Faster Than A Speeding Buick

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

When flipping through GameMastery Module E1: Carnival of Tears, one thing immediately jumped out at me. There is a creature, known as a quickling, in the module with a speed of 240 feet. At first I though this must be a misprint, but Jeremy assured me that it was correct. This fey, called Prig in the module, is so blindingly fast that catching him is half the encounter. Fortunately for you, he is in the mood for mischief, not evasion. To celebrate the upcoming release of Carnival of Tears, I thought I would give you a few fun facts concerning this speedy antagonist.

1. Looking back at D1: Crown of the Kobold King, if Prig started at the beginning of the dungeon, he could make his way all the way down to the king, slap him in the face, and make it back to the surface in four rounds with time to spare.

2. If he had an open road, Prig could run from one end of the Bloodsworn Vale, featured in W1: Conquest of Bloodsworn Vale, and back again in a little over one hour, since he has a land speed of just over 109 mph.

3. With a running start, Prig could easily jump over the underground lake featured in D2: Seven Swords of Sin.

4. Check out U1: Gallery of Evil—Prig could run 16 complete circles around the Gauthfallow Mansion in exactly 1 minute.

5. Using his Spring Attack feat, if Prig started out 100 feet away from Scepter (from J1: Entombed with the Pharaohs), he could run up, pinch his nose, and then run away, ending his movement outside the range of every single one of Scepter's spells and his wand rifle.

6. In E1: Carnival of Tears, Prig can use his Jump skill (+100) to easily clear 25-foot-tall tents and cause no end of havoc for your PCs.

Jason Bulmahn
GameMastery Brand Manager

The Riders of the North

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

The fey of Darkmoon Vale were not always evil. For decades they lived and played under the spreading branches of the forest, content to remain close to the land that sustained them. But recently, things have changed within the forest. The establishment of the lumber mill in Falcon's Hollow has given rise to a veritable army of woodsmen bent on leveling the forest and plundering its wealth of darkwood. Hunters and trappers have descended into the forest, seeking furs and trophies to take back to the markets of Andoran. Slowly but surely, the creatures within the forest began to change. Anger and fear replaced the capricious playfulness of its fey guardians, and the icy grip of hate descended on the land. Far away, in her frozen palace in Irrisen, the Witch Queen sensed opportunity, and dispatched a cold rider to Darkmoon Vale.

With the first breath of winter's frost he arrived in the forest, and as ice and snow descended upon the land, his corrupting presence wormed its way into the hearts of the fey, transforming them into creatures of nightmare.

In E1: Carnival of Tears, the PCs must face off against this implacable foe who seeks to drive the humans from Falcon's Hollow, and in so doing, gain an unbreakable hold over the fey creatures that live there. Cold Riders are terrifying armored majesties, clad in sable cloaks of frost, a pair of almost ridiculously large crystal-blue antlers cresting their dread helms of ice and steel. These dark monsters were once princes of the forest. Brought living before the Witch Queen, she stole their songs and their love of green and beauty and replaced them with cold hate. The riders are her knights gallant and her favored minions in her war on the sun, the green, and all things that recoil from her frigid touch. They delight in perversion, slaughter, and the corruption of other fey. It is their solemn duty to bring fresh souls and candidates for transformation into cold riders back to their queen's court, and they relish this charge. The paired mini-whirlwinds of effervescent frost swirling in their visors can chill the hearts of the most stalwart with a frigid glance, and the vapor-fog floating from them often takes the shape of their former fair features, screaming in silent agony and twisting into malformed wisps in the rising wind.

Jeremy Walker
Assistant Editor, GameMastery

I Am Afraid of Clowns

Monday, November 19, 2007

No, seriously, they kinda creep me out. This is not some sort of abject terror that makes me run screaming anytime I happen upon the "spokesclown" of a certain famous fast food restaurant, but it does make me shudder. Suffice to say, when we started planning out adventures, I knew that having one populated by horrible carnival folk would be a winner (or if you prefer... a "wieenahh"). Anyway, GameMastery Module E1: Carnival of Tears is scheduled to hit our warehouse soon, so now seemed like a great time to show you some of the horrors this festival has to offer. Let's see: Horrible sideshow freaks, check. People slaughtered by the dozens, check. Carnival games that get more than a bit deadly, check. And of course, evil little clowns (well, sort of), check. To top it off, the entire adventure is set in Falcon's Hollow, the starting point for D0: Hollow's Last Hope and D1: Crown of the Kobold King. While these adventures are not necessary for play, they do add a great bit of continuity and background to the area.

Need a bit more convincing? Here's the back cover copy from E1.

IT'S ALL FUN AND GAMES UNTIL SOMEONE LOSES HIS SOUL

On the eve of a terrible winter, the carnival comes to Falcon's Hollow, bringing with it one last chance for fun before the long cold nights to come. But when mirth turns to murderous mayhem, only the heroes can stop the terror-filled ride.

Carnival of Tears is an event-based adventure for 5th-level characters compatible with the world's most popular fantasy roleplaying game. This adventure includes details on all of the carnival's many attractions, both playful and deadly, as well as the shadowy assailants bent on slaughtering the townsfolk.

This adventure is set in Falcon's Hollow, a small town nestled near the boughs of the Darkmoon Vale. This area is also the site of GameMastery Module D1: Crown of the Kobold King, available online or from your favorite local game store.

Jason Bulmahn
GameMastery Brand Manager

The Fey Are Coming

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

GameMastery Module W1: Conquest of Bloodsworn Vale has arrived in our warehouse and is about to ship to subscribers (although if you sign up now, you can still get the module and a free PDF). Although I've chatted about fey before, now is as good time to look at the fey in this module with some detail. If you plan on playing this module be forewarned—spoilers lurk below.

Here are some facts about the Roseblood Sprites, presented as a Knowledge (nature) skill check.

DC	Information
13	Roseblood Sprites are evil fey that live in an area known as Bloodsworn Vale. They are a menace to travelers and workmen alike, and even to adventurers if encountered in a large group (known as a bushel).
18	These fey have the ability to transform into ordinary rose bushes, and have a penchant for using the beautifully thorny plants in their armor and weapons.
23	Roseblood Sprites have a number of magical abilities involving trickery, and can pass through wooded areas with ease.
28	Roseblood Sprites who congregate in large groups are often led by a king who is far more powerful than his kin, with the ability to awaken rosebushes and turn them into sprites.

Beyond this basic information, the fey living in Bloodsworn Vale have another nasty habit. As of late, their victims have been found mutilated, missing one or both of their ears. Rumors hold that this is some sort of trophy gathering by the malicious sprites, but some say that something far more sinister is afoot.

Well, that's all for Conquest of Bloodsworn Vale. If you've not checked out this module, stop by your local game store, visit our booth at GenCon, or take a look through some of the other posts on this blog. Next week, we'll start "delving" into D2: Seven Swords of Sin.

Jason Bulmahn
GameMastery Brand Manager

I Hate Fey

Friday, May 4, 2007

I've never been the biggest fan of fey. Every time I use one in a game, there tends to be a quiet undertone of giggles and cheap jokes. Today, for example, when discussing this very blog post, we came upon the idea of chatting about the fey that play a part in W1: Conquest of Bloodsworn Vale. Within seconds, Wesley Schneider called out that I like "pretty, pretty princesses." Suffice to say... you can see why I don't like fey.

That said, when we plotted out Conquest the idea of using fey as one of the villains just made sense, and I set out to make fey something players might fear instead of mock. There is a dark side to nature, a savage side that these fey, known as roseblood sprites, fully embrace. You won't catch them frolicking through the forest or tending to a grove of flowers. These fey are more likely to paralyze you with poisoned rose thorns, murder you, and cut off your ears for their demented king. The illo sketch above is just one of the sketches from this module, showing the moment that our hero stumbles upon their grim feast (that hunk of meat might just resemble a human thigh). That ought to keep players from giggling.

And now I toss the question back to you—are fey pint-sized hippies, unhinged nature spirits, or something else entirely? Post on our messageboards and let us know what you think.

Jason Bulmahn
GameMastery Brand Manager