"The Ruin of A'agrybah" - CHA'ALT Campaign 4.9

 

We had a great group of 4 this session... Strum the human sorcerer, Bishop Elijah Crane (also human), Ug the lizardtaur warrior, and soviet pixie-fairy sorcerer / thief Tinker.

Everyone is 3rd level, now, which is cool as that means the PCs aren't as vulnerable to all manner of danger.  And everyone has a "feat."  Strum took empowering spell which gives victims Disadvantage on his spells.  And I believe Tinker took protection, that gives one of his companions... some kind of protection.  I'll have to re-read what that does.  It hasn't come up yet in-game, so that's why I'm still a little fuzzy on it.

Speaking of Tinker, he asked if he could dual-class his character, and I said yes, provided we lay out some ground rules and costs for that bonus.  Also, he asked if we should do it as 2nd level thief, 1st level sorcerer, which makes sense in D&D, but not Advanced Crimson Dragon Slayer because all the class advantages are front-loaded.  So, he's effectively a 3rd level thief and sorcerer.  

The penalties are thus:  Every level HD is for the sorcerer class, so d4.  He must be hidden, concealed, obscured in some way when casting spells. And lastly when performing thief abilities, skills, etc., there's a 2-in-6 chance of a wild magic side-effect that's set-off by his thieving.  

While not a ton of stuff happened this session, the stuff that did happen was BIG.  Bits of the stuff that doesn't seem that grandiose will only become clear later.  In fact, I just wrote something for my upcoming book Pulp-Drenched Cities of Cha'alt that's a deep dive into a GMing technique which I call "fixing it in post-production."  In that essay, I specifically talk about how the violet flame encounter went and how I'm using that as a post-production fix springboard for later content.  If you want to know all about that, you'll have to get the book (PDF should be available mid-June and the pod softcover sometime in July).

So, the PCs went down into the well, finding a system of tunnels and caves below the subterranean temple beneath Kra'adumek.  There was a huge creature with flesh, scales, and fur chained up.  The creature was sleeping and they didn't realize it was there at first, but followed the massive chain to see it.  Wondering what to do, they kept looking around, Tinker found some purple crystals up towards the curved stone ceiling.  Meanwhile, the others heard voices coming from a nearby cave.

A fair amount of hemming and hawing over what to do with this beast.  Eventually, Strum cast a light sphere that drew the humanoids in from that smaller cave to see what was going on.  The humanoids had smeared themselves in the beast's purple poop and were in the process of eating purple things (like crayons and origami animals) when they checked-in on the beast.  The light eventually woke the beast up and it tore into the humanoids while smacking Ug who went to collect the additional non-purple crayons.

Leaving it for later, they went another way and came upon some demons feasting on banana-men as banana-men were bad for Hell's slave-trade.  The PCs killed them fairly easily and then moved on to a similar cave containing a jail cell with a single banana-man imprisoned there.  The demons wanted to force the banana-man to reveal where his banana-men friends were.  Also killing that demon and freeing the banana-man, Crane used his ivory scepter to create a fruitie (raspberry dude) to go with the banana, free his kin, and find the exit to the purple city.

Next, the PCs found the storm opal warrior, Banja'ak, from the Tower of Vromka'ad who had joined forces with some other warriors and was building a small army to fight against Kra'adumek.  They had this crystal which showed the good and/or evil of those touching it.  It was a sort of forced confession, and when the crystal turned black because the person touching it was mostly evil, they slit his throat.

Seeing Bishop Crane, Banja'ak affirmed his loyalty to the Lords of Light and this entourage of nearly 15 went with them to find a way out.

They sent a scout up ahead.  He checked out a cave containing a woman laying face-up with her eyes open.  Long story short, she's a replicant sexbot who started talking about the violet flame.  Turns out she was getting direction from an A.I. super-computer who needed a humanoid to enter the violet flame and come back out with some special power.

The PCs let her lead the way and they arrived at a cavernous vault completely engulphed in violet flame.  Bishop Crane used his scepter to come up with a fire resistance glyph, the two sorcerers cast a protection spell on him, and he teleported into the middle of the fire.  There, he was questioned by the violet flame, asking if he's willing to do whatever it takes to crush the infernal empire of Hell.  The priest was, and then boom - Elijah Crane was bequeathed another infernal-glyph that would make him invisible to demons.

Safely exiting the violet flames, they set out to see what else was on the way to getting the heck out of here.  They found the A.I. itself and questioned it.  Apparently, it also wanted to destroy the demon realm, but only to remake Cha'alt in its image.  The PCs soured on that idea and Ug found a lever to shut the super-computer down, which he did.  Before it went offline, however, the A.I. mentioned something about a powerful magic item currently guarded in the treasure vault of Hell.  It was called Pa'azuk and would allow the wielder to see into the mind of infernal beings, knowing their thoughts and plans.  

Also, Ug took the "Do Not Press" cap over the big red button as a souvenir. 

Continuing on, a couple Kha'alestinians and an amazon warrior from the matriarchal city-state of Ja'alette were forcing two humanoids to look into a black void which drained their individuality.  It was at this point that I was searching my mind for a way to immediately telegraph that the Kha'alestinians were bad news of a visceral level.  And then I had it - upon their robes was embroidered a symbol of a penis being cut in half by a dagger.  

The PCs killed them, but the void remained.  Ug and Tinker accidentally looked into it.  Tinker passed his saving throw, but Ug rolled double-ones (they both had Advantage due to having encountered that eye-creature at the end of that fuchsia flesh-pit that filled them with an empty, sorrowful darkness, destroying hope and desire to live). 

That was actually the player's third 1 in a row, since he rolled a 1 on a d6, leading to this predicament.  As is the rule at my table, if three ones are rolled back-to-back, a portal opens and a man holding a fish slaps that PC in the face for no good reason (probably).  Which reminds me, I owe Ug a point of Divine Favor.  Remember to collect that at the start of next session, hoss.

One of the players offered his Divine Favor, but Ug wanted to deal with it himself.  Ug suddenly became despondent and depressed, unable to shake the nihilism washing over him.  Crane had an idea and fished around Ug's pack for that brain-boost gizmo.  Attaching it to the lizardtaur's head, it immediately made him British and an intellectual dandy.

Rolling another save (again with Advantage), the highest roll Ug had was a 12.  Using my GM prerogative, I decided to grade on a curve.  Ug's player's dice rolling had been abysmally bad all session, and a 12 seemed like a 19, all things considered.  Also, saves in Advanced Crimson Dragon Slayer are ridiculously high at low levels - that's why adventures need to get laid!

Anyway, they continued on to find another big cavern, this one really long containing 300 Kha'alestinians and a couple demons who were ginning the crowd up to hear from the Qua'a-ha'azan - some type of religious leader who was going to perform a ritual that would pepper Kra'adumek with a meteor storm that would destroy it, at that point the 300 Kha'alestinian warriors would rise to the surface and kill, rape, pillage, and burn the rest of the city to the ground.

A good amount of conversation and deliberating went into the planning phase of what to do next.  Strum wanted to use his crimson and purple gloves to create a bubble with all of them in it, drift along the crowd of penis-hacking zealots, killing as many as possible until they got to the leader.  It worked, and the PCs killed nearly a hundred when they got to the demons and Qua'a-ha'azan.  This High Priest of the New Gods tried to dispel the bubble, which would have really screwed the players, but I rolled a 2 and Strum's player rolled a 3 - he won.  They decapitated the Qua'a-ha'azan after forcing him to reveal his evil deeds by touching the confession-crystal.

I rolled for morale, and the Kha'alestinians wanted to keep fighting.  So, Tinker went out of the magic bubble and into the big cave at the start of the session to decrease his size, allowing the beast to slip out of his chained collar and get through that small tunnel.  Tinker led him back to the long cave and, after rolling, the beast killed almost another hundred before being killed himself.  I rolled morale again, and half the warriors fled.

That meant there was about 50 left and the bubble descended again so the PCs could skewer them as it passed.  After they were all dead, the PCs looted the bodies.  They found quite a lot of coin, a couple potions, and I forgot to mention the scroll itself, the one that could summon a meteor storm in the skies.  So, the PCs have that, now, too.

It was nearing that time, so I ended the session there before revealing what was going on up top (then we went through XP and everyone got 4, Strum got the 5th quadrant).  The surface of Kra'adumek will surely be surprising, and that's where we'll start at the beginning of next session.  Take that, 1:1 time!

Oh yeah, Tinker got two rolls on the Fuchsia weird spell effects table.  The first allowed him to ask one question of the Ancient Gods of Cha'alt.  He asked if Vromka'ad's wife really killed the sorcerer, and they responded "Yes."

And I can't remember what the other one was.  I'll update this space once I've had time to consult the Fuchsia Malaise book itself.

Enjoy,

VS

p.s.  Yes, weekend badges are now available for July 2026's VENGER CON V: The Will To Power.  Want the hardcover Cha'alt trilogy?  Here's how (and they're currently on sale!)!!  

Narrative Over Numbers; Ability Scores

 

Still aglow from my 1,000th blog post, I had an idea about ability scores.  As always, narrative > numbers.

Inspired by this here video by Lord Matteus, a breakthrough occurred.  For a little while, I've wanted to give myself a reason for rolling those six ability scores again.  In case anyone doesn't know, when it comes to the OSR, I've been pretty much running my Crimson Dragon Slayer or Advanced Crimson Dragon Slayer for the past 8 years or so.  And going without ability scores, altogether.

But I grew up with them, and always liked the idea of random chance helping to create the concept of player-characters.  I wanted a reason to roll one time (and one time only, not doing ability score checks or ability-specific saving throws), at the beginning, and to never have to consult them again.  But I was like the writer constantly balling-up paper full of bad ideas and tossing them into the black wire trashcan.

However, I came up with something that I really want to try (always a good sign in game design).

Each PC gets a roll of 3d6 in order for the usual (Strength, Intelligence, etc.), and consult the following table...

Ability Score Results

You rolled a 3: This means whenever you're trying to do something that would involve that ability, you roll at Disadvantage, as well as, taking a flaw, weakness, fault, failing, or defect.  

You rolled a 4-7: You take a flaw, weakness, fault, failing, or defect for that particular ability.  For instance, if you rolled a 5 for Charisma, maybe you're excessively argumentative.

If you rolled an 8-13: That's average enough not to bother with.

You rolled a 14-17: You take a talent, skill, proficiency, benefit, or merit for that particular ability.  For instance, if you rolled a 16 for Wisdom, maybe you have a way of looking at the universe that makes people feel at ease.  

You rolled an 18: Whenever you're trying to do something that would involve that ability, you roll with Advantage, as well as, taking a talent, skill, proficiency, benefit, or merit.

Flaws, weaknesses, faults, failings, and defects are something the player and GM work on together.  Once chosen, the player should use that to inform his roleplaying.  If the PC leans into their flaw, etc., and it has a significant impact on the session, that player gets a point of Divine Favor.

Talents, skills, proficiencies, benefits, and merits are something the player and GM work on together.  Once chosen, the PC has the idiosyncratic gift that will impress his companions, confound his adversaries, or fall back on when things get tough.  

What does that look like in game terms?  If there's no pressure, the PC can just do that thing (no roll necessary).  If the heat is on, something hangs in the balance, and there are real stakes, the PC should get a standard skill-check roll for activities few are able to perform (like translating a scroll written in A'armaic).  If the PC is attempting something that's fairly routine (such as avoid a tripwire while keeping an eye out for traps), they get to roll with Advantage.

How do you know if a particular ability is relevant?  If it's obvious, such as strength determining his ability to lift a portcullis, just go with it.  If it's less obvious, like strength determining how well he can fish in an underground lake, the player must justify it to himself, the GM, and the entire table.  As always, Game Masters have the last word. 

______

To reiterate, the beauty is that the rolling happens, and it means something for the campaign (or one-shot) without ever having to resort to remembering the number or using a little bonus as a modifier for certain rolls.  Especially as I run virtual games without character sheets, I never want ability scores to be necessary.  

While a small part of me is prepared to nerd-out with little ability score cheat-sheets that I have near me every time we sit down to play, the practical side of me realizes that's not simply superfluous GMing hassle... it's a liability to my fast, loose, and minimalist way of running the game.

The good stuff and bad stuff become memorable as it's immediately woven into the character's background at character creation.  Players are forced to remember because either way, they get a potential benefit - with the flaws, there's a chance of garnering Divine Favor, and with the talents, well... you get a talent.  The only one the GM might have to do the lion's share of recall is an ability score of 3.  But that's so comically bad (comedy gold) that it should be something to celebrate, roleplaying-wise.  Stretch those acting muscles.  ;)

Anyhow, let me know what you think.  As we've already had our 8th session of this leg of the campaign, it might (yes, I said might) be too late for these PCs.  That means the earliest playtest will be VENGER CON V: The Will To Power happening in just a couple months in Madison, WI.  Get your weekend badge, now!

Enjoy,

VS

p.s.  Yes, weekend badges are now available for July 2026's VENGER CON V: The Will To Power.  Want the hardcover Cha'alt trilogy?  Here's how (and they're currently on sale!)!!  

The Mission

 

Holy crap-balls!  This is blog post one-thousand, hoss!!!  Thanks to everyone who's been reading, commenting, and supporting me over these last 13+ years.

I've got a lot of things going on right now... end of school for kids, my upcoming book is going through last minute revision, I'm running my face-to-face, 4-year long, every other week (with 6 weeks off around the holidays) Cha'alt campaign; a monthly Cha'alt PG-rated half-session that includes my one kid who still loves playing; and an even more truncated weekly Roll20 Cha'alt campaign that's only 90-minutes. Plus, you know, life.  

Oh yeah, and my TTRPG convention VENGER CON V: The Will To Power happening in Madison, WI this July.  Grab your weekend badge now, and JOIN US!!!!!

So yeah, lots of stuff.  However, I wanted to wrap-up the soul-searching and deep-dive social media discussions about what's become most important to me in the roleplaying game hobby.  That thing which I consider both foundational and transformative when it comes to my subjective understanding of what we do.  

What's my personal philosophy?  What is... the mission?

In a word: PSYCHOCOSM.

Without using fancy jargon and extensive argumentation, let me break it down.  We participate in RPGs because it allows us an immersive experience.  But now that you're immersed, what then?  

What comes next is PSYCHOCOSM.  You identify, you believe, you create, you search for meaning, self-actualization; you do things that make you happy, that make your character's life (played by you) worth living, memorable, larger than life, fascinating, epic, awesome, or special in some way.

As the players' experience heightens, the campaign deepens, widens... until the created world improves the Game Mastering, which then increases player satisfaction, leading to renewed immersion as the continuous improvement circle turns.

As a GM, one of the myriad ways I connect with the campaign setting is to not only pay attention to the Living World, but also the Living Story (if you're interested in reading more about this, I have an article about story emulation right over here).  It's not scripted, there's no predetermined ending, and the GM is not writing a novel.  

It is the decisions of the players' characters, living in that world, which allow narratives to unfold.  The story part of TTRPGs is not anathema to the game part.  Occasionally congruent, at other times opposed, these two concepts, story and game, are complimentary, and worth more together than separate.

One of the best things about TTRPGs is that they're both game and story, combined!  Story-creation is the game; the game is story-creation.  The point of playing is to create a story with moment-to-moment input from all participants, players and GM alike, and immerse ourselves in it.  Fiddling with numbers and rolling dice are merely procedures for adjudicating unknowns, managing risk vs reward, and testing the law of averages.  

So, the mission is PSYCHOCOSM.  And how we get there is by opening ourselves up to immersion and beyond... submerging ourselves in the characters, world and story; actively moving towards them, seizing opportunities, going after moments that transcend the make-believe, as we pretend to be wizards and fighters, clerics and rogues, skulking around in the darkness, slaying monsters and seeking treasure. 

My good friend and colleague, Roger, suggested that I include a link to my very first blog post.  He's right, of course.  That's where it all began, and while short, I think it points in the very direction I went.  Read with caution, hoss ... prophecies can be dangerous things. 

Thanks for reading, and feel free to comment below with whatever you want to say!

VS

p.s.  Yes, weekend badges are now available for July 2026's VENGER CON V: The Will To Power.  Want the hardcover Cha'alt trilogy?  Here's how (and they're currently on sale!)!!  

"The Ruin of A'agrybah" - CHA'ALT Campaign 4.8

 

4 players - the party's sorcerer couldn't make it, so "Communist Revolution Tinker" from a dimension where he became a sorcerer instead of a thief entered the chat.  The rest were Bishop Elijah Crane the priest, Ug the warrior, and Naza'akhul the thief.

After his morning self-flagellation and healing, Elijah Crane opened with a monologue he prepared for one of the tower-watchers recently employed by the PCs.  He wanted the demon maid sent away in order to evade temptation that she should fall under the demon-slaying blade known as Kaltha'alax. This tied-in to his newly found purpose - the destruction of demons and the infernal influence on Cha'alt.  

The priest also prepared the tower-watchers to allow the poor and needy to find shelter and sustenance in the tower, so this place could be a beacon for truth, justice, goodness, etc.

As Somax, the head tower-watcher, left to implement Crane's wishes, he noticed a small infernal glyph seemingly tattooed upon the priest's arm.  Kaltha'alax manifested a glyph upon his wielder's flesh so they could communicate, even when he and the sword were separated.  

Heading out to Ja'alette on their small sail barge, the desert was quiet for the first hour or two, until they noticed three destroyer-class sail barges belonging to the Federation.  A smaller skiff tried to make a break for it, coming from Kra'adumek (which they'd have to go around to reach Ja'alette) across the Federation blockade.  The destroyers fired and soon blew the skiff to Kingdom Come.

The destroyers asked the PCs' sail barge to approach.  They boarded a destroyer and met with Colonel Zerg who had a mission for them, once he realized they weren't officially affiliated with any major faction and were basically mercenary-adventurers.  

The purple priests of Kra'adumek took 6 Federation soldiers hostage and were going to sacrifice them in order to restore their purple alien demon-worm back to his original size.  If you remember, a couple sessions ago, the PCs encountered 111 cultists, each with a page of some demon resurrection book who were heading to Kra'adumek in order to revive their god.  The PCs altered one of the pages in order to make Kra'adumek (that's the name of the city-state and entity) teeny-tiny.

Well, it worked.  And now the PCs were being hired by Colonel Zerg to rescue the hostages... dangling gold-star citizen status (unlimited trips to the buffet and other benefits), along with 10,000 credits in front of them as reward.  The adventurers took the job and headed to where the prisoners were being held - the priest temple beneath the city.

Picking up a fate-elf hitch-hiker with a third eye in the middle of his forehead, this temporary guest sensed a disquieting destiny for the PCs, telling them it was likely that one or more of them might die if holding to their present course.  Then, just as they reached the temple entrance, the hitch-hiker jumped off to walk the rest of the way barefoot.

Sure enough, there was something foreboding at the stone double-door entrance of the temple - a metal titan, one of the few remaining from before the apocalypse.  This was a flying death-machine that spits cosmic rays of deadly fire (borrowed from the 1983 Hercules movie starring Lou Ferrigno) - Bishop Crane had studied such metal titans before coming to Cha'alt, and knew of its power.  The PCs wisely workshopped alternative methods of gaining entry.

In the end, they decided to fly their sail barge to the city-state's main entrance, looking for a marketplace of some kind to ask around.  Sure enough, they found a purveyor of worm-wine straight from Kra'adumek himself (the vintage was older, before the demon-worm was slain and resurrected as a little guy).  Ug tried a free sample; the sour green apple taste was crisp and delicate (rolling the d8 vibe check from THRUM) - it was the best god damn worm-wine he'd ever tasted, and bought an entire gallon.

Also, the PCs learned that the main temple, open to the public, had a stairway that descended into the priests' private sanctuary.  But first, Tinker wanted to fight a half-orc in the arena.  Ug bet money on him.  Not realizing his magic wouldn't work, the two combatants used melee weapons.  I forgot that Tinker switching from a thief to a sorcerer (and being a pixie-fairy on top of that) would have reduced his damage to the point where the half-orc would have undoubtedly won (although, this Tinker was interested in multi-classing as a sorcerer and thief; I just hadn't given it proper thought... perhaps some sort of worm-trial, quest, or chance of level failure?), but we'll just say the Gods favored him that day.

Back at the temple, Bishop Crane was called-out with the word "puchatta" by a demon in a loincloth - bumblebee tuna! - sitting on the temple steps.  That's a racial slur for non-demons that basically means the opposite of unclean.  The Bishop was going to let that go, more or less, but the demon continued to be surly with the rest of the party, so Crane used his ivory scepter to teleport the demon inside the temple, in a more secluded area.  Tinker cast mesmerizing magenta mist to obscure what was going on.  Crane attacked and missed, the demon wrestled the sword away from the priest but it was so cold that it burned the demon's hand and he dropped the blade.  Then, Crane picked it back up and beheaded the demon right then and there... earning a 4th notch to his magic demon-slaying sword.

Ug and Tinker by this time convinced themselves that they were "certified cave inspectors" as Neza'akhul snuck into a storage closet and got himself purple robes.  After bullshitting the guards and taking the priesthood's "purple acid" (just Ug and Tinker), they all descended a spiral staircase into the subterranean temple beneath Kra'adumek.

I used the Cha'alt scenario, Beneath Kra'adumek, as the basis for that layout, but with several notable changes.  Immediately, they overheard factions of the purple priests talking about a contingency plan if sacrificing the 6 hostages didn't work.  One group wanted to transfer the soul-essence of a recently captured Great Old One spawn, known as Ya'ash-Venktul, into Kra'adumek to restore his size.  The opposing faction wanted to feed the tiny purple worm to Ya'ash-Venktul in hopes of either making Kra'adumek whole or at least transferring the memories and willpower of Kra'adumek to this Old One spawn.

A lot transpired, so I'll just go with the highlights...

The PCs found the area where Ya'ash-Venktul was being restrained by priests using psionics (focused by a massive lavender crystal).  The PCs did their thing and destabilized the place so that Ya'ash-Venktul went on a murderous rampage after taking the crystal for itself... as well as, signing the cave inspection certification document.

5 of the 7 purple alien demon-worm eggs were destroyed.  Tinker kept 2 to keep as pets - using his magic to shrink them down so he could easily carry them.

They found a small "library" of sorts that contained several issues of a children's magazine with fun activities called Purple Highlights... crossword puzzle, word search, identify the differences between two nearly identical images, Cha'altian ha'aiku, etc.

A strange metal bowl of greenish-blue mutated zoth was poured into the nearly empty gallon jug of worm-wine for later use, and Ug took the bowl of alien metal for himself.

They talked to a bunch of priests (some had "I voted today" stickers on their purple priest robes) as Tinker and Ug began to trip-out, believing that they were actually certified cave inspectors for reality itself... if that reality was nothing but purpleness.  

Eventually, the PCs went to the gallery where argumentation over the two factions' plans were being discussed and voted on.  Kra'adumek was also there, in a small glass terrarium.  With the chaos caused by the Old One spawn being loosed, Tinker scored a critical-success in grabbing Kra'adumek from his glass enclosure and Ug popped him into the mutant zoth jug.

I rolled on the d30 mutation table in the Cha'alt book twice and got extremely interesting and prophetic results.  First, I rolled that Kra'adumek was actually returned to his original size - plus, half again as much.  And also, that his bones were now glass.  Being trapped in an underground dungeon, how would this all look as he expanded into a gargantuan size?  Well, the adventurers didn't stick around to find out.  They went to the other side of the underground temple where there was a well going 50-feet down into a system of tunnels and caves.  This area also contained the 6 prisoners.  

Freeing them, the PCs were so wrapped-up in exploring that well and what it could lead to that they didn't realize the Federation soldiers had used a mechanical platform to raise themselves up to the city's surface.  On the way up they waved goodbye and thanked the PCs again.  The platform didn't go back down, and they checked the corridors outside that area.  Sure enough, several cave-ins had them blocked-in.  

So, they looked for the best way down the well and into the unknown.  I had completely forgotten about the Black Skull of Secrets, and promptly chose randomly to discover that this well was home to a purple flying squirrel.  Anyone who cradled his large, purple, fuzzy testicles was granted a ride on his back as he floated safely down the well.  I believe only the priest availed himself of that opportunity, which was fitting since it was his player who provided the suggestion for our table's Black Skull. 

That's where we ended it.  We handed out XP - basically, every player got 4 (Crane had 3 due to a lack of treasure, but made up for it with the 5th quadrant due to above and beyond roleplaying).  Overall, it was a good session and Saturday, May 30th will be our next.

This is the 999th blog post here at Venger's old-school gaming blog.  Hmm... I wonder what the next one will be?  Anyway, thanks for reading - and hopefully I'll see some of you at VENGER CON V: The Will To Power!!!!!

Enjoy,

VS

p.s.  Yes, weekend badges are now available for July 2026's VENGER CON V: The Will To Power.  Want the hardcover Cha'alt trilogy?  Here's how (and they're currently on sale!)!!  

"The Ruin of A'agrybah" - CHA'ALT Campaign 4.7

 

FYI, this is the 998th blog post.  

It's May, hoss.  That means summer is just about here... and VENGER CON V: The Will To Power won't be far behind!  

I've already submitted the 7 sessions I'm Game Mastering between Friday, July 17th and Sunday, July 19th.  If you plan on GMing, as well, get your session into us by filling out the form on the convention landing page here.

Ok, we were short-tentacled with this session, the 7th in the 4th year of our face-to-face Cha'alt campaign. There was Strum the human sorcerer, Deacon Elijah Crane the human priest, and Tinker McStabby (the communist version) joined us, as well.

A portal opened, Ug and Neza'akul went in, and Tinker came out - determined not to be sent back to Hell.

Unlike most session reports, this one is going to be in broad-strokes.  The Crimson Bastards (my default name for the PCs) were looking around the central room of the sorcerer's tower when a hologram of Vromka'ad explained that just on the off-chance that foul play was involved in his death, the murderer should be brought to the periwinkle room for destruction.  In return, the sorcerer would bequeath them his 2nd most prized possession from beyond the grave - an ivory scepter.  

Now, the PCs had options in front of them.  They could have ignored the hologram and either leave the tower (since they already had Kaltha'alax the demon-slaying sword) or continue exploring without worrying about the periwinkle room - especially since there was no periwinkle orb present allowing them access.  They also could have snatched some random humanoid, framing him for Vromka'ad's murder.  It's possible that going to the periwinkle room (once they found the orb, that is) and explaining that La'ala, the confessed murderess, was already dead might have done the trick.

Being practical and hopeful and not in any kind of hurry, the adventurers decided to schlep back to the fuchsia flesh-pit for her body.  Now, I've relayed what happened there in a brand-new, albeit extremely short, PDF, Ya'ada Ya'ada Ya'ada, that will come out soon.  It's a game mechanic that I'd been thinking about for several days prior to this session, and retrieving La'ala's corpse (who revealed herself to be Taylor Swift just before her untimely demise) was the perfect opportunity.  So, I won't go into detail here.

Back at the tower, the PCs laid her body down near the black gateway as they realized now was the time to explore 15+ rooms in this weird wizard's tower.  And explore they did.  They found useful rooms (such as the library), strange rooms (such as the yellow-ochre one that deactivated machines and contained a mysterious gateway to a dimension from whence no magic can escape), and mundane rooms - like ones containing NPCs who used to serve or amuse the sorcerer when he was alive. 

It took a lot of looking, but eventually they managed to locate the periwinkle orb - and kill a guy who had the wand of disintegration.  Just as exciting, the party's priest was able to convince a trio of homicidal maniacs recently back from a crusade to kill in the name of The Righteous Redeemer of the Lords of Light.  Not only that, but he talked several people into both following his new religion and serving the PCs as the new Lords of the Tower. 

[Regrettably forgot these important details] Strum's fireball almost killed Tinker, and in another room, Tinker acquired a magical gold trident.  Since magic items in Cha'alt conform to their owner, once attuned, I gave Tinker a 2-in-6 chance of being able to turn his gold trident into a flying surfboard.  Sure enough, he managed to do it.

Here's a list of NPCs who decided to stay-on after they went through all the rooms - including the chocolate-brown room with the Oompa-Loompas and Tinker's voluptuous blonde who has a taste for chocolate and depravity.  BTW, the new treat the little orange-dwarves were working on is a chewable chocolate bubble-gum.

Soomdok, Vusela'age, Hasa'ana (demon whore maid), Vrooz (sky-elf sorcerer who agreed to mentor Strum), Somax, Issa, and Lyssa (both blonde women who are always DTF).

Oh, and with Ug missing, and Strum taking the disintegration wand, Crane took both Kaltha'alax and the ivory scepter.  Oh yeah, the murderess corpse of La'ala was blasted to bits in the periwinkle room - Strum's player stimulated the gonzo Cha'alt X-Card to make it rain a ridiculous amount of Taylor Swift's flesh.

Crane continued to spare the hot demon maid, Ha'asana, but slew a couple of other demons, which thrilled Kaltha'alax to bits.  Just finishing up at the tower, Crane heard a knock at the door - it was a probe droid with a message for him.  

A holographic image of Prelate Task of the core worlds who confessed to Deacon Elijah Crane that a mysterious and powerful green orb was stolen from Cha'alt long ago, back during the great war against the planet.  The stolen alien artifact was none other than the Loc-Na'ar... kept in the Federation Vatican for 80-some years, and about to be sold off by bureaucrats now that the Federation officially disbanded the one true church.

Prelate Task stole the Loc-Na'ar back from the Federation and sent it on an escape pod for Cha'alt, along with the droid currently talking to the priest.  Task also warned of impending assassin droids coming their way. 

The bus was no longer there, so they walked until... I pulled out a couple player suggestions from the Black Skull of Secrets.  Hank Solo was driving cab, and already had a couple of old curmudgeon ride-shares in the back - the two Muppet guys who mock everyone.  

Speeding to the escape pod, the PCs saw a small sand barge and a dozen skeevers surrounding the pod, looking at the black box which contained the Loc-Na'ar (worth $437 million credits today, and the combination to the black box was 437).

Strum, who also had a nifty magic staff looted from an NPC who looted it from the tower, could cast spells without it draining his lifeforce.  So, he whipped-up a fireball that ended their existence.  Only the black box remained.  Tinker, who had unplugged a component underneath the sand barge and took out one of the remaining skeever guards, replugged it in once they were ready to head back to the tower, thanking Hank Solo for his cab.

Taking the sand barge back to their new tower (before I forget, Tinker mentioned something about mixing colored orbs to get new rooms, which is an idea I like), Bishop Crane (promoted via hologram transmission) decided to take another demon life.  Now, Kaltha'alax was a +3 weapon... gaining +1 for every demon slain by the sword.

"See that dead demon lying on the sand?"  Tinker asked Strum.  "That could be us one day."

Before ending the session, Tinker pulled Strum aside, asking how much longer Crane would be able to resist succumbing to the dark side we all know is in there somewhere.  Strum brushed it off, but you never know what's going to happen.

Next session is planned for 2 weeks from now.  Thanks for reading (and commenting), hoss!  

VS

p.s.  Yes, weekend badges are now available for July 2026's VENGER CON V: The Will To Power.  Want a great new TTRPG community where you can hang out with other gamers, get ideas, advice, and training in order to improve?  Look no further than the fastest-growing group on X - it's the Kult of Kort'thalis.  Want the hardcover Cha'alt trilogy?  Here's how (and they're currently on sale!)!!  

"The Ruin of A'agrybah" - CHA'ALT Campaign 4.6

 

We had a full table for this, our 5th session in the 4th year of our Cha'alt campaign.  Hey, it's 4/20!!!  Praise be to H.P. Lovecraft!

It had been a long, long time since I'd run any published Cha'alt adventures at the table, so I prepared a little something from Cha'alt: Fuchsia Malaise.

Before actually banging the gong and starting the session, everyone wrote a little suggestion for the Black Skull of Secrets, and a couple characters leveled.  So, we had Strum the human sorcerer at 2nd level, Deacon Elijah Crane at 3rd level, Ug the lizardtaur warrior at 2nd, Spoons (a new character that player decided to go with - I'm letting his XP stack because otherwise every fresh PC would always be at 1st level) a demon survivalist who lives in a school bus at the trailer park just outside A'agrybah (2nd level, also), and the nefa'arius Naza'akul human thief (1st level, but will reach 2nd by the session's end).

Deciding to play-out the introduction of Spoons with the rest of the party, the PCs walked towards Ja'alette, as the sorcerer's tower was on the way.  Passing the trailer park full of junk, such as plastic flamingos, broken down lawn mowers, and duct-taped kiddie pools, they noticed a demon working on his school bus.  Next to him was a toilet full of beers.  

Spoons asked Strum to hold a flashlight so he could see the inner workings of the engine.  Strum held it in place for about 2 seconds before tossing it aside and casting a spell, creating illumination spheres to light what the demon was doing.

Unfortunately, casting that spell triggered the zoth hangover / withdrawal Strum was now going through.  He felt lightheaded and dizzy + nauseous.  The sorcerer's player was smart and it probably helped that he knows me.  If he had approached this news with an attitude like "How dare the GM describe something that negatively impacts my character!?!" like another friend of mine (West) might have, I'd keep giving him both barrels because that's just human nature + universal law.  But no, Strum's player roleplayed it to the hilt.  Vomiting into the toilet where all could see the zoth that had absorbed into his system.  

Strum went into the school bus to take a nap while the rest of the party made Spoons' acquaintance.  Naza'akul helped Spoons take some parts out as they were looking for Federation tracking devices.  Spoons used to drive the school bus for A'agrybah children before they fired him.  The demon believed the Federation were still trying to take his bus away.

They didn't find any tracker, and put back all the parts the best they were able.  Deciding to ride rather than walk, even though the speed was comparable, they all hopped in and drove 5 mph towards that sorcerer's tower.

An hour or two into the journey, they came across 111 priests wearing fuchsia and chartreuse robes, each carrying a page from some book of demon resurrection passages (probably a knock-off Necronomicon).  They were headed towards Kra'adumek to revive the purple alien demon-worm that had recently been slain.  

Elijah Crane had an idea to derail their agenda.  The PCs offered the priests alcohol and some of them a ride on the school bus.  During the next couple hours journey, the adventurers borrowed a page from one of the distracted priests.  By this time, Strum was feeling better and was able to alter a passage of the page in order to miniaturize the demon-worm as they resurrected him.

Now, going their own way, as the paths to Ja'alette and Kra'adumek diverged, it was night when the PCs arrived at the tower.  While it was still a couple miles away, they saw a single guard just standing in the sand as if he was waiting for something. 

They got out to talk to him and discovered that a woman was sent down into the fuchsia flesh-pit next to the guard.  She had likely murdered the sorcerer Vromka'ad, and her being down there was a sacrifice, as the flesh-pit contained weird creatures that Vromka'ad had manifested via genetic experimentation.

Deciding to see for themselves, while hearing a female yell for assistance, the PCs jumped down after throwing the guard down first to cushion their fall.  In quick succession the following transpired...

• The PCs made their way around a flesh corridor of tendrils dripping a violet goo that almost burned through their flesh.
• They saw some skeletons being devoured by an aqua slime - Strum blasted it into salt with his wand, and they looted a silver scroll tube containing a letter warning Vromka'ad of doom awaiting him from a loved one.
• They talked to the woman, La'ala, who admitted to murdering Vromka'ad on their wedding night as she was jealous of the attention her sorcerer fiance and then husband showed some of the serving girls.
• They investigated a cube that had run out of energy.
• They talked to some priests of Xa'atan who apparently was a Demon-God slumbering below the flesh-pit.  The priests were gathering crustaceans for some ritual.  The PCs attacked and killed them, but not before taking heavy damage from the head priest's ruby-red eye-beams.
• Strum's player stimulated the GONZO Cha'alt X-Card to make the blood spray in a ridiculous, over-the-top manner.  This, after Naza'akul burned-up one of his seven lavender demon-moon dice representing the seven souls that humanoids are believed to have on Cha'alt.  And he did it to finish off a wounded guard, but that +1 to XP helped him level at the session's end.  I did caution him to maybe save it for later, but he said that's what his character would do.  Fair enough.  
• They found a dead warrior wearing strange plastic armor (which Spoons decided to wear) and a high-tech device attached to his head.  The device was an intellect enhancer, and the party decided to see what would happen if they attached it to Ug's head.  Hilariously, he became an articulate British gentleman complete with top hat, monocle, and cane.  That lasted for the next hour before someone removed it, preferring the old Ug (but it's still with them, in case they want the lizardtaur to be brain boosted again)
• Oh yeah, all the way through the flesh-pit, the PCs were subjected to dark, loathsome whispering that made them feel like a foulness was polluting their soul.
• They made their way past a flesh-tunnel of giant clams (possibly bearded).
• Eventually, they came to the big bad of the flesh-pit.  Unfortunately, the evil susurrations affected the PCs to the point of self-harm.  Only a few eluded the creature's defense mechanism.  But before those who failed their save were able to suicide themselves, one of the adventurers convinced the rest that the best and quickest way to die would be to try and kill that tentacled thing growing out of the back wall of the flesh-pit.

Pulling out a suggestion from the Black Skull of Secrets, I had La'ala show her true face, ripping off a mask in true Scooby Doo style to reveal that she had been Taylor Swift all along... just in time for the beast to blast her with its eye-beam that shot a 9-inch hole right through her.  I did manage to roleplay TS a bit before her demise.  She started singing a sad song about breaking up with her mean boyfriend.

The rest of the team hacked away.  Elijah used his lavender beam, Strum his wand of lightning, Ug his magical sword, and the thief and survivalist did their best with simple melee weapons.  It almost killed the party, but they eventually slayed it - finding a sphere and black crystal segment to something with glowing topaz veins behind the creature's eye.

That brought the cricket-ball sized spheres they found up to 3 (azure, gold, and chocolate-brown).  They also had both magical gloves - the crimson could create a bubble around something or someone.  The purple glove allowed the wearer to manipulate whatever was inside the bubble.

Coming back out of the flesh-pit, they made their way to the tower.  The door was open, and they saw a black gateway surrounded by a dozen or so spheres hanging in mid-air.  Eventually, they figured out that if a sphere was touched, the black gate would take them to whatever dimensional-room corresponded to that orb.

But before getting to involved with that, Ug touched a glowing white cube in the corner of the room and released a psychotic manticore that almost killed the party (again).  Luckily, Spoons used the unconscious Strum's lightning wand to deal the killing blow after most of the part had been rendered unconscious.

They found a bedroom along with a sexy female demon with yellow and magenta fur and horns.  She wore a maid outfit and was down for whatever, but Naza'akul decided to rest, instead.  Asking her which rooms she wasn't allowed to enter and clean (after finding out she didn't know where the demon-slaying sword was) provided them with enough info to locate the magical blade.  It was in the fire room.  Elijah tried to grasp it, but the flames rose up, preventing him.  Since Spoons was a demon with partial resistance to fire, he tried, only taking a couple points of damage doing so.

Before the fires sphere, one of the PCs touched the gold sphere and found Vromka'ad's treasure room (Strum's player gave me an idea about a gold Trump-glyph).  Luckily, the maid told them a safe-word to use so they wouldn't get zapped by security protocols.  

The sword Kaltha'alax came alive and spoke to the wielder, telling him to prove himself worthy, he should strike down the first demon he sees.  The PCs decided to keep the sword sheathed until needed, as they didn't want to kill the female demon maid or Spoons.

We learned that syvra'atch means mercy in the ancient tongue, that demons like to talk during movies (but it's usually helpful commentary and fun-facts), and Ug prefers women that are salamander-esque.

Playing right up until the end of our time, I just gave everyone max XP and the nefa'arius Naza'akul was awarded the 5th quadrant which allowed him to reach level 2.

If anyone's curious, I've been making video responses to what the RPG Pundit vlogged about immersion and emulation here.  My videos in response are here and there.  Just a couple of hardcore gamers ranting, raving, and sometimes talking past each other about Game Master theory and practice.

Comment if you've got something to say, hoss! 

VS

p.s.  Yes, weekend badges are now available for July 2026's VENGER CON V: The Will To Power.  Want a great new TTRPG community where you can hang out with other gamers, get ideas, advice, and training in order to improve?  Look no further than the fastest-growing group on X - it's the Kult of Kort'thalis.  Want the hardcover Cha'alt trilogy?  Here's how (and they're currently on sale!)!!  

PSYCHOCOSM, Visceral Non-Mechanics, & Running Non-D&D

 

It's been awhile since I blogged about something other than session reports or the announcement of a new PDF, book, convention, or whatever.

As the title of this post would suggest, I'll be diving deeply into advanced immersion, opting-out of standard RPG mechanics, and what you need to start GMing stuff that's not D&D (aka stuff I wish I knew back in the day).

There's gonna be some theory, but not a ton of jargon, and all my theorizing should have a practical application.  I don't just theorize to hear myself type. 

Faith Alone

First off, I want to talk about PSYCHOCOSM, recently mentioned here.  This is the blending of reality and fantasy in the minds of Game Master and players alike.  As I've been describing and discussing, PSYCHOCOSM is one step beyond immersion.  Immersion being the passive feeling like you're surrounded or ensconced in the world, your character, the genre, and current situation (this will come up later).

PSYCHOCOSM, on the other tentacle, is an active move towards blurring those fantasy and reality lines.  You're supposed to use your imagination to go further into the fantasy, making it seem real by taking the game seriously (though, you don't have to be serious), visualizing what's happening with focus and concentration, and believing that in the imagination (both individual and collective), what's happening is real, having its own reality.

What exactly do I mean by each of these?

   *  Taking it seriously: Attend sessions when possible, show up ready to play, leave outside BS outside, pay attention during the game, etc.

   *  Visualization: Don't just let the details fall from the sky onto your head and lay on the ground next to your feet like so many dead pigeons.  Catch them as they fall or at the very least pick them up when they land... examine them, interact with them, breathe life into them (just as the GM does for his campaign setting), fold them into an origami unicorn - use what's provided to create future details that enrich the ongoing narrative.  If you don't use 'em, you lose 'em.  "All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in the rain."

   *  Make-believe: Same thing as willful suspension of disbelief.  You must decide that it's true, in the context of our imagination, and act accordingly.  Only you can make that leap of faith.

When you intentionally do all 3 of these things, you enter what I call a magical state.  If that's too "out there," then let's just say it's an optimized flow-state where all things are possible.  

The only barrier?  You've got to realize the potential is there, you've got to want it, and you have to go after it.  If you can do that, your active immersion has been self-actualized to the level of PSYCHOCOSM, which is the true and final goal of roleplaying games.

Visceral Style of Play

This came from messaging back and forth from a friend and supporter of Kort'thalis Publishing, particularly The Outer Presence.  My stuff is minimalist, and my approach to game design is rules-light or don't even bother with a system at all, I'll just wing it (describing stuff, asking what the PCs are doing, and then describe what happens next).

He mentioned that approach or play-style favors a visceral experience rooted in immediate and cinematic results with zero book-keeping.  Don't look at your character sheet or consult the rulebook.  Describe the situation with "making a strong impression" on your mind.  If the success or failure of the attempted action is up in the air, roll a die, but then give a fast, decisive, and impactful resolution that has significant consequences.  You know, something visceral.  

If someone has a gun pointed at your head, I don't want the player, his character, or me (the GM) calculating the hit-point to damage ratio.  I want them worried they're going to have their head blown-off.  This situation doesn't call for mechanics, it calls for removing mechanics so you only have the situation.  

When discussing this on X, I said it reminded me of Obi-Wan telling Luke to turn off his targeting computer and just feel the force.  We don't want more automation, we want less.  Manually handle the situation as you might describe the sequence of events happening in a movie, taking the game aspects out of it.  That's right, no mechanics (or at least minimal mechanics).  Trust your instincts and just figure out what happens viscerally.

In fact, if you saved the energy by ignoring mechanics and instead spent that on coming up with something awesome, you'll almost always be farther ahead. 

Rather than "if this doesn't go your way, you die," what I'm looking for in my own gaming is "if you don't do something proactive right now, you will die."  That puts the ball in their court (the player) while giving you a clear conscience to put the dice and rules and system away.  The mechanics are there to help the GM adjudicate outcomes so adventurers aren't dying left and right simply because the monsters got lucky.  As long as the PCs aren't choosing to jump into a swarm of swirling blades, they aren't going to die when I go visceral (unless it's a fairly dark one-shot).  Jumping into swirling blades is example I've used so many times it should become a meme at this point.

Running Non-D&D

I was reading a post in the Dead Games group on FB, and someone was asking about the FASA Doctor Who RPG from the 80s with Tom Baker as The Doctor and Leela on the cover (one of my favorite pairings in the entire series).  

From the day I bought it, I loved that boxed-set.  I read through it constantly over the years, only managing to create a slew of weird alien species via all the random tables included.  Even with its introductory scenes (I won't call it an actual adventure), I never really understood how to use it.  And this was after I'd discovered D&D and learned to play.

How do you Game Master an idea, a genre, or bunch of tropes and aesthetics?  I ran into similar roadblocks with other RPGs during my formative years, like CYBERSPACE.  I loved cyberpunk and knew what it was about, same with Doctor Who (I can still remember our 5th grade teacher asking all of us individually, going around the room, what our favorite TV show was and I said Doctor Who, but she misheard me and incredulously asked if I really that into "Doctor Ruth" and everyone laughed). Yes, Doctor Who was, indeed, my favorite show.  

What introductory scenarios did was become a helpful crutch to start walking (or playing in this analogy), giving you an idea of what roleplaying this particular thing should be like.  What non-D&D roleplaying games needed to do was clue us in to what RPG sessions were really about - laying down the foundation for a story that involved aspects related to the type of RPG we were supposed to run.  

If I had known that I needed to craft the beginning of a narrative that started out with a location, characters, vibe, and situation that would soon become a full-blown scenario when the PCs intersected with it, I could have started coming up with my own adventures.  But since I didn't know about that stuff when I was young, my mind defaulted to the adventuring loop of D&D (have a reason to explore, go explore, encounter people and monsters, talk to the people, defeat the monsters, loot the treasure, and repeat) or it just went blank - leaving me with no idea how to start playing Doctor Who, CYBERSPACE, and all the many RPGs I bought over the years but never played.  

Dear Skyrealms of Jorune, "work at becoming a citizen" might be the initial reason for adventuring, but it is not, in fact, a viable scenario!!! 

Now that I know this stuff, it's still tricky to come up with an appropriate adventure for something like Rocky & Bullwinkle, but at least I have the framework - location, characters, vibe, and situation - the very same thing a Doctor Who story needs to engage viewers.  

Thanks for reading, comments encouraged!

VS

p.s.  Yes, weekend badges are now available for July 2026's VENGER CON V: The Will To Power.  Want a great new TTRPG community where you can hang out with other gamers, get ideas, advice, and training in order to improve?  Look no further than the fastest-growing group on X - it's the Kult of Kort'thalis.  Want the hardcover Cha'alt trilogy?  Here's how (and they're currently on sale!)!!  

"The Ruin of A'agrybah" - CHA'ALT Campaign 4.5

 

After a long break, due to the festivities at GaryCon, we resumed our face-to-face Cha'alt campaign.  This is the 5th session of year 4.

We had 4 players... Strum the human sorcerer, Deacon Elijah Crane (priest), Ug the lizardtaur warrior, and Eldrad the blind v'symm warrior searching for his 7 eyes (I have a feeling that the player will be keeping that character, but that's for him to decide).

Oh yeah, if you want to attend VENGER CON V: The Will To Power this July in Madison, WI... now's the time to grab your weekend badge!!!  You won't want to miss the most hardcore RPG con of the year - all we do the entire weekend is just roleplaying! 

The adventurers were trying to make their way out of the tunnels and caves so they can arrive in A'agrybah in time for the Night of Too Many Tentacles party and the saba'ath the following evening.  

Right out of the gate, something was whispering to Eldrad.  Though everyone in the party could hear it.  Eldrad went to investigate only to find an Easter egg.  Full of something, he took it with him.

The following cave contained 9 insect demons worshiping a golden pylon where the door was fluctuating between open and closed on account of the tetrahedral green crystal above the door being off-kilter.  Using a zoth-fueled fireball, Strum roasted them alive.

Ug used Orin his naturally curious sword possessed by the essence of Venger Satanis to hold the door open until they could gain entry, fiddle with the matrix table full of multi-colored crystals (to no avail), and Ug reached his arm out to rotate the crystal - which he did successfully. 

More crystal fiddling transported them to a purple jungle.  They got out to explore.  Ug climbed a tree and saw the top of a giant head while Eldrad reached out with his sonar-senses, locating a survey team nearby.  The PCs sought them out and discovered this team was looking for a fuel source in order to get their starship flying again.  

The two groups decided to join forces before encountering a purple crystalline baby doll head hovering in the air named Perplexo, believing something interesting and/or useful would be in or around the top of that giant head.

After some back-and-forth discussion between the PCs, the scifi survey team, and Perplexo, the adventurers reasoned that purple baby doll head was some kind of artificial intelligence, even though he proclaimed that his intelligence was organic and not artificial.  Perplexo wanted to find a hatch leading to the subterranean depths of this island, where he could reprogram the underground computers to prevent some sort of disaster involving candy eating the planet.

Did the PCs try to kill Perplexo?  Yes, they tried.  Unfortunately for them, he had a purple force-shield that prevented any of their blows from landing.

Regardless, all three groups made their way through the purple jungle to what turned out to be a gigantic, metallic, deep-purple sphinx.  Eventually, the PCs found their way inside by putting a couple of swords into the same hole, thus leveraging the main blast-door at the front.

At this time, the Easter egg was hatching and an Easter-worm wriggled out and slithered into the jungle.  Eldrad fared him well, believing the worm would find a new home on this purple island.

Inside was just a bunch of techno mumbo-jumbo clutter and junk.  Everyone searched for awhile, but the only thing of interest was a hatch in the floor.  By this time, Ug and Perplexo had series beef.  Each one accused the other of insult and passive-aggressive hostility.  Ug sat on the hatch until the others bade him walk it off.

There was a metal ladder going down, so down they went (one of the surveyers, Daniel-Day Lewis, stayed topside to guard the hatch, just in case).  they walked down a long hallway that turned once or twice before leading to a massive cavern (with several smaller tunnels going elsewhere).  This big cave was inhabited with at least 35 purple-skinned primitive humanoids.  These purple-folk allowed Perplexo to waltz right in and access a computer terminal on a cave wall.

This cave also had purple crystals embedded into them, big ones that could easily fuel the survey team's starship.  But the natives didn't like that idea, not that anyone could understand their "ooga booga" language.  Eldrad used his empathy ability to make friends with the biggest and baddest of the purple warriors in their tribe.  That allowed him and the others to walk freely, looking over Perplexo's shoulder to see what he was doing.  The screen flashed all sorts of numbers, phrases, and symbols.  

In the end, the friendship between Eldrad and Ock! could not prevent violence from breaking out.  Strum used the zoth to fuel a wish spell to blast all of them to handfuls of purple sand.  He did. In the wake of this devastation, several weird magical side-effects transpired (including Strum being transported to a black realm where an albino bard ridiculed his musical ability, but then also taught him a few chord progressions), eventually leading to an ice wizard forcing the PCs to either fight each other or his ice golem in MORTAL COMBAT (eventually, they killed it).  That was a black skull suggestion that I pulled out, which got me to thinking, our last session of the campaign (year 4, anyway, should be influenced by just continually pulling unused suggestions out of the black skull). 

Checking on Perplexo, he was successful.  The way he protected planet 109 from being eaten by candy was to blow up the island.  Everyone had approximately one-thousand seconds to leave.

Believing he was on a roll, Strum once again oiled the strings of his ukulele with zoth and teleported everyone back.   The survey team was back on their ship, with the purple crystal, and the PCs arrived back at that cave on Cha'alt, but without their pylon.  Elijah cursed his luck to be once again stuck on Cha'alt.  Just as the portal was closing, Eldrad heard an empathy-laden cry from Daniel-Day Lewis as he screamed "God no, the candy!"

Before leaving the cave system altogether, the adventurers overheard a conversation between a human and elf.  They talked about how beautiful and alluring Cha'alt women were - especially King Agamen's former wife (he's a widow, now).  Even he couldn't keep it in his pants and thus a bastard princess was born about 19 years ago.  They surmised she must be hiding (rumored to have found sanctuary in Ja'alette, the city-state matriarchy), and it was wise to do so as the demoness Channa, who currently had the King's wandering tentacle, would surely have her killed in order to prevent anything from coming between herself and the royal power of A'agrybah... as several prophecies have stated, A'agrybah will soon fall.

The PCs introduced themselves, asked if they could share the Cha'altian weed the pair had, and in exchange, Strum gave them each a magical leprechaun skittle from a session or two back.

Soon enough, the adventurers found themselves back in A'agrybah.  After a good night's rest and hearty meal, they walked the streets in the direction of the palace as this evening was the Night of Too Many Tentacles.

They ran into their old cantina boss who was catering the event in the palace garden.  He pointed out 3 faces that the PCs should probably acquaint themselves with - the Federation Archbishop who was Elijah's superior, Zarsden an affable noble, and the royal vizier.  

Long story short on the last two... Zarsden asked the PCs to retrieve a demon killing blade called Kaltha'alax located in a tower between here and Ja'alette.  The vizier took the PCs to the Yog-Soggoth temple and in the basement was a library full of sacred tomes.  All of them paled by comparison to the one and only Necronomicon.  The vizier showed them proof that demons were alien to Cha'alt, invited by the snake-men to the planet from the lavender moons, infested by them thousands of years ago.  

One day, it is written, demons will again take hold of Cha'alt's surface and make humans and elves slaves.  To prevent Channa from seducing the King and destroying A'agrybah, the vizier promised them each a templar-knighthood and as much gold as they can carry if they journey to Ja'alette, meet with his contact (Ta'ala), escort Princess Lissa to the Crimson Rock of Sacrifice, and make sure she bears her mark of Yog-Soggoth to claim her royal birthright.  Easy-peasy!

The big shock, however, was Elijah Crane's one-on-one with the Archbishop.  It turns out that the Federation recently had an election, and a new administration just came in.  All connection between the Federation and the one true church of the Lords of Light was now terminated.  The Archbishop told Deacon Crane he has two choices.  Give up the priesthood and sit behind a desk in some bureaucratic office somewhere in space, or preach on his own, independent of the Federation, continue to live on Cha'alt and "go native" for lack of a better phrase.

Elijah picked the latter, and his companions welcomed him to a life of crazy adventures on Cha'alt.  Oh yeah, and Eldrad acquired a monstrous eye, one of seven empty sockets, knowing full well that something wild would come out of this gambit. 

The session ended with the PCs tagging along to the noble Zarsden's afterparty where there were many, many naked women in a pleasure-giving mood.

Session 5 is a good place to introduce a world-altering event into your campaign setting.  With the Federation chucking religion, there's bound to be a lot of fallout and unintended consequences.  Speaking of which, using all that zoth to fuel a sorcerer's spells will not go unnoticed by the Dark Gods.  Let's see what zoth-mania and zoth-withrawl looks like in session 6.  ;)

Thanks for reading, hoss!

VS

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