Page 1 of 2

Welcome to Cinderwrought!

PostPosted: Tuesday May 3rd, 2016 11:45am
by GimmeYerGold
I'm starting up a new custom quest pack with my friends. Last time I had 6 regular players, this time it should be as many, with some drop-in players here and there.

Our first game is this Thursday, and I hope to document each of their quests here (with pictures!), because it's fun to keep track of this stuff!

It's going to be loosely sandboxy that is, I don't have all the quests laid out right now. I'm being very impromptu with the lore of the world, so the players feel like they're getting a chance to build it out based on their own imaginations, and they have options on where to go next. Here is the map!

Image

A brief bit of background on each place, based on my preliminary notes. WIP!

Old Wart: An orchish mountain stronghold where raiding parties work with the Beastmen of Shaggoth looting travelers and the villagers of Pyre. When pillaging is scarce, they war with each other. The Orcs keep their spoils deep underground.

Shaggoth: Ancestral mound home of the Beastmen. They dwell in earthen passageways alongside giant wolves, and carve giant totems from the trees of Dankwood Forest. Their shamans partake in the magical mushrooms that grow there, and weave mystical artifacts from the visions they see.

Dankwood Forest: A dark and ancient forest, renowned for its magical creatures and rare herbs, both poisonous and healing. Beneath the woods is said to be a petrified underforest, where the the fruits of the petrified trees and petrified flowers bear precious gemstones.

Pyre: An enterprising frontier town that does brisk trade with the port town of Blighthouse and the capital city of Gormenghast. The townsfolk are often plagued by marauding Orcs and Beastmen from the north, or thieving goblins from the Rust Mines to the west. Travelers from all over end up here. This is where Adventures begin!

Blighthouse: Ever since the nearby mines became too dangerous to work, Blighthouse found other ways to support herself. If a ship refuses to dock and pay a toll for their cargo, the tower makes sure they lose their way, and crash upon the rocks. Salvaged cargo becomes property of Blighthouse! Survivors are held captive at Saltsorrow.

Rust Mines: Captive goblins once toiled in these mines to unearth precious metals under the stern watch of Blighthouse. A violent uprising forced the mines to be abandoned, and now the goblins alone rule the tunnels, fending for themselves scavenging from passing ships, and mining deeper in their salty earth.

Gormenghast: An enormous castle-metropolis that rises up from the plains, nearly dwarfing The Black Treacle Mountains. In the last hours of evening, even Tomefast is eclipsed in its shadow. Building never ceases to make room for its burgeoning populous, while old portions of the city continue to decay. Disease is commonplace.

Tomefast: A citadel of learning and home to the greatest library on the continent. Magic is taught here, as well as potion-mixing, and all manner of magical relics are studied. The best students are sent to further their studies in the enchanted halls of the Amber Lodge. The worst students are sent to serve at Saltsorrow.

The Amber Lodge: Deep in the Torchweed Forest, the Amber Lodge is a place apart from time and space. At the center of its labyrinthine halls stands a vast shard of amber. Sealed inside is an enormous, unearthly insect. The wise stewards here revere the insect as a symbol of metamorphosis, and impart great knowledge to those willing to learn.

Saltsorrow: This island once produced the finest wines in the world. According to legend, the vineyard masters tricked sea giants into building a vast wine cellar by promising them their weight in wine. After completion, the masters refused payment, and the giants flooded the island with tears. Nothing grows here now, and the cellar serves as a prison.

I'll get to the next ones soon, gotta leave a bit of mystery :D

Re: Welcome to Cinderwrought!

PostPosted: Tuesday May 3rd, 2016 1:48pm
by Daedalus
The map seems familiar. Have you posted a similar map in the past, perhaps with different locations?

Re: Welcome to Cinderwrought!

PostPosted: Tuesday May 3rd, 2016 2:23pm
by Anderas
Yay cool
i am writing here just to see future posts popping up.
The map is quite condensed, contains only what is necessary. I like it!

Re: Welcome to Cinderwrought!

PostPosted: Tuesday May 3rd, 2016 3:37pm
by QorDaq
Digging the stylized Tolkien-esque, old-school Fantasy novel look to the map!

Looking forward to some battle reports.

maj!

Re: Welcome to Cinderwrought!

PostPosted: Wednesday May 4th, 2016 9:00am
by torilen
I love that map - it is the bomb.

Re: Welcome to Cinderwrought!

PostPosted: Tuesday May 24th, 2016 4:19pm
by GimmeYerGold
Recap of our first game!

Quest 1: Beneath Gormenghast

A clan of Skaven calling themselves the Bastards of Groan have kidnapped the infant heir, Titus. You must venture into the deep forgotten halls of Gormenghast, where the rebel Skaven dwell, and bring baby Titus back alive! Each surviving Hero will receive a reward of 50 gold coins.

So, this game had EIGHT players, one of which was playing via google hangout. This was pretty insane, but we made it work! Here are all the characters who played!

"Malbeca" the Alchemist
"Josun Dewmoss (Dewey)" the Farmer
"Krain the Brain" the Barbarian
"Gap Nig Gap" the Druid
"Tad Silby" the Thief
"Z" the Wizard
"Murflenyre (Murf)" the Paladin
"Cragganmore" the Barrelmaster (and his "wife" Melissa)

After every 4th player, Zargon would have a turn, and I played with an Evil Wizard deck too.

Image

The first room got pretty crowded, but they soon split up into separate groups, and ventured into the various rooms. They soon found clues. Along the walls were a series of dusty portraits depicting the nobilities of Groan, each holding a pet rat. The faces of the nobles were slashed. In each portrait the rats were larger, and soon the rats were full grown skaven, dressed in finery standing alongside the nobles. However, in the newest portraits, there were no skaven or rats at all. Soon the heroes run into some trouble! A Fimir is revealed and defeats Z, the Ogre-Wizard. He dies.

Image

I allowed my player to introduce a new Hero the same game. He decided on another Wizard, but had to catch up without any of the gear of his old character, of course. (I'm thinking of allowing this for future games, but a new Hero cannot collect the reward that was offered to the deceased Hero.

Eventually, "Wally" the Wizard catches up, and the Heroes encounter a locked room. They find the key, and moving through the trapdoor therein, they emerge in a hidden vault.
The other group encounter a Chaos Warrior bearing the sigil of the Groan knighthood. They defeat the knight, and gather up the sigil. After battling a few zombies, the other group finds a Banshee guarding baby Titus. The ghost appears to be a skaven nanny, presumably the ghost of a skaven caretaker who was once in the service of the Groan ancestors. Feeling that the Heroes wish to harm the child, the Skaven Banshee strikes! (Had the heroes shown the ancient sigil to the Banshee, she would have left the baby in their care.) The have a tough battle but vanquish the protective spirit, gather up the child, and head toward the exit.

On their way out, my friend's bulldog made an appearance on the screen!

Image

We have another game this Thursday, and it will be with possibly TEN PEOPLE. This is seriously pushing the limit, but if turns last no longer than a minute each, I think we can keep things snappy!

As far as the next quest, I want to give Heroes an option on where they go next, so they can go deeper into Gormenghast, and confront the Bastards of Groan, or investigate troubles elsewhere! (See map in previous post)

Re: Welcome to Cinderwrought!

PostPosted: Tuesday May 24th, 2016 4:31pm
by cynthialee
With so many players I highly suggest that you break away from the board and go with a mixture of dungeon tiles and a battle mat. Then you can have much larger rooms, corridors and best yet...combats.

Re: Welcome to Cinderwrought!

PostPosted: Tuesday May 24th, 2016 4:35pm
by GimmeYerGold
cynthialee wrote:With so many players I highly suggest that you break away from the board and go with a mixture of dungeon tiles and a battle mat. Then you can have much larger rooms, corridors and best yet...combats.


I agree. The next quest I'm using the double-wide hallway board with the 3cm x 3cm tiles.

Maybe some double doors too.

Re: Welcome to Cinderwrought!

PostPosted: Tuesday May 24th, 2016 4:59pm
by knightkrawler
That was an interesting read, thank you very much, kind sir!
Pray tell, where do you find so many nerds and what do you use to lure them into your lair all at the same time?

Re: Welcome to Cinderwrought!

PostPosted: Wednesday May 25th, 2016 1:56pm
by TMU
knightkrawler wrote:That was an interesting read, thank you very much, kind sir!
Pray tell, where do you find so many nerds and what do you use to lure them into your lair all at the same time?

This. Also, I want a bulldog. Or a pug.