Here is a video done by one of the designers of RuneQuest 6 previewing the print copy. Below this video, I will share a brief post I did on GooglePlus to my Roleplaying circle. Enjoy!
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You gotta love when "Abacus" and "Astrolabe" are standard-listed pieces
of equipment that are possible for characters to purchase in an RPG ;)
The events of session #8 in the Aeternal Realm of Sylvaeon were perhaps a hallow victory for the party.
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The last session ended with the encounter with the goblinoids back in their home turf and also with the mysterious "Old Man" (see previous post). The wizard, Kelvin the Curious was still wreathed in the black flames cast upon him by the Old Man. Trying to put the flames out in the snow availed naught. The black fire was not burning Kelvin's skin, but was consuming his very essence, so he called upon the aid of his Wyrd to cause them to subside.
Night now descended as the waxing crescent of the Silver Moon rose. Deciding to move on towards the North, where a few of the goblinoids had escaped to and where the Moon Well that was reported to be in peril lay, the party pressed on into the darkness. Soon a strange phenomenon that none had seen before illuminated the Northern skies. A red aurora that seemed to sometimes have the shape of a dragon from the old tales lit up the night. Smyrynel's Kite companion returned with a message that "new" Wardens would meet the party... and Sedgewick the giant snowy owl arrived shortly afterwards to confirm the message that wardens would join the party to the North.
During the night, whole families of animals were seen to move through the forest to the south, fleeing the direction that the PCs were moving towards. After a brief daytime rest, the party continued to follow the tracks in the snow of the fleeing goblinoids, who made no attempt to cover their escape, but were moving post-haste deeper into their territory. During the day as large black cloud swallowed up a flock of hundreds of crows that were also fleeing from the north. As night descended again, the red aurora was seen again and the aurora pillar was originating just up ahead of the group.
Coming upon the Moon Well clearing the PCs heard the cries of "Lady have mercy!", as to their horror the beheld the burning sacrifice of an elf and a chanting goblinoid shaman... and to the polluted moon well which had become the center of great evil caused by the green-black menaces. Some goblinoids worked to mine slag while others heated it in a huge kettle. An eight foot tall hulk of their kind was pouring the boiling mess into a hole in the moon well ice, as another hulk tried to push down one of the giant standing stones around the moon well. Yet another standing stone near the shaman and his grim sacrifice had been turned into a totem. It has been augmented with large, bat-like wings and a red moon crescent was painted upon it in the elf's blood.
The party decided to split into three groups in order to attack the three main congregation of creatures... rushing in on horseback, they had the surprise!
Airyka and Brynn, the two sword sisters fought one of the hulks and several lesser goblinoid and had a tough melee against them. One sister was pounced on the hulk, while the other dispatched the other goblinoids, but ultimately it took them both to take down the foes together.
The male paladin, Parcifal tried to save the elf, but was blocked by the alpha Black Wolf that he had encountered once before and grudge battle between them ensued; swords and teeth flashing! Kelvin was "called out" for a wizard duel by the Shaman and it got pretty nasty after spells were exhausted - the shaman kicking the Wizard with his clawed feet, biting and trying to knife him!
Oban the Ranger and Smyranel the female elven paladin/druid rode across the frozen moon well, avoiding the horrid red aurora pillar at its center. On the other side they faced two of the black wolves, which brought down Oban's horse. The miners were entangled by Smyranel in the wintered thorn vines that snaked across the lower forest floor. Then the hulk began to pound mercilessly on Smyranel as she sliced it again and again. Oban shot arrows at the hulk to further wear it down and managed to kill one of the wolves that had caused him to have to leave his horse.
At the end of the battle, tall men with fair skin and blondish hair, dressed in heavy chain mail and furs
(quite unlike the usual Folk of the Realm) came crashing through the woods, killing goblins that were fleeing into the clearing from them.
Eventually only the alpha Black wolf and one of his pack members escaped... before the shaman was dispatched, it cackled and pointed to the sky, saying it did not matter that he lived or died because "he now comes"... the "he" being a large red light in the sky that was larger than a star.
The moon well is still tainted as the evils of the goblinoid tribe continue their course... there is a new red light in the heavens.... an unknown group of new humans has arrived on the scene... what will next week bring?
Love, Romance & Fantasy (I posted this on my old blog, but for Valentine's Day I thought it might be nice to repost it here)
There are lots of books and movies that combine romance and the fantasy genre. One could easily have chosen Labyrinth and gotten extra points for mentioning a movie that has an “L” name, but I had to “go with my heart” on this one. So, I chose to star this post with my favorite romantic fantasy/comedy: The Princess Bride.
Every time I watch it I want to engage in a Chatty Duel, storm the castle and do inconceivable things! I laugh, I cry (manly tears, of course!) and the tale never gets old. Other stories have hilarity, lovers’ spats, adventure and obstacles to overcome in pursuit of True Love, but none intertwines Fantasy in them quite as wonderfully! The tale feels like a romantic D&D adventure.
(Note: The videos – except the last one – have “embedding disabled by request”, like half of the things on YouTube these days, so double click on them if you wish to watch them in YT, sorry)
I could go into the characters in The Princess Bride, but the romance and tension between the main characters, Westley and Buttercup are really what makes the movie a Fantasy Love Story. I guess I am a romantic sap or something, because even though I know the “Real World” doesn’t always quite function this way, I still believe in the mushy ideals of The Princess Bride.
My first serious girlfriend was a Roleplayer. I introduced her to D&D when I was 17. I would play my gritty hack-n-slash character with The Boys. I am sure my character in that game wasn’t very romantic at all. However, my girlfriend I and would take time to have intimate 1-on-1 sessions, where either of us would be the GM. My character in “Our Game” was romantic, playful and Roguish… the perfect Gentleman Scoundrel! I think it was just my teenager-almost-a-man ways coming out in my alter Ego, but it was a lot of fun. Our roleplaying sessions remind me a lot of The Princess Bride, in retrospect, but the movie hadn’t even come out yet and I was unaware of the book at that time.
"As you wish."
There is a place for romance in fantasy, however not every fantasy roleplaying game is going to have it. Because of the nature of the group and/or GM, etc. it might not be an aspect at all of many campaigns, but some do incorporate it.
When I got older, I was in one long-term campaign that had the element of romance as one of the underlying aspects. The group was composed heavily of couples that gamed together. It was funny to see how we, as couples, gamed when things were not going so well at the time in our relationships. Little jabs and such might happen across the gaming table, but nothing severe. I still laugh to this day about some of the things that happened. The dynamics of real life romances at work in our game – even if it wasn’t always sunshine and roses – was sometimes just like in The Princess Bride.
A little laughter, a little tears, a little romance, a little fantasy is good for the soul.
"…Finally, at dawn, after meager rest, we forced march to
relative safety. By dusk, our party stumbled wearily into the Wayfarer's
Inn. There, the Loremaster's sweet songs and Matilda's hearty meal
lulled us into dreams of the White and Blue Dragons until morning came
and found us once again on our way."
-from the travel journal of Oban, Elven Ranger/Thief [Michael Henry's character]
At
the end of Session #2, the character had a reprieve at the Wayfarer's
Inn, where they're served cheerfully by the proprietor's wife, Matilda.
The wine was still not to Parcifal's liking, but the ale there is good,
as is all the ale from the nearby village of Arrowmouth.
A restful night and a bright, clear morn made for a good day's travel
that next day. The temperature was still hovering around the freezing
point, so it had been mild weather-wise so far.
Around mid-day,
from the sides along the boggy sides of the ever deteriorating road, two
greyish-white giant toads attacked the party; one giving out a croak
and a blast of cold air that froze Airyka' the Sword Sister's arm.
Parcifal tried to parley with it, but to no avail.After the PCs
recovered from the ambush, that creature was wounded slightly, then
jumped and plopped unceremoniously in front of the party. Kelvin, the
resident mage, put the grotesque creature to sleep.The other toad thing
rose and Smyrynel took a non-combative attitude towards it - the
creature proceeded to try to blast cold at her, but missed. Brandished
her blade at the one attacking her, the female paladin told it to
desist. After blinking it's eyes, it leapt off and did as Smyrynel had
instructed. Leaving sleeping toads lie and force marching onward, the
PCs reached the Warden outpost just before dusk.
Gildiril, the Warden Master, came and greeted the recruits outside of
the gates to the fort. Once inside, the PCs were given quarters and all
but Smyrynel shared a meal and later some Pixie wine, with their fellow
wardens, becoming inebriated. The solitary female elf, Smyrynel. keep a
vigil outside. Reaching out for the guidance of the blue moon, she was
"told" that a missing warden elf was still alive. She had gone missing
some weeks ago and though lost forever.
After a few weeks of training in special skills chosen by each of the
adventurers, they were chosen to remain as a group to become a Wayfaring
patrol to be sent out into the nearby wilderness. However, the night
before their departure, the goblinoids that make infrequent raids upon
the fort, probing the outpost for weakness, had returned in numbers.
Setting fire to the wooden palisade and hurling spears and arrows at the
defenders, things looked grim. The PCs slayed around a dozen of the
foul creatures, but a couple of them took hits from the spears and
poisoned arrows. Oban, the ranger/thief took out a few with well-placed
arrows, but had to be healed from the poison of those that were returned
at him. Smyrynel's bowstring broke during the exchange of missiles and
Kelvin tossed flash bombs at the goblins, burning several to death.
Parcifal helped put out the fires, his cloak becoming burned in the
process. Finally, the loss of so many of the raiders forced the
goblinoids to retreat back into the night. The outpost had a breach in
it;s timbers, but all inside were now safe - there were no casualties
among the defenders.
At the dawn, New Year's Day of 10,000 SRC
(Sylvaeon Revised Calendar) the PCs set off into the wlderness, provisioned and with their
mandate… so their true duty as Wardens of Sylvaeon
begins...
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