Joel’s Scattered Thoughts

The party continued to explore the Chamber of Antiquities. I think one of my favorite things about this adventure is the way they’re discovering the backstory of those who built this place. I didn’t expect that to play such a large part.

They started by exploring the central chamber then moved to the rooms on the west side. The granite doors have stopped the party in a few places, so they’re doing some exploring in the hope of finding a key. There were a few fights, but nothing terribly threatening. The spittlemaw hordlings’ acid globs were the nastiest surprise they’ve face thus far.

The session ended after the fight in Elluvia’s chamber. Due to a clever use of a magic lamp they had found earlier, the wraiths didn’t prove much of a threat. They left one trapped animating a table - they flipped the table over and left it kicking futilely like an overturned turtle. The warmain used the pool to restore the constitution the wraiths drained from him. The party did find some nice loot in the chamber - we’ll see how that works for them.

Characters Present:
Riamara loresong faen greenbond
Cinner dwarven rogue
Marrec human paladin
Treysik half-orc ranger
Kryst dwarven cleric

After some debate, the captured orcs were killed. Then the party moved into a foul smelling room. Everyone but the cleric rolled some amazing fortitude saves. Kryst was left nauseated for some time. A few trinkets were found among the rubble.

Cinner found a secret door leading to a dusty room with tables and chairs. He found a deck of cards and a ring. Treysik pointed out blood by the door, but no one seemed to be listening. Cinner found a loose bolt, pulled it out, pushed it back in, opened the door and got nailed by scything blades. This almost killed him, but Riamara was quick with healing for him.

The party had moved off the edge of the map and my new map crashed so we called it a night.

We’re in UTM zone 14N here, so all our mapping is based on that. We do some soil samples that spill over into Zone 15N, which throws everything off. Here’s what I did to convert from 15 to 14. This doubtless introduced some inaccuracy, but it should be close enough for Tone Ag purposes.
1. In Mapsource, change the coordinate system to decimal degrees (lat/lon hddd.ddddd), export points, close Mapsource
2. Open the resulting text file in Excel, strip out redundant columns (leave only position, elevation), save as tab delimited txt, close Excel
3. Open the resulting text file in your favorite text editor, search and replace ft with nothing, search and replace N with nothing, search and replace (space)W with (tab)-, save and close
4. Open the resulting text file in Excel, insert two columns filled with 1 before elevation, swap lat/long columns, save as txt, close Excel
5. Run my coordshift.pl program on the resulting text file

Alternate method
1. In Mapsource, change the coordinate system to decimal degrees (lat/lon hddd.ddddd), export points, close Mapsource
2. Open the resulting text file in your favorite text editor, search and replace N with nothing, search and replace (space)W with (tab)-, add (tab)position_w header after position header, save and close
3. Open the resulting text file in Excel, save as dbf, close Excel
4. In ArcView, add dbf as event theme in a lat/long view, convert theme to shapefile, close ArcView
5. Use ESRI projection utility to convert shapefile from degrees to zone nad_83_14N
6. In ArcView, add new shapefile

Usual disclaimers - don’t use this in any environment where precision is at all important, I take no responsibility, use at own risk, blah, blah, blah.

You might want to look at this article on crossing UTM zone boundaries.

My World’s Largest Dungeon game via OpenRPG kicked off yesterday. I was pretty happy with the way it went. It took a while to get started as everybody picked out a mini for their character and played around with OpenRPG. Thus it was a very short session. Hopefully next week we can get things rolling more quickly.

The initial group consisted of:
Jamendithas: an elven rogue
Cimmer: a dwarven rogue
Marrec: a human paladin
Riamara: a loresong faen greenbond

*******************

I started them off in room A1. They examined the doors carefully and headed into A2. Cimmer and Jamendithas rolled some impressive sneak checks and jumped the orcs huddled in the NE corner of the room. Cimmer’s two crowbars were deadly and Marrec managed to get an attack in so that two of the orcs were knocked out before they could move. The third orc was lucky in that he kept evading the blows until Cimmer’s crowbar smashed his kneecaps. The party tried to intimidate the orc into telling them what lay ahead, but after some truly pitiful rolls the orc just kept wailing in despair without telling them much of anything. Tiring of this, Cimmer bashed the orc into a bloody pulp.

Marrec and Riamara were not too impressed by this attack, but they let it slide. The rogues wanted to torture the remaining orcs for information. Marrec was opposed to this, while Riamara was willing to let necessity guide her. Cimmer tied the orcs up and that where we ended the session.

******************

I liked the way everyone played their characters. Cimmer and Jamendithas seem extremely amoral. Marrec seems to be morally upright and yet willing to let others act according to their values. Riamara seems a bit distant and pragmatic. The group seems paranoid enough that they may well survive the World’s Largest Dungeon.

Notable quote:
(After a number of pitiful intimidate rolls) Jamendithas: “I question our questioning skills”

I just finished reading the Stephanie Plum series. These are some of the funniest books I’ve read in a long time. I had checked them out from the library, but I’ll probably go out and buy my own copies.

These are technically mystery stories as there is always a some kind of mystery that gets solved over the course of the book. However, Stephanie Plum is more like Inspector Clousseau and less like Sherlock Holmes. She solves the mysteries through blind luck and persistence rather than through any piercing insights or deductive logic.

It is the characters that make this series so much fun. Stephanie herself is not incompetent but she somehow ends up in the weirdest situations. She works as a bounty hunter and the people she’s tracking down are always strange. Both of the men in her life are amused, amazed, and appalled at her success (sometimes simultaneously). Her grandmother seems to be going through a second teenager-hood. Her mother can always be counted on to have an irresistible dinner ready so that Stephanie can be lured home for a lecture on her latest activities and the neighborhood gossip.

These are light and fluffy books. The closest thing to angst is Stephanie occasionally resolving that this time she’s going to do something about her weight. If you’re looking for a deep exploration of the questions of human existence, these aren’t for you.

I would highly recommend these books to just about anyone. The language can be a tad rough, but it’s not excessive. There’s always something to funny going on no matter what Stephanie gets herself into. I plan to buy the whole series just to reread them for fun. My wife recommended them to me after she laughed her way through them.

The adventurers climbed down a long set of spiral stairs below House Vlaadam into the Chamber of Antiquities (Dungeon 124). They did some careful exploring, but the unfettered’s first attempt to disable a symbol trap was a natural one which triggered the trap and awoke the Seven-Headed Juggernaut. The party was doing poorly - the unfettered had strength, constitution, and dexterity damage, the warmain was taking lots of damage in relation to what he was dishing out, and the greenbond was trapped in a forcecage. The greenbond tossed up a wall of ice which delayed the Juggernaut enough for them to escape up the stairs.

They passed a peaceful night at the top of the stairs, swapped out some spells and equipment, and went back down to try again. The greenbond used heightened walls of stone to slow and damage the Juggernaut - throwing up a new one whenever it broke through. So the unfettered hid, the greenbond tossed up walls of stone, and the warmain took a stab at the Juggernaut whenever it broke through a section of wall. In the end I handwaved the rest of the battle. The Juggernaut didn’t stand much of a chance against those tactics and the tactics were pretty much set. We ended the session with the Juggernaut destroyed and the Chamber of Antiquities ready to be explored.

The big problem with this session was that the unfettered didn’t have much to do. Basically she could only hit and do one point of damage if she rolled above 15 and max damage with her bow. Ah well, I’m going to need to watch those super tough constructs from now on.

I would say that Juggernaut is under-rated at a CR17. It was “programmed” not to give chase beyond a certain point and the magical walls confused it. I ruled that the slowing effects of cold spells meant that it could only use half its breath attacks each round that it was slowed. If it wasn’t for these limitations it would have destroyed my well-equipped 17th level party without breaking a sweat.

I’m leaning towards something like the UPN, but I would like it to replace my wallet with a Hipster PDA-like setup.

Here’s one idea, the Ductster. Another idea ALL-ETT®Billfold. And another Executive Business Jotter.

Now the trick will be figuring out which of these I can afford, and which I can get here in Manitoba.

When we ended the last session, the players were taking on House Vlaadam. As the unfettered chased Navanna down the hall, Navanna activated the House’s defenses. A gargoyle attacked from the roof and a marilith appeard in the foyer. It was a decent fight, but the creatures were no match for the players even when a nalfeshnee was summoned by the marilith. Alister Vlaadam escaped with his possessions as the players were finishing off the marilith, while Navanna was left dead.

As most of the House’s defenses were aimed at 5th level players, the PCs proceeded to go through the House without breaking stride. They plundered the treasury, blazed through the Vlaadam’s private jail, and found a hidden staricase leading further down. That’s where the session ended.

Here are some essays on Roleplaying Theory that I should probably read at some point. (via Attacks of Opportunity

Humor - word play game thread on Enworld is extremely funny.

Every year, The Washington Post’s Mensa Invitational asks readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. In the spirit of that game, here are some new RPG-related terms some of my friends came up with.

Here are my favorites:
Book of Vile Dorkness - A book which cause the carrier to appear as the most hideous nerd, dork, or geek in a 100 yard proximity. Samples books include the titles C++ Revi[ea]led, Recalculus, Anything with Fungineering, and, of course thanks to WotC, the Players Handbook v3.5.
Pint Buy - a system of character generation best enjoyed in the company of friends at the local pub.
Sword and List - a guide to grocery shopping for fighters and monks.
Bull Rash: The attacker vigorously rubs a male bovine back and forth against his opponent, hoping to cause a painful skin condition. This provokes an attack of opportunity unless the attacker possesses the Improved Bull Rash feat.
Bust Monster: Feared by adventurers everywhere, their touch destroys armor by radically altering the figure of creatures touched by their antennae.
Hugbear: These goblinoids, eerily silent despite their large size, delight in sneaking up on unsuspecting adventurers and cuddling with them.
Stuff of the Magi - odds and ends that radiate strong magic and generally clutter up a room or area when used in a retributive strike.
Graze Attack - spontaneous and devastating appearance of thousands of herbiverous ungulates that proceed to defoliate the target’s lawn.
Summon Mobster I-IX: These spells will send you’ses enemies to sleep wit’ da fishes.
Farmian: These expansionist, insectile outsiders ruthlessly enslave all other creatures, forcing them to grow crops.
Groper: You don’t want to run into this monster in the Underdark. Trust me.Usually found near a Bust Monster’s lair.
Shydra: Too nervous to attack adventurers, these multi-headed creatures rarely leave their lairs.
Readership - Attract an editor and readers
Mail of the Banshee - Create a letter that emits a deadly scream
Read Dragon - His horde consists mainly of books
Neutralize Poisson: This spell makes any fish completely useless.
Rouge - guy who breaks into houses and makes people blush.
Mime Flayer - silent but deadly
Fit Fiend - “Allright…1,000,000,000 squat thrusts…NOW!”
Dorkskull - This wholly evil device continuously spouts awful puns based on whatever is spoken in its presence, including magical spells. If it makes a pun out of a magical spell, an actual magical effect will occur (consult chart for Wand of Wonder) and you will hear an unearthly loud nasal snort followed by a “horsey” laugh.
Wombat Reflexes - When startled, PC may burrow at 30′ /round
Umber Sulk: Confuses you, then complains about it.
Slumber Hulk: Confuses you, then takes a nap.
Power Word Krill: buries a target of up to 150 hp in shrimp.
Cloak of the Brat: Moooommm! I want one *now*!!! This cloak allows you to cast suggestion on a parent 3/day. All other onlookers must make a Will save or act as if effected by a Rage spell while within your presence.
Pixitxachitl: half-fey, half-devil ray, this evil creature that was not meant to be fires arrows that put you to sleep by forcing you to try to spell its name until you pass out from exhaustion.
Mall of C’thulhu - where the prices will blow your mind!
Power Word: Shun - we’re not talking to you anymore
Green Slim - corrosive dungeon-dwelling vegetable organism that eats away flesh, but only until the victim is svelte.
Wrath - this incorporeal undead is really, really pissed off.
Book of Vole Darkness- A tome describing the wickedness of small rodents.
Book of Exalted Weeds- A tome describing beneficial plants that refuse to die.
Blues Dragon- “Well since my mate done left me/ I’m mopin’ inside my cave/ Adventurers attack me/ They just won’t behave/ They try to take my treasure/ They try to take my jewels/ I breathe on them for good measure/ And electrocute the fools.”
Gibbering Mother- A parent who nags incessantly and brainlessly about the alleged evils of roleplaying.
Mild Shape - the druidic ability to take on the vague sembalence of any of a number of animals while simultaneously gaining none of their abilities.

Jaimie and I actually got out on a date and went to see Serenity on Friday. It was a good movie. I look forward seeing what people who haven’t seen the series have to say about it.

The movie was scarier than I had anticipated. I have to admit that I’m rather weak-stomached when it comes to movies that are even slightly scary. I didn’t watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer for the longest time despite my wife’s urgings because I thought it would be too frightening for me (it wasn’t even close to being scary). Looking back on Serenity, a lot of the scarier parts were done very indirectly - you only saw flashes of what was happening and your imagination filled in the rest.

As I commented on M’s Livejournal (definite spoilers), what made the Alliance dangerous is that they’ve decided that they know what will make people better and they decide to force people into the proper mold “for their own good” or “for the betterment of mankind”.

As C.S. Lewis put it:

Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

Anyhow, if you want to explore this theme further, Terry Pratchett’s Night Watch and Eric Flint’s Belesarius Series are good stories revolving around that idea.

Well, we actually got to game again yesterday. It was a very weird session.

First off, there were a LOT of interruptions. People kept phoning, and they were phone calls that had to be taken. Add in the interruptions with the kids and supper and we probably played for an hour or so of the seven we were there.

Second, there were almost no dice used. The PCs started out leaving Ebonring Keep, so they did a quick sneack check to avoid agents of the other shadow dragon. They gave the Shadowstaff to Tyrus as the second part of the payment for his resurrection of the warmain. He gave them their last task, retrieving The Book of Obscure Names from House Vladaam.

They returned to the city of Atarin where they had gone through the Banewarrens 10 levels earlier. They checked in with people they had dealt with before, Brother Fabitor of the Church of Lothian and Jevica Norr of the Inverted Pyramid, and caught up with what had been happening in the city. They decided to sell the Ebonring to the Inverted Pyramid so that the Inverted Pyramid could study it.

At the end of the evening, they headed into their only fight of the session. They tried to be diplomatic with Navanna Vladaam, but that didn’t work out too well. “You want to see our library? Sure, here we have a complete set of ‘Lives of the Great Accountants’, first edition, uncut. Over here we have the only known in depth study of Bugs of the Sword Coast… Other books are kept in our private libraries and you’re not getting in to see those.”

The PCs left, buffed up, and bluffed their way back in. We ended the session after they’d killed off a couple of low level guards and were in hot pursuit of Navanna as she fled. The magic user used telekinesis to pull Navanna’s headband off when Navanna tried to use it to dimension door out of a grapple. Navanna managed to flee after the house wards bypassed the warmain’s spell resistance by 2 points and convinced him he should leave.

Now to see what happens when House Vladaam’s full defenses activate…