Thanksgiving Fun

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving week and we'll see you all on Monday!

The Dragon's Rest

Deep in the Varanath Mountain Range is a complex of caves which holds wonders beyond imagine.  The cave complex, with huge caverns and winding tunnels runs for miles.  In spots it only big enough for human to pass through, in others a full grown dragon could be quite comfortable.

And they are.

This complex is the home of not only most of the dragons who were once bonded to Varanath, but also to the great Gate Dragon Fire Flash, himself.  This is where the dragons come to hibernate, meet to catch up and to leave their treasure.  After thousands of years there is quite the treasure horde.  Though there are not many dragons at a time in this complex, all of which are related to Fire Flash in some manner, there is at least one home.  And there are magical and mechanical traps through out the complex.  On top of this, it is easy to get lost in the tunnel system because of its complexity and because of spells Fire Flash has put upon it so people he has not allowed in the tunnels and caverns are misdirected.  Entering here without permission could result in pretty much instant death.

Furball the Dog

Every adventurer, woodsman and pathfinder needs a companion and what better companion then a dog.  Furball is no exception.  A huge, white dog with grey face stripes and  grey socked feet he loves everybody.  Larger then some ponies he carries supplies for his master Thera, a guide near Goldleaf.  He also loves to play chase, retrieve things and be with his person.  But Furball is special dog.  He is smarter then the average dog and some people (roleplaying terms he has an Intellect of 12) and has lived longer then the average dog. (Thera has had him for twenty five years and he was an adult when she found him.)  Thera doesn't know why he is so smart, yet revels in being a dog or where he comes from but she enjoys his company.  He is a good judge of people, ferreting out those who are lying and those who are telling the truth and can sense outsiders and demons easily.

Shouting Stone

Though few in the north know of such an object, those of the Empire use a Shouting Stone regularly.  A Shouting Stone is usually a small, round stone with a hole in the middle to have a rope or necklace run through.  Magical runes run all over the stone (or other small object the maker of a Shouting Stone wants to make it) and it glows faintly.  The stone is used to allow a person be heard a longer distance away then shouting would allow.  Most generals use these stones in battle and the general assembly uses it to be heard during debates.  As long as a person is holding the stone in their hand they project their voice up to five hundred yards away.

Dwarven Way Station Hardstone

On the east side of Taina, near the southern coast and Karoon is the Dwarven Way station of Hardstone.  This way station is a small fort, with a stone wall surrounding it, three stout buildings, (one of which is a warehouse) and their own well.  There is a cellar beneath each building that connects all three buildings, containing food, weapons and supplies to hold out for at least three weeks.  The well can actually be accessed from the cellar and blocked off so that those up above can't access it.  The dwarves use this way station to move their trade goods from the islands on into the mainland.  There is at least one caravan coming to or going out of here a week.  There is a permanent staff of two dozen dwarves, several of which are blacksmiths and healers.  Dwarven goods can be purchased here but they are expensive, since they are better then most human works of the same kind.

Trist the Mage

Trist is a nice guy, around thirty years old, brilliant when it comes to math and engineering, along with magic, but he's sort of absent minded about where he is and what he is doing.  Trist, being a human, is fairly tall, around six foot in height, medium build with cropped, dark hair.  He can't grow a beard to save his life and his blue eyes are filled with creativity and wonder.  He always wants to know how things are put together and work, whether mechanical or magical.  He will spend days trying to figure out how something works, forgetting to eat and sleep in the process.  He spends his days at the Mage Guild in Bloodhelm, teaching mathematics and simple offensive magic.  (They tried to allow him to teach strong offensive magic, since he is very powerful in the arts, but he accidentally a small building at the school when he was teaching one year.)  At night he takes apart or studies items that adventurers or the school have brought him to study.  He is more then willing to look at unusual finds that adventurers come across for free, as long as they give him a good run down at how and where they found the item.

If the party needs a jumping off point for adventure, such as Trist needs someone to do some field research for him, or they need to know about something to find, Trist might be a good NPC to use.

A Typical Gypsy Wagon

Several of my characters that I actually write about are gypsies or come from gypsies.  Gypsies usually have at least one wagon to carry their or the groups gear in as well as live in.  The wagon is usually bigger then a typical wagon, covered with solid sides and rough.  It requires at least two horses, (some of the bigger ones require teams of four) to pull.  Inside are bunk beds on one side, cupboards on the other to store everything from food to clothing.  They also carry cooking pots and trade goods inside.  Some gypsies actually carry around blacksmithing equipment, as well.  Anywhere from a single gypsy to a family of gypsies live in the wagon. If there are too many people some will sleep under the wagon.  In bad weather a tent like structure can be pulled out from the side to cover those who can't sleep inside.

The wagons are brightly colored, some times covered in bells, and travel slowly.  Horses are highly prized by gypsies, because without them they could not take their home with them and move on to the next great adventure.

Tipsoo, Hunter and Guide

Stationed out of Pathfinder, Tipsoo is a likable half elf that loves to see the world.  She gets along with most everyone, loves to go where ever adventurers go to see something new just around the bend.  Standing just over five feet tall, with a full head of red hair and bright green eyes, she breaks down the barriers of even the toughest mercenary.  Everyone loves to talk to her and see what she knows.  She hires out for a reasonable price, as a guide, and knows the good spots to get supplies in Pathfinder before leaving for adventure.  She has a small house in Pathfinder who she leaves in the care of her mother and older brother.  It is hard to find her in town because she loves to be out and about, but when an adventurer does find her she is ready to head out for high adventure as soon as possible.

Roleplaying in the Digital Age

In this day and age of video conferencing, phones that act like computers, and watches that have more memory then my father's TI computer even roleplaying has to catch up.  There are tons of MMOs on line, and while they provide pretty colors and sound effects, they are hard to roleplay on with friends.  But here are some new electronic tools you can exploit for your roleplaying experience.

1) The computer, obviously.  There are so many things you can do with a computer to enhance your roleplaying experience.  Draw maps, do email gaming, use conferencing to roleplay with friends far away.  So many things.  My husband and I did the email gaming, where I got my fodder for my book, but it is a little slow.  Skype and gaming platforms which enable live roleplaying on line are becoming quite common.

2) Small, animated trailers.  Now, you probably have to be pretty computer savoy to do this one, but wouldn't it be cool if you could do a movie trailer type monologue for your bad guy?

3) Just looking for pictures.  Some of us can't draw wonderfully, so what better place to find a picture then on line?

4) Real life maps turned table top gaming.  Why not?  The terrain of some Forest Service maps would be awesome for roleplaying adventures.

5) Digital Dice.  My husband cringes at that, but not all people have a huge box of random dice to choose from.  This way you can have small apps on your phone or computer to roll dice if you need something rolled!


Happy Gaming!