Dungeons of Thistlemoor // Warden's Retrospective 01
Well met, friend. May Lunasol shine on thee.
Once in a while I want to put my ol' thoughts on a page with the option of someone else reading it. A player? A stranger? A knave? Anyone is good. Welcome 😎. I think it's nice to read other GM's thoughts and so I want to give back to the community I've read hundreds and thousands of words from and deeply enjoyed by sharing my own.
Thistlemoor 🌲 is an ancient wilderness filled with dungeons and vaults that spiral into the deep. Fourtower Bridge (Thanks Paths Peculiar!) is the primary settlement (500~) and its growing with the influx of treasure and coin. Most knaves travel here to explore the dungeons in seek of fortune and fame, but due to the recent peace in the world, city-states and lords are sending expeditions to claim the dungeons as their own and harness them for resources and power.
In this fantasy world, Dwarves live under the earth, Humans live on the earth, and the Elves live in flying towers and galley ships. Greenkin are chaotic spawn of dirt and stone. Magik is constant.
THE GAME SO FAR 📜
This open table campaign started in the summer in OSE and the Rogue's Gallery Pregens. It was my first time running OSE and it quickly became a nightmare.
- Because I was learning the system at the table and
- Most of these sessions were with 5-8 people at a summer camp for less than 2 hours.
So I switched the system to DURF after the 5th (?) session so that new players could learn quicker and jump straight into the action. The only surviving pre-gen out of OSE is Greedo and Wispo, now converted into DURF.
The players in those early sessions (Sessions 1-4) mapped about half the 1st level of Stonehell, got TPK'd by Berserkers roasting an Orc, and fought a high-cost skirmish with the Open Sore Orcs in the south east quadrant.
In Sessions 5-7, we switched to DURF and they kept to the surface level of the Dungeon. That was the first time Sidwel and Euphemia (the party's preferred Porter's) came into play. They cleared the Gatehouse, tricking the Wolf Gang goblins into an ambush and looting the gatehouse completely. Greedo and Mîn (player of Grimnîr, Bjork, and Morgan) explored a small dungeon through an archway in the canyon's north side and Mîn was split in half by a Green Slime. Finally, one party checked the waterfall, finding the perfect metal spheres in the pond and source of the stream.
Session 8 was the first in two months and is the first logged into this Blog. Go read it if you're interested!
WHAT ABOUT NOW? 🤔
Recently, I discovered 100 Sessions in Yeoldleland's recaps (great inspiration!) and adopted its simpler format. I added their rule of giving 250xp to players that write a session recap, song, poetry, or art after a session they played and it has worked so far! If you go to Session 13, Üthred has written some poetry at the end.
The hex key is almost complete from Paths Peculiar Western Thistlemoor Map. I've also created a hex-flower that is Northeast which includes the North Country Dwarves. Still need to decide on the primary dungeon there.
I'm also putting together the house rules for this campaign in one document. DURF is awesome. To hit rolls that always result in damage one way or the other, simple but expandable magic, stupid-easy to run NPC's and Monsters, and Supplies are wicked. But I've needed more here and there to match my insatiable hunger for MORE 😮💨. It has been a nightmare using the DURF Preview, Knave 2E, Errant and my own notes on one computer screen. Soon, I'll have all the rules I need in one document + my notes on another. Lots of Errant's procedures fit nicely with DURF (Ava Islam even uses Supplies!) and Errant's economic system is the best in the rules lite RPG world. I'm using Knave 2E's Relic Magic and additional hireling rules as well since my players are always hiring people.
Eventually my dear players, all the rules will be in one place for you. For now, the DURF preview should be adequate. For now, a kiss on the forehead will have to due 😗.
So overall, this campaign is going nicely. I hope to get to at least 30 sessions. 50 would be a dream. 100 is my goal. The pull of my beloved (Cairn 2E) and Paradiso's Blades of Gixa once it is released may pull me away but we will see.
If we wanna go way back (last year), I tried Stonehell with two players in Knave 1E. They met the Kobold work crews then got absolutely murked by spitting cobras and the Open Sore Orcs. Those were the first 3 characters to die in Stonehell. This is pre-history and therefore Session 0. Their loot is still findable in the Dungeon 😈.