A World of Adventure

A big focus of my Solo TRPG Campaign project, 'Journal of a Mixed Elf Mercenary Hero', is exploration.

The Enchanted Lands

As a Gamemaster, I absolutely love World-Building. It is by far my favorite part of the pastime. It allows me to do something with all these ideas that are constantly forming in my head, threatening to burst out of my skull and spray all over the place. Sorry. I know that's a little intense but that doesn't make it untrue. Besides, no one wants to clean that up, trust me.

As a player, I want to explore the world or universe of the game we're playing. I want to see the Gamemaster's vision, be it an original creation or their take on a known IP, and I would like the opportunity to get to know it up close and personal.

In either role, my preferred way to go about this is through an Open-World Exploration Campaign. That is essentially what I am hoping for with this Solo RPG and I feel pretty confident I can achieve it since I am occupying both positions.

Let's start by looking at the map and filling in some general ideas on what exists and where...

  

The usual recommendation when going about the act of world-building is to start small, really local-like, and then only expanding as you need to. For me, that's crap. I can't work that way for a host of reasons, the biggest of which is I want my players (and in this case myself) to be able to go where they want to go as long as they have some way of getting there. To the age old school question of, 'What happens if we travel beyond the edge of the map?', I like to answer, 'There is no edge to the map'. 

To make this work, I need to 'sketch out' some areas so I have a guide for my imagination. Looking at the second map, some points of interest have been placed in the hope that I can explore those areas during the campaign. Some important or at least interesting bodies of water are also included. The Trading Seas are small-to-medium oceanic bodies constantly plyed by merchants and unfortunately pirates. The Strange Sea is almost completely surrounded by lands, from small islands to the large main continent, with many legends surrounding what it is the sails across and roams beneath the waters of this region. Ghost Ships, Sea Monsters, and Vanishing Island that occasionally appears in the center of the sea. 

While I show the homeland locations of the Dwarves, the Elves, the Hairfoots, and the Humans, I purposely haven't defined how large their domains are, how many settlements or citizens they have, etc. I also haven't given the proper name of these places on account of the fact that I haven't decided on them yet. Furthermore, just because I haven't identified where Beastkin or Goblins live doesn't mean there aren't Beastkin and Goblins. This is best thought of as a Visual Outline. 

To this end, I've also pointed out areas of potential adventure and danger by designating Giants in the Northeast and possibly a Dragon in the Northwest. I wrote it in as 'A Dragon?' because I haven't decided if that information is true or merely a fanciful story. Then, as I've already mentioned, there are lands far away to the Southeast and Southwest that have yet to be explored. I've included these known unknowns for exploration and further development later on.

Of special interest is The Ruinlands of an Ancient Empire; a vast expanse of land with numerous dungeons and crumbling temples that are all that remains of a powerful and very magical civilizations from long, long ago.

Finally, I've also noted where my Player Character, Raelyn Riversprite, came from and the fact that the town was basically destroyed. The port is abandoned now - no one lives there to my character's knowledge. 

Exploration

• • PCs are rewarding for discovering something new – a never before encountered (by them specifically) monster, location, thing about the world, etc. For Solo play, these are notated in the campaign ‘Journal’ as ‘I discovered [name or description of thing]’. 
• • Dungeons are ‘alive’: Traps, rival adventurer parties, sentient doors, patrols of haunted armors, and wandering entities that want to chat.
• • Food & Rest: Cooking plants, animals, or even monster meat gives mechanical buffs and restores Physical and Spell Fatigue (a la Delicious in Dungeon). Skipping meals may cause penalties (hungry adventurer/party = comedic failures). Sleep is similar. 

As per usual, more thoughts as they come to me. I am really eager to actually start playing. Hopefully later today. 

Hope to see you on the road...

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Barking Alien

RPG Campaign Tour Challenge 2026 - DAY 4

Day 4-Is there a Map?

"There is! 

Welcome to my favorite part of the Prosperity other than the Bridge - Stellar Cartography!

One of three rooms dedicated to the Astro-Navigation Department, Stellar Cartography boasts a horizontal viewscreen for generating and displaying star charts and maps.

Though not as large as the Bridge's main viewscreen, it is long and it makes planning and visualizing navigational flight paths far easier than any equipment I've used before.

The map on display above is actually a few of our recent mission maps merged together. It shows Sectors Sierra-12, Tango-8, and Tango-9 [plus a little extra here and there]."

The campaign has seen the Prosperity and its crew assigned to many different regions over the years. It would probably take a 100+ page 'Astrometrics Atlas' to detail all the places they've been to in the past 9 seaaons.

This Challenge is primarily focused on the PCs' current and recent operations in the Tango-8 and Tango-9 sectors and some areas adjacent to them. As such, that is what the map I'm presenting covers. 

If you are wondering what the scale of the map is, how many parsec per square, and that sort of thing, well, I have no idea. The map doesn't represent exacting distances or sizes of things. It is purely to help the players and I determine where objects are in relation to other objects and the like. If I say, 'Your vessel has entered the Rho Gruis System', you can tell if that's closer to Starbase 25 or the.Taurus Nebula.  

Much like the writers of the Star Trek shows, I want the illusion of verisimilitude but I am not worried about real world distances, speeds, and astronomy. 

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Barking Alien

Map Update 02/12/2026

City Guide to BLAST CITY

Welcome to the Barking Alien City Guide to Original TRPG Cities created by yours truly. Over the course of the month of August I hope to get out at least five posts depicting fictional cities I've created throughout my HOLY-CRAP-IT'S-BEEN-48-FREAKIN'-YEARS of gaming. 

Enjoy.

BLAST CITY

Blast City, New York, United States of America, North America

Earth / Sol III

Origin/History: Early in the 21st century an alien starship crashed into New York State's Lower Bay. The vessel was a prototype, bringing with it over three thousand Sentient Extraterrestrial refugees. These aliens were on the run from a marauding species known as the Dreggetti.

Begging the people of Earth for help, as the Dreggetti Empire were destined to catch up with the refugees within a year, these beings offered Humanity advanced technology, incredible scientific knowledge, and - wait for it - superpowers. The aliens had invented a formula that could give Humans, and only Humans, extranormal abilities (although some of the alien species that arrived on Earth had some special traits naturally). 

Humanity agreed to ally with their galactic charges and a year later their combined forces were ready for any threat. With Super Soldiers, Space Fighters, Force Fields, and Particle Cannons, a United Earth and their alien allies waited for the Dreggeddi's arrival. 

And it never came.

Not a year later, not five years later, and not ten.  

Forward to today and the starship has been converted into a city - Blast City! Home to nearly a million people, Human and Alien alike, the city stands as arguably the most important and vibrant in the entire Sol System. A center of scientific and technological development, cultural exploration, and economic change, everyone wants to visit, if not live, in Blast City. 

Demographics: There are virtually one million permanent residents of Blast City. An additional 100,000 people live outside the city but commute to work on a daily basis. Thanks to improvements in infrastructure and transportation, someone living in Manhattan can expect less than an hour commute on average while still complaining about the traffic. 

Approximately 60% of the city's population, about 600,000 people, are Humans. Of those Humans, perhaps .05% or 300 people, are SuperHuman, possessing extranormal abilities. Generally this is limited to active Superheroes and students attending Hero Classes at Blast City High School and Blast City University but also includes Scientists, Engineers, and other civic/civilian jobs cleared for Superpower use.

The remaining 400,000 occupants of Blast City are extraterrestrial in origin. Most arrived along with the starship, though some were born on Earth after the landing/crash. Other aliens arrived later on slower spaceships. The alien population is made up of 30 different species. Some are fairly numerous, like the Uchunekojin, while others are remarkably few in number like the Googlimooglians.  

Weather: Essentially the same as the greater New York City area but a little more severe given that Blast City is basically an island in New York Harbor. That said, the citizens of Blast City don't really notice it as Weather Control technology prevents extreme climate situations from bothering anybody. Unless this technology is damaged or hindered in some way, conditions of intense heat and humidity, cold, high winds, rain, and flooding simply do not occur. 

Infrastructure: Thanks to the advanced scientific and technological knowledge of the city's denizens, upkeep and maintenance of the Blast City's utilities, streets, and the like are expertly and excellently handled. Blast City's plumbing is particularly effecient. 

Transportation throughout the city is accomplished by a few municipal conveyances: The Magnetic Levitation Monorail (colloquially referred to as the Mag-Rail), a Subway system, and City Buses. In addition, there are Taxis, Uber, and other car services, many of which have grav-cars. Ferry service is available between Blast City and several locations on the mainland. 

In addition, there are some interesting elements atypical of most metropoles. Blast City has four large and six smaller Force Field generators that can be activated to protect the city from everything from a Tsunami to directed Particle Beams! Along with the Central Power Plant in the center of Blast City, a number of Auxiliary Batteries are scattered throughout the inner workings of the island that help prevent power failures and black outs. They can also be used to super-charge the city's power grid for...well...see below. 

Highlights and Points of Interest:

You've probably noticed that the city, which was formally a starship, looks very much like a giant humanoid robot. That is because it is. The original starship was capable of transforming from interstellar craft to mecha in hopes of being able to fight the Dreggetti so others could escape. When converting the starship into a livable city, the engineers found it easier to work on the structure and systems with the vessel in robot mode. 

Rumor has it, the city can still fully transform and stand up but this has yet to be confirmed. 

A) Blast City University - The prestigious BCU is THE center for higher learning - College Bachelor's Degrees, Master's Degrees, and Doctoral Degrees available - in a wide variety of majors. The majority of the students are graduates of Blast City High School. They have a major rivalry with Titan Prep based on Saturn's moon Titan. 

B) Supernova Stadium and Entertainment Arena - A massive stadium/arena with a retractable roof,modifiable and movable terrain, great sound systems, and an unparalleled holographic light show capacity. It is used to hold all sorts of events, from home games of the Blast City Blazers Boogie Ball Team to Rock & Roll concerts. It also has the ability to convert into an Emergency Shelter and descend underground if the city is under attack or suffers some other catastrophe. 

C) Galaxy Patrol Central - Precinct One - Headquarters and Command Post of Blast City's Finest, the Galaxy Patrol. The name is a holdover from the organization the alien refugee's used to police their region of space prior to the Dreggetti invasion that forced them to escape to Earth.

At present, the Galaxy Patrol doesn't actually 'patrol the galaxy'. I mean, c'mon. They do protect the citizens of the Sol System, enforce the law on its various inhabited planets, moons, and asteroids, investigate interplanetary crimes, and most importantly of all, regulate the unauthorized use of supernormal abilities.

A much put upon sub-division functions as Truant Officers who make sure the students of Blast City High School don't do anything crazy. They are rarely successful.

D) Blast City High School - [The main focus of most of the campaigns I've run using this setting] The heart and soul of Blast City are the students and facility of Blast City High. While it is a free, public school, an entry examination is required to get it. Students take fundamental classes in English, Literature, History, Science, Art, etc., as well as elective esoteric courses such as Applied Mad Science, Combat Geometry, and Lollygagging Throught Life 101. 

Gym classes include Superpower Use Training for members of the student body with extranormal Human or alien abilities. In addition, BCH boasts the best High School Boogie Ball Team in the Sol System! Go Starbirds! The school has a particularly intense rivalry with Mars High of Utopia Planitia. 

Many BCH students go on to attend Blast CIty University and get jobs in such exciting careers as Superhero, Space Explorer, or 5th Dimensonal Accountant. 

E) Sol Institute of Super Science - Some of the greatest and most unpredictable minds in the fields of Quantum Physics, Extra-Dimensional Travel, Exobiology, and Hyperspatial Engineering work at SISS, researching and developing the innovative answers to tomorrow's questions today!

F) Offworld Amusement Park - Featuring innovative rides and plenty of food vendors, the Offworld Amusement Park is a favorite destination of kids of all ages in Blast City and beyond. While much of Blast City caters towards helping aliens assimilate to Earth culture, the Offworld Amusement Park celebrates the interests and tastes of extraterrestrials and the Humans who want to learn more about them.

The park is split into five major sections, each based on a different planet, with the food, rides, and attractions within based on the culture and/or ecosystems of those worlds. Every section contains 2-3 elements from other worlds as well and there are plans to expand to include more 'worlds' in the future.

Rides utilize advanced Environmental Controls and Artifical Gravity to create unusual experiences such as the Tubular Floom, the Climb & Dive, and Bumper Pods. Food options include variations on Earth fare like Zlogburgers and Gorpogo Ice Cream (a little pricey - Gorpogo's are very difficult to milk) to classic alien dishes like Zlent Pucks and Fried Nanite Fritters (a favorite of Cyborgs everywhere). 

Ticket prices are reasonable with discounts for young children, students, families, and there are three-day packages available! The first twenty-five visitors each day get a free picture with park mascot and popular cartoon character 'Offworld Ollie'! 

G) Stellar Nightinggale Hospital - This medical facility focuses on special surgeries, rare alien diseases, and advanced medical research. The experimental cybernetics inside of Blast City High School student Miquel 'Mecha' Herrera were made here [and the operation performed on him to install them were done here as well]. It is named for a medical supply ship that arrived sometime after the initial starship's landing, having been damaged by a Dreggetti attack. The building is constructed out of the vessel's hull. 

H) ReEntry Island - The first place and last place you see when entering or leaving Blast City is ReEntry Island, constructed from the remains of an advanced Scout Probe. In addition to serving as a 'Chamber of Commerce' information site and toll booth (no toll for permenant residents of Blast City), ReEntry Island also functions as a security check point. The central tower on the island is equipped with extremely advanced communication and sensor gear second only to Blast City Central Control (in the robot 'head'). 

Blast City Like a Local:

The most notable neighborhoods of the city are Upper Thorax (the robot's chest) which is the business and commercial district, North Brachium (upper right arm) which is mostly upper and upper-middle class families, South Brachium (upper left arm) where middle class families and lots of single people live, Lower Pelvis (the robot's stomach to groin region) is a mix of commerical and residental and also includes Blast City High School, and the tough parts of town - North and South Talus (the robot's ankle to lower shins). Watch yourself around these areas! While they have great bars and nightclubs and a thriving art and music community, a lot of dicey characters hang out there at night.  

The sport of Boogie Ball is all the rage in Blast City and throughout the Sol System. It is an amalgam of a alien game and a number of Earth sports. The home team are the Blast City Blazers and they have won the Sol System Championship for the past 5 years in a row! Blast City University boasts the BCU Shooting Stars, while Blast City High School has the Starbirds - Go Starbirds! The game is played by two teams of 7 facing off against each other to get a flying ball into a goal using what looks like a cross between a radar dish and a lacrosse stick. Each player rides a hover board across the field, which consists of a large (preferably olympic size) swimming pool. It's a rough and very fast moving sport that most closely resembles Earth lacrosse and hockey. Kinda sorta.

If you're in town, catch a game!

 

Blast City's popular fast food chain WinkyDink's, often called Winky D's by natives, has over a dozen locations throughout the 'Big Blaster'. The best one, according to a survey of students attending Blast City High, is located a few blocks Southeast of the school in the area known as Lower Pelvis. Get the Big Winky Deluxe if you're really hungry! It's sooo worth it.

North and South Talus, especially South Talus, has underground Superpowered and Supernatural Fight Clubs! Some serious and dangerous customers can be found there and that's just the attendees! You should see the combatants! Yikes!

Teenagers from Outer Space and Blast CIty Blues

I created Blast City in 1987 as the backdrop for my first TFOS campaign, which I titled 'Blast City Blues'. Inspired by Macross City from the classic Japanese Anime 'Super Dimensional Fortress Macross' (which arrived here in the USA as R-word: The Macross Saga), I noted to myself that the city in Macross is built around the transformable starship/robot. What I wanted to do was go one step further and have the city BE the transformable starship/robot and vice versa. 

Over the course of dozens of sessions and a few later campaigns, the city was fleshed out in great detail. The image up top shows many areas and features from my games that I didn't detail here because if I did this post would be alot longer than it already is and its already really long. Gomen nasai. 

To describe every NPC, location, and the ever expanding milieu of Blast City and its universe could easily take up an RPG sourcebook product. Maybe some day.

Well that's the first entry in my City Guide series. Did you like it? Hate it? Something I could do to make it better? Is there a feature of City gaming you think I should include? Please let me know in the comments. 

See you soon,

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Barking Alien

Blue Sky Thinking

As I mentioned not long ago, Maestro Media is coming out with an official Smurfs Tabletop Roleplaying Game and I don't think I've been this excited about a game in a very long time.

I've been so inspired by the announcement and my reading of the rules in the Quickstart Guide that I've asked one of my gaming groups if I could run them through a scenario and for some insane reason they said yes. 

I immediately started putting together an adventure, some setting material, and generating some illustrations for the occasion. I will definitely be reusing and/or repurposing some concepts I came up with back in 2011 for my first Smurfs campaign [which I ran using a homebrew system]. I have expanded upon that earlier work a bit but not overly so as I only intend to run this one adventure (probably two or three sessions tops) for the time being. If I were to run a full on campaign I'd definitely go through both the old and new ideas more thoroughly. 

For now...

The Smurf Player Characters

I noticed that each of the pre-generated Smurfs in the Quickstart has a set of Attributes - Quick, Brawn, Mind, and Heart - that total 24 points. Based on this, I allowed the three players to arrange their 24 points of stats as they liked and used the the Smurfs in the Guide as templates to determine the other aspects of a PC (along with the rule mechanics provided). 

The end result is three original Smurf characters with rather odd Motivations and Specialties that fit perfectly with what I have in mind. The strange combination of Medieval Fantasy and humorous anachronism should provide for a very entertaining adventure. In addition to the three PCs, I recreated my assisting NPC 'Spacey Smurf' from my the previous game to help them get accustomed to the game world. 

The Cursed Lands and Smurf Village Setting

The official Map of The Smurf Village by Peyo and his studio

from the book 'The World of The Smurfs', 2011.

English Translation from French and minor modifications by me.

For the game's setting, I am beginning with the classic, official depiction of the Smurf Village and it's surrounding area, originally called 'The Cursed Lands' from its earliest appearances in Peyo's comic series, 'Johan and Peewit'. Added to this are some canon inconsistences between that comic and the later Smurfs comics and cartoons that I've reconciled to my personal tastes and the requirements of the adventure.

From there I expanded and detailed the region based on the notes I wrote up for my original Smurfs campaign that include and flesh out the milieu, inspired by the folklore of Belgium and France combined with the comic book, cartoon, and other related materials. The end result is this map:

Scale is not really a concern so much as direction and placement of the different important locations. It was necessary to place larger waterways and how they might feasibly connect in order to work in one of the characters having a nautical theme. That and two of my favorite old Smurf stories involve our little blue heroes traveling by river.

Curiously, another favorite tale had a river (a stream really) running through the center of the village when nearly all other comics featuring the Smurfs show the nearest body of water to be river going around the wooded area where the Mushroom Village is located. I have included both ideas in my interpretation to allow greater versatility to the Smurf House building aspect of the game. I am also toying with the idea (as has been suggested in more recent Smurf media) that this may be 'a' Smurf Village and not 'the' Smurf Village. I'd like to imply that but keep confirmation of it vague for now. 

My design for an updated, post-Gargamel's Rampage Smurf Village. 

Do other Fee or Fairie beings dwell in the Enchanted Woods? Are there really Giants in the Northern Mountains? Has any Smurf reached the Sea at the end of the River that goes there?

I really like the idea of exploring beyond the Enchanted Woods and Forbidden Forest we generally see in the Smurf stories to discover what else might be out there. 

That's it for now. I should have a write-up of our first sessions later this week. 

Any comments or questions are greatly appreciated. 

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Barking Smurf? Smurfing Alien? This is a tough one...

A Dungeon Challenge for the Dungeon Challenged?

These past couple of years I've done the 31 Days / 31 Characters Challenge wherein I have posted a different PC or NPC, mine or someone else's, from the plethora of past campaigns, short series, and one-shots I've run or played over the past 45 years. I intended to do that again this year when I can across...the Dungeon 23 Challenge.

The idea behind the Dungeon 23 Challenge is simple: Each day of 2023, create a single room in a roleplaying game Dungeon. At the end of each month you'll have a Dungeon Level. At the end of the year you'll find yourself with a 365 room MegaDungeon that's 12 levels deep.

Sounds fun. And yet...

Dungeon Map from 'The Cursed Fane'

A Scenario for the Japanese Fantasy RPG

Double Moon.

Fan Translated by Claytonian JP

OK, I get that a 'Dungeon' for an RPG can basically be anything. I could do an abandoned castle with levels going up. I could make a Cyberpunk arcology complex. The caverns deep within the mountains of an alien planet could be a Dungeon. These are relatively tame examples. You can really go wild!

That's not what's holding me back.

Most of these internet Gaming or Writing Challenges are a month long and are often hard to complete with my real life schedule. This is A YEAR LONG? Are you insane? I know myself well enough to know I won't get anywhere near completing this and I will berate myself for my perceived failure. 

No one's harder on me than I am. 

Additionally, what am I - and I mean I, Adam 'Barking Alien' Dickstein - going to do with a 365 room MegaDungeon even if I complete it? I rarely use 'Dungeons', mixing indoor and outdoor terrains and events almost equally, often having the two intermingle in a single scenario.

Isometric Dungeon Layout from

'The Adventurer's Bible' Delicious in Dungeon World Guide

By Ryoko Kui

English Translation by Taylor Engel, Yen Press

When I do run an adventure inside a derelict starship or a Supervillain hideout it rarely lasts more than one or two sessions. I don't want to stay in any one place that long unless there is a REALLY good reason to do so. 

The biggest and best reason would be because my players want to but that is almost never the case. Those who game with me know I have a billion different environments to show them and they want to see them. Why hang out in a given location past having anything important to do there? Head onward to a brand new land and if we ever want to revisit the previous place, well, we will.*

Bottom line, why join a 365 day long challenge I am highly unlikely to be able to finish, whose purpose is to create a MegaDungeon I am very unlikely to use?

Hmmm. OK, hear me out on this...

What if I reduce it to one entry a week? A room every Friday. That would result in 52 entries in 2023. If it were still something with twelve levels that would mean only four or five rooms per level so I'd have to consider adjusting that. It might depend on what the 'Dungeon' is. It's also possible...ooh...let's say I am only detailing the rooms with some game relevant element.

Scenario Map of 'The Moonlit Manse'

A Scenario for the Japanese Horror RPG Ghost Hunter

By Gou Shirokawa, Fan Translated by Claytonian JP

Yeah...If there are five other rooms on the same level with nothing unusual in them they might not need their own entry. If it were living quarters for a castle guardsman I could say, "There are six rooms on this level that serve as the sleeping quarters for the castle guard. Each room holds the bunks for four Human sized individuals. Aside from minor personal items, which are few and far between, the rooms are essentially identical. That is, except for the third room as you walk down the hall from West to East. In the third barrack, Room #XX, there is..." and explain how it is different, interesting, and significant. 

Now, if I made the location the base of operations for the PCs in one of my games such as a space vessel, a seafaring galley, an orbital research station, a haunted house, or whathaveyou, I'd be making up a location I would also be using. Even if it weren't their headquarters, if it was something they were exploring each week, the creation would serve a purpose in real time as well as fulfilling the challenge. I love that. 

This is starting to sound really interesting and its giving me other ideas. Things are looking good going into 2023.

Stay tuned!

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Barking Alien

*One of the things about Modern and Future Era RPGs is that transportation is fast and safe relative to Fantasy. Cars, trains, planes, grav vehicles, starships, and even personal flight as a superpower makes it so travel to and from great distances is pretty easy. Not only does this allow you to be in a steamy jungle in one session and an arctic tundra the next (or even later on in the same session) but going back to a locale you've already been to is not big deal.

In Fantasy it takes so long to go to most places it feels like a huge undertaking to travel back 'home' and so the hobo portion of murderhobos is born. I suppose you could always mass teleport whole armies across the world like in Games of Thrones or Rings of Power but...ugh.

Another interesting note before I go...I wanted to use Dungeon Maps from Japanese Tabletop RPGs for the illustrations here because I'm on a JTRPG kick again lately. It was so hard finding any it was astounding. I couldn't find a single one in my own collection outside of the Delicious in Dungeon image above. The rest, small and kind of unimpressive as they are, are thanks to Claytonian JP, a real guru if you are interested in learning about the Japanese TRPG scene. You can find him on Twitter here. Great stuff! 

I guess the Japanese use Dungeon Maps about as often as I do. We have so much in common. ;)

RPGaDay Challenge 2021 - MAP

I love Maps. I just don't love using them. 

Let me explain...

Maps are, for me at least, a very beautiful but very specific form of art.

They are [generally speaking] depictions of places, ranging from the interiors of buildings to the geological and topographical features of planetary bodies. The most wonderful thing about Maps in my humble, personal opinion is that these places need not exist. Since they are works of art, they rely primarily on the skill and imagination of their creators and therefore may be real or fictional.

This means that while they are certainly a useful tool for determining where one is and how to get where one want to go, Maps are equally impressive for showing use the relationship between several points that need not be anywhere in reality. Images showing us where the Misty Mountains are in relation to Hobbiton and how far Tatooine is from the Core Worlds of Coruscant and Kuat are of just as much interest to me as the GPS that tells me how to get from my apartment to my favorite restaurants in the Midtown Manhattan. Likely more so. 

When it comes to gaming, I don't use Maps for the purpose of showing my players where their PC is standing, how far the opponents is from them, how many 'spaces' or 'hexes' it is to the door or anything like that. My games aren't war games and I usually don't bother with range unless there is some narrative or dramatic reason to do so. 

I use Maps to say, 'Look at this World Building! Look how cool this place is!' I want you to see the setting in a way that intrinsically makes it more real because as Humans we are trained to understand that if there is a Map to it, it must be a place. I couldn't care less if a Map depicts how many weeks of overland travel it takes to get from one adventure to the next but I do want the visual that says, 'This is far. This is going to take some time and go through so spectacular terrain.'

Maps are fascinating to me but distances less so.

Entry 2 - Map

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Barking Alien

BASIC DUNGEONS & DRAGONS - SKULL MOUNTAIN - Part II

Campaigns I Have Known

Proudly Presents...

BASIC DUNGEONS & DRAGONS
 - SKULL MOUNTAIN

Part II

Synopsis (Continued...): And now the second half of the campaign, which features the two new players/PCs entering the fray following the departure of Aaron and his recently deceased Elf.

The story thus far...After being marooned on a mysterious island by a terrible storm at sea, two old friends, a Fighter and a Cleric, join forces with an Elf they met to find shelter. They discover Skull Mountain, the former home of a giant long since dead.

Strange creatures and fantastic treasures are found within the mountain. With each level deeper our intrepid explorers descend, the foes become more dangerous, and the rewards greater!

On the next to last level, the sixth level of Skull Mountain, a terrible creature slew the Elf as he tried to help his allies.

Now, with their Elf friend gone, the Fighter and Cleric swear to find out what is at the very bottom of Skull Mountain if it's the last thing they do! Before they can make good on their plan, another dreadful storm comes through, depositing a damaged boat, and two new castaways into their midst.

Jeff's Fighter, and Josh's Wizard had arrived! David's Fighter and Matt's Cleric brought the newcomers to their campsite, gave them food, and some first aid, and learned about the brothers' need to go home.

The PCs made a deal to aid each other in their respective goals. The newcomers would help the Fighter, and Cleric explore the lowest level of Skull Mountain in exchange for some of the treasure, and their help in repairing the boat. In exchange, the brothers would take the stranded adventurers with them to The Mainland**.

Fairly quickly, things became complicated. A series of phantoms accosted the newcomers, especially Jeff's Fighter. Luckily, Matt's Cleric had the magic amulet that let him see the ghost-like figures, as well as speak with them. They turned out to be ancestors of Jeff's people and they were trying to warn the brothers to leave the island immediately.

Josh's Wizard, and Matt's Cleric consider this, while the two Fighters refuse. Jeff wants to find treasure and weapons to aid his nation. Dave wants to avenge Aaron's Elf.

Boldly pressing onward, the party uses the pit entrance in an attempt to reach the sixth level quickly. Unfortunately, slippery ledges and loose rocks make it slow, and treacherous going. Exploring the area thoroughly once they arrive, they PCs discover it to actually be the den/nest of the creature that killed Aaron's Elf. In addition, they felt that the creature had been placed there on purpose by someone, perhaps as a guardian beast.

Was it the protector of whatever, or whomever was on the bottom level?

Finally, the PCs made it to the seventh, and final level, which turned out to be a cavernous chamber filled with seawater which formed a miniature lake. In the lake was a small island, and on that island was a domed, stone structure about the size of a small keep. Several other structures were found that eventually led to the party calling it 'The Domed City'.  

The Domed City is revealed to be the home of a race of Dwarf-like beings who saw Skull Mountain as both their home, and their charge. They felt it was their 'true purpose' to protect the mountain, and the giant's treasure to the point of seeing the PCs as invaders, and criminals. Even after an attempt to explain, the Dwarves felt compelled to attack the party. Luckily, the Wizard and Cleric were able to reason out the why of this.

The small people of the Domed City were the descendants of Mountain Spirits, and Brownie-like Faeries from the giant's house. They simply could not allow the PCs to go unharmed even if they wanted to. However, if the adventurers could take the treasure, and get it out of the mountain, not only were they free to go, the Dwarves were likewise free of having to remain in the mountain to protect it.

With clever thinking, lucky rolls, and the discovery of The Giant's Heart (a magic artifact that may, or may not have actually been the heart of the giant who lived in the mountain), the party was able to defeat enough of the Dwarves, and their minion beasts to get past them, find the treasure, and escape with it to the surface!

The campaign ends with the party at sea on the brothers' repaired carrack (boat) heading for a new chapter back on The Mainland**.

Appendix N: The other players (meaning not me) brought in influences from books, movies, cartoons, and other sources that I was less familiar with. Things like The Hobbit, Lords of The Rings, Warlord and Conan comic books, and more that I couldn't tell you.

I personally sourced (in addition to the stuff I mentioned in the preface of the previous post) a lot of folklore, just as I do today. Specifically, I used British, German, and Russian folktales, as well as some Greek and Norse Mythology.

Bonus Features:

*I came up with the idea of Signature Magic Items so that I could give the PCs cool magic items without having to keep giving them items. They would find one item that would get better, and better as they (the PCs) went up in level.

Signature Magic Items start as something like a +1 Sword, or an amulet that lets you see ghosts. When you go up in level, beat some difficult challenge, or something similar, you discover a Shield that is also +1, but makes both the Sword and Shield +2 each IF they are used together. The amulet lets you speak to ghosts as well as see them. That kind of thing.

This is an idea I still use when playing my D&D-But-Not style games.

**The entire campaign took place on a single island with a skull topped mountain on it.

World building was somewhere between simple, and non-existent.

At the same time, I believe that at some point I did sketch out what we knew of the world. Story elements from both the players, and some of the NPCs gave me just enough information to get an idea of where the campaign took place (if you're very lenient about the meaning of that phrase).

The original map is long since lost. It would look something like this:

The entirety of the world besides Skull Mountain Island was either The Mainland or the mysterious  'Lands Beyond The Sea', where Dave's Fighter, Matt's Cleric, and presumably Aaron's Elf came from. It is also possible the Elf came from The Mainland and was simply exploring the Lands Beyond The Sea just as Jeff and Josh's characters were.

The Mainland consisted of several small nations including Jeff and Josh's PCs' homeland, a number of warring neighbors, and The Hidden Forest.

While I primarily used creatures found in the Basic D&D rules, I felt the need to create a few original beasties to make the setting special. The monster that slew Aaron's Elf was inspired by the Dobhar-chú, an Irish folklore creature whose name means 'Water Dog'. The Dwarves of the Domed City were based on Domovoi, a type of Slavic Brownie.

Also...

As part of a series entitled, 'Dungeon Mastering As Fine Art', the site Zenopus Archives gives considerable attention to the map of Skull Mountain and the various incarnations it has had.

James Maliszewski, on the GROGNARDIA blog, likewise gave the locale some thought.

***

Well, ladies and gentlemen, that's all for this tale. It was a lot of fun reminiscing about this campaign, and I hope to do more 'firsts' in the future (my first Mekton campaign, my first Traveller campaign, etc.).

I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

See you soon.

AD
Barking Alien

BASIC DUNGEONS & DRAGONS - SKULL MOUNTAIN - Part I

Barking Alien friend and frequent commenter Miguel de Rojas made mention on my last Campaigns I Have Known post that he loves this series. I'm serious! It's a quote. You can look it up. I have it in writing!

I have to thank Miguel as that seriously made my day. It also helped me to decide what this next entry would cover. I knew I wanted to shake things up and go with something Medieval Fantasy related (What?! Adam has a Medieval Fantasy campaign he remembers fondly? Yes. They're rare but they happen) but I wasn't sure which one to talk about.

Then it struck me - I owe you all something special. Something that really celebrates this series.

Welcome to the Summer of 1978 and my very first campaign of anything.

Basic (Holmes version) Dungeons & Dragons was the name and having no clue what I was doing was the game.

Now, this may require a little set up. I recommend reading this, this, and really this.

Where were we? Oh yes, 1978 - Summer Camp.

My friend David Pollack brings over the Basic D&D box set. I have to assume it was the Holmes version, the same one I started with the year before, but I recall there being something different about it. Perhaps one of the D&D aficionados who reads this can shed some light on the subject.

Because I was the only one who seemed to have prior experience playing D&D I was voted GM by default. It was Dave's suggestion but everyone seemed happy with the arrangement so it stuck. Besides, once I had tasted life on the other side of the table there was no going back. Well not literally but I was rarely happy as a player back then. Gamemastering was my jam and remains so to this day.

My very first campaign is, honestly, a very strange memory for me. I actually recall it pretty clearly. I forget the characters' names of course (a common issue for me) but I remember who they were, I recall the players, the stories we told and how it felt to have the players think I'd pulled off a great game. I don't remember some later campaigns nearly as well.

I guess it's true what they say. You never forget your first time.

***

Campaigns I Have Known

Proudly Presents...

BASIC DUNGEONS & DRAGONS
 - SKULL MOUNTAIN

Part I

Picture yourself a lower-middle class 9 year old boy living in Brooklyn, NY.

Not hard right? Ahem. OK, maybe that's just me. 

Well, If you would, try to imagine for a moment that you don't have access to the internet. It hasn't been invented yet as far as you know. No smartphones, no laptops, or desktop computers.

You're not yet very familiar with Anime or Manga. Video games consist of the Atari 2600. It will be months before Space Invaders hits the arcades in North America.

Numerous popular TV shows and cartoons are airing, some making their debuts in 1978. None of these are Medieval Fantasy related. Battlestar Galactica, Project U.F.O., Mork and Mindy, even Yogi's Space Race - all Science Fiction themed.

As far as movies go, a lot of great films were released that year. Although many of them came out that Summer, a lot more came out between October and December. Among them were Superman, Midnight Express, Dawn of the Dead, Grease, Animal House, and Watership Down. Ralph Bakshi's animated Lord of the Rings film would come out in November. As I'm starting my campaign in June, that's 6 months away. .

This is what the world was like for me at the time I came up with this campaign. Barely any clue of what Fantasy was and even less of an idea of what makes something 'Medieval'. I'd seen some old Errol Flynn films, a few cartoons with Knights and Dragons (notably Bugs Bunny), but overall I had to wing it in regard to what life was like in the default milieu of 1978 D&D.

But wait...I did have some Oz books, The Sword in The Stone movie, and...yeah. I can do this.

***

Title: [BASIC] DUNGEONS & DRAGONS - SKULL MOUNTAIN

'Skull Mountain'

Illustration by Tom Wham

From the Holmes Edition of

Basic Dungeons & Dragons

System: Basic Dungeons & Dragons, Holmes version (1977), TSR.

Circa: Summer 1978. Between June and August. There were approximately 30-32 sessions, each lasting 4-6 hours long. Three or four of the sessions were run on weekend days and those were about 6-8 hours long.

Player Base: There were five players, all male, between the ages of 8 and 11. We started with three players, lost one during a short break, then two new guys joined. Our missing member returned for a few sessions toward the end of the campaign (See more in the synopsis).

Characters:

As this campaign took place over 38 years ago I am unable to remember the characters' names. I know this has been a thing with me in some of these older campaign descriptions. I'm sorry about that, I really I am. My memory is surprisingly sharp in other areas. Promise.

An additional note: Back in those days characters didn't have elaborate backstories - heck, they rarely and barely had simple backstories - but as our campaigns progressed we added little character bits and background notes that enabled us to know something about our heroes beyond their class, level, and stats.

I think this write up will show how even early on my friends and I did things a little differently.

Human Fighter (played by David P.)

Initially serving as the party's de facto leader, David's Fighter was definitely in the vein of a Knight. He was strong, smart, and agile (Not your typical bruiser). He was an honorable fellow with a noble bearing. His personal code of ethics meant he would protect or rescue his allies as a top priority.

His primary weapon was a sword and he usually carried a shield as well. His armor was chainmail and he wore a helmet.

We learn very little of his origins except that he is from a land 'beyond the sea'. He was a warrior but made it clear he hated war, having seen 'too much bloodshed in the name of gold'.

His signature magical items* (discovered one by one throughout the campaign) were a Sword, a Shield, and a suit of Platemail. Each one was +1 to hit, damage, or armor class as appropriate but gained an additional +1 when used in unison. This means that if one person has all three items, he/she would have a +3 Sword, a +3 Shield, and a +3 suit of Armor.

Human Cleric (play by Matthew)

Matthew played our Cleric, an old friend of David's Fighter who worshipped never fully defined 'Spirits'. Matt's Cleric was very much what you'd expect from a classic Cleric - Wise, honest, faithful, and full of hope.

The Cleric's main weapon was a Mace but honestly he rarely used it unless he had no other option. Matt used his character very much in a defensive and support role, though we certainly didn't know those terms at the time. The Cleric was garbed in chainmail as well.

We learn even less about the Cleric than we do about the Fighter. There are interesting references to the Spirits that give him his powers however. He mentioned things like The Spirit of The Sea, The Spirit of The Wind, The Sun Spirit, The Spirit of Night, etc. We know that he came from the same homeland as David's Fighter.

Matthew's Cleric had a signature magic item* in the form of an amulet. This mystic necklace, known as The Amulet of Lost Souls (I think), gave the Cleric the power to see ghosts, speak with the dead, and perform other strange feats.


Elf (played by Aaron)

Oh Basic D&D, with your non-Humans as classes. Man, how I've missed...er no, actually I don't miss that at all. Always thought that was terribly silly.

While most of you are probably quite familiar with 'Race as Class', for those who aren't the Elf, Dwarf, and Halflings of Basic D&D were designed as Classes. An Elf was essentially a Fighter/Magic User, a Dwarf was a Fighter, and a Halfling was a Thief. You couldn't play a Dwarf who was by profession a Cleric for example or an Elf who was by profession a Thief. Elves were Elves, Dwarves were Dwarves, and that was that.

Aaron's Elf was someone Matt's Cleric and David's Fighter had met only recently prior to the events that began the campaign. He had met the two old friends while traveling with them on a ship heading for The Mainland**.

We learned as we went that there were few Elves left in the world. Most of the Elf's people had 'faded away' over time (we were never clear what that meant but Elves were supposedly very rarely seen in the world). Elves who didn't want to fade needed to travel to a hidden forest on The Mainland and speak with a Fae Guardian of some kind. Aaron's character was on his way there.

His main weapon was a Bow and Arrow but he also carried a short sword. His armor was leather if I remember correctly.

The Elf's signature magic item* was an Elven Gauntlet/Glove that only an Elf could wield (for most other races it did nothing special but if a goblin touched it they would receive burning damage). The Gauntlet could touch something and then bestow the key quality of that thing onto something else for one round. As an archer he mostly used it to touch things and then touch an arrow as he notched it.

Touch a burning torch, bestow fire on an arrow. Touch running water, bestow an arrow with the ability to put out a small fire. Touch the Cleric's Amulet, bestow upon an arrow the ability to cause 'physical damage' to a Ghost or evil Spirit.

Human Fighter (played by Jeff W.)

About half way through the campaign the make up of our group changed. Aaron wanted to do more camp related activities and hang out with some of his older friends following...well...that would be telling (see the Synopsis). It was cool with the rest of us and we let him know we would always save him a seat at our table.

Two new players joined up - Jeff and Josh Wolf - the Wolf Brothers (as we called them). The Wolf Brothers had been away for the first month of camp but ended up signing on for August. I didn't know them well at first but the older brother, Jeff, was a friend of a friend. The two of them had been playing for about a year already (same as me).

Jeff was tough to game with at first. I think he resented that a lot of people thought that I was a really good GM when I was two years younger than he was. Also, he had a better handle on the rule mechanics then I did and it came up from time to time. He wasn't a rules lawyer per se but he was a fellow to whom the rules mattered.

I eventually won him over with, well, a really good game I guess.

Jeff's Fighter was very different from Dave's in personality and style. He was tougher, stronger, and more physical in general. He was more headstrong, less disciplined, and more barbarian than knight, though not stupid nor completely brutish.

I don't know or remember enough Fantasy literature to make good comparisons but if Dave's fighter was Galahad, Jeff's was Fafhrd. A better comparison for me might be Captain America and Wolverine, complete with Wolverine's more layered and nuanced modern depictions.

Like Aaron's Elf, Jeff's Fighter had a bit of a history and a goal which he shared with his brother (the players decided their characters were also brothers). They had been on adventures 'far away' when they received word that there may be war brewing between their nation and a neighboring one. They were heading for The Mainland**, returning home to join their father (a chieftain or important warrior of some kind) and defend their country if need be.

Jeff's Fighter wielded axes, often carrying a large one in one hand and a smaller throwing axe in the other. He wore chainmail but we always imagined it piece-meal, with animal hides and such over it.

He gains his signature magic item a bit late in the game. It was a two handed battle axe called 'Sunder' that on a natural '20' would cleave whatever it struck in half, with any loose bits flying off in all directions. This included things an axe can't normally cut through such as a stone wall or a much larger than Human sized creature.

Human Wizard (played by Josh)

Jeff's brother Josh played Jeff's character's brother, which was great as it made it very easy to introduce them into the already existing campaign.

A fun character, the Wizard was nervous, apprehensive, and pretty much the exact opposite of the brash warrior Jeff portrayed. Fearing that his older brother would show him up, the Wizard put on an air of being wiser and more powerful than he really was.

He mainly carried a staff and a dagger, with the staff being his primary weapon. As with all classic D&D Wizards, he wore no armor.

Josh's Wizard found his signature magic item* in his second session. It was a wand that could gather magic from around him and release it as a blast of magical energy or he could add the power he absorbed to one of his spells. So for example, if an enemy wizard cast a Magic Missile at him (which normally hits automatically) and he had his wand out, he would make a sort of generic saving throw to see if he could catch the magic. If he made it, the Magic Missile would turn into swirling colored light around the tip of the wand. The wand wielder could then blast it back at the enemy or cast a Magic Missile of his own, using up a memorized spell, but causing double damage (since he now has the power of the first Magic Missile being added to his own).

I think he called it 'The Returner's Wand' or 'Wand of the Returner' or something.


Synopsis: Never having run a campaign before, I started with the idea that I needed a good reason for the party to be together and to go on an adventure. A purpose to it all.

I saw the illustration of 'Stone Mountain' in the Basic D&D book and I was suddenly inspired. The entire concept for the campaign rushed like a raging river into my head.

The PCs began the game by waking up on the beach of a fog enshrouded island. The ship they were traveling on had been headed for The Mainland** but was now dashed upon the rocks. They remembered a storm. There were no other survivors beyond the three initial PCs - Dave's Fighter, Matt's Cleric, and Aaron's Elf.

Past the short beach was a sad, desiccated looking forest and after that a huge mountain. The mountain took up the entire center of the small island. At the top of the mountain was a skull shaped formation. The PCs immediately dubbed it Skull Mountain.

The first thing they did was try to figure out their next course of action - should they build a boat and leave? There was another storm brewing in the distance so perhaps that could wait. They could explore the island and see if there were any caves to make camp in? Perhaps. A signal fire would be useless in the rain and wind. Then there was the mountain.

They reasoned that the skull on top was likely man-made and might be an ancient temple or dwelling of some kind. It could possibly serve as shelter. They decided to check it out. At some point they saw the flickering light of torches in the eyes and the mouth of the skull. It was indeed some kind of edifice! Perfect! They made haste for the skull.

What followed was a series of classic dungeon delves, with me planning what was on each level of the dungeon in the most general sense and then ad libbing the encounters. The overall idea I had was that the skull was actually the remains of a long dead giant. Other creatures had taken up residence in the mountain, the open areas of which were once either the giant's home or his innards.

Finally the PCs discovered that the giant had climbed to the top of his home, on the very tip of the mountain's peak, to avoid a flood. The water never went down (the island had once appeared much larger). He got stuck up there and eventually died.

"Why didn't the giant just swim away or at least try to?" asked the Fighter.
"Could he not build a boat?" asked the Elf.
"This was his home," said the Cleric. "No one wants to abandon their home."

The Fighter didn't believe this. This was a giant. He would save himself if he thought he would die, home or no home. Then he thought and thought and finally realized something. "If you are a giant, you long for treasure and might hide what you find in your home. He couldn't leave his treasure and died of greed in a manner of speaking. There is some great wealth or a magical secret hidden somewhere down beneath this place. Since we can't leave either, let's try to find it."

The others agreed.

Each level deeper down into the mountain was stranger and stranger and when they reached the sixth level they realized there was another way in. A pit high above could send you plummeting from the top of the mountain to the sixth level straight away.

As the Elf climbed up the pit to see if there was more to it or if it could be useful in any othere way, a foul creature came up from the seventh level; the 'bottom' as far as they knew. The monstrous beast attacked the Fighter and Cleric.

It was an epic battle and the Elf made his way back down to join them. In the end, the mighty monster was slain but the Elf lay dead as well. *Sob*

Aaron was mad but only for a bit. He handled it well. He went out a hero and the others promised to bury him and bring his gauntlet to the Fae Guardian of the Forest on The Mainland** if they ever got off the island. Aaron decided to take a break from the campaign for a bit but he returned for a few sessions towards the end, playing an NPC I created. More about that in the next installment.

Eventually the adventurers returned to their newly made camp site located at the base of the mountain. They buried their friend, swore vengeance against Skull Mountain, and planned to go to the bottom level as soon as they were rested. Unfortunately, another storm rolled it, and battered them with wind and rain.

They awoke the next morning to the sound of a distance crash! Another ship, much smaller then the one they had arrived on, had run aground on a beach slightly North of where they had awoken weeks (or was it month?) before. The new boat appeared only lightly damaged and might even be easily repaired! It was then that the Cleric and Fighter noticed two survivors has been deposited on the beach amid a handful of dead crewmembers.

To Be Continued...

(I can't believe I thought I could write up my first campaign in one post. Ha!)

AD
Barking Alien