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  1. Worlds that do not trade with other worlds are poor and have low technology.
    • 1st Corollary of Law 1: Poor, low tech worlds are in constant danger of extinction.
    • 2nd Corollary of Law 1: Exceptions to this law tend to be extremely nasty.
  2. You are not the first traveller to arrive in this system.
    • 1st Corollary of Law 2: If you don't know what happened to previous travellers, you are asking for trouble.
  3. The people that built your ship assumed that you would always be fully supplied, have a full fuel tank, and not have more than the recommended amount of cargo and passengers before entering hyperspace.
    • 1st Corollary of Law 3: The most important knowledge a traveller must have is how to bend Law 3.
  4. Human beings are short-sighted, paranoid, selfish, greedy, and delusional.
    • 1st Corollary of Law 4: This is the primary source of profit for travellers.
    • 2nd Corollary of Law 4: This is the primary source of danger for travellers.
    • 3rd Corollary of Law 4: This applies to your crew, too, so watch your back.
  5. Always be prepared to nuke the site from orbit (a.k.a. Dead men tell no tales).
    • 1st Corollary of Law 5: Remember that everyone you meet is trying to figure out how to kill you if they decide they have to.
  6. Exposure to hard radiation does not give you super powers. It simply kills you.
  7. Gravity is a harsh mistress.
  8. Don't touch that.
    • 1st Corollary of Law 8: If you think you can profit by touching that, go ahead, but be prepared to be wrong.
    • 2nd Corollary of Law 8: Much better to order a crewman to touch that.
  9. Never forget where you landed the shuttle.
    • 1st Corollary of Law 9: When on a planet, always conduct yourself in such a manner that you are on the shuttle when it takes off again.
    • 2nd Corollary of Law 9: Always remember that your captain can probably recall the shuttle on autopilot.
    • 3rd Corollary of Law 9: It doesn't do any good to be on the shuttle when it returns if your captain is simply going to throw you out the air lock.
  10. It's good to be the Captain.
    • 1st Corollary of Law 10: Your entire crew knows this.

Another game that never was. I was going to run a Savage Worlds cyberpunk game, but it never got off the ground. This was an essay I wrote for myself as a thought-starter and background information sort of thing.

The Technological System is nothing less than the sum total of the organization, techniques, drives, and capabilities of modern existence. In the Technological System, efficiency is king, trumping nationalism, economics, even biology. That which can be made efficient thrives; that which can not withers. That includes ideologies, historical conflicts, cultures … and people.
...continue reading "Cyberpunk"

For the Dreadmire campaign, I had the idea that there was this huge port city somewhere off in the void. It would be the source and a way-point for trade goods and people, and a source of rumor. Going there might have become a goal for the PCs. I never really developed any of this stuff, but the ideas are still interesting, at least to me.

 

The City “T’sai-shen”

Cai-shen

The Chinese god of prosperity, both of religious Taoism and in the syncretist folk religion. He has various magical powers, such as warding off thunder and lightning, and ensuring profit from commercial transactions. As a historical figure he is identified as Zhao Xuan-tan (Chao Hsüan-t'an), "General Zhao of the Dark Terrace", from the Qin Dynasty. He attained enlightenment on top of a mountain. He also assisted Zhang Dao-ling on his search for the life-prolonging elixir.
...continue reading "C’ai Shen"

(This one's interesting. I only have a vague memory of it. I think I actually ran this at a Game Day we had at our place of employment. It wasn't part of the regular campaign, I know that much.)

Dreadmire Campaign

D&D 4.0

August 16, 2008

 

Begin – the gnome sets them down in the Dreadmire swamp. After awhile, they come across a battlefield.

 

1a. Battle scene – twelve dead pirates, thoroughly scavenged by critters. DC 18 – they are sailors. DC 20 – they are offworlders. DC 22 – they killed each other…although some similarly armed combatants may have survived. DC 25 track – find the track of Tree.

 

1b. Find the pirate captain Aloysius Tree of the Skuttlebutt, taken over from the late dread pirate Quee Quai Queg.
...continue reading "Dreadmire – Alternate 1st adventure"

1

Dreadmire Campaign

Adventure #1: The Saga Begins

 

  • Silur Rock
  • Time: early morning
  • At the shore is a hill giant throwing rocks

 

  1. Near the near bank of the river can be seen a fishing boat with one small figure in it (50’ out)
  2. Tip of rock is 250’ from the shore; wavefront of ocean can be seen; swampland seen to the west, hills to the east, river going north; the river is 300’ across with virtually no current

Bob (Bayou Halfling) old fisherman

Knowledge local +10

Boat can carry six uncomfortably
...continue reading "Dreadmire – Adventure #1"

This was just a file of notes of plot points, setting ideas, encounter ideas, and whatnot for the campaign. Since the game never really went anywhere, I never used 90% of this stuff.

Dreadmire Campaign Ideas

 

Tribe of Fomorians –

  • a city of them, but scattered members can be found all over the Dreadmire.
  • Some can pass as human, though the cat-eye gives them away if you can see through their glamer.
  • Similarity to Rakshasa – urbane, yet cruel – communicative, but not open – enjoys society, but is an enslaver and tyrant.
  • Fomorian warlock ruling a plantation – Halflings in servitude, almost slavery
  • Fomorian rogue passing as a human woman – may be an ally to the PCs, but is also quite willing to turn on them if hired by an enemy

 
...continue reading "Dreadmire campaign ideas"

1

Somewhere along the way, I don't remember when and I don't remember how, I acquired this little beauty: Dreadmire. It's a campaign setting book for D&D 3.0 -- think swamp, Cajuns, frogs, swamp, swamp people, voodoo, swamp magic, swamp, mosquitos, and swamp.

I started developing a campaign using this setting, but that was about when D&D 4.0 came out and I wanted to try it, so I started converting stuff. Unfortunately, after running the campaign a few sessions, I discovered that I really didn't like running 4.0, so we quit and went on to something else.

But here are a bunch of notes from the game, some of which is still in the original 3.0 form and some converted to 4.0. Enjoy!

 

(Copied from previous site)

The group of intrepid adventurers approached the door to the old observatory. Jerad looked at the others, then walked up and knocked on the door! Of course there was no answer. Filge was asleep in the upper room and the only person who had reason to call on him had his own key anyway. Romanova opened the door and graciously allowed Stonan to go in first. He was greeted by Filge's 'welcoming committee,' three of poor Alastor Land's relatives animated as skeletons.

The undead had barricaded themselves behind some overturned tables on the far side of the room. Broken furniture and other debris was scattered about the floor making footing treacherous. The skeletons raised up as Stonan entered, each firing a crossbow bolt tipped with greasy poison at the dwarf. Luckily for Stonan, two of the bolts thudded into the wall around the door and the third sailed over his head, alerting the rest of the group to the imminent danger. Stonan rushed into the room, successfully picking his way through the debris, and slammed full-speed into the large table that two of the skeletons were behind. The skeletons both hit the wall and then the ground. One of them crumpled into a pile, the magic holding it together dispersed.
...continue reading "Age of Worms, Session 6"

(Copied from previous site)

And so through the face they went. Jerad and Stonan led the way, emerging into a strange room with a narrow beam suspended above a floor covered in what appeared to be ceramic balls about the size of an orange. The beam spans the entire length of the room from just behind the face to a door at the far end, just within the reach of the shadowy light of Jerad's illuminated mace. There was no indication of what might lie in wait below the spheres, or even how far down the floor is. The walls of the chamber, from the height of the beam up to the ceiling, are honeycombed with many small dark recesses.

Romanova was sharp enough to notice that the holes in the wall were just a hair bigger than the ceramic spheres underneath the beam.

Now mindful of the likely trap, Jerad and Stonan got down and hugged the beam, crawling along it towards the door. Towards the middle of the beam, Jerad felt it shift, and a fell wind began to blow from the holes in the wall.
...continue reading "Age of Worms, Session 5"

(Copied from previous site)

That night the party split up in Diamond Lake. Romanova soaked her bruises (wait, she hasn't fought anything yet), soaked her cares away in a perfumed bath at the Emporium and stayed ina room there for the night. Mercurio prepared dinner and stayed with his mentor Allustan. Jerad returned to the temple of Pelor and spent the night in contemplation.

Our three barbarians (one now a Cleric of Kord) strolled into the Feral Dog for some grog and some fun. Greeted in a surly manner by the albino half-orc bartender Kullen, the three took their drinks and headed downstairs for the dogfight. It was a rip roaring good time, with the bull mastiff finally overcoming the wild wolf mutt that was caught outside town earlier that day. Fighting over for the night (at least by the dogs) the boys and Phil headed back upstairs where a large blonde man had drawn a crowd around his table and was regaling them with stories of his bravery and daring while exploring the Stirgenest Cairn. This could only be Auric, adventurer of the Free City and current holder of the Champion's Games Belt. Sitting next to him and whispering in his ear every so often was his wild haired, red robed mage friend Khellek. The three joined the throng and listened in on Auric's outrageous stories. Sensing that most of the talk was empty boasting, Stonan and Nader chided Auric about the red welts on his arms and legs, tell-tale signs of a bad encounter with the stirges of the eastern shore. Khellek whispered something to Auric, and the blond giant quickly changed topics to the pair's exploits in past two years' Champions Games, soon to be held again in Greyhawk.
...continue reading "Age of Worms, Session 4"