Shits is about to be on.
Tomorrow night I jump into running my first tabletop campaign in…this is insane…almost a dozen years. I’m not comfortable with the idea of having done anything for a dozen years…let alone NOT done something in that timespan.
So we’re descending into ‘Ware the Moloch tomorrow/day. I do love this campaign: both at the current, zoomed-in level where players only represent the Ludovician Defenders; and the broader, contested campaign where the same group of players pilot a set of characters against their own interests.
A few things might be in flux, and some potential attendees haven’t (to my current knowledge) responded, but as it stands the party consists of:
Ayrikka Rokanski- Only in battle can this warrior be free, cleansed in a baptismal font of foeblood.
Brother Aeneas Barbounian- White gauze hides calloused knuckles, a pacifist pledge ever-broken.
Kilmora Whurja- The Iron Mistress shatters the bodies of her foes through sheer force of will.
Sievel- This half-elf and her mysterious feline companion pursue a lost artifact crafted by her father, himself a victim of careless magic.
Scirocco Windyleaf- Magic, men, fate itself; this brings equal aplomb to toying with all three.
Osario Barzillai Mockfoil- A rogue, a rake, a man with a rapier; whimsy and honor war in this young man’s heart.
It’s a balanced party at present, doubled up in the predictable area (Strikers) and the less typical (Leaders). The party will have a choice of three distinct adventures, each of which will bring them to the attention of a different draconic nemesis; there are obviously more interlocking pieces at work, of course, so the adventure they select will have consequences in terms of what they don’t pursue.
I picked up Monster Vault: Threats to the Nentir Vale today, thinking I was buying the standard Monster Vault. Overall I’m satisfied with the happenstance–though never the service at the Cheyenne Barnes and Noble, which is…bad–and actually pulled a few lovelies from the attached book that should make appearances at the table. I’ve vacillated about whether it’s good or bad to combine tokens and figures on a map, but I hope it makes the PCs feel dope and lets me highlight significant threats where appropriate; I certainly have figures enough for nearly any foe, but not in the quantity I need for a dozen goblins and the like.
Ego Poisoning 
Time to melt some faces >=)
Soooo jealous. I miss gaming, particularly D&D, though the last D&D I played was back in the days of 3.5, the only think I’ve been able to do since is Exalted and man, do I LOVE me some Exalted. You still an unflinchingly brutal DM, or have you mellowed since the days of high school, 2nd Edition and flammable, alcohol-soaked goblins?
For the first night, at least, my brutality was both tempered and enhanced by the magic of the dice. I did nearly kill my wife, but it was purely due to a brutal roll and her playing a wizard (a wizard whose first several rolls were 19, 18, etc–meaning she killed a horde of zombos before I got my swing in, and my zombos were going second AND third!).
The adventure I was modifying, though, included a beautiful twist where none of the zombies were zombies. So in that way my cruelty continued unabated, given that the party just massacred close to 20 villagers plus everyone in the tavern who was caught up in the fight.
Haven’t had a chance to bust out my alcohol gobbos yet, however; they were pretty unique to that beloved campaign, which I’ve never tried updating past second.
I also love some Exalted, and Scion, and am about to jump feet-first into a Kerberos Club FATE game. If you haven’t looked into that ruleset Brett, do yourself a solid and pick up the free pdf (find the link that says “here” on ).