In the continuing story of the 3 Palidinos (and thieHHHHcleric.. and the monk) we revisit the dungeon “Back to the Adobo!” Placido continues his plummeting ways, we discover how many kobolds can dance on the head of a spear, and why you should always search piles of rubble.
Re-Enter the Paladinos: Gaming Summary, August 15, 2004
The Borderlands campaign didn't continue last night, because Wendy was off doing something. (Pennsic, was it? I don't quite recall…maybe if she'd ever mentioned it before, I'd remember.) So we played D&D. Specifically, we continued the Three Paladinos campaign from way back in May, except there was only one paladino this time: Placido (Paul), who was joined by Ogden the halfling thief…er, cleric (Doug), and Maelwyn the elvish monk (Brian, who created the character in defiance of the party's obvious need for a thief).
The party ventured back into the lower level of the dungeon the Paladinos had traversed before, and proved themselves against (in order) a zombie, an empty room, a pit trap, a goblin with a bow, a wolf, a succession of long, twisty corridors, and a dark mantle (bet you thought I wasn't listening when you told us about that last one, huh Josh?). The real danger, though, came from Brian's ineptitude at mapping, the party's ignorance regarding looms (and their uses in escaping from pits), and Doug's “Towlie” voice.
Meet Miss Hiss: Gaming Summary, July 18, 2004
Welcome back, true believers! It's been a long, long time since we've visited the Borderlands campaign, but that's what we did last night. If you want to read the last entry before proceeding, you'll need to go all the way back to May 24.
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The Sewers of Old New York: Gaming summary for 5/23/04
As I wrote the recap for this week's session, I realized that several names were tossed about, and I didn't manage to remember any of them clearly. At the time, I figured that getting people's names wrong was in character for Fitz, but it does make the recapping harder. If I got anything wrong, let me know, and I'll edit accordingly.
Editor's comments in bold
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Dungeon Delving: Gaming Summary for 5/16
Since it was Doug's turn to GM, but he couldn't make it, we played D&D.
The Three Paladinos continued to explore the dungeon, while Doug's cleric headed back to town to rest and recuperate. They found a spiral stair down and descended into the first underground level. The first thing they encountered was a chamber with a glowing pool and a book on a pedestal. From the tales back in Paladin Academy they recognized these as a healing pool and a Shrine of Memory (aka a Save Point). They triggered the shrine and the book floated up and opened in a burst of light. Glowing runic script invited them to record their names in the the Book of Valor. They did so, thus ensuring that as long as at least one of them survived to return to the book, the others could be brought back.
They proceded onward, into the stygian gloom.
After lighting a torch to make the gloom less stygian, they started poking around the suprisingly spacious network of corridors. Following the right-hand rule, they explored and defeated: a Krenshar (a hideous cat-like thing which peels the skin of its face back revealing a bloody skull and emitting a howl that casts Fear)–Wendy's Paladin stood her ground while the other two turned tail and bravely ran away (She excecuted a fighting retreat until her companions recovered and came back to help). A pair of Zombies, who for some reason had an unstrung loom in their room. A giant ant, surprisingly nimble and yet ineffective with its mighty mandibles.
At this point in the proceedings the trio had accumulated enough experience to Level Up (sfx including being bathed in light, a triumphant musical flourish, and levitating slight off the ground while the camera pans around them). Newly empowered and restored to full health and magic, they proceeded to fall into a forty-foot pit and there had to wrestle with a Giant Centipede. They defeated the centipede and we broke for the night.
The Menace at Macy’s (conclusion): Gaming summary for 5/9/04
This week's session was a bit disjointed, but I think that was more a result of the players finding their footing in the characters and the milieu than any fault of the GM's. Or it could have just been me, because I was very tired. As a result, the summary may be fractured as well, but here we go…
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Borderlands Quotes
On the topic of the topping for popcorn at his movie theater:
I use “I Can't Believe It's Not Evil!” – Chucky (Doug)
Evil? ……PARKAY! – Obediah (Paul)
Two two-star movies make four stars – Chucky
I will emerge from the alley, having vanquished another fishy foe – Obediah
Didn't know my name was Long Gulp, did you? – Obediah
OK, Crazy Guys! Good Morning! – Fitz (Brian)
Upon revealing the department store that featured in Fitz's dream
Of course it's Macy's! – Joshua (the GM)
Considering the fact that she's a mannequin, I don't think I'm in any real danger – Fitz
I want you all to remember he said that – GM
No, I not here to play…I here for conversation – Chucky, doing his shtick
Upon the Paul unveiling yet another plan to try and gain information by having somebody else's character seduce an NPC:
If it isn't the burning, it's the pimping… – GM
The Menace at Macy’s: Gaming summary for 4/25/04
Well, this blog is moving along in stunning fashion, isn’t it? After just one post in January and another in February, it was reasonable to hope that the 7 posts in March might be the start of a trend, but here we are at the end of April with nary a post to be seen. Scott and Rachel must think we’ve all died, or lost all interest in role-playing. I take some of the responsibility for this on myself, since I have taken on the role of the chronicler of the “Borderlands” campaign, yet I have only managed to attend one session this month. I will do my best not to let this happen again.
I’m told there’s a game going on during the Sunday nights that I don’t attend, but nobody is summarizing that, so I have no evidence of it. Come on, guys, I can only game every other week, give me some vicarious gaming to read while I’m supposed to be working.
Wendy, feel free to post the quotes from the Borderlands campaign so far; I’ve already forgotten most of them.
So here’s the summary for last night’s session, which featured not only our first actual combat in this campaign, but also the first earned point of Mojo (to Doug). Unfortunately, said point of Mojo was expended just moments later to prevent Doug’s untimely death, but nobody’s perfect. Extra kudos to Doug for attending a gaming session fresh from a 27-hour flight back from Australia. He didn’t even stop home first, people! That’s dedication! I’ve also switched from present tense to past tense for the summary. Why? Because I felt like it.
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The Menace at Macy’s: Gaming summary for 3/28/04
I’m going to try the fancy “extended entry” feature for this summary, because it may get long. We’ll see how it works.
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The Mystery of the Chinese Movie Theater: Gaming summary for 3/14/03
What follows is my summary of the gaming events of this past Sunday (3/14). I don’t have all the names in place yet, and I may have gotten some details wrong. Feel free to let me know, and I’ll edit.
The scene: Early on a sunny weekday afternoon. A cut-rate movie theater in Chinatown, New York City. A street performer named Gabe stands outside with his trumpet, playing for change. In the lobby, the theater owner, Lei “Chucky” Fei, sweeps up. Inside, Tim “Fitz” Fitzgerald is watching the first half of a double-feature. Across the street, Wendy is reading a book while on her lunch hour. Onto this scene bursts Obediah, an older homeless man with a wild look in his eyes (although he doesn’t smell).
Obediah crosses the street to where Gabe is playing and asks him for a drink. Gabe (sensing the PC glow about Obediah) complies. Obediah asks Gabe if he’s going to do anything about the miasma of evil surrounding the theater. Gabe hadn’t noticed the miasma before (because of his drunken state), but does so now, and is quite startled, by the evil itself, and the fact that Obediah can see it. (Gabe has been seeing things that aren’t there for some time, but has written it off as insanity or the effects of drink.) Obediah and Gabe get into an argument about the nature of the evil, which attracts Chucky, who attempts to shoo them away from his property by yelling at them in broken English. The yelling draws Fitz out of the theater to watch, since he isn’t much interested in the 30s noir film that’s currently showing (he’s waiting for the chop-socky film that comes next). Now that the commotion has disturbed Chucky’s paying customer, his attempts to rid himself of the two vagrants increase in volume. Obediah is adamant that the theater is “EEEEE-villll,” and announces this loudly, from the middle of the street. Wendy arrives on the scene at this time, carrying her book, and inquires if Chucky is all right. During the discussion, Obediah insults Gabe’s musical talents, and Gabe responds with a horn solo that nearly blows the paint off the building. At this time, everything goes black. The sun itself is extinguished and all the power goes out. Wendy pulls out her lighter. A few moments later, the sun reappears, and the power comes back on. The PCs, obviously, are startled by this turn of events.
Chucky attempts to convince the other PCs that the sun-going-dark thing was just a fluke (he succeeds), and then tries to convince the vagrants to go away, and Fitz to go back to the movie (he doesn’t succeed). Fitz (using a condescending tone) wants Obediah to be more specific about the nature of the evil, which now seems to be gone. Obediah responds by charging into the theater and upstairs, followed by Fitz. Once upstairs, Obediah cleans a dirty window with his sleeve, and looks out to see 1930s New York. Further investigation reveals a Chinese vampire stuck in a broom closet, with a prayer scroll tacked to its forehead, keeping it immobile. Fitz, who doesn’t know from prayer scrolls, is alarmed and draws a katana from the depths of his coat, startling the other PCs, who have now arrived on the scene. Chucky slams the closet door and demands that everyone leave, explaining that everything is under control. Fitz, waving the katana around carelessly, demands explanations. Obediah may be demanding explanations also, but nobody can really understand what he’s saying, so he goes exploring some more. Wendy, showing remarkable disdain for the guy with the sword, takes Chucky’s side and tries to push Fitz back to the lobby, getting a slice on her sleeve in the process. Gabe drinks. A lot.
Obediah continues to look around, and Gabe wanders off as well. Wendy follows Obediah, but Fitz won’t let Chucky leave until he provides some explanation for the vampire. Fitz claims to have some experience in these matters, and asserts that everyone is in danger, but Chucky is having none of it. Obediah finds a storeroom full of arcane junk and normal cleaning supplies, and Wendy summons Chucky to control him. Fitz takes advantage of the opportunity to ask Wendy if she doesn’t find anything odd about all this strange stuff in the theater. Wendy continues to believe the word of Chucky, whose family has owned the theater for generations, over Fitz, a guy she’s never seen before who’s waving a sword around.
Abandoning the storeroom, Obediah goes back upstairs, where Wendy sees the 1930s view out the window, and finally starts to express concern. Gabe and Fitz see it as well, but they can’t get any more concerned than they already are. (Actually, Gabe runs out of booze at about this point, which concerns him more than anything else going on.) The demands for explanations continue, and Obediah pokes around some more, eventually finding a room that contains a swirly temporal vortex. The ensuing wind and Giant Sucking Sound attract the attention of the people in the hallway. Chucky drops his (very, very bad) fake Engrish speech pattern to mutter “Aw, crap” as he runs toward the door and slams it shut. Unfortunately, there’s a wiggly tentacle jammed in the door. Chucky switches to plain, unaccented English and lays out a plan. Chucky will open the door quickly, and Fitz will stab whatever is on the other side. If the Whatever fights back, Fitz is to let go of his sword. Chucky yanks the door open, Fitz stabs, as requested, and the Whatever pulls back into the vortex, taking Fitz’s mall-bought katana with it. Chucky slams the door and realizes that he’s not going to get these people to leave now.
Gabe and Obediah take up residence at the theater, with Obediah running the popcorn machine (with the “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Evil” topping). Fitz expresses dismay that although he’s learned a bit about European-variety demons, this Chinese stuff is new to him, and begs Chucky for lessons. Wendy states that Chucky knows where she is if he needs her. Chucky laments that the day started out well, before the crazies showed up.
Tales of the Rambling Bumblers 