered a movie that had premiered the previous year: <i>Witchboard</i>.<br />
<br />
Talk about a no-brainer - I watched the movie twice that night, accompanied by my nephew for at least one of the viewings. Unlike most video tapes, which I had to watch on the 13" TV in my bedroom, I was able to view <i>Witchboard</i> on the large TV in the living room. My parents were away for the week, taking an unprecedented vacation by themselves. I had the house to myself.<br />
<br />
After the final viewing of the movie, which I loved at the time (even though "Patch" died - sorry if that's a spoiler for you) I looked at my nephew:<br />
<br />
"Wanna get the 'wee-ja' [<i>the movie taught us well</i>] from the attic?" I asked.<br />
<br />
Moments later, we were sitting in my room, the game board on our laps as it had been dozens of times before. As so many times before, we hoped and feared that the dead would speak to us.<br />
<br />
They did.<br />
<br />
I didn't push the planchette. After a couple of vehemently denied accusations, I trusted that he wasn't pushing it, either. So we spent the next two hours communicating with the dead, mostly in the form of one of our ancestors who went by the moniker "Zed." (I know, right?)<br />
<br />
I don't know what Zed was. I don't know if he was our subconscious minds speaking to us, the dead ancestor he claimed to be, or <i>something else</i>. But Zed had a lot to say about the board (it ceased being a game the moment it started "working"), about the spirits (or whatever they were we would speak) to (he called them the "Voices"), and other things. Zed warned us that nothing the Voices had to say to us should be taken at face value and that we should take care and treat the board and the Voices with both respect and disbelief.<br />
<br />
I don't recall what else Zed had to say, or what any of the other Voices we talked to that night said. I had a small notebook that I kept notes of those conversations in, but unfortunately I lost it several years ago in a move. But we spoke at length to Zed and others that night, and the next.<br />
<br />
Of course, since I was alone in the old house - the Ouija board slept in the wood shed. (Better safe than sorry. I'd seen enough horror movies by that point to know not to take unnecessary risks.)<br />
<br />
By the third night, we'd involved my circle of friends in the Ouija sessions. We took turns using the board, marveling at the words from the aether. We were all enthralled by it, so much so that shortly thereafter I bought a new one (with an undamaged, complete planchette - yay!) which I took to carrying in my car. It fit perfectly under the passenger seat. We would break it out at each others' houses, at parties, even once at the decrepit, overgrown, century-and-a-half old graveyard we liked to visit in the middle of the night. (Only once because it wouldn't work there. And after an unnerving and bizarre experience we had at the place a few weeks later, we were reluctant to go there again - much less use a Quija board within the borders of its fallen iron gates.)<br />
<br />
But back to Walter, and the memory that was sparked by yesterday's post.<br />
<br />
Walter and I used that board everywhere that summer. It was an amusement, nothing more. It was fun because it was such an oddity - and a little creepy. We used it so often I've forgotten most of our sessions with it.<br />
<br />
But one stands out clearly.<br />
<br />
As I said, we were all into the punk rock scene. But in rural New York in the mid-to-late-'80s, it was hard to find that scene. The major record stores carried a limited selection of the music, and aside from us, no one we knew was into it. But someone introduced one of Walter's other friends (a total sociopath I tried to avoid as best I could) to a guy in the nearby "City" to someone named Ron, who was "a real hardcore punk." Walter got invited to a party at Ron's house, and I drove.<br />
<br />
We arrived late afternoon, and gathered in the backyard of Ron's mother's house. We mingled with the people that straggled in, a diverse group of late teens and twenty-somethings. We talked music, mostly, but a bit about who we were and what we were into, our likes and dislikes.<br />
<br />
Of course, the topic turned to the supernatural.<br />
<br />
At the mention of it, people started sharing ghost stories. (To this day, I love swapping ghost stories with people - I just don't get to do it very much.) Two of the people were Ron's longtime friends.<br />
<br />
"Ron's house is haunted," one of them said, thumbing over his shoulder at the boring Cape Cod behind him.<br />
<br />
"Really?" I said.<br />
<br />
"Oh yeah," the other friend said in a serious tone.<br />
<br />
People started to crowd around as they went on to relate how a few years earlier they came over one day looking for Ron. They knocked on his front door, but there was no answer. The friends said they went around to the back door, where the inner door was open but the outer screen door was locked. They called loudly for Ron - and a strange woman neither had ever seen appeared at the door and screamed at them to get off her property. Ron later confirmed their story, and said he and his mom were out shopping at the time. There was no one else in the house.<br />
<br />
It was a cool, creepy tale, and I tucked it away with the rest of my collection of ghostly anecdotes.<br />
<br />
Walter then brought up our Ouija board sessions, and the engaged crowd grew larger. Almost everyone at the party was involved in the conversation now, and as the backyard grew dark and we all moved indoors, everyone was expressing interest in our tales. Ron sat in a leather chair in his living room, listening as the party goers began to share their own Ouija experiences. He'd gone inside some time earlier, before the talk of supernatural experiences had begun.<br />
<br />
"Bullshit," he said. "Those things are fake."<br />
<br />
Ron was a fairly tall guy, maybe not muscular, but tall enough to be threatening when he wanted to be. He had a hard edge, and a slightly intimidating presence, even when he wasn't trying. And he seemed almost personally insulted by people talking about their experiences as if they were real.<br />
<br />
We tried to explain the validity we felt in our own experiences, but he maintained his position.<br />
<br />
"Bullshit."<br />
<br />
That's when I told him I had a board out in my car - we could prove it to him, if he wanted. We could try to contact whatever was in his house. He accepted with a snort of derision. Within a few minutes, Walter and I were seated on his living room floor, the Ouija board on our knees. We called out to the spirits as Ron sat nearby, ridiculing the proceedings. He continued to do so, even as the planchette began to move. He at first proclaimed us to be fakes, moving the panchette intentionally, but eventually let us relay what the board was saying.<br />
<br />
As it spun a tale of previous residents of the house, allegedly from the "mouth" of the husband of the couple that had once lived there, Ron only became more enraged. He stopped mocking Walter and I and began arguing with the Voice controlling the board. The plancehtte swept angrily over the letters, faster and faster as he threw insults at whatever it was spewing what he repeatedly decried as lies. Walter and I struggled just to keep our fingers on the thing. It began throwing insults back, and ultimately - to no one's surprise - it declared that Ron would die soon.<br />
<br />
Ron scoffed. "And how am I going to die?"<br />
<br />
"Suicide," the letters spelled out.<br />
<br />
Ron burst out laughing. "No way!" he said. "No way I'd ever commit suicide!"<br />
<br />
"Angela," the board said.<br />
<br />
Ron's threatening stance faltered. His arms went limp at his sides. His face dropped, and I could swear he went pale. He turned - without a word - and walked to the bathroom off the kitchen, went in, and closed the door.<br />
<br />
The girl who had been sitting quietly on the couch near Ron's leather chair - painting a Dead Kennedys logo on his black leather jacket - got up and rushed to the door. We all watched - the whole room - as she tried the door handle but found it locked. She knocked frantically on the door.<br />
<br />
"Ron? Ron, are you okay?"<br />
<br />
"Go away," was the distant response.<br />
<br />
"Ron, let me in - I just want to talk."<br />
<br />
She stood pressed against the door for several tense moments. Finally, we all heard the faint sound of the lock turning. She slipped in and closed the door behind her. We heard them talking, but their voices were too low to make out. We all sat and wondered at what was going on. The rest of Ron's friends and acquaintances were as baffled as Walter and I.<br />
<br />
Safely assuming our Ouija session was over, Walter and I got up and returned the board to its resting place under the seat of my car. We walked back up to the front porch of Ron's house, but I told Walter I couldn't go back inside but instead needed to sit on the porch for a bit. I was exhausted, and totally overheated - I'd felt like I was ready to pass out as Ron's argument with the Voice reached its crescendo. I didn't mention this to Walter, but he said it was a good idea.<br />
<br />
"I'm so freaking hot," he said.<br />
<br />
We were discussing our mutual state of fatigue when Ron's friend - the girl - came outside.<br />
<br />
"It's okay," she told us in a solemn, hushed voice. "He came out of the bathroom. I think he'll be okay."<br />
<br />
"What was wrong with him?" I said.<br />
<br />
She looked back through the open front door, as if to make sure no one within could hear what she was about to say. Then she turned back to the two of us and leaned in. "You can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you."<br />
<br />
We nodded.<br />
<br />
"Angela was a girl Ron was seeing last year. He really loved her, and she broke up with him. Afterward he called me - and I had to talk him out of killing himself."<br />
<br />
I will never know what spoke through Walter and me that night, or what did so through me and my friends all the other nights from that summer until I stopped using the Ouija board (in 1993, after the birth of my first son). But this was certainly the weirdest, most memorable experience we had with that "game."<br />
<br />
(I'd like to say it was the weirdest, most memorable experience Walter and I ever shared, but that's not true. I'll save that tale for another time, however.)<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMtEObyrIGeuLnzxGY5wMb3AnK4y0sSoVYSkgN6dDBgfME9Ms4hyphenhyphenOkw-dbsMcgiDUZNTsKugNgugBAiV3qwxJQEMeov2nxKaP5XXIZ4aIM3ZUh9ka40xB7u02iGFZRo87mfCgV_LHcSFBy/s1600/l3536-01.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1061" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMtEObyrIGeuLnzxGY5wMb3AnK4y0sSoVYSkgN6dDBgfME9Ms4hyphenhyphenOkw-dbsMcgiDUZNTsKugNgugBAiV3qwxJQEMeov2nxKaP5XXIZ4aIM3ZUh9ka40xB7u02iGFZRo87mfCgV_LHcSFBy/s640/l3536-01.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image courtesy larrysbasement.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />Christopher Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17368794259249607299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6137072316042205607.post-84545366352108983512020-06-11T15:20:00.013-04:002023-02-07T15:25:36.851-05:00From Heavy Metal to Horror Role Playing: The Birth of an RPG Scenario<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHdbuH-hqkIxhX4GanX5lfOLV8HD2hvYJBPNl_J5c3iCPb5kkLc2x38rz_ntJRRHzWgIeUJjqfiKXjhVfYFtx1MvOQjYcKZj8J_jtz3YaIxmS5GFf-IFQTYsfvgQqKqVeuhUmHeib-wKit/s1600/image.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1273" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHdbuH-hqkIxhX4GanX5lfOLV8HD2hvYJBPNl_J5c3iCPb5kkLc2x38rz_ntJRRHzWgIeUJjqfiKXjhVfYFtx1MvOQjYcKZj8J_jtz3YaIxmS5GFf-IFQTYsfvgQqKqVeuhUmHeib-wKit/s320/image.png" /></a></div><span style="text-align: left;">As I've said before (probably </span><a href="http://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/search/label/Horror" style="text-align: left;">many times</a><span style="text-align: left;">) my go-to genre for role playing is horror. Up until the last decade or so, I've run or played in more horror adventures than any other genre. (The count may still be in favor of horror, but I've played enough other sorts of games in recent memory to make the delineation a little less clear.)</span>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
As anyone who runs games can probably attest, after running enough of them it can start to get a little challenging to come up with ideas for new ones. At one point, we were playing so frequently that I had to come up with an idea for a new scenario every week. (With the occasional break thanks to being able to trade off game master duties with another member of our game group.) I can still recall moments of desperation and doubt as I wracked my brain for scenario seeds while my deadline grew ever closer. There were many game sessions for which I'd completed my scenario <i>as the players were settling down at the game table</i>. (Even a couple instances that I recall where I had to ask the group to indulge in a TV show or chit chat while I finished fleshing out NPCs, Big Bads, and/or timelines.)<br />
<br />
But for as often as this down-to-the-wire situation occurred, there were other times when scenario ideas just landed in my brain as if borne on the wings of ravens - often when I wasn't looking for inspiration for a game at all. I was simply inspired from seemingly nowhere. (Touched by the horror gaming muse, as it were. Let's see.. that's not Calliope. Or Terpsichore. Which one is that? Anyway...)<br />
<br />
Often, this would happen as the result of some background process in my brain throwing a mismatched assortment of ingredients into a mental cauldron. Often, ingredients that had been lurking in the back of my mind, covered with cobwebs and otherwise forgotten.<br />
<br />
Take the scenario for the game session I'm about to discuss, for example.<br />
<br />
It was a frigid November morning, 1991. It was one of those mornings where the air has suddenly turned so cold that it feels like everything - even <i>you</i> - is brittle and liable to break at the touch. A stinging snow, whipped along by the wind, pelted the windows of my study. No matter how I tried, I couldn't get warm.<br />
<br />
The study was a large room - the front bedroom of a good-sized Victorian-era home, of which we rented the upper floor. A trio of windows, the big old sash-style ones, lined one side of the room (and a fourth occupied a wall perpendicular). The wind whistled through them and the pitter-patter of the snow on the panes was incessant. Opposite the windows stood a trio of large book shelves, housing hundreds of novels and gaming books. In between the two sides sat our large table at which we had played many dozens of games and would play many dozens more. It was an ancient thing, two inches thick of oak, darkly stained, with heavy chairs to match. (Gods, I miss that table set.)<br />
<br />
I sat off to one side, working on some random game paraphernalia (probably a character sheet in AmiPro) at my computer desk. The hard drive of the beige machine crackled as the 16 gigahertz processor (22 GHz when the "turbo" button was depressed) accessed the drive's 105 megabytes, and the huge 14-inch monitor glowed warmly at me in the cold room.<br />
<br />
We had no plans for the day - often how many such days would start. Even though we played almost religiously every weekend, there was no standing arrangement. Games were usually put together the day of the event, often with a late-morning phone call that went something like:<br />
<div style="margin: 25px;">
Me (answering the phone - without the luxury of caller ID): "Hello?"<br />
Les: "Hey, it's me. Wanna play something today?"<br />
Me: "Sure. Who's running?"<br />
Les: "Craig's got an idea for something he wants to run. <i>Stalking." </i>[Meaning <i>Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic</i>. And Craig was Les' younger brother - Craig ran the games, Les made the phone calls.]<br />
Me: "Sounds good - see you at the usual time?" [There really was no usual time.]<br />
Les: "Cool. See ya."</div>
We had variations on this conversation almost every weekend between 1990 and 2003 (with a brief break between '97 and late-'98, when I moved away for work). We still played after that, but the sessions were standing events. Phone calls were only made post-2003 if someone wasn't going to be able to make the game.<br />
<br />
So although we had no plans this particular November day, it was an assumption that someone would call looking for a game. As I hadn't worked on anything to run, I was expecting to be the one receiving the call.<br />
<br />
Then it happened. I don't know if it was the cold in my bones, the howling of the wind, or the sound of brittle snowflakes on the frozen panes of glass, but inspiration broke over me like an icy wave. Suddenly, I had an idea for a scenario - a game of our beloved <i>Bureau 13</i> that would take place in our beloved version of Arkham, where a sudden, unexpected, and unprecedented winter event attended the coming of an ancient evil. A demon of a magnitude never before faced by any of our intrepid monster hunters. A quick flip through the <i>Bureau 13 </i>book and its list of demons, followed by a fact-check in Drury's <i>Dictionary of Mysticism and the Occult</i> and I had my antagonist's name and nature: Forcas, demon prince of Hell.<br />
<br />
But how did he come to be there? I needed backstory, otherwise the verisimilitude would be suspect and the much-needed suspension of disbelief would make immersion into the game harder.<br />
<br />
Before I could think further on the subject, I had the answer. My Dark Muse had sent her ravens.<br />
<br />
Since I'd first read H.P. Lovecraft's "The Hound," I'd been haunted by it; I was moved by the visceral imagery of occultist tomb robbers collecting grisly memorabilia. Two such people, I decided, lived in Arkham, and had brought home from afar this demonic force in the form of a recently exhumed corpse. But why hadn't it taken them on the boat from The Continent? Why wait until arriving in Arkham?<br />
<br />
Again, the dark wings flapped in my mind. They flew me back to an earlier time...<br />
<br />
It was 1987. I was sitting in my friend Walter's bedroom, listening to his favorite albums. He had eclectic musical tastes, much akin to my own. His albums were a diverse mix of rock, hard rock, punk, heavy metal, psychobilly, etc. He pulled from the stack of vinyl records below his turntable an album and showed it to me. He explained he'd bought it earlier in the week. "You gotta read these lyrics," he said, pulling the disc from the sleeve before handing it to me.<br />
<br />
He placed King Diamond's <i>Abigail</i> on the player and the music washed over me as I sat and read the lyrics.<br />
<br />
Since that moment in Walter's cramped bedroom I'd been enthralled with the story told within that album. Several times since having started playing horror RPGs in 1989, a couple years after that afternoon in Walter's room, I'd tried to build a scenario around it. I'd shelved dozens of handwritten pages containing ideas, trying to find the right scenario - none of which ever felt solid enough to produce a good game.<br />
<br />
On this cold morning, four years later, I'd finally found it.<br />
<br />
Forcas hadn't killed the collectors on the boat ride because he'd been immobilized for centuries, an unkillable demon prince, locked in his mouldering human form and held in his coffin by seven silver spikes. And upon arriving in Arkham and being installed in the collectors' morbid shrine, those spikes had been removed...<br />
<br />
A few monster stats later, and with the introduction of an NPC monster-hunting priest who was searching for the body, had clues to its whereabouts, and conveniently died on the steps of the church where one of the PCs worked, and my scenario was ready.<br />
<br />
I made the phone call, and the others arrived at "the usual time." (Which this day would be shortly after noon.)<br />
<br />
The game was a blast. The pervading cold and the howling wind saw to it that immersion was never a problem. The PCs found the dead priest and fought the biting, driving cold and the undead minions raised by Forcas (possessing his new human host, the body of one of the former tomb robbers, an unfortunate man by the name of Preston). This included fighting a baby-stealing vampire at an emergency shelter in the Arkham High gymnasium and a memorable fight with zombies in the aforementioned PC priest's (Father Aeon Fox, Les' PC) church basement soup kitchen. <div><br /></div><div>(Amusing, this-one-time-in-a-game anecdote: after the church basement firefight subsided, a strange noise was heard coming from behind a counter in the corner of the room. The PCs cautiously approached and circled the counter, only to find a zombie that had its leg blown off with a shotgun early in the fight duct taping the appendage back on. It went down in a hail of tool-using-zombie-prejudiced gunfire. Later, Father Fox would forever ban duct tape from the church.)<br />
<br />
Finally, they found Forcas and confronted him and a pair of his vampire minions. He was smug and overconfident, sure that he could woo the hunters - or kill them if they refused to join his ranks. He invited them to sit at a dining room table and chat with him. As he seduced the team's resident necromancer/demonolater (my then-girlfriend's PC, Persephone Tillinghast) with promises of power, Father Fox hatched a plan. In his hand and pointed at Forcas was the Webley revolver found on the dead priest earlier in the adventure. In the pockets of the third member of the team, Zach Fielding, the team's reident psychic investigator, were the seven silver spikes they'd found earlier at Preston's house. Without a word, just a glance between them (even the two players said nothing - just looked at each other and nodded) Father Fox turned the pistol around and offered it to Forcas, butt-first.<br />
<br />
"If you're so powerful that you think you can convert us," he said, "Take my faith."<br />
<br />
Cock-sure, Forcas winked at Persephone and reached for the pistol.<br />
<br />
"I whip the pistol around and shoot him with the silver rounds that the dead priest had loaded in it," Les said.*<br />
<br />
"You can't do that," I said. "You're holding it by the barrel."<br />
<br />
Les then asked me to produce my pellet gun that was a fair replica of a Colt Python revolver, which I did. He took it and handed it to me, butt-first. I reached for it. Before I knew what was happening, he'd flipped the gun in his hand and pulled the trigger - twice. As he did so, Craig leapt up and made the motion of shoving over the table. He held his right fist high, his pencil in it, showing me how Zach Fielding was leaping forward to strike Forcas with a silver spike.<br />
<br />
I nodded and smiled. "Make your attack rolls," I said.<br />
<br />
Les rolled two twenty-siders - the rolls weren't great, but Forcas was only able to dodge one of the silver bullets. (We've always used the combat to-hit resolution from the Palladium system in <i>Bureau 13</i> - it's a cleaner system and meshes seamlessly with <i>B13</i>.) He was hit and stunned by the silver.<br />
<br />
Craig rolled his single attack die: a natural 20.<br />
<br />
Zach hit the demon-host and knocked him backward, out of his chair. They landed together on the floor, and Zach channeled the momentum of the attack, driving the silver spike through Forcas' mouth, out the back of his skull, and into the hardwood floor below.<br />
<br />
After that, Father Fox and Persephone held off the vampires while Zach straddled Forcas's writhing form and nailed it to the floor with the six remaining spikes. As the last spike went in, he stopped struggling and the vampires fell lifeless to the floor.<br />
<br />
The wind outside stopped howling.<br />
<br />
In reality, the wind had stopped howling hours earlier, while the sun was still up. But we hadn't noticed. Throughout the duration of the game, no one had significantly broken character and when Forcas finally lay still on the floor, you could cut the tension in the room with a knife.<br />
<br />
That's how all horror RPG sessions should end...<br />
<br />
During the epilogue to the game, the players described how they were dismantling the floor around Forcas' body, careful not to disturb the spikes. They disposed of him in some way I've long since forgotten, but I'm sure was both creative and thorough. (If memory serves, his staked corpse is entombed in the cornerstone of a Miskatonic University building.)<br />
<br />
Forcas has returned in other sessions and other forms since this one, and although they've always been hard-fought battles, the PCs have always overcome him. His defeats at the PCs' hands have led him to become the brunt of jokes for over two-and-half decades, and the players would often concoct anecdotes of him being belittled by his fellow demons for being repeatedly bested by a motley bunch of humans. (To paraphrase a well-known cenobyte: "His mocking is legendary, even in Hell.")<br />
<br />
I've had few role playing sessions as memorable as this one, and it was played from a scenario that quite literally sprang from nowhere - or from years of collecting inspiration from varied sources, depending on how you look at it.<br />
<br />
If nothing else, this game stands as one example of why role playing is one of those things I'll never stop loving.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLGClLHExeW1APlIDVZNoxdojfEaa8ZUOOGUpGx6oN5e4aRh4VZI7IFQF4I26fQTulLR3mbb4M9ggjlRbiVk58R46ISXKvMvYRIsDZZKRUfbXc36WWBn4QikMzjdSmx-0dAt_XXBep6ae1/s1600/2020-06-11_151345.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1497" data-original-width="1600" height="598" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLGClLHExeW1APlIDVZNoxdojfEaa8ZUOOGUpGx6oN5e4aRh4VZI7IFQF4I26fQTulLR3mbb4M9ggjlRbiVk58R46ISXKvMvYRIsDZZKRUfbXc36WWBn4QikMzjdSmx-0dAt_XXBep6ae1/s640/2020-06-11_151345.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of my notes for the scenario</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0CSwq9R7iifEAGGz9p0oeHcmQm4XkigWspE8DctzCyW7kNy54stGqKtEqQonZehFyt9G2VAzKpqLeGqtLjt9lDzEkaz641rfJpuuikfvhLa-pIwuWT7uf7chsRMogsLrTFtDFdII5zEOn/s1600/2020-06-11_150342.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0CSwq9R7iifEAGGz9p0oeHcmQm4XkigWspE8DctzCyW7kNy54stGqKtEqQonZehFyt9G2VAzKpqLeGqtLjt9lDzEkaz641rfJpuuikfvhLa-pIwuWT7uf7chsRMogsLrTFtDFdII5zEOn/s640/2020-06-11_150342.jpg" width="494" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A super high-tech handout I made for the game on my Packard-Bell PC<br />
and printed out on tractor-feed paper with my Epson dot-matrix printer!</td></tr>
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*That was <a href="http://www.arustmonsteratemysword.com/2021/01/my-friend-les.html">Les</a> - always thinking with his gun/sword/fist. It usually worked out for his characters, but I wonder how the game would have played out if he had actually <i>used</i> his priest's special abilities, which included things like battles of wills with demons. Of course, as powerful as Forcas was, this approach may have done nothing more than bought them more time, and in the end things may have still devolved into a firefight. But it would have been nice to see how it might have gone down differently...<br />
<br />
<br /></div>Christopher Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17368794259249607299noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6137072316042205607.post-2255191082042507492020-06-01T13:14:00.000-04:002020-06-02T11:38:45.204-04:00In the Grim Darkness of the Far Future There Is Only......Art that looks like it's advertising a '90s Saturday morning cartoon.<br />
<br />
"Look out, Captain Goodheart - it's Skullotron!"<br />
<br />
<img height="435" src="https://www.warhammer-community.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/S9q3zE4QpZo68El5.jpg" width="640" /><br />
I'm seriously looking forward to 9E - I like 8E a lot and like the things I've heard about the new edition.<br />
<br />
But I really hope this is:<br />
<br />
a) Not reflective of the style of art they're going toward for the game, and<br />
b) Just a fad that they'll soon outgrow.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*Image property Games Workshop - used here in parody context.</span>Christopher Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17368794259249607299noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6137072316042205607.post-40946748441223696922020-05-28T15:56:00.000-04:002020-05-28T16:02:37.931-04:00Some Pics from My Hobby Workspace<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiylXtY0RvuA2cmKEz7Kjb1woeslx6vOaQQ1BOs7kWFcd_VrygzoOAd8UKx15lZw9KZmy_fCXe_joCjmIms3m6TzRy8geTGwyQ_hR8DqkXtpuhPAHPYlbyKYNJ6RHN0bhD6CTF_OUiOcBUh/s1600/20200515_105054.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiylXtY0RvuA2cmKEz7Kjb1woeslx6vOaQQ1BOs7kWFcd_VrygzoOAd8UKx15lZw9KZmy_fCXe_joCjmIms3m6TzRy8geTGwyQ_hR8DqkXtpuhPAHPYlbyKYNJ6RHN0bhD6CTF_OUiOcBUh/s640/20200515_105054.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For Burrows & Badgers: minis from Oathsworn Miniatures and Northumbrian Tin Soldier</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_kFwzDjbDQi2FY8qYDZZPAHaKSJ5NT2wD_ElauFxC4DC9mReIqhCeT6KsdyIkA_BZPbH3Owlh5q0bSMjVbFu-FHn84vvmzEzUzQWWnSavUGb-LDJF692s4tpVB5d2n8ONl11EPSBB_eKr/s1600/20200515_203409.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_kFwzDjbDQi2FY8qYDZZPAHaKSJ5NT2wD_ElauFxC4DC9mReIqhCeT6KsdyIkA_BZPbH3Owlh5q0bSMjVbFu-FHn84vvmzEzUzQWWnSavUGb-LDJF692s4tpVB5d2n8ONl11EPSBB_eKr/s640/20200515_203409.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More Burrows & Badgers minis from Oathsworn Miniatures</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHdv3eNz9gGZW7x7f0K4vstCVy2e-xv0dz5RFbPCNZK_3USu87BA60nfGri4wHOrDbMvsed8LBkQAyquVSsr4_yGvrhfXoe31dVrvufw3_SRrYLg_6Lv7F_UNV1xgbX9eziLapvkVLB-SX/s1600/20200528_154114.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="758" data-original-width="1600" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHdv3eNz9gGZW7x7f0K4vstCVy2e-xv0dz5RFbPCNZK_3USu87BA60nfGri4wHOrDbMvsed8LBkQAyquVSsr4_yGvrhfXoe31dVrvufw3_SRrYLg_6Lv7F_UNV1xgbX9eziLapvkVLB-SX/s640/20200528_154114.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The completed minis for Burrows & Badgers, plus others in-progress (including additional minis from Dark Sword)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVzIt6MkTE7sF0_6StOvmYXCGkH_yLNkPJClul0r4ijoqCFOaIvlluPH3Utd4FL-l94Lerb7yBaE5YTsGd9vrn3TL1PR0JE30qSdcB49b2msUTFSfPPl-P2xBJF1n8nqNi77hyphenhyphenbLZlkeXl/s1600/20200520_100137.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="758" data-original-width="1600" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVzIt6MkTE7sF0_6StOvmYXCGkH_yLNkPJClul0r4ijoqCFOaIvlluPH3Utd4FL-l94Lerb7yBaE5YTsGd9vrn3TL1PR0JE30qSdcB49b2msUTFSfPPl-P2xBJF1n8nqNi77hyphenhyphenbLZlkeXl/s640/20200520_100137.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waiting for paint to dry: a fantasy building by 4Ground</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3L1_x-910_NAgl4afXl7RcTiWJb0D6ZrGKKGVu_Q9XFdUYtVFbeHX9SFfo_7_B7ErHHXo6kHQm0RS0Y2pGt_NZQVA2Nzip3PLq_uVTqsr30cCDeoJe-vfz1dFCkOfi95NNmbYeV09is5g/s1600/20200501_191525.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3L1_x-910_NAgl4afXl7RcTiWJb0D6ZrGKKGVu_Q9XFdUYtVFbeHX9SFfo_7_B7ErHHXo6kHQm0RS0Y2pGt_NZQVA2Nzip3PLq_uVTqsr30cCDeoJe-vfz1dFCkOfi95NNmbYeV09is5g/s640/20200501_191525.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Score! NIB Citadel Undead Paint Set - loved these old Citadel paints.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJqwIluDqtY_kIZnic1mFmQo0-58_g3wauLTrJzMnfjbKzq8b0T1bklXwRR_3oPUO_UKsW-lCp-LrRNZapz0khj8kZecIrbz7nf3EVEcquN9TaiscvlpijZfYHI4n_mFsal6kwy2nPDvuf/s1600/20200501_191547.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJqwIluDqtY_kIZnic1mFmQo0-58_g3wauLTrJzMnfjbKzq8b0T1bklXwRR_3oPUO_UKsW-lCp-LrRNZapz0khj8kZecIrbz7nf3EVEcquN9TaiscvlpijZfYHI4n_mFsal6kwy2nPDvuf/s640/20200501_191547.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt_hBv329_LO2NLopp_iRZHtYd5d9YvuFfny_lB3zfdJaCDsKq2q2LSGB1jEQrQoFKLJUdad1-8UpeIyXANzow3ABhNO6FrXamrDfqP3bBFpP3vrDY6rqWir5uZQHKYl4fBmONscMtr4lg/s1600/20200501_191727.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt_hBv329_LO2NLopp_iRZHtYd5d9YvuFfny_lB3zfdJaCDsKq2q2LSGB1jEQrQoFKLJUdad1-8UpeIyXANzow3ABhNO6FrXamrDfqP3bBFpP3vrDY6rqWir5uZQHKYl4fBmONscMtr4lg/s640/20200501_191727.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All but the Rotting Flesh and Bleached Bone were nearly perfect - a little medium, an agitator ball,<br />
and a few minutes in the nail polish shaker and these two were almost as good as new, too!</td></tr>
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<br />Christopher Bhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17368794259249607299noreply@blogger.com0