Sour Hill Sessions

Had a public holiday monday for something and managed to get 3 players in for an extra game which cheered me up and got to use my cobblestone battleboard, turf sheet for wilderness and some of my old and new terrain bits.

Game wise I realise I really need to print up my homebrew rules in 3 copies ASAP. Also a good use of setting I made over a year ago for my 3fold mania days. Playing stuff I design is a huge help for editing and writing new stuff to fill in blanks. Playing creates in-game needs for my play style that keeps me writing more.

I went to use blogger  EMO DnD Rules and world page as I have for over 8 years to use my blog directory pages to find once again most of my content has vanished from this page again. No other weirdness yet but disappointing. I might have backed that page up so will see. As I went through data loss a few months back I coped better this time but sad I used a fan-made article directory instead of my own and mostly I just didnt.

Have had some better news on gaming work front which is also encouraging.

Everyone had a good time and we went from a 6 to a 9 hour game with a meal break. Often grabbing a random bunch of minis and using that to generate equipment kinda works. Players all into the system which has lots of choices, standard build options for speed and as examples when needed and runs pretty quickly.

Sour Hill is based on Old Sarum UK. While civil war rages for decades over the corpse of the third empire, the north becomes neglected, lawless and increasingly abandoned. Nobles spend more time in the south or increasingly insane. Whole villages have been abandoned and wild folk, beat folk and humanoids are returning.

Hugh played a drunken monk running away from family attempts to marry him off and avoid all the angry women he rejected. Maxed out in open hand and movement abilities which proved pretty interesting and different to other players versions of that class. 

Fergus played a lawful good young giant with a two handed sword whos clan had been wiped out by chaos in the frozen mountains. He headed for human land as he still could pass as a human.

JB played a dwarf who was very average (ended up 1/3 potential HP) so got into crossbows and being clever and wary. His clan in the frozen mountains had been sealed under an avalanche and he fled to human land. 

The party met on a road and battled some devil cultists in red robes with gold paper mache masks. The gang were injured but fended of the cultists. Met a tinkerer on kings road who gave them some pointers for the north. Later got attacked by kobolds and the giant caught the last one fleeing and saved the two unconscious from wounds. Arrived at a village they heard was abandoned and found a hotel so stayed for lamb shanks, mash and beer. The kobold was a bit amazed by the kind giant who fed him more than anyone ever had before. The monk managed to drink more than anyone. They stayed in a room and heard some troubling noises so barricaded the door but all succumbed to a sleep spell. 

Awoke in a cell in nightshirt in a cave. The giant broke free using a twisted cloth to bend bars and spent about 20 minutes freeing everyone. Found their gear and took unconscious kobolds and the awake one and found some stairs up into a witch cottage. They killed her and her goat and grabbed her magic loot to burn if evil and identify or not. Escaped onto the moors and fled. Met abard on the road who provided lots of gossip on area and was keen to join them.

Arrived in Sour Hill and got room in a good in to drink and gorge on food. Most got better but one unconscious kobold choked when daily force feeding went wrong. The giant had a loyal companion in the awake kobold. They heard of the ruined church quarter and guards discouraged them. Dwarf met local dwarf clan who invited him to the Underland embassy. Next day they went to the ruins and explored the cathedral ruin which turned out to involve a wight. On way home found an intact nunnery and sold them some loot for healing. This worked out well and party offered to recover more stuff for cash and healing credit. Went through a bit of holy water.

Returned a week later to find wight had respawned and battled again with some zombies and giant skeletons. As they had got stronger they decided to get that cult village which ended up in a hopless chase where party plundered the cult, burned houses, killed monsters and fled with a new nun companion. Reporting to the Lady of the sour hill they got invited to dine with the bored noblewoman rumoured to be quite bizarre and descended from generations of lords who had ruined the region. The monk jumped in the river to clean up in fear of women falling in love with him an then hating him. Dwarf groomed himself and the giant bought a noble outfit. WHen he spent the night with the noblewoman he discovered her family obsessed with breeding monsters and he saw a model of her father's menagerie complex in the ruins, a possible dungeon to visit. She knew he was a giant and promptly lost interest after confirming her theories. Got lots of terrible magic items most they burned like books or boots of stealth made from halfling feet and witch flying ointment made from babies. 

WIll try again hopefully and just what I needed after the last session folded. Trying to get at least one more player. 

Health has plagued out games. One friend diagnosed by post virus stress and his boss apologised which is nice. Quite a few players Ive had last few years have been unwell or caring for loved ones. A few having mental health issues. One guy I met for 2 games was awesome fit in our group but having diabetes problems and vanished sadly when I thought we had a good long term guy. Quite a few people working report bosses being extra awful to get rid of people because they want to downsize. One friend being sacked for being spat on helping customers be safe. Actually, they are trying to automate the workforce and get rid of people. In many ways I feel lucky to have done so well this year despite some disappointment. Hoping your all as well as can be in the shitstorm that is 2020.

Nightclub happy with my punk poster wall extending upstairs on Wednesday