Testing Downloads

This is a test post - I am trying to be able to add links to certain JPGs and PDFs that I have created in order for fellow gamers to view and subsequently download those files to aid in their games - I have had many requests for my Village of Hommlett maps, so would like to present these for all to use.

To begin with, here are test links to my two Dungeons and Dragons 1st Edition (AD&D) village maps. I have had a play and they seem to work for me, but I am wondering if there are other settings at my host site that may need to change to enable others to download them? Could some of you out there have a play and let me know if they work - I am aiming for the links to open the JPG files and display them for on-screen use but also allow them to be downloaded.

If you could leave comments below that would be most helpful. Here are the links (I will try to "pretty them up" at a later date as my skills at doing this grow)...

Hommlett

Nulb 

Many thanks.

 

 

 

Doggerland : Aftermath

The final playing session of this campaign was last week, but I had plenty of after campaign paper work to do this week. I wrote a follow-up session about how the characters were rewarded for their efforts and tried to complete any small items that were left undone.


I have asked the players whether they would like to carry on using their characters for a further adventure in Doggerland sometime next year using 3rd Edition rules. Some have already answered, so it looks like that will be a go next year sometime. I will now be awarding experience and levelling up their characters in readiness for the conversion session which will take place before the next game starts.



This week I attended the first session of a new Pathfinder campaign run by the DM of the Dragon Warriors adventures from last year. I have rolled up a Half-Elven Sorceror - about time I played one of the magic using classes since getting back into RPGs a couple of years ago.

The Destruction of the Temple

The Adventurers

Bow – Ranger

Cormac – Fighter

Johan – Cleric

Maximillian – Thief

Tarquin - Fighter

Theoderic – Fighter

Vox – Magic User

Death Throes – Thunorsday 4^th September (Day 91) – early evening

Zuggtmoy’s screams rent the air as she scrabbled for purchase on the smooth granite flagstones of the throne room. Her pseudopods could get no purchase as she was inexorably pulled into the bright beam that lit the rest of the chamber. As soon as she was completely immersed within the purple light the screaming stopped and the light shut out.

Johan rushed to check on Vox and he was able to stem the bleed he had sustained when he was dashed to the floor of the throne room by the demon queen. Vox groggily looked around him but was still dazed enough to not know what was going on.

As the party regained their feet and eye-sight after the brightness of the purple column of energy had disappeared and the chamber had been dashed back into the dimness of the mould induced luminescence they began to feel slight tremors in the ground below their feet.

Bow was first off the mark and he raced to the ascending throne device. However, he passed the details of its manual activation (which he still knew even though the Skull had winked out of existence) onto Max as he ascended the shaft. The rest of the party followed Bow up the shaft one-at-a-time as the throne room began to collapse slowly around them.

They exited the main Temple building as the thunder of collapsing earth got louder and louder. As they exited the Temple they met with the remainder of the Thuringian raiding party as they too fled towards the road that led away from the Temple.

When the adventurers and their Thuringian allies had made it beyond the confines of the Temple’s outer defence works, the ground began to shake more and a bright purple glow began to emanate from the ground. All of the material belonging to the edifice was slowly but inexorably dragged into the glowing sphere of energy that had now appeared just below the ground surface within a large crater that was rapidly forming.

Finally, there was a brief titanic implosion and the whole of the Temple and its local environs disappeared into the purple ball of energy, which winked out of existence with a final rush of inflowing air that ended with a great thunder clap.

Return to Castleford – overnight

On the way back the small army met with its supply train and rear guard. The party swapped stories with the leaders of the expedition who then told tales of strange creatures and beings that they had encountered within the dungeon complex. They mentioned the party’s handiwork on the first two levels but also mentioned that they had only just scratched the surface of what was also encountered therein. Many men-at-arms and acolytes were slain but also many prisoners were taken.

The wagon train moved throughout the night in its haste to get back to the safety of Castleford’s doughty walls. As it travelled, the acolytes from the Sol Invictus temples from all around were there to Heal and succour the wounded.

Guests of Honour - Freyasday 5^th to Godsday 13^th September (Days 92-100)

When the wagon train arrived at Castleford it was immediately waved through the main gates and escorted to the castle. The prisoners were led to the dungeons whilst the remaining injured soldiers were taken to the infirmary for further Healing. The party was asked up to the keep where they stayed as guests of honour for the next week or two.

The adventurers spent most of the intervening week or so retelling their tales of danger and derring-do to those that would listen. They also headed out to the merchants’ quarter to pick up the items that they had previously ordered; Tarquin, Bow and Max had special magical rings that were due for delivery any time soon.

On the Godsday (13^th September) following their return to Castleford a great banquet was held in the party’s honour. Again they are guests of honour and are treated to a sumptuous feast as well as a reward for their contribution to the downfall of the Temple in Vannin. Each member of the party was awarded 10,000 gold coins and a small plot of land with a rent of 1,000 gold coins for their efforts. Again, Vox eschewed the ceremony but he was given his reward the following day personally by the Prince.

A few days after the great banquet, the adventurers were escorted to their new lands and introduced to those that would work for them.

The Battle of Imeryds Run (19th March - 2nd April 2014)

The Battle of Imeryds Run - Moonday 15th Quinquember 963 (started just before sunrise)

This is an account of the Battle of Imeryds Run that took place in the early hours of Moonday 15^th Quinquember in the year 963 of the Cantwaran Era.

It came about because of the resurgence of The Temple dedicated to the worship of the demon queen of moulds and rot, Zuggtmoy, after a ten year hiatus. Bandit raids had increased and strange disappearances kept happening in the area around the town of Castleford.

A small band of adventurers got to the bottom of the plot when they destroyed an old outpost of the Temple that had been put back into use by a powerful cleric sworn to his mistress’s service. The cleric escaped the destruction of his fortified base of operations and took refuge in the run-down village of Nulb. The adventurers were able to track down his whereabouts and also how the Temple’s new recruits were hired and shipped to strategic positions.

The local Thuringian lords, under the command of the baron Tancred and his vizier the lady Mathilde worked together with the party to bring about the destruction of this racket and thus aid in the final destruction of the Temple.

This is the story of how the battle panned out whilst the adventurers nullified the high priest Lareth.

How it was done

The main battle was run using cut down AD&D combat rules. All To Hit rolls and Armour Classes etc. were standardised to make things easier. I think this would have played brilliantly if I had wargaming miniatures to hand but I had to make do with paper and cardboard counters (maybe I can re-run the battle using some commercial rules to see how it pans out?)

The entire battle was run outside of the gaming club and as luck would have it the combat within the Waterside Hostel lasted almost as long as the battle anyway making the end result the same due to minimal interference by the party (the only part extra was the defeat of the zombies and the capture of Lareth).

The Attacking Forces	The Defending Forces
From the south-east: Baron Tancred 30 Knights 30 Medium Infantry	Boatmen’s Tavern/rest of village: Skole 2 lieutenants 22 brigands
Across the Bridge: Lieutenant 30 Medium Infantry 30 Archers	Waterside Hostel/rest of village: Dick Rentsch 2 lieutenants 19 brigands
Support: Lady Mathilde, Lord Ralph 5 clerics of Sol Invictus 30 Light Infantry (leather armour, shield, spear) 30 Archers 30 Auxilliary Troops 2 Trebuchets	Pirate ship: Grud Squinteye 6 boatswains/mates 18 pirates
The Party	Lareth the Beautiful 2 Ogres 3 Bugbears 4 Gnolls 13 Zombies 1 Lieutenant 3 Sergeants 18 Temple men-at-arms
Neutral? Smith 3 sergeants 27 village militia

Trebuchets at Dawn

1.      Trebuchets open fire. First salvo is fireballs – one hits the pirate ship at first attempt!

2.      Thuringian troops advance. Fire damage on ship. Nulbians awake and raise the alarms

a.       30 archers to the shore and bridge

b.      30 medium infantry to the bridge

c.       30 archers, 30 light infantry defend the trebuchets and Mathilde

d.      30 medium infantry from the south move into the village

e.       30 knights hold position to cover the medium infantry south of the village

f.       2 lances patrol as lookouts for escapees

3.      Pirates return fire at the trebuchets with their now ready ballistae. One trebuchet hit and damaged

4.      Thuringians make it onto the bridge under cover of their archers. Dick Rentsch’s brigands join combat with the Thuringian troops on the bridge. Archers stop firing as they don’t wish to hit their own men and turn their attention to pirate ship instead. Trebuchet hits the pirate ship again (but only with rocks this time)

5.      All pirates on ship working to put the fires out, get the boat moving and return fire on the trebuchets

6.      Combat joined in the east of Nulb, Skole’s brigands versus Thuringian infantry (knights held in reserve). Smith and the villagers stand their ground apart from the combat

Battle results so far:

a.       Pirate ship starts to slip away but only by force of river current (15 crew left)

b.      Bridge

                                                       i.            Thuringians lose 8 archers and 6 medium infantry

                                                     ii.            Rentsch loses 8 brigands

c.       Eastern fields

                                                       i.            Thuringians lose 20 medium infantry

                                                     ii.            Skole loses 9 brigands

d.      Waterside Hostel

                                                       i.            Party lose Ulf

                                                     ii.            Lareth loses all support except zombies

Battle results so far:

a.       Pirate ship out of range of trebuchets

b.      Bridge

                                                       i.            Thuringians – win melee due to arrival of baron Tancred and knights

                                                     ii.            Rentsch loses his entire war band on the bridge

c.       Eastern fields

                                                       i.            Thuringian heavy cavalry scattered Skole’s brigands and the men-at-arms corral the remainder (7) as prisoners

                                                     ii.            Knights charge up to the bridge

d.      Waterside Hostel

                                                       i.            Party defeat Lareth and the zombies

                                                     ii.            Lareth knocked unconscious and captured by Thuringian knights

Aftermath – what the Thuringians do:

Morning

·         Round up all the enemies involved in the combat, chain them together and march them to Castleford

·         Magically bind Lareth and return him to Castleford under the eye of lord Ralph

·         Break down the trebuchets and send them back to Castleford

·         Collect and dress casualties and return them to Castleford

·         Send all surplus troops back to Castleford

·         The party are thanked and rewarded for their part in the battle

·         Start to build a fortification at the highest point in the village

·         Build a funeral pyre close to the fenlands to dispose of the enemy corpses

·         Burn down the Boatmen’s Tavern and associated buildings

Afternoon

·         The motte begins to take shape and palisade started

·         The party heal up and bury their comrade Ulf in a prominent place