2009 GenCon Acaeum Tim Kask Game

Posts: 343 · Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 12:20 pm

Am designing dungeon adventure even now. Looks to be a tough one.

Bracton, have I got a deal for you on apparel...hehehehhe.

Posts: 301 · Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 12:49 pm

I won't be able to make Thur noon.

Have fun and see y'all another time.

(I might be in early enough to pop in at the dinner, or maybe GaryCon)

Posts: 343 · Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 2:05 pm

mordrin wrote:

I won't be able to make Thur noon.

Have fun and see y'all another time.

(I might be in early enough to pop in at the dinner, or maybe GaryCon)

Sorry to hear it.
So, we're down to a tentative twelve, a timorous thirteen if SaxonAngel plays. Or maybe fewer. Doesn't matter to me; just ask anyone that played in my NTRPGC games. TPK is TPK, large or small. And, from Texas, a few of them learned that life is TOUGH in my dungeons if your luck sucks.

Posts: 7874 · Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 6:50 pm

i am most envious of you guys. tim's dungeon crawl was superb and i have no doubt you will all have a blast.

sheesh i really wish i was going

Al

Posts: 297 · Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 11:00 pm

Kaskoid wrote:

Am designing dungeon adventure even now. Looks to be a tough one.

Bracton, have I got a deal for you on apparel...hehehehhe.

I've been carefully saving money for months now . . . and it seems like every time I try to bid on something on eBay, another bidder makes sure I keep saving. Mad

So I'll be ready for GenCon, and whatever may come up, Tim Kask-wise, at auction. Laughing

Posts: 96 · Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 2:21 pm

Oh poop... now I wanna go to GenCon. lol I wouldn't mind a quick death on a Thursday. Wink

Sounds lovely.

Laughing

~Kat ^_^

Posts: 7874 · Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 4:25 pm

well getting turned to stone twice in the first 10 minutes of a game is something special that i won't ever forget....kind of a badge of honour from tim that.....

my daughter wants to go next year (she was most put out that i wasnt going this year), because she wants to "meet that nice old man" again who gave her the badge Smile

its rare she says anything good like that - but the folk at GenCon last year, made it so she had such a great time. thats reason enough for me to go again for sure.

Al

Posts: 297 · Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 4:30 pm

Katchoo wrote:

Oh poop... now I wanna go to GenCon. lol I wouldn't mind a quick death on a Thursday. Wink

Sounds lovely.

Laughing

~Kat ^_^

Then come on out! The more the merrier . . . and it means Tim will need to come up with even more ways to kill all of us. Twisted Evil

Posts: 343 · Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 10:54 pm

Bracton wrote:

Then come on out! The more the merrier . . . and it means Tim will need to come up with even more ways to kill all of us. :twisted:

Like that would be a problem.

Right now, these are salient points of the adventure:
The dead (is he?) loony was heavily into vivisection and bizarre experimentation. (think Moreau)
He founded an order of itinerant clerics
His practices in his "religion" involved huge amounts of stimulants
He was an avid collector of first editions of esoteric books
His abode has just recently been discovered
Adventure name: "High in the Hellgate Mountains"

EDIT--Adventure details

ADDENDUM:
I have decided to make up 15 copies of the Acaeum adventure High in the Hellgate Mountains.

Any player in the group can get their own copy afterwards for a $15 donation to my service group, FISHING HAS NO BOUNDARIES. In the event of a husband/wife participation, two for $25 if you just both have to have one. They will be numbered and marked with the name of the pre-gen that you play.

(I figured that with the limited editions that I'm already putting up for bid at the dinner, it's better to just do this as a keepsake thing and my organization makes out while up to 12 players get something reasonable that they can write off. It will not be as big as the other two, but will have more pretty color maps.

Posts: 970 · Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 12:52 pm

Hi,

have just booked a Concierge room at the Marriott Downtown, so we should be able to use the executive lounge for the game.

Cheers,
malc

Posts: 343 · Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 4:52 pm

lawrenson wrote:

Hi,

have just booked a Concierge room at the Marriott Downtown, so we should be able to use the executive lounge for the game.

Cheers,
malc

You ROCK, malc! Now I will just have to bring a small soft-sided cooler with my "throat oil". (Really just diet pop; I don't much care for Coke products, so I bring my own in case of need.)

OK--in the event that this is not a fast TPK (I truly hope not), we should lay out some schedule times here.

OVERRIDING CONCERN here is that I will be scheduled to be in the Auction prpbably starting some time between 6 and 8 PM; I am going to go on the premise that it's 7 PM.
I am assuming that everyone would like the possibility of at least a four hour adventure, or perhaps even five or five and a half.

2 Days prior to GC: I will e-mail all of the backstory (this one is rather extensive) as a WORD file to all committed players. (PDF if you don't use WORD)

Still Thursday, right? (I told the Tower of Gygax event it is so as not to be cross-scheduled.)

WED. NIGHT at the dinner I will have anything else the group will need, including pre-gens and their sheets (which are yours to keep) and a sheet of SOP's that I want the group to have predetermined before we open the first door. These save a ton of time in the actual playing. [see later post] M-U's and clerics will need to pick their spells; the Character sheets will list all ST's, Turn table where needed, have blanks for spells,etc. M-U's and Clerics, for the purposes of this adventure, have a 60% chance of knowing any given spell, prayer or cantrip. Any spell in 3LBB, GH, BM or EW is good. The 6 OLB's (original little booklets) are the sum total of printed rules you might see.

GAME DAY--all players will need is: character sheet and writing instrument; favorite dice: (min) 3 each of d20, d12, d10, d8, d6 and d4; willingness to have some fun; the ability to willingly suspend disbelief; nothing better to do for the ensuing 4 or 5 hours.

Now I'm off to write about SOP's on my DF thread, then share them with you.

Posts: 970 · Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 6:22 pm

Hiya,

sounds great Tim!

The sodas are free, but I really can't remember what there was, apart from coke & diet coke, unfortunately. There was a few tho. Maybe Mountain Dew as well?

Cheers,
malc

Posts: 343 · Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2009 4:24 pm

The adventure is coming along nicely. Three new nasties of my own devising and all the maps are in color, made with the Dundjinni software.

The pre-gens have been buffed up as a result of the NTRPGC testing.

If only there were a way for you players to pick your PC's in advance, I would print your name on the cover of your copy (assuming you were to obtain one as per the method described earlier in the thread).

How about if I made the whole set available to PM to the players that will be participating in a ZIP file? Even zipped, it's big becasue of all the art on the character sheets.

Imagine, a personalized, signed copy of the exclusive Acaeum adventure....

Oh, on more thing, for you togophiles; I will have something different this year, guaranteed to contain epitheleal cells.

And finally, there will be one copy of the GaryCon adventure and one for NTRPGC for the private auction at the dinner. The other two (one each, actually) are going into the big collectibles auction.

Posts: 343 · Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 6:39 pm

OK; Stratochamp has asked for, and been given, the Paladin. Why am I not surprised he would ask for that?

Any other requests? I will need to know by early Tuesday so that I can personalize the cover sheets. I'm pretty sure that I have published the list of pre-gens here, somewhere. I know I put them in my DF thread.

Bill's will have a special line of type saying "As experienced by William Meinhardt as the PC Boone on Aug. 14th, 2009"

Posts: 970 · Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 6:41 pm

Hi,
a thief preferably, or a fighter please Smile

Cheers,
Malc

Posts: 297 · Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 6:56 pm

Kaskoid wrote:

OK; Stratochamp has asked for, and been given, the Paladin. Why am I not surprised he would ask for that?

Any other requests? I will need to know by early Tuesday so that I can personalize the cover sheets. I'm pretty sure that I have published the list of pre-gens here, somewhere. I know I put them in my DF thread.

Bill's will have a special line of type saying "As experienced by William Meinhardt as the PC Boone on Aug. 14th, 2009"

Hey Tim,

I can't seem to find a list of pre-gens either here or on DF. Can you help us find it, or re-post it?

Anyway, if there's room for a Monk, I'll take one. Otherwise, perhaps a fighter/magic-user?

Posts: 1264 · Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 7:25 pm

Kaskoid wrote:

OK; Stratochamp has asked for, and been given, the Paladin. Why am I not surprised he would ask for that?

And will the Paladin have a high-pitched, squeeky voice and wear his underwear outside his armor? Twisted Evil

Posts: 254 · Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 8:13 pm

it is +2 underwear...

Posts: 343 · Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 10:33 pm

stratochamp wrote:

it is +2 underwear...

The unbidden, unwanted and totally unexpected image that conjured has me looking for something caustic with which to bathe my mind's eye...

I have given the paladin a special shield device just for this adventure.

The following is edited from another post about NTRPGCon:

#1. How you decide who’s who is up to you. I always find a rousing match of “rock-paper-scissors” to be just the thing.

#2. Spell users will pick all of their own spells. How many and what level are indicated on the Character Sheets. Assume that spell users have a 65% chance of knowing any given spell; I trust you.

#3. All you will need for this game is the pre-gen sheet I provide and your favorite dice; books will not be necessary once we get going. You will need a writing instrument of some sort; red ink might not be inappropriate…

#4. I am a HUGE fan of SOP’s (standard operating procedures). Decide your marching orders (wide, narrow, etc.), your designated door opener, your routine trap searcher, etc. You should also determine your fighting formations (narrow/small area, not-so narrow, big and open, etc.) These will save huge gobs of time better spent playing.

#5. Standard equipment is assumed; if in doubt, ask! (Before you claim to have a hydraulic jack in your knapsack.)

#6. Decide on a mapper and a spokesperson. It really sppeds play if I know who to listen to. My philosophy is that if you said it, you probably did it. Be careful of “loose lips”. Bring your own graph paper at whatever scale you are comfortable with. I would not recommend 6 to the inch; 4:inch will probably serve you better.

#7. Determine in advance the state of readiness of weapons or rods or wands, etc. Don’t try to immediately loose an arrow unless you were keeping it nocked, whatever. Magic weapons (you’ll see on Char. Sheets) do as written.

The NPC list is at:
http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=23223&p=722757& hilit=paladin#p722757

Here is the mission briefing:
The High Proctor of the Brothers of the Blessed and Munificent Sannabis Kativa has asked for a group of intrepid adventurers to investigate their Chapter House in the Hellgate Mountains.
Here is what is known:
This Chapter House was founded about 40 years ago. More than two lustrums ago, a Brother Krizlop was elected by the Brothers as Abbot upon the death of the original abbot, Brother Timoteo.
This Chapter House spawned a sub-order of animal healers that became known as the Guild of Crazed Itinerant Clerics about three and a half years ago. The members of this “Guild” set out singly to spread the doctrine of Kativa and treat animal ailments. They would select a direction to walk and off they went. For the first three or four weeks they were undeterred in their fixation on “following the path” often traveling great distances. It is this Council’s considered opinion that there is a correlation between where they “came to” and when they ran out of the traveling rations prepared by the Chapter House upon their departure.
Brother Krizlop is renowned throughout the holdings of the Griichi and the Usukro clans whose ancestral lands surround the precincts of the Chapter House as being a singularly remarkable cook. Wayfarers seeking a night’s lodging have told tales of the fare they indulged in that nearly beggar credibility. An invitation to dine with the Abbot was once the single most sought after social function and a mark of close relations. His absolutely most spectacular creation was some form of fried dough.
Some four years ago that all changed. Abbot Krizlop stopped his monthly dinner parties and the Chapter House gradually stopped providing lodging for wayfarers, usually with the excuse that they were renovating.
About this same time, a certain individual, later known as Brother Solstag, joined the Order at the Hellgate House, the first brother to take his vows in that place. He quickly developed a reputation as an herbalist of astounding ability, and one of his tisanes soon became popular throughout the area for the restorative and invigorating affects it produced.
Recent reports tell of travelers going missing, as well as dogs; it seems that there’s hardly a dog left on a single farm in the whole area. The lack of dogs to bark warnings could presage some sort of invasion or attack of some sort.

Anything else? Please spread this to the other players ASAP thru PM's or whatever. I will hold off on printing the covers as long as I possibly can.

Posts: 297 · Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 10:59 pm

Got it.

My choice is the 8th Level Fighter/6th Level Thief Halfling.

Three days to the dinner and counting . . . . Cool