Official DIbs Calling Thread for the Pushback Cards

Let's call dibs here for general Push-back realms

Seriously, though

For the deck.


4x6 white cards?

CARD FORMAT

Had we agreed that the pushback cards would be 4x6 white cards?

Some cards are only going to be directed at certain individuals, and that should be noted on the card.

For example:

Family of Dead Princess Attacks!!

(Applies only to Murderface, Rotwang or Brother Punchy)

If you make up stat cards for bad guys, if you put them on 3x5 cards, I can keep them in the master box and we all can use them at a moments notice in various circumstances.   If you want to use my format, it looks like this:

Example Card for "Push Back" Deck

We've discussed how we might play the next game. My current proposal is to have an extended "lightning round" that features all players offering what they want to do for a week of game time, and then adjudicating that time.

The game would feature the "Push Back" deck that Dave mentioned. Here's my first card as an example for such a deck:

The Griggle the Wormpriest is angry at the Skull Collectors for nearly assassinating him in his own nest. The vermin lord sends a strike squad to ambush the Skull Collectors as they travel the Badlands using a powerful divination to guide him to the appropriate time and place to make the strike. As the PCs pass, a throng of bugbears led by spellcasters spews from hidden pits in the ground.

The enemy force will depend on what the force attacked consists of. If there are several traveling groups, then the one attacked will be randomly determined or both will be attacked simultaneously.

There will be three Bugbear troopers per PC or henchman

There will be one Bugbear champion per PC or henchman

There will be one Bugbear subchief per PC

There will be three Hexgivers per fighter

There will be one Dark Curate and Bugbear shaman per divine spellcaster

There will be one Ruinchild and a Bugbear witchdoctor per arcane spellcaster

After three rounds, a Caecilian will show up for every two spellcasters that are slain.

Before the battle, draw one magic item per PC from the magic deck for the attackers to use against the PCs. Treasure from the battle will be those items and a lowly 200gp per PC.

This card would be backed up by this page of stat blocks.

What's the Plan, Ray?

So, what's our plan for the next game, Sunday, December 7 (a date that might live in infamy?)
Does anyone want to call dibs on judging?  Does anyone want to call dibs on lightning round?   Does anyone have a goal they dearly need to accomplish and requires someone to judge it?

Pronouncing "Caturiges"

This question came up on Sunday,  the proper pronunciation of Caturiges is:


KAT-oo-REE-gays

Who Hates the Skull Collectors

Something I'm really loving about this campaign is that there is no single judge. Just about all of us have at one time or another stepped into a narrator role, and I'm loving that about this particular game. It is something that I've always wanted, and I have finally gotten.

However, the downside is that there is no "overriding force" above all the others. We all understand the situation perfectly and can act on it since we are all both judge and player. Which brings me to the topic of this post. What if we *randomly* gamed how the world we've created pushes back on us? Who hates us the most? What are the chances they'll do it sooner or later? The Skull Collectors are upsetting the balance of Gatavia province. Maybe we just determine randomly from "best guesses" which shoe (or shoes) drop and when?

Please note that all these percentages are separate chances as I see. In other words they won't add up to 100%. It is the chance that a particular domain does a particular thing. They could do multiples of these, or perhaps nothing at all. How often do we roll these chances? That is up for discussion.

Dengwur's forces
Speaking about upsetting the balance of Gatavia province, reincarnating Dengwur was probably the biggest shift. It is safe to say that Dengwur hates everyone, but chances are the Skull Collectors won't be high on his shit list. We've proved our incompetence by handing him the Rod of Castor for crying out loud. He probably doesn't think we are a threat. He's got to be hopping mad at the Old Ones who destroyed his body in a battle over 200 years ago in the Fusk Wood. I would say that his first order of business is to muster all the forces he can to crush his ancient enemies, the Old Ones.

60% - Muster to attack the Old Ones

15% - Reclaim the Island of the Dead and attack Yoesville

5% - Attack Dwarfhall to pick up some more resources

5% - Attack Cavano to pick up some more resources

2% - Attack the Therks to assure their cooperation

The Old Ones
With Dengwur on the move, the Old Ones certainly must be mustering their forces as well. However, if they learn that the Skull Collectors are looking to rebuild the Augur's Towers from the Ardean Empire they would jump to put an end to it. That said, any movement by the Old Ones will be small and surgical. They may consider attacking Portchester if they see an opening, for example if they decide to march their armies South and leave their Eastern border lightly defended.

70% - Muster to attack the Old Ones

10% - Muster to attack Portchester

Portchester
They are stinging from the brazen attack on the most secure parts of the church of Bor and the barrel of Chaos Monkies. Once they put themselves together they would certainly look to clear out the Skull Collectors in the Badlands. Perhaps they start small with summoned attackers, strike teams, and assassinations, but ultimately they want retribution. They can't commit too much because of the heightened threat from the Old Ones. However, if Dengwur launches his assault on the Old Ones a full attack to clear the Badlands is imminent, unless they see the Old Ones as a greater threat in which case they might try to reclaim territory as the Old Ones are busy with Dengwur. There is a small chance that Portchester might decide that the old gods are out to get them, and even decide to attack their former neighbor and ally, the Caturiges.

75% - Attack the Skull Collectors using a strike team or assassination

30% - Muster the army to clear out all the Badlands

10% - Muster the army to attack the Old Ones

1% - Attack Caturiges in retaliation of the power of the old gods

3% - Attack the Savages in retaliation of the power of the old gods

Caturiges
The Westerlings might come to the aid of the elves of the Elfwood against their savage cousins. There might be an opportunity for the Skull Collectors to get them on their side in the case of a war with Portchester.

5% - Attack the savages

2% - Muster the army to attack Portchester

Orchester
The forces of Orchester would perhaps get involved in a land war if Portchester is attacked. Otherwise, they may attack pre- emptively if they think it might take out the Therks to the North. They can't leave their West march undefended, since there are giants and dragons in the Wastelands just to the North. To end that threat, they could perhaps attack North into the Wastelands to end a threat that they might believe to be Dengwur's.

10% - Muster to pre-emptively attack the Therks

5% - Muster to pre-emptively attack the Wormcult

Wormcult
The Cult of the Worm rose from the ashes of Dengwur's rule. As a result, they are nominally allies of Dengwur's but they fear that he will see that they have in fact broken from his service in his absence. They will continue their attacks against the Elfwood, perhaps crushing and enslaving the domains there. However, they might also attempt to recruit the Therks from Dengwur or perhaps even cut a deal with Yoesville against Dengwur.

95% - Attack the Elfwood

55% - Make secret offers to ally wth the Therks against Dengwur

85% - Make offers to ally with the Savages against the Elfwood and Portchester

5% - Attack the Savages

10% - Attack Orchester

5% - Attack the Therks

5% - Attack Yoesville directly

10% - Make secret offers to ally with the Skull Collectors against Dengwur

Savages
Once part of the Caturiges, the cannibals of the savage lands fell under the influence of Dengwur. There are three clans, the Wolf, Bear, and Boar each carrying its own unique curse in its blood. Since Dengwur's disappearance, they have lost a lot of their direction and at this point don't know whether they should support the upstart Wormcult or Dengwur their former master. Either way, they hate their Caturix brothers and they want to eat the elves of the Elfwood.

50% - Attack the Elfwood

15% - Make raids into the Caturiges

50% - Claim to ally with the Wormcult

15% - Actually ally with the Wormcult

50% - Claim to ally with Dengwur

15% - Actually ally with Dengwur

Elfwood
The elves are doing their best to just stay alive under attacks by the Savages and the Wormcult. They will continue to ask anyone and everyone for help.

75% - Ask the Skull Collectors for help defending against the Wormcult

10% - Ask Portchester for help defending against the Wormcult

75% - Ask the Caturiges for help defeinding against the wormcult

Therks
The easterling horseclans have traditionally been allies of Dengwur, but they have grown accustomed to doing as they wished since Dengwur's disappearance. The Khan Parsnak III rules Pulchester from an old army base. He is nominally in charge of the four roving bands of Therks - the Tigers, the Falcons, the Stallions and the Lions. Chances are great that he and the roving bands all declare that they do Dengwur's bidding once again, but there might be some opportunities for hedging as well.

95% - Claim to ally with Dengwur

45% - Actually ally with Dengwur

5% - Actually ally with the Wormcult

10% - Make secret offers to ally with Orchester

5% - Make secret offers to ally with Yoesville

Boscovania News and Funk Report #6

THE BOSCOVANIA NEWS AND FUNK REPORT

Issue #6:  July 1,  1431

Editor in Chief:  Bosco Smokey, president of Boscovania Fine Smokeables

ITEM:  DOOM! DOOM! DOOM!

Dengwur has returned!  Damnation and Doom face us all.   Rabid enemies of mankind have used the Scepter of Castor to reincarnate the destroyer of all that is decent.   He was reclaimed his throne in his dread tower and called forth a summons to all vassals to come and pay him homage.  The Therks, Death Troopers, Savages, Cult of 1000 Devils and the countless goblin hordes are flocking to his banner.   DOOM!

ITEM:  TOWER GRAF CHANGES HANDS

The mysterious master of Tower Graf is slain.  So reports the sole surviving half-elf mercenary who escaped the attack.   He claims that a combination army of Giants and Dwarves fell from the sky and sacked the tower.   It has been claimed that the notorious kidnapper, murderer, priest-slayer and bank robber Rotwang led the assault and is the new lord of the tower, but witnesses say the new lord doesn’t look like Rotwang at all, rather a smaller, less beefy fellow.   It is the opinion of this editor that this is some minion of Dengwur’s claiming the tower for his dark master.

ITEM:  WARRANT ISSUED FOR A WIZARD

The magistrate’s court of Orchester has issued a warrant for the arrest of local some-times resident Tiberio on a charge of grand theft magic for the theft of a magic scroll.   The complaint was signed by Stanwick Cheesemaker, a wizard of the school of Mulfando in good standing, with corroborating testimony by a certain Vaguely Ill-smelling Jack.

 

ITEM:  ROBBERS ROBBED THEMSELVES

 The headquarters of the noted band of brigands known as “The Skull Collectors” in the vicinity of Skull Mountain was plundered recently.   4 of the mercenaries guarding the place were reported to have been overheard at Peaches’ saying that when their bosses were away cloaked enemies burst in and looted Skull Manor.  They were most interested in hauling off the collection of carcasses, most especially the body of Spunky the Cyclops, for whom they had a large wagon prepared.

ITEM:  MEET THE NEW BOSS

The population of Yoeville (Villa Jovis), formerly Bastardville, is reported to be just as dissatisfied with their new pagan master Pontifex Amicus as they had been under Lucius Bastardo.  Was this change part of Dengwur’s return as well?  Bor forfend their evil schemes.

 

Advertisement:  Afraid of Dengwur:  send 10sp to Nigel Mysterio,  at the Mysterious Tower (south of Portchester, along the river) for a “Charm of Evil Protection”, return for full refund if you are destroyed by Dengwur.

Bandits in Yoesville!

As Yoesville enters its second season, Amicus is pleased to see that the settlement has increased in morale and value. With any luck it should continue to prosper. However, I'm afraid that the remainder of the domain of Yoesville is bent out of shape at having to accept Jupiter's grace and a few malcontents have started to turn to banditry - 284 of them to be exact.

With the addition of the Hydra Mercenary Company to the ranks of the garrison of Yoesville, Amicus is certain that he should be able to "contain" the problem. However, he would still welcome the help of any heroes who are in need of some walking around money. Amicus will offer 1000 gold coins for any 6-8 level character who will aid in Yoesville's defense for the months of June, July, and August.

Keep in mind that Amicus isn't looking to slay all these lowlifes. He just wants to make some clear examples of the ringleaders to persuade these lawfuls to go back to their farms. That's all.

As a historical note, the following characters were paid 1K gold for the following months in the past (except for Decius and Beavis):

Wang (March, April, May)

Rotwang (March, April, May)

Murderface (March, April, May)

Masked Archer (March, April)

Decius (May - only 800gp)

Beavis (May - only 800gp)

Action Shots from "Split the Party" - Session 30

The adventurers assault the Tower Graf.

Meanwhile, the Masked Archer of the Apocalypse sneaks in to help liberate Diggers...

...as Amicus' and Rinaldo's forces wait in reserve.

Sithak hired Murderface to assassinate an old drunk.

Tiberio bests a rival who accused him of passing gas. Also, this wizard loves cheese.

Arrrgggh, stupid mistakes in good books

I'm currently reading a book called 'The Terror'.  It's about the Sir Captain John Franklin's attempt to find, and navigate through, the northwest passage in 1845-1847.  The expedition not-so-mysteriously disappeared, due to a wide variety of horrible things that happened to sailors and explorers back then.  They just found one of the ships back in September.  The author has fictionalized the entire thing, taking a great deal of the known facts, adding in a demonic polar bear from Inuit legends, and turning it into a cracking good read (and, is being turned into a series for AMC).

Horrible things happen, and keep on happening, as these two ships full of British sailors try to survive with dwindling supplies, horrific conditions, and a monster that is much more than they can cope with.  It's been fantastic, except for this last little bit.

Spoiler alert, if anybody plans on reading this book, don't read any further.





Okay, the supplies are nearly gone, the coal for heat is nearly gone, and the ships are so banged up, even if the ice wasn't likely to last through the summer, they wouldn't float anyways.  The new commander of the expedition (after Sir Captain John asshole get's his head crunched off like a cheeto) is discussing with the remaining officers and experts about their best course of action.  They measure the pros and cons of staying where they are and dying, or trying to walk 1000 miles to the nearest civilization so they can die during the attempt.  The meeting breaks up, and a steward walks up the captain, and tells him something he read from the multiple-volume journal of James Ross, a much-vaunted arctic explorer that came through the same general area this expedition currently was in.  This steward tells the captain that, just a few short years ago, James Ross left several small camps with food and boats all around the area, and that one was just 25 miles away.  He went on to tell the captain that James Ross' journal included elaborate details on arctic survival including how to make igloos, hunting and fishing on the ice, and how best to become friends with the local native tribes.  The captain politely thanked the steward for telling him all this (being righteously pissed off because an underling was giving him unsolicited advice on life or death matters) and dismissed him.  Then he pulled the volumes down off the shelf and read them.

That is what made me mad.  The captain not only did, apparently, read any of the previous explorers journal BEFORE he went on this trip, during the two years these two ships full of 50+ officers (who all had to be able to read) and 100+ sailors (who were, granted, unlikely to be able to read) were stuck on the ice with LITERALLY nothing to do BUT read, nobody, but NOBODY, thought to read his James Ross asshole's fricking multi-volume journal (which were in the 100+ books the ships libraries), until this steward got bored enough to think 'Hey, the journal of the last white asshole to make it to this part of the world.  Maybe he knows something about this area.'

That is what really has me cheesed off.

NEXT TIME TENTATIVE PLAN: SPLIT THE PARTY

Here's the "Plan" for next game, as I see it now:

First we have a down-time session.   Andrew will manage a Lightning Round and we cover somewhere between 2 and 4 weeks of recruiting, shopping and/or research.

Then, we split the party:

Group 1:
Rotwang, Murderface, Tiberio, and Rinaldo will attack Castle Graf.
Dave will set up the scenario, with Andrew, Marlon, Toby and whoever else shows playing the inhabitants of the castle.

Group 2:
Amicus, the Masked Archer, Shady Jack and Split-Tongue will attempt to conquer Diggers. 
Jason will judge with Bob, Tim and Robert playing various guardians of Diggers.
If things look a bit light attendance-wise, perhaps we can have Robert play Decius or Manfred on this assault rather than running some bad guys..


Judges should be looking at really just 2-3 encounters worth of action at each location, rather than a full dungeon expedition.

Goals in the Badlands

I know that Rotwang wants to seize Tower Graf and make it into Tower (Rot)wang.
Amicus wants to take over Diggers.

The Masked Archer of the Apocalypse wants to find the lost Temple of Mars Ultor in the Badlands somewhere , and hopefully within it the long-lost Tome of the Mamertine Apocalypse, in which all is revealed.   Therein he would house the Order of the Ultores, in their bid to restore the Neutral gods to supremacy and make a tidy profit doing so.


My thoughts for next week is to perhaps divide the group into 2 teams, one of which will be led by Rotwang to capture Tower Graf.  The second of which will be led by Amicus to capture Diggers.

The members of one team would "play the bad guys" against the other team.

I'll draw up Tower Graf and oversee the action there, since I already know what's going on there and who's in charge etc.

Would someone else: Jason? Bob? Tim? like to draw up what's in Diggers and run the action there?

Diggers

Just to the South of Yoesville is a settlement known as "Diggers". Is that just a mining colony? Are those the lowlifes that once populated "Downtown Bastardville"? If so, I believe that Amicus needs to stop by there and annex their puny domain. Who is with me?

Or is "Diggers" something else entirely?

Session 29 Action Shots

The Skull Collectors first descend into the ruins of the Bascillica of Noviodunum in search of the lost Rod of Castor. They are met by a legion of the damned.

Later, the Skull Collectors fight a unit of winged demons. Unfortunately, the trap sprung by Murderface Jack does the most damage to the party.

The History of Gatavia Province - Dengwur

Not everyone knows the history behind the rule of Dengwur. Dengwur was once a player character in a homebrew game that was set in the world of Baldgarth (our campaign world) around 1215 AY. For those of you who are not "in the know", please find (nearly) the entire story of how it all happened here.

EDIT:
The early names of these places may be confusing. Here is a key to help newer players:

Portus Nardo = Portchester

Noviodunum = Island of the Dead (see episode 24!)

Castra Pullo = Pulchester (Where the Therks are)

Aurelius = Orchester (The big city to the South)

Quinteri = Cavano (sort of - however we've never been there in this campaign yet)