1st Session Report

The group arrived in Stilt Town off the southern coast of the fog shrouded Isle of Baalor. They embarked on a journey across the island to the ancient palace nestled in the mountains. The party arrived without incident and climbed the southern tower of the palace, after which they descended into its depths. Kratun fell through a rotting section of the floor, but was fortunate not to sustain major injuries. The group then came upon a large iron, locked door, chained shut on the outside, and while they were distracted by this new obstacle they were ambushed by three barefooted seamen, wearing blue turbans and red scarves. Although surprised, the group quickly recovered their equilibrium and dispatched the bandits. The group returned to investigate what lay beyond the door, and saw a dark hallway; they also heard the pitter patter and scraping of what could only be assumed to be rats. The group descended further down the tower and entered a wooden door into a large steamy cavern filled with bubbling mud. Kratun spotted eggs on one of the several islands in the mud, and shot it with their crossbow; the egg was crushed in and completely collapsed, but a mewling baby goblin emerged and attacked him. The group was not surprised when a massive corpulent goblin emerged from the deeper parts of the mud to protect its spawn. After intense fighting, Silo the Cleric had been knifed and shot at several times by well-intentioned party members, and fell to his wounds. Fortunately, the group was able to slay the grotesque beast and its offspring before more were able to hatch; setting fire to the she-goblin's clutch. Upon dragging the massive carcass of the she-goblin out of the mud, they sliced open its belly and the bones of several adventurers spilled out along with a pile of gore-covered gold. The group then returned the way they came, noticing that the tower descended even further down, but deciding to leave the palace and return to Stilt Town. They took the unconscious Silo with them, and he was able to recover after a few days rest.

So I'm updating a few documents in the campaign. The new shopkeeper list will show only items that are available in Stilttown, and that they are double priced. I'm also going to add the Quest description to the starting page, and go through and touch up some stuff on the DM side of things. Right now the Dwarven Colony is mostly off limits, I don't have any material for exploring the uninhabited sections of the tunnel, and honestly the dwarves that live in that tunnel range from hostile to barely tolerating outsiders; however the trading post will have a chance of being open from time to time. So far I'm running the game just fine using One Note to organize all the little sections and areas and knowledge of the game, although I need to add some things to it still that I'm still having to spend too much time looking up. If the group descends deeper then the first floor of the Palace, I do not have the notes entered for the lower levels entered yet; it will be slower going since I will have to switch over to the poorly scanned hand-written notes that Jimm made those floors. If the group wishes to explore around town, that is fine for the first hour or so from 5pm until 6pm, but after that I would urge the group to begin an adventure in earnest given our time constraints. OD&D is very different from MMORPGs, modern video game RPGs, and later editions of D&D/Pathfinder; the focus is on exploration and the experiences your character has. This isn't a game where you go somewhere to level, but instead where you go somewhere to adventure, and as a consequence of reward and surviving the experience you level. That being said if you prefer to spend your time "hex-crawling" or travelling across the island to see what you encounter, that can be an exciting experience if the group is large enough or lucky enough. I will post it here, but I will also PM everyone to read this short primer on Old School Gaming. Doing so will vastly improve your enjoyment of this game, and will help you understand what some of the differences are between D&D of 1974 and RPGs of 2014. A Quick Primer for Old School Gaming

Loved the primer, looking forward to the next session!

Well if its a case of you not having the lower levels in order yet, we can always finish exploring the southern tower, going no farther than the steel door (Because I really want to know whatever is in those rooms in that corridor, and also whatever ate the hand) and when we are done exploring that we can go check the north tower. We can give you plenty of time to get the notes in order, there's plenty to explore.

The towers are fine and are included in my current notes. I'm just warning you in-case you happen to actually find an entrance to a deeper level.

Yeah, like the grate in the goblins lair. We can stay away from that.

Also, the Items shown are already the price they need to be? Or should we double them still?

Oh nevermind, its all original price, so I double.

Actually I'm redoing all the items. I'll also be adding new ones at the apothecary. Basically don't buy anything until the session on Wednesday unless its a new character.

I had fun. Played many editions of D&D but not OD&D until now. Question for my partymates: should we buy some riding horses to get back and forth to the Palace faster?

Okay, let me just erase the ones I bought and readd my gold...

There are no horses on this island, nor in Stilttown. Not much call for them when you can reach nearly any part of the island within 2 or 3 days.

Which character fell through the floor, and which character shot the first egg?

That was me, Kratun, both of em.

You play like I do. Boldly. I will teach you fear.

Have at the! I am prepared for your trickery. Im gonna be a bit more careful next time, didnt think to look before I walked onto that rotted wood and I wont make that mistake again. Also gonna get a ten foot pole to check for traps.

Man, I really want to run an all day session tomorrow, Saturday, but I don't think it would be fair to those who can't make it. I'll just have to spend the time working on the DM stuff I've been talking about.

That would be fun but yeah... wouldn't be able to make it.

Yeah, Im gonna be in another game, but its not the same gm, so I would be up for an all day game.

I just finished updating all the pages within the game/campaign. They should all be properly sized and laid out more effectively. You'll really notice the difference in our next session. I also added the introduction to the story on the starting page, so you can re-read it if you missed it when I read it aloud. Shops are up in Stilt Town, as well as the map. Each has its own unique list of items. The Dwarven Trading Post in the Dwarf Colony will be available too, although not much useful to you guys yet. I'm debating whether to make the dungeon exploration map visible to everyone. Normally you should be mapping this stuff yourself on grid-paper. It will have realistic torch distance and lighting with obstructed views, but I feel dirty even mentioning it. As you could tell before, alot of OD&D is about abstract imagination.

I have noticed, I like it that way. I dont really need a map because I can see how far weve come in my head, but maybe I should make one before we get too deep. So about this playing all day tomorrow. If you were to Skype everyone that joined Wednesday and see how many would be up to play, if the majority messages back that they were in could we play?

GM - Could our mapper just scan and post his map to this forum? Roll20 should allow him to do that. I think it's cool we have someone doing that old school style instead of the new school with everything premade.

That would be cool, but he would have to scan it repeatedly.

Yeah, that's the only problem. I'm still looking for a stand-alone mapping solution that can be shared. I hear grid cartographer is really good, and a friend on another forum is the guy who programmed it. <a href="http://www.davidwaltersdevelopment.com/tools/gridcart/" rel="nofollow">http://www.davidwaltersdevelopment.com/tools/gridcart/</a> You kinda have to pay for it to get the features that make it more useable though.

So what about the game tomorrow? Not happening?

No no game on Saturday, today.

Ok, until Wednesday then.

I have just updated the main page with a link to the Gods of Planet Eris. If you wish, especially Clerics, choose the deity you worship. Linked here as well.

Hail Krotus!