Campaigning

The Iron Vow of Ulthor: Chapter 3

Spencer 2018-08-28 5440 Comments Off on The Iron Vow of Ulthor: Chapter 3
Actual Plays

  Ulthor has made a new vow to Aid Atani. Though it’s a detour from Avenging Maura’s Death and Proving His Innocence, he’s hoping this quest will help him to forge new Bonds with the elves, gain their favor, and ultimately their assistance in fulfilling those vows from “the outside-in”. Scene 4: The Journey South It’s time to Take a Journey, but is Ulthor’s elven friend Kerihu coming along for the ride? I Ask the Oracle with 50/50 odds (>50): 7 → Most definitely not. Kerihu has his own duties to fulfill. lthor sets out alone, heading south along the edge of…

The Iron Vow of Ulthor: Chapter 2

Spencer 2018-08-26 5627 Comments Off on The Iron Vow of Ulthor: Chapter 2
Actual Plays

  When last we left Ulthor, he’d been accused of murdering his forbidden love, Maura, and was forced to flee the port town of Ravencliff. With no friends in the place, and now the ire of a powerful enemy, he was left with no recourse but to escape to the Deep Wilds — home of the elves, the elder beasts, and horrors unknown. As a Wayfinder, however, Ulthor is not entirely helpless, alone in the forest. Or is he … ? Scene 2: The Deep Wilds lthor arrives on the edge of the forest at dusk. The overseer’s guards in…

In Which I Swear an Iron Vow

Spencer 2018-08-17 7460 Comments Off on In Which I Swear an Iron Vow
Actual Plays

I like oldschool role-playing games, retro-clones, the OSR… all that good stuff. I’ve played a few games off that beaten path over the years, like Shadowrun and Changeling (nWoD, or whatever they’re calling it now), but mostly I just enjoy the heck out of D&D-esque games. Not that other things don’t catch my interest (such as the Gumshoe and FATE systems)… Dungeon World is a name you’ll see in the OSR community (or really any RPG community), even if only passing. It isn’t technically a retro-clone at all: it’s a very narrative-focused game, but it aims for that oldschool spirit, I…

Thoughts on Soloing a Published Adventure Module

Spencer 2018-03-09 10833 2 Comments
Resources

My first solo play session was attempted using a published adventure module (the Hero Kids “Basement o’ Rats” introductory adventure). I had fun — I was able to use a simple d6 yes/no mechanic to pose questions and emulate GM responses — but I also had enough foreknowledge (and inexperience) that it was too confining compared to more free-form, generated-on-the-fly sort of play. And that’s the problem, right? Modules are published for GMs, so they’re chock full of great stuff that absolutely spoils things for the players if they come into such knowledge before the proper time. As a solo…

The Big [Solo Campaign] Bang

Spencer 2017-12-04 6007 Comments Off on The Big [Solo Campaign] Bang
Solitaire Gaming

Thanks to work, family, and general life happenings, I spent most of SGAM thinking about solo gaming, rather than actually engaging in it (I squeezed in some Four Against Darkness plays, so I suppose it wasn’t a total bust.). I did manage to find some time to read through a few interesting texts, however, which have me contemplating something bigger than I’ve endeavored to undertake before: a solo campaign, complete with world building and all that jazz. Namely, continuing Vincent’s story. KABOOM! When you think of the Big Bang, you likely picture in your mind a black, empty space, crammed full of…