Let there be tradition!

Tonight will be the first time I've played D&D with the friend who first introduced me to D&D in probably close to 20 years (not counting pbp, or maybe a random one-off at some point?). Pretty crazy to think about.

As is tradition when playing D&D with Adam, I give you... Snyder's hard pretzels and root beer!

Jendrick's Challenge, part 2

Tonight I got to play Skype session #2 - a week later than originally planned, but a good time nonetheless. The first ten minutes were spent sorting out technical issues: audio static due to a bad mic and the inability to get both our videos working at the same time. After Tracy switched back to the mic he used previously, the audio was great - better than last time, actually, as we didn't incur any spottiness throughout the duration of the two-hour game. Since we only managed to achieve one-way video, we elected to go without. The video is nice, but not having it wasn't really a detriment - not for our two-player game, at least.

We picked up outside the Sign of the Three Crowns, where Jendrick and Rosamund parted for the evening. They reconvened at sunrise in one of Sturnheim's gardens, though when Rosamund arrived, she was accompanied by Tregar, the dwarf hunter that Jendrick had spoken to the previous day. Rosamund had surmised that Poot's slaying was somehow related to Sturnheim's lost treasure, and wanted Jendrick and Tregar to help her uncover the truth.

As the story goes, some forty years prior a caravan carrying a large segment of Sturnheim's wealth was plundered by unknown robbers, crippling the town and severing its trade with other nearby settlements. Shortly thereafter, a party of eight adventurers struck out to find the lost caravan. Four met an untimely death along the road; of the four that returned, two left Sturnheim and two remained in the village. Of those that remained, one supposedly went mad and eventually fled; the other was Poot.

Rosamund was hesitant to place much trust in Sturnheim's militia, for its captain, Valdar, was the son of a warrior named Kesor, one of the surviving adventurers that departed and a notably evil man. As such, Jendrick led his friends to the constabulary where they inquired about the confiscated stone sword. The guards allowed them to examine it, though not remove it from the premises. When Jendrick asked if Poot's house might be searched, the men agreed, with one soldier accompanying the trio there personally.

The door to Poot's house was adorned with a broken and decrepit lock; inside, the man's personal effects were strewn about haphazardly. A half hour of searching revealed an iron ring that was strangely warm to the touch (which the guard promptly collected), and a telling note scrawled upon a sheet of parchment:

P -

Meet me in the old alley tonight and bring the key. I have ascertained its origin and purpose, and the location of the lock.

-V

Rosamund passed the note to Jendrick, who promptly handed it over to the guard, much to the girl's displeasure. The trio then returned to the constabulary to question the jailed bandit, who revealed nothing. Back outside, Rosamund and Tregar surmised that the note may have been scribed by Valdar, which would implicate that Valdar himself had orchestrated Poot's slaying. With no further leads, and without possession of the "key" (the stone sword), the trio left town and began traveling along the Forsaken Road (the road that Poot had referenced in his dying words).

After an hour, the friends encountered a mounted knight in rusted field plate armor; he carried a lance bearing a tattered blue pennant and sat upon a weathered nag. The knight, obviously a venerable man by his voice, proclaimed himself guardian of the road, refusing to let anyone pass until they bested him in a duel. Seeing that Jendrick rode no horse, the knight dismounted and drew forth his longsword. The two crossed steel, and after Jendrick twice scored hits between his opponent's armor, the old knight yielded and allowed the trio to pass.

Jendrick offered the man his [magical] aid, treating him with the utmost respect and inquiring as to his origin. In the ensuing dialogue, Jendrick learned that the man was none other than Sir Nycklos of Roeh, the surviving adventurer who supposedly had fled, and indeed was quite mad (or at least very senile). The party pressed on, and as the afternoon waned came upon an unusual rock formation standing near the road. Jendrick noted that the boulders looked vaguely like a dragon, and Rosemund linked this to another of Poot's deathly phrases, "south at dragon."

Before they could go further, a grunting noise behind the rocks revealed a hulking man devouring an uncooked squirrel, with the carcasses of several more at his feet. This man declared himself "Ahrne," and though his speech was rather primitive, he wore two most curious items: a stone shield, strapped to his back (his "armor") and a valuable gold necklace bearing a medallion branded "Sturnheim Caravan Company" and dated 46 years ago. Jendrick asked to be taken to the place where Ahrne found his strange treasures, and Ahrne readily agreed... for another squirrel.

That's where we left it; though there wasn't much combat (the duel with Sir Nycklos hardly counts), the plot has definitely started to unfold. In addition, having a paladin as the lone PC creates an interesting dynamic in almost every NPC encounter. For example, a character of any other class would likely not have turned the note found in Poot's house over to the guard; Jendrick, however, chose to do just that, drawing scorn from Rosamund and arguably turning a valuable piece of information over to a questionable source. On the other hand, Jendrick's chivalrous demeanor served him well in the encounter with Sir Nycklos, and has helped him establish a valorous repor with numerous individuals in Sturnheim.

Looking forward to seeing how the rest of the adventure plays out, and particularly what companions Jendrick brings with him when finally he arrives in Hommlet.

Legacy XP totals (copied from main sidebar on August 9, 2012):

• Jendrick - 4,334
• Gulwar - 3,182/3,120
• Rylin (captured) - 4,194
• Amiculum - 5,064
• Dravin - 6,170
• Greenleaf (retired) - 4,334
• Ellimorell (slain) - 4,334

AD&D + VoIP: The adventure begins...

VoIP may forever change the way I play D&D.

A good friend and I got together this evening to play a quick OSRIC session using Skype. He already uses video and voice for gaming regularly, but for me, this was a first-time experience. It practically couldn't have gone more smoothly.

The main purpose of the adventure was to acclimate Tracy's new character, a paladin named Jendrick Tannerson (son of a tanner - fitting) to the campaign in place of Greenleaf the druid (now officially retired). Though we only ended up playing for about an hour and a half, much was accomplished. We're planning to reconvene Sunday evening, and I could see it taking three to four of these brief, online sessions to wrap up Jendrick's inaugural adventure, which should have him ready to join the rest of the tabletop cast in Hommlet, the next time we play.

The module we're using for our online foray is Fighter's Challenge, modified to fit within the ongoing campaign. Jendrick, traveling the countryside in search of personal enlightenment and general do-gooding, made his way to Sturnheim and befriended a lovely young lady named Rosamund, who instantly became enamored with the budding knight. Jendrick, naive in the ways of romance, graced her with awkward conversation in the Sign of the Three Crowns (the local inn), and also parleyed with Tregar, a young dwarven hunter newly returned from guard duty for a local caravan.

Jendrick offered his services freely to Tregar on his next hunt (for which Tregar intends to depart in two days' time) and was quickly obliged. Later in the evening, Jendrick and Rosamund happened within earshot of a scuffle in a dark alley while walking the streets of the village, with Jendrick rushing to the aid of an old man who seemingly was being attacked by three others. The assailants fled and Jendrick pursued, weighted down by his mail and only able to keep pace with the slowest of the bandits, that one lugging along a heavy greatsword that appeared to be made of stone. Jendrick managed to catch and pin the man, and Rosamund summoned a trio of the town's militia.

By the time help arrived, the victim of the attack, a frail old man that the militia referred to as "Poot," had succumbed to his wounds and died in the alley. Two of the militia escorted the captured bandit away to their captain whilst Jendrick assisted the third soldier in carrying Poot's body, along with the stone sword, to the church of St. Cuthbert. Jendrick and Rosamund headed back to the inn (the latter's romantic mood quite shattered), though en route the girl revealed that Poot had uttered some strange phrases before he died:

"My house... parchment... sword is the key. Forsaken Road through hills... south at dragon."

That's where we left it. The session was a blast, brief though it was. AD&D/OSRIC continues to impress me in all its nostalgic elegance. When chasing down the bandit, Jendrick's initiative bested the pursuant by four segments, allowing Jendrick to close the thirty-foot distance between them and make an attack roll to trip the bandit with his shield. A minor Strength test to pin the man; a Strength check to maintain the hold until the guards arrived.

Even better was being able to play via Skype, using both video and voice. Tracy has amazingly good attendance for our tabletop sessions despite living more than an hour and a half away; that said, making the drive up for an hour or two of solo gaming isn't a reasonable expectation for anyone. Aside from a few audio glitches that forced us to reconnect (took all of 30 seconds), it was just like having him in the room. We used the honor system for die-rolling, but even if I'd wanted validation we could easily have used an online roller.

Also nice was having my laptop - and all my notes and resources - right at my fingertips. I intentionally don't use a computer when gaming in person, but as it's nearly unavoidable for remote play, I was happy to have it. Dropbox and Skype file transfer make sharing character sheets instantaneous and trivial. As we were wrapping up, we also took a few minutes to check out Dabbleboard, a potential all-in-one solution for online D&D: it provides a fast and easy-to-use whiteboard for diagrams and maps, along with free audio, video, and chat for up to 20 people via tokbox.

My only regret is that I didn't try this sooner. VoIP will enable me to play D&D with my closest friends across the country, people that I grew up on this game with but that I haven't actually been able to play with in years. For now, the next session is just two moons away...