HMS Apollyon Session VII - Brief Interviews with Hideous (dead) Men.

Last night was a heck of a session - Negotiation, discovery and some wild monster battles that went from deadly (at least I thought they would be) to benign thanks to player improvisation.  Having a 3rd level Cleric along sure helps with undead - though the Apollyon's dead are hard to turn (Not impossible it's just that they're wicked tough).

Another interesting Element was trying to adjudicate Elsjinn's abilities - as her character sheet was written as some beastly combination of 3rd and 4th edition that gives her wild power.  One new rule is that if playing a martial artist or pugilist if you give me a properly kung-fu movie name for your attack move you get a +1 Damage bonus.

Covetous eyes were cast at the fancy pistol of the Shame Revenant

The Desperate and Foolhardy Adventurers 

Quartle(Th/MU2) , Frogling water elementalist and former junkyard owner, with his familiar the Steam Beaver.

Vorning Vess (E1), Former member of the passenger class, exiled for necromancy.

Thalia (C2) - Death Priestess, now a 2' tall hobgoblin .

Sir the Fist of Uther (F3/MU3/C4) - A manthing of many talents.

Elsjinn (Monk 3) - Tiny marital artist and diplomat.

Bumphrey the Moleman (DW 1) - A sensitive bug wrangling Moleman from a whimsical apocalyptic future.

HENCHMEN: Pincip, Pikeman of Argos (Lvl 1 Fighter)

Map of the Grey Bone Light

MAP OF THE GREY BONE LIGHT

A few months ago I posted this description and random table of small encounters/lairs on the "Grey Bone Shoal".  Below is the map of a lighthouse fortress affiliated with the ship eating menace to navigation - now a derelict. I may be using this map as the basis of an adventure for a contest, but since there is less than a week to finish I'm not sure if it'll happen.  It will be a good way to practice my original edition brevity so as not to make the 25 locations into a 50 page epic (like the Obelisk of Forgotten Memory).

I am seeking idea help about what might inhabit such a place.

One idea for the light centers around the concept of wreckers using the light to trick vessels into running aground and then slaughtering the crew and looting the wrecks.  Something will be in opposition to these wreckers, some force that wants the light to work.  I think ghouls or aquatic ghouls are the most obvious choice, inhabiting the tidal caves on the lower part of the fortress.  What lurks above I'm not sure - maybe phantom sailors - an inter-undead faction war could be fun, but ghouls are overused monsters.  Bandits, Deep Ones or something could be a goo replacement.  I've already decided that a nest of brine (water) weirds lives in the fountain at the bottom of the caves climbing free to hunt at high tide - that's more a trap than an encounter though.  I like weirds as an idea, nasty elemental animals that are hard to destroy because of their elemental properties - threw a random encounter "Rust Weird" at the Apollyon group last night and surprisingly they managed to defeat it.

Other ideas include making this a lair for some kind of dragon, a long serpentine thing that hunts from the Tower gallery and preys on shipping.  Maybe Black or Blue, and fairly young - most likely a unique mottled grey beast that breaths poison fog or despair or something. There are also "burning mirrors" of the Ancient Syracuse/Dadelus style as mounted siege weapons, but maybe only one will be working with the others providing obvious traps to avoid. 

I am unsatisfied with my thoughts on what lives in an abandoned lighthouse fortress though, so if any reader has ideas about what would lurk in such place let me know.  Unleashed trapped outsider entities or broken automaton soldiers might be good, maybe even bandits?  I just need some factions and undead are so overused.

HMS Apollyon - State of the Ship - Pre Session VII

HMS Apollyon - State of the Ship, Session VII
Below is the a map showing Exploration of the Hull.  Currently Only Deck 9 has been investigated.

Hull Dwellers

As of the date of the map the following factions in the Hull have been discovered:

1) The Craydogs - Semi-Intelligent, non-verbal crayfish headed dogs.  Believed extinct - wiped out and made into crayrolls, cray salad etc. by Gearmen.

2) Merrow Men - Intelligent, utilize mutagenic flesh sculpting, numbers have been winnowed but are still unknown.  Dwell in caves carved from junk pile in buried vault, and possibly in other areas to the North of it. Have sued for peace and been contacted on behalf of Sterntown's criminal underworld.  Promise not to attack any wearing white arm band if there caves are respected.  Seeking head of Son's of Vanderdecken leader Marco Templeman (missing) and promise magic items in exchange. Have concealed tunnel leading to Substation.

3) Sheriff Buck Naked's Men - "Nudist" humans covered in glyphic symbols, some crossdress.  Live above the Southern Stairs (apparently) and have demanded food and metal supplies in exchange for 'safe' passage.  Can circumvent closed hatch on Steward's Substation.

The Current Status of NPC Parties:

1) The Gearmen, Exhalted of the Ship Spirits. 16 Effectives, mostly armored fighters and clerics in good bronze and steel armor. Some Blunderbuss armed retainers. Led by Brazen Gear (C2). Throwing will attended feast and revival - have rented large tent, food promises to be excellent, oratory less so. May have plans to colonize Mushroom farm/Auxillary Power

2) The Sons of Vanderdecken. 4 MIA, Well equipped in high quality armor and gear. Led by Marco Templeman (F/MU 4/1). Unknown, rumored to have been exploring Aux Power when lost, Gearmen found no evidence of them while depopulating Auxilllary power of Craydogs.

3)The Vory. 8 Effectives, leader unknown, Obvious low ranking thieves and assassin's from the underworld of Sterntown.  Were spotted firebombing the pump room last Session, returned cheerful, but not obviously carrying anything.

SternTown Factions

1) Mechamn and the 'Scavenger's Guild' - Hall is prepared - gala opening of exchange for investments next week.  Mechamn seems pretty happy about the cannon recovery plan.

2) The Vory - Rumblings that the underworld is considering getting in on the scramble for wealth from the hull.  Known Thieves in law seen hanging about Rustgates (usually with perfumed  kerchiefs in front of their noses) and increased activity around Madam Bibi's establishment.  Madam Bibi sent Vess a note with a lovely Pearl medallion worth 100GP.  Note says "Thank you for delivering that package, please check for a reply - a token of my esteem is enclosed."

3) The Factors - Trade is picking up (why is unclear - speculation mostly) and talk of retaking the Machine Shops is high.  Funding opportunities are available if party can show record of success and is willing to map a way to Deck 8 machine shops - presumably up a  Deck to the Aft and Port.

4) Church - A young priest of The Queen has leased a storefront church in the Rustgates - attendence is low, holy water sales reasonably high. Will be attending Gearman Revival - there may be hijinx.

5)Frogtown - Magicman has arranged a meeting with his patron an elderly crew-class magician (human) named Potifius Snee for Sir the Fist of Uther.  Can discuss the meeting pre session or know the following items are available:

Chicago Organ Grinder, A 1921 Model Thompson Submachine gun with two stick magazines (20 shot) of normal ammunition and one of mixed Silver Bullets and "Screaming bullet", which let out a magical unearthly shriek and disorient targets when when they miss. The gun is old, clearly not from the Apollyon and has been carved with various crude symbols.  It's grip and stock appear of have been replaced with laminated bone that Vess could tell you is human. 10,000 GP 

Flesh Borer - A strange throwing dart made of evil looking Black Shell and covered in primitive magical designs.  Apparently it digs for victims hearts to drink their life's blood on a successful missile hit - but then it becomes sated for a while and won't do anything even if recovered - 5,000 GP

Inscribed Devil Shells, (Strange otherwordly shells that will distract outsider entities) more powerful due to Snee's inscriptions - 300 GP (5 uses worth of tiny shells)

Brimestone Shot, 5 rounds worth (Makes fireball like effect for muzzle loading weapons) - 250 GP per shot.

Undine in a Jar,  Small (Cat sized) serpent-like water elemental with delicate human face. Seems unhappy trapped in jar, Snee can't vouch for its temperament or loyalty as it is his as the result of winning a bet.  2,000 GP.

Ghost Salt, Enchanted necromantic salt (illegal substance) supposedly wards against undead, enough for a 5' Diameter circle costs 500 GP.

Flying Ray Venom Antidote - 250 GP a dose, 1 Dose

Sea Snake Venom Antidote - 100 GP a dose, 2 Doses

Giant Centipede Antidote - 50 GP a dose, 5 Doses.

6) Uptown -Dull, it's just so dull the endless round of dinner parties balls and orgies.

7) Stewards -After last weeks' successful expedition there has been a bit of excitement as the Stewards are hiring engineers, draft dogs and machinery to recover a cannon from the Buried Vault. This is still in the planning stages, and the Stewards have asked your group to reconnoiter the Substation entirely and put any undead you find to rest before they mount the expedition.  If you don't want to do this they will hire others but the reward for the cannon will decrease.

8) Henchman Available for hire:

A.  Miss d'Aubigny - Gentlewoman Adventuress.  Uptown stock, bastard birth, has red skin - carries rapier and a pepperbox pistol. Excellent reputation for killing people in duels - works for a Gentlewomanly 100GP or 1/2 Share (whichever is higher)

B. Brummy - Twisted 3' Tall dwarf of unknown origin. Pugilist know for punching a large fighting dog named Princess to death in a man-baiting match a few months ago.  Bites have healed and he will work for 1/2 Share.  Wears studded leather Vest and uses bronze studded cestus and known to like a fight.

C. Old Ketch.  Former Fisher now Leviathan devotee, may be insane.  Carries a whale bone mace and leather armor.  45 GP to Hire

D. Hop the Link.  Young Orphan frogling barely out of tadpole years, quick fingers, hates working.  Lantern on 10' pole, may have knives hidden on person (fervently denies it and claims to hate fighting) - 20 GP to hire

E. Brutvs - Large dog (about the size of a pony with incredibly dense dreadlocked fur that have been interwoven with metal bars for protection) - dagger like bronze plated teeth, spiked collar, obviously battle trained (not obviously trained otherwise).  Small boy "owner" will sell him for 400 GP (which is a decent deal for a fighting dog of that size).

Wampus County - Chauncy's End?

In the last session Chauncy, my 2nd level flailsnails wizard decided it was a wise plan to pull a card for a deck of many things, shortly after pulling up an amazing haul of treasure that would have gotten him well into third level.  Of course he drew badly, but the Deck has long been one of my favorite magic items, and really it's more good than bad...

Viking Adventure

Contests

There are plenty of contests loose in the OSR blogosphere right now.  While I am still awaiting the final publication of Wampus Country's summer contest and Secret Santacore has just begun, there's still plenty of contests available to enter and hopefully to read the results of.  I spent a good chunk of Sunday nursing the most gentle of Tecate hangovers playing with a small dog on my laps and drafting entries to two contests.

1) Sorcerer's Skull's Adventure Seed Contest for an upcoming Weird Adventures' Companion, which is exciting news itself. I'm happy with my bootlegging and hillbilly themed entry, basically a table of slightly warped random encounters including a Black Shuck, hillbilly giant wrestlers, ghost bootleggers and various haints.  I may have manged to creep myself out with one or two items and I kind of wish the whole thing held together better, but I really enjoy some of the individual things I came up with and think the thing could have some utility for adventurers who feel like leaving the city (Weird Adventures' version of 30's New York).

2) Ramblings of the Great Khan's Viking Adventure Contest
seems like this might be for the Khan's current campaign, but heck Vikings!  Vikings are pretty awesome so I cobbled up the below one page adventure about pillaging (very Viking) a lawful shrine, but with the justification of laying a powerful undead reaver to rest.  It came out longer than I intended, fitting on a double sided page so I'm not sure if it makes it under 1 page rules - but I don't really care.  It was good practice at squeezing flavor into something with terse writing, and I think the maps, picture (see above) and final product turned out well.  By well I mean it is in the best tradition of crude paste-ups of typewritten text crammed into every available space with amateurish doodles as illustration.

 Here's the one about Vikings

Megadungeon Thoughts

My Thoughts on Running and Designing Megadungeons

I am sure most of this has been said better before, but here's what I've learned in the 6 months I've played D&D as an adult.  Most of that time I've been designing and running megadungeons (or trying to).  ASE is an excellent model and has great ideas for megadungeon play, but I've got a few of my own ideas below as well from running the HMS Apollyon on Google Hangouts for six sessions.

A map from the internet - betting it's Dyson Logos'

What is and Why is a Megadungeon?

My definition of a megadungeon is single adventure locale that players will return to repeatedly over the course of the campaign.  This location must then be interesting and varied enough to want to return to, contain a variety of challenges and reflect changes in the larger game world.

Another key element of the nature of the Megadungeon is that it doesn't require a reoccurring set of delvers. Players may return, but parties can change, get wiped out or wander off and the Megadungeon should be large enough to remain partially (if not largely unexplored).

HMS Apollyon - SESSION VI - The Big Score

Now tonight the party got a big haul, and lest we think it's too big, they've been working towards it for a while.  It's interesting to me as a GM because the adventurers basically snuck into the back door of a subsection of the dungeon by utilizing unexpected methods to open a door I thought of as one-way.  They also pulled a bit of thief-fu on another locked door - and I guess the lesson is, as in real life, locks don't protect against anyone determined to get past them.  Still they also overcame their fear of a creepy phantom and generally prepared right to take it on.

The Desperate and Foolhardy Adventurers

 
Quartle(Th/MU1) , Frogling water elementalist and former junkyard owner, with his familiar the Steam Beaver.

Vorning Vess (E1), Former member of the passenger class, exiled for necromancy.

Sem, The Cleric From Beyond (C3) - A heavily muscled priest of an unknown god.

Thalia (C2) - Death Priestess, now a 2' tall hobgoblin

"Sheriff" Roscoe Coltrane (Th1) - Short statured thief masquerading as a law man.

Elsee (Monk 2) - Tiny marital artist and diplomat.

HENCHMEN: Pincip, Pikeman of Argos (Lvl 1 Fighter), Krang the Unkownable, Dinosaur Hunter (Lvl 1 Fighter)

Their Monstrous Victims

Three recently risen ghouls - 240 XP

Twelve Skull Phantom - 820 XP

Subtotal: 1,060XP

Froglings as Character Class

Froglings are the most common non-human race aboard the Apollyon, they are amphibious humanoids, ranging from 4' - 5 1/2' tall, with skin in various shades of brown, green and pale beige.  Their large mouthed faces and bulging eyes give them an uncanny resemblance to terrestrial frogs and they share the frog's life  cycle and biology. Froglings are nimble and magically sensitive, making excellent scavengers but middling sorcerers.  Clannish collectivists in nature, Froglings are are not raised by individual parents, but in spawning pools, where the eggs of the entire tribe are placed and aquatic young cared for.   Froglings were originally a tribal people, and outside Sterntown they still are, however several generations of exposure to the Apollyon's human culture have changed Frogling society there to a great degree.  Traditional hunter, gathering and water shamanism have given way to industrialized fishing, submarine engineering and the cult of the Leviathan (though Shamanism remains a key social glue).

Two nights in Wampus County - Play reports

I played a couple games of Wampus County this weekend and they were very different.  The first a straight forward return to the lost city for Chauncy and the Second a romp in the woods with a gang of inbred Paul Bunyans, and featuring Bobo the Flying Monkey.  Below is a doodle featuring Bobo's adventures including: Bobo, Bobo in a tree, the Toy, Squatch, Squatch Inferno...(They were troll-squatches).

What Bobo the Monkey Saw.

Thieves aboard the Appolyon

I've been working on this post for quite a while, and frankly it's overdo for my Apollyon players.Below are the skills that Specialist's aboard the HMS Apollyon can train in and gain skills in.  Specialists begin with 5 skill points (with a limit of 2 maximum on a skill to start) and advance at a rate of 3 points per level, but a limit of spending 2 maximum on a skill.

Specialists Aboard the Apollyon

Most Scavengers are not dedicated warriors, magicians or infused with divine power, most are jack of all trades who have a wide variety of valuable skills,  These specialists take on a variety of roles, from light fighters and assassins to thieves, explorers and even learned antiquarians.  I have tried to make the skill set varied enough to include mountebanks, medical students, false priests, wayward sorcerer's apprentices, animal handlers, researchers and engineers - All of whom might find themselves in the hull.

Note: Rules for Fighters are HERE
while rules for Magic Users are HERE