08 October 2011

Planning a ConstantCon Google+ Game

(edited for clarity)
I'm slowly working on setting up a semi-regular ConstantCon game. It will be location based to accommodate a rotating cast of characters. At first, the PCs will have a choice between four different hooks. The game won't start till mid-November, so there's plenty of time to deal with getting some characters rolled up.

System: Lamentations of the Flame Princess. Initially it will be mostly the rules as written, except for no demihumans. Rather than front loading the house-rules, I'd like to see what happens by letting them develop through play.
Time: Probably on the weekends, each session to last around 2 hours. Starting mid-November.
FLAILSNAILS: Sure. Your half-elf dragon blooded whatever is just another vile foreigner, like that astrozombie wizard with the lazer pistol.
Setting: The Urth After the Rain thing I'm messing about with here. It's a mashup of pseudo-historical anachronisms, swords and saucers, Yog-Sothery, mad science, and SF. At least that's what it looks like from my perspective. I'm sure the players will just see it as a weird place full of loot and monsters to stab.

28 September 2011

Area around Novus Londinium

First draft of a map depicting the general knowledge of the area around Novus Londinium.

  • The climate is on the colder, wetter side of temperate.
  • The eastern half of the island is quite dangerous, but the low mountains serve as a natural barrier which mostly contain the things that live in the woods.
  • The northern island, the Skull, is even more dangerous. Sailors and adventurous fools say it's haunted. Most who have attempted to explore the Skull, and have lived to tell about it, don't make it more than a mile or two in from the coast.
  • Beltrame's Isle and Glasswright's Isle were once home to alchemists. Both alchemists are long dead, although sailors claim to have seen smoke rising from both isles. No one in living memory has landed on either isle and returned to tell about it.
  • The Continent is off to the west. It is pseudo eastern-European or pseudo-Russian.


21 September 2011

Alehouse, villainous


The players wander into an alehouse to buy drinks and listen to rumors. How much does it cost them, what complication results? Prices are based on the food and drink costs in the Grindhouse Edition of Lamentations of the Flame Princess. If the PCs can't pay, then they are unable to pay their tab and face whatever consequences seem appropriate.

I'll be adding more tables for different kinds of alehouses. These assume the players give you some idea of where they are going. Eventually, I'll compile them into one big table setup to be used in a variety of ways. Potential problem: reusing the table too often gets dull.

Alehouse, villainous:
  1. 1d4 copper, laborer feels like fisticuffs.
  2. 3d4 copper, laborer plans to tell his friends he spotted some easy marks.
  3. 2d6 silver, laborer knows nothing but gets the PCs to buy too many drinks.
  4. 3d6 copper, hard man plans to mug PCs later.
  5. 2d4 copper, hard man feels like a knife fight.
  6. 3d6 silver, hard man takes a liking to a PC, has a bit of work needs doing.
  7. 1d4 copper, hard man mistakes a PC for a friend of a friend, insists on buying a round.
  8. 1d6 silver, pimp thinks PCs are competition, decides to follow them.
  9. 2d4 copper, pimp feels like a knife fight.
  10. 2d4 copper, pimp is insistent that the PCs come with him, knows a nice lass/lad.
  11. 2d6 silver, pimp takes a liking to the PCs.
  12. 3d4 silver, proprietor of the alehouse takes a liking to the PCs.
  13. 2d4 copper, prostitute tells an incredibly desperate tale, needs help.
  14. 2d4 copper, prostitute tells an incredibly desperate tale, is setting the PCs up for a mugging
  15. 2d4 copper, off duty beggar pegs the PCs as easy marks, tells his friend the pick pocket.
  16. 4d8 silver, gambler bests the PCs at dice.
  17. Gain 2d6 silver, gambler loses badly, but is a good sport.
  18. Gain 2d6 silver, gambler is not a good sport, fond of knives.
  19. 4d4 copper, no one is forthcoming, save vs. poison or endure 1-2 days of food sickness
  20. 4d8 silver, no one remembers anything, PCs miraculously make it home intact, lose a day to hangover.


20 September 2011

Her Majesty's Privy Council

Notable NPCs of Novo Londinium. Most of them are dependent upon the Virgin Queen for their status and wealth.

  • Sir Robert Long, Lord Chancellor. Late 60s, softly spoken, suffers from a large goiter.
  • Lady Anne Deerhall, Lady High Treasurer. Mid 40s, grotesquely obese, laughs and titters constantly.
  • Sir Willaim Hancock, Lord President of the Council. Late 40s, florid, fond of strong drink.
  • Sir Robert Middleswood, Lord of the Privy Seal. Mid 40s, suffers from gout, fond of young children.
  • Lord Reynold Scroggsrow, Lord Great Chamberlain. Late 30s, pox ravaged skin, smells terrible. 
  • Lady Jane Frostcroft, Lady High Constable. Early 30s, widowed, only seen at night.
  • Sir Giles Marlefinger, Earl Marshall. Early 30s, lecherous, ill-mannered.
  • Sir Francis Begbie, Lord High Admiral. Early 30s, sociopathic, from the North.
  • Brother Vasilii, a foreign holy man, faithful servant of the Sleeping Dragon. Mid 30s, burning eyes, long beard.
  • Sir Francis Gorney, Royal Astrologer, Worshipful Master of the Order of the Trapezohedron. Early 70s, well preserved, suffers from arthritis.
  • Doctor William Fowler, Royal Physician, Most Excellent Master of the Order of the Trapezohedron. Mid 40s, fashionable, gourmand with unsettling tastes.
  • Lady Elinor Muttonreeve, friend and confidant to the Queen. At least 90, only woman to gain admittance to the Invisible College, confined to the palace due to her unusual medical condition.

Sir Francis Gorney, Royal Astrologer

Brother Vasilii

Doctor William Fowler

19 September 2011

"The captain is a one-armed dwarf..."


I think I first found Dan Simmon's novel Ilium in the lending library of the Utsunomiya International Center. A number of images stayed with me, like the giant gold hands holding back the Atlantic from the Mediterranean basin. I would have preferred a picaresque exploration of the crazy landscape (with lots of monsters and lunatics), instead the central mystery is mostly resolved with no real surprises. Still, there are some interesting bits and pieces worth borrowing.

18 September 2011

Urth is big.

There's enough room for all this to be happening at once.





Now is the 723 Year of the Reign of the Virgin Queen.

Ruler of Novus Londinium. Not seen in public in almost 20 years. Feared and loved by the people. Her court is a nest of vipers and maggots (literally).

Let's play.

Setting out to describe a D&D game I'd like to run. I hadn't played much for a long time, and got back into it a few years ago. I've run a couple of games, and played in more, but wasn't quite satisfied. Creating a blog, with self imposed deadlines, will force me to work to a schedule, be more productive, and finally put my vague ideas into a coherent form.