Crystals of Chaos (session report #3, part 2)

 

Ok, part 1 is over here.  So much happened this session that I just thought it would easier to digest events in two separate blog posts.

Realizing the need to get the fuck out of there before something else occurred, the party left.  As a GM, I believe it's important not to rush the players.  Yes, move things along.  Yes, keep the flow going and give them prompts when needed.  But the decision to stay, leave, hang-out, do this or that is ultimately up to them, not the GM.

BTW, I rewarded the halfling thief with a point of Divine Favor for coming up with the idea to snort a line of undoubtedly evil ashes from a black urn, and being brave enough to execute it, and roleplaying it out.

They arrived at the city of A'agrybah easily enough.  However, they saw a massive banana sitting a mere stone's throw away from the city's golden gates.  I started out by describing the banana's size as gargantuan, but didn't specify any unit of measurement.  It was amusing to learn just how big the players imagined the banana to be before specifying its size.  One player asked if it was as big as a school bus, I think another assumed it was as large as a compact car.  I chuckled to myself while announcing it was so big that standing next to it was like having the suns blotted out.

The banana was a mile long.  So, impossibly big.  They asked a few more questions like if it was already peeled (it wasn't) or normal yellow (it was), then proceeded to ask nearby citizens what the Hell was going on?  The people of A'agrybah explained that it showed up earlier that day, just appearing as if by magic.  No one had more information than that.

The PCs made a b-line for Dookal's tent where they had planned to meet after securing the black demon sword.  Unexpectedly, Dookal wasn't there.  In his place was a new guy.  However, Dookal had left a letter for the adventurers, assuming they'd return before the merchant got back.

I read it aloud to the table, but will summarize here.  Dookal realized something was afoot upon selling that enormous ka'alaxian crystal to his buyer, A'ava'ask, and fled to Kra'adumek.  He warned about a banana, as well.

The PCs immediately wanted to head for the city formally famous for being ruled by a gigantic violet demon-worm.  However, I reminded them that they'd been traveling all day and it was approximately 11pm.  They should really get some sleep before continuing on.  This is another consideration I think it's important for GMs to remember.  Every once in awhile, without being intrusive, remind the players that their characters are wide awake, tired, hungry, horny, hot, cold, have cabin fever... whatever!

So, they went back to the temple of Varantha.  Everyone was asleep, except for Karl who was playing with his action figures in bed... with some kind of larva slime as lubricant.  Princess Leia was especially slimy.  A gnome tucked everyone into bed.

Upon waking, the door to Varantha's throne / audience room was barred and a couple gnomes were standing guard.  Her exquisiteness was "entertaining."  Heighten Chancery Philthrop III noticed a gnome entering a secret door down the hall.  He followed and saw there was a long, narrow galley or gallery running alongside the room where Varantha could usually be found.  And there were peep-holes.  

Without going into detail (you just had to be there, hoss), the halfling thief ended up butchering the gnome only to discover that he was not organic, but clockwork!  WTF?

After Varantha had finished with her guest, she showed off a pretty pink ring she'd just been given and mentioned her rivalry with Lady Ska'ai from Kra'adumek (including the noblewoman's magical chartreuse ring).  She put the ring on as the PCs warned her about the legend of an evil sorcerer named Sauron, clearly got possessed (saying that she would now take her rightful place as the King's love-slave), and the PCs tackled her and cut her finger off that wore the cursed ring.

Upon waking up to what had happened, Varantha bade the PCs take revenge upon her recent suitor (later revealed to be a humanoid named Maz aka the King's dick).  Robard the Red decided to release the demon Za'alkalek to help them find the dude who had just left the temple 20 to 30 minutes ago.

Requiring a pair of Varantha's used panties, the demon sniffed the humanoid out.  Finding him enjoying a post-coital drink at the Chartreuse Dragon Cantina.  Quickly dispatched by Crandal, Jackal, or both, everyone else in the cantina went about their business.  I believe Za'alkalek was allowed to suck the King's dick's soul, as well.  I hadn't planned for that, but thought... sure, why not?

Next, the PCs beeped Sa'ab to transport them to Kra'adumek.  Karl wanted to come, too.  He was anxious to see if his black van was still there in the desert.  

It wasn't.  Only the tires remained.  But there were footsteps in the sand.  I rolled a 2 in 6 chance to see if the tracks were single file to hide their number, after a player made a Tusken Raider reference.  Turns out, that's exactly what they did.  Haha.  

They followed the tracks in Sa'ab's beat-up sand-speeder.  It led to a ruined stone temple.  The party's sorcerer made Zagreus invisible so he could sneak in there and see what was up.  A single cultist stood guard over a circular metallic hatch in the temple's floor.

The upshot was that a cult of at least a dozen humanoids was down there worshiping some kind of statue of a demon or Old One.  The invisible dwarven thief started talking which freaked the cultists out, he stole a gemstone from the statue, got out of there, and locked the hatch.  The PCs decided to come back and open it back up on the way back to A'agrybah, hoping the cultists would turn to cannibalism by then.

Either Karl or Sa'ab new of a somewhat hidden temple stronghold beneath the city of Kra'adumek, so the PCs went that way.  They encountered a weird purple ooze thing (Zagreus picked-up a magical bone dagger and bone sheath with amber jewel in the crosspiece), a violet fungus, and sorcerer who tried to fireball the party; however, Robard quickly pounced by casting dispel magic.  I wasn't 100% on using dispel magic to interrupt a spell already being cast, so I asked for a d20 roll to help determine the effectiveness.  

Robard's player rolled poorly, not even wanting to tell me the result as he quickly tumbled over a fuchsia stone which meant he was spending a point of Divine Favor.  The result of his reroll was a natural 20, so I described the NPC sorcerer self-immolated himself in a pillar of fire (PCs looted a magical ring of lesser shielding from the charcoal ex-sorcerer).

The session ended with the PCs killing a couple of priest guards before opening a door revealing some kind of High Priest torturing the beautiful, fuchsia-skinned Lady Ska'ai.

So, yeah... a lot happened this session.  I honestly don't know how GMs can run a 6+ hour game.  After 4, I'm pretty much wiped-out.  But it was an extremely satisfying segment of the Crystals of Chaos campaign, and there are plenty of threads to follow for the future.

Below are the amusing phrases uttered around the table...

• "You ever smoke a wizard?"
• "You need a King's dick for when his majesty is too busy to fuck."
• We thought of several gnome names after a player asked who a particular gnome was and I was stumped for a few seconds... Gnomington, Gnome Chomsky, and Gnome Alaska.
• "Task mistress"
• "Trust in the Old Ones, but tie up your riding lizard."  [A reference to one of my favorite childhood movies - The Golden Voyage of Sinbad]
• I can't remember exactly what was said, but after a couple minutes of discussion, the PCs decided to put the pink "love-slave" ring around Maz's or "the King's dick" dick and his balls on either side... in a decorative box, of course.  

Oh yeah, the PCs who completed two full sessions got to level-up before session #3 started.  So, Robard the Red and Jackal both went into this adventure at 4th level.  The sorcerer rolled 1 additional HP and the dwarf warrior rolled 7.

Feel free to ask questions, make suggestions, comment, etc.  Oh, and if you haven't already backed the Advanced Game Mastering Like A Fucking Boss kickstarter, please do.  And share it with your gaming friends!

Thanks,

VS

Crystals of Chaos, session #3 (part 1)

 

Remember, I'm coming at this campaign from a strange position or background.  Before this, I hadn't run a long-term campaign since 2016.  Only face-to-face and virtual one-shots.

It feels like we've been playing in this Cha'alt campaign (that I'm calling Crystals of Chaos) for longer than three sessions, but on the other hand it also feels like we're only at the very beginning of our journey.  So, it's freaking me out a bit... in a good way.

This is part 1, and here is part 2.

5 players for the game on 2/4/23, here are the Player-Characters...

• Crandal the half-orc barbarian
• Heighton Chancery Philthrop III the halfling thief
• Zagreus the dwarf thief
• Jackal the dwarf warrior
• Robard the Red, dwarf sorcerer

I decided to start the session just as the adventures had reached their latest significant destination.  In short order, I told them the backstory - their merchant friend and sort of business partner, Dookal, suggested they search for a black demon sword.  He had a map and the journey would take a couple days.

The PCs reached the limestone steps twisting down into the desert's heart as play opened.  The first reason I opened it this way was to make the time-jump feel more cinematic... or whatever the TV equivalent is called.  The second was because I knew the next bit would involve a lot of social interaction in the city and I have a habit of starting with a number of social interaction and exploration encounters / moments, only getting to the combat stuff later on.  Rather than do the same exact thing as the previous two sessions, I wanted to start with some combat, have the social interaction stuff in the middle and end with exploration and more combat.

As the adventurers descended the stone stairs, they discovered a high tech thing high up on the wall.  Zagreus investigated, determining that it was most likely a surveillance device.  He still had a pair of lacy panties from session one's successful pick-pocket attempt in that crowd.  So, he covered the little camera lens with the panties and they continued on... just as they heard a woosh sound coming from further down below.

Sure enough, 3 blind cultists were standing in a 15' square stone room at the bottom of all those steps, the only door behind the malevolent worshipers. The limestone floor of this room was covered with 7" metal spikes, each a foot apart.  And the cultists had some organic slimy green substance attached to their hand and forearm that ended in three long tentacles.

Discovering these guys weren't part of the welcoming committee, at least not a friendly one, battle ensued.  Immediately, one of the cultists was cut in two, his top half falling upon one of the spikes, blood spurting up as his torso sank down upon the spike... tentacles thrashing.

The party's two warriors were both struck by the tentacles during combat, and both failed their saving throw.  After the battle was over they felt weak, diminished potency.  They rummaged around the cultists' robes, hoping for some kind of antidote and found a single vial of yellow liquid.  They weren't sure there was enough liquid, assuming that would help them, so Jackal took half and Crandal put on the Lovecraftian organic device.  Moments later, its fine tendrils dug into his forearm's flesh.  Both warriors' health improved.

Opening the black door, they entered a larger stone ritual chamber with the black sword in the center, on a dais.  Immediately upon grabbing the black sword, a demonic spirit withdrew from the blade, coalesced into a physical creature, and started attacking the party - with the black sword inexplicably appearing in his own clawed hand!

It took some doing to eventually slay this demon, making the nigrescent fiend crumble into rubble as its infernal essence returned to the sword.  Zagreus was knocked unconscious, and a couple players remarked how fortunate it was that the dwarf had not succumbed to his wounds back in the square, spiked room. Someone bandaged Zagreus as the others investigated the black sword, fearful of re-summoning the demon they had just fought.

Robard the Red used his sorcery to investigate the situation.  Turns out the black blade had subtly etched glyphs upon it, and that saying the name of the demon would render him powerless to leave the weapon.  Robard's spell emblazoned the nearly undetectable glyphs in glowing emerald green.  They spoke his name while grasping its hilt, and the sword was now usable by them.

Stats for the black sword named Za'alkalek after the demon residing in it.  It does 1d12 damage, it's a +3 weapon.  When top damage is rolled (a 12 in this case), a black portal opens and tentacles reach for the sword's victim and pull what's left of him into the unquiet void (save to avoid).

Before leaving, Heighten Chancery Philthrop III did a deep search of the ritual chamber.  Eventually, he found a block of limestone that was fairly wiggly and loose.  With a little effort, the halfling thief pried the stone out, revealing a black urn containing ashes.  Three letters were carved into the urn... SWK.

Heighten Chancery Philthrop III decided to snort some of the black urn's ashes... because he's fucking insane.  I quickly remembered that I had a random table for weird drug trips in Cha'alt: Chartreuse Shadows, and proceeded to roll.  

To the rest of the party, the halfling seemed to stare off into space for about 20 minutes.  But for him, it was a trip to the hospital where he was operated on as his insides became a black abyss that one of the surgeons fell into.

The halfling really wanted to do another line, but the rest of the party suggested they keep the rest of the ashes, possibly selling them back in A'agrybah.

Even without going into excruciating detail, this is turning into a long session report.  I think I'll break it up into two parts, with part two coming tomorrow.

Before I go, just want to say that it was a blast.  We had a criminally indecent amount of fun, and the location couldn't have been better.  Even with some technician coming into our library meeting room to adjust the smoke alarm or change the furnace filter or whatever he was doing on three separate occasions while we were there, it was still super awesome.  The wooden table was long - big enough for us to have 10 players - though 5 or 6 is ideal, I think.  The chairs were incredibly comfortable, too.  And it was quiet enough for me to bring in my portable Bose CD player so we could have dark ambient music in the background.

One more thing, we discussed something that I saw at my last convention, Game Hole Con, in the dealer's room.  It was a little wooden dice display... thing.  Just a thing with 7 risers at different levels where you can place your dice when they're out but not currently in use.

The moment I saw it, I thought what a strange idea... but further consideration made me think that it, indeed, served a valuable purpose.  How many times have I taken dice out of my bag to have them at the ready, but during the session, in-between rolls, I'd just stash them at the far corner of my dice rolling tray or near my phone or on the other side of my Cha'alt book?  There really wasn't one perfect place to put my dice when not in use.

But if I had one of those dice display things... I could put them there after my rolling was complete.  So, now I'm on a mission to find the most awesome, as well as, economical version on Etsy.  

If you have any experience with these devices, let me know.  Would you use one?  Have you ever seen them before?  If you've spotted a fantastic looking one, let me know.  I was thinking about buying a plain-Jane version and then customizing it myself.

Ok, have a great Sunday!

VS

p.s. Yeah, the Kickstarter is still going for a few more days... Advanced Game Mastering Like A Fucking Boss!

Cha'alt WebComic - Under Fuchsia Ska'ai

 

While I would love a feature film, followed by a sequel, prequel, and subsequent blockbuster movie trilogy... or even a TV series (animated or live-action, I'm not picky).  For the moment, I'm happy to be working on a humble, yet supra-awesome webcomic for my beloved Cha'alt.

For those who don't know, Cha'alt is an eldritch, gonzo, science-fantasy, post-apocalyptic campaign setting.  Interested in the gorgeous hardcover trilogy?  It's a reward tier for backing Advanced Game Mastering Like A Fucking Boss.

Anyways, Under Fuchsia Ska'ai is a webcomic drawn by Jae Tanaka (follow him @TanakaOSR and me at @VengerSatanis) and written by yours truly.  On the right is a promo to whet your appetite...

The plan is to create one page (not just a panel) of adventure each month.  To do any more than that requires funds.  I'm not sure where the money will come from... maybe crowdfunding, paywall, or RPG magazine / website that already gets a lot of traffic and is looking for more, perhaps some independent comic-book company will pick it up, or it's entirely possible that Dan Harmon will decide to put his considerable weight (only kidding, hoss) into a post-Rick and Morty spinoff show ensconced in the Cha'alt multiverse?

Yeah, I don't know how we're going to subsidize this thing, let alone monetize it.  All I know is that I want this thing to exist, so I'm going to fund it until a way presents itself.  

The first full-page should drop February 12th.  It's in production right now, and looking cool.  Can't wait for you to read it and see where this all leads...

Thanks,

VS

p.s. Don't forget about VENGER CON II: Electric Boogaloo this July in Madison, WI.  It's going to be a legendary time playing old-school, OSR, and traditional RPGs all weekend long!

Crystals of Chaos [episode two]

 

By the end of this blog post, I will come up with a name for the 2023 Cha'alt campaign.  I already have a few ideas, but will reserve final judgement until then.

A fortnight later, session #2 happened.  Two of the first session's (see this post) three players returned.  The third was home sick.  One of my usual players couldn't make the first session, so he was back.  And two new gamers joined the fray - one of which I gamed with way back during 3rd edition about 17 or 18 years ago.

The five players and their characters (the returning players kept their characters), and everyone is currently 3rd level still...

• Colin playing Robard the Red, dwarf sorcerer
• Richard playing Ban-Dade (I didn't get the joke until halfway through the scenario), dwarf priest
• Mike playing Crandell, half-orc warrior
• Steve playing a halfling thief named Heighten Chancery Philthrop III (don't worry, there's a reason)
• Patrick playing Jackal, dwarf warrior

After introductions (the new PCs joining the employ of Varantha the exquisite, along with the original PCs), a gnome came to their service quarters (the PCs are called service providers rather than servants or enchanted love slaves, which more accurately describes the situation-ship they're all in).

Varantha wanted to tell them something.  While bathing her loveliness with ivory silt, as is customary of the highborn, she announced her desire for her service providers to travel to Kra'adumek (still in the midst of civil war) and murder a noblewoman named Ska'ai.

"Ska'ai is evil," she said.  And that's all there was to it.  Varantha also stated that the man who dealt the killing stroke would be able to sheath his purple serpent in her love-purse (I write not only adventures but erotic thrillers, as well).

Just as they were leaving (this is kind of a "one more thing" Columbo moment I like to use every now and again), a royal guard from the palace showed up to tell Varantha that King Fahd-Salma'an wishes her to return and be his prime concubine once more.

Varantha told the royal guard no, but then decided it would be better to send a stronger message to the King of A'agrybah.  She ordered her service providers to murder him.  Crandell grabbed the guard and broke his neck, but not before getting stabbed by his victim.

Ban-Dade had the idea of personally sending the severed head over to the palace, so he started cutting while a gnome fetched a decorative box.  Then, they dropped the box off with a royal guard stationed just outside the palace gate.

Before leaving for Kra'adumek, Robard suggested they check-in with the merchant Dookal.  Dookal had already sold the ka'alaxian crystals they found for him in that network of tunnels and caves, and he had a few prospective buyers lined up for more... if the PCs could find some, and the merchant promised to split the profits in half.  On the way out, Heighten Chancery Philthrop III swiped a glass cube containing a splash of yellow (and, indeed, it will look nice upon the thief's mantle... if he ever acquires one).

Being rather poor, the PCs decided to visit the caves again, hoping to find more ka'alaxian crystals.  They had a beeper for the transport driver named Sa'ab, and utilized that.  Before I forget, Karl stayed at Varantha's temple since the adventuring party was sufficiently strong without his presence.

Sa'ab took the scenic route because of sandworm activity.  This led the PCs near a stone marker, like a monolith with a strange symbols carved into it and an eye within a triangle.  Such markers were known across the S'kbah wasteland, but no one knows what they mean or who built them.

Soon enough, they arrived at the cave.  Once inside, they fought the huge skittering tentacled insects, massacred 5 night-clowns who were forcing humans to fight alligators for their amusement.  The party used deception (invisibility, dragging one away, murdering him, and then going after the others) to even the fight and then waded into combat.  Some really good fictionalization of the fight elevated the scene.  Crandell was badly wounded, but thankfully healed by Ban-Dade after the battle.

Then PCs encountered a pool of zoth with three robed humanoids standing over it.  Turns out these were snake-men.  It would be like hikers today in 2023 accidentally stumbling upon Babylonians or Assyrians.  After a bit of amusing chit-chat involving way too many ssssssssssssss's, the PCs moved on.  

Traveling further north, they discovered a medium-small adult sandworm coiled around a ka'alaxian crystal 5 times bigger than anything they've seen.  Realizing they probably couldn't steal it without a fight, the party's thief, Heighten Chancery Philthrop III - he picked up prominent sounding names from people he met and 3 is the number of people the thief had killed at one time - decided to investigate the worm for vulnerabilities.

Usually, I don't have players roll to search things, but this was a special case.  He rolled well enough to discover an area on the sandworm that had been previously hurt.  Believing this was their best chance, the thief stabbed the sandworm there.  And stab he did.

It took several round for them to kill it, but eventually they did... almost losing their sorcerer in the process (Jackal was badly wounded, too). Luckily, he survived, thanks to the priest's healing.  Turquoise blood everywhere, the adventurers snatched the massive ka'alaxian crystal and headed back (along with the humans they saved) to the transport waiting for them just outside the cave.

Almost forgot to add, while Ban-Dade was healing the others, one of the PCs noticed a humanoid skulking in the dark.  One of the warriors crept over to him and decapitated the dude - a scruffy human with scraggly beard, eyepatch, and gold tooth.  One of the rescued humans named him as a servant of the demon who inhabits the northern section of these caves.  The PCs decided not to investigate further.

Returning to A'agrybah, Sa'ab's sand-speeder ran out of fuel.  That actually occurred because I had the idea and then gave it a 2 in 6 chance of happening, then rolled a 2.  After breaking the news, we all realized it made sense that the extra 3 humans rescued weighed the transport down which became a greater drain on the sand-speeder's fuel supply.

Only about a 20 minute walk back to the city, they decided to grab the chartreuse crystal and walk the rest of the way as it was starting to get dark.  They noticed a twinkling light up ahead, but decided to bypass the mysterious illumination, lest it be dangerous.

Once in A'agrybah again, the PCs made a b-line to Dookal.  He asked if they wanted to be paid 750 gold pieces for their share right away or wait several days (perhaps longer) for a buyer, at which point their share might go down.  They chose to take the 750.  The PCs were also given a pyramid-shaped glass bottle filled with prismatic sand.  The merchant had no idea what it was or what it could do.  No one asked, but that was due to it being made out of magic-proof glass.

Back at Varantha's temple, the PCs watched several gnomes pleasuring her exquisiteness with their diminutive tongues before heading down the corridor to their service quarters and awaiting bunkbeds.

As you can see, there are a lot of available threads upon which to pull as the campaign unfurls.  

Below are some amusing phrases uttered around the table...

• "If it's more than zero, it's too expensive."
• "Hold that syllable."
• "Snake you later."
• "Is it even in?"
• "Gnome-a-sutra."
• "When they die, they die smiling."
• "Stabbed in his prosthetic fat."

As for the campaign's name, I almost went with Ka'alaxian Realities, but eventually decided on the much simpler and open-ended Crystals of Chaos.  Will it catch on and the players actually ever use that?  Perhaps.  Nevertheless, I think it'll help me contextualize what's happening in the campaign.

God willing, the next session will happen in a couple weeks.  Until then, keep checking my blog for posts about this, that, and the other... like the Cha'alt Game Jam!  

Remember, I've still got that Advanced Game Mastering Like A Fucking Boss kickstarter happening.  Back if you like it, and share wherever there are gamers.

Thanks,

VS

Advanced Game Mastering Like A Fucking Boss

 

A decade ago, I started writing How To Game Master Like A Fucking Boss.  It's a platinum best-seller on DriveThruRPG.  The wisdom contained inside has helped thousands of aspiring Game Masters.

Now, I'm working on a follow-up.  It's shorter, more focused, and goes deeper than any GMing book should ever have to go... punishingly deep.

This book will attempt to crack open the cosmic egg, drenching readers in universal yoke and allowing us to give birth to the inner God that exists as potential within everyone.  

Come, join me on this journey and see what I have to show you.  BTW, the Cha'alt trilogy is one of the backer rewards.  If you don't already own these gorgeous volumes containing my eldritch, gonzo, science-fantasy, post-apocalyptic campaign setting, do yourself a favor.  Get them.  You won't regret it.

Advanced Game Mastering Like A Fucking Boss - see you on the other side, hoss!

If you have any questions, I'd be more than happy to answer them here or on the KS page.

Thanks,

VS

p.s. VENGER CON II: Electric Boogaloo is happening this July in Madison, WI.  Link here.  My convention is for old-school, OSR, and traditional RPGs only.  It's like gaming in the old days, but with gray pubes! 

Cha'alt Session Reports

 

So much news in this blog post - it's insane!

First, let's talk about The Good Syma'arian anti-abortion Cha'alt scenario that I just uploaded onto Big Geek Emporium for FREE.  Here it is!  

Next, we should get into my appearance on Legon of Myth.  I was asked to attend Max's Friday night chill stream to talk about the new release of Encounter Critical III, PDF available here.  But I thought it would be more instructive and fun to actually game... because why talk about roleplaying when you can just roleplay? 

This is the video, after 5 or so minutes of starting the stream and announcements, I come on.  Then, we proceed to chat about Encounter Critical III before Max and Victor choose characters, and I start running the game.

Hopefully, this gives aspiring gamers and old hands a helpful window into my GMing style.  It's not for everybody, but what I like - and most players I've encountered over the decades have enjoyed it, too.

And the day after that stream, I fulfilled the first tiny step of my 2023 resolution - to run more local face-to-face sessions that eventually become a Cha'alt campaign.  Still thinking of a name for the campaign, but I'm planning on GMing every other week for the rest of this year.

Inspired by Jordan Peterson's admission that he goes into interviews and various discussions with notes but not anything pre-planned, I decided to create mostly original content based on various notes and ideas jotted down (also borrowing bits and pieces from previous sessions these particular players weren't involved in).  Some of this stuff might make it into Book 4 of the Cha'alt trilogy down the road.

Because of scheduling conflicts and a last-minute cancellation, I only had 3 players (one of which was brand-new to Crimson Dragon Slayer D20 and Cha'alt).  It was a social interaction and exploration heavy game, as per usual.

All three played dwarves, and I allowed them to start at 3rd level for survivability during the 4-hour game.  Although, it was really 3 hours when you account for the chatting and eating (the game took place inside a pizza place).

• Colin's dwarf sorcerer was named Robard the red.  He was a "show mage" specializing in close-up magic, like flaming card tricks.
• Pat's dwarf warrior was named Jack-Hole or Jackle.  One leg was a little shorter than the other, making him slightly off-balance.  When fighting, his "disability" gave him +1 to damage.
• Chad's dwarf thief was named Zagreus.  No beard, but he did have a black curly handlebar moustache (and might have looked suspiciously like Mario).

The trio of dwarven adventurers started out in the city of A'agrybah.  A procession wound its way through the streets, a golden platformed, upon which laid a beautiful woman, every inch covered in a tactile magenta glitter, almost like a sensual, skin-tight tree bark.  

Not knowing what the Hell was going on with this woman on parade, they asked various bystanders.  They discovered her name was Varantha, a small cult worships her as the avatar of a God, and that her condition was due to her being cursed by another divine being... although, perhaps it was the King who was actually targeted with that curse because Varantha was a consort of the King before stricken by the toxic magenta film.

Zagreus successfully pick-pocketed someone in the crowd, yielding a pair of lacy red panties.  Score!

Instead of rewarding players with Divine Favor at the end of scenes that had plenty of roleplaying, I ended up handing out 2 points (physical fuchsia stones I got from a gift shop to represent the Divine Favor) each during the 3-hour session.  

If your table is ready to roleplay, you won't have to dangle the carrot of social interaction in front of them.  But if they're new to the concept or shy or whatever, let players know that using something in their background to strike up conversation gets them a possible get-out-of-jail-free point.

Meanwhile, the dwarves ran into a human sorcerer from Earth named Vaughn who racked up considerable gambling debts betting on gladiators.  He knew of a nearby mine containing a type of crystal lost to collective memory.  Before the apocalypse, in ancient times, ka'alaxian crystals (thanks to Pat for the name, and thanks to Rick and Morty for inspiration) were prized by the natives of Cha'alt, especially priests and servants of the Old Ones.  Somehow, Vaughn knew that Ka'alaxian crystals allowed sorcerers to alter reality.

If the dwarves liberated the reality-warping crystals for Vaughn, they'd split them.  Plus, the Earth-born sorcerer would make Varantha's coating less toxic.  I believe the idea was either to kidnap her or give her to the King of A'agrybah as a tribute, allowing them to collect a reward.

They'd meet to finalize the acquisition of the ka'alaxian crystals at the Chartreuse Dragon Cantina in an hour.  That left the trio with enough time to schmooze with Dookal a merchant that gestured for them to enter his tent and see his expensive wares.  The dwarves ended up buying a decorative dwarf helmet and a clear crystal sphere containing a thief who was somehow trapped inside.

The dwarven helm had runes carved into it that read "Don't worry, be happy" when translated.

Eventually, Vaughn got the PCs to the mine with the help of Sa'ab who drove a beaten-up and broken-down sand-speeder.  Wanting to tie the back-to-back scenarios together, the transport slowed down for a hitchhiker waiting next to a black van.  This was wonky-eyed Karl.

Once inside the network of tunnels and caves, the dwarves fought off some tentacled insectoid creatures until they skittered away.  The thief was made invisible by the sorcerer and collected the glowing greenish-yellow crystals (Dune internal monologue: What is the connection between ka'alaxian crystals and zoth?), narrowly avoiding a demon munching on human remains.  

I don't recall if they fought the demon (will have to ask the players - they avoided the demon), but I know Karl did some off-the-cuff healing.  I didn't expect him to have the power of prayer... so, I gave it a couple rolls.  The first was good, something like a 14.  The second, a natural 20.  Thus, the party was healed.

More crystals led the thief to a circus of clowns (is that was a group of them are called?) trading stories around a camp fire.  One of the night clowns had an indigo-glowing magical sword in his lap.

Not wanting to be hasty, the dwarves explored the last remaining area of the mine.  It contained humans, elves, and half-demons performing some kind of ceremony.  There was head shaving and dipping melee weapons in a pool of zoth, perhaps preparing for battle.

Egged on by the sorcerer and warrior, the party's thief was instructed to steal the magic sword, cutting off the night clown's head before running away, as the thief still had a few minutes of invisibility remaining.  And that he did with Advantage and sneak-attack.  The clown was decapitated, his head rolled through the campfire, startling the dead clown's companions like a flaming skull.

As the other clowns exited their cave, they ran into the shaved head humanoids wielding glowing chartreuse weapons.  A battle between the two factions fortuitously occurred as the PCs ran towards the waiting sand-speeder.

The indigo glowing two-handed sword was, indeed, magical.  A +1 weapon with glyphs carved into both sides of its blade.  When translated, they read the following... "Sucks to be you."  

Upon return, they met at the Chartreuse Dragon Cantina and divvied up the ka'alaxian crystals, but not before Vaughn used his sorcery to alter reality... the ka'alaxian crystal vanished in his hand as he concentrated all his mental energy on reprogramming the universal code.

The dwarves went to Varantha's temple within the city, and not far from the palace.  There, they found her merely stained magenta, rather than covered with toxic magenta glitter.  Finding her stunningly gorgeous, they immediately accepted her offer to stay in nearby temple quarters and she became their patron.

Just before bed, a gnome wearing a silly gnome hat came into their quarters to tuck them in.  Jack-Hole wanted some company before sleep, so the gnome brought a few girls around to pleasure whoever was interested.  Jack-Hole and Karl availed themselves of the opportunity, as the rest found other things to do.

And that's where we ended the session.  Next game is scheduled for Sunday, January 22nd.  Now that I'm running a legit campaign, and in-person no less, finally after so many years, so many opportunities will open-up with threads and stories and ideas (recurring characters!) that don't have to be abandoned when I walk away from the table or log-off from Roll20.  One-shots are a ton of fun, but pretty much everyone in the OSR agrees that long-term campaigns (when feasible) are better.

If RPGs are about immersion and the joint creation of pulp sword & sorcery stories, reinforcement of the veiled reality, this other world, via episodic sessions of a long-term campaign, can only strengthen that immersion.  By the end of 2023, I believe we'll achieve PSYCHOCOSM the likes of which even God has never seen!

Thanks for reading,

VS

p.s. Don't forget about the Cha'alt Game Jam (allowing you to create your own content), Cha'alt for the holidays hardcover book sale (only 2 days left), and VENGER CON II (this July in Madison, WI).

Cha'alt Game Jam

 

Yeah, we have a motherfucking banner!

If you'd like one for your blog or website, just let me know.  I'd love to share it with you.

So, the Cha'alt Game Jam... I pretty much covered everything in my previous blog post, but here are the highlights.

• The Cha'alt Game Jam 6-week open game license runs from January 1st to February 14th.
• Whatever you make should be shared on either DriveThruRPG, Big Geek Emporium, or both.
• As long as it's released within that window, it can be monetized in perpetuity.
• The Game Jam covers Cha'alt, Alpha Blue, Encounter Critical (original and 3rd edition), Revelry in Torth, Liberation of the Demon Slayer, and The Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence.  If you want to create something affiliated with something by Kort'thalis Publishing that's not already listed, feel free to ask me about it.
• Somewhere in the product, you'll need to include the following text... "Licensed with permission from Venger As'Nas Satanis, High Priest of Kort'thalis Publishing and Archduke of the OSR, in the year of our Dark Lord 2023, whether you like it or not."
• Use your common sense, have fun, feel free to reach out if you need something, no guarantees in life, good luck, and go with God.

My email is: Venger.Satanis@yahoo.com

Thanks for reading and participating,

VS

p.s. I've got a new Kickstarter launching on January 11th.  So, if you aren't already subscribed to my KS page or whatever, do that.  I'll post an actual link when the thing is ready to go.  Oh yeah, you should seriously consider attending VENGER CON II: Electric Boogaloo this July in Madison, WI.

Cha'alt Game Jam in January

 

This announcement is in preparation for when the stars are right... January 1st.

I'm organizing one of those game jam things for Cha'alt. 

In case you don't know, Cha'alt is my very own eldritch, gonzo, science-fantasy, post-apocalyptic OSR campaign setting that frequently includes humor, grindhouse / exploitation sleaze, and pop-culture references.  It now encompasses three books with a fourth volume of the weird-ass trilogy hopefully coming in 2024.

Not using ichio; only DriveThruRPG and Big Geek Emporium to host releases.  

Between January 1st and February 14th (Valentine's Day), I'm creating a six-week open license window for gamers to create stuff and sell it using my Cha'alt intellectual property, and I'm extending that to include Crimson Dragon Slayer, Alpha Blue, and Encounter Critical (both the original and new edition that'll come out at the end of December).

Everything made within that window will be allowed without a separate license between the two parties, and may continue to be sold or distributed freely by the creator.  Anything made outside of that January 1st 2023 - February 14th 2023 timeframe will require a licensing agreement between the creator and myself.  

Post the following somewhere in the product, "Licensed with permission from Venger As'Nas Satanis, High Priest of Kort'thalis Publishing and Archduke of the OSR, in the year of our Dark Lord 2023, whether you like it or not."

I look forward to seeing what you make of this golden opportunity, hoss.  Share this news, and let your creative juices flow!

If you have questions, or you'd like my advice, suggestions, or feedback on anything, just ask... Venger.Satanis@yahoo.com

Thanks,

VS

p.s. Here's an update blog post now that the Cha'alt Game Jam has officially started! 

Legitimacy

 

Trump won!  #NuclearMAGA