Bloodstone + Dark Tower

[Savinien]

Re: Bloodstone + Dark Tower

 

Yeah... So I found out a few years ago I'm supposed to be GMing our FTF game tomorrow evening. I'm waffling between this and a retcon game of Annals of the Mask.

 

I still don't know diddly about steam ships.

[Curufea]

Re: Bloodstone + Dark Tower

 

I still don't know diddly about steam ships.

 

Never fear - you're already on the right track.

It's one of the most useful things the internet can do. Looking things up.

[Savinien]

Re: Bloodstone + Dark Tower

 

Which is precisely what I spent too much time doing. Now though, I have a working map of the Oberon. I figure they'll have it at least for a few sessions, so a map might be nice.

 

I'm working out the details of the swivel cannon and the layout of the ship. It's sort of fun. My next activity is working out the crew. I'll come up with a few scenarios that make sense and come up with a few scenes.

 

Then, everything will be zen.

 

I might post some pics of the Oberon if your nice.

[RPMiller]

Re: Bloodstone + Dark Tower

 

I might post some pics of the Oberon if your nice.

Damn no chance of seeing those pics...

[Savinien]

Re: Bloodstone + Dark Tower

 

For your perusal...

 

The Oberon

[RPMiller]

Re: Bloodstone + Dark Tower

 

Looks good! At first I forgot that this was a steam ship and was like, 'what are those things sticking out the sides?' Duh, paddle wheels!

[Savinien]

Re: Bloodstone + Dark Tower

 

I'm pretty proud of the ol Oberon! Now, I just needs some fodder for the story.

 

Any ideas?

[Savinien]

Re: Bloodstone + Dark Tower

 

Here are the two player character sheets for your perusal.

[Savinien]

Re: Bloodstone + Dark Tower

 

I have a working concept on the Oberon's first stop.

 

Citidel Rokell was built during an earlier time of the Adriach. It was a time of conflict when it was possible an invading army, be it Arped Zen's zealots of the Purge, or the Overlord's Fists, could move down the river into Oseenhaven, the Capitol city must be safe.

 

In it's early years, the citidel was a walled fortress built to protect the river and land access along the river. Since the Age of Gunpowder, the contemporary star pattern was put into effect. It is one of the few with this enhancement and it has never fallen.

 

The village of Summer Cove popped up before the Plague decimated much of the region's population and had been repopulated since. Now though, the Floods of the Event and subsequent troubles have the place silent as a tomb as the Oberon moves up towards the Citidel and surroundings.

[RPMiller]

Re: Bloodstone + Dark Tower

 

Here is some eye candy for right now. I'll be back later to fill in some ideas and comment on the above.

http://www.daz3d.com/i.x/shop/itemdetails/-/?item=3819&spmeta=rl

[Remjin]

Re: Bloodstone + Dark Tower

 

Damn it!

 

Thread not about me

 

that's what I was thinking.. =)

[RPMiller]

Re: Bloodstone + Dark Tower

 

The Hyptorians were once just a simple community of farmers, but over the years the continually sought ways to make their labors easier and more profitable. With each new invention their productivity soared and they grew wealthier and able to afford hiring the brightest engineers they could find throughout the lands. This meant even newer and greater machines and methods were able to be employed. No one ever batted an eye at what they were building over the course of generations until the day that their borders simply became too small for them and they began to expand. This did not sit well with their neighbors and soon conflicts arose. The Hyptorians then found new uses for their many inventions and machines...

 

(See the steam mech I linked to above. What do you think?)

[Savinien]

Re: Bloodstone + Dark Tower

 

Hmmm. I dunno who the Hyptorians are... But, the idea has some merit for one of the other countries in the setting.

 

What do you think of an arabic/egyptian inspired steam-mecha?

[RPMiller]

Re: Bloodstone + Dark Tower

 

Hehehe, I just made up the name as an example. Arabic/Egyptian mecha would be cool looking I would think.

[Savinien]

Re: Bloodstone + Dark Tower

 

Yeah. I think it might be cool, too. I'm just not sure what the distinctions would be. Relatively, that will be a bit down the road. What I really need now, are various 'bends in the river' so to speak. What will the Oberon and its crew encounter on its tour up the Adriach?

 

I have the first conceptually decided, if not the ramifications and specifics.

 

Now, what about the rest of the stops?

[RPMiller]

Re: Bloodstone + Dark Tower

 

Creatures coming to the water's edge to drink is always a good possibility. Plus there would be any number of towns/villages/hamlets that sprung up for both trade and the rivers resources whether food or something else. Maybe a mill? What if there were several watch towers built along the river to watch for invaders that might be using it, and one or even some of them have been taken over as homes or "personal castles". Bandits could have set up traps to raid ships that might be coming up or down the river. River pirates? Maybe there is an ironclad being used to control the river.

[Savinien]

Re: Bloodstone + Dark Tower

 

Creatures coming to the water's edge to drink is always a good possibility. Plus there would be any number of towns/villages/hamlets that sprung up for both trade and the rivers resources whether food or something else. Maybe a mill? What if there were several watch towers built along the river to watch for invaders that might be using it' date=' and one or even some of them have been taken over as homes or "personal castles". Bandits could have set up traps to raid ships that might be coming up or down the river. River pirates? Maybe there is an ironclad being used to control the river.[/quote']

 

You're on the same track as I was considering. The majority of this continent has had troubles in its past. It was only a few hundred years previous that a massive Religious jihad rocked the known world. It succeeded in ridding people of magic and inhuman special societies. (I'm considering Ettin's and the like non-magic beasties. So, while they'd be hunted down when endangering the populace, they wouldn't be genocided.)

 

This jihad left an era of isolationism which was quickly followed by a plague of epic proportions. This combination left a lot of structures and even town left empty. While a bit of colonization from the epicenters of the cities increased the population somewhat, there's an abundance of ruins dotting the landscape.

 

The main trade routes were policed as well as possible, but the Event left everything changed. The crew of the Oberon has no idea what they're up against. They only know that Elspeth's recent military sendings never returned, nor a message sent.

[Savinien]

Re: Bloodstone + Dark Tower

 

Citidel Rokell -

 

During the later periods of the Age of the One God, Ossenhaven monarchy renovated a few fortifications with the newer star concept. It was created to lessen the impact of canon on the field of war. Citidel Rokell, being the final bastion of any force sent down the Adriach, was the first to be retrofitted with the new architecture.

 

In the years after the plague, Sommerset Cove, which was nestled south of Citidel Rokell, became a small community of pleasant retirement. Soldiers true to duty were given small plots of land near the settlement. Even the University allowed 'retirement' to Sommerset Cove. Maester Stefan Reink retired there with his wife Elizabeth and Reink Manor was constructed on the hill above Sommerset and the Citidel.

 

A few years ago, disaster struck and Maester Reink delved into the darker arts in an attempt to revivify his wife who died in a freak accident. many things were tried and necromancy was hinted at, but never proven. Eventually, Maester Stefan concocted a process, but it only kept those dead in a semblance of life, the majority of their brain function gone and only an incessant hunger for brainz remained.

 

The new creatures were contagious with a bite, but brought under control before news escaped Reink Manor. That night, the Event occured and the destruction from the orignal quakes freed the creatures and much havoc was wreaked upon Sommerset Cove, Citidel Rokell, and the Manor itself.

 

The entire area is infested with Zombies.

 

The contagion is magical in its microscopic nuances and the 'spell' held together by a bit of Bloodstone. If the Bloodstone could be corrupted the zombies would loose their life force and die, the contagion with them.

 

This is the first stop of the Oberon as it heads upstream. I'm going to use the Romero zombie build and here is a medicore map of Reink Manor. I have a hand-drawn facsimile of Citidel Rokell, Sommerset Cove, and the Manor, but haven't taken the time to use a map tool to make an electrical copy.

 

Tomorrow night, we'll see how the PCs fare with this horrific situation.

[Savinien]

Re: Bloodstone + Dark Tower

 

Tonight! Tonight!

 

I'm pretty giggity about the game and feel pretty well about my preperations. I probably need to mock up the crew, the marines, and their equipment to cover the 'away' team.

 

Either way, I thought I'd be a completist and show one of the pictures I used as inspiration for this location. This is Sommerset Cove and Charles Fort in Ireland. The map is my Autorealm version. It isn't perfect, but, I'm getting better with it.

[RPMiller]

Re: Bloodstone + Dark Tower

 

Verrry niice... You'll have a visual to present as well as the maps. It sounds like your group is in for some fun zombie killing this evening!

[Savinien]

Re: Bloodstone + Dark Tower

 

I hope so... They don't have a clue what I have in store for them. I'm curious to see what they do with the situation and how the meta-gaming portions of their mind deal with the first sight of 'zombie' and where they place the threat level according to those assumptions.

[RPMiller]

Re: Bloodstone + Dark Tower

 

What would really throw them for a loop is if you had different types of zombies. Both fast and slow. Throw the slow ones at them first and right when they feel comfortable bring out the fast ones.

[Savinien]

Re: Bloodstone + Dark Tower

 

Best. Game. Ever.

Campaign Setting: Age of Reason

Book One: Voyage of the Oberron

Chapter One: Knight of the Living Dead

 

Ser Byrd and Maester Aleron pointed towards the beach, under the shadow of the Sound and Sergeant Rykhardt assented. The two crewmen rowed the longboat as Privates Allen and Bren covered their entrance with muskets. The broken spars of craft and trunks of tree rose like spears from the muddy muck of the cove’s floor.

 

The floods had done a nearly incomprehensible amount of damage to the Cove and debris was left everywhere as the waters from the northern Adriach headed downstream towards the Great Sea beyond. These men though had lived through the Hell of Ossen-haven after the Quake and the Great Flood following. Still, reliving that nightmare here was no generous task. The corpses began to appear. The longboats slowly manueverd through the remains of man, woman, and child floating face down to either side, bobbing gently in their wake. Death, fickle as always. Tentatively, Maester Aleron rolled a corpse over as they passed, the bloated features of the drowned stared into the sky, his eyes eaten by the fish swimming in the bay below them, before rolling over, once more keeping its eternal vigil on the littered depths of the cove.

 

Ser Byrd voiced what they all felt, "It's quiet Sergeant. Too quiet." They hadn't seen anything even vaguely alive since spotting the powder blue uniform briefly on one of the towers of Citadel Rokell. And, nothing changed as Privates Marik and Delivan leapt from the longboat and drug it onto the powdery sands of the beach.

 

The wooden pier had been wrenched from its moorings upon the Sound, the small edifices windows and doors gaping open. The blight of hope, darkened by the mawing darkness of those open wounds.

 

Words came hollow upon the beach as Ser Byrd offered orders. "Sergeant, we'll take Marik and Delivan into town proper, you take the rest of the men and secure this beach."

 

"No people here, Ser," Rhykhardt replied. "Only one thing left... Death." His voice was gruff and his features grizzled. Still, he was known to have fought with the Ossen navy against Ingrian Pirates and rumored to have a good head on his shoulders. It calmed the men.

 

The scouting force headed up the cobblestone ramp into the few residences and businesses that sat heavily upon the rising hillock above the beach. Just as they crested the top of the ramp though, a shout rang from the Sound and Sgt. Rhykhardt's curses followed heavily. Behind them, a swarm of blackbirds, crows by the look of them, winged upwards and past, towards the Citadel. Their passage nearly blotted out the light of the Eye of the One God and lay a fluttering shadow across the hearts of each man it touched.

 

"Carrion," Delivan muttered his voice quavering. "Only thing left in Sommerset..."

 

Weighty silence followed the small groups as they moved slowly about the area. it was evident the waterline hadn't quite reached this area, though debris fluttered bravely along the street and the majority of the windows had been breached by the winds, or something else. Maester Aleron mounted the wooden steps of the walkway along a Nettery, peering in past the shattered glass of the presumably abandoned building a bit of motion from within catching his eye. he could barely make out the swaying motion of a bearded man gently rocking in a wooden rocking chair, his hairy chin resting on one shoulder in apparent slumber.

 

The scholar's booted soles clunked across the walkway and the door creaked ominously open at his gentle touch. The sleeper didn't rouse though and both Knight and Maester approached cautiously, calling to the rocking man. The gentle squeaking grated as a rancorous croak in the sublime shadow of the shop. Outside, Marik and Delivan gripped their blunderbuss in sweaty-palmed hands, eyes darting about as they watched through the shattered window. Maester Aleron had earned a link for his chain in medicine and knew well, the human body. He spotted a wound on the bearded man's opposite shoulder, noting it seemed fresh and not yet beginning to heal. With a rag from his medical pouch, he daubed at the wound, hoping to decipher some of the mystery that surrounded this godless place.

 

The bearded man's eyes flicked open, dullness immediately visible behind those now-open lids. He actually emitted a hissing moan at the attending Maester, catching everyone aback as his head whipped forward, blackened teeth biting into Kenneth's unwrapped hand. Gritting his teeth against the pain, the Maester used physical maneuvers taught him by the Karkaroth monks of Mal'Karta and launched the maddened man up and out of his seat and towards the window. Ser Byrd brought his musket to his shoulder, barking an order at the man, "Stay down, Man, or I shall be forced to fire upon you."

 

Private’s Marik and Delivan had seen more than enough. Smoke and flame billowed into the room as both men let loose with their blunderbuss, shot scattering wood and flesh alike. More glass shattered and fell as one of the men's shots went awry and high, removing the rest of the Nettery's window. And yet, the biter still squirmed struggling to stand. That was Ser Byrd's cue and his shot took the moaning man through his side and exited from his back in a blast of gore and bits of organ.

 

The man, struggled to stand, yet fending off Master Aleron's swift kick then twirled to the ground as Private Marik removed an arm with the hack of his axe. Blood welled and the man-like creature fell still. All present exchanged glances and the Maester moved forward to inspect the cadaver after cleansing and dressing the wound to his hand. Little was gleaned from the examination as the others inspected the shop, moving gingerly about the stinking environ. Eyes were dull with incomprehension and Ser Byrd commented what many of them were thinking, "Are these Unliving creatures of Legend? Stories of Zombies haven’t been told since the Ages of the False Gods. What can be responsible for this?"

 

Another creature was found upstairs, dragging her way towards the stairwell, one leg mostly gone by apparent feeding upon it. "We need to check on the Sergeant," Byrd ordered pushing his men to move out of the shop, the grisly memories too horrific to fade painting grimaces on the faces of all present. The sounds of gunshot greeted them before many steps and the sounds of combat echoed up from the beach. Apparently, Sgt. Rykhardt had already found something.

 

The flight into the Sound was harrowing, Maester and Knight each taking a marine as they split to search the fortification for the rest of their group. Maester Aleron and Pvt. Delivan were the first to come upon the Sergeant and his mean trapped on three sides by encroaching zombies dressed in the powder blue uniforms of their comrades. Before it was over, Allen had fallen to the masses with multiple wounds and all the creatures were down. A flight from the Sound ensued through the halls of the Sound, shuffling Zombies seeming to move encroach on all sides.

 

With sword and rifle, the scouting party of the Oberron emerged once more onto the beach of Sommerset Cove, the door barricaded shut behind them. Maester Aleron shared his well-educated wisdom, "One Maester Rennik took his leave from active duty in Sommerset Cove. Perhaps, he may have knowledge of what has befallen this place?"

 

Awake, though weary, Crewman Allen surprises them all, "Rennik Manor then, to the west and north of Sommerset Cove," he managed.

 

"We'll take Privates Delivan and Marik with us, Sergeant. The rest of you return to the Oberron. If this can be stopped, our solution likely lies in Rennik Manor with good Maester Aleron's colleague," Her Majesty's Knight had spoken up when others kept their eyes to the ground.

 

None of them voiced what they were all thinking. Had this curse fallen upon Maester Rennik as well as Sommerset Cove? What of Citadel Rokell and its troops, had they survived?

 

Getting the directions from Private Allen and seeing their comrades off the beach, Sgt. Rykhardt gave the group their salvation, “Fire three quick shots in succession and we’ll send a longboat to pick you up. Good luck, Ser Knight and treat my men well.”

 

The four men bid the others farewell and watched them row away only briefly before turning and moving back up the ramp and heading inland. Any sight of persons was acknowledged with a shout. There were no replies, so the troop continued on their heading at a jog, blunderbuss and musket at hand. Within a few minutes and an uphill climb Rennik Manor came into view, the outer portcullis half-raised and a corpse lying beneath the pointed tines.

 

They approached cautiously, Master Aleron inspecting the corpse and Ser Byrd ordering the men about. Kehm found nary a bite mark on this corpse and the wounds looked older. He concluded it was killed by the fall of the portcullis and not these strange creatures dubbed zombies. A strange revelation was slowly occurring to Maester Kehm Aleron, is it possible some sort of disease caused these things to be so resilient to their weapons? Could it be contagious? He eyed the puckered wound on his hand. Could he be infected? Dire thoughts weighed heavily upon the Maester as they searched about the curtain wall.

 

The northern hall of the wall was heavily barred, both on the ground level and the second story. Three more of the zombies in the powder blue of Ossen arms were discovered and dispatched. The cannon had been removed from the crenellated roof of the small Gatetower. The Manor itself appeared as barren as Sommerset Cove and the scouting group decided there was little recourse but to explore the Manor further and hopefully find information of this Curse within.

 

END SESSION ONE

[Savinien]

Re: Bloodstone + Dark Tower

 

Much fun was had by all in the game last night. A couple things came up concerning rule decisions and the lot, but didn't take long. I used the Romero Zombie build that I found somewhere through these forums and some generic write-ups I had for Malrik and Delivan. Most of my prep time was concerned with the maps, which I'm fairly proud of.

 

I'm not sure about the blunderbuss build compared to the flintlock muskets, but it seemed to work. I need to detail the equipment builds a bit more and Ser Byrd's player seemed to enjoy counting his shot and the Activation roll of his musket.

 

I also like the way the NPCs seemed to take on a life of their own:

 

Sergeant Rykhardt is a gruff veteran but canny

Private Delivan reminds me of Bill Paxton's character from Aliens

Private Marik seems more capable than Delivan, but still friends with the other pirate.

 

Even though the only injury taken by the players and their immediate NPCs was the single bite to Maester Aleron, the players still seemed to feel the overhanging threat of impending doom. The immediately mentioned Night of the Living Dead when the Netmaker attacked. I questioned why, curious, and it was the bite. D&D type zeds don't bite. Romero zombies do.

 

So, I have two weeks for any further prep for this chapter. I'm considering actually writing up the pertinent NPCs and researching the black-powder weapons a bit more and tweaking their builds. I'll probably polish up the maps a bit more and then work towards the next chapter.

 

I don't know what that'll be but I'm thinking it involves an ettin.

 

Ideas?

[RPMiller]

Re: Bloodstone + Dark Tower

 

That really was an enjoyable read. Sounded like there was a lot of fun. If you are going to delve into the NPCs more you might consider searching for some pics for them just to give a face to them. I always enjoy visual aids as a player.

 

I'm assuming that the next session will take place in the manor? What is the ettin going to be doing? Would there possibly be a small group of survivors held up somewhere trying to survive but surrounded by zombies? Yup. Blatant rip off of the movie.