Gaming Digest

Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

Regina Fierce and the Alligator's Eye: For my birthday week, my friend Kevin ran a game of Pulp-Era Savage Worlds for us at our favorite local watering hole. I didn't love the pre-gen hero, so I revamped him into a strong black woman named Regina Fierce. Why? BECAUSE IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY, DAMMIT. It's an interesting system - no d20s and combat-light, kind of like the Serenity RPG, and the mechanic of "exploding the dice" had pretty hilarious results. Kevin did a good job of balancing genre tropes (apparently the hallmark of the Savage Worlds system) and meaningful character choices. 9/10, would play again.

Once Upon A Crime: Also for my birthday week, Mac wrote a fairy-tale themed murder mystery party. I played the Evil Queen/detective - I wore an old's bridesmaid's dress with a Party City crown and striped wrist-warmers. In other words, HAWT. My goal was to solve the poisoning of my brother, the Dark Wizard (played by Mac). The characters were hilarious, both in writing and execution, and everyone got really into their costumes. We learned our lessons from earlier murder mysteries, and had little games/activities for people to do while I was detecting (cookie decorating, card games, and "stay dry" apple bobbing). I also realized that I REALLY like playing an evil character, especially when I get to play to lead role at the same time. Should I be worried...? 

Regular games (Serenity, D&D: Silver Company, and D&D: Family Ties) after the jump! 

There's no place I can be, since I found Serenity: I actually have two Serenity sessions to recap (oops). In the first, the crew went on a rescue mission to free some slaves from a mining colony before an ion storm wiped them out. My character, Captain Dao-ming, has the Complication that she is Prejudiced against slavers. The group decided to leave her back on this ship - she helped out some via a two-way communications device, but in the end couldn't stand it anymore and rushed out of the ship to kick some slaver butt. Luckily, this coincided with the rest of the crew's daring escape, so she was well-positioned for when fighting broke out. In the end they saved the slaves and got away clean.

The next mission, oddly enough, was using their transport ship to actually transport things. The crew took on a couple passengers - the actor Lort Acre, a woman named Vera Jenny, and her ailing mother - and some cargo - a shipment of toys to an orphanage and some wheat in stasis. Wire and Leland teamed up to keep the passengers happy, while our new doctor Abdiel did his best to keep the old lady alive. Time Bomb kept the wheat stable while Rawhide kept the ship in the air. In the middle of our four-day journey, they were attacked by agents of a corporation that Lort had stolen from - and Dao-ming got to punch someone to death, which always puts her in a good mood. In the end, Lort paid the crew extra for their trouble, the wheat was preserved, and the bag of toys made it to the orphanage. Sadly, despite the best efforts of the crew, the little old lady passed away before reaching her destination. Their profit on the trip (minus expenses) was 6 units of cashy money. Woo hoo!

Living in Ashenport is fine, but I wouldn't want to visit: For my home D&D campaign, we continued the module The Last Breaths of Ashenport. Our heroes awake from their rest within the corrupted temple and stumble upon a group of townsfolk performing some kind of ritual. They defeated a small cadre of Fish Men as well as two priests - one of whom reveals that the villagers/cultists worship someone they call Father Dagon. While Marianna was not at first able to recall where she had heard the name, on further reflection (taking 20) she remembered he is a demon lord known at the Prince of the Depths. They also find that one of the Fish Men used to be one of the merchants' bodyguards - apparently those who are lost to the ocean don't stay lost. There was no more to discover beneath the church, so they returned to the surface - only to hear the dreadful Call once more. Sidenote: The award for DM's favorite moment goes to Aranelle and Ugarth - Aranelle was high-tailing it towards a watery doom, when Ugarth came bounding around the corner and tackled her to the ground. BOOM! You're welcome.

As soon as they save their comrades, our heroes become aware of more screaming from the Smooth Sailing Inn. Running as fast as they can, they manage to save two of the three merchants and several of the body guards. One of the bodyguards tells them he saw some villagers congregating at a certain beach - but before he could investigate further he was interrupted by the Call. Our adventurers head to the beach and repel down a sheer cliff face, finding a hidden cave. Suddenly, they were attacked by a giant crustacean (at least, that's how I imagined it - the description is somewhat vague)! A tough solo fight ensued, leaving our heroes extremely battered and bruised - but with lobster for dinner, so it's not so bad. Next they'll proceed into the caves - what could possibly go wrong? 

Blood is thicker than what, again?: In Mac's home D&D campaign, Valna and Kismet were joined by Bishop and Travok in the elemental chaos. "Hey, guys! Where did you come from?" // "We have ALWAYS been here..." Anyway, it's been so long that I can only really remember the cool things my character did, so get ready for a SUPER biased summary. The party forged ahead, battling their way past the acid monsters that inhabit the amethyst mountain. At the summit, they found the villain who was using the powers of a ring to control the mountain - and was responsible for running it into the Githzerai monastery. Kismet used his "Timeless Trek in the Mithrendain" power to banish him to the feywild for one turn - effectively disrupting his devastating acid orb (sustain minor this, sucker!). After his defeat, however, the mountain started to fall apart! Kismet used his Bluff skill - because the Elemental Chaos is a realm controlled by the powers of the mind, and also because Mac is a kind DM - to call shards of the amethyst to form a surfboard and carry him safely down. And he made sure to whip out the magic mirror that is their connection to Stumbleduck to show her how FREAKING COOL he looked. The group then returned to the mysterious Rule of Three with their spoils... only to be reminded they have two more tasks to complete before he shows them how to find a portal to the Abyss. Kismet strongly considers leaving his lost Uncle to his fate.