Full Moon Storytelling

Simple Shield Options

One of the things I want to do is provides some spell-less class options for the people of Kin. Since the continent and its associated islands have been without magic for millenia the standard Bard, Paladin, and Ranger builds make little sense. Current characters were built knowing that they will eventually get spells, but they do not know when. Some players made the choice to make their characters knowing that. But with the mundane ranger out there in the wild, this option makes a ton of sense for gaming in the Everflow.

The Paladin build is a bit more difficult. In order to fit the Kingdom of Kirtin’s Shield the 5th edition shield rules need to be tweaked. There needs to be a wider variety of shields for a shield expert to use. But one of the blessings about 5th edition is that it starts on a simple foundation compared to other rule-sets in Dungeons & Dragons history.

by Arctic Wolf at https://flic.kr/p/bREyzg

As the Basic Rules outline there is one type of shield, not the nearly dozen that existed in previous systems. To add options and keep it simple, I chose to mimic the armor system – light, medium and heavy. The base shield would be medium and the rules unchanged. That keeps the general rules simple enough. Most shields work like this.

The heavy shield, or tower shield, is that massive portable wall that an archer’s companion or shield wall would carry with them in order to protect the archers, siege operators or polearm users (often peasants). It is heavy (45 pounds, requires a 15 STR to use), expensive (30 gold) but provides a strong AC bonus of +4. A shield that large also reduces movement by 10 feet, in addition to any encumbrance issues. One ally of the wielder, or the wielder, can use an action to take full cover behind the tower shield. Only Fighters, Paladins and Clerics (War domain priests of Ahid, Az, Sel and Nuk) are proficient in this shield.

The light shield, or buckler, is tiny. It is strapped to the forearm and can allow for dual weapon fighting. It isn’t great at protection and it can hamper the ability to fight with two weapons. Weighing only 4 pounds it costs 20 gold and provides just a +1 AC bonus. But there are limits. If the character is using both weapons they do not get the defensive bonus. If the player commits their character to the defensive mode they can use their shield hand in a reaction. Bards, Rangers, Rogues, Clerics and Fighters start with proficiency in the buckler.

Here’s a not fancy table (also the first table on Full Moon Storytelling).

Type	Cost	AC	STR	Classes in Kin	Effect	Weight
Buckler	20	+1	–	Bard, Cleric, Fighter, Ranger, Rogue	+1 to AC and use that hand for a reaction or can use that hand for an action with no AC bonus.	4 lb
Medium	10	+2	–	Cleric, Druid (non-metal), Fighter, Paladin, Ranger	–	6 lb
Tower	30	+3	15	Fighter, Paladin, Cleric (War)	Reduces movement rate by 10 feet. Can be used as total cover by giving up an action.	45 lb

Again, the goal is to add some shield options with significant differences from the baseline rules, but to keep things simple for those that want to play simply. Many people clearly enjoy that 5th edition does not have rules bloat.

April 17, 2015

Teegan’s last day at home

Korlot is a small walled town along the hillside in the Lothian Highlands. Every morning Teegan and her little brother leave the Upper Gate with the handful of goats their family collected. They head out to the managed clover fields with their fences. The family cannot dedicate time to herd goats, not today. Dad will work the rye and barley with Ried today. Mom is working on the cheese this morning. In the afternoon she will be trading family mohair for a shield for Teegan and Rohan

The family isn’t rich enough to buy two shields, and like many who raise two children so close together their weapons-of-age are hand-me-downs. Teegan’s already started practicing with Pa’s hammer. It is light and natural to her hand. She would also take Dad’s halberd.

Rohan hasn’t practiced. His friend Spence helped him create a pike. It was cheap and simple. Spence found a bit of iron to shod the staff. Hopefully the pike keeps the boy ten feet further from trouble.

Little Alleway is out front of the goats. The yippy terrier is horrible herder, but Rohan loves him. Everyone in the family has a terrier, except Teegan. Everyone loves them, except Teegan.

Last year, when she reached bond-age, grandpa was dying. Teegan provided his care for most of the season. She’d bring him tea and listen to the stories about when Korlot mustered out in the most recent attempt to take back Kirtin-on-the-Lake. He’d speak of loyalty and might, of failure and friendship, and of disappointment that the north could not defend themselves from Azsel and Kirtin needed help from the thieves of Daoud.

As she listened Ha-Lim, the immense bighorn ram, would be at Pa’s feet. As Pa weakened Ha-Lim crept closer. During this time her friends were bonding with various dogs, ponies and cats. She did not go on a bonding journey. Pa had a few months and so many stories.

by RLEVANS at https://flic.kr/p/6NZYBj

So she listened. She learned. She brought Pa tea, goat cheese and bread. She started to bring Ha-Lim clover and grass. When she cleaned the room, she cleaned for the ram too. When she walked to the well for water, Ha-Lim followed. The rare times that she left the house to bring the goats in, Ha-Lim followed.

When they buried Pa the ram was there, as usually happens when the person passes before the animal in a bond. He laid next the burial plot for a while and then trotted over to Teegan. Teegan never went on a bonding journey, never had a bonding ceremony. It didn’t matter. Ha-Lim is now her bonded partner in life.

It’s a lot better than those damn yippy dogs. He’s horrible at helping herd the goats, eats the vegetables and grains when working the crops and the horns get in the way of cuddling. None of those things matter. Ha-Lim is quiet and elegant. Every breath reminds Teegan of Pa. And all those memories of Pa are also memories of Ha-Lim.

Plus, when Rohan and his friends get too foolish threatening to have the ram bowl through their group tends to get them to change their focus.

“Rohan! That billie is pissed off. Call Alleway back here,” she screams out. “And dammit, stop throwing rocks at the goats!”

Tomorrow the four of them will be off to Kirtin-in-the-Sky. They will serve their not-Winter with the Shield of Kirtin. After a week or so of training they’ll head to the northern hills to show force against Azsel. Rohan is going to be trouble with a ten-foot pole, keeping that kid under control is hard enough. Giving him distractions like weapons and new friends will be a disaster, and a requirement of the law.

“Alle, get here!” and he throws one final stone. ‘Throws one final stone’ could be Rohan’s middle name.

“Rohan, here’s your bread. Eat, then go tell Ried to watch the goats. We have to finish packing.”

That evening the town would hold Teegan and Rohan’s Service Feast. That celebration of their final step into adulthood ends their time as youth. The moment they take to the trails and roads to Kirtin-in-the-Sky they are adults. They will serve the Kingdom and starting with next Winter they will be ready whenever Kirtin needs them.

Many meet their partner during Summer Service. Teegan just wants Rohan to come home alive. That’s probably going to be harder than meeting someone, even if Azsel doesn’t raid. Rohan can’t stop talking about Azsel-ite cavalry on dogback.

He’s excited at the chance of battle and his bond is a tiny, yippy terrier. This is a horrible combination.

April 14, 2015
Session 6: Safety in stone, signs in the sky
This session was different. Up to this point there’s been some rather standard role-play. All that three tiers stuff – exploration, combat and social interaction in some balance. Each session’s balance was different, but most followed a particular pattern.
- Recap
- Introduce problem in the episode
- Try to solve the problem
- End in a place of sanctuary
That’s basic episodic style and necessary because the group of players has a core and others that drop-in for sessions when they can. Having a sanctuary enables simple entry points and doesn’t have to include a drop-in riding an axebeak from the horizon.

In session five timing prevented an adequate sanctuary. Four characters raided the village of Nak and they were still there when we ran out of time. In order to create some permanency of play and not skip three or more weeks due to soccer schedules session six took place in just 90 minutes.

And because of real-life schedules one of the four raiders was not present. One of the two more regular characters was going to be at this session. Again, the group of three-four is inside a town with multiple patrols and maybe other obstacles preventing them from leaving. We have 90 minutes of play.

The solution was a co-operative narrative montage.

Session six did not start in Nak. It starts with an out-of-game recap of situation as stands for each character after session five and then begines in the Glass Tower’s basement about 16 hours later. Cortez asks Behn how they got the Lorebook from the Cult of Nak.

Behn described the battles and conflicts of session five when Cortez interupts, “But how did you get away?”

Maurice responds that they had to sneak around the patrols that were between them. The discussion continues as Aamar describes an encounter with a bear at night. Shonie thanks them for returning and asks why Samul the Barbarian is exhausted. Another explains how fierce the barbarian fought, and Behn brings up that the two were shot with some kind of magic missile.

Cortez no longer cares for the tale of escape and asks for the Lorebook. He sees a few pages that are mere remnants of themselves. “You found Chorl?”

This ends the montage portion.

The mostly confused group say “no.”

“You said there were three patrols, but you only needed to avoid the two. Where did the other go?”

“To the North, up the mountain,” Mo answers.

The Five do not know if Chorl is present in that group, but Cortez seems confident that he was and he will be coming back to them. Chorl is a halfling and former student. He seems to have taught Anderson something as well. Anderson no longer breathes and cannot answer if this is true.

Shonie interrupts, “they are coming to us. Should we stay or attempt to get back to Telse. Kellamon never sent a receipt message back to us.”

Behn asks Aamar if he can use his Stone to talk to Telse. “The Stone does not connect to Telse. It’s messages are vague, but certainly not from Telse.”

A basic map of the small mostly wood tower.

Cortez and The Five start to discuss the options of defense in place, noting that Shonie repaired some of the damage to the observatory windows. It would be better than running, since Cortez would need help and does not want to abandon his books. As the group is discussing a trap involving a flanking operation with missile support from the observatory Aamar heads to that highest of floors. Maurice followed closely and asked the wise cleric of Quar if he could read the book that Mo took earlier. Aamar says it is “The Creation and Use of Transmutation Stones During the First Age.”

All but Samul follow. He is on the first floor in the guest room recovering from his exhaustion. From the windows on the 3rd floor of the observatory they look out at the skies. Towards Nak they see three giant eagles in the air. They seem to be circling and searching rather than heading straight to the Glass Tower. Just beyond those eagles the volcano appears more active than typical.

Aamar asks Cortez “is the volcano normal?”

“It is more active than in my lifetime.”

To the southwest past the Cliffs of Gallinor is a storm with that sickly greenish-grey. To the east is a thin trickle of smoke out over the Bay of Sheljar. Nature looks ominous and the Five, with their allies, believe that soon the rest of the Cult of Nak with their leader Chorl will be coming.

Chorl and his followers are willing to destroy the Lorebook. The group know Chorl had 10-16 people with their bonds of wolves and eagles on patrol. The Five don’t know when they are coming, just that they took the Lorebook once and will almost certainly try again.

This 90 minute or so session moved the story along while regrouping the various participants inside their “homebase.” Using a small amount of available time assured that the tale will still be told, even if in smaller chunks than are typical.
April 12, 2015
Piyu returns to a hut

The clouds overhead are dark and gloomy. Winds have picked up enough that Fani is staying close to Piyu. She’d rather not fly and that bird certainly isn’t made for walking. As hail falls Piyu knows that he must stop running and find shelter. His escape didn’t include clothing for a run through the mountains and this type of storm.

* * * * *

He took the opportunity to escapte when he earned his weekly hour with Fani. The Scoques were kinder than most other halflings, in that they allowed their goliaths to visit their companions on occasion. Most of the birds on the ranch didn’t even have their wings clipped. The treatment of bonds like Fani, the quality of life for Piyu and his friends and the lack of aggression in enforcing Azsel policies meant that most accepted their place.

Scoques Ranch became the new tribe. Most of the others considered the Scoques themselves the new tribal leadership and went about their business. It was the better of awful situations with which the border tribes along River Crinth dealt. Many were in fact settled. They were going to get sold or forcibly bred. They could choose their own family and even occasionally would be allowed to participate in local festivals celebrating the Everflow, or Harvest, or Migration.

While much of the Azsel/Crinth relationship is about a quest for power through slavery versus freedom for the Scoques family it may be something more like servitude, though none earn their freedom. It is supposedly possible. Piyu doesn’t want possible. He wants his bird on wing and his feet sitting in a cool mountain pond while the two of them fish together. Piyu wants to be free, even if that means less well off.

So Piyu left. He ordered Fani away and followed. Just walking off Scoques Ranch Piyu heads towards the hills. He does not break into a run until he crosses the fence on the ranch. Then his huge stride opens and he runs and runs and runs.

It is the worst escape plan. At this point he’s committed. He runs through the afternoon and the night not resting until the next morning. Fani brings him back some fish. The two find a crevice and nestle in for a short rest. Goliath and bird will need to get up soon and keep running.

* * * * *

Piyu heads back to the hut he’d passed a while ago. It’s the only cover he’s seen since he escaped the settled lands. He thinks he’s still far enough ahead that shelter makes more sense than pushing through this type of storm. Hail is starting to fall, even though it is the Summer. There is also a wicked green tint to the clouds back over River Crinth.

There’s just one problem. Someone is in the hut.

Correction there are two problems. A small group is climbing up the slope behind that hut. They are about a half mile away. Three small halflings and too many dogs to bother counting now.

Three problems – there are tiny sparks flashing back and forth across the river. They are red and gold. Smoke starts to billow out from a ranch near Scoques. Even smaller are the hints of blues and greens in the distance. What is this?

The storm opens in full. Hail and winds and a tornado off in the distance. It does not matter now that the tiny building is occupied. Fani needs shelter. So they open the door and stare at Master Kellamon Scoques Lady Harsop and Bastos. Piyu can’t see Latarza, but that may not matter. He’s face-to-face with someone who though friendly will be taking him back to the Ranch.

Lightning splits the tree behind him. Fani gives a soft cry. The peel of thunder shakes their souls.

“I can’t run through this.”

“Come in,” Kell says. Moving back. “You don’t have weapons?”

“No. I just wanted to get away,” Piyu, despite having a huge size advantage speaks with a hint of fear. The Scoques don’t use whips, and rarely even nets, but the natural order is that halflings are in charge, even when alone.

“I’ll start a fire.” Kellamon begins to gather some dry hay into the fire pit.

“No!” Piyu shouts quietly. The little halfling raises an eyebrow and looks back. “There’s someone else coming Master Kellamon.”

“Slavers? We wouldn’t hire slavers!”

“They almost certainly are, but I didn’t get a close look. Master Kellamon today is going to change our lives.”

“Yours will be worse for it.”

“No, this isn’t about me and trying to leave. This storm is different. It will last through the day, maybe the next.” And in front of Piyu’s hands a greenish cloud, hail and a tiny tornado appear.

Kellamon’s jaw drops. Bastos whimpers. Fani tucks her head under wing. Piyu just stares in wonderment at the model of the weather that somehow appeared in front of him. He’s never done this before today.

“Close the door.” Kellamon’s authority is slightly weakened. The door closes, untouched by goliath hands.

Piyu is startled. Maybe it was the wind, acting in concert with the words? The visual model of the storm disappears.

“Let’s settle in and hope that those slavers pass don’t notice the hut. If they do I will try to pay them off.”

It is the night when things change for Piyu, Kellamon and all of Kin.

April 2, 2015
The Meta-Game: Hows and whys of adventure creation

Every few weeks, by the time the players can’t act on spoilers contained within, I’ll review the gaming sessions. These reviews will not be a review of the performance of the PCs, but a explanations as to what hooks were given, how the flavor of Kin leaked into the gaming conversation and attempts to give an impression of a larger world.

Prelude to a discovery

Most of this is a stock opener that can be used for two other concurrent adventures that could be run in the future. That ends at “You, you, those two, that one, her and her see Elder Sealm when we are done.” During the opener the establishment of Telse as a place that has religious powers in influential positions, as well as an elder non-political/religious leader is inserted into the storyline. And, there is a bare mention of Nils.

There the three groups break out. With The Five, who were supposed to be a seven, and eventually are, we immediately get a snapshot that there is tension in the area among the people of Telse. All tension creates potential hooks.

Notice, that the establishment of a “party” is hand waved. They are there because they want to be there. Shonie and Aamar know of each other, but are not friends. Each is working towards personal goals, but the quest for the Lorebook is just a path towards those more personal desires.

Sealm hands Aamar a Stone. It is a minor magical item. His directions are bare-boned. At this point the group could follow those vague instructions, though the behavior of Nils intrigues them. As the DM I also prepared a couple concepts if they went totally off the Western path or following Nils. Those sketches included mapping a swath of area outside of where they were “supposed” to go, ready descriptions of a few locales and creating a few custom random encounter tables, empowering sandbox play.

All of those details are also relevant when considering the possibility of expanding The Everflow into a robust campaign setting or writing fiction within the same setting like Chasing Piyu.

There was a concentrated effort in this melding of our zero session and session one in talking about how every person of Kin (goliath, halfling, human) has a companion. These are mentioned as often as that bonded animal is within sight. Domesticated animals and the bond developed with them is a key part of this tale. Repetition of themes makes it feel important.

The mostly Halfling group does not have a pack mastiff, so they purchase a mule to carry supplies on their journey.

Now, that’s kind of a lie. Behn’s companion is technically a pack mastiff, but he does not use Mitzie in that manner. That’s also part of the flavor. A bonded animal that is merely wheelbarrow isn’t interesting. A wheelbarrow that becomes a key companion in life is.

Day wolves, night wolves

This opens with them being part of the Born Generation. Each is a character born with small magical abilities. This makes them late teens. A typical age for coming-of-age stories told through gaming. It is also a reminder that their parents grew up in times before the Awakening, when social and political systems were stable for many centuries.

As they leave Telse they encounter but do not engage followers of Obscon. This was not designed as a random encounter, and if they left Telse through any gate, but not Upper Telse, they would have met that group. This allowed me to describe the political maneuvering of ghetto control.

The rest of this first day of travel mostly involves descriptive narrative of the Western Wilde. They pass a tower complex being built as an early warning and defense system for the growing community. As they move along the road they leave civilization.

When the wolves attack them at night this is actually a random encounter, but since it is custom built it fills some knowledge about what’s happening in Kin. There is a huge wolf as one of the five that attack the group. Animals of that size are new to every member of that group.

That’s a seed of information planted. Even random encounters should plant information about the world space, if not the actual adventure.

Finding and Defending the Tower of Glass

Maurice’s entry into the group is the first time the nature of playing an episodic series of adventures comes into play. Unfortunately due to real life it doesn’t happen in a village or base, but on the road. That could have been handled better, but was necessary for real life. We meet almost every Sunday (Sounders games permitting) and those who can come do. Saffron’s operator couldn’t make this session so she came down ill. The group put here on mule and they made way.

They also learn of something disastrous off towards Telse. They choose to not investigate. Using the few words to describe the smoke near where they passed the being-constructed tower let’s them know that there is a breathing world beyond just their quest. Always make the world breathe. This can leads to future hooks.

In the upcoming battle at the Glass Tower three players were unavailable. Saffron remained ill, Mo was knocked out while alone when the attack started, Shonie guarded the companions as a reserve force. All are things that could happen. New entry Mansaray comes to the Tower in a wary fashion, not knowing which side is his enemy until he’s just missed by an arrow.

The spider attack is something from the random encounters table. It is the mildest of attacks and done just to remind the players that there is not safety.

When The Five get to the Tower of Glass there is a role-played interrogation that gets interrupted. The interrogation is actually the break point for our 3 hour real world session.

The session with the attack is also only to be about three hours, it opens with conflict. The pace is a mix of fast and slow as the group learns/relearns combat. It is complex and in waves. Having four different waves forces the players to manage their resources. They know they will not have time to rest. Waves also provides both sides the opportunity to retreat, which one does.

Retreat should always be an option. Just as a total party kill is wrong to do to the players, it is something that a group of NPCs will actively avoid. In this case the leader and two sub-bosses get away. Their minions and their minions’ companions all perish.

Side Mission

Only two players could make the next session. This was handled by creating two possible side missions. They picked one through role-play, rushing off to track down the raider who fled on foot. The other choice was to send a message to Telse, past that area that had been spewing smoke a few days prior.

There are two encounters in this session. Both earned experience, even though only one involved death. During the second encounter when Saffron and Aamar escape from a patrol searching for them they won.

They were rewarded with xp for doing so. The reward was not quite as large as if they had killed the patrol, but that was because they were not fully successful. The patrol knew that someone was nearby. The partial success resulted in half xp given.

If xp is only given out for killings you create a game that is all about death. To this point every character earned xp for finding the Lorebook (a storypoint) and every character earned xp for winning a battle even if some of the enemy retreated. Saffron and Aamar also earned full xp for the man they captured and sent into servitude. Creating rewards for the type of play you want to see encourages that play in the future.

We’re in middle of the battle of Nak right now, so I’m not going to dive into how the first few waves were used.

Instead I’ll end pointing out that we are using the variant rule Gritty Realism (267 of the DnD5e DMG). That change was made during the play sessions and has had no effect on play. What it did was create a more narrative style of game that paced to one or two hard/deadly encounters on a typical day. The long rest will need to be in a place of sanctuary (say the Glass Tower, or semi-permanent encampment build with help of an outdoors specialist).

Since we are doing just a 3-4 hour session averaging every other weeks this less video-game like pace suits the group. It also means that they worry about the death a bit more. Having players worry that characters die is good. It encourages play that is both cautious and courageous. Knowing that you won’t die means you have no courage, something the DM does will save you. Most of the group already know what they want their next character to be.

March 28, 2015

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Simple Shield Options

Teegan’s last day at home

Session 6: Safety in stone, signs in the sky

Piyu returns to a hut

The Meta-Game: Hows and whys of adventure creation