Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Summer Update & Rolemaster

Unfortunately, we were not able to have a gaming session this past Sunday because there were not enough people. As we get deeper into the campaign, it will be more helpful to have larger groups hear what is going on. So...

Summer Adventure
I would like to reiterate that we will be having a large summer adventure on June 27-28 (with an alternative date of July 11 & 12). Please try to keep both times free. As soon as I get a few more confirmations, we can make this definite.

Rolemaster
As many of you have already noticed (or already pointed out), 1st Edition AD&D can be nostalgic and easy to play, but it can get a little tedious. Role-playing elements help to bring that out, but ultimately it may leave you wanting for something more.

Back in the day, I purchased quite a few books in the Rolemaster series. I have included a link to the wikipedia entry. It is a fantasy role-playing setting, much like AD&D. It is, however, a very detailed system. If there is a type of character you want to play, you can probably create. The combat system puts our critical hit charts to shame...it is easy to kill (or be killed) by critical strikes. It also puts a real emphasis on skills and skill usage.

The game is pretty complex and character creation is a 2-3 hour affair. But, I think there is a real opportunity to have some cool and deep adventures. This is something I want to talk to you guys about this summer. I may even have a 1-2 hour tutorial/mini-adventure for you guys to try it out.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Lac's Musings: The May 4, 2008 Adventure

The party continued their journey through the Phostwood Forest. While camping for the evening, the party became surrounding by a large raiding party of small hobgoblins. They attacked from several different locations at once. Aleron and Roland utilized a variety of spells to take out many of the army members. Lac managed to use his charming skill to take a band of eight hobgoblins and fight against other hobgoblins (they didn't fair so well). Zant and Eiecito intially fought with only the few that were left on their side.

As spells and abilities ran out, the party soon became outnumbered. The paladin critically failed and could not battle. Luckily, as more spells poured in, the remaining hobgoblins fled and the party left. After time for recovery, the party moved on. Eventually they saw light and they made their way out of the Phostwood Forest...thank Pholtus!

They met up with Theodis who was waiting for them at the side. He updated them on the Deathmaster, who apparently may live nearby the Pale and continues to raid cities there. He also informed them that New Trivel is doing well and that Ogon wanted him to join the party. The party made its way to Stoink where some items were sold off and some items were purchased.

From Stoink they made their way to Radigast City and while traveling, they were attacked by a giant turtle. Despite taking a nice chunk out of four different characters, the turtle was defeated without getting himself a meal. After this journey, the party talked with Theodis about other news from the Pale and what more he knew of the Council of Nine.

The adventure ended with the party encountering a ball of energy. The party knows that it turns invisible and that magic does not seem to affect it. The next session will determine their fate against it.

Note:
As you have been participating in this adventure, I am sure you are beginning to see that our adventures have simply turned into one fight after another. We need to break things up a little bit. In the future, I am going to try to be more cognizant of offering opportunities for role playing in our adventures. After all, we are playing a role-playing game :). I will award experience for characters that make serious attempts at role-playing!