Old Gaming Tales and Old Favorite Characters

[avisarr]

I thought I might share a few more gaming tales from my early years. These aren't really tales, just tiny little tidbits and half-remembered fragments.

1. How To Handle A Noisy Dog
The players were exploring the ruins of an old keep in the middle of a swamp... a ruined keep where a powerful mage and a horde of undead were thought to be living. One of the players had a small, yappy dog with him. Not a familiar, just a pet. The dog was barking and ruining any chance of stealth. Our friend Bob, who was running a renegade drow (yes, very Drizzt like) had a small drow single handed crossbow. He shot the dog dead. Pinning it to the ground. One bolt. Dead dog. So much for party unity.

2. The Bar Fight
One time one of our players was playing a half ogre who initiated a bar fight. A HUGE bar fight. At one point in the middle of the fight he picked up a table and began swatting the whole crowd with it. It's the first time I've ever seen a whole table used as a weapon. During this same bar fight (which has since become legend), the half ogre tore the arm off of an orc and began beating his comrades with it. By the end of the bar fight, the entire establishment had burned down and that entire section of the town was in chaos. No fewer than 20 people were killed. That town, henceforth, barred ogres and their kin from entry. As a matter of fact, I should put that on the site.

3. The Oven
While infiltrating a castle ruled over by a witch and her minions, the players were discovered. Within seconds, the alarm bell was clanging and the whole fort was roused. Guards flooded the halls searching for the intruders. The players scattered. One player, Bob again playing a drow, made it to the kitchen and hid in the oven. (A large, but simple low tech oven for baking bread). The drow, hidden in the oven, managed to evade capture. However, after a few minutes, a half ogre cook came into the kitchen to prepare the morning meal and lit a fire under the oven. The drow leapt from the oven and attacked the very surprised half ogre.

4. Morlokk
The desert mage. If you search in Khoras, you'll find reference to the Desert Mage, a mysterious archmage who dwells at the center of the Baen Desert. In actuality, that was my second AD&D character. I ran him for over five years of real time from first level to over 20th level. Most of the notes about him on the Khoras site are accurate including the descriptions of his magic items. All were actual items from his adventuring days.

5. What's in a name?
My first character, however, had a less dignified career. I ran him way back in the 1980's. Although he was a good character, he died from the fiery blast of a dragon's breath. Regretably, his name was Steven Valtrex. Many years after that character was filed away for good, the drug companies unveiled a herpes medication... called Valtrex. Now, I can never see a Valtrex commercial on TV without thinking of my first character.

6. What The F--K!?!?!
One of my most unlucky characters was a gnome thief. He was a first level character on his second adventure. He was tentatively exploring some underground ruins with two friends. The three intrepid adventurers cautiously when down the stairs and entered the first room of the dungeon. They searched for traps and found none. They cautiously crossed the floor to the door and THEN.... the ceiling collapsed. The DM shook his head and picked up a pile of dice. A LOT of dice. And then began rolling and rolling and rolling. And adding. He totaled it up and smiled and said "83 points of damage, no saving throw". Our jaws dropped. My guy had 4 hit points when he was at max. What the hell!?!?! We argued with the DM a bit, but he just said stuff like "well, that's what the dice rolled". This was, without a doubt, the shortest adventure of my life. We got exactly 10 feet into the first room of the first floor of our FIRST dungeon and we ALL died. This is a good example of when the game master should have taken a step back and taken a look at the "big picture".

[Kristian]

Great stories. The way you used Morlokk made me remember another character one of our players was playing. A wizard called Nerak Aloana. In the course of the adventure the group discovered a small pocket dimension kind of world, called Alibonara, that fed on evil and fear from the real world (long story behind it) and the fought this world. Somewhere along the line Nerak decided he wanted to rule this world, and started taking steps in that direction. He ended up taking control of Alibonara and the player retired the character. Years later, in another campaign, I used him as a villian. He had gotten extremely powerful in the meantime, but the group finally got him.

[Mark Price]

Hello All,

This is Mark Price, David's sounding-board and part-time Art Bitch for most of Khoras' history.

I just wanted to intro by saying that Dave is one of the truly great DMs and World Builders, and it's always a pleasure to see his work finding an audience. It's been very rewarding to work with him and watch Khoras grow so brilliantly over the years.

On the subject of favorite characters, for me it can only be the crazy bastard I played for eight years of real-time in David's 'Avisarr '98' and 'Jaidor Talisman' campaigns.... That would be Callister Draabyn- the cursed, drunken mariner I've always seen as a twin-blade-swinging combination of Jack Sparrow, Robert Carlyle and Courtney Love.

His typical response to large sea-monsters threatening his ship? Launch himself out of the catapault to fling himself towards the jaws of the beast, singing loud drinking songs all the while.

To be honest, many of these "charming" character moments came about as a result of the player being as drunk as the character, but that's how you keep from dying in a David Roomes Campaign...

(Namely, Always Keep the DM Entertained, Even at the Expense of Personal Safety.)

[Spence]

Good stuff hehehe

Here's one i'll try to share from the point of view of a most unfortunate PC that wasnt mine.

Krusk(i cant remember the actual PC name, Krusk works though) made his way into a tavern.  It was nearly empty, and very late at night.  Inside there were but three people awake.  A halfling with strange tattoo's on his face, a human woman holding a one handed axe, and the Bartender nearly asleep on the bartop.  Having no money, nor inclination to pay for food and ale with his own money, Krusk looked at the two patrons.  The halfling was covered in thick furs and was so pale...he must be ill.  The human woman was, well a human woman.  Krusk made his way towards the table, whipping his cloak out he snagged up his battle axe and sneered. "Gimme all joo's munee's an me's lets joo's goes"  The human woman looked up at the half orc and rolled her eyes, the halfling looked up at him and giggled...yes he giggled finding the half orc funny.  Infuriated Krusk raised his axe in a threatening manner.  That's when the Halfling took the one handed axe from the human woman....the axe wasnt hers, it was HIS. 

The Halfling threw his furs to the side, he was huge for a halfling, if it wasnt for his much smaller frame, the halfling could pass for a beardless dwarf.  Krusk hesitated a moment, but then thought "He's sick, nothing that pale can not be sick."  So he initiated combat thinking the halfling an easy mark.  As combat started, Lyle, as that was the halflings name, started to shake, quiver and growl.  Sweat poured profusely from every pore in his body even as the halfling started to eminate an intense cold.  The sweat froze over sheeting the little man in ice, then he attacked.  The halfling was big by halfling standards, but he was a halfling and was quick and agile like nothing the half orc had ever seen.  One...two...three chops with the axe and Krusk was on his knee's howling in pain, Krusk tried to swing back angrily, but the Halfling ducked and dodged, then three more bursts of pain, Krusk saw stars...then darkness as the flat of the axe hit him in the head one last time.

Later in his jail cell, Krusk thought about what happened and he came to the conclusion that when Halflings get sick, they get stronger, not weaker.  Next time he'd have to pick on a healthy Halfling.

Krusk:  8th level Half Orc Barbarian, 100 hitpoints, +1 Icey Burst Battleaxe

Lyle:  9th level Halfling Barbarian, 1rst level Frost Rager(From the Frostburn Suppliment), 145 hitpoints, -2 AC penalty while raging, +4 natural armor bonus while raging, immune to cold.  +2 small sized Greataxe

Tia: 9th level Human Barbarian, 2nd level Fighter, Shatterspike and Improved Sunder to make use of it, +3 Mithral Fullplate, never had to lift a finger.

Moral of the Story:  Dont assume all halflings are rogues.  Especially when said halfling is played by me ;-)

[NADZ]

Dave,

you left out the part when I shoved the dwarf's head (a fellow party member) into the ceiling of the bar and he stuck.  The only reason I used the table was because I forgot who I was fighting a decided it was easier to hit as many people at once as I could.


You also forgot why the drow way hiding in the oven was because as we were sneaking into the castle he kept insulting me, saying anything beyond 'coin - kill - door' was too much for my simple ogre mind so I passed you a note that said

'count to 10 then sneeze

the drow hid in the oven I made it out the front door chopping the heads of things all the way

NADZ -

.5 ogre John 'Smasher' Grond a.k. Blutark!