The Adventure Continues...

Last night the group restarted the D&D 2nd Edition campaign that Max created and we started playing during the summer. The campaign is focused on a human paladin named Erikr (played by Pete), an elven ranger named Caelrath (played by John), and a dwarven cleric named Skurn (played by myself). There is another member of the party, an elven druid named Uskilian (played by Ackerman, but since he's out of town his character is off humping a tree somewhere). Also, soon to join the party is an elven rogue named Althor played by our newest member James. In fact, this would be James' first time playing D&D so we were looking forward to breaking his RPGing hymen.

So, after familiarizing ourselves with our characters and the world known as Arnor in the common tongue, we jumped into a new morning. The party awakens after a night of celebrating a ceremony held for Skurn the night before in which he become a Purifier of Rhugarth, the dwarven god of warfare. The group is in the barracks of Skurn's clergy. Caelrath awakens hungover, a victim of dwarven ale. Brother Barik brings a letter to Caelrath from Aremar, his father, informing him that his brother is at his father's house in the city above. (As a quick note I'll explain that the city "above" is the same as the city the party is in now. They are one city composed mostly of dwarves and elves and is named Unity) The letter stresses trouble at the Trigatha grove nearby, requiring assistance. Seeing the hook for a new quest before them, the party picks up their bags and marches to the surface.

After nearly a day of travel, the party reaches the home of Aremar. Elirail, Caelrath's brother, is found here with a bandaged arm and tells the group of the oddities going on in the local forest. Animals are being hunted, seemingly for sport, by unknown persons using elven arrows. These same unknown people also fire upon anyone attempting to leave the grove, which is how Elirail was shot and injured. Erikr notices that the bandage around Elirail's arm is bloody. Skurn, remembering that he's a cleric, offers to examine the wound, which is bleeding as if freshly made. Attempting a healing spell, the cleric feels a strong resistance that has the negative effect of causing Elirail to fall unconscious. As Aremar tends to his son, Skurn scans his Purifier's Tome, which he received in last night's ceremony, and locates descriptions of spells of similar effect. Wanting to try out one of the long rituals of healing recommended by the book, Skurn asks Aremar for a location to take Elirail and pray. Aremar offers a special room of his that is filled with piles of magical artifacts. Erikr and Caelrath take the unconscious elf on a cot to the room and close the door, leaving Skurn alone with him to pray.

While the dwarf does his clerical stuff, Erikr asks Aremar about a sword he left there a few days ago for him to study. Aremar explains that he examined the sword but was unable to determine the nature of its magical properties and offers it back to Erikr. Unsatisfied by this news, Erikr returns the sword to his possession. With that taken care of, and having eaten dinner from a cabinet in Aremar's kitchen that to Erikr's amazement provides endless amounts of food, the group heads to bed.

The next morning everyone is amazed to find Elirail at the kitchen table awake and eating. Caelrath realizes that Elirail is eating at a furious rate, consuming anything that comes out of the magical cabinet. After being asked about this Elirail comments that he just can't seem to stop. Hoping to find an answer, Erikr asks about the location of Skurn. Elirail says he didn't see him when he woke up. Erikr and Caelrath head into the room where Skurn was doing his prayer and can't locate him. They tell Aremar about this who thinks for a second before rushing back into the storage room and returning with a simple silver chain necklace in his hand. He informs the party that this necklace, which was located in the room with Skurn, is bewitched bewizarded to send someone of strong faith to another realm to be sacrificed. Detecting the evil of the necklace, Erikr asks as to why Aremar would suggest the cleric enter a room with such an item. To this Aremar presents the point that this magic, although evil, could aid in transportation if it were properly studied. This ignites bickering between Erikr, Caelrath, and Aremar goes for about 10 minutes before Aremar reveals that the necklace's magic will probably kill the cleric in a day and a half. More bickering occurs as the group tries to decide how to save Skurn. Finally, a solution is found by consulting another wizard who informs them that they simply have to disconnect a part of the necklace and the spell will end. Doing so, the party returns to the room to find Skurn there praying.

After Skurn fights back his anger over learning the circumstances of his near-death experience, the necklace is destroyed. Skurn informs the party that Elirail's wound appears to be fine but he is unsure as to the cause of the heavy eating. Aremar offers to look into it while the party heads to the forest to investigate the problem plaguing the grove. The party takes leave, but not before Skurn stops by the Twisting Delver tavern for some Holy Annihilation.

The journey to the forest is a quick two days and Elirail catches up to the party with a nice new haircut. He explains that after his father cut his hair, whatever spell was over him vanished. Before reaching the edge of the forest the party dons their respective armors. As they approach hawks fly overhead, which is unusual since Caelrath has noticed the lack of animal activity since they left the city. Thinking nothing of it the party enters the forest and is ambushed by a group of elves. The opening volley of arrows hits everyone in the party, doing minor damage. Skurn quickly places a prayer on the party before more shots are fired. Caelrath and Elirail fire back while Erikr loads his gun. Amongst the attacking elves is a young rogue named Althor who doesn't fire and steps back into the shadows. Dodging more arrows, Skurn picks up rocks and begins chanting a prayer. Elirail is hit by a few arrows but still manages to return fire, making a kill and inflicting some pain unto others. Caelrath avoids being shot but also avoids hitting anyone while Erikr takes a couple shots, making a couple kills in the process. Althor, wanting to end the fight, removes the arrows from the quiver of one of the attacking elves before attempting to hide again. After completing his prayer, Skurn throws the rocks in his hand at the last of the elves, killing one with a glancing blow from a rock, the elf having been injured previously. The other two stones ignite into flames before hitting another elf, igniting his clothes and burning him to death. Erikr runs in to face the last two elves. Caelrath manages to injure one of the elves while he attempts to grab another arrow from his empty quiver. The rest of the party closes in on the two elves and gets them to surrender. They tie them up before they head over to question Althor who is attempting to hide despite being covered in sunlight. Althor explains that he has no association with these elves and was merely being forced to work off a punishment for trying to steal a ruby in Treeshade. Interrogating the surviving elves and the thief, the party learns that the elves of Treeshade, a community that was once a grove, is killing animals to force the inhabitants of the various groves to spread further in their search for food, where they can easily be picked off and killed. The group decides to continue to the Trigatha grove with the prisoners and allow the council of elders to decide their fate and inform them of the recent information.

At the Trigatha grove the party discovers the elders have left for a large gathering of High Druids from all the groves. After spending five days training to pass the time, the elders return and inform the entire grove that they are going to war against Treeshade. Caelrath volunteers to fight, forcing the rest of the party to aid him in fear of splitting the party. Erikr, wanting to help, talks with the High Druid and convinces him to delay the fight for five days while he and Caelrath return to Unity to search for his Uncle Abidan for help. Before they leave, the prisoners are turned over to the druids while Althor joins the party so that he can be watched to ensure he doesn't continue in his thieving ways, or at least that is the excuse we are using. Skurn stays behind and with the help of a very powerful spell from the High Druid is able to inform his clergy of what is happening in the forest and ask for aid. When Erikr and Caelrath reach Unity they go to Aremar to inform him of the situation as well and in hopes of finding Abidan. Aremar, despite being held to certain rules for wizards, is convinced to help them and transports them to the Temple of Rhugarth where Abidan is arguing with Skurn's clergymen. Investigating, the party learns that Abidan is enraged because the dwarves are choosing to pray instead of raise arms due to their belief that this is great test for their purifier clergyman. Failing to convince the dwarves, the party, with Abidan and Aremar, magically return to the forest, thus ending the session.

So what did we learn in this session?

1. Elves and dwarven ale never mix well.
2. Sometimes a bloody arm is very evil.
3. Don't enter a room full of magical items without being prepared to be sucked into another dimension by one of the said items.
4. Wizards don't like the word "bewitch".
5. Using a d20 that you know rolls low for a saving throw vs. spell isn't very smart.
6. You can end excessive hunger by getting a haircut.
7. Seeing hawks probably means something.
8.It helps to have a higher level character around to take all the hits from enemy fire.
9. When trying to hide, go for the shady spots instead of the one well-lit location
10. If no one in the party has rope, the NPC with you will be happy to supply it.
11. Trees are the ears of a High Druid.
12. Spells involving druids will dehydrate you and will probably give you a bloody nose so bring a Gatorade or something to quench that thirst.
13. When a wizard offers to transport you somewhere and asks you to take his hand, don't. Only take his hand if he says, "No, seriously this time."

No zombies were harmed in the making of this campaign...

So tonight we decided to run a short one-off All Flesh campaign. Since there were only 3 of us present, Dan whipped some stuff together to run the game, while John and I selected and modified some of the archetypes from the book. I played a biker named Cain, while John settled on a disgruntled ex-bank employee called Charles. Cain was there to rob the place with a few of his biker cronies, while Charles showed up to kill his former boss.

Cain and crew made their way into the 4-story bank armed with shotguns and knives, pausing only to shoot the security guard by the door, blowing his arm clean off. The other bikers came in shortly afterwards and began firing at the other 2 guards. The older guard accidentally discharged his 9mm as he was unholstering it, blasting one of the tellers square in the head. After Cain failed to take a hostage, he went for one of the wounded security guards, executing him while he wiggled in pain on the ground. Cain relieved the guards of their weaponry and made his way towards the counter.

Charles came through the door moments later, storming across the lobby after taking keys and an access card from the armless guard. As he made his way towards the employee elevators in the back of the building, Cain saw him as a potential threat and shot Charles in the back, dropping him to the floor. Cain vaulted over the counter and had a word with Charles. They decided to join up for the time being. Meanwhile, Otis, one of the bikers, had taken a hostage, shoving his shotgun awkwardly into the guy's chin. Cain decided the hostage would be more of a hinderance than a boon and told Otis to get rid of him. Otis simply discharged the gun, barely moving in time to avoid the buckshot from his own shotgun. Cain was grabbed on the shoulder by a hand, and a chunk was bitten out of the shoulder of his leather jacket(one of only two encounters with actual zombies). He paid it no mind. After calling over the other 2 bikers, the group entered the elevator and headed to the 2nd floor.

As the group exited the elevator, Charles stealthily headed towards the office of his former boss, Jan. He tried several times to kick down the door of her office. After failing this, he started unloading shotgun blasts at the handle, missing wildly. Cain tried to follow, but was not nearly as stealthy. A large crowd had gathered by the other elevator, and one of the people spotted him. Cain began firing into the group with his 12-gauge, removing the arm of a bank teller. His second shot blew the head clean off of a security guard. He shifted position and fired again, removing the head of a man in a chicken costume (turns out he was there representing a fast-food joint). He then fired one last shot through a second bank teller before moving to assist Charles, who had entered the room and attempted his assassination.

Turns out that Jan was locked in her office with her receptionist, Tim, and they were "making thunder" on her desk. Charles fired 7 shots from his shotgun at Tim's back, missing EVERY SINGLE TIME. He finally finished off the naked wonder with 3 shots from his pistol. Cain handed Charles his shotgun, which had 2 shells still loaded. Charles Pressed the weapon into the woman's belly and pulled the trigger, then whipped the gun up and put one final load of buckshot into the base of her chin, taking off a good portion of her head in the process. The duo then reloaded their weapons.

We come to find out that Otis and Brute (the other biker) had gotten into a firefight with 3 more security guards at the elevator doors. One guard was dead, as was Brute. As Cain and Charles rounded the corner, Otis dispatched a second guard. Cain leveled his shotgun, demanding that the last security guard drop his gun and utility belt and lead them to the boss man. The guard, Jamal, quickly complied. The executive offices were located on the 4th floor, but before the party could hit the close door button enough times, one of the dead guards lurched forward on his belly, grabbing hold of the doors and jamming them open. Cain simply thought the guy wasn't entirely dead and kicked him out of the doorway. This time, the doors closed smoothly, so up the party went. Expecting an attack, Cain and Charles knelt on the floor in front of Otis and Jamal, opening fire on the 2 guards that awaited them. Charles knocked one flat on his back. The other one took a minor blast in the chest from Cain's shotgun, then a full load of buckshot in the mouth from Otis. Charles then executed the guard still alive. There was nobody else on the floor, so the party approached the large corner office belonging to that bastard George.

As the group neared the office, shots rang out and missed the party horribly. Cain convinced Jamal to open the door to the office and shoot whatever was in there. The group found George hiding behind his desk with a cheap .38 revolver, and a small shoot-out occurred. A lucky shot from Cain's pistol glanced George's head, and he fell behind his desk. Charles rushed the room, taking cover on a side of George's desk, firing at the security guard crouched behind some cabinets. Cain, ignoring the guard, vaulted onto George's desk and intimidated him into dropping the revolver. Cain took the gun and the box of bullets from George's desk, then handcuffed the bloodied executive. The security guard was ordered to stand down, then was executed by Charles. As this was going on, Jamal shot Otis with one of Cain's guns, then made a break for the stairs. The group ignored this, leading George to elevator and down to the third floor. The third floor was also deserted, so George led the party to the vaults and opened them. The first vault was full of safety deposit boxes, so the group didn't even bother with it. The second vault held all the drawers filled with money, and Cain led George into the vault. Unfortunately, there were security guards on either side of the entrance, one of which took off Cain's left ear with a stray bullet. Charles dispatched that guard while Cain took care of the other one. so Otis grabbed a cart and began loading it with packets of money while Charles tossed aside the bundles that he thought held marked bills.

As the group exited the vault, a lone member of the SWAT team came through the door to a stairwell. Charles fired once, racked the shotgun and fired again. The SWAT guy barely had a chance to move as both his legs were removed by the blasts. Cain then put the .38 revolver to George's head and pulled the trigger, as George was no longer useful. The group moved as 5 more SWAT guys came through the doorway, 2 of them heading straight to cover. Charles knocked down 3 of the SWAT members with some lucky shots, then Cain killed 2 of them, destroyed the assault rifle of of one of the guys taking cover, then hit a 4th SWAT member with little effect. SWAT returned fire, shredding Cain's left shoulder. The group moved again, coming around the corner to face the 5 remaining SWAT guys. Charles took a burst of rounds to the head, dropping him instantly. Cain charged towards the elevator, but tripped over the shotgun Charles had dropped. As Cain hit the ground face first, his shotgun skittered across the floor. The SWAT team surrounded Cain as he lay on the ground, seemingly helpless and harmless. They ordered him to give up, but Cain refused. He reached out and grabbed the leg of the nearest SWAT guy, then yanked, pulling the guy on his ass. The rest of the SWAT team opened fire with assault rifles, missing with every single shot. Cain rose, twisted the second shotgun he had slung over his left shoulder, and fired at the SWAT team, barely doing anything. SWAT opened fire and again missed EVERY SHOT. Cain took this opportunity to draw his 9mm pistol, place it to the mask of the guy he yanked down, and blast the poor guy right between the eyes. SWAT fired again, with 3 members missing again. Finally, the fourth scored a lucky hit, dropping Cain with a well-placed burst to the head.

So what did we learn in this session?

1. If you are robbing a bank, have a plan. Don't show up on motorcycles in broad daylight with nothing to conceal your weapons in and nothing to carry money with.
2. Let the strong guy kick down the doors.
3. You don't have to kill everyone you encounter.
4. Never trust hostages.
5. Zombie games don't always involve zombie killing.
6. Put points in dodge so you can live as long as Cain did.
7. Secure an escape route.
8. Clear dice have a tendency to turn on you at the most inopportune moments.
9. If you are going to kill a naked guy with his back to you while he is in the middle of having sex, just make the goddamn called shot.
10. Apparently, doing the worm on the ground allows you to dodge automatic weapon fire.
11. Ignoring the zombie apocalypse leads to epic gun battles, because your targets can actually shoot back.
12. No matter how hard you wish for the epic blaze of glory survival story, it rarely, if ever, happens.

All things considered, it was a great one-off. Everyone enjoyed it, and the legend of Cain and Charles will be immortalized in the annals of game-related stories.

"Pretty ballsy to walk into a room full of...us."

For future reference, here's a list of the guys who I game with or have gamed with, in alphabetical order so nobody can complain. I'll probably reference them at some point in the future. Enjoy if you can.

In the current group:

Ackerman - Ackerman is our resident WarHammer/Dark Heresy guy. We think he's a little crazy, and he drives a car we call the "powder-blue-cock-block-mobile".
Dan - Dan is our pop culture junkie. He supplies the cups for our gaming sessions, an assortment of cups bearing nostalgic cartoon/comic/movie characters. We often fight over the My Little Pony cup. Dan played the legendary Halfling Rogue known only as Milo Tealeaf Baggins.
James - James is the "new guy". I've known him for a long while, but he recently decided to move back to Vegas and game with us.
John - The beacon of apathy that keeps the group centered is John, an engineer responsible for flooding our streets. John has been working on a Star Wars: Saga edition campaign for damn near 4 years now. It better be epic.
Pete - Pete is...Pete. His skills include belittling the rest of the group, insisting that his character has the most ranks in every skill, and playing Dwarves who wield weapons three times their size.

Past members:

Brandon - Brandon was the guy in every group who could somehow roll 25s on a d20. He also liked to wear tuxedos and get naked during the course of a session.
Chris - The guy who got too confused too fast. Didn't have much of a chance.
DM James - A legend in our gaming group, this fellow ran us through hell every Friday night for quite some time. Great DM.
DP - Now in the Air Force, DP played through most of our several year 3.X campaign. He tried his best to ruin what dragons meant for us.
Jen - She never paid attention and used to skinny-dip in the jacuzzi. Not much of a loss.
K-Man - Played through 3.X and ran a modified d20 Past game with us.
Kameron - Everything about this guy screamed "I'M A PALADIN IN REAL LIFE". Pretty cool guy.
Ken - A bit on the weird side, but a great roleplayer.
LJ - Little James was the young guy in our group, a weird goth kid with a fascination for the undead. Great player and a cool guy, once you got to know him.
Marcus - Our resident Fatbeard. He wasn't around too much.
Morgan - This kid was crazy. He always forgot his character sheets or got his characters killed. Every session. Without fail.
Tamara - Weird chick. Roleplayed decently when she wasn't hooking up with some of the other people in the group.
Toke - The amazing token black guy. Toke was one of the most fun guys to game with. Very animated and extremely creative. Toke had a thing for characters who fought unarmed.

Post Number One

I've finally decided to actually use this blog, as opposed to just having it for no reason. But whatever. My name is Max. I'm an English education major. I live in Las Vegas, which I have gotten used to in the 11 years I've been here. I really enjoy the fact that I can go out at 3 AM and purchase whatever I need, be it drinks, books, a hammer, or a root canal. I read too many comic books, my favorites being a long list of Marvel titles. I also enjoy Stray Bullets, Walking Dead, and a few others here and there. I listen to too much music nobody else likes, which I am absolutely fine with. I watch a few movies here and there, mostly epics and similar things. I measure every movie I see by how it compares in "awesome factor" to Clash of the Titans. I get with my buddies once a week (or so) to play some good old pen & paper RPGs.

I have experience playing every edition of Dungeons & Dragons, d20 Modern (including d20 Past & d20 Future), Mutants & Masterminds, Heroes, Call of Cthulhu, Palladium (sadly), GURPS (never again), Dark Heresy, Legend of the Five Rings 1st and 2nd edition, World of Darkness (not the LARP), Cyberpunk 2013, 2020, & 2027, Kult, Shadowrun 3rd & 4th edition, and a few others I can't remember. I have DM/GM experience with all editions of Dungeons & Dragons except 4th, d20 Past, Modern, & Future, Mutants & Masterminds, Heroes, and All Flesh Must Be Eaten. I am currently familiarizing myself with a few new systems, such as Alternity, Fading Suns, Star Wars d20 Saga edition, Unhallowed Metropolis, and Summerland.

Enough with the lists. I decided to make this blog to share my experiences as both a player and a DM/GM with my gaming group. Along the way, I'll try to share things that worked for me or failed horribly, and maybe upload some notes and maps from campaigns past.

We'll see.