Gen Con 2011 Sunday Events

Wrapping up the 2011 Gen Con I signed up for the traditional "will I play it or start home early" game.  This year the honor goes to another Ubiquity engine powered game.

Name: Miracle Stone of the Amazon

Synopsis: You have the only map to the lost city of Paititi, rumored to be filled with riches beyond imagination. Travel through the darkest reaches of the Amazon and into the web of an ancient conspiracy of murder, greed, and miraculous revelations. Part of the "Play With the Creators" series.


Why I signed up for it: It was an interesting sounding adventure, one where you get a chance to play with the creators.  The time was also one that I will likely be able to get finished before leaving for home.


Now all that is left is to play these fun games and wrap them all up!

Gen Con 2011 Saturday Events

Saturday continues on Friday's proud tradition of excessive gaming with another early start at 9 am.

Name: Temple of the Beastmen


Synopsis: While guarding a caravan traveling through the Auroch Hills, our heroes find the usual path blocked. Can they find an alternate route to get the caravan through?


Why I signed up for it: I know nothing about this Hellfrost setting, but I do always enjoy a good Savage Worlds game.  I kind of reminds me of a simplified version of D&D 4e.  This makes for a perfect fit for early morning gaming.




Plowing on right through lunch the gaming continues with the following event starting at 1 pm.


Name: Incident at Owl Lake


Synopsis: You and your friends have anticipated this camping trip for a long time. It is a time to rest, find solace in your companions, and escape the dreaded yet unremembered nightmares. You hope to banish the vague sense of unease, that sense of loss, which has disturbed you for so long. Surely nothing horrific could happen here in the dark forest near the lake beneath the bright night sky. An immersive event with lights + sound.


Why I picked it: More than one chance to play a Fudge / FATE game at Gen Con was too much to pass up.  That and the use of lighting and sounds had me interested from a multimedia perspective.


Proving that the one thing I do best is excess I have yet another game on Satuday.


Name: The Witch-King of Kromdar


Synopsis: Across the land, people whisper of Kromdar. Kromdar, the City of Death! Kromdar, home of the blasphemous Witch-King Uluk! Only a madman would willingly venture to Kromdar. A madman or, possibly, a band of swordsmen who have heard rumors of vast treasure hidden beneath the city’s streets. Can you find the treasure, or will you suffer slow, agonizing torture at the hands of the Witch-King?


Why I signed up for it: Another chance to play a QAGS event and I am a sucker for traditional adventure and mentioning that only a mad man would attempt the like is sure to bring me to the door knocking!

Gen Con 2011 Friday Events

Friday, along with Saturday, is my heavy gaming day. It starts of early and runs strong late into the night.  My first event starts off at 8 am.

Name: Save the Family Jewels


Synopsis: England's Crown Jewels Have been stolen!!! ...and you let it happen. Can you and you friends restore England's pride and tradition? Nazis, Dinosaurs and fun included...Roleplaying stressed.


Why I signed up for it: It is a pulp adventure and it is using the Hollow Earth Expedition rules, which I have played with before and found enjoyable.  I also noticed the "...Roleplaying stressed." part of the description, so this one should be good.


With a longer than normal break for lunch I am back to gaming at 4 pm.

Name: A nice cup of Egg Frog

Synopsis: December, 1940. Londoners have endured the perils of the Blitz for months, but as Christmastime draws near, hearts once again begin to fill with joy. That is until the children of Puddling Green begin to go missing... A Frog Hall Christmas carol full of holiday fear! Bad accents and hare-brained schemes strongly encouraged.

Why I signed up for it: Even though I sold my copy of Adventure!, and enjoy the system less than Hollow Earth, I signed up for this event as it is run by the same person who ran a VERY enjoyable event last year.  I hope I get to reprise my role as "the worlds greatest dentist."  Truly a fearsome character to play in pulp era London!

Proving that gaming can be a part time job I went ahead and scheduled yet another event starting at 8 pm.

Name: Requiem for a Descent

Synopsis: An eccentric occult enthusiast is hiring a group of scholars to explore the connections between and ancient ruin in southeast Asia and astronomical phenomenon.

Why I signed up for it:  It wouldn't be a real Gen Con without a Cthulhu event.  I like to play CoC events at cons because you have a more than average chance of losing by either death or insanity.  They all usually have some investigative element, which is something I enjoy as well.

Gen Con 2011 Thursday Events

Thursday gaming gets off to a later start for me than usual, with my first event beginning at 2pm.  With this late start I will have time for some dealer's rooming in the morning and even a chance for a leisurely paced convention lunch at the food court.


Name: Pyramids of Atlantis


Synopsis: When unexpected violence shatters the secret peace between the British Empire and the Atlantean Nations, Her Majesty the Queen covertly sees to it that a number of Strange operatives from the Kerberos Club join Her Naval expedition to "investigate." But after two weeks of deep-sea bombardment and demands for surrender, the Atlanteans remain curiously silent. Just what are they up to down there? 


Why I signed up for it: I have a great interest in the pulp era, one that seems to lend itself well to the limited time slots of conventions.  Also, this one had the benefit of being a FATE system event, another big plus.  I was really surprised I way able to make it in for this event.  Custom FUDGE dice already packed.

My late game for Thursday is a QAGS (Quick Ass Gaming System) event.  I have the reputation with my gaming friends of having system ADD.  So had to feed the beast by signing up for a QAGS game.  Having never played this system I am looking forward to trying it out.


Name: Curse of the Alchemist


Synopsis: The savage land of Vekros is home to bold men, brazen women, scheming sorcerers, and hideous beasts. Only by blood and by steel shall you live! Some say the tablets of the legendary artificer Kaarn hold the secrets to everlasting life. Are you brave enough to face the curse of the Alchemist?


Why I signed up for it: The chance to learn a new system and the description for the event sold me.  Fit nicely into my schedule too.


With a late start to gaming and not too terribly late of a conclusion I should be able to get some sleep and maybe even a quick boardgame or two back at the hotel. 

Let's Finally Finish Playing Flight from the Dark

Upon entering the cave I was immediately ambushed by a nasty Burrowcrawler.  Lacking a torch, there was an intense struggle in the dark, one where I finally prevailed over the Burrowcrawler.  Stumbling out of the cave the sunlight nearly blinded me, and the extent of the damage done by the Burrowcrawler became evident.  In the dark battle I did manage to pull a small pouch out of the Burrowcrawler's mouth.  The pouch contained some gold and a small dagger.  Pocketing both the journey to warn the king continued onward.

As the forest thinned out I was able to make out a procession of refuges fleeing with their possessions in carts.  I approached the procession hoping to learn any news from the tired and hungry looking lot.

Just as I was approaching the refuges there came to cry of "Kraan, Kraan!"  I was about to seek shelter back in the forest with the refuges when I noticed a cart filled with children was stuck and unable to reach safety in time.  Chaos ensured, refuges running for cover, Kraan butchering people and children calling for help.  After a very bloody battle where I took significant damage I managed to best the Kraan that had attempted to attack the children.  After the battle I choose to seek shelter in a nearby farmhouse.

Running into the house for shelter I happened to see a Kraan flying overhead with a screaming refuge in its claws, I wasn't able to save everybody after all.  The farmhouse offered safety and I was able to pickup a warhammer that had been abandoned there.  Further investigation of the farmhouse only yield a single meal, into the pack it went as it was better than nothing.

I emerged from the farmhouse as the surviving refuges made their way out of the forest and began to pickup the remains of their shattered possessions.  Sounds of thundering hooves marked the approach of the King's Guard.  

Calling to the guard I shared the news of the monastery's destruction, which saddened them greatly.  They asked if I would accompany them to Prince Pelathar, the King's son.  Seeing the wisdom of safety in numbers I joined and rode off with the Guard.  The search for the Prince was short indeed as he was found in a pitched battle with a large grey Gourgaz.  In the midst of the battle a black arrow struck the Prince in his side, as he fell the Gourgaz moved in for the kill.  I charged in and tried to save the fallen Prince.  Picking up the sword the Prince had dropped I managed to defeat the enraged Gourgaz, after being injured gravely.  My injuries were nothing compared to the mortal wound the Prince had suffered from the black arrows.  His dying words were to "Tell the King he must seek that which is in Durenor or all is lost."  Mounting the Prince's horse I left the battle raging on the bridge grimly determined to pass on the dead Prince's message.

After eating a rushed meal on horseback I came to a fork in the road.  The sign post had been hacked down and with no sense of tracking I choose the left path, in hopes it would lead me to the King.  The path was filled with Giaks mounted on Doomwolves.  Throwing caution to the wind I choose to fight versus seeking shelter in the woods, a choice I would barely live though.  After killing the lead Giak, and recovering a scroll from his body, I was near death and ran for the safety of the forest before remaining Doomwolves could arrive.

Thanks to the Prince's fine horse I was able to escape the Doomwolves.  After pressing on through the forest I came to a shack where a cloaked man offered to row me across the lake for a few gold coins.  My Sixth Sense made me question why, with so much fighting in the area, would someone be rowing people across the lake.  I choose to press on ahead on my own.  

With the outline of Holmgard on the horizon I was faced with one last, albeit difficult, choice.  How was I to make my way into the city itself, as it lay under siege by a large army?  The choices were; via the highway, the river or through an ancient graveyard.  Thinking it to be the lesser of many evils I choose to make my way into the graveyard, a choice which my horse refused to make with me.  Was the beast the smarter of the two of us?

Upon making my way into the graveyard I found my horse's hesitation to be warranted as the ground collapsed dropping me into a subterranean tomb of some long forgotten noblemen.  Before my curiousness could lead me into opening the sarcophagus my Sixth Sense warned me of an intense evil in the area.  Finally finding my way to what I took to be the exit to this tomb I was confronted by a locked door, a very intricate lock indeed. Having no other way to try and open the lock I choose to pull the pin.  When the pin was withdrawn a large block collapsed, nearly squashing me flat.  I was able to climb up and make my way out of the tomb thanks to the block.  

After making my way into the city I was assisted by the town's guard into a meeting with the King.  After telling the King about the Prince's fate as well as that of the other Kai Lords I was offered a chance to help the kingdom by going to Durenor and returning with the Sommerswerd, the sword of the sun.  Wanting to do all that I can I choose to accept this mission.

  

Let's Finally Play Flight from the Dark

With the monastery in ruins and the other Kai brothers slain it was obvious that the King had to be warned of this treacherous attack.


In setting off from the monastery my sixth senses warned of creatures searching for survivors.  Using this knowledge I was able to keep to the undergrowth and avoid detection heading off to the northeast.  Always being hounded by the same enemies that destroyed the monastery and killed my friends.

Near the ruins an ancient forest temple, I happened upon a scene of a young magician fighting with numerous Giaks. The magician was about to be slain by a hidden Giak. Not wanting to witness any more death at the hands of these monsters today, the choice made itself. Surprising the Giak I was able to overpower and slay it. The remaining monsters then fled off into the forest. I then learned that the magician's name was Banedon, a member of the Brotherhood of the Crystal Star. He had been sent on a mission to warn the Kai of the coming attack. I told him that he was too late and the Kai were no more. He gave me a Crystal Star pendant, with the instruction to wear it and it might bring me some protection and luck in the journey to come.  Our discussion was cut short by the return of a larger party of the Giaks, we parted ways, as I sought to escape in the forest.

After some backtracking to avoid some "sleeptooth" weeds I entered into Fogwood, a small cluster of huts that had been used by a family of charcoal burners, who had also fallen to the muderous Giak. My exit from the last hut was under the close observation of a large black raven, what its intentions were, if anything were beyond my ability.

A short while later I found that the raven did indeed have a master. But who was this master? I called to him and found him to be a Vordak, a hideous undead lieutenant of the Darklords.  With the murder of my brothers still fresh I fought and gave the true death to the Vordak.  As the Vodak fell his fellows erupted out of the undergrowth and begin to attack me with arrows.  Greed getting the better of me, I grabbed a large green gem.  The gem burned my hand with an unhealthy fire, but it must be worth hundreds of crowns, surely?  After a perilous race through the forest the Giak were finally left behind.  After wandering lost for many hours I finally happened upon a dark cave, the cave would be a nice short cut through the hill, saving a lot of time, but what horrors were waiting for me inside.

Find out more in Part 2.

Let's Setup Flight from the Dark

It all started out innocently enough, on the morning of the feast of Fehmarn by being given a simple task of finding firewood for the monastery.  Nothing else from that point on would ever be simple again.

From a distant vantage point Silent Wolf was witness to the Darklords attack on the Kai monastery.  Hurrying to join the battle Silent Wolf entered an unnatural darkness and was struck a blow to the head and rendered unconscious.  When he returned to conscience the Darklord attack was over, the monastery was in flames and all his brothers had been slain.  He was Silent Wolf no more.

So begins the tale of Lone Wolf . . .

Flight from the Dark Character generation

Character generation is a mix of choosing from a list of skills and some random rolls to determine what makes up Silent Wolf.  The initial selection of skills makes it possible to really customize your character, looks like fun!

Selection of starting disciplines (you get to choose five):

• Camouflage enables a Kai Lord to blend in with his surroundings. He can hide undetected among trees and rocks and pass close to an enemy without being seen.
• Hunting ensures that a Kai Lord will never starve in the wild and to be able to move stealthily when stalking his prey.
• Sixth Sense may warn a Kai Lord of imminent danger and may also reveal the true purpose of a stranger or strange object.
• Tracking enables a Kai Lord to make the correct choice of a path in the wild, to discover the location of a person or object in a town or city and to read the secrets of footprints or tracks.
• Healing can be used to restore 1 ENDURANCE point to your total for every numbered section of the book you pass through in which you are not involved in combat.
• Weaponskill When you enter combat carrying a weapon you are skilled in, you add 2 points to your COMBAT SKILL.
• Mindshield  prevents you from losing any ENDURANCE points when subjected to mental attacks.
• Mindblast enables a Kai Lord to attack an enemy using the force of his mind and adds a two extra points to your COMBAT SKILL. Not all the creatures encountered will be harmed by Mindblast.
• Animal Kinship enables a Kai Lord to communicate with some animals and to be able to guess the intentions of others.

• Mind Over Matter enables a Kai Lord to move small objects with his powers of concentration.

My choices were:

1. Hunting: If you don't have meals to eat you lose 3 endurance and this allows you to sneak too.
2. Six Sense: Not dieing is important, and spider sense should help.
3. Healing: I want this project to last as many books as possible, this skill is a must!
4. Weapon Skill (Warhammer): Silent Wolf is a fighting monk, he would have some kind of weapon skill.
5. Mindblast: Cheap way to get a +2 advantage in combat over most foes.

Determined by random rolls:

1. Combat Ability (10+d10): 16
2. Endurance (20+d10): 25

Equipment by some random rolls:

1. An Axe
2. A Meal
3. Gold Crowns (d10): 3
4. A map of Sommerlund, pictured at the top of this entry
5. Another random weapon, this time a Mace
   
   
   I feel pretty happy with my selection of skills, all thing a trained monk would need to know to survive in the world. My random number generating did let me down a bit leaving me with average combat skill and endurance. I was quite disappointed in ending up skill with the Warhammer only to have an Axe as the default weapon and randomly rolling up a Mace, another weapon I am unskilled with, such is life.

   
   

   So with these selections made and random numbers generated Silent Wolf is ready to head out to gather some fire wood, surely nothing bad could possibly happen on a simple errand such as that.

Let's Read the Lone Wolf Game Book Series

The Flight from the Dark by Joe Dever was the beginning of the Lone Wolf series of choose your own adventure gamebooks.  In 1984 in the first month of publication it sold over 100,000 copies of the series debut alone.

It was one of the first "advanced" versions of choose your own adventure books I played as a kid.  Advanced, in that not only were you making decisions and reading associated passages, but you were also fighting combat with random number generation to determine the combat outcome.  It was also possible to customize your version of Lone Wolf picking from an assortment or starting skills.

The books are now all available online at Project Aon where you can read them for free and play along if you'd like.

Since it has been so long since I originally read these books it will be very much like a blind play-though.  I will be using the online versions of the books through Project Aon and a standard 10-sided die instead of the random number generator table originally provided in the back of the books. I won't cheat and use spoilers, walk-throughs  or re-make any bad decisions.

This means when Lone Wolf dies this project is over.  With the series running over 30 books it will be quite a challenge, a Magnakai sized one at that.

How far will I make it . . . Flight From the Dark starting soon.