Session 0a: The Party as the core of the Scenario

I am back to playtesting POP-001, Revenants of the Lost Temple. While on hiatus, I realized I was working backward. I was building a world, instead of an adventure. It’s much easier to think of this from the perspective of the player characters. Basically, what is everyone doing? 

Session 0a: The Party as the core of the Scenario

There are 7 characters taking part in this adventure. The adventure takes place along the western coast of an unnamed country. The goal is to follow the road from the south to the north, from the High Canvasary to the Capital Region. Half the party is being paid to guard the caravan and the other half are paying customers, riding with the caravan. 

Here is a list of characters supporting the caravan:  

Mercy and Tilly, Fighters, 5th level (Detailed here) 

Misha, Magic User, 4th level

Garvin Peace-Bringer, Cleric, 4th level. 

The paying travelers are:

Alice, Elf, 4th level

Alex, Bard, 4th level

Bartholomew, Thief, 4th level.  

The characters met at the High Canvasary. Alex and Alice are a couple while Bartholomew is a mutual friend. Bart is much younger than everyone else. After talking, these three tried to gain employment with the caravan. Since they had already traded money with Kayleb the Caravan Master, he refused to refund them or hire them. Kayleb is a cheapskate. 

Bart, Alex, and Alice have slightly unusual backstories. 

Alex the Bard is from our world and time, specifically Orocovis, Puerto Rico. I was expecting a wild backstory, but instead, I got something thoughtful. Alex had a book that allowed him to travel from his time and place to the Peninsula of Plenty. He used the book to bring in coffee plants. Strangely, coffee is not rare or popular on the Peninsula. He also brought several bottles of booze.  

What he has is nothing special. He also lost his book at about the time he met Alice. Bart has acquired it, but it seems useless to the thief. 

Alice, a native Elf has glommed onto bits of Alex’s world without actually understanding it. She is carrying 25 letters, she is being paid to deliver mail like a mailman. She finds the idea of hand-carrying letters interesting and profitable. She is charming enough to score a drink or meal at either end of her trips in addition to the 10 silver coins she charges for the service. She will charge less, sometimes even nothing if she has at least only paid delivery in the area. Alice thinks the idea is cool. The Kingdom does have a carrier service, but they will open your mail. 

As mentioned before, Bart has Alex’s book. He didn’t steal it but found it interesting and slightly useful. He has traveled to Puerto Rice several times. If asked, Bart will return it. Bart had a habit of swiping horses, he used potions of Animal Control. He has found it is easier to offer to transport horses than steal them. One is less likely to get hung that way. He is traveling to the Capital Region for more potions. 

Bart has a bounty on his head. He encountered some men using magic to steal people and horses. He killed them all with his Animal Control potions. He uses Alex’s book to elude bounty hunters. The bounty keeps growing as more bounty hunters disappear as if they stepped out of the world.  

Tilly and Mecry have their own post and will be skipped. 

Misha the Magic User is a tough one. She often acts as a spy and scout with her spells. She loves being alone. Bart has gravitated toward her as he wishes to know more about magic. They aren’t great friends, but they drink and dine together often. She has been to Puerto Rico several times but doesn’t realize it. 

Garvin is the official deed keeper for Tilly, Misha, and Mercy. He keeps a journal for them all. He is also their financial advisor and agent. It’s an unpaid job but he does require them to tithe with the Southern Orphanage. The three women ensure Garvin keeps a little money and eats daily. He would rather eat dirt himself to feed and clothe the less fortunate. Tilly and Mercy enjoy the company of the children while Misha does not like children at all. This is part of the reason why Misha dines with Bart so much. 

POP-001 is meant for OSE. You can pick up a copy of Old-School Essentials Advanced Fantasy Player's Tome and Advanced Fantasy Referee's Tome at DriveThruRPG. 

Fooling Around with Deck Plans

I've been straightening out the workspace to have my laser and 3D printer ready to go at all times while maintaining a painting and modeling area. If I can manage it, I'd also like to have a small table for all of the ongoing game stuff. 

If big enough, I'd have a permanent setup of Star Smuggler ready to go. 

I keep playing this game, and I've broken it the rules in so many ways. On my next playthru, I plan on using this set of deck plans for my ship. 

This is my Devilfish ship simplified for Star Smuggler. It's 4 times bigger than the original game's ship. The original game created the opportunity to purchase a second, third or fourth ship, but never a larger ship. 

Having run multiple ships at the same time, I know the rules break due to "out-dicing" the enemy. Simply put, the preprogrammed enemies can't split their fire effectively so multiple ships break the game. 

To counteract this, I would create a tiny fleet of enemy ships so you aren't merely facing the Scout, the Battleship, Hoppers in space, and the handful of reskinned Antelopes. 

Speaking of Star Smuggler (again), there is another game called Star Smuggler on Drivethru RPG. I was thinking of checking it out. 

#MechaModay for September 2nd - The Archer and The Locust

 #MechaMonday is here and I am leading with my two favorite mechs - The Locust and The Archer. 

It's been years since I have painted and I started right in with camouflage. We'll see how that goes. I'll get better pictures up soon. 

The reason I like these two mechs is you can get a 2:1 movement ratio. Sure there are pairs of variants that do not have this ratio, but you have to look for them. You can start advancing with the Locust zig-zagging while the Archer lumbers along behind. 

Thanks to the variants, you can pretend to be something you aren't by moving slightly slower. This shouldn't work by the rules, but it sidesteps the rules by repetition. If they see you move 8" and 4" every round, they will assume that you will in the future. The rules don't assume for player assumptions.   

This creates many possible attack positions for the pair: 

• The Locust can move in lockstep with the Archer, forcing your opponent to pick between a sure kill on the closer Locust or trying to kill the distant Archer.  
• The Locust can dash through the enemy and end up at their rear or better, a flank. 
• The Archer can dash forward and end up slightly in front of the slowing Locust.  
• The feint is a good gambit, where the Locust moves to one side dragging the enemy around so the Archer can turn to face a different foe or objective.  

This combo is costly in terms of Locusts but you can wreck formations, cut off individual mechs or make fancy powerplays with low-end mechs. Personally, I like the satisfaction of getting the Archers in front of the Locusts because my opponent has to sweat the dice to kill an Archer while worrying about what the Locusts are really doing. Even if they aren't doing anything.  

The Archer Slide Show

The Locust Slide Show

You can pick up a copy of this game on DrivethruRPG, but if you hit up brick-and-mortar stores, you can get the physical copy with minis. 

Missed It Monday!

Yup, I had an idea and I blew it. I wanted to do Mech Monday and missed it by about 36 hours. I've been gearing up to play Battletech Alpha Strike at Kingping Comics & Gaming. They play every Thursday night. It'll be about 3 weeks until I get enough models painted.

I have a collection of my favorite mechs I'd like to do up. I have 4 Archers and a pair of Locusts. I have 3 more Locusts on order. I hate that I have to rummage through the internet for Locust models. Catalyst is weird because their store isn't very comprehensive. 

These will sport Jade Falcon livery. 

I can't wait. 

 You can pick up a copy of this game on DrivethruRPG, but if you hit up brick-and-mortar stores, you can get the physical copy with minis. 

Mecha Monday - August 12, 2024

I am not where I wanted to be in my comeback, but I am not terribly surprised. Last week was Kitty's Big 50th Birthday. This week is what I like to call "Our 23rd Annual Anniversary". Kitty hates this. 

I also need a haircut. 

The laser is starting to consume all of my free time. I am planning several projects: coasters, plaques, and such. Kitty has requested a couple of Lake George-themed coasters and maybe a map. 

I know I've mentioned Lake George a few times. It's our favorite place to be and we go there 2-3 times a year. We usually travel in 3 seasons: summer, fall, and winter. Spring is too wet for fun while fall is crisp and cool, and the trees are colorful. 

Given the chance we'd move there. 

These first few projects need a couple of preliminaries. I have downloaded an old map and engraved it on a sample wood tile. The tile is much too small for this map and the text is a string of dots. I could have cranked up the laser's power, too. 

The image is also crooked. 

The second preliminary is a target mat for the laser. The laser bed is 400 mm by 415 mm (15.748 inches by 16.3386 inches). Since the whole thing is light and mobile, I need a mat and template so I can line up objects on the bed corresponding to images in the files.  

So that was next. If you blow up the image, you'll see a light gray grid. The file I used to create this image can now be the template for future images.

The target material is a yellow posterboard. In case you are wondering, the settings I used was: 

Power: 3% to 6%. 
Speed: 6000 mm a minute.
Air Assist: Off.   

Each line is 25 mm a part. 

That got me thinking of a new project. I could burn my own maps on to paper. What I really need is a Battletech Map.  

Hmm. That was one long segue into Mecha. 

Yes, I bought more unpainted Mechs! 

The Wolf's Dragoons Assult Star contains an Annihilator, Timber Wolf, Rifleman, Archer, and Blackjack. The two Inner Sphere Command Lances contain an Archer, Marauder, Valkyrie, and Stinger. 

While my favorite mech is the Locust, which seems to be unique to Battletech, my second favorite mech is the Archer, an unseen mech. I can't wait to get painting. 

My favorite local comic shop, Kingpin has a weekly Battletech: Alpha Strike game. Last time I played, I kicked ass. I slaughtered the opposing force. It was my first time playing against 3 guys who play weekly. 

My "slaughter" was not due to any skill but the fact they went after each other for an hour with hammer and tongs, ignoring me. At the end of the game, there were 26 dead mechs. I had 6 mechs surviving. I can't wait to get back and play for real.