In Which The Warlock Kicks Off the Con Season Right...

Well, WittCon VII is in the books, and it went down in a blaze of glory.

We pulled in 83 people (the second highest attendance so far!), with tons of games going off. We even had a few complaints about the lack of more games, particularly D&D! That's a good complaint to have, all told. With any luck, we'll be able to break triple digits next year, especially with all of the help we've gotten from the other cons and game stores in the area.

The full album is up on Facebook here: WittCon VII Photo Album

But, here are a few highlights...

Ninja infiltrators in action!

In the weeks leading up to Wittcon, Ebbs spent countless hours laboring over his "Ninja Nuttiness" castle. It truly did not disappoint! I look forward to seeing this at the tables at Origins, as the centerpiece for the WittGuild's first ever sessions at the Big O!

Laying down tricks at the Magic Tourney...

After several unsuccessful times at hosting a Magic: The Gathering tournament, we finally pulled it off. New Witt professor Kyle wrangled the tournament, which held 12 of our participants. With luck, WittCon will continue to ride on this success, and hopefully hit at least 20 at our tournament next year!

Lionel makes his purchases from Diceman Bob

We were privledged enough to have not just one vendor, but two this year! Bob Kindel, of the Light Trading Company, brought out his massive array of dice, as well as newcomer Bryan Bailey. Bryan compiles and composes gaming soundtracks for games of all sorts--everything from pulp or fantasy to horror or cyberpunk. I picked up two of his soundtracks for my upcoming games....and can't wait to break those out! In addition, we also had back Shane, running his yearly Paint-and-Take, which was immensely popular (as usual!).

Costume Contest Winners--Heather, Ebbs, and Jules

As you can see, these are the winners of our yearly costume contest. Jules took the opportunity to debut her Huntress outfit, which she's planning to take to C2E2 in Chicago. Bookery Fantasy donated a huge amount of swag for the contest, which allowed us to raffle it off in addition to giving out prizes!

El Willy and friends playtesting Big Bang Mudang

And, of course, there's our guest of honor! After a full day of running WEGS demos, El Willy opened his evening slot for his newest endeavor, "Big Bang Mudang". BBM is a hugely entertaining, hilarious game of dice-blasting, time-traveling witches. I'm excited to see this one hit print--it's fast around the table and has a great little mechanic behind it. Don't forget your demon dice, children!

Well, with WittCon over, we get a short break. Well...sort of. I'm working through El Willy's final proofs for "WEGS--Dice Rules!" as well as the Redux version of "WEGS 101". Plus, it's only two weeks until we're at the con scene again, driving to Chicago for C2E2. Can't wait for the chaos to roll on!

In Which The Warlock Preps for The Big Event...

Sorry to disappoint, my lovelies, but there's no real entry this week.

Instead, come see us at WittCon VII! This Saturday, starting at Noon in the Shouvlin Center, we'll be holding our yearly game-stravaganza. Come on out and toss some dice!

After all, it's not just a game. It's a way of life!

In Which The Warlock Pays Homage to Rock-Star Facial Hair...

With the spring convention season just about to start, excitement’s already building. WittCon’s less than a week away, and my C2E2 tickets are already on order. FOPCon’s just the week after that, and then…wow.

All of this chaos has been utterly overwhelming, particularly when the Guild has been busy writing new scenarios and revamping old ones as we get ready for these conventions and our first bout of GMing at the Big O. Ebbs, I know, has put in a ton of time building a new Ninja Nuttiness castle, and has commissioned some of the current Guilders for accompanying ninja art.

As such, there’s only one song that fits all this. Thank you, ZZ Top, for expressing in lyrics what I cannot.

“It’s got me under pressure…”

At this point, I literally feel as if there are two meat forks jammed underneath each of my shoulder blades and someone’s just twisting the muscles apart. Pleasant, I know, but I’m the sort of person that doesn’t know the meaning of “de-stress”.

Y’know, you’d think that all of this gaming would be a de-stressor. And really, I do enjoy it to help me relax. But this isn’t gaming. This, my lovely reader, is Event Planning, and it’s another animal all together.

“She’s about all I can handle; it’s too much for my brain…”

Let’s see. Just today, in amongst proctoring the OGT and teaching my freshmen Romeo and Juliet, I:
• E-mailed our good buddy Shane, regarding this year’s Paint-and-Take set-up.
• Contacted El Willy, to make sure all was well for this year’s WEGSing.
• Double checked my monster choices for “Orcs Gone Wild”
• Re-calculated the pricing for customized dice and ribbons for Origins.
• Continued writing the scenario for “Orcs Gone Wild”.
• Got Jules registered as a GM for her Cthulhu scenarios at FOPCon.

And it’s only 10 am (well, when I’m writing this, as I’m staring a sea of blankly-staring sophomores snooze their way through the Science portion)! Holy productivity, Batman!

“She likes cocaine”

Just for the record, WittCon VII is proud to be a substance-free event.

“I’m gonna give her a message. Here’s what I’m gonna say: ‘It’s all over’…”

Lionel may have said it best a few weeks ago. We love when WittCon comes around. The day is a ton of fun—14+ hours of gaming goodness, old friends, and clattering dice. You can’t beat it with a stick. However, the road leading up to it is a mass of blood, sweat, and tears (“Spinning Wheel,” anyone?) that regularly makes life rough. But, when the day is out, and we close the doors of Shouvlin, it’s all worth it. We’re already planning for the next go-round.

In the Play Dirty article that I reviewed last entry, John Wick makes takes an aside, after talking about the downfall of the eponymous Mr. Jefferson Carter:

“Writing those words, those very words reminded me…why I love this industry so much. Why I love role-playing games so much. Because we are the only medium where the Author and the Audience are the same. Where we live the stories we tell as we tell them.
The whole point of mythology is to teach lessons that cannot be communicated any other way. Roleplaying is living myth. We aren’t hearing the heroes’ trials, we are the hero. We aren’t walking in his footsteps, we’re making the footsteps.”

And, y’know what? He’s damned right. We do it for ourselves, because we love it and we want to see more of it. Yeah, she’s got me under pressure. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

In Which The Warlock Admits His Alignment...

So, as a pseudo-GM's Day present, Kat sent me a copy of a very interesting PDF: John Wick's "Play Dirty".

At first, I had thought it was something along the lines of the eponymous "Book of Erotic Fantasy", released in the midst of the d20 System glut, but I was surprised beyond belief at what I found.

You see, Wick's articles (compiled from a gaming website) enlighten the reader on the glories of being a "Dirty GM". That is to say, a GM that uses his full creative abilities to challenge his players by exploiting their weaknesses and gaming assumptions. He contrasts this with the "Killer GM" which kills characters simply for the sake of killing them.

He then goes on to put forward idea after glorious idea, many of which were taken from his own games (mainly "Champions", "Vampire: The Masquerade" and "Call of Cthulhu"). Of particular note is his NPC, Jefferson Carter...a bastard to crown all other bastards, and a character that any self-respecting player would love to hate.

Wick's articles got me thinking about my own reputation within the Wittenberg gaming community. You see, I have a bit of a stigma as a brutal Game Master. I guess the old adage is to "never get in a car in one of Andy's games", after I had two separate TPKs (all detailed in earlier posts, no less!).

However, I've always strived for ways to challenge my players. From the illithid invasion of Saltmarsh, to the conspiracies of the Emperor's Ship Persephone, I try to keep my players always on their toes. There is, though, one game in which I really pulled the wool out from under the players:

Back at Wittenberg, I ran a game that was something of a crossover between the old 2e setting "Dark Sun" and the historical Crusades. The players took on fantasy roles of Egyptian Muslims, as their king attempted to invade Damascus. As they had proved themselves competent at court and in the field, our heroes were chosen as an advance force to try to infiltrate the city and begin to bring it down from the inside-out.

As such, after sneaking into Damascus, they began to learn about the city's defenses, which were constructed by a certain general, Mal-Erek Tsaron. Attempting to get into his confidence was Nick, playing a psychic warrior. He joined the city guard, immediately getting noticed due to his natural prowess (and the fact that he was around 12th level at the time). The group's mission? Kill Tsaron, so that the city's defenses would be leaderless.

Undoubtedly, the PCs were figuring on only a chance encounter with Tsaron, but I didn't let them off that easy. Tsaron took Nick's character under his wing, quickly promoting him. Within a month, Nick was invited over to Tsaron's home to have dinner with his wife. The entire time, I played Tsaron as a gentle, loving man who loved his country and wanted nothing more than to live in peace. Nick and Tsaron sparred in his practice room. Tsaron gave him an enchanted blade, which he had used in years previous. Tsaron's wife made him dinner.

...and when Nick's character was about to leave, Tsaron's daughter arrived. Oh, did I say his daughter? I meant Nick's love interest from earlier in the campaign. Same person.

Nick's character was invited to stay the night...during which he did the dirty deed. He killed Tsaron and his wife, then messaged the group, which signaled for the sieging army to attack.

The entire role-play took over 3 hours, with nary a dice rolled. Literally, Nick and I went back and forth, with the rest of the group rapt on our words. With each new detail, with each new "nice guy" action that Tsaron took, the group moaned their pain.

In order to take over Damascus, they would have to kill an innocent man. And, more than just innocent, he was a friend.

That's what John Wick is talking about! That's "hitting them where it hurts"! That's gamin'!

In Which The Warlock Straddles the Fence, and Chafes Himself...

In amongst all of the prep for WittCon, FOPCon, and all of the other X-Cons around here, I've found myself in something of a quandary.

Y'see, there's the ongoing debate out here in geekdom between "rules heavy" and "rules light" systems. It's gotten to the point where not even the best of geeks can truly draw lines between the two factions.

I guess that former Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said it best (in reference to porn, no less): "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it." Personally, I can't really define what makes a rules-light or rules-heavy system, but I can tell them apart when I see them.

Therein lies the problem. Recently, I mentioned my excitement for Steve Kenson's new game, Icons. Coupled with WEGS, Call of Cthulhu, and now (thanks to Will's zeal for it) Savage Worlds, I've been enjoying "rules-light" systems more and more. Fundamentally, the idea is to throw together a character, toss some dice, and have fun. However, I wasn't overly impressed with the True-20 system, which is rules-light in the same fashion.

However, even putting aside nostalgia, I still love Heroes Unlimited...a decidedly rules-heavy (and Byzantine) game. And my affection for D&D...well, how does that one fit at all? D&D has a ton of rules, feats, powers, and the like, but with the Insider program, it's immensely easy to navigate, and is quick around the table. Plus, I'm even less of a fan of games like GURPS and Rolemaster, which are incredibly bloated with rules and system abuses.

So, by now, you can see my quandary. Where do I fall on the grand-spectrum of gaming? No, it probably doesn't matter, but it's nice to be able to know what you actually like!

In Which The Warlock's Plans are Put in Motion...

My lovely friends and neighbors...I'm out of ideas. I really don't know what to blog about this week.

Literally, it's been all quiet, here on the front lines of Dayton-area geekdom. I feel like we're just under the surface of a wonderous stew of glorious geeky goulash, ready to hit a rolling boil. With all of the planning for WittCon, FOPCon, and the rest of our annual circuit, preparation's been the name of the game.

As part of this, I decided to take on another game for WittCon. We had something of a D&D void in our schedule, so I decided to pick up my d20 and give it a go. As such, I have slot 1 set aside for "Orcs Gone Wild!"--a wonderous romp through Hamletshire, with the players as orcs, goblins, and kobolds rather than the usual elves and dwarves.

But, even bigger than that...it's official: the WittKids are running events at Origins this year! We just finished up our schedule, sending it off to the GAMA organizers. On this year's docket?

Myself--"Survival of the Fittest" (Dark Heresy) and "WEGS Plume Mountain" (WEGS)
Lionel--"Zombie Park" and "Zombie Graveyard (d20 Modern)
Ebbs--"Ninja Nuttiness: Attack on the Shogun Castle" and "The Plague of Man/Song of Silence" (CthulhuTech)
Karl--"The Relics of Dark Lord Driscar" (Star Wars d20) and "Croaking Dragon, Hidden Tiger" (D&D 4e)
Jules--"Welcome to Zendik Farms" and "If Train A Leaves at Midnight" (Call of Cthulhu d20)

Keep your eyes peeled for the Origins Master Schedule, coming out this May, and come join us at 7 pm each night at Origins!

In Which The Warlock Does Old Skool In a New Way...

For those of you that have been following my blog, you know very well the fondness I have for WEGS--El Willy's "Wickedly Errant Gaming System"--for its old school, 1st edition D&D feel. There's no bones about it: you throw your dice, you roll to hit, you kill the monsters and you take their stuff.

It's simple, it's quick, and it's fun. Easy as that.

So, when I spotted this little gem thanks to a post on RPG.net, I was floored!

Icons by Steve Kenson

I've taken a look at Steve Kenson's work quite a few times, mainly through the products he's done with Green Ronin, and I was legitimately impressed. While I wasn't a fan of the Mutants and Masterminds system (it suffers from the same problems of most d20 products, in terms of rules bloat and excessive technicality), Kenson genuinely shows a great knowledge of the superhero genre.

And, while I love Heroes Unlimited and always will, it's not exactly a game that you can just throw together on a moment's notice. I've been working on characters for the HU game I'm running at WittCon, and it literally took me something in the neighborhood of 8-10 hours to generate the 6 player characters for the scenario. Thank Zombie Jeebus that I have them saved online! I can't imagine having to re-do those, each time I wanted to run the scenario!

But could this be the answer to my hopes, dreams, and desires? A superhero game that's easy to pick up, quick around the table, and still have enough depth to show off complex powers like Iron Man or Green Lantern? Mmmm...*drools*

Unfortunately, I'll have to wait for June on Icons, but it definitely looks like something I'll be picking up.

In Which The Warlock Switches Gears...

With WittCon VII approaching, I had originally been hard at work on a Ravenloft scenario to run during the second session. "In Pursuit of Perfection" was going to be an interesting little romp through Paridon, in which the PCs would uncover some unsavory goings-on in the "Divinity of Mankind"--a pseudo-Freemason group devoted to perfection for all mankind.

Unfortunately, I hadn't exactly anticipated everyone else's offerings this time around. Kat's been high on a new indy game called "Houses of the Blooded", while a group that we met at FOPCon is bringing three sessions of "Fellowship of the White Star"--a game that, thematically, is pretty well identical to Ravenloft. All that on top of Jules' annual Call of Cthulhu game...

...well, I was out luck. I still wanted to run something, but we needed some genre differentiation!

So many options before me, I had some difficulty settling on something. I had thought about doing Clone Wars-era Star Wars game, but was immediately turned off by the d20 character generation, even with the assist from HeroForge. I was thinking about potentially running some Conan or Stargate SG-1, but in both cases...same problem. WEGS? Well, with El Willy planning to make an appearance, that's his domain! Dungeon Slam and SunnyVale Acres still need some work before another big playtest run...

As such, I was at a loss. What to run, what to run?

Ah, yes. My beloved Heroes Unlimited!

With the massive blizzard around us, I've had a few extra days off to work towards putting together a scenario I'm calling "The Near-Orbit Mass Driver Blues".

Five of six characters, complete with backgrounds, are already done with the outline still being put together. I'm excited about how they've all turned out, with some pretty unique power combinations:

Shadowman IX: The perfect corporate spy and master of shadow!

Dead Man Walker: A former Red Cross worker turned undead voodoo horror!

Rebuild: A master of robotics, complete with a bionic arsenal!

High Voltage: An NSA super-soldier and master of close combat!

Rebel Yell: An adorable Southern college student...with the powers of Sonic Manipulation!

and Pinpoint: A peerless archer and weaponsmith, capable of incredible feats of aim!

It'll be interesting to see how our heroes confront the difficulties of saving the former Soviet Republic of Kerplachistan from the horrors of the Ky'yrrr aliens! Can't hardly wait!

In Which The Warlock Indulges His Villainous Side...

One of the greatest things about gaming, which I've always really enjoyed, has been the villains that have the heroes have faced down over the years. Whether behind the GM screen or in front of it, villains have always stolen the show for me. After all, how can you be heroic if you don't have a proper villain to face down?

I mean, I was always proud of guys like Jaegren Lern--the One Living Man--and the illithid mastermind of the Saltmarsh invasion, Xil'ti'Carn. These were creatures that the PCs could really get behind and genuinely hate. And that hate? It's a powerful motivator.

Fred, in his GMing debut, really hit home with his villainous portrayal a few campaigns ago. My old swordmage-artificer Unsere was absolutely paranoid about her boss, Kezar Uzariza, and the corporation he had at his disposal. Kezar always seemed to show up at the most inconvenient times, providing a constant threat of menace that she had to overcome. For a character who was, in essence, a pacifist (at least in terms of humanoids!), this made for high drama.

I've been pleased so far, in Chris II's game, with his portrayal of Nynerin--an NPC from Keep on the Shadowfell that normally would fall by the wayside. As a fellow Valenar, Cyrid absolutely loathes everything that Nynerin pulled, particularly leading numerous villagers into the deathtrap of the titular Keep.

D&D, more than any other game, has always had its classic villains. From the demilich Acererak, to Lord Strahd von Zarovich, to the death knight Lord Soth (a personal fave!), enemies abound!

And, y'know? That's really what drives the campaign.

When I was in Liverpool, studying abroad, my professor for "Chaucer's Narrative Verse" once said something incredibly insightful. He told us, as students, that at the root of all great literature is conflict. After all,

"what would King Lear be like if everyone just sat around saying 'Pass the Cornflakes'?

So tell me, oh devoted few? What are your favorite villains? What makes them so magnetic for you? And, if you're a gamer, how do you carry that into your games?

In Which The Warlock Gets Back to Where He Once Belonged...

Man, oh man. First level.

For anyone who's ever played an RPG, it brings on ton of mixed emotions. It brings excitement--that first rush of adventure, as kobolds or skeletons fell beneath your sword. It brings fear--memories of being so fragile, so frail, that those very kobolds or skellies might bring you to your knees (oh, the horror!). And, for some, it brings outright frustration, particularly for anyone who played a 1st level wizard, and could be taken out (legitimately!) by a housecat.

It's been absolutely ages since I've actually played in a campaign starting at 1st level. Most of the games that I run, or have been involved in, have been starting at a low-middle level, in what this Age of 4e has been calling "late heroic tier". Mainly, this was to avoid those last two issues: no one wanted to play a game in which you could be ganked by a tiny little lizardman with a loincloth and a stick.

So, when Chris II took over the GMing reins, I was a little shocked and...well, nervous. While he mentioned wanting to start the "actual" campaign at 6th level, he wanted to run a few flashback sessions, starting us at 1st level. It had been so long...and my concept for Cyrid was one for a scarred veteran...and first level sucked, right?

I'm happy to say I was wrong.

Yes, level 1 brings its own challenges, but it's spectacular to go back to it--to the core of what D&D is: setting out on an adventure with your good friends, not knowing what might be around the next corner, finding that first +1 weapon, and having fun.

We just hit level 2 at the end of last week's session, and Cyrid actually came away with the first magic item of the game. (Sometimes it helps to be the only character wearing heavy armor, it seems!) We're marching our way off to the actual Keep on the Shadowfell, and my Valenar warrior already has a vendetta out on a betrayer-elf named Nynerin.

Can't wait to see how it turns out!

In Which The Warlock Introduces His New Character...

With Chris II taking the GMing reins for a while, I actually get the chance to play some 4e for once! After much agonizing deliberation and uite a bit of back-and-forth deciding, I decided on an elf paladin for this game. As such, enjoy the background of my newest character: Cyrid Alamein, Valenar mercenary!

Name: Cyrid Alamein
Age: 52
Race: Elf (Valenar)
Homeland: Jal Paeridor, Valinor
Parents: Elladir (father) and Malaenir (mother)—both alive, in grasslands surrounding Jal Paeridor
Siblings: None.
Faith: Believes in the divinity of his ancestor spirits, particularly his grandfather, Jhordaen.
Fav. Food: “Buried” lamb, with roasted root vegetables and flatbread.
Pastimes: Drinking, darts and other games of skill,
Party Role: Primary defender, secondary damage-dealer.
Strengths: Intense melee damage, strong defenses, marking abilities, physical skill use.
Weaknesses: Mobility, ranged combat, social interactions, no arcane ability.

Cyrid Alamein is, as are all Valenar elves, a warrior. He was raised from birth to fight in the name of his country, his family, and honor. Cyrid’s father, Elladir, was a noted cavalryman, who lost an arm when his company was hired by Karrnath to fight off the Talenta Halflings. Malaenir, Cyrid’s mother, was also a member of the company, serving in amongst the infantry. She, too, was injured, during the battle, and spent several weeks recuperating with Elladir. Their time together blossomed into romance, and they were wed.

The fruit of that marriage was Cyrid, who was raised to be a soldier from birth. Few children within the Valenar encampments could best him, despite the fact that many were stronger, quicker, or more intelligent than he. Cyrid’s natural bloodthirst, coupled with an uncanny knowledge of both offensive and defensive technique, earned him many commendations. One of these commendations led Cyrid into the Krak Cormanthus—an elite guard of Valenar mercenaries, who used their devotion to their ancestors as a literal weapon. There, Cyrid’s training expanded to include the channeling of the dead members of the Alamein clan through his weapon of choice.

While many of the Cormanthine Guard chose typical elven weaponry to wield, Cyrid instead picked a flail—a weapon rarely seen in the hands of an elf. While Cyrid rarely speaks of it, he chose the flail out of respect for his grandfather, a powerful elf marshal known as Vadykar. Vadykar’s legend has only grown since his death, as the Last War made him into something of a figure of legend. Cyrid always appreciated the stories of Vadykar’s death, as he fought off an entire legion of Thranish shock-troops with only one arm and one eye, his flail brutally smashing into the Silver Flame cultists.

As part of the Cormanthine Guard, Cyrid was dispatched to Cyre, to fight against the Brelish forces. There, he rose to the rank of Second Field Sergeant, beneath Field Commandant Raviar Tslan. While on reconnaissance, dissension began to grow between Tslan and Cyrid, over the path being taken. The men were swiftly becoming split between Cyrid and his commander, and he was pressured into a coup. However, when the time came to confront Tslan, none of the men stood with him. Rather, they aided Tslan in flogging him, and hanging him in a tree by his own flail, leaving him behind to die.

Shortly thereafter, Cyrid was found by a Brelish reconnaissance force and was rescued. Unconscious, he was taken to a House Jorasco healing house for treatment of his wounds. Upon awakening, Cyrid found himself without focus and without company, and deep in Brelish territory. Deciding to make his fortune before visiting bloody vengeance upon his former squad-mates, Cyrid left with a Brelish caravan for Sharn.

Cyrid is a fairly insecure character who lurks behind a mask of bravado and brash action. He has been raised since birth to be a warrior, and is quite good at it, but he finds battle for battle’s sake unfulfilling. He desperately wants vengeance on his former squadmates, particularly Raviar Tslan, but knows the near-impossibility of this task.
Cyrid has never known romance, and often wonders if his path will lead him to find love, as his parents did. However, he doubts that he will ever be able to reconcile his path of vengeance with a woman to love. Further, Cyrid desperately wants to live up to the model of his grandfather, Vadykar, who seems to be larger-than-life.

Cyrid’s only real friend in Sharn has been Gharthen, a tiefling barkeep at a watering hole in the depths of Sharn. Cyrid regularly goes there to drink, and to play darts against the sardonic tiefling. He has not had much luck finding mercenary work, as he refuses to register with House Deneith or House Tharashk.

In Which The Warlock Tells Luke His Father Was Named Rosebud...

To round out our last bit of "Pirates of the Underdark," I wanted to give just a little bit of face time for our lovely villains, who didn't manage to make it to the game table. They had big plans, for sure, but no recompense was to be had.

Jaegren Lern--"The One Living Man"--Level 22 Elite Controller

After ambushing The One Living Man on his ship, at the behest of the lich-loremaster Tsaron Mindweaver, the party found themselves being pursued halfway to hell and back by the necromancer-turned-pirate.

But who is Jaegren Lern, really? Believe it or not, he's one of my old characters, when I was playing at Wittenberg. Lern was a wizard, with the Pale Master prestige class and a heavy necromantic flavor. He used Create Undead and Animate Dead spells numerous times to create a zombie crew, which even included an Undead Dire Octopus. The kicker for Lern, though, was his arm--a skeletal graft that comes with the Pale Master class. Very flavorful stuff.

I designed Lern to be a sniveling, arrogant bugger, who had allied with the enigmatic Dread Pirate Tim, only to be hired by the rest of the party, as they traveled to IceRazor City. As it turned out, Lern betrayed the party (a week before finals week, no less!), resulting in a TPK. Lern, however, escaped (yes, really!), taking Lauryn's sorceress-turned-vampire with him.

While I really like The One Living Man as a plot device, he doesn't really have any far-reaching machinations, so he was fairly one dimensional as a villain. However, his prescence was enough of a threat to keep the party on their toes and make them really strategize when he came calling.

Lascer, Lord of the Shadow Shoal--Level 19 Solo Skirmisher

I first came across Lascer in an issue of Dragon magazine, where he was tossed in amongst the "Demonomicon of Iggwilv: Apocrypha". The image for Lascer is what stood out most, though: a roughly stitched together albino body, with jagged teeth and shards of broken glass jammed into the joints, hands, and feet. I knew I had to use this guy.

The players came across the cult of Lascer early in their adventuring, but only began to put together the pieces of his true agenda once they managed to meet up with the Cult of Dagon at Tsaron Mindweaver's tower. Lascer, having been Dagon's personal assassin for milennia, had broken free of Dagon's control and had escaped to the Prime Material. Set on vengeance, Lascer began founding a cult of his own amidst the kuo-toa and sauhagin of the Underdark.

Had the game continued, the players would have had to hunt down the Iron Flask of Tuerny--a 2e relic!--which was capable of holding the essence of a being as powerful as a demon lord. However, upon finding it, disaster strikes--the Flask is inhabited by a powerful demilich...the one, the only, Acererak.

And the rest?

The Gith--As mentioned in my last post, a rogue faction of Githyanki sought to use the Midnight Romance plant in a bid to dominate Sigil. This would have culminated in a cross-planar chase, as the PCs try to track down the Gith to their home-base and eliminate them, all without rousing the ire of the Lich-Queen, Vlaakith. Mind you, all of this would have only been compounded by the party's "acquisition" of a Gith Silver Sword...

The Weavers--Ah, yes. The powerful, enigmatic merchants guild, located on Skull and Stars. The Weavers were, of course, much more than they seemed. In fact, they were spider-people, known as "chitines". The Weavers had cornered the market on silk in the region, and weren't about to be undercut by some no-good scallywags. Unfortunately, their vengeance never took shape.

The Drow Houses--of course, in true back-stabbing style, both Mathir's and Zara's houses were going to come back to bite them in the behind. Mathir's mother was intent on letting her foolish daughter upgrade the Red Mourning as much as she wanted...then calling in the debt on it, taking the powerful ship as her flagship. Zara's sister intended on dragging her back into the Menzoberranzen political situation, intent on a second coup.


Ah, but all that's in the past now. Now, it's time for some Eberron! And let me tell you, Cyrid Alamein--elf paladin--is ready to bring some righteous pain!

In Which The Warlock Posts a Spoiler Alert...

As I mentioned earlier, our weekly "Pirates of the Underdark" game went out with a whimper, rather than a bang. We didn't really reach any sort of climax before the game collapsed, and many of the side plots went unrevealed.

That is, until now! Below are the assorted "tier 2" NPCs that the players helped to create, along with their "dark secrets" which the players were on the verge of finding out...

Durgrek--Dwarf Wizard (Tome) 18

What They Knew:
Throughout the game, the players came upon quite a few mysterious slabs of slate, covered in archaic dwarven runes. The stones radiated a mysterious form of magic, indecipherable by the party's arcanists. And, the more of these that they found, the weirder Durgrek seemed to get, as he lusted over the items. He, in fact, made a deal with Captain Zane to provide the ship with both navigation and alchemical/ritual services, with his only payment being...those enigmatic runestones.

What They Didn't Know:
Durgrek was the last of his clan. After being shipped off to a wizard academy, his clan was defeated in battle by duergar, and sold into slavery. Durgrek returned home on a sabbatical, only to find his home delve totally empty. Enraged, Durgrek turned to his arcane talents to view the past, finding the duergar that enslaved his clan. He rained fiery vengeance upon the offenders, but did not stop there. Durgrek sought annihilation.

Using his arcane contacts, Durgrek began to research the lore of "truename magic". Rumor had always been that the duergar, when they forged their eternal pact with Asmodeus, turned over a set of runestones with their ancient clan's truename emblazoned in it. Asmodeus, seeking to keep the clan subjugated, split the stones apart and spread them across the Underdark.

The Next Step?
Durgrek would have procured the final runestone as the players approached the endgame, enacting a ritual at the Hulks of Zoretha--a series of ancient monoliths imbued with arcane energy. There, the players would have been forced into a terrible choice--trust the seemingly insane dwarf, or stop him. Had Durgrek succeeded in his ritual, the truename linking all duergar would have been erased, instantly slaying all duergar on the Prime Material (including Zendax's comrade-in-arms, Ettik!).

Velenthi of House Nehlet, Drow Dark Pact Warlock 13

What They Knew:
Velenthi ambushed her big sister, Zara, in an alley in Freeport. Zara, in turn, bullied her into joining the crew of the Red Mourning. Zara and the crew were shocked to see Velenthi's strnge abilities, but even moreso when she was spotted speaking to hobgoblin and (*gasp*) surfacer mercenaries. The group believed that she had fled the fall of House Nehlet in Menzoberranzen, but there was little proof to go on.

What The Didn't Know:
Velenthi did, in fact, flee the fall of House Nehlet, but only after she actually caused the house's fall! She led the male slaves in a coup on the Matron Mother, only to be backstabbed by them, and being subjected to the same punishments she inflicted on them! Velenthi escaped, turning first to the Acolytes of Moil, a nihilistic cult that worships the ancient demilich Acererak! With them, she learned the warlock arts, then abandoned them, in favor of finding her errant sister and some hired goons, to help her re-take House Nehlet.

The Next Step?
Had the players spent any time in Menzoberranzen, Velenthi would have come clean about the fall of House Nehlet, appealling to the crew to assist her in the ultimate "battle of the sexes"--men vs. women with the leadership of House Nehlet on the line. However, their support of her would have drawn the attention of the Acolytes of Moil...leading to a climactic encounter in Skull City, right outside of the Tomb of Horrors!

Nalen the Quicker, Shadar-Kai Rogue 16

What They Knew:
Artemis--Fred's second character, following Captain Zane--grew close to Nalen, finding out much of her backstory while the crew was docked in Gracklestugh. Nalen became incredibly nervous while in port there, and confided in Artemis over a bottle of brandy in the crow's nest. This nervousness grew even further after the group was ambushed by Githyanki, in the midst of a harrowing encounter with the necromancer-pirate, The One Living Man.

What They Didn't Know:
Nalen was actually native to the city of Sigil, and grew up to be a private investigator. Nalen had taken on a case from the Sons of Mercy to look into the appearance of a mysterious viney plant in the city called Midnight Romance, which was incredibly toxic. Nalen trailed the plant to githyanki smugglers, who captured her. Before she escaped, Nalen deduced the giths' true plan--to use the Midnight Romance plants from Gracklestugh to poison and zombify the citizenry of Sigil, then use it as a launching point for further planar incursions.

The Next Step?
After the climax of the game, the players would have had the option to traverse the planar waterways, ending up in Sigil in the midst of the githyanki invasion. Working alongside Doomguard Marauders and the Sons of Mercy, the PCs would have helped to fight back against the gith and restore Sigil to its prior state.


And the rest?

Ettik--Duergar Fighter 13
Ettik revolved primarily as a foil to Durgrek, as he would have been slain in Durgrek's mad quest for revenge. Had the PCs returned to Gracklestugh, they would have found themselves trapped in the midst of a duergar love triangle, as Ettik had accidentally impregnated a clan mistress, who was about to marry a clanthane.

Elkantar--Drow Bard 11
Elkantar was, pretty much, what the players thought he was--Mathir's slave. However, he would serve as the cause of a major difficulty as Mathir's Matron Mother would have come calling, after a time, wanting both her ship and her slave back. Needless to say, this would have earned the party one more enemy...

Khalar--Goliath Swordmage/Artificer 15
Khalar, the gigantic pistoleer/swordsman, was about as mercenary as it came. He was willing to support any cause, any person, as long as he was well supplied with gold, rum, and fine weaponry. He had a growing crush on both Mathir and Nalen, both of which hid from the group at large.

James "The Goddamned Jim Bob" Robertson--Human Ranger/Horizon Walker 19
The Goddamned Jim Bob had no plot. He showed up as an homage to a past game, and just was happy to go along with the flow. Jim Bob loved travel, and the Red Mourning was as good a method of travel than any.

Stay tuned for the villains of "Pirates of the Underdark", including Jaegren Lern, the enigmatic One Living Man!

In Which The Warlock Looks Back, Then Forward...

Man. Who knew?

After all this time, I actually managed to hit 150 posts since starting this blog. Even posting once a week, it seems like a massive number--something that's taken me, in real life, over 3 years. Hard to believe!

I still don't exactly have a lot in the way of readership--about 10 people, in all--but it at least lets me get out my thoughts on gaming and the like. Plus, it keeps me writing, which is something that tends to get lost in amongst the chaos and mess that takes up 'normal life'.

What's harder to believe is that all this started with a simple character blog. My old dwarven sorcerer from Eberron, Harrigan Grimgem, provided the bulk of the first few entries, with things expanding from there. Being able to show off the pictures at our various Origins trips, as well as the other cons we've made it to, really provided a great change of pace.

It's kind of funny. As the new year dawns, I've been absolutely aching for a "normal year". Between the wedding, a new job, a new car, a new house, and all of the other madness from 2009, 2010 looks like a wonderful change of pace.

That said, I know better. As it stands now, 2010 is going to be even more packed with gaming opportunities, with the Witt-Wegger crew hitting even more cons than last year: FOPCon II, AnCon, WittCon VII, C2E2, and even GenCon! It's going to be one heck of a year, no doubt.

All of this on top of my work on SunnyVale Acres (which is a board and some playing pawns away from being playtestable!) and Dungeon Slam!...man, oh man. No rest for the weary gamer.

Mind you, in the midst of all of this comes our normal campaign, which is restarting after the New Year. This time, though, I actually get to play! Now, what type of character I'm playing....no idea yet! We'll see how that goes.

I guess, all in all, I just want to thank you, readers. O noble few that you are, you keep me doing this and ready to chuck the dice once more, if for no other reason than to report on the carnage.

Enjoy your New Years' festivities, and have a good holiday all! There's more to come in the new year!

In Which The Warlock Celebrates a Multitude of Things...

Sorry, to those of you that were hoping for a full-bore update yesterday. Since it's the holiday break, I'm relaxing and taking the Yuletide off.

However, I had failed to realize that, with my last entry, I hit 150 entries!! Next week, expect an extra special "blog-in-review" for both the year's end, and for hitting the 150 post milestone.

Cheers!

The Cathedral of Erudition and the Influence of Bane

(This is a part of my continuing series on the Cathedral of Erudition--a multi-faith temple found in the infamous city of Blackfall. For more on Blackfall and the Cathedral, search for "Cathedral of Erudition" or "Blackfall" on the Google search-bar to your right! Enjoy!)

As mentioned previously, the Cathedral of Erudition is one of the few places in civilized society where Bane is openly (if grudgingly) worshipped. The Cathedral maintains a small shrine, specific to Bane, in its open-worship chamber, which has created no small amount of controversy within the Blackfall community at large. Within the Cathedral, Bane is typically viewed in his aspect as “The Steadfast General,” as opposed to ‘The Lord of Tyranny” or “The Slave-taker”.

As any historian may note, the city of Blackfall could not have been founded without Bane’s influence. In centuries gone by, Blackfall was once a massive orc encampment known as Mahalek Manshalan (the Magma Lord’s Salvation) which had stood for years, after escaping from an elvish war-tribe. This encampment was destroyed by a human-led army, under the command of Dorian “Helmcrack” Dalathon, who was well-known to be a worshipper of Bane and counted numerous priests of the Lord of Chains in his war-band.

When the orc-camp was decimated, Dorian built the first stone keep along the Moonraked River, which later became the foundation for Castle Blackfall. A city sprung up surrounding the fortified keep, and the rest, as they say, is history. Bane, whether the populace likes it or not, is a part of their history.

Bane is included in iconography within the Cathedral of Erudition, but usually in a lesser role than in a Cathedral of his faiths’ own creation. One notable example is of a mural found in the Cathedral’s antechamber, depicting Bane and Moradin in full battle-garb, as the two fight back-to-back against a series of savage humanoids.

The community at-large is not pleased with having any worship of Bane ‘tainting’ their Cathedral or their community, and often rails against Bane’s inclusion in Cathedral worship. The two newer heads-of-faith—Delia and Garius—feel this pressure the most, though both believe that Bane has his place within the walls of Blackfall, given the foundations of the city.

True followers of Bane occasionally make pilgrimages to the Cathedral of Erudition, from points unknown. Only one such follower actually makes his home in Blackfall, Wesley Baracus (human paladin/warlord 16), who maintains the shrine to Bane and occasionally runs some of the daily worship services.

Baracus, contrary to popular opinion, is not a slaver, nor is he a vicious butcher of men. Rather, he is a devoted soldier who continually advocates for the proper defense of Blackfall, and for the well-being of its defenders. Few know that Baracus actually runs and funds a clinic, specializing in traumatic injuries and wounds suffered in the line of duty. While not a gregarious man, he stoically continues to make Blackfall a better place to live, and cares little about what people think about him.

In Which The Warlock Reaches The End of Things...

They say that all good things must come to an end. If that's the case, I've had it way too good for far too long. It seems that, with the end of December, both of my weekly D&D games will be ending.

In our "Pirates of the Underdark" game, we have two sessions left to wrap up the conveluted plot points, the circuitous undercurrents, and a massive trip to the heart of the Abyss left to go. I can't bear to spoil the plot here, at least not until the last few sessions play out, but rest assured that you'll get all of the details here.

I will, however, spoil the remainder of the plot for my "Echoes of the Last War" game, which I was running at Wittenberg. When we last left off, the players had been trekking through the Xen'drik jungle, in search of a House Cannith archaeological dig, which they had found evidence of in a shady lab in the Cogs of Sharn.

At the dig site, our players would have found a mysterious series of runes which, when translated, would have dealt with the missing Mark of Death, and particularly the combinations thereof with other dragonmarks. Notes left behind by the previous dig manager would have led the heroes back onto Khorvaire, to the Citadel of Twelve, in Karnnath.

Using some diplomacy and guile, the players would have infiltrated the Citadel, only to find little to no evidence (or help) from the dragonmarked heirs there. However, some further investigation of both House Cannith and House Thuranni would have given the indication that the group's old buddy, Thondred ir'Dayne, was still alive! Shocked, they would be confronted with an impossible task: infiltrating the prison of Dreadhold and breaking out their friend.

After another bit of sneaking, the party would find Thondred deep in the "Stone Ward" of Dreadhold. There, he'd enlighten them on the real plot: Cannith and Thuranni were in cahoots all along. The Mourning? Yeah, it was their fault, as they attempted to formulate an arcane/alchemical replacement for the missing Mark of Death. And, using the information from the dig sites in Xen'drik, House Cannith now has a prototype for a "Dragonmark Bomb"...a miniaturized Mourning that they intend to sell off to the highest bidder at the city of Thronehold.

Amazed, the PCs would have had to sneak back off of Dreadhold's island and into the Lhaazar Principalities, seeking passage with a pirate captain. Said pirate captain was, of course, deep in House Lyrandar's pockets, and set the PCs ashore in the midst of the Mournland!

After several challenges in traversing the Mournland, the PCs would have met one of the most dangerous individuals in the realm: the Lord of Blades. Obviously, the option to flee would be there, but should they negotiate, they'd find a kindred spirit! The Lord of Blades has no interest in seeing the world annihilated (even if it does mean the fall of the 5 nations), and so sends the PCs on their way to Thronehold with an escort of Warforged infiltrators.

The game would have ended with the PCs racing against time to stop the auction, and stopping the heads of the two dragonmarked houses--Thuranni and Cannith--from selling off their weapon.

Ironically, this game would have ended with the PCs becoming, essentially, fugitives and 'terrorists', sending them on the run for good. A definite strange ending, but one I hadn't explored yet.

As for what comes next? We'll see. I have some ideas rattling around my brain right now, but my focus has been on SunnyVale Acres for the last few weeks. Here's hoping I'll have my prototype out by New Year's!

The Cathedral of Erudition--101 Cathedral Adventure Hooks

(This is a portion from my continuing series on the Cathedral of Erudition, a multi-faith temple in the infamous city of Blackfall. Enjoy!)

101 Adventure Hooks for the Cathedral of Erudition

1) The local thieves’ guild breaks into the Deep Crypts, hoping to steal artifacts.
2) The party is recruited by Aida Ballard to scout the Vanalthian Wastes.
3) Church services begin taking odd turns as citizens begin speaking in tongues.
4) The shrine to Bane is defiled—the PCs must find out who was behind the vandalism.
5) Plague spreads across Blackfall, and the Cathedral is overrun with victims.
6) In the middle of weekly services, The Triune Idol shatters.
7) A street hawker named Marius preaches heresy outside the Cathedral steps.
8) The Necronomicon has disappeared! The only clue is a broken fingerbone.
9) Gareth Dolanian, a recently landed noble, has learned Yvain’s secret and plans blackmail.
10) Citing religious reasons, the nobles plan a coup, and seek the Cathedral’s support.
11) One of the paladins of Ioun begins stealing small artifacts from the Deep Crypts.
12) The city faces siege, and the Cathedral is called to the front lines.
13) Strange lights float through the monastery halls. Is the Cathedral haunted?
14) A frightened man corners the PCs at a tavern: he claims that illithids have infiltrated the Cathedral!
15) Illuminated Scriptor Delia vanishes for two weeks, and her predecessor, Jaris, seems to retake control.
16) The Cathedral is chosen for a massive summit of Erathian clergy.
17) A hobgoblin high priest of Bane makes a pilgrimage to Blackfall.
18) The Cathedral bells have fallen utterly silent. No attempt to fix them has worked.
19) Every image of Ioun in the Cathedral begins to weep ink.
20) The library is ransacked during the night; the guards are baffled by it…
21) Adjudicator Juris Aida asks the PCs to investigate the lost colony at Renning’s Run.
22) Pages are missing from the Triplicate Folio.
23) A text is discovered, implying a romantic link between Erathis and a now-dead deity.
24) A Vecna cult begins spreading throughout the sewers, with designs on the church of Ioun.
25) A dao djinn feels slighted after the Cathedral refuses to sell holy tomes to him.
26) The king reverses an old precedent, now choosing to tax the Cathedral.
27) Acolytes begin claiming that a chain-bearing horror now roams the cemetery.
28) The colors in a grand mosaic of Moradin’s battle against Mual-Tar begin shifting.
29) The halls near the shrine of Bane begin to radiate magical energy.
30) A crusade is declared, to find the lost sword of Prelate Guillaume.
31) The hammer, Whelm, is discovered! But who among the faithful should wield it?
32) Three bloody arrowheads are left on the Cathedral steps on the morning of each ten-day.
33) The PCs must transport an evil artifact to a remote outpost so that it can be destroyed.
34) A thief has taken the weekly tithe box!
35) The color in the stained-glass windows begins to blacken and fade mysteriously.
36) A paladin of Erathis faces tribunal on trumped-up charges and seeks aid.
37) A paladin of Erathis seeks assistance at his tribunal…for crimes he committed!
38) A set of prayer beads is found around the Triune Idol’s feet. The owner has long been dead.
39) A planar conjunction occurs, cutting off divine characters from their powers.
40) The runes engraved on the altar actually hold a powerful ritual of binding.
41) The monastery catches fire!
42) A mysterious yellow sigil is painted on the Cathedral doors each night.
43) A devilish assassin seeks to make a name for himself by slaying Yvain.
44) An inevitable negotiator requests the Cathedral’s involvement in creating a demi-plane.
45) A kenku trader arrives and begins selling holy symbols in the marketplace.
46) A disastrous harvest overtaxes the Cathedral’s soup kitchen.
47) Frost giants attack the city during a raging blizzard.
48) The Cathedral is asked to assist with a dwarven clan reunion.
49) An eladrin prince claims that the Iounian priests have stolen one of his items.
50) A PC is asked to second for a Dragonborn avenger during a duel.
51) A celibate Erathian monk finds love, and is torn between duty and romance.
52) A notorious merchant-house begins attending services.
53) Church property is being auctioned off from a gold-barge.
54) A zealous invoker of Bahamut begins a campaign of conversion.
55) Each night on St. Altair’s eve, a portal in the vestibule opens, leading to the Shadowfell.
56) A recent sermon has drawn the ire of many nobles, including the king.
57) A beam splits during services—can the PCs save the endangered innocents?
58) A powerful diviner contacts the PCs—his scrying ball can see inside the Deep Crypts.
59) A long dormant egg in the Deep Crypts hatches; the Cathedral is swiftly overrun!
60) An entire section of the Cathedral is sucked through a planar gateway.
61) A rival faith petitions the king for land to build a temple.
62) Inquisitors of Tiamat are transporting an evil artifact via gold-barge.
63) The annual Warriors’ Games are held.
64) An astral diamond is left in the offertory bin.
65) A homeless man is found, mutilated, in one of the rear pews.
66) A shipment of holy oils and balms needs guarding as it heads south.
67) A schism occurs between the faiths of Erathis and Ioun.
68) A series of gigantic golems is unearthed beneath the graveyard.
69) A magewright forge of Moradin goes haywire, loosing fire elementals into the streets.
70) Tieflings picket the Cathedral following a controversial sermon.
71) A ‘mock church’ arises to challenge the Cathedral: Gruumsh, Vecna, and Tharzidun.
72) One of the Trio is blackmailing another, in order to influence a key vote.
73) The Preceptor of Bane seeks an audience with the king.
74) A candlelit shrine to Pelor is left on the Cathedral steps.
75) One of the High Prelates collapses during mid-ceremony.
76) Street preachers, preaching apocalypse, begin hawking in the streets.
77) Biblical plagues infest the cathedral: especially insects and other vermin.
78) A nearby druidic cult declares a war of the faithful.
79) The Holy Beads of Saint Marguerite—an ancient relic—go missing.
80) Sixteen rusted shards of iron replace the gem-eyes in an inspirational mosaic.
81) The Raven Knights come to take the head of Yvain.
82) A local vineyard grows grapes emblazoned with the Anvil of Moradin.
83) A besieged barbarian encampment cries for ‘sanctuary’.
84) A lack of funds makes basic healing rituals almost impossible.
85) Disease runs rampant through Blackfall…but only amongst the faithful.
86) A beggar child foundling is believed to be a prophetess of Ioun.
87) Roads in Blackfall follow ley lines; if a major project is completed, a sigil is formed.
88) The smithies of Moradin accidentally tap into the Elemental Chaos.
89) A new branch of monks seek to move into the Cathedral, amid much opposition.
90) An ancient sage believes that something evil is buried beneath the Cathedral’s foundation.
91) A ribald troupe of bards composes a play implying risqué relations at the Cathedral’s highest orders.
92) A lowly cleaner stumbles upon a powerful relic…and keeps it for himself.
93) The Cathedral’s corridors begin transporting members through time, teleporting monastics to all points of the Cathedral’s existence.
94) The Sentinel Marshal returns from crusade…and begins suffering continual flashbacks.
95) An ‘enlightened’ university springs up in Blackfall, challenging much Cathedral doctrine.
96) The exarch of Moradin is expected to arrive, bearing an important message.
97) Several Cathedral members are seen wearing ornate signets, which they refuse to discuss.
98) The Arbiter’s Scales suddenly tip, and cannot be righted.
99) An apology must be sent to a neighboring kingdom, following an inflammatory sermon.
100) During an eclipse, the entire clergy is driven mad!
101) A serial killer begins slaying low-ranking monks…but what’s their connection?

In Which The Warlock is "Mal Carne"...

As I've mentioned several times throughout this blog, I'm a self-proclaimed foodie. Our TV is nearly always turned to the Food Network or Travel Channel, and I'm a fiend for the original run of Iron Chef. As such, it's really no surprise that one of my favorites is the culinary outrider Anthony Bourdain: author of Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly and host of Travel Channel's No Reservations. I've read all but one of his books--can't find the last one!--countless times, and I rarely miss an episode.

About 2/3 of the way through Kitchen Confidential, Tony gives us a culinary glossary: all the lingo that you might hear if you wandered into one of his kitchens. Among them are standards that you'd expect--"burnt" for a steak well-done, "a deuce" for a two-person table--as well as assorted Spanish and Portugese profanity, usually used as a term of endearment.

However, only one term fits where I'm at right now: I'm in the weeds.

To paraphrase Bourdain, a chef that's "in the weeds" is the guy getting slammed with orders left and right, his tickets backing up and stacking up, and his mise en place (his prep station) running out of everything. A chef in the weeds is one that's in over his head and sinking quickly, with literally too much on the burner.

I've always said that I often feel like a juggler at certain times of year, tossing up knives, chainsaws, balls, and priceless Ming vases. In terms of my gaming schedule, it's just best that I don't look up, and just keep on slinging.

--My Pirates of the Underdark is headed towards its climactic finale...a little earlier than anticipated. With one of our players bowing out, and a second about to move to northern Ohio, I have exactly three sessions to wrap up our convoluted plot, tie in all of the various sub-plots, and reach a plane-shattering end with the demon lords Dagon and Lascer.

--Simultaneously, I need to wrap up my Tuesday Eberron game before the Wittenberg semester is out. My players just managed to find their way deep into the Xen'drik jungle, in search of a House Cannith archaeological dig. The game's been going well so far, and it's a shame to pull it to an end, but it's been pretty rough on me as I've been running it mid-week in Springfield...and waking up for work at 6:30 the next morning. Much fun, but rough on the sleep schedule.

--After hitting a new set of playtests with Draft 4 of Dungeon Slam!, it's appearing more and more like I need to do a full board revision for the next go-round. Draft 5 will hopefully be tighter and faster, especially considering the time the last playtest took; I thought I had the time-issues under control...apparently not.

--In addition, I'm currently in development of another board game! Yes, you heard it here...I'm already starting my second game, even before DS starts getting submitted.

SunnyVale Acres, my second game, centers on the geekiest, most brutal gated community in the Nine Worlds, with cowboys, pirates, ninjas and more vying for the coveted position of Community Chairperson. I'm hoping to have a draft out in time for either the New Year or for WittCon VII.

--Speaking of our con schedule, we've all got to get locked and loaded for this year. We're averaging about one con per month, starting in March with WittCon VII! Afterwards, we'll hit FopCon II, C2E2 in Chicago, Origins, and possibly even GenCon (as it's a week earlier, and will come before I start up back at school!). Plus, with the WittKids looking to run events at Origins this year, we'll be up to our eyeballs in planning.

That's just a sampling of the balls in the air right now. I'm still waiting on one last chapter of WEGS 101--Dice Rules!, which will rock the WEGS community's socks off, once it's finally out...

Let's just hope I don't drop the ball, here!

In Which The Warlock is Mystified by "Good"...

I've been running, in addition to my Friday "Pirates of the Underdark" game, a newbie-level session of D&D, set in Eberron, for the WittKids. At the beginning, it had been kind of rough, but things have been moving apace, and the players seem to be really enjoying the game, now that we're picking up steam.

However, with our session last week, something unique came up which really echoes one of the biggest issues with D&D since its inception.

Arriving in Stormreach--a piratical town if there ever was one--the players began looking for a guide to take them to a House Cannith archaelogical dig deep in the Xen'drik jungle. To do so, they entered a bar (the eponymous "Styx Oarsman", which features in entirely too many of my games) only to be confronted by a conundrum: a group of orcish hooligan regulars sat there, growing angry from the noise coming from a group of dwarves who had "taken over their bar".

Needless to say, I was pushing for a bar-fight, as a GM, and nearly the whole group saw this inevitable resolution coming. One, however, tried negotiating.

Wait, negotiating? Negotiating! This is D&D! Kill them and take their stuff, right?!

Immediately, the other players asked him, "What's your alignment?"
His response? "Lawful good, of course. I always play Lawful Good."

I was flabbergasted. The first D&D character I ever rolled up was a 2e Paladin (complete with heavy flail), though I never actually played him. To be honest, I've only once ever played a LG character--the hybrid paladin/fighter Maxwell Craedon, in Callon's epic level "Dark Tower" saga. Even then, I found it immensely difficult. Put in a situation where a great evil lurked (a fetus lich, if you can imagine that) and I was unable to act, I literally had to call a "timeout" in the game, telling my fellow players that they had better "hold me back, because Maxwell's going to go down swinging".

That situation, by itself, was agonizing enough, trying to play a character that wants nothing more than to "save the world", while being exposed to hideous evil. This is to say nothing of the "lawful stupid" attitude, or the archtype of the 'bland, selfless knight' that seems to pollute fantasy (Dragonlance, I'm looking at you!). Lawful Good is...boring, right?

Meanwhile, I've always been a fan of moral ambiguity. "Pirates of the Underdark" notwithstanding, My characters have always had some strange balance between good and evil, law and chaos. Garius ir'Dolanian--my human ranger in Jules' last Eberron game--coldcocked his own mother with a tequila bottle, because he thought he could save her from the cultists that had brainwashed her. Hell, Jaegren Lern--the One Living Man--was utterly amoral, raised by necromancers and trained to be an undead master.

I guess the thing that shocks me most is not that my player is actually trying to play LG, but rather that he always plays LG. It's been a struggle for me even to play the alignment well once, but he seems to know nothing but it.

Different strokes for different folks, I guess, but some understanding would be helpful. What are your experiences with the Lawful Good Syndrome?