When working on blog posts this past weekend, I found that my mind was somewhere else. I was taking a break from another project I was working on (more on that later!), and my brain kept jumping back to it. I found it hard to focus on writing a post and ended up just going back to coding. A few hours into it, I wondered why I didn’t just write a post about it, and the other things I’ve been doing for the games I’ve been running recently.

After wrapping up the last playtest of Captured by Adventure, I started looking for more groups of people interested in playing through the adventure. I found several on SomethingAwful and our Google+ Community, and we set up a weekly Saturday Morning game. We’ve played two sessions so far, and the party is deep into the Dankwood jungle. Check out the game’s activity feed or the Captured YouTube Playlist to catch up with what Vulmar, Birbin, Telothar, Looge, and Jorlaug have been up to!



CR 4 Vasatri Rogue 0 Toggle Statistics XP 1200 half-elf zombie lord rogue 1

Lawful Evil Medium Undead (Elf) Init +4; Senses Darkvision 60 ft., Low-Light Vision DEFENSE AC 20, touch 14, flat-footed 16 (+4 armor, +4 Dex, +2 natural) hp 31 (3d8+7) Fort +1, Ref +6, Will +2 Defensive Abilities Channel Resistance; DR: 5/slashing; Immune: sleep, Undead Traits; Resist: Elven Immunities OFFENSE Speed 30 Melee Masterwork dagger +4 (1d4+1/19-20/Ã—2), Masterwork short sword +4 (1d6+2/19-20/Ã—2) Space 5; Reach 5 STATISTICS Str 14 Dex 18 Con - Int 10 Wis 8 Cha 12 Base Atk +1; CMB +3; CMD 17 Feats Armor Proficiency (Light), Rogue Weapon Proficiencies, Simple Weapon Proficiency - All, Skill Focus (Stealth), Toughness, Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Finesse Skills Acrobatics +8, Appraise +0, Bluff +7, Climb +2, Diplomacy +6, Disable Device +3, Disguise +1, Escape Artist +8, Fly +4, Handle Animal +1, Heal -1, Intimidate +5, Linguistics +0, Perception +7, Ride +4, Sense Motive +3, Sleight of Hand +8, Spellcraft +0, Stealth +13, Survival -1, Swim +2, Use Magic Device +1 Languages Common, Elven SQ Elf Blood, Trapfinding +1

Gear +1 studded leather, Masterwork dagger, Masterwork short sword

I announced last week that I will be starting up the open-to-everyone Riverford Freelancers sessions starting on March 15th (RSVP on the forums!) and I’ve started preparing new content so I’ll be able to run the game for a few weeks without investing a whole lot of time before each session. Orc raids and general banditry continue to plague the northwestern hinterlands, and reports of undead continue to come in from settlements in the south. I’ve been adding some Vasatri NPCs to help tie the rising dead into our setting and the events of The Rescue of Doniert Ironvale, and have some ideas for new haunts I’d really like to try out.

I was also inspired by Nate’s recent post about rivers, and I’ve started playing around with some of Gabriel Pickard’s ship maps with the goal of creating some ship-to-ship and aquatic encounters along the waterways that make up the Three Rivers Valley. I’ve got a few fun ideas there. I also have some plans to introduce more members of my favorite Tempest faction, the Consular Druids, and in doing so reveal more about them to the public.

Finally, last week I started working on a project I’ve been calling a “GMless Murderdungeon.” Taking a good deal of inspiration from the Dungeons & Dragons board games, I’m working on a webservice that will use map tiles, NPCs, and macros on SyncRPG to dynamically provide rooms, monsters, traps, and events for a party to fight. The idea is to create a “kick down the door” style of adventure with randomly generated maps, enemies, and hazards I could play with my friends that wouldn’t require any preparation, or anyone to act as GM.

I’ve been running a lot of games recently, and I want to spend some time on the other side of the table, trying out character ideas I have, and working with a party against increasingly powerful challenges. A tool like this would let us jump into the VTT and just start playing.

I have a lot of things written down about how I think the tool should work and have started coding it, but it’s not ready to even take a screenshot of yet. There’s still developing to do, and I’d love to hear your ideas! Let me know if you’d like to discuss what options the tool should have or how you think it should work, or if you’d be interested in trying the dungeon out yourself!

Discuss 'What I’m Working On: March 2016' on the SyncRPG forums