August Release Schedule

A roman soldier holds a torch up to a mosaic showing Cthulhu reaching out to him

What are we playing this month?

Megan and Aser will be at GenCon this month! Let us know if you’ll be there as well so we can say hi!

August 6, 2017Scary on the Choo-Choo 18: Skinbags and Batmen
We head back in time to a Roman squad investigating a plague spreading through a remote province.

August 13, 2017Scary on the Choo-Choo 19: The Flayed Army
The squad heads into the mountains where they believe the monsters are coming from.

August 20, 2017Scum and Villainy 1: Smash and Grab
We start playing in the Star Wars universe as the crew of a perfectly legitimate salvage ship attempts to recover components from a wrecked Trade Federation battleship. There’s just one problem, someone lives on top of it.

August 27, 2017Scum and Villainy 2: Rocks Freefall
The crew of the Artful Dodger get a tip about a juicy piece of Imperial tech just drifting in space, ready to be picked up. It’s never really that easy though.

Scary on the Choo Choo 17: It’s Not Paranoia

Bronze statutues of a chimera with a snake for a tail, a lion head, spines down the back, and an antelope head

The investigators must stop those responsible for the ghastly abominations plaguing the countryside, but at what cost??

GM: Megan
Players: Aser, Eli, Phil, and Zack
System: Call of Cthulhu 7e

Music by Kevin MacLeod, “Alchemist’s Tower”(incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Direct Download!

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Scratch Made Pies: Rats in the Cellar a.k.a. My players demanded a history that I had to make up on the fly.

Even before I had set about creating the world, I had decided that I was going to run a variation on the old trope adventure of rats in the cellar of the local inn. And with this I introduced a new race and deities into the world.

The twist that I decided to run with was that the rats had been feeding upon the mead that was being brewed in the mead hall in Joonsvyk. Over time the rats gained sentience from the mead and began to worship the brewer and his wife as gods. This brought into existence, Brennig the Mead-Father and Merin the Ale-Mother, and the race of sentient rats, the Ratkith. And the major source of conflict for the adventure, a cult based around a fallen Devil that loved wine, Milner. Along with this I introduced Joona, the namesake for the town as a deity. So with this I had the first four gods of the setting.

The adventure started off fairly well, the party didn’t groan that loudly when the owner of the mead hall asked them to pay for their meals and would give them a discount by helping them with an issue in his cellar. When they found the “rats” were tapping the pipes and not really stealing anything other than mead from the hall, I was presented with an issue that I hadn’t been prepared for.

Continue reading Scratch Made Pies: Rats in the Cellar a.k.a. My players demanded a history that I had to make up on the fly.

Homebrew Monsters: Octopus Dragon and Mantis Dragon

A dragon-like sea creature with blue rings, and spikes and 4 legs ending in claw, four ending in tentacles

While the bestiaries for Numenera, The Strange, and Cypher System have plenty of wonderful creatures for your players to encounter, sometimes you see something you know your players need to encounter during their adventures.

A dragon-like sea creature with blue rings, and spikes and 4 legs ending in claw, four ending in tentacles

Octopus Dragon (Level 7)

While it bears little relation to the intelligent octopodes that reside in the deep, the Octopus Dragon was named for it’s resemblance to them. A cunning predator, the Octopus Dragon camouflages itself to match it’s surroundings and ambushes it’s prey. An Octopus Dragon can breath air, but prefers the ocean, where it’s a more effective hunter. Octopodes despise any association with these relatively mindless predators and will pay handsomely to anyone who brings evidence of a successful kill.

Motive: Hungers for flesh
Environment: Anywhere in the Ocean, Solitary
Health: 35
Damage Inflicted: 8 points
Modifications: Stealth as Level 9, Speed Defense as Level 6 due to size
Movement: Short
Combat: The Octopus Dragon can make two attacks in a round, a bite attack, a claw attack, and/or grabbing with it’s tentacles. The bite attack is venomous and requires a Might Defense roll if the attack succeeds. On a failed roll, the victim becomes respiratory muscles begin to seize up, and breathing becomes difficult. They take an additional 2 points of Intellect Damage (then Might, then Speed) each round as oxygen struggles to make it to their brain. To stop the progress of the venom, someone must pass a level 6 heal check, assisting with false respiration.
The tentacle attack prevents the Octopus Dragon from moving, but allows it to grab onto a target, increasing the difficulty of avoiding it’s bite or claws by two levels. To avoid being grabbed, the adventurer must succeed on a Might Defense roll, level 7.
Interaction: The Octopus Dragon is not intelligent like the Octopodes it resembles. It cannot be reasoned with. Patient predators, they use their superior camouflage abilities to blend in the with terrain and attack when prey draws near.
Use: When a party is investigating something on the sea floor or in a coral reef, the Octopus Dragon might be laying in wait. They are drawn to numenera, or semi-precious jewels, and will kill to add them to their hoard.
Loot: Like most dragons, the Octopus Dragon keeps a hoard, usually in a nearby cave. While typically composed of pearls and shells, adventurers may also find several oddities, 2d20 abadis, 2-3 cyphers or even an artifact in the hoard. If time is taken, a careful explorer might be able to extract enough venom for three uses from the mouth of the Octopus Dragon.
GM Intrusion: The PC fails to realize that the Octopus Dragon has another limb that has been camouflaged, and it now uses it to attack the PC.

A dragon like creature with front arms like a preying mantis, and dragonfly like wings

Mantis Dragon (Level 6)

With a silhouette that shocks with its very wrongness, the Mantis Dragon is an enormous hybrid that is as deadly as it is frighteningly alluring . With their ability to enthrall prey, Mantis Dragons typically wait until their targets are too close to even contemplate escape before capturing them with their hypnotic hum and fluttering of wings. Many an unlucky explorer has been ripped apart by a Mantis Dragon’s powerful forelegs, dumbly smiling all the while.

Motive: Hungers for flesh
Environment: Grasslands, temperate and tropical climates, Solitary
Health: 28
Damage Inflicted: 6
Modifications: Stealth as Level 7, Perception as Level 7
Movement: Short, Long when flying
Combat: The Mantis Dragon has powerful forelegs that it uses to clasp and cut apart it’s prey. Once grasped in the strong forelegs, it’s a difficulty 8 Might Defense roll to escape. The Mantis Dragon does an additional 2 points of damage each round once it has a creature in it’s clutches.
The Mantis Dragon frequently mesmerizes it’s prays with it’s wings. As an action, the Mantis Dragon may spread it’s wings and move towards it’s prey in a slow rhythmic motion, emitting a low hum. Each creature in line of sight must make a Level 6 Intellect Defense roll or become mesmerized by the patterns in it’s wings and the sound it makes. On a failure, the targets are stunned and unable to take actions until the Mantis Dragon ceases it’s dance, or they suffer harm from an attack.
The Mantis Dragon can also bite it’s prey, though it’s preferred attack is to crush a victim in it’s forelegs.
Interaction: Mantis Dragons are predators, and cannot be reasoned with.
Use: The Mantis Dragon, blends into the surrounding environment, rather then tracking it’s prey. The party might venture into its territory and it sees a chance for a meal, or hunters in the region have reported the Mantis Dragon as a threat on their ability to hunt for food for their families.
Loot: Mantis Dragons hide their hoards well, and it will take some time to discover it’s location. The hoard typically consists of 2d20 shins, several oddities, and 2-3 cyphers, taken from previous meals.
GM Intrusion: While an adventurer is in its clasp, the Mantis Dragon takes to the air, and drops them. The adventurer has moments to try to stop their fall.


Images from Gomalemo on Tumblr

What’s Cool on Kickstarter

There’s many interesting items to be found on Kickstarter, but these are the coolest ones this week.

Spire RPG
I’m really interested in Spire, an RPG where you play as part of an ongoing revolution, fighting for freedom and against your oppressors. The worldbuilding that has been done for you looks incredible and I love their redesign of character classes. The game uses a d10 system and as the game continues your character will accrue stress, which can cause them trouble when their luck as a member of the resistance turns. I really think this game will be a meaningful one, and I can’t wait to play it.

“You are a dark elf. The touch of the sun burns your grey skin, and you hide from the light in twisting corridors, crumbling temples and the lawless undercity of the metropolis known as Spire. The high elves, rulers of the city, alien and capricious, allow you to live here as an underclass forced to beg for scraps.

Your religion, your culture, and your people are being destroyed all around you. You have seen your fathers, your mothers, your grandparents subjugated by the high elves, and you have had enough. You have joined the resistance: the ministry of Our Hidden Mistress, worshippers of a forbidden goddess. You have sworn in blood that the high elves will fall, that you will destroy them through subterfuge, and insurrection, and terror.

Spire offers players a chance to take part in a fantasy revolution, and to fight back against those who oppress you. Unlike many games, the monsters aren’t out in the wilderness; they’re living above you in obscene luxury, dominating your people in the aftermath of a brutal war. Spire tasks players with changing the city, whether for good or ill, and that’s how they gain experience and new abilities.

We’ve taken the common tropes of D&D (and other fantasy mainstays) and adjusted them to mesh with our own world, so while there’s plenty that’ll seem familiar to any seasoned roleplayer, there’ll be something in there to surprise everyone, too. ”
Continue reading What’s Cool on Kickstarter

Scary on the Choo Choo 16: An Unexpected Detour

An old postcard picture showing the cathedral in Zagreb

Someone other than the investigators has been up to no good, and now they’re going to have to deal with a beastly problem.

GM: Megan
Players: Aser, Eli, Phil, and Zack
System: Call of Cthulhu 7e

Music by Kevin MacLeod, “Alchemist’s Tower”(incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Direct Download!

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Only War, We Got This! 8: The General

Maulerfiend, a demonic warmachine with four legs attacks with deadly flailing tendrils

The squad finds the man responsible for coordinating the secessionists’ defenses: unfortunately, someone else has found him first.

GM: Megan
Players: Aser, John, Mike D., and Zack.
System: Warhammer 40k: Only War

Music by Kevin MacLeod, “Killers” and “Fife and Drum.” (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Direct Download!

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Scratch Made Pies: Introduction

“If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.” – Carl Sagan

Hello, welcome to Scratch Made Pies, a blog that covers my trek through fashioning a fictional universe that I use for a bi-weekly Pathfinder game. I will be using this blog to work through my ideas and thoughts as well as the process that I am using to spin my own little slice of a fictional reality.

But first, a little about me. I have been playing Pen and Paper RPGs since 1990 when I first played the old Marvel Super Heroes published by TSR. After that I played in various games of AD&D when I was able to check the books out of the library (I’m from a small town. Comic book and game shops are nowhere near my home.) I really hit my stride when I moved to a town WITH a game shop and delved deep into the White Wolf and AEG offerings of Vampire, Legend of the Five Rings and 7th Sea. And then 3.0 hit like a lightning bolt and it was EVERYWHERE. This is where I got my first taste of running games and was fortunate enough to have a regular group where all of the other players were seasoned Dungeon Masters. This gave me some very harsh lessons in how to and not to run a session. Fast forward to a good deal of time later and I’ve been a player and DM for The Redacted Files.

But one thing that I had wanted to do for the last few years was to develop a game world for my Pathfinder/D&D games that I really could call my own.

Continue reading Scratch Made Pies: Introduction

What’s Cool on Kickstarter

There’s many interesting items to be found on Kickstarter, but these are the coolest ones this week.

 

Dungeon Dome
James D’Amato is bringing a multimedia RPG experience to a screen near you! Instead of doing a campaign, Dungeon Dome follows teams that fight for fame and glory in a gladiatorial arena. All of this will be livestreamed, and also followed in podcasts. I really like that the audience is an important part of the story, and by cheering for their favorites they can give their chosen heroes access to special abilities. Plus James has rounded up an amazing group of people for this first season to compete for victory, including Kat Kuhl and Aram Vartian.

“The Dungeon Dome is a multimedia actual play project that aims to offer a new experience for audiences who love to watch role playing games. James D’Amato and the team at ONE SHOT took inspiration from sports and professional wrestling to create The Dungeon Dome. A fictional gladiatorial arena where teams of over-the-top heroes battle for wealth and glory, and the audience actively shapes the world.

Instead of telling the story of a single party adventuring in a fantasy world, The Dungeon Dome will follow several teams of gladiators as they face each other in death matches and challenges. We’ll follow these characters in and out of the ring through live streams and podcasts. Season 1 will be at least 15 live streamed episodes that follow two main storylines.

Viewers will be able to affect the world of The Dungeon Dome by cheering for their favorite teams, which gives them inspiration and the ability to perform special moves in the game. Backers will be able to take their participation a step further by submitting ideas for items, relics, characters, and matches that will appear in the story.”

DCC Scratch-off Character Sheet
DCC has kickstarted scratch-off character sheets before, and it still looks like a really fun way to experience the character funnel. I really love that you learn what you’re capable of as you play through the game. These character sheets will work with any DCC game, so you can buy a pack of them ready to go for your next session. Plus, the more they order the more sheets each pack will have! Make sure to pick some up for your next game.

“The zero-level character creation funnel is one of the most popular aspects of DCC RPG play. Now we are thrilled to present an even more exciting improvement on that gaming experience! Instead of rolling up 20 0-levels before the game, you can now save time by using these scratch-off character sheets! Yes, scratch-off, just like the lotto. Each character sheet comes with a scratch-off box for each ability score and other key statistic. Before the game you distribute them to your players. They use a coin to scratch off the appropriate boxes, then you let the dungeon diving begin!

This Kickstarter funds the printing and production of generic DCC 0-level scratch-off character sheets. After the popularity of our 2016 holiday module featuring custom scratch-off character sheets, there is clearly an interest in this topic. While the holiday module featured scratch-off character sheets that were specifically designed for that adventure, this Kickstarter instead funds 0-level sheets that can be used in any DCC funnel. They utilize the standard 0-level character creation tables in the DCC RPG core rulebook.”

Saga World Builder Modular Tiles
Taking the time to draw out maps for my Pathfinder games was always a pain. These wonderful tiles allow you to easily piece together your dungeon without worrying about spacing or coloring in where PCs cannot go. The tiles are of different shapes and designs so that you can easily customize your dungeon, and even just hook in a whole new section rather than drawing as you go. They also have lots of detail, like environment, and are even double sided so you have even more options. Even better, they work with both wet and dry erase markers and are easy to take with you on the go. This is something I wish I had when I was running dungeons, and you should definitely look into picking up.

“Saga World Builder is a highly modular game-building system for creating gaming maps and environments. The System consists of a large number of double-sided modular map tiles and features hundreds of environmental objects, magic items, weapons, decorations, and equipment.”

Clink
This interesting game about drifters uses a coin as the sole dice mechanic. When you want to attempt something risky you flip a coin and the result determines how well you succeeded. If you fail, you keep going, until the third flip where if you fail again you’re really up shit creek. You can spend your coins to get flashbacks, which allow you to flip an additional coin, and can succeed no matter what, but if you get two tails there’s still a negative consequence. The game has a real wild West tone to it, but I think it would be fairly adaptable.

“Clink is a tabletop RPG about drifters, the creeds that bring them together, and the history that drives them apart. Tell a story inspired by spaghetti westerns, ronin tales, and shows like Firefly or Supernatural. Whether you’re taking down the Crimson Dusk gang, uncovering the Oracle’s mysterious treasure, or saving your partner from the lawbot’s gallows, you’ll have to expose the secrets of your past to overcome the dangers of the present.

Clink tells a non-linear story, crisscrossing between your characters’ flashbacks and the risky business of the day. It’s a flexible system that can support nearly any setting, so long as there’s room for folks who aim to misbehave (six-shooters and door-kickin’s encouraged too).”

Pathfinder Kingmaker cRPG
I haven’t played through Kingmaker, but what I know of it makes a perfect fit for adaptation to a computer game. You can build your kingdom in the downtime between adventures, so it offers a little bit of everything to the people playing. They won’t be following the AP exactly, which means you can still be surprised by what happens. It is a single player game, so you can choose to fill your party with a really nice assortment of NPCs. If you haven’t been able to find a group to find Kingmaker or want to relive the glory, this is your chance!

“Pathfinder: Kingmaker is based on Paizo’s award-winning Pathfinder Adventure Path of the same name. You certainly don’t need to be familiar with the story, but if you are, you will encounter characters you know and love. Either way, you will experience a host of brand-new events, companions, allies, and threats that expand and enhance the original Adventure Path. With help from Paizo and their authors, the story and quests have been expanded by RPG writer Chris Avellone and the Owlcat team, allowing for even more adventure in the already rich narrative of the Stolen Lands.

While Pathfinder: Kingmaker is a single-player game, you won’t be adventuring alone. Pathfinder: Kingmaker features a diverse cast of companions and NPCs, including iconic characters from the Pathfinder setting itself. You’ll need to decide who to trust and who to watch carefully, as each companion has an agenda, alignment, and goals that may differ from yours. Your journey will become their journey, and you’ll help shape their lives both in the moment and well into the future.”

Still Active

The Tablebreaker d20
The Yellow King RPG
Plush ConTessa Mascots
Arcana Note 5e Leather Journal
Top Secret: New World Order
The Spirit of Dice

Only War, We Got This! 7: The Bigger They Are…

a spiderlike machine throws it's arms out to fire on an unseen enemy with an angry orange background

The guardsmen discover there are more than just secessionists to deal with in the bowels of the star fort.

GM: Megan
Players: Aser, Mike D., and Zack.
System: Warhammer 40k: Only War

Music by Kevin MacLeod, “Killers” and “Fife and Drum.” (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Direct Download!

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