Shard Demo Armored Gopher October 16h...

    This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse this site, you are agreeing to our Cookie Policy.

    • Shard Demo Armored Gopher October 16h...

      Welcome travelers,

      I'm pleased to announce I'm running another Shard Demo here in Champaign IL on October 16th at Armored Gopher Games:

      armored-gopher.com/

      Demo Name: A Matter of Honor
      Game System/Genre: Shard/Indian-Arabian Anthropomorphic Fantasy
      Day & Time: Saturday October 16th 12:30 - 4:30 PM
      Location: Armored Gopher, Champaign Illinois
      Experience Level: Novices welcome
      Gamemaster: Joseph C. Wolf

      A daring band of freebooter zoics new to the big city find themselves
      ensnared in the intrigues of the local slavers guild, unscrupulous
      airship captains, sky pirates, and most dangerous of all - familial
      entanglements. Rules taught as we play. All materials and pregenerated
      characters provided.
    • RE: Shard Demo Armored Gopher October 16h...

      Well,

      NC is kind of a long trek but the demo will be worth the trip. ;)

      The real crux of the demo is the son of a wealthy but modestly placed family has grown restless with the prospect of his station in life. He was blessed with a keen intellect and healer's intuition allowing him to quickly work his way into university where he's learning to be a doctor. His mother, a meddlesome but well-intentioned social climber, would love nothing more than to see her son elevate himself, not to mention the family, by becoming the private physician to some wealthy notable. The plan was on track the the youth's future looked bright indeed until he spent a season attending the sick and injured at a free clinic in the city where he was attending school. He doesn't want to treat headaches, hangovers, and gout of the privileged and pampered, he wants to cure the ills of the common man. Needless to say his mother was shocked. Pair this with a modest wanderlust inherited by the father who's a retired quartermaster in the local airnavy, and you've got a powderkeg waiting to blow.

      The PCs are visiting the father, a mentor of sorts to one of the PCs, when they learn of the strife and are witness to the incident kicking off the greater adventure.

      The story wraps up on a floating island held aloft by naturally occurring floating crystals and motivated/protected by a frisky air elemental of terrible potency.

      Can ya smell the adventure? :D

      >>ReaperWolf
    • Recap time part 1...

      As usual Dave at Armored Gopher made sure I had everything I needed. When I arrived a half-hour before my demo several tables were jammed together and comfortable seating was arranged. I was informed I had one player for sure and shortly thereafter one of the regulars showed up bringing the final tally of players to two.

      I handed out the pregens from the sample adventure in the Shard Welcome Book and after a little review the players settled on the condor mystic and the mocking weapons master. One of the players mentioned that if things got rough in the scenario they could always fly out of reach. I then explained they would both share in the responsibility of playing the elephant who would more or less function as a shared PC who I would also roleplay a bit to keep him involved and the scenario on track.

      To further insulate the scenario I also added in a Basilisk rogue named Hatusht who was the slave to the mocking bird. Immediately the player was suspicious as years of GM's grinding away on the poor guy has left him skeptical and callous in terms of his tabletop demeanor. He had fun but he's still convinced GMs and players have an adversarial relationship and he plays to win and had to be reminded of his flaws and caste several times. As always I employed a gentle hand and his walls came down a bit but he struggled to grasp Shard's setting and mythic elements so he'll probably stick to playing D&D 4e.

      The other player had a ball playing up the Dreamwalking. In point of fact he'll probably order the Basic Compendium from the Gopher just so he can read up on the magic system. Magicians are clearly his favorite classes and he pretty much monopolized the table time with questions and magical actions. He was especially intrigued by the limits of the system and I'm guessing the more familiar he becomes with the system the more a GM will have to fortify his scenarios to prevent the cunning player from running roughshod over the scenario. There's potential there but he's still a nice fellow and fun to play with. As in all things the GM is there to keep the game on track...

      So back on track. :)

      I started out by narrating the players standing over the collapsed floor as the elephant cleared the debris around the bottom of the pool. All around them the Sarpah ruin crumbled after centuries of neglect. This is the opening shot, more or less the first 15-20 minutes of the movie to introduce the characters and their abilities while also teaching the players the core systems. Thankfully Shard lends itself well to introducing players to the game system so no real issues. After the elephant cleared the rest of the debris I laid out the scenario.

      The players were in a Sarpah ruin in a sunken depression in the middle of the Sclerophyll Forest (needs a spiffy name!!) surrounding Tiara in the Isvarate of Tishinia. The ruins dated back centuries to a time when Sarpah merchants trading in exotic resins and products from the forest ruled the land. They were a decadent people ruling through sorcery and mercantile cunning. Unfortunately for them their decadence caught up with them and their slaves revolted. At the same time the Tiaran rulers struck against the wounded Sarpah and their civilization crumbled and their city was left in ruins. The descendants of the tyrants are mostly monitors and vipers living in highly aggressive tribes in nomadic bands. These tribes are ever present dangers to those who make a living from the forest such as herbalists, apothecaries, woodcutters, etc. Anyways the PCs managed to convince a friend in Tiara, a one-humped camel Sunborn profiteer to loan them a small air-sloop and amphibious chintee for the trip.

      A week or so past, the basilisk servant overheard a swamp-fever addled forest worker had returned from the forest poisoned and half-dead from fever. He had a map of a ruin and spoke of vast riches lying untouched for centuries in some long-forgotten subterranean treasury.

      Enter the heroes.

      They manged to clear the rubble and after a brief meal and stealth checks to avoid discovery by a passing patrol of natives, the PCs entered the ancient passageways following the trail to the treasury intent of rare goods and priceless resins.

      The passageways led from the bathhouse to ruined villa with once proud towers and overgrown gardens. Several lethal traps confounded them including but the basilisk servant proved his worth by narrowly evading harm and disarming the traps. Eventually they found themselves in an ancient cistern overlooked by a gallery. At this point I had no choice but to draw a simple map as several of the players were unused to playing without a pre-rendered poster map where everything is on the same elevation. It took some doing but eventually they got it.

      After descending the stairs they discovered a more subtle trap confounded them. A toxin boiled up from the bowels of the pool and was toxic to non-Sarpah. They managed to make it across the chamber without succumbing unlike previous explorers as evidenced by the moldering skeletons leaning against the walls and pillars or lying on the floor.

      A secret passage led the PCs to a stairwell leading up to fresh air. There they found what looked like a bricked up passageway. The clever mystic used his Dreamwalking senses to determine a Sarpah sirhibas had worked fiendish magic binding the pranah of sacrificial victims in effect feeding a ward delivering anguish and injury to any who attempted to smash the wall and pass through the portal. The player who plays to win suggested they excavate around the ward but the other player mentioned the walls were probably solid stone. He still didn't buy it and if he had his way the adventure would have stopped there. He seemed confused throughout most of the scenario. He mentioned he plays lots of real time strategy games and he's not used to playing on a schedule. He plays Magic and he's got a bit of a reputation for playing slowly.

      Anyways after the mystic slipped through the ward, taking a fair amount of damage in the process, he was confronted by the long-dead cadavers of the sirhiba's victims. He managed to sever the connection to the Ward, causing the animate to collapse into a pile of rags and withered flesh but it would take the elephant to smash through the wall before the other player got involved. As I said, he plays to win and the fewer risks he takes the less likely he'll lose. I'm not making this up folks.

      The ward discharges paralyzing the elephant with agony but giving the mystic time to finish taking down the ward. Mr. Cautious then stepped to the hole took aim with his musket and blew the head clean off from the animate. Huzzah, he did something!!

      end part 1...
    • Part 2...

      The players found descended the steps to the treasury where they were confronted by a hideous demon surrounded by heaps of loot. The withered mummy of the sirhiba still sat upon a thrones surrounded by a trio of his honor guard, all of whom were dead from poison. The demon reanimated the corpses and the poo hit the fan. It was a few rounds of intense fighting but eventually the players prevailed. Loot was gathered and dragged off as the chamber began caving in.

      A quick flight back to the airship as angry natives took notice of the players steeds hydroplaning across the swamp. A few tense moments as the natives gave chase as the ship took to the sky arrows, javelins, and darts peppered the hull from below.

      Upon returning to Tiara, the players were forced to drop anchor and wait for the city to open at dawn.

      THey were met by their friend who greeted them royally, offering them his home and hospitality. He made arrangements to secure the loot while buyers were located. We roleplayed through the dinner a bit before their host broached the subject of a favor. He was recently approached by a long-time client who was desperate for a solution. Her family had been plagued by the continued requests of a no-account opossum retired air sailor. The opossum had saved her husband's life a few years back and being an honorable lion, he felt compelled to indulge the opossum's every request. Lately the opossum had visited asking for money and goods and letters of credit but as far as the lioness was concerned, the debt was paid in full and she wanted the opossum to suspend all further contact.

      Enter the heroes.

      Immediately the mocking bird dispatched the basilisk to points unknown in the city to see what he could find out giving him a tidy sum in a purse to grease a few palms and open doors.

      The heroes visited the lioness and found her a charming if fussy hostess. She was expecting other high-born guests so she was all business. The players were able to pry out of her that her son was confined to his quarters until his departure for the Nilam Medical Academy the following morning. The youth clearly didn't look happy with his confinement but he was unwilling to debate the matter with his mother.

      The father, looking tired and distant was in his study working on a map as was his hobby. The players shifted the inquiry to the lion who turned out to be a retired quartermaster. The basilisk returned with information, some of which divined from less-than-reputable (but no less reliable) sources. The players discovered that the lion was addicted to some substance probably provided by the opossum in exchange for money and goods taken from the home. At this point the basilisk was dispatched with the red panda servant to scout out the house.

      As the inquiry continued, hours passed and the scene shifted when the lioness stormed into the study and made a scene. Apparently the son was no longer in his quarters. Apparently the opossum joined by a pair of she-panthers had arrived to pick up a carpet. The opossum had previously made arrangements with the father to take the carpet as final payment for the life-debt.

      At this point Hatusht the basilisk was discovered unconscious by a house servant. He'd been taken unawares. The red panda servant was nowhere to be found.

      After a little skulking around and a quick peek into the dream, the players discovered the opossum had approached the gullible physician's apprentice and convinced him to escape his mother's clutches to pursue a life of adventure. Through the Dream the mystic was also able to divine that the opossum's plans had been foiled when the ship he'd intended to take out of the city left early. Out of desperation he'd sold the youth into slavery and disposed of his goods. The red panda was sold to somebody else.

      The opossum joined by his two she-panther conspirators were collecting their money, paying debts, and making arrangements to leave the city bound for Sadahm in all due haste. They were stopping off at a tavern bordering the trade-untouchable districts a notorious gambling den run by a notorious crimelord.

      With all the developments the players were about to take the next step when we ran short of time. Unfortunately this sometimes happens with the players asking questions and roleplaying their little hearts out. I thanked everybody for joining me, I collected the pregens and other materials and said my good bys. The game wrapped up about an hour later than anticipated.

      Dave has asked me back and he assures me word will spread about how cool Shard is. Hopefully the buzz will get me a full table.

      So one more five hour session under my belt and the gospel continues to spread.

      Thanks Scott and Aaron for having me. I expect to run more Shard events in anther month and several more at Winter War.

      May the Devah Watch Over You,

      >>ReaperWolf
    • Nice plot so far!

      It's good to hear that one of your players seems so enthusiastic about it!

      Not sure what to say about the one player that seems so bent on the idea that the GM is supposed to be his opponent...
      I guess you could have given him a greater challenge then, seeing as he seems to prefer it that way.

      I'm sure that you managed to captivate their interest with your game and they'll soon bring along some new players! :D