Throwing Rocks in Texas (Part Four)

Matt Finch runs Mythrus Tower

After “Expect the Unexpected” wrapped up, I had time to grab an early dinner before I started preparing for my Saturday night game of Dungeon Crawl Classics. Unfortunately, that meant I had to skip the Artists’ Panel scheduled right after “Expect the Unexpected.” I’d be kicking myself for this a little later.

My belly filled and my scenario, pre-gens, and accoutrements together, I slipped back to the Longhorn Room in time for the NTRPGCon Auction and—more importantly—the announcement of the winner of the 2012 Three Castles Award. Regular readers already know I won in absentia last year for The Dungeon Alphabet and was a co-nominee this year for Realms of Crawling Chaos with Dan Proctor. 

Unfortunately, I was tipped early that Realms was probably not going to win when Doug asked me to present the award since I was in town. Disappointing, but I expected my name in the mix again was unlikely to result in another award.

Jim Ward runs Dragonlairds on Sunday morning

Doug and Mike introduced me prior to the auction and I threatened the audience with reading the hour-long acceptance speech I wasn’t able to deliver last year and got some laughs. I then pointed out that if I neglected to announce this year’s winner, the award was technically still mine. All laughter aside, it was an honor to finally be able to thank some of the judges in attendance and those of you who’ve supported The Dungeon Alphabet with your dollars and glowing reviews. It was with a mixture of pride and sadness that I passed the torch on to Kevin Crawford for Stars Without Number. Congratulations, Kevin!

Having already blown most of my budget (or so I told myself), I slipped out after the award announcement and finished up the last little details of preparing for my DCC session of “The Fane of St. Toad” scheduled immediately after the auction concluded. I had my Brave Halfling Old School Game Box (the Erol cover, natch, and now signed after “Emirikol”) stuffed to the gills with DCC notes and was ready to roll.

Saturday night games at cons are always dicey (and not in the good way). Exhaustion and drinks take their tolls and not everyone makes it to the table. My game had seven players registered, but only three from the list turned up. Luckily for me, I had three other eager players accost me before the game and beg seats, which the low turnout allowed me to grant them. Unlike “Emirikol,” whose players were largely unfamiliar with DCC, five of the six players at “St. Toad” had copies of the rulebook with them and at least passing acquaintance with the rules. After a quick rules overview, we hit the ground running.

“The Fane of St. Toad” is the first full-length adventure I wrote after getting involved with the OSR and it is dedicated to Dave Arneson. I hadn’t looked at it since I started working on Stonehell, and I always get a little nervous revisiting old work. Surprisingly, it still worked for me. I updated it to DCC, smoothed out a couple of rough edges, and made some changes so that it wouldn’t be completely predictable to someone who had read the original. In my own opinion, it turned out great.

Those red words: all toads

The players spent very little time exploring the upper level of the Fane (but enough time for them to soak up the ambiance), heading down the Undercroft where they rightly concluded the good treasure was. Down there, they encounter really, really crappy mummies (my Zocchis were again rolling cold and I couldn’t strangle a poor sap to death to save my life), tore up a creepy orgy chamber (and inadvertently discovered a cache of vials when they struck off a particular protrusion from a statue), and then faced down a big honking cavern of toads. The battle was pitched against the hopping menace, but with a lot of spellburning and sleep spells, and charm spells, they overcame the toads—but not before the halfling in the party found the “sleeping” avatar of St. Toad and decided to battle it hobbito a toado.

In an eerie repeat of “Emirikol,” the elf in the party called down the power of his patron and the party was near indestructible for many, many rounds and enjoyed a healthy bonus to their rolls to boot. I did manage to get the cleric swallowed by the avatar, but out-of-the-box thinking with a Word of Command (“vomit!”) got him out of its belly and the Toad was slain, leaving the party very rich and the session at an end. Alas, I didn’t get to sic the giant Toad idol on them as they tried to leave with their booty.

The Not-Be by Jennell Jaquays

During a break in “St. Toad” I ran into Tim again and he started talking to me about something called a “Not-Be” and I honestly had no clue what he was going on about. Finally, the penny dropped. A couple months before the convention, Bad Mike sent the word out that the con was looking for funky, unique monster submissions to present to the artists during the Artists’ Panel for them to draw. The end results would eventually be judged, featured in an adventure, and the winner would have a miniature sculpted of the monster. When I read the call for monsters, I drafted up a quick entry: “The Upside-Down, Inside-Out Thing That Should Not Be” or “Not-Be” for short. It turned out that Jennell Jaquays brought the “Not-Be” to grisly, two-dimensional life at the Artists’ Panel and it was a big hit. And I missed the whole thing.

The rest of the evening, although late, was a lot of fun. I talked up my upcoming releases from Goodman Games with the DCC players and signed a few books before heading back to the ballroom. There I talked about Stonehell with Bad Mike, editing with Tim, and got the lowdown on Jennell’s next professional leap (and got to see the “Not-Be” for myself). The hour was late and after collecting my winnings from the silent auction (Call of Cthulhu 5.6.1 autographed by Sandy Petersen, Secret of San Fransico, and Cthulhu Dark Ages—what can I say? I love me some Call of Cthulhu and spent less than I would have at the store), I called it a night.

Erol, a gorilla, and I wait for the shuttle to the airport

Sunday was all about saying hello and saying goodbye. Frank Mentzer introduced me to Peter Kerestan of Palace of the Vampire Queen and Wee Warriors fame. I had breakfast with Steve Winter and my favorite fan from Gary Con, Zach Glazer (after chatting with Erol Otus and Jeff Dee while waiting for my breakfast to arrive). Allan Grohe introduced me to Chris Holmes, son of J. Eric Holmes, who turned out was one of my fellow cavemen in “Expect the Unexpected” and we got to playtest Chris’ board game of “Pirates vs. Ninjas vs. Zombies vs. Monkeys” (or something like that). The Ninjas won, but not before proving that if you really want to playtest the beejezus out of a game, Allan and I will put it through its paces.

There were of course many people I didn’t get to say good-bye to or spend enough time talking to during the con, but hopefully 2013 will correct all that. I’m going to try like hell to make it down again next year. Writing this close to three weeks after the events of the convention, there are many events, people, and good conversations I’m forgetting, but I do want to thank all my fellow attendees for welcoming this New Yorker down to Texas. The fact that so many of you took the time to introduce yourself and compliment me on my work (and demand autographs!) means a lot to me. For those of you who don’t do it as a vocation, writing is an extremely lonely pursuit and it’s usually just me vs. the computer screen. Getting out and meeting people who my work has brought some entertainment to means the world to me and so long as you keep wanting more, I’ll keep writing it.

Thank you all!

Mike.

Oh, That’s Right: I Have a Blog

Forgive the dearth of posts here for the last two weeks. As you might imagine, things are very hectic around these parts as I settle into a new life and new job. Despite the distractions, I’m still busy at work on various gaming-related projects and even managed to finish up a short one today. With a few moments to spare before I consider heading off to the Land of Nod (not the blog or fanzine, but the metaphorical place of dreams), I thought I’d bring you all up to speed on things.

I’ve finally managed to unpack and get settled into the new apartment. Unfortunately, without much time between accepting the position and my first day of work, I didn’t have a lot of lead time to find a place to live. The result is that I’m living in a much smaller space than I had hoped. It’s not a studio or what they laughing call an “efficiency apartment” (read: “motel room without the conveniences of an actual motel”), but it is a bit cramped, especially for the archivist and gamer whose library is one of the reasons people usually only help me move once.

The upside is that the place does have its charm. It was originally a large barn built in the 1880s that’s since been renovated and diced up into apartments. I have lots of old exposed wood beams and floors, as well as a pair of stained glass windows that look into the bedroom and what I’m calling the “reading and writing nook.” I can see the Wallkill River and its cataracts from my window and aside from the Mysterious Thing with Heavy Feet that Lives Overhead, my fellow residents are friendly, yet discreet. Being on the second floor, my place also comes delightfully equipped with a Superhero Emergency Escape Hatch, which is a fire exit leading to a shaft containing a ladder running down to the ground floor, located directly off of my bedroom. I’m contemplating starting a life of crime just so I can utilize it when the S.W.A.T. team starts breaking down the front door. When time allows, I’ll post some pictures of my new headquarters and you’re all invited to drop by for a delve into Stonehell the next time you’re in the neighborhood.

Speaking of Stonehell, work continues on the sequel and my determination to finish it and get it out by year’s end remains unabated. My work schedule and the whole process of relocating and unpacking have cut into the time I’d like to be writing the manuscript, but I’ve taken to getting up an hour early to get some design work accomplished before I start my day. I’m currently working on a quadrant on the 7^th level called “The Welchers’ Halls” for reasons that will become apparent once you see what lies to the south of this section.

Those of you who contributed to the “Help Mike Relocate to the Wilderness Where He Belongs” Fund will all receive a special mention when the book comes out, as promised. I’m really dumbfounded by the contributions some of you made and am in awe that you were willing to part with your hard-earned cash to help out some guy who writes about monsters, magic, and other dubious pursuits, one many of you have never even met. Those funds were a real life-saver this week when I was hit with some unexpected bills above and beyond the astronomical cost of renting a Penske truck and filling that beast with gas. The alternator went on my car and I got hit with another $100+ bill for another repair. Without that extra money, I’d be scared spitless regarding how I would survive until my first paycheck clears. So although I’ve already thanked you all in email, let me do so again: “Thank you, thank you, thank you very much!”

With such limited space to live in, I had to leave the majority of my gaming collection in storage back on Long Island, but I’m trying to view that as a feature, not a bug. Aside from the B/X books, Stonehell I, and the Labyrinth Lord rulebook, I just have my 1^st edition (2^nd printing) Call of Cthulhu boxed set and my complete run of Wraith: The Oblivion (which got loaded onto the truck when I wasn’t looking). Call of Cthulhu is really , well “calling” to me right now, and I’m very tempted to make that the next campaign I run once I find my place here and a new gaming group. If I were to do so, I’d take the “Out of the Box” approach, using just the materials provided in the boxed set and pretending nothing else was ever written for the game. That idea really has my head whirling with possibilities.

The other reason that Call of Cthulhu is enticing me is that I’m now living in the real Wildwyck County. The series I’m writing for Fight On! is based on the landscape, history, and my own experiences in Ulster County as an undergraduate. Now that I’m an actual resident of Wildwyck, I’m hoping to tap into the rich history and atmosphere that pervades the country just outside my front door and make that series even better. I’m planning on watching the full moon rise tonight and brainstorm.

I made the initial efforts to locate a gaming group this week, joining a local Meetup group based in the area, but I’m not sure how that’s going to pan out just yet. So again, if you’re one of my readers and want the dubious honor of having me at your table, feel free to contact me at the email listed to the right. Unfortunately, my internet connection is less than efficient, meaning I won’t have the option of participating in FLAILSNAILS games for the foreseeable future, making me even more determined to find a local face-to-face group as understanding and tolerant of my penchant for weirdness as my last one.

Before I go, I want to remind you all once again that even though my postings may be reduced, my participation in the hobby is not. Some of you lucky bastards have already gotten their hands on Goodman Games’ new Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG and you’ll notice my name in that book’s credits. I did some of the spells for it and there’s one I’m most proud off. A No-Prize goes to the first one to guess which spell that is. Goblinoid Games will be releasing another game I designed using the Action Table System to Labyrinth Lord Society members in the near future and I hope you card-carrying members download it, give it a whirl, and let me know what you think. I charted a course into Bat Country when writing it and I hope that comes through in the final product.

In still other design news, I’m one of the contributing authors to The Secret Fire’s next supplement, Fragment I: The Way of Tree, Shadow & Flame. One of my co-designers on that book is an up-and-coming young lad who I think has a lot of potential, and I’m sure you’ll be hearing the name” Eddie Greenwood” again in the future.

Lastly, a reminder that I’ll be down in Texas for NTRPGCon to run a few DCC games (“Emirikol Must Die!,” a convention variant of my forthcoming Emirikol Was Framed! adventure from Goodman Games, as well as a converted (and possibly perverted) version of my first OSR release, “The Fane of St. Toad.” One of those sessions may have a secret special guest, but I’m not telling who or when. There’s also talk of Tim Kask and I doing a workshop on “Gonzo Gaming” with other guests, but that’s still being hashed out as far as I know. After getting to know and play with Tim at Gary Con, doing a seminar with him would be a great pleasure. One that would only be eclipsed if Dan Proctor and I win this year’s Three Castles Award for Realms of Crawling Chaos.

Oh, one more thing: this year’s Goodman Games’ Free RPG Day release features two adventures and another special treat. Those adventures were written by the most excellent Harley Stroh and I. My home group had a blast playtesting my contribution, even if things didn’t turn out so well for one of the PCs.

OK, I’m done. Off to howl at the moon a bit before bed. Thank you all again for the well-wishes, support (both verbal, financial, and professional), and camaraderie you’ve provided me since I first dipped my toe into both the OSR and the industry. I couldn’t have done it without you.

Update on DCC RPG, NTRPGCON & Me

So with any luck, you have a copy of the DCC RPG pdf in your possession and are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the hard copy version in the weeks to come. By the time June rolls around, you'll be well-versed in the esoteric knowledge contained within that hefty tome's covers. But what to do with that unholy lore?

Come to Texas! I'll be running two sessions of DCC RPG over the weekend at the NTRPGCON 2012. See below for times and details, and remember: game registration opens at midnight on April 15th.

Friday, June 8^th, 1000-1400

Game Title: Emirikol Must Die!

Game System: Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG

Number of Players: 6-8

Pregens/Level of characters: Yes/4^th level

World/Setting: Generic

The mad wizard Emirikol is terrifying the city! Striking without reason to slaughter the populace, the infamous mage has gone too far. Now a coffer of jewels is offered to those who would dare defeat him. Eager to collect that reward, a collection of reavers, cut-purses, heathen-slayers, and warlocks bands together to defeat the servant of Chaos within his very sanctum. The ever-changing walls of his Shifting Tower are guarded by a host of diabolical traps, fiendish guardians, and unimaginable terror. Will the adventurers come out victorious…or lose their very souls in the attempt?

Players will be provided a selection of pre-generated characters to choose from before they begin their assault. This event is open to all players and familiarity with the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG is not required. The scenario mixes thrilling battles and deductive thinking. Only a party able to master both stands a chance of emerging triumphant.

Saturday, June 9^th, 1800-2200

Game Title: The Fane of St. Toad

Game System: Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG

Number of Players: 6-8

Pregens/Level of characters: Yes/3^rd level

World/Setting: Generic

For as long as men remember, the cult of St. Toad carried out unspeakable rites in their squatting temples situated far from civilization. Tales of human sacrifice, squirming servants, and rich, but loathsome treasures were whispered of the cult. Now, unexpectedly, the cult has seemingly vanished, leaving behind their fanes to molder in the marshes. A brave band of adventurers gathers to explore one such tabernacle, eager to discover what riches—and terrors—the cult has left behind…

A good old-fashioned dungeon crawl, The Fane of St. Toad was first written for OD&D, but is now adapted for Dungeon Crawl Classics. Players will be provided a selection of pre-generated characters to choose from before they begin their delving of the Fane. This event is open to all players and familiarity with the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG is not required. Batrachophobes need not apply.

Ideological Conflict at the Temple School for Young Amphibians

I’m still waist deep in projects this week, but the level of work is slowly dwindling. I have a few things in the pipe for later this week or the next, but until then, here’s a little something I found on my old computer during the Great File Transfer of 2011:

This is also a reminder that The Fane of St. Toad, one of my first contributions to this thing of ours and a tribute to both Dave Arneson and C.A. Smith, remains available as a free download here. If you’ve missed it before, check it out now.

Fortify Your Campaign With Vaedium

From “Dungeon Oddities” by Michael Curtis, Knockspell #2

Vaedium is a rare, naturally occurring mineral found in deposits deep within the earth. It appears as an extremely dense grey stone that possesses an iridescent sheen. Vaedium is a radioactive element, but not in the way understood by residents of 21st century Earth. Instead of the harmful radiation produced by such Earthly counterparts as uranium and radium, vaedium emits a more eldritch energy whose exact effects vary from deposit to deposit. Vaedium is prized by sages, sorcerers, and alchemists alike, each of whom will pay large sums of money to lay their hands on sample of this mineral. Due to its rarity and possible side-effects of prolonged exposure, however, the collection of vaedium for trade is an extremely uncommon occurrence.

While the effects of vaedium radiation vary, some of its different properties have been documented. Some subterranean races have been known to temper weapons of forged steel by bathing them in the mineral’s arcane energies. This process gives the weapons a temporary magical enchantment that persists as long as the weapons receive occasional exposure to the radiation. Stories abound of adventurers who, believing they’ve acquired a cache of magical weapons, have returned to the surface world only to discover these weapons quickly pit and decay once removed from regular vaedium exposure. Vaedium has been known to produce bizarre mutations in those who suffer regular exposure to it, giving rise to tales of two-head Goblinoid races and dragons of unusual colors. One extremely unbelievable account tells the tale of a race of clockwork men who seemed to use vaedium as food or fuel by placing chunks of the ore inside their hollow chest cavities.

For game purposes, vaedium serves as a support from which a GM can hang whatever odd or “unrealistic” events or creatures he wishes to introduce to his campaign. It’s a panacea for dealing with players who, despite the fact they’re playing a fantasy game, require a scientific or rational explanation for the oddities that exist in the dungeon depths. Vaedium may be pseudo-science but it functions in this role admirably.

Just in case it isn’t obvious by its name, “Vaedium” was a tribute to Dave Arneson, a man who passed away one year ago today. Dave was a referee who, by all accounts, wasn’t afraid to turn the Wahoo! dial up to 11 on his game, and I though it only fitting to name the element that allows a more timid referee to do so too after him.

I learned a lot from Dave indirectly on the Original Dungeons & Dragons Discussion forum and his passing last year struck me deeper than I could imagine. At that time, I wrote and released The Fane of St. Toad, a small dungeon inspired by both Dave and Clark Ashton Smith, which was my small way of honoring his memory. This year, I’ll do my best to honor him by running a campaign that’s not afraid to travel unusual paths to high adventure.

Thank you, Dave, for everything.

Updated Update

The files are again available. While doing some research on the various file-hosting alternatives offered by you fine folks, I rediscovered that I had a Mediafire account stemming back from the time the Open Game Table was being assembled. Since it was still valid and several of you had suggested Mediafire as an alternative, I went with them. If there are no problems with the files hosted there for the next several months, I'll likely keep any future crazy, homebrewed files there.

I believe that I found all the dead links and updated them to reflect their new homes. It's conceivable that I may have missed one or two, so if you do stumble across a non-working link, please drop me an email or leave a comment here so that I can make the correction. A complete list of all the files currently available can be found at http://www.mediafire.com/poleandrope.

I again thank you for your patience during the chaos and hope that it remains the exception around here and not the rule. My further thanks to everyone who made suggestions or offered temporary hosting services over the last two days.

Files in the Ether Update

Well it appears that unless I wish to pay Orbitfiles $60 a year to upgrade my account, I can't link to any of the files currently residing in my non-public "shared" folder. Considering that I don't make any money off of my crazy .pdfs posted here, that's an additional cost I can't justify in this economy.

Some alternative options have been suggested and I'll be exploring those in the next few days. In the meantime, all the links will remain non-functional. If you really, really need to get your hands on one of the .pdfs, drop me an email at the address listed to the right and I'll try to work something out. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Files in the Ether

I've been using Orbitfiles.com to host most of my crazy-go-bananas homebrews for the last several months. Just recently, they changed their free plan features to no longer support a personal user page for hosted files. I've just become aware that this change means that all my former linked files are now coming up "file deleted."

The files are still stored on Orbitfiles but on a separate, non-public page and I'll need to go back and adjust the links to these files accordingly. I intend to start doing this later tonight and will make an announcement once the switch is completed. My apologies to anyone whose tried to access any of my supplemental material recently only to discover they appear to have been deleted. I'll be looking into other file hosting options in the near future to see what else is available for my needs.

Tales from the Front

One of the biggest differences that I've noted about writing game material versus general blog writing is that getting feedback on the gaming material is often hit or miss when compared to the posts on this blog. Writing a dungeon and making it available to the public is very similiar to giving birth to a child, then immediately putting that baby up for adoption. You hope they end up in a good home but you don't have any say in the matter once the child's out of your hands.

Because of that, it's always nice to hear that somebody is taking good care of your kid and raising him right. Just recently, I've learned that two of my creations are off living a good life with new parents. The Fane of St. Toad is apparently in good hands over at The Omnipotent Eye and Stonehell is helping bring families closer together over at the Tales of the Rambling Bumblers. I think Stonehell officially has had more vistors to its halls that any other dungeon I've ever written. Considering that that was my hope when I first started making it available, I'm most certainly pleased at this state of affairs. Hopefully, once the compilation is complete, tourism will be at an all time high.