A4.
This is part of the #Dungeon23 challenge in which you make one room to a dungeon every day for a year. In an effort to link my memories to the creation, I am also writing a personal journal entry with each room that may or may not be related.
You don’t have to read that part.
A4.
Walking from A3, the tunnel to A4 is covered crude drawings on every surface. Anyone with a background in druidic knowledge, may feel like the symbols are familiar but different. Perhaps twisted. Perhaps primordial. Hard to say.
The faint echo of rushing water can be heard in the distance.
As you round the corner, a light source creates dancing shadows on the cave walls. Squinting in the dark one can make out small piles of leaves and twigs that are slowly burning on the floor.
Inspecting them reveals that each pile contains a different human organ.
The smell is repulsive and when you reach A4 the smoke is thick in your lungs.
There are two Trogdars Warriors. They are in the middle of a ritual. Each burning pile has an organ from some of the dead bandits they captured. They are breathing the fumes to gain clarity and strength.
To the far east of the room is a Trogdar Shaman that is overseeing the ritual. If the mound is disturbed in A3, he will send the Warriors to investigate. If the explorers make it this far, the Shaman will command the Warriors to capture the intruders. If the it looks spotty for the Warriors the Shaman will retreat into the darkness of the south tunnel.
The Trogdar Warriors carry wooden clubs. Each club is spiked with a sharpened human femur.
They will kill who they perceive to be the weakest of the explorers, and capture the strongest for sacrifice.
1/4/23
What the fuck are Trogdars?
I’m working on it. I know what they are like, but I don’t know what they are. We’ll get there. I probably could’ve waited on the combat stuff, but I got itchy.
I started packing yesterday. We’re moving. Over a period of 16 years, I’ve only lived in two places since moving to Chicago.
I like not moving.
Yesterday was mostly clothes and books. I have a lot of books. A lot of DVDs and blu rays.
I love the idea of always having a story at arms length.
Today I pack more, probably board games. Then the RPG books. More stories stuffed into boxes ready to be unpacked in a new town. Ready to make new stories.
I’ve been reading other ttrpg blogs, and getting inspired for my own games. Getting inspired for season 4 of Out of Depth Plays.
I want to run a game before we leave for some strangers. I don’t know what the game is, but I need to sort out the details today. It might be Call of Cthulhu just to get the system in my bones before we start recording the show. I’ve played it only a handful of times, and feel comfortable enough to wing it, but there are some mechanics I’m a little unsure of. Like combat.
Combat in any game always scares me. That’s often the point where the ticky tacky minutiae gets introduced and the creative play then turns into a board room negotiation. Can I move this far? Yes but you don’t get an action. Can I move half as far and still get an action? Yes but because you moved half as far the angle of the sun will be such that the light is in your eyes, and you’ll be at a disadvantage on your attack… and on and on.
Sometimes I like the ticky tacky, but for the show, I want something quick and decisive. Roll. It works. Let’s go. I don’t want to consult the geometry of it.
I could probably write more about it, but I doubt I’d say anything new. It’s an old problem. But the structure of play and what is most conducive to creativity is always of interest to me, so this will probably come up a lot more in the future.
Today’s journal is all over the place, but that’s how it goes.
Let’s just call it there and get back to packing.
See you tomorrow.
-Jae
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