#crypt of the everflame | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

sirspud · 3 years ago

Text

The Daring Ducks: Crypt of the Everflame

Part 1: The Ceremony

Our adventure begins in the sleepy coastal town of Silas, a hamlet notable for only for its fish. The town is named after its founder - Silas McDuck, who bravely defended the burgeoning town from a clan of enemy mercenaries almost two hundred years ago. Every year, when the bitter winter winds whirl into town, the elders of the town delve into Silas's crypt to retrieve a mystical artefact known as the Everflame - an everburning lantern said to bring protection to the town during times of strife.

Every few years, however, the town send a small team of youngsters to retrieve the Everflame, as a sort of coming-of-age tradition. The youngsters delve in, retrieve the flame while braving the crypt's perils, then come back to a splendid feast. It's a taste of adventure for the young men and women, a feeling of freedom and triumph before settling down for a life of fishing like everyone else.

It's early in the morning, three days before the retrieval is to take place, in the modest abode of Donald Duck. Bringing his three troublesome nephews inside, he tells him that they have selected for the trial (against Donald's better judgement), alongside a girl from the outskirts of town.

The reactions are mixed. Dewey is excited. He'd heard tales of people who'd survived the crypt, speaking of its incredible dangers, and he cannot wait to get going. Hell, he's jumping up and down demanding to know why he can't go now.

Huey has heard the same tales, and though he's also excited to do something with his life other than fishing, he's also reasonably concerned. He asks Donald more about the crypt, mentioning that it surely can't be as dangerous as everyone says it is (Diplomacy Check = natural 1). Oblivious to his worry, Donald reassures him that between the four of them - including the girl they've yet to meet - they'll be able to take the crypt easily. As long as they're prepared, of course.

Louie is also initially excited - but then he thinks about it. If the crypt was as dangerous as all the children of the town say it is, then surely there'd be at least one reported death, right? Yet, although there have certainly been injuries, there's never been anyone who's died on the expedition. Suspicious, Louie heads out and tries to gather some more information about the crypt, listening in on conversations and trying to get the information out of people (Perception Check = 9. Diplomacy Check = 14). Infuriatingly, the adults are tight-lipped, and he can't learn anything useful. Nevertheless, he remains sceptical.

The triplets prepare themselves, told to pack light and take only the things they need, since most of their supplies will be given to them by (discretely rolls a random name) Cole Gresham, the town's mayor. The triplets leave most of their things at home, with the exception of their weapons, armour, and a few miscellaneous supplies.

A few days pass, and the boys are standing in the town square, surrounded by a crowd of townsfolk in black attire, as if they were attending a funeral. Their eyes are downcast and mournful, which causes a bit of confusion for the boys. The crowd parts a bit, allowing the mayor to make his way to the front of the crowd, the obese old duck looking uncharacteristically sombre.

“Once again the winter winds blow through the Fangwood, marking the end of another harvest." He calls to the crowd. "There are wolves in the woods, howling at our walls, and serpents in our shadows, waiting to strike. Just as it was one hundred and seventy-four years ago, when Silas himself left these walls to protect us, so it is today. Where are the heroes? Where are the brave folk that will venture out to Silas’s tomb and retrieve the flame to keep this community safe for another winter?”

At this point, Louie is all but convinced that this whole "quest for the Everflame" business is an act (Sense Motive Check = 9). With a confident smirk, he and his brothers walk out in front of the crowd. He plays up the whole sombre mood, saying with some dramatic flair that it is his brothers who shall take up this accursed burden (Perform [Act] Check, taking 10 = 13). The crowd seem to eat it up, and he walks confidently over to the mayor... and right into Webby.

Now, remember that this takes place during the fantasy Middle Ages. When the boys were told that a girl would be accompanying them on their quest, they were imagining a fair farmer's daughter, coming along with them to cook campfire meals and perhaps develop a burgeoning romance with.

What they were not expecting was a 5-foot-10 mountain of a woman dressed in hides and furs, wielding a giant two-handed sword and introducing herself with a obliviously excited scream of, "Hi, I'm Webby!"

Louie leaps backwards with a panicked yelp, falling to the ground gracelessly. The boys are shocked to learn that she isn't a murderous barbarian here to slaughter them, and even more so when they learn that she's the one who'll be accompanying them. She helps Louie up, exclaiming that she's looking forward to retrieving the Everflame with them, and keeping the McDuck legacy alive.

The mayor hands each member of the newly formed party a backpack, within which contains five days of trail rations, a small, folded-up tent, a winter blanket, a full waterskin, and a piece of trail map, leading right to Silas's tomb.

To Dewey, he hands over a 50-foot coil of hemp rope, a tinderbox, and three alchemical tindertwigs.

To Huey, the mayor gives a vial of red liquid labelled as "Healing" and three torches.

Louie gets a bottle of local brandy, much to his delight.

And Webby is offered a grappling hook. She politely refuses, brightly explaining that she already has one.

The final object to be given is one of great importance - a tarnished silver lantern, within which the Everflame shall be contained to be brought back to Silas. He asks the party, "Which of you brave youngsters shall have the honour of carrying the esteemed lantern?"

"I will!" The triplets say in unison.

"...Are we really going to do this?" Louie asks as the brothers stare at each other in annoyance.

Huey immediately puts forward his case - as the eldest triplet, and therefore the most responsible, it should be his responsibility to hold the lantern, since he can be trusted not to pawn it off, glaring at Louie as he says it.

Louie objects, saying that he can be trusted to hold the lantern just as well as Huey can. After all, where could he possibly "pawn it off"? It's not as if he's in contact with a shady rogue from out of town who'll buy anything for any price! He's certainly a better option than Dewey, at any rate.

Dewey defends himself, saying that the 80-gold climber's pack was a "one-time mistake" and that he should carry the lantern because the prestige would instantly make him the coolest guy in town! That kind of fame would be wasted on someone like Huey.

After a good thirty seconds of bickering, the mayor takes initiative and just gives it to Webby, who holds the artefact with awe and to the undisguised anxiety, disappointment and resentment from Huey, Dewey and Louie.

And with that out the way, the mayor speaks to the crowd again, "I present to you the brave heroes who will follow in Silas’s footsteps to retrieve the Everflame! Some of them may not return, but I say to you that their sacrifice shall not be forgotten. Go, brave heroes, and do not return until you have the eternal fire.” He points to the north, where the crypt dwells, and the party are sent on their way, the towns folk waving goodbye with cold, solemn looks...

...With the exception of Uncle Donald, who sends the boys off with cries of "Be safe!", and "Good luck!", and "You can do it!", bringing down the whole mood and earning several dark looks from the nearby townsfolk.

And with that, the first adventure of the Daring Ducks begins!

Part 2

8 notes · View notes

sepiadice · 5 years ago

Text

DiceJar Campaign 0.3: Holes, Doors, and Blood (2020/03/13)

Finally killed my first PC as a GM!

Yup… Wasn’t intentional but… well, dice made things interesting, so I have to work with it.

We also didn’t have our rogue, which is unfortunate as she’s an enjoyable member, and also there were a lot of traps and locks this time.

The content went through almost the remainder of what was prepared for the previous session. I’d like to get through the content a little faster so the group can move on to actual role-play opportunities, instead of dungeon crawling. It’s an unfortunate result of my experimental Game Mastering a Module, and I’ll likely try and stick to homebrew in the future.

Or, at least, look for modules with more emphasis on socializing.

I did a medium job preparing this session. I got complacent and let the session slip far to the back of my mind leading up. I found my sweet spot session 2, so I need to keep that standard.

Cast

Mogui (IndigoDie): Druid. Does what he’s told by his employer. Indigo has played this module before. Yot (LimeDie): Cleric. Looking to redeem himself for past failures. Lime will commit to bits. Bernard 'Bean' Dipp (NavyDie): Ranger. Trying his best despite being so young. Navy doodles when he’s bored. Delilah Dunford (VermilionDie): Rogue. Searching for an identity beyond her family. Vermilion could not make this session. Game Master (SepiaDie/me): The world (a dusty, dusty world). The walls probably have stories to tell. I’m desperately trying to keep ahead with drawing the map.

Session Three

We reopen in the loot room we ended in the last session. Navy is given his rewards and I expound on the uses of the various items they received.

Now given the opportunity to read his letter, Navy delays long enough to wonder if he’s chosen to make Bean illiterate, but eventually he takes to giving the description: his mother wrote it, opening with a joke, and giving random updates about life in town despite the letter needing to have been placed before the arrival of the party, but it’s an opportunity for the players to expound on their families, so maybe his mother is a little airheaded?

The letter canonizes a High School which has a football team and a glee club. Will anything come of it? Probably not. Did I say with a sigh ‘Guess that’s canon now…’? You bet I did! Always say yes! Improv!

The party headed back into the room with the pool, tested the other door to find it locked, and moved towards the wailing.

The chamber to the East of the entrance contained several walls crisscrossing. A door stood locked to the south. The puzzle of this room is walking around various hidden pit traps while finding three switches that must be held down at the same time to unlock the exit. I originally ruled the switches take a few minutes to reset so the party can run to get to the door, but then I remembered Delilah is technically still there, so I reverted it to operate as written.

Bean and Yot both took turns falling in holes as Mogui moved around cautiously and managed to jump clear of the one pit he did accidentally trigger.

The three maneuvered around the chamber until they found the necessary switches, activated them, and Delilah held open the door so they could get through.

Walking through the next hallway, they finally reached the door for the room from whence the wailing was emitting.

They all decide to ignore it.

Which means they’ve skipped some plot exposition. Oh well, keep rolling and adapt.

Instead, they go down a fork and into an empty room, which formerly held a giant beetle, but I cut that combat as being wholly unnecessary. Instead, our party continues through into the next chamber, which has a fight I did not cut, as I thought it would have narrative value.

A fire pit smolders in the center of the room, a charred corpse within. Upon the arrival of our party, a dark apparition arises and squares up to fight our heroes.

Bean had acquired an Oil of Magic Weapon, granting his bow Plus-One Status, and rendering it a magic attack, so he’s able to harm the shadow.

Yot, meanwhile, uses Holy Flame. Fun fact about our apparition: it was born because a pyrophobic man burned alive in a structure already pretty rife with necromantic energies. That terror and agony was all it took to create the shadow.

So the enemy is real mad at being set on fire, sending out psionic screams for flavor.

Mogui just watches the fight.

After a few rounds of Magic Bow and holy flames, the Shadow perishes. Victory music for everybody!

The party leaves the room, continues to ignore the terrified wails, and enters the last available door.

Within is a round, domed room, with a wooden pillar, standing on an outcrop over a pit at the center of the room, that fires blunted arrows. This is felt to be rather unpleasant, and the party discusses how to deal with it.

Eventually, they check out the door, and find a mechanism built into it.[1] The party attempts to break the mechanism.

Bean then enters, and is pelted by blunt arrows. He walks around and tries to open a southern exit, finding it to be locked, so Bean attempts to approach the trap. Unfortunately, he takes enough nonlethal damage to get knocked out. Whoops.

After waiting for the mechanical whirring to stop, the other two call after Bean, receiving no response. So they cautiously enter.

The trap is now docile. And the southern door is unlocked.

So, what happened here, by the text of the module, is that the trap keeps running for ten rounds, at which time it’ll be exhausted of arrows, and the south exit will automatically unlock. The hope was the party would take the tower shields from the wood golem of last session to block the arrows.

Because of how they broke the activating mechanism (as they snapped off the metal arm in the door hinge that turned the machine off and on), I decided that now once it turned on, it couldn’t turn off. So after Bean was knocked out, the trap kept running until it ran out of rounds.

Don’t ask how the trap’s supposed to keep pelting adventurers inside the chamber after the door closes. Magic I guess.

Stop asking how traps work.

Mogui investigated the south exit while Yot checked on Bean. The door was, of course, unlocked, to the annoyance of Navy, and Yot was taking his sweet time healing Bean, but soon the party was on their feet again and ready for whatever came next.

The final room of the floor widened as it went, the ceiling supported by four columns. Stairs to the south lead to the… basement? Second basement? The crypt’s already underground, so what terminology applies here, I’m not…

Also, there’s two statues in recesses of the south wall. The Module text doesn’t call any attention to them, but they’re probably Kassen.

Our heroes enter this room, get to approximately the middle of the room, and four skeletons, with talon-like clawed fingers and blood dripping from their bones, step out from behind the columns, and menace the heroes.

Combat begins.

As does a series of horrible rolls from both parties. Just a lot of do-nothing turns. Yot tries to bash the skeletons and misses, Bean fires arrows and the closest he got sent the arrow through the ribcage of one skeleton. The skeletons weren’t faring much better, three of them crit fumbling at some point, which I interpreted them as falling prone for a turn.

The rolls were so bad I gently reminded my party that I set up a dice-roll bot in the Discord channel, if they wanted to put Roll20’s die-roller into dice prison. They didn’t go for it.

Back and forth the combat went, the skeletons getting a couple lucky hits on Bean. Eventually, and tragically, those lucky hits added up and Bean hit zero. Navy started making Death Saves, a realm where the exhaustingly low rolls followed and brought him to his death.

NavyDie then spent the rest of the combat doodling an increasingly elaborate death scene, with grave stone, candles, what was either a pentagram or an alchemy circle,[2] and death himself. Whatever self-amusement was needed.

As a narrative-first GM, Player Characters dying in combat is not something I enjoy. I am now in an awkward position of needing to figure out how to proceed and keep Navy involved. If he still wishes to play, of course. A couple options immediately spring to mind: bringing in a new character will be narratively awkward at this point, as we need to justify why the ignorant town would send back up, or why a kid is running so late; there’s an available NPC I could give Navy, but he’d be an odd (but doable) add; or, and this is an idea I like most, I can bring Bean back for a price…[3]

But I need to talk it through with NavyDie first.

Back to those still alive.

Mogui maneuvers to keep a safe distance, eventually coaxing one of the four skeletons back to the previous room, running a circle and returning to the main combat room, closing the door behind him. I rolled a die to determine the nature of the skeletons, and concluded they’re running on animalistic instinct, and thus can’t operate a door.

Also, this cuts down on enemies to delay the fight and rewards IndigoDie for clever problem solving.

Yot, growing tired of not hitting with his Mace, starts using Holy Flame again, forcing the Skeletons to use the horrible dice rolls to avoid damage instead of Yot using the same rolls to cause damage. Progress starts to get made.

Mogui turns into a tiger and starts running about and attempting to hit the skeletons, but still no luck.

There’s also some talk about how the skeletons aren’t taking attacks of opportunity, which had a very elegant explanation: I totally forgot about that mechanic, and I also just plain hate attacks of opportunity. They feel cheap and punish players for not carefully considering every minutiae of their actions.[4]

Eventually, the skeletons are finally either redead, or trapped in another room.

With one dead, the remaining three party members stare towards the stairs to the next floor. As the only escape is to fight the skeleton in the previous room, they mostly consider what difficulty they’re prepared to face.

Of the three sessions played thus far, this one felt of middle quality. I forgot to read my opening crawl text, and I waited until the last minute to write notes for the remainder of the floor (after copying over the leftovers from session two). Neither the combat with the Shadow (where I forgot to implement the smoke in the eyes mechanic the module wanted me to) or the Bloody Skeletons (with horrible dice rolls)[5] felt particularly fun or worthwhile. I’ll probably look to cut more superfluous fights going forward.

I’m also looking forward to moving out of the dungeon. I am learning a lot, as was my goal with running this module, but I’m missing being able to Role-Play as GM.[6] I’m certainly learning to answer questions the text didn’t bother to address, and also how annoying module formatting can be with where it explains things.

When I find time, I should sit down and design a dungeon of my own. That would also be a good learning experience, and also let me feel more at ease with making world-based rulings on the fly and implement elements I like and minimize those I don’t.

There’s just so much combat and map-based traps written in this thing. Makes it too difficult to abstract out the traps and rely on theater of the mind.

Most important take away: Attacks of Opportunity are dumb, and I hereby houserule them away.

I’ve already set things in motion for fun plot developments after this session’s events and feedback received, and hopefully the next write-up will come in about two weeks.

Until next time, may your dice make things interesting.[8]

[1] The party is really interested in the actual mechanics of these traps, which the module doesn’t explain, forcing their poor GM to try and reverse engineer it, and maybe I need to start shrugging and saying ‘I dunno, magic I guess.’ [2] Which is a good way to lose a sibling. [3] Just sent Navy a text asking if he’d like a level of Warlock. This could be fun. [4] Also, my experience with another player exploiting the mechanic to attempt to kill me. [5] Though based on his recap, IndigoDie enjoyed the combat for the bad rolls? Interesting guy. It felt like a bad joke that kept repeating to me, and I failed to improvise an Out for those involved. [6] Especially since Indigo sidestepped the opportunity I did have![7] [7] Whatever. Gives me time to give the man a less stupid name. [8] Despite working it into the opening, this sign off still doesn’t sit right. Feels too long… Magazines have little icons to mark the end. Maybe I should do the same?

#SepiaDieGMs #crypt of the everflame #Dungeons and Dragons #Fifth Edition #NavyDice #IndigoDice #LimeDice #VermillionDice

6 notes · View notes

indigodice · 5 years ago

Text

NO PLAN SURVIVES CONTACT WITH THE ENEMY

That would be a great line if it was connected to a more significant event. There have been two more adventures, or sessions rather. The second session involved going down a hallway, ignoring the wailing, then a puzzle room that involved water and keys. It was a nice puzzle, and that one needed a reasonable someone to have equipped a spell to see the magic keys from the non magic keys. Yot had such a spell equipped. He took off his armor to get closer to the keys, and acquire the relevant ones. I should have Mogui go back at some point to acquire one as a souvenire.

After Yot took the dive into the defunct fountain, Mogui offered him fire, to dry off. Without thinking Yot took the fire which floated above his hand, to which Mogui said “Be careful, it’s fire.”

Delilah received the keys while Yot was drying off and decided to venture down the hall, and found the statue traps. Afterward, she became wary of taking the lead. That kind of response is probably why so many playrs in DND are reluctant to move forward, moving forward is a kind of mexican standoff where the first person to move seems most likely to be punished for moving.

In the next room was a large room with two descending staircases, which became slides. Mogui was the first one down, and was downed by a trap golem within the first combat round. If Mogui had survived another round, he could have made it back up the slide stairs using his capabilities. Instead he was on the ground the first round of combat, while Yot came down to shield him, and Delilah pelted the golem with arrows. When that didn’t work, she took the keys to disable the golem.

The next moment is a lesson in player psychology. Having passed two rooms whose purpose was to trap the players, we were keenly aware of the possibility of traps, and since Mogui and Yot were wounded by the golem, we turned back. The GM told us to open the door past the golem after we rested, to which we did, and found trinkets of personal value and intent.

Mogui’s items were first since I had the most forwarning about this event. It would be a moment for the others to come up with personal effects on the spot. a family tree on an official scroll, granting his family official entry into the noble class. Courtesy of Lord Grey. The second item was a bloodroot wand, courtesy of Lady Grey.

Delilah was given her allowance and a bag of her favorite candy.

Yot described letters from various people he wronged. Until the GM stepped in to say the items were intended to be objects of affection, positive things. So the GM tried to push for the letters to be of a more positive expression, while Yot’s player noted that he interpreted the letters to be negative in nature.

Bean was missing. His item was a letter? Actually I don’t remember even though that was the first thing to happen in the next session.

The next room we entered branched off from the entrance. It was a trap room filled with pits and three switches we needed to find to open the door. There was a turn-like structure, and no stakes, and a lot of unnecessary rolling against traps that functionally weren’t an actual hinderence. The whole event felt like a big waste of time.

Yot separated himself from us, while Bean fell into holes constantly. Mogui managed to avoid them, and helped Bean up. There was an exchange where Mogui was awkwardly considering whether to use his staff or fumble through his supplies for a rope. I used the moment to load a chekov’s gun for the future. Bean was content to wait for help, and got out with the help of the rope. When Yot finally found himself in a hole, Mogui came to help. Yot couldn’t climb out of the hole with the help of a rope, so Mogui decided to try to help harder, and found himself falling into the hole. The GM decided on a strength roll, and I contested saying Mogui was not very strong. I don’t understand the physics of holes, but decided this was more entertaining. Bean comes along to help us out of the hole. It would have made more sense to decide Yot’s armor was hindering him, and that he’d need a solution involving that, something about the situation needing to change should have been a condition for rerolling, but it came down to basically deciding we didn’t want to deal with the pits anymore. And the GM agreeing we’d eventually make our way out.

So we leave the room. We find a room with a small fire in the center. There’s a corpse and some miscellanea. A shadow ghost appears from the fire. Yot and Bean take shots at it, I decide Mogui doesn’t attack the ghost. It didn’t make the first move, and besides, it’s a ghost. So Mogui paces anxiously trying to leave the room, except Yot and the ghost are fighting in the hallway. They pelt it with enough fire and arrows it eventually dies.

The next room is meticulously described in Pathfinder fashion. And then enemies appear. Four skeletons with AC 14. Mogui notices the skeletons are fumbling around, and opts to take advantage of that constantly hitting and running. Mostly Bean and Yot stand their ground, Bean repositioning to fire arrows. And for upwards of ten cycles we don’t manage to roll above 10. Mogui leads a skeleton away and locks it into the previous room. A moment after he returns Bean is downed by the bloody skeletons. Yot abandons his weapon in favor of fire. As Mogui notices he doesn’t have any healing potions, Bean bleeds out in the corner. Mogui becomes wounded enough he uses his trump card and becomes a tiger, and for the duration of three turns cannot roll above 5, meanwhile Yot is managing to set skeletons on fire. The fight concludes and if the ridiculousness that is roll20 hadn’t happened I probably wouldn’t have had as much fun.

Yot noted “The mayors going to be so mad at me.” as he was the closest thing to an adult. I think Besides him everyone else was somewhere from 12 to 14 years of age.

#dice jar adventure club #dnd #5e #crypt of the everflame

1 note · View note

katartna · 7 years ago

Photo

It has been scientifically proven that frogs are lethal to rogues across multiple universes

#crypt of the everflame #crypt of the everkeen #ebon ward #the ebon ward #jathas #maze meyers #what's with frogs eating rogues and destroying them #is roll20 self-aware or something #fear the frogs #also if you haven't watched it yet or are craving for something cool to watch go to twitch.tv/keenarnor117 for the cool rogue jathas!#has a very wholesome party with some great moments!#this may be a surprise but the animals are actually super dangerous

54 notes · View notes

pubprose-blog · 5 years ago

Photo

The Entry to the Everflame (on Wattpad) https://my.w.tt/xSQ2BXqxjY A fanmade prologue to Pathfinder's Crypt of the Everflame.

#crypt #everflame #fantasy #pathfinder #short-story #books #wattpad #amreading

0 notes

furvanoctua · 3 years ago

Text

Had this double nat 20 moment in a Pathfinder game we're playing rn that I thought would be fun and dynamic to draw~

We found a key to deactivate this Wooden Golem, so we figured the easiest way to avoid combat was for our half-orc paladin to throw me, the gnome, and we simultaneously got nat 20s for throwing and landing respectively ^^

My girlfriend is running the prewritten Crypt of the Everflame campaign here over the summer, and it's the first time our group have been able to play IRL again for a year, and it's been a blast!

#Honey #gnome #hunter #Targon #half orc #paladin #gnome toss #wood golem #golem #nat 20 #yeet #dnd #Pathfinder #art #artists on tumblr

9 notes · View notes

arkseaside · 6 years ago

Photo

Cards I made for my Pathfinder campaign to remind the players of what various NPCs are all about, two of which are from the Crypt of the Everflame module and one of which is one of @greatnyanlathotep s old characters.

#pathfinder

3 notes · View notes

techhenzy-blog · 3 years ago

Text

Crypt of the Everflame conversion to PF2

Level 1 (presumes a 1st-level party) 1. Entry hall Knowledge (local) → local Lore, Society 6 skeletons → 6 skeleton guards (p. 298) 2. Maze of pits Each pit → “Hidden Pit” p. 523 but lower DCs by 2, half damage 3. Wailing survivor Disable Device → Thievery DC 17 Potions of cure light wounds → healing potion (p. 563) Flask of oil → oil (pint, p. 288) 4. Hungry beetle Giant bombardier…

View On WordPress

0 notes

sheppi-isometrics · 1 year ago

Text

Free PC tokens for your RPG campaigns!

(Links from top-left to bottom-right)

Human Ranger

Dhampir Necromancer

Tiefling Wizard

Rogue

Gnome Druid

Tiefling Assassin

Hobgoblin Ranger

We have free enemy tokens too!

Plus a complete dungeon, Crypt of the Everflame!

- 🌟 Get access to more than 200 creatures, maps and assets by supporting us on Patreon! Complement your campaigns with hi-res monster tokens and start building the adventure of your dreams with our isometric assets 🏰!

#art #digital art #dnd #pathfinder #dungeons & dragons #player character #isometric token

42 notes · View notes

dreadfutures · 10 months ago

Text

WIP Wednesday

I was tagged by @greypetrel and @fiadhaisteach for WIP Wednesday. I have a couple of OC Kiss Week things cooking, but I'm saving those for the event, so here are some other WIPs. I'm still working on isometric tokens for a short module I'm running for some friends, Crypt of the Everflame (converted to 2e), and somehow they all made very serious joke characters (the one on the right is Thelo Rax, for example). I haven't done the bases yet and I still have 3 more to go.

Then I'm also (STILL) working on this character sheet for my Stolen Fate ranger (Level 15 now so those stats are outdated as hell lol). We're on Book 2 so I feel like I really do need to get this done sooner than later lol. Side note: the 2e ranger is *so good.* I feel effective at range and up close with either my longbow or my longsword, and I like the skills I'm trained in and my feats (CLOUD JUMP WOOOOO) and it really meshes well with our party and a lot of stories, I can tell. Side side note: I ran out of room for property runes on my +2 Holy Extending Cold Iron Longsword, but I have this Keen runestone sitting here just itching to be used... Anyone have 8,500 gold pieces or a free +3 runestone? lmao.

#my wip art #tag meme #wip wednesday #my ranger is hiro...of time.#he's link #the sword is the master sword #etc #i love him he's one of the best characters i've played besides my swashbuckler #i love 2e classes they FEEL so good

5 notes · View notes

feiar · 1 year ago

Text

comic update!

Read Crypt of the everflame | Tapas Web Comics

#comics #artwork #update

6 notes · View notes

sirspud · 3 years ago

Text

The Daring Ducks: Level 2 Report

Dewey gains his 2nd level in Fighter, hardened by his experiences in the crypt. His statistics change to the following:

Hit Points: 21 (2d10+4) Base Attack Bonus: +2 Base Saving Throws: Fortitude +3, Reflex +0, Will +0 Skills: Acrobatics +7, Climb +7, Swim +7

He gains an additional bonus feat - Two-Weapon Defence, which allows him to better protect himself from blows while wielding two weapons. He also gains the Bravery feature, which grants him a small bonus on Will saving throws against fear effects.

The other ducks under the break.

Huey gains his 2nd level in Cleric, the recent experiences with undead forcing him to get a bit closer with his less scientific side. His statistics change to the following:

Hit Points: 17 (2d8+3) Base Attack Bonus: +1 Base Saving Throws: Fortitude +3, Reflex +0, Will +3 Skills: Craft (cloth) +7, Heal +10, Knowledge (history) +7, Knowledge (religion) +6, Spellcraft +7. Survival +7

Huey gains an additional 1st-level spell slot to prepare spells into. His channel energy ability also improves somewhat, increasing the DC that undead have to save against by 1.

Louie gains his 2nd level in Rogue, the recent ordeals making him more cautious and wary. His statistics change to the following:

Hit Points: 11 (2d8-2) Base Attack Bonus: +1 Base Saving Throws: Fortitude +0, Reflex +3, Will +0 Skills: Appraise +7, Bluff +10, Diplomacy +8, Disable Device +8, Disguise +10, Intimidate +8, Knowledge (local) +7, Perception +4, Sense Motive +4, Sleight of Hand +7, Stealth +7

Louie gains a couple of things from his level-up. Firstly, he gains the Evasion ability, meaning that whenever he makes a Reflex save for half damage, he instead takes no damage from that source. Secondly, he gets to choose a Rogue Talent, which grants him a benefit unique to rogues. He chooses Combat Trick, which allows him to gain a combat-focused feat, owing to his recent experiences in combat. He chooses Point-Blank Shot to grant him a small bonus on attack and damage on close attacks with ranged weapons.

Webby gains her 2nd level in Barbarian, developing and refining her inner fighting frenzy. Her statistics change to the following:

Hit Points: 22 (2d12+3) Base Attack Bonus: +2 Base Saving Throws: Fortitude +3, Reflex +0, Will +0 Skills: Acrobatics +10, Climb +8, Intimidate +4, Knowledge (history) +3, Knowledge (nature) +6, Perception +5, Survival +4

The first ability that Webby gains is Uncanny Dodge, which prevents her from losing her Dexterity bonus to Armour Class under most circumstances (except when helpless or when fighting invisible opponents). She also learns a Rage Power, which grants her a special bonus while raging. She chooses Guarded Stance, which allows her to add a dodge bonus to her Armour Class for a short period of time while raging.

#ducktales #ducktales 2017 #dt17 #pathfinder #pf1e #huey #huey duck #dewey #dewey duck #louie #louie duck #webby #webby vanderquack #barbarian #cleric #fighter #rogue #crypt of the everflame #the daring ducks

4 notes · View notes

sepiadice · 4 years ago

Text

DiceJar 0 END: what could have been...

Being completed ghosted for a scheduled session once again, I suppose I should finally face the facts and call the campaign. Which is, of course, very disappointing.

Let’s review the experiments I attempted in this campaign.

Experiment 1: Using a published module/adventure.[1]

I thought I might gain some valuable insight by analyzing a ‘professional’ product. By using an adventure I’d previously played myself, I’d hoped my experiences would smooth out my figuring out how to run it. Eventually, I learned the value of bullet pointed action plans, because the formatting of Crypt of the Everflame was not good for skimming, as vital information was hidden in the middle of information texts so I’d miss it during the game if I didn’t make sure to call, say, dice roll mechanics for going down a slippery hillside. It also meant I could look ahead and edit out rooms and mechanics that didn’t move the story of dungeon.

So, this experiment was technically a success, even if the lesson I took away was ‘modules don’t work well with my improv style, but provides inspiration sometimes.’ More on that later.

Experiment 2: Get a group to meet regularly.

So I’ve been wanting to do an actual play show since… well, before Critical Role and The Adventure Zone made it cool. For that, I need players willing to collaborate and also respect call time. As you can easily conclude from the time stamps, I couldn’t manage that, even when a freaking pandemic swept in and made being home for online sessions theoretically easier![2] Admittedly, my work schedule is not exactly ideal, as my Saturdays are permanently called for, and my Sundays are a wild ride of inconsistency, while my peers are moving to more conventional work life.

So, the experiment failed, and to a degree that I doubt a career or just schedule change would help. I did learn that a biweekly schedule works well for me, since I can spend the off week on planning, and still have time for my pre- and post-performance need to separate thoroughly and enter a neutral state.[3]

Experiment 3: Finish a dang narrative arc.

Ha ha. This also failed! Couldn’t get to the end of the dungeon. Welp.

Other lessons learned

I don’t online play well! Just get distracted by other internet tabs. It’s not as bad when I GM, since the stress of running the game keeps me more focused, but both the Curse of Strahd campaign I quietly quit[4] and IndigoDie’s Troika session[5] showed that I’m a garbage player online. Possibly an adoption of webcams and faces would assist, but I can’t ask for that.

People still hard! Still haven’t figured out how to get anyone invested. Can’t really be upset at the silent cancellations because I’m technically doing that with Curse of Strahd, and thus would be a hypocrite.

What was planned!

It’s only fair I give some amount of closure.

Session three ended with Bean dying, and there wasn’t a narratively consistent way to introduce a new party member…

Well, I guess if NavyDie consented to playing a bandit, or rewriting the scared dungeon prepper the party skipped…

What I decided was thus:

Bean's eyes open. The sharp pain of the punctures and tears, and the slow ache of liquid passing through those openings are gone, as is much of the world's color. The torches and other sources of light shine blue.

His companions are gathered around him, their mouths moving as if speaking, but Bean hears nothing.

For some reason, Bean feels at peace with this. This is correct.

Footsteps echo from the stairs, growing louder. A figure emerges from the floor below. When it enters the light, at first it is blurry, like many images projected upon the same space. Within the time that Bean's now still heart would have beat, the many silhouettes fade, leaving one form: Bean's father, though not the frail man Bean saw before he left Kassen, nor how bean's father looked before he was ravaged by illness, but the impossibly tall, strong, noble figure that Bean remembers his father being.

Though this man's smile has none of the warmth, and his eyes glow with an eldritch light.

"Seems you've come to some misfortune, Bernard Dipp," says this Mr. Dipp-who-is-not-Bean's-father. "Would you like some help with that?"

This mysterious fiend would become Bean’s patron for a level of Warlock, and ride around his head for the foreseeable future, threatening death if Bean didn’t do as ordered. You know, an excuse for Bean to continue adventuring instead of taking over the family farm.

As for where this fiend came from… well, I easily adapted that into the dungeon’s lore.

Kassen, whose visage is all over the crypt, is not the only one entombed within. There are also those who perished alongside him during his final battle, as well as those who perished facing him in the final battle. This includes Asar, who once adventured with Kassen until the two became bitter enemies or whatever, ending when Asar lead the charge against Kassen.

Anyways, an amount of time ago, bandits stumbled upon Kassen’s Crypt and started looting, and disturbed the coffins, looting a pair of medallions.

Here’s my adjustment: the medallions are now artifacts sealing away a fiend, and reuniting them freed him, whose presence radiated enough necromantic energies and roused Asar, who was deeply offended to be interred in a shrine to his enemy. Stupid, egotistical Kassen. Let’s channel this necromantic magic laying away and get some skeletal minions and kill those who bother me.

Which wasn’t great for the bandits, then later the advance party from Kassen, sent to make the trial safe for the youths. Blood was spilled. It wasn’t great.

Then our heroes arrived, and (hypothetically) resolved matters. Kassen’s ghost would then appear, thank the party, probably convey embarrassment at how the place is decorated, and grant boons to the party[6] before sending them on their way with a lit lantern.

Back in town, a grand celebration would turn somber as word of what happened in the tomb occurred, by it would be mixed and a feast would still be held.

The module ends with someone inviting the party to join the Pathfinder Society, but I’d cut that.

As for the fiend? Well, he’s transferred his tether from the amulets to Bean, so now he can ride the boy to wherever.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have anything particularly exciting planned for the others, as Bean was the only one who I got the opportunity to saddle with a commitment.

IndigoDie quit anyways.

Delilah I could motivate with eagerness to be free of her parents.

Yot… is a mercenary, so maybe Delilah could’ve paid him.

I could’ve figured something out if the players insisted on continuing with their characters. That would’ve been a discussion for after the module was completed.[7]

Moving forward!

So DiceJar waits evermore. I don’t want to admit that it’s an implausible goal, but I’m not in a great headspace about it. I still crave role-playing, but I think I’ll wait for someone to start their own campaign, or I guess see if I get a turn-over of my friend group.

NavyDie mentioned wanting to try a Powered by the Apocalypse system, and it’s only fair I actually try the mechanics before completely writing the rule set off.[8]

The next experiments I want to run when I return to behind the GM screen relates to system: Savage Worlds (once the most recent edition is back in print) as I search for a generic system that fits my needs, and Ryuutama, because Ryuutama just looks fun.

But… I don’t know what to do from here.

Until next time, may your dice (and whatever dice governs me) make things interesting.

[1] The correct terminology isa matter of pointless debate. [2] Charisma and Constitution are obviously my dumb stats. [3] Not sure my meaning is conveyed correctly. I’ll probably nail it down in a future write-up. [4] The group was too large, and after IndigoDie quit there were insufficient participants I knew and was comfortable performing with. [5] Which didn’t get a write-up because I didn’t have anything of substance to say. [6] Which, in the original Pathfinder, was something the each player can evoke for a temporary stat bonus, but in 5e I was going to change to a free Inspiration recharge. [7] Though I would not send them to Last Wall. It would’ve been time for me to spin off to my own stuff, and Last Wall… is not something that needs to be repeated. [8] I’ve never heard an Actual Play where Powered by the Apocalypse wasn’t either a hindrance or irrelevant.

#SepiaDieGMs #crypt of the everflame #Dungeons and Dragons #Fifth Edition #NavyDice #IndigoDice #limedice #VermillionDice

1 note · View note