Hey all, It has been a hot minute since our last recap, and I am excited to share some fun stories with you in this post!
On a personal note, we continue to get ready for a big move, likely closer to the Dallas area, and a lot of my time away from gaming has been spent making sure the house is in showing shape. I have also dug into the Midgard and Ninth World settings, and I am happier hosting games for all you fine folks out there in these rich worlds than anywhere else, save for Drakkenheim!
Watching players lean into the lore as they learn it as player characters in Midgard have been particularly fun. I especially enjoy the "expectations" that the deities have for their followers- important to role-playing a cleric and often overlooked in other settings.
A player on Monday worships Bastet - Goddess of Cats and Hunters. The player asked a little, knowing that Bastet's followers were expected to hunt for their good, take joy in destroying serpents, and offer fragrance gifts in prayer and have been killing it by role-playing how their cleric acts. It is a joy to watch, and what seems like a small detail is huge in immersing players in a setting.
Separately, or Wednesday night crew finds a grave cleric who worships Charun, looking all over Zobeck for a shrine and practitioners to connect. They did a great job in their downtime making friends with the local high priest (the only one!) and have gained a valuable ally they may be able to call in favor with down the road. Charun demands followers respect life coming in and out of this world, walk bravely into the darkness, and destroy the undead. Their work is cut out as they learn more about what lives below the Clockwork City!
Deities aren't just for clerics; of course, any player character can choose faith, and other settings make things vague enough that it is often set aside as a detail that doesn't matter. I encourage all the players in my Midgard games to think about their faith or lack of faith and apply that to role-playing their character. It opens up a world of pretty fun possibilities!
Game Recaps
Monday Afternoon Family Table. We hit the reset button and started a new adventure in my only all-ages table and hit the ancient forest known as the Margreve in Midgard. Situated in a central location, it has seen battles and kingdoms rise and fall and hosts fantastic critters and secrets deep inside its woods. We have five really excited players learning about the ancient woods. Why is this guy carrying so much salt around anyway?
Monday Semi-Monthly Icespire. The monthly Icespire crew were in dire straights last we checked in with them, but the Orcs eventually fell to their magic and blade! Big Al lives! We zoom in on Phandalin as the squad arrives this week with a mission accomplished, but many questions about why Orcs are being so aggressive in the area lately.
Picnic Hoboes. The Monday night crew continues their descent into the lair of the Mad Mage. They fight their way past mechanical worms with crystals powering extraordinary abilities, scaladar with chain lightning, and many more threats. Still, they also have been bumbling their way past things socially. They give just about any hobgoblin a warlord badge, and powerful magic can give a dragonborn their wings back. There have been some epic role-play moments throughout the last few weeks, and the viewers at home are looking forward to an in-game wedding in just a few short weeks! We also had a guest star show up for the obstacle course, which someone should have warned them they would be immediately treated as fodder.
Treasure Hunters of Drakkenheim. This crew has been a blast and offers an exciting perspective on the doomed city of Drakkenheim as opportunistic treasure hunters. I always enjoy running multiple instances of settings, modules, and adventures because each group has a unique take on it, and no single game is the same. The soldiers of fortune have made it to Buckledown Row and met an exceptional host this week!
High Crimes and Arcane Demeanors. The streets of Zobeck welcome some new adventurers from all across Midgard on Wednesday nights! The gnome from the Wyrmwood, a cleric from the Madgar Kingdoms, and a couple from the distant Southlands have converged and found themselves in the middle of a mystery as they adventure for coin and prestige. Zobeck has a rich and storied past, and the team will have to use all their magic, blade, and know-how to navigate the politics and monsters lurking in the shadows. It has been a blast so far in this setting!
Playtesting for [redacted] continues through May on Thursday afternoons. I will share details of my experience when I am able!
Laughing Head Insurance Company. With the great Vesburgh Splooshball Wellington Rules Tournament behind them, the LHIC travel to the Black Hills, searching for the Vault of Reflections. They picked up a fun guest star for a session and ventured into the hills to find much more than what they bargained for. Chtulic horrors, Weaponized Memes, and plane-shifting heroes take the stage as the team learns more about the ninth world and possibly other worlds, all connected by a Pizza shop in circa 1929 Chicago. I have a new outlook on the origin of buffalo wings and am glad the cunning team got creative this week, as a TPK was on the table against some very dangerous foes. If this all sounds extraordinary, it is.
Friday Corporate Event. Speaking of Plane hopping, our adventurers in the monthly corporate event left the feywild to the coastal mountains of Theros, to get a key fragment from an Oracle gone mad. There was one fight, but they figured out how to talk their way into and out of the madness of the Oracle. This was a great example of not having to kill everything to get to a win condition, and I had a blast with these folks Friday afternoon!
Empire of Ghouls/Bounty Hunters. The Saturday crew brought in their bounty and are ready for a new adventure. Three folks are prepared to rock on Saturday afternoons running Empire of Ghouls. We start in Zobeck and will travel all over Midgard to stop what the undead Empire is planning below the earth. Join us!
Goodberry Group. The Drakkenheim team on Saturday nights continues to skirt death around every corner and re-light the flame of finding valuable research from a dishonored mage in ruins. Saturday nights are a blast as we negotiate with a Dwarven clan, work with various factions, find treasure, and try to stay alive in the gloomy, ruined city of Drakkenheim. Tonight we continue an assault that has been a few sessions in the making - I have a feeling they will make it out with what they came for this time. Margreve Forest! - Sunday nights are open so lets play!
Thanks for playing everyone and Adventure in Courage!