Diary of a Black Sword Hack

[Imaginos]

I probably should have started this on my computer instead of on my phone.

This past Friday night was the start of my Black Sword Hack campaign. Had a range of 3-6 players, but knew 1 was not available. I planned to run the game as episodic, so not leaving anything hanging mid session. That way we can avoid the Scheduling Demon - a number of players are unable to attend equal to the doom die roll.

We had 3 players show up, which is honestly about ideal for me (normally cap at 4, but the group has 2 couples and 2 singles plus me). So 1 from each couple and 1 single made it. We used this as session 0. I had started sketching a map as the first person arrived.

First PC, known as Pon. This player is the one I expected to have the biggest issue with BSH because they like to craft a character (so PF2 would be his preference). He opted to go all-in and randomed his character entirely. After stats, random origin. Then randomized his origin backgrounds, and also his extra background. Pon is a barbarian berserker who was born while the rest of the Iron Horde was attacking a caravan. The rough life of a barbarian, and being born at a raid camp gave him the Wildling ability to rest anywhere. And the stories he heard growing up took root in him, realizing he had to tell of his own glory, he became a Talker, telling stories of his deeds. He is tall, with dark hair, broad features, and somewhat resembles Gerard Depardieu in the face. He wields a two handed claymore and a hunting knife, and was the only one who was willing to afford armor (he found a merchant selling some blood-stained light armor for 10 coins).

Second PC, Izula, and third PC, Jobivius the Third, to come later this afternoon, along with their first story.

 

[AsenRG]

Sounds interesting!

 

[Kobayashi]

I'll be following that thread! It's just so cool to see a game you wrote being played. It always comes as a surprise to me

Full random is the way to go for chargen, well played!

 

[Imaginos]

So the second player to arrive rolled up Izula, a scoundrel from a more civilized locale. The fortress she was born in was burned by her family's enemies, and they moved her into the underground of the Golden Archipelago, an area known as the City of Thieves. Having lost almost everything, her family joined with the Court of Thieves, and she grew up a street urchin, pinching pockets of any who failed to pay the entry fees to the undercity, or the pockets of those in the upper city at will. But her parents were worried about her, so they used what they had left monetarily, and called in favors to provide tutors. She was trained as a swordmaster, and in the ways of nature, learning how to brew herbal concoctions. Izula is tall and waifish, with light skin and blonde hair. Sort of attractive. She wields a one-handed katana (swordmaster background lets her make attacks with one-handed weapons using Dex) and carries a bow. She chose not to buy any armor (cost 40 coins of her 50 starting).

The third player arrived while the second was working on their character, so they ran almost concurrent. This player brought to life Jobivius the Third, a barbarian from the Pict tribes to the south. Jobivius was born among his Pict brothers and sisters after a bloody battle, bathed in the blood of their enemies and granted blessings of the gods for the blood sacrifice of their enemies and allies. Similar to Pon, the hard life of barbaric comfort has enabled him to get rest anywhere, as the rest of the Wildlings. The Pict blood is strong in Jobivius, with a thirst for raiding the weak and taking what they want. Growing up with that mindset, Jobivius also developed the flair of a sophist, able to tell convincing lies in the times where he was caught taking from others. Jobivius is medium height, with dark hair and tanned, weathered skin. He is stocky and has tribal tattoos, but has very nice hair. He wields a raider's two-handed great axe and a nomad scimitar. Jobivius could not afford to buy armor either (same suit of armor that Izula saw, but barbarians only start with 25 coins).

After we knew our protagonists, we had to find out who the antagonists were, and what is happening in the world. We kept up the random generation, and proceeded with building our world.

Our main antagonist is dedicated to chaos, a leader of a rag tag army called the Hunger Horde; flailed footmen and their transparent skin is what we rolled. I took some liberty, and of course octopus tentacles are very much like flails, and transparent skin fits right with the octopus visual. The hunger horde are warriors that fight individually caring not for formation or unity. Just guided by a hunger for the living. Visually, consider an human top half with an octopus lower half. So 2 arms, but 8 tentacles. Some sorcerous hybrids are created, often by corruption of the living, accepting the gifts of chaos, and are used as agents in the human lands. Generations ago, the leader of the barbarian tribes went to pillage the legendary Black Pyramids. He and his warriors never returned, and the tribes fractured and became divisive afterward. Each tribe wanting to be the ruling council.

The players decided to use these locations, and we rolled the political situation and alliance randomly.

The Golden Archipelago - politically lost or forgotten, allied to law. The main city is on the central island and is called the City of Jewels, but some know it as the upper city. The ruling council of the city are impotent, merely figureheads (lost politically). But the city is allied to law, and has strict rules for trade and interaction. The islands hold great wealth and are defended by their separation from the mainland.

The City of Thieves - politically warmongering, but allied to law. This is a city that is beneath the City of Jewels of the Golden Archipelago. Here the Court of Thieves hold sway, a group of warmongers who connive and maneuver politically, playing a multilayered chess game of positioning and power. The noble houses above hold their power and sway at the behest of the Court of Thieves. But there are rules to the games that are played - and there is order that must be maintained to rule both cities.

The Mercenary Bands camp on the mainland by the Golden Archipelago. Politically thriving and neutral, there is always a need for someone handy with a sword, and business is good. You can always find someone willing to do any work needed in the mercenary bands, if you have the coin. They also protect the Golden Archipelago from any troubles that come from the Pict tribes to the south, or from the Holland Marsh.

The Merchant League is a collection of cities between the twin river deltas, protected from the barbarian tribes to the south by the Golden Plateau. The league is a den of corruption, and allied to no side. If you have the coin, anything can be had. The league has coastal cities, river port cities, and control the spice trade that comes from the golden plateau.

Far to the south, are the Pict tribes. Politically divided, but allied to Law. After the great leader, Kavalun, took the warriors to raid the Land of the Black Pyramids and never returned, the tribes split. His personality and force of will had kept the different tribal families together, working as a unified force, held back from the Northern riches only by the unassailable side of the Golden Plateau. But the tribes know, deep down, it was their collective greed that let forces of chaos to corrupt and take over Kavalun and his warriors.

To the west lies the theocracy, a kingdom that is divided and favorable to chaos. Formerly strongly allied to law, the kingdom's proximity to the Black Pyramids has allowed the insidious influence of chaos to pervade and bring division and selfishness to the land.

Further west lies the Land of the Black Pyramids - ancient pyramids that existed before mankind settled the area, rumored to hold immense wealth and power. Kavalun took his horde to raid the pyramids, and was corrupted by chaos, becoming the first man of this age to claim the Mantle of Chaos. He sacrificed his warriors and drank deep of the power of chaos, changing his followers into a horde of octopus/men hybrids with a desire for the life of others. They will often stop mid-battle to feed upon the fallen, possibly even pulling back from enemies to have time to drain the moisture and fluids from those struck down.

In the center of the great sea, there is a mountainous area rising from the sea, with difficult access to it. Inside, lies the Forbidden City, a place that was lost or forgotten, yet allied to chaos.

To the west lies the maelstrom, a great storm that proves deadly to most ships that try to navigate it.

Between the maelstrom and the Forbidden City lies the Flotsam Kingdom, rumored to be built from the wreckage of all of the vessels lost to the maelstrom. A declining city, favorable to law, rumored to be the stopgap between the maelstrom and the Forbidden city.

Down in the mountains to the southeast of the Pict territories lies a lost city of a dying species. It is there, but nobody knows of it.

The map of our setting, photo is landscape picture is so you can read names. Map is actually done portrait with the encroaching ice shelf to the north. Aeons go, a meteor impacted the land, creating the depression that became the great sea. Part of the meteor rises out of the middle of the sea.

 

[Imaginos]

There are 3 runic weapons of legend, again rolled randomly (though I didn't tell the players where the items are located - they did not see that roll, though they made all of the others for the setting.)

The Silent Cleaver of the Horde. Centuries ago, the great assassin/warrior Kaia, sought to bring justice to her family and clan after they were slain by The Thousand Webs - a group of corrupted arachnid people who raided and fed upon mankind in their dark rituals. In the battle, she fell down a crevice and was lost to the battle but spared the fate of her family. Some legends say it was the gods who found her and nursed her to health, some say it was the serpent people who serve Law, but what is known is that the Kaia that returned was not the same person. A renewed vigor, strengthened and wielding a stone cleaver with runic symbols, yet utterly silent. Her voice made no sound, her step made no sound. She was as a ghost. She hunted down the The Thousand Webs and slew them all in their city - nobody was spared. In game purposes, the weapon does DEX damage, but mocks the wielder using their own voice, which the weapon takes. When an enemy is slain, the weapon grants the wielder d6 hit points as the essence of the slain infuses them. This will send their HP above starting values, which bleeds off with the rising of the 3rd moon. The weapon is held in the lost city of a dying species (the arachnid people), kept in the tomb of Kaia. With the ferocity and viciousness of her combat, an arachnid seer found her corpse after the moons rose. It took her and the weapon to their city in the mountains, and entombed the two there.

Dessicator, the decaying long sword of oblivion. Originally wielded by the founder of the City of Jewels and the Golden Archipelago. His beauty was known around the land, as was his vanity. He knew of his beauty more than any other, and would punish any who thought to compare themselves to him. The sword was of shining, engraved steel, and would not let him die. Even as years passed, and the faces of those he slew appeared tattooed on his body, his mind started slipping. Always seeing those he slew, the sword spoke to him of their beauty, and how ugly he was. The sword drove him to slay the beautiful, permanently etching their visages on his flesh. As the decades and then centuries wore on, his once fair flesh was now covered with tattoo upon tattoo, one covering the other covering the other. No area on his body was not covered with tattoos, and he still sought to slay others who challenged his beauty. While others just saw a black mass, he saw each one, and their voices would not stop in his head. He saw a beautiful merchants daughter one day, and had her taken to be ritually slain by his hand. The merchant, one of the up and coming court of thieves, sent his elite team to steal the sword from the Emperor of the City. His hand would not release the blade, even after it was separated from his arm. Nobody knows where the weapon went after that, but there is rumor of a wanderer whose skin is black with tattoos in the wastes. In game terms, the weapon does the wielder's Charisma score in damage. It is made of engraved steel, with images of sheer beauty engraved along the blade as part of the fuller. The weapon etches the faces of the slain as tattoos on the wielders body as the slain crumble to dust. While rumors say there is a man with skin covered in black tattoos, the weapon is actually in a necroplis in the far north, in the encroaching ice shelf.

Shehava, the Last Curse Scimitar. This cold iron blade was forged as a gift for Ahnfed, a sultan who lived in the area that became the merchant league. A nomad king, with a harem of wives and many children and followers. They traveled and harvested, holding power over the spice trade from area that would become the Golden Plateau. He made an alliance to wed Shehava, the daughter of a people long forgotten. A woman of such beauty, and rumored to be trained in the arcane arts, the scimitar was given to Ahnfed as a wedding gift. A cold iron blade, made to protect him from the spirits and fae. Shehava's father was a man who trafficked with demons and the arcane. He never intended his only daughter to be wed to this nomad king, and the demon lord he had promised her to was not happy with the bargain either. The demon lord had the blade crafted and sent to Ahnfed as a gift, with a curse infused in the weapon. Ahnfed carried the blade with pride, using it against any desert spirits they encountered. One night, nearing the night of Shehava giving birth to his child, assassins attacked. Ahnfed fought them, but the blade was no longer as wieldy as it once was. His swings went wide, and he plunged the weapon into Shehava. The shriek as her soul was devoured broke his mind even as he felt the assassin blades enter his body. He collapsed, reaching for Shehava and his unborn child. His last sight was clawed hands cutting the infant out of his wife and wrapping it in fine silks, taking the newborn child. In game terms, the weapon does the wielders CON as damage, and it talks to the wielder in their head as with a child. The weapon has a usage die of d20. When the usage die is expended, it does not refill for the wielder. Nor can the wielder bear to use another weapon. The wielder makes all combat rolls at disadvantage from that point on, with a critical failure causing it to strike someone important to the wielder. It devours the souls of the slain. The weapon took the name of the first soul, Shehava, and she actually resides in the weapon now. The weapon is found in the midst of the maelstrom.

 

[Imaginos]

After characters were complete and we knew the political factions, and at least the names or idea of the runic weapons, we were ready to start the adventures. The players were like "do we know each other?", to which I, as the GM, said "that would be good", which means the players were like "nope, we don't know each other". So before each adventure, the characters have living expenses to take care of. They each opted to take a job to make ends meet, and this is how our first session was created (I enjoy winging it, and their combined rolls just made the story).

Pon was hired by a rebel merchant named Vezario to be his bodyguard during his caravan.
Izula was appointed by the Court of Thieves to guard Alu, an ambitious thief who was moving from apprentice to thief once he completed his test. His test was to steal a particular document from a merchant named Vezario on a caravan route.
Jobivius was hired by an unknown party to guard a wanted merchant named Vezario during his caravan.

So you see where I'm going here. We just had the first story, now called "And so it begins", stem from these rolls for the "job before the first adventure".

The caravan was 6 wagons (enclosed style) belonging to 2 merchants, Vezario and Lumus, carrying spices to be traded through the cities in the merchant league. 3 wagons carry spices, one wagon for Vezario's personal travel, another wagon for Lumus personal travel, and the last wagon being the caravan master/passenger/larder wagon. There were also 6 guards for the wagons.

Pon established that in the evenings, he would often sit around the fire and tell stories. The other members of the caravan enjoyed these times, though the tall woman seemed to stay back in the shadows, along with the young boy who traveled with her. Jobivius would associate with some other guards, but the feeling between Pon and Jobivius was antagonistic. On this particular night, Pon decided to tell the story of the Pict tribe leader who went to the black pyramids, and became corrupted, just to get under Jobivius' skin. During his story, all eyes and ears are on him. This was the perfect time for Alu to slip into Vezario's wagon and find the paper he was seeking. Pon managed to see the tall woman's eyes focused past him, and turned in time to catch a shadow slipping around Vezario's wagon. Jobivius was incensed at the story being told by Pon, and missed any of the activity. But he did slip off to talk to a couple of guards who were not at the fire listening to the story. He riled them up and convinced them to confront Vezario at this lazy body guard he had hired. Pon shouted an alarm when he saw the shadow, but when he walked to the wagon he saw nothing amiss, and went back to the fire.

But the other guards walked up confronting Vezario that this storyteller was insulting their profession, that he might even be a thief and just trying to cause false alarm. Vezario went into his wagon and found that the paper was missing. He came out in alarm, and agreed with the guards. While this was going on, once Izula saw Alu was safe, she pilfered the wagon of the other merchant, Lumus.She found some coins, a goblet, and an oddly shaped key. She left the wagon as the action started to heat up around the campfire.

Vezario told the guards to seize Pon, who disagreed with that notion in a rather sharp manner. One guard grabbed him, and lost his hand for it. Another guard swung at him but missed. Jobivius stayed in the shadows watching all of this, as Pon stepped in the midst of the guards and hewed 4 down with a swipe of his claymore (helped slightly by a doom die and a little berserking). Much violence and bloodshed, with the merchants in shock. Pon negotiated with the merchants that they still needed guards, since they no longer had any. Izula stepped out of the shadows and asked if anyone wanted to buy this oddly shaped key, and Lumus blanched white. He was desparate and a snarl formed on his face, "Give it to me!" She backed away at his reaction, and he told Pon he would pay 10 men's wages to get the key. So Pon went off looking for the woman with the key, not before noticing that Lumus had 3 black pyramids tattooed on his arm.

Izula found a secret door on the bottom of Lumus' wagon that held an acid that sprayed out when it was opened, then sliding out a scroll tube with black pyramids on it. She was heading back to Alu when Jobivius bumped into her in the shadows. They started talking, and then Pon approached. They all started talking, and went back to question Lumus about it. Lumus started speaking in an unknown language causing Izula to back away. Jobivius stepped in to "spartan kick" Lumus back into the fire. A critical failure on the role and his leg sunk into Lumus' robes, as tentacles came out from under with 2 grabbing his leg encircling it. Izula considered trying to sever the tentacles on Jobivius' leg, but enough clarification and commentary from the GM helped her realize that severing them would likely mean severing the leg being held as well. Izula grabbed Jobivius and yanked his leg free from Lumus, while Pon stepped in and swung hard into the hybrid man. Lumus lashed at Izula, trying to get the scroll, but she threw it across the fire. Alu, thinking she would want him to grab it, ran to pick it up.

Jobivius rolled on the ground saying he was hurt, causing Izula to come and help him, getting him standing but also throwing a hallucinogenic powder into Vezario's face to keep him out of the action. Lumus chased after Alu and grappled him, sucking his life from him through the tentacles. Pon went after Lumus and struck another telling blow, removing some tentacles, freeing Alu. Izula was incensed and knew this would impact her if she failed in guarding Alu, so she attacked Lumus, landing a blow that split his human half in twain. Vezario's screams from his hallucinations concerned Pon, so he struck the merchant down.

With no guards or merchants left, and only the caravan master alive but drugged by Izula earlier before everything started, the characters realized they couldn't manage teh caravan back into the towns. So they searched the wagons for what they could find that was transportable (finding a number of counterfeit coinage along with a couple of other goods they could use) and they took horses to head to the next town. They made sure to tell the caravan master that the caravan had been raided by the Coyotes, a bandit group in the region.

Izula kept the scroll tube, while Jobivius and Pon shard (not equally) the money they found. They made it to the next town, told the story of the caravan and the beast, and how the Coyotes attacked but the beast that led them was slain by Pon. They heard the story, adapted somewhat by the time they reached the next town. In the third town, when in her room at night, Izula felt an urge to look at the scroll, an urge she couldn't resist. She pulled out the scroll, and began reading a language she did not understand. A glowing portal started forming, and she saw black pyramids in the distance. She saw hungry faces looking at her, and tentacles started coming through the portal. She ran and grabbed Pon and Jobivius, and the group fled the city of Drachma. That is where we ended the session.

That night, Drachma was razed, all the people slain, but the party doesn't know that yet. Nor has the voice started talking to Izula yet, offering her power.

All in all, we had a blast. The rules were really out of the way of the playing. The group, coming from 5E, felt they could do what they wanted without being constrained by the abilities on the character sheet. I've already gotten texts asking if we are playing again in 2 weeks, so I consider it a win.

 

[AsenRG]

I'll be following that thread! It's just so cool to see a game you wrote being played. It always comes as a surprise to me

Full random is the way to go for chargen, well played!

Then you might want to know that I'm gearing up for a one-shot of BSH as well!
I need to finish the Petal Hack one-shot first, though (it was interrupted by, well, me needing to sleep, but since it's a one-on-one game with my wife, "getting the group together" is kinda easy).

 

[Mankcam]

I am half considering hacking the core mechanic of D20 to percentile dice to encourage one of my D100 players to try out BSH
I pretty much love everything I am reading in BSH so far, but he is D&D adverse, however a percentile core mechanic may lure him across the line...

 

[Imaginos]

I am half considering hacking the core mechanic of D20 to percentile dice to encourage one of my D100 players to try out BSH
I pretty much love everything I am reading in BSH so far, but he is D&D adverse, however a percentile core mechanic may lure him across the line...

I think your main struggle will be how to deal with the doom die, and maybe usage dice in general. Sticking with the starting d6 doom die, that isn’t much of an impact in the “roll and subtract from your roll” when applied to d100.

Is the player adverse to the full polyhedral in general, or only for actions?

 

[Mankcam]

I think your main struggle will be how to deal with the doom die, and maybe usage dice in general. Sticking with the starting d6 doom die, that isn’t much of an impact in the “roll and subtract from your roll” when applied to d100.

Is the player adverse to the full polyhedral in general, or only for actions?

hmmm I never thought about the Doom Dice, which of course is a pivotal part of BSH
There would be a work-around to make it fit percentile range (perhaps each unit on the Doom Dice D6 roll becomes a -10% mod), but that maths is not an exact port, and doing this would be far more clumsy than it is worth

No, I'ld best stick with having the D20 as core mechanic

I personally don't dig roll-under for a D20, it just feels a bit counter-intuitive for me, but I'm cool doing it with a percentile dice, so I'm part of the problem.

But the main issue is one of my old mates, we played RuneQuest and Rolemaster back in the 80s and 90s, and by the time we were exposed to D&D games we just found the TSR D&D rules almost nonsensical (despite loving the great TSR classic fantasy vibe).
He doesn't dislike D20 as an actual physical dice, as RQ used it for hit locations, and our original RQ and RM boxes had 'percentage dice' (also known as 'double D10' dice, which were D10s using the D20 molds). It's just the D20 association with D&D core mechanics mess of roll-over and roll-under that he dislikes.
He also got sick of everyone wanting him to play D&D back when he was a youngster, and it's kinda ingrained in him now by 50yrs old, heh heh.
Nah its not a big deal, he seems fine using a D20 for the core mechanic roll in Talislanta, Modiphus 2D20, and Numenera/Cypher System.

I really like the BSH vibe as well as the straight-forward simplicity of the BSH system, so if that's what I run then that's what I'll run.

 

[Imaginos]

hmmm I never thought about the Doom Dice, which of course is a pivotal part of BSH
There would be a work-around to make it fit percentile range (perhaps each unit on the Doom Dice D6 roll becomes a -10% mod), but that maths is not an exact port, and doing this would be far more clumsy than it is worth

No, I'ld best stick with having the D20 as core mechanic

Since you are fine with keeping polyhedral dice, you could just multiply the doom die roll by 5 for purposes where it impacts the game. That, in general, is what it does anyway when it impacts a roll of d20.

 

[Skywalker]

This thread has convinced me to grab BSH. I was trying to resist but the style of play looks great.

 

[Mankcam]

Since you are fine with keeping polyhedral dice, you could just multiply the doom die roll by 5 for purposes where it impacts the game. That, in general, is what it does anyway when it impacts a roll of d20.

I'm not into maths but that's pretty easy to do on the fly, and it may be a decent work around if it helps get it across the line

 

[Mankcam]

This thread has convinced me to grab BSH. I was trying to resist but the style of play looks great.

Straight forward rules, simple character sheet, great dark sword & sorcery vibe, slim and compact digest sized hardcover book, comes with pdf, cool art direction, well written and an easy read, brimming with creativity, and all for a good price

(and the author is a Pubber!)

You won't be disappointed

 

[AsenRG]

hmmm I never thought about the Doom Dice, which of course is a pivotal part of BSH
There would be a work-around to make it fit percentile range (perhaps each unit on the Doom Dice D6 roll becomes a -10% mod), but that maths is not an exact port, and doing this would be far more clumsy than it is worth

No, I'ld best stick with having the D20 as core mechanic

I personally don't dig roll-under for a D20, it just feels a bit counter-intuitive for me, but I'm cool doing it with a percentile dice, so I'm part of the problem.

But the main issue is one of my old mates, we played RuneQuest and Rolemaster back in the 80s and 90s, and by the time we were exposed to D&D games we just found the TSR D&D rules almost nonsensical (despite loving the great TSR classic fantasy vibe).
He doesn't dislike D20 as an actual physical dice, as RQ used it for hit locations, and our original RQ and RM boxes had 'percentage dice' (also known as 'double D10' dice, which were D10s using the D20 molds). It's just the D20 association with D&D core mechanics mess of roll-over and roll-under that he dislikes.
He also got sick of everyone wanting him to play D&D back when he was a youngster, and it's kinda ingrained in him now by 50yrs old, heh heh.
Nah its not a big deal, he seems fine using a D20 for the core mechanic roll in Talislanta, Modiphus 2D20, and Numenera/Cypher System.

I really like the BSH vibe as well as the straight-forward simplicity of the BSH system, so if that's what I run then that's what I'll run.

Honestly, man, I find the idea of luring a good d100 player to play d20 makes no sense to me...

 

[Mankcam]

Honestly, man, I find the idea of luring a good d100 player to play d20 makes no sense to me...

Ahh but I'm not luring anyone to play D20. In this particular case I am considering ditching the D20!

No issue against a D20, except I find roll under systems counter-intutitive - unless it is describing a percentage, in which case, percentile dice work perfectly -
(Eg: If I have 90% chance in a given task, then that sounds pretty easy, so rolling under makes perfect sense as rolling over would be a pretty hard feat to do - so percentile dice are the only dice I can conceptualise as Roll Under).

The rest of the BSH structure I'm fine with, because after playing BRP, WFRP, etc for 30 yrs or so, I actually want a little less character sheet complexity and game play complexity, and BSH pretty much hits the sweet spot. If only BSH used a percentile dice as a core mechanic it'ld be perfect, but as luck would have it uses a D20 Roll Under so the core mechanic should convert seamlessly

So this is more about finding a lighter version of a D100 game!
(hmmm this may also be why I really like Crusaders as a Supers game...)

I'll just have to see if there are any hidden issues if I decide to convert from D20 to D100, as I don't want to add on any layers of complexity, I want to keep BSH running as cleanly as possible - if D100 complicates it too much, then I'll just run the game as intended, with a D20.

Bear in mind, this is all just a vague idea at present.

 

[AsenRG]

Ahh but I'm not luring anyone to play D20. In this particular case I am considering ditching the D20!

No issue against a D20, except I find roll under systems counter-intutitive - unless it is describing a percentage, in which case, percentile dice work perfectly -
(Eg: If I have 90% chance in a given task, then that sounds pretty easy, so rolling under makes perfect sense as rolling over would be a pretty hard feat to do - so percentile dice are the only dice I can conceptualise as Roll Under).

The rest of the BSH structure I'm fine with, because after playing BRP, WFRP, etc for 30 yrs or so, I actually want a little less character sheet complexity and game play complexity, and BSH pretty much hits the sweet spot. If only BSH used a percentile dice as a core mechanic it'ld be perfect, but as luck would have it uses a D20 Roll Under so the core mechanic should convert seamlessly

So this is more about finding a lighter version of a D100 game!
(hmmm this may also be why I really like Crusaders as a Supers game...)

I'll just have to see if there are any hidden issues if I decide to convert from D20 to D100, as I don't want to add on any layers of complexity, I want to keep BSH running as cleanly as possible - if D100 complicates it too much, then I'll just run the game as intended, with a D20.

Bear in mind, this is all just a vague idea at present.

...Just read that reply. Man, you know that my post was just a joke, right? Usually people are talking about luring d20 players to try non-d20 stuff...

As for your dislike of roll-under, well, a d20 is just a percentile die for any range of percentages that divide by 5 - except it takes less time to stop rolling than actual d100s.

 

[Skywalker]

Goddam it. I bought BSH and that made me get Liminal Horror as well.

 

[Triumvir]

(I enjoy winging it, and their combined rolls just made the story).

That could be my sig text

Thanks for a great thread

 

[Uferschnepfe]

Reading this inspirational thread, I'm reminded how much I would like to play a rules light RPG.
After having to play D&D 5e and Pathfinder 1st. Ed., two systems I hated soooo much, I made a pitch for an OSR campaign without much luck.
My group is still stuck with skills and feats...maybe next time.

I cannot wait to read more!

 

[Triumvir]

So this is more about finding a lighter version of a D100 game!

Have you come across Maelstrom?

Or Newt Newport's Simplequest?

 

[Mankcam]

I haven't taken a close look at SimpleQuest because it looked pretty close to OpenQuest (and I already have multiple editions of OQ)

Maelstrom is something I heard about years ago, but never got around to reading, so you've spiked my interest.

 

[Imaginos]

Sadly last night players were too many sheets gone in the wind, so nothing much happened in game before we stopped and played board games. Izula and Pon were there, and were joined by Irena, a changeling warlock shaman from a decadent culture who was born in a brothel in the City of Thieves.

Some exposition about the organization in the City of Thieves. The Thieves Guild are associated with clock towers. The head of the tower is, quite simply, the Towermaster. Izula is a member of the Seventh Bell (Tower), by Grigs. Vezario, the merchant in the last session, turned out to be Idris, the Towermaster of the Third Bell. This is causing some shake up in the guild, but they are warmongering so it was an acceptable loss.

Pon joined the guild as a storyteller, to disseminate stories and rumors the Seventh Bell may want spread. Pon and Izula were given the task to escort Irena to the Temple of Ozmon, which is located in the Holland Marsh. At this point, there were enough drunken jokes about the Temple of the Assman that the temple was located between the crack and the taint.
Unfortunately an area inhabited by the Sexy Bobs, a group of cannibals.

Pon used his ability to know true details about the setting to know facts about the Sexy Bobs, so we found out that they are over reliant on tracking by scent, they will go for women before men, and if you drink from the same water they will accept you into their tribe.

They were attacked at night, but Irena’s forest spirit had erected thorns and brambles that caused the Sexy Bobs to be at disadvantage. Over reliance on the forest spirit also meant she did not rest that night because it kept poking her with thorns. The party slew all but one of the attackers, the one who survived being kicked in the junk by Irena and disabled. The party interrogated him and found out that there was an invasion of the City of Thieves planned. (This goes directly to the first adventure, where the tentacled foe was supposed to open the portal in the city, which was ruined by the adventurers.)

At that point, we wrapped up and played some card and board games (Guillotine card game, and then a couple of games of Ethnos).

Two weeks out should be the next game.

 

[Imaginos]

Ok, have three people committed to the game this coming Friday (Pon, Izula, Irina) - the other who has attended a session was one of the not-so-reliable-but-fun-to-RP-with people, so they may or may not show (Jobivius the 3rd).

This week will be the return to the Temple of Ozmon, located in the Holland Marsh between the Crack and the Taint. I put more work into prep than I normally do (which is winging it). I’ve been told by the group before that the games feel more prepared when I am winging instead of prep work, but why not?

The Imgur below has the map of the Holland Marsh, along with game notes. So there are multiple ruins in the marsh, which is fed largely by the river. The marsh is a sunken area of bogs and treachery. On some of the cliff walls are lifelike faces carved into the stone, with altars in front of them. Sacrifices can be made here - details in the notes.

The Sexy Bobs actually originated from these altars. If you offer blood but not a life, you contract the blood fever that makes you a bloodthirsty, potentially a cannibal. If someone offered blood at all altars (like that would happen), I would probably bless/curse them with either lycanthropy or vampirism.

To get into the ToO, you need the Orb of Xi, which is in the taint. The Temple is actually the east part of the adventure. The Taint is the bulk of the challenges.

Getting through the much and sludge of the Taint (which is also a slow moving whirlpool) will require a Str roll or pass out. They make it through either way, but passing out means low damage. They make it to an underground shore of clean water, rocky sand with stalagmites and stalactites in the cavern. Staying here too long will awaken the water dragon in the water (resembles rock in the pics).

They can leave through a cave in the wall which leads to multiple twisting passages. Then a roll on a d6 determines which room they encounter.

a) Hanging rope room with hooks in the ropes. Str or Dec to swing across. Failure take 1d3 hooks and stay on rope or fall to spears below. Or figure a way across

b)Eternal path, no end, turning around and going back keeps you going longer than you should. Secret is walking backwards, or whatever cool idea the players come up with.

c)Indiana Jones chasm - stolen from the movie. Chasm, have to get across. Can try to jump, will just land awkwardly on your stomach. Going for humor here. No hints but they have demons they can ask.

d)Judgement room - scale with athame and offering bowls on kneeling table, with kneeling bench. Says “Know Thyself” on altar. Sacrifice your blood to whatever you are aligned to will get +1 to stay of your choice.

e) Jewel Room - table with odd device holding a blood ruby suspended in an energy beam and an empty alms box beside it. Mystic writing says “Take and lose or give and gain”. Take the ruby, lose 1d6 HP (1 HP loss is permanent) and gain the gem worth (damage done X 100). Offer money/wealth in the alms box and gain (value/100 rounded down but minimum 1 to maximum HP).

f)Reflecting pool - engraving on a plate says “what do you seek”. Chance for RP - player says what the characters deepest desire is, and they will know the direction each time they wake up from a long rest.

g)treasure room - paintings line the walls. Orb of Xi is inside a painting. Have to reach into it to take it. Some treasure drops here. End painting is a huge portal that drops them off in NW corner of the marsh.

In the temple, there are some giant spiders and a mummified arachnid warrior. Spiders they will have to fight, the mummy they can reason with if they choose. There are ancient corpses of the arachnid people in some of the buildings, sealed from within (slain by serpent people).

In the temple treasure room, there is the Tome of True Names and 9 statues of serpent people. Statues all have weapons in hand (magic weapons). If a player takes one, no problem. If a player tries to take a second weapon, that’s true animates and attacks (Level 7 in. It’s, will adjust lower most likely depending how the group is doing).

It is possible a player gets a follower that is an Ogre named Oligos if they free him from the Sexy Bobs in the larder. Ogres regenerate so the SB’s in this ruin keep him and harvest from him to supplement what they can capture and let it regenerate. He is currently missing and arm and is restrained with chains.

 

[Imaginos]

Game delayed due to multiple absences and me having my daughter tomorrow night (not my normal night).

 

[AsenRG]

Game delayed due to multiple absences and me having my daughter tomorrow night (not my normal night).

So is getting to see the daughter a good or bad thing?

 

[Imaginos]

So is getting to see the daughter a good or bad thing?

I fought to get 50/50 time with her over the past couple of years, so getting her on a night that is her moms? I’ll definitely take it. My friends I game with understand. Gaming is fun, but this is my daughter.

 

[gruagach]

If your kid is old enough, introducing them to gaming is always an option. Not that I'd expect or advocate for doing actual play reports of the kids gaming.

I introduced my kids to rpgs. They'll still play if I'm running a game for them. I think maybe one of them played a bit on college (but got turned off by bad nerd gatekeeping bullshit). And maybe one of the others would play (GM in fact) if they could find a group of friends they could interest in gaming.

 

[Imaginos]

My daughter is 14 and has Down Syndrome. She has fun with make believe (playing Supergirl or The Flash or Charmed), but giving rules makes it harder for her to comprehend. We play other games but RPGs are just outside of what she wants to do.

 

[Imaginos]

We were able to get together and play last night. Izula and Pon were there. Another player showed for their first game session, so we quickly created Jamison the neck breaker from the decadent Forbidden City. Jamison is an envoy sent to meet up with Grigs, leader of the 3rd Bell, the same person that Izula gave the portal scroll to. (GM inebriation and gap in playing retcon here: if you read above I said the players were 7th bell. I flipped them and the other bell above last night, so they are now 3rd bell and the other tower master that was killed was 7th bell).

So my last post had all of the Temple of Ozmon planned out, and of course the players didn’t do that. LOL.

Seems people are invested in their homes and such, so they wanted to return to the City of Thieves because of the invasion warning they got from the SexyBob they had interrogated. 2 days out from the city they run into refugee caravans coming from the city. Izula stops a merchant and starts talking, finding out that the Hunger Hoard invaded the city. Much confusion and nobody knows exactly what happens, but the towers all evacuated and groups are being sent to rendezvous points. Jamison notices Izula’s reaction when she hears about the horse invasion, since she knows how it happened. Not fully, but she gave the scroll to Grigs. Her nightmares also stopped 3 days ago. Roughly about the time the City was invaded.

Jamison was still waiting to meet and discuss terms with Grigs, so was sent to the rendezvous as well. He asked Izula and Pon to take him in ahead of the caravan so they did. They met up at the Red Goat Inn in the city of Khasmeh, one of the merchant league cities. 5 of the leaders from the 3rd Bell were there, they were waiting on the rest. The bartender Ghoti (pronounces Fiddy - again, drunken interactions lead to some messed up namings) shows the group to the lower level.

Izula met with Nininin, the highest ranking Bell leader there. Found out that Jamison was to negotiate resources to help the 3rd Bell in upcoming struggles, even more important now. He was there to acquire the Tome of True Names for the Emperor of the Forbidden City.


More to come later.

 

[3rik]

I find roll under systems counter-intutitive

 

[Acmegamer]

We were able to get together and play last night. Izula and Pon were there. Another player showed for their first game session, so we quickly created Jamison the neck breaker from the decadent Forbidden City. Jamison is an envoy sent to meet up with Grigs, leader of the 3rd Bell, the same person that Izula gave the portal scroll to. (GM inebriation and gap in playing retcon here: if you read above I said the players were 7th bell. I flipped them and the other bell above last night, so they are now 3rd bell and the other tower master that was killed was 7th bell).

So my last post had all of the Temple of Ozmon planned out, and of course the players didn’t do that. LOL.

Seems people are invested in their homes and such, so they wanted to return to the City of Thieves because of the invasion warning they got from the SexyBob they had interrogated. 2 days out from the city they run into refugee caravans coming from the city. Izula stops a merchant and starts talking, finding out that the Hunger Hoard invaded the city. Much confusion and nobody knows exactly what happens, but the towers all evacuated and groups are being sent to rendezvous points. Jamison notices Izula’s reaction when she hears about the horse invasion, since she knows how it happened. Not fully, but she gave the scroll to Grigs. Her nightmares also stopped 3 days ago. Roughly about the time the City was invaded.

Jamison was still waiting to meet and discuss terms with Grigs, so was sent to the rendezvous as well. He asked Izula and Pon to take him in ahead of the caravan so they did. They met up at the Red Goat Inn in the city of Khasmeh, one of the merchant league cities. 5 of the leaders from the 3rd Bell were there, they were waiting on the rest. The bartender Ghoti (pronounces Fiddy - again, drunken interactions lead to some messed up namings) shows the group to the lower level.

Izula met with Nininin, the highest ranking Bell leader there. Found out that Jamison was to negotiate resources to help the 3rd Bell in upcoming struggles, even more important now. He was there to acquire the Tome of True Names for the Emperor of the Forbidden City.


More to come later.

Which system are you running for this, Imaginos?

 

[Fenris-77]

Which system are you running for this, Imaginos?

Fenris-77 glances up at the thread title, then back to this post....

 

[Acmegamer]

Fenris-77 glances up at the thread title, then back to this post....

Fuck me. I need ot glance up at the topic I'm reading more often. Not the first time i've done that due to just following various topics. Ignore me Imaginos . lol.

 

[Imaginos]

Picking up where I left off yesterday…

We established that the Forbidden City, being in decline, is because of a pact the Emperor made. He wants the Tome in order to break the pact. That is a benefit of the Tome, breaking pacts without direct negative impact. So it is important for Jamison to acquire the Tome. With that being established (along with Izula’s failure to acquire it thus far), the group is charged with going to the Temple of Ozmon and acquiring it.

At that time, Ghoti comes running down the access tunnel yelling they are under attack. Two guys are pursuing him, and one jumps on his back tackling him and doing some stabbification. The group reacts, with Pon going first. He steps toward the other guy and takes his legs off at the knees, effectively removing him from combat. Izula hours to help Ghoti, striking the guy attacking him and rubbing some ointment on his stab wounds (“they stabbed me lower” - Izula didn’t buy it).

Jamison grabs kneecap and take him up the tunnel as a hostage.

More later

 

[Imaginos]

Jamison tries to convince the other attackers upstairs to lay their weapons down and leave. They opt to disagree, but he does tie them up talking until the rest of the party arrive. Jamison was getting quite bloody as “kneecap” was struggling and kicking, but was slowing his struggles because of blood loss.

The battle begins anew and ends quickly as Pon springs into the middle of the enemies who were stupidly standing too close together after talking with Jamison. Pon whirls his claymore striking all 4 enemies (I just applied the damage to each, and he rolled max damage). So that was it for the threat of the 7th bell attempting to take out the 3rd bell leadership.

Party is now tasked with acquiring the Tome of True Names from the Tenple of Ozmon, this ending this session, Rock the Khasmeh.

 

[Imaginos]

Okay, so we got together last Friday and had a session. We met at the house of the players of Jamison and Jobivious the 3rd so they could both play. Present was everyone:
Pon, Barbarian storyteller
Izula, civilized thief
Jobivious the Third, Barbarian lie-teller
Irina, decadent changeling warlock
Jamison, decadent assassin

As per the norm, some people were drinking and far along into it, but since I had to drive home I avoided drinking. So I tried to keep things somewhat progressing.

Took a while for everyone to get caught up and remember where we were. I had to tie the missing characters into the current story. Then the gang headed toward the Holland Marsh once again.

Being a rather normal party, they wanted to take a different route into the marsh than I had planned, and Pon decided to use his d4 true statements to create a safe dock on the river side of the marsh, with a pathway from the dock to the Temple. Mind you, it wasn’t a “safe” pathway and we came near to our first death of the campaign.

He also said the Temple was guarded by a 4 Armed Giant Ape. I asked for a d10 roll and used that to set the level at 6. And I announced that any mentions of Temple of Assman would increase the Ape’s rating. It is now a 9. I think they realized I was serious when I said chargen was fast and I had extra character sheets with me.

The party was discussing what to do once they got on the pathway, which appeared to be an ancient road from the dock to ruins in the distance. Much back and forth, including disagreements on how to go, but Jobivious was watching the swamp and saw some eyes above water about 40 feet away. Izula, whose player was farthest in the drinking, scampered across the roots of the trees to go where Jobivious saw the eyes. She was followed by Irina. She then proceeded to stick her hand in the murky swamp water.

That was repeated multiple times to confirm what she was doing. Each time, yes, that’s what I’m doing.
Ok, initiative. She does not pass the check.

So she failed her dexterity check to dodge the crocodilian headed serpent that latched onto her hand/arm.

Izula player “Is it my dominant arm?”
Me: I don’t know, roll and d20 and if it’s odd…
*clatter clatter*
Izula player “It’s odd, so which is it”
Others “You didn’t let him finish what he was saying”
I had planned to say odd was dominant. I told her to roll again. Odd. So there we go.

One fell swoop and she took a nasty bite for 8 damage and the creature had locked its teeth in the arm. She poked it in the eye successfully, startling it, and was able to pull her arm back taking minor damage from the teeth.

Jamison, seeing this reacts by hurling his harpoon at the beast. Rolling a natural 20. Good news he only hit Izula for 2 points. Irina tries to grab Izula to stabilize her but Izula was too wary for other grabby-ness.

Izula takes off running back to the path, leaving Irina stranded out there. Irina grabs Jamison’a harpoon to use as a walking stick, and promptly fails a Dex check to walk on the roots again. She opts to pass by losing the harpoon in the murk.

Everyone is on the path. Izula is getting swarmed on the arm wounds by insects, some of which have humanoid faces and are licking the blood with their tongues. Jamison covers the wound in mud, but nobody remembered that the Sexy Bobs track by scent. And prefer females. (Both thanks to Pon). And that blood wafting is like a light for the moth.

Which will continue next session. Pon’s player had to get up early next day so we cut earlier than planned.