Lightning Round Idea - Carousing Deck?

I'm considering making a carousing deck for lightning rounds. It is no fun for characters who aren't spell casters just to sit around doing nothing, and they have a whole lot of cash they might want to burn. Here's way for them to do it:

The way it works is that the character decides how much they want to "stake" carousing, and then draws from the deck. The base result is that the character gains 50% of the gold "staked" in XP for that week's round, but something interesting also happens that could become an adventure hook or another jumping off point. Or something embarrassing. Or something dangerous, or awesome. All the way up to gaining 100% of the gold "staked" in XP, or LOSING something materially valuable like a magic item or cash.

Here are some of my examples:

• You are involved in random brawl. Roll Strength check or start adventure d3 hit points short. There 50% chance that the authorities were involved, and now Stu the Town Guard "has his eyes on you". Lose your staked gold to convince Stu and the guard to look the other way. Gain 50% of your gold staked in XP for the round.
• Romantic entanglement. You lavish your crush with gifts, losing all the gold staked. Roll Wisdom check to avoid nuptials. Otherwise 1-3 scorned lover, 4-6 angered parents. If the character is already married, they have created enemies within their spouse's family. Gain 50% of your gold staked in XP for the round.
• Gambling losses. Carouser loses his stake as well as an additional amount of gold equal to 50% of gold originally staked. However, they gain 50% of the gold staked as well as lost in XP for the round.
• You didn't see the rash until the following morning. Roll Constitution check to avoid venereal disease, which will inflict a -2 penalty to armor class. You keep your stake, but only gain 10% of your gold staked in XP for the round.
• You lose your staked gold gambling, and decide to continue to gamble using your magic items. Roll Wisdom check for each magic item in your possession. Failure indicates it is gone in the night's haze. You learn a valuable lesson, and gain 100% of the gold staked in XP for the round.
• One of us! One of us! You’re not sure how it happened, but you have been initiated into some sort of secret society or weird cult. Your staked gold is gone to pay for "club dues" or "victory points" or whatever. It is hard to remember. Did that guy just give you the secret signal? Roll Int check to vaguely remember the signs and passes. Gain 50% of your gold staked in XP for the round.
• After drinking through all your staked gold, you get the hangover from hell. You are -2 on all attacks and saves, and you may not do another "lightning round" for a week. Some people just never learn. Gain only 25% of your gold staked in XP for the round.

Sound like a good idea? What do you think about making a "hijinks" deck and "treasure hunting deck" to go with this one.

EDIT: Sometimes you don't lose your staked gold, but that will generally confer a lower XP benefit.

Session 32 Action Shot

The Skull Collectors face a horde of the Legion of the Damned on the island of the dead.

The final battle during the sacrifice at the Temple of 1000 Devils.

The Hobbit, the battle to work up enough enthusiasm to watch the new movie

So I went to watch the new hobbit movie.

Short review: If you didn't like the rest of the movies, you probably won't like this movie.

Now I am not any kind of a purist when it comes to Tolkien movies.  I read The Hobbit almost thirty years ago, and haven't touched it since.  I read all the LOTR books, after watching the movies, and decided I didn't have to keep the books.  I bought the silly-marilly-ion book, and got rid of it after realizing I had no interest in reading it.  I have the super-deluxe DVD collections of the LOTR movies, but mostly I keep those because I found the special features fascinating.  I played The Lord of the Rings Online for years, more out of boredom and being free to play than anything else (I really, REALLY wanted to be able to go on a hobbit killing spree in the Shire).

It's merely an 'OK' movie.  To quote Caesar in the History of the World, part 1:  Nice.  Not great, just nice.  You could do far worse than to watch this movie, especially as a fantasy fan.  Though watching the huge, improbable battle at the end, I find myself wishing they'd do a Warhammer Fantasy movie.

Pushback Cards

Quick question for everyone. Are we still using the "pushback" cards? Now that the Wormcult has taken the Elfwood, there are some pretty interesting things that could happen. Also, is anyone creating cards for Amicus' population of lawful douchebags in the Yoesville countryside? By the end of August, their morale will be adjusted again and chances are good that things will improve now that they are accustomed the power and protection of Jupiter.

The Second Battle of Elfwood

I wanted to play out the second battle of Elfwood, just in case the Wormcult wasn't able to completely crush the elves. I wasn't surprised. Since the Wormcult didn't give away surprise this time, they won handily. The elves stayed to the last man, dying where they stood in defense of their homeland. I decided to go with the "Platoon" level this time, (30 infantry/15 cavalry per unit) which I thought would make things go slower. It didn't.

Elfwood Troops

180 Light Infantry - BR 9 (3*3)

90 Longbowmen - BR 21 (7*3)

Wormcult Troops

120 Heavy Bugbears - BR 16 * 4

240 Light Bugbears - BR 18 *8

60 Hobgoblin Longbowmen - BR 4 * 2

120 Hobgoblin Light Inf - BR 2 * 4

30 Hobgoblin Heavy Inf - BR 2.5 * 1

0 Hobgoblin Light Cav - BR 3 * 0

120 Goblin Light Inf - BR 1.5 * 4

120 Goblin Bowmen - BR 1.5 * 4

Turn	Elf BR	Worm BR	Notes
1	33	102.5	Wormcult meets elves head-on
2	5	92.5	Elves make their morale check - barely
3	0	89.5

The Wormcult then pillages the Elfwood domain. They get a month's wages for each unit destroyed in battle right off the bat. Each day, they get 3d6 gp per family, 1d10x5gp in supplies per family, and 1d10 prisoners per 10 families. The stronghold is reduced 1gp per 1gp plundered and 1d10 per 10 families are lost per day as well. The attack happened on July 2nd, giving the Wormcult 30 days to do their worst. They had the Elfwood cleaned out in seven days.
The profits of war

20,687 Gold in plunder

44,825 Gold in supplies

1126 Prisoners of war

They reduced the value of the Elfwood stronghold to 179,458gp in value

So essentially they broke into the fortifications, took everything that wasn't nailed down, killed everything that moved, and left without really dismantling the stronghold itself. One might assume that a force of the Wormcult might even take up the stronghold themselves. It should be said that there are several smaller domains within the Elfwood which were also stormed and sacked but offered no resistance -- which was why many of these elves fled to the East to take up residence in Diggers.

Plan for Next week's game

I thought that I'd offer to Judge next week.   I know Andrew wants to start to conquer the Island of the Dead, and that the Grand Temple of 1000 Devils is about to hold a Grand Sacrifice on September 1, which can't be good news for our heroes.   So perhaps in late August, the Skull Collectors might strike the temple?   Sound good?

Domain Level Play

I've created a section of the wiki so that those who wish to share information about a domain they rule or some mercenaries they command may do so. Please ask me for a username and password to get editing capability if you don't already have it. You may find the stub entries, as well as Amicus' current entry here.

For those of you who don't know what Yoesville now looks like, see the maps of uptown and downtown here.

Session 31 Action Shot

The Skull Collectors fight off an attack of giants and trolls near Yoesville.