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Post by ironnerd on Aug 22, 2021 18:10:51 GMT -5
OK. New here, so this may not be the place for this, if so... maybe move or delete it, I guess...
Anyway.
I currently run a BE(CMI)/Cyclopedia campaign in a setting I created for my kids and I to explore. Called the Nihon setting, it is (not too surprisingly) a D&D version of feudal(ish) Japan. Kind of Tolkien's Japan.
The story so far...
Kiki is the constable in a mid-size village on the island of Shikoku. She caught Kitsune stealing rice and chickens from a local farm, much to the praise of the locals. Since Kiki is a little too popular with the village-folk, the local Daimyo (Mayor) decided that she needed to go away for a while. So he sent her on a quest to get a "Book of Knowledge" from a cave at the base of Mt. Isahi-dake on Hokkaido. Along the way they met Kenji, a young monk-in-training, who helped them fight off a skunk that Kitsune the thief had attacked (and failed to kill). Kenji had been sent out of the cloister by his teacher on a quest to "aid two adventurers on a quest"... The reality being, Kenji's teacher was tired of not being able to best his student during their daily martial arts training sessions.
So the three set off on the long quest from Shikoku to Hokkaido. They never made it. During a storm, they took refuge in some Inu ruins, and began exploring them. They found a pocket dragon, which fought for a round before fleeing, and helped themselves to the small dragon's small horde (mostly some gems and some chain mail that was better than Kiki was already wearing). They stayed in Osaka for a couple of days. Kenji donated his share of the treasure to the local temple, and in return the temple provided food and a room for them. A few days travel north of Osaka, they found themselves trapped in a dungeon of sorts that featured teleportation blocks. Each time they stepped on one of the blocks, they were transported to another, separate area. City ruins, a forest, a desert, a cave system, a farm, and a palace. Eventually they came to a lake and found an old man fishing. As he sat drinking Sake and "fishing" he noticed them and said, "Dang that woman!" After a brief discussion it was discovered that the "dungeon" was really a sort of trap for the thieves in the area. The old man was a wizard who had created the trap, and often cam to the lake to fish and drink sake, while avoiding his nagging wife. He also explained that the Quest they were on was bogus. The book was not on Hokkaido because it didn't exist. But, he also understood they could not go back empty handed so he gave them an old spell book he had created when he was a young magic user and was very interested in creating his own spells (none of which worked out the way he had hoped). He also gave them each a broom of flying to make up for the ordeals they had suffered in his dungeon.
When the trio returned, the Daimyo was thrilled. He quickly went to the royal palace in Edo to present the book to the Emperor in hopes of currying favor, and helping the Emperor take back control of Nihon form the current Shogun. One of the Emperor's oldest, and most trusted mages red a spell from the book, and promptly turned into a young woman. The Daimyo was saved because the advisor did not seem to mind the change all that much.
Back at home, Kiki, Kenji, and Kitsune found themselves on another adventure when fishing boats began to vanish. They would go to the fishing grounds, and never return. Finally one came back, burned to the water line. The badly burned fisherman said, "Dragon... Haaken..." and died. Haaken was an island to the east. The three grabbed their brooms and flew out to the island and met a dragon who gave them an ultimatum. They had two days to find a lost island and recover a gem precious to the Dragon (also named Haaken, but it’s not clear who is named for whom), he would find them and eat them (he’s kind of an older dragon without much patience for human nonsense). The island was actually in the sky within a cloud bank. Fortunately they were able to use their brooms of flying to reach it. After examining the burned remains of a Wizard’s home (and the wizard himself), they found a rather small but very charred and clawed cave entrance behind a waterfall. Within the cave, they found long passages lit by lanterns that grew bright as they approached, and dimmed again as the passed. The rooms had fountains, tile wall art, and a disturbing number of living statues. They managed to avoid the statues and eventually found what they figured had to be the gem (it was big and glowing… so duh…) . Upon removing the gem from it’s pedestal, the ground began to shake, and parts of the catacombs began to crumble. As the entire island fell to the ocean, they trio escaped on their brooms and delivered the gem to Haakan (bot the island and the dragon) as the sun set on the second day, thus saving themselves form becoming dragon snacks. With the gem in hand, Haaken let out a sigh of relief and transformed into a human. He thanked them for their help, explaining that without the gem, his magical abilities (like taking human form) were rather limited, and told them that he owed them a favor.
The trio returned to their village without much in the way of treasure, but pretty satisfied with being owed a favor by a dragon. Of course, no one in the village believes them...
I actually like THAC0, and rolling every die in the bag for one kind of save or another. The kids, however, want structure ... so I Home-brewed the rules to use d20 for pretty much everything. It's not as much fun, but it is easy for players. The one thing I am adding to my BE(CMI) is rolling saves vs abilities. To make a save, you just roll ≥ the target number on 1d20 (adjusted at the whim of the DM).
Ability Saves
ABILITY ... 3 .... 4 .... 5 .... 6 .... 7 .... 8 .... 9 .... 10 ... 11 ... 12 ... 13 ... 14 ... 15 ... 16 ... 17 ... 18
SAVE ...... 18 ... 17 ... 16 ... 15 ... 14 ... 13 ... 12 ... 11 ... 10 ... 9 .... 8 .... 7 .... 6 .... 5 .... 4 .... 3
Oh, and I spell BECMI, "BE(CMI)" because I never have characters make it to "Companion". Players normally retire them around level 10. BUT I do use some rules from Companion and Master (like Mystics).
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Post by Admin Pete on Aug 22, 2021 20:31:33 GMT -5
This is awesome!
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Post by hengest on Aug 22, 2021 20:50:45 GMT -5
This is 100% awesome and inspiring. Nice work and please post more! Rules and variants, your own material you work from or riff from, whatever you feel like sharing would be read with interest around here!
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Aug 22, 2021 22:30:24 GMT -5
OK. New here, so this may not be the place for this, if so... maybe move or delete it, I guess...
Anyway.
I currently run a BE(CMI)/Cyclopedia campaign in a setting I created for my kids and I to explore. Called the Nihon setting, it is (not too surprisingly) a D&D version of feudal(ish) Japan. Kind of Tolkien's Japan.
I am really looking forward to hearing more about your campaign, good stuff. |
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Post by ironnerd on Aug 23, 2021 8:39:43 GMT -5
Nihon: A Japanese setting for BECMI D&DRPG’s like Dungeons & Dragons, Villains & Vigilantes, and Mechwarrior have always been an escape for me. These simple games have provided years of entertainment for myself, and for the friends with whom I have shared many wonderful gaming sessions. One of my other escapes has been Anime. While I enjoy Mecha genre anime, I was also surprised to find how much I enjoy fantasy stories like Heroic Legend of Arislan, Record of Lodoss War, Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai , and even Dragon Half and Gestalt. More recently I have found myself really enjoying Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime.
I began playing D&D with the Mentzer “Red Box” Basic Set. Since then I have played around with AD&D 1e, AD&D 2e, D&D 3e, and D&D 5e. I have even dabbled in OD&D. To be honest, I can see the appeal of all of these versions of the game, but I also find that I really like the old school weirdness (and simplicity) of BECMI.
This led me to create a BE(CMI) setting inspired by Anime (which was in turn inspired by western fantasy like the works of Tolkien and Dungeons & Dragons) which I call Nihon. I do not take anything in this setting too seriously. Almost every Fantasy Anime has some levity, and a few are outright comedies. The better ones, however, are a pleasant mix of comedy and drama that I try to weave into the adventures I run in this setting.
Physically, Nihon is the Japanese archipelago with the major islands of Shikoku, Kyushu, and Honshu. These are civilized lands that form the core of Nihon culture. To the north is the mostly unexplored Hokkaido; a mysterious and dangerous place according to Nihon lore. Farther to the north, and shrouded in myth and mystery, is Kita-Ezo (Sakhakin). This northern-most island is thought to be the realm of great dragons, powerful wizards, and strange creatures. Farther north, the world turns to an ice-covered waste populated by wild men.
To the west is Goryeo; a strange nation filled with strange, but pleasant people. Limited trade is permitted between Nihon and Goryeo, but this is strictly regulated by the Shogunate. To the South and East, there is the seemingly endless sea sea dotted with far-flung points of land.
The Kamakura Shogunate rules Nihon from the Palace in Kamakura. The Emperor, in Heian-kyo is little more than a figure head and no longer wields any real power, although there are many who would like to see that change. Fear of the Shogun and his many Samurai relegates any efforts to place Emperor Go-Toba back at the head of the government to the shadows.
The monsters in Nihon are straight from the BECMI material, although a few new ones have been added (notable “Skunk Bears” and “Fire Bears”). The Character classes are from BECMI as well, with some additional classes from the Gazetteers, and Dragon magazine like Faeries, Pyxies, and dog- and cat-people.
For the thread about these kinds of characters follow THIS LINK
MAP OF the NIHON SETTING
The campaign begins on the island of Shikoku
 It encompasses most of the Japanese Islands. 
► In the Nihon setting, Hokkaido is a wild place, but Kita-Ezo (Sakhalin) is an "unknown land".
And the rest of the world (one day...)
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Post by ironnerd on Aug 25, 2021 11:04:37 GMT -5
Along with the setting, I figured this might be a good place to post the rules I utilize.
The "full" rules can be found here (I didn't want to take up storage space on this forum with something that is already on the proboards server)
Introduction to BEzBE z (short for Basic and Expert D&D Zeta) is a set of Homebrew rules inspired by some very nice OSR works that is intended to help bring BECM into the 2020's. As much as I enjoy the simplicity and playability of BECM D&D, I do recognize that in the nearly forty years since it’s publishing, games and gamers have changed quite a bit. Where BECM was a pretty simple system in 1983, by the standards of 2020 it’s complex and even confusing. I still like the level of simplicity that comes from Race equaling a class, and the nice touches like different classes progress differently through the experience path. I also dislike such abominations as a Half-Elf Cleric-Thief. That's just not how I game. So, in my modest free time, I gathered together some ideas that I thought would enhance BECM while still keeping it compatible with the original modules and accessories. The content of the following posts is my attempt to sweeten up BECM to help it be more playable for 21st century gamers, while still keeping as much of its simplicity and “old-schooliness” as possible. Some of the goals for BE z are: ► To make as many rolls as possible X+ on d20. ► Streamline combat. ► Update the system to be fun and easy-to-play while keeping it backwards compatible with BESM Modules and Accessories. ► Create a modern playing experience with Old School feel. Some may ask why I don't just play 5e? Well, in BECM and BE z, I can go from a blank sheet of paper to a character in a dungeon in under an hour. Most of the rules I need to play fit in a single thin book (available as a PDF from Drivethrurpg.com for 5 USD). Why "Zeta"? Well... BECMI is based upon B/X - it's pretty much the same rules, but with some cool walk-through tutorials. I've never had a character make it to "Companion" level, so out of BECMI, I only ever use BE. "Zeta" is a reference to one of my other favorite indulgences; ANIME! There was a series that came out about the same time as B/X called Mobile Suit Gundam, which was followed by Mobile Suite Zeta Gundam, and then by Mobile suit ZZ Gundam (see the pattern?). Maybe it's not the right genre, but the naming convention works, and evokes some funky 1980's nostalgia. I may try to put BE z together as a stand-alone OSR at some point... if it stays fun. Anyone is welcomed to try these rules out, and can feel free to comment or even suggest variations. Note: BE z does not go beyond "Expert" level since very few players run characters past 10th (±) level.
THAC0 to BEz Armor Class
I actually like THAC0, but to most modern players it does not make a bit of sense. 5th Edition’s mechanic of roll ≥ the target’s Armor Class on 1d20 is much cleaner and simpler. To be quite honest, it’s a better mechanic anyway.
To get from THAC0 to Armor Class, just do a bit of math. Subtract the BECM Armor Class (BAC) from 9 (the BAC of an un-armored character), and add 10.
► AC = 19-BAC (but it’s easier with a couple of tables).
ARMOR ......... LEGACY ..... BEz
None ............ 9 ........ 10
Leather ......... 7 ........ 12
Scale ........... 6 ........ 13
Chain Mail ...... 5 ........ 14
Banded Mail ..... 4 ........ 15
Plate Mail ...... 3 ........ 16
Shield ......... -1 ........ +1
The table below allows for conversion of a wide variety of Armor classes, and is useful for Monsters and characters with +x armor.
LEGACY AC ..... 9 .... 8 .... 7 .... 6 .... 5 .... 4 .... 3 .... 2 .... 1 .... 0 .... -1 ... -2 ... -3 ... -4 ... -5 ... etc...
BEz AC ........ 10 ... 11 ... 12 ... 13 ... 14 ... 15 ... 16 ... 17 ... 18 ... 19 ... 20 ... 21 ... 22 ... 23 ... 24 ... etc...
Before an attack can be made, however, the character's To-Hit Adjustment will have to be determined (see next post in a couple of days.)
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Aug 26, 2021 10:58:55 GMT -5
Along with the setting, I figured this might be a good place to post the rules I utilize.
The "full" rules can be found here (I didn't want to take up storage space on this forum with something that is already on the proboards server)
Introduction to BEz
BEz (short for Basic and Expert D&D Zeta) is a set of Homebrew rules inspired by some very nice OSR works that is intended to help bring BECM into the 2020's.
As much as I enjoy the simplicity and playability of BECM D&D, I do recognize that in the nearly forty years since it’s publishing, games and gamers have changed quite a bit. Where BECM was a pretty simple system in 1983, by the standards of 2020 it’s complex and even confusing. I still like the level of simplicity that comes from Race equaling a class, and the nice touches like different classes progress differently through the experience path. I also dislike such abominations as a Half-Elf Cleric-Thief. That's just not how I game.
So, in my modest free time, I gathered together some ideas that I thought would enhance BECM while still keeping it compatible with the original modules and accessories. The content of the following posts is my attempt to sweeten up BECM to help it be more playable for 21st century gamers, while still keeping as much of its simplicity and “old-schooliness” as possible.
Some of the goals for BEz are:
► To make as many rolls as possible X+ on d20.
► Streamline combat.
► Update the system to be fun and easy-to-play while keeping it backwards compatible with BESM Modules and Accessories.
► Create a modern playing experience with Old School feel.
Some may ask why I don't just play 5e? Well, in BECM and BEz, I can go from a blank sheet of paper to a character in a dungeon in under an hour. Most of the rules I need to play fit in a single thin book (available as a PDF from Drivethrurpg.com for 5 USD).
Why "Zeta"? Well... BECMI is based upon B/X - it's pretty much the same rules, but with some cool walk-through tutorials. I've never had a character make it to "Companion" level, so out of BECMI, I only ever use BE. "Zeta" is a reference to one of my other favorite indulgences; ANIME! There was a series that came out about the same time as B/X called Mobile Suit Gundam, which was followed by Mobile Suite Zeta Gundam, and then by Mobile suit ZZ Gundam (see the pattern?). Maybe it's not the right genre, but the naming convention works, and evokes some funky 1980's nostalgia.
I may try to put BEz together as a stand-alone OSR at some point... if it stays fun.
Anyone is welcomed to try these rules out, and can feel free to comment or even suggest variations.
Note: BEz does not go beyond "Expert" level since very few players run characters past 10th (±) level.
THAC0 to BEz Armor Class
I actually like THAC0, but to most modern players it does not make a bit of sense. 5th Edition’s mechanic of roll ≥ the target’s Armor Class on 1d20 is much cleaner and simpler. To be quite honest, it’s a better mechanic anyway.
To get from THAC0 to Armor Class, just do a bit of math. Subtract the BECM Armor Class (BAC) from 9 (the BAC of an un-armored character), and add 10.
► AC = 19-BAC (but it’s easier with a couple of tables).
ARMOR ......... LEGACY ..... BEz
None ............ 9 ........ 10
Leather ......... 7 ........ 12
Scale ........... 6 ........ 13
Chain Mail ...... 5 ........ 14
Banded Mail ..... 4 ........ 15
Plate Mail ...... 3 ........ 16
Shield ......... -1 ........ +1
The table below allows for conversion of a wide variety of Armor classes, and is useful for Monsters and characters with +x armor.
LEGACY AC .....9 ....8 ....7 ....6 ....5 ....4 ....3 ....2 ....1 ....0 ....-1 ...-2 ...-3 ...-4 ...-5 ... etc...
BEz AC ....10 ...11 ...12 ...13 ...14 ...15 ...16 ...17 ...18 ...19 ...20 ...21 ...22 ...23 ...24 ... etc...Before an attack can be made, however, the character's To-Hit Adjustment will have to be determined (see next post in a couple of days.)
This is a pretty interesting take on things. Having used the Legacy AC for 46 years, I am not a fan of changing that, but you do you when it comes to your game.   |
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Post by ironnerd on Aug 26, 2021 14:33:56 GMT -5
I would rather go with rolling all the different dice and using THAC0. This was just the best compromise. When I looked into 5e, my kids were like "I wanna be a Half-Dragon-Born Bard-Artificer...", and I said "Awh, heck nah... Yer a fighter. And I'm not buying a bunch of new books." Of course, I did buy one new book... Once they got to level 4, the Red Basic Book ran out of rules, so I bought the hard cover Rules Cyclopedia. It's a darn nice book, but I miss all of the Elmore Art.
And more of my weird compromise rules. TO HIT ADJUSTMENT
BECM D&D has a big table for finding the THAC0 for characters of a given level, or monsters of a given Hit Die. Since BE+ does not use THAC0, it uses a pretty simple table for PC's and another for Monsters to provide adjustments to the To-Hit roll in combat.
PC TO-HIT ADJ
Fighters
Mystics
Elves.....|...Cleric
Dwarves...|...Thief
Halflings.|...Druid....|..Magic User...|.To-Hit Adj
1-3.......|...1-4......|...1-5.........|..+0
4-6.......|...5-8......|...6-10........|..+1
7-9.......|...6-12.....|..11-15........|..+2
10-12.....|...13-16....|..16-20........|..+3
13-15.....|...17-20....|..21-25........|..+4
Every 3...|...Every 4..|..Every 5......|..add'l +1
For monsters, use the Hit Dice to determine the to-hit adjustment
MONSTER TO-HIT ADJ
HD........To-hit adj
up to 1....+0
1+ to 2....+1
2+ to 3....+2
3+ to 4....+3
4+ to 5....+4
5+ to 6....+5
etc........etc
When making an attack, roll equal to or greater than (≥) the target's Armor Class (AC) on a d20 adjusted by the Character's STR or AGL adjustment, adjustments for weapons and other items, and the To-Hit Adjustment shown in the tables above.
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Post by ironnerd on Sept 3, 2021 8:44:38 GMT -5
Sitting at their normal table in the "Laughing Carp" Inn. Kiki, Kitsube, and Kenji (who was sent to town to "observe the villagers" by his martial arts teacher, Master Warii, after another morning spent helping Warii back to his feet), notice four adventurers enter the Inn. They are in pretty rough shape and look like they have not had a decent meal or a night's rest in a couple of weeks. The clearly have not had a bath in many (many) days. The apparent leader of the group, an elf, sets her gold coin on the bar and says one word - "Bath". Iuki (owner of the inn) examines the coin.
"That's enough for the four of you," he says. "Meals to."
"Later," says the Elf. "Which way?" Iuki leads the elf and her dwarf and two human companions to the baths and returns smiling. He polished the coin and drops it into his pocket.
After they have bathed and eaten, the four strangers relax at a table telling the villagers of their harrowing adventure. They claim to be members of the Fujiwara clan in search of a stolen family artifact. Kiki thinks this seems odd since the Fujiwara are neither elves nor dwarves, and also because they are all dead having managed to upset the Shogun, the Emperor, and even the Shinto Priests. As the strangers drink they spin a tale of their quest to find the golden tree idol, and how they came close, but were thwarted by the beasts in the hidden ruins. Kitsune quickly figures that any such idol would be worth a lot of gold (or at least made of a lot of gold), and decides she will help the Fujiwaras in their search. She buys them a few more drinks and is able to get the basic location of the ruins. Kiki and Kenji also want to search for the idol. Kiki because she's a little bored, having become something of an adrenaline junkie during her early adventures. Kenji because Master Go (the wisest of the teacher at the Temple of the Seven Swans) once mentioned such an idol, and if it has meaning to Go, it should be recovered and taken to Go.
For the Fujiwara, it is three day's travel to the west. For people with Brooms of Flying, it's a quick trip of a few hours.The Ruins are actually easy to spot from the air, and the trio set down near the edge where an opening leads into the side of the hill where the "Ainu Dungeon" mentioned by the lady dwarf must be. After they enter the gloomy cavern entrance they hear a great rumbling and the light from the entrance vanishes. Pulling their lanterns from their packs, they make sure no one is injured and go back to see what has happened. They find that the hillside seems to have collapsed burying the entrance.
"I'm sure there's another way out," says Kitsune with a shrug. "I left my broom out there," says Kenji.
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Post by Morose on Sept 6, 2021 13:05:24 GMT -5
Sitting at their normal table in the "Laughing Carp" Inn. Kiki, Kitsube, and Kenji (who was sent to town to "observe the villagers" by his martial arts teacher, Master Warii, after another morning spent helping Warii back to his feet), notice four adventurers enter the Inn. They are in pretty rough shape and look like they have not had a decent meal or a night's rest in a couple of weeks. The clearly have not had a bath in many (many) days. The apparent leader of the group, an elf, sets her gold coin on the bar and says one word - "Bath". Iuki (owner of the inn) examines the coin.
"That's enough for the four of you," he says. "Meals to."
"Later," says the Elf. "Which way?" Iuki leads the elf and her dwarf and two human companions to the baths and returns smiling. He polished the coin and drops it into his pocket.
After they have bathed and eaten, the four strangers relax at a table telling the villagers of their harrowing adventure. They claim to be members of the Fujiwara clan in search of a stolen family artifact. Kiki thinks this seems odd since the Fujiwara are neither elves nor dwarves, and also because they are all dead having managed to upset the Shogun, the Emperor, and even the Shinto Priests. As the strangers drink they spin a tale of their quest to find the golden tree idol, and how they came close, but were thwarted by the beasts in the hidden ruins. Kitsune quickly figures that any such idol would be worth a lot of gold (or at least made of a lot of gold), and decides she will help the Fujiwaras in their search. She buys them a few more drinks and is able to get the basic location of the ruins. Kiki and Kenji also want to search for the idol. Kiki because she's a little bored, having become something of an adrenaline junkie during her early adventures. Kenji because Master Go (the wisest of the teacher at the Temple of the Seven Swans) once mentioned such an idol, and if it has meaning to Go, it should be recovered and taken to Go.
For the Fujiwara, it is three day's travel to the west. For people with Brooms of Flying, it's a quick trip of a few hours.The Ruins are actually easy to spot from the air, and the trio set down near the edge where an opening leads into the side of the hill where the "Ainu Dungeon" mentioned by the lady dwarf must be. After they enter the gloomy cavern entrance they hear a great rumbling and the light from the entrance vanishes. Pulling their lanterns from their packs, they make sure no one is injured and go back to see what has happened. They find that the hillside seems to have collapsed burying the entrance.
"I'm sure there's another way out," says Kitsune with a shrug. "I left my broom out there," says Kenji.
These are a good read, glad that you are posting them and that you are a good dad, too few good dads in the world. |
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Post by ironnerd on Mar 12, 2022 15:38:30 GMT -5
NOTE: I don’t recall all that happened in this dungeon, but I feel that I should at least try to catch y’all up. Also, it is important to point out here that the trio found some magic lanterns in a previous adventure. They never get hot and never go out unless the user closes the shutters. For Kiki and Kenji the lanterns glow a pleasing blue. For Kitsune, the lanterns always glow greenish yellow.
On with the story...
With the only known way out blocked, the trio began their descent into what would turn out to be a deep and treacherous dungeon. Not long after entering the dungeon, Kitsune the Thief/Murder Hobo finds a gem lying neatly in the middle of the floor in a totally open and empty room. Upon wresting the gem from the floor, the party heard a series of clicks and clunks, and the sound of running water. The room begins to fill with water from the spaces between the floor stones. As the water reaches their necks, Kiki (the Destroyer), spots a hatch in the ceiling. She can’t swim in her armor, and does not have time to remove it, so she hoists Kitsune onto her shoulders. Stretching as far as she can, Kitsune manages to open the door and climb in. She tosses a rope to Kiki who is able to climb up. As the water reaches the ceiling, Kenji swims up through the opening and into a narrow passage that leads to another hatch leading down. As they ponder jumping down, Kiki makes an INT check.
“We have brooms!” she said. “We could have just flown up to the ceiling.”
“Oh yeah,” said Kitsune. Kenji shrugged.
“Mine is under a mountain,” he said.
“OK,” said Kiki. “It still would have made escaping the last room a lot easier for me.”
They drop into the room and find a few rusty daggers and some rotted bones. They decide to take a break and get some rest and some iron rations.
Making their way deeper into the dungeon, they finally realize that if they ride the brooms, they won’t trigger nearly as many traps, although Kenji has to walk, and still manages to trip a few. Fortunately he can actually heal himself on the fly, so it turns out that the traps are mostly nuisances.
Having lost track of days, they reach the what they are pretty sure is the sixth (maybe eighth) level of the dungeon. There they stumble upon a wooden necklace with the likeness of a bear upon it. After Kiki and Kitsune spend a few rounds fighting over the necklace, Kiki injures Kitsune and keeps it for herself, allowing Kitsune to take a silver dagger while Kenji accepts a runed staff.
For the first time in days they find a set of stairs leading up! Relieved to be heading in the right direction, they follow the stairs and enter a room filled with charred remains and a surprisingly large bear. Kitsune hurls a sling stone at the bear and strikes it in the chest. The bear rears back and breathes flame at her. Kitsune is immediately killed and Kenji is injured (he actually loses an ear). During the fight Kiki strikes the bear down with her sword. The two spend the next several hours morning their friend. Kiki examins the necklace and laments that she and Kitsune had fought over such a small thing. As they try to cope with their loss another bear enters the room from the stairs. Kiki stands up to face the attacker, but it does not attack. Instead it just lays down and goes to sleep. As soon as Kiki puts the necklace back in her pack, the bear begins to stir again. She puts the necklace around her neck and the bear returns to its slumber.
Days later they emerge from the dungeon. Tired, dirty, hungry, and missing a comrade. They do, however, have a pretty nice haul of treasure. They begin the trip back to their village when they are set upon by a band of Kobolds riding Dire Wolves.
“Give us the treasure,” says the leader of the Kobolds. “Maybe we let you live then.”
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Post by hengest on Mar 15, 2022 18:13:49 GMT -5
Completely cool. Exalt!
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Post by ironnerd on Mar 16, 2022 17:54:17 GMT -5
I find that it is difficult to strike a balance between Tolkien-esque "describe everything to death" and enough detail to make it fun to read.
I am reminded of Battletech novels that included painfully detailed blow-by-blow descriptions of every battle.
The Dungeon was 5 levels deep (with a secret 6th holding more gold than they could every hope to carry out). The trick was that if they didn't spend a little time searching for secret doors and the like, they would have to go all the way to the bottom before they could come back up. And... they did NOT search for secret doors...
I statted out the fire-breathing Cave Bears, but can't find the file right now.
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Post by hengest on Mar 17, 2022 21:06:51 GMT -5
I liked the level of detail, ironnerd. But I know what you mean. You don't want to venture into "gee, I guess you had to be there!" territory, and you don't want it so general that it's pointless. |
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Post by ironnerd on Mar 18, 2022 10:14:23 GMT -5
<side thought>
Just a side thought (since I mentioned Tolkien). What happened to Frodo's finger. I know Smeagol bit it off, but did he spit it out or swallow it? It seems like the sort of thing Tolkien would have mentioned. It's not like he left a lot of details to the imagination.
Is stupid fat hobbitses tasty? Or does he spits them out?
</side thought>
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Post by ironnerd on Mar 23, 2022 19:48:12 GMT -5
In my own defense, I thought this would be a pretty good fight...
Kiki was tired, sweaty, and gross (she tried not to think about the source for the "stiff" that clung to her face and hair), and was having none of the Kobold's garbage. She tossed the great ax to the ground at the feet of the lead kobold's mount and drew her sword. With an angry shout and a single swing of her blade she separated the top half of the kobold from his bottom half. The kobolds went silent. Blood sprayed out of both halves covering the gray-white wolf in crimson. As they bandits sat frozen, Kiki swung her sword again, killing another bandit.
It was all too much for the kobolds and they broke and scurried away into the shadowy forest. The two dire wolves simply walked away, apparently satisfied to be free of their annoying riders. Now thoroughly exhausted, the pair decide to stop and camp for the night, taking turns keeping watch. Kiki awakes in the morning to find that Kenji had lashed most of the treasure to the broom of flying and had managed to get it to hover at about shoulder height.
"Not bad, Priest," said Kiki. Together the pair of adventurers followed the path through the dark forests until they reached the familiar Sakura river. Both waded into the chilly water and washed away the slime, and smoke, and monster bits. Feeling slightly better, they walked the few remaining miles to the village where they drank a toast to their fallen friend and retired to the baths.
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Post by ironnerd on Jul 11, 2022 17:20:11 GMT -5
Cripes...
We played again yesterday. Kiki (my older daughter's level 5 Fighter) took down a Giant Snail. 9 HD, AC -2, and she never even got touched. My character did. Every round the damned thing went after poor Kenji while Kiki the Destroyer rolled THREE natural 20's out of five attack rolls and netted 2,530 XP (thanks to a +10% XP modifier). My other daughter's character was busy hiding behind us since she had ONE hp left. Sonce we travel without a cleric, she's kinda stuck at 1 HP for a bit.
Man! I do dig BECMI!
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Post by The Semi-Retired Gamer on Jul 12, 2022 2:25:01 GMT -5
I had to Exalt for the sheer awesomeness of this thread!
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Post by JMiskimen on Oct 10, 2022 12:11:25 GMT -5
Cool.
I, too, run BE(& some C) of BECMI and also find the skill set from the RC useful. Another worthy addition (to my game, anyways) can be found over at Pandius: The Mystaran Armoury, which is fan-freakin-tastic.
JM
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Oct 10, 2022 15:17:51 GMT -5
Cool. I, too, run BE(& some C) of BECMI and also find the skill set from the RC useful. Another worthy addition (to my game, anyways) can be found over at Pandius: The Mystaran Armoury, which is fan-freakin-tastic. JM That is quite a pdf, I will have to give it a read. You should also check out the ironnerd 's forum in his signature. |
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Post by ironnerd on Oct 27, 2022 8:53:08 GMT -5
I did the unexpected and decided to run Module X6, Quagmire. It was not too difficult as the setting we have been using is set in a island nation (uhm... Japan). Of course we were off the rails after the first session.
One of the local fishermen finds Meloria's message in the bottle. The party, Kiki the Destroyer, Secret Keeper, and Kenji hire a boat to take them to Quagmire. The boat drops them of on an island, then scurries away to avoid pirate ships on the horizon.
So... here is what I learned. Lizard Men are total candy-asses. Kiki (a level 5 fighter), basically mows through them like a John Deere combine in a back yard garden, Kenji (a level 5 mystic) punches them into putty, and Secret Keeper (a level -1 lupin) hides behind the other two. Kiki will actually try to talk adversaries out of fighting when it makes sense - something she seems to have picked up fro Kenji. Secret Keeper, however, normally dives into combat, get in a few good hits, loses most of her HP, then runs to Kenji and Kiki to save her.
There is one in every party I guess.
So... we spent about three sessions hopping from island to island turning lizard men into fertilizer, then the party helped some villagers with a pirate problem (more bloodshed... thank-you Secret Keeper). The villagers, in return for the assistance, take the party to Quagmire. |
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