The Maztica Campaign - Interlude II

 

Voil Guldi had been pleased. The party was paid, as contracted, and the Dwarven gemcutter had offered to broker the converting of the barrels of copper and smaller barrels of silver into Awmnite currency for a modest commission.

"How modest?" Esperalda had asked.

"Practically embarrassed." Guldi had answered. "There's not much call for copper in Athkatlos - no status in it."

During the interval, the Jeweler's Guild had sent some guards down into the storm drain to secure the trapdoor, and to prevent the kobolds from re-establishing control of that level. Hunting dogs were let loose in the sewers. Success was mixed.

A week or so after, the party was summoned to Voil Guldi's office at the Jewelers' Guild. A series of burglaries had struck the Gem District, first a smith had some iron files stolen, then merchants began to report break-ins in their cellars - from the sewers.

"Kobolds...again!" said Esperalda.

"They seem pretty determined to get back into the storm drains." said Jao Afonse.

"Filth beckons filth." said Esperalda.

"Perhaps something is driving them from below?" mused Osondria.

Once again, with weary hearts (but dry feet) the party prepared to enter the storm sewers...

The Old School Strikes Back

Blogger Ray Simmons has issued a fine defense against the revisionism in which New School D&D loves to indulge. 

 

TPK Carol

Ginny Di makes me laugh..

 https://youtu.be/VCwYCyyIGvo

The Problem with Plastics

What's wrong with plastic miniatures?

This, for a start.

Reaper Bones - because money.

This is after several goes with the hair dryer to try and straighten the bend. The mace was finally, permanently straightened by cutting it off above the hand and reversing it. News Flash: it's now a permanent weak spot, despite gluing. This figure is well on it's way to completion, and it will look fair-to-middling once finished.

Plastic cannot hold fine detail the way metal can - by nature, it's a softer medium. And logically, the detail is less crisp. Is that why the manufacturer's suggest you don't prime the mini? Is the detail so lacking that even a single coat of primer will serve to efface it? You be the judge.

Nolzurs Marvelous Miniatures are not immune to this - pictured below is a Female Gnome Thief, which is an admittedly niche concept: 

For starters, this isn't a picture of the miniature, it's a computer render. Because it looks much, MUCH better than the actual miniature. It's Corporate Marketing.

Even when it's shown "painted", Bishōjo style, it isn't. It's been cg coloured: 

They even duplicated the angle of light, from the 3d render. That's talent...wow.

I tried painting the top example, and I've been painting miniatures for THIRTY years. That result is almost humanly impossible. I say almost, because I'm sure some savant could do it - but you probably can't and neither can I.

Also, since she's a tiny miniature in a half-crouch, how is the brush supposed to get in between the arms? My money is, the CA Designer has never physically sculpted a miniature in their life; instead of looking for trouble spots for a brush to reach, they just went with "the rewl of kewl."

Make no mistake, plastic minis are part of the New School Corporate Gaming philosophy. There is no material benefit for the consumer, but the manufacturer, by using cheaper, lighter materials, saves pennies on the dollar. Multiplied, those pennies add up.

If you're using plastic for unpainted game pieces, like a fantasy version of Parcheezi, then plastic figures are fine - you can even paint them a single colour, just like the game.

If you're looking to paint with a reasonably rate of return, stick with metal. Life is too short to paint plastic miniatures.

Reaper Miniatures - Well Played.

 Earlier this week, I received a parcel from Reaper Miniatures. I had placed it at the beginning of the month, and it had arrived in about a week. Excellent service, per usual, from Reaper miniatures.

To my surprise, there was a bonus package in the box. 

If Reaper Minis intention was for me to look, blink, pick up the package and shake it, read the title and have a good laugh, they succeeded.

Well played, Reaper Miniatures. Well played.

Troglodytes!

 Here are some pics of some 28/32mm Shadowsea Troglodytes from Antimatter Games (although, per an announcement on the Antimatter Games site, miniature production for their various titles will be going over to Dark Sword Miniatures). 

Nice animation, excellent detail. The metal is rather both soft and brittle - I'm not sure exactly how one achieves that.  Sprues of arms, with shields and stone axes and stone spears are included - though it would have been an improvement if they had mixed up some of the handed-ness of these accoutrements. As it stands, your choice for the right hand is either stone axe or spear, and for the left hand, a shield.

Antimatter Games/Dark Sword Miniatures

These sculpts share a design aesthetic reminiscent of Edition 3.5 Troglodytes. I've added some Otherworld Miniatures Trogs, which are right out of the first edition Monster Manual. 

Shaman and Chieftain by Otherworld Miniatures

While slightly smaller than the Shadowsea Trogs, the Otherworld ones come with a plastic slotta-base, which compensates for the disparity in height. The Otherworld miniatures also have great animation and detail, and are made of sturdier stuff.

Shaman and Chieftain by Otherworld Miniatures

Ratings:

Shadowsea Troglodytes: 4 out of 5

Otherworld Troglodytes: 5 out of 5

Terrain Crate - Dungeon Traps

Recently, I've painted up some Dungeon Traps from Mantic, and while I'm not partial to plastic miniatures, I found these "terrain bits" to be useful and fun to paint. They are not Old School, but neither do they detract from the Old School æsthetic.

Dungeon Traps Terrain Crate by Mantic

Included in my "crate": a spring trap, a poison trap, a pit trap, and a blade trap.  Also a lever, a ladder and a trap door. Finally, there is what looks to be a wooden chock on a rope; perhaps to be used with a boulder in the style of Indiana Jones.

These bits are easy to paint and yield a good result. Below are my own, painted versions - I did not need the ladder or wooden chock; they will appear in some later post. 

Unfortunately, despite the reasonable price tag (USD $19.99/GBP £14.99), the set, as seen above, is no longer listed. Elements can be found in their Dark Lord's Tower crate, where the buyer receives two sets of Dungeon Traps for USD $29.99/GBP £24.99, plus some sorcerous bits-and-bobs, which seems to be a fairly good deal....

The Maztica Campaign: Where in the World is Ferdinando Poe? Part II

The Mother of all Clogs

 (What has Gone Before)

It was dark in the sewer. The reek of  greasy smoke and burnt hair stung João Afonse's eyes.

His flaming flask of oil had struck the nearer rat-pack, immolating the vermin in a rat-pocalypse of fire.The second rat-pack had fallen upon the party, scratching and biting. To complicate matters, the kobold shaman had magically thrown the corridor into darkness - at his barking command, strands of black fog, like a thick pitch, had coiled forth from the adventurers' lantern.

Esperalda's Gnome-vision could see the outline of the kobold shaman, as well as the bright shapes of the rats all about her - running up her leg, climbing upon Diego's maille, dangling from Osondria's hair. She decided to prioritize the one biting on her leg, and slashed at it. The rat fell away with an angry squeak. 

With her free hand, Esperalda drew an unlit torch from her belt; they needed light (at least the humans did) but with their lantern extinguished (or gouting darkness, she wasn't sure how this worked) she would need something with which to light the torch. Her beady, Gnomish eyes fell upon the flickering pool of flaming oil - on the opposite walkway.

The Edge of Night

"Garl's Glitterballs" Esperalda said, to no one in particular, as she readied herself to jump the greywater channel. "I hate this sewer..."

"Try to stay to your right..." said Osondria, as she slapped hard at the rats that assailed her. "...if you're jumping. The walkway was drier to the right."

"Thanks, coach..." Esperalda said, not without sarcasm. But she angled right as she leapt. She landed, surprised by her good luck, with a semi-dry squelch.

While this had been transpiring, the kobold shaman had taken to throwing small darts at João Afonso, who was defensively pressing himself into an archway.

"I can't see him!" called João Afonso. "I can't really see anything!"

"Hold on, Killer..." said Esperalda, as she bent to the now-guttering puddle of oil. A rat's body had caught fire, and she lit the torch from the sizzling corpse. She stood up as the torch took flame.

The fire was now interfering with her Gnome-vision, but she could just make out where João Afonso's big shape bulked, relative to the kobold. Osondria was suddenly at her side, as a kobold dart struck the masonry beside her.

"Take a step straight forward, then turn a clock-point to your left..." she called to João, ignoring the cleric. Osondria readied a blessing.

"Garl Glittergold..." said Esperalda, under her breath, "...just for once, just aid my throw."

"I can work with that..." said Osondria, as she blessed Esperalda, while the Gnome hurled the torch.



The torch arced across the channel, struck the walkway, bounced once, and then landed at the kobold shaman's feet.

"Yark?" said the shaman, looking down to the flaming torch at his feet. João Afonso leapt.

"Yark!" said the shaman, as João Afonso landed on the walkway next to him, drawing his greatsword.

"Squish!" said the greatsword, as it slew the shaman.

Across the channel, Esperalda grinned wickedly. "No "Yark" today..."Yark" tomorrow."

Beside her, Osondria smiled. "There's always "Yark" tomorrow..."

Shortly thereafter, the shaman's spell ended, and light returned to the lantern. Searching the corpse, Esperalda found a bone tube, in which rested a scrap of vellum. She handed the tube to Osondria, who unrolled the scroll and gazed at the runes.

"It's a scroll of Command...for animals, I'd say..." said the Cleric. "...probably how he controlled the rats." Seeing that the Gnome wasn't really listening, Osondria shrugged, re-rolled the scroll and tucked it back into the tube, before placing it into her belt.

Esparelda was working on untying the shaman's purse; once free, she examined the contents.

"Another addition to the Trove..." she said with a grin, as she poured another dozen or so gems into her hand.

João Afonso and Diego Garzia were examining the clog.

Diego sighed, "That is one big clog...do plumbers make dungeon calls?" he asked, wryly.

João Afonso nodded in agreement. "We're going to need some shovels and rakes..."

"...and men." said Diego. "We can't clear this and carry up the "treasure".

"Speaking of which..." said Osondria, "Look who I've found."

Fernando Poe trailed, embarrassed, behind the cleric. As he explained, just before the guardroom fight, he had been hit with an intense feeling of dread and doom. so as to make it difficult even to breath. He had run along the walkway, headlong into the wall, then had fallen into the water, before getting stuck at the doors in the middle chamber. Realizing he was lost, he sat down in the dark until the feeling left him. Shortly hereafter, he had seen Osondria's magic light approaching, and had called out to the cleric.

"Fear spell" said Osondria. "Happens to us all."

"Hmph!" said Esperalda, not entirely satisfied.

A party of workers were hired, through Voil Guldi, to help clear the clog and recover the lost coins, at a 10% commission, plus expenses. As Esparelda had predicted, it took the better part of the day.  As the last barrel of coins was carried up to the street, where Osondria was keeping tally, one of the workers called to Esparelda.

"Hey, Ms. Gnome...You'd better look at this..."

The graywater level had lowered considerably, as the clump had been removed and the drains finally cleared. Through the murky water, where the base of the clump had been, Esperalda could see the faint outlines of a door...no, a trapdoor, resting in a short plinth at the bottom of the channel.

The party agreed - the next adventure they accepted would be above ground. 

To Be Continued...

The Maztica Campaign: Where in the World is Ferdinando Poe?

 (What has Gone Before)

The kobold leader lay dead at the feet of João Afonso de Villalobos, while his guards had felt the keen point and heavy flange of Man-at-Arms Diego Garzia and Acolyte Osondria D'Esserain. Several deceased kobolds bore the marks of having been shivved by a Gnomish blade - the work of Esparelda de Ragosa (almost certainly an alias), but while the Adventuring Party could congratulate their own force of arms, their hired crossbowman, Ferdinando Poe, was missing.

Indeed, from the complete lack of quarrels (aka bolts) in evidence, it looked as though Bowman Poe had never engaged the enemy. A quick search out in the corridor had yielded up Ferdinand's discarded crossbow.

"I'll wager he ran away." said Esparelda, a touch scornfully. "Cowardly humans..." 

"We should search for him..." said João Afonso. Diego nodded in agreement.

"We haven't found the cause of the clog..." Esparelda huffed. "Clog first, coward second!"

Osondria nodded in agreement. "Poe could be anywhere between here and the stairs, or even above in the streets. We can search for him on the way out..."

"Pity" said Esparelda. "We're going to need help with these coins..."

The party had discovered the kobold leader's hoard - pots and pots, chests and sacks of coins...

"...all lömmebittzen." said Esparelda. "Spare change! These idiots must have cornered the market on every bit of lost pocket-change in the city. Losers..."  She kicked half-heartedly at a dead kobold, but without enthusiasm.

"Oh well..." said Osondria. "Not all that's not gold does glitter..."

"Especially down here!" said Esparelda, gesturing at the hoard. "There must be thousands of copper pieces here. It's going to take at least a day to haul this up street-side."

"There's some silver pieces, too..." said João Afonso, helpfully. Esparelda shot him a look.

Osondria stooped and leaned against a chest - the chest shifted, as did the flagstone on which it rested.

"Well, well..." said Osondria. "What have we here?  João, could you help with this?"

Once João Afonso and Diego had muscled the heavy chest out of the way, the flagstone was easy enough to lift. Using broken kobold weapons as crude levers, the slab was raised up, until Osondria was able to reach beneath and retrieve a modest leather bag. The contents rattled.

"Great..." said Diego, with resignation. "They were gamers..."

"I don't think so..." said Osondria. "Esparelda, hold out your hands."

Into the Gnome's cupped hands, Osondria poured the contents of the bag. 

"Well, all right!" said the suddenly-less-cranky Gnome. Cascaded into her oddly large, Gnomish hands was a glittering pile of about three-score gems; large, small, and in between.

"This is what adventuring is all about!" said João Afonso, with satisfaction.

Their celebration was interrupted by a whispering noise from the corridor. Quickly returning the gems to the bag, Esparelda stowed them in her pack. 

Venturing out into the corridor, the party heard the noise again, a great rustling of many feet, and what sounded like wheels...

"...squeaking." said Esparelda. "Rats!"

Gazing down the corridor, they could see a solitary kobold, wearing an ornamental cloak, who gestured towards the top of the great, oozing pile.

A great, soggy pile; an accretion of bits of wood, twisted vegetation, slimy weeds, bits of once-colourful cloth, all mushed together in a seeping, tangled knot, atop of which squatted a crude, vaguely reptilian icon.

"Behold, Great Qürtalmak!" declared the Kobold Priest, in the common tongue. "Now, Die!"

Rushing at the Adventurers was a moderate horde of foot-long rats, on both sides of the walkway.

"João Afonso, I think we could do with some more of your oil!" said the Gnome.

...To Be Continued...

The Maztica Campaign: Return to Beneath the Planet of the Kobolds (Yes, the Sewer...)

(What has Gone Before)

New Hirelings, not yet painted...

The newly assembled party of adventurers (João Afonso the Ranger,  Esparelda the Cranky Gnome, Osondria the Cleric and hirelings Diego Garzia and Ferdinando Poe) returned to the site of their earlier encounters with the sewer-infesting Kobolds. 

Upon descending into the storm drains, they were surprised to see that the secret door to the gate lever, as well as the gate itself, were tightly closed. Before each gate was built, from assorted flotsam and jetsam, a barricade.


"What now?" asked Esparelda the Cranky Gnome.

"They're fortifying." said João Afonso.

"They just don't want a repeat of last time." said Esparelda. 

"Neither do we..." said João Afonso.

Once Osondria the Cleric had located and opened the door to the Gate Lever, Esperalda entered cautiously. Fearing a trap, she grasped the lever, and was attacked by a foot-long centipede that had been tied to the handle. The insect latched onto her leather vambrace and began to chew. Making her saving throw, Esperalda slew the kobolds' gift.

Barricades of flotsam and jetsam...

"I hate these little gobshites!" she muttered, to no one in particular, as she pulled the lever.

The gate ground open with a rusty rattle. and the PC's were only slightly surprised to see that the newly-built barricade was defended by four kobolds. They had heard the cranky gnome's hurled shouts and curses, and laughed and jeered as the gnome peaked around the corner.

"They've been busy..." said João Afonso.

"They should have saved themselves the effort." said Esparelda, "Get them!"

A Kobold Boss falls to João Afonso

After an exchange of missile fire, including another flask of flaming oil, the kobolds were driven back, leaving two of their own dead. They fell back on the first guardroom, where another party of kobolds reinforced them, including a leader and his guards.

These, too, fell before the Adventurers, but not before they managed to inflicted some damage on the party; after the scrum in the guardroom, Esparelda was down to 2 hp and João Afonso was down to 7. Diego was down to 8. Osondria brought out some scrolls of "cure light wounds", and after some debate, the party barricaded themselves in the guardroom and rested for the night.

The sounds of heavy dragging could be heard in the corridor, as the kobolds built another barricade. The next morning (assumed so by the return of Osondria's clerical spells) the party set out to further scout the storm drains.

Finding another hidden door, and Gate Lever #3, the PCs found more kobolds, defending yet another barricade.

"This is getting ridiculous!" said Esparelda.

"They are definitely protecting something..." said Osondria.

"It's probably the source of the clog." said João Afonso.

A clatter of javelins and the odd pot of sewage rained down about the party.

"We can't take much more of this skirmishing!" said Osondria. "Let's charge the barricade!" She raised her shield eye-level and leapt across the channel, slipped on the landing, and fell backwards into the grey water. The kobolds burst into jeers and laughter:

"Yark! Yark!"  It must be fish!"

"Not fish...a TOAD!"

"Not toad...a TURD!"

"I begin to understand why the Gnomes dislike these little bastards so..." said Osondria to Ferdinando, as he helped the cleric onto the walkway, taking her shield and mace. The tall cleric pressed her hands together prayerfully, drew herself up to full height, and then threw both hands out, palms open, toward the kobolds.

"άς υπάρχει φως!" she cried, as a blaze of light struck the barricade, illuminating and now blinding the surprised kobolds.

"Blind!" shrieked a kobold. "That twice in two days!"

"Don't just stand there..." cried Esparelda, drawing her bow. "Shoot the little fëkkesh!"

Arrows thrummed and a crossbow rattled, as João Afonso, Diego Garzia, and Osondria D'Esserain charged the barricade under cover of the Light Spell.

Caught at a severe disadvantage, three of the kobolds fell where they stood. The fourth one, with a heart-felt "Yark!" took off down the walkway while shielding his eyes from the effects of Osondria's spell.

"That was great!" said João Afonso. "We cleared the barricade without taking any damage."

"Why didn't you use it yesterday?" asked Esparelda, a little pointedly. The cleric shrugged.

"I didn't have it yesterday..." she said. "I prayed to the Great Helm, and He sent it to me in my dreams. Rather useful, yes?"

"Yes!" the party agreed...even, grudgingly,  the cranky gnome.

Storming the Barricade - Can You Feel the Kobolds' Sting?

"Can you do it again?" asked the gnome.

"I can do it once more, today." answered the cleric
.
"Then make it count..." said the gnome, as the cleric nodded.

A sudden,  repetitious clanging sounded from further down the passage.

"That sounds like a kobold, giving an alarm." said João Afonso.

"That sounds like a kobold, requesting assisted suicide..." said Esparelda.

"We must be very close to the cause of the clog." said Osondria. She pointed to the water - it had stopped its slow course and was welling up to the edges of the walkway.

"Let's get this done..." said Esparelda. "I'd like to sleep with dry feet tonight, for a change." She set off ahead of the party, at the very edge of the lantern light. 

"Is she okay?" asked João Afonso. "I can't see her."

"I can..." said Osondria, "...barely. She's stopped at the corner."

Esparelda had indeed reached a left-hand turn in the storm sewer, where she had seen several kobolds rush through a door, in response to the clanging. She motioned for the adventure party to keep silent.

"There's a group of kobolds beyond that door..." the Gnome whispered, so gently she wouldn't have disturbed a dandelion. "I don't know if we can take them."

"I don't want to spend another night down in this sewer." said Osondria. "Bow your heads, all."

The rest of the party complied, and Osondria said, in a low but firm voice:

"Ελευθερώστε μας από το Κακό." in benediction. The cleric took up her mace and shield.

"C'mon!" she cried. "The Power of Helm!"

The party members answered, loudly, spontaneously: "The Power of Helm!"

"And Tymora, too!" shouted João Afonso, as he kicked in the oaken door.

Charging the final Guardroom

The door fell inward on sprung hinges, as the Party charged in to a room with a half dozen, very surprised kobolds. 

"φως!" cried Osondria, gesturing, as another wave of light burst forth against the kobolds. 

João Afonso squared off against a kobold in fancy leather & iron armour, while Diego held off the chieftain's guards with his spear. Osondira was laying about with her mace, while Esperalda was stabbing at anything nonhuman that presented its back.

Between the Light and Protection from Evil spells, the kobolds didn't stand much of a chance; João Afonso's opponent managed to get a good cut in before the ranger cut him down, and Diego and Esparelda both took a nasty scratch. Ferdinand had disappeared, but even without his bow, the weight of arms was with the party.

As the last kobold breathed his final "Yark!", the guardroom was taken.

"Where's Ferdinando?" asked Esparelda, as Osondira healed her wounds. "Wasn't he supposed to shoot at targets from the doorway?"

"He was behind me, and I didn't see him at the door." said Osondria.

"I'll go look..." said João Afonso. "Maybe I can track him..."

But while the ranger found a discarded crossbow, not far from where the party had their blessing, Ferdinando Poe was nowhere to be seen.

To be continued...

DM/Editor's Notes:
This post actually encompasses parts of two sessions - with an extra month's gap between the two. That's why the hireling miniatures go from being bare metal to fully painted from the entryway to the guardroom, and the barricades change manufacturer.

In the early part of this post, the Players were taking a lot of nickle and dime damage, which adds up fast at first level. The players were both puzzled as to why this encounter was so damaging, when they were fighting "only kobolds".  I told them (directly and also via the cleric) that they were fighting on the kobolds' terms, and they had to counter this. After some thought (sleeping in the first guardroom - overnight - for two months) they adapted the tactic of throwing lit torches down the corridors, to spoil the kobolds dark sight.

Even with the occasional miss-and-plonk into the waterway, the torches at least prevented the kobolds from easily ambushing the players, and the Light spell absolutely wrecked the kobold's infravision bonus, and gave them a -1 penalty to hit as well.

Finally, Osondria the Cleric had an opportunity to adjust her spells, stocking up on more group-effective spells like Light and Protection from Evil. 

The Leap of Faith

I had hoped to finish this particular tale with this post, but it was getting too long, and it's sometimes good to pause with a mystery...

Merry Christmas!

 

Maztica Campaign Interlude - The Five Flagons Tavern

In Which the Adventurers Recruit Some Hirelings...

(What Has Gone Before) 

The Five Flagons Tavern is a favourite amongst the city guardsmen, mercenaries, and adventurers of Athkatlos, and so is normally a sedate location for a drink or two before retiring for the evening.  

Not so this evening, however.

As Esparelda the Cranky Gnome and João Afonso, the Ranger approached, the sound of laughter and raucous song greeted them.

"Humans..." said Esparelda, "...always drunk."

"They don't sound drunk..." said João Afonso. "That's sounds like a hymn they're singing."

Surely enough, upon entering, the pair of adventurers saw a clutch of guards and mercenaries, banging their tankards in reverent unison. In the center of the guards, half-ascended upon a bar-stool, Osondria was leading a chorus of the Song of Helm "And we shall rise up in the morning, before his guiding liiiiight!"

Seeing Gnome and Ranger staring, open mouthed, at her revival, Osondria told the singer on her right "Take over, brother..." and alighted from her perch to greet her new partners. The guard immediately took up the strain "O Helm, our Strength in Ages Past."

"Just spreading the Faith." Osondria said to the puzzled looks with a smile. She had three brimming tankards in hand.

"We're not here to drink." said Esparelda, a little crossly. "We're here to recruit some muscle for the drains."

"I've got that covered." said Osondria. "There's mostly loners here tonight, except those two..." She indicated an alcove where two mercs were nursing their tankards. "They've been pacing themselves pretty well - I'd guess they're short of money.

"That's a touchy topic, here." said João Afonso. "No-one likes to admit they're short..." Esparelda shot him a look. "...of cash." he finished.

"Perhaps I can save us some time." said Osondria, placing a coin on the bar and gathering up a half dozen tankards. She walked slowly towards the alcove, with a more-than-slightly exaggerated sway to her hips.

"Is she actually strutting her stuff? asked Esparelda.

"I would say so...yes." replied Joao Afonse.

The gnome and ranger watched while the cleric, bending low from the hip, placed the tankards on the mercs' table and greeted them with what sounded like "Hello, boys".

"Did you see that? She flashed them some cleavage!" said Esparelda.

"That's not easy when you're wearing maille, either." said João Afonso. 

After a minute or two in conversation, Osondria shot them a smile and a "thumbs up". The pair approached the alcove to work out the hiring details.

(Editor's note: In Real Life, the gnome works in corporate contracts, and the ranger is a lawyer. I'll leave it to the dear reader's imagination what the hiring details were, save that there were death and dismemberment clauses; compensation for widows, heirs and next of kin, and the standard rate of pay. The results were placed into a ledger that was shortly thereafter mis-laid, to the betterment of all concerned.) 

Diego Garzia and Ferdinando Poe

As the newly formed (and probably incorporated) party prepared to leave, including the now rather tipsy man-at-arms Diego Garzia and his crossbowman associate Ferdinando Poe, Esparelda confronted Osondria.

"Hey! Where does a cleric learn how to navigate a tavern that well?" asked the gnome.

"Not to mention practically seducing those guys into service." added the ranger.

"Well..." said Osondria, with a smile. "I'm a cleric...not a monk." 

And she winked at the both of them...

To Be Continued...

The Maztica Campaign Interlude - That Stinking Sewer...

In which the Player Characters Negotiate for More Money...
 
(What Has Gone Before...)

The Adventuring Party, having disengaged from their bloody investigation of the storm sewers beneath the Gem District of Athkatlos, received rest, healing and recuperation at the Temple of Tymora, Goddess of Luck and Fortune. In addition, they have formed a short-term partnership with a cleric of Helm Hammerhand, the Lawful Good/Lawful Neutral protector deity of Faerûn, who apparently had something of a Divine Fling with Tymora - so, at least someone got lucky.

After consulting with their patron, Voil Guldi - Dwarven Gem Master, they sought to negotiate a 50% increase on their retainer...

Heer Güldi

"What?!" thundered Guldi. "Has the sewer beneath these streets, since first I hired you, grown by half again?" 

"No" said Esparelda the Cranky Gnome. "But your problem has. There's definitely a blockage, and now we know it's caused by kobolds."

"A lot of kobolds..." added João Afonso, the Ranger. "Nasty ones..."

"Very nasty kobolds, indeed..." said Esparelda. "Organised, too."

"If you leave it, this sort of trouble only gets worse...." said João Afonso.

"They're probably sneaking up to the streets at night...stealing..." said Esparelda, ''...valuables."

"...and spreading disease..." said João Afonso. To Esparelda: "Say, do you think kobolds can spread Typhoid?"

"Wouldn't be surprised..." said Esparelda. "Last night, my arm was itching like an iron golem on a rust-monster, before the priestess cured me..."

"All right, All Right, ALL RIGHT!" stormed Guldi. "I know when I'm being wrung through the wine-press." He sighed.  "But you're probably right - the ink on this deal's getting redder as we speak." 

Seeing the puzzled looks on Esparelda and João Afonso, Guldi explained, in a tone generally reserved for thicker-than-usual, "just looking" tourists,  "This is becoming less of an inconvenience and more of a problem." he said.

The dwarf crossed to his ledger, and made a notation with a nearby quill, then drew a handful of gold coins out of a lockbox. One after another, on a chequered board, he counted the coins into two neat stacks of ten, and a half stack of five, each on its own red square.

"Let it not be said that we do things in a miserly way in Athkatlos..." said Guldi, grandly. "Here is your additional advance, 25 danthers, with a balance of 50 danth...IF...you clear the blockage and get rid of those wretched kobolds." He presented a receipt,  "Sign here, please."

The Ranger and Gnome exchanged satisfied looks, collected the coins, thanked their patron, and headed over to the Five Flagons Tavern, where they arranged to meet their new partner - the cleric Osondria - and see about hiring on some men-at-arms.

To be continued...

Trolls - Old School Dave Sutherland Style

Troll Attack!

Most persons, reading the Lord of the Rings will agree, I suspect, when I say that the creatures proferred as "Trolls" by E.Gary Gygax, are indeed not "Trolls" - at least, not in the Tolkien sense, and therefore not recognisable by anyone who came to Dungeons & Dragons by way of the "LotR" trilogy.

Tolkien's trolls were hulking, scaly brutes, formed from stone, by the first Dark Lord; Morgoth. As creatures made by the uttermost evil, against the intention of the One True God, trolls, much like orcs, are - in Professor Tolkien's words - "utterly irredeemable and damned". 

They are also the Intellectual Property of the Tolkien Estate, and perhaps more importantly, in forma juris, of Elan Merchandising a.k.a. Tolkien Enterprises - a legal Balrog, standing astride the bridge, if ever there was.

So Gary Gygax, who at the time was already in heated waters with any entity that had "Tolkien" in their incorporative documents, over (inter alia) using the term "Hobbit" without a license, made to steer clear of any more legal hurdles, and went with the gangly, green, regenerative creatures we now indulgently call "Trolls" in D&D, and first drawn by David C Sutherland III in the original 1974 boxed set.

(In defense of E.G.G., Tolkien's copyrights in the late 60's and early 70's were an international mess, and becoming entangled was not very difficult....) 

by David C.Sutherland III ©1977 TSR/Wizards of the Coast

This rather long introduction seemed necessary in order for your humble writer to explain why he started running an AD&D game with miniatures, when he had nothing for trolls.  Nothing for "Gygaxian Trolls", that is. Now that some trolls are needed - where to find them with the right look...

Back in 1993, Ral Partha produced the classic Sutherland Troll in 25mm, under license with TSR.

Figure by Ral Partha Miniatures

The Ral Partha troll I recently bought on eBay was a bit pricey - I can't at this time determine whether it's currently out-of-production, as the jumbled mess that Ral Partha calls a website is down for maintenance at the moment. I paid about $30 USD for mine, wanting something for reasons of comparison. I also wanted to find something with which I could build a band of trolls.

Enter Otherworld Miniatures (again!). They do an excellent 28mm version of the Sutherland "thin, rubbery and loathesome" troll that requires fire or acid to kill with finality.

Figure by Otherworld Miniatures

The figure comes in a five-part kit (legs/torso, two arms, two heads, plus a plastic base. The arms are cast with socket-nubbins to help fix their position whilst they are glued on, and the head can be fixed any angle you like.  The feet also have more pin-like nubbins, for attaching to the plastic base.

The model has smooth, clean lines with almost no casting marks - the lumpy pseudo-buboes from the Sutherland illo are also present, along with some pock marks; leading one to believe that trolls are singularly unhealthy creatures.

From these comparison pictures, the reader will be able to see that the Otherworld troll scales well with the older, 25mm, Ral Partha one. Especially where monstrous humanoids are concerned, uniformity of size is less important than an agreement in style.

Otherworld Miniatures vs. Ral Partha size comparison

Animation: 5

Detail: 5

Proportions: 5

Relate-ability: 5

Variety:5

Final Verdict: 5 out of 5. Excellent miniature and more on order...