session prep

Medieval Spain, prep for Vampire: the dark ages rpg session

David Skelector Fantasy, jeux de rôles, Roleplaying Game, RPG, session prep, vampire: dark ages, world of darkness

The time for our yearly vampire game is near already. I’m not sure at all that we’ll manage to find a date that fits for everyone but I have to assume we will and get ready (about time!). Just after the session last year I was thinking that next time I would send the PCs to the New World alongside Spanish conquistadores but I’m now reluctant to do so for several reasons:

  1. There’s alternative interesting options that could get them anywhere in the world or they could stay in Spain and, yeah, it would be much better if they chose for themselves
  2. It’s still a bit early for our timeline unless we skip a century (or fudge history).
  3. It’s a lot of research for an area of the world that I don’t know well. They could start in Hispaniola, go on a rampage inland, get into Tenochtitlan alongside Cortès would be one possibility I guess? Maybe.
  4. Fighting werejaguars and strange mesoamerican vampires and whatnot could be nice but I feel like the all-important intrigue side of Vampire would be quite shallow if I’m not fully prepared. It’s not D&D, fight scenes do happen but the bulk of the game lies elsewhere.

So anyway, my plan is to start just where we’ve ended last time, early in the 15th century, in the PC’s haven, the fortified city of Badajoz in Extremadura, Spain. From there opportunities to expand their horizon will certainly arise, and they could still move their homebase somewhere else but the Age of Sail is a bit further down the line so it gives us some time to choose.

Here’s some notes I can share that set the background for what’s coming:

Historical Context of the Iberian Peninsula in the 15th century

  • Right at the start of the 15th century Portuguese and Spanish sailors are mandated to find a way around Africa to get access to the East and beat the stranglehold that the Venetians and Ottomans had on this most lucrative of trade route. It won’t be until 1498 that Vasco de Gama reach India that way (he’s quite the ruthless guy this Vasco btw, they don’t mention this in school!)). It was discovered that Africa is a LOT larger than Europeans of the time thought it was. That fact led to try some even bolder sea journeys, this time to the West through the Atlantic.
  • There’s a constant power struggle between the monarchy, the nobility (the hidalgos and the great nobles of the South in particular), the cities and the rising merchant class.
  • From the beginning of its inception the infamous Spanish Inquisition was tightly linked with the Spanish Monarchy. Historically, it served more as an intrument of persecution against the jews and muslims that converted to catholicism than against witchcraft or anything else.
  • Sheep (wool) are a big deal in the economy of the time and there’s money to be made with the commerce of wool to Flanders. Accordingly there’s also a powerful sheep-herders union called the Mesta.
  • There’s some intermittent wars between Portugal and Castille, Castille and Aragon, Castille and the Granada Caliphat to the south (finally overcome in 1492 amidst a messy family dispute on the almohad side). Portugal is also allied with Britain, and Castile with France for a while, in opposing alliances.
  • There’s three great Orders of Knights, much like the well-known Templars, that were assembled to fight against the Muslims and that have castles all over the place.
  • Aragon and Castile will unite into one realm with the wedding of Ferdinand and Isabella in 1474 after a long and complicated struggle for dominance between rival factions (with quite a few low blows, (i.e discarding the rightful heiress after a smear campaign falsely pretending she was a bastard) and the rise of a new dynasty. I’ve read that in some ways it was a surprising turn of events as an alliance of Portugal and Castile could have been seen as more natural.

Mortals Institutions worth having influence over:

Christophe Colomb a la cour d’Isabelle IChristophe Colomb a la cour d’Isabelle I (“Christopher Columbus in the Court of Isabella I”), colour lithograph, c. 1840s; in the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
  • Monarchies: Portugal, Castile, Aragon
  • Great Nobles: the Enriquez, Mendoza and Guzmàn families
  • The Catholic Church
  • The Inquisition
  • The Orders of Knights: Santiago, Calatrava, Alcantara
  • Trade to the North via Oviedo and the Bay of Biscay
  • Increasingly far-reaching trade from Lisbon and Sevile
  • Local Town officials, elected or minor nobility
  • The Mesta, sheep herders Union
  • The Cortes, representative assembly of towns

Next session: D&D 5E, Temple of Fire

David Skelector D&D 5e, Dungeons and Dragons, Fantasy, Homebrew, jeux de rôles, Roleplaying Game, RPG, Ruins of chult campaign, session prep

Our next gaming session will be this weekend for Marjorie’s birthday. She tells me she’s eager to play her 10th level wizard again, and feel powerful, that’s what she said, so we’ll be back in our 5E campaign. We’ll return to the Château des Faussesflammes/Castle Xyntillan soon enough though as the kids much prefer it.

Anyway, last time we played the characters had entered the volcanic lair of fire-loving pterafolks. Their goal is to find the survivors of the Star Princess, an airship that crashed in the area a couple of weeks ago. They managed to enter the lair with stealth and immediately had a choice: turn left into a dimly lit area and explore discreetly or turn right and have a fight against a pterafolk leader and two dozens firenewts guards. They chose to fight. They pretty much decimated their opponents without much resistance and not long after, past a secret door, found the lair’s treasury.

Right there, after like 4 or 5 keyed areas, on a 3 levels, mid-sized dungeon.

That’s because I’m using Gygax’s Hall of the Fire Giant King layout:

The main concept is pretty neat in my opinion; the fire giant king, the « Dungeon Boss » and his treasure is accessible at the very start of the lair. But is it worth abandoning discretion so soon? The players have to make that choice and as designed, it will have a huge impact on how organized or not will be the dungeon’s defenses afterward. Because the goal of the adventure isn’t treasure this time around, it’s to find information (who united the giants in this case), attacking the Boss (and looting the place) can be actually detrimental to their mission.

So, I’m not actually running this adventure mind you, I just needed a map (I’m lazy with maps), but then I liked this idea and decided to use it. It’s a similar setup, in our game too the goal is to find someone, or clues at least. And as I said, my players chose to fight and loot, so our upcoming session will be combat-heavy as the defenders, who are intelligent and had time to organize, will try hard to repulse the invading adventurers. It’s fire-themed, with the aforementionned pterafolks and firenewts will be a variety of monsters that I didn’t use at all in the campaign until now. Including magma oozes, I have this great mini… I just have to use magma oozes!

Play report here.

Next D&D session prep – tropical waters

David Skelector D&D 5e, Dungeons and Dragons, Fantasy, Homebrew, jeux de rôles, Nature, Roleplaying Game, RPG, session prep ,

Next session won’t be sooner than next month. Summer is Garden Time and my already sparse gaming schedule always take a big hit. Anyway, I’m still doing some prep in advance.

The PCs will be going south on the Olung river. They’ll have a few river encounters en route, one that is set with the events of last session (can’t talk more about this for the moment!). They are on board of the Inexorable Barge, a magical boat that can cross the steepest of riverfall without a sweat, so they’ll advance at a steady pace without having to do perilous portage.

One major site that can be found along the way is the Gardens of Nangalore. It’s a location that comes from Tomb of Annihilation, one of the good ones, that I’ve modified/expanded a lot (still working on this). The PCs know that explorer Castigliar lost his life while exploring the site. They also know that there’s some kind of powerful demoness or sorceress at the heart of this place. They don’t need to go there. They do have a few incentives to explore it though, we’ll see if they will be tempted…

They’ll eventually reach Lake Luo and from there, they’ll have to find the Star Princess airship or its crew kept captive by pterafolks, or both.

Does the river look like this?

It’s not very clear from the ToA book what the Olung (or any other rivers) look like.

Or like that?

A tendancy that I’ve seen often in rpgs is to downsize things just so they’ll fit a hex map or a decor prop. There’s moments when Theatre of the Mind is the way to go, but you have to first visualize what you’re gonna describe to the players!

Here’s a link that I thought was very useful:

(saw this on reddit, posted from user RaRaAcererak)

https://rainforests.mongabay.com/06-rainforest-rivers-lakes-swamps.html

I’ve learned that a section of the Congo river is called the « Gates of Hell », a « 75 miles long canyon of impassable rapids ». That’s pretty impressive. Another case of Nature being more awe-inspiring than fantasy.

Which is one reason why I’ll be gardening instead of gaming. See ya!

Les documents de Tzolo

David Skelector Dungeons and Dragons, Fantasy, Homebrew, Roleplaying Game, RPG, session prep

Découverts dans le sarcophage de Tzolo les parchemins, protégés par des étuis contre lu passage du temps (des siècles), sont encore lisibles pour qui peut les déchiffrer. La magicienne Kalohan s’est employée à la tâche. Voici le résultat de ses efforts.

  • Une série de lettres provenant de Tzila, la soeur de Tzolo. À travers des détails anodins de la vie de tous les jours d’une arsitocrate, il y a des pointes d’inquiétudes sur l’avenir qui s’annonce sombre pour la civilisation olmane. Plus important, Tzila tente à plusieurs reprises de convaincre Tzolo de ne pas se joindre aux « Résurrectionnistes », que leur chef, un puissant sorcier du nom de Piyyat, n’est pas digne de confiance. (Tzolo refuse d’écouter les conseils de sa soeur et se fera construire une tombe, en concordance avec le maître-plan de Piyyat)
Quelqu’un ne sait pas boire son vin…
  • Un espion de Tzolo a obtenu quelques informations sur la tombe à construire d’un rival dénommé Iyayo. L’emplacement est indiqué sur une carte. De nombreux gardiens d’origines nécromantiques, des caryatides animées, quelques pièges magiques, sont à prévoir. Le complexe s’étendra sur deux niveaux, le sarcophage d’Iyayo se situera au deuxième niveau, qui est quelque part au-dessus du premier.
  • Tzolo a également obtenu des informations sur la future tombe d’un autre rival détesté, Nagiyat (également indiqué sur une carte). En soudoyant le Maître-Architecte Boukettu, expert en pièges, Tzolo a pu apprendre que le complexe est sur un seul niveau, qu’il y a de nombreuses portes secrètes (et fausses portes secrètes) et a obtenue des indices pour déjouer les pièges (qui sont très léthal) et trouver le sarcophage de Nagiyat, MAIS seulement sous la forme d’énigmes… Le maximum que Boukettu était prêt à faire pour trahir son employeur.
  • Un parchemin avec le sort Tidal Wave
  • Un parchemin avec le sort Transmute Rock
  • Un parchemin avec le sort Watery Sphere

A boat to Chult: the Amnian Fop

David Skelector D&D 5e, Dungeons and Dragons, Fantasy, Ruins of chult campaign, session prep

 

Another advantage of throwing away the dumb main plot of ToA is letting go of the time constraint (with the death curse and all).  This allows me a proper introduction to the campaign, which was totally lacking.

Also, NPC Shago has another role entirely. He’s no longer a Flaming Fist flunky.

Getting to Chult

Teleporting? Nope.

The PCs are going to Chult the long way: by boat.

Welcome aboard The Amnian Fop

4fae33a517301caef38cb5b327ddfba0

It’s a popular saying among  the Chultans now (after their uprising) that nothing runs faster, no deinonychus, no antelope, than a rich Amnian fleeing for his life. This boat is fast, hence the name.

The crew of the Amnian Fop will be the first characters the PCs will be able to interact with. Here they are:

Shago

Captain Shago, Human (Chultan): the adventurous son of prince-merchant Zhanti is the proud captain of this schooner. His mother would like him to act as ambassador of Port Nyangaru but politics doesn’t interest him much. He does share one goal with her though: get rid of all these pesky pirates that plagues chultan waters.

b181d74d7aad3990efa0ac47721acbeb

First Mate « Blimp » Blimponia Stargazer, rock gnome: she’s got a badass harpoon-launcher. She made it. With luv. She calls her captain « Prince Shago »  sometimes. It annoys the shit out of him.

Sailor « Mute » Walix, sun elf: He’s not mute but few could say.  He’s got a useful little trick that mends the ship’s wear and tear.

Sailor Olgata, Human (Chultan): Mute’s girlfriend. She speaks to the Sea. Or more precisely, to the Seas’ moody mistress, the Goddess Umberlee. It seems to help, a bit.

Sailor Bayiz , fire genasi (Calimshite): Who said that a fire genasi could not become a sailor? Yeah… There’s something fishy about that.

Sailor « Handsome » Hasan, Human (Chultan): Half his face is just scar tissue. A dinosaur did this. Don’t mess with dinosaurs.

Sailor Kid Shago, Human (Chultan): A street urchin a year back, he would have turned bad if not of a chance encounter with Older Shago. Joyfully mops the deck of the ship.

Sailor Nondescript, not at all a replacement for a possible PC casualty.