Frosthaven – Town in Flames (1)

David Skelector Boardgame, Fantasy, Frosthaven, Frosthaven scenario 1, Play reports, Town in Flames

My brother-in-law Math have enlisted us back after a several months’ hiatus following the end of our campaign of Gloomhaven. Its much-hyped successor Frosthaven was awfully late in materialising at his doorstep, not even counting the usual delays (covid, always covid), his kickstarter copy arriving with the very last batch of deliveries or so it seemed. Anyway here we are again, the same three players for at least a year of Frosthaven.

Note: My present cellphone is as cheap as it gets and my pictures are shit awful. I’ll try to have a better camera next time.

Note 2: Hopefully, Math and Guillaume will chime in too on the blog.

Note 3: The box comes with cardboard minis and tiles. Every tiles, decor pieces and minis in the pictures you’ll see are Math’s and not included in what you’d buy.

Characters

  • Boneshaper (David) lvl 1
  • Geminate (Math) lvl 1
  • Drifter (Guillaume) lvl 1

Our characters were randomly picked from the six starting ones. Mine is a necromancer who taps on her own life essence in order to fuel her dark arts and summon undead horrors. That’s cool. Even cooler is Math’s Geminate who switches round to round between « stances » as their two personalities compete to take control over their body (which is a swarm of insect, awesome). Guillaume’s Drifter is less unusual and accordingly, far simpler to play.

Town in Flames

The very first scenario.

The fortune-seekers suffer from a long, exhausting northward march in an inhospitable landscape to reach Québec City Frosthaven only to see it burn. It’s under attack! Yeti-like Algox are swarming the poorly defended town, killing its inhabitants left and right.

After asking ourselves for a minute if we’d just go back the way we came we said **** it and just killed the baddies.

Missing (picture too sucky): my favorite moment, when I ordered my summoned skeleton to pick up loot and he was carrying it like a boss.

We save only one poor guard dude, the others are all dead… Hey, c’mon, we did our best I swear! We’ve just arrived! Our feet are like popsicles and all! Now leave the corpses to me, they’ll be treated with the respect they deserve mwahaha!

Closing comments:

  • The starting characters we got all seem fun to play. I have no idea what the non-starting characters look like, it’ll be great to discover them once they’re unlocked.
  • Math’s 3d printed new tiles are amazing. Each are single unit and magnetic so we can assemble the map very fast.
  • Gloomhaven is an excellent tactical boardgame but its storyline and overall worldbuilding is probably its weakest part IMO. If Frosthaven has a wee bit of improvement on this part it will enhance the gameplay experience a lot for me. We’ll see.
  • Frosthaven has another new thing compared to Gloomhaven, a town-building feature grafted to it. It was decided that it is I that will manage that part of the game so once I have studied it properly I’ll talk about this more probably.
  • The loot system seems a bit weird to me; adventurers collecting wood and metal and whatnot in monsters lair? I understand the intent but there’s a disconnect for sure. A bit too gamey for me, but it’s a minor thing, just a reminder that Frosthaven is a boardgame and not a RPG (even if it has rpg elements in it).

Castle Xyntillan: Classification of the Malévols

David Skelector Château des Fausseflammes, Dungeons and Dragons, Fantasy, OSR, Roleplaying Game, RPG ,

As mystery-shrouded Someone asked me to. Ask and you shall receive!

Castle Xyntillan, by Gabor Lux. https://emdt.bigcartel.com/products

Now, what follows will be my personal take on how to use the Malévols. I think it could be meant as less of a funhouse and more of a haunted castle approach perhaps? Broadly speaking I’m putting the named characters from the Rogues’ Gallery into three categories with the last one, the True Malévols, subdivided into three more. The term Malévol by default in this module refers to any of the castle’s inhabitants but « True Malévols », in my attempt at classification at least, are exclusively members by birth or wedding of the noble family to whom the castle and surrounding lands (still) belong.

(Note: For my own use and in my play reports I’m often frenchifying the names (i.e James Honoré >> Jean-Honoré) as the Malévols are supposed to be French, but for simplicity’ sake I’ll use the original names here.)

Specters

Specters, ghosts, poltergheists, whatever, things that haunt the castle and don’t have ulterior motives. Some were the accomplices of the Malévols in their nefarious activities and others were simply their victims, discarded lovers, unlucky serfs, etc. All have been denied eternal rest, are bound to the castle and hate the living.

(Note: They all have a draining effect on their attacks. Also, in my game Specters are always, all of them preceded by a telltale sign (i.e ominous children singing, blood dripping from ceiling, etc.).)

List:

  • 12 Maximillian (his shadow manifest before he does)
  • 20 Sébastian (wet footprints)
  • 21 Eustace (blood smears)
  • 22 Giselle (plaintive crying)
  • 27 Claudette (cold)
  • 32 Marcel, only in portraits
  • 34 Hugo, (rattling of chains)
  • 35 Priscilla (undulating shadows)
  • 42 Guillemette (melodious singing)
  • 48 Merlerik (whispers)

Castle Staff

Some key members of the castle staff who’ve been around in the tumultous times of the downfall of the castle are cursed to be employees for eternity (that must be the worst fate of all wouldn’t it?). Not part of the Malévol family, they’re nonetheless not to be trifled with. They still try to accomplish their duties, albeit in a twisted parody of their former existence.

(Note: I’m not sure about that one, but I’m thinking that a special condition must be met in order to kill any castle staffer permanently (their bonds to the castle being so strong after all) otherwise they just come back a few days later…)

List:

  • 09 Girolamo, Seneschal
  • 14 Mandrake, Alchemist
  • 16 Hubert, Huntsman
  • 18 James Honoré, Butler
  • 28 Guy, Jester
  • 37 Mortagu, Executioner
  • 49 Sybille, Witch
  • 50 Bartholomew, Artist
  • 55 Frédéric, Playwright

True Malévols

The Malévols are members of a noble french family dating back from the time of Charlemagne, and possibly even earlier as there’s rumors they have ties with the druids worshipping the Old Ones. Some unspeakable ritual (or maybe its just the incommensurate sum of their vices) has cursed their castle and them with it.

Living members

The Malévol family is nigh extinct as far as living members are concerned. The few living ones live mostly outside of its walls but are attracted to the castle like moths to light.

List:

  • 01 Gilbert the Fox, bandit, illegitimate son of Reynard
  • 06 Claude, official heir, knows enough to dread the moment his inheritance come in effect
  • 08 Gregor the Sentient Bug, has pestered one too many time Aristide as a kid
  • 15 Olivier the Oleaginous, apprentice to Mandrake the Mixer
  • 17 Hortensia the Lovely, younger sibling to Claude and Olivier, innocent
  • 19 Reynard the Relapse, alcoholic monk, father of Gilbert

The Blasé Undead

The dead Malévols with a particularly strong personality, tragic destinies or both, are known to linger long after their death and go on with their (mostly wicked) activities. They know joy no more though. Furthermore, decades or centuries of cohabitation have frequently soured their relationships with their siblings to the point that they don’t care much what should happens to them.

(Note: the lair of each of the Blasé Undead should bear obvious signs of their particular decadence.)

List:

  • 03 Adelaide the Splendid
  • 04 Merton the Encyclopedian
  • 10 Beatrice the Jilted
  • 33 Gillz the Gothic
  • 36 Philomène the Quick
  • 39 Lydia the Luckless
  • 40 Odile the Odious
  • 45 Roberto the Arbiter
  • 46 Serpentina the Sweet
  • 56 Morella the Mournful
  • 58 Agenor the Antique

Leaders of the family council

Some more active Malévols, maybe from a twisted sense of loyalty to their family’s legacy or more immediate desires (i.e bloodlust), still have a vested interest towards the castle’ security.

(Note: They are those who will organize actions against bothersome interlopers.)

List:

  • 07 Runcius the Dark Man of the Woods, leader of the druids
  • 11 Aristide the Patrician, Aristide is absorded by his thirst for knowledge and will take part on the council only if that’s absolutely necessary (i.e very high Infractions rating)
  • 13 Médard the Mighty, a companion to Roland centuries ago, opposes Runcius in almost everything
  • 30 Count Giscard, married into the family, from Malinbois
  • 31 Countess Maltricia, bored by her vampire husband
  • 43 Montfort the Bygone, linked somehow to the lake monster

(Not classified above, some won’t feature in my game: 23 Jean-Luc, 24 Léopold, 25 Patrice, 26 Vincent, 29 Samuel, 38 Rodento, 41 Jerôme, 44 Jaumon, 47 Meandering, 51 Jean-Jacques, 52 Kent, 53 Ambrosius, 54 Charles, 57 Mummified, 59 The Bearer of Sins, 60 The Beast)

So now you can see (in this version) we’ve got 6 living Malévols and 6 leaders. Those are the ones I personally will focus on to add some layers of complexity, plots and whatnot, to the adventure.

I’m also adding my own characters (not featuring on this post) to replace those that I’m discarding and that’s something I very much enjoy to do.

Feel free to tell me if you’re doing something similar or what you’re doing or would do differently.

That’s it for today!

Castle Xyntillan, from the hip comparison with Tegel Manor and Castle Amber

David Skelector Dungeons and Dragons, Fantasy, jeux de rôles, Roleplaying Game, RPG , ,

After six sessions in the campaign we’ve reached a critical landmark as the Infractions Rating is high enough now (6 as stated in the book) to warrant a Malévol Intervention against the adventurers.

That means they‘ll try to fend them off actively. That’ll be most interesting. Officially, also as stated in the book, it means as a first step to launch a combination of 1d3+1 encounters against the adventurers. That could be pretty brutal and things will then surely escalate…

But wait, who’s they? Who are the « influential family members » the books talk about in this instance? They’re not specifically named. Of course we can infer who they are from their description (and their stats in some instance) in the Rogues’ Gallery and ultimately, as always, it’s up to the dungeon master to decide which one of the Malévols are the leaders. But that whole process highlight a gap in Castle Xyntillan’s design (in an otherwise great product), as central as they are to the module the Malévol family members aren’t well fleshed out and furthermore, we know next to nothing of their relations to each other. I’ve seen the author argue it was a deliberate choice to keep it simple, and I can see the argument for it. But… Well, I’ve cut my teeth (bad pun) on Vampire: the masquerade/dark ages when I was a teenager and was writing characters relationships charts all the time! The difficulty is that there’s 50+ Malévols but it seems obvious to me that not every one of them should be treated equally.

With that in mind I aim to share my own classification of the Malévols next week but for the moment I’ve gone on a bit of a tangent…

Malévols, Rumps and Ambers oh my!

(Gabor Lux, feel free to write to me if I get anything wrong)

Castle Xyntillan was originally written as to be a revamped Tegel Manor. The project was sidelined and many years later, and much playtesting (and characters deaths), it became its own thing. I would describe it as a generous serving of Tegel Manor, accompanied by a portion of Castle Amber and spiced up with folklore tales.

Both Tegel Manor and Castle Amber are funhouse modules and each feature an extensive family of crazy people at its heart. Tegel Manor has the Rump family, 13 generations of them (with only 3 members alive, in bright red below).

We see CX’s roots in Tegel Manor’s map (as a chassis), use of family « living portraits » (no its not from Harry Potter, haha) and its terse room descriptions. There’s also a similar thing going on with the few living relatives amongst a mostly dead/undead family if we squint a little. I have to mention an interesting twist in TM as the evil Rumps want the lone « good » (he’s not a paragon of virtue by any means) Rump dead in order to complete their ritual!

With Castle Amber we have the d’Ambervile family (shortened to Amber). The Ambers are definitely cursed folks but (most) aren’t undead per se. They’re all very blasé and each have their own brand of wicked hobby to pass time (i.e sponsor of bareknuckle matches!). Also, of particular interest here is its treatment of the Amber family members as random encounters. We can readily see that CX has taken quite a few elements from this ole module too (i.e the indoor forest).

Aside: CX borrows a character (Madeline) from CA which itself had borrowed it from Poe’s The Fall of House Usher.

Aside 2: CA borrows Clark Ashton Smith’s Averoigne characters and, contrary to the stories, lump them in the same time period, something that I myself will definitely do!

An easy take then is to see Castle Xyntillan as a mix of its two predecessors with of course new inputs from its author’s own ideas. The same goes with its own brand of cursed family; the Malévols are mostly undead and portrait-linked like in TM, but also I think in a way more along CA’s whimsical fantasy. Where CX diverges from the two is with its inclusion of folklore material (i.e The Beast as in the beauty and the beast).

Upcoming: classification of the Malévols

Château des Faussesflammes (Castle Xyntillan) session 6

David Skelector Château des Fausseflammes, Dungeons and Dragons, Fantasy, jeux de rôles, megadungeon, OSR, Play reports, Roleplaying Game, RPG ,

Life has been hectic the past few weeks, which is usual for this time of the year, but more so this year as my wife is trying to adapt to a new job whilst still having to tie ends at the one she’s leaving behind. We’ll go at a much-needed trip at our cabin next week one last time before winter but for now, it’s gaming time!

Olivier is with his father this week end so no Team Jean this time. Well, that’s not entirely true as Stuffed Jean-Paul has seemingly disinterred himself and somehow got at the rendez-vous point (I’m sure Olivier will protest vehemently when he’ll hear about that!) and so he’s back as Cordélia’s creepy beads-eyed retainer.

Castle Xyntillan, by Gabor Lux. https://emdt.bigcartel.com/products

System: Worlds without Number, by Kevin Crawford

Adventurers – Player Characters (PCs)

  • Cordélia Lenoir (Marjorie), using the dark arts for good (probably), Necromancer lvl 2
  • Noah (Isaac), crafts stuff, Expert lvl 2
  • Monmon (Edmond), has a powerful antique spear, Warrior lvl 3
  • Loic Leblanc (Jason), healbot, Adventurer (expert/healer) lvl 2

Retainers:

  • Eudes le Bâtard (Marjorie), Comte de La Frenaie’s young bastard son, Morale 9
  • Stuffed Jean-Paul (Marjorie), killed by stuffed animals, now stuffed himself, Morale 12
  • Conrad (Jason), crusader, heavy drinker, Morale 9
  • Jacques (Isaac), daytaler, grumpy, Morale 7

Crypt

  • Zachary, Elementalist, electrocuted in front of the Anteroom (corpse in castle)
  • Pierre-Jean Pierre, ex-monk, clawed to death by a dark monk (RIP)
  • Edgar, daytaler, throat slashed by a dark monk (corpse in castle)
  • Charles, daytaler, skewered by a drunken skeleton (corpse in castle)
  • Hercule, caravan hand, seized off the raft by the Lake Monster. (MIA)
  • Pierre Laroche du Rocher, mason, pierced by the Huntsman’s arrows. (corpse in castle)
  • Alphonse, crusader, savaged by Count Giscard’s Children of the Night. (corpse in castle)

Previous Infractions:

Eliminated Tristano Malévol the Love-Lost. Eliminated Merlerik the Ancient. (0)

Smoked the Ruined Quarters: 1/2 Angered a werewolf washwoman: 1/2 Stole the Reliquary of Bygone Kings: 1 Failed to convince Jean-Honoré the butler of their lies: 1/2 Stole a treasure chest full of gold from the Lake Grotto treasury: 1/2 Interrupted Runcius Malévol’s pagan ritual: 1 Slightly annoyed Count Giscard Malévol while he drank « wine »: 1

Infractions rating: 5

Rumors:

  • My uncle once tried to rob the place with his pal, the miller. He was killed by a cupboard.
  • Alchemists and practitioners of dark arts have been seen in the company of Azédarac, the Bishop of Ximes!

We start in Vyônes. Noah have crafted himself a fast-loading crossbow. Noah and Loic fail to find a buyer for a regal outfit. Loic hires the Troubadour de l’Automne to help find competent hirelings. He hires ex-crusader Conrad this way. Noah hires one Jacques who seems to have a bad temper. Stuffed Jean-Paul simply show up at the rendez-vous point near Périgon, even if he had been put in a grave the previous week. Bruno is back but Cordélia isn’t interested as she’s been put off by his weird demeanor and his suspicious absence last delve. He begs to be in, without pay if need be, but to no avail. Instead, Cordélia forcefully gets him in the care of the monks at Périgon, hoping that they would find what the hell is wrong with him. Cordélia buys vials of holy water from the monks.

Grand Entrance

  • Near the Château Cordélia spot someone hiding behind a bush and send Stuffed Jean-Paul after it. The man in hiding start to run away and Cordélia shoots him with her bow. Loic heals him just enough so he can be interrogated. They learn that Gilbert the Fox want to ambush them once they exit. Loic slit the wounded man’s throat ruthlessly.
  • The adventurers try to interact with the 2 monstrous statues at the grand entrance but fail to have any reaction.
  • They open the great doors and see that Jean-Honoré the butler is there again in the vestibule. He seems lethargic, with his head down, but still hold a platter with goblets ready to serve. Cordélia sucessfully shoot the platter off his hand, the butler is dismayed at the spill and hurry away through a door to re-fill the drinks.
  • Nearby in the Entrance Halls the PCs find a Portrait Gallery. They interact with the portraits (Harry Potter-style): Philomène Malévol smiles and invites them upstair; a bureaucrat is annoyed with the interruption; skeletal and richly-attired Aristide Malévol ignores them; a paint his covered over and bleeds when scratched and a voice says « I’ll be vindicated, you can’t prove anything! »; an executioner is sharpening his axe; Marcel the Malnourished begs for food, Cordélia gives him a ration and ask him a few questions after but he’s sleepy after eating and takes a nap.
  • Cordélia sprinkles holy water on the living paints, except Marcel’s, they cease to be « alive »
  • A bit further they hear loud singing and much ruckus from a mess hall, they turn left instead in another corridor
  • They open a door into the Summer Wing, push aside a heavy curtain and get into a vast throne room with much cobwebs. There’s empty armors each standing in front of columns in rows facing each other. The PCs want the team to coordinate to tie up the armors with ropes, and using the curtain also (as they don’t have enough rope) to immobilize them in case they would get hostile. The plan mostly works, 5 armors are tied to columns but then they animate suddenly and Loic didn’t have time to tie his. And the 2 armors under the curtain just slice it open and free themselves. Combat ensues. Jacques takes a halberd hit on the face and dies instantly. Monmon manages to push an armor on the ground with the help of Cordélia, the armor disassemble with the impact, a swarm of (little) spiders get out of it, quickly scattering away. Loic slam his hammer on another’s helm and dislodges it from its shoulders with the same result. They then team up to break apart the last free armor.
  • They inspect the decorated throne. They find a jeweled scepter in a hidden compartment. They also find a button and when pressed it makes the throne descend into the catacombs.
  • They go down with the throne into the Lake Grotto area.
  • Next room Cordélia does a Smite the Dead, annihilating a bunch of undead nuns.
  • A bit further, now into the Oubliette area, they get inside an impressive statuary, they’re attacked by 3 Stone Reapers (statues with scythes). Monmon uses his magic spear to good effect. He and Conrad got wounded too but are immediately healed by Loic. A tough fight but they prevail. They find a precious necklace, a mundane lantern and sheet of paper with a spell of warding (single use) inscribed on it.
  • Right next to the statuary are prisoner cells. There’s 3 prisoners, one weirdo is chewing on a dead rat, says that this way the vampires will choose to drain somebody else. Another, Jaubert, gets a promise from the adventurers to kill Mortagu the warden/executioner and bring back the keys. The other one is a gaunt woman that keeps silent.
  • They leave the captives behind and go in search of the warden. Past a clammy corridor they get into a root cellar. There they see giant beets, almost humanoids in shape, slumbering. Careful to not disturb the beet creatures they go inspect a statue of a woman that seems out of place. They find a secret passage behind and go inside.
  • They get into a cistern room. There’s a well entrance above them. There’s corpses in the water, zombies that animate when they get near. The PCs hurry away and spike the door behind them.
  • They get further, evading a trio of cackling witches in a kitchen.
  • Next room is empty except for an axe and a stump. And dried blood everywhere. Monmon takes the axe, thinking it will piss off the executioner to be weaponless! (there was chance of finding Mortagu here but it didn’t happen)
  • Next room there’s a weird thing going on as heavily-armored Monmon is attracted in the center where a spiked ball attached on a chain is rotating furiously. He got hit 2 times before he could extricate himself from the magnetic field (but he can take it).
  • Nearby they find a secret door and get into a large circular room bordered by alcoves. They have time to search a few before alerting the resident rats. A whole horde of rats, hundreds. The PCs flee through the only door and quickly close it behind them.
  • They leave the angry screeches and scratching and now see that they’ve circled back to the clammy corridor and root cellar. From there they get to a wine cellar. There’s many barrels along the wall and messing with them they find one that is empty, behind is a secret passage.
  • They enter and once they get out of a man-made tunnel they arrive in a cavern. Oddly, they can see the light of day entering at the other end of the cavern. There’s also a satyr wearing robes. He let them pass with the promise that the adventurers bring him alcohol on their way back.
  • The PCs enter the Indoorness, a primordial forest unstuck in time and space.
  • They follow a path and soon get into a clearing where they see a gazebo surrounded by wildflowers. They get inside. (the players are not old-timers, they have no fear of gazebos) The gazebo fly up at vertiginous speed and reach a splendid cloud garden. They get back on the ground after a while, feeling refreshed.
  • Further on the forest path, they come across another clearing, this time there’s a mill. The miller talks about giant mice, trolls under bridges and a druid who’s master of the forest. They pay good money for a cask of whiskey and leave.
  • The adventurers were worried at the thought of encountering trolls and decided it was time to turn back and call it a day. They gave the satyr the cask of whiskey which he seized and gulped down without another word. They entered back the catacombs, found their way up to the throne room and managed to get out of the castle yet again… with grumpy fellow Jacques as casualty.

(I had planned to have the players ambushed by bandit Gilbert the Fox and his men as they exited the castle, as it was pretty much telegraphed from last session’s rumors and today’s foreshadowing (the man in hiding) but it was getting late and so it’ll be another time.)

Session wrap up:

  • 5 hours session with a lot accomplished, a lot of exploration done if a bit haphazard. They found the way to the « Indoorness » which frankly I’m quite surprised by. When I read the book the first time I wasn’t sure they would ever find it at all. Interesting…
  • First time the players get to interact with portraits, even if they’re like everywhere in the castle. That was fun.
  • No random encounters, not a single one, against the odds, as I’ve rolled like 30 times (with a 1 on d6 needed)!
  • XP: Participation: 1 Treasure: 2 Secrets: 3
  • Treasures: Scepter of the Merovings. Jeweled Necklace.
  • Fatalities: Jacques, got hit in the face by an Empty Armor’s halberd
  • Quote: Marjorie: « Eeeekkk, spiders! I squash them all! Every single one of them! »
  • New Infractions: Stole the Scepter of the Merovings, Defaced living portraits with holy water.

Clark Ashton Smith – Averoigne: vol 4, excerpts

David Skelector Books, Fantasy ,

The fourth and final volume of the collection have three Averoigne stories within. Among them is The Beast of Averoigne, one of the best, and quite inspirational for my present endeavor. In fact it even directly serves as a backdrop for my Château des Fausseflammes/Castle Xyntillan campaign.

The Mandrakes

Now, in the old legend of Averoigne which I recount herewith, it is told that the impious and audacious wizard, fearing neither God nor devil nor witch-woman, dared to dig again in the earth of Sabine’s grave, removing many more of the white, female-shapen roots, which cried aloud in shrill complaint to the waning moon or turned like living limbs at his violence. And all those which he dug were formed alike, in the miniature image of the dead Sabine, from breasts to toes. And from them, it is said, he compounded other philtres, which he meant to sell in time when such should be requested.

…

As it happenned, however, these latter potions were never dispensed; and only a few of the first were sold, owing to the frightful and calamitous consequences that followed their use. For those to whom the potions had been administered privily, wheter men or women, were not moved by the genial fury of desire, as was the wonted result, but were driven by a darker rage, by a woeful and Satanic madness, irresistibly impelling them to harm or even slay the persons who had sought to attract their love.

The Beast of Averoigne

At first, it did not strike at living men, but assailed the helpless dead like some foul eater of carrion. Two freshly buried corpses were found lying in the cemetary at Ste. Zénobie, where the thing had dug them from their graves and had laid open their vertebrae. In each case, only a little of the marrow had been eaten; but as if in rage or disappointment, the cadavers had been torn into shreds from crown to heel, and the tatters were mixed inxtricably with the rags of their cerements. From this, it would seem that only the spinal marrow of creatures newly killed was pleasing to the monster.

…

Since then, the middle summer has gone by with nightly deeds of terror, beneath the blasting of the comet. Beasts, men, children, women, have been done to death by the monster, which, though seeming to haunt mainly the environs of the abbey, has ranged afiled even to the shores of the river Isoile and the gates of La Frénaie and Ximes. And some have beheld the monster at night, a black and slithering foulness clad in changeable luminescence; but no man has ever beheld it in the day.

…

« You, Messire le Chaudronnier, » said the marshal, « are reputed to know the arcanic arts of sorcery, and the spells that summon or dismiss evil demons and other spirits. Therefore, in dealing with this devil, it may be that you should succed whre all others have failed. Not willingly do we employ you in the matter, since it is not seemly for the church and the law to ally themselves with wizardry. But the need is desperate, lest the demon should take other victims. In return for your aid, we can promise you a goodly reward of gold and a guarantee of lifelong immunity from all inquisition and prosecution which your doings might otherwise invite. The Bishop of Ximes, and the Archbishop of Vyônes, are privy to this offer, which must be kept secret. »

…

Unquestionning, with ready weapons, the two men-atarms companioned me in that vigil. Well they knew the demonian terror which they might face before dawn; but there was no trace of trepidation in their bearing. And knowing much that they could not know, I drew the ring of Eibon from my finger, and made ready for that which the demon had directed me to do.

…

From the pieces of the lighly shattered gem, the disemprisoned demon rose in the form of a smoky fire, small as a candle-flame at first, and greatening like a conflagration of piled faggots. And, hissing softly with the voice of fire, and brightening to a wrathful. terrible gold, the demon leapt forward to do battle with the Beast, even as it had promised me, in return for its freedom after cycles of captivity.

The Disinternment of Venus

Prior to certain highly deplorable and scandalous happenings in the year 1550, the vegetable garden of Périgon was situated on the southeast side of the abbey. After these events, it was removed to the northwest side, where it has remained ever since; and the former garden-site was given to weeds and briars which, by strict order of the successive abbots, no one has ever tried to eradicate or curb.

…

Wild whispers were circulating among the monks; and it was said that several others besides the eight culprits had been drawn to touch the sorcerous marble in secret, and would succumb anon to the overpowering nympholepsy which they had incurred. It was said that the image was no mere lifeless lump of stone, but had sought to entice with wanton smiles and harlot gestures those who had labored in the garden after Paul, Pierre and Hughues.

Clark Ashton Smith – Averoigne: vol 3, excerpts

David Skelector Books, Château des Fausseflammes ,

I can’t recommend highly enough this collection. Just look at those covers! Note the inclusion of CAS himself, from young to mature from book 1 to 4. Volume 3 has three Averoigne stories: The Holiness of Azédarac, The Makers of Gargoyles and the Colossus of Ylourgne. Those are less evocative than the previous ones in my opinion but in some ways they offer more background material for the Averoigne setting and, moreover, excellent gaming material.

The Holiness of Azédarac

  • […] I wisely thought to review my library; and I have found that the Book of Eibon, which contains the oldest incantations, and the secret, man-forgotten lore of Iog-Sotôt and Sodagui, is now missing.
  • In a chill flash of horror, his memory told him that the thin, pointed features behind the square beard were dubiously similar to those of Jehan Mauvaissoir, whom he had often seen in the household of Azédarac, and who, as he had reason to believe, was implicated in the Bishop’s sorceries.
  • « I am Moriamis, the enchantress, and the Druids fear my magic, which is more sovereign and more excellent than theirs, though I use it only for the welfare of men and not for their bale and bane. »
  • He [Azédarac] was the wisest and the mightiest of sorcerers, and the most secret withal ; for no one knew the time and the manner of his coming into Averoigne, or the fashion in which he had procured the immemorial Book of Eibon, whose runic writings were beyond the lore of all other wizards. He was a master of all enchantments and all demons, and likewise a compounder of mighty potions. Among these were certain philters, blended with potent spells and possessed of unique virtue, that would send the drinker backward or onward in time.

The Makers of Gargoyles

  • At that time, in the year of our Lord, 1138, Vyônes was the principal town of the province of Averoigne. On two sides the great, shadow-haunted forest, a place of equivocal legends, of loupsgarous and phantoms, approached to the very walls and flung its umbrage upon them at early forenoon and evening. On the other sides there lay cultivated fields, and gentle streams that meandered among willows or poplars, and roads that ran through an open plain to the high châteaux of nobles lords and to regions beyond Averoigne.
  • Of course, as in all medieval towns, there had been occasional instances of alleged sorcery or demoniacal possession; and, once or twice, the perilous temptations of succubi had made their inroads on the pious virtue of Vyônes. But this was nothing more than might be expected, in a world where the Devil and his works were always more or less rampant. No one could possibly have anticipated the reign of infernal horrors that was to make hideous the latter months of autumns, following the cathedral’s erection.
  • Armed with holy water and aspergillus, and accompanied by many of the towns-people carrying torches and staves and halberds, the priest was led by Maspier to the place of the horro; and there they had found the body of Mazzal, with fearfully mangled face, and the throat and bosom lined with bloody lacerations. The demoniac assailant had flown; and it was not seen or encountered again that night; but those who had beheld its work returned aghast to their homes, feeling that a creature of nethermost hell had come to visit the city, and perchance to abide therein.

The Colossus of Ylourgne

  • The thrice-infamous Nathaire, alchemist, astrologer and necromancer, with his ten devil-given pupils, had departed very suddenly and under circumstances of strict secrecy from the town of Vyônes. It was widely thought, among the people of that vicinage, that his departure had been prompted by a salutary fear of ecclessiastical thumbscrews and fagots. Other wizards, less notorious than he, had already gone to the stake during a year of unusual inquisitory zeal; and it was well-known that Nathaire had incurred the reprobation of the Church.
  • Among the people of the city, there was one man who took no part in the somber gossip and lurid speculation. This man was Gaspard du Nord, himself a student of the proscribed sciences, who had been numbered for a year among the pupils of Nathaire but had chosen to withdraw quietly from the master’s household after learning the enormities that would attend his further initiation. He had, however, taken with him much rare and peculiar knowledge, together with a certain insight into the baleful powers and night-dark motives of the necromancer.
  • Ylourgne, a great, craggy pile that had been built by a line of evil and marauding barons now extinct, was a place that even the goatherds preferred to shun. The wrathful specters of its bloody lords were said to move turbulently in its crumbling halls; and its châtelaines were the Undead. No one cared to dwell in the shadow of its cliff-founded walls; and the nearest abode of living men was a small Cistercian monastery, more than a mile away on the opposite slope of the valley.

Session 46: Temple of the Ever-Burning

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

Petite session de 3 heures dans laquelle les PJs ont eu le temps d’explorer et de nettoyer le premier de trois étages du temple volcanique. Nous aurions pu jouer plus longtemps mais honnêtement j’avais atteint mon quota plus tôt qu’à l’habitude.

Personnages Joueurs (PJs)

  • (Jason) Shin, (level 10) Tabaxi Fighter (arcane archer), Outlander, veut devenir le plus grand chasseur de tout les temps + Vorn, Shield Guardian
  • (Marjorie) Kalohan, (level 10) High Elf Wizard (evoker), Inheritor,  doit trouver un sort inconnu jusque là avant de pouvoir obtenir son héritage
  • (Isaac) Anfi, (level 10) Locathah Fighter (eldritch knight), Outlander, venu sur la terre ferme en passant par la Caverne-Tunnel, là pour découvrir ce nouvel environnement + Salamandre Géante
  • (Olivier) Léon, (level 7>>8) Human Monk (way of shadow), Outlander, revenu à la vie grâce à Zotzilaha, maintenant libre de faire ce qu’il veut
  • (Edmond) Vingt, (level 6>>7) Myconid Druid (circle of spores), Acolyte, envoyé de Zuggtmoy, la Déesse du fongique + Fourmi Zombifiée

Fuite de Gaz

Les PJs sortent de la salle au trésor. Ils savent que les ennemis sont maintenant aux aguets mais Shin trouve un second passage secret qui leur permet d’éviter de sortir là ou on les attend de pied ferme. Ils formulent un plan: la magicienne va utiliser un sort de Gaseous Form sur elle-même pour tenter de trouver les captifs tandis que le reste du groupe l’attend dans la pièce fermée. Pour plus de sûreté, Kalohan crée une grille avec un Fabricate pour bloquer le passage d’où ils arrivent (1). Puis elle s’échappe en flottant (2).

Chapelle de Feu

En nuage de gaz la magicienne traverse des groupes d’ennemis impunément et parcourt le lieux. Elle traverse des logements de Firenewts, des étables pour les Striders, des entrepôts à vivres et matériels; un habitat assez mondain pour le moment (3). Elle trouve aussi une pièce où sont emprisonnées des harpies, de celles à la langue coupée au service des mercenaires du Flaming Fist, mais pas de traces de l’équipage du bateau volant pour le moment. Puis elle aboutit dans un lieu de culte dédié à Kossuth, dieu des Volcans. Au milieu d’un cercle de braises ardentes se tient un individu agenouillé, en prière, faisant fi de la chaleur. Kalohan hésite à faire un Detect Thoughts, décide contre, et au moment ou elle veut quitter les lieux un mur de feu s’érige et lui bloque le passage. L’individu se redresse, toujours parmi les braises, (c’est visiblement un Efreet) et l’enjoint à venir prier avec lui. Nullement intéressée elle fait un Dispel Magic dissipant le mur de feu et s’éloigne (lentement). L’Efreet lui dit: « On se reverra » et se contente de la regarder s’éloigner.

La porte est percée

Pendant ce temps le groupe subit un premier assaut contre leur position alors que les lourdes portes sont rougies de chaleur puis percées par un pseudopode magmatique. Léon attaque le pseudopode avec un puissant poing d’air, repoussant ainsi le Magma Ooze. Celle-ci par contre peut tirer de dangereuses boules de magma, heureusement que Vingt est là pour faire de la guérison!

image:paizo

Shin et Anfi en profite de leur côté pour envoyer flèches explosives et Ice Knife respectivement par l’ouverture, réduisant les ennemis. Un moment s’écoule puis une nouvelle tentative a lieu alors qu’un imposant personnage (4) défonce la porte!

image:paizo

Il est accompagné d’une autre douzaine de Firenewts, certains ont le temps d’envoyer des crachats enflammés vers les PJs mais ils sont bien vite en déroute alors que le Children of Kossuth succombe sous les attaques combinées des aventuriers.

Dernière Vague

Les ennemis n’ont pas dit leur dernier mot, 2 Fire Elementals s’infiltrent par le tunnel, la grille n’étant pas un obstacle pour eux, tandis que des Firenewts mené par un dangereux cultiste Pterafolk se prépare à attaquer par la porte défoncée. Les élémentaux se révèlent plus difficiles à éliminer pour les PJs, Anfi et Léon absorbent beaucoup de dommages simplement en les attaquant de proche. Shin est lui aussi blessé puisque il était à l’arrière et se retrouve cibler par un des deux, son Shield Guardian est passablement endommagé par l’autre.

Heureusement, Kalohan revient de son exploration à ce moment et un Cone of Cold bien placé a vite fait de changer le rapport de force. Elle est un moment en duel magique contre le Pterafolk mais ce dernier n’est pas de taille contre le combo Lightning Bolt/Counterspell de la magicienne (5).

Ensuite, le groupe de nouveau réunit se rend dans un coin de l’étage encore inexploré où ils affrontent de nouveau des Firenewts, cette fois accompagnés d’une sorte de dinosaure cornu à carapace. Léon se téléporte d’une ombre à une autre et esquive ainsi une charge qui fait trembler le sol. Flèches, sorts et coups déferlent sur la bête confuse, qui succombe vite malgré son blindage. Les Firenewts sont de la chair à canon et sont encore une fois décimés.

Les aventuriers trouvent un imposant escalier…

Notes du DM:

  1. Ils auraient également pu mieux barricadé les doubles-portes mais ils n’y ont pas pensé
  2. d’un point de vue tactique c’est bien, mais un joueur qui fait de la reconnaissance seul c’est presque toujours un problème pour l’ambiance du jeu selon mon expérience
  3. ce qui est réaliste mais pas fascinant
  4. un children of Kossuth, un Fire Giant essentiellement
  5. le système de magie de D&D commence à sérieusement me répugner!

Château des Faussesflammes/Castle Xyntillan: Notes of the DM

David Skelector Dungeons and Dragons, Fantasy, megadungeon, OSR, Roleplaying Game, RPG

After 5 sessions here’s a few things that emerged from play that I wish to keep in mind.

RIP and MIA

People are dying in Castle Xyntillan and, pretty much as its author said in his book intro, its the henchmen that bears the brunt of the dying too. Its weird but filling up the crypt with new additions makes me feel like a (morbid) collector. A guy ripped apart by stuffed animals? Check! Another seized off the raft by a lake monster! Check! Collection is coming along great!

Those left behind

I’m patting myself in the back a little but I’m happy with the way I’m showing the players that the castle’s inhabitants react to their intrusion, albeit in minor ways (for the moment). The party saw henchman Charles (killed in a previous foray) being hacked up by ghoul cooks. They also saw Pierre-Jean’s corpse on a wheelbarrow in the garden area. So, I’m keeping tab of who died where and (if left behind) a small prep I do afterward is to decide what happens with the corpses. I have some special things in mind concerning this, oh yeah, I do!

Henchmen are people too

It’s the first time I’m using a character quirks table and it’s been a lot of fun. Jean-Paul Jean the lackwit was endearing said Olivier. So much so that he mounted a special expedition just to retrieve his body so that he could have a proper funeral with the family. That was awesome. We’ve expanded on this idea a bit and decided that the Jean family is numerous in the region, and thus, a grateful Jean family provides a good source of potential henchmen.

(aside: Jean-Paul Jean is a silly name, of course. As is Pierre-Jean Pierre and Paul-Jean Paul. It is possible to have such a name in french, but the repetition of first name and surname is, yeah, silly. I had to say enough to the kids, they would have named every henchmen in this fashion…)

(aside 2: Jean is a male name, english-speaking people have it all wrong)

Rumors

There’s three d12 rumor tables in the book. We don’t roleplay how the rumors come about, we simply roll two per sessions. What I did though was adding a fourth d12 table of rumors that are not about the castle per se, but rather about the setting (of Averoigne). This way they can learn of existing NPCs and of other « dungeons » too. Despite that it might well be that the campaign will focus on the castle only and that would be perfectly fine by me.

Rumors may be true, partially true or false. They found the cave entrance with an obviously true rumor. Some are simply gamer jokes (i.e the gazebos) and can be discarded as such. Some are less obvious and lead to fun moments such as when they heard that red clothing could somehow protect against the « red specter ». Cordélia proceeded to buy some red clothes for her henchmen (not fully trusting the rumor, only on the henchmen), specifiying that they could be put on fast « like a coat is that it? » And when a Malévol that could well be a « red specter » attacked them, well, we had a Little red riding hood moment! Did that work? The jury is still on the fence on that one…

The Malévols

Surprisingly for an OSR product, there’s not much in terms of factions in Castle Xyntillan. That’s a weakness of the module IMO, though many of the Malévols will talk to the PCs, with a wide variety of sincerity. The Malévols themselves, the 50ish of them, don’t satisfy me entirely I must say. A family tree would have been a great appendix. But I’ve been thinking about this and I’m beginning to classify somewhat their roles in a kind of hierarchy. I find it helpful. First there’s the living Malévols who have comprehensible (mostly) goals, an heir, a bandit, a monk, etc. There’s the undead servants with clear support roles; the huntsman, the playwright, the alchemist, the butler, etc, who in fact shouldn’t really be Malévols at all but are important nonetheless. There’s ghosts and specters, all things haunting, powerful or not, that are more hazard than anything. Then there’s the true Malévols who have their own area of the castle, with many brand of peculiar habits. And at the top of the hierarchy ladder there’s a few ancients that are linked with the castle’ very foundations, amid layers of secrets. That’s something that I’m eager to work on, expanding/improving the « rogues’ gallery » will be interesting.

Edit: Classification of the Malévols

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.