Matt B Blogging

Introduction to Meandering Heroes

2025-03-24T00:00:00Z

So I've wanted to make computer games ever since I first opened BASIC as a boy, but I never did. And then as an old man (over 50) I thought that time had past. But that didn't stop me having ideas, and after doing some online courses, I thought why the heck not?

So, this will be the first post detailing my progress (hopefully) on my game Meandering Heroes. Let's start with an extract from my Game Design Document (from this template):

Meandering Heroes

Game Identity / Mantra:

A slow-burn multiplayer fantasy idle simulation that ignites the thrill of anticipation reminiscent of cherished old play-by-post games, where each player controls one or more heroes and assigns them goals and broad direction, and then they have to WAIT for days or weeks for the results.

Design Pillars:

idle, nostalgia, anticipation

Genre/Story/Mechanics Summary:

Deadly fantasy simulation running on a hex-map where heroes try to gain enough treasure and power before dying, or retiring due to age or injury, where the pull comes from the emergent story generated, where one day real time is a week or a month game time.

I fully imagine that I'm the only person who would enjoy a "game" with built-in waiting for days and weeks for the simulation to progress. But it's right up my alley! I think. I reserve the right to abandon / pivot if I don't like it.

I've tried to make the engine a few times over the years - first as a way of learning F#, and then in C# which I have the most experience with, but until reading Game Design Patterns by Robert Nystrom, I was frustrated and struggling, trying to come up with solutions to problems that had already been solved millions of times.

After reading that book, I was reinvigerated! I wrote a Game Design Document, started up Visual Studio, and started writing up my game engine from scratch. When I wanted to see things working, I tried to use Godot as my UI. It became abundantly clear that I should just do everything in Godot for now - my Engine referenced directly from Godot scripts. I have to be diligent though, keep client and engine separate, so I can split them into client and server later on.

I've been at it for real for about a month, getting about 1-2 hours in a day, plodding along. My first milestone is going to be a little sandbox simulation of one hero, with waves of monsters, and randomly spawing boosts to strength and health. I really want to have a super rich AI, and so this sandbox will allow me to implement:

monster AI to find and eat the hero
hero to either:
1. fight if strong enough
2. pick up nearest boost if not feeling confident
3. run away if possible
4. last stand if not
Pathfinding to pick the best routes for heroes and monsters.

Anyway, that's all for now! Peace!

The locksmith

2025-02-04T00:00:00Z

These are my first few sessions - the yellow box bits are my out-of-character sections - either explanations or dice rolls or Mythic GME oracle rolls and results.

My name's Clem, but go by Hedge when on a job, like tonight. I hate this work, but The Friendly Society say I owe them 1000 guilders (which might as well be a million), and sometimes in lieu of interest payments, they force me to add my meagre magical talents to their shady schemes.

Friendly Society = Thieves Guild
         guilder = gold piece

It's 2 bells after midnight, the 19th day of Pilasters, the year 952. We're hitting Ota the locksmith's shop in Market Town. The streets and washing-lines are festooned with lost kites after Areyo Day, and everyone's sleeping off the festivities and races. Phess hasn't told me all the details, but I can only assume we're after some master key, for some lock that's not easily pickable?

Pilasters = first month of Spring
    Areyo = God of the Sky

There are less Nightwatch on patrol after a big holiday, but Bramble, my kingfisher familiar, is keeping an eye out from above all the same. I don't let on to the Friendly Society that I have a second pair of eyes watching my back for two reasons - One: I can act more mysterious, like I have sight beyond sight, and two: Bas take 'em, that's why.

Expected scene: Break into the shop
Test the scene: unmodified
is the door alarmed? 50/50 : Yes, and... it's magical in nature

We come to Ota's place from different directions. There's 5 of us in total, Phess, Eto and I are human, Idra and Ongré are Kith. Eto was there first, has been watching for an hour. He tells us all seems quiet inside. Phess tells me to check the backdoor for traps. I'm known for spotting things others miss. Idra comes with me, to hold a candle up. I light it with a spark of magic, and check the door. It is trapped! A faint aura of abjuration magic on the entire entrance. I'd guess an Alarm spell, but I don't want to stand here for 10 minutes to make sure.

investigation: DC15: adv 4|17 + 7 = 24

I tell Phess, and also that it means Ota has access to magic beyond my capabilities. There's always the front door, facing the well-lit square... I make a show of closing my eyes and reaching out with magic as I look through Bramble's eyes, looking for windows.

is there an obscured window on the 2nd storey?
Likely: Yes, but, it's barred.

I let Phess know I sense a 2nd storey window, but it's barred. He says there's no choice but the front door, and he orders me to check. I make sure my hood is up and head out, by myself, into the well-lit square.

stealth: 16+5 = 21
investigate: 13+7 = 20
is the front door trapped? likely: no, but - it is locked
lockpick: 17+7 = unlocked.

The door isn't trapped, but obviously it is locked. Rather than report to Phess, I pull out my tools and with a well-practiced hand, pick the lock before reporting back to the others.

Phess tells Ito and Ongré to be lookout, and Idra & I are to join him inside. We try to enter the locksmith's silent and unseen.

stealth checks
13

are they perceived inside 50/50: yes
is the locksmith a magicuser? 50/50: yes

where is their target? beautifully scary

scary basement? Behind a beautifully carved door

is the door locked? Likely: Yes

After entering the shop, we see a large counter with a set of key blanks on the wall behind it. A curtained doorway leads to the back, Lamp light from the street streams into this front area until Idra closes the door. Phess heads straight to the curtain, squinting into the darkness beyond, before beckoning to Idra, with his Kith eyes, to see what he can see.

locksmith stealth: adv 20
perception: Clem: 7, Phess 14 + 6, Idra: 9

Phess holds up a finger to his ear and we both stop. Then he gestures to hide. Idra and I duck behind the counter into the deep shadows there. Phess hides beside the curtain, and we wait.

stealth: c: 7, i: 6, phess: 18
Ota: perception: 2+2 = 4

Does Ota check the front door? likely: yes, but just from the curtain

The curtain moves low, and I see the silhouette of a goblin's face as he squints at the closed front door, huffs, and then heads back upstairs. We wait very quietly and still, listening to his footsteps until they eventually stop. And then we wait a bit more. Then we all head into the back room, and see the ornate door to the basement. Phess signals to Idra to watch for Ota as we head to the door.

is the door locked? likely: yes, and trapped. Trapped magically? 50/50: no
investigate (adv): 19
disarm trap: 24
pick lock: 21

Phess and I examine it - locked, and another trap. Non-magical. I disarm the trap (it's a poison needle) with Phess's help - he holds a trip-wire still. After that tense time, I try to pick the lock, with great success. We make our way into the pitch black basement.

is the basement lit? unlikely: no

I pull out a candle again, and light it with a snap of my fingers. Cupboards and labelled drawers line the cramped room. I light a lantern perched on a low set of drawers, and Phess pulls out a scrap of paper with an address, and we search the room as quietly as possible.

investigation: adv: 12 - success, but, it takes a while. Chaos roll - 6 - nothing happens

I finally find the drawer, and within, an intricate brass key, labelled in goblin. Luckily I can read goblin (Mahyara made me learn it to understand the books she kept giving me). It's the one we're after. Phess tells me to find a blank key on the wall upstairs that matches it, and I sneak upstairs and locate the closest looking one.

dc10 stealth: 19
investigate: 10

It doesn't really look the same, but it's brass at least, and of a similar size.

stealths: clem: 15, phess: 11, idra: 6

We put the blank in the drawer, extinguish the lantern, and manage to leave the premises without too much noise. Outisde, Phess runs his hand through his neat brown hair, the signal the jobs over, and we all mosey off in opposite directions. I head towards Old Town and home, letting Bramble scout the way, and help me avoid any Nightwatch out and about.

Eleventy, Open Graph images and fun?

2025-02-02T00:00:00Z

This post is maybe way too technical (in a web development sense) - especially compared to my TTRPG stuff, so I won't be sad it you nope out.

In getting this blog up and running again, I wanted to have Open Graph metadata generating properly so that when I shared posts, it looked nice in Mastodon. I know I know, I could actually work on a blog design rather than just using the default blog template.

Anyway, I'm using Eleventy to generate my blog. It's pretty neat, but to make it do exactly what I want has been a learning curve. That default template uses the Image plugin, which ~~messes up~~ optimises images and outputs them with new names. That's cool and all, however when I tried to add og:image metadata that points to https://blog.embee.co/games/clem/clem.png but that file had been optimised away… it was fair to say I struggled a lot trying to get it to work. Almost got rid of the Image plugin entirely, thinking it wasn't doing me any favours.

But after whining on Mastodon, some people came to my rescue, and I kept researching. It kinda coincided with all the deepseek AI / LLM hooplah, so I asked that to help too, and while the code it gave me was wrong, it did it confidently, and it gave me a place to start from.

Here's the shortcode that generates an image for use in OpenGraph, and returns the full URL:


import path from "node:path";
import Image from "@11ty/eleventy-img";

export default function (eleventyConfig) {
    eleventyConfig.addShortcode(
        "makeOGImg", 
        async function(src, siteUrl) {
            siteUrl = siteUrl ?? "/";
            // Process the image using the Eleventy Image Plugin
            const metadata = await Image(src, {
                widths: [1200], // Standard Open Graph image size
                formats: ["jpeg"], // Use JPEG for Open Graph compatibility
                outputDir: "./_site/img/og/", // Output directory for OG images
                urlPath: path.join(siteUrl, "img/og/"), // URL path for OG images
                sharpOptions: {
                    quality: 80, // Adjust image quality
                },
            });

            // Get the URL of the generated image
            return metadata.jpeg[0].url;
        }
    );
}

And here's how I used in my base template (using Nunjucks):

<meta property="og:image" content="{% makeOGImg ogimage, metadata.url %}" />

metadata.url is set in my metadata.js file - it's my blog's address: https://blog.embee.co/

I have a base ogimage property set in that template, and it can be overwritten in the data cascade at the directory or individual post level. So that's cool!

And why not show the full top of my base.njk template file so you can see all the Open Graph stuff and default ogimage value in the front-matter.

---
ogimage: ./content/assets/mbbigtitle.svg
ogtype: article
---
<!doctype html>
<html lang="{{ metadata.language }}">
	<head>
		<meta charset="utf-8">
		<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
		<title>{{ title }}</title>
		<meta name="description" content="{{ description or metadata.description }}">
		<meta property="og:title" content="{{ title or metadata.title }}" />
		<meta property="og:description" content="{{ synopsis or description or metadata.description }}" />
		<meta property="og:type" content="{{ ogtype }}" />
		<meta property="og:image" content="{% makeOGImg ogimage, metadata.url %}" />
		<meta property="og:url" content="{{ (metadata.url + page.url) | url }}" />	
		<a rel="me" href="https://dice.camp/@mattb" />
		<link rel="alternate" href="feed/feed.xml" type="application/atom+xml" title="{{ metadata.title }}">

…

OK, that's it. Maybe it will help someone else. Even if that someone else is me in 12 months when I've forgotten everything. Again.

Back to the games!

Introducing Clem and her adventures in Iskandar

2025-01-30T01:08:44Z

I'm a keen follower of Australian game designer M.T. Black, and I own his Iskandar D&D5E setting, and have been wanting to play there for years, so I started a solo game!

This solo actual play started in Feb 2024 on a Discord server. That channel is gone, and I lost a bit of campaign intro, but I do most of my solo play in Obsidian, so all the sessions still exist.

I was and am a big fan of the Old-School Essentials system, and so I originally considered trying to convert Iskandar from 5E to OSE on the fly, but that was an extra layer of work, and I already have enough hurdles from keeping projects going! So,5E.

I'm using Mythic GM Emulator 2E for my solo oracle, but with a lot of Iskandar random tables, and my own creations here and there. This YouTube on how to get into Solo gaming by Solospelunking really inspired me and it's my best solo game to date. My takeaways were:

Write in first person to feel more connected
Try to keep journal entries short - get more story played

I fail in the 2nd point a lot, because I get carried away - having a nice time writing.

OK, but what is Iskandar?

Allow me to paste the following snippet from the Iskandar City Sourcebook's preamble:

Five Things to Know

Here are five quick things to know about Iskandar.

A Mighty Metropolis

With over sixty thousand people, Iskandar is indisputably the largest city in the known world, and arguably the oldest. It is a thriving metropolis at the center of world trade, and is especially famous for its marketplace, the Grand Bazaar.

Highly Cosmopolitan

People from all over of the world find their way to Iskandar, and the city is a real cultural melting pot. Humans, kith, goblins, vargr, bakrog—all these people and more have made a home here.

Throbbing with Sacred Energy

In the world of Iskandar, everything possesses a spirit, a mystical energy that contains its essence and animates its being. Objects, places, creatures—even emotions and ideas—all have their own spirit. The whole world throbs with sacred energy, and so the people of Iskandar recognize many gods.

In the Wake of an Empire

For much of its history, Iskandar was ruled by the powerful Vendian Empire, which collapsed in a violent civil war. However, the imperial customs, laws, and traditions of Vendia are still evident throughout the city.

Facing a Fiendish Threat

Just a few days march from Iskandar is a great, glowing Abyss that opens onto a fiery underworld, far beneath the surface. Fiends from this nightmare pit frequently ravage the surrounding countryside. Twenty years ago, they attacked the city in force, and there are fears they will do so again.

And who is Clem exactly?

Clem is an orphan - parents died in the Fiend Wars, and she ended up in Old Town after being handed off from refugees to officials to an orphanage and then to the streets.

She was taken under the wing of an older street kid. They fell in with the Friendly Society's network of spies, and then jobs of petty theft.

At 12 she was beaten by her crew leader Rune for not spotting the Nightwatch in time. She was found and nursed back to health by Mahyara Laceweave, a battle-mage blinded in the Fiend Wars. Mahyara saw magical potential in Clem, and gave Clem a job as her gopher, taught her cantrips, and gave her a pallet to sleep on. Clem rarely did sleep there though - she didn't want Rune to know about Mayhara, and so always returned to her crew.

She is now 21, trying to get by with her magical talents, but there's no leaving the Friendly Society, and they're always pulling her back.

In D&D terms, she's a Wizard with the Orphan background - stealth, sleight of hand, and thieves' tool proficiency.

There will be swearing, and violence, but nothing of a sexual nature.

Eberron NPCs

2025-01-15T06:08:44Z

Tima

14 years old, human. A Cyrean refuge from High Wall, who generally does odd jobs for Ramsey and Dabne, running between the Consulate and High Wall. She has a cot in both places.

Her school was near the Lightning Rail station when The Mourning happened, and they boarded the train and were able to race out to the Cyrean border, and then cross on foot. Her family is presumed dead. All orphans were sent to Sharn, because the early conditions in the refuge camp that became New Cyre were pretty woeful.

Tima was naïve at first, but grew up quickly in Sharn. Slow to trust, she prefers relying on herself only. She became indebted to the Boromar Clan early, but is working to get clear.

She is quite selfless, giving what little she has to her fellow Cyran orphans. She doesn't like to accept any charity herself, due to her dealings with the Boromar Clan. They have taught her there's always a hidden cost to supposed good will.

Other than Cyrans, she has many friends and contacts in the slums of Sharn. One of her best friends is a goblin girl, Deni (Denaal), who is affiliated with Daask (the monster crime gang). Tima doesn't fully trust her, but they trade secrets, and always like to stay square - nothing owed in either direction, and have a shared loved of the sky races and cigarettes.

Tima has been a drug mule for Boromar - moving Dream Lily around Sharn. But she's caught the eye of a few guards, and it's only a matter of time before she's caught.

Denaal (Deni)

Goblin girl/woman. 8 years old. Coppery skin, and coarse black hair tied into a loose pony-tail. She wears goggles, usually up on her forehead. Similar to the ones worn by people in the Cogs working machinery, but it's an affectation. She longs to fly one day. She has a bomber jacket, a bit too big for her, lined with possum fur, and has many hidden daggers on her person. One day she wants to compete in The Race of Eight Winds as a Bat rider. Friend to @Tima , but will always use knowledge she gains to advance her standing in Daask. She wants to use their influence to be apprenticed to the Bat trainers and riders.

Dabne Nerwende

Cyre ambassador to Sharn
357 years old
Had retired to Sharn during the war after 150 years of civil service for Cyre - as part of the diplomatic core, and then ambassador to Sarlona, then Aerenal
Came back into service at the request of Prince Oargev, having a lot of contacts throughout Khorvaire.

Other randos

I was following advice from Sly Flourish, and giving myself prompts of how to play my NPCS 😅

Also I'm unsure if Atham was someone I made up, or if he was in an adventure I used...

Raff Ordin. Guard in Middle Central. Human male. has a narrow face, with black hair and amber eyes. Guard in Middle Central. Has noticed Tima traveling back and forward, with a bag, and then without. Plans to hassle her. [Winston from New Girl]

Raba: Female Halfling Rogue. Boromar Clan. Raba is fair in appearance, with braided blonde hair and light amber eyes. She wears leather armor and wields a rapier. Raba was raised by Emerald Claw cultists. [Dennis from Always Sunny]

Atham Smith. Excoriate of House Cannith. Had a dreamlily addiction, and was using his dragonmark to make stuff for the Boromar Clan, and was discovered and kicked out for it. Kicked the addiction, and has been rebuilding his life by working in the Cogs as a machinist, and Warforged medic.

Keshta, gnoll, Daask. Commands a small unit of elite gnoll commandos. Disciplined and ruthless, these soldiers are often called upon to carry out retaliatory strikes against those who defy Daask. [Zoe from Firefly]

Yung Torvax. Male dwarf - Cyran - 34. Took ownership of a brewery after a deal organised by Dabne. Dabne promised (lied) that she had a Cyran dwarf who would make this struggling brewery successful, mainly to get more gainful employment for Cyrans, and hoping things would work out. But Yung is useless. Yung has brown hair and amber eyes, and numerous magical tattoos. He wears expensive clothing and a silver amulet.

Week 2 - Glemgulch

2024-01-15T00:00:00Z

Day 008 - Some of the Goblin Pantheon

Dravak - The God of the Surface - a Giant Wolf that races across the sky. Worshipped by Hunters & explorers. Fey origins. Symbol is a wolf's head or paw print.

Arka - God of fire and light - feared and respected. Chases Dravak across the world. Light means the sun, of being exposed. Symbol is a flame.

Deleb - Daughter of Arka, goddess of shadows. Associated with safety. Favoured by goblin raiders, foragers and explorers.

Enhedrar - a goblin shaman who challenged Arka to a game of chance, and cheated. Gained forbidden arcane knowledge. Worshipped by goblin mages and shamans and gamblers.

Barglest - When the goblins left the unseelie court for the material plane they were poisoned by the scorpion Barglest. This poison lives in the hearts of all goblins, and in the source of any rage or fury or cruelty. Worshipped by warriors, raiders and war parties.

Day 009 - Glemgulch

The svirfneblin (or deep gnome) city of Gelmgulch beneath the Felestre Highlands, east of the Sarcova Quarry was founded nearly 1400 years ago, when Felestre was entirely forest, and home to the wood elves. The underdark was going through a tumultuous time. A sect of dwarves devoted to their earth spirit, split away from their kind to become the Duergar. They warred with everyone in their zealotry - other dwarves, goblins, orcs and the deep gnomes. Deep Gnome refugees found the ruby filled cavern of Glemgulch, and settled there.

The city is built around the central stalactite - the gnome leaders and religious institutions lived there. The rest of the city was built into the cavern walls, high above the lake-filled floor. The main access points - roads climbing the walls - are mostly accessible by boat. When building their city they needed it to be easy defensible.

The style of buildings is blocky cubes with rounded corners and edges, with stone doors in steel frames, or entirely steel. Dim lights in the form of soft perpetual flames or phosphorescent mushooms were helpful for delicate work like jewellery, gem-cutting and scrivening.

Glemgulch became known for its rubies and spinels - and the jewellery crafted with those precious stones.

Calamity struck when a purple worm tunnelled through the Glemgulch cavern, draining the lake away and collapsing a cavern wall where the most skilled artisans plied their trade.

The tunnel left by the worm became a road of conquest for the Shadow Horde - an alliance of goblins, orcs and cave trolls that for a brief period banded together to crush the Duergar threat and claim their ancestral tunnels and caverns back, and then some. They left Glemgulch a graveyard, looted it of riches. Not long after the Shadow Horde broke apart into rival clans, and Glemgulch lay ruined and mostly abandoned for centuries.

Day 010 - Glemgulch Today

Glemgulch is a surprisingly cosmopolitan oasis nowadays, despite the dangers and ruin. While the north-eastern portion of the cavern collapsed nearly a millennia ago, and the lake is all but gone, the central stalactite remains and is home to Stone Moss Goblins, duergar, orcs, hobgoblins, a small number of deep gnomes and even a drow enclave.

The goblins, when they discovered the place, created a criss-crossing network of rope bridges from the wall districts to the central spire. The duergar arrived down the Worm Road nearly two centuries ago, and fought the goblins out of the spire. The goblins harrassed and harried the duergar for decades - until the abominations arrived.

With the goblin / duergar alliance succesfully pushing back the outsiders, Glemgulch became a haven for other Underdark refugees. The depleted forces of both goblins and duergar welcomed anyone who wanted to help defend Glemgulch.

Today the descendants of those survivors live in a loose collective of mutual aid and support, trading gems and unearthed treasures with the weird goblin empire to the east, some frontier humans on the surface, and even some of the nomadic drow groups.

Day 011 - Cricket

NPC - Potential Adventure Hook

Lieutenant Cricket of the Crimson Shield was warned by Captain Hasty to be on her guard around the members of the The Selacian Order, but when the members of that shady order arrived to be escorted to the Sarcova Quarry in greater numbers than their escort, and armed to the teeth, Cricket was doubly on edge.

After they made the arduous trek on the switchback up the side of the cliff to the plateau top, they camped in the Edgewood, and Cricket and 3 of the Shield took first watch, patrolling the area. When they came back to camp to be relieved by the next watch, they find that all the remaining Crimson Shield are armed and waiting. Upon getting closer, Cricket discovers too late that they've all been zombified. She and her three companions fight for their lives, but soon Cricket is the only one left standing, and she runs deep into the woods, wounded and alone.

Hook idea: The party discover the wounded Cricket exhausted, leaning against a tree, clutching her side. Says her friends at the Sarcova Quarry are in great danger, and there's a big reward if the party help her get there in time.

Cricket is a tall, middle-aged woman, wiry and lean, with a mop of black hair, brown eyes and weathered skin and a face covered in freckles and a scar through her lip. She's wearing chainmail armour, carries a spear, shield and crossbow.

Day 012 - Riyad - Goblin God of Death

This idea wasn't mine - I read a better described & illustrated Mycelian based god of death in the Creature Companion from Appendix N Entertainment and I loved the concept.

The goblins worship a titanic Mycelian as their god of death and decay. As a shrine to Riyad, Goblins will tend a mushroom garden and offer it decaying food, and bits of deceased loved ones. They see mycelians as messengers from Riyad, and leave them offerings and stay away from them and their sacred rings, less they invite death into their lives prematurely. They see mushrooms (the non-sentient kind) as symbols of life and rebirth. Goblin shamans and divination wizards sometimes eat sacred grave mushrooms to gain wisdom from their ancestors.

Day 013 - Vaseem

The Worm Road continues east and down from Glemgulch, fairly straight with only the occasional interruption of a natural cavern or fissure. The Road exposed an ancient dwarven complex, abandoned and sealed over 1200 years ago. The reason it was abandoned is a bit of a mystery - but after the Worm Road opened an upper chamber, all sorts of nasties have moved in, and provided an avenue for the things trapped within to venture out.

The lowest level is on the shore of a magma lake. Boats of a strange metal have been dragged upon the obsidian beach. Most have corroded into uselessness, but one or two are still serviceable.

There are many legends in Glemgulch about the powerful artifacts deep within Vaseem, and talk of a few treasure seekers who made it to the magma lake and tried to boat across, but none have returned.

Day 014 - Inhabitants of Vaseem

The abandoned Dwarven complex known as Vaseem was inhabited by some powerful practitioners of dark magic at some time, at least 800 years ago. The necrotic energies seeped into the very stone.

Basilisk

There is at least one basilisk that lairs in the lower levels, the stone forms of its victims are found in many corridors and rooms. Most are petrified monsters, but one or two drow or duergar, if restored to life would give an interesting telling of how they came to be here, however many centuries ago.

Giant Vampire Bats

On the worm road and the upper levels of Vaseem are vampire bats. A healthy colony too, which suggests the presence of vampires of Underdark humanoids further down.

Bone Golem

A weird crystal with a portion of soul trapped in it has slowly animated bone around it to form a bone golem, but the strain of keeping a body together has left it mindless and void of purpose other than to kill and collect more bones.

Hellhounds

By the magma lake is a pack of hellhounds that splash about in the shallows. Have to share territory with two Fire Lizards.

Fire Lizards

There are some.

Week 1 - The Quarry

2024-01-08T00:00:00Z

A few years back I tried running a D&D5E campaign in my own homebrewed setting, based around the village of Wexford. I have lots of notes from that typed up using obsidian.md, and thought for #lore24 I would expand on that world, and for #dungeon24 would smack a megadungeon under Wexford (well, several days travel to the west). This first week of #lore24 is the history behind one of the entrances to the megadungeon. The megadungeon is being built with Old-School Essentials (OSE) in mind instead of D&D5E.

Day 001 - Sarcova Quarry

In the Kingdom of Aard are the Felestre Highlands - an enormous plateau rising hundreds of feet above the riverlands to the west, that ends at the Ukthar Range to the east. Like a bite taken from the western edge of the plateau is the Sarcova Quarry. Quality marble was cut from the cliff-face and either lowered down waiting wagons, or carted east to the towns and villages on the Highlands.

The quarry was abandoned 200 odd years ago at the beginning of the War of Corruption - when the magics of men opened gates to realms of evil and abomination.

A dispossessed goblin clan claimed the quarry as their own, having dug their way there through abandoned Underdark roads. They diverted a creek to run through the middle of the quarry - to form a small lake at the bottom, before it continued over the edge in a beautiful waterfall. Those goblins became known as the Stone Moss Goblins, and they carved their homes and halls into the walls of the quarry.

Day 002 - The Stone Moss Goblins

The goblins named their new home The Sun Caves - because of the setting sun shining into their tunnels and halls. They prospered in this forgotten corner of Aard and the Felestre Highlands. As their numbers doubled and doubled again, they explored more of the surrounding Underdark - some forgotten Deep Gnome city became a frontier town.

The Stone Moss Goblins thrived in their Sun Caves, until Duergar driven from the Ukthar Range to the East warred with the goblins and claimed most of the city.

When abominations fled the surface into the Underdark, the Duergar were stuck between goblins and monsters, and lost half their number in the first few days. Fearing for the safety of the Sun Caves should the Duergar fall, the Goblins formed an alliance with their old adversaries against the demons, and managed to prevail. Both factions are friendly to this day, although the goblins greatly outnumber the Duergar.

Day 003 - The Harpies

Surface dwellers were having a bad time of it as demons and abominations roamed the lands. One hundred years ago three Harpy Matriarchs joined their clamours together. They claimed Fort Dusk to the north, a few years before the War of Corruption ended (spoiler: the good guys won that War - demons vanquished back to their realm). They roosted, hunted and feuded there happily until a few years ago when The Crimson Shield mercenary company were hired to clear the harpies out of Fort Dusk, and those harpies, wounded and routed, found the Sarcova Quarry, and decided to make it theirs.

Day 004 - Harpies vs Goblins

The harpies arrived in force, massacring goblins caught out in the open, and then luring out as many as possible to clear the quarry. They also occupied the first few chambers and tunnels. The harpies built their nests in on the steps of the quarry, and in the entrance caves. They ate well, and became a menace to the local area - especially to those in the Riverlands below.

The surviving goblins retreated further into their complex where the harpy song couldn't reach them. Both the goblins and the duergar traded with local human bandits, and through them they reached out for mercenary help, with the promise of gold, silver and gems. They hired The Crimson Shield mercenary company who had routed the Harpies earlier from Fort Dusk, and were happy to come finish the job for the riches offered.

Day 005 - Harpies Defeated

The goblins let the main force of mercenaries in the "trade entrance". An exit through the crypts under an ancient keep several miles to the east. The Crimson Shield and the goblins launched attacks from several tunnels at once, and an overland force of crossbowmen came from overland.

They used candle wax in their ears to help defend against the harpy song, but it wasn't entirely successful, and the harpy claws and talons worked just fine. Even so, the harpies were defeated - the few survivors left.

The mercenaries and goblins celebrated for a full day until Captain Hasty, accepting payment in the form of ancient coins, gems and jewellery looted from lost places in the Underdark, left to return to civilisation. One squad agreed to stay, for more pay, and to help defend the much weakened goblin tribe.

Day 006 - The Selacian Order

Captain Hasty and his company made their way back to civilisation, to sell their goblin treasure. Of particular interest to the antiquities dealer was a much tarnished silver pendant with a pale pink crystal. Etched into the face by magic (for normal tools would shatter it) is a stylised "S" within an inverted triangle. This was taken straight to The Selacian Order - an organisation that's been searching for the hidden tomb of Archmage Selach for close to a millennia, and that "S" is Selach's emblem.

The Selacian Order question Captain Hasty's crew about where the pendant came from, and the hungry look in their eyes gives the Captain a bad feeling. Especially for his recent goblin employers and the squad that stayed behind. He convinces the Order to hire some Crimson Shield as guides and guards, to hopefully keep things civil, and to pocket more coin for services rendered.

Day 007 - The Cult Attacks

For the start of the journey to the Sarcova Quarry the members of The Selacian Order keep to themselves. They are two kinds it seems, robed and hooded, and armoured and wielding scimitars and spiked maces and crossbows. They number 20. On the journey are 12 Crimson Shield, including their commander, Lieutenant Cricket, and 4 wagon drivers. They set out in a long road to the north to a safe path up to the plateau top.

The group that arrive at the quarry a week later is 18 of the The Selacian Order, and 8 former Crimson Shield who are now all zombies. Lieutenant Cricket is not among the undead.

When they arrive the goblins and their mercenaries welcome in their former comrades before noticing they're dead. There's a short fight with many more Crimson Shield dying, before a truce is called, and the goblins tell the necromancers of the Selacian Order where the pendant was found (past the Deep Gnome City near a Magma Lake), and let them through their caverns.

Dungeon24 & Lore24

2024-01-03T00:00:00Z

Let's start off 2024 with some ambitious projects.

Do #Dungeon24 - finish a mega-dungeon day-by-day. Only made it to May in 2023 with #Dungeon23 - let's beat that record!
While looking up whether #Dungeon24 was a tag, discovered #Lore24 - which is more a World Building challenge thought up by @yora@dice.camp and described on Wombat's blog.
Do more blog posts (and tidy up this mess of a site)

Perhaps I can do a cheaty joint thing, where I describe the world my megadungeon lives in, and write up better descriptions of NPCs, factions, hooks as #Lore24 blog posts!

Why not hey? Don't want to update my blog daily though, so will type up a weekly post of lore dumps, and see how we go.

Let's not call these "Resolutions". Instead call it "New Year List of Cool Things to Try". Easier to think of like that, and easier to keep piling things on to the list without any fear of failure or disappointment. Just have fun why not!

2.01 Caravan of Criminals

2023-05-15T00:00:00Z

GEMulator New Adventure!

Adventure Summary

For Ren and the Dusk Razor Gang to leave Rae and Maferagul
Shipwrights alone, Rae has agreed to guard a caravan.

From: Highbridge to The Burrow

Transporting a person - an aristocrat
Their disposition to the caravan: Unfriendly
UNE:
passionate bum
work happiness

he/him
Ortisse - this a quest run by dodgy people, so he's using a
fake name, Lord Colhast

Heading to a settlement? likely: No, but new NPC - hand over
to another caravan - an agent of the Queen.

Heading? SW - along the coast.
Number of hexes (6 miles): um, 2d4: 7 hexes

People in caravan: Rae, Ortisse,
Wagon driver: Annone Gray, they/them - human - bandit
UNE:
  Destitute pioneer
  persecute the law

Annone is poor, anti-authority
drab clothing, missing their left hand. Short and 
malnourished.

How many others? 1d4 + 2 = 3
Is Ren one of them? Unlikely: No, Ren left town in a hurry 
the night before.

3 general bandits.
Arbi - she/her - human  - uneducated burglar, slightly 
weaker, communicate sensuality

Linny - she/her - half-elf - Level2 - affluent serf, 
abuse myths
Barber - he/him,  level2 dwarf elderly professor, 
encourage vigilance

Also retroactively adding a valet for Colhast:
Othwin she/her
obnoxious soldier
slightly stronger
report moderation
halfling

Scene 1

Location: South road from Highbridge
Date: Feastday, 1st of Talamisie, 107
Goal: Make it safely through the day
Start: Sitting with the wagon driver, Annone Gray

Scene Transition: Positive Replacement: Campaign Goal

No current goal really, so coming up with a new one
Help Annone Gray with her debt

Rae, refreshed after a week with her family, slowly atoning for her wrongs, was very apprehensive about this caravan guarding gig. Of the 100gp she had left over, she commissioned some plate armour, and bought a crossbow and bolts.

She heads to Ren Rajeorn's place - a boarding house taken over by the Dusk Razor Gang years ago. Before Sir Redgrave arrived. Count Torwain's answer to the gang problem was just to take their bribe, and build a new boarding house for the poorer citizens of Highbridge.

There's a horse-drawn wagon waiting out the front, and several people milling around, and packing it up. An older dwarven man, grey hair and cropped beard narrows his eyes as she approaches, and calls, "You Rae?"

"Yeah"

"Ren's not here, but you're to come with us, help look after his lordship" the dwarf sneers, and jerks his thumb to the wagon. "I'm Barber. I'm to tell you that you'll get paid 1gp a day - which is a damn sight more the rest of us - and a bonus if we get the chap to where he's going, safe and sound. Ren also says 'whatever the outcome, assuming she doesn't kill him, then we're square, tell her that'. Consider yourself told. We'll be gone a week, give or take. Anyways, stow your bag in the back. No horse? You can ride up front with Anno. They don't bite."

Rae looks up to Anno, a short skinny person settling onto the bench, looking more like a beggar than a gang member, or a wagon-driver. They wave their left arm, which is missing a hand, but their smile is warm in their tanned & freckled face, with a halo of wild brown hair.

"You're a big one!" Anno says loudly, holding their right arm out to help Rae up, her left elbow hooked around the reins post to brace themselves. Rae takes their hand, and a grunt and a lurch later, thumps down on the seat next to them.

"Hi, I'm Raeba, or Rae" "And I'm Annone, or Anno, or Ann" Anno shrugs and smiles. "Take your pick!"

Two women complete the rest of the caravan guard, One is lithe, tanned, with long chestnut hair loose, and her leather tunic showing a lot more skin than is practical. She gives Rae a look of recognition before disappearing behind the wagon to jump on the back. The other is a half-elf like Rae. Thicker of build, pale, with red curly hair, dressed in rough leathers, looking like a proper bandit, except for the big gold hoop earrings and flashy rings on her fingers. She sits on a piebald horse, holding the reins of Barber's grey mare steady as he carefully mounts, seeming to have a bit of pain in his knees.

Anno sees Rae looking at the others. "That one back there is Arbi" - Anno frowns slightly, thinking of adding more detail, but stops. "And her on the horse is Linny. She's a good one. A good head on her shoulders. You know, for a criminal". Rae takes that to mean Arbi is not a good one, or does not have a good head on her shoulders.

Rae scowls "Yeah, they all look familiar - but Linny and Arbi? Didn't know their names - but seen them about town, and they were guests at the shipyard last week. Haven't seen you before though - you been in the gang long?"

Anno snorts "Gods no - don't lump me in with those lot! I think you and me have something in common, in that we owe Ren. She needed my wagon, yet again, so here we are. Apparently some adventurers bought the only spare wagon in town a week back. Lucky me. Did I overhear you're clear of Ren after this job? Luck!"

"Luck, and the 500 gold I repaid"

Anno's eyes go wide. "Fuck. That'd do it". Anno slumps back, looking glum, thinking on her remaining debt to Ren.

"Alright!" booms Barber in a gravelly voice "let's head out!"

The wagon follows Barber through the streets of Highbridge before leaving the South Gate, and down the road - the road that leads to the Tomb that appears in many of Rae's nightmares of late.

The morning is sunny and the sky is blue. At the first stop, Rae finally sees their passenger - and actually there's two! A man calling himself Lord Colhast, a nobleman of some sort, and his valet, Othwin, a halfling woman. It would seem quite a feat for the halfling to look down on everyone, but she manages it just fine. Colhast in particular seems ill-at-ease - showing obvious discomfort at having to "rough it". They're dressed in their version of inconspicuous - freshly made leather armour and unstained or torn cloaks.

Back on the road, Rae gets anxious as they get to the spot where a small dirt track on the left leads to the Tomb of the Evil Witch. She frowns as she notices deep wagon tracks in the dried mud heading that way. Opportunist treasure hunters scouring the place for anything not bolted down? The tightness in her chest loosens as they continue past, and the road veers right, towards the coast.

"What are you going to do, once you're free from Ren? What are your goals?" Anno asks after a comfortable silence.

Rae sits looking lost for a while. After a long silence she says "I'd like to do some good I reckon. At least not make things worse. And get filthy rich" she finishes with a lame smile.

Rolled random events: none for the 3 hexes traversed
Scene end - goal met: +15 to next scene transition roll.

13. Downtime in Highbridge

2023-05-12T00:00:00Z

Housekeeping

Switching from Mythic to GEMulator for now - I like its Campaign - Adventure - Scene structure with downtime mechanics between adventures.

I know I said I'd describe my world building, but no, I wont. I'll just add more flavour during these session journals. I have nations, religions, gods, cults and various factions! I created these using Worlds Without Number, following the GEMulator creator's WWN worldbuilding blog journal as a guide: Randomized Roleplay C1: Worlds Without Number

Also, despite the introduction of Krow and Iambere, I will concentrate on Rae for now. This game started with her after all, but I think I'll play those two as a side-campaign every now and then?

Back to the show

It's slow going to Highbridge, dragging the bodies of their fallen on their roughly made sledges. They have to camp the night beside the road, before continuing on the next day. Nahisse is very quiet the whole trip, glancing at the body of her sister often. Rae is likewise silent, and full of guilt and self-doubt. She promised Westy and Phalax easy money, and that she'd protect them if any monsters appeared, but they were dead before she even had her wits about her. And then she was knocked out so easily! She thought she was Queen-Shit, back in Highbridge, but she's a nobody. For some reason Enwa, the god of fate, spared her? She barely says two words to her saviours the whole trip back.

Krow and Iambere talk quietly of Lena, and the dagger, and the horrible visions they had while under its thrall.

They arrive at Highbridge just after noon on Feastday, four days since Rae had left (Feastday, 20th of the month of Thabasie, the 107th year of The Republic), and just as a light rain comes in from the sea to the west.

Guards rush out to question them, but when they recognise Rae, and Krow's group from two days ago, they then help with the bodies. The Magistrate herself comes out to meet the group. She's a broad-shouldered woman with short-cropped black hair by the name of Sir Redgrave. Iambere, the most eloquent of the four adventurers tells the tale of the Tomb, and the fate of local lad, Thaeteron, as well as that of Elferen, Antari and Phrost.

Sir Redgrave, frowning, turns to Rae as she explains the fate of two more locals, Phalax and Westy. Redgrave murmurs a prayer to Enwa over the bodies. "Maferagul - your family are worried about you. You should go home at once. I'll give the news to the families of Phalax and Westingham..."

"No! No, thank you Sir, but it should come from me".

Redgrave nods approvingly, puts a calloused hand on Rae's shoulder. "Thank you, thank you all. With the Tomb cleared of that evil presence, hopefully that will put an end to the disappearances".

Rae, head down, doesn't look at the Magistrate, or Krow's party, but heads to the market square, and manages to sell the circlet for 900gp.

Phalax's mum does not take the news well. Her husband was killed by bandits the year before, and her youngest lost at sea the year before that. Rae gives her 50 gold - with a promise to watch over the family.

Westy only had an older sister in Highbridge. He was staying with her and her husband and their two kids. Westy's sister, Tarnae is quite upset, but unsurprised, and hugs Rae. It's the first comfort Rae has received since it all went down, and she sobs along with Tarnae. Embarrassed and raw, Rae leaves 50gp, and heads to the Maferagul shipyard, north of town.

Rolled up some family - only child, some uncles and aunts and an ommer
(a gender-neutral aunt/uncle term)

Also, we're officially in downtime, so I decided on some factions:

- Dusk Razor Gang, led by Ren Rajeorn - who Rae owes money to
- Lena's Patron Faction - The Cult of Behlor
- Maferagul Shipwrights - Rae's family's business

Rolled event for The Cult of Behlor 
  Entertainment "relaxed atmosphere hides tension"
  Failure to get the dagger intact was a big setback, but they act
  like it wasn't

Rolled event for Dusk Razor Gang
  Assets "improvised tool proves itself useful"
  Let's say they find Rae and the Maferagul debt very useful
  
  Q. Did gang tell Maferagul's about Rae's debt? Yes

Rolled event for Maferagul Shipwrights
  Entertainment "restrictive laws require creative means
  of entertainment"

Because of Rae's extended absence Ren, the leader of the Dusk Razor Gang, told the Maferagul's that Rae is probably dead, and that the Shipwrights owe Ren 500 gold. While they've been waiting, they've have taken up residence in a nearly completed ship, commissioned by a local merchant.

Her family are very happy to see Rae alive, but very angry about the secret debt and their "guests". Rae goes aboard the drydocked ship to see Ren and pays off the loan. Ren is all "I'm very happy to see you alive!", like they're the best of friends. Agrees to leave the ship and the Maferagul's alone, if Rae does a little task for them. Then they'll be square.

After the gang leaves, Rae gets chewed out by her family. She gives 100gp to hopefully help with damages the gang have done to the ship, and spends some downtime working at the shipyard.

It seems that her rescuers Krow, Iambere and Nahisse bought a wagon and horses, and left for Giroll early the next morning.

Later that day she goes go to the services for Thaeteron, Westy and Phalax, and the joint wake at the good tavern. At the wake everyone sees that Raeba has changed. There's no boasting, no tall tales, no ribbing. Instead she's subdued and prickly. She gets quickly and quietly plastered by herself at a corner of the bar, and stumbles back home early to the Shipyard.

The rest of the week, other than commissioning a set of plate armour for herself, is spent working to exhaustion helping to set the frame for a small coastal ketch that's been ordered.

She's hoping Ren's forgotten about the favour she asked for, but a messenger from the gang leader comes late the following week, to meet on Feastday at their headquarters in Highbridge - a full week since Rae arrived back. She's told she'll be protecting a caravan, gone for a week at most, and to pack accordingly.