Paladins

Come to think of it,  if D&D paladins could get away with drowning their enemies in vats of their henchmen's blood and huriling them into snake pits while they were begging for mercy, there would be a lot more respect for paladins and a lot more people wanting to play them.  But, I guess they're stuck with "Lone Ranger Rules", always aiming for the hand.

The High History of the Holy Graal

My latest kindle book was "The High History of the Holy Graal"  which was written in the 1200's in medieval French (although the author claims he's translating from Latin).  The kindle edition is a 19th century translation into modern (more or less) English.  That's the first piece of comment, the translation is deliberately archaic, filled with words that are obsolete and obscure.  I mean, I'm Mr. Obsolete and Obscure, but there was a plethora of words that I didn't know and irritatingly enough were not in the kindle dictionary.  I figure that a "launde" is a clearing in a forest or a meadow, but I still don't know what "maugre" is, and if I don't see "sith" and "sithence" again, I'll be happy.

Putting aside the translation, the plot itself was really weird.  The best description would be "rambling."  Damsel shows up, has some weird story, Perceval, Gawain or Lancelot follows her off and chops some guys up then sees something really weird and a hermit in the forest explains some complicated religious allegory.  On and on, over and over.  The heroes are alternatingly King Arthur himself, Gawain, Lancelot and Perceval, but Perceval is really the main hero.  The book would have been better if it had pruned away the King Arthur, Gawain and Lancelot bits away and stuck to Perceval the whole way through.

It was interesting to see this stage of the development of the story.   The first Holy Grail story was about 50 years earlier, by Chretien de Troyes and was full of weirdness too, but didn't have the heavy Christian allegory layered over it seen in "The High History."  It was also unfinished, with the ending/explanation being missing, which may explain the fascination with the grail since then.   "The High History" however is not the same grail story from Thomas Malory's version from the 1500's with which we are more familiar.

The final comment is about Perceval himself.  He's constantly called the Best Knight in the World and is supposed to be the best fighter and the most moral of the knights.  But, LORDY,  what a freaking badass!  Some of the times he slaughters evil knights who have surrendered to him and are begging for mercy are a little bit shocking.   The most vivid is when he captures the knight who has been persecuting Perceval's mother and sister.   He hacks off the heads of all the bad guy's henchmen, drains their blood into a big vat, and then hangs the guy (begging for mercy) upside down in the vat of blood until he drowns to death in the blood. 

A strange, strange book.

Paul Lynde Halloween Special

I meant to mention this before, but got side-tracked.   Back in November, I had the chance to see the "Paul Lynde Halloween Special" from 1976.

It really was beyond all words.  It was everything you might remember from a 1970's variety show, but turned up to 11.

To get a glipse of the mind-blowing nature of the show, here is my description of the final number:

Imagine a 1970's disco party, hosted by Paul Lynde (the guy from Hollywood Squares, if that doesn't ring a bell, imagine Roger the Alien from American Dad, only a person), with the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz (the actual actress in actual costume), and Witchie-Poo from H.R. Puffenstuff (actual actress in actual costume), helped out by Tim Conway, Billy Bardy (professional movie midget) and Betty White.   Music is provided by Florence Henderson from the Brady Bunch singiing a song, and, of course, by KISS  (yes, KISS) in full make-up.

Recent Reading

I bought a batch of new books for my Kindle reader.  One of them was a collection of 50 books by H. Rider Haggard (only $1 for the entire set of 50 books).  H. Rider Haggard was an adventure writer from the turn of the last century (i.e., around 1900), probably most famous for "King Solomon's Mines", which was made into movies on various occasions.  He's a contemporary of Edgar Rice Burrows and a similar pulp-style adventure writer.   So far, I'm finding them about equal.  Haggard is a bit less fantastic, but is willing to have the occasional supernatural occurance, while the fantastic stuff in Burrows is more overblown, but always has some sort of "scientific" pseudo-explanation.

I'm reading the first book,  "Allan and the Holy Flower" where the hero Allan Quartermain (the same hero as in King Solomon's mines) is leading another explanation into the wilds of Africa in the 19th century in quest of an orchid worth a fortune.

To tie it into gaming stuff, the expedition does remind me of putting together an old-school AD&D party.  The expedition was led by Quartermain,  and a wealthy young orchid fancier who financed the trip, and a crazy old American doctor and former missionary named Brother John.  These would be our PC's.  Additionally, Quartemain brought three of his long-term pals (Mavovo the Zulu witchdoctor, Sammy the cowardly, but well-educated Asian cook, and Hans the Hottentot) who were like "henchmen" and then hired a dozen Zulu hunters (like D&D mercenary soldiers) and later got a bunch of porters to carry stuff (lackey hirelings). 

The expedition begins with a lot of normal real-world adventures, mostly dealing with Arabic slave dealers, and then with the witchdoctor of a tribe in their path who takes a dislike to them.

I've finally got to the bit where they're going to get into Pongo-land, where the quest is leading and things will start getting weird.   

It's good stuff.

Spell Books

Just a campaign note on Spell Books.   Andrew and Marlon each have a first level spell book, that will have enough room for all the first level spells they will ever get.  By the time you guys get to 3rd experience level, you'll need a second book for your second level spells.

Also, don't forget you've captured Flavius's travelling book.  Andrew can use Read Magic to determine which spells are in it.  Then he can make an Intelligence check to "know spells" to see if he can add them to his own collection.   You guys can also use the traveling book to add some more spells (see the Magic book for details and capacity).  If there are any spells in the book that are useable by summoners, Marlon can try to learn them too.

Home Sweet Home

I would like players to let me know where they live.  Right now,  I know that Septimus lives in his mom's house (although he could also stay in the Silver Stars Lodge, if he wanted).

For the rest of you,  if you spend 100gp maintenance, it is assumed you have your own private room.  If you spend at the 60gp maintenance level, you have to share a room with 1 room mate.  If you spend at the 30gp level, you have to share a room with 2-3 people.  

If you buy a place, as some of you are considering, then of course you needn't share.

If you live in Portchester, let me know what ward you live in (Docks, Farmers, Old Town, Grand Ward, or Golden Ward).  You could also live in the countryside (where the vast majority of the population lives).

I would like to see Andrew draw up some plans for Mom's house (it would be approximately 40'x20', 2 storeys high).

Portchester News 2

The next issue of Portchester News Ledger is ready.   The real estate classifieds are in response to a player request, the player in questions was given several more options, but these two are the ones that would be publically available to everyone.

Simony and the Church

Jason asked me a question about whoring his spell casting powers for cash to get XP during down time.   I did want to clear that up for everyone.   As far as the Lawful Church is concerned, clerics are supposed to use their spell casting powers to help the poor and helpless, for free.  The bishops can arrange for adventurers and fat-cat nobles and merchants to purchase cures and the like for money, but the money goes to general church funds and the cures can only be purchased if they aren't needed for the weak and helpless (this is more or less explained in the gear book under NPC spell casting).

Spell casters who are not part of the church are not forbidden to make money casting spells.  However, there isn't a whole lot of call for casting most of the magic user spells outside of adventures.  In any case, even if they can occasionally make some down-time cash, cash earned through honest work won't be useable for XP gain.  XP should come from adventure-based treasure, and through land-ownership (which is an equivalent pain in the ass).  I'd consider profits from long-distance trade (caravans and shipping) to be eligible for XP, if the PC's undertake the expedition in person.

Behind the Screen: Badlands Session 3

Observations on our third game session.

Dungeon:   Conceptually, it was the same pagan temple ruins that Dengwur had his first adventure in Return of the Trolls.  I had lost the original map and had to completely re-create it.   My impressions that a dungeon should have around 20 rooms to be cleaned out in one game session played out about right.  I think that there was the right amount of weird stuff to keep the surroundings interesting.

Slow Advancement:  advancement has been going slowly, but that's the way it was meant to be in the old days.   It has been 10 years since I played a game with advancement this slow, and it takes a bit of getting used to.   I do like the idea of playing several sessions at each level.

Hirelings:  the hirelings were invaluable.   The first edition encounter tables were set up with the assumed party size being 9 or so members (4-5 pc's. 4-5 underlings) and there are stories of Blackmoor sessions when the pc's had dozens of berserkers backing them up in the dungeon.   The Lucky Bastards added a lot of spice to the dialogue, and the Stab Squad were the stars of the show.   I'm going to have to work on some more personality for the Stabbers.  Part of the success of the hirelings was from the Shield Wall and Gang-Up bonuses house rules (but that was part of their purpose, so mission accomplished.)

Smooth Mother Truckers:  I was just floored when the PC's backed off when meeting the NPC party.  Eventually, they killed them, but I was indeed stunned by the intial encounter.

Treasure:   I wished they had found more treasure.   They skipped some, they missed other bits, buried some in the woods, but I wish there had been somewhat more there, in total.

Blog-pology

I noticed I hadn't entered anything here in a week, and I try to get something every couple of days.  I realize that my posting mojo had been directed toward the campaign wiki site that Andrew has set up.  He was doing some background work and prodding me to post some things that had only been in my head or in some older documents.

I don't know whether he's given everyone access, but it's worth a look.

http://www.lordsofhack.com/home/doku.php?id=badlands

Portchester News Ledger

I decided that I would revive an old practice I've used in some campaigns:  that of issuing an in-game "newspaper."  I did this in a 2e game I ran in Virginia, right before I moved back to town, and in several of the early 3e games we played here, and in the d20 Traveller campaign.

This one is called the Portchester News Ledger.  The premise is that it is a collection of reports of events by various npcs in the city.  The purpose is to show the actions of the PC's from a "subjective" external view in order to accomplish several ends.  First, it aids in establishing the depth of the setting by reminding everyone of the consequences of certain actions.  Second, it allows me to drop the occasional hint, suggestion, or adventure lead.  Third, it allows me to mess with people's heads.  Fouth, and finally, it allows me to bust on people and make fun of them.

I'll send the issues out as I make them.  But will also put them on the wiki here:

http://www.lordsofhack.com/home/doku.php?id=portchester_news_ledger