Ragnarok

Re: New Paranormal game coming up! I have a couple questions that popped into my head last night. 1) With Clinging, do I just need to maintain 3 points of contact? In other words, could I pull and fire my pistol with one hand while Clinging? 2) This one is probably more for Manic. Does the +4 with Rifles apply to all rifles (assault rifles included) or just sniper rifles? Thanks

Re: New Paranormal game coming up! Yup. Cuz she's awesome like that.

Re: New Paranormal game coming up! Done.

Re: New Paranormal game coming up! That...that is all kinds of horrifying... *Jots down "Remember to buy flamethrowers and chainsaws"*

Re: New Paranormal game coming up! Lucius, you're more than welcome to see my character history if you wish. Just shoot me a PM and I'll get it to you. Hmm...I would imagine Rural Fantasy might include harvest spirits, various hillbilly monsters a la Wrong Turn...

Re: Norse Campaign Journal Manic - Apparently he was unaware we would be continuing, even though I'm pretty sure I mentioned it at least a few times. He was hardly around during the end of the semester though. At this point he's done the sort of tentative, maybe I'll have time response. We'll see what comes of that. I'll be sending out an email to the players shortly to goad them into giving me what we want.

Re: Norse Campaign Journal Session #11: The last one until Fall. The PCs take a breather after the battle at Hammerfall. Jax searches through the Draugr bodies to find anything special, and finds a rather nice helmet that had belonged to what appeared to be the Draugr Hersir. It is an iron helmet, with chainmail attached around the bottom so it covers the neck. It has gold inlays of various sea monster motifs and ornate tribal symbols. In an act of kindness that seemed to go rather unappreciated, Jax gave this very nice helmet to Hadhood, who gruffly took it with some mumbling. I suppose I would be grumpy too if I had nearly been split in two, but still. The PCs then assist with repairing the defenses, while riders from Hammerfall go out to gather the people of the Bear clan from the surrounding villages to bolster Hammerfall's defenses. The PCs stay for about three days, alternately resting and working. Jax lays some more ice down to fortify the palisade walls, and Felnor uses inspiration to fortify the resolve and confidence of the men. After a while, the riders and clansmen arrive, and Torvald asks the PCs to send a warning to Alric that his territory might be in danger, since it lies on the coast. The PCs ask about the origin of the Draugr, and discover from Torvald that there was a human clan far to the North that were especially feared raiders that had sea monster motifs on their gear and ships. They never were a part of the alliance of the 5 clans, so nobody really knew much about what was going on with them. Their raiding stopped shortly after the Year of Blood, and then soon after the Draugr mists started appearing in the seas. The PCs prepare to head out the next morning. The PCs arise and start to depart. It is a cold, foggy day, though thankfully the fog is not of Draugr origin. As they start to ride out, they notice a rather large raven hopping around outside the gate. It looks at them, cocking its head from side to side, croaking and clicking. The PCs leave it and carry on with their three day journey to the Raven Clan territory, which they must cross in order to get back to Alric. For the first two nights, their are normal watches with the exception that they see a raven every night. The third night, they make camp in a heavily wooded area in the middle of some large stones. During Jax's watch, the raven reappears. Jax, who had been passing the time by trying to blast flies out of the air with his ice spell, decides to throw a stick at the raven. His attack roll is so bad that he almost hits the sleeping Felnor in the face. The raven flies off, and Jax sits down among the stones. He falls into an irresistable sleep, and so begins the dream vision shared by all the PCs. The view is of this ring of stones, which now goes into timelapse mode to show the reversal of the many decades of weathering and erosion that have transformed what once was a ritual circle into the fallen, crumbling stones they now are. A mystical fog rolls in, and out of it appears a large, muscular, bearded man with armor decorated with raven feathers. The view then flies far to the North, where they now see a large village with ships and decorations very much alike to the Draugr gear. The humans in this village seem to be prospering, and their ships set off in all directions. The view swings over the shore, into what appears to be a tidal cave. Out of the darkness they see two burning red eyes and feel a sense of dread. Another timelapse, and the view shifts over to a fierce struggle. A tall, muscular blond man wielding a sword and axe fights off many draugr, as dragons spew fire from the skies above. He just finished stabbing the Draugr behind him, and as he brings his axe up to swing at the one in front of him, he lets loose a battlecry as the fierce wind blows his hair. Everything suddenly blacks out, and then transitions into a view following a flock of ravens through fog. The ravens draw toward the ground, then swirl together and transform into an older looking man, whose gray hair betrays his physical fitness and musculature. The man turns around to face the "camera," showing his white (almost glowing white) eyes and a scar on his face. He laughs, not particularly evilly but not particularly assuringly either. *end of dream* Jax starts awake, realizes it was just a dream, then settles back into a comfortable place, sitting against one of the stones. Just as he gets comfortable, he feels a stinging in his neck. It's a dart. Unable to scream or say anything, and his strength quickly fading, he turns around to see a Dvergar in leather armor, sneaking forward, blowgun in hand. Jax crumples on the ground, but still watches the Dvergar, who makes his way over to the sleeping group, spots Felnor, and quietly says to himself, "He'll be wanting that one, for sure." Jax blacks out, and the session is over. Reactions: I enjoyed this session greatly, and I think the players did too. There was a good bit of roleplaying with the helmet, and the players used their various skills to the benefit of Hammerfall. I'm pleased that they asked questions about the origin of the Draugr. The bit with the raven was quite amusing. At first, they were quite unsettled, knowing that the Raven clan wasn't particularly friendly. They didn't quite know what to do about it, but Felnor's player had a bad feeling about it. I think they enjoyed the dream sequence, and I believe that it stimulated renewed interest and many questions for when we resume in the fall. I think they greatly enjoyed the cliffhanger at the end, and it provides a great reason for the absence of Felnor, since his player will be studying abroad in Japan fall semester. So, for when we start up again, we'll have Jax and Hadhood in the captivity of this dwarf, one PC who'll be gone (Felnor), another who will need to track the group down and rejoin them (Sol) and a newcomer who'll need to drop in somehow (Manic Typist's character). It's going to be an awesome session, that's for sure.

Re: Norse Campaign Journal Session #10: The PCs report to Alric about the content of the previous session. Alric tells them to rest, as he will need them again soon. They take some time and repair equipment, sharpen weapons, train, etc. They also volunteer to help out with tasks around the fort. Ragnar, the guard captain (and Hersir), sends them out with 8 other men to help repair and rebuild the village outside the fort. The other men are not wearing armor, but are carrying weapons. In fact, everybody carries their weapons, all the time. After a good day's work, they head back to the mead hall where they refuel and rest. Alric approaches them with another task. During the two weeks or so when they were traveling to and from Alfgard, a messenger came in from the Bear Clan, one of the Northern Clans. He reported that villages were being destroyed, completely wiped out with no known survivors. Mists are moving southward, leaving only death and destruction in their path. Sounds like a perfect side job for the PCs! Alric sends the PCs to Hammerfall, the center of power for the Bear Clan, which also happens to be a nearby trading port village. He sends them down to Knudsen, who will swiftly ferry them in the Long Serpent over to Hammerfall along with some trading supplies. Early in the morning, the PCs, Knudsen, and some other warriors set off for Hammerfall. They sail for most of the day until a storm sets in, then they make camp on a small island about halfway between Carrock and Hammerfall. The island is rocky, but heavily wooded with mostly coniferous trees. Before the Year of Blood, there used to be a thriving trading village on this island, a sort of waypoint from one port to another. Now the village is an abandoned wreck, a shadow of its former prosperity. Nevertheless, the group approaches cautiously, wary of anyone or anything that might have taken up residence in the meantime. They find nothing. It rains heavily through the night, but they manage to find enough shelter. They get up early the next morning and sail the rest of the way to Hammerfall. The terrain is similar of that of the island, rocky and rugged with thick, dark coniferous forest. The village itself is fairly large, with earthworks and spiked log fortifications around the perimeter, ending at the shore. The building layout consists of a large mead hall in the middle of the village, with four groups of four longhouses in each quadrant surrounding the mead hall. The architectural ornamentation is slightly different from Carrock, in that there are a lot of carvings depicting bears, or forests, or both! The people of this clan are of a slightly different appearance as well. Whereas the people of Carrock are usually tall, lean, with large percentages of blond hair and blue eyes, the people of the Bear Clan tend to be a little stockier, with larger percentages of dark brown and red hair. Many of the thanes, like the ones from Carrock, have tattoos. Most of the people wear bear pelts, or have bear-focused ornamentation, such as claws. However, they are very respectful of the bears, and bear hunting is regarded as a very honored event, a rite of passage for many men of the bear clan. Not far from the village is a large cavern system next to wooded hills, where many bears live. The Bear Clan do not take kindly to encroaching hunters killing their bears. Among the warrior elite are the berserkers, fearsome warriors who are basically the Jarl's vanguard. The PCs are hailed by the dockmaster, who is expecting their arrival and directs them to the mead hall, where the Jarl Torvald resides. He greets them, invites them to partake of his food and drink, and tells them of the destruction of the villages. The destruction is taking place in the Northern villages, starting from the coast. They don't know who or what is causing it, but they don't think it's the Wolf Clan, as their territories have been hit too. Torvald tells them to go to Estwick, the village he thinks is next to be hit. On the way out, the PCs see Sigurd, the lucky NPC from the fight at the Thing. His weapons and armor look very nice, and are certainly an upgrade from last they saw him. Apparently, Alric put in a good word for him, citing his valor at the Thing (Torvald is Eiric's heir), and Sigurd managed to land a pretty hefty promotion. Not to mention lots of attention from the pretty ladies in town... The PCs travel for a couple days toward Estwick on horses, but when they get close they see lots of smoke rising above the treeline. They cautiously approach, and see that the village has been burned fairly recently, and the corpses of the slain defenders litter the village. They also find a few bodies similar to what they saw chasing them in ships in the first session, the Draugr. In their searching the PCs find a dying man with several large arrows in his chest. He has enough life in him just to croak out "They came...in....the mist..." and dies. Meanwhile, they PCs see through the trees that a large mist is moving Southward along the coast. The PCs gallop back to Hammerfall and alert Torvald, who puts the village on alert and defensive measures are taken. The PCs help prepare the village for the rest of the night, and fog starts rolling in with heavy rain and thunder by early morning. Jax puts up some ice walls, and Felnor tries to inspire the men. The fog gets thicker, but soon white eyes start to emerge from the mist, then the outline of Draugr warriors forms. They stride toward the village from all sides, including walking up from the bottom of the sea, emerging from the shoreline. A fierce combat ensues. The Draugr are very tough opponents, and kill most of the defenders, but the Bear clan manages to hold out. Torvald takes a few hits, and loses half of his berzerkers. The PCs get beat up pretty badly, but Hadhood especially. He was posted at the gate, in the thick of the fight, and one of the Draugr got a lucky hit with his sword, a headshot that did almost full damage. The blow split his helmet and cut him pretty badly on his head, dealing 14 out of Hadhood's 15 BODY, and dealing an unholy amount of stun. Luckily, a berserker pulled him to relative safety, but he was out for pretty much the remainder of the fight. Reactions: The players seemed to enjoy this new area. The first night in Hammerfall, they were challenged by some of the clansmen to arm-wrestling matches (opposed STR rolls). They seemed to heartily enjoy this. Jax lost his roll, Felnor tied his, and Hadhood won his. I think they liked a slightly different cultural exposure. Jax's player liked how the Draugr came out of the water, though he wasn't expecting it. I think the combat was a little frustrating due to some bad rolls, and I think the whole mass combat thing is getting a little old (though I must confess, I think I am actually much more tired of it than they are). I think the players also enjoyed the abandoned village bit. I'll have to expand on that. Overall, a good session I think. It's always nice to get a positive reaction from the detail I've put into an area.

Re: Muskateer Well, I know that musketeers knew how to use swords, but the vast majority didn't know how to use them very well. Probably just basic hack and slash if the enemy got too close. I would give them tactics or teamwork, considering that musketeers were most often used in formation, often with pikemen. I would also give them some aspect of survival, enough at least to use for foraging off the countryside and keeping alive. Perhaps some very basic form of martial arts, something more brawling and brutal than anything elegant and graceful. Punching, wrestling, disarming, clubbing with musket butts, stabbing with bayonets, etc. Hope those are helpful.

Re: Eberron Hero Awesome. Marking this for further use.

Re: Campaign - Rhymidian Empire Good stuff here. Repped.

Re: Renaissance Everyman Skills Nobles would also probably have knowledge of at least one other language, particularly the standard for literature/religious works. Peasants/the middle class would probably have knowledge of religious works even if they aren't literate. They would also probably have knowledge of the rural area (peasants) or city (middle class). They might also have knowledge of specific trades common or preferred in that area. (blacksmithing, woodcutting, ranching, etc)

Re: Sniper Thankee much. No infringement intended.

Re: Sniper Does anyone have a Dark Champions handy? If so could you post the package deal for a SpecOps sniper (or general purpose SpecOps soldier) if it's in there? Thanks.

Re: Brainstorm: what should a spy's safehouse have? Well, not sure if we're going with labs only here but some things that spring to mind are: Armory: Guns and ammo Money for various countries Passports for various countries Disposable cell phones Computers Clothing for various occasions (formal, casual, ethnic) Tracking devices/bugs Maps

Re: Norse Campaign Journal Manic, I think that at some point during the summer I told you not to include nightvision. I didn't think that it was quite the right feel. Standard dwarves should rely by the torchlight/magical illumination to get by, with some of the more mystically-inclined dwarves possessing nightvision. I did forget a couple important things in the previous post. First of all, the caster's magic killed a captive for every turn until she was K.O.ed/killed. The PCs made it out with 6/18 villagers. Second of all, Jax picked up a nice pair of (magical) boots from the caster. This makes two magical items not paid for in points, so his axe is going bye-bye, since it served its purpose in quickly dispatching the Alfar caster. My house rule is only one "freebie" magical item in the group at a time, and once it becomes useful in a big way, it goes away. So, the PCs should use them as tools rather than crutches throughout the entire campaign.

Re: Norse Campaign Journal After a rather long hiatus, we played another session today. The guy who plays Bjorn was gone so I had him stay at Carrock while the three others ventured on. Session #9: The players indicated a desire for a more compact-unit style session. A definite beginning, a definite ending, and a reward. The session began with the PCs beating a hasty retreat back to Carrock. There, they healed up, refitted, and rested. Alric then approached them in the meadhall, informing them that reports from one of the clan's outpost villages near the mountains and elven woods named Alfgard. It's a two week journey there from Carrock, so they needed to hunt about halfway there. They found some slashed tree trunks and bear tracks, and followed them to a cave. They went inside, found the bear (which was aware of them since they weren't stealthing), and decided not to fight the bear in the cave, so they ran like hell out of the cave with the bear close on their heels. They managed to bring it down without much trouble (PCs with plate armor and high DCVs tend to make claws obsolete...). They skinned it, cooked it, and took the claws, camped, and set out the following day. They reached Alfgard, where they were informed by Hrothgar, the leader of the village, that 18 villagers were taken from the village. They don't know exactly who did it, where they took them, or to what purpose, but they did find tracks. The PCs manage to track them back (with great difficulty since their best tracker wasn't there.) Two guard stand watch at the base of some rocky outcroppings. The PCs fail stealth rolls, bringing the guards away from their post. The PCs try to hide, but the guards spread themselves out and eventually discover Hadhood. Short combat ensues, and the PCs take special care to shatter the signal horns the guards had first. They deal with the guards without much difficulty, killing one and keeping one as a captive. The surviving guard answers their questions, confidant that the PCs outgun him and the rest of his group, and the fact that the pay isn't good enough to risk it. He tells them he and a few others are mercenaries hired to capture people from the village and bring it back to this cavern. All he knows about specifics is that a Dark Elf (Svartalfar) woman hired them to do this, and that they were supposed to guard the cavern until she completed her task. The PCs cut his bonds and warn him that they'd better not see him again. He gets the hint and takes off. The PCs enter the cave, and hear a distant scream. They try to stealth along to the next chamber, but they had torches up so the remaining 4 mercs storm in and fight the PCs. The mercs initially land some good hits on the PCs, but then the PCs fight back with a vengeance, and absolutely rip them apart (literally). The PCs make haste further in the cavern, hearing a scream every time they enter a new room. They notice old ruined columns, and the cavern chambers are less natural and more crafted and manmade. They reach a heavy stone door which they must force open. They open it, and they see the cave floor narrow to a point in the middle of a large cavern, and standing on this point is a female Dark Elf caster, swirling dark energy around her hands, facing toward a very large portal in the back of the cavern wall. To the sides of the rock protrusion, there is a bottomless, black abyss. Between the PCs and the caster, there is a circle of 18 captives from the village, bound and naked, with magical red runes glowing on them. The PCs glimpse at one of the captives, who, with a gesture from the caster, arches his back in agony as the red runes glow viciously, and his soul is visibly ripped from his body, flying towards the gate then swirling around it. The PCs' gaze follows the soul, then shifts to the portal. Imagine the surface of water, with the portal being the surface, dividing two different worlds. Imagine something emerging from the depth, becoming clearer as it reaches the surface, reaching outwards from the "water." The PCs. see the head and hands of a truly giant demon emerge from the portal. It seems that the demon progresses further with every sacrifice. Then the PCs notice that 4 Dark Elf bodyguards have formed in defensive position around the caster, blocking any access. Arrows from the bodyguards fly towards the PCs, who are now sprinting across toward the caster. They plink off of armor and skid off of the cave floor, as the PCs slam into the defenders, who quickly drop their bows and whip out two swords each. A furious melee ensues, in which the PCs get cut up pretty badly. After a tense struggle, the PCs gain the upper hand, punch through the line, and take out the caster with the Alfar-Bane axe they had acquired from the troll shrine. The summoning magic dissipates, pulling the demon back to his home. The PCs free the captives, loot the fallen Alfar, and escort the villagers back to Alfgard. They are rewarded, and invited to the celebration (albeit somber) of the return of the surviving villagers. A detachment from Alfgard goes to deal with the rest of the bodies, and the PCs make for Carrock. About halfway there, during one of the night watches, they spot a large figure watching them from just out of the firelight. It is not hostile. As they approach, it fades into the night, but they catch a glimpse of two pointed ears and glinting eyes, and they barely catch its outline dropping to four legs as it fades into the black. Reactions: Decent session overall. Horrendous backslide as far as player specificity goes, but understandable considering we had not played for a couple weeks at least. Example: When the PCs encountered the bear in its cave, Hadhood's player said "I throw my torch at the bear and run as fast as I can in the opposite direction." He did so, and consequently faceplanted a short time later because he couldn't see where he was going. Generally, a lot of instances toward the beginning of the session where they were very unclear about what their character wanted to do. However, they fought very well, and started to regain some momentum toward the end. The mercs and the Alfar fought very well too, slicing up the PCs more than they were used to I think. Felnor got the last laugh though, by hitting one of the Mercs for almost full dualwielding weapon damage on a hit location of 13, doing over 30 body. Two words: Red Mist. I intend to build upon this session and show them how it ties into the local events. I think I need to be working on being more colorful with my descriptive language though. Something to work on....

Re: Sniper Manic, I'm just basically tossing about ideas for what my character would specialize in. He would have the specific abilities we were talking about, I'm just trying to figure out which "normal" aspect he would be focused toward. My character would be a member of the S.A.S. He would have all the basic training and knowledge of the S.A.S. regardless, but I'm trying to decide if he should be the guy with the gas mask and the suppressed MP5 who blows down the door and goes in hard and fast, or if he should be the guy in the ghillie suit who blows a fist-sized hole in your face from 300 yards away. I want him to be stealthy and quick, but I'm having trouble deciding between the killhouse guy or the sniper guy. If I have enough points to work with, I want to be able to do both. This is why I posted this question, to see how many points of skills an S.A.S. sniper might have, and then make my final decision then. Regardless, I want this guy to be stealthy, efficient, and deadly. Get in, achieve the objective, and get out before they knew what hit them. Almost ninja-esque. What do you guys suggest?

Hello. I'm thinking about building a sniper character. I'm very new to Dark Champions, so I was just wondering what things a sniper would want. Ghillie suit. Any idea what the Stealth bonus to this would be? Is there a standard, or would it be a house rule? Probably some PSLs for Range Mods Snipers have special hand-to-hand training, if I recall correctly Buying more points for Perception rolls? Maybe an Analyze skill of some sort? What else am I missing? Thanks

Re: TASER Rounds I have to agree with Greywind on this. Catch a headshot from a rubber bullet and you're in serious trouble, not to mention what it would do on a 13 hit location....

Do you folks play music as a background for your sessions? If so, what do you play? I'm trying to compile a list of possible music that might enhance my campaign. I have some Celtic stuff, but I'm looking for more epic battle music, or maybe some tribal drum stuff. Any suggestions?

Re: [Killershrike.com] Reorganized Domain Packages Someone Rep this man, as I am unable to do so.

Re: Norse Campaign Journal Oh, you can count on seeing him again....

Re: Norse Campaign Journal Session #8: The PCs show the evidence to Alric. Unfortunately, no one can read the Troll Runes, so Alric tells the PCs he needs an Eredar Artifact to read it: a magical crystal that has the power to imbue the reader with the knowledge of what is written and viewed through the crystal. Unfortunately it's not handy. It's on top of a mountain. A sacred Eredar mountain. Guarded by the Eredar. They ride up to the mountain and start climbing the side. The heavy snowfall and steep sides make for an interesting climb, but fortunately the PCs had the sense to tie themselves and have the strongest folks anchor those who might slip. They make their way up to the top of the mountain, after nearly alerting the guardians, who happen to be large, hulking masses of shadow with burning eyes. Harald's Champion arrives and confers with the three guardians, a distraction that the PCs take advantage of. Bjorn sneaks over while Jax sets up his snow cloak. Bjorn is nearly spotted, but ducks behind the altar in time, reaches up, snags the crystal, and gets the hell out. The stones on top of the mountain pulse with red energy after the theft, and the guardians are alerted. Alric stays behind to buy the PCs enough time to start their descent. In a frantic descent/controlled fall, the PCs race toward the bottom while Alric jumps off the peak, and starts to roll downhill (fortunately, out of all of them, he can take it). They reach the bottom, and the team rides hurriedly off to Carrock. Alric translates the scroll, which is quite incriminating. He calls a special meeting of the Thing, and the PCs accompany him. The site of the Thing is a large longhouse on an island in the middle of a lake, that is equidistant from the respective seats of power of the 5 clans. They arrive, Alric and Harald argue, but Alric produces the damning evidence. Then, while their is much angry debate in the hall, a shadowy, cloaked figure sits next to Jax. Once the newcomer confirms that this is indeed the meeting of the leaders of the 5 clans, he calmly thanks Jax for the information, and walks out the door. Moments later, the PC's hear "Burn it!" and 5 assassins burst in the hall, while flaming arrows thud against the walls. Harald and his champion are quite startled, and Harald quickly ports them out, leaving his retinue and the rest of the hall to fend for themselves. The PCs leap into action, but all of the remaining leaders except Alric are killed. The guy who walked in before the attack reappears, and starts blasting away. Felnor bravely rushes him, but gets picked up and flung across the hall into the wall. The defenders are slowly butchered, except for one clansman who not only survives, but fights exceedingly well, even killing an assassin! Lucky bastard. The PCs fight on, taking some pretty heavy damage. With Alric's help, they manage to kill of all of the assassins except the boss, whom they nearly kill, but he transforms into a mist and escapes through the hole in the roof for the fire, swearing his undying revenge. Yep, they were vampires. Alfar Vampires, of the coastal variety. Tons of interesting information in that little detail, but we'll see if they catch it. The PCs try the door, but it quickly becomes a pincushion from all the arrows shot at them from outside. Alric opens a trapdoor in the middle of the longhouse, a secret escape route that leads them through an underground/underwater tunnel into the lake. They escape, pop up into the lake, and watch as the burning fury of the longhouse fades into the stifling dark of the Winter night..... Reactions: A pretty good session. The PCs managed to steal the artifact without completely failing. There were lots of failed rolls, but that seems to be the trend here. The PCs fought pretty well at the Thing. They're doing better with tactics, though I had to subtly urge them more than once not to take cover behind the flaming walls/columns. I don't think they were quite as intrigued with the plot twist as I had hoped, but time will tell. It will be a while until the next session, so perhaps they will have some time to develop some renewed interest in the events.

Re: Sunless Realm Hmm. Rare metals would be an asset. So might rare hide armor from underground lake beasties, or teeth that might fetch a pretty penny. Perhaps a certain substance, like a drug for example, that is commonly grown underground that those above ground have no other access to? Crystals might fetch a good price, especially if they hold magical charges. Perhaps magical storms might mark seasons, or flooding (melted snow seeping through the rock and emptying into the lake?) Just some thoughts.