So I’ve been fortunate to run a few playtests of my Primeval d6 (which I should probably “rename” to Primeval 2d6 since that’s pretty much all I roll) and I’ve been honing the kind of basic form of the system. I need to sit down and update my actual play document, but here’s how I’ve been running it lately and why I have made changes.
changes followOur cast for our fourth session:
My first entry for the 2020 Eclectic Bastion Jam is up, it’s a failed career – the former Ghost Impersonator.
If you take a look definitely let me know what you think, and I absolutely recommend contributing to the jam – Into the Odd and Electric Bastionland are two of the best games out there and are great foundations to hack from.
It should be no surprise that I’m the kind of dork who loves the musical genre of dungeon synth. Really I love all kinds of music, but the overall tone and sound of most dungeon synth gels together for me to be a nice bit of ambiance to put on low volume in the background of a game, if everyone likes playing with music.
I recently stumbled on this album by lookfar, which seems to be the dungeon synth project name for Louie Zong, a really talented person.
This is becoming one of my favorite albums to put on while doing game prep, hacking system docs, typing up campaign ideas or reading fantasy books.
I’m not really a music critic but I love the specific effects that Louie has chosen, to me it really gives the music an otherworldly feel, and I really love the guitar work on songs like the Far Reaches to accompany the synth work.
Sunday was a continuation of the open table game I’ve been running on the OSR Pickup Server, and I had the pleasure of gaming with:
A hand rake, one floppy hat, a small watering tin.
Inspired by Electric Bastionland, Knave, and Ten Foot Polemic.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Yesterday I ran the second session of an open-table Barrowmaze game on the OSR Pickup server. Six gracious players joined me:
Today was the first session of my open-table Barrowmaze game on the OSR Pickup server. I was honored to run for the following five players:
Slow going on the blog front mostly because I have been prepping to run an online, open-table Barrowmaze game using Old School Essentials + Advanced Genre Rules. This is a roll-over another game I was running, also using OSE. This was initially set up to be an in-person open table game, but account of the whole Pandemic was shifted online right as we were getting ready to get together. Life stuff made it difficult to get the required number of players, so we chatted and decided to shift the game to the OSR Pickup Game Discord server, in the hopes of getting new players. We also decided to pitch a new game, as it seemed people were a tad shy joining an existing game that had been running for months now.
Most of my time has been spent mapping Barrowmaze. I have a few issues with mapping over voice, I find I spend a large portion of the time either mapping myself using Roll20’s terrible tools, or I force that on my players and then spend a significant amount of time checking and correcting maps. So I decided I would just map out Barrowmaze, which is no light endeavour.
I’ve tried three different tools to come up with the maps, all of which have their ups and downs.
I didn’t try any of the other standards, I ended up sinking too much time into Dungeondraft to justify it. Overall I can’t say I’m that happy with it, looking at the subreddit for the tool it seems the user base is more the kind of player who is looking for typical 5e set-piece encounters, instead of mapping out actual dungeons, but I do have my fingers crossed.
I am hoping to get back to the Failed Careers and my Gygax 75 setting once I have a session of this open table game under my belt, and I have been working on a few system hacks I want to playtest and put out there.
Here is a rough description of the environs I have came up with for my Gygax 75 setting, Umborea.
I have a map, but would prefer not posting it so my players can hex-crawl through the region.
A village resting on God’s Heart lake, just under the gaze of the Shaper’s resting head. Whether this is truly part of the buried Old God, or just one of his artifacts is unknown – no one dares approach it or the monastery in the mountains, fearing the dooms that cast the gods down during the last aeon.
A massive city state near the meeting point of two rivers. Once the furthest east city of the Phoenix King’s Empire, it is now ruled by the defiant war queen Tannia who burned half the city in her rage. She seeks to unify the peoples of the land and discover the truth of the last age’s destruction, sending knowledge-seekers into the labyrinthine crypts below the city.
A fortress looming on the Sea of Storms to the east. This knightly order traces their lineage back before this valley was flooded. They vigilantly watch the sea from their towering lighthouse. Members of this order have been scene transporting captive monsters back to their fort.
A low mountain region in the northwest vale, noted for having a massive stone head and hands jutting out of the stone. Said to either be a relic made by the Shaper, or may actually be his resting body.
A massive swell of water just below Shaper’s Reach, said to be a spring reaching down to the Shaper’s heart itself, and many seeking truths of the old age come to drink from it.
The mountain range occupying the southwest portion of the vale, surrounded by a rocky stretch of dust and sand, people fear this region for being a home of the Gods’ Forsaken Children.
A tumultuous sea to the east of the vale, watched over by the Wax Knights, rumors of creatures dwelling below, and mystical isles being hidden out beyond the horizon.
An ancient stone monastery on an open palm in the Shaper’s Reach. Its true purpose is unknown, although many people believed that the chosen of the Shaper dwelt here amongst their god, worshipping and reveling in his mysteries. None dare return here fearing curses, and fear the squat, rough figures seen patrolling the reach.
The half of the City Ember that was burned by Queen Tannia in her conquest. Although rumored to hide many riches, people dare not tread her for rumors of dread spirits. There are also many access to the crypts below, and Queen Tannia rewards handsomely for relics and tomes of the past aeon retrieved from there.
In the sands just before reaching the Teeth lies an ancient academy. Once home to a wizened collective, it is rumored that they discovered something horrific, causing terrible beings of light and fire to descend upon them, scorching the valley and casting all into who lived out into the sandy wilds.
