Troll Lord Games

Well, after 19 sessions over 11 months, the C&C game I've been running has come to a close.

"The Heroes of the Gnarley" campaign took place in the Gnarley Forest, in The World of Greyhawk, during Common Year 576-77.

The campaign took six players (playing initially a gnome bard, gnome wiz/ilu, elf ranger, elf druid, human rogue, and dwarven cleric) from level 1 to 5-ish. During that time, we had one insta-death by 'cause serious wounds' [gnome bard], one insta-death by acid [dwarf], one death (and subsiquent resurrection) by cloud kill [rogue], one death (and subsiquent resurrection) by owlbear biting his head off [gnome wiz/ilu], and one permanent ethereal imprisonment inside a devourer [gnome wiz/ilu]. {Yes, I run a brutal campaign--but fair}.

It was fun, but I'm burned out of running a game after almost a year, and am handing the torch to one of the players. We will be using OSRIC next.

as long as everyone had fun, mission accomplished!

DMing a lot can be tough. enjoy the break!

11 months and 19 sessions, not a bad run.
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Never throw rocks at a man with a Vorpal Sword!

Any specific reason why the other guy is using OSRIC instead of AD&D? I see AD&D original 1st edition and 2nd edition books on ebay going for cheap prices.

Breakdaddy wrote:
Any specific reason why the other guy is using OSRIC instead of AD&D? I see AD&D original 1st edition and 2nd edition books on ebay going for cheap prices.

You silly bean...it's because AD&D is dead, remember?!
Sorry, my bad.
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Eulaliaaa!!! Give those rapscallions blood and vinegar, wot?!

Be sure to check out Jim's artwork for sale:
http://jimhollowayart.com/id5.html

Deogolf wrote:
You silly bean...it's because AD&D is dead, remember?!
Sorry, my bad.

ONOES!!!!111!!

I killed it! With my Leather Bound Collector's Edition of the Dungeons & Dragons Third Edition Player's Handbook!

I'm joking.

Yeah, this past January my 30 month, approximately 140 session (3 to 4 hours each), campaign came to an end. We then gave me a break by playing L5R for about 6 weeks, and now I am running a C&C/AD&D3 game based in the Wilderlands. After 2 sessions in I think its off to a real strong start.
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The Ruby Lord, Earl of the Society

Next Con I am attending: http://www.neoncon.com/

My House Rules: http://www.freeyabb.com/phpbb/viewtopic ... llordgames

Breakdaddy wrote:
Any specific reason why the other guy is using OSRIC instead of AD&D? I see AD&D original 1st edition and 2nd edition books on ebay going for cheap prices.

I haven't looked at it yet, but he says he likes it because it is better organized, with a few tweeks he likes.

We will try it, and see how it goes. I am a staunch C&Cer, but have a place in my heart for B/X D&D as well. Even when I played AD&D, it was more like 'advanced B/X D&D'.

I am actually starting Age of Worms this Saturday night. Still deliberating which system to run it in. I do not like 3.5 that much, but I am too lazy to convert it.

ThrorII wrote:
I haven't looked at it yet, but he says he likes it because it is better organized, with a few tweeks he likes.

We will try it, and see how it goes. I am a staunch C&Cer, but have a place in my heart for B/X D&D as well. Even when I played AD&D, it was more like 'advanced B/X D&D'.

Yeah, that is what I use OSRIC for, use the 1E books, but when you find a explanation confusing find it in OSRIC and its much clearer.

Edit: perhaps a better way to look at OSRIC is 1E D&D with 30 years of errata incorporated.
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The Ruby Lord, Earl of the Society

Next Con I am attending: http://www.neoncon.com/

My House Rules: http://www.freeyabb.com/phpbb/viewtopic ... llordgames

Sounds fun. The last CK we had kept us in an inn, yes, an inn, for over 1 year of real time (it was 3 weeks game time)... but, that was mostly because the players weren't too bright about getting away (and no one would follow my druid who wasn't even allowed to enter the inn....) so, hey, at least you played.
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Serl's Corner

As a player in Tree's last extended online campaign, we had a blast with the game. The new one is shaping up to be a real kickarse one, me thinks.

R-
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Rigon o' the Lakelands, Baron of The Castles & Crusades Society
The Book of the Mind

Secret Skeleton wrote:
I am actually starting Age of Worms this Saturday night. Still deliberating which system to run it in. I do not like 3.5 that much, but I am too lazy to convert it.

I played in Age of Worms...hated it!

It was my first experience with paizo adventures "threads". A thread is a piece of cord that follows a general linear path. A path implies one must stay on it or risk becoming lost. just an observation. (Please Treebore don't beat me!)

It felt too forced, too contrived...we began asking the DM what he wants us to do next.

He told us it was open ended but it was clear if we did not do a b c and d in that order that the world was going to end.

We felt like no matter what we did the end was near.

Then came the end!

I think it was that adventure "thread" that set the precendent for other paizo products for me. Certain bad table chemistry may have influenced my opinion too.

Thats ok though. If it were not for companies like Paizo and WOTC, I would have never quested for the game I remember as a kid and would have never found C&C.

Yeah, I'm not sure what the hubbub is about a clone.

Maybe its just the word clone but what comes to my mind is a spiritless copy of the real thing. I picture a creepy blank expression and pale clammy skin as it stands silently watching me sleep.
If my memory serves me well, there were definate improvements and game balance stuff that were really needed. why we would move away from obvious improvements for the sake of nostaligia is beyond me. i think we as adults are simply chasing that "magic era" of gaming. Little do we know is that it was probably not as magical and perfect as our memory wishes to paint it. That will explain why each attempt seems to fall short. The only difference is we are not wide eyed naive kids any more. Instead of looking backwards for memories, we should focus on making the now a wonderful memory.

I don't think we need to gnats a$$ every rule to death like 3.x but i'm not sure why we are playing a clone instead of the original.

I tend to think it is less the game you play and more the company you keep that makes or breaks a great game.

Personally I plan to play out of my Gygax special.

Actually I think our Dm has been influenced by the rhetoric of that other web forum. Just the other day I heard him plotting with some other cloners in some vile plan to overrun C&C and forever leave you guys a bloody shambles.
Word has it over there that you guys are not "really" old school.

The agony...the agoooonnnneeee!

Please say it isn't so!

I was in Thrors game and he ran a fun one. It was nice to visit Greyhawk again, even if it was full of oompa loompas...er I mean gnomes.
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'Nosce te Ipsum' -Delphic Maxim

'Follow your bliss.' -Joseph Campbell

One of the reasons I want to run this adventure path is because it has a linear story. That is the selling point. Every game I run is open-ended with adventures thrown in here and there. I want to see how this kind of game feels. Having read through all the issues of Dungeon encompassing the AP I feel that I can lead the characters from A to B without having them ask me to.

I am not dropping random heroes into this and then just shoving them along. I am integrating them into the backstory of the adventure and working with them on each of their personal motivations. I think it will be fun.

For the record, I hate AP's, always have. I hated the ones in 1E (Slave Lords, Against the Giants, etc....) and I hated them when they became officially labeled as AP's in 3E.

The only way they work is if everyone is willing to lock themselves into the "path", and I can't stand doing it as the GM, so I hate running AP's. Ask my Tuesday group about running the Against the Giants and Drow series for them, I hated it. But I/we did it.

So no one will get any beatings from me over not liking Paizo's AP's, I hate them as "AP's" as well, I always break them apart and use them piece meal.

Now if you don't like the content, on a piece by piece basis, then I may beat you...
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The Ruby Lord, Earl of the Society

Next Con I am attending: http://www.neoncon.com/

My House Rules: http://www.freeyabb.com/phpbb/viewtopic ... llordgames

I usually tend to deviate as well. When I ran Expedition to Demonweb Pits, it barely even resembled the proper course, though it began and ended in the intended places.

Age of Worms is an experiment. I have never ran anything like this before, so I am gonna see how I do at it. Twelve consecutive adventures is a hell of a long time to stay on rails, let's see how it goes.

As CK, learn to incorporate your own stories, adventures, and side treks to the AP to make the campaign yours. If the PCs head off the beaten path, find story elements to put them back in the AP. The PCs don't need to know that the adventure/story is that linear. Incorporate the AP into your own game. My suggestion to do so is to run a couple of adventures to start the campaign off completely outside of any AP, and through those adventures lead them into the Adventure Path. That way, the game feels more yours and less theirs (publishers).

~O
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Duke Omote Landwehr, Holy Order of the FPQ ~ Prince of the Castles & Crusades Society

Doing the math, I found few "AP" that produced enough XP to let you use only the supplied adventures, so I've always used them as "signature" adventures for a progressive campaign.

I have always run my games so that the pc's often choose the path that leads to whichever destination I want them to arrive at. I think this will run much the same way, I just want the epic storyline which seems so very fun right now.

I read through all twelve adventures and it gets pretty great, particularly from my point of view as a long-standing Greyhawk fan.

I do not think I will go into Savage Tide, as it really does not have the same feel to it as Age of Worms, at least in its appeal to me.

Still, though I will not be producing it through my line, my wife is going to sculpt some kickass custom monsters for the AP. I'll put them up when they're done (it could be a year before I'll need at least a couple of them).

I hardly ever run premade adventures. My GMing style is to let the players guide the story not the story guide the players. If I am running a convention game then time limits necessitate doing the latter but that's not my preferred style. I will plug a bunch of things into my notes and the characters will see them or not, Im not worried. If they miss something now, it could be a hook for a new adventure later and it gives me time to flesh it out more.

Then again, I dont game as often as some of you guys do, which would necessitate a shift in my style and pacing.