Basic Fantasy RPG/Campaign Logs/D&D/General

Return to Hilltop Session 2 (BFRPG)

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In our prior session (our first), the party (two pairs of siblings) arrived in Hilltop. Hilltop is a small village a few days south of Verbobonc and is the name we use instead of Hommlet. After introductions, some gambling, a little drink, and a good night’s sleep at the Bugbear’s Beds & Brews, they wound up at the ruined Moathouse, a few miles to the northeast of the village. A few battles later, they party retreated back to Hilltop with one sibling of each pair carrying their unconscious relative, downed during their battles. Some bed rest and acquiring a couple of Potions of Healing, the party was ready to get back to adventuring. Leaving the shop of the village trader, they realized that one party member was missing but Drayton spotted a familiar face approaching the inn.

Dave will no longer be playing and so Karl is the missing party member. Muse joined us after missing the first session and so she brought in her new PC, a dwarven cleric. There are definite spoilers for T1 The Village of Hommlet and possibly for A0 Danger at Darkshelf Quarry below the break. This recap is from Muse and my comments, as usual, are in [brackets and italics].

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Basic Fantasy RPG/Campaign Logs/D&D

Return to Hilltop Session 1 (BFRPG)

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As one of our long term players who moved out of town a while back would say, “Hooray!” Hooray, indeed. We started our BFRPG campaign this past session. Hooray! As mentioned in the last post, we are returning to the site of one of our best campaigns ever, Hilltop. Hilltop is a slightly re-imagined Hommlet from T1 The Village of Hommlet by Gary Gygax and published way back in 1979. It is a classic and for very good reasons. Our version is still in the south of Verbobonc, it still has a Moathouse a short distance away, and it might still even have some sort of evil temple nearby. It certainly still has the lots of plot hooks from having something of a living and breathing settlement as the foundation.

This campaign is some 50 years after our prior Company H Campaign. Craig, Dave, and Muse weren’t playing back then but Rachel and RJ were. Todd, who is moving back to Tallahassee and will be re-joining us soon, played the campaign’s eponymous Harvey. There are a lot of little easter eggs in the current Hilltop for those that played in the prior campaign (e.g., the inn is now called the Bugbear’s Beds & Brews since Harvey was reincarnated as a bugbear during the campaign). Hooray for Todd soon joining us again. If you hadn’t guessed yet, Todd is the one who Hoorays all the time. 😉

Muse was missing and so we had Craig (playing Drayton Thunderbeard), Dave (playing Karl Thunderbeard), Rachel (playing Molly Malone), and RJ (playing Griff Malone). Drayton and Karl are clansmen while Molly and Griff are brother and sister…I’m not sure who is the elder sibling of the two. Obviously, there are potential spoilers for T1 The Village of Hommlet below the break. This recap is from Rachel and my comments, as usual, are in [and italics].

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Basic Fantasy RPG/General

Make Mine Basic

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Due to holidays, travel, and players missing for various reasons, we didn’t play all that much during the months of November and December. Big lulls in playing like this are almost always the death knell of a campaign for me. I don’t stay engaged with the campaign and so I start to lose interest in it and start looking elsewhere…it is one of my many flaws. For one of the sessions that we did play, it wasn’t clear to me which players were going to be able to make it and so I was hesitant to put a lot of effort or time into preparing something in case no one could make it. So I pulled out something that I’ve always wanted to play, Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game (aka BFRPG), and grabbed one of the adventures, Beneath Brymassen, from Adventure Anthology One to run. Dave, Muse, Rachel, and RJ all participated so only Craig was missing. More on our experience below the break.

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Campaign Logs/General/Quail Valley Campaign/Savage Worlds

Q. V. C. Session 4…Knock Knock Who’s There?

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In our third session of the Quail Valley Campaign (using the Vault of Larin Karr from Necromancer Games), the good guys (five strong) had left their victories in the vicinity of the Hawk’s Shadow Inn behind them and headed off for Pembrose. After a couple of days of travel, they came to the second Storm Tower and it was occupied by, it turned out, some orcs! The fight was brutal and the good guys, of course, prevailed. We pick up with this session immediately after the last orc fell.

Muse and Craig were missing this week and so RJ played Fingers while Dave played Ash. This recap is from Rachel and my comments, as usual, are in [brackets and italics]. There are possibly spoilers for The Vault of Larin Karr.

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Campaign Logs/General/Quail Valley Campaign/Savage Worlds

Q. V. C. Session 3…Where’s the Beanstalk?

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In our second session of the Quail Valley Campaign (using the Vault of Larin Karr from Necromancer Games), the good guys (now four strong) had prevailed! The group had defeated the Nightshades (aka Poison Ghosts aka Enclave of the Twisted Root) and rescued everyone, including Essma the dryad, and had made it back to the Hawk’s Shadow Inn and started cleaning up from the prior battle there. We pick up with later that evening after the break.

Muse joined us this session for the first time for this campaign. She is playing a Half-Folk Thief named Fingers. This recap is from RJ and my comments, as usual, are in [brackets and italics]. There are spoilers for Bad Seeds from Dungeon Magazine #79 and possibly some for The Vault of Larin Karr.

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Campaign Logs/General/Quail Valley Campaign/Savage Worlds

Q.V.C. Session 2…More the Merrier!

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The second session of our Savage Worlds Fantasy campaign using the Vault of Larin Karr (from Necromancer Games) saw the number of players double! A doubling that actually doesn’t deserve an exclamation point as we went from two to four players but one needs to hype where one can hype, right? We were joined by Craig and Dave. Craig is playing an elven wizard named Ash. Dave is playing Otto, a monster hunter who is skilled with both blades and some spells. Both players have played very little Savage Worlds to date.

In the prior session, Jak and Olivia had accompanied a single wagon caravan to an inn a few days from their ultimate destination (the Quail Valley) where they spent the night. During the night, Olivia had a bizarre dream of being someone else and the next morning, all of the inhabitants of the inn were missing. Investigation and exploration showed that the events in Olivia’s dream were at least partially true. Then a couple dozen kobolds attacked! Ultimately victorious, the heroes questioned a kobold prisoner and learned some valuable information…leading them to search out Essma, a dryad. She, however, was missing but a forest gnome (Tyco) was rescued from hungry wolves and even more info was learned, including the possible location of the missing people and missing dryad!

That is where we more or less pickup after the break. This recap is from Rachel and my comments, as usual, are in [brackets and italics]. There are spoilers for Bad Seeds from Dungeon Magazine #79 and possibly some for The Vault of Larin Karr.

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Campaign Logs/Quail Valley Campaign/Savage Worlds

Quail Valley Campaign Session 1…Cut the Mustard

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We’re taking a break from 5e for our Saturday night campaign and are going play some Savage Worlds for a bit. In particular, we’re playing a little fantasy campaign using the Vault of Larin Karr (from d20 days). It is something that I’ve always wanted to run and that I’ve used bits and pieces from in prior games. We are pretty much just using the core Savage Worlds rules with the characters starting at Seasoned Rank and with the following setting rules: Blood and Guts (but only for Wild Cards), Heroes Never Die, and Multiple Languages plus a “Bennie Clock” rule where the players get another Benny at specific time intervals because I suck at handing them out otherwise. 😉

Only Rachel and RJ could make this session. Rachel is playing Olivia (a dwarven warrior) and RJ is playing Jak (a religious adept who is a bit touched in the head). The write-up below is from Rachel. There are spoilers for Bad Seeds from Dungeon Magazine #79. As usual, my GM comments are in [brackets and italics].

Will Jak and Olivia cut the mustard as adventurers and heroes?
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Campaign Logs/D&D/Forgotten Realms Campaign/General

FRC Session 36…Here Be Dragon

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During the last session, the crew of the Jupiter 2 continued their journey, adrift in the Underdark. They passed through some sort of purple worm hatchery, came across something of an oasis and restocked on some supplies (after defeating some of the more hostile inhabitants of the area), and then came across a rather deep and fairly wide gorge that blocked their path. Attacked by some giant mosquito like creatures, they prevailed and one of the opponents–lit by faerie fire–plunged into the depths of the gorge. Some two-hundred feet or so down, a larger creature gulped up this falling meal. As we ended the session and as the faerie fire light disappeared, the shadowy swallowing creature looked to possibly be flying up towards the party. That’s where we pick up after the break.

This recap is from Rachel. Thomas and Muse missed this session. RJ played Meri and Dave played Verrak. My comments, as usual, are in [brackets and italics].

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Campaign Logs/D&D/Forgotten Realms Campaign/General

FRC Session 35…Along Came a Spider

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The last session took a rather interesting turn for the party. Their guide, Buppido the Derro, apparently turned upon them just outside of an illithid’s (i.e., mind flyer) lair and, presumably, its thralls. They prevailed and camped for a bit within. Now, however, they’ve lost their guide, are off the main route shown on their map, and more or less lost. With no other choice, they planned on pressing on after their rest. We pick up with that below the break after they’ve traveled for a bit, generally sticking to staying to the right when presented with a choice of passages.

This recap is from Dave. RJ was missing and so Thomas played Adran. My comments, as usual, are in [brackets and italics].

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Campaign Logs/D&D/Forgotten Realms Campaign

FRC Session 34…And Then There Were Three

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During the last session, the party had gone off map under the guidance of the derro, Buppido, that they had rescued from the drow at Velkynvelve. So far, things had gone pretty well despite losing some of their entourage to in-fighting of sorts. They had survived some of the dangers of the Underdark and had even learned a thing or two along the way. At the end of the session, the group had made it to some sort of supposedly abandoned temple that Buppido had identified as a safe place to rest but it wasn’t fully abandoned. A pair of large brains with legs were encountered. We pick up after the break with these brains as pretty much all chaos breaks loose.

This recap is from Craig. Muse was missing and so Thomas played Meri. My comments, as usual again, are in [brackets and italics].

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