(This post is a continuation of a project that I began a few posts ago, dealing with a multi-partite church within the city of Blackfall. As I'm up to my eyeballs in wedding planning currently, enjoy these vignettes! I'll get back to my normal updates after a few...)
Moradin: The Watchful Sentinel of Blackfall
Moradin, Lord of the Forge and Wielder of Guldarak, is viewed most primarily in the aspect of the Watchful Sentinel. When found in iconography, he is typically shown to be in plate armor, wielding his mythic hammer against the foes of civilization. The primary duties of the faith of Moradin at the Cathedral include the following:
• Manning the Cathedral’s defenses.
• Serving in King Maelbrek IV’s honor guard.
• Training initiates at the Cathedral in basic weapons training.
• Forging and upkeep of weapons/armor for the Cathedral.
• Securing or disposing of evil artifacts in the vaults, below the Cathedral.
The current Sentinel Marshal of the Cathedral is Garius Larano (Half-Elf Paladin 18), who has held the post for only 4 years. His predecessor, Kaelos dral Ghalalesh (Dwarf Fighter 22), stepped down from the post after having served as Sentinel Marshal for nearly 58 years.
Typically, the faithful of Moradin have the least amount of influence within the Cathedral itself, under normal operations. Larano has little interest in the day-to-day politics and administration of the Cathedral, and is content to leave it to those within Erathis’ faith that are more interested in such things.
Rather, Larano has a much deeper interest in keeping the safety and sanctity of Blackfall intact. He, as well as many of his lieutenants and advisors, believe that one method of doing so centers around the acquisition and cleansing of evil artifacts, thereby keeping them from the hands of those that would use them in their intended manner. Thusfar, Larano has established a series of secret crypts, deep beneath the Cathedral proper, wherein numerous vile relics are housed, in the hopes that they can be destroyed. The heads of the other two orders—Ioun and Erathis—are aware of these crypts, as entrance to them requires at least two of the three heads to be present.
The Faithful Soldiers of the Watchful Sentinel
Currently, approximately 35% of the initiates at the Cathedral of Erudition have displayed their devotion to Moradin specifically. This provides Garius Larano with a significant advantage in numbers, in his quest to quell the forces of evil surrounding Blackfall.
Racially, there is a tendency for dwarven initates to tend towards Moradin (due primarily to their racial beliefs), though this population also includes numerous humans, goliaths, and shifters. Of particular note is Valandor CXIV—a deva cleric, who counts herself amongst Moradin’s faithful.
Classwise, the Faithful Soldiers tend to favor a staunch defense. Paladins are particularly common, nearly outnumbering true clerics. Invokers provide magical support from afar, raining down brimstone and hellfire upon their foes. Warlocks are a surprisingly large contingent within the Faithful Soldiers, particularly of the Vestige pact. Similarly, Artificers and Warlords compromise significant populations, bringing arcane constructs and expert tactical leadership to their ranks.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
In Which The Warlock Burns the Candle at Both Ends...
Wow. As the month rips on, there's so much gaming chaos out here that I can barely stand it, to say nothing of all the other chaos going on.
Last weekend, we WittWeggers hit up the Springfield "Champion City ComicCon", to throw down some WEGS demos. Within the 8 hours, we pulled off four packed games of the con-classic "Dwarf Walks into a Bar" and our own creation "Return to Castle Von Yumminstein," complete with candy minions!
I'll spare you the majority of the details and just go ahead and link you to my Facebook album, where you can see all of the carnage (and the lovely cosplayers) firsthand! Springfield "Champion City ComicCon" Facebook Photo Album
After the exhaustion of the con, I was surprised to still have it in me to begin my new, Tuesday night D&D game: an Eberron campaign I'm calling 'Echoes of the Last War'. Just this past Tuesday, our group generated characters, getting geared up to...well, attend a funeral. Our intrepid heroes are all acquaintances of the late Thondred ir'Dayne, a renowned dwarf adventurer, and have been invited to his wake/will-reading.
On top of this, I'm still running my lovely players through "Pirates of the Underdark". While Captain Zane Degali has left the group (in search of sand gnomes, presumably), two new characters have joined the crew as they search for a way to steal the black diamond staff held by the One Living Man--a pirate-necromancer, leading a crew of the dead!
And, all of this is to say nothing of the writing I've been doing! During my 4th period prep, I've been holding mini-"jam sessions" where I've been writing up WEGS and WEGS SuperZ scenarios. Already in the books are Z1 and Z2, for SuperZ: "The Island of the Terrible Dr. Crab-Clops" and "Rise of the Midnite SonZ", as well as my own WEGS turn: "One Shitty Adventure" and, shortly, a conversion of the immortal D&D adventure "White Plume Mountain".
It just doesn't end out here!
On top of all this, we're getting set up for our geek-wedding, as well. The PlatinumChick has spent quite a bit of time, painting her ninjas to top our "pirates vs. ninjas" wedding cake, and I wrote up a brief table-game for our guests to make use of their favors at the reception: personalized dice!
I tell you: I'll be glad when all this calms down, but it doesn't look like there's an end in sight shortly. Suffice to say, I'll keep you up on the hot gaming action!
Last weekend, we WittWeggers hit up the Springfield "Champion City ComicCon", to throw down some WEGS demos. Within the 8 hours, we pulled off four packed games of the con-classic "Dwarf Walks into a Bar" and our own creation "Return to Castle Von Yumminstein," complete with candy minions!
I'll spare you the majority of the details and just go ahead and link you to my Facebook album, where you can see all of the carnage (and the lovely cosplayers) firsthand! Springfield "Champion City ComicCon" Facebook Photo Album
After the exhaustion of the con, I was surprised to still have it in me to begin my new, Tuesday night D&D game: an Eberron campaign I'm calling 'Echoes of the Last War'. Just this past Tuesday, our group generated characters, getting geared up to...well, attend a funeral. Our intrepid heroes are all acquaintances of the late Thondred ir'Dayne, a renowned dwarf adventurer, and have been invited to his wake/will-reading.
On top of this, I'm still running my lovely players through "Pirates of the Underdark". While Captain Zane Degali has left the group (in search of sand gnomes, presumably), two new characters have joined the crew as they search for a way to steal the black diamond staff held by the One Living Man--a pirate-necromancer, leading a crew of the dead!
And, all of this is to say nothing of the writing I've been doing! During my 4th period prep, I've been holding mini-"jam sessions" where I've been writing up WEGS and WEGS SuperZ scenarios. Already in the books are Z1 and Z2, for SuperZ: "The Island of the Terrible Dr. Crab-Clops" and "Rise of the Midnite SonZ", as well as my own WEGS turn: "One Shitty Adventure" and, shortly, a conversion of the immortal D&D adventure "White Plume Mountain".
It just doesn't end out here!
On top of all this, we're getting set up for our geek-wedding, as well. The PlatinumChick has spent quite a bit of time, painting her ninjas to top our "pirates vs. ninjas" wedding cake, and I wrote up a brief table-game for our guests to make use of their favors at the reception: personalized dice!
I tell you: I'll be glad when all this calms down, but it doesn't look like there's an end in sight shortly. Suffice to say, I'll keep you up on the hot gaming action!
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
In Which The Warlock Con-s Again!
It's a busy, busy time out here in WittLand!
In addition to the Guild kicking up activities, with the new college semester coming around, we have yet to even slow down on the con circuit.
Just this Saturday, yours truly will be running hour-and-a-half "Dwarf Walks" demos of WEGS at the Champion City ComicCon, out in Springfield. On top of all that, I've been busy pumping out write-ups for both WEGS and WEGS SuperZ adventures! And they say that teachers don't work during their prep periods!
Another plus note: our ninjas finally came in! It seems that we'll be having "pirates vs. ninjas" wedding cake after all!
Man, that's a lot of exclamation points. But, they're all justified--it's been massively productive and exciting out here, and it's been one heck of a trip.
Now the countdown begins for the wedding! Oi, fellow gamers--it's going to be a wild month...
In addition to the Guild kicking up activities, with the new college semester coming around, we have yet to even slow down on the con circuit.
Just this Saturday, yours truly will be running hour-and-a-half "Dwarf Walks" demos of WEGS at the Champion City ComicCon, out in Springfield. On top of all that, I've been busy pumping out write-ups for both WEGS and WEGS SuperZ adventures! And they say that teachers don't work during their prep periods!
Another plus note: our ninjas finally came in! It seems that we'll be having "pirates vs. ninjas" wedding cake after all!
Man, that's a lot of exclamation points. But, they're all justified--it's been massively productive and exciting out here, and it's been one heck of a trip.
Now the countdown begins for the wedding! Oi, fellow gamers--it's going to be a wild month...
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
In Which The Warlock Runs Down The FOPCon...
Whew--I'm still recovering from the carnage at FOPCon this past weekend. The WittWeggers showed up in force, for what turned out to be a really great time.
The Front Hall at FOPCon 2009
FOPCon was held at the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge in Huber Heights, which was really a fantastic venue for it. While the minis/card events were held out front with the vendors, the rpgs (and my WEGS demos) were in the back, in a comfortable room complete with massive corner couch around a TV showing classic gamer flicks.
While my Dark Heresy game didn't go off as planned, I had just enough players to fill out WEGS tables for demos of Dingbitt's Dunge-o-Doom! In both cases, the Arks managed to weave their way through Dingbitt's cavern, finding ancient and powerful artifacts as they went.
Round 2 of Dingbitt's Begins!
Particularly the second group. Ugh!
Okay, so in Dingbitt's, players have a chance to find "trove" equal to 11% times the level that they're on. Level 1 = 11%, Level 2 = 22%, and so on.
I kid you not--they marched through the first four levels, finding trove on each and every floor they went through! By the time they hit floor 8, I had to beef up the encounters, just to keep up with their power! The final encounter--with two massive Double 88s--speaks for itself!
All smiles after finding some Trove!
The final room--Dingbitt's Sanctum!
One neat thing of note, though. Since I didn't get to run Dark Heresy, I instead jumped in on Jules' version of "Sharn's Eleven". This was kind of a neat experience, as I co-wrote this module and, in fact, re-did all of the characters for 4th edition. However, playing through the module as Stark--the Warforged Fighter--was really a unique experience, as I hadn't forseen his natural conflict with Asa, the Shifter Druid, played by Kat. It definitely made for a unique twist!
Happy players in "Sharn's Eleven"
All of this is just making me look forward to our next convention even more! After a "week off" for Labor Day--during which my parents are coming into town for the PlatinumChick's bridal shower!--I'm back in action, running WEGS demos at Springfield's Champion City ComicCon!
"Dwarf Walks" anyone?
The Front Hall at FOPCon 2009FOPCon was held at the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge in Huber Heights, which was really a fantastic venue for it. While the minis/card events were held out front with the vendors, the rpgs (and my WEGS demos) were in the back, in a comfortable room complete with massive corner couch around a TV showing classic gamer flicks.
While my Dark Heresy game didn't go off as planned, I had just enough players to fill out WEGS tables for demos of Dingbitt's Dunge-o-Doom! In both cases, the Arks managed to weave their way through Dingbitt's cavern, finding ancient and powerful artifacts as they went.
Round 2 of Dingbitt's Begins!Particularly the second group. Ugh!
Okay, so in Dingbitt's, players have a chance to find "trove" equal to 11% times the level that they're on. Level 1 = 11%, Level 2 = 22%, and so on.
I kid you not--they marched through the first four levels, finding trove on each and every floor they went through! By the time they hit floor 8, I had to beef up the encounters, just to keep up with their power! The final encounter--with two massive Double 88s--speaks for itself!
All smiles after finding some Trove!
The final room--Dingbitt's Sanctum!One neat thing of note, though. Since I didn't get to run Dark Heresy, I instead jumped in on Jules' version of "Sharn's Eleven". This was kind of a neat experience, as I co-wrote this module and, in fact, re-did all of the characters for 4th edition. However, playing through the module as Stark--the Warforged Fighter--was really a unique experience, as I hadn't forseen his natural conflict with Asa, the Shifter Druid, played by Kat. It definitely made for a unique twist!
Happy players in "Sharn's Eleven"All of this is just making me look forward to our next convention even more! After a "week off" for Labor Day--during which my parents are coming into town for the PlatinumChick's bridal shower!--I'm back in action, running WEGS demos at Springfield's Champion City ComicCon!
"Dwarf Walks" anyone?
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