Notes from a Savage Worlds fantasy campaign (updated with 05/28/08 session notes!)...

[Flynn]

Session Notes - 02/27/08

Good Morning, All:

Another week has passed, and I've had another session in my first Savage Worlds campaign. Everyone showed up Wednesday night, and we had a good time, although the players took the game in a direction I wasn't quite expecting. However, I was able to recover swiftly, and I finally got the chance to use a monster I'd created several moons ago.

The Synopsis:

The party worked with Brother Claudius to heal as many of the townsfolk of Newport as they could. As the Warlord Andrus chose not to accept the position of Lord-Mayor of Newport, the townsfolk quickly organized a council of elders to watch over Newport as an interim measure until a new Lord-Mayor could be appointed. With the aid of the relics and the healing powers of both Brother Claudius and the elven priest Anzjin, many of the locals were restored to health.

On the third night after the vanquishing of the demon, the Magus Chrysander took it upon himself to visit the only surviving prisoner of the Followers of Light, the woman that had once been a priestess yet became the potential sacrifice for the ritual that the party had stopped. At first, the young priestess was resigned to her death, but after Chrysander spent a few hours regaling her with tales of his own self-importance and academic accomplishments, she gave in to the unorthodox torture method and spoke at length about the Followers of Light. Their scriptures taught them that the God of Light, the first true God, lay trapped in a cage in the Pit of the Infernus and only a ritual known as the Rite of the Prophecy could free the trapped god. Apparently, the rite required six artifacts: the Tome of the Oricalcum Key, the Blood of the Demon Slain, the Demon Heart Lantern, the Talon of Ashur, the Warmask of the Black Court and the Crystal of Souls. With Chrysander's intellect, he was able to reason that the Blood of the Demon Slain referred to the Blood of Meritus he had been carrying, and that all he had to do in order to meet the words of the Oracle Amandrea's guidance was to destroy one of the items, thus fouling the prophecy. Instead of destroying the Blood, however, he hid it in the catacombs beneath the Temple of the Three Graces, until he could figure out what to do next.

As the band discussed the information Chrysander had learned, a bell began to toll at the port. Stepping outside, the party noticed the warship 'Vengeance' sailing into the bay, flying the banners of Synovia. The adventurers rushed down to the port alongside the locals to watch as an elite warrior-noble came ashore in a longboat. Announcing himself as the Warlord Nigritsu, the warrior claimed to come to Newport in the name of the Emperor's Throne in Synovia, and called upon the loyalty of the locals to their crown. When the man asked for the local Lord-Mayor, Calyt the Shade pushed Warlord Andrus forward. After a warm greeting, Andrus directed the Warlord Nigritsu to the council of elders. A few words passed between the two Warlords in regards to the Magus Chrysander; apparently, Nigritsu had met the young magus before and did not think highly of him.

Gathering the town's leaders, as well as most of the party, in the Town Hall, Nigritsu announced that the Emperor-King Apostoles had died in the Scything Times, and that Synovia was ruled by a Council of Lords who were seeking an heir with a proper bloodline to ascend to the throne. It turned out that the Warlord Andrus's eldest aunt held one of the seven seats on the Council. As she had hired assassins to slay him in the past, the Warlord Andrus did not appreciate his aunt Nikia Phaetren's ascension to a position of such importance.

Once the news was dispersed, the Warlord Nigritsu asked all local nobles and peasantry to swear fealty to the Emperor's Throne and the Council of Lords, as their legal representative. Once that was accomplished, the Warlord carried out his orders: he had come to collect a tax of three months' food and harvest from each household in the name of Synovia. The people were incensed, having just come out from under the iron grasp of the tyrant Lord Morvel, only to have the Council of Lords strike them while they were down and take their food stores. Soldiers were sent at once into the streets to gather the goods they had come for.

A number of fights broke out, and the adventurers felt that they could not stand up to Warlord Nigritsu or the Council of Lords, so they urged the rebellious town folk to give in to the Council's demands. However, the Warlord Andrus suggested that, since the soldiers did not know the extent of the plague, the villagers should make claims to a blight that affected their crops as well, and put some in hiding. Meanwhile, Calyt the Shade spoke to several soldiers about the vagaries of the Red Death. Soon, the soldiers were not willing to touch the villagers very much, and the turn out was much less than the Warlord Nigritsu expected. After more frustration, the Warlord Nigritsu announced that he would travel up north to Greenfell the next morning, and collect taxes there.

Given their affiliations with Greenfell, the adventurers took off in the night to race back and prepare them for the coming of Warlord Nigritsu. The trip was not without incident. In the rough country between villages, they encountered spoor of the apelike Sasquatch. Shortly thereafter, they noticed they were being followed. When a rock flew out of the darkness to strike at Warlord Andrus, who bore the torch that lit the way for the party, they knew a fight was coming. Within seconds, three Sasquatches charged into the party, seeking a quick meal. Although the fight was rough at first, the party quickly turned the tables on the Sasquatches, and soon, the three smelly beasts lay dead at their feet.

Hurrying on, the party pushed themselves and made it to Greenfell with a few hours of darkness remaining.

And that's where the session ended...

The Commentary:

This session started off as more of an information session, providing some background material to the players about the rest of the world. In addition, I got to bring in two more enemies: Andrus's aunts and Chrysander's rival. The other thing I got to do was discharge Yngvar of his duty to deliver a missive to the emperor written back in Trader's Point two months prior, just after the scything times. This removed some of the pressure for heading to Synovia and allowed the players to pursue their own goals without an externally applied timetable. I wanted to intercept some growing frustrations I was seeing, and place the players back in charge of the direction of the campaign.

I honestly thought they would try to stand up to Warlord Nigritsu, given the sheer arrogance with which I portrayed him and the oppressive nature of the Council of Lords' tax decree. However, they chose not to pursue the matter, probably remembering how devastating the last Warlord was, and instead pursued a more subversive path.

Seeing them go off the grid somewhat, we had some good RP moments with their efforts to stop the looting of the Newport resources, but I still had 45 minutes of game left and nothing planned when they headed north towards Greenfell. Then I remembered the Sasquatch I'd detailed in the beginning of the game for an earlier encounter they did not get to experience, so I brought them back out for this session. I used some Chewbacca miniatures for the Sasquatch and the players loved it. The fight was good, showing that they had remembered their lessons from the previous week, and I had a good time throwing three Wild Card monsters against them. Definitely time to power up some encounters for them.

Next session, they are likely to head off towards Moonwell, a city under siege by a ragtag band of exiles that call themselves the Sundered Kings. This should give me plenty of opportunities for mixed monster and large group encounters. Yay!

Wish Them Luck,
Flynn

 

[Woas]

Flynn, thank you for these write ups. It's funny, I had my eye on Savage Worlds for a bit and then finally decided to purchase the latest Explorers Edition. Right after I put the order in I discovered your thread here, read through it and was happy I was getting the book.

I currently run an Iron Heroes game and looks like its going to be coming to an end in the next two-three months. A WW2 or Space Opera Savage Worlds game should be taking its place soon afterwards to mix it up a bit, as d20 in general is kind of getting on my nerves.

I don't have any specific rules questions as I'm still waiting for the book to be delivered. From what I've absorbed from reviews and info about the game it's been said the rules imply a mini-heavy game. Do you guys use minis and mat or is it more loose with the minis?

 

[Flynn]

I don't have any specific rules questions as I'm still waiting for the book to be delivered. From what I've absorbed from reviews and info about the game it's been said the rules imply a mini-heavy game. Do you guys use minis and mat or is it more loose with the minis?

While I use minis and a mat a lot in my home games, I have run a demo of Savage Worlds without minis, as well as played in one under the same conditions. The rules work just as well without them in my experience, but like always, I prefer to use the minis because it helps the players visualize the scenario. It's far easier to run Savage Worlds without minis than it is to run D20 without minis, and as I've now done both, I feel comfortable in making that statement. (That's mostly because of handling the Attacks of Opportunity, btw. Minis do help with the visualizing for those purposes.)

Hope This Helps,
Flynn

 

[Flynn]

Session Notes - 03/05/08

Good Morning, All:

Last night's session was a lot of fun, as I introduced some more Cool Factor into the world, and gave the group a larger combat experience against foes of mixed capacities (melee, ranged and magical). Aside from that, we had a lot of good RP fun, and they seem excited for next week's session. Yay!

The Synopsis:

The adventurers arrived in Greenfell a few hours before dawn. Speaking with Captain Volus, the Warlord Andrus presented him with news of Warlord Nigritsu's immenent arrival later that day, and of the horrible taxation that would be levied upon the locals. As Volus's men set about securing food to help Greenfell survive the winter, the party rested and then took to the road well before Nigritsu's vessel, the Vengeance, could arrive in port.

The party had decided to head off towards Moonwell, for Yngvar the Wall held the exiled dwarves and brigands known as the Sundered Kings in contempt, and considered them his enemy. Out of respect for the dwarf's growing need to deal with this menace, the band, sated by news of Synovia, made their way southwest, away from the Great Lake Tempest. Captain Volus, knowing the way would be dangerous, as Moonwell was under siege by the Sundered Kings, insisted that some of his men go along. The Warlord Andrus compromised, and took along only five archers, locals skilled in the ways of hunting with bows.

By noon, the party had found signs of large patrols moving in the area, searching farms and hills for food and other items of interest. Despite the vigilance of the two at point, Calyt the Shade and an archer/root junkie called Epilus, dwarven crossbowmen got the drop on the band, nearly downing the Pasalovakian rogue while leaving the intoxicated archer unharmed.

Anzjin the Stave (with his newly crafted spear in hand) performed an act of faith that granted him the ability to move twice as quickly as normal, and made a beeline for the hillock upon which the Sundered crossbowmen stood. As he surged forward, he noted a large group of Sundered warriors hiding behind a large boulder, as well as a lone caster hiding on the other side of a nearby hill. All were dwarven, and all bore the shaved countenance of one exiled from their homelands. The elven priest warned the rest of his party, and the fight was on.

The Magus Chrysander used his sonic blast several times during the combat, first felling many of the dwarven warriors that rushed the front line of the party and then demolishing half of the crossbowmen a few seconds later. Meanwhile, Calyt the Shade burrowed into the earth and made his way underground to deal with the dwarves on the hill on a more personal level. Yngvar held the front line, as well as the Warlord Andrus. The Greenfell archers basically kept the crossbowmen busy until Calyt could pop up and slay the last of them. Anzjin and the dwarven cabalist faced off against one another, but despite the wounds that the cabalist dealt with his hellfire bolts, Anzjin was quick to down him.

In the end, the party dropped all thirteen of the Sundered patrol, and only lost one man themselves, a Greenfell archer named Calcanus. Those that suffered from combat were quickly healed by the magical ministrations of Anzjin, as well as the use of the Hand of Joven relic that Brother Claudius had gifted to Magus Chrysander before the band left Newport. The Warlord Andrus decided to send the four archers back to Greenfell with the body of Calcanus, feeling that they would be of better aid to the village than on this mission.

Limping along, the party continued to head in the direction of Moonwell, trying to skirt the main trade roads as much as possible to avoid further conflict with the Sundered King patrols. About midway through the afternoon, the group spied signs of a mercenary band in the distance. The stealthier of the bunch moved up to investigate, only to discover that these were refugees from the end of the siege on Moonwell. Led by a large rhino-man (a Rhinan from the lands of Achea across the Great Lake Tempest) named Gerus the Big, they had fled when the raiders broke through the doors of the walled village of Moonwell. Apparently, the Tower of Agerion, a magical tower from the Age of Legends, began walking once again when the Sundered Kings broke into the village, and it walked straight through the wooden palisade, leaving an opening that the refugees could use.

The party asked further about the Tower of Agerion, and learned from the locals that the Archmage Agerion built many such towers and tombs as death traps to hide ancient artifacts and relics within. The party surmised that the Grand Magus Tenebrus, the former occupant of the tower, had died recently, for the tower only seemed to walk when it had no master. Several of the refugees recited a story about the first magical blade of the Ancient Dwarven Kings, the sword Tiwazbrandr, which belonged to the first Dwarven Clan-King Sigurd. Upon Sigurd's death, his comrade the Archmagus Agerion took the blade at the king's last behest, and hid it away in preparation for some future giant war. Local rumor said that it might be within the tower itself. The party thought perhaps that was what the Sundered Emperor was truely after.

Gerus the Big suggested that the party seek out an old hermit that lived along the edge of the fey-infested Skeinwood, a "cat man" named Ol' Nubius. The stories told to the party implied a crazy old man that loved cats, and knew things he should not know. The adventurers decided to look up the old hermit, and so set out once more to circle around Moonwell and approach the Skeinwood. They arrived late in the evening, and slept hard, although they kept watch.

In the early light of the false dawn, the Magus Chrysander was surprised when a black panther started growling from the shadows. As Chrysander tensed, the cat leapt upon a nearby boulder and flashed its sharp teeth at the man, shaking him. Before he could recover, another human voice spoke out, asking in rhyming speech why these brave adventurers had come to the woods of the fey. When Chrysander responded, the man did not appear to hear. The Warlord Andrus, awakened by the commotion, was greeted again by the old man's rhyming speech. Remembering from his childhood that the fey only spoke in rhyme, he and the others began a halting dialog with the hermit, who bore a winged cat upon his shoulder.

In due course, and with well-composed questions, the band determined that they were speaking with Ol' Nubius himself and learned that the Sundered Emperor was indeed looking for the tower as well. Instead of finding that which the Emperor seeks within the tower however, Ol' Nubius informed them that the blade of Tiwazbrandr lay in the depths of the fey wood, buried in a tree, and it could only be released by those pure of sin and with the blood of kings in their veins.

However, to recover the sword, the band would have to overcome three challenges: the Blood Wolves of the Skeinwood, the Great Black Mother serpents and a warden by the name of Gordan. With that said, the old man turned and, accompanied by the black panther and his winged dragoncat, stepped into the Skeinwood to fade into the leaves and early morning mist.

And that's where the session ended...

The Commentary:

The big fight near the beginning of the session actually took less than an hour, with 10 good guys (the five PCs and their five Extras, the Greenfell Archers) against the 13 bad guys (four crossbowmen, eight warriors and a cabalist). I did not make any of the bad guys into Wild Cards, and in retrospect, I think I should have done so with at least one of the warriors and/or the cabalist. However, I wanted to see how the party and the system could be able to handle the large numbers, as well as how viable casters were as Extras instead of Wild Cards.

All in all, the fight went very well, and ended very quickly considering the numbers involved. I used a few hills and a big boulder I'd picked up on eBay in an effort to start adding terrain to the game. It helped a lot, and added that "fog of war" feeling to the conflict as the elven priest ran along the road and revealed the additional enemies beyond the crossbowmen on the hill.

I had given the Warlord Andrus a few troops to use, since he had a number of leadership edges, but while he controlled the Greenfell Archers, he did not stay in range so that they could benefit from his Edges. Oh, well, he'll learn as he gets more chances in the future.

Casters can work as Extras, but they go down pretty quick. If you want a caster with staying power, I'd suggest you make them a Wild Card. However, I do think it creates a certain feeling that not all the casters of your setting are these "Unstoppable Forces of Might and Magic" if the party runs into some that are just Extras, at least every once in a while. This one used Bolt and Deflection, but went down to a well-Aced combat roll by Anzjin, so the Deflection didn't help the guy much.

After the conflict, I got the chance to introduce a place of wonder with a tower that walks. There are surprisingly several adventures I have that involve a walking tower, and this gives me a chance to use them later, if I so choose. Also, the Archmagus Agerion provides me with reasons for having secret deathtrap tombs with treasure in the future, so I liked adding that bit of detail, too.

As a quick aside, I picked up a number of rhek minis that look a lot like rhino-men, so I decided to introduce them as a far-away race. They'll never meet another unless they head to Achea, but I wanted to plant some seeds now for that eventual adventure.

A few years ago, I was watching "Who's Line Is It Anyway?" and listening to one of their skits, the Irish Drinking song, when I came upon the realization that speaking in rhyme worked really well for setting the fey apart from other encounters. Since then, I've used it several times in several campaigns, and those have always been memorable for the players. It's a challenge to speak entirely in rhyme, but you'll find that it becomes a lot easier once you get going. I hadn't done it in this campaign as yet, so the crazy old hermit being so closely tied with the fey-infested Skeinwood provided me a great excuse to do so. More than half of my players hadn't experienced it before, and Warlord Andrus (who had been through it before) was caught without prepared rhymes, so he had to wing it. They did a good job, and several of them got in on the act. I had a great time roleplaying that scene.

The story of Tiwazbrandr was inspired by the real Norse legend of the Sword of Sigurd, in which Odin placed a sword in a tree and said that only the greatest of warriors could pull it loose and would be kind. The imagery lent itself centuries later to the tale of King Arther and the Sword in the Stone, and so I felt it would appeal to the players. Sticking with the Norse theme, the Blood Wolves were inspired by Fenris, and the Great Black Mother snakes came from Fenris's sibling, the World Serpent Jormungand. The warden is actually inspired by the old Sentinels boxed set from the Role-Aids product line back in the early 90s by Mayfair Games, but is colored to draw inference from the last Knight Templar that guards the Holy Grail in the third Indiana Jones movie. This adventure will be quite fun to run next week. That is, unless they are afraid to enter the Skeinwood for fear of talking in rhymes again. Hehehe, we shall see.

Wish Them Luck,
Flynn

 

[beldar1215]

Flynn,
I posted over on the Pinnacle boards as well. I'm having a great time reading your game updates. Keep them coming. I hope to get the chance to run a fantasy game soon. I'm currently running a pulp game.

I have only run twice, but I have had the best time. I run two D20 games and I always feel like I have to much to remember and I'm always missing something. With SW, I was just going with the flow. I was able to wing it. In my D20 games, I really never feel that comfortable.

Beldar

 

[Flynn]

Flynn,
I posted over on the Pinnacle boards as well. I'm having a great time reading your game updates. Keep them coming. I hope to get the chance to run a fantasy game soon. I'm currently running a pulp game.

I have only run twice, but I have had the best time. I run two D20 games and I always feel like I have to much to remember and I'm always missing something. With SW, I was just going with the flow. I was able to wing it. In my D20 games, I really never feel that comfortable.

Beldar

Beldar:

Just wait until you try running fantasy under SW! Oh, man, it's an amazingly liberating experience. As you can probably tell from my session notes, I've started doing things with the story that would be a lot harder to handle in the restrictive or complex rules of D20. I find Savage Worlds to be a great change of pace, and would highly recommend you give a fantasy game a shot sometime.

Let me know if you need any help or guidance, and I will offer what I can. Hopefully, you'll find some inspiration in this thread, as I'm trying to document some of the steps along the way. I hope it helps.

With Warm Regards,
Flynn

 

[Flynn]

A One Shot Diversion 03/12/08

Good Morning, All:

Last night, we had two players out, one for Spring Break and one due to work. Because of that, we decided to try a One Shot instead. The players decided they wanted to try a Lost World-style Pulp adventure with Nazis and Dinosaurs, so while they created characters, I made a few quick mental notes and looked up some dino stats in the Savage Beasts PDF that can be found online for free. This is what happened...

The Synopsis:

The Professor (sadly I can't remember the character's name, save that his initials were Z.A.P.) was engaged in an expedition deep into the heart of the jungles of Africa. He was accompanied by his "guardian", an ex-Mafioso named Thaddeus Black, who had the bad habit of speaking of himself in the third person. The Big Game Hunter Cotaro served as the expedition's guide. Sadly, the expedition was ill-fated, as an explosion in the boiler room forced all to abandon ship, and so it was that these three came to be in the same rowboat, literally up a creek without a paddle. After a few hours of floating, the boat drifted down a side tributary that slowly began picking up speed.

Around noon, the band of three heard the roaring of a waterfall ahead, and so sprang into desperate action, trying to get the rowboat to shore before it could plummet into the depths of a mysterious valley that lay ahead. Using the stocks of their rifles as paddles, the three put forth a valiant effort and made it ashore without going over.

The Big Game Hunter sought out an animal trail that could hopefully take them through the jungle to a point where they might find other people and make their way back to civilization. Instead, they found a mechanical contraption that lowered a platform into the valley below. Curious as to the traffic in this area, the party looked out into the valley. Both the Professor and the Big Game Hunter spied a heavily walled and fortified encampment in the valley below, and the Big Game Hunter noted through his scope that it appears to be inhabited by German military forces of their new Nationalist-Socialist party. As he watched, the Nazis brought in a beautiful native woman clothed only in the traditional native leather bikini. Being heroic, as well as in need of a radio for help, the party decided this was the quickest path to find their rescue.

A few minutes of puttering around, and the Professor was able to rig the platform to descend slowly without someone at the controls in the station above. It was a long ride down, through clouds and fog. Along the way, they noted numerous locations where gold ore was exposed on the valley's walls, as well as blast marks that indicated that the Germans were mining the ore, probably to help their depressed economy. In addition, the three noted that their descent had attracted other attention as well: a large pteranodon just like the model hanging up in the museum soared through the air en route to the platform.

The Big Game Hunter, spurred on by this prize, aimed for the oncoming beast and once he was within range, shot him with his Sharps 50. Though shaken, the beast kept moving forward, aiming for platform and the people upon it. Thaddeus Black began emptying ammo into the beast, as the Professor unlimbered his Aetheric Discharging Device and pumped some lightning into it. The creature barely made it to the platform when the party finally slew the beast, sending the carcass plummeting into the clouds below.

More watchful, the party continued their trip through clouds and fog, to finally make it to the valley floor below. High up in the trees of the jungle around the clearing, the three noted the mangled corpse of the pteranodon. Seeing a road well travelled leading from the platform site into the valley towards the walled encampment that was likely miles away, they elected to travel in the jungle close to the road to avoid unwanted attention. The Big Game Hunter noted a game trail frequented by large reptiles and barefooted natives parallelled the road, and so the three moved rather quickly through the underbrush.

Soon the game trail opened onto a large clearing, where several wooden posts had been set up, more than a man's height, with chains and manacles mounted from the top of each post. At the base of one lay a few boxes marked with swastika. Before the party could investigate, however, four large and brooding Neanderthals skulked out of the jungle and approached the boxes. The party watched as the four primitive near-men began picking through the boxes, only to be interrupted from a spear thrown from the underbrush on the opposite side of the clearing. A band of native humans began to attack the cavemen, and the party quickly chose to support their species.

The fight with the Neanderthals went rather well for our heroes, as they dropped the primitive leader (who bore an old flintlock pistol that fired a single shot before it was discarded), and chased the other warriors into the humans. The Professor's lightning gun did a great job on one of the warriors, and Thaddeus Black dealt quickly and swiftly with the other two warriors, delivering two devastating punches that dropped them dead in their tracks.

With that, the three explorers quickly made friends with the surviving natives, and learned that they sought Deloba, the woman they saw captured earlier in the Nazi camp. The natives' leader, Anan, bargained with the party through pantomimes and drawings in the dirt: he would help them if they went with him to rescue Deloba first. The three agreed, and so after raiding the boxes for supplied (food, whiskey and a small bag of gunpowder) the small force of seven men (four natives and three adventurers) worked their way through the jungle towards the hills around the valley's lake, where the Nazi camp lie.

At the base of the hills, the party heard a terribly large beast rumbling through the jungle in their general direction. While the natives hid, the Big Game Hunter prepared his Sharps 50 to fire upon the beast, should it come in their direction. Out of the trees ahead, a huge tyrannosaurus rex stepped out, seeking a noon-time snack. The Professor let loose with an exclamation that drew the beast's attentions, so instead of just passing by, the t-rex decided the party would make a good snack.

It was a messy and brutal fight, as all of the natives save Anan fled into back into the jungle, leaving the three to fend for themselves. The thick hide and sheer size of the beast protected it from all but the most well-placed shots, and it became desperate times for the party as a whole. Thaddeus Black had several close calls, losing his shirt and taking several wounds to the t-rex's vicious onslaught. Finally, the Professor came up with a plan to throw the gunpowder into the dinosaur's mouth and then explode it with his lightning gun. Sadly, he missed the mouth of the beast, so he had to slip up close to the beast and try again. Grabbing the gunpowder, he cast it into the mouth but was unable to hit the explosive bag with the last of his lightning gun's energy. Thaddeus Black, however, stepped up, putting his gun into the beast's roaring mouth and pulling the trigger. The gunpowder exploded, blowing a dagger-like tooth into the Professor's shoulder as it brought the dinosaur near to death. A final, well-placed shot shortly thereafter laid the King of Beasts low.

And that's where we ended the session and the One Shot...

The Commentary:

Man, but dinosaurs are tough, particularly the T-Rex. It's almost as bad as a dragon. It took some wild maneuvers and called shots to get through its sizable Toughness. Fortunately, its Huge size helped to offset some of the penalties for striking a particular hit location. That last encounter gave the PCs a taste of what a dragon might be like, and they are now concerned for the dragon that lies between Newport and Synovia in the regular campaign.

It was just a lot of fun coming up with characters in less than half an hour and still playing a full adventure on the spur of the moment in a brand new genre. In less than three hours, the party fought a pteranodon, a group of cavemen and a huge T-Rex. They seemed to have fun, though the lack of bennies in the last combat made it very, very challenging.

While this isn't a continuation of the normal campaign notes, I felt I should include it here as an example of the versatility of Savage Worlds (and things you can do when all your players can't make it but you still want to game.)

As always, if you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to post them.

With Regards,
Flynn

 

[beldar1215]

Flynn,
That sounds like it was a blast (no pun intened). Did you have plans for them to storm the Nazi base or are you saving that for another one shot? It could see this making a really fun game for a con. Let me know if you go any further with this. If not would you mind if I flesh it out a little and submit it for a Con here in Colorado, giving you credit of course.

Beldar

 

[Flynn]

Flynn,
That sounds like it was a blast (no pun intened). Did you have plans for them to storm the Nazi base or are you saving that for another one shot? It could see this making a really fun game for a con. Let me know if you go any further with this. If not would you mind if I flesh it out a little and submit it for a Con here in Colorado, giving you credit of course.

Beldar

Bear in mind that this was an off-the-cuff One Shot. I essentially had the twenty to thirty minutes it took them to build their characters for me to come up with a basic plot and the motivations behind different elements going on. Every lost world adventure should start with rescuing a beautiful native girl (because all the books do), and so I ran with that thought. The original concept was simple:

a. See the camp and the girl, so the heroic types are motivated to go save her;
b. Face a pteranodon on the way down the cliff;
c. Meet the cavemen and save the natives;
d. Avoid the T-Rex (he was originally there just for color, and possibly useful later on as a distraction during the Nazi camp scene, if the PCs thought to lure him to the Nazis);
e. Sneak into the Nazi camp, rescue the girl and find the way home.

The rest, as they say, would be window dressing. The radio can't get much further than this lost valley, but they'd learn the schedule of the next supply run, and I'd storytell how they captured a truck and made it back to civilization at the end of the night. Nothing big, but a nice glimpse into a lost world scenario, with a nice Nazi fight and some dinosaurs, right?

I didn't count on one of the PCs having a Big Mouth, which in turn attracted the beast to them. Hehehe. So I changed plans on the fly, and when the fight was over, it was almost time to wrap things up, so we closed up the game with the PCs heading off to join the natives, etc., etc.

Feel free to take the core concept and flesh it out into an exciting two-fisted pulp action sequence as you wish. Don't worry about giving me credit or anything, although I do appreciate the thought. By the time you run the game, it will pretty much be all yours. And if you do run it for a Con, please share with us how it went. I'm eager to hear.

The next One Shot, which may be months from now, but the next One Shot may be a continuation, it may be another Pulp game, or it may be another genre entirely. I'll leave it up to the players, and we'll see what happens.

Wish Them Luck,
Flynn

 

[Flynn]

Session Notes - 03/19/08

Good Morning, All:

Last night, we had a full house, and so it came to pass that we resumed our regularly scheduled fantasy campaign, already in progress. Although it was somewhat combat intensive, we did have a lot of fun with roleplay and background development as well.

The Synopsis:

After watching the hermit, Ol' Nubius, disappear into the forest, the band ate a quick cold breakfast and then proceeded into the fey wood. Yngvar Stonewall led the way, for this was his quest, and it seemed that the Skeinwood opened to his forceful presence, as trees and plants seemed to move aside to reveal a narrow path. The morning fog clung to the wood, as fey mists are apt to do, and so the adventurers could not see more than thirty or forty feet away.

After an hour or so, the woods grew quite, and the elven priest Anzjin the Stave noted the nearby presence of large predators moving almost silently through the fog. He let forth a warning cry as large blood wolves charged forth from the mists. The leader of the pack heard the outcry and, noting that their surprise assault was rendered ineffective, howled a challenge of his own, quickly joined by the other three of his band.

Few succumbed to the fearful presence brought about by the blood wolves' howls, and the band of adventurers quickly threw themselves into battle. The leader suffered the concentrated efforts of the party, falling first, which left the rest of the pack to fend for themselves. Through superior numbers, the party emerged victorious. The fighting was fierce, and although the adventurers survived the assault without a scratch, there were a number of close calls.

When the battle was done, the carcass of the leader of the pack rose it's head and began speaking in a feyish tongue to Anzjin, the one that landed the final blow and felled him. The Magus Chrysander quickly cast a Speak Languages spell, and was able to understand the words of the beast. In short, the wolf stated that, as the victor, he should mark himself with the blood wolf's blood and proceed forward, where he will meet the Black Mother Serpents as his next challenge. When the magus translated, the party marked themselves or their equipment with the blood of the pack leader, and then followed Yngvar deeper into the Skeinwood.

An hour or so passed, and the twisting trail emptied into a clearing. A natural spring pours forth from a rock wall, forming a small pond in the midst of the clearing. As Yngvar walked confidently forward to the pool and looked in, the rest of the party entered the clearing behind him. Calyt the Shade, being somewhat paranoid of ents and the Black Mother Serpents, climbed a nearby tree to prepare to make a ranged assault on whatever should come. As Yngvar peered into the water of the pool, he was filled with a vision, recalling the day he made his vow against the Sundered in perfect detail. As his vision ended, the water rippled and a huge serpent, black as night, rose up from the waters and towered over him. Meanwhile, a number of large serpents crawled forth from the clearing's edge, while another slithered across the branches of Calyt's tree, surprising the rogue by the suddenness of its presence near him.

All but Yngvar were filled with fear by the presence of the Great Black Mother Serpent, though they fought valiantly. Calyt, in an effort to flee the serpent in the tree with him, dove forward agilely to the ground and burrowed into it using his magic. Like a diver entering a pool, his body was swallowed by the earth without harm. The tree serpent, having no one to feast upon, slithered down the tree and over to the closest target, the Magus Chrysander, landing on him a terrible blow. The rest of the band, led by the Warlord Andrus, fought the lesser serpents, leaving Yngvar to face the challenge of the Great Black Mother Serpent on his own. The dwarf found the challenge fitting, and despite being attacked by another serpent seeking to protect the Great One, the dwarf kept his attentions focused on the mother of all serpents. After an exchange of blows, Yngvar finally hooked the serpent's teeth with his shield, pulling the great head down where he landed a fiercesome blow on the fey beast, felling it. As he fought against the Great One, the others in the adventurers' band struck down the lesser serpents. Anzjin was even able to bring Chrysander back from the brink of death with a well-timed healing spell, after which Chrysander used the Gauntlet of Joven to restore his health.

All told, the battle with the Black Mother Serpents left a few of the party wounded, and much of their magic spent. The body of the Great Black Mother Serpent spoke to the party in a hissing feyish tongue, but Chrysander was too shaken to get his spell up in time to understand. Uncertain as to what to do, the party recovered briefly, and then Yngvar, followed by others, took a moment to gather a scale from the Great One as proof of their victory, for the wolf had called for them to mark themselves with his blood earlier. With that, the adventurers pushed onward, determined to achieve their goal and leave the feywood before nightfall, for none shall stay in the feywood at night and survive till dawn, or so legend has told.

As the sun reached its zenith, the party finally stumbled into another clearing, this one unmarked by mist or shadow. Within the center of the clearing stood an old and ancient ent, with a ancient great sword buried deep within its trunk, so that only the rune-covered hilt showed. At the base of the tree, a lithe man of white hair and silvery eyes rested. As the party entered, he rose, preparing a silvered shield and war pick. The party, recalling the advice of Ol' Nubius, chose to parley instead of fight.

Using Chrysander's Speak Language spell, Yngvar spoke to the knightly man, Sir Gordian, and learned that he was a Custodian Sentinel of the Fourth Dominion. It was his place to guard the sword Tiwazbrandr from evil, and only allow those of purpose and will the chance to attempt to draw it forth from the tree. After witnessing the blooded shield and the serpent scale that Yngvar presented, the party faltered when Sir Gordian asked for a symbol of their third challenge. The party invited Sir Gordian to join them for a small feast, and they toasted their accomplishments, presenting their worth in tales and stories. When they were done eating, Sir Gordian requested once more for the third symbol. After an exchange where Sir Gordian questioned Yngvar as to his purpose for coming after the blade, he asked Yngvar to recite his vow against the Sundered Kings. When the lengthy vow was duly quoted, and Sir Gordian was satisfied, he granted the dwarf permission to attempt to draw Tiwazbrandr from the ent. The blade gave to his will, and with a strong pull, Yngvar freed the ancient dwarven blade from the ent.

The Sentinel gave his farewells, and ascended to the Vault of Heaven amidts a celestial chorus and divine light, leaving the party to return through the Skeinwood. Having spoken with the ent that bore the sword, Chrysander learned that they must leave the few wood before nightfall, lest they be immasculated by the ents because the elven priest has been carrying around a spear made from the heartwood of the ent from Amberdale. The Magus urged his companions to leave the Skeinwood, and they emerged on the periphery a few hours before dusk.

Making their way toward Moonwell, the party arrived at the edge of the flattened fields outside the walls of the village. Shortly after dusk, Calyt transformed himself into an owl and flew about Moonwell, quickly gathering tactical information on the disposition of the Sundered Kings. Upon his return, he relayed the information to the Warlord Andrus, who deduced that the Sundered Emperor and the White Magus were not present in the village, as the patrols were unorganized and the Sundered were drunk more often than not. Having evaluated the holding force, the party retired to a cold supper that evening as they discussed their future plans...

And that's where we ended the session.

The Commentary:

It was a fun adventure. The players enjoyed the more roleplay-oriented "challenge of the fey" approach to the combat sequences, which gave them a somewhat elevated significance instead of just being treated like random encounters. I got the chance to be descriptive, and the presence of ents everywhere caused Calyt to act quite scared and paranoid. (If you might recall, he was nearly laid low with one blow by the corrupted ent in the Amberdale adventure a few months back.)

It was definitely Yngvar's adventure, and he stepped up into the limelight with dwarven gusto. The others had dealt with much of their backgrounds in previous adventures, and so this particular quest was to help rectify some of that. He seemed to thoroughly enjoy the game, as did the others. While he had the spotlight, the others all had their places to shine in last night's tale. I particularly enjoyed watching both Yngvar and Calyt attempt more cinematic maneuvers. Calyt's always been strong in that area, but Yngvar has begun stepping out of the tried and true, which also made the combats memorable for me.

Tiwazbrandr is a powerful relic. In the hands of a non-dwarf, it's only a +1 great sword. However, in the hands of a dwarf, it's a +2 great sword with both Giant Killer and Demon Bane (i.e. it does +1d6 damage to giants or demons). It's probably one of the most powerful weapons I'm likely to introduce to the game, but given its mythic origins and backstory, I think it will be okay. And should it ever become a problem, I have ways of dealing with the issue in-game, due to the cultural significance of the blade in dwarven society.

This is the second major item I've given the party (the first being the Gauntlet of Joven). In another adventure or two, I'll provide them with another item and so forth. I like giving them nice things like this, but I'm doing so slowly, so that I can get used to the impact of an item on the game before I introduce another one. In time, they will all have an item that is special for them.

System-wise, I am enjoying the use of Agility tricks more and more. Calyt's dive into the earth was an Agility trick to try and shake the snake in the tree, which he succeeded in doing, followed by a dive and activating the Burrow power. Given that he did so well on the Agility trick as well as the casting roll, I decided that he did not have to take any falling damage (like a swimmer diving into a lake from a similar height). The visual in our collective imaginations was quite evocative.

Yngvar pulled another one, with an Agility trick to wedge his shield in the mouth of the serpent and bask its head in. Mechanically, we went with an Agility trick (which he used a benny to reroll to get a better result). He was successful enough to shake the huge serpent, and then he followed it up with a called shot to the head. He hit hard, and his damage aced. Applying a total of 30 points against the serpent's 16 Toughness, the blow dealt a vicious three wounds. As the serpent was already down two wounds, and I was out of bennies, I rolled for incapacitation and failed horribly. He had slain the beast (and earned a bennie for cool cinematic action at the same time). Well done, well done!

Like I said, it was a good night. Ahead, the party has a number of options. They are considering gathering a force together from Trader's Point, Greenfell and Newport to fight the Sundered at Moonwell. Not only will this give them a chance to use the mass battle rules again, but it will represent a step forward in the direction of the campaign, as they move into leadership roles among the local communities and begin to forge a land of their own against the tides of darkness. If so, then these are very exciting times, indeed.

I also took a moment at the end of the session to take an informal poll among the players, to see if they are enjoying the game. They all said unanimously that they are having a blast. I must be doing something right, then.

Wish Them Luck,
Flynn