Quail Valley Session 10 (SW)

When we last looked in on our heroes, they had attacked Származás Keep. After a lot of success, they ran into a small–well large–snag in the shape of an ogre. Although ultimately victorious, the ogre took out Cailana and Serena as well as wounding both Raspin and Wink. Only Faelan, who remained distant and atop a wall while the others fought in the courtyard, escaped unscathed. We pick up with the aftermath of the this battle after the break.

This recap is from RJ. Claudia, Forest, and Muse were all missing. Bridgett joined us and played Raspin. RJ played Wink and Rachel played Cailana. As usual, my GM comments are in [brackets and italics]. There are potential spoilers for The Vault of Larin Karr as well as the Crucible of Freya below the break.
Continue reading →

Quail Valley Session 9 (SW)

In our last session, the players had engaged various waves of hobgoblins from the ruins of Származás Keep. Further scouting had shown a small number of defenders remaining on the walls…at least the walls that had not fallen into ruin. A plan was formed but did not quite pan out as hoped. Having just found a hidden path leading to a reinforced door in one of the keep’s still standing towers, the party elected to try and gain entry through it. With Wink’s magics weakening the stone in which the hinges were mounted, Raspin had little trouble crashing, loudly, through the door to reveal a pool filling most of the interior’s tower. Claudia made an Agility roll to see if Raspin could prevent himself from splashing into the pool. That’s where we pick up below the break.

This recap is from Rachel. All players were in attendance. As usual, my GM comments are in [brackets and italics]. There are potential spoilers for The Vault of Larin Karr as well as the Crucible of Freya below the break.
Continue reading →

Quail Valley Session 8 (SW)

When we last left our heroes, they had found the ruins of Származás Keep or so they have assumed. Finally having reached one of the initial goals for which Professor Yetemi had hired them, they discovered that it was occupied. Cailana had set off a trap, narrowly avoiding it, and alarm near the keep’s entrance. As the party hid in the nearby woods, helmeted heads began to peek over the keep’s walls. After something of a waiting game for an hour or so (the party hiding in the woods and occupants holding their position, hobgoblins exited the keep. The party attempted to ambush them, but Cailana had the misfortune of being spotted. That is where we pick up after the break.

This recap is from RJ. Muse was missing, but Claudia was able to join us again. Rachel played Cailana on Muse’s behalf. As usual, my GM comments are in [brackets and italics]. There are potential spoilers for The Vault of Larin Karr below the break.
Continue reading →

Quail Valley Session 7 (SW)

In our last session, the party had gained access to what appeared to be some sort of way station for the Birds of Prey. A stairway led to another small complex that was “infested” by goblins. Shafts of some thirty-feet in length connected various levels of this complex. Fleeing goblins kept pulling the ropes up after them. Eventually, the group had dispatched many of them, captured one, and needed to ascend another shaft to reach the final goblins. Cailana had climbed up, narrowly avoiding a falling goblin (pushed), and had reached the top only to face a swarms of hornet darting right for her! That’s where we pick up after the break.

This recap is from Muse. We had all players, including Claudia, in attendance. As usual, my GM comments are in [brackets and italics]. There are potential spoilers for The Vault of Larin Karr below the break.
Continue reading →

Quail Valley Session 6 (SW)

When we last left our party, they had spent a couple of more days exploring the tunnels and caverns below the Lonesome Drake (and Presov), encountering more giant and normal sized cockroaches and a massive nest with the queen. A door bearing the mark of the Birds of Prey had also been found. After various futile attempts to open it, they determined that both it and rings being worn by Wink and Raspin were all magical. Both Wink and Raspin pushed on the door with their “ring hand” together and it swung open. That is where we pick up below the break.

It has been over two months since we last played this campaign. Various scheduling conflicts (and an approaching hurricane) kept us from having a quorum of players for a considerable time. I think this is about the longest gap in playing where I tried to continue on with a campaign rather than just starting a new one. It is very hard for me to keep interest in a campaign if we aren’t playing on a regular basis, but we’re going to give it a go tonight with a much delayed sixth session.

There have also been a few changes. You may have also noticed that the title doesn’t have BFRPG in parentheses; it has SW. That’s because we’ve switched over to Savage Worlds. During our long hiatus from the campaign, we played a little Savage Worlds at RJ’s request. It is a game system that we’ve played quite a bit, one that I enjoy quite a bit, and one that I find very easy to run. Hannah and Teresa are also no longer playing so Thorn and Siobhan have left the party. I’m giving everyone a couple of weeks to get adjusted to the new system and to tweak their characters. Once they are final, I’ll post them.

This recap is from Rachel and we had all four regular players in attendance plus Claudia who quickly adjusted to the fact that RJ has turned Raspin into something of an alcoholic. As usual, my GM comments are in [brackets and italics]. There are potential spoilers for The Vault of Larin Karr below the break.

Continue reading →

Quail Valley Session 5 (BFRPG)

In our prior session, the party was hired by the innkeep of the Lonesome Drake, Bruno, to investigate a mysterious door that he had recently found in his cellar. They spent some time exploring some sort of tomb, infested with cockroaches both normal and unnaturally large, finding some interesting items including a map of some sort. Willow made a new friend in a fellow halfling, Betony, and the group learned a little more about Quail Valley from him. That’s pretty much where we ended the session…not much of a cliffhanger this time.

We pick up with that below the break. This recap is from Hannah and, I believe, we had all six regular players in attendance…RJ again played Raspin on Claudia’s behalf. Obviously, there are potential spoilers for The Vault of Larin Karr as well as “On a Lonely Road” from The Lost Lands: Adventures in the Borderland Provinces (from Frog God Games) below the break. Unlike most of these posts, there won’t be any of my GM comments this time around; I’m sure they’ll return with the next recap. 😉

Continue reading →

Quail Valley Session 4 (BFRPG)

Three sessions in and the party had made it to the town of Presov in Quail Valley after surviving their travels (and travails) in the Forradás. The group had received an “invitation” to meet with the Baroness. They were surprised to find that the Baroness was a young girl, perhaps eight or nine years of age. As she was introduced by, presumably, a servant, we ended the prior session and that is where we pick up after the break below.

This recap is from RJ and we had all six regular players in attendance…RJ again played Raspin on Claudia’s behalf. As usual, my GM comments are in [brackets and italics]. Obviously, there are potential spoilers for The Vault of Larin Karr as well as “On a Lonely Road” from The Lost Lands: Adventures in the Borderland Provinces (from Frog God Games) below the break.

Continue reading →

Quail Valley Session 3 (BFRPG)

In the second session of our Quail Valley campaign, the characters continue on the expedition to the Forradás with Professor Yetemi and his students (or at least the students that had survived so far). After numerous disturbing scenes including (in no particular order) bloody fetishes, ancient skulls, a bloody carnage around a creepy monolith, and the discovery of a student missing after a night’s camp (and taken, apparently, by some sort of burrowing creature), the expedition was attacked just before sunrise one morning. During the attack, the Professor and his assistant, Gonela, were abducted and a third student (of the original four) was slain in the attack (although no one shed any tears over the death of Rikard…he was a jerk after all). We pick up after the break with the aftermath of the battle and the group deciding how to proceed from here.

This recap is from Forest and we had all six regular players in attendance…RJ again played Raspin on Claudia’s behalf. As usual, my GM comments are in [brackets and italics]. Obviously, there are potential spoilers for The Vault of Larin Karr as well as “On a Lonely Road” from The Lost Lands: Adventures in the Borderland Provinces (from Frog God Games) below the break.

Continue reading →

Quail Valley Session 2 (BFRPG)

In our first session of our new Basic Fantasy RPG campaign, the PCs were hired by Professor Yetemi, a sage at the local university, to accompany him and his group on an expedition to the Quail Valley. The expedition had two goals: to discover what had happened to another professor, Elár Arnek, who had not returned from a prior expedition; 2) to explore an area called the Forradás that is just south of Quail Valley. The first is being funded by the university while the other is funded by Professor Yetemi to help prove some of his theories about a pre-human civilization. The expedition’s members were the Professor, his assistant Gonela, and four graduate students: Demeter, Maiessa, Rikard, Sarotta. The group reached an inn just south of Quail Valley, gained a new companion (Willow), had some bad dreams, learned that the Forradás is not a place to travel, headed there anyways, fought some bandits, lost a student (Sarotta) to the bandit ambush, and then all natural noises fell silent while camping one night. That is where we pick up after the break.

We were joined by two new players: Hannah and Teresa. Hanna is playing a half-elf thief named Siobhan and Teresa is playing an elven thief named Thorn. It was Teresa’s first time ever playing a tabletop RPG!

This recap is from Muse and we had all regular six players in attendance…Claudia, a part-time player when visiting Tallahassee, was missing and RJ played Raspin. As usual, my GM comments, as usual, are in [brackets and italics]. Obviously, there are potential spoilers for The Vault of Larin Karr as well as “On a Lonely Road” from The Lost Lands: Adventures in the Borderland Provinces (from Frog God Games) below the break.

Continue reading →

Quail Valley Session 1 (BFRPG)

We began our new campaign with this session, following the total party kill in our Hilltop campaign in our prior session. We are continuing to play our house-ruled version of Basic Fantasy RPG. The Quail Valley is the setting for The Vault of Larin Karr, an excellent little sandbox originally from Necromancer Games and now Frog God Games. This is the setting that we’ll be using for this campaign which will, of course, be changed and combined with who knows what as we go. I’ve started this campaign a number of different times, but for one or another, we’ve never actually gotten very far into it before moving on to something else. Oh, I’ve also renamed most of the locations and NPCs…as I often do (e.g., Presov is Pembrose). Those familiar with the product won’t recognize most of the names but will likely catch on pretty quick.

We were joined by Claudia this session. She’ll be an intermittent player as she is only in town part-time. The player characters include:

  • Cailana, an elf ranger played by Muse
  • Winkelthorpe (Wink), a human mage played by Forest
  • Raspin, a human fighter played by Claudia
  • Faelan, a human druid played by RJ
  • Serena, a half-elf cleric played by Rachel

This recap is from Rachel and we had a full table with everyone in attendance. As usual, my GM comments, as usual, are in [brackets and italics]. Obviously, there are potential spoilers for The Vault of Larin Karr as well as “On a Lonely Road” from The Lost Lands: Adventures in the Borderland Provinces (from Frog God Games) below the break.

Continue reading →