Super Squirrel

Re: Vast Underground One of the original D&D or AD&D books had a random dungeon generator. One of the groups I had gamed with for a while liked to run random dungeons when no one wanted to GM. They talk about one stretch of dungeon that kept generating pit traps with Hydras in them. They also once generated a 10' by 10' room with a Ancient Red Dragon inside.

Re: Vast Underground

Re: Vast Underground I'm working on a dungeon that was built by a mad alchemist. He died many years ago when an adventuring party went in, killed everything they found* and killed the mad alchemist. The took the loot and left. The module, however, focuses on creatures that survived and others that moved in to this very nifty, abandoned dungeon. * Except for one thing they decided NOT to kill.

Re: Vast Underground I recall that about the Ruins of Greyhawk. I also love the part about a pillar that has the Earth Stone in it. You can't find it by any method other than going up to the Pillar and casting a Wish spell and specifically asking if there the Earth Stone was in the pillar IIRC.

Re: Vast Underground I own Undermount as well. It is on my list of AD&D books to sell.

Re: Vast Underground Incidently, I was thinking a couple of days ago about creating large dungeons. I started writing up some information on how to design a dungeon. It is nothing compared to this which is amazing but part of it does assist the situation. Questions to answer before you begin the dungeon design: Who created it? Knowing who created the dungeon helps shape it. Was it a paranoid wizard? Was it a clan of goblins? The design of the dungeon will reflect the personality of its creator. Why was it created? The biggest flaw with dungeons is there is no reason for them. They are just there. Ask yourself why it was created. Was it crafted to hide a secret lab at its deepest level? Was it a complex path to the surface world? Was it designed to provide a place for the residents to hide from the outside world? How was it created? This helps best with doing room descriptions and designing the physical map. Were the rooms natural? Were they crafted by magic? Were they dug by dwarves? Knowing how the rooms were made helps provide texture to the dungeon. When were they created? Is the dungeon new? Is it ancient? This also helps with designing the map and the room descriptions. Older dungeons might have marks of previous battles on the walls. Sections of the dungeon may have collapsed long ago. Bodies of victims will be nothing more that skeletons. Doors may be rotting and falling apart. Newer dungeons may have unfinished sections with piles of fresh rock and mining equipment. Rooms may be nearly perfect with brand new doors and unrusted hinges. What is the history of the dungeon? Have there been any major battles in the dungeon before? Have any adventures gone down into the dungeon in the past? Were there any fires or magical explosions in the dungeon? Did the lands ever flood after the dungeon was first created? That's all I had really.

Re: Vast Underground I have always wanted to play the Ruins of Greyhawk. I own a copy but never had the chance to run it or play it.

Is there a list of material components for spells in the Fantasy Hero Grimoire?

Re: Longest Running Thread EVER Velvet Rope, Christmas Hulk, and Plastic Prison were some of my favorites.

Re: CHAMPIONS OF THE NORTH -- What Would You Like To See? How is it I manage to never see these threads until two or three months after they have been running? It is probably too late to throw this out, but I'd like to see something along the Maine/Canada border, particularly Old Sow in an official setting. You can check out my Digital Hero Article on Downeast Maine for information on that.

Re: WWYD - Marvel's Civil War I haven't played this character in years, but Null would most likely support the Pro-Reg side. Null wouldn't, however, help hunt down other heroes who were against the Registration.

Re: Post Apoc Setting I haven't forgotten about this. I've been spending my free time working on two projects that are a bit more pressing. Once I have finished up a project I'm helping Dan with, I'll be back to writing this all up.

Re: Would You Assassinate the King? Let's not forget for a moment that the creator is nothing more than an author. In other Via threads, I know the point has been made at how bad of a writer John Williams is. My favorite example, of course, is the flock of bears. In Via bears travel in flocks like birds. The line up in actual V formation when they migrate to the South or back North. The concept of Divine Right has never come up in game. I'm not going to say that this is indication it doesn't exist, but it is very doubtful in my mind that it does. First and foremost there are the seraphim. If you burn a church, a seraphim is sent to kill you for blasphemy. In my one shot adventure I ran at Dragon Con '06 I had a giant ripped apart by a seraphim. So, in theory, if a king has Divine Right, killing him would be blasphemy. And as Alice has said, the king is usually a plot point, never holding bearing on the fate of the world.

Re: Would You Assassinate the King? I have to say, that thanks to feedback from posters, I do have a decision. Prince Valentine Alaric Quentin and Father Danaecus are sitting down and having a private chat about what needs to happen.

Re: Would You Assassinate the King? I wonder if the OP is allowed to continue reading his own thread.

Re: Would You Assassinate the King? That just makes me want to peak even more. Whee need a smiley that shows the smiley banging its head into a wall.

Re: Would You Assassinate the King? Now mind you everyone that just because the Creator is writing a book, I don't know this. All I know is that the creator wants good stories. He doesn't care who gets hurt.

Re: Would You Assassinate the King? You are very mean. Argh.

Re: Would You Assassinate the King? Hmmm, true but maybe I can get Angelique to help me if I deny the creator a good story by killing the king myself. Maybe I can have him killed a really stupid.

I'm going to paint you the scenario from the eyes of my character. I want you to tell me what you would do in this situation. First to give you some background, read my thread Got Owned on a Bait and Switch. This will give you an idea of what happened last game session. Let me start by introducing the key resources in this situation. In no particular order: There is Lina (PC). She is a hero who has a lot of public sway having not only won a tournament recently but also marrying the Prince and other adventure goodness. There is Rastal (PC). He is a member of the Knights of the Church. There is the prince (NPC) heir to the throne. There is Iarid (NPC). He is a former member of Order of the Wish. There is Ryllis (NPC). While not with us, she is a prominent elf and will become the replacement of Angelique upon Ryllis' death. There is a dragon on the Church of Romanor's council who I helped put there to form a bridge between the church and the fae. There is a drake, whose father is Piercylwin. He has understands that Piercylwin is evil and that at least my character is on the side of drakes. And then there is my character, Father Danaecus. My character started out believing in the church that it was flawless and perfect. His philosophy in the teaching was that the Creator guides us on a path and we must follow that path to see his message. As close as my initial philosophy was, I had no idea the truth. In our search to find a way and stop the psychotic Angelique, I had an encounter with her in my dreams. Her reason for anger is that she had learned the full truth of the creator. She came to hate the creator for this and seeks to either free herself in her existence or hurt the creator in such a perfect way that she will have had her vengeance. What I learned from this encounter shook my character's very faith. Sidebar: Out of character you must recognize that the creator is nothing more than John Williams. He is a nobody who writes very bad stories that become true. All John Williams cares about in truth is having a popular book that sells for a lot of money. What I have come to learn is that all the creator likes is a good story. He doesn't care who gets killed or hurt in the process as long as the story is good. I, unfortunately, see the logic in this and it is confirmed by several other means. The church doesn't know this nor does anyone else in the party at this time. My character is too shaken by this truth and other truths to break it to other people in the world yet. Now, here is the dilemma. Piercylwin is bent on either destroying the world entirely or becoming in complete control of it so that no possible threat could rise against him. He has now the source he plans on using to get such a power. I have no idea how long it will take Piercylwin to achieve this goal. Piercylwin has at his command at least two demons. Demons are practically unheard of in this world and incredibly powerful, Piercylwin has somehow managed to force two of them under his control. Piercylwin also has a full sized Black Dragon under his command. Dragons are, to say the least, deadly compared to any dragon in any other RPG I have encountered. Also Piercylwin has dozens, if not hundreds of Drakes. Drakes are half-dragon / half-men. They are just as powerful as full sized dragons. The just lack the innate magical ability. Piercylwin's number 2 is my character's brother who has somehow managed to bring someone back to life. This is a clear sign of necromancy powers, a forbidden art. And if this isn't already enough, Piercylwin is apparently immortal and leads the Order of the Wish. Our resources as they are are not sufficient to deal with this threat. We need forces, lots of them, to win this battle. Getting the church's knights to back us is easy. Order of the Wish is an enemy of the church and the fact that the former Seraphim Aveliel is being held prisoner by Piercylwin is enough of a motivation to get them going. Getting dragon support is possible, but tricky. I've already bridged the gaps between dragons and the church. In fact, drakes are no longer seen as "demons" in the eyes of the church. This might also mean that in addition to dragons, we can get drakes working for us. We might even be able to get the fae to help us. I don't expect much help from the fae and I'm not sure how much they could add, but it is possible through some work and some good deeds, we can address the problem. The Order of the Wish has put the lock down on one Fae Settlement. They know the evil that is Order of the Wish and if we can help them, they might be able to convince the other settlements to join our fight. Thanks to Ryllis we have a good chance with the elves. But here lies the problem. The human king tried to assassinate the elven high queen. Because the situation is likely to be viewed as a "human" matter. The elves might not join our fight. Paired with this fact is that the current King is in liege with Order of the Wish. We can't get the Royal Knights behind us without the throne behind us. The Royal Knights are a much larger force than any of the above mentioned forces. We desperately need them. So all this for the conundrum at hand. The prince and heir to the throne is with us. He knows his father is evil. His father, after all, tried to have him killed. We might be able to pull of a coup or some sort of similar tactic but this could be time consuming. As it is, we need dragon support if we have any chance with addressing the drakes and dragons. We can't risk Piercylwin gaining his power in time. So the question my character is asking myself is, "Should I assassinate the king so that the prince can take the throne?" And lingering on his mind is another thought. The assassination of the king would make a good story and thus would not be blasphemy against the church. So, what do you think?

Re: First Annual: 12 Days of Christmas* Project Yes. I did this intentionally last year as well. It is easier for people to do this prior to the holidays beginning than starting it on a crazy, hectic day and going into New Years. It also makes the count down to Christmas faster.

Re: Post Apoc Setting I doubt Steve Long and Darren would be interested in it and I'm not in a place I could buy art to license it on my own. But that is not a no. I just don't know. For now, I'm getting history to you all.

Re: Post Apoc Setting I have it all worked out with rubber science in a pretty plausable way too. I know why the comet shifted orbit. I know what causes the mutations. I know what the crystal is and does also. It will be more fun writing this once I get past the history. Not yet. I've got the UK and Ireland figured out as well as the United States, Germany, and another place in Europe called Salus (don't bother looking on a map). Most of the design focuses around Salus. Close but the full scope of what "it" is makes this setting fun. I'll be trying to pump out information as quickly as I can.

Re: Post Apoc Setting Please don't hate me for the grammatical mistakes in there. I've already noticed three or four myself. I should have posted this in the morning.

Re: Post Apoc Setting Close enough. It is the designation of a comet. So as a reward, I'll share the first part of the history tonight. This is unedited Super Squirrel goodness. It will probably be the only part I'll post without posting as PDF. R5/2012-K3 The comet R5/2012-K3 was discovered on May 23, 2012 by Professor Michael Renshaw. The comet's discover was significant for its projected path would place the comet as a near miss of Earth in the year 2015. The science community was thrilled. The comet would be so close to Earth that a close and detailed study of the comet would be inexpensive compared to previous studies. The irony of the situation wouldn't be known until early 2015 when the comet's orbit shifted dramatically. A collision was inevitable. While scientists debated how a shift in orbit could have occurred, world governments discussed how to address the impending catastrophe. It was the American Government that brought a solution to the table. Based on previous comet data, scientists were able to conceive a way for four simultaneous nuclear strikes upon the comet to obliterate the comet to nothing more than safe chunks of debris. The world watched as the comet approached. On June 3, 2015 at precisely 4:32 PM EST, the world watched as the four nuclear warheads detonated. For three solid minutes, the world cheered together in celebration. But then, it became clear all was not successful. The outer layer of the comet had been successfully destroyed. But what the world had not expected was an inner ring of strange crystal mass. The crystal too had shattered, but underneath the crystal remained a core of pure iron. Four nuclear strikes had saved life on Earth. But what the world was spared from was yet to be known. Most world communication was lost within hours of the strike. The core of the comet had been sent into a slow, degrading orbit. The shattered pieces of crystal, iron, and ice fell chaotically taking with it most of the satellites orbiting the planet. While the United States had saved the world, the bulk of the debris struck within minutes. Radio reports indicate the country destroyed and in complete disarray. Within days reports came of erratic behaviors of certain survivors. Had the rest of world been listening in, within a week they would hear nothing but silence. Chunks of the comet's outer layer struck nearly every major city in the world. The damage of the rain ranged from minimal to severe. Some cities, such Paris received little damage. Northern London was hit by a large piece of debris but not of such magnitude the city was rendered inoperable. Bonn, Germany was reportedly struck by the largest remaining chunk of crystal. While survivors did make it out of the city, the bulk of the city was leveled by the impact. On June 7, 2015 the iron core of R5/2012-K3 began a rapid descent to Earth. It struck the Mediterranean, half way between Sicily and Greece. The impact left a crater so large that the sea could not breach the ridge. Most of the coastlines were hit by a tidal wave of such magnitude that entire cities vanished. By June 9, 2015, the last of the remains of comet R5/2012-K3 had fallen to Earth. At this time, radio reports from the United States spoke of only the erratic behaviors of certain survivors. Any questions to what those behaviors were were answered by June 14, 2015. The comet had been contaminated with an unknown type of radiation, not from the crystal, but from the outer shell. The radiation's full effect was unknown but it was clear that it caused mental and physical mutations on humans. By June 23, 2015 the only radio communications were conducted from secret locations or by those at sea where the radiation could not reach. The world was dark, alone, and afraid.