Time Off

My apologies; I really didn't mean to let so much time pass between posts again. I guess April took a bit more out of me than I thought.

The gaming group has also unintentionally taken a few months off. "Not gaming" is sometimes conducive to "not producing" gaming material.

Of course, my father passing away in the meantime hasn't helped matters any.

Hopefully, however, I'll be able to get into a groove again, and at least post regularly, if not often.

Motivations

This post is dedicated to every DM who has ever had a Warmage -- or a trigger-happy magic user of ANY type -- in their party.

On Beyond Zebra -- An A-Z April Challenge Retrospective

Finally, I see the backside of April. It's been a long, trying month on many fronts. It's been educational too.

For one thing, my brain hurts. I proved to myself that I could, in fact, put together a blog post every day. Admittedly, some--probably many--of the posts were half-hearted or half-baked, but it was daily. I also proved to myself that I didn't really want to post every day. Hopefully I can find a happy medium between the "daily" posts of the past month and the "hardly ever" post of the prior year.

It's been fun, but I'm going to take a couple days off to rest my brain. I'll see you all in a few.

Z is for Zero Dice Roleplaying

Look.

I collect dice. I don't have a huge collection, but I have more than my wife can believe.

I'll be honest: I love dice. All kinds of dice. All shapes, sizes, colors, and numbers of sides.

I love rolling them, stacking them, and spinning them like makeshift tops.

I love playing games with them, allowing them to decide the fate of my characters and of my players' characters.

But are they necessary to a good game? To an evening of fun?

Y is for Yllseriad, Shrine of

Deep in the woods outside of Coldtreath a small footpath meanders past a stone altar. On that altar rests a crudely shaped stone bowl; the bowl is full of crystal-clear water. It is always full of water and that water is always crystal-clear and pure.

--Click here for a pdf.--

X is for X'rr

Waulker, the half-orc, traveling home after discharge from the Army came across a dying baboon in a trap. He released the baboon and nursed it back to health. Since that time, it has been a constant companion to Waulker, and has even grown to tolerate Vesseth. Between the two of them, they have given it some rudimentary training and X’rr responds to some simple commands, although only if given by either Waulker or Vesseth. Many in Coldtreath had never before seen a baboon before X’rr, and many are still startled or scared when they come in contact with him, although they commonly remark at X’rr’s dog-like loyalty.

W is for Waulker

Waulker is known throughout Coldtreath as Vesseth’s partner and bodyguard. He has been Vesseth’s shadow since they were in the Army together. Many believe that he is in Vesseth’s employ, and wonder how Vesseth can possibly afford to keep his loyalty. Many have tried to buy him away from Vesseth’s side and have failed. Some have paid dearly for the attempt.

V is for Vesseth

Vesseth is well-known throughout Coldtreath, especially in the Lower Quarters. He is one of Coldtreath's nightsoil collectors. As such, it is not uncommon to see him prowling through the streets at all hours of the day or night.

U is for Urosh, Temple of

Because of some personal issues, I don't have a lot of time to post today. However, so that I can keep up with the daily posts....

Behold! The Temple of Urosh the Magnificent!

T is for Thoklin Oroxel

Thoklin Oroxel is a member of the Silent Blade, the private guard of the Mayor of Coldtreath. She is one of the more senior members, a Lieutenant in rank, and unusually good at what she does, even for this elite group.

Thoklin is of average height and average build, but extremely attractive. Her red eyes and blonde hair add to her exoticness, but her beauty comes from something else: call it self-assuredness, call it poise, call it magic, call it her demon-blood--whatever you call it, it works.

S is for Sheriff

Darryill Epting is the current sheriff of the city of Coldtreath. Unlike the mayoral position, his is an elected position; he is currently up for re-election. Sheriff Epting is a long-time friend and ally of the Mayor, who is taking advantage of his popularity and position to stump for the sheriff.

R is for Real Life

As happens all too frequently, real life has interrupted the game today. Please bear with me and I'll return (hopefully tomorrow) with some new content.

I'm simply not up to it today. It's been a long month and I've reached a breaking point. My imagination is simply not working today.

One month ago, we received a call at 2:30 a.m. this morning that my wife's mother was fading fast. She'd spent the last month in a rehab center after falling and breaking her hip (and undergoing her second hip replacement in three years). My wife rushed to her side and held her hand for the next four hours until she passed.

Q is for Quaint Folk

The “Quaint Folk” as they are called around Coldtreath are observants of an ancient and peculiar religion. Most of the origins of this religion are lost to history and known only to the clerics and religious leaders of the order; they are certainly not shared with outsiders. “Quaint Folk” is a rough pronunciation for the word they have for themselves, which most outsiders find to be nearly unpronounceable. The word matches no known language or dialect and the order is again none too forthcoming with the origins of the term. What is generally known about the order follows:

P is for Poushif Bonereader

Poushif Bonereader is considered to be the “oddest bird in a aviary of crazy” around Coldtreath. Born to a human father and a dragonborn mother, he was bound to have issues. Despite his oddities, however, he is a wealthy man and a man of some influence in the city. He is also one with a unique role in society: the Merchant Necromancer.

O is for Opening Doors

As some of you may know, I've been running a game for my rugrats.

And by "running" I mean off-and-on for over a year whenever we get around to it.

It's been a lot of fun--we've played into the wee morning hours in our trailer; we've played during power outages, we've played both with and without Dad using his laptop for DMing.

I've been using the dumbed-down version of 3.5 released as the "Basic Set" (the 2006 version). This box set contains an "introductory version" with miniatures, dice, and dungeon map tiles. It also contains a sheet of tokens representing doors, chests, treasure, etc.

The kids have loved it and I've enjoyed it as a cut-down version of the rules; it allows me, as DM, to implement and introduce additional rules and features of the game as we go.

One frustrating thing, though: as always, the Wizards of the Coast team do an amazingly bad job of consistent and intelligible detail.