Peter H. Fröhlich @phf@tabletop.social

I am doing a LOT of self-censorship recently and I don't like it.

I wonder if that's going to happen once we finally play that A&A game in Zothay. Since the way I started prepping it, well, it's sort of a city adventure thing. Sort of. 😮

I thought this was a funny quote: "My idea of a town adventure goes something like blah, blah, blah, there's a fight, and then the town burns down." https://jrients.blogspot.com/2008/08/west-marches-of-cinder.html

Third session of Barrowmaze tonight, first henchmen death. Sadface because the henchman actually had a history. Still no player character death, although we were close in that first session. They slaughtered a giant rattler snake tonight and made off with a *huge* amount of loot. And a statue is being built to commemorate the henchman. (Yes, it's "XP for gold spent" and not "XP for gold collected" in this game.) I hope we can keep the momentum going for another ... three ... sessions? Or more?

...and now I better stop before someone says "So where's your awesome and legendary dungeon? Hmmm?"

"If anyone looks at the mirror, they will be sucked in, no save, and have to fight a zombie version of themselves. If they win, they pop back out and the mirror shatters. If they lose the mirror becomes dull and there's loud laughter (roll encounter check)." I don't even have anything to say here. Except I want my $6.66 back.

"There are 8 tomb robbers in this room..." only there's no way they could have gotten to that room without either opening a barrow mound or fighting any number of dangerous monsters that now would have to be dead. I guess all we do for our money is roll on a table, everything else be damned, right Greg? If engaged in conversation instead of melee, these jerks can't even explain how they got here.

Once I am done fixing every shitty room in Barrowmaze I will put up the result on drivethru as a $35 hardcover called Battermaze. Under the pseudonym Crag Hillsbilly. Yes I am joking.

I really want a "shake my head and shrug my shoulders" button next to the "favorite" button. Yes, I am a mean old man and completely dead inside.

Oh, and I made "dungeon restock rolls" right after the session, interesting idea. Each room has one "current" and one "future" state with an "effective as of" date on it. So depending on when we play next, some of the rooms they've seen last night might look different. Or not.

In other news, first Barrowmaze session went well last night. I totally over-prepped (they only looked at 7 rooms and only had one fight with one spider) but at least they got a little loot and they might even be back. Made one big mistake regarding burning oil but hey, can't remember all the rules all the time, even in something simple like B/X D&D. And they left JUST in time to avoid the first (pre-rolled) random encounter. Just under two hours of really fun online gaming.

The more I prep Barrowmaze the less respect I have for Greg "pay me the big bucks" Gillespie. Case in point? "Two ghouls, former lovers in life, are alternating between cooing and yelling at each other in the dark." Wow, great, what awesome stuff! Except that ghouls don't talk so it'll be grunts, easy to misinterpret. WHY THE HECK did you not give them "matching wedding bands (20 gp each)" to tie it off and make the looting awkward? Half-assed encounter design...

Pro-tip: Never go to Dyson Logos' website "just for a quick map of a crypt" because 2 hours later you'll STILL BE LOOKING AT HIS THOUSANDS OF MAPS, wondering where you'll ever find enough players to explore them all with... ❤

If you give me a random table for dungeon dressing in your fancy hardcover module, then PLEASE don't use it yourself to stock the published dungeon you lazy dungeon bastard!

@kensanata Putting this here as well, just in case. I think I'd want to use movement rates a bit more strictly so that people in leather outpace people in plate? Also how are you doing XP for monsters? The LL/BX rules or more "0e-style" 100xp/HD? Consistency would probably be good there. 😄

@kensanata https://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2022/03/ruined-tower-of-zenopus-printer.html

@kensanata Where in the Wilderlands did you imagine "Selina's Harbor" to be? Just trying to find a culture for the Barrowmaze. Also Ghinorian?

@kensanata @presgas @frotz Thank you gentleman, that's what I call a successful playtest game. Also I am glad that I went with the "wine to vinegar" thing instead of the "all the candles blow up" idea I also had... 😮

First time ever trying to "prep" some Wilderlands. Why? Because I'll run a one-shot using Ambition and Avarice which has (for me) CRAZY player races like hobgoblins and lizardfolk. The only place that popped into my head where that could possibly work was the crazy old Wilderlands. It's a scary amount of material to grok quickly.

@kensanata How did you end up with all those Wilderlands deities in your various campaigns? Or is it a coincidence that the Wilderlands are also full of Mitra and Set and the like? I might be missing something. And you probably wrote a post about it 10 years ago and I just can't find it. 😄