The Hydra's Teeth: 1st Level HARP Intro

So, when can folks play next?

I am open most weekends until the last weekend in August, but Kirsten will be out the weekend before that as well. It would be cool to get in two games before then.

I propose Sunday, 7/27, and Saturday, 8/9. Will those dates work for folks? If not, please counter with your availability, ASAP.

MJ

Was the God of Magic able to see the clothing and equipment of those who were afflicted/blessed with being cut off from arcane magics? I ask because I'm interested if anything such people carry takes on the same traits, or if only items they had on them at the time do so, or if it's only out to the limits of their skin.

I'm having a hard time deciding whether to have Galvorn remain an arcane void. If anything we hold takes on that trait, then Kara can train and use any weapon to try and take out our enemies. If it affected items we were holding at the time, then Galvorn's spear is the only such weapon in existence. If it only goes out to our skin, then no weapon with the trait exists and it's time for Kara (and possibly Galvorn) to train as a Monk.

The Episode Guide has been updated for 6/1. Please review the notes in the PDF file linked to at the bottom of the HARP page.

Hey folks, last time I checked we are going to play on Saturday starting at around 3PM. The overall plan will be to play, take a break for dinner, and then wrap up when we feel like it.

I will ask folks to update their cards at the game. I am also going to ask the following be added to the back of the cards: Family status (mother, father, # of siblings, etc.)

-M

I picked up a female dwarf ranger figure for Charise/Solis.  Still looking for a good shrub figure to go with it.

Hey Folks,

As we head towards our next game (the 1st or 2nd correct?) I wanted to ask folks to do something for me. I am going to want to create index cards for all of the PCs. I need to know:

Weapon Skills (OB), Spells (include Type and what book the are in) DB, and adventure-related skills (Stalk/Hide, Perception, etc).

Also, I want to make combat run a little faster. With so many PCs we are going to bog down with the method as described in the book. We are going to try rolling every round, and announce and act at the same time, at the next game. We’ll see how it goes.

I am also toying with using the HARP hex rules – we will see how I feel about them at the next game.

-M

Galvorn was among the best and brightest of his generation and the pride of House Vulruhn.  A born warrior, his relentless ferocity, unbridled enthusiasm, generosity of spirit, and hard drinking joviality brought many firend to his banner, even before he graduated from the tutelage of his weapons master.  Gurthos, an aged but famed goblin fighter, taught many of the young turks of Silverhall, including Galvorn's  chief rival, Falbir.  Both loved the  crusty old weaponsmaster and sought his approval, competing for favor with a fierce intensity.

While Galvorn was the very flower of Dwarven intensity and fire, Falbir was his opposite.  Silent, implacable, and precise.  No task could be handed out that they did not compete at, always at the front of the pack.

Near the day of their graduation from trainees to full warrior status (and adulthood), Ambergrain fell under threat of assault by one of the all too frequent goblin raids.  Witht he main bulk of the armies already engaged in a seige to the North, Gurthos volunteered his trainees to head of the raiding party reported to be threatening one of the community's most treasured farming enclaves.

Upon arriving at the enclave, just ahead of the goblin infantry, Gurthos broke the class into two groups, sending Galvorn's group to clear the cliffs above while taking Falbir with him to confront the main body of goblin infantry.  A classic move to prevent the goblins from neutralizing the advantage offered by the enclave's sheer walls on three sides.   No one had reckoned with the Orc warg riders who accompanied the raiders and whom the scouts had missed entirely.  Despite the advantage in numbers, Gurthos' unseasoned troops were hard pressed by the orc and goblin raiders.  The leader of the orcs, fell-handed and screaming his name as a warcry, crashed into battle with Gurthos even as Falbir struggled to keep the line from faltering under the fierce goblin charge.  "Torthaang!" echoed across the battle field to the accompaniment battle axes, hammers and falchions falling on shield or crushing flesh.

Galvorn's force returned from slaughtering the scalers, his numbers shrunken by half from the sentries he'd left to hold the heights.  Even as his squad rushed forward into the faltering lines, Gurthos blew the retreat on his warhorn, the cry bubbling with the blood carried on his last breath, his body pierced by the great weapon.  Falbir had fought through to his teacher's side, but was quickly engaged by Torthaang's body guard.  His heart clenched in grief, he  knew his duty and stood fast in the face of the enemy's elation at the fall of the much hated weaponsmaster.  He called to the remaining student warriors about him to form a shield wall and cover the retreat of the survivors.

Galvorn, though, was of a different cut.  At the fall of his teacher his mind became an inferno of rage.  Ignoring the last orders of his mentor, and Falbir's shouts to fall back and protect the lies of the young trainees, he lead his understrength forces in a charge past Falbir's retreating line and crashed with a vengeance upon the core of the warg riders.  From some perspective, it was a brave, heroic, and romantic charge; but from the more pragmatic view of a Dwarven warrior, the move was fraught with foolishness and an utter disaster.  Galvorn's squad carved a swathe through the warg riders and pushed Torthang's forces back into the supporting raider elements.  They killed many orcs and goblins, and broke their lines sufficiently that Falbir sensed his chance and rallied his own line to drive them from the field.  None of the students from Galvorn's squad lived to see.  To a dwarf, all but Galvorn were slain, and the Galorn that had so inspired and captivated those around him, died on that field as well.

Upon arrival at the center of what had been a great melee, Falbir found that Torthaang had left him a message; Galvorn impaled through the lungs at the center of a burning heap of his fellow students bodies.  Burned and wounded mortally, Galvorn somehow clung to life as Falbir's forces carried him though the long march back to Silverhall.  The Enclave had been saved, but at a price too great to be contemplated.

With the aid of the priests of the Stone Lord, Galvorn lived.  The burns on his body and pneumonia that set in before they could reach His halls broke the young warrior's titanic vitality and stole much of the quicksilver movement that had made him one of Gurthos' greatest students.  Worse, while Falbir was greeted with a hero's accolades, Galvorn' s impetuosity and refusal to follow orders were the obvious source of the disaster.  The brash, fiery pride of House Vulruhn was dead, and the broken young man who remained was so ridden with guilt and remorse that he never returned to his family's halls.

In the long months of his convalescence, Galvorn fell into depths of darkness he had neer before understood in his life.  All who had lauded him before now whispered his name with anger or regret.  Only the priests of the Stone Lord looked at him with as anything o0ther than a tragic figure.  Ironically, it was Falbir, who visited Galvorn's sickbed at every opportunity who first managed to pull the young dwarf out of his hell of self pity and misery.  Falbir had always been a rival, respected for his talents, but certainly no friend.  Now his fellow warrior came and sat silently by his bed for hours every day.  When finally Galvorn looked him in the eye, he saw grief and sadness, but none of the pity or disdain his few previous visitors had inflicted upon him.

"Why do you linger here, Falbir?"  Galvorn's once rich barritone now grated through lungs scraped raw.  "You are the favored son... you followed orders... he chose you to stand at his side.  You have the final victory and will be a great warrior."  A fit of wracking coughs took him for am moment.  "Go and redeem my great tragedy.  It is what Gurthos would have wanted."  For a moment, some of his old fire returned, but it faded under the wave of grief that encompassed Falbir.

"The others judge and seem to know exactly what happened, BUT THEY WEREN'T there!"  The roar of Falbir's voice represented the most passion he had ever seen from his rival.  "You think I wanted to retreat?  We could have won.  We DID WIN!  Because of you.  If I hadn't retreated as ordered, if I'd disobeyed and pressed the enemy with you, we might have been able to rescue Gurthos just as we did you."  Falbir's voice continued to rise in intensity and volume, drawing the penetrating stare of the priests and patients occupying the other beds in the infirmary.  "T'Hell with their judgements and common sense.  Every one of us was ready to die to keep the farmers and the enclave safe, and I was ready to to leave it all to the goblins because Gurthos needed to protect his students more than the innocents we were sent to save."  By the end, Falbir was shouting, his body trembling with the release of anger.

Galvorn could not recall having heard some many words from the young dwarf in all his life.  The two spoke of these matters for many hours, and it was the first time either could see the true value and folly of the things they has done in battle.  Galvorn knew that his actions had been foolish, and that the deaths of so many trainees would threaten Silverhall's ability to meet the ever mounting goblin threat.  He knew that those who condemned him and lauded Falbir were right to do so, and he convinced the young dwarf of this through the hours that followed.  Even so, seeing his actions through Falbir's eyes convinced him that they were not without merit of their own, and a bit of the black despair enwrapping his heart wisped away into nothing.  It was then that they became fast friends.

Galvorn's wounds were too great for a complete recovery and he would never recover the vitality and speed that made him what he was, but still he could have become a great warrior, though never so great as he had aspired to be.  A priestess of the Stone Lord, Nevhani, had heard the many philosophical conversations of the two and determined that the opening of Galvorn's eyes to more than his own duty or glory made him ripe for recruitment to the Stone Lord's service.  No match for the determined Priestess and bedridden for many weeks still, Galvorn began to read and learn the lore of the Stone Lord.

Two years latter, Galvorn was ordained as an acolyte in the church.  His original drive had been to simply live long enough to destroy Torthaag and avenge his teacher, but the eye of the All-Father looks far down the road, and his studies showed that there were many more important worries for the dwarven people that required hands to do His work.  The burgeoning threat of the goblins and the mystery of their great numbers and organization took a much stronger root in his heart than simple vengeance; but Galvorn is a dwarf, his memory is long, and perhaps vengeance can be had along the way.

Hey Folks,

I wanted to spend a moment and talk a little about the plan for Sunday. I hope to be able to start at 5. We will go through the introduction of the setting, and the basic situation. We will then actually take a little break to eat and finish/modify characters (if there are any changes that people want to make - I will not consider characters "settled" until we start). Then we will get going with the game.

So, start at 5 - break from 6-7 to eat and settle characters, 7+ play for a few hours.

Folks, this is important - if we decide to use the College of Magics book, anyone who wants to be a "mage" will need to be one of the 5 magical professions in the book - they replace the mage (to avoid spell bloatage - sounds painful). If we want to stick to the main rules, CoM will go out the window. I'm OK either way. Magic user types sound off!

So, votes? I have not heard from anyone other than Susan, Mike J and Griffon on PC professions.