Postpone!

Well, it has come to pass that I have taken up a second job.

Hours are unsure, but it looks like it make take the place of the usual gaming day.

Until schedules are set, and normalized, my game is put on hold.

I think I might shy away from attempting to do a complete detail-to-detail recap of sessions. Sometimes, given the complexity of a situation, things get very muddled, and it can be difficult to decipher and properly describe at a later time. It is not the burden that bothers me, but rather not doing the proper actions (and the feel of the campaign) proper justice when trying to record them.

So, this session in a nutshell:

The party ultimately discovered that the sandstorm had some long term effects on the area. A lot of crops were wiped out and buried, and the Sems felt a good bit of loss as well. With that, another major group of people were introduced: The Lams (pronounced Lahms). The Lams are a type of hill folk, or highlanders, that live in the foothills and rough territory of this Nome. The party has not figured out much else about them, just that they speak a different language, and can be generally war-like. All this said, the session ended with the party attempting to track down a group of Lams, and coming across an encampment.

It should also be noted that they encountered animated skeletons, seemingly made by some of the Lams.

Further exploration of the barter system was had - some minor tasks had to be run in order to try to obtain some better equipment. Also, for the first time, a character was introduced to the concept of true mobile wealth, and obtained a small ingot of copper.

On the subject of Iso and Sem languages...

It occurred to me that, before starting the campaign, I had babbled on about The Periphery setting meta-game history, but not too much about the current setting itself.

I had mentioned that the current campaign was early bronze age, which, while the truth, was also a bit of a lie. In truth, the general level of technology would probably be called chalcolithic - copper and stone - with only certain areas having the privilege of bronze. Splitting hairs? Maybe. But it is just easier to say early bronze age, than to have to explain out, in full, what everything entails.

What does it entail? As my players are finding out: a world of suck. Subsistence living with incipient institutions at best. Hardly anything is centralized, easy to do, or easy to figure out. They're reaping the benefits of having some hunters in the party though - it provides a duel sense of security and mobility. They can not only feed themselves nearly anywhere, but by obtaining and excess of food, they are obtaining a source of wealth.

One thing I find very interesting, is that since a standardized system of currency and trade has been taken away, the players are beginning to devise their own means of keeping track of their own "wealth." They're also developing their own feel for the relative costs of how bartering works.

Moving on, one thing I had learned from Game 2.0 is that trying to have an all-encompassing and vast game world is hard. I am still up to the challenge, but I noticed that, in the attempt to have all these different cultures meshed together and be different, and have those differences really impact the players... Well, the more varieties their were, the less the impact. With players traveling far and wide, to and fro, things could seem cookie cutter-like with initial impressions. I was never really happy with this, and wanted to give the players a more in-depth experience. (Hopefully, I am not sacrificing game play to do this...)

The final product of all this is that, probably, the majority of this campaign will take place on just this single nome (the in-game name for a planetoid). There are, of course, other opportunities to travel elsewhere, but options are limited with the technology and thought of the time. On this nome, there are two predominate cultures: Iso, and Sem.

In short, Sems are the majority of the semi-nomadic people that wander around the nome to fixed points, trading and otherwise eking out an existence. They are a patriarchal society with a strong warrior tradition. Opposite of the Sems are the Isos, who can be called the city-dwellers, which is a bit of a lie. (Not every Iso lives in a city; Isos, collectively, are just the ones that do live in cities.) The Isos have a more developed (rather, one should say complex) society, with specialization and the beginnings of the concepts of individualism. They depend more on proper laws, than actual tradition. These two societies more or less co-mingle and co-exist on a neutral basis. ("You have things to trade? Excellent!") They get along with each other about as well as they get along with themselves, and with that said, endemic warfare is pretty commonplace amongst everyone.

I was about to talk about languages, but I will post an addendum later.

At least it was not forty years...

This last session had its highs and lows in the extreme. At one point, three hours were spent in an attempt to reunite the party. At another, two party members were almost rendered gone from existence in one horrible faux pas.

The session began with the party continuing to track the errant Kobolds. Things were going well, until a severe sandstorm hit. Just prior to the sandstorm, the party had split - and also because of the sandstorm, the party of further split up. It took a couple days, and several scattered kobold (and wolf) encounters to finally tie them back together. One together again, the decision was made to abandon tracking the Kobolds, and to perhaps find out a bit more about where the Halfling came from.

They took a short cut back to the initial town, where they bartered and resupplied, and then traveled to the Logan's "landing zone." Because of the sandstorm, no evidence could be found. The decision was then made to make an attempt to find any nearby Sem caravan - Brandon had somewhat of an idea where one might be.

While traveling towards the last known location of one such caravan, the party came upon the edge of a forest that was ominous. Brandon (and Kami) made it known that this forest was guarded by an agent of the gods - Humbaba. Nothing more was really known, except that most people stay away from the forest, and certainly no one messes with any of the trees.

Logan, the tribal pygmy, being completely ignorant about such things, inadvertently summoned Humbaba. (After the sandstorm, the party leveled up to second level. Brandon managed to pick up a snippet of Logan's language, and did try to warn Logan about such dangers. However, there is a world of difference between "do not mess with the trees" and "do not ever touch the trees.") The initial impression of Humbaba is mixed; he is a large hairy man with a large axe, but apparently a man in every regard. However, his speed was unnaturally fast, and his strength, fabled to be infinite, appeared to be literally so. Logan tried running, and was quickly overtaken. Prostrating himself before Humbaba, he was seized and dragged off to Humbaba's altar. Here, Logan was subjected to direct contact with divine elements.

The party, with exception of Kami, made the decision to attempt to rescue Logan. They successfully tracked Humbaba through the forest to his lair. There, they saw Logan on the altar, with a thin beam of light from the heavens piercing his head. He was barely responsive. Humbaba would not allow approach, apparently being able to be in several places at once. Ricco, especially persistent, finally attempting tumbling past Humbaba (affectionately called, at this point, Captain Woodstock). The tumble attempt, while close, was ultimately unsuccessful, and Humbaba showed no mercy. With the death of Ricco's character, the party decided to wait. After a time, Logan was released with a greater understanding as to how not to mess with the trees. Humbaba then tossed the party back to their camp, to be rescued from the river by Kami.

From there, the party caught up with the Sem caravan, and did some minor bartering. They did not find out too much news, but did do some bragging about having met Humbaba face to face.

The session ended there, with the party having decided that the next thing to do was to travel to the biggest city.

Back to the Periphery...

The second campaign I am am running is labeled as "Game 2.0A" on my harddrive; a continuation of some horrible personal little joke I am playing with myself. THE GAME, is the name of my first truly big undertaking as a DM. Being a history major, and most of the way through obtaining my Bachelor's degree at the time, I stuck with what was familiar, and had tried to make an actual historical campaign. To make things easier on everyone else, the PCs produced their characters as if it were a standard 3.5 Greyhawk campaign, and then were unwittingly thrust, via a portal in Sigil, to the actual gaming setting. When transcribing the notes and happenings of the campaign, I did not know what to call or name it, so, simply THE GAME. It has remained ever since.

Game 2.0 was created shortly afterwards. It had its beginnings as a concept game not meant to last beyond a few sessions. Trying to get the campaign started, though, proved very difficult and it never took off. The idea remained, albeit on the backburner, and, over time, grew to be perhaps my largest project as a DM over time. Game 3.0 (otherwise known as the Undying campaign) was run and refined several times over the course of that history. I think was after the third time of running Game 3.0 that Game 2.0 finally came into fruition. As for the actual beginning concepts, I have always been fascinated by the idea of planescaping - using portals to travel from one dimensional plane to another, and experiencing odd or strange things. The other prime concept, unashamedly, comes from an older game I liked to play called Enclave. In short, it is a third-person hack-and-slash game that follows the story line of one of the two sides playable (good and evil) through a story line. The basic story line that I will share is that, long ago, when evil had risen and was on the verge of taking over the world, a great and powerful wizard used his great and powerful magics to make a wide chasm around the last remaining bastion of good (the "enclave") in the center the the lands conquered by the evil.

In Game 2.0, now unofficially called The Periphery, took final form as a world ravaged by a cataclysm caused by magic - presumably from meddling with powerful magics. The actual history is uncertain, as no one knows what truly happened. It was "many generations" ago. This cataclysm caused a portion of the world to be shattered off - and that, over time, broke down into many pieces which now orbit the world. The world itself, called simply The Mainland, was reformed, with no one knowing if there were any inhabitants left. The orbiting pieces, or planetoids, somehow managed to retain (and sustain) life. These planetoids are referred to as The Periphery which has evolved as a collection of differing cultures. Game 2.0 ended in a fashion that only T.S. Elliot could predict: not with a bang, but a whimper. Most of the party ended up dying during a daring assault on a forward watch post held by some Goblinoids. After barely managing to complete their quest (on the second try), the campaign was ended. Too little time was left to attempt anything substantial, and the adventuring group had taken such a toll that it was doomed to eek out an existence attempting jobs for whomever would provide them. They had high aspirations, though, as there was the popular rumor going around that dragons were invading.

Game 2.0A starts an indeterminate amount of time later, after a true dark age. The basic concept revolves around the PC party gaming in time of near primitivism - the early bronze age. Stone and copper are still popular materials to use for items. Coinage is tossed in favor of actual bartering.

More to add later; I have to take a day-trip someplace.

Closure.

Cultists! Everywhere!

I could probably stop this entry at that, and still have that be an completely accurate recap of the vents that occurred.

The previous session ended with Tyler, Jesse, Logan at Madam Curry's store front, trying to retrieve a body, but then seeing the streets flooded with cultists. Brandon (who could not make it to the session tonight, regrettably) and Kami where elsewhere in town, running their own errands.

In usual fashion with this campaign, because of the split group, I had an interesting time making sure the time lines added up and everyone got an adequate amount of table time. I give major kudos to my players for displaying an exceptional amount of patience with dealing with this. (I am still wondering if it is because of the nature of the campaign, or because most of the party were of Thief/Rogue types?)

The first group dealt with was with the three players, and their impending surrounding. Logan topped out in initiative, and with his turn lobbed a Molotov cocktail into the nearest crowd. He missed his mark, but still set plenty aflame. This got everyone's attention, and the hordes surged forward. Jesse and Logan decided to hold their ground for a bit. Tyler fled. He did not plan on leaving everyone behind, however, as he stole a vehicle on the street and then proceeded to use it to run over as many cultists as he could. His death count was impressive, but when Logan and Jesse's characters began to get swamped by many bodies, Tyler was quick to follow as he was pulled from the vehicle and eventually subdued as well.

At this point, at the mercy of a random roll, Ricco's character is introduced. A female Tomb Robber Thief, of West African descent, Ricco came across the scene when Tyler's character was initially starting to get swarmed. Doing what sensible people would do, he ran for help and had someone call for the police. By the time he had finished his task and returned to the scene, the cultists had crammed the PCs into the car and drove off themselves, whatever ones remaining scattering to the wind. Ricco attempted to follow, but failed simply due to the faster speed of the car. When he returned to the scene a second time, he encountered a lone police officer inspecting the scene. After a brief exchange, the officer offers (and insists) to take Ricco to the police station for official questioning. As they drive off, Ricco is drugged.

At this point, it became Kami's turn. After returning to the safe house, and not finding anyone there, Kami checked in at the hospital, and finally went home for a decent night's sleep. The next day, she went to Madam Curry's, and saw what is left of the scene of the crime - blood stains. Madam Curry's shop was closed. It was at this point that Kami noticed that the streets were remarkably devoid of people in this part of the city, and, despite this, she went to the local shops for witnesses. She managed to find out that a massive brawl occurred, and several individuals were seemingly kidnapped. She then comes across a curious, out-of-place shop. Tentative to enter when greeted by a voice that beckons her in, she tried to slowly creep inside the gloomy shop, then found herself sucked into a brightly light shop with puzzle boxed and trinkets lining the shelves. The shopkeep was a gray-haired individual with bad teeth with long hair and bread, as well as a bad East Asian accent. Through an exchange, the old man gives Kami the location of her friend, at the cost of a permanent loss of a hit point. The old man also says that she should just forget them, and leave.

She then spent the rest of the day going to several police stations, asking if any of the current prisoners needed any medical attention. While seen as an odd offer, some accepted, while others said the did not currently have any. Lastly, she returns to the hospital.

Back to Jesse, Tyler, Logan, and Ricco, they wake up in a jail cell, with two guards walking patrol and several "normal" looking people walking to and fro. After some internal discussion, the PCs decided that waiting around was just a bad idea - it would be better to try to break free. Jesse spots that the "normal" people were actually moving too and fro from what appeared to be a reinforced grate leading into the ground. He also overheard them say, "The path is clear," and relayed the information to the rest of the party. After the "normal" people left, Jesse tried to create a distraction, which is successful in taking attention off from the rest of the party, but both guards come over to tell him to knock it off. Caution to the winds, the party charged out from the jail cell and assaulted the two guards. The guards did not go down without a fight, however, and Ricco is knocked down to 0 hitpoints (but awake, just staggered.) After knocking out the guards, the PCs went to the grate and struggled mightily to open it. It took a while, and reinforcements managed to make it to them, but the PCs valiantly stood their ground to valiantly make their escape. Ricco took damage from the jump, as is knocked unconscious. Despite not knowing the character too well, the PC party decided to leave no man (or woman) behind and dragged her body along as they made their escape.

The underground section they found themselves in was part of the sewer system. There was a chain of lights leading a path before them. They followed it for a little bit, and then decided that following that path would be folly - it was probably the way the cultists were going to take them in the first place. So then they took the first turn they could, and tried to find a manhole cover to escape from. It did not take long, and they exited outside the police station in an alley way. In the vicinity were some straggler cultists, which they tried to over take, but not before the cultists managed to call out for support.

The chaos that ensued can be summed up into this: Logan used his rope to climb the nearby building to escape. When he reached the top, he attempted to help his teammates below, but ultimately just managed to snag and rescue Ricco's unconscious body. Tyler and Jesse held their ground for quite a long time, but as more and more reinforcements showed up they had to retreat. Bad fortune struck during their flight, and both ended up surrounded. By that time, Logan was also almost surrounded as well, but he successfully managed to make a roof-top getaway.

After having found safety, Logan sneaks back to the hospital, where Kami and Him made the decision to skip town.

The streets are eerily empty, save for some isolated groups of people, most which are cultists. Despite some recognition, what remained of the party managed to leave town without incident.

Thus ended the campaign.

Non-discourse.

It has felt like an insanely long week, but looking back at it now, I am not sure where all the time has went or why I have not posted this sooner.

Oh well, it is all good.

The session opened with the party resting and recovering at the hospital. While they were doing that, Ricco's new character was introduced. Perhaps unaptly named with Sherlock Holmes, he had the past of being captured and tortured by a mage. Through various means, he managed to escape. Finding another mage to train him in that esoteric knowledge, Ricco's character, at the beginning of the game, was beginning the process of following up leads to get revenge. Obviously, one such follow up lead to the PC party at the hospital, where, after some dialogue, the party decides that, though they can not trust him, that he could be useful to have in their employ.

After the dialogue, a telegram is received from Captain Crunch (the police officer whom Jesse helped with interrogating the "witch woman") that Jesse should come immediately, with all of his friends. Naturally, the party embarks off to the old ruined house located in the suburbs - the actual house of this police officer. Here, they were informed by the Captain that action must be taken against the cultists that he has been investigating. He had stopped going to work for the last several days, out of suspicion that he was being followed and closely watched after the transpired events.

Captain Crunch's plan was to simply storm the Cult's headquarters, a isolated house near a swamp. There was some arguments as to how to go about doing this, or whether or not they should wait and scout things out - Ricco's character hinted at having supernatural abilities to see and experience without the burden of flesh. A compromise was made, but then the Captain brought to everyone's attention the need for additional cars. Needless to say, Tyler, Jesse, Logan, *and* Ricco all went out and stole a car. Ricco's encounter was innovative - simply calling a cab. However, knocking out the cab driver proved troublesome, and after a lot of mucking about, the party discretely disposed of his corpse.

Once everyone was ready, Captain Crunch doled out some weapons, two revolvers and a shotgun, and they headed out.

When they reached the house, they allowed Ricco to enter his trance-like state. While Ricco begins scouting around the cabin, the rest of the party is approached by what seems to be an individual. Failing to bluff their way out of the situation, a firefight commences. In the spirit world, Ricco notices the house begins to glow from the inside, slowly getting brighter by the moment. He finds he can not approach the house within a certain limit. The house gets near blindingly bright, before a form explodes from the middle. Ricco's character, awed by its power, submits himself - and his soul is promptly eaten.

His body then transforms into a zombie, which begins to attack Captain Crunch while he is attempting to drive away. After the initial firefight, attention was attracted from the house, and people began running all over the place - though not necessarily at the party. When the house began to glow, and something horrible burst forth from it, massive sanity damage was sustained - and discretion was decided to be the better part of valor.

After returning to Captain Crunch's home, the party rested. Some were clearly affected by the previous night's encounter - notably Captain Crunch, who seemed catatonic. Kami and Brandon then left for the hospital, in an attempt to do basic bloodtests for Captain Crunch, while the rest of the party decided to goto Madam Curry's shop to ask questions.

At Madam Curry's, little was discovered, other than that "they had failed" and that they should try to run as far they can. Someone then noticed that a cultist was looking in through the front shop's glass - Jesse, far beyond driven at this point, immediately threw a dagger into the cultist's chest.

The session ended when the party, attempting to quickly seize and hide the body, saw the streets filled with more cultists.