Fifteen years...thirty decks: Welcome to My Garden

Fifteen years ago this summer, my friends and I got our first Magic: the Gathering cards. I remember well the day trip to Minot when my brother and I each bought that starter deck of Revised Edition. What a fruitful day at the mall that was...I also came home with NHL 94 for the Sega Genesis and Seal's second album on CD.

That first deck of mine contained such luminaries as Lightning Bolt, Fireball, and a Vesuvan Doppleganger that I soon lost as ante to my bro. Of course, those direct damage spells pushed me towards a preference for red decks that lasted for several years. Early examples of my deck construction style are the mono-red flyers deck and the red-blue landwalk+Unstable Mutation deck.

Since then, I've been an on and off player and collector of Magic. I haven't played much the last couple of years, but this summer's release of the M10 edition has me mildly intrigued, so I'll probably pick up a few packs for a test drive. I'm also still collecting a set of 6th Edition, but haven't seen any boxes in my price range for awhile. Every couple of years lately I've sold off part of my collection, so maybe it's time for another sale to fill the coffers and make room for new cards.

One part of my collection that I'll likely never sell is the two longboxes of thirty decks total that I've built up over the years. I'll call it my "deck vault". It has both fun theme decks and competitive tourney decks, some of which brought home tourney gold long ago.

Usually when I put a competitive deck in the vault it is a toned down version that generalizes the evolution of the deck. That is because the deck vault is as much about my favorite cards as it is the decks, and sometimes the best version of a deck didn't have some my favorite cards that a previous or later version of the deck did. Conversely, when I make a theme deck for the vault I try to give the deck some balance by not adhering slavishly to the theme, though sometimes I go all-out with the theme for the fun of it.

Anyways, to commemorate this inconsequential 15 year anniversary, I'll randomly choose a deck from my vault every now and then and post the deck list and a little commentary. I'll do it until I run out of decks or get tired of it. A roll of the d30 determines that today's random deck is...

"Welcome to my garden"

4 bee sting
4 unyaro bee sting
3 unyaro bees
3 killer bees
4 giant spider
2 aquastrand spider
4 penumbra spider
1 goliath spider
4 silklash spider
2 storm seeker
2 lure of prey
4 eladamri's vineyard
23 forest

This is one of my favorite theme decks in the vault, but also perhaps one of the least likely to actually win a match. This deck isn't really built according to any official format. It uses a card from Portal, for crying out loud.

This was my attempt at fusing a few different themes into a single deck. The spider and bee themes are obvious enough. The third theme is mono-green direct damage. The "strategy" here is to set up a strong defense of spiders, then send the bees and the stings in for the win. Storm Seeker bolsters the direct damage theme and has great art.

Yeah, I'm pimping my Italian language Storm Seeker in this deck

The general problem with this deck, other than the fact that green direct damage is not very good, is that it is too slow. A early Eladamri's Vineyard can help it along, but even that's a crap shoot. This deck could use some cheaper creatures. I think I'll eventually add some Llanowar Elves and some more Aquastrand Spiders. There are probably new cards of these themes that could help the deck, but I haven't studied the new sets of the past couple of years.

Welcome to my garden

This Campaign Needs a Name

For awhile now I've been planning on writing something on a new campaign idea, but didn't really have anything special to say about it until now. A recent post at Jeff's Gameblog called "Alchemical Proposal" presents a simple structure for describing and developing campaigns. Obviously, it's neither comprehensive nor definitive, but seems to be a good brainstorming technique nonetheless. I'll give it a try.

Core ruleset: Labyrinth Lord, the free retro-clone of Basic D&D, is still my default D&D ruleset for online campaigns. On the other hand, I've come to prefer Tunnels & Trolls for play-by-post games, due to its more abstract combat system and intertwined Saving Roll and advancement systems. Or maybe some other fantasy rpg.

Inspiration Source #1: The Journals of Lewis & Clark.
I wrote briefly about this book a couple posts ago. This is the primary inspiration for the campaign. Elements from the book that I'd like to adopt into the campaign:

• Exploration and mapping of unknown territory.
• Diplomacy with warring native tribes of various dispositions.
• Discovery of trade routes through mountains; especially via navigable rivers.
• Resource management; especially trading with natives to obtain food and transport.

Inspiration Source #2: The Hobbit. Like the Lewis & Clark expedition, this is a story of going "There and Back Again" over the hills, along the rivers, and across the mountains. There you had the Rocky Mountains. Here it's the Misty Mountains. Gosh darnit..maybe in this campaign they'll be called the Snowy Mountains.

Inspiration Source #3..."The wild card": The Muppets and other Jim Hensen creations. Some Muppets skits and related movies, such as The Dark Crystal, have great fantastical settings or backdrops, the flavor of which I would like to impart on this campaign. How long can the expedition survive on the meat of a single snuffleupagus or "big bird"? Ever since I started thinking about this wilderness campaign I've imagined the party encountering big bad Sweetums.

"Touché, little green one!"

The inclusion of The Hobbit and The Muppets as inspirational sources is for their fantastical elements (in contrast to the non-magical setting of Lewis & Clark), and not for their playful or comedic aspects. A bit of lightheartedness is good for any campaign, but I envision this one to be a bit more gritty than what I've done in the past.

Whereas I've had the above three inspiration sources in mind since I first hatched this campaign idea, I haven't put much thought into adding supplementary, setting-specific rules. I can see how this can be a good way to connect the players to the setting right off the bat...during character creation. Because it will be a wilderness-based campaign, I've given thought to various wilderness creation tools and exploring techniques, but nothing in the way of additional classes, races, spells, monsters, and magic items as Jeff suggests. I haven't decided exactly which core ruleset the campaign will use, but, because converting almost any fantasy rpg supplement to basic D&D or T&T is such a simple task, the choices for supplementary rules sources are plentiful.

Supplementary Rules #1: Griffin Mountain. This is an old Runequest wilderness campaign setting. I maybe wouldn't have thought of using it for this campaign if not for Jeff's "Alchemical Proposal". Now that I've taken a closer look at it, I think it is a perfect fit for this campaign in that it describes a large wilderness region populated by neolithic/hunter-gatherer tribes. I don't know if I'll use its setting exactly as is. It might work admirably as the setting for the first part of the campaign expedition. If nothing else, I'll mine it for additional classes, races, spells, monsters, magic items, locales, personalities, etc.

Supplementary Rules #2: Hmm...maybe the possibilities for supplemental rules are too plentiful. There's more old Runequest stuff that piques my interest: Dragon Pass, Prax, etc. I'll definitely use the medicinal herbs charts from the old Mirkwood supplement for the Middle Earth Roleplaying game, but I don't know if the rest of the book would be of much use. Maybe something from Planescape...any tiefling fans out there? Anybody got any ideas?

To smash your foes, to watch them flee before you, and to hear the cries of their daughters.

I thought I had a post here about the four characters I played in a Castles & Crusades play-by-email campaign last fall, but it appears I started the blog a month after creating these characters. For posterity, I'm recording a few details of them here.

A couple things in the past week have reminded me of these characters. First, I saw a old man last week here in downtown Rochester that reminded me a little of my idea of Fonzazzle. He even had a gnarled wood cane and crazy wild hair. Then, I had a cool dream the other night about the continuing adventures of Ceptaar. He's a tank in battle and smooth with the ladies, too.

Ceptaar is a blatant ripoff of Conan the Barbarian and I have no delusions of being a good author, but, if the muse strikes and I have nothing better to do, maybe I'll write some short fiction about these characters.


Ceptaar the Altanian
Well built with copper skin, sandy hair, and green eyes, Ceptaar is of common herdsman blood, but clan elders see him as potential high ruler and uniter of many clans. For this reason he has been sent to the City State to be cultured and seek alliances, but mostly he just wants to travel the world in glorious adventure. He wears only a loincloth most of the time, but dons a large belt and cape for formal occasions. He carries a two-handed sword, unsheathed at all times.

What set apart Ceptaar from the other characters here is the unusually high attribute scores and hit points that the campaign's DM rolled:

Attributes (racial modifiers)
STR 16 (15+1)
DEX 12
CON 17 (16+1)
INT 13 (14-1)
WIS 12 (13-1)
CHA 15
Hit Points: 11 + 2 CON bonus = 13


Fonzazzle the Wizard of no great accomplishment
A quirky, knob-kneed old wizard of no great accomplishment except his wild head of hair and ridiculously long beard. Also of note is the assortment of adventuring equipment that he usually carries on his person:

Quarterstaff, Dagger, Backpack, Rations, Flint and Steel, Boots (Soft), Bedroll, Cloak, 3 Candles, Map/Scroll Case, Quill, Ink 1 oz., Parchment (10 pcs), Diggery-do, Smoking Pipe, Tobacco 1lb, Tea leaves 1lb, Mug, Canteen, Robe, Scarf, Bandages, Bag of 25 marbles, Incense (2 sticks), 6 Glass Vials, String (50 ft)


Starflash the Elf Rogue of Dearthwood
My vision of Starflash is a little bit like an aloof Keebler elf with three-day growth. The elf from Hawk: the Slayer reminded me a little of Starflash, too.


Matthau the Cleric of Kadrim, god of small birds
Very tall and lanky, my vision of Matthau is like the characters Walter Matthau played in The Odd Couple and Bad News Bears.


How did the campaign end? It's all my fault...I ruined it! While exploring Tegel Manor with the party and another player's party, Fonzazzle found the mansion's smoking room. Hankering for a long puff from his pipe, the old wizard, like he always does, shed his robe and enjoyed a smoke bare naked.

Then a strange beggar arrived and they started a conversation. Somehow or another, the beggar got all excited and revealed his true form: a Type III Demon.


Fonzazzle, in a bit of a tight spot now, kept his cool and moved the conversation to a topic they both had interest in: virgins. At this point, the rest of the party had continued further down the hall and wasn't aware of what was going on. Long story short: he offered to give a virgin to the demon in exchange for a guided tour of the mansion.

Fortunately, there was a virgin priestess NPC in the party and Fonzazzle managed to trick her to come back into the room. The demon promptly ate her and then it fulfilled its side of the deal. He climbed onto the demon's shoulders and they ran out to tour the mansion. (This scene would be great if done in Harryhausen animation)

Then, unannounced and unexplained, the DM stopped posting for a few weeks. When he finally resumed, he and the other player expressed dissatisfaction about Fonzazzle's encounter with the demon. By my estimation, losing only an NPC in an encounter with a Type III demon wasn't too bad, but maybe it was just all too bizarre for them.

The campaign ended there. It was fun while it lasted, and was especially worthwhile in that I got see what it was like to be a player in a play-by-email campaign. The image of hairy old Fonzazzle racing through the halls of Tegel Manor on the shoulders of a demon is one I'll never forget.

Four stars on my BOOK IT! badge. Someone throw me a pizza party.

When I started this blog, one of the stated purposes was to be a record of my creative pursuits and inspirations. With that in mind, I offer these brief notes on books I've read recently.

The Journals of Lewis and Clark
I was a little concerned that the dated writing style and...liberal application of alternate spellings...would make this long book a difficult read, but that was not the case. It actually made it a more interesting read. I think I read somewhere that Clark spelled "Sioux" twenty-seven different ways in his journal, and never the same way twice, or something like that. This version, compiled and edited by Bernard DeVoto, has plenty of footnotes to clear up confusion and provide insightful commentary.

The Lewis and Clark expedition was both a success and failure on many accounts and levels. Its lasting effect is debatable. What I feel is not debatable is its achievement in providing a fascinating story. A "national literary treasure" says Stephen Ambrose in the foreword.

Three impressions:

The journey from Fort Mandan to the headwaters of the Mississippi high in the Rockies was devoid of any encounters with natives. It was suggested that this was in part due to the expedition's reputation preceding them as they wintered in present-day North Dakota. This was also the leg of the journey that provided some of the best scenery and plentiful game for provisions. Altogether, this seemed to be the most delightful and anticipatory part of the journey, but also perhaps the most tiring one as the expedition fought against gravity in hauling their canoes and gear upriver.

The encounters at the continental divide with Sacagawea's native tribe, the Shoshones, is amazing and serves as both the literary and literal high point of the story. The tribe's fate is heartbreaking.

I found the happenings west of the Rockies to the coast to be relatively unmemorable. Not only was it fraught with disappointments for the expedition, but the native tribes in the region seemed to be the most thievish and degenerate. On the other hand, on the return trip, Captains Lewis and Clark did note that the Twisted Hair tribe was perhaps the most noble of appearance and disposition that they had met.


Phantastes
After the lengthy Journals, I started reading this slender book by George MacDonald, thinking it would be a quick fantasy adventure. I liked Phantastes, but I found it to be a tough read, with dense text and a disjointed narrative. It has nice dream-faerie imagery, but the story is a bit too dream-episodic to be a real page-turner.

The most memorable episodes for me: the story of the one-way mirror of unrequited love from the curiosities shop and the preparation for and battle versus the three giants. There were also several choice quotes that could inspire further fantastical adventures, such as:

"All mirrors are magic mirrors. The commonest room is a room in a poem when I turn to the glass."

"Everywhere in Fairy Land forests are the places where one may most certainly expect adventures."

"Somehow or other," said he, "notwithstanding the beauty of this country of Faerie, in which we are, there is much that is wrong in it. If there are great splendours, there are corresponding horrors; heights and depths; beautiful woman and awful fiends; noble men and weaklings."


You Gotta Have Wa
My recent interest in Japanese baseball led me to this book by Robert Whiting about American and Japanese clash of culture in the sport. It was a quick, fun book which provided me a good introduction to the history of baseball in Japan and some of its prominent players. This was my vacation read. I started reading on the flight from LA to Taipei, and finished on the boat ride to Cebu.


The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
After slogging through Phantastes, I felt the need to casually reread Bilbo's tale for that quick fantasy adventure fix. I just started this past weekend. Since last reading The Hobbit, I've listened to the BBC radio production several times and am eager to rediscover the wonderful details that the adaptation left out. Chapter 1, "An Unexpected Party" bursts with magic and charm.

What was to be, what was, and what never shall be

I should have written this long ago. John recently sent me a summary of the D&D adventure that he designed and ran last year, and that got me thinking about writting a summary of the Zanzer campaign. Also, I hope to get a new campaign started later this summer, so I'm reflecting on what I've ran in the past. Maybe the players will find it interesting, also.

Whereas John's adventure is built from scratch, the Zanzer campaign is a patchwork of published adventure modules, connected together and customized with my own creations, many of which were inspired by the players' actions and ideas. The campaign started as just a basic adventure: escape from Zanzer Tem's dungeon. After that was accomplished and Zanzer had fled, there was player interest to continue on. So...not having anything prepared, I choose a few modules from my shelf and pieced together a simple plot that would get the party from one module to the next, with plenty of flexibility and room for expansion.

Here's the general chain of events that I originally planned for after their escape from the dungeon:

1. PCs rest briefly in the wacky town of Verbosh (1979, Judges Guild) and outfit for an expedition back to Mt. Carnage to find the secret entrance to the abandoned dwarven colony and mine: Stonefast. The original Zanzer's Dungeon module mentioned the existance of Stonefast and provided a simplistic but unstocked map for it. I wanted something a little more extensive and detailed. For this I choose Glory Hole Dwarven Mine (1981, Judges Guild), but retained the name of Stonefast in the campaign. The Glory Hole is actually an extensive and deep construction that was to serve as the campaign's "megadungeon", which the party could revist periodically to gain XP and treasure by successively delving further and further.
   
2. In Stonefast, the PCs can find loads of treasure, gain XP, and find Gorgo Kermit. Zanzer's former eunuch, Gorgo Kermit crossed his master and was imprisoned in Stonefast. He likely knows the location of Zanzer's secret lair, Xitaqa. Gorgo Kermit's cell is on level 2 of the mine. so no need to explore the entire megadungeon at this time, thankfully. Stonefast may have contained other clues to Zanzer, too.
3. Potential side-trek in Stonefast: Find the hidden level that holds Kish the Gnome and his powerful, but cursed, artifact that Gearmaster Willy told legend of.
4. Travel to Xitaqa (maybe after resting and refitting in Verbosh or Bayside) and defeat Zanzer. Xitaqa is Part Three of B10 Night's Dark Terror (1986, TSR).
5. If the players are still interested in continuing the campaign, the PCs can learn of Zanzer's goal of discovering the Lost Valley of Hutaaka and claiming its riches. The Lost Valley is Part Seven of B10 Night's Dark Terror.

The Lost Valley. It and its inhabitants have somewhat of a Cthulhu freaky vibe to it. Click to enlarge.

The deepest level of Stonefast, a.k.a. Glory Hole Dwarven Mine. You don't want to delve this far until your PCs are about level 10 or higher.

From the Zanzer's Dungeon intro adventure: the original wee Stonefast that I replaced with the whopping Glory Hole. This was almost entirely unstocked except for the baby white dragon in room 30 with 16 hit points. I'm all for having dragons in low level adventures, but having it be a weak, baby dragon is a cheesy way to accomplish that.

That was the plan, at least.

Things suddenly changed (though perhaps became more interesting) when the party marched in Stonefast and immediately suffered near total party kill to a three-headed ogre. I thought the players would employ more strategy in bypassing or defeating the ogre. Maybe I had been too soft on them up to that point, or perhaps they figured the possiblity of multiple PCs dying at this point in the campaign was unlikely. Actually, the dice had been good to them earlier in the campaign, but their luck changed in this combat. Only Fura survived, felling the ogre with repeated ranged attacks. Fura then decided to immediately leave Stonefast and not return. This removed Gorgo Kermit as a plot device, since he would likely be dead from thirst or hunger by the time any PCs found their way back to Stonefast.

The other players rolled up new PCs, so I created a new plot link to Zanzer and his secret lair: Guy Fox the assassin-mage. The Verbosh module is mostly just location description and doesn't have much in the way of plot. One of the few plot hooks it mentions is that the Lord Hargor of Verbosh is unpopular and many people want him dead, but Hargor is so sly and brutal that no assassination attempts have yet suceeded. For some reason, Zanzer wants Hargor dead and for the task he hires Guy Fox, the only assassin crazy enough to pull off the job.

Guy Fox. I was hoping to use this pic during the campaign, but the opportunity never arose.

The new PCs interacted with Lord Hargor and Guy Fox in Verbosh, but ultimately didn't follow the link to Zanzer's secret lair. So, I created two more plot links: Zehnder Tim and Gearmaster Willy. Unfortunately, the campaign closed shop before getting any further.

Meanwhile, as the new PCs were still hanging around in and near Verbosh, Fura decided to find a high level cleric to help resurrect her lover, Latifah, who had died against the three-headed ogre. For this purpose she traveled to the large city of Bayside (City State of the Invincible Overlord, 1977, Judges Guild), since there were no clerics powerful enough in the vicinity of Verbosh. In Bayside, she took up a quest to find the Lost Temple of Halav and recover the Shield of Halav (Hail the Heroes, 1994, TSR). Successfully completing this quest would earn her favor with the High Priest of Halav. The campaign ended just before the quest was completed.

What would have been next if the campaign had continued? Maybe Latifah would have been resurrected, and maybe Barab (another victim of the ogre) too. Zanzer's secret lair was in the general region of Bayside and The Lost Temple of Halav. Being a secret lair, Xitaqa was still remote and hidden, but Fura probably would have learned of if eventually. Meanwhile, maybe the other PCs would have followed the plot links and also made their way to Bayside to search for Zanzer. Maybe all the players PCs would reuinite into a single, powerful party again. Maybe they would have gathered strong new allies, such as the Cult of Halav, Zehnder Tim, Fonzazzle, or Willy's army of gnomes. Maybe Kish's powerful artifact would be recovered and the campaign turns truly epic. Would they have defeated the creepy, alien evil in the Lost Valley of Hutaaka, become filthy rich, return to their long forgotten homes, and establish new kingdoms?