Verbosh: Dare to be Stupid

Now that the "Zanzer Campaign" has ended, I reflect on how the 13-month endeavor unfolded. Zanzer's Dungeon was the campaign's genesis, but the town of Verbosh was the hub. Originally, it was to play only a minor role in the loosely constructed Zanzer plot, but the players' actions put the town front and center.

Verbosh is a wacky little mini-setting supplement. Some of the wacky stuff I was hesitant to include in the campaign, but included it anyway because the campaign was already quite lighthearted. Then there was some even-more-wacky stuff that I left out. For fun, this is a survey of what was included in the campaign, what was left out, and what was created or modified by me, the DM.

I KID YOU NOT...the supplement as written does seem to have a high proportion of inns and taverns, but then I'm not a scholar of medieval city life. On the other hand, I'm rather fond of fantasy gaming towns being stuffed to the gills with these hives of ruffians, rumors, and raunch.

I PULLED OUT OF THIN AIR...a tavern of my own creation: The Burning Twig. My inclusion of this tavern has become running joke in games that I play or DM. Another little tradition that I started in this campaign: "Upstairs, third door on the left."

TOO WACKY FOR ME...was the Tourist Information shop at location 29. I switched this building to The Burning Twig.

I KID YOU NOT...the supplement as written says that Darn Gimble is the owner of a magical returning war hammer.

I PULLED OUT OF THIN AIR...the fact that Dent (a PC dwarf) somehow took possession of the hammer. It then went to Fura. Darn caught wind of this. Hilarity ensued.

TOO WACKY FOR ME...were some of the random street encounters, such as "Street urchins flinging dung" and "Run over by a large group of local ladies looking for a great deal".

I KID YOU NOT...the supplement as written is ruled by Hargor the Complainer. Nobody likes him, but nobody is willing to try an assassination attempt on him, because previous would-be-assassins have met a horrible fate.

I PULLED OUT OF THIN AIR...the Guy Fox character. The only fella crazy and sly enough to pull off the assassination. Actually, I got inspiration for this character when I glanced at the calendar hanging in my office on November 5th and saw that it was Guy Fawkes Day.

TOO WACKY FOR ME...was the fate of the previous assassins hired to kill Hargor: "...high level assassins run out of the city screaming after falling victim to his onslaught of complaints about his back, food prices, and even his own taxes! A 14 or better Constitution will enable a character to endure Hargor's complaints for 1 minute, each additional Constitution point will give a person the strength for one additional minute. If this limit is exceeded the person will fall into an uncontrollable fit of screaming and flee..."

I KID YOU NOT...the supplement as written describes King Verbosh XXXI as living in a shack, selling fake titles and paper money.

I PULLED OUT OF THIN AIR...the Stoney character. Every town needs a town drunk. I based him on the character described in Jerry Jeff Walker's song "Stoney".

TOO WACKY FOR ME...was The Greater Demon Exterminating Company. They sell buckets of Demon Destroying dirt for 1 copper piece. "This comes with a money back guarantee that no one has ever claimed."

Another part of the campaign worthy examining is the hidden dwarven mine. It isn't in the Verbosh supplement, but is another Judges Guild product from the same late 70s, early 80s era.


TOO WACKY FOR ME...was the name of the actual supplement: Glory Hole Dwarven Mine. This must have been named before the phrase "glory hole" took on a new meaning. I renamed it Stonefast, which is the name of the dwarven mine described in the Zanzer's Dungeon adventure.

I KID YOU NOT...Glory Hole Dwarven Mine is based on the Mines of Moria from the Lord of the Rings. It is a large, sprawling complex, in the depths of which resides the Prince of Evil himself. An artifact of immense power lies somewhere within, guarded by its possessed owner, Kish the gnome.

I PULLED OUT OF THIN AIR...the riddle on the mine's entrance: "Iron, iron, iron".

I KID YOU NOT...Jolly Naben and his daughter Sabra want to extract the mine's natural riches.

TOO WACKY FOR ME...was that Jolly Naben and Sabra are actually serial rapists.

There's more I could say about the Verbosh and Glory Hole Dwarven Mine supplements and how they were used in the campaign, but this is long enough for now. Anybody have any questions about what did or could have happened in the campaign?