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Gherkin's Greyhawk

 
lurkinggherkin — Wed, 2006-11-29 16:36

Right, I decided that rather than hogging Zip's thread with my Journal updates forever more, I should start a new thread.

Here I will periodically post links to the latest updates of my campaign journals, for anyone who is interested.

Once more, here are the entry points for the three journals I have so far:

Quest for the Hanging Glacier:
A completed adventure, though the storyline is to be continued. Mid-level characters in an arctic setting.
http://www.community.fogonline.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopi...

Caves of Chaos:
Ongoing adventure, low level characters in a fairly traditional dungeon crawl. A work in progress.
http://www.community.fogonline.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopi...

Pussyfooting:
New adventure just started, mid-level characters are sent on a spying mission to an enemy stronghold. Coastal setting.
http://www.community.fogonline.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopi...

Future updates will be posted here. Comments are welcome but if anybody happens to 'take issue' with anything I will start a seperate discussion forum to debate the issue in question.

  • 15319 reads
lurkinggherkin — Fri, 2006-12-01 17:40

Pussyfooting

Update posted:

http://www.community.fogonline.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopi...

In case you hadn't guessed, this journal is written from a player rather than referee perspective. And Sunaeco is, of course, my character.

Naturally, any views or opinions expressed by Sunaeco are not necessarily my own!

lurkinggherkin — Thu, 2007-03-01 11:19

Update: The 'Pussyfooting' adventure got put on hold, just as it was about to get going in earnest too. Sadly, and irritatingly, the referee flaked out on us - we took a break for Christmas and then we couldn't entice him back to the table afterwards (another formerly excellent roleplayer becomes a drone in the Blizzard collective - we are meeting at his house, and he just sits upstairs at his PC raiding, unable or unwilling to tear himself away - which is what he does most evenings now so far as I can gather).

I will be taking the reins and continuing the Pusyfooting storyline on his behalf at some point. But for the moment I have a storyline of my own to see to its conclusion. A link to 'The Rescuers' journal will be posted shortly.

lurkinggherkin — Thu, 2007-03-01 11:27

The Rescuers

Something of a change of pace from 'Pussyfooting' - this adventure kicks off with a huge slaughter-fest!

http://www.community.fogonline.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopi...

zipdrive — Thu, 2007-03-01 12:48

First, I think I'd love playing in your campaign...all that effort going into it!

Second, while I haven't WoW-ed (yet), I'd ever abandon friends downstairs while playing on my PC... that's just antisocial.

lurkinggherkin — Thu, 2007-05-17 23:39

The Rescuers - Next Installment

Trying to catch up on my campaign journals again!

http://community.fogonline.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&p=...

If you missed the first two parts or want a recap scroll up to the top of the thread.

lurkinggherkin — Tue, 2007-05-22 16:24

More Rescuers

In which we learn a little about certain people's motivations

http://www.community.fogonline.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopi...

lurkinggherkin — Wed, 2007-05-23 11:35

Rescuers Continues

http://www.community.fogonline.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopi...

Hey - are people reading these? Shall I keep posting the links up here?

lurkinggherkin — Tue, 2007-05-29 15:25

Rescuers (next bit)

Well, I'm going to press on regardless...

http://www.community.fogonline.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopi...

lurkinggherkin — Thu, 2007-05-31 11:58

Rescuers (some more)

http://www.community.fogonline.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopi...

lurkinggherkin — Thu, 2007-05-31 21:41

Rescuers (yet more)

http://community.fogonline.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&p=...

lurkinggherkin — Tue, 2007-06-05 16:00

Rescuers Proceeds

http://www.community.fogonline.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopi...

lurkinggherkin — Thu, 2007-06-07 10:38

Again, Rescuers

Phew. One day soon I'll catch up to where the party is at....

http://www.community.fogonline.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopi...

Gilgamesh — Fri, 2007-06-08 10:23

:) How far ahead of your thread are they?

lurkinggherkin — Fri, 2007-06-08 15:55

About 6 sessions / episodes. We're on a temporary suspension, though, due to various RL factors. Play will re-commence in two weeks time, by which time I hope to have caught up the journal.

A few points I thought I'd mention, peering 'under the bonnet' as it were:

  • It might be tempting, at first glance, to perceive this as a fairly linear adventure that the players were railroaded into by yours truly, as it has all the hallmarks. However, the situation the party ended up in actually arose out of a combination of dynamic circumstances within the campaign, including some specific player character actions (some of which I haven't mentioned in the journal as it would be giving the game away to my players - they'll find out eventually, maybe). I didn't engineer the situation. The initial rescue mission itself wasn't something I forced on them either - it was entirely their own idea. This adventure virtually wrote itself, up to a point.

    • .

  • The death of Drualda was entirely unplanned and was a bolt from the blue. Some very lucky die rolls on the part of the player were her downfall. She was a longtime party opponent, so it was hugely satisfying for them! My smarter, resourceful NPCs always have an escape plan, but she didn't get a chance to execute hers...

    • .

  • It was also not planned from the outset for Xipil to fall into the party's hands. However, when I realised that this was a possibility, and realised that this would lead to some interesting plot development, I kind of let it happen - as in, I decided that, by a handy coincidence, Xipil was in the right place at the right time for the boat to pick him up. The Yuan-Ti are recurring foes in my campaign, and the party has tangled with their boss lady on a previous occasion - and got their butts handed to them on a plate. I have an adventure planned for the future where they will have a chance to inflict a major setback on the Yuan-Ti. Xipil's testimony will give them vital information that will enable them to (possibly) succeed in this endeavour - should they choose to undertake such a venture.

    • .

  • The river journey described is a bit linear, though I was fully prepared for the party to ditch the boat and go yomping through the jungle if they really wanted. But they kept muttering the Apocalypse Now mantra of 'never get out of the boat, maaan'.

    • .

  • Such an A-B journey on the character's home world I would just skim over with maybe just a few interesting sights thrown in. When people are in strange territory, however, I like to go into plenty of detail to emphasise the 'otherness' of the place. One of the things I didn't like about the Planescape setting is that they made the Outer Planes seem a bit mundane. I do use Planescape material sometimes but I try to make sure the players never feel at home in the Outer Planes.

    • .

  • Gao Kung is an NPC, and also one of the big guns in the party. I gave him to one of the players to run, a player whose own characters are a bit underpowered for this adventure - so that he gets a slice of the action when things turn ugly (which, in the Abyss, is quite frequently). It's never much fun running NPC vs NPC fights while the players sit and watch. I gave Xipil to another player to run as well. Everyone else are player characters.
    • lurkinggherkin — Thu, 2007-07-26 08:50

    Rescuers - Two More Helpings

    http://www.community.fogonline.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopi...

    http://www.community.fogonline.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopi...

    Just to let people know I'm still around, and still reading this low-traffic, high-quality forum. Both my Mum and my Aunt passed away recently and then I had to bail my cousin out of a mess of trouble so I've had a lot to deal with.

    I seem to recall that Morbus was due to become a daddy a while back. Don't remember hearing any more. Hope everything is going fine with that. Hope Gilgamesh's wedding plans are coming along well also.

    lurkinggherkin — Sat, 2007-10-13 22:50

    Rescuers Returns

    http://community.fogonline.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&p=...

    Yep, I'm still here. Been pretty busy lately. The campaign's still going strong, just behind on my write-ups!

    lurkinggherkin — Thu, 2007-12-06 23:37

    Rescuers Continues

    This adventure has now actually ended and the group are about to start something new. As I'm so far behind on this journal I have decided to lapse from my usual narrative style and blitz through with a straight list of events and place descriptions.

    http://community.fogonline.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&p=...

    Still more to come. It's a bit of a dry read, doing it like this, but it's still a useful plot recap for my amnesiac bunch of players!

    lurkinggherkin — Thu, 2007-12-20 09:34

    More Rescuers

    For those who are interested...

    http://community.fogonline.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&p=...

    lurkinggherkin — Fri, 2007-12-21 09:47

    Yet More Rescuers

    http://community.fogonline.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&p=...

    ...and a Merry Christmas / Happy Hannukah / etc to all Gamegrene readers and contributors!

    lurkinggherkin — Wed, 2008-01-16 20:35

    Rescuers Forges Onwards

    http://community.fogonline.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&p=...

    Happy New Year to you all...

    lurkinggherkin — Fri, 2008-01-18 13:10

    Update on this thread - it looks like he (the aforementioned MMOG-zombified player) may have burnt out on WoW at last, and is set to make a welcome return to the gaming table. He joined us for a 'Christmas special' and seems to be re-enthused....

    lurkinggherkin — Mon, 2008-03-17 21:09

    Rescuers - Another Serving

    http://fogonline.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=1599#1599

    lurkinggherkin — Tue, 2008-03-18 22:49

    Rescuers Proceeds

    http://fogonline.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=1600#1600

    lurkinggherkin — Wed, 2008-03-19 17:40

    Rescuers Keeps Coming

    http://fogonline.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=1601#1601

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