Rats in The Walls - Tegel Manor Session #12 report

So its two A.M. & I've just gotten back from putting my players through their paces within Tegel Manor. They almost came within a hair's breath of encountering 'puffy' the ghost beholder down in the secret dungeons of the manor.Some quick thinking on their part & they made their way through an alternate route through the manor.




The party went back up & into several of the corridors of the manor that were riddled with giant rat tunnels & their were rat masters. The adventurers didn't play games as flaming oil & crossbows were fired at the wererats. The adventurers have had plenty of experience with were rats in my games & having come to hate the lycanthropic menaces!

Having survived the giant rats & their masters, the PCs were subject to bleeding walls, ghostly guardians, disembodied voices that taunted & insulted them. Weird insect goblins that threw grenades at them from the side guest bed rooms & statues that watched & whispered their every move.
Finally they survived an arrow trap in a boom closet wist trying to access the hidden door in the wall. They then almost bought it from a statue that turned into a golden ooze that tried to dissolve the party. With several deft dice rolls they managed to get by the ooze & destroy it with a combination of wits & moxie.Little do they realize that there several monsters waiting them in the garden including several giant slugs!




They've managed to get away with several key items including the iron crown & some of the treasure as well. The iron crown holds the power of life & death over certain members of the Rump family.
The route back to town has been fraught with several terrible monsters & bandit activity. The PC's know this & have elected to return to the village & begin to figure out what some of the items that they've managed to recover are. Oh the whole I think that tonight's game session went very well.

Twelve Rules For Pulp & Gonzo Elements In Old School Campaigns

There's been a bit of a misnomer about my reputation among certain corners of the OSR. I've been called everything from an 'Old School Renegade' to an 'Old School Resurrectionist' to that 'old fool'. Well, perhaps I'm a bit of all of those things & more. The commentary I'm offering seems to be scoffed at in some corners. So what. I'm here for the OSR readers &  subscribers but more over the players as well.

The fact is that sometimes implying gonzo & crazy adventure elements are far better then just dropping giant robots & other pulp elements into an adventure. Now I've been talking about Arduin for the better part of a week. For over a year of near constant weekend & weekly play we'd worked are PC's in the shape that the campaign setting called for.
The dungeon master needs to spin the gonzo elements out where & when they're needed X1 Isle of Dread is a perfect example of master class pacing of the Expert B/X set's elements as both a teaching add for the novice dungeon master & an hard lesson for the players. David Cook &  Tom Moldvay 

take the dungeon master through all of the necessary steps to get the PC's hooked into the action on the isle with an emotional investment in the fate of the whole place. Dave Hargrave did similar in his own home campaigns from what I understand & the fact is that just the right amount of world building comes into play here. Hands off lets the dungeon master have the players build the campaign on their own. 

1.  Expand the horizons of the player's PC's by offering opportunities for growth vs death. This is something that has to do not with leveling up but letting the player think his way out of a trap or dangerous situation. 
2. Plan with pulp adventure elements in mind but don't over think an adventure. If you find yourself scripting the adventure instead of running it then you might be over thinking it. 
3. History & real world elements off set the nature of the fantastic or crazy. Ruined devices or set pieces wouldn't destroy a campaign. 
4. Take things in stride & let the players take the lead even if its into a TPK. Always roll up new characters 
5. Adventurers have always been there before the PC's & their dead always use others before to add depth to the campaign world setting. Plus you can loot the bodies. 
6. Keep the adventure simple at first the players will complicate it as they go on. 
7. Play styles are going to differ so you can expect lots of lapses & even possible set back. Offer only hints & clues with artifacts, devices, and tricks never take a hand. This is the player's game. 
8. Death always lurks around the corner in Pulp games an NPC death is something unexpected and will frighten players.
9. Expand on the setting only as needed. Keep the adventure setting simple & easily designed. 
10. Horror,death, and destruction are going to happen expect them. Court them and use them as tools for the game but not gregariously. 
11. Let the players grow & the PC's level as needed.
12. Take the pulp elements in stride and don't over explain anything let the players fill in the gaps.

Twelve Rules For Adapting Classic Old School Modules for Campaign Play

Sometimes one stumbles into a blog topic, today I was down at my local Half Priced Books with some friends. I walked over to the rpg section which was quite full of treasures from the old school. Watching two twenty something year old guys mooning at a classic  T1 Temple of Elemental Evil by Gary Gygax with Frank Mentzer. They were intimidated by three things the lethality of the module, the size & scale of T1, & the campaign commitment. I sat these guys down & we went over bit by bit how to take on this beast.
They bought the only copy of T1 there after we had talked & gone over the module together.



These guidelines & not hard & fast rules folks. Born out of common sense & forged over the years from dealing with three generations of players here. Dungeons & Dragons is over forty years old & sometimes common sense is short supply.

1. There are no sacred cows at the table, the module doesn't matter what the title is or whatever is yours & you as the dungeon master need to read & adapt it to suit the needs of the table. 
2. Reread, reread  the module. Don't memorize it, instead take fast, quick notes, about. Form your own opinions about it. Trust your gut instincts & modify it as necessary for the players. 
3. Have fun with the adventure as the dungeon master. Read, chuckle, put it aside, & don't be intimidated by it. 
4. Your needs & not the publisher's or writer's. This means that you have total control over what is done with this product at your table. Total control and no one can over ride the players or your control. Adapt, destroy, and alter as necessary. 
5. Change, gut, use, these three apply to monsters, treasure, events, etc. to fit the campaign or one shot event. 
6. Take your time running the adventure. Stretch the game sessions out to the players needs but not your own. Let the play find its own level. Stop worrying you've got this.
7. Tournament play means exactly what it implies and the above guidelines allow you to modify as necessary,
8. "But this isn't how Gary or  XYZ ran or did this?!" , the play of the adventure may alter the adventure that the authors or designers never saw. Go with it. 
9. Your allowed to make mistakes & learn from them. 
10. Classic adventures are classic for a reason. Its alright to run them as is if that's your preference as a dungeon master. 
11. Expect PC death frequently & roll with it. The players will be thankful for it. It builds better players & campaigns. 
12. Classic modules are merely guidelines themselves & you & your players are the makers of the products of your imagination. You own this now take it in the direction that you want & need.
    
    
    Next time more Arduin, OSR weirdness, & more Sword & Sorcery horror coming up.