Monthly Archives: December 2021

RPGs

2021 Year End Review

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Companion Podcast: https://anchor.fm/follow-me-and-die/episodes/Episode-198—2021-Year-End-Review-e1ccin5

Companion Vidcast on YouTube: https://youtu.be/M9N9a_TGv2c

Conventions – Virtual Gary Con, Garage Con in my garage in July, Live Gamehole Con 8, GrandCon was cancelled, I skipped UCon when it went from a physical con to a virtual con. I play in a game every Wed. night on Roll20 and run one Roll20 game on Sunday afternoon. I get my fill of virtual table tops twice a week, so the fun of gaming I get from a con – interacting with real people face to face around a shared table, isn’t the same as playing virtually. I started using Roll20 when I couldn’t get a local group going once playing with my sons & their friends fizzled out.

Blog – 18 articles, and the other day (Friday, 17 DEC 2021) a comment mentioned that the RSS feed only shows 2021. That damn thing breaks all the time. I’m looking into a different option for my blog. I may migrate the back end to a static site, but I’ll migrate simpler and smaller sites I have first to see if my new method works for them first.

Podcast – Five episodes, the year end review episode makes six.

YouTube – I passed 1,000 subscribers, so am now monetized again. They changed the rules two or three times since I was monetized many years ago just by creating an Adsense account and linking to my YT channel.

I’ve only done 4 videos. I’ve got a couple in editing that I just never seem to complete, and ideas for lots more.

Twitch – I streamed once this year when I streamed for over three hours cleaning and organizing my game shelves here.

Drive Thru RPG – Nothing new this year. I think I updated a couple of my PDFs, but I didn’t create anything new.

Card Game – I got more art from my artist, but not all of it. I don’t think I’ll do a Kickstarter. To do that well, I need a team working like a well ordered and well oiled machine. I think I’ll just put it on DTRPG, as I’ve mentioned many times in the past. Polishing it and making it appeal to a broader audience is a lot of work. I don’t want to just pass it off, and I don’t want to research lots of people to find the right people for the job. Pushing forward on things like this is hard. Ideas are easy to come by. Putting in the effort to make that idea work for others, and grab their interest is a lot of work.

I played my card game on Christmas with my younger son and my granddaughter. They both liked it. That was the first time I’ve played it in over two years due to the pandemic. My granddaughter said, “It’s a pretty fun game for an almost seven year-old.” She’ll be seven in a week and a half from now.

TikTok – Started at Gamehole Con – 28 so far. It has a maximum of 3 minutes, so it forces focus. I haven’t gotten into the groove of regular use. It’s good for getting the word out about things on other media.

Obsidian – Knowledge Base application NOT the campaign building/running website. I’ve moved my local copy of my Sunday game notes into it and used it to run the last 3 games. I’m working on a full blog post on it.

I dipped my toes into Solo RPGs and did a podcast and blog post about it. I haven’t gotten back to it. My brain keeps seeing new shinies to check out. Always been my issue. Too many cool things I want to explore. I could live to a thousand and still want to check out more stuff.

I’ve got ideas for using Roll20 with some solo games, that I was ready to do a YouTube video.

I’ve also got a couple new things I put to use in my Roll20 game that I need to share.

Today, December 31, 2021 is the deadline to submit games to run at both Gary Con and my local con, Marmalade Dog which has a deadline of January 31, 2022. I’m not going to run games at Gary Con. I plan to sign up for war games like I had for the first Gary Con affected by COVID-19. I will bring my card game in the stable version and the iteration where I made icons too small with some new options just to see how it play tests. I’ll bring a couple small RPGs for potential pickup games. I plan a light schedule so I can socialize.
For Marmalade Dog I haven’t decided if I will run something all three days or not. Fridays are hit or miss. I plan to run Lizards vs. Wizards and am debating what else to run. Not much time left to decide….

My favorite RPG experience as a player was bringing back a dead PC into the Wednesday night game. When my ranger PC was killed I asked if I could bring back my original dwarf PC. There is a shields shall be splintered rule I forgot to invoke, so I suggested he could have just been knocked out. The DM was OK with that, but there is some backstory not yet shared with the others as to what really happened. I finally got to roleplay a situation where his mind is broken with grief and he has a new name, and it was several sessions until I revealed who he really was. That situation didn’t go over in the first campaign as another player misread it as he was mind controlled by the enemy, so I had to cut it short. Picking up that thread was fun. Talking to the “head” of the PC he decapitated when a storoper took him over was great. I didn’t reveal that it was a roughly head sized rock that he was talking to in his pack.

My favorite DM experience was introducing the Map of Destiny and watching the players keep “pushing the red button.” They went on so many side quests, it took several weeks to complete the original quest that was done in just over a week. The players were sent to it when one of them was geased to retrieve an item. The map shows whatever item you ask it. If you are under a quest or geas it just shows you the location on the world map. It doesn’t have more detail than that. If you ask it other things you have to save versus magic or be geased to retrieve that item and bring it to the map. They learned some helpful things, but also were chasing their tails going after stuff.

I randomly determined where things were located and had to come up with several on the spur of the moment. The real fun was when they brought back the first item and it sank into the floor. They used stone shape and other such spells looking and when they couldn’t find an empty space one of them asked where is it? They promptly failed their save but learned where it was. Another player, the higher level wizard in the group is 10th level with two fifth level spells and they rested and he memorized two teleports. Then he asked where am I, failed his save, but was immediately relieved of the geas, then sank into the floor. The first time he found himself on an island in the middle of a rainstorm. He investigated the island then teleported back. He rested and the next day did the same thing and was teleported into a blizzard in the midst of a herb of caribou who spooked. He teleported back. They hoped that it would go to a huge pile of loot, but learned that each item teleported it a random direction and distance. That player was the first PC to go “off the map” of my world.

The player with the last geas from the Map of Destiny asked about a former PC of a player that left the game and failed his save. While working on the geas of the player who asked about the first item to sink into the floor the other wizard was killed and resurrected. I ruled that death ends a geas (or a quest), so that saved them travelling for weeks in the opposite direction they wanted to go.

My players finally made it to the capital city of the kingdom and have been having city adventures and the city is growing and coming alive. I expanded the map and they bought a new, better world map so my pre-planning the new map worked out, I was ready for them. I came up with a minimal map to track where the characters are in the city without a city map and to preserve theater of the mind.

Now they are dealing with at least one vampire that they are waiting for sunrise to ensure it is dead. They also have the thieves guild after the higher level wizard as he revealed he has a portable hole and they want it. He keeps teleporting back to the town where the campaign started so he can sleep without getting killed.

They’re trying to wrap up and leave the city, but now they’re dealing with a vampire. Sunday’s game will be a lot of fun.

We passed 100 sessions of my Sunday campaign a few weeks ago. It is the longest regular game I have ever ran. It won’t end until either I, the players, or both decide we’re ready for something else.

I didn’t do all the things I wanted to do the past couple of years, but I did many things that I’m glad I did. I keep hoping things will ease up so I can actually go and do things without having to worry about getting COVID-19. I had a new health challenge of diabetes, but I kicked it hard and just have a once a week injection. No signs of cancer over a year after having my prostate out.

My mood and motivation at work are better than they have been in over a decade. I’m getting a lot of non-gaming things done so that I have more time for gaming.

I’m hoping by mortgage refinance goes through so I can get out of debt in less than ten years so maybe I don’t have to wait until I’m 67 to retire and enjoy more games.

The Year Ahead

For 2022, I’m looking at putting out my card game. It won’t have the polish and so forth of others, but it will be available via DriveThruRPG or GameCrafters. No promises on when, as I’m juggling a lot right now. My busy time of year at work is January, and I’m having to support a new to me product line so I’m spending a lot of energy getting up to speed on it.

I’ll be at Gary Con in March and also Marmalade Dog. I’ll have another GarageCon this summer. It will be a lot less work this year since I already cleaned out the garage.

If there’s a GrandCon, I’ll attend. I’ll also do GameHole Con and UCon if they are in-person.

I’d also like to give each of my PDFs a new editing pass and revise the layout, and add to them. When I do that they will no longer be Pay What You Want.

I’ll also keep playing in the Wednesday Night game and running my Sunday game. I’d love to run something for an in-person group, but not until COVID-19 is behind us. Not sure if 2022 will see that.

My mood and frame of mind is better than it’s been in a long time. Getting past prostate cancer in the midst of a pandemic, then dealing with diabetes must have been the shock to the system I needed. I’m having much more insight into why I have some of the struggles I’ve had with doing things related to maintaining motivation and not getting lost in lots of Netflix and YouTube. I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but my much healthier lifestyle and mindset will lead me to do more of the things I want to do in the coming year.

RPGs

Grave Growth

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The flowers and other flora that grow on graves is called Grave Growth.

For burials in the ground the growth is flowers.

For burials in crypts, sarcophagi, or urns the growth is lichens, moss, or fungi.

Graves, graveyards/cemeteries, battlefields, and other places of mass death whether by disease or slaughter will be covered with such growth.

The common folk will all know about these signs of death and burial.

The source of these growths is debated.

How do they only grow over graves?

How do the seeds find the soil to take root?

Possible Explanations Are Many:

Soul “fragments” are actually the seeds of growth.

The blood, bones, or organs contain the seeds.

The gods themselves plant them. (Or the god with death in their portfolio.)

Harvesters or Gatherers of the souls of the dead plant them. (Think like Valkyries retrieving Viking warriors.)

More Signs

While the living flowers or other flora signify a grave, when those flowers die, it indicates the body that rested there has risen in undeath.

Use In Game

The party comes upon a huge field of grave growth flowers. This is a sign of an ancient graveyard or necropolis.

If the field is of dead grave growth, then there is a past or current army of the dead.

Names

I’ve struggled to some up with a specific name for such flowers. This is an idea wanting a name. If you use it in your game, come up with your own name for such growths.

Death flowers doesn’t fit. Grave flowers is a generic term like grave growth.

Grave Watch or Grave’s Watch, as if the flowers are watching or standing watch over the grave sounds cool.

Death Blossom sounds cool, but is already taken by The Last Starfighter.

Death Floret sort of works. Grave Floret sounds better.

Final Floret, Black Floret, Red Floret…. Still not quite it.

There’s a word I can’t quite bring to mind. Searching for synonyms didn’t give it.

Source

This idea came to me while I was mowing the yard. When I took a break for water, I scribbled down my idea before I forgot it.

I have no idea if there are such things in the real world, or if any fantasy world has something like this.

A quick internet search lead to what are the most common plants to plan at a gravesite. I found one reference to a carnivorous plant in an RPG wiki, but nothing like what I envision.

RPGs

When Wizards Die

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I’m prepping for this week’s session of my Sunday AD&D game on Roll20. Two sessions ago, the party sailed into port of the capitol city of the kingdom of which they have adventured at the far reaches until now.

Last week marked session 100 of the campaign, and they continued their big city adventures by visiting the wizard’s quarter/wizard’s college. The party is seeking to unload some items they don’t want to carry for items they want for future endeavors.

I run a low magic campaign.

By this I mean:

  • Most magic has to be discovered during adventuring.
  • Magic shops means places to buy ingredients, not magic.
  • Healing Elixirs with side effects of exhaustion can be obtained from alchemists.
  • Healing potions can be obtained from temples, plus healing spells.
  • Some NPC casters will sell potions & scrolls, or spells to PC casters.
    • There are certain spells casters don’t trust with others.
    • The party took giant parts to a local wizard and got back half the amount back as either potions of giant strength, or giant control.

By having a wizards academy in the capitol, it pushes the boundary. My campaign timeline is about a thousand years after the last great empire fell. Wars and devastation fought by wizards trying to keep things together, or get their own slice of the pie, made plentiful magic and the old academies a thing of the past.

The capitol of this kingdom, a province of the last empire, has had 500 years to build back up. The capitol is far from its past glory. The wizard’s college has mixed stonework from building on the foundations of ruins. However, the illusionist’s part is pristine and complete, due to the power of illusion.

Ancient wizarding families have kept some traditions alive, but the ability to use over 5th level spells is rare. The methods of the ancients for training wizards is lost and it takes a long time, AKA the grind of adventuring, to gain access to (rediscover) lost knowledge.

This means that making new magic items, other than potions & scrolls, is very rare.

Instead of a city lit by continual light, only the academy and the rich have such things.

So it finally occurred to me while prepping for this week’s session.

What Happens When Wizard Dies?
  • What happens to spell books, lab equipment, potions, scrolls, etc. of a wizard when they die?
    1. If they have family or others mentioned in their will it goes to them.
      • If things are planned out in advance they may have notes on command words and other instructions for items.
        • Potions & scrolls are labeled.
      • If no plans are made, the family takes their chances figuring things out.
    2. If they make other arrangements, such as to have it hidden or destroyed.
      • Hidden or Destroyed because they don’t trust their family or anyone else, or don’t like them, or don’t want to share.
      • If hidden, is it documented with clues or a map?
        • One way of hiding is with Nystul’s Magic Aura to put a dweomer onto mundane items causing much confusion for those seeking to understand what the item does.
    3. If no family or other arrangements, the Council will take charge of it to prevent it falling into the wrong hands. They may do this on their own authority backed by tradition, or under the authority of the Monarch. If under the Monarch, the Council holds it in trust for the monarchy.
      • The thieves guild may keep an eye on an aged or ill wizard to pounce and get some good stuff before it’s packed away.
      • A multi-class elf, half-elf, or dual class human magic-user/thief or gnomish thief/illusionist may be in charge of this, since they have the specialized knowledge to know which is the good stuff.
      1. If a wizard dies who resides outside the capitol, it depends on the distance and circumstances.
        • In a distant city, the local noble or governor or city council may get first choice as part of taking things under their charge under the national government.
          • With less oversight and no other official wizards living in the city, the process may not be transparent, or entirely above board. Chance for corruption.

How Do Wizards Die?

Just like everyone else, wizards can die from injury, illness, old age, accident, or murder.

All of these can happen on an adventure.

They can also happen in the everyday life of a wizard doing research and experiments.

Crossing the wrong people, like rival wizards, the thieves guild, etc. can also get one dead.

In My Campaign

Many sessions back, the party learned of NPC wizards in cities near their main adventure area back then. Two such wizards died in the recent past, i.e. a decade or more, and without heirs, the local nobles stepped in.

It suddenly occurred to me during the prep for this week’s session that past wizards associated with the council who died of old age would leave behind all their wizard stuff.

This leads to questions:

  • Where is all that stuff now?
    • Is it in the city?
    • Is it secure?
    • Is it lost or hidden?
  • Who has that stuff?
    • Can they use it?
    • Do they know how to use it?
    • Do they want or need to sell it?

Over a given number of years or centuries, wizards will die. That means there is potential for a lot of items to be in the world, like spellbooks, potions, scrolls, ingredients, inks, quills, parchment, lab equipment, a lab, a tower or other base, familiars, homonculi, trapped or bound creatures such as elementals, djinn, efreet, demons, devils, apprentices, pets, family, servants, etc.

Without a regimented system and the ability to police it there won’t be an estate sale, at least not one that includes magic.

More likely, a group or individual wizard, or other interested party will move in to claim it all, or pick over for what they want. This could lead to open duels or battles between factions or individuals.

This is one of those times session prep has opened a whole new can of worms that I feel like I have to solve now. I’m going to ignore that feeling and just make a mental note of it (and get this blog post out of it).

With more time, I cold develop a set of tables, but for now, I’ll just sketch out the tables I’d make once I make the time.

  • How did they die?
  • When did they die?
  • Did they have family or others they wanted to have their stuff?
    • Did they make a will?
    • Can the will be found?
    • Can the will be enforced?
    • Were they broke and creditors get involved? (real or fake creditors?)
    • Were they under a feeblemind or other curse?
  • Did they have enemies?
    • Do the enemies show up?
    • Do they fight the beneficiaries or each other or both?
    • Are the enemies other wizards, thieves guild, other adventurers, government, other nation, extra planar being(s), etc?
  • What did they leave behind?
    • Spellbooks, potions, scrolls, ingredients, inks, quills, parchment, lab equipment, a lab, a tower or other base, familiars, homonculi, trapped or bound creatures such as elementals, djinn, efreet, demons, devils, apprentices, pets, family, servants, etc?
    • Tower or other lair, or rented space?
  • Did they hide their stuff?
    • Are there any clues like notes, puzzles, or maps?
      • Did they have a trusted servant to handle things.
      • Did they follow the task faithfully?
    • Did they cast Nystul’s Magic Aura on a bunch of junk?

The above are the questions I’d have to consider or develop tables of options to help me decide. Are there any possibilities I’ve left out that you feel should be considered? Please comment below.