I was close to popping a hernia yesterday when I brought in my big box of D&D. For a while now, I have been contemplating bring the whole library back into the house, and yesterday was the day when I finally did it. So, as of today my office now holds all my old D&D material plus other assorted goodies.
the idea is that I will start gaming again with my old group, and based on those sessions I might be able to actually start posting to the blog again.
The funny thing about this blog, is that I always proclaim the death about D&D and yet it seems like I keep blogging about it. The other day I wrote about how I am no longer part of any groups, and D&D is kind of dead for me and blah blah blah.
So anyway, I am talking to this friend of mine, who used to be in my old group, and he actually suggests that we start playing again. I send a few emails, and before I know it, we have established the old group and are planning a weekend trip to a summerhouse to get some serious gaming done. How about that.
Right now we are trying to decide if we should play Dragonlance or Vampire. I am hoping for D&D Dragonlance although Vampire sounds pretty tasty too.
Well sort of.
Recently I was invited to join a Dune gaming group, so it looks like I have made a switch from roleplaying games to board games. Whether this is a new trend or what remains to be seen, but I have just bought the Dune Trilogy, so maybe I will get into this for real.
So, true to my geeky self, I have started a new project. Actually, I have started an old project, which I originally began back in 1995 and never really finished.
I have decided to pack all my old writing into one single file and create my own Dragonlance compendium. The project included a friend of mine, who has now left these shores, so I will take the liberty of rewriting some of his stuff as I see fit.
At this point, I am deciding whether the War of Souls should be part of the setting, since we originally started to write this compendium, because we didn’t like the War of Souls. However, there are so many cool changes in Dragonlance, that I think I will try to incorporate these in order to move the setting forward.
Needless to say, this is a pretty big project, and if I ever finish it, it will take me a long time. However, instead of complaining about a dead world, I will try to put my money where my mouth is and actually make a contribution to it.
I am finally sitting down with my group getting ready to play a round of Dungeons & Dragons. We are playing in the Mystara setting, so not Dragonlance this time.
Right now we are trying to find our characters and remember the rules, so I have a little time to write a blog post. Luckily I keep my character online, so I could find my wizard right away. You can see my wizard here.
Check out the table. Gone are the character sheets replaced by software applications. The flowers are not our idea by the way.
Well, it has been a very long time since I posted anything on this blog. In all honesty, I have not really had anything interesting to blog about, and I have been pretty busy with my “regular life”, so to speak.
Fortunately I have been reading quite a bit lately. Last night I finished the Dark Disciple trilogy, which was only the second time I read it. I enjoyed it immensely, while at the same time being a little bit sad that Wizards of the Coast has killed off Dragonlance. I think the world Margaret Weis portrays in this trilogy is very exciting, and it could have made a good foundation for further Dragonlance gaming products and novels. Alas, that is not going to happen.
So, what am I going to do now in terms of my gaming? Well, unexpectedly, I received an email from my DM, and it looks like we will actually be playing again in August. At least we are going to make the attempt. Of course, that means I have to find my wizard and give that second level he earned a year ago.
The world in which we play is not Krynn, it is Mystara. I always liked Mystara a lot, so I am fine with that. However, I have little hope or expectation that we will ever become a tightly knit gaming group, or that we will play with the frequency we used to, but I will take what I can get these days.
As for this blog, I have been looking into a redesign and I am now down to three options. One of these evenings I will make the transition, which will hopefully make the blog a little bit more appealing visually. As for the content part I am still at a loss. I have not produced any new material that I can post here, and since there are no new novels coming out there’s not much left to do but to complain about the state of things.
I’d rather not have this blog turning into something negative, so at least I will write about the campaign in which I partake. I have thought about getting more into the community as well, so I will be looking into that as well.
Should anybody feel inclined to get in touch with me, I can be reached via email: dragonlance (at) gigaboot (dot) dk. Drop me a line if you have any suggestions for the blog, or if you just want to say hi.
PS: I have created a new Gmail/Google Id, so future posts will seem like they come from a different author. That is not the case though. I am the person behind both handles.
The Dragonlance Nexus has a post about Paizo’s Dragonlance sale. So if you have a couple of extrra dollars to burn this month, I suggest you give it a look.
Check it out here.
I was looking through some of my old files, and I found a document I started back in the day with various adventure hooks. See, I used to keep a notebook with me at all times so I could write down ideas for my campaigns. It kept me from going insane many a time. Too bad I can’t do the same thing in current job. Maybe I should start blogging at work?
Anyway, screw my lousy job, here’s the first adventure hook from my old notebook.
The Minotaur Revolt
The ogres are known for their use of slave labor. Among the numerous slaves kept in Daltigoth, a group of minotaurs, who has been taken prisoners and are currently working the mines or building new houses for the ogres. These minotaurs are yearning for freedom, and would gladly join the impending slaughter of the ogres. A powerful group of adventures might succeed in penetrating Daltigoth and free the slaves. However, due to the cultural differences it might prove more than difficult to integrate the minotaurs into the invading army. If the player characters convince the slaves that they are people of honor, the slaves will fight in the war. Given the intimate knowledge of Daltigoth they have, the slaves are valuable allies and it is believed that the leader of the minotaurs will be rewarded with a seat on the ruling council of the oligarchs.
I intended to run these adventure hooks as little interludes in a much grander campaign “The Wizard’s War”. The party was involved in a huge attack on the city of Daltigoth, and the plan was to let that be the overall theme, however, in order to let the players get a little R&R I would let them stray from the main campaign once in a while.
Alas, it never came to pass…
I created this sword maybe 12 years ago for a minotaur PC, who was a member of the party for which I was DMing. The party was around level 10 (2nd edition rules), and travelled beyond the world of Krynn.
This party was basically a bunch of good guys, who fought evil with remarkable savagery. I decided to use the Ravenloft setting, so I added the Domain of Dread to my own Dragonlance setting. The wizard in the party was a Red Robe with few scruples, which made him susceptible to the influence of the dark powers of Ravenloft.
I needed a character who could pull the party in the direction of good, and as it turned out, the player, who played the minotaur agreed to provide this counterbalance. In order to empower him, and send him on a epic quest, I created the sword Icingdeath.
I stole the name from Forgotten Realms, as it is the name of a white dragon killed by Drizzt Do’Urden. I include the only write up of the sword I could find on laptop. I seem to remember there was a richer back story to the weapon, but unfortunately I cannot find it. I haven’t updated the weapon to 3rd or 4th edition rules either. I don’t have the 4th edition rules, and since my gaming days are long gone, I didn’t see any reason for me to update to 3.5 either.
I hope somebody will find this interesting and maybe update the stats. I’d be more than happy to post the stats on the blog, so if feel free to email me should you decide to update my sword. Email me at dragonlance (at) gigaboot (dot) dk
Icingdeath
Used by: Fighters, The white minotaur.
Description: This sword looks like a normal clabbard, except it glows with a faint white light when drawn.
Powers: Being a Frost Brand Icingdeath has the following natual powers:
Secrets: Icingdeath is an intelligent sword and has the following additional powers:
Special purpose: Slay fire using/dwelling creatures
Defenses: Icingdeath chooses its own user and thus does not permit any lesser fighter to wield it. The unfortunate one is subject to a cold shock doing 2d12 points of damage.
This little introduction is something I wrote for a campaign i started about 10 years ago with my old Dragonlance group. I needed an evil nation to counter Neraka and the Dragonarmies, so I made up the Hierarchs. The idea was that they should be very secretive and very violent in order to inspire fear and dread in the party. we stopped playing shortly after, so I never got to use them that much. I was planning on having the Dragonarmies butcher the Hierarchs in a orgy of violence but that never came to pass.
In the wake of the War of the Lance a group of people formed an unholy alliance, which was supposed to turn them into the most powerful force in Ansalon. Their tools were deceit, treachery and murder; and their willingness to commit the foulest deeds. Among these were renegade ogres, draconians and even a dragon or two. Other than that many wicked humans flocked to the group’s condor banner.
The groups, or Hierarchs as they call themselves, are not surprisingly followers of the dark god of vengeance Sargonnas. The Hierarchs are attempting to establish a powerbase in Ansalon and they have chosen the ancient city of Shrentek as their main city. With lightning speed and incredible precision, the Hierarchs’ forces were able to defeat the original inhabitants and take over the city and the surrounding areas. The people that were not killed were used as slaves and they were promptly put to work rebuilding the city in honor of Sargonnas.
Through the hard work of the slaves and the aid of their dark god’s infernal servants, the city was constructed in a matter of months. The Hierarchs solidified their grasp on the area, while maintaining a high degree of secrecy. They are still a rather unknown force, but whispers about them are slowly spreading across the Eastern part of Ansalon. The Silvanesti elves are concerned about an evil power so close to their borders, and are preparing for war.
For the time being, the Hierarchs do not posses the military might to challenge the regions of Khur, Blöde and Silvanesti, which is why they use spies to infiltrate and gather vital information. These spies are spread out all over the Eastern seaboard, providing the Hierarchs with an accurate rendition of the political climate.
The Hierarchs are currently considering a new foe – The Cabal. Gil-Galad has made his home in the area coveted by the Hierarchs, which has caused the two to clash on occasion. Currently, the conflict is not yet violent in nature; however, the future does seem rather unstable. If the Hierarchs decide to go up against the combined might of the Cabal, the region will surely experience destruction and death. Unbeknownst to the Hierarchs, the Cabal is reluctant to enter into an open conflict, because a lot of resources are gathered in Daltigoth.
The biggest obstacle to the plans of the Hierarchs is the tribes of Khur. In terms of military might a united Khur would almost certainly be able to repel any attacking force, given their knowledge of the treacherous lands of the region. Unfortunately, the tribes have a lot of internal rivalry, which prevent them from uniting behind one cause or leader. The Hierarchs are aware of this situation, and they attempt to fan the flames by attacking certain tribes making it look like the work of their enemies. Furthermore, the Hierarchs try to form alliances with some of the tribes that are willing to join the ranks of the Condor. However, since only a fool would trust the Hierarchs, the alliances are shaky at best. Moreover, the Hierarchs have managed to pace spies in many tribes, which give them a lot of information regarding the in fight that takes place. The spies have attained different ranks throughout Khur, ranging from common foot soldier to trusted advisor of the Zulkirs. Evidently, the Hierarchs are a major influence in the region, albeit a hidden one. The Hierarchs’ main goal is to dispose of the Khan who is currently the closest thing Khur has to a regent.