Pat Luther's page

Goblin Squad Member. Organized Play Member. 188 posts. No reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 2 Organized Play characters.



Scarab Sages

Thanks again to everyone in my game tonight!
You were all awesome at your roles, and I really enjoyed DMing it!

Thanks especially "Professor" for your opening narration. It was perfect for setting the tone.

And, "Marjoline", (sorry I didn't get any of your real names), has there ever been a better last line to a game than "I'm going to go back to France and disappoint the Nazis."

Thanks, everyone, you were all awesome!

Scarab Sages

So, looks like there's a few players signed up for this, so that's good. :)

The following is a bit of background - I'll be handing it out at the beginning of the game while we get settled in, but it ran a bit longer than I'd intended (I didn't have time to write it shorter), so I thought I'd share it here ahead of time in case anyone was interested.

The character names are the pre-generated PCs, with the exception of the Potters (no relation). There are no spoilers - this is all information you will start the game with.

----------------

In October of 1923 the small Innsmouth boarding house owned by Beverly and Abraham Potter played host to a number of people, strangers to each other.

Strange things were afoot. It started with strange noises at night, then disappearances. Then murder.

Eventually you found out what was going on. You attempted to put a stop to it. Then it got weird. Below the basement, and past the wine cellar, you found a hidden entrance to the cave system that had been rumoured to lie beneath the town. A short way in you found the misshapen beast that had once been Abraham Potter, in what could only be described as the laboratory of a mad scientist.

Abraham, had discovered an ancient tome of forbidden knowledge. He intended to use it to make himself immortal. He had help with strange beings From Beyond what we know of time and space. Too much death. Too much destruction. He had to be stopped.

He was.

It was Mary, on her way to the coast after her freshman year away at University, who stole the book from the locked desk upstairs.

Marjorie, the young actress on her way to Boston for her big break, and Ethel, the mechanic’s wife, just stopping for the night on her way to visit her sick mother in Arkham, together blasted the beast with rifles, over and over until it stopped advancing. But even then it wasn’t dead.

Nathaniel, the aspiring novelist, who assisted Charles in tying up the misshapen beast that had once been Abraham Potter, and assisted Florence, in translating the binding spell, and assisted Jack, a rough traveler on unknown business, in laying the dynamite that brought down the ceiling of the cave, trapping Abraham and the unfortunate Charles under it forever.

Florence, volunteering for the local suffragette movement, helped translate the ritual from the original Latin.

The stout disbeliever in all things supernatural, David, came to learn better, almost but not quite too late to assist Florence and Hubert in the actual casting the ritual that sealed the basement door forever.

In the aftermath:

Mary was rushed to the hospital, but by the time you got there, she was already in coma. The doctors were unsure when, if ever, she would awaken.

Ethel was left at the hospital in critical but stable condition, with several broken ribs.

Marjorie was luckier, and her broken arm was set in a cast and she was released.

Jack walked away and never made it back to the boarding house with the rest of the survivors.

Charles was last seen holding back his uncle as the ceiling poured down on top of him.

Hubert and Nathaniel, both left as gibbering wrecks, their minds shattered by what they had seen, were taken to Arkham Asylum for evaluation.

Florence, treated for minor injuries and then released, was the only one to continue her stay at the boarding house after the Events.

David - Although passed out while casting the final spell, after a good night’s sleep, he seemed as good as new and hopped the next train out of town.

When it was over, you all went your separate ways. You said you’d stay in touch. You didn’t. For twenty years, you went on with your lives, though perhaps you paid a bit more attention to the papers when they reported that minor mob figure Jack Metzger had been indicted for racketeering, or that Florence Jefferson had been called to testify in front of congress on the bold maneuvers that made her so successful during the great depression when so many others lost everything. And perhaps even a bit more attention than most when it was announced that Marjorie des Caches, star of stage and screen, had returned to her native France with her long time “friend” Claire ahead of yet another Hollywood scandal.

But you went on with your life.
And now, twenty years later, you have received a letter from Jennifer, the daughter of the original owners. She has called you back because she needs your help.

Despite the war, you manage to make your way once again to Innsmouth, to find that Jennifer runs what is now an upscale Bed and Breakfast.

And once again, strange things are afoot.

Scarab Sages

I just left PaizoCon, and now I'm on a train. Thank you all for a great weekend, whether you were the people who helped organize it, or if you ran games, or just made the games better by having fun playing them.

This was the first year I was there that I didn’t run anything – not even in open gaming. Not because I wasn’t interested, I just never got around to it because my schedule was so full! I think next year I’m gonna try to get back into the lottery.

Quick summary of my weekend:
Played Fiasco for the first time ever. First character (16th century England) ended up spending 20 years sentenced to Australia before escaping and plotting his revenge. Second character, after living through the apocalypse and trying and failing to rebuild civilization ended up getting crippled and crawling into the desert to die. What fun stories!

Also played Pathfinder Society with my own character for the first time. I made a Fighter for it. It was an investigation scenario, and I had no investigation skills (My highest was Diplomacy, at +0. Actually, that’s not true. That character also has a +9 Intimidation skill. I did make one Intimidate skill check. I rolled a 1 (the lowest possible), for a total of 10. I needed a 12. That was the skill check I came closest to making in that game. Finally, at the end, there’s a big fight scene. Evil cleric has an evil familiar that casts a Cloak of Fear over the battleground. My fighter is the only one who fails his saving throw, and spends the rest of the fight running away.
That was actually a very fun game!

Then there was Firefly. Half the crew was missing, but their replacements were all excellent. It’s got its own thread, so more about that there.

Frank Mentzer ran a 1974-style D&D game. I played a Cleric (name of rehtulp, to fit the style). Got hit by an Ogre, then kicked by an animated banquet table, which killed me. That was a fun game. There’s a lot to be said about the games before the term “balance” was introduced.

Continuity was great. Character there ended up by getting locked outside of a space station outside the orbit of Pluto. She turned off the com, turned on some Mozart, and kicked off in the direction of the Sun, with about four hours of air supply left.

Managed to get my entire Family killed in Gloom, the card game, on Sunday. So, you know, continued the theme.

I’m missing a couple of other deaths, I think. Maybe it’ll come to me later.

At any rate, it was a great con, played in a lot of very fun games, so thank you everybody for making it happen!

Scarab Sages

I'm going to be running a game of Metamorphosis Alpha, (first edition) .
Probably Thursday at 1pm.
If you're not familiar with it, MA is an older game (1976 to be exact), similar to first edition D&D, set in a post-apocalyptic future with wild technology, mutant powers, and the last survivors struggling to survive amidst the ruins of a long-forgotten civilization. Great fun :)

No experience is necessary, and the game itself is relatively kid-friendly.

If you're interested, let me know here. If you can't make that time, but are interested if it was some other time, post that here, too. The schedule for it isn't set in stone. :)

Watch this space. I'll post the exact spacetime coordinates once they're set.

Scarab Sages

Also, anyone interested in sharing a ride up from Portland Wednesday night and/or back on Sunday afternoon?

I'm currently planning on taking the train, but if you got space in a car, I can chip in for gas.

Scarab Sages

I didn't get my games into the lottery this year (because I wasn't ready to submit them until way after the deadline, so completely not Sara Marie's or anybody else at Paizo's fault in case anyone was concerned.) But, anyway, I'm going to be running a couple of them at some point. I'm arriving Wednesday night, so possibilities include Thursday, or during the banquet, or at any other time during the con that I don't have anything else scheduled for, dedending on who's interested and what their schedules are. (So, exact times won't be determined until after the lottery, and after the Firefly game is scheduled.) (So, maybe not until after the con starts :)

Anyway, the games I'll be running are:
The War of the Warden, Part 1
Metamorphosis Alpha, First Edition

Quote:
Hundreds of years ago, the Generation Ship Warden passed through a radioactive cloud, damaging its systems and sending it off course. Generations later, mutated creatures roam the landscape, forming small communities and roving bands, knowledge of the past for the most part lost. You and your companions have over the last couple of years rediscovered much of this lost knowledge and another fact as well. The Warden is headed toward a star, and the automated guidance systems are long destroyed. Unless you can find a way to restore them, the ship and every living thing aboard it will be destroyed within a year. But even if you find a way, there are those who are trying to stop you.

All ages. No experience necessary.

All materials will be provided.

Terror in the Tunnels
Call of Cthulhu, Fifth Edition

Quote:


Just under a month ago, a massive American campaign caused your forces to abandon the tunnels near Cu Chi. But now the tunnels need to be reclaimed as high command wants to use them for forward planning and supply for a massive offensive scheduled for next Tet. A previous expeditionary force through has failed to report back. Your special squad has been assembled to go check on the tunnels, make sure they're safe to return to (or as safe as they get, which was never very) and report on any ongoing American activity in the area. But there may be something in the tunnels worse than the American forces...

Mature players only. No experience needed.

All materials will be provided.

Scarab Sages

The Warden's Doom
System: Metamorphosis Alpha (1st edition)

It has been several years since you left your small village and stepped into a larger world.
It may have been larger but, it turns out, not as large as you thought. Eventually, you discovered you are on a man-made enclosure - a starship - fifty miles long and seventy levels high. Adrift is space after some disaster countless generations ago.

In your years of wandering, you've contended with the descendants of the original passengers, crew, robots, shipboard systems, and even plants and animals, mutated in a thousand ways, fractured into small bands, their original purpose long forgotten.

But now the Ship itself is in danger. And unless your small group of wandering adventurers can save it you and all aboard, possibly the last remnants of humanity amongst the start, will perish along with it.

Space for six players. So far mearrin69 and El-El have signed up, so there's room for four more.

Priority will be given to any who reply here and are there by five minutes after one. Otherwise, it'll be first-come-first-seated.

Scarab Sages

Looks like I got one this year - it's the Project Swallowtail playtest, so that's cool.

One question, though: I'm only listed for one of the two events I'm running. "Bite the Wax Tadpole", my Saturday morning Shadowrun game, is listed, but "Falling Into the Sky", my Friday night Metamporphosis Alpha game, is not. Did somebody else win the DM slot for that game?

Oh, well, I don't have anything else listed for Friday night, so maybe I'll show up anyway and see if there's room :)

(Seriously, though - is this game still listed, or did it get dropped from the schedule altogether? Is anyone in it?)

Scarab Sages

I'm going to Paizocon with three friends. They all wanted to get into my Campus Crusade for Cthulhu game, but none of them made it.

So I'm going to run the game separately for them on Thursday. There'll be space for at least three more players. It really needs at least four to work properly, so please come find us if you're interested.

I have no idea where we'll be playing (depends on what space is available at the hotel, and where we can find a table they won't mind us using for several hours). We'll probably start around 3 or 4 or so (depends on when we get there - we're driving from Eugene, Salem, and Portland :)

So, if you're going to be there on Thursday, and if you're interested in the game, look for us there (or watch this space. I'll update once I know exactly when and where we'll be).

Scarab Sages

So, I think I'll be GM-ing a couple of sessions again this year at PaizoCon. The call for games hasn't gone out yet, but it's only a matter of time. And it'll take me a while to get anything ready anyway.

Problem is, I'm having difficulty deciding which two adventures I want to run. (I might have a third prepared as well, for pre- or post-con gaming...)

Anyway, I've narrowed my ideas down to seven. Any suggestions which two I should pick?

Possible games for PaizoCon:

Campus Crusade for Cthulhu – Essentially what I ran last year. In which the players play the part of the cultists, in the form of a student club at modern day Miskatonic University, trying to outwit the Investigators, in the form of the Student Activities Committee.

Mutate or Die – Kind of a sequel to last year's Metamorphosis Alpha game – set in a different part of the ship, should be a bit faster paced and less linear, featuring the return of the dread Porcuhuahuas.

Through a Mirror Darkly – An update to one I ran at ConQuest in San Jose back in the day – combining d20 Cthulhu and d20 D&D (Hm... maybe I should update this to Pathfinder :) - in which either the players are playing characters playing D&D or there are characters in a D&D world projecting themselves into our world in the form of a game in order to influence events in both places.

Where Have All the Flowers Gone? - In which the characters wake up in a hospital to find it deserted, and get to have some fun trying to figure out what happened and what to do about it, all while someone or something may be trying to kill them for some reason. d20 Modern.

Campus Crusade for Cthulhu, The Beginning – An 1890s adventure for Call of Cthulhu. A prequel to my Campus Crusade for Cthulhu adventure, in which a bunch of students of the occult from around the world gather at Miskatonic University to start the current incarnation of the Campus Crusade. Their first obstacle – overcome the newly formed Student Activities Committee!

Hunt the Magus – Dragon Age, based on the computer game of the same name. Characters must rescue a mage who may hold the secret to defeating the next blight. But there are a few complications: The Circle of mages are also searching for him, to retrieve the secrets he stole from them, and are willing to kill any who get in their way. The Templars want him dead for practicing blood magic. And the Darkspawn are trying to stop you as he might be a threat to him. Did I mention that he's also a slave currently held deep in Qunari territory? And then things get interesting.

Lost Legacy of Stars' End – A Star Wars adventure set aboard a tramp freighter in the Corporate Sector during Episode IV, in which the characters may or may not be hunting a man who may or may not be a Jedi Knight or possibly a renegade Sith. Either would be illegal. And dangerous.

Scarab Sages

Since all the cool kids are doing it...

I'm running the two games listed in the subject line, so opened this thread if anyone has any questions.

No previous experience is needed - I've got pregenerated characters for Cthulhu, and will have lots of blank character sheets for the Metamorphosis Alpha game, and characters can be made at the start of (and occasionally during) the game very quickly (I've got flow charts! :)

Both are pretty simple systems that can be learned on the fly.

Also, I have a question of my own: a friend of mine will be there, and wants to play in the Call of Cthulhu game. He was unable to get into it through lottery or trading. Is anyone who got in interested in giving up a ticket? (If not, I understand :)

So, other than that, anyone have any questions?