The Dungeon Master's Guide's famous Appendix N has long been the subject of much discussion in old school circles, but has lately cropped up again with a recent Grognard Games video, Cyclopeatron's recent post of his own personal Appendix N, and Aaron Steele's insanely extensive personal Appendix N listed in his recent post on A Paladin in Citadel.
Consequently, I've been giving a lot of thought, lately, to not only the literary sources that influenced Gary Gygax, but also those that influenced by understanding of D&D and inspired my style of play.
When I first discovered D&D by way of the Holmes Basic Set, I didn't have an extensive background in fantasy, and my understanding of the game was very heavily influenced by the small number of books I had read (plus a smattering of Ray Harryhausen movies, particularly the Sinbad movies, and Jason and the Argonauts):
Alexander, Lloyd, The Prydain Chronicles
Burton, Sir Richard, Arabian Nights
Homer, The Odyssey
Tolkien, J.R.R., The Hobbit; The Lord of the Rings
That was about it for my early gaming inspirations, and, many other people, I leaned very heavily on Tolkien as my primary source of inspiration for fantasy role playing.
The funny thing about our literary inspirations - what people are calling their own 'Appendix N' - is that the list changes over time. The DMG's Appendix N list is static: these are the books that most affected the development of the game; but the books that affect how we understand and play the game changes over the years. At least mine has.
Even after switching to Advanced D&D, I wasn't particularly influenced by the Appendix N reading list as so many other people were. About the only books that I was introduced to specifically because of Appendix N were Robert E. Howard's Conan stories, and Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and Grey Mouser stories, and I didn't find them particularly inspirational at the time - I continued to use Tolkien for my crutch all through high school, and for many years after.
During the late '80's to 1990's I was inspired by the many epic high fantasy series by modern fantasists such as David Eddings, Robert Jordan, and Raymond Feist, and so my list changed again. It wasn't until the dawn of the 21st century that I fully embraced the pulp fantasy stories that inspired D&D to begin with, and my style of play changed with my reading list. These days my campaigns are dark sword & sorcery adventures so filled with mad cultists, evil sorcerers, cosmic horrors and naked slave girls that the heads of post-Gygax TSR executives heads would explode with the politically incorrect wrongness of it.
So here is my current list of literary sources of inspiration that most directly influence my play style and campaign - some are very conventional, common to most of the OSR community, others may be less so. It is worth noting the absence of Tolkien from the current list; although I will always love his work, I'm not currently drawing upon it for my gaming inspiration.
Asprin, Robert L. (ed.) Thieves' World et al.
The shared world anthology beginning with Thieve's World introduced us to the city of Sanctuary as presented by some of the most prominent fantasy authors of the late '70's and early '80's. It will come as no surprise to any reader of this blog, that I have high regard for these books, as the blog title and masthead are inspired by the second book in the series, Tales from the Vulgar Unicorn. Much of my campaign city of Catapesh was inspired by the stories of Sanctuary, particularly the poor quarter known as The Maze and its infamous tavern the Vulgar Unicorn.
Burton, Sir Richard, Arabian Nights
This 19th century classic, which influenced my early gaming, is the only book from my first list of literary influences to remain on my current list. This edition was intended by Burton to titillate Victorian readers with salacious tales of the exotic Middle East. As such, it is a gross parody of actual Middle Eastern culture, but as an inspiration for fantasy campaigns with a near-eastern flavour it is an indispensable staple: bold heroes, evil djinnis, wicked sorcerers, and compliant slave-girls aplenty.
Herbert, Frank, Dune
The great houses of my campaign city of Catapesh and the political intrigue that infuses the city, owe their genesis to feudal structure of the empire of Frank Herbert's classic, Dune. There is much to admire about this book, but the internecine struggles for power between the Houses Atreides, Harkonnen, and Corino always fascinated me, and though I've never consciously tried to emulate Herbert's milieu, the influence is undoubtedly there.
Howard, Robert E., Conan stories
These have, for the last several years, had the most impact on my gaming. Howard's antediluvian Indo-European/African continent, with its familiar-but-different cultures, the intrinsically evil nature of sorcery, the self-interested protagonist, and the plethora of scantily-clad dancing girls have all contributed to my current milieu. Also, the fact that no matter how big a score Conan takes, he always begins the next story dead broke, which is a facet that has directly contributed to my house rules designed to keep the players forever treasure-hungry.
Leiber, Fritz, Fafhrd and Grey Mouser stories
Along with the Thieves' World novels, Leiber's Lankhmar is an excellent source for city-based adventures. The protagonists battle the city's thieves' guild, drink and wench in the Silver Eel, battle evil sorcerers, and try, usually unsuccessfully, to strike it rich. Although Leiber's influence in the development of D&D cannot be understated, the Fafhrd and Grey Mouser stories are, perhaps, the least important influences on my current list of literary inspiration.
Lovecraft, H.P., The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath
While I like all of Lovecraft's work, with At the Mountains of Madness, and The Shadow Over Innsmouth, being two of my favourite stories, it is Earth's Dreamlands that have been most influential in my fantasy gaming. Dream Quest was the very first Lovecraft story I ever read, and while it was very different from the horror that I was expecting, it has had a profound and lasting impact on my gaming since 1984.
McNaughton, Brian The Throne of Bones
This is a relatively recent addition to my personal 'Appendix N.' I bought The Throne of Bones, shortly after it was published, about ten years or so ago, but didn't get around to reading until just last year. I was immediately sorry I had put off reading it so long. This book is a collection of very dark stories filled with tomb-robbers, necromancers, and ghouls that inhabit the necropolis of McNaughton's fantasy city. It has been immensely influential on the development of the necropolis of Catapesh, which is where most of my current campaign's adventures have been set in the past year.
Moorcock, Michael, especially Elric and Hawkmoon novels.
I'm a great admirer of Moorcock's prose style and I love his anti-hero, Elric of Melnibone. Reading the Elric stories is essential to really understand the nature of D&D's alignment system as more than just an artificial code of behaviour, but as side your character takes in the eternal cosmological struggle. Hawkmoon I like mainly for it's darkly fantastical real world setting, the likes of which I am becoming increasingly fascinated with.
Smith, Clark Ashton, any, but especially his Averoigne stories.
I'm becoming increasingly interested in real-world historical fantasy settings, and the dark fantasies of Smith's fictional French province of Averoigne have been tremendously influential.
Vance, Jack, Dying Earth stories (The Dying Earth; The Eyes of the Overworld; Cugel's Saga; Rhialto the Marvelous)
I'm not sure if it's possible to truly appreciate D&D's magic system without reading Vance. I certainly never did until reading the Dying Earth stories just a couple of years ago, despite having played D&D for more than 35 years. Moreover, a great deal of Vance's exquisite prose style can be seen reflected in Gary Gygax's style, not the least of which in the many evocative spell names. In many ways a fantasy milieu's tone depends largely on the nature of magic and for this reason, Vance is tremendously influential on my current style of play.
That pretty much rounds off my list of most important literary influences to my current gaming. Of course many other excellent books have contributed to my gaming style, but not as obviously and directly as those presented above. It will be interesting to revisit this list in ten years and see how much it may have changed.
Monday, January 21, 2013
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Arrrrr mateys!
At long last, I finally know my pirate name!
part of the fidius.org network
My pirate name is:
Bloody Sam Flint
Every pirate lives for something different. For some, it's the open sea. For others (the masochists), it's the food. For you, it's definitely the fighting. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!
Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.part of the fidius.org network
Saturday, December 1, 2012
D&D at the Royal Ontario Museum
I've long thought that roleplaying games would be an outstanding tool for museum programming and it turns out that some other visionary thought so, too, and actually made it happen.
The Royal Ontario Museum is hosting a Saturday morning D&D campaign for kids 11-14 years old, which utilizes material from the collections to teach kids about myths, monsters, and weapons of ancient cultures. Talk about a great way to bring history alive! I wish something like this had been around when I was a kid.
The Royal Ontario Museum is hosting a Saturday morning D&D campaign for kids 11-14 years old, which utilizes material from the collections to teach kids about myths, monsters, and weapons of ancient cultures. Talk about a great way to bring history alive! I wish something like this had been around when I was a kid.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Delving Deeper
I had the opportunity, this past weekend, to peruse the Delving Deeper rule books, which can be downloaded for free from RPGNow (Adventurer's Handbook, Referee's Guide, Monster & Treasure Reference). I was very impressed with what the authors, Cameron Dubeers and Simon J. Bull, have created. This is the most faithful reproduction of the original D&D rules that we have seen yet and it is very well-written and organized. Indeed, Delving Deeper is what D&D might have looked like if it had been written by J. Eric Holmes. What sets Delving Deeper apart from other retro clones is the clarity of its writing, and its effective organization and layout. Everything from the original three rule books, and more, is included and explained very clearly and simply, and the comprehensive table of contents makes it easy to quickly find the information you need.
Volume 1: The Adventurer's Handbook is what one would expect, providing character classes, equipment and spells in a compact thirty-seven pages. The core classes: Fighter, Cleric, and Magic User are detailed, along with rules for Elves, Dwarves, and Halflings. The Thief is also presented as an optional class.
Following the character classes are some very useful guidelines for NPCs including Hirelings, Retainers, and Mercenaries, Loyalty and Morale, Monster NPCs and Relatives, including provisions allowing characters to bequeath their possessions to their next of kin so that in the all-too-likely event that they die, they can pass on their goods to their next character.
The equipment section is short and to the point, and includes useful guidelines for the weekly cost of a character's upkeep.
Following the spell descriptions are rules for spell research and enchanting magic items.
The Referee's Guide contains all the information that a game master needs to run a campaign in just twenty-nine pages, and is especially useful for first-time game masters; I found myself wishing I'd had this book when I was starting out. Following a short introduction to creating a campaign setting, there is an extensive section on dungeon creation, which includes an obligatory dungeon cross-section, and stocking tables for populating a dungeon on the fly, random dungeon encounter tables, trap tables, and a sample dungeon level.
Following the all-important guidelines for dungeon creation, are rules for underworld exploration and combat and, just like in the original little brown books, there are sections detailing wilderness exploration, seafaring exploration, and aerial exploration. These include random tables for detailing wilderness hexes, encounter tables for each environment, rules for overland, oceanic, and aerial movement as well as rules for evasion and pursuit. Taken as a whole these rules give you everything you need to run a hex-crawl campaign. The book ends with rules for constructing strongholds - something every player will want to do at some point.
The Referee's Guide is the real gem of Delving Deeper. The rules contained within set it apart from all other retro clones and as the name suggests, gives the game master the tools he needs to run his first campaign.
In volume three, Delving Deeper has, again, taken its cue from the original source material and presented the monster statistics in tabulated form, followed by a chapter of monster descriptions that are free of game mechanics. This is how I like a monster book to be laid out. I dislike the Monster Manual-style of stat block followed by description for each monster entry, and much prefer descriptions to be separate from mechanics. The tables of monster statistics are easy to use in game, giving the game master all the monster information he needs at his finger tips without having to page through the whole book to look something up.
The monsters are followed by treasure tables and in similar fashion to the original rules, much space is devoted to magical swords, the sole province of the Fighter.
Though I've followed the development of Delving Deeper, I hadn't planned to buy it, content as I was and am, with Swords & Wizardry Whitebox. After reading the PDF's, however, I've changed my mind - I was pleasantly surprised by the high fidelity with which Delving Deeper emulates the original rules. I'm planning to soon begin a D&D campaign for my daughter who is now old enough to be introduced to the joys of role playing, and for several weeks I've been trying to decide which rule system to use. Now that I've seen Delving Deeper, my search is over; it is nearly the ideal game for introducing young children to the hobby, lacking only interior illustrations to capture a child's imagination. Consequently, these free PDFs have sold me on the game and I will soon be ordering a boxed set of my own.
Following the character classes are some very useful guidelines for NPCs including Hirelings, Retainers, and Mercenaries, Loyalty and Morale, Monster NPCs and Relatives, including provisions allowing characters to bequeath their possessions to their next of kin so that in the all-too-likely event that they die, they can pass on their goods to their next character.
The equipment section is short and to the point, and includes useful guidelines for the weekly cost of a character's upkeep.
Following the spell descriptions are rules for spell research and enchanting magic items.
The Referee's Guide contains all the information that a game master needs to run a campaign in just twenty-nine pages, and is especially useful for first-time game masters; I found myself wishing I'd had this book when I was starting out. Following a short introduction to creating a campaign setting, there is an extensive section on dungeon creation, which includes an obligatory dungeon cross-section, and stocking tables for populating a dungeon on the fly, random dungeon encounter tables, trap tables, and a sample dungeon level.
Following the all-important guidelines for dungeon creation, are rules for underworld exploration and combat and, just like in the original little brown books, there are sections detailing wilderness exploration, seafaring exploration, and aerial exploration. These include random tables for detailing wilderness hexes, encounter tables for each environment, rules for overland, oceanic, and aerial movement as well as rules for evasion and pursuit. Taken as a whole these rules give you everything you need to run a hex-crawl campaign. The book ends with rules for constructing strongholds - something every player will want to do at some point.
The Referee's Guide is the real gem of Delving Deeper. The rules contained within set it apart from all other retro clones and as the name suggests, gives the game master the tools he needs to run his first campaign.
The monsters are followed by treasure tables and in similar fashion to the original rules, much space is devoted to magical swords, the sole province of the Fighter.
Though I've followed the development of Delving Deeper, I hadn't planned to buy it, content as I was and am, with Swords & Wizardry Whitebox. After reading the PDF's, however, I've changed my mind - I was pleasantly surprised by the high fidelity with which Delving Deeper emulates the original rules. I'm planning to soon begin a D&D campaign for my daughter who is now old enough to be introduced to the joys of role playing, and for several weeks I've been trying to decide which rule system to use. Now that I've seen Delving Deeper, my search is over; it is nearly the ideal game for introducing young children to the hobby, lacking only interior illustrations to capture a child's imagination. Consequently, these free PDFs have sold me on the game and I will soon be ordering a boxed set of my own.
Monday, October 8, 2012
Crime and Punishment in Catapesh
If you are running a city-based campaign, as I am, and the player characters habitually wake up naked in jail, you will inevitably find yourself in need of some way of dispensing justice to your merry band of scoff-laws. It seems almost to be a universal rule that players + cities = trouble; there are just so many opportunities for mischief and it is the nature of players to exploit these to the fullest extent.
The following crime and punishment table is inspired by the one in Judge's Guild's City State of the Invincible Overlord, but has been customized to reflect life in the City States of Lemuria.
The outcome of a trial is determined by a d20 roll on Table 1. This roll is modified according to the severity of the crime, the magistrate's temperament, bribes, and the character's Charisma score (described on the modifiers tables, below). Once the outcome is determined, roll on the appropriate punishment table to determine the specific details.
MODIFIERS TO OUTCOME
(If subject is charged with multiple crimes, use the modifier for the most serious offense, then adjust it by -1 for each additional charge)
Severity of Crime Outcome Modifier
Dueling, Public Nuisance, Drunkenness +2
Bribery +1
Public Debauchery, Trespassing, Property Damage +0
Theft, Arson, Resisting Arrest, Extortion, Blackmail -1
Assault, Rape, Kidnapping, Tomb-Robbing, Piracy -2
Murder, Necromancy, Treason, Trafficking with Demons -3
Tax Evasion, Smuggling -4
Roll Magistrate's Temperament Outcome Modifier
1 'Hanging Judge' -4
2 'Tough on Crime' Crusader -3
3 Hung Over -2
4 Irritable -1
5 Scrupulously Impartial 0
6 Cheerful +1
7 Sympathetic +2
8 'Bleeding Heart' Reformer +3
Bribes Charged with Bribery Outcome Modifier
100 gp or more 15% +1
250 gp or more 10% +2
500 gp or more 05% +3
Charisma Outcome Modifier
Below Average -1
Average 0
Above Average +1
Table 1: OUTCOME OF TRIAL
Die Roll Outcome
1 or less Execution
2 Dismemberment
3-4 Imprisonment
5 Flogging
6 Enslavement
7 Indenture (roll on Jail table for duration)
8-9 Jail
10-11 Fine
12 Probation
13-17 Dismissal
18-20 Favourable Judgement
OUTCOME SUBTABLES (Roll for Result)
Execution Dismemberment
1. Beheading 1. Hand
2. Hanging 2. Foot
3. Impalement 3. Tongue
4. Sacrifice 4. Eye
Imprisonment Flogging (1d4 dmg per ten lashes)
1. Six Months 1. Ten Lashes
2. One Year 2. Twenty Lashes
3. Three Years 3. Fifty Lashes
4. Five Years 4. One-hundred Lashes
5. Ten Years 5. One-hundred and fifty Lashes
6. Twenty Years 6. Two-hundred Lashes
Enslavement to Indenture to
1. City Work Gang 1. City Work Gang
2. Galley Oarsman 2. Farm Work Gang
3. Mines 3. Mines
4. Gladiatorial Pit 4. Plaintiff
5. Brothel
6. Plaintiff
7. Overlord
8. Atlanteans
Jail Term Fine Amount
1. Ten Days 1. 10 gp
2. Thirty Days 2. 100 gp
3. Sixty Days 3. 500 gp
4. Ninety Days 4. 1,000 gp
5. Six Months 5. 5,000 gp
6. One Year 6. All Possessions
Probation
Roll on Jail table for period of probation. Guilty party may not bear arms or armour, and must report to the gaolers once per week.
Favourable Judgement
The accused is acquitted and receives financial compensation from the plaintiff. Roll on the Fine table to determine the amount of the award.
The following crime and punishment table is inspired by the one in Judge's Guild's City State of the Invincible Overlord, but has been customized to reflect life in the City States of Lemuria.
The outcome of a trial is determined by a d20 roll on Table 1. This roll is modified according to the severity of the crime, the magistrate's temperament, bribes, and the character's Charisma score (described on the modifiers tables, below). Once the outcome is determined, roll on the appropriate punishment table to determine the specific details.
MODIFIERS TO OUTCOME
(If subject is charged with multiple crimes, use the modifier for the most serious offense, then adjust it by -1 for each additional charge)
Severity of Crime Outcome Modifier
Dueling, Public Nuisance, Drunkenness +2
Bribery +1
Public Debauchery, Trespassing, Property Damage +0
Theft, Arson, Resisting Arrest, Extortion, Blackmail -1
Assault, Rape, Kidnapping, Tomb-Robbing, Piracy -2
Murder, Necromancy, Treason, Trafficking with Demons -3
Tax Evasion, Smuggling -4
Roll Magistrate's Temperament Outcome Modifier
1 'Hanging Judge' -4
2 'Tough on Crime' Crusader -3
3 Hung Over -2
4 Irritable -1
5 Scrupulously Impartial 0
6 Cheerful +1
7 Sympathetic +2
8 'Bleeding Heart' Reformer +3
Bribes Charged with Bribery Outcome Modifier
100 gp or more 15% +1
250 gp or more 10% +2
500 gp or more 05% +3
Charisma Outcome Modifier
Below Average -1
Average 0
Above Average +1
Table 1: OUTCOME OF TRIAL
Die Roll Outcome
1 or less Execution
2 Dismemberment
3-4 Imprisonment
5 Flogging
6 Enslavement
7 Indenture (roll on Jail table for duration)
8-9 Jail
10-11 Fine
12 Probation
13-17 Dismissal
18-20 Favourable Judgement
OUTCOME SUBTABLES (Roll for Result)
Execution Dismemberment
1. Beheading 1. Hand
2. Hanging 2. Foot
3. Impalement 3. Tongue
4. Sacrifice 4. Eye
Imprisonment Flogging (1d4 dmg per ten lashes)
1. Six Months 1. Ten Lashes
2. One Year 2. Twenty Lashes
3. Three Years 3. Fifty Lashes
4. Five Years 4. One-hundred Lashes
5. Ten Years 5. One-hundred and fifty Lashes
6. Twenty Years 6. Two-hundred Lashes
Enslavement to Indenture to
1. City Work Gang 1. City Work Gang
2. Galley Oarsman 2. Farm Work Gang
3. Mines 3. Mines
4. Gladiatorial Pit 4. Plaintiff
5. Brothel
6. Plaintiff
7. Overlord
8. Atlanteans
Jail Term Fine Amount
1. Ten Days 1. 10 gp
2. Thirty Days 2. 100 gp
3. Sixty Days 3. 500 gp
4. Ninety Days 4. 1,000 gp
5. Six Months 5. 5,000 gp
6. One Year 6. All Possessions
Probation
Roll on Jail table for period of probation. Guilty party may not bear arms or armour, and must report to the gaolers once per week.
Favourable Judgement
The accused is acquitted and receives financial compensation from the plaintiff. Roll on the Fine table to determine the amount of the award.
Monday, October 1, 2012
Session 14:
After a long summer hiatus we have resumed play where we left off: with the party enriched by an enormous trove of treasure recovered during their last foray into the catacombs beneath the necropolis. The subsequent night of celebratory debauchery ended with Ebbin naked in jail, and no idea how he got there.
The following morning Ebbin was hauled before a magistrate, hung-over and clad in a mildewed potato sack, charged with public drunkenness. The city watch testified that they found him passed out in a public fountain, but the magistrate was in a cheery mood and dismissed the case.
Concerned for the whereabouts of his armour, magic weapons and, most especially, his Gauntlets of Aten, Ebbin and his compatriots returned to the tavern where they had been drinking the night before, and the barkeep recalled that Ebbin left in the company of a dancing-girl named Sulma, who worked at a bawdy-house called Gilded Lilly's.
They found Sulma on stage at Gilded Lilly's, dancing for a small afternoon audience clad in naught but the tabard of a templar of Aten. Ebbin leaped onto the stage demanding the return of his gear and attempting to take back his tabard, but was grabbed and hauled bodily off the stage by a burly, looming Khurgani barbarian in the employ of the house. Sensing, correctly, that Ebbin was seconds away from picking a fight with the bouncer, Xuphor defused the situation by speaking to the proprietress, Lilly, who promised to speak to Sulma at the end of her set.
Sulma admitted to taking Ebbin's things after he passed out in the fountain, but only to 'keep them safe.' Unfortunately, on the way home she was accosted by a notorious loan shark named Haroun, and his thugs, who took all of it in payment for the 100 gp debt she owed him.
Their conversation was overheard by one of the patrons lurking in the nearby shadows, a guild-thief named Roary, who just so happened to owe money to Haroun, himself. Seizing the opportunity to eliminate his creditor and turn a profit in one stroke, Roary introduced himself and offered, for a small fee, to help the party ambush Haroun during his collection rounds. He led them through the maze-like tenements of the poor quarter, known by the locals as Hope's End, to a narrow alley-way where he was sure that Haroun was soon to pass. Sure enough, before long Haroun and his two body-guards did, indeed, enter the alley. The two guards fell in the ambush, but the cunning Haroun got past Xuphor and escaped into the labyrinthine streets of Hope's End.
Roary was sure that Haroun would retreat to the safety of his offices to gather reinforcements and urged the party to head directly there. Roary knew that Haroun had recognized him and feared that he would appeal to the master of the thieve's guild, in which case Roary would be in a great deal of trouble - the kind that ends with you floating face-down in the harbour. Thus, he was desperate to find and kill Haroun before he could squeal to the guild.
They arrived at Haroun's offices and found a couple of his henchmen waiting for them, but no Haroun, only an open trap-door in floor Haroun's warehouse, that led to the sewers. After dispatching the henchmen, the party descended into the sewers, but were promptly ambushed by a crocodile hiding beneath the surface of the water. When the croc was dead they noticed that it was tethered by a length of chain - the beast was obviously a guardian for Haroun's planned escape route. Xuphor, who stayed above to inspect the warehouse, found all of Ebbin's equipment lying in a pile awaiting liquidation. Giving up any hope of catching Haroun before he reached the Guild Master, the party decided to lay low for a awhile and head back down to the catacombs. It is telling commentary of one's lifestyle when an undead-packed dungeon is the safe alternative to remaining in the city.
Once in the catacombs, the party continued their exploration, but spent most of the rest of the session battering down bricked up doorways and attracting the attention of prowling Mongrel Men and Sapphire Skeletons. Just as they were about to call an end to their exploration and return to Catapesh to rest, the party discovered a narrow, crumbling passage-way and Roary decided to investigate it. When he disturbed the rubble he was swarmed by giant centipedes; he succumbed to their poisonous bites and died a horrible death, though perhaps not as horrible as the fate the the Thieves Guild had in store for him, so perhaps it was a blessing.
The remainder of the party returned to Catapesh and, as they were being sought by a vengeful Thieve's Guild, took the obvious course of action: a night of drinking and whoring at the nearest tavern! Ebbin sought ought Sulma for a quick tumble, then carried on with an evening of bacchanalian revelry that found him, in the morning....naked and in jail.
The following morning Ebbin was hauled before a magistrate, hung-over and clad in a mildewed potato sack, charged with public drunkenness. The city watch testified that they found him passed out in a public fountain, but the magistrate was in a cheery mood and dismissed the case.
Concerned for the whereabouts of his armour, magic weapons and, most especially, his Gauntlets of Aten, Ebbin and his compatriots returned to the tavern where they had been drinking the night before, and the barkeep recalled that Ebbin left in the company of a dancing-girl named Sulma, who worked at a bawdy-house called Gilded Lilly's.
They found Sulma on stage at Gilded Lilly's, dancing for a small afternoon audience clad in naught but the tabard of a templar of Aten. Ebbin leaped onto the stage demanding the return of his gear and attempting to take back his tabard, but was grabbed and hauled bodily off the stage by a burly, looming Khurgani barbarian in the employ of the house. Sensing, correctly, that Ebbin was seconds away from picking a fight with the bouncer, Xuphor defused the situation by speaking to the proprietress, Lilly, who promised to speak to Sulma at the end of her set.
Sulma admitted to taking Ebbin's things after he passed out in the fountain, but only to 'keep them safe.' Unfortunately, on the way home she was accosted by a notorious loan shark named Haroun, and his thugs, who took all of it in payment for the 100 gp debt she owed him.
Their conversation was overheard by one of the patrons lurking in the nearby shadows, a guild-thief named Roary, who just so happened to owe money to Haroun, himself. Seizing the opportunity to eliminate his creditor and turn a profit in one stroke, Roary introduced himself and offered, for a small fee, to help the party ambush Haroun during his collection rounds. He led them through the maze-like tenements of the poor quarter, known by the locals as Hope's End, to a narrow alley-way where he was sure that Haroun was soon to pass. Sure enough, before long Haroun and his two body-guards did, indeed, enter the alley. The two guards fell in the ambush, but the cunning Haroun got past Xuphor and escaped into the labyrinthine streets of Hope's End.
Roary was sure that Haroun would retreat to the safety of his offices to gather reinforcements and urged the party to head directly there. Roary knew that Haroun had recognized him and feared that he would appeal to the master of the thieve's guild, in which case Roary would be in a great deal of trouble - the kind that ends with you floating face-down in the harbour. Thus, he was desperate to find and kill Haroun before he could squeal to the guild.
They arrived at Haroun's offices and found a couple of his henchmen waiting for them, but no Haroun, only an open trap-door in floor Haroun's warehouse, that led to the sewers. After dispatching the henchmen, the party descended into the sewers, but were promptly ambushed by a crocodile hiding beneath the surface of the water. When the croc was dead they noticed that it was tethered by a length of chain - the beast was obviously a guardian for Haroun's planned escape route. Xuphor, who stayed above to inspect the warehouse, found all of Ebbin's equipment lying in a pile awaiting liquidation. Giving up any hope of catching Haroun before he reached the Guild Master, the party decided to lay low for a awhile and head back down to the catacombs. It is telling commentary of one's lifestyle when an undead-packed dungeon is the safe alternative to remaining in the city.
Once in the catacombs, the party continued their exploration, but spent most of the rest of the session battering down bricked up doorways and attracting the attention of prowling Mongrel Men and Sapphire Skeletons. Just as they were about to call an end to their exploration and return to Catapesh to rest, the party discovered a narrow, crumbling passage-way and Roary decided to investigate it. When he disturbed the rubble he was swarmed by giant centipedes; he succumbed to their poisonous bites and died a horrible death, though perhaps not as horrible as the fate the the Thieves Guild had in store for him, so perhaps it was a blessing.
The remainder of the party returned to Catapesh and, as they were being sought by a vengeful Thieve's Guild, took the obvious course of action: a night of drinking and whoring at the nearest tavern! Ebbin sought ought Sulma for a quick tumble, then carried on with an evening of bacchanalian revelry that found him, in the morning....naked and in jail.
Monday, September 24, 2012
I am James T. Kirk
Sweet!
Now excuse me while I take my shirt off.
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You are James T. Kirk (Captain)
Click here to take the Star Trek Personality Test
Now excuse me while I take my shirt off.
Your results:
You are James T. Kirk (Captain)
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You are often exaggerated and over-the-top in your speech and expressions. You are a romantic at heart and a natural leader.  |
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