The Poisoned Chalice

This epic, sprawling Whodunnit of a solo (starts off for a group of 6 actually!) has been available as a book at Lulu for a while now but on 1 September it will race out of the stables before dT&T!

It has a cast of (almost) thoousands of NPCs and is split in to chapters.

Over its period of writing, I had Kopfy, Mad Roy and Jerry T all take a look at parts of it and I nod a nod of thanks most sincerely.

I hope you like it...

How (Not) To Play Dungeons & Dragons

from  http://hitstokill.blogspot.co.nz/search/label/Tunnels%20and%20Trolls

Tunnels And Trolls

The Complete Fantasy Game.

I dug out my Tunnels and Trolls book yesterday (although I forgot to put it in the car) and headed off to Miranda, for what proved to be a most enjoyable day of roleplaying. I played a Hobbit called Clegg the Remarkable, alongside another Hobbit, two Fairies, an Elf and a Wizard. Actually we were mostly spellcasters of one sort or other. Ahmen's character was the only human; Deadly Vapours, a ghostly character barely holding onto existence after an unfortunate magical catastrophe in his Wizardly past.

The only Warrior amongst us was Clegg's cousin, Felen. Upon meeting Clegg she informed him that their entire family had died in a fire. Later this story changed to death by falling cows. Or was that flaming cows? Charlie's character Felen turned out to be a pyromaniac, although she had help keeping this under control.

Gathering at The Jasmine Dragon Tea Rooms, this unlikely party had a Jack and the Beanstalk type adventure that involved all manner of fantasy tropes bent and twisted beyond recognition. A thoroughly delightful day, with Mark Thornton at the helm, an excellent gamemaster and a good friend of Ken St. Andre. It turns out Mark (and his son Charlie), write solo adventures for Tunnels and Trolls.

Obviously with that sort of game mastery, it didn't matter that I'd left my rule book behind! Characters were created with a mix of point buy and dice, resulting in a group of characters that were quick and smart but not particularly tough or strong. Due to the party being low on brawn, some player expertise was required throughout the game - light on combat and heavy on exploration and negotiation. Saving throws were used for the few skirmishes but there was very little in the way of toe-to-toe slug matches that you might experience in a game with more frontline muscle.

Memorable moments include the fairies, Marmaduke and Fay, healing the Elf's head wound. The Elf Gohan had fallen badly through a trap door. Marmaduke applied his 'lucky' first aid talent using straw and bandages with almost fatal effect. Fay then used her 'faith' healing ability and brought Gohan back from the brink. Later the brave Felen killed a charging giant chicken. No mean feat for a Hobbit armed only with a knife! Gohan and the Fairies freed the Giant's wife from a life of servitude and domestic violence while my own character found a magic ring (which can animate bones) and talked the Giant into descending the beanstalk for a cup of tea.

After the game I also played some guitar with Ahmen. All and all a great day with some fine folks!

Shark Hunting off Khaghtch'an

Just began Monday by opening a new scene in 'Missing Inaction' - shark hunting. I can see the throwaway line that led to this new avenue to explore giving rise to another dozen paragraphs.

The Friday game saw the cannonballs left undisturbed but the dwarf captain of the barge was forced to turn pirate when the PCs decided to test their strength by taking out the Watch boat when they were stopped for inspection. Not straightaway, true, but it always lurked their as a possibility. A new creature was discovered in the barge's cargo bay - the snook, a large rodent with kangaroo back legs, a leonine head and four arms ending with wicked claws. One PC got the job of 'snook tamer' (and feeder) and has to go into the cage with them once a day. Another PC got the task of cooking a stew for the uruks and ogres making up the crew of Captain Bastart's law boat. Thee players proclaimed it the 'best game ever' so I travelled home at the end of the week tired but well pleased.