Invisible Monsters

    In the course of thinking of interesting things to write about, I thought about the theme of “invisibility” with respect to monsters. Here begins some of the original content for this blog veering away from the Skycrawl campaign.

Why is it invisible?

Invisibility as a survival tactic
    Such as a wizard using the Invisibility spell to avoid being targeted. The gelatinous cube is something like this as well, since it’s an ambush predator.

Invisibility as a curse
    I’m not aware of any example of this in TTRPGs, but it’s the basis of H.G. Wells’s “Invisible Man.” Being invisible and unable to turn it off would naturally alienate one from the rest of society, even if it doesn’t turn you into an antisocial killer.

    There’s also the fact that if your body was completely invisible, that would include your retinas. Invisibility means blindness. That might be an interesting complication for a botched invisibility potion or spell.

Invisible due to its material

    Some monsters are invisible by their very nature. The invisible stalker is like this, and I imagine most ghosts are like this, too. I think of ghosts as fading in and out of visibility not as some kind of combat strategy, but just because they’re acting out their last moments in life, or whatever. I don’t see how anyone could die, be cursed to remain between the veil of life and death unable to pass on and forced to reenact the last moments of their life and remain sane.

Handling Invisibility in Dungeon World

    The core rulebook is pretty light on details regarding visibility and light. I think a good way to handle it would just be to impose a -2 penalty to Hack and Slash against an invisible opponent. 

    Ranged attacked against an invisible opponent seem practically impossible. I would rule that they automatically fail.

    If the players figure out what’s going on, they might try one of the mitigation techniques described below. Depending on the details, it might reduce the penalty or negate it entirely.

How to defeat an invisible monster

Smoke/mist
    An invisible monster might leave a noticeable void in a bank of smoke, mist, or other semi-opaque gas.
    This might make Volleying possible, albeit with a -2 penalty, and reduce the penalty for Hack and Slash to -1.

Water displacement
    Similarly, an invisible monster would displace water. If they were partially submerged, you would just have to aim for the spot above the leg-shaped void in the water’s surface. Take a -1 penalty to Hack and Slash, and a -2 to Volley.

Grass/foliage displacement
    Extremely tall grass or dense foliage would be disturbed by their passing. This might be completely negated if they just hold perfectly still, though. Take a -1 penalty to Hack and Slash and Volley, as long as the target is moving.

Paint/dye
    Depending on how thoroughly coated the target is, this might render their invisibility completely useless, negating any penalty to attacking them. The only problem is that it requires a corporeal target, so that rules out ghosts and the like.

Reflections

    Now we’re getting into the more interesting stuff. Suppose a monster is invisible because it’s partly in another dimension, like the mirror realm or something. Or maybe a ghost with reverse vampire rules. I’m pretty sure Paper Mario did something like this once.
    When fighting an enemy by observing its position through a reflection, take a -1 penalty to Hack and Slash or Volley.

One eye blind
    This ritual is an important part of a shaman’s initiation, in certain traditions. A stick is burned in a special, consecrated fire, and the glowing coal at the tip is pressed into the initiate’s eye. Though blinded to the physical world, the eye is forever open to the spiritual. Which means the ability to see through any invisibility and illusions, at the cost of depth perception.
    As a solemn, sacred rite, this is not likely to be for sale. It might be necessary to blackmail a witch doctor, which will certainly come back to haunt the PCs later.

Cat
    All cats have the innate ability see the invisible. Everyone knows that. Why else would they be constantly batting or staring at things no one else can see? Why else would witches always keep them around? The terrified hissing of a cat at an ostensibly empty corner might give you precious time to react to an approaching evil spirit.

Monsters

DS2 is good, actually.

Forest Hunters    6 HP    2 Armor

Group, Organized, Intelligent, Stealthy

Damage: X

    Once there was an evil wizard who lurked in the deep woods, commanding a band of outlaws to attack travelers and his rivals. His favorite tactic was to cast a spell of invisibility on his entire squadron, making them unparalleled at ambush tactics.

    The outlaws ate like kings, and all was well until a stray crossbow bolt struck the wizard in the head. Despite being dead, his invisibility spell remains. The outlaws and all their gear are now permanently invisible, with no way to undo it.

    They have remained in the forest, lurking around their former master’s lair. Their permanent invisibility has alienated them from their fellow beings, making them as nihilistic and ruthless as they are dangerous.

Instinct: To take by force

Special Qualities: Invisible

Moves:

• Vanish into the mists
• Attack without warning
• Call for reinforcements

Starvelings    1 HP

Group, Small, Stealthy, Devious, Magical

Damage: N/A

    These are the ghosts of children who died in conflict, mostly of starvation or exposure. They have an instinctive need for food and warmth, despite being unable to benefit from it. Food despoils at their touch, and fires spontaneously go out. Their presence may only be heard by occasional, faint crying.

    A cleric can turn them, as any undead, but failing that, they can be lured with soothing words towards an orphanage or a soup kitchen, which causes them to pass on to the afterlife immediately.

Instinct: To seek food, warmth, and safety

Special Qualities: Incorporeal, Invisible

Moves:

• Despoil food with a touch
• Extinguish a fire
• Cry

Ghost of the Theater    10 HP

Solitary, Stealthy, Magical

Damage: Thrown object (1d8, close, near, forceful)

    There once was a rising star in the theater. A bard and thespian of remarkable talent. They were scheduled to play the lead role in a well-loved play, and were thrilled to learn that the Duke and his family would be in attendance.

    But in the week before opening night, they were murdered by a jealous rival, who hid their body in an unused cistern beneath the theater. Now the ghost of the murdered actor haunts the theater, causing mayhem and terror, desperate to be seen.

Instinct: To seek attention

Special Qualities: Invisible, Incorporeal

Moves:

• Wail and moan
• Stage an unfortunate "accident"
• Levitate and throw objects

Mist-Wolf    4 HP    1 Armor

Horde, Stealthy, Magical

Damage: Bite (1d6, close, +1 piercing)

    Humans weren’t the first species to develop magic. And neither were the elves. In certain remote regions of the world, even species of subhuman intelligence show some rudimentary magical ability.

    In their natural state these creatures resemble slender wolves with long silver fur and a distinctive crescent moon pattern of lighter fur on their backs. They possess the magical ability to become invisible at will, making them the perfect ambush predators.

Instinct: To hunt prey

Moves:

• Turn invisible
• Howl for others of their pack
• Track prey by scent

Killer Tulpa    16 HP

Solitary, Intelligent, Stealthy, Devious, Magical

Damage: Imaginary weapons (d10, close, ignores armor)

    A “tulpa” is an entity born from their creator’s imagination, yet somehow achieves a degree of autonomy. The killer tulpa is one meant specifically to harm.

    A victim becomes vulnerable to a killer tulpa when they learn of their existence. They might read of it in a book or have it described to them aloud by an enemy. Once you become aware of it, it effectively “lives” in your head. You can attempt to reason with it by imagining a conversation.

    Given its imaginary nature, a tulpa can’t be harmed by conventional means. Any effect that erases it from your memory effectively makes you immune, unable to harm it or be harmed by it unless you are reminded about it again.

Instinct: To kill

Special Qualities: Imaginary

Moves:

• Spread through memetic contagion
• When you are attacked by a hostile tulpa, roll+INT. On a 10+, you avoid damage. On a 7-9, you take damage, but are able to deal your class damage as a counterattack. On a -6, you take damage.
• When you imagine attacking a hostile tulpa, roll+CHA. On a 10+, deal your damage. On a 7-9, choose 1:

• You open yourself to danger, taking a hit from the tulpa.
• It was only a glancing blow: -1d6 damage.
• You deal damage, but your mind reels from psychic feedback. You are momentarily stunned.

Anti-Vampire    10 HP    1 Armor

Group, Intelligent, Stealthy, Magical

Damage: Claws (1d8, close, +2 piercing)

    They were much like us, once. They walked beneath the sun, lived off the land, and lived and died. These wretched creatures once belonged to an ancient clan of warriors who served a great emperor. But, fearing their power, he made war against them and banished them into the land of mirrors.

    They can only be found in the ancient crypts and undercrofts of the long-vanquished empire, where dusty, accursed mirrors still adorn the sealed-off chambers.

    They first appear as a visual distortion in the reflection, like a swirl of color bending the light. They soon resolve into tall, gangly humanoids whose translucent bodies are striped with white. They have long, sharp claws on their hands, mouths full of teeth, and huge, pale eyes filled with hatred.

    They can only be seen in reflections, hence the name. Provided you can fight them while looking at your reflection, they can be fought and killed as normal.

Instinct: To seek revenge

Special Qualities: Only visible in mirrors

Moves:

• Suddenly appear in a reflection
• Fly into a murderous rage

Solar Exile    6 HP    1 Armor

Group, Intelligent, Stealthy, Magical

Damage: Firebolt (1d8, near, ignores armor), Improvised Weapon (1d6, close)

    In ancient times, it was a popular rite of passage among powerful mages to challenge the sun itself. Those who succeeded in stealing a spark of the sun's fire were rewarded with tremendous power. Those who failed, however, made themselves enemies of the sun forevermore.

    They were cursed to never again receive any of the sun's heat or light, even indirectly. They are invisible, and see only blackness. Though they can eat, most sources of calories ultimately derive from the sun, so they can derive no nourishment from them. They lurk about, swaddled in invisible rags to try and ward away the bitter cold they always feel.

    Starvation, hypothermia, and age cannot kill them, thanks to their immortality charms. They live underground, seeking warmth from the planet's core and licking algae off of geothermal vents. Despite their wretched existence, they know that what awaits them is even worse.

Instinct: To seek food and warmth, apart from the sun

Special Qualities: Invisible

Moves:

• Yell insane ramblings
• Cast a devastating spell
• When you feed a Solar Exile food that was made completely without sunlight, they briefly regain their lucidity, and will be grateful.

Shanjin, part 3

 Monsters of Shanjin

*Ouph, Black 3HP

Magical, Intelligent, Organized, Horde, Tiny

Damage: 1d6 Close

    Diminutive cave-dwelling elf-like creatures, two apples tall with skin of black and eyes of opal. They can momentarily hypnotize those who look into their eye, which they usually use to make opponents expose their neck so they can go in for a coup-de-grace. They also grow hallucinogenic mushrooms in their underground gardens. They smoke these mushrooms in hookah pipes, which allows them to cast a realistic illusion spell with a puff of the smoke.

Instinct: To protect their home

• Project a terrifying illusion
• Hypnotize prey with their glowing eyes
• Attack en-masse

*Zavvo 20HP 1 Armor

Solitary, Stealthy, Devious, Large

Damage: Bite (1d8+3 damage)

Special Qualities: Surrounded by magical darkness

    A subterranean predator with the head of a bat, the body of a giant serpent, and wings like a vulture. Its body is cloaked in an aura of magical darkness at all times. Its bite carries a bacterial infection that causes bizarre, vampire-like symptoms.

Instinct: To hunt prey

• Attack from hiding
• Constrict
• When you are bitten by a zavvo, roll+CON. On a -6, you are infected with a disease that renders the skin pale and the eyes sensitive to light. On a 7-9, you are infected with the disease, but it clears up on its own after 1d6 days. On a 10+, you are immune.

**Occult Hand 6HP 1 Armor

Solitary, Magical, Stealthy, Devious, Terrifying, Tiny

Damage: Scratch (1d6 Close)

    The spectral hand of a phon who became lost in the caverns. Will clasp the hand of a living person wandering through the darkness and give the impression of a warm, reassuring hand of a friend or ally. They are insane with fear and jealousy for the living, and will try to separate their victims to lead them to the same fate.

Instinct: To take revenge on the living

• Impersonate a warm, reassuring hand
• Lead someone astray

Grabrocc 8HP 1 Armor

Group, Magical

Damage: Maul (1d8+1 damage, close, messy), Gravity Shift (special, near, forceful)

    A man-sized mammalian predator somewhat resembling a six-legged badger with black fur and stripes, claws and glittering eyes resembling one of the Heavy Elements. It has a unique ability to cause one target at a time to have their subjective gravity shift into another direction of the grabrocc’s choosing. It uses this ability to neutralize strong-looking opponents, or to deal significant damage from falling if terrain permits.

Instinct: To hunt prey

• Make prey fall against a far wall (1d4-1d10 damage, depending on how far the fall is)
• Move a threat out of range

*Topi 16HP 1 Armor

Solitary, Small

Damage: Tentacles (1d10, close, reach, forceful)

A hideous hybrid of octopus and spider. Looks like a black octopus, but with chitin, urticating hairs, and multiple eyes. Immobilizes its prey by shooting strands of black, tar-like webbing.

Instinct: To eat

• Entangle prey in black webbing
• Constrict prey in its tentacles

Fragment of the Destroyer 21HP 5 Armor

Solitary, Magical, Devious, Amorphous, Planar

Damage: Pseudopod (d10+1 damage, close, reach)

Appears as a churning ball of dark fluid. When the seal is broken, it becomes covered in mouths and eyes and expands.

Instinct: To destroy

• Corrupt the mind of a mortal
• Engulf
• Give a glimpse of destiny

*Adapted from Pars Fortuna

**Inspired by and vastly less interesting than a monster in Veins of the Earth

Treasure

Phon Security Force Trench Gun

(2 load, close, +3 damage, +1 piercing, messy, reload)

A short-barreled shotgun ideal for fighting in close quarters.

Bones of the Judge

1 load

A miniature clay urn patterned with a swirl of muted colors, containing the bones of a cremated black ouph chieftain. The bones rattle ominously whenever a lie is spoken within earshot.

Concluding Thoughts

I'm not actually sure if it's in good taste to post adaptations of creatures from other TTRPG books. I gave credit and plugs, didn't include any of the original text, and didn't monetize it. I figure that's enough for "fair use," at least. And of course, it's usually easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. If anyone more knowledgeable on this subject sees this, I welcome feedback.

Shanjin, part 2

The bulk of this post will be a cave dungeon that the players explored in the course of their adventure in Shanjin. To illustrate this, I have to share my process for making a practical, easy to make and easy to use cave map. This combines ideas from Veins of the Earth and Worlds Without Number, both of which are excellent and I highly recommend.

Easy Cave Maps

Caves are three-dimensional spaces which are not at all designed for human habitation. The first challenge is finding an efficient way to represent a 3D space on a 2D plane (i.e., a piece of paper). Veins of the Earth does it by taking a diamond to represent the cardinal directions and adding two more lines to represent up and down, like so:

The basic symbol for a room within a cave, according to Veins of the Earth.

On top of this, I added some additional symbols to the interior of the diamond so that I could recall the contents at a glance. My method for stocking this dungeon came from the room-stocking random tables in Worlds Without Number, so I use the same terminology for contents (creature, distractor, enigma, empty).

My system for adding "at a glance" information to a room symbol.

Using a combination of the random tables in Veins of the Earth and Worlds Without Number, I generated 10 rooms and drew connections between them, creating a pointcrawl.

There are three separate ways of drawing connections. A solid line is a "walk," meaning there's enough room for PCs to walk upright. A squiggly line is a "squeeze," meaning PCs have to slide sideways through a narrow passage. A dotted line is either a vertical shaft or a crawl, where they have to get on their hands and knees. The numbers on the lines indicate how much time, in minutes, it takes for the party to move between them, which is necessary for timekeeping. Vertical routes have arrows, showing that going down is faster than going back up.

Shanjin Caves

The map, recreated in Inkscape. I drew the original one by hand so I could put it in a binder.

For context, these caves are the monster infested tunnels below the mines of Shanjin, where the rebels are believed to be hiding. The players ostensibly agreed to hunt down the rebels on behalf of the authorities, but were actually going to smuggle them to freedom with the help of Romz deZemler.

Map Key

Room 1

Size: 1 room

Shape: Oval

Contents: Empty

Notes: First area of the caves accessible from the mines above. Empty ovoid shape, about 10'x10'. Smooth gray stone, small puddle in the bottom. Shaft in the top, walkable tunnel in the east.

Room 2

Size: 4 rooms

Shape: Wine bottle on its side

Contents: Distractor

Notes: Large cylinder, about 50'x10'. Big pile of phon skulls carefully arranged in a pile. Patches of glowing blue and green fungus look deliberately cultivated.

Room 3

Size: 3R

Shape: Crossed swords

Contents: Creature (treasure)

Notes: Big cross shape about the size of two buses intersecting. Floor and walls are covered with tiny huts of the black ouphs. Lit up by their bioluminescent mushroom garden in the middle. 2d10 black ouph warriors try to frighten intruders away with a terrifying illusion. Failing that, they attack. Center of community is a 2' tall goddess statue clutching a large emerald (700 coins)

Room 4

Size: 4R

Shape: J-curved slope

Contents: Creature (treasure)

Notes: 5'x10'x60' space shaped like a ski-slope. A zavvo lairs at the bottom. Trench gun found on the corpse of a phon security officer.

Room 5

Size: 3R

Shape: Giraffe

Contents: Empty

Notes: Roughly rectangular room about 25'x25', with a long tapering vertical shaft and pits in the floor.

Room 6

Size: 4R

Shape: Spread hand

Contents: Empty (treasure)

Notes: Big 40'x40' roughly circular room with little tapering tunnels branching off it. Small pile of rubble in the middle has nuggets of lustral (27 coins)

Room 7

Size: 2R

Shape: Saucepan with three handles

Contents: Empty (treasure)

Notes: 20'x20'x15' cylindrical room with entrances/exits near the ceiling. Lit up by fungus. Some kind of altar made by the black ouphs. Several tiny sarcophagi in the walls. The altar features the Bones of the Judge, a magic item in the shape of a multi-colored ceramic vessel filled with bones. Rattles ominously whenever a lie is told in earshot of it (300 coins).

Room 8

Size: 3R

Shape: Three tall thin cylinders

Contents: Enigma

Notes: Three tall, thin cylinders about 8' wide and 15' long arranged in a pyramidal shape. One has the west exits. One has the shaft going down. One has churning ball of dark fluid suspended in midair and surrounded by magical hex-signs of the black ouphs (fragment of the destroyer)

Room 9

Size: 3R

Shape: Hammerhead shark

Contents: Empty

Notes: 15'x40' rectangle tapering on either end. Windpigs sometimes gather here to eat mushrooms. Dirt and roots indicate surface is nearby. The eastern passage is the exit to the surface, and the rendezvous point.

Room 10

Size: 4R

Shape: Cow's udder

Contents: Distractor

Notes: 40'x40' room shaped like an inverse dome with a few pits in the floor. Glowing fungus, bracken, and a trickle of water. Refugee hideout.

Concluding Thoughts

I gave the players 8 hours of time to find the rebel base, with some threadbare instructions, take custody of the refugees, then escort them safely to the rendezvous point. The idea was to reach the rendezvous point when that side of Shanjin, a slowly rotating mountain, was under cover of darkness. In hindsight, 8 hours was a bit too long. They reached the goal with about 2 hours to spare in game time.

They also didn't explore most of the cave beyond where they needed to go in order to achieve their goal. Once they got all the refugees to area 9, right before the rendezvous point, two of the players split off to backtrack to area 9 and fight the monster there. One player ended up having his Last Breath, there, but he did get a cool gun out of the deal.

This is pretty long, so I think I'll put the monsters and treasure in a separate part.

Also, get Veins of the Earth and Worlds Without Number. They're both amazing tools and resources.

Skycrawl Dungeon World - Sessions 9 and 10

Lost? Read this.

Click here for part 1. 

Click here for part 8.

Dramatis Personae

Player Characters

• Taiyo – a forest nymph bard, who was implored by the voice of the forest to seek a replacement sun and save the world, and thus joined this mission
• Wilkins – former raven familiar to a now-dead master; an illusionist and informant to Princess Claire

• "The Druid" – A female human druid with no name
• Lieutenant Paragon Douglas – a human fighter, officer in the royal navy, and professional investigator
• Rosemary – A female human ranger

Non-Player Characters

• Commander Kand Hozla – A grizzled veteran of the TLDF (Trinellonde’s Lantern Defense Force). A middle-aged male damyana, athletic build, weathered face, and with an enchanted prosthetic arm. Openly critical of Governor Pevinai. Short-tempered. Annoying nasal voice.
• Draigas Vong – A very tall, elderly damyana male with long hair and unkempt wizardly robes. Has long studied the nature of Sols, but has made very little progress and as such has begun to despair.
• Lord Gonren Nostrod – Young male zorakith and Lord Berdek's nephew. A talented telepath and died-in-the-wool cynic. Haughty and amoral.
• Aiwasse – An air weird, imprisoned within the dungeon and freed by the players
• Captain Zebediah Krummel – Male spindlefolk of the Black Worm Pirates. Captain of the Winterwind. Cold, cruel, and ambitious, he seeks to improve his standing within the Black Worm Pirates by taking the Sword of St. Trinellonde. Eight feet tall with a long-coat, a dented cuirass, a horned metal helmet, and long black hair and beard.
• Dr. Darius Hammond – Male spindlefolk: thin, bespectacled, and with slicked back hair. A doctor and magical advisor to Captain Krummel. Taken prisoner.
• Jeremiah – Male spindlefolk: young, mop of brown hair. Another pirate taken prisoner.
• Governor Thirla Pevinai – A corpulent female damyana who wears flamboyant suits. She is strict, demanding, yet surprisingly charming and genial. Secretly crippled by massive debts. Can barely get anything done, due to lack of good help.
• Archmage Trinellonde – The severed head of the long-dead archmage and founder of Trinellonde's Lantern, preserved in a jar of liquid and kept in a semblance of life through necromancy.

Summary

    The heroes continued exploring the Trinellonde’s secret laboratory. After overcoming a number of other traps and hostile encounters, they found the central chamber. Three steel blast-proof doors blocked the chamber, and inside were a gang of pirates.

    The leader of the pirates identified himself as Captain Zebediah Krummel of the Black Worm Pirates, and revealed that they were the ones behind the bombing. They had come looking for the Sword of St. Trinellonde, only to be trapped in that chamber. Little did they realize, the “sword” was actually the piles of arcane machinery all around them.

    Three glowing gems were apparent on the doors: white, black, and blue. As the players continued exploring, they found a room with a demon who seemed to be dilating the passage of time. They freed him and he disappeared. The white gem went out.

    They returned to the room with the spatial distortion and shattered one of the black mirrors on the wall. This caused the spatial distortion to collapse, and the black gem went out.

    They found an air weird imprisoned in a glass terrarium, who identified herself as Aiwasse, and only wanted to be set free. They smashed the glass, and she temporarily possessed the body of Rosemary, the ranger.

    With that, the doors opened, and as the heroes returned to the central chamber they were attacked by the now freed pirates. Wilkins tossed the gas canister looted from a trap, causing the pirates to be driven mad with hallucinations, but also affecting the Druid. As Lieutenant Paragon and Rosemary finished off the pirates, Taiyo and Wilkins went to aid the Druid in recovering her senses.

    The surviving pirates were taken prisoner, and the heroes proceeded to the central chamber. They found the Sword of St. Trinellonde, and soon they were greeted by the preserved head of Trinellonde himself. He explained that the dungeon was a test so that his secrets would only be passed on to a worthy successor, and he was very annoyed to find it had taken 700 years for a bunch of foreigners to find it.

    Nevertheless, the heroes emerged from the laboratory with Trinellonde’s head in tow, who admonished his countrymen for their complacency. Commander Hozla took custody of the pirates, and the heroes were invited to a celebratory banquet at the governor’s mansion.

    The governor, a damyan woman named Thirla Pevinai, practically begged the heroes to let her mages copy Trinellonde’s spellbook. Trinellonde shot down that idea, stating that it was his rightful property, and that, if anything, the governor should be rewarding them.

    Realizing that Trinellonde had made up his mind to join the foreigners on their quest, Governor Pevinai relented, and promised the heroes a fleet of six warships to escort them and ensure their success.

    With that settled, the heroes decided to set course to the world of Argus, home of the All-Seers, a race of prophets. The wise woman Hagora deGurn of the Vasana Range had advised them to visit there, to know what dangers might lay ahead of them.

TL;DR

    The players continued exploring the dungeon and found the gang of pirates responsible for the bombings, who had accidentally trapped themselves in the central chamber of the laboratory. They solved the puzzle locking the door and defeated the pirates. In the central chamber, they found the "Sword" of St. Trinellonde, which turned out to be a powerful directed energy weapon, and the preserved and necromantically-animated head of Trinellonde himself. The governor of Trinellonde's Lantern promised the heroes a fleet of six warships to escort them and ensure their success. Thus the heroes set out for Argus, home of the All-Seers.

Concluding Thoughts

    That turned out to be a really satisfying dungeon crawl, even if it did take longer than expected. I think this phat loot does an effective job of hinting at the dangers that are yet to come. I gave them a weapon of mass destruction and a fleet of six warships, after all.

Skycrawl Dungeon World - Session 8

Lost? Read this.

Click here for part 1. 

Click here for part 7.

Dramatis Personae

Player Characters

• Taiyo – a forest nymph bard, who was implored by the voice of the forest to seek a replacement sun and save the world, and thus joined this mission
• Wilkins – former raven familiar to a now-dead master; an illusionist and informant to Princess Claire

• "The Druid" – A female human druid with no name
• Lieutenant Paragon Douglas – a human fighter, officer in the royal navy, and professional investigator
• Rosemary – A female human ranger

Non-Player Characters

• Commander Kand Hozla – A grizzled veteran of the TLDF (Trinellonde’s Lantern Defense Force). A middle-aged male damyana, athletic build, weathered face, and with an enchanted prosthetic arm. Openly critical of Governor Pevinai. Short-tempered. Annoying nasal voice.
• Draigas Vong – A very tall, elderly damyana male with long hair and unkempt wizardly robes. Has long studied the nature of Sols, but has made very little progress and as such has begun to despair.
• Lord Gonren Nostrod – Young male zorakith and Lord Berdek's nephew. A talented telepath and died-in-the-wool cynic. Haughty and amoral.

Summary

    The heroes set out from Casarbon with the zorakith telepath, Lord Gonren Nastrod and his retinue in tow. They set course for Trinellonde’s Lantern, hoping to learn more about the Sols and how to deal with them. They found Trinellonde's Lantern to be a sprawling magical city built on the inner surface of a hollowed-out metallic asteroid, with a caged Sol in the center.

    When they arrived, they quickly learned that the city was under lockdown from bombings. Terrorists planted bombs throughout the city, and demanded the surrender of “the Sword of St. Trinellonde,” or else they would detonate more.

    At the same time, long unused maintenance hatches within the city had opened for the first time in centuries. Inside were dark tunnels filled with hostile metallic constructs.

    Commander Kand Hozla, a grizzled veteran of the local defense force, confided in them that they were at an impasse, as they didn't actually know where the Sword was. In response to their inquiries, he connected them with a local wizard, Draigas Vong, who is an expert in Sols and the works of St. Trinellonde himself. Vong urged the heroes to escort him into the tunnels, believing that this might lead to the hidden workshop of St. Trinellonde, and must be connected to the bombings.

    The heroes ventured to the tunnel opening, only to find it heavily guarded. Taiyo used her jellybird companion Shroom to distract the guards while they ran inside, only for Lieutenant Paragon to be spotted. When attempts to talk his way out of it failed, the lieutenant knocked one of the guards unconscious and ran for it. 

    They ran into the dungeon with the guards hot on their heels. Draigas Vong cast a spell on the door, magically locking it behind them.

Interesting things found in the dungeon so far:

• A trio of blade-wielding constructs who attacked them immediately
• A turret lens (looted from one of the constructs) that allows one to see in infra-red
• A room dedicated to Trinellonde’s “Orchemical Combinator,” an intricate mechanism for performing orcery more safely and more efficiently.
• An impossibly vast, dark room with mirrored panels on the walls. Probably some kind of spatial anomaly.
• A steel construct shaped like a hulking gorilla with two giant shields, which tried to prevent them going down a certain hallway.

TL;DR

    The players arrived at Trinellonde's Lantern and found that it was being threatened by terrorists, demanding they surrender the Sword of St. Trinellonde. They teamed up with a local wizard, Draigas Vong, and entered a newly discovered hidden maintenance tunnel beneath the city, which Vong believed to be connected to the bombings.

Concluding Thoughts

    And so it begins. This ended up being a pretty good dungeon crawl, albeit one which took three sessions.

Skycrawl Dungeon World - Session 7

Lost? Read this.

Click here for part 1. 

Click here for parts 5 and 6.

Dramatis Personae

Player Characters

• Taiyo – a forest nymph bard, who was implored by the voice of the forest to seek a replacement sun and save the world, and thus joined this mission
• Wilkins – former raven familiar to a now-dead master; an illusionist and informant to Princess Claire

• "The Druid" – A female human druid with no name
• Lieutenant Paragon Douglas – a human fighter, officer in the royal navy, and professional investigator
• Rosemary – A female human ranger

Non-Player Characters

• Lady Gavit Vesnool – A female zorakith, a powerful telepath and psion of the ruling "Mesmer" class. Middle aged with a slender build. She has long brown hair in intricate braids and wears light colored elegant gowns
• Lord Berdek Nostrod – Male zorakith and Mesmer. Middle aged, large and somewhat overweight. Dark hair pulled back into a topknot. Always smoking a pipe, to which he is addicted. Not above sending armed thugs to intimidate or rough-up his enemies. Has a spindlefolk woman as a consort, which is considered scandalous.
• Lord Gonren Nostrod – Young male zorakith and Lord Berdek's nephew. A talented telepath and died-in-the-wool cynic. Haughty and amoral.

Summary

    Following the lead from the zorakith thugs who they conscripted, the heroes went to Lord Berdek’s manor. Through Wilkin’s ability to sense magic, they inferred that the dragon eggs were being kept in a stone outbuilding, which turned out to be the stables.

    Wilkins, and the Druid, in eagle form, staked out the building until a party of glasswings arrived. Wilkins and the Druid saw that the glasswings were there to take possession of the dragon eggs, and shortly after they arrived, Lord Berdek arrived as well. They conducted their transaction, and the glasswings left with the eggs in tow.

    As soon as the glasswings left, the heroes attacked them, killing two, maiming another, and incapacitating two others. They took the survivors hostage and interrogated them, learning that they were hired to purchase the eggs on behalf of an anonymous third party. They were told to take the eggs to a land consisting of a clump of rocks with a large stone tower, where they would deliver them to their mysterious client.

    The heroes handed the eggs and the prisoners over to the Council of Mesmers, who praised them for their discrete handling of the situation. Lady Vesnool thanked them with a phire coin (1000 coin value) and also asked them to keep the affair a secret.

    It turned out that Lord Berdek had taken a spindlefolk woman as a consort, which is scandalous in zorakith society in and of itself. He stole the eggs to try and pay off her considerable gambling debt, as her family were in Casarbon looking for her at the same time as the players.

    The following morning, the players met with the telepath, Lord Gonren Nostrod, who was in fact Lord Berdek’s nephew, who was assigned to the task of helping the players commune with a Sol. Lord Gonren assured them that disputes like these were fairly common among the noble houses of Casarbon, and that he had no hard feelings against them.

    After some debate as to where to go next, the players consulted the chart and found that Trinellonde’s Lantern was drawing near, which is a land of powerful magicians who imprisoned their Sol in a cage. Reasoning that they could provide valuable intel, and that it was closer than there other two leads of Argus or Sollifex Aether, they set a course for Trinellonde’s Lantern.

TL;DR

    The heroes staked out Lord Berdek's mansion and saw him sell the eggs to a group of glasswings. They jumped the party of glasswings, got back the eggs, and learned that the glasswings were being paid to smuggle the eggs to a mysterious third party.

    Lady Gavit thanked them for handling it discretely and paid them a bonus. She also assigned Lord Berdek's nephew, Lord Gonren Nostrod, to accompany the players on their quest. And thus they set out for Trinellonde's Lantern.

Concluding Thoughts

    I left a couple of different hooks for them in this quest, but they didn't seem interested in following up on either of them. The spindlefolk looking for their wayward sister-turned-Lord Berdek's consort was a way of tying events to the overarching pirate thread, and the theft of the dragon eggs was tied to ooleum plot thread. Nevertheless, they decided to continue following the main quest of "find a new sun" by going to a place where they might learn more about Sols. On the one hand, I was glad I got to use the prep I made for Trinellonde's Lantern, but on the other hand, I'm a little perplexed on how best to raise danger and hint at looming threats when they're just going from place to place and ignoring threats on the side.

    May not be an issue since they're all having fun, but it hints at a blind spot in my prep.

Skycrawl Dungeon World - Sessions 5 and 6

 Lost? Read this.

Click here for part 1. 

Click here for part 4.

Dramatis Personae

Player Characters

• Taiyo – a forest nymph bard, who was implored by the voice of the forest to seek a replacement sun and save the world, and thus joined this mission
• Wilkins – former raven familiar to a now-dead master; an illusionist and informant to Princess Claire

• "The Druid" – A female human druid with no name
• Lieutenant Paragon Douglas – a human fighter, officer in the royal navy, and professional investigator

Non-Player Characters

• Lady Gavit Vesnool – A female zorakith, a powerful telepath and psion of the ruling "Mesmer" class. Middle aged with a slender build. She has long brown hair in intricate braids and wears light colored elegant gowns
• Brila Keiz – Female zorakith. A small-framed woman of early maturity and pale yellow fur. Wears unflattering, utilitarian clothing. An important breeder of dragons, who thinks Casarbon could stand to flex their military might some more.
• Solgen – Male zorakith. A portly, middle-aged zorakith of dark red fur. Proprietor of a public bathhouse frequented by guards and soldiers: apolitical
• Lord Berdek Nostrod – Male zorakith and Mesmer. Middle aged, large and somewhat overweight. Dark hair pulled back into a topknot. Always smoking a pipe, to which he is addicted. Not above sending armed thugs to intimidate or rough-up his enemies. Has a spindlefolk woman as a consort, which is considered scandalous.

Summary

    The players set out from the Vasana Range to the land of Casarbon to search for a skilled telepath who can help them commune with the Sols. En-route, they found a hospital ship where the crew had all mysteriously died somehow. The hospital ship was crewed by a race of people they had never seen before, which were tall, pale, and had four eyes. They had apparently died from asphyxiation on noxious fumes which enveloped the ship.

    They towed the ship to Casarbon. They found that Casarbon took the shape of an enormous tree with leafy crowns on either end of its miles-long trunk. The zorakith, the race of telepathic, anthropomorphic fox people, used mind-controlled monsters for everyday labor. In particular, there was a flock of mind-controlled dragons harnessed to the tree to pull it around.

    Upon their arrival, they were immediately taken to an audience with the Mesmers, the council of the strongest telepaths who rule zorakith society.

    The Mesmers agreed to give them a team of expert telepaths to help on their quest if they gave them the ship, and discovered who stole a clutch of special dragon eggs from the rookery, which would avoid a scandal. They went to the dragon rookery and met Brila Keiz, the lead dragon-breeder. She seemed evasive, and clearly knew more than she let on.

    The Druid shifted into a bloodhound, and thus discovered a distinctive scent trail that led from the incubator to the back door, but there were no signs of forced entry.

    The players followed the scent trail as far as they could go. It led them from the rookery to an alleyway to a bathhouse. The found footprints indicating it was a group of 3-5 zorakith who committed the theft.

    At the bathhouse, Lieutenant Paragon Douglas interrogated the proprietor, a zorakith man named Solgen. Solgen suggested that the scent they found was “trail mask,” a chemical used by criminals to disguise their scent so they can’t be positively identified. He mentioned that the guards and soldiers of many noble houses used his bathhouse, and he didn’t keep too close of an eye on their comings and goings.

    While they were there, they realized a nondescript male zorakith was eavesdropping on them, but he gave them the slip before they could confront him. They went back to the alleyway where the path turned to the bathhouse where they were ambushed. Six zorakith thugs in plainclothes, one of them riding a giant flying jellyfish (or “jellybird”), confronted them and said that they didn’t appreciate foreigners snooping around in their business, whereupon they attacked.

    The players killed three of the thugs and the remaining three were sufficiently cowed that they surrendered. They said they worked for the Mesmer Lord Berdek Nostrod, and they didn’t know why he wanted them dead. They took the surrendering thugs as “interns,” and Taiyo (who had just taken the ranger animal companion move as a multiclass move), took the jellybird as her animal companion, naming him “Shroom.”

    Thus, the party set about finding a way into Lord Berdek’s estate.

TL;DR

    The players reached Casarbon, and the telepathic rulers of the zorakith people, the Mesmers, told them they would give a team of skilled telepaths if they agreed to find out who stole a clutch of dragon eggs.

    The players were eventually jumped by a gang of thugs working for the Mesmer Lord Berdek Nostrod, and after defeating them, they plotted a way to break into his estate.

Concluding Thoughts

    I feel like this side quest got a little bit off the rails. The random encounter I rolled up for the journey to get there took up a significant portion of time, so much so that they ended up spending three sessions in total on Casarbon. This is about the point where I begin to think of traveling from place to place, and having random encounters along the way, is more of an obligation than an asset to good game design. I may need to reflect on this point more.

Skycrawl Dungeon World - Session 4

Lost? Read this.

Click here for part 1. 

Click here for part 3.

Dramatis Personae

Player Characters

• "Hire" – a gruff, serious ranger-for-hire who wonders if he might be the only one actually paid to be here
• Taiyo – a forest nymph bard, who was implored by the voice of the forest to seek a replacement sun and save the world, and thus joined this mission
• Wilkins – former raven familiar to a now-dead master; an illusionist and informant to Princess Claire

Non-Player Characters

• Captain Jeremiah Hawthorne – minor gentry way in over his head

• Romz deZemler – a smuggler of the leonine "lirovan" race. Tall and athletic, with a mane of golden hair. Missing one ear. Wears a fine yet functional vest embroidered with battle scenes. Friendly, if sarcastic and cynical.

• Hagora deGurn – An elderly lirovan woman. A fortune teller and shaman, well loved and respected by the community of Kighara. 

• Godom deNilmid – A male lirovan with a chiseled appearance, freckled skin, black hair. Wears the distinctive wide-brimmed hat of an orcerer. He and his wife Dorala have combined the trades of orcerer, money-changer, minter, and apothecary.

• Brien Fancroth – A member of the "spindlefolk" race, of unnaturally tall, zero-G adapted people. Short black hair and black beard. Wears glasses. Doesn’t look half as ruthless and cruel as he is. Formerly a member of the Black Worm Pirates, condemned to die.

• Thrac, the Apothecary – A member of the amorphous, slime-like "ooleum" race. Blue body. Come to the Vasana Range with a handful of mercenaries, seeking poisonous ingredients for some sinister purpose.

Summary

            In the last session, the village elder Hagora deGurn told the heroes many interesting plot hooks, but specifically asked them to seek out the local nature spirit, Kurakka the Thunder Serpent and administer a potion to heal his ailment.

            While they were gathering further information around town, the opening ceremonies of the Great Hunt commenced. Among the condemned criminals was a man convicted of piracy: Brien Fancroth, a member of the same race of the pirates who attacked them in the first session: an unnaturally tall, pale humanoid with feet-like hands. He was first mate of a ship that had flown under the same banner as the other pirates: a black squiggly line on a white circle on a black background.

            While searching the crowd, Wilkins the raven found two oolea, an amorphous slime-like race, and two glasswings, a humanoid dragonfly-like race, conversing. He quickly realized that these oolea were associates of the oolea who had come to Godom’s shop asking to buy toxic reagents. They said someone named “Thrac” needed more reagents to finish their work, and they needed to wrap up quickly to report back to someone named “Thatoo.”

            Realizing that these people were likely responsible for poisoning Kurakka and driving him mad, the heroes agreed to head towards Kurakka’s lair and investigate. Hire, meanwhile, still had not told the others about his pact with Death to kill the serpent.

            They travelled for a little over a day, and thanks to Hire’s tracking ability, soon realized that the two oolea and two glasswings they had observed had already headed in the same direction as they were heading. They also witnessed that the environment surrounding the cave was poisoned and desolate, with giant herbivorous reptiles lying dead and giant monstrous mosquitos feasting on their corpses.

            They entered the cave that was Kurakka’s lair and came face to face with one of the oolea and two of the glasswings, who held them at gunpoint and demanded they identified themselves. The heroes convinced them they were only there to talk, and after disarming themselves, were led into the cave.

            There, they found the enormous horned serpent Kurakka, drugged and dying. And they found that the oolea and the glasswings had set up a base camp and alchemical laboratory there. The leader of their gang identified himself as “Thrac,” and explained that he and his colleagues were performing biological weapons research with Kurakka as their test subject, as a plot for revenge against the zorakith people who had laid waste to their home Land of Pedrona.

Thrac offered them employment as mercenaries, but quickly became suspicious when Hire started asking them about who would ultimately get to kill Kurakka, as he was trying to fulfill his pact with Death. Ultimately, Thrac decided they couldn’t be trusted and knew too much, and ordered them killed.

Hire dove through a hail of bullets, taking the brunt of their assault, but successfully attacking Thrac. Thrac was killed instantly, and the glasswing mercenaries who witnessed this were persuaded to seek employment elsewhere. The remaining two oolea fought to the death, throwing vials of poison at the party before they also were killed.

With the combat finished, Taiyo proceeded to administer the healing potion to Kurakka. Hire watched on, knowing that his pact was in jeopardy, but hesitant to turn on his allies.

The heroes loaded up all the alchemical equipment and supplies they could carry and headed back to town. On the way back, a rainstorm came, and when they looked up, they saw Kurakka the Thunder Serpent returned to his full resplendence, soaring through the air and bringing rainclouds in his wake.

Upon their return they were feted as heroes. Godom, the local apothecary and orcerer, agreed to outfit their ship with an “orchemical sieve,” a device for extracting heavy elements from the air during flights, in exchange for the equipment they salvaged from the oolea’s hideout.

Thus their mission in the Vasana Range was complete, but with Hire’s pact with Death unresolved. Though the rest of the party doesn’t know, Hire’s life will soon be forfeit if he cannot find a way to kill Kurakka.

TL;DR

The heroes eavesdropped on a crowd until they found some of the people who were responsible for poisoning Kurakka the Thunder Serpent. They tracked them down to their lair and discovered that they were doing covert biological weapons research using Kurakka as a test subject. Attempts to negotiate broke down and they ended up fighting. Though Hire was tasked with killing Kurakka by Death, he refused to betray his allies, and they successfully administered a healing potion to Kurakka.

Kurakka made a full recovery and the heroes were rewarded. Hire, however, died offscreen due to a failure to fulfill his pact with Death.

Concluding Thoughts

I think this is the session where Van Krinkel's player decided to peace out. And Hire's player also dropped the game due to schedule conflict, so he effectively ended up dying offscreen.

One thing that was interesting about this scenario is that I essentially gave the players a branching path, to choose which one of the big story threads they wanted to chase down: the pirates, or the oolea biological weapons researchers. They chose the latter, and the possible pirate informant, Brien Fancroth, was killed in the Great Hunt.

Shanjin, part 1

So, since the session reports for my Skycrawl campaign have moved on from the land of Shanjin, I figured now is a good time to share some of my prep notes for that area. Part of this is to showcase the power of Skycrawl as an inspirational tool, and part of it is to provide some potentially interesting ideas for others to use in their games.

And also part of it is to rationalize my neurotic drive to over-prepare for sessions. I probably have enough material to run several adventures in this place.

Shanjin

"Getting major North Korea vibes, here." -One of my players, I forget who.

Idea: Strip mine, second chance
Shape: Delve. Like a Mountain, but folk live deep inside, not on the surface
Size: IV (explorable in a few weeks, 1k-9k pop., 10-mile dia.)
Gravity: Heavy gravity
Atmosphere: ruins of a shattered land; picturesque clouds
Inhabitants: Phon
Sol: deep rose, indifferent, large
Orbit: Wild
Abundant Resources: Patience, Tack
Scarce Resources: Ships, Trade

(Note: The above entries are mostly what I generated using the random tables in Skycrawl. What follows is my interpretation of it, and the inclusion of hooks and points of interest)

Description

The homeland of the phon, Shanjin is a giant, rotating chunk of rock like a mountain. The outer surface is covered in fields where giant monocultures of grains are grown. The atmosphere around the Sol is filled with smaller floating rocks, many of which have been turned into more small farmsteads. The phon live in mining tunnels that run through the interior.

A typical phon stands between 3’6”-4’6” with a stout build, gray skin, black hair, and a pair of curved horns upon their foreheads. They are intelligent and industrious, but somewhat lacking in culture. They mostly wear uniform gray coveralls with web-belts for tools, with fairly little individual differentiation.

The phon live lives of long toil, constantly running through cramped tunnels at the orders of their handlers. They sleep in overcrowded barracks and own very little personal property. They are a technologically advanced society, and make use of rocketry and complex mechanics in their inventions. They are infamous for getting around with dangerous rocket-propelled jetpacks.

Several hundred years ago, the phon lived in a miraculous floating city on another world until they were displaced by a mysterious magical cataclysm. They found themselves hurtling through the Azure Aetern, until they collided with the mountain that they named Shanjin.

The ruler of the phon is called Governor Jeshun San-O, a cold, calculating and rigidly inflexible ruler. Beneath the governor are several ministers, who manage various districts of Shanjin. The governor nominates the successors to the ministers, and the ministers nominate the governor. The citizenry have no input.

The state religion of Shanjin is a cult of ancestor worship. In fact, the Priesthood of the Cult of the Revered Ancestors has access to a miraculous device called a thanophone that allows them to speak to the dead and guide them towards reincarnation. The phon have bent their every resource to reincarnating their ancestors through breeding programs.

The phon ships are ethanol powered rockets with machine gun turrets, and given their ever-growing population and the conflict between using grain for food and for fuel, they have only 12 operational ships.

Places

• The Temple of the Revered Ancestors – a gilt and gemstone-studded cathedral emblazoned with colorful paintings. Extremely gaudy. Self-important priests in elaborate robes perform mandatory services involving the use of the thanophone to interview revered ancestors.
• The Foreign Quarter – A “hotel” and a few small shops where foreign visitors are required to stay.
• The Nadir Port – A wide open tunnel mouth with several jutting piers extending from the “lowest” point on the mountain.
• The Mines – Where most of the phon work, extracting Heavy Elements and other, baser metals.
• The Unknown Depths – The darkest, least explored tunnels near the core of the mountain.

People

• Governor Jeshun San-O – Male phon, 58. Wears an immaculately pressed gray and black uniform with epaulettes. Cold, calculating, rigidly inflexible. Handsome, if sarcastic. Prone to pompous speeches.
• Captain Washu Cha-Jai – Male phon, 50. A muscular, brutish-looking phon with a face crossed with battle scars. Suspicious of everyone and talks fast.
• Foreign Liaison Tara El-Jo – Female phon, 31. Designated guide for the players
• High Priest Gi Sha-Wan – Male phon, 78. High Priest of the Cult of the Revered Ancestors. Short, even for a phon, and very thin. Has an oiled handlebar mustache and an elaborate priestly robe. Cowardly and sycophantic.
• Olvau Leingythni – Male Ice-Lord, 41. Merchant who peddles weapons and other military equipment. Covered in burn scars and wears a tasteless, obviously fake military-like uniform. Always grumpy and talks too loud.
• Kand Resto – Male Damyana, 33. Big game hunter on his way to somewhere else. Openly hates phons and phon culture. Unusually thin for a damyana, but still loves to eat and drink. Has oiled hair and well maintained hunting clothes. Friendly and outgoing to non-phon and loves to tell stories.
• Karasa Ganilla – Female Ornivir, 44. Merchant who peddles jewelry. Lean and muscular, with many fine examples of jewelry on her person. Affects noble speech, but actually not that successful. Bitter about the phon’s disdain for foreign jewelry.
• Romz deZemler – Male Lirovan, 36. Tall and athletic, with a mane of golden hair. Missing one ear. Wears a fine yet functional vest embroidered with battle scenes. Friendly, if sarcastic and cynical. Actually a smuggler, here to smuggle dissidents out of Shanjin.
• Shem Ong-Ya – Male phon, 25. Leader of the resistance. Muscular, brutish appearance and extremely thick eyebrows over wild-eyes. Wears a fraying and poorly maintained work uniform. Hates the Cult and the Governor, and leads a band of other disaffected youth from their hideout in the tunnels. Actually pretty lazy.
• Li Ing-Shu – Female phon, 20. Resistance messenger. Young, naïve, idealistic. Idolizes Shem. Intelligent, if naïve. Very thin, wiry build. Wears fashionable clothing fit for leisure, and favors wide-brimmed hats.

Seeds

• Dissidents have stolen a ship somehow and taken it somewhere. The phon value their ships, and the dissidents taking them is a horrible embarrassment.
• The resistance contacts the players and asks for their help.
• The lirovan smuggler Romz deZemmler asks the players to help him smuggle out some dissidents.
• Mysterious raiders have been attacking the outskirts of phon airspace. They belong to a yet unknown-race and seem to a part of some bizarre millenarian cult that worships Obscenities.

Design Notes and Closing Thoughts

Shanjin was the first land the players encountered, and as such it set the tone for the campaign and illustrates my approach to designing interesting civilizations. Shanjin is a place where you can resupply and repair your ship, yes, BUT...! I tend to give these civilizations an eyebrow-raising cultural quirk that forms the basis of conflict in the setting and tells the players to be wary.

"Shanjin" is Chinese for "Gold Mountain," according to Google Translate. I subscribe to the George R. R. Martin school of "don't overthink it" when it comes to names. There's a general Chinese/Korean Communist vibe here.

The concept of the "thanophone" was inspired by the time that Thomas Edison actually attempted to build a device to contact the afterlife. That's pretty whack. The whole idea of the cult of ancestor worship, and a whole society dedicated to serving dead people is sort of reminiscent of our own society, where older generations got while the getting was good, and pulled up the ladder after them. That's a Millennial mood, right there.

There's going to be a part 2 where I detail some of the crunchier session prep I did for this area, including a cave crawl, monsters and treasure.

Skycrawl Dungeon World - Session 3

Lost? Read this.

Click here for part 1. 

Click here for part 2.

Dramatis Personae

Player Characters

• "Hire" – a gruff, serious ranger-for-hire who wonders if he might be the only one actually paid to be here
• Van Krinkel – a near-sighted deep gnome thief who inexplicably found himself aboard The Ikaruss after a night of drinking, and has no memory of coming aboard
• Taiyo – a forest nymph bard, who was implored by the voice of the forest to seek a replacement sun and save the world, and thus joined this mission
• Wilkins – former raven familiar to a now-dead master; an illusionist and informant to Princess Claire

Non-Player Characters

• Captain Jeremiah Hawthorne – minor gentry way in over his head

• Romz deZemler – a smuggler of the leonine "lirovan" race. Tall and athletic, with a mane of golden hair. Missing one ear. Wears a fine yet functional vest embroidered with battle scenes. Friendly, if sarcastic and cynical.

• Hagora deGurn – An elderly lirovan woman. A fortune teller and shaman, well loved and respected by the community of Kighara. 

• Godom deNilmid – A male lirovan with a chiseled appearance, freckled skin, black hair. Wears the distinctive wide-brimmed hat of an orcerer. He and his wife Dorala have combined the trades of orcerer, money-changer, minter, and apothecary.

• Brien Fancroth – A member of the "spindlefolk" race, of unnaturally tall, zero-G adapted people. Short black hair and black beard. Wears glasses. Doesn’t look half as ruthless and cruel as he is. Formerly a member of the Black Worm Pirates, condemned to die.

• Thrac, the Apothecary – A member of the amorphous, slime-like "ooleum" race. Blue body. Come to the Vasana Range with a handful of mercenaries, seeking poisonous ingredients for some sinister purpose.

Summary

The heroes began this session where they left off: preparing to rappel down a vertical chimney in the caves of Shanjin and transport the refugees to safety. The rappelling proceeded without a hitch, and they successfully located the exit.

However, they still had two hours before the planned rendezvous, so Hire decided to do some more exploration. Taiyo agreed to tag along, with the rest of the party remaining with the refugees. Hire and Taiyo head down a nearby passage and find a separate entrance to the pit of magical darkness that Wilkins and Van Krinkel encountered earlier. Hire charged forth and awakened the monster. Hire struck the monster, and it bit him in turn. Taiyo charged into battle after him. The monster fought viciously, and Taiyo frantically healed Hire to keep him alive, but he soon took his Last Breath.

Death appeared to Hire in the guise of his father, and told him that he must slay the immortal spirit Kurakka the Thunder Serpent in the Vasana Range if he wanted to live. Hire agreed, and thus came back to life.

Thus, they defeated the monster, dispelling its magical darkness and revealing it to be a bizarre man-sized serpent with the head of a bat and wings like a vulture. In its lair they found the skeletal remains of a phon security agent, and his still-serviceable trench gun.

Primitive screwheads, beware.

The party regrouped and met with their respective ships for the rendezvous, then set sail for the Vasana Range, the homeland of Romz deZemler and the lirovan race. Hire soon realized that the bite of the monster had infected him with a bizarre ailment, which caused his skin to grow pale, his eyes to turn red, and gave him a strong aversion to bright light.

After two days of uneventful sailing, the party arrived at The Vasana Range. The phon refugees were welcomed into the community, and Romz left the heroes to guide the refugees into their new homes. They got the measures of lazul minted into coins at the shop of Godom deNilmid, orcerer and apothecary. Hire was also able to purchase a remedy for his illness.

They then proceeded to the home of the village elder, Hagora deGurn, an elderly lirovan fortune teller and shaman. She listened to their plight and gave them her counsel. She also read their fortune, and while she predicted they would reach their goal, it would only be after terrible hardship. She saw a gathering darkness, and believed that their presence in the Azure Aetern was a portent of doom.

The heroes learned many things as they asked around town:

• The Vasana Range will soon hold its Great Hunt, where condemned criminals are hunted for sport.

• Kurakka the Thunder Serpent has been acting erratically lately. He has been running amok and spreading poison. Hagora asked them to seek him out and administer a potion that may heal him.

• A member of the amorphous oolea race and his four glasswing henchmen came to Godom’s shop and tried to order many suspiciously toxic reagents. Godom refused them and they left.

• There is a land of giant glowing clouds of nebula where new Sols are born, called “Sollifex Aether.”

• Talking to Sols is very difficult, but there is a land called Casarbon inhabited by a race of telepaths called the “zorakith.” They might be able to help commune with the Sols.

• The prophecy of a gathering darkness greatly disturbed Hagora. She advised them to seek out a stronger prophet than her in the land of Argus, home of the All-Seers, a race of angelic prophets.

Hire, having been charged with killing Kurakka the Thunder Serpent by Death, urged the rest of the party to accept the mission to save him, but did not disclose his true motives. With that, the party prepared themselves to venture into the interior of the Vasana Range.

TL;DR

The heroes led the phon refugees safely out of the cave and to the rendezvous point, but not before Hire had a brush with death from fighting a monster. He made a pact with death to kill the immortal spirit Kurakka the Thunder Serpent, and thus defeated the monster and found a trench gun.

The heroes then sailed to the Vasana Range, home of Romz deZemler and the lirovan race, and the phon refugees were successfully resettled. The heroes were paid and learned many interesting things while in town. In particular, they learned that Kurakka the Thunder Serpent was acting erratically, and that a member of the amorphous, slime-like "ooleum" race had been trying to purchase large quantities of poisonous reagents for some unknown purpose.

As Hire had made a pact with death to kill the Thunder Serpent, her persuaded the other heroes to take up a quest to administer a healing potion to him, not revealing his true motives.

Concluding Thoughts

And that concludes the Shanjin arc of the campaign. This was an interesting session, as many potential paths to the ultimate goal of finding a new sun were revealed, allowing the players choices for which direction the campaign would go in. I also learned that the Last Breath move can sometimes be used to urge players to go engage with some of the content you prepped instead of skipping over it. The Thunder Serpent quest was just one lead that I didn't know if they'd want to follow or not.

Skycrawl Dungeon World - Session 2

 Lost? Read this.

Click here for part 1.

Dramatis Personae

Player Characters

• "Hire" – a gruff, serious ranger-for-hire who wonders if he might be the only one actually paid to be here
• Van Krinkel – a near-sighted deep gnome thief who inexplicably found himself aboard The Ikaruss after a night of drinking, and has no memory of coming aboard
• Taiyo – a forest nymph bard, who was implored by the voice of the forest to seek a replacement sun and save the world, and thus joined this mission
• Wilkins – former raven familiar to a now-dead master; an illusionist and informant to Princess Claire

Non-Player Characters

• Captain Jeremiah Hawthorne – minor gentry way in over his head
• Captain Washu Cha-Jai – A muscular, brutish-looking member of the short-statured, horned "phon" race. Has a face crossed with battle scars. Suspicious of everyone and talks fast.
• Karasa Ganilla – a dejected jewelry merchant of the bird-like "ornivir" race
• Kand Resto – a big game hunter and member of the black-skinned, red-haired "damyana" race
• Constable Shelim – a truculent phon security officer
• Romz deZemler – a smuggler of the leonine "lirovan" race. Tall and athletic, with a mane of golden hair. Missing one ear. Wears a fine yet functional vest embroidered with battle scenes. Friendly, if sarcastic and cynical.
• Shem Ong-Ya – Male phon, leader of the resistance. Muscular, brutish appearance and extremely thick eyebrows over wild-eyes. Wears a fraying and poorly maintained work uniform. Hates the status quo, and leads a band of other disaffected youth from their hideout in the tunnels. Actually pretty lazy.

Summary

With their ship badly damaged, the heroes were approached by a rocket ship bearing an insignia of a yellow-and-black 9-pointed star. A voice announced that they had entered the airspace of "The Phon Dominion."

Soon they were boarded by three diminutive humanoids, of a race known as "the phon." They were roughly gnome-sized, with curved horns on their brows, pointed ears, gray skin, and long black beards. They wore gray jumpsuits and body armor of soldiers.

Seeing their predicament, the phon captain, Washu Cha-Jai, agreed to tow their ship to the main settlement of the phon, Shanjin. In short order they arrived to find a massive, 10-mile-diameter mountain, slowly rotating around a small, red Sol. The outer surface was dedicated to farming, and the phon lived and worked in the tunnels dug within, where they mined out the precious Heavy Elements. They docked their ship, and Captain Hawthorne proceeded to negotiate how they would pay for repairs.

Meanwhile, the heroes were taken to "the Foreign Quarter," a resting place for foreign travelers. There they met interesting characters such as Karasa Ganilla, a dejected jewelry merchant of the bird-like ornivir race. Though she couldn't help, she referred them to another traveler: Kand Resto, a member of the black-skinned, red-haired "damyana" race.

Resto listened to their quest to find a new sun, and mentioned that his homeland, called "Trinellonde's Lantern," was a magical city built around a caged Sol. If they were to go there, he said, they might find a wizard who was an expert in the nature of Sols.

Captain Hawthorne joined them shortly thereafter, and he was accompanied by the phon Constable Shelim. Shelim informed them of a rebel group that sought to overthrow the established order, and had a hideout somewhere deep within the unexplored tunnels within the mountain.

Shelim offered to help the players repair their ship, AND outfit it with a special device called an "orchemical sieve," which is designed to siphon the valuable and mysterious "heavy elements" out of the air. In exchange, he asked the players to enter the monster-filled tunnels beneath the mines and kill the rebel leader, Shem Ong-Ya.

Afterwards, however, a foreign smuggler named Romz deZemler approached them and offered an alternative: he would forward the coin to repair their ship if they helped him smuggle a load of dissidents out through the caverns. The heroes had found Shanjin to be a dreary and oppressive dystopia, so they readily agreed to deZemler's terms.

As they sought the rebel hideout, they were attacked by a gang of four tiny elf-like creatures, two apples high with black skin and eyes of opal. They could hypnotize enemies with their gaze to make them hold still and deal devastating damage. The heroes were badly wounded, but survived.

They found the rebel base and met the rebel leader Shem Ong-Ya. He paid them in two measures of the valuable heavy element "lazul," as well as giving them custody of nearly two-dozen phon refugees. They made their way to the next cavern without incident, but soon found a hard choice: to reach the exit, they could rappel down a vertical chimney, but that could end disastrously for the elders and children among them. They scouted out an alternate path to try and find a way around, but happened upon the lair of a monster which cloaked itself in magical darkness. The heroes decided not to risk an encounter with an unknown monster and quickly returned to where they left the refugees.

Thus, the heroes prepared to rappel down the chimney, the success of this endeavor unknown.

TL;DR

The players found the land of Shanjin, home of the diminutive "phon" race. However, it turned out to be a dreary dystopia. They were enlisted by the smuggler Romz deZemler to help smuggle refugees out in exchange for him fronting the cost of repairing their ship.

The players found the rebel leader in the depths of the monster-infested tunnels, took their payment, and navigated their way through the tunnels. They were attacked by strange, tiny black elfin creatures, and they encountered an unknown monster that cloaked itself in magical darkness. Not wanting to face the monster, they instead opted to rappel down a vertical chimney to reach the rendezvous point, which would be risky for the women, children and old people among the refugees.

Concluding Thoughts

This was the session where I realized I have a tendency to majorly over-prepare. The characters ultimately explored less than half of the caves I mapped out.

And on the off chance anyone recognizes them, I did adapt some of the monsters from Pars Fortuna, by John M. Stater. I just happened to discover this book at roughly the same time I was preparing for this session and I was inspired. I ended up using the "black ouph" and the "zavvo" as described in his book.