"The Ruin of A'agrybah" - CHA'ALT Campaign 4.11

 

A lot happened this session, I'll try to get through all of it.

We only had three players because of life stuff, but I'm just grateful we had those three - Strum the human sorcerer, Bishop Crane the human priest, and Ug the lizardtaur warrior.

It began with describing Ug's purple labyrinth-glyph upon his left buttocks (BTW, if you want to watch me rant about narrative in my gaming, there's also some details on Ug's new butt-glyph here).  Strum was able to help Ug attune and understand what the glyph was about, what it meant for him personally.  The good news - Ug was able to call upon the purple labyrinth to "pick him up," in which a portal would appear somewhere nearby that he could jump into.  The bad news - a manifestation of past trauma (possible race or blood-memory) could annoy, harass, or even attack the recipient.

The sorcerer also used his magic to find the pink gemstone containing the bastard princess.  It was somewhere nearby, and he was able to pinpoint the exact location.  Ta'ala, the princess' handmaiden knew the location and who lived there - a broad named Quitha'ana, secular priestess of female empowerment.  

Meanwhile, Crane was getting a message from his latest Pa'azuk-born infernal-glyph that clued him into plans that a demon named Jalsalax was making with a minority faction of the Harmonious Validity (the governing body of Ja'alette).  Ta'ala mentioned that for years this small wing of the government was trying to usher-in mass migration of demons to the matriarchal city-state.

The meeting between this demon and his bodyguards and the pro-demon politicians was going to happen tonight at the Ovulation Chamber, a sort of conference building that's usually closed at night.  Ta'ala told the PCs about rumors of wisdom, treasure, or both contained somewhere in a secret area of the Ovulation Chamber.  

The PCs decided to try and ask Quitha'ana for the pink gem before stealing it or opting for violence.  After rolling her reaction, she gave up the magic gem immediately, and when the PCs told her of the demon migration plan of that faction, Quitha'ana offered to help in any way... as long as it wouldn't put her life in jeopardy.  

Deciding to keep Princess Lyssa in the pink gem while they fight the demons, they made their way to the Ovulation Chamber and waited as a cleaning woman surprised them, and then she left as they resumed hiding until the politicos and demons showed up.  The women had a sack full of harmony-crystals and gave it to the demons.

The PCs jumped out to fight Jalsalax and his two big sentinel demons covered in a black armor-like skin.  Combat didn't last too long.  Crane cut Jalsalax's hand off.  I think Ug severed his leg.  Strum used his magic gloves to create a bubble around one of the black sentinel demons and compacted him within a couple rounds.  The other was soon taken-out, as well.

A ring was found on a finger of the demon's severed arm.  It was a lesser ring of power granting a +1 to all the wearer's rolls.  

Ta'ala reminded them of the secret cache of valuables that was supposed to be on the premises.  They all searched, eventually finding a concealed hatch in the floor.  It led to a soft and squishy pink tube that sloped down.  Sliding down, they eventually came to a small, harshly-angled, black room containing a black rectangular box, like a treasure chest, except it had 12 colorful buttons on the top and a 3-digit panel towards the front.  

I won't reveal the puzzle/trap, but it was fun watching them work through it, and Ug could have potentially died.  Luckily, he didn't.

Inside was the Dya'azian Scroll.  When skimmed, this prophecy talked directly about the tro-kla'an or confluence of events that would either lead to the prosperity or ruination of Cha'alt.  It also contained the ritual of ascension which the bastard princess was supposed to perform at the Crimson Rock of Sacrifice.  

Hearing angry women above, and realizing the ladies had released a rampaging worm to torment them, the PCs opened a portal to the purple labyrinth.  A few things happened in this area...

Ug wanted to see what would happen if he tried to call for a portal to the purple labyrinth while in the purple labyrinth, using his new butt-glyph.  Apparently, it leads to a labyrinth which is somehow even more purple, a deeper, more serious and intense purple.  Before closing the portal, Ug threw a fuchsia crayon in there.  Hmm... I wonder if there'll be a call-back to that next session?

Strum used his magic to caress the facts of the pink gem in order to coax Lyssa out of there, which worked immediately.  She was grateful to be out... and very sexy.  Between her knowledge and the scroll, she told the PCs that 17 humanoids must be sacrificed during her ascension ritual.  Thankfully, the 17 could be made up of demons.

The adventurers located a brothel filled with purple chicken of the labyrinth and purple women.  Spending some of their talons, the PCs got the VIP treatment.  

Crane created a dragonfruit fruitie via his ivory scepter who the priest commanded to find the servants of the Lords of Light in A'agrybah and tell them to kidnap 17 demons and meet them at the Crimson Rock of Sacrifice.  

The dragonfruit dude did as requested, but not before he took advantage of his current purple brothel situation.  For a sweet, sweet 15 seconds he railed that purple whore from behind... and then sought-out a portal towards A'agrybah.

While looking for a good exit, the PCs stumbled upon the storm-opal knight of the Lords of Light, and he told the adventurers that the Federation broke into their tower, kicked out their servants, stole the Loc-na'ar, and laid a couple traps for them in the tower.

Just before finding a portal out of there, they saw another humanoid shape coming towards them.  This looked a lot like Ug, except he was purple and his chaps weren't assless.  For awhile now, Ug had been brain-boosted with that little device.  Well, he would now have to fight his dumber self... to the death.  Smart Ug tried to talk dumb Ug out of this confrontation, but dumb Ug wasn't having it.  He engaged, and I used a special kind of combat game mechanic which you, dear reader, may or may not appreciate.  

I had both participants in the one-on-one roll a d20, highest going first.  I assumed both would hit (one-minute rounds, y'all), so the combatant who won initiative could just roll damage, followed by the guy in second place.  On the second round, they both rolled again (I rolled for the purple doppleganger Ug), and this time purple-Ug won.  Unlike the first round, I scored almost max-damage, killing the original Ug who turned into a small pile of purple ash, as he did before when dying in the purple labyrinth the previous session.  

Strum had a bit of zoth left to reconstitute him but was unsure if he should risk further zoth-addiction by using it again so soon after the last time.  He handed the zoth over to Bishop Crane who drizzled it over the purple ashes, only to accidentally spill some on his hand.  The effect of that was unexpected, as I'd never "scripted" it, as some claim when I talk about the benefits of adhering to a Living Story, as well as, the Living World.  Yet, I knew which direction surprise elements usually go due to our campaigns underlying narrative [in a couple days, I'm going to blog my narrative manifesto].  

The priest imagined himself wandering inside an immensely massive purple cavern containing a being of equally cyclopean size and intelligence.  Crane knew instinctively that this was a Great Old One... either slumbering or awake, and communicating directly into the priest's mind.  Just as Crane was on the purple precipice of grasping the first few straws of revelation that would instruct him on the deeper meaning of life, the universe, and everything... he snapped out of it.

Not sure what to make of that crisis of faith fever-dream, Bishop Crane realized that he might have to completely reevaluate his stance on the Great Old Ones, as they did seem to be steeped in both universal understanding and divine wisdom.  

Ug was restored just after purple Ug melted away.  The party continued on to an exit, and soon found a purple portal just outside the Crimson Rock of Sacrifice.  Walking a ways, they soon came across an elf selling magic beans (this and something that would soon happen came from the Black Skull of Secrets where I drew two suggestions).  The PCs bought the magic beans and planted one in the desert.  Ug peed on it to get it started.  Lo and behold, it did grow into a beanstalk-like cactus without spines.  While it could have been climbed, instead, Ug poked a hole in it, drank, filled up his canteen as the others did likewise, and then he chopped the cactus down.

Continuing on, they were maybe 100 yards from the Crimson Rock of Sacrifice.  Not seeing anyone around, they shaded themselves for a few moments while examining a metal door set slant-wise into the rock. Believing they got here a little too early, the PCs decided to open the metal door and explore the weird shit below.  

Aside from a poison dart trap and turquoise slime that they threw acidic salt at to make it squidge away, we didn't have time to get further.  

But they should have an interesting time exploring these tunnels and caves next time - Saturday, July 11th.  That session is going to be the big one!  Lots of consequential action as everything comes to a head, and the fate of Cha'alt will be decided.  So, everyone better show up.

Thanks for reading,

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!)!!  

Where Were You?

 

This is the first thing going in the new book.  

But that won't be for a while.  I've decided to take a year-long break from any crowdfunding or release of a project that's more than a six or seven-page PDF.  

I would release this all by itself, but it's too short for even a PDF release; just perfect for a blog post, or a one-page explanation in the appendix of the aforementioned new book.  So, what is it?  Let me elucidate, hoss...

If a player has been absent for more than one session in a row, he's likely fallen behind in terms of XP.  While it's all fine and dandy if that absent PC is at a lower level than everyone else, it can be a hassle for both his fellow players and the GM.  Specifically, the lower-level PC will be in greater danger while also being of less help in an emergency, which then puts the rest of the party at risk, or influences the GM to make the adventure less strenuous... and possibly less rewarding.

You know how GMs hate the multi-page backstory of a fresh player-character that's just starting out?  Well, I'm turning that idea on its head by asking that absent player to write-up and then verbally present a fleshed-out bullet-point list of at least 7 things that PC experienced while they weren't with the party.  

This can be made-up of things they did, saw, survived, prevented, rigged, ran away from, broke, fixed, heard about, fought against, killed, looted, saved, found in a crevasse, pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, and numbered.

Now, this particular path diverges in the desert, as it were.  There are two schools of thought...  

First, the PC can explain his absence from the party and what he's been up to in-character.  So, this is now what the other adventurers are hearing and they can make of that what they will, also in-character.  If the missing PC found a magic ring, where is this ring, now?

Second, this option is storygame-adjacent.  As the GM and players listen to everything, they are free to make suggestions... adding, subtracting, twisting, turning, coloring, and embellishing.  This is a way of collectively crafting the narrative.  Not every item on the list needs to be tweaked.  Some or maybe even most can stand-alone just as they are presented.  However, the occasional item might be improved with feedback and suggestions, like a writer's room.  After all, the other players know the PC in question well, one hopes, and should be able to provide insight based on that knowledge. 

The GM has the final say on what's actually canon.  Again, a discrepancy between the story told by the absent adventurer and what really happened might be glaringly apparent.  

What do they get for their trouble?  A singular level-up.  They might still be behind, but at least not as much.

Now, what to do with PCs who find themselves laden with magic rings and the like?  In this case, it's important to have balance.  Acquire a magic ring?  Ok, then something equally bad should also happen to even things out, like the PC also sprained his ankle.  Now, if the magic ring was found and then lost, the ankle could have been sprained and now it's better.  But if he still has it in his pocketses, perhaps the sprained ankle persists... which means he can't run.  At best, he's hobbling away like Johnny at the end of Mike Leigh's Naked (1993).  Thus, restoring the balance.

What this does is...

1. Explain what happened during the PC's absence.
2. Gets that PC up-to-speed so they don't fall behind.
3. Adds to the campaign setting by coming at world-building from a surprisingly new angle.
4. Gives the GM more to work with as he facilitates the Living World and Living Story.

Ok, there might be a chance to use this if one of our players returns tomorrow (jury's still out).  Regardless, I feel like this is a neat addition to the table, and if you like it, I hope you use it, too, and tell me how it went.

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 4.10

 

Ok, this was another great session, and I hope another enjoyable session report.  4 PCs... Strum the human sorcerer, Bishop Elijah Crane the human cleric, Ug the lizardtaur warrior, and Tinker the hybrid thief / sorcerer pixie fairy.

From last session, the PCs emerged.  Boxed-text incoming...

Purple Resurfacing

"After many hours of the claustrophobic purple darkness that became your world, you finally make it to the surface.  Even before exiting, you saw the fuchsia sky and squinted at the twin suns greeting you, along with the hot breeze.  You can already feel your dry lips cracking and instinctively go for your canteen, which is of course empty as you drank it all during your exploration of the well-caves below the subterranean temple of the purple priests.

The next thing you notice is the yelling and shouting and movement and purple flashes of light and energy on the periphery of your vision.  Taking a look around, you assess the chaos all around…

A much smaller number of Kha’alestinians wearing the purple severed penis symbol of their New God faith are busy stabbing random citizens.  You make out about 15 of them.

Directly opposite is a squad of badass mercenary banana-men and the raspberry fruitie that Crane summoned with his ivory scepter.  The banana-men are armed with low-tech firearms like rifles and machine guns.  There’s maybe 10 of them.  They’re firing on purple priests charging at them with a flame-thrower. 

An unsavory throng of the purple city’s citizens are taking advantage of the situation as several purple women chained to a set of three stone monoliths prepare to be sacrificed.  Left unattended, the purple women (who it’s rumored are bred via the purple slime pits of Kra’adumek) are being raped as the entire city is rioting.

In the distance, though not distant enough for your liking, is an amorphous translucent purple-glass alien demon worm that almost resembles a purple tidal wave of gelatinous ichor between moments when it looks more like a worm and others where it appears singularly demonic.

You can see where Kra’adumek emerged from the underground temple of the priests.  The whole area looks demolished.

Purple priests who have climbed to the top of the golden domed temple are crying out and making the sign of Kra’adumek, but the purple-god-thing is not paying attention to them.  It’s preoccupied with sloshing into hundreds of citizens on the street as it absorbs them into its purple ichor.

Eventually, Kra’adumek amorphously moves towards the temple and with a tentacle absorbs all the priests into itself as you can see their flesh quickly melting away leaving only skeletons behind.  Then, it smashes through the temple, destroying it.  It’s like Godzilla tearing through Tokyo."

With pandemonium all around and so many options, what did the adventurers do?  Crane sent his entourage of the faithful to help the banana-men and purple women, freeing them so they cannot be sacrificed to Kra'adumek, thus stymying his ever-growing power.  

As Tinker began looting nearby vehicles ablaze and storefronts (he rolled well and found several pairs of fancy shoes, a vest made of midnight-elf skin, a ring of keys, and 6-pack of zima ice lemon-lime worm-wine.  Also, a partially singed (from the fire) wig of blonde dreadlocks, and a peace-sign necklace that looked ridiculously huge on the wee pixie-fairy.

Meanwhile, the violet flame communicated telepathically with Crane, due to the glyph upon the priest's flesh.  It told Crane that a way out was nearby.  In the basement of a curio shop called Zimsa'alabim was an accessible portal to the purple labyrinth.  

They entered the shop after disposing of three purple priests, one of whom scored a critical hit, plunging his dagger into Ug's jugular.  Blood was flowing as the player marked off 11 points of damage.  Ug critted himself, killing one and wounding the other enough to send him on his way.  Tinker took care of the last by ramming him with his flying trident.

Inside the curio shop, they saw the shop owner gathering his most valuable possessions and two handfuls of purple talons before teleporting away.  Three more rioters broke the front window and were about to do more damage with a molotov cocktail as Crane threatened that they'd easily be killed if they didn't leave right now.  They skidaddled.

Before heading down, Tinker (who was flying as per usual) noticed something on a high shelf, towards the back and covered with dust.  It was a jade ring with a 1.5-inch diameter.  This, in fact, turned out to be the cockring of Senor Cha'ang Do'Urden.  Upon concentrating, a holographic projection of the small Asian dark-elf man who conquered half of the subterranean kingdoms decades ago when he was at the height of his powers.  "Looking for a little spare Cha'ang?" is just one of his frequent name-puns. 

Taking the only other door to the basement, the violet flame told Crane to look for a book on one of the dusty bookshelves called Amazing Stories.  The book had a false middle containing a vial of glowing purple sand.  A sprinkle of that would open the portal to the purple labyrinth.

The Purple Labyrinth 

Soon enough, they were wandering around purple corridors and weirdly shaped rooms.  It's a bit like the backrooms, except purple instead of "mono-yellow."  

After nearly a half-hour of getting lost in purple, they found several signposts that gave directions to A'agrybah, Kra'adumek, and Ja'alette.  They were now back on track to finding what they were looking for in Ja'alette - Ta'ala who was the contact and handler of the bastard princess Lissa who was basically under house-arrest for her own protection in that matriarchal city-state due to her life being in constant danger.

The PCs sent all but Shinta'ak and Bento to the portal headed for A'agrybah, so they could go defend or at least check-out what was going on at Vromka'ad's Tower, the new Temple of the Lords of Light.  That means 8 men-at-arms and 8 banana-men went forth to pursue their holy mission.

Just before reaching the portal for Ja'alette, Kaltha'alax (via his infernal-glyph) whispered to the priest that taking a hard-right would lead him to a powerful and dangerous demon that they really should kill for the betterment of Cha'alt.  

In for a talon, in for a gold piece... the PCs headed for the demon.  Crane concentrated on making himself visible as the violet flame glyph made him invisible to infernal beings.  He faced-off against the demon as Tinker crept around his back.  It was a cray-nax demon with three humanoid slaves he was taking back to Hell.

Ug leaned against the purple wall trying not to bleed all over the place, and failing (a purple goblin could be heard asking aloud where all this blood was coming from).  Meanwhile, Strum cast mesmerizing magenta mist to subdue the slaves, just in case they had any ideas of protecting their demon master.

Tinker cast a spell, giving the priest Advantage as Crane scored a crit, and almost killed the demon outright.  The thing about cray-nax demons is they can use nearby magic-user vitality to cast their own spells.  The demon, on his turn, used the HP of one of the sorcerers to cast a purple fireball (I'm going to make it official, so remind me if I forget - all spells cast in the purple labyrinth manifest as purple-hued).  It did a lot of damage, especially since everyone failed their saving throw, except for Strum who rolled a natural 20... no damage taken at all. 

Shockingly, Ug and Tinker both died, in fact... their bodies reduced to purple ash.  Strum held his action to see if Crane would be victorious as he still had Tinker's enhancement spell working for him.  He hit, but damage was minimal.  However, the priest used one of his seven lavender demon-moon dice of destiny to up the damage enough to kill him (bringing Elijah Crane from 8 to 9 XP, enough to reach 5th level), thus taking his soul into the demon-slaying sword and bringing it up to a +8 weapon vs infernal creatures.

Strum knew enough about the purple labyrinth to drizzle zoth upon both their purple ashes, which restored them both (and with full health).  Their new flesh each had a purple labyrinth-glyph, but they had no idea what that would do.

Strum was feeling exhilarated and nauseous from handling the zoth, as he remembered over-indulging not long ago.  I have to hand it to Strum's player, his acting was so good that I asked him if he needed some ibuprofen for his physically strained condition.  In time, he recovered and Ug mentioned the sorcerer was looking a little less chartreuse around the gills.

The party's main sorcerer also knew that wearing the flesh of a cray-nax demon allowed a sorcerer to borrow vitality remotely from nearby magic-users, just as the demon had.  It takes about 3 or 4 days for the demon's flesh to dry out and become useless, so Tinker kept fingers and a penis inside his zima bottles of worm-wine (to keep bits of the demon moist), and wore the demonic back-flesh in order to use the cray-nax's power for a few days.

The now-freed slaves told the adventurers that the demon knew a shortcut to Hell, and it was near the treasure vault.  Realizing the side-quest kept side-questing, but also knowing this might be their only opportunity, they walked toward the portal to Hell.  If you'll remember, the violet flame talked about a lesser artifact located in one of Hell's treasure vaults that allowed its owner to read the minds of demons.

What did they see in that infernal realm?  I pulled two suggestions from the Black Skull of Secrets, revealing there was three gangs consisting of rock people, paper people, and scissors people all on the right.  To the left were rotten fruit-folk who I deemed demon-fruities.  Tinker used his crystals to power a spell that made the scissors and paper people attracted to each other, which basically eliminated both factions and then the rock people finished them off and went away.

For using the crystals, I had Tinker roll on the fuchsia side-effect table and it said fruities would appear and challenge the sorcerer for supremacy of wherever they currently were.  So, the fruities were drawn inside the portal and demanded the pixie-fairy fight them to see who controlled the purple labyrinth.  

It was a fight between the chess club and math league, as everyone missed.  No one could land a blow.  Eventually, Tinker cast another spell, reversing know languages so he could make the demon fruities not understand each other.  Babbling and dejected, the demon fruit-folk began to wander the labyrinth.

I won't go into detail about their brief exploration of Hell, but I got to use one of my rock and lava maps as the PCs made a friend of this demon dog with a rainbow ear, and eventually scored the minor artifact they were seeking - Pa'azuk, which would allow its owner to know the thoughts of infernal beings around him.

Ug acquired a "fire stick" which is basically a wand of fireballs with 4 charges.  Crane took possession of Pa'azuk as he could internally hear the celebration of all three demonic-based entities reunited; Pa'azuk creating the third and final infernal-glyph upon the priest's flesh.

Oh yeah, and Strum's player rolled 3d6 for some of his lightning wand damage and all three were 1s.  That means a portal opens and a man holding a fish slapped Strum in the face.  At least he got a point of Divine Favor out of it.  

Brothel of Mistress Steel Kiss

It didn't take them long to head back to the portal, fight a big demon who was guarding the purple labyrinth entrance, and making their way, finally, to Ja'alette.  They appeared back in the man-whore brothel which they had visited earlier in the campaign.  

A bit of roleplaying later (Tinker donned the partially burned blonde dreadlock wig and pretended to be a woman in order to just get around and communicate with the denizens of Ja'alette), leading them to the gladiatorial vulva arena, past the uterine parthenon and cervical bank of Ja'alette, eventually to big momma's house of corrections where they located Ta'ala who told them the princess was hiding inside a magical pink gem that Ta'ala herself had given her after finding out that Ta'ala was about to be arrested for saying that non-slave men had their uses and letting a man titty-fuck her, which goes against their religious law.

That's where we ended it.  The PCs need to find out who has possession of that pink gemstone so they can release Lissa and get her to the Crimson Rock of Sacrifice so she can perform a ritual that will restore her birthright and hopefully save A'agrybah from being taken over by demons.

I received a large miniature banana-man with some kind of firearm (and banana clip which several people noticed both at the table and online), and that became the visual focal point for the badass merc banana-men blowing purple ja'abronis away back in Kra'adumek gone wild.

This was the 10th session, which means we're close to the halfway mark.  The PCs are a mix of 4th and 5th level.  The breakdown of experience points based on various personal benchmarks of the PCs as the campaign progresses is going well.  

Next game should be Saturday, June 27th.  We're getting nearer to VENGER CON V: The Will To Power!!!  

While I'm excited to celebrate the occasion with a weekend of awesome gaming, I've made the decision that this will be the last convention.  Attendance just isn't increasing.  I assumed, as most conventions do, that it would keep going up and up, but it's dwindling.  

That's ok.  One more thing off my plate will allow me to keep focusing on the other aspects of the hobby I love and continue to pursue.  Anyway, I vlogged about it here.

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 4.9

 

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 on 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 our 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 called down a meteor storm upon Kra'adumek, destroying 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!)!!