Sunday, 30 August 2026

Pacing a campagn






































Winding up a few campaigns and starting some new ones right now.

My Ravenloft/Hawksmire game ended and now I'm starting the same group as a Theros/Ethyria game currently and im unsure if will last as venue wants to start organised "official" campaigns, which im not really into. I was asked to run perhaps cthulhu but i feel it requires reliable players for a campaign, but maybe lots of one-shots might work but that can equal more work. My year long Theros game is now 13th level and possibly might lose some players when it ends so i should be able to reach 2oth Lv this year.

A few things to consider

One off games are fine and having a few scenarios ready or to try some games out can be a good thing to try. Pendragon specifically talks about using pregen famous knight characters for a one off while long campaign might account for playing 3 generations over 70 years with at least a year play per session. 

Most of my games are fortnightly and last several years and often end due to some stall in holidays and fizzle out rather than end as well as I'd like. It's often easier to start a new game after a break. My weekly game in a store seemed to get lots more done in 4 months with 3 hour sessions than a year of my slow longer session games. 

In a one of game rewards like xp and level ups matter less but can be a nice experience and a taste of longer games. Actually I think XP sucks as a mechanic unless very simple ones where you get a few points to add to abilities imediatley. In high level games treasure accounting can take a long time so doing it again with xp with personal % bonuses and class specific mods like 2nd ed where players grub for pwetty amounts consytantly is a bore.

In a short campaign i try and do a level up per session and pace threats accordingly.

In a long game I like to do zero to first = one session, first to second 2 sessions, second to third x3 sessions. I prefer milestones and this works in 5th ed but fails with older eds where levels vary wildly for each class (6th lv thieves with 4th level wizards). I would like to run OSE but i will have to use xp, My retro clone i made classes more equal to avoid xp.

In a short game, you dont need lots of world-building and maybe a few npcs and locations. A village and a dungeon is pretty classic. You can recycle them from various products and online spaces fast, and you dont need much work. In fact dont overwork this. Have some stock npcs and and a village.

In  a mid-range game a limited campaign area is advised like an Island. Let them explore locations so after a few months they will be familiar with civilised areas. You can start with one village and some notes on the rest, and expand as you go. More npcs are needed for the region and the home base area that players will interact with, like merchants, healers, scholars, officials, bards, tavernkeepers etc. You dont need everything detailed up front.

In a huge world in a long game sandbox you also dont need everything detailed. in Runequest early editions, you started in Apple Lane fighting baboon bandits and the world is detailed in the local area and gets vaguer and the maps reflect this. Now we hve huge full colour atlasses of this setting with more detail than you can ever use. Dolmenwood has a great amount of detail and you dont need to know it all up front. I like the 1st version of forgotten realms box in 80s where the world had vast blank spaces. Now I find it over-detailed, and if a player has read 30 novels they might know more than the DM which is intimidating. I prefer homebrew mostly as I can build as I go without worrying. Heck I can retcon or do a time jump later most of the time. 

In a one off you want a simple goal and maybe some means to extend or end faster if required. The Dragons Delve 5th ed book I found is quite good for this and many scenarios child friendly. Players might want to talk to a ratcatcher for half an hour. Its ok for the NPC to say "ive got work to do bye". Con games have a basic goal and plan for some padding if required. Perhaps a bonus boss might be revealed for an extra fight or the monsters mother might arive. Id avoid letting people rest or recover too much in a small game and make people pace their resources.

A four session game you need a bit more work.Id say plan perhaps 3 adventures in this time so you can work with delays or slow encounters. Its easier to pad out than make up for time if your running out. A time track on paper to track time or some alarms every 30 min might help.

In a club or shop game ppl might ignore your session zero or come early if you dont have a character request. Some pregens help and some websites might help you build them faster and even level them up to keep pace with your party. After my last campaign, where we had 6 players only two came to the session zero the next week so i did some encounters and levelled them up and gave them money and piety points to reward them for coming. I have no idea what will happen next game and character gen will probably required. I might have some pregens and encourage them to make own characters outside the game.


I do believe in beginnings and middles and ends or maybe better as foreboding, struggle and climax. Especially in shorter games. In a long term sandbox you maybe dont need to try so hard. Lots of the early campagn can just be hints of a threat or just an introduction to a growing peril. Earlier phases are best getting to know the setting and that is the adventure. This can be exploration, meeting important npcs and getting to know or build a base camp. You can work out a climax more when an end is in sight. Maybe dont take too long in case other factors end the game. Letting players build domains and prosper can be good because even if they dont solve all the worlds problems by the time it ends tha players can have satisfactory personal achievements.

Doomtracks are great for one offs and longer games where action or inaction or just time trigger events. Having in front of characters is a good prop. I like an hourglass too i pull out when players are indecisive or slow. These can help make players move faster or wonder what has happened to trigger a track movement or an hourglass. They are good props. A good campagn map you can mark party travels on and let players write notes on can be great.

I still would like to run my Chagrinspire party and go to the moon prison camp and free that gnome spy and shut down the factions restarting the doomsday device at least for a few centuries. My next campaign of Auldwood (maybe kinda like Pendragon and Dolmenwood) my old setting Chagrinspire, an 18km tall gigadungeon tower will be visible to the southwest. So far party went to the coast instead so im using Saltmarsh. The 5th ed has a good village description and lots of subplots or alternate goals and red herrings. Im using the original for the dungeons and stas for my retro clone. With a bigger setting its easier to add some adventure from a publication the right level. Smaller settings everything on the map makes things more complex.. 

Its ok to pad or accelerate a campaign based on player mood. With seasonal absences, sometimes its better to start a fresh after a gap and keep things fresh.

Im busy with study, jobhunting, nesting and running games recently so not much time for games, soscial media or fallout76 for a few months now but im quite content.

Ill do a post of base villages in various adventures next and exaluate what worked better.

Thursday, 20 August 2026

Hawksmire Finale Part 2 - Players eye view






































Dave who plays Threekay (3k) the dwarf cleric in our game posted these on our group page so here are last few sessions but he missed the assylum episode in Ealdwell.

This game started march 2026 and was nice to see several players want to run games and for a few was first whole campagn with an end. All run At Duellers Den on tapleys hill rd.

Im trying some new name suggestions for my classes now.

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Welcome Cal (Bard of the College of Whispers). Not as silly as the other members of the party but shows promise of being very silly indeed, as we will see later.

We continued from the crypt below the vampire's house. We found a haggard person worshipping in front of a portrait of an elegant vampire and killed them.

They were holding a jar of bugs and 4 CP. We also found three urns decorated with lillies and worth 100GP each. Ratrump decided they needed the tapestry and bed canopy.

We returned home to find a letter from Chrysoprasia listing two "chores" they have for us as part of the arrangement we made with them. We have to deal with a criminal trying to escape the island who is hiding in a monastery on an offshore island. This is one of the islands that 3k's people are based on. Also Chrysoprasia wants us to kill the vampire whose thralls we killed last night.

We decided to pursue the vampire first. Glumpglump went to the herbalist to get some garlic oil to put on his axe. Then we all went to the town clerks office to get more information about the vampire. There was a long queue but we managed to bribe our way to the front and then intimidate the portly clerk to find out who the owner of the property was. They told us the property was owned by Emma Wilderhorn a member of a family of hunting nobles. They also own a hunting lodge outside of town which we obtained directions to. On the way we met a group of hunters armed for werewolf (silver tipped arrows) who were not at all keen on helping us hunt a vampire.

We arrived at the hunting lodge and Glumpglump collects some glowing skulls decorating the eaves. Then they knock the front door down. Some of the party scale the wall and enter through an upstairs window.

The ground floor is a dining hall with skeletal corpses sprawled at the table. Glumpglump collects their heads ( I think they must not have been breast fed as a child?). They group upstairs find a harp which Cal plays, causing a secret door to slide open. There is ladder behind the door going in both directions.

Having not learned from previously splitting the party, we split the party.

The Tops enter a well sealed attic space containing a coffin with a screaming skeleton decoration on its lid. The Tops destroy the elderly vampire which emerges from this coffin.
Meanwhile the Bottoms find a basement crypt which doubles as a wine cellar. There is also a locked door bearing the face of a vampire bat. There are several tombstones leaning against a wall bearing the names of members of the Wilderhorn family and several crossed out death dates. One of the tombstones falls on Ratrump's grimalkin. Now they have four slightly smaller kitties.

Ratrump pops the lock on the door and we can see a silver coffin. The Bottoms do less well than the Tops at defeating their enemy and call out for help. The second vampire is finally defeated by Anel's Sunlight spell. We loot the charred corpse of a necklace worth 800GP and two bracelets worth 300GP each.

Feeling a bit smug at how relatively easily we defeated the boss we notice a chill breeze from a drain in the floor which it turns out comes from another secret crypt below this one. The actual chief vampire says Hi! We hear a sliding stone as a secret panel in the staircase (ladder?) behind us slides open and releases this new vampire. The party is doing a fair job on this enemy when 3k realises they are unlikely to hang around to be killed. He warns the party just as the vampire (Emma?) turns in to mist and drifts down the drain to the secret crypt. Ratrump Misty Steps into the crypt and nails the paralysed Emma to their coffin with their dagger. Anel drops another Sunlight spell down the drain, which finishes this chief vampire. (We know that this will cause all of the vampire's thralls to revert to humans)
The party is able to get into the secret crypt through the secret panel and loot the following items:

. a bag which produces badgers (an uncommon wonder worth 400GP)
. an arrow with the giant runes for "giant" and "death" etched in to it (worth tens of thousands of GPs)
. 1000 PP
. 300 GP
. a pair of green Boots of Elvenkind (worth 400GP) These bestow Silence (not sure what this means) and advantage on Stealth checks
. a necklace worth 800GP
. two bracelets worth 300GP each
. a Minor Deck of Many Things which would have been priceless until the party exceeded their normal silliness and proceeded to risk their lives, sanity and the stability of the Planes of Existence by drawing several cards.

Anel acquired a knight who pledges to defend her until they die (Knight card)
Ratrump obtained two wishes (Moon card) and wished for Chrysoprasia's love and the ability to speak to all magical animals. they chose another card (Skull) and an avatar of Death appears in front of them.

Cal picked a card which bore a thief, until the image glared at them and then faded way. They choose another card (Ruin) and lose all portable property and any bastion they own. Clearly gaining no wisdom from this experience Cal draws again (Sun) and will now receive 10 temp hit points every morning and also gains a suit of blue dragonscale armour providing resistance to electricty.

Glumpglump chose the Throne card and received an image of a beautiful house and its location outside the city. Their second card bears an image of a devil (Flames) which glares at Glumpglump and fades away.

The remaining cards (about 14?) are probably worth about 50k GP but it is unlikely we will be able to find someone able to pay this.

In addition, Anel secures the deeds for all of Emma's properties.

TOTAL LOOT
4CP
300 GP
1000 PP
3 urns decorated with lillies (300GP ea)
a necklace worth 800GP
two bracelets worth 300GP each
Boots of Elvenkind (worth 400GP)
a bag which produces badgers (an uncommon wonder worth 400GP)
an arrow with the giant runes for "giant" and "death" etched in to it (worth tens of thousands of GPs)
a somewhat depleted Minor Deck of Many Things
a jar of bugs
lots of skulls, some glowing
some wine
I would like to suggest the following apportionment between the five adventurers
200 PP
640 GP in either specie or portable property. For example if someone wanted the Boots of Elvenkind (400 GP) they would only receive 240GP in coin.
The problematic booty could be kept in the Bag of Holding for use by the party as a whole at a later time

-------------------------

Tonight Ratrump had to fight the Avatar of Death they summoned with the Deck of Many things. It was a close fight and none of the adventuring party was permitted to assist. Ratrump eventually prevailed.

Documents were forged which prove Anel is the owner of the mansion no longer needed by Emma Wilderhorn, the vampire we destroyed last week.
The Mists delivered a new adventurer, whose name may be Larfiset, a black dragonborn monk.

We headed off to Angler's Harbour to arrange transport to the offshore islands where Chrysoprasia's second task requires us to kill or recover a person they said were trying to escape Hawksmire. Unfortunately this person is a follower of 3k's deity, Chauntea. Will this cause conflict between the adventurers?

Glumpglump did not come on this adventure. It has not been confirmed that they consumed some vegetable products from the evil Empire of Trumpenstein and are currently becoming intimate with the contents of their colon.

The people of Angler's Harbour were pleased to see us once they established we hadn't become pretty enough to qualify as spouses for Lampgulp, but less so when they heard our request for transport to the islands. Lampgulp is not happy about people visiting these islands and has been known to eat people trying to get there. We finally found one brave soul, Handsome Jack, and their 14 year old son who were willing to take us there provided we paid them 120GP per day and did all the rowing.

Just as the shore of Firewatch Island began to show on the horizon, Handsome Jack noticed a glow in the water astern. Begging us to row faster did not save him and the back half of the boat ending up in Lampgulp's toothy maw. Anel's waterwalk spell allowed us and the distraught son to make our way to the island without further trouble. I don't recall anyone tried to comfort the newly orphaned lad.

Standing on the rocky intertidal shore we look at a large stone building nestled between hills and bluffs. 3K recognises the architecture as the style favoured by his coreligionists and goes to the nearest door and knocks and calls out. Even with tremorsense, 3K only hears scurrying rats.

The door is unlocked and opens onto a hallway accessing about 15 monk's meditation cells. There is door at the end of the hall. 3K's tremorsense detects several metal masses in the next room but no creatures.

Investigating the monk's cells disturbs some rat swarms which are quickly dealt with. It also uncovers a hollowed out space containing the mumified corpse of a druid. A search of the body uncovers
. 2 flasks of wine
. a magic charm
. 2 golden orc teeth

The door leads to a balcony overlooking a kitchen. One single door and one double door open on to this balcony. The dregs of tremorsense indicate one room contains soft furnishings and the other appears to contain smashed furniture. This second room appears to have been the scene of a fight and t he window has a people sized hole in it.

The first room is a library. There are tapestries on the wall and carpets underfoot which bear a marine motif. There are bookshelves containing religious books relating to a farming deity (probably Chauntea in the circumstances) and a sea deity. there is also some handwritten poetry (bad) about the perils of the sea. 3K tips these into the Bag of Holding for later examination. There are four spell scrolls
. Gust of Wind
. Speak with Animals
. Speak with Plants
. Control Weather

On the ground floor are a double door, a single door and a hall which has a bend so the end can't be seen. The single door seems to be barricaded and Ratrump has to force it open. It opens into a small private kitchen which appears to be in current use. there is bread and soup on the table which are only slightly stale and still edible. Anel and Larf go about warming up the soup for a snack. Ratrunp discovers a second door which opens into a pantry containing among other things a string of sausages and some tubers.

There is a discussion about how a room can be empty and also barricaded from the inside. Ratrump suggests the chimney is a possible exit and proves this by climbing up it. Investigation also reveals a ladder to a secret cellar behind the tuber bins.

Meanwhile Ratrump emerges on a badly repaired slate roof. Looking around they can see a small guard tower, an enclosed garden containing trees and vines, a rocky outcrop just offshore bearing a recent shipwreck. The SW section of th curtain wall is collapsed. Their grimalkins tell them they can smell some smelly old men. Ratrump climbs (through a window?) in the guard tower into someone's private quarters. They find

. a ring
. a bottle of oil
. a wooden puzzle box
. a wooden rod carved with seascapes
. three potions
. a Bag of Holding containing some fishing nets and ropes and a metal rod with a flame that does not seem to go out
.
a metal box containing six horse pills. (Pills FOR horses not pills OF horses).

Ratrump takes one of the pills. Ratrump is not a horse. They feel tingly and the air feels very light.

Returning to the other party members, Cal opens the double doors to find they open into a lobby for the front door. Around the front door are bloody drag marks and muddy footprints. Cal can see the trees and vines in the enclosed gardens. Cal casts speak with Plants and hears the vines muttering about wanting to grab the animals they can sense and how annoying it was that the last animals had stayed on the paths where the vines couldn't reach them. Cal stays on the path and follows the blood trails to the front gates where they continue down the road.

They return to the kitchen.
Ratrump climbs down the stairs and steps in a green slime which gives them acid damage. They find themselves in a scriptorium containing vellum and other scribal supplies. Also two brightly coloured and obviously poisonous snakes. Ratrump manages to put them in the Bag of Holding. They also find the prior's room. The door is weighted open with a mace head. There is a piece of mirror attached to the wall above a strange basin which is actually an upside down helmet with dolphin decorations. There is a chest holding
. a bronze razor
. 14 diamonds (100 GP each)
. 2 sticks of incense (50 GP each)
. a feather

Ratrump returns to the party with their booty. An examination of the magical items recovered reveals the details listed below.

We conclude that people were living here until about 24 hours ago. They unsuccessfully tried to hide from something and all that remains are the bloody tracks outside. we go outside and examine the muddy bloody tracks and discover a rotten toe.

We also see three nasty green ladies about 60 feet away in the garden. Anel fireballs and does some damage. They also detect an invisible presence among the hags. Cal casts Fairy Fire which exposes the shape of the invisible entity. Larf does some dope monk shit which happened to fast to be recorded. The creature feels something like wind. During the subsequent melee the hags unsuccessfully attempt to Death Glare Ratrump who responds with a critical sneak attack causing 31points a damage and Cal explodes a hag with their mind.
Ratrump strings the net and rope from the Bag of Holding across the path so any intruders will have to walk past the vines and get throttled.

We all sleep and wake to find zombies staggering out of the sea. We can imagine one of them staggers extra due to lack of a toe. We make sure the doors to the building are closed and observe that several undead are trapped in the vines including an undead monk. After a short but vicious battle (during which Anel gets to Fireball) we clear the garden and close the gates. There are many zombies still wandering along the shoreline.

LOOT
. 2 flasks of wine
. a magic charm (Cal determined this to be a Charm of Plant Control with 3 charges allowing, Speak with Plants and Advantaged to Charisma based checks related to plants. Needs attunement.
. 2 golden orc teeth
. four spell scrolls
. Gust of Wind
. Speak with Animals
. Speak with Plants
. Control Weather
. a Ring of Free Action
. a bottle of Oil of Slipperiness
. a wooden puzzle box which unfolds into a boat
. a wooden Immoveable Rod carved with seascapes (claimed by Cal)
. three Potions of Water Breathing
. a Bag of Holding containing some fishing nets and ropes (claimed by Ratrump)
. a metal rod with a flame that does not seem to go out
. a metal box containing five horse pills.
. a Dolphin Helmet of Water Breathing
. a bronze razor
. 14 diamonds (100 GP each)
. 2 sticks of incense (50 GP each)
. a Quaal feather (uncommon or rare magic item)

--------------------
Your narrator was not part of last weeks events and is unable to report on them.
(Party killed all the islands bards who loved Chrysopasia because they hated Ratrump despite Ratrump mania running wild. Then reached Ealdwell and bought and sold magic stuff and killed a vampire running an Asylum)

Tonight finds our intrepid heroes in Ealdwell where they had killed the vampire in charge of the asylum and consequently became the new administrators.

Last wek the heroes had unsuccessfully attempted to gain access to the well in the centre of Ealdwell. they located several entrances but all were either caved in or barred.

We visited a frog shop where several interesting varieties of frogs were purchased including one which produced a stream of whiskey when squeezed and another which produced lemon juice. It seems likely that our future includes whiskey sours. Cal scored a frog that produces acid.

We then made our way to the well where Ratrump and Anel were able to squeeze through the bars and move down the well on Ratrump's magic broom. Cal uses his acid frog to cut through the bars and the rest of the party move down the well to a cave with a pool of opaque black water surrounded by a beach of broken bones stones and statues. There is a stream of methane bubbles coming from the centre of the pool. A ruined temple holds an inscription praising Byatis.

An influence in the cave causes all but Anel to lose their memories of all events in the last day. 3K casts Beacon of Hope thinking the wisdom buff might overcome the forgetfulness but this does not happen.

Some of the party throw their (quite expensive ) frogs into the pool hoping to entice any monsters in the pool to reveal themselves as we cannot fireball what we cannot see (amiright Anel?) One frog is blasted by some sort of necrotic energy (10d10) while a second makes its way safely back to shore. A third is caught in a vortex and is gobbled. Ratrump uses this indicator to cast Magic Missile. Other party members prepare various held actions in case Ratrump exposes our prey.

This causes a huge abberant toad to erupt from the water. It hs beardlike tendrils around its mouth and crab claws. The readied spells go off and cause various damage to the aberration. The party and toad exchange attacks, including some animated masonry courtesy of Cal. The party eventually defeats the monster which it turns out was an avatar of Byatis.

The memory spell ends with the avatar and the party regains their minds. The patients at the asylum also regain their memories. A party of thanksgiving ensues in which Ratrump gets far too much of the credit, Ratrump's paramour sends the obligatory chorus of ravens.
Somebody points out that the storm clouds on the horizon are looking particularly stormy and cloudy but this does not causer any particular concern.

The black dragon which granted the adventurers their dark gifts on another occasion arrives and offers to transport us to the capital. It seems Chrysoprasia is missing her nasty little hobbit (Ratrump). the dragon mentions in passing that Chrysoprasia is their mum. Some of the party have an animated discussion (with hand gestures) trying to guess at who did what to whom (and how) to cause this result.

The black dragon delivers us to the roof of the palace where a servant guides us into the throne room where Chrysoprasia is overjoyed to regain her Ratrump. She announces that they are to be married the following day and then whisks Ratrump away to celebrate their nuptials in advance.

Ratrump leaves us with some specific instructions regarding who is to be invited to the event. Anel is chosen as the celebrant as 3K is to be Ratrump's best man.

We receives reports that the weather is becoming increasingly nasty with strange black clouds, ferocious lightning bolts and earthquakes. The mists surrounding the island are disturbed and seem to be contracting. Anel and 3K seek auguries and divinations from their respective deities but only receive vague warnings about the mists and an assurance that the following day will be a good day for a (wight) wedding.

Anel is convinced that Chrysoprasia wants to marry Ratrump only because of their Wish and concludes (not unreasonably) that this is wrong. This appears to be the last reasonable thing that Anel does.

Anel knows that gods can grant Wish spells. Anel and Larfiset go to the cathedral priest to ask for help in summoning dark gods. The priest will not or cannot help them but does suggest that they might be able to summon or resuscitate a god with a littlr judicious sacrificing. Anel remembers and that we left the corpse of an avatar of a god in a well in Ealdwell.
They acquire some horses and make their way to Ealdwell where they plan to snatch some homeless people from an alley until some serious metagaming causes them to rethinking and sacrifice some rich people instead.

Meanwhile Cal is exploring the palace for locked rooms and Uranus warns us that Anel might have gone, just a little bit Bodmin.

Anel succeeds in summoning a phantom visage of the frog avatar who agrees he could provide them with a Wish spell but wants to know whats in it for them. They ask for Anel's permission to travel to their plane as this domain is about to cease to exist. Byatis explains that Hawksmire was created to torment Chrysoprasia. and now that they are happily in love with Ratrump the domain is no longer serving its purpose and will be destroyed by the Dark Powers. Consequently Byatis needs a new place to hang.

Anel tries to makes several counteroffers but is unsuccessful and gives up and returns to Hawksmire without her wish spell.

Meanwhile Cal has used a Knock spell to break in to a library containing Chrysoprasia's journals, describing how she was turned in to a dragon and cast in to the Shadowfell and Hawksmire because she was very vain and obsessed with their beauty and being adored. They also liked to punish and eat people who didn't worship them.

The day of the wedding breaks. The storm rages and the mists encroach ever closer on the palace. Kilometre sized rocks fly across the sky.

Ratrump staggers down from their nuptials and gratefully accepts a very large wodge of healing.

The wedding concludes at the same times as the mists close in and the last of the island ceases to exist.

The Dark Powers gather to decide the fate of all who called Hawksmire home, even if only for a short time.

Hawksmire is recreated and Chrysoprasia is returned to it, but all memory of prior events is taken from them and the people who remain there.

The remaining adventurers managed to stay nice enough that they are returned to their original homes in Faerun. (Anel is judged as torn between release and the domain curse as she did burn to death a bunch of cops and concealed the evidence and did that stuff with sacrificing ppl to talk to a demon but she did help some people and adopted a mental hospital as her own out of concern for others. Her player got to flip a coin and was trapped with Ratrump as her damnation).

Ratrump is a very naughty hobbit and will remain in the Shadowfell but is separated from their bride. They are located on another domain somewhere in the Shadowfell. As a Mist Walker there is a chance that Ratrump may rejoin with Chrysoprasia at some point in the future.

Next week a new party will be formed to explore all things Greek

Bye Bye Hawksmire campagn and the adventures of Ratrump


 







So my weekly game in Hawksmire came to a close. After liberating a mental hospital, they went to the source of the local memory losses and fought an elder god in a well. Then they went to the city and Ratrump made plans to marry the Domain Lord Chrysopasia. While preparations were made the dragonborn monk and drow light priest tried to undo the wish that made Chrysopasia love Ratrump, as they believed it would destroy the domain. As it turned out, the Dark domain lords were allowing the wish to work so they sacrificed some drunks they found sleeping in an alley promising them treasure. This was to summon the god they killed to get a wish to undo the love wish. The demon said fine but he gets to enter the Drow home dimension whenever he wants and they abandoned the idea and rushed back to the palace of Hawksmire.


Meanwhile Cal the bard broke into Chryopasia's library and looked for clues about her past. Seems at some point her tormented desire to remain beautiful and rule made her a domain lord and a shadow dragon. Making her happy was ruining the world designed as her prison. The dark lords were demolishing the world. Players did various divinations and found the world end would release many damned souls so they went along. 

At the height of the rooftop wedding attended by local dragons and crowds all chanting Ratrump's name. The obsession of Chrysopasia got into everything in the domain so Ratrump was followed by ravens who dropped him black roses. Locals had been putting his face on every crafted object.

So as the wedding progressed, they say huge tracts of land were absorbed by the mist and mountains fly into the foid to vanish. Soon all were engulfed in mist.

Threekay the Dwarf Cleric was sent home to Faerun as he went from being disinterested of the suffering of commoners to aiding them. He had tried to be the party moral compass.

The Dragonborn monk was innocent and had no memories so she also returnerd to Faerun.

Uranus the star druid had tried to not be involved in murder hobo antics and was returned to his forest.

Cal the bard was released also as he tried to guide the party even trying to cast suggestion to "not be stupid".

The Drow cleric got to flip a coin as she had made progressive actions but did murder a bunch of cops and that sacrifice business imperilled her soul. So she was sent to another domain.

Ratrum soon joined her as he loved this dark domain stuff and trully wanted to marry Chrysopasia and reform her. His damnation was to be separated. As he and the drow priest arrived in the same new domain, they walked into the mist to find Hawksmire as they were mist-tainted earlier. They returned to Hawksmire but everything was as it had been the day they arived and nobody remembered them.

A fun 4 month campagn and players enjoyed the final judgement, cataclysm and the cinematic wedding. Most players had never had a complete campaign wrap-up before so some happy memories I hope.

I will try Theros next and later my current Theros campaign will become a Hawksmire campaign. Not sure I will last as im a bit burned out again and studying and looking for work as I have some big personal changes coming in the future and I will have less time. People mentioned I should do Cthulhu but Im not feeling it and would prefer a more serious tone I dont think works with a drop in campaign. Ratrumps player will be running an official organised play campaign. Ive made great friends running this but I'm uncertain what I will do next and for how long.

One job im going for is a museum, which would be interesting. 

As far as this blog goes Im working on a free draft of my homebrew, possibly only Lv1-4 or 1-8 with intent to do the full version and maybe start doing campaign books maybe a year later.  

I have 3 con games coming up too.

If I get jobs Im after and study I will probably be more wasted and tired than I am now.

Had 150 in gaming books delivered interstate to a house i lived in 10 years ago which sucks.

Wishing my readers well and all the best.

Tuesday, 18 August 2026

Game Update AUG26





















So I quit an online game due to exhaustion. I've not played computer games for a few months. I've not been writing so much. I am running 9 games a month. My Ravenloft: Hawksmire and my Theros: Ethyria games are advancing well, and conclusions are in sight, so I will then swap the campaigns with two groups starting at 1st lv soon. New homebrew game using my EMO hombrew rules started.

I've also been gutting my house of crap, cleaning up, working on pet housing, setting up a non-bachelor bed, cooking lots, losing weight, and my eyesight has improved. I've started studying again and looking for work with refreshed qualifications. I'm likely to be poorer and busy for the next year while still in a band and gaming. Im using phone more and computers less.

Im quite happy but blogging has dropped off. Im hoping to start revising my homebrew rules shortly and a description of the City of Hawksmire. I still have the sub level of the Labyrinth of Ethyria to do to. Behind on my blog reacps so some updates here.

Ill try and do an update at least monthly. 

Auldwood
I ran a test with fast level up earlier but started new party of the vet players. I made start as Lv0 and roll on at least 3 of my background drama tables to work with. Players class ideas changed from this process when they got to choose a class after an adventure.

Dallas was a youth escaped faerieland and in big city on the run.He lived inside the hidden sweatshops and crawlspaces of the royal bridge of Silverton. Eventually became a mage.

Fergus was an ugly youth, an armoured fish folk hybrid raised by fishermen. Had worked as a vomit bucket boy in a boxing ring. He went onto be they guy who checked out if fallen gladiator victims were faking it and when he levelled up he became an amphibious, 7-foot-tall armoured fish man. He remembered his childhood and abandonment when his tribe left him behind to go on an undersea chaos crusade. He likes tu punch and grab people.

Richard plays the Baroness a carny with several followers from high CHA and also quite muscular. She has a bunch of lady followers. An old lady accountant and a woodcutter. As 1st level gained ex
pert ability in performance and gained an actor follower.

Part met in SIlverton on street looking for next meal and place to sleep with a few coins. They met up on docks and joined the Baronesses troop. They also met Stumpy a double-amputee, peg-legged murder hobo who wise wise in schemes and crimes and finding peril.

They made some money and got some fish and ate and Stumpy convinced them to squat a sinister ruined house. In the courtyard, the woodcutter cut shrubs to make clubs and torches. They cut crass to make bed in stable. Then explored. The baroness got a severed hand jumpscare her and choke her but the fish boy killed it. They killed a skeleton getting out of bed and found some salable loot and caught a feral homeless wizard school drop out. They took him as a follower and went shopping for armour, proper weapons and food. They bought surplus army leathers. Green of the local kingdom, but the Baroness got fancy, shiny whoite suit of the former Third Empire.

Eventually they entered the shrine of the complex where they found broken tablets and holy symbols of Tsathogua. Scared by a corpse coffer but Stumpy with a crossbow party got him was hanging back and finished it. They realised the last temple room was the last place they had not looked and at least 5 adventurers sent by Stumpy earlier had vanished within. Battled a water weird which was tough for 3 zeroes and two followers. The thrall wizard used a few magic missiles. The baroness, using a club finished it and they all attacked to stop the weird from reforming.

They squatted a year and studied what it took to become 1st level. Next they plan to head to the frontier for adventure.

Pendragon
Running Pendragon character gen at squire level and playing some events of the game timeline. I will review soon. Im using older game content too.

Theros - Ethyria
Heroes finished two levels of a medusa filled dungeon with other petrifying monsters and blind guard wome with poison knives. Gods have nudged them a bit with promise of artifacts below in the lair of the Ancestral Medusa mother. One battle had two players paralysed. Players plan to take relics to invade underworld to rescue a characters sweetie kidnaped by an archon. WIll be back to fighting giants, solving the riddle of the gods secrets and explore the giants hidden underground land full of dinosaurs.  

Ravenloft - Hawksmire
Players returned from island quests and halfling Ratrump is pestered by ravens dropping black roses on him and calling his name. Angelrs Harbour folk welcomed the party and everyone was Ratrump mad and carried him about and sung dirty songs about him. Eventually Ratrump decided to visit a brothel but everyone inside was killed by necrotic fire. Seeing his face everywhere in art, knitted on wooly jumpers and carved on a ship prow almost made him suspicious. 

The party went on the road and heard music and ahead was the most famous lecherous bards in the land playing music at their campfire. Cal the bard played along as they aproached and the band was welcoming. Ratrump asked if they had heard the songs about Ratrump and they were suddenly silent and angry. They started to explain they hated Ratrump for stealing the heart of Lady Chrysopasia (with a wish he got in a deck of many things). The dark lords smiled on this wish and it has sewn the seeds to destroy the domain built to torment the domain ruler. So ratrump attacked. So in the 5th Ed MM wandering entertainers are more dangerous than cultists. Several party members tried to keep out of the fight at first but the area affect bardic songs and spells changed their mind. It was a tough fight but they killled the greatest bards of the Land making Cal the best in the realm. 

They went back to town to recover then went on tho another village to trade in magic. While the the new Dragonborn Monk in the group heard locals with amnedia go to an asylum for treatment so the party went to have a look. So they were unimpressed with the care and The Dragonborn signed up for surgery. The drow light cleric watched with a spell and the other party members had teleported on the roof to keep an eye on the surgery in a tower. So the surgeon was a vampire and the Dargonborn breathed acid and broke free. After the fight the Drow cleric decided she would take over the assylum to take proper care. Maybe she can leave Ravenloft after all.

The Ballad of Ratrump
To the tune of the Ballad of Bilbo Baggins (you must see the Leonard Nimoy video)

On the grim cursed isle of Hawksmire

There lives a dirty halfling that we all desire
From the tip of his penis
To his fuzzy wuzzy balls
He will cover you in pubic lice and put handprints on your walls

Ratrump! ratrump!
His only two foot tall
Ratrump! Ratrump!
The dirtiest halfling of them all!

Halflings are kindly peaceful souls
But ratrumps parents dropped him into a dirty drain hole
With his thick curly hair and an upturned nose
He can pinch your peranium with the tips of his toes
With his pet piglet, python and a pram of evil cats
He suckled on the nipples of sewer were rats
But one day he awoke in the dread domain
Where his cheeky dirty antics brought him fame and blame

Ratrump! Ratrump!
His only two foot tall
Ratrump! Ratrump!
The dirtiest halfling of them all!

He robbed the fish cult!
He fed corpses to the trolls!
He was riddled with VD?
His magic ring he sold!
He faced angry mobs!
He planted magic beans!
And lots of dirty deeds that are very obscene!

Ratrump! Ratrump!
The dirtiest halfling of them all!

Now he is a famous lord of Hawksmire
The dirty little halfling that we all desire
Shitting on his toilet of silver and gold
Packing alchemical powders in his every hole

Ratrump! Ratrump!
The dirtiest halfling of them all!