Forward (you don’t need to read this bit)

I need an exercise in writing, because I’m good. But I’m so out of practice with any sort of actual creative writing that I’ve forgotten how to spell creative without auto-correct’s help. Seriously, for the last three or four years it’s been research papers and professional-grade writing that has been starving my inner child. I haven’t written anything creative since my last couple of tumblr posts, which were painful to read back to myself. But they gave me an appetite for more. So here’s me summing up our last few D&D campaigns, which have actually been pretty compelling.

It’s one part instructional, because I roll that way. It’s another part story-telling, and that’s because of my players, who play endearing (if tragically static) characters. And it all started… with a PLOT HOOK.

Part I (actually start reading now)

So my players generally like to abuse mithral armor, and who wouldn’t? It’s fucking awesome! So I start them out in a large city where mithral would be readily available. Normally. But AHhh, there’s a mithra shortage! Why? Because the dwarves who normally  produce it have been evicted by a cult of Derro.

Now, dwarves pride themselves on the defense of their mountain strongholds and this is not different. These dwarves, who have taken up residence in a nearby village of humans, are FURIOUS. But the problem is that their home is very difficult to assault because they built it that way. Meanwhile the Derro, who are exceptional practitioners of the dark arts, are busy summoning undead and demons to guard the place. That’s when the PCs show up.

These PCs have been travelling for many days to where the trouble takes place. And they have been harassed by griffons the whole way up. So when they get to the village of Mae Narath, they are tired and wounded, and the town has nearly nothing to spare them by way of aid because of the trouble they’ve been having.

The dwarves have made themselves useful by integrating into the town militia. The downside to this is that there is now some racial tension. Humans and dwarves are not working very well together, and thus can barely repel the raiding parties sent down by the Derro from the mountains. So far, the Derro have established a forward position near the town of Mae Narath, which they use to make life miserable for the inhabitants. This forward base is resupplied by the token force of Derro sorcerers at the dwarve’s former stronghold. So the PCs are contracted (jointly!) by Mae Narath’s Militia captain, Josshia Terrath, and the master dwarven smith, Griswold Giantsbain. Their mission? To circle around the Derro advance base and cut off supplies to it by raiding the dwarven stronghold (i.e. a dungeon crawl). Thus begins the first adventure.

120 working days since my last ‘30 days of’ post regarding Bahram the soulknife. I’m on day 2. (: I didn’t really give a lot of thought to Bahram’s appearance until I decided to do this exercise, so let’s get into it.

Bahram styled himself as the paragon Xeph warrior: clothing, armor, even hair style was worn right down to the regimented dress codes with no variation at all. His skin is chestnut-colored, and he is bald save for a single dark-brown braid growing straight off the top of his head. Turquoise eyes. Nothing to set him apart from another Xeph at all (this accounts for his low charisma score).

Since he became stranded on the prime material, however, he has taken to adopting the dress styles of his companions. A dark maroon bandana, like the monk Rufino. Fingerless gloves, like Liara the rogue. A medallion necklace, like Hamish the cleric’s holy symbol, and an olive-colored cloak, like Archemedies the Ranger. He claims that this helps sync his personality with his companions, in order to improve combat efficiency, but the truth is that he does it to fit in.

Note: It’s true that Xephs are creatures of inspiration and creativity, and this manifests itself in their individual style, and their crafts and art. But because Bahram has a very strict sense of discipline, he is unlike other Xephs in this regard. 

I’ve been away doing school things. Like graduating. And then I spent a short holiday playing Fallout: New Vegas until my eyeballs literally fell out of my head. And now I am looking half-heartedly for a job. So here’s a short story that’s loosely based on the PCs in my bi-weekly, just as a chance to stretch my literary legs a little.

*ahem*

They had gathered together in the mess hall, just the three of them, to fight about Hamish. Bahram, as usual, wanted to take the high road that would get them all killed. “It’s our fault he’s gone.” he said, pacing back and fourth in front of the table, eyes narrowed, talking more to himself than the others. “We need to take responsibility. We need to rescue him.”

Liara was under no such illusions that this was a good idea, but she didn’t say so right away. Better to let Bahram bluster until he was wound down. He was good at that. He’d make his point soon enough, and poorly enough that it wouldn’t be difficult for her to convince them to abandon this foolhardy notion of a rescue. Until then she’d sit quietly, clean her nails with the tip of her dagger, and bide her time. What she didn’t expect was for Archimedes to agree with him.

The half-orc steeple’d his fingers and inclined his head. “When do we leave?” he asked. Liara gave him an incredulous look. “You’re actually considering this? Tell me you aren’t considering this!” Archimedes said nothing, and Bahram looked nearly as surprised as Liara. “No. No! Look, first of all, it isn’t our fault that Hamish was stupid enough to fool around with an artifact that was far beyond his comprehension. And even if it was, how are we going to go about finding him?” Liara was usually very calm and collected, even for an elf, but this notion of Bahram’s was putting them all in danger. “The mages say that his soul could be on any one of the outer planes, which could-.”

“And that they could find out which one, given time.” Bahram cut in. Liara gave him a cold look. “And if it turns out he’s trapped in hell? Or pandemonium?”

Bahram leaned forward, with both fists on the table. “Then we go to the abyss. Or pandemonium. Or the eternal plane of mutton-and-cheese sandwiches, if it comes to that. And we find him, and we bring him back. Look, the company needs to send someone after him, right? Make at least a token effort. And I’ve already volunteered, and Rufino’s coming too.” Archimedes chimed in, “And me.”

“Not me.” Liara said crossly. “Sorry, but I’m not about to have my own soul lost because some priest put too much faith in his goddess.”

“Some priest?” Bahram started, stepping forward. Archimedes cleared his throat. Liara tensed up. If things hadn’t been tense before, they were now. “Some priest?” Bahram asked again. “Oh that’s rich. And I guess it’s just some priest who was there for us time and again. Like with that Vargoule? You’re hair hasn’t even come back in full yet, but I notice you’re still alive.” 

“And I notice that Hamish didn’t need to risk life and limb to do that.” Said Liara, a little sadly, as she stood up to leave. “I can’t be involved with this. And I Hope they find him on Celestia, or even on Elysium, but anything else I won’t do.”

“Won’t? Or can’t?” Bahram shot at her as she walked from the mess hall. Archimedes stood up. “Fifty-fifty. She’ll help us.” He said. “Elysium can be dangerous too.”

Bahram just shook his head. “That’s not the point.”  

guaje:

Do I look like a reindeer to you?

Perhaps you should be more careful, Tony!

——————————————-

Loki: me!

Tony Stark: colonel-bastard!

hehehe

neonwhisper:

soliele:

Any followers that might be lost, I wouldn’t want in the first place.

deergahd:

nerds masturbating everywhere

Sounds like my kind of party!

Ever get into that situation where you don’t know what spells to pick for your wizard? Or what items to buy? Or feats/skills to pick? It’s a common conundrum, and it can be aggravating when you’ve got an image in your head about a character and you’re bogged down with technical rules. And easy way to make this decision is to consider your character’s theme.

The concept of theming is a bit of a no-brainer in most respects. Fire mage? Fire spells! Rogue? Breaking and entering skills! But it’s not always that easy. Invest in expensive armor, or weapons? What miscellaneous items should you have? What about those more utilitarian spells like mend, message, and floating disk? In cases like these, you should consider your character’s theme and choose accordingly.

For example, it’s pretty self-evident that a diviner would be going with mostly divination spells. This would give her party an edge by knowing what dangers lie before and around them. But if one or more party members get separated, that foresight is wasted. In situations like these, spells that help facilitate communication would come in especially handy, and fit with the overarching theme of the diviner.

A lot of theming choices boil down to a simple question of aesthetics. If your character is a maritime rogue (pirate), then he would most likely be in possession of a bottle of air, or a wind fan. A knight protector would probably sacrifice expensive weapons for upgraded armor, or a shield. Theming can help you narrow down your choices, and make decisions for your character that are consistent with your role playing objectives.

For posterity.

dungeonsdonuts:

Good DM Dan.

I geeked out a little when I saw this. My players like to do the last one.