Adventures

Here are some adventure projects I am currently playing, working on, thinking about, or finished playing.

The Vile Tale of Christman Grippertenius

“Die erst von dem Erschrocklichen Mörder Peter Nirschen/ wie er gericht und was er bekennt hat/ In dem 1581. Jahr zu Nüwen Marckt den 16. Septembris. Im Thon/ Es geht ein frischer Sommer daher. Die ander von einem Mörder Christman Gniperdoliga genannt/ welcher von seiner jugendt auff 964. Mörd gethan hat/ Im Thon Hilff GOtt das mir gelinge …”

Dreyerley Neüwezeitung. in Gesangweiß Link

This adventure is about the vile crimes of Christman Grippertenius and his associates Peter Stumpp and Peter Niers.

This is a Level 4-8 OSE adventure for an intrepid band of scoundrels. The player characters will confront a group of murderers that has been terrorizing the region of Bergkessel.

The Pilgrimage of St. Bertolo

A larger OSR destination crawl inspired by the Camino de Santiago.

Pallid Suns

A CWN/Shadowrun Campaign. In development.

Low Income Barony

Criminal wizard gangs slingin’ potions in a poor barony, while vampires scheme. A Shadowdark sandbox adventure.

The Wars of Balgrendia

A 1-10 Shadow of the Demon Lord campaign. A group of criminals is drawn into a succession conflict in the Kingdom of Balgrendia. Can they stop Duke Uthred from killing the Queen and her twin sons? As they are sent behind enemy lines, they uncover a deeper mystery behind the Duke’s attempt to claim the throne…

Finished Campaigns

The Crystal Grammaton

We finished a 20+ session campaign of Hyperborea 3E, set in the region around Xambaala. I smashed together several modules (A Late Trapper’s Lament, The Ghost Ship of the Desert Dunes, the Anthropophagi of Xambaala, Rats in the Walls), sprinkled in some home-brew, and let the players go wild.

Andromalion’s Blessing

“The effects of the Black Death had not yet subsided, and the graves of millions of its victims were scarcely closed, when a strange delusion arose in Germany, which took possession of the minds of men, and, in spite of the divinity of our nature, hurried away body and soul into the magic circle of hellish superstition. It was a convulsion which in the most extraordinary manner infuriated the human frame, and excited the astonishment of contemporaries for more than two centuries, since which time it has never reappeared. It was called the dance of St. John or of St. Vitus, on account of the Bacchantic leaps by which it was characterised, and which gave to those affected, whilst performing their wild dance, and screaming and foaming with fury, all the appearance of persons possessed.”

Justus Friedrich Karl Hecker, The Black Death / The Dancing Mania Link

This is a Level 1-12 5E adventure I played with two groups of players. The player characters confront a being from the Far Realm and its earthly agents in the form of a religious cult. This adventure follows the genre of heroic fantasy with a helping of dark fantasy elements and OSR sensibilities. It mixes a classic linear adventure, with sandbox sections, featuring classic dungeon adventuring, a murder mystery, a prison break, the siege of a city, and a grand set piece finale.

The main inspiration for the adventure is the historical phenomenon of the Veitstanz, Dancing Mania, or St. Vitus Dance, an instance of collective mania that led people to uncontrollably move or dance to exhaustion in the 14th to the 17th century in different parts of Europe. See Wikipedia for a quick overview.

The Music of the Spheres is Chaos

We finished a fun campaign of DCC, playing through several modules before culminating with the fantastic The Music of the Spheres is Chaos. Long live Totino the Toothless!

OSE in the Holy Roman Empire

Here is the campaign hook we used for a 35+ session OSE campaign set in the HRE:

The PCs are part of a mercenary company that was routed at the Battle of Magdeburg. The leading officers of the Company have been killed or captured–the PCs are now in charge. Time to re-group, re-build, acquire a new base of operations, and get back into action. New characters joining are stragglers of the Battle of Magdeburg, having made their way to the current group’s location with some delay or fresh recruits, ready to risk their meager lives for some coin.

I combined some home-brew with third-party modules like the Saint of Bruckstadt, The Son of Baphomet, Call of the Toad, Better Than Any Man, Death Frost Doom, No Rest for the Wicked, Falkrest Abbey, The Isle, Kidnap the Archpriest, and Castle Xyntillan, in a broader region of a made-up version of the HRE:

The Vile Tales of Christman Grippertenius is the northern part of the map (even though the historical tales that inspired this module did place way before the Thirty Years War).

Factions that are active in the area include:

• The Catholic League and the Archbishop of Würzburg.

  • Maneuvering to weaken Protestant Lords and cities. Hunting for heretics. Securing Catholic reliquaries.

• King Gustav of Sweden and Protestants in the region

  • Wants to weaken the Catholic Lords, establish a new Emperor for the HRE, take control of the lands owned by the Church and its monasteries.

• A Mercenary Company: Mentzer’s Irregulars

  • A rival company for the PCs. There is bad blood and a history of betrayal. The Irregulars will take any job, no matter the employer…

• A Mercantile concern: Handelshaus von Bodeck and the Hammelburg Waffenwerke as a center of weapons manufacturing under the leadership of Familie Klee.

  • Profit over people. Foment conflict in the region to drum up sales. Acquire new weapon technology and raw materials. Sabotage competitors. An early example of cut-throat capitalism. They do not care for established guilds, the Lords of the Realm, or the Church. They see markets and capital as the new organizing forces of the world.

• A secret group of occultists: The Hermetische Kristallbund. Led by Johannes Keppler. Other members include John Dee, Giordano Bruno, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, and Nostradamus. In the 17th century, the second generation of leaders include Sir Isaac Newton (using his control over the Bank of England to further the Bund’s goals), Jacob Bruce, Arthur Dee, and older/undead members under newly assumed names.

  • They are searching for the Philosopher’s Stone–a metaphor for self-perfection but also an actual instruction manual for achieving eternal life through lichdom. The Kristallbund is looking for pacts with extraplanar entities, placing members into positions of power at various academies and courts. They are actively searching for powerful magical relics. No friends of organized religion.