A Savage Christmas Session! (Part I)

This was our last session before Christmas (and possibly before the new year) and so we took a break from our Willoweed campaign, got some pizza for everyone, exchanged some gifts, and had a little holiday gaming session. Everyone in my group got an Explorer’s Edition version of Savage Worlds Deluxe and Deadlands Reloaded Player’s Guide since, at some point in the not too distant future, I want to pick up the Deadlands campaign that we briefly played a bit back. I got some cool
mouseling tavern figures
so now we’re going to have to play some Savage Mouseguard at some point too.

In our prior Deadlands game, Rachel was playing Margaret “Maggie” MacAllan, an ex-Wichita Witch and a not yet reformed killer. Todd was playing Graham MacAllan, a huckster and Maggie’s younger brother. Lastly, RJ was playing Pierre Bascou, an up and coming reporter for the Epitaph (or so he hopes). Bridgett wasn’t playing back then so I put together a character for her that I thought should would like, Caitlin “Kate” O’Kelley, a rather fiery tempered woman with a strong sense of right and wrong, despite a having developed a few larcenous skills, and the gift of healing from the Holy Father.

Everyone understood that this was a one-shot and NOT related to our prior sessions and that this session would not have happened or have any impact on things when we pick up the game again next year. With that understood, I described that everyone was on the Union Blue Line–heading west for whatever reason–and were the only passengers on what was mainly a freight train and away we went.

Spoiler Alert: We played the Deadlands one-sheet “Silent Night, Hungry Night” from Pinnacle. The are, not surprisingly, major spoilers for the adventure below My GM comments, as always, are in [italics and brackets] as usual.

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The Thugs Strike Back!

Here is the write-up from our eighth session with our Beginner Box Hack (from Todd).

Spoiler Alert: Even though the party has largely finished the module and we’ve gone off the rails, there are still spoilers for Fangs from the Past, published by 0one Games, below. My GM comments, as always, are in [italics and brackets] as usual.

[When we last left the party, they had just fought a tough battle with a group of kobolds and a rather young black dragon named Syphilaxisisss. The kobold chief, in fact, was responsible for dropping the dragon by dropping one of the many kobold hanging traps upon it. With his victory, the kobold hissed at the party but none were sure if this was just to celebrate his victory over Syphilaxisisss or intended as aggression towards the party (or maybe both).]

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Beard Bugs and a Dragon

Here is the write-up from our seventh session with our Beginner Box Hack (from RJ).

Spoiler Alert: Even though the party has largely finished the module, they are still wrapping up some loose threads from Fangs from the Past published by 0one Games. My GM comments, as always, are in [italics and brackets] as usual.

[When we last left the party, they had been woken by some attacking goblins. After dispatching all but one of the raiding goblins, they were able to learn a bit more about why the goblins had been more active in the area. The prisoner, however, seemed pretty fixated on getting his next meal…be it a bite out of Lemer, Dent, or even the body of one if its fallen companions…and they killed the vermin.]

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WHO is a mighty dragon?!?

Here is the write-up from our sixth session with our Beginner Box Hack (from Bridgett).

Spoiler Alert: Even though the party is heading back to town following their recent adventures, there are still spoilers for the adventure Fangs from the Past published by 0one Games. My GM comments, as always, are in [italics and brackets] as usual.

[When we last left the party, they had been woken a bit early from their night’s rest by Aaron. He had heard a scream, relatively faint and high-pitched, and everyone had rushed to investigate. Shadow was in the lead with Aurora and Lemer just behind her and Aaron (in his armor since he was on watch) and Dent lagging farther behind. Shadow had found a camp with about a dozen loggers. They had a goblin tied up and hanging from some trees and one of the loggers was in the process of torturing the little nasty. The screams were from the goblin.]

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It was just a matter of time…

Here is the write-up from our fifth session with our Beginner Box Hack (from Rachel). Austin is not going to be able to play for awhile due to family and work commitments so Remel has been replaced with Lemer (still an elven wizard but, as Todd put it, with a little more backbone). Lemer is going to basically be a “group character” and played by whoever wants to in any given session.

Spoiler Alert: There are spoilers for the adventure Fangs from the Past published by 0one Games. My GM comments, as always, are in [italics and brackets] as usual.

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Shadow and Dent

Here is the write-up from our fourth session with our Beginner Box Hack (from Austin). We finally had a full compliment of players as both Bridgett and RJ joined us for the first time, I think, in at least a month. Bridgett rolled up Shadow, a female elven ranger (it is soooo unlike her to play a ranger). RJ rolled up Dent, a male dwarven fighter.

Spoiler Alert: There are spoilers for the adventure Fangs from the Past published by 0one Games. My GM comments, as always, are in [italics and brackets] as usual.

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Here’s what I remember

We had a bit of a snafu with our campaign journal after the last session…as in no one did it. It was well over a week later when RJ took it on to make sure we’d have one. Got to give him kudos for this…particularly since he was playing Todd’s character, Aaron, since Todd was missing AND RJ hadn’t been around for the prior two sessions of this adventure. So, everyone (except me, of course) should cut him some slack for this entry.

Spoiler Alert: There are spoilers for the adventure Fangs from the Past published by 0one Games. As is our typical pattern, the module is not getting run quite as written but there are still big spoilers for it below the break. My GM comments, as always, are in [italics and brackets] as usual.

[When we last left the party, they had recently arrived at a cave on the outskirts of an old ruined village. Partially filled with water from the nearby swamp, the cave contained a lone skeleton against the back wall. As Aaron carefully and cautiously approached it, Theoden slung a bullet at it and knocked it over…]

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Descent: An Interlude

We had a late cancellation that meant we were down to two out of five players. Sadly, this has been way too common of an occurrence. I was originally just going to cancel completely but Todd had worked hard to get Saturday night off. So Todd came over and he joined Rach and I for some pizza and a game of Descent: Journeys in the Dark (Second Edition).

I had always meant to get Descent–particularly so after moments of rather severe GM burnout–but had never had until just recently. And by just recently, I mean that very morning. Given some other plans I already had, it left me very little time to read the rules. When Todd showed up, I was about seventeen or eighteen pages into the twenty-four page rulebook and hadn’t even opened the quest book yet. When Rach got back with the pizza, I was maybe another half page in.

Spoiler Alert: Spoilers for the first two quests, First Blood and The Fat Goblin, are below the break.

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Sturgimates, goblins, necromancers, and…mayors?!? Oh my!

Here is the writeup (from Todd) of our second session in our Pathfinder Beginner Box Hack mini-campaign. Spoiler Alert: There are spoilers for the adventure Fangs from the Past published by 0one Games. As is our typical pattern, the module is not getting run quite as written but there are still big spoilers for it below the break. My GM comments, as always, are in [italics and brackets] as usual.

[When we last left the party, they had recently arrived in the frontier village of Willoweed after having discovered the body of one of the local loggers about an hour out of the village. They learned from some other loggers that other attacks had happened over the last few weeks. When we ended, Aurora had just spotted her mother in the growing crowd of locals descending upon the village center. She was in tears and someone whispered to Aurora that her father had been the first victim killed two weeks earlier…]

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The Road to Willoweed

Since we won’t have the full complement of our regular players for a bit, we started a shorter adventure this past session. It’ll give us a chance to play a number of sessions with our Beginner Box Hack rules too and work out any obvious kinks. Austin, Rachel, and Todd were joined by a new player, Jim, for this session. Spoiler Alert: The foundation for this mini-campaign is Fangs from the Past published by 0one Games. As is often the case, we didn’t really get too far into the published part of the adventure but there are still big spoilers for it below the break.

Characters were created in under an hour and include the following.

  • Aaron: A human fighter played by Todd.
  • Aurora: A human cleric of Saranrae played by Rachel.
  • Remel: An elven wizard played by Austin.
  • Theoden: A dwarven rogue played by Jim.

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