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No Man s Sky Access CodesNo Man s Sky is an open world exploration game available on the Xbox, Playstation and Windows platforms. These access codes for No Man s Sky are needed at Observatories and Transmission Towers. This includes locations that are taken over by biological horrors. Codes inputted at observatories usually lead to the ruins points of interest.Codes put in at Transmission Towers reveal distress signals of crashed freights and crashed ships. All these codes seem to be mathematical equations. For those of us who don t always see the patterns involved, (or may not have had the required math classes,) here they are! The bolded digits should be the answer to the puzzle. Sum of Contiguous Numbers1-3-4-7-11-18-291-5-3-7-5-9-71-2-6-24-120-7202-4-12-48-240-14403-5-8-13-21-34Exponents and Factors5-14-41-122-36517-33-65-129-25723-45-89-177-35356-59-63-68-74-8180-71-63-56-5099-92-86-81-775040-720-120-24-64 Digit Patterns1027-7101-2710-02711126-6112-2611-12611181-1118-8111-18111212-2121-1212-21211265-5126-6512-26511345-5134-4513-34511702-7021-0217-21701737-7173-3717-73712109-1092-0921-92102230-0223-3022-23022379-9237-7923-37922595-5259-9525-59522738-7382-3827-82733382-2338-8233-38233908-9083-0839-83903941-9413-4139-13943987-9873-8739-73984416-6141-1641-41644366-3664-6643-64364634-6344-3446-44634865-8654-6548-54865047-7504-4750-04755336-3365-3653-65335493-3549-9354-49355571-1557-7155-57155920-9205-2059-05926543-3654-4365-54366618-8661-1866-61867354-3547-5473-47357771-1777-7177-77178104-4810-0481-10488432-2843-3284-43288653-3865-5386-65389162-1629-6291-29169183-1839-8391-39189214-4921-1492-21499780-7809-8097-09789854-4985-5498-8549If you know of any that are missing, or have any corrects, please comment below! Useful OS X CommandsHere is a list of a bunch of potentially useful OS X Commands. These are going to be mostly for power users, system admins, OS X hackers, and programmers. Normal users will likely never need these, thus they are presented without use directions. Commands were gathered via the .OSX group on GitHub. Please feel free to comment below and add any other useful commands you find! Most commands are set to enable the action with the -true flag. Disable action by replacing it with -false. Stop the creation of .DS_Store and AppleDouble files on USB Drivesdefaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteUSBStores -bool trueStop the creation of .DS_Store files on Network Drivesdefaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores trueShow hidden files in Finderdefaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YESPrevent MDS from attempting to Indexsudo touch /Volumes/your volume name here/.metadata_never_indexDisable Indexing and Searching of Volumessudo mdutil -i off -d /Volumes/VolumeNameDelete existing Spotlight Indexsudo rm -rfv /.Spotlight-V100Enable full keyboard access for all controlsdefaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleKeyboardUIMode -int 3Enable subpixel font rendering on non-Apple LCD Screens and non-Retina Monitorsdefaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleFontSmoothing -int 2Show the ~/Library folder in GUI (Can be used to show other hidden folders that some Applications add)chflags nohidden ~/LibraryEnable the 2D Dockdefaults write com.apple.dock no-glass -bool trueTurn Dock autohide ondefaults write com.apple.dock autohide -bool trueRemove Dock display delaydefaults write com.apple.Dock autohide-delay -float 0 killall DockShow Dock icons of hidden applications as translucentdefaults write com.apple.dock showhidden -bool trueShow iTunes track notifications in the Dockdefaults write com.apple.dock itunes-notifications -bool trueDisable menu bar transparencydefaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleEnableMenuBarTransparency -bool falseShow remaining battery life as percentagedefaults write com.apple.menuextra.battery ShowPercent -string YES Show remaining battery life as timedefaults write com.apple.menuextra.battery ShowTime -string YES Always show scrollbarsdefaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleShowScrollBars -string Auto Hide desktop icons upon quitting Finderdefaults write com.apple.finder QuitMenuItem -bool trueDisable get info and window animations in Finderdefaults write com.apple.finder DisableAllAnimations -bool trueShow all filename extensions in Finderdefaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleShowAllExtensions -bool trueUse current directory as default search scope in Finderdefaults write com.apple.finder FXDefaultSearchScope -string SCcf Show Path bar in Finderdefaults write com.apple.finder ShowPathbar -bool trueShow Status bar in Finderdefaults write com.apple.finder ShowStatusBar -bool trueExpand save panel by defaultdefaults write NSGlobalDomain NSNavPanelExpandedStateForSaveMode -bool truedefaults write NSGlobalDomain NSNavPanelExpandedStateForSaveMode2 -bool trueExpand print panel by defaultdefaults write NSGlobalDomain PMPrintingExpandedStateForPrint -bool trueDisable dialog box: “Are you sure you want to open this application?” (Note, this disables OS X Security and anti-malware features)defaults write com.apple.LaunchServices LSQuarantine -bool falseDisable dialog box: “Are you sure you want to open this application?” (for one application)xattr -d com.apple.quarantine ~/Downloads/ApplicationName (before installing)xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/ApplicationName (after installing)Disable shadow in screenshotsdefaults write com.apple.screencapture disable-shadow -bool trueEnable highlight hover effect on Dock for the grid view of a stackdefaults write com.apple.dock mouse-over-hilte-stack -bool trueEnable spring loading for all Dock itemsdefaults write enable-spring-load-actions-on-all-items -bool trueShow indicator lights for open applications in the Dockdefaults write com.apple.dock show-process-indicators -bool trueDon’t animate opening applications from the Dockdefaults write com.apple.dock launchanim -bool falseDisplay ASCII control characters using caret notation in standard text views(Try e.g. `cd /tmp; unidecode \x{0000} > cc.txt; open -e cc.txt`)defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSTextShowsControlCharacters -bool trueDisable press-and-hold for keys in favor of key repeat (enable key repeat)defaults write NSGlobalDomain ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool falseSet keyboard repeat ratedefaults write NSGlobalDomain KeyRepeat -int 0.05 (Fast)defaults write NSGlobalDomain InitialKeyRepeat -int 15 (Slow)Disable auto-correct (Does not impact MS Office)defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticSpellingCorrectionEnabled -bool falseDisable opening and closing window animationsdefaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticWindowAnimationsEnabled -bool falseEnable AirDrop over Ethernet (also works for Lion)defaults write com.apple.NetworkBrowser BrowseAllInterfaces -bool trueDisable disk image verificationdefaults write com.apple.frameworks.diskimages skip-verify -bool truedefaults write com.apple.frameworks.diskimages skip-verify-locked -bool truedefaults write com.apple.frameworks.diskimages skip-verify-remote -bool trueAutomatically open a new Finder window when a volume is mounteddefaults write com.apple.frameworks.diskimages auto-open-ro-root -bool true (Read-only)defaults write com.apple.frameworks.diskimages auto-open-rw-root -bool true (Read-write)defaults write com.apple.finder OpenWindowForNewRemovableDisk -bool trueDisplay full POSIX path as Finder window titledefaults write com.apple.finder _FXShowPosixPathInTitle -bool trueIncrease window resize speed for Cocoa applicationsdefaults write NSGlobalDomain NSWindowResizeTime -float 0.001Disable the warning upon changing file extensiondefaults write com.apple.finder FXEnableExtensionChangeWarning -bool falseShow item info below desktop icons/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c Set :DesktopViewSettings:IconViewSettings:showItemInfo true ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plistEnable snap-to-grid for desktop icons (Same as OS 9 GUI command)/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c Set :DesktopViewSettings:IconViewSettings:arrangeBy grid ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plistDisable Empty Trash Warningdefaults write com.apple.finder WarnOnEmptyTrash -bool falseEmpty Trash securely by defaultdefaults write com.apple.finder EmptyTrashSecurely -bool trueRequire password immediately after sleep or screen saver begins (reduces the normal delay)defaults write com.apple.screensaver askForPassword -int 1defaults write com.apple.screensaver askForPasswordDelay -int 0Enable tap to click on Trackpaddefaults write com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.trackpad Clicking -bool trueMap bottom right Trackpad corner to right-clickdefaults write com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.trackpad TrackpadCornerSecondaryClick -int 2defaults write com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.trackpad TrackpadRightClick -bool trueDisable Safari thumbnail cache for History and Top Sitesdefaults write com.apple.Safari DebugSnapshotsUpdatePolicy -int 2Enable Safari debug menu (most useful for Web Developers)defaults write com.apple.Safari IncludeInternalDebugMenu -bool trueRemove useless icons from Safari bookmarks bardefaults write com.apple.Safari ProxiesInBookmarksBar () Add a context menu item to web view for showing the Web Inspectordefaults write NSGlobalDomain WebKitDeveloperExtras -bool trueOnly use UTF-8 in Terminal Applicationdefaults write com.apple.terminal StringEncodings -array 4Disable the Ping sidebar in iTunesdefaults write com.apple.iTunes disablePingSidebar -bool trueDisable Ping in iTunesdefaults write com.apple.iTunes disablePing -bool trueMake ⌘ + F focus the search input in iTunesdefaults write com.apple.iTunes NSUserKeyEquivalents -dict-add Target Search Field @F Disable send and reply animations in Mail Applicationdefaults write com.apple.Mail DisableReplyAnimations -bool truedefaults write com.apple.Mail DisableSendAnimations -bool trueDisable Resume system-widedefaults write NSGlobalDomain NSQuitAlwaysKeepsWindows -bool falseDisable the “reopen windows when logging back in” dialog box (Leaves default to reopen windows)defaults write com.apple.loginwindow TALLogoutSavesState -bool falsedefaults write com.apple.loginwindow LoginwindowLaunchesRelaunchApps -bool falseEnable Dashboard Dev mode (Keeps widgets on the desktop)defaults write com.apple.dashboard devmode -bool trueReset Launchpad[ -e ~/Library/Application\ Support/Dock/*.db ] rm ~/Library/Application\ Support/Dock/*.dbDisable local Time Machine backupshash tmutil > /dev/null sudo tmutil disablelocal The Net Book of Plots ArchiveThe Net Book of Plots Archive is a six book selection of random plot points that can be used for just about any Fantasy RPGs. Mostly meant for AD D (Second Edition,) these plots are generic enough that they can be used for any version of Dungeons and Dragons, even 5th edition! Reading through these brings back many memories, and lots of ideas for new games! Like all Net Book posts on this blog, this is merely a backup of the original files. No copyright is assumed by posting here. Email contacts for the original authors are in each folder. Volume 1Volume 2Volume 3Volume 4Volume 5Volume 6Also check out the Dungeons and Dragons Random Encounters NetbookPhotographer Rick HamellEditors Note: This book was converted to a new format, made for conversion to HTMLand for indexing. My enormous thanks go to Alexander Forst(alex@complang.tuwien.ac.at) and to Soh Kam Hung (h.soh@trl.telstra.com.au)for their dedicated efforts in designing this tagging scheme and help intagging and editing the plots. I hope all enjoy this new collection anddont forget to tell the authors how it went if you run a plot. One-LinersAuthors of Volume 1One-lineFantasyAnyAnyLichDragon-Help the local good, but dying, wizard to attain lichdom.-Prevent evil nasties from overcoming the local good lich.-Find the lost good lich and get help to cure a generic plague.-Go to kill the lich only to find it s actually good.-Save the Dragon from the Evil Princess.=========================================================================The Bankrupt AlchemistAuthors of Volume 1One-lineFantasyQuest An alchemist hires the party to recover a shipment of supplies thatwas hijacked enroute. If he doesn t get them back, he faces bankruptcy.=========================================================================The Punished ThiefAuthors of Volume 1One-lineFantasyQuestAffliction Caught while stealing from a mage, the thief in the party is sent on ageas to steal an artifact from a colleague as punishment.=========================================================================Unknown ProtectionAuthors of Volume 1One-lineAnyGuarding You are assigned to protect a person, but don t let them know you reprotecting them. Defer to them in all things, but don t let them knowyou re deferring to them.=========================================================================What have you got?Authors of Volume 1One-lineAnyFantasyInvestigationAffliction An obscure sect of a dark church is seeking the eight necessaryparts/items used in summoning a sleeping demon. Just so happens that oneof the PCs inherited one of the items (it should be something innocuouslike a simple pendant with inscriptions) from a dead relative.=========================================================================Who is Who?Authors of Volume 1One-lineAnyInvestigationIntrigueAnyDoppelgangerShapechanger The party uncovers a plot to replace high-ranking officials with exactlookalikes (shapechangers). Nice little conspiracy theory action. Whichone of your trusted patrons is really an evil doppleganger? Who can youtrust? Who will believe you? Just because you re paranoid doesn t meansomeone ISN T out to get you.=========================================================================The Renegade WizardAuthors of Volume 1One-lineFantasyQuest The party is hired by the local Mage Guild to find and capture (and/orkill) a renegade wizard who is breaking Guild laws (selling magic itemsto criminals, assassinating the previous Guildmaster, attempting toassassinate the current Guildmaster, etc.). Local law enforcement is notinvolved because the Guild likes to solve its problems internally.=========================================================================Good Lich vs. Evil LichJeff VogelOne-lineFantasyInvestigationQuestUrbanLich There s a battle going on between a good lich and one or more evilliches. The players have to protect a town that s caught in thecrossfire. The lich need not even appear in the campaign; you could justhave dark noxious clouds blotting out the sun, undead armies marchingback and forth, dragons eating the livestock, and other bits of large-scale magical fallout. Or, if you want to bring the lich in personally,you could send the party on a quest to plead with the lich to stop thewar, or to fight elsewhere.=========================================================================Improvised DefensesPhil ScaddenP.Scadden@gns.cri.nzShortAnyAnyGuardingCastleDungeonCave PCs get caught in hole (old castle, cave?) with overwhelming numbersagainst them. They have some warning and a time period when they will berelieved if they can hold on. Idea is that PC improvise with what isaround and hold out for siege. Turns the GMing on its head. They have aplan of defenses, not the GM, and GM leads his baddies against it.Players spring their surprises in traps etc. Must have a map agreement onwhat can be done in time available. Players tend to cheat outrageouslybut great fun for all concerned with a change of pace for both GM andplayers.=========================================================================Collection of VERY short descriptionsAuthors of Volume 1One-lineAnyAnyUrban Here s a bunch of REAL short descriptions of adventure ideas that workwell in a city: Second-story jobs, picking a pocket and finding a map, searching thetunnels under the city for a tomb or catacombs, competing with theThieves Guild, smuggling arms into the city, spying on foreignofficials, helping an orphan fight against cruel thugs, racing anotherparty in a city-wide search for a magical artifact, investigating acorrupt church, wooing a noble lady, searching for your weaponsinstructor who has been abducted by a rival, trying to get apprenticed toa truly weird mage, etc.=========================================================================The False Good LichJeff VogelShortFantasyInvestigationUrban Invert the bad-lich-turns-out-to-be-good idea: A really sinisterlich would probably love to have people convinced that he s just akindly, helpful old gent. Suppose one such lich has been working hard onhis image for a century or two he saves people from natural disasters(which he created himself), gives out magical gifts (which are cursed insome nonobvious way), kisses babies, the whole shebang. The players cometo suspect him of actually being evil ( Hey two centuries old? That sbefore Second Edition came out! He must be evil! ) and have to stop him.But first, they have to convince the locals, who love the old guy, thatthey ve been wrong about him all this time. ( Gandalf? The old coot withthe fireworks? Evil? Get outta here. )=========================================================================The Absent Minded WizardJeff VogelShortFantasyQuestAnyLich Go to kill the evil lich, get captured and put at his/its mercy onlyto have it ask Why are you bothering me? Apparently it was/is a goodwizard who got kind of absent minded as he died and sort of drifted offinto lichdom without noticing. Since he s quite powerful, none of thevarious local monsters that he s geased into serving him have given himany trouble, nor have they pointed out the problem of his lichdom Play the lich as an absent minded old british gentleman, sort ofsurprised that anybody would want to kill him and having considerabletrouble grasping the idea that he s a lich. A few accidental pats on theback while the players are held by some sort of spell should be amusing. P.S. If you can t figure out how to set things up so a lich cancapture and hold helpless a bunch of PCs, SHAME on you! Liches aresomething like 30th level M-U/Clerics, not to mention the hordes offollowers, servants, summoned monsters and demons and elementals and thelike =========================================================================Find the Right ManAuthors of Volume 1ShortAnyQuestGuardingWildernessDesert A caravan is travelling through the desert. The party is hired tocapture a man who is in the caravan, and it must be done quietly, so thatnobody else knows. They are given the man s name, and the fact that heis a mage, but no other information about him. The catch is that thecaravan consists of ten wagons, with at least thirty or forty guards(when I used this adventure, the caravan was travelling through BrinPass, a VERY dangerous area), and everyone s wearing the standard desertgear: a white robe, with a hood and a veil. This makes it very difficultto tell who s who. The party should investigate the wagons. If they do,they will find that only one wagon doesn t have an obvious reason forexistance (i.e. belongs to the caravan master, carries supplies, orcarries cargo). A man is living in that wagon, and only comes out to getfood. Raiding the wagon will obviously cause noise and commotion, twothings to be strenuously avoided. This is a very difficult scenario;I ve run it twice, and both times the party failed. Once the guy gotkilled and the party was arrested and held in custody by the caravanmaster, and once the guy ran away and the party lost him.=========================================================================The Insane DragonAuthors of Volume 1ShortFantasyQuestStartupAnyDragon REWARD (very large sum mentioned for your world) BRAVE Adventurers Needed! To Kill the DRAGON of Eastmark, Kingdom of Arcadia. (fill in location and kingdom name as necessary). Apply at the Royal Palace. All that made that adventure interesting (aside from the nearly 1000mile overland journey, differing cultures, side-adventures, et al) wasthe fact that the DRAGON of Eastmark was a golden dragon, and the partywas mostly Good characters. The Gold had become insane when humans hadattacked and slain his mate, and spent his time laying waste to the localkingdom, which finally began posting notes (after the first threeexpeditions failed) to hire outsiders to come in and try to destroy thegenius-intelligence, magic-using and physically awe-inspiring dragon.Since the tattered posting does not mention that the DRAGON is a Gold,the party had already travelled the very long way, and then had a lot ofdiscussion before finally deciding that grief did not excuse the dragon sexcesses, and that he must be destroyed.=========================================================================The ElectionAuthors of Volume 1MediumAnyIntrigueUrban Most campaigns have a player who loves to play politics, involve herin this. Assume for the sake of argument that the goal is the office ofdistrict attorney. Enigma has ambitions to be the DA, the chief force forjustice in Gotham. He is opposed by Buck Stevens, son of the founder ofStevens Brick Co., which is the second largest employer in Gotham. DarlaStevens is in love with the Enigma s alter ego, Bing Strawberry, andkeeps telling him he ought to get in politics and make sure her slimybrother doesn t achieve political office etc etc etc you get theidea. Some complications that suggest themselves are: a) Enigma discovers that candidates must turn in petitions with 1000names in order to register for the election, and he blew it off so longthat he needs to get them all *tonight*, to be turned in at 8 am tomorrowmorning (where do you get 1000 valid signatures at this time of thenight?) b) the primaries are a good time for enemies to show up withembarassing photos in hand c) election season can be complicated by reporters who circle,vulture-like, over the troubled campaign HQ, and by a televised publicdebate between the candidates d) the election and the aftermath did the PC win? What will happento the party now? What if the press finds out about the vampires theparty staked a few years ago in the abandoned buildings in the ghetto?what about the crook who recognizes Enigma s voice and threatens topublicise his secret identity?=========================================================================The Lich vs. EvilJeff VogelMediumFantasyInvestigationUrbanDungeonLich The lich is a good wizard who was forced to become a lich in order toremain around to counteract some powerful evil force. He/it spent thelast years of his life directly restraining some powerful evil demon(make it something not quite physical, for example a demon of madnessthat manifests by making victims psychotically insane evil humansacrifice cults start springing up all over the place and random peopleon the road start attacking out of the blue with no provocation, sort oflike gasp! PCs!) So the Lich is at the bottom of some dungeon complex using spells andpowers that are so far beyond the party s understanding that they can tperceive them, to hold the evil imprisoned. He/it is also keeping randomstrangers from wandering in and interfering. After so long a time, thelich just sort of drifted into undeath without really noticing (keeping aset of spells up constantly for years will do that to ya). The PCsmanage to get the drop on the Lich when he s weakened and a) the evil gets loose. b) the good lich s wizardly spirit manifests before it moves on toanother, higher plane, and commends them for their actions in releasinghim from his unwitting servitude to to undeath. He also says, Well, I moff to my retirement in elysium, the job s all yours, boys! c) If you re feeling charitable, give the players an inkling of what sgoing to happen, or some magic to help them to combat the madness demon(personal protection against the madness would be nice, although youcould have lots of fun with blackouts and sleepwalking and the like ifthe PCs were as susceptible as anyone else). If you re not feelingcharitable, have them find out the HARD way what the ol spook smysterious comments were in reference to. Maybe stick a scroll (thatmust be laboriously deciphered) in with the treasure, describing themadness demon and perhaps some ways that it can be fought.=========================================================================The False VampireAuthors of Volume 1MediumHorrorQuestInvestigationAfflictionUrbanVampire The party is on some sort of extended vacation, staying in an inn/bar.A frequent visitor is a tall, dark, suave, charming man dressed in formalevening wear, accompanied by a different woman every time. He comes inevery 2nd or 3d night. He always orders bloody marys and doesn t drinkthem. He is quite wealthy and very pleasant. There is something almostmagnetic about him. He has fascinating eyes. (DM should do everythinghe can to make it believable that he could be a vampire, despite theunusual setting (city)). Either he charms (charm gaze) a female party member and takes heraway, or a beautiful dancer comes in looking for her missing sister, whowas last seen coming to this bar with the tall,dark gentleman. She triesto convince a party member to help her look for her sister beingseductive about it. Both are eventually charmed by the Gentleman. In anycase, make a party member disappear into this Gentleman s lair. He has a gothic style house in a nice part of town. There is nothingobviously amiss here. If the party asks around, this guy is a pillar ofsociety, a kind, philanthropic fellow, well respected by his peers. Heruns a magic shoppe. He is a mid-level wizard with a head for business,who gave up adventuring to start a business. His house looks just like a vampires house might look (black velvetcurtains, etc). He has a private sanctuary inn his basement, the onlyentrance to which is a rune-encrusted door (trapped or enchanted in anyway appropriate to the party). He supposedly has a chapel down there,but really has a large complex, where various vampiric rituals, and all-night parties take place. All of the missing people have been charmedinto believing that they have been turned into slave vampires. They willaid their master if at all possible. The party must break in and forcibly take their companion away fromthis place. Again, make the evidence somewhat contradictory whether theGentleman is a vampire or not. Most evidence should say yes, but makesome things contradict this. The gentleman has a cursed ring of the vampire, a powerful evilartifact which makes him believe he is a vampire and gives him many ofthe powers of a vampire, as well as some of the drawbacks. Make himdislike things that cause a vampire harm, but don t make it obviouswhether is works. Make him have a reflection, but have a dead vampirevictim show up. Etc. At the end, have the party realize that he is nota vampire at all but rather is a cursed fellow with an intrinsically goodnature.=========================================================================The Magic DwindlesAuthors of Volume 1MediumFantasyQuestMagicAnyDragon The magic energies (derived from outer space :-)) are dwindling,slowly but surely. At this time only the most advanced magicians havenoticed that their most powerful spells are beginning to fail more andmore frequently. My explanation is that there is three kinds of magic in the world: 1) White magic: creative magic, healing, alteration. The white-magicians are generally the good guys, mostly elves, priests (Gods ofLight) and fairies. 2) Black Magic: Necromatics, destructive magic, summoning. The black-magicians are generally the bad guys, mostly humans, black-elves, trollsand the demons devils. 3) The Old Magic: The magic that rules it all; but now almost aforgotten art, only used by the extinct race of Wizards (yes, wizards area distinct race in my world) and the dragons. Unfortunately the magic energies are only dwindling for the white-magicians, since the black-magicians derive their power from the negativedimension and have opened the gate, so that negative energies flow freelyinto this dimension blocking the white-magic. The objective is to close the gate, before even the simplest white-magic is rendered useless and impotent. This cannot be done with the useof white-magic, but only with the use of the Old-Magic (use of black-magic will only worsen the situation). The problem is to find someone or something that have access to theOld-Magic and is sufficiently skilled in this art, to reverse thesituation. (this is what the players must think is the objective for themor initially be let to believe). The real problem is that the division between black- and white-magicis artificial, and will always lead to this problem sooner or later, andonly the Old-magic can prevail (since the white- and black-magic isderived from the Old-magic, but the separation will corrupt bothbranches). So the players are to be the prophets of the new world orderof magic (or front-runners), after being taught the basics of this by theonly Wizard left on the planet (unless they destroy him in theirfolly!!!). But to find the information that there is such a creaturealive should be very difficult and only referenced by vague hints in oldlegends etc. My suggestion for the Wizard is that the group can find (after lengthyresearch) the place he is rumored to live (e.g. inside a volcano). Andwhen they arrive he is there, but frozen inside a huge iceblock, by apair of Ice-Dragons that he once forced to humiliate themselves to assisthim, and this is their revenge. Once every 100 year they let him freefor a day to scorn him, and then deep-freeze him again. And they willnot take it lightly if the players are to take away their sweet revenge.Long Summaries =========================================================================TradersPhil ScaddenP.Scadden@gns.cri.nzLongAnyAnyGuardingExplorationAny In my experience, PCs will guard a hundred caravans before it occursto them that trading on their own account could be more fun andlucrative. Part of this is I guess a lack of interest in the tie-downs that trading could imply and in the boring detail of buying and selling.There are however some good advantages. It encourages a sense of groupidentity all partners of Fast and Risky Quality Merchant Co. and canhave some great plot lines . It also changes the world outlook whenstrangers are first thought of as Hey CUSTOMERS! rather then Arm up,enemy approaching . If you ever need to lure your players in aparticular direction then a rumour of profit should be easy to manage. PCs can be tempted into the business a bit at a time. For example: Atconclusion of other business a friendly tribesman notes Your people makegood iron. If you are back this way, bring us one of your fine steelblades and I ll trade two snow leopard skins for it . $$$$ in characterseyes! The trick is to avoid the boring bits. 1) Give them good NPC warehouse men etc that they really can trustexcept perhaps once, later rather than sooner, for a plot. If they feelthey can safely leave a load in trusted hands for a fling then so muchthe better. 2) Have NPC s offer to retail so they are doing the wholesale transitstuff and dont get lost in selling detail. Hey, I ll take all of thisstuff you can get here at xxxx leave you free to get another loadmoving eh? . Failing that declare, after 2 hours you are sold out forxxxx reward . Forget detailing trading except for casual encounters witha train. 3) Forget the unwieldy caravan bit encourage them into the smallmule train style. They ll have more fun. Yup, de mules certainly deway. You see dat caravan train takes 2 month to move dat round de Gap.Sheez dat costs! I ken move dis stuff over Hawk Pass on mules in meebetree weeks on a good run. 4) Emphasize the exploratory opening up of new country rather then thebig-haul routes. If they start into going back and forth on the samelucrative route too often, send in a big merchant with a massive caravanto drop the prices. They ll thank you for it in terms of game interest.Some typical sorts of plots. -Guarding the goods train. They ll really do it in earnest. -Spying on the side under their legit cover. -Involvement in local politics -Exploration -Building of fortified outposts and defense thereof -Very dangerous goods! (i.e. magic) -Recovery of stolen goods -Dealing with a protection racket -High risk winter route to relieve a starving outpost. One potential problem is the possibilty of too much coin. Relax.Early in their career get them used to the idea that high profits comefrom real high risks and sometimes its better alive poor then rich anddead. ( You are surrounded by 20 young mounted warrior louts looking fortrouble. They request presents with broad grins. All are bow armed(and they ve been training since 3 years old) . Remember that elaboratetrading has high overheads in paying NPCs etc. If there is somehow got amoney excess then introduce credit offered by bankers on risky routesthey will sooner or later lose a train bought on borrowed money and theoverheads will put them on the back foot!========================================================================The Wizard s GameAuthors of Volume 1LongFantasyExplorationStartupDungeon A powerful wizard and his apprentice (also powerful) are after anartifact which is carefully guarded (by various traps, magics, etc) in alabyrinth. Put in there years ago by various leaders and sinceforgotten. They cannot think of a brute force way to get it, but theyare clever enough to have figured out some loopholes which will allow alow-level bunch of adventurers with various characteristics (tailor toyour players, one obstacle per player or combination of players) to getin safely and escape with the artifact. The wizard cooks up a long term plan (perhaps he is an elf) to obtainsuch a party of adventurers. This plan is subtle and tricky as that isthe style of this wizard (he likes to manipulate and deceive people, likea game). He has his apprentice disguise himself as an oldstoryteller/bard who takes a liking to a young pc or npc and tellsstories of the PC/NPC s grandfather who stopped a great evil bysacrificing himself, sealing the evil and himself into a labyrinth (yesTHE labyrinth). The grandfather was lost with his family sword and moreimportly an amulet which signified the family s power and destiny asheroes of the realm. Various stories of the grandfather, sword, andamulet should convince the PC/NPC to go after this stuff. The storyteller also tells of the PC/NPC s family talent for dowsing,and helps him cut a dowsing rod and casts various covert magics to makethe character believe he has such power. Eventually he replaces thedowsing rod with an identical duplicate which is set up to find the othercharacters who are needed to get the artifact back (yes, the party). Thecharacter recruits or finds the party and they go and get the amuletback. The wizard and apprentice appear at the exit from the labyrinth andreveal the hoax (part of the fun), demanding the amulet. The apprenticeis either given or takes the amulet for the wizard, then gets a greedylook in his eyes and makes to put it on. The wizard vaporizes theapprentice and takes the amulet. You might want to put some sort of treasure in this labyrinth so theparty won t be too pissed that they have been deceived. The wizard invites the characters to join in his games (see below).If they decline, he does various things to convince them to comply. Ifthat fails, he cooks up another complicated deception to get them to joinin. He will not force them to join, unless he feels that he hassufficiently deceived them. - The party is asked to go on a quest by an older man, a merchant, tosave his daughter s life. She has the dreaded Indigo Flu, usually fatal.The only known cure is to make a medicine out of the Caiman stone, an oddfruit that grows out of a mineral/plant hybrid only in the most obscureplaces. The party is referred to the sage who told the merchant of thiscure, for more info. The sage is of course an agent of the Wizard of theprevious segment. He cooks up a quest designed to bring the party eventually to a spotat which the wizard has planted a Caiman Bush . The Caiman stone andthe Indigo flu are complete fiction. The party will not find anybodyelse who knows about these even if they ask around. The Caiman Bush isan elaborate magic item, which will teleport the party into the Wizard slair. The wizard will then inform them that the only exit from his lairis to win the game. The game is versus another party which has been in suspended animationwaiting for opponents. (Losers of the game are suspended and continue toplay until they win, whereupon they are released). Make the gamewhatever you wish. You should maybe allow the party to acquire some limited magic itemsfrom the game, so they won t be quite so pissed to have been manipulated.=========================================================================Riddle MapsPhil ScaddenP.Scadden@gns.cri.nzLongAnyAnyAny Riddle-maps (idea based on song-maps that the old time Maori peopleused to describe journeys). Basically sage-type person translates a song-map that someone earlierhad written down in its original form. Lots of scope for errors. It s atranslation so no need for poetry. Sage identifies one point in song asbeing nearby and wants the map followed. Fit into your world. Thecharacters can only see what you describe so very careful descriptivework is necessary but red herrings can be fun.An example of full riddle map. here the VALATAS people live above the halls the congress of tide andland, thence two noon suns cross your face and take you to the silverpath. Up the path you onward go past three cold threads in summer still,then into the shadows of RAMATIS realm till the path is crossed at theweeping rock. Shortly the path splits at last, so turn your face andwalk two sunsets till RAMATIS greets with open arms again. The laughingbraid just in the shades, leads high to towers of earth, and there abovethe last falling tears, find the gates of night. No moon to light thehalls of night but ochre stars will mark a path to those who walk inhere. Pity you who have no meat to sacrifice to the Old Ones hiddenwithin. Once met and your offering received dash for life to the hallsof teeth. Beyond there lies the ribbon of red, rushing fast to meet thesun again, then bounding down past flaxen steps, to greet the ghost inits bed of gold. Translation: Capitalized bits are phonetic translation of unknown words. The sagehas identified VALATAS so begin here.The party walks towards the noon sun for 2 days and finds GM: Towards end of second day you climb to top of ridge and look downon large river valley with the river glistening in the sun. Following it upriver past three side-creeks that would wet you even insummer you get to woods. RAMATIS is the old people s God of forests butthe PC s or sage wouldn t know this. They should easily guess thoughwhen you announce forest in the way. The river hits a gorge and acrossing is forced where a waterfall comes down a cliff face. After thatthe river divides at two big tributaries and you take the west one fortwo days. Should encounter woods again however, the puzzle can besharpened by woods that are no longer present (keep talking about NEWbuilding in the area ruins of a saw mill ??? etc). A quick flowingtributary is traced up into the mountains and above the top waterfall isa cave mouth. A path through the cave is marked by ochre crosses on thefloor but it is also the lair of monster worms that fall on any meat.The travellers of old would carry a sheep up and run like hell for thecave of stalagmites (which block the worm) while it is devoured. Hopethe PC have something ready torch light will shortly show anunderground river flowing the other way (no more ochre) which will leadto high mountain basin. Geologically an inlier of gold-bearing basementcapped by limestone. Problem it exits over a sheer bluff and the ropeladder has long since rotted away. The creek joins a larger creek withthe disconcerting habit of disappearing an hour or two after rain (the ghost ) leaving a dry bed. And yes, this is based on real place in NZ.The creeks are gold-bearing if PC ready to dig for it the hard way.Remnants of digging all over the show.You get the general idea. Quite a bit of work and you can leadcharacters by the nose through it if so inclined. Mis-translations canalso help.=========================================================================The Mages ContestAuthors of Volume 1LongFantasyMagicDungeon Every ten years, the Mages Guild holds a contest. The prize of thecontest should be left fairly vague, unless one of your PC s is a high-ranking member of the Guild I usually use some statement about material considerations well, it s politics mostly However, sinceGuild mages tend to be not particularly active types, the contest isstructured as follows: each mage hires a group of adventurers (here swhere the PC s come in), who then compete for the prize in a maze set upand run by the Guild. The party should be hired by a mage, who tellsthem basically the information above, plus the number of other groupscompeting (I usually use four groups total, since in my maze they tend tomeet up at the end for a final battle, and dealing with more NPC s thanthat would get hellish). The mage gives each PC a magical token basically just a little one-use magic item. The tokens can have effectslike Levitate (for a duration), Light (ditto), Invisibility (as thespell); just go through the PH and pick out spells to use. Make up amaze to put the party though, and don t forget that several other groupsare doing this at the same time! The way I run it is that I have a mapof a maze, with four relatively distinct paths to a final room. They docross over, but not very often. Each has several large empty rooms onthe map, and some marked spots in the corridors. Then I have a list ofrooms to use, and corridor tricks, and I just insert whichever ones Ifeel like when they come to a room or a corridor spot. The four groupsrace through the maze, and the objective is to find a large flashing gem.I usually set it up so that when the party reaches the last room (wherethe gem is), most of the other groups arrive at the same time. If theparty tries to hang back and let them fight it out, I have some of theNPC s start going for the gem. Remember that this was set up by a Mages Guild, so you can put in almost anything you want some examples ofrooms I use are: 1) The room has a chasm cutting it in two. There is another door onthe far side, and a bridge across the chasm. (The chasm is actually anillusion, but falling in will take the PC out of the contest) On thebridge, there are two knights . These are merely animated suits ofarmor, and they have orders to prevent anyone from crossing the chasm.They will react predictably to actions by the PC s, and so can be luredinto traps; for example, a thief tries to climb across, one of theknights moves to block him, the party tosses oil onto the bridge wherethe knight would stand, then the thief goes back. The knight walks backand slips in the oil. Make the bridge very narrow and no handrails. 2) Another room with a chasm, but this one has a maze of invisiblepaths crossing it. The party would have to move very slowly, feelingtheir way along and probably mapping the maze as well. Therefore, youput a monster (I usually use a nonafel, or cat-o -nine-tails, from theFiend Folio, or else something called an amorph hopper which I made up)on the bridges to mess them up. Let the monster leap infallibly from onespot to another (it knows the maze perfectly), or else let it fly. 3) A circular room with a pillar in the center. As soon as one personenters the room, tell them that they see the door slam behind them andthe room begins to spin. They are plastered against the outer wall bythe centrifugal force, and are slowly being crushed. Then send them outof the room, and tell the other players that they see the guy enter theroom, and then throw himself against the outer wall. It s an illusion,of course, and the other players can do whatever they want, but whateverthey do, the trapped character will interpret it as something that wouldbe happening, or else just something weird happens and he can t figureout why. For example: they tried slapping the trapped character acrossthe face. He felt the blow, but had no idea where it came from.However, there s a catch: the crushing is real. After a little while,ribs begin cracking the idea is to try to get the trapped characterto disbelieve his surroundings.=========================================================================Good or Bad?Authors of Volume 1LongFantasyExplorationInvestigationUrbanDungeon The PC s have been meandering around differant continents, and theywind up at this town. The people of this town are very suppressed, anddo not like strangers. It seems as though the strangers they have dealtwith in the past are pretty dangerous. There is however a thriving community in this town centered around amagic users guild. I admit, a very rare thing indeed. As the PC s begin to find out things about this town, they find outsome of the following things: 1) A powerful MU owns the town whether by money or power nobodyknows. 2) The town government is set up similar to a company: mayor at thetop, and vice presidents below him each in charge of some communitywelfare. This group of people votes on decisions concerning law,including trials. 3) There are one or two members from the guild on the council. 4) Some others of the council are suspected of being influenced toabstain or cast a certain vote. 5) Every three months people with handicaps, the aged, and the dyingare removed from this town. 6) The town is located at the base of a cliff against the sea. Theonly way to the top is a dangerous road with several hairpin turns. 7) Criminals are put to work mining a roadway through the cliff wallup to the surface above. 8) The rocks from the mining are quarried in blocks and are valued insome lands for building. The rock is very hard, and has a uniform blackcolor. If the party tries to find out what happens to those who get takenaway, they will find they are taken to a dead volcano, with a largevalley inside. This valley does not go through seasons, and the treesare fruit trees, which always bear fruit. There is a portal into thisvalley. The portal of mourning. It opens up every three months on thesoltice dates. Can you guess what time of day? At sunrise. Written onthe archway of the portal is the purpose of the portal, valley, and sinceit is old and worn, when the portal was dicovered thirty years ago therewas a loss of translation of the portal of The Morning. There is an evening portal too. But that one is the entrance to anold abandoned dwarven kingdom. It opens up every night. Each night,undead skeletons emerge with two tasks. Gather fruit. Look fornewcomers, and welcome them to shelter. Skeletons will try to captureanyone alive with nets. Inevitably the PC s will want to go dungeoning and kill off hoards ofskeletons, and free lots of supressed people. Insert your own dungeon inthis part or use a prefab. Eventually, they will meet the lich in the dungeon. He will askseveral questions about why they killed the skeletons. Now the poorpeople will starve and so on and so forth. It will be increasinglyaware that the lich is a good lich. The lich became a lich to forevertake care of the orchard. It turns out there is another lich. The Good lich is in fear of theBad one, who happens to live in the town heading the MU guild. Theguild is a structure in which the Lich collects power, items, spells itis great if the party has an MU who joined the guild without knowing.The guild is structured like a membership thing. Access to libraries isbased on level of membership. Level of membership changes based ondonations of magic items, artifacts, spells and of course money. The possibilities branch out from there But the deal is to free thegood lich from the wrath of the bad. They could 1) Infiltrate the guild to a level at which it will topple. 2) Kill the bad lich. 3) Ignore the Deal. 4) Rally the town. 5) Retrieve the good liches talisman from the bad one s possesion. Any option is bound to piss someone off. Good or bad lich, or the 40or so MU s who have invested their life s savings into the guild. Butthink of all those magic items that must be in there.=========================================================================The Sage s PlanPhil ScaddenP.Scadden@gns.cri.nzLongAnyGuardingIntrigueAnyCavePart 1: Chief honcho feeling old, needs to test suitability of daughter asheir. A crafty sage NPC called to help. Sage s plan: A honcho s man will pretend to turn traitor and withPC s will kidnap daughter. (Big deal everyone is cooperating). Theywill tell daughter she is to write note saying father to come alone withransom. He will be bumped off by ambush and they will see daughterconfirmed as heir but she will take orders from rival evil honcho. Theyhave permission to scare her with anything short of real torture. Shepasses test if she refuses to write or finds a way to warn, or manages anescape. A largish group is hired as daughter normally well protected andPC will really be acting as a guard and protect her whatever herchoices Pretty boring easy money for players huh since all set up?Catch: The man chosen to play traitor really is a traitor in pay of uncle.The opportunity to dispose of daughter and become heir is seized. Thetraitor will suggest a cave in isolated area (which just happens to bemoderately fortifiable not by design; he just likes the isolation) asplace for the hold-out and the father (anxious to be fully informed)agrees. PCs may have a better idea but unlikely they will be in a placeunknown to the traitor or father. Traitor is a coward and won t attempton the life of the girl himself but will use any excuse to leave PCs withgirl. Uncle will bring large force to bear on the PCs to wipe her out.(and them). Traitor to blame the PCs.The daughter: Really a good choice. Will not at first agree but will grovel andpretend submission. Will write note but encoded to warn. If no otheropportunity has arisen, the traitor will say he will take note. If theplayers later tell her its a setup (when trouble begins), she willdemonstrate fine combat skills.Baddies: Whatever number to test your PCs. Will (treacherously) offer freepassage if they will hand over girl. (PC s may think the daughterworthless and be tempted to hand her over mine were! If they do, theywill not be allowed to leave alive since they are to be blamed with it.Dead men tell no tales. Fortunately mine remembered orders to protect nomatter what and girl will reveal the actual contents of her note when sherealises the PC are on her side). The negotiation delay will give sometime for setting up defences if it occurs to players to hedge. Too badif they don t. If the PCs can hold out 2 days, a concerned father will arrive withrelieving force. -Part 2: [This was an extension as players grumbled about tiny pay (it wassupposed to be an easy job) and here the sage helps.] I made an earlierpost on the net frp conference on moral dilemmas and here is the detail. In reward for services, a sage offers this little test to a group ofPCs. This is a variation of the famous Prisoner Dilemma based on anessay by Douglas Hofstadter in Metamagical Themas. This will work bestwith a group that are really involved with their characters and haveplayed them for some time. Players given a counter which is red on one side, black on the other.They are to hand it secretly to the sage either red side up or black sideup. They will be rewarded according to how all play.If a PC returns the piece BLACK side up he/she gets: For every other player turning in a RED side: A Big reward. For every other player turning in a BLACK side: Nothing or very smallIf a PC returns the piece RED side up he/she gets: For every other player turning in a RED side: A moderate reward For every other player turning in a BLACK side: Only a small reward It is important the player really understand the reward system beforethey make the choice. It is also very important that they can t discusswith each other what they will do and the returns are made in secret.When I did it, I had the sage claiming (quite wrongly) he could magicallyincrease basic attributes and the matrix was:BLACK choice: For every RED piece: Attribute of choice increased by one unit. For every BLACK piece: nothing.RED choice: For every RED piece: 50s in money For every BLACK piece: 5s in money The advantage of offering an attribute change, is that to the players(more than the PCs) it was a very real temptation to offer BLACK. Ofcourse, if they all chose black, nobody would get anything. If only onechose red, that player would be fairly annoyed while the rest get oneattribute bumped up. If you were the only player to choose black, thenyou sit very pretty the details of this dilemma are well discussed byHofstadter. He tried it for real money on his friends, here s yourchance to do the same. For once, the game is as interesting if theplayer is trying to choose for a PC or doing it for him/herself. Of course, all hell breaks loose when the sage reveals he is lying andjust gives each a little more than if all had chosen red .. The GM should decide what reward matrix the game balance can handleand whether the sage is honest, but do recommend the attribute lift asbait.=========================================================================VendettaPhil ScaddenP.Scadden@gns.cri.nzLongAnyAnyIntrigueAny One obvious device for side-line action is the good old vendetta, orEven Orcs Have Mothers. Sooner or later, (sooner usually) PC s will bytheir actions have ruined someones plans, killed someone favouriteson/uncle/mother/etc and be due for a spot of revenge. This brings thatmost dangerous of monsters up against the PCs another thinking human.If the GM looks at the world from the Offended One s point of view, lotsof ways for to get even should suggest itself but here are few ideas.Toss them into the game at the same time as other action the vendettamay become the main gaming focus but it shouldnt start that way.The hired thugs: Predictable, common but not a bad opening shot anyway to start theplayers going. Chances are this will tell the Offended One (OO) that itwasn t luck and these guys are good, while telling the PCs that lifeisn t that simple.The Trap: Can be variation of above but much more creative ways around. Howabout a desirable NPC that spends some time winning the PC s confidence(helping out on a couple of expeditions say?) before some suitablycreative putting the boot in? (from the unsubtle knife in back throughpoison to inadvertantly leaving the wrong door open). Using their greed to send them against a strongly defended positionwith a totally false plan about a supposed way in? (This got my playerspast thinking of the vendetta as an sideline nuisance. They were mean andcold and looking for blood when they returned). Or how about when the player are off to visit an unfamiliar culture,making sure they get stunningly wrong information on culturalsensitivities. (I havent play-tested this one, but I imagine could bevery good in a light-hearted game) My favourite is close to above: On an expedition to tribesmen, afunctionary they hadn t much noticed offers them an ornate tribe weapon.He/she tells them this is could be the key to getting close to the chief.Tell any barbarian that they can talk to, that they got it by Melstilatuk from a barbarian chief. He/she further explains thatmelstilatuk (use your own languages) is a ceremonial battle and winningagainst a chief accords them high status. In fact the functionary is thein employ of OO and will quickly vanish. The weapon was obtained fromthe father of current chief in a particularly cowardly ambush that thetribesmen know about. If the PCs are curious about the word, a non-tribal linguist can only translate it as raven work . A tribal linguistif they even bother to find one, would them that melstilatuk is acolloquial abusive term for corpse-robbing regarded VERY badly bytribesman. The weapon will be instantly recognised by the closetribesmen to the chief and effect of the characters proudly recitingtheir claim can be imagined.The Frame up: Often PCs leave themselves very wide open to being framed and dealt towrongly by the law. This should make it a good option for the OO. Thetrick to playing this so your PCs have a chance is to very thoroughlythink out how the OO sets it up exactly who is talked to, bribed,where, who could see it. PC s will have to pursue what really happenedand they need good detail. I failed at this on first attempt really butmade up for it belately working in a lot of detail. The lying witness or false complaint: This is the simplist by far ifa bit obvious. Remember that if all or part of the PC party are free toinvestigate then the OO is likely to take measures to protect theimplicated. My PCs actually utilised this. They figured the witnesswould be guarded so looked out for the guards and followed them (and afew false trails as well) to locate the OO. Doubles: Illusion magic to make the others look like the PC in awitnessed crime? I haven t actually tried it but sounds good. Here s a complex one that the players may tumble at any stage but willland them in serious trouble if they don t. Baddie in employ of OO posesto players as a rich jeweller from within a city. He meets them at alocation outside the city and describes some imaginary double-dealing inthe trade. The upshot is that he thinks a rival has wrinkled him out ofa distinctive ruby necklace. His mission for the PC is to probe or watcha house in the outskirts to see if any sign. He tells them that thenecklace has a vague enchantment (improve looks, raise charisma that kindof thing) and could be picked up by detect magic abilities. Small rewardfor successful location. Big reward if they can get it. He tells themhe doesn t want them anywhere near his city shop. They pass a message tohim via person in local pub in writing. It mustn t mention the goods,just say party of extra people needed if they can t get it, else tell himto come alone to a meeting point if they have managed it all themselves. The house is the real jeweller s house and the necklace is not heavilyprotected as the rubies are fake (which the jeweller knows) but the magicisn t (of which he is unaware). The reward should tempt the PCs to gofor it. They will then send a note to the appropriate place. Make surethey write down what it says. The note goes of course to the OO who thenmurders the real jeweller, places the note on his body, then tips off thewatch on where to find the PCs. Chances are the PCs have written ahighly incriminating note and in addition will be holding property knowto belong to the jeweller.Final Vendetta notes: If a prolonged vendetta is plaguing the players then a certain amountof paranoia is liable to set in. You may be accused of inventing waysaround their precautions because they tell you them in advance. If youare, I hope they string you. If otherwise, don t get angry suggest aplay fair system. They write down their precautions when you warn themthat you need to know. You write down your attack. At the moment oftruth, notes are compared and a very enjoyable game can be held BETWEENGM and players. This assumes enough maturity on your players that theybuild protection that they reasonably could manage by their skills andmoney without going through you. If so have some fun. This play reallyonly applies to the Hired Thug approach the others shouldnt really beopen to abuse.=========================================================================Ashburn ManDavid F. NalleLongHorrorInvestigationBuilding For this adventure a group of younger but promising members of theOdyssians are invited out for a weekend at the country estate of SirHenry Ainsford, one of the older members of the club. Sir Henry is notedas a hunter and explorer, but he is getting on in years and spends mostof his time at his estate outside of the town of Ashburn in Kent. Sir Henry regularly invites Odyssians out for weekend visits, but thisparticular weekend is special, because he believes he has made adiscovery of great scientific importance on the grounds of his estate.This means that he will make sure that Odyssians of particular interestswill be in his group. He will invite archaeologists, paleontologists,physicians, historians and ethnologists in particular, plus an assortmentof others who are interested. He will also invite his two oldest friendsin the Odyssians, Professor Milton Morrisson of the Language andEthnology faculty at Oxford and Admiral Sir Joseph Porter (retired). Allhe tells anyone in advance is that he has made a discovery which mayrevolutionize the history and science of human origins. Ashburn House Sir Henry s ancestral manse is a 16th century monstrosity, somewhereinbetween a manor house and a castle, ornate and over decorated. It islocated on the edge of the range of hills known as the North Downs. Thetrip from London to Ashburn by train takes around two hours. When theyarrive in the town Sir Henry will have several carriages waiting to takethem to Ashburn House. When they arrive they are greeted by Sir Henry, who excuses himselfand seems rather agitated. They will then get a short tour of the house,conducted by the major domo, Burton. Burton shows them the gun room andthe trophy room (lions and tigers and bears, oh my!), the game room,several parlors and dining rooms, and eventually he shows each of them totheir bedrooms. Each of the bedrooms is decorated in a different motif,reminiscent of different parts of the world. The American Room isdecorated with trophies of caribou, beaver and bears. The East Africanroom features lions and giraffes. The Egyptian room has crocodile andrhinoceros hide chair covers and the like. The Indian room has abeautiful tiger skin rug. The Amazon room has a giant stuffed anacondaon the wall. The Orient Room has elephant tusks and panda fur rugs.There are many more along the same lines. After they ve settled in, Burton will call them down for dinner. Atthe meal Sir Henry seems agitated, smokes a number of cigars, and barelytouches his food. When asked about his discovery he is evasive and tellseveryone to wait until after dinner. Once the meal is concluded, theyretire to the Smoking Room, where a large, coffin-like box, about 2 by 5feet is waiting on a table in the middle of the room. Cigars are handedout, and Sir Henry launches into a speech to the effect that he hastravelled far and seen many things, but that he has made his greatestdiscovery literally in his own back yard. He goes on to tell how one of his groundskeepers, a man named JamesDearing, was mowing in a grove of ash trees on a hill behind the house,when he discovered a series of depressions in the ground, all veryregularly spaced. He reported them to Sir Henry because he wassuspicious that they might be deadfalls set by poachers. Sir Henryinvestigated, had one of the holes dug up, and in the hole they found at this point he opens the box a small, manlike skeleton buried in thefetal position, surrounded by garlands of what appeared to be extremelywell preserved wild flowers. The skeleton he reveals is in rather goodcondition, completely bare, about 4 and a half feet tall. What makes itremarkable is that while generally manlike in appearance, it has anelongated lower jaw, pronounced cranial ridges and elongated upper andlower canines, all characteristics of great apes, rather than man. Everyone crowds around, and Professor Morrison, and possibly others,declare that it must be a hoax. Someone is clearly trying to putsomething over on Sir Henry, taking the jaw of an ape and the body of adeformed human child and putting them together. But on closerexamination it is clear that the jaw fits perfectly with the rest of theskull, and the skull clearly fits the spine, and all the bone appears tobe of the same age. Professor Morrison can t be sure, but given thestyle of burial and the condition of the bones he believes that theypredate the early Celtic settlement of the British Isles, and if it isnot a hoax, he theorizes that this might be one of the Dark Folk , theaboriginal inhabitants of Britain who were wiped out by the Celts andsurvive only in legend. As Morrison seems to have become convinced, Sir Henry becomes evenmore excited, and explains that there are 7 more burial shafts and thathe intends to excavate them all in the next few days with the help of hisfellow Odyssians. That said, he closes up the box, leads everyone out ofthe Smoking Room and locks the door. At this point some of the guestsare probably tired and retire, and others go to the game room or to theLibrary for some recreation. Night at Ashburn House During the night several things will happen. One of the characterswith a relatively high PSI will happen to peer out of his window late atnight. Off in the distance he will see a round hill with a grove of greyash on the top of it. The ash are swaying in the wind. Then he noticesthat none of the other trees in the garden or beyond seem to be swayingat all, and he gets the feeling that there s something almost consciousabout the movements of the ash. Another character will have a dream during the night. He will dreamof a procession of thin, regal looking women bearing glowing spheres oflight passing through his room, passing through the door as if it or theywere immaterial, and moving on into the hallway. In the Morning When they awaken in the morning they notice that Professor Morrisondoesn t join them for breakfast. Then Sir Joseph mentions that he was uplate with Morrison drinking brandy in the library and that when he wentto bed at 2am Morrison was still there reading. He suggests thatMorrison might want to sleep late. Sir Henry is a bit non-plussed bythis, but is ready to set out to the wilds of the backyard anyway. Burton brings picks, rubbers and shovels after breakfast and everyoneheads out to the burial site. It is a small clearing in the middle of anash grove on top of a hill. The ashes are of a miniature variety, buthealthy and well established, clearly well cared for. In the middle ofthe clearing is a 6 foot high, very worn menhir surrounded (after somesearching) by eight depressions in the ground, spaced evenly in a circle,one of them recently filled in. The digging commences. In each of the burial shafts they will find a skeleton similar to theone already found by Sir Henry. It is unlikely that anyone will dig inthe shaft which the first skeleton was taken from, but if they do, theywill find the mangled body of Professor Morrison there. It will take most of the day to dig out the shafts. And at noon or soBurton will bring out tables and campaign chairs for a leisurely lunch atgraveside. Professor Morrison never joins them, and as they prepare to head backto the house, Sir Henry tells Burton to make sure the Professor isfeeling well and have him meet them in the Smoking Room. When the grisly trophies are gathered in the Smoking Room, Burtonarrives with the announcement that Professor Morrison is missing, and notonly that, but it is clear that he didn t pack up and leave, because hisclothes are still there and his bed has not been slept in. The last place the Professor was seen was in the Library, and a closeinspection of the Library will reveal an open copy of Tacitus on thefloor, some dots of blood around it, and the fact that the tiger skin rugwhich is normally there is missing. What s Going On? The grove of ash trees is an ancient holy place. Each of the eightlargest ash trees contains a powerful guardian spirit which can manifestas a young woman (as in the dream above) or can possess and animate non-living flesh (tiger skin rugs, etc). These Ash Maidens will attempt toget the skeletons back, or replace them with new sacrifices, likeProfessor Morrison. If they go and dig out the original burial shaft, they will findProfessor Morrison s body, mauled as if by a tiger, wrapped in the tigerskin rug from the Library, and garlanded with wild flowers. It may takethem a while to figure out to do this, so let them stew and be mystified. The spirits can only be placated by returning all the skeletons andmaintaining absolute silence about their existence. In fact, if they goto re-bury the skeletons they will find that there are now ten holesinstead of eight, eight for the skeletons, one for Professor Morrison andone for Sir Henry. The spirits will do all they can to make sure thathole is filled. The powers of the spirits are limited. They can only operate indarkness. They cannot travel more than a mile from the grove. Eachspirit can only animate one thing per night. Passing through solidobjects is relatively strenuous for them, so they do it as little aspossible. The Second Night Most likely, by the second night they will either be working on or nothave solved the mystery. That night as they sleep, several things mayhappen. Most likely one or more of the characters will be awakened by thesound of pounding and rending as an assortment of elk and gorillas andthe like attempt to break into the Smoking Room. Someone, or maybe even two of the characters, will find that thestuffed anaconda or bearskin rug or boarskin bedspread will come to lifeas they are drifting off to sleep and attempt to attack them and dragthem out to the grove. The same character who saw the ash swaying the night before will lookout the window at midnight and think that he sees the ash transformed towomen who then move in a procession towards the house. Someone who is relatively susceptible to such things will be visitedby two of the Ash Maidens who will attempt to seduce him, take him to thegrove, manipulate his mind and will, essentially enslave him, and thensend him back to the house to get the skeletons and Sir Henry for them. Can they Save Sir Henry? Most likely not. The only way to save Sir Henry would be to keep theAsh Maidens and their animated creatures away from him throughout thesecond night and then get him away from Ashburn House immediately in themorning, never to return. In fact, in that situation the house wouldhave to be permanently abandonned because the Ash Maidens would keeplooking for sacrifices. Alternatively, they could burn down the grove. This would be sick,cruel and immoral, but would get rid of the Ash Maidens until saplingswhich escaped the burning grew to maturity in several years, at whichpoint the problem would reemerge. Finally, they could offer someone else in sacrifice, but finding awilling victim is unlikely, and giving an unwilling sacrifice would beinappropriate. Regardless of how they deal with the situation they will face moraldilemmas which will not be easily resolved, because the Ash Maidensshould really be preserved as an invaluable paranormal resource, andthough their demands of sacrifice are justified by their lights, it willbe hard for reasonable people to go along with them.=========================================================================Contributors -Joe AmatoPaul Brinkley (Don't look now, but you did give a summary or two...)Richard L. Butler (The amazing forgotten man...)J. D. FrazerEvan A.C. HuntGwen Johnson (The only contributor with references)Kim Chr. MadsenLoren J. MillerDavid F. Nalle (Do you do Call of Cthulu? :-))Chris Racicot (LOTS of good stuff, thanks)Phil Scadden (Again, and again, and...thanks a lot!)Aaron Sher (Couldn't let this go by without adding something myself...)Brett Slocum (A late addition to the credits)Jeff Vogel (Originator of the lich theme, author of most of the lich stuff)"Sam" (Who is this?) Plus several others if you contributed, and you re not listed, sendme your name! -Phil Scadden, Scadden Research 55 Buick St, Petone, Lower Hutt New Zealand ph (04) 568-7190, fax (04) 569 5016 Posts navigation 1289Next

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