Thursday, February 27, 2014

Bujilli: Episode 80

Previously...
They missed the boat. After all they had gone through, everything they'd done, they were too late. The Head Mistress of the academy at Wermspittle had been abducted. Her captors were carrying her off to Aman Utal. At least that was what Gnosiomandus had said, and most likely believed...

Sprague hacked up more blood. Collapsed. His wounds were bad. He needed serious medical attention.

Gnosiomandus slumped against a fractured section of retaining wall. His eyes closed. Nearly unconscious.

Leeja seethed in barely contained rage. Her claws scratched furrows across the wall.

Bujilli watched the boat pass around the nearer harbor defense tower. He considered his options as he walked a quick circuit around their position. His hands felt heavy. His shadow dragged across the paving stones, as though hesitant to follow him. He smiled.

"Your spell that brought us into that courtyard from Sprague's chambers," He took hold of Gnosiomandus by his shoulder and shook him lightly. Insistently. "It was some sort of Oneiric spell. Wasn't it?"

"Yes." The old man wheezed. Shifted against the wall. One eye opened ever so slightly. "So what of it?"

"You're not an Oneirist." Bujilli half-challenged, half-accused.

"No. I'm not. But I am an Unnatural Philosopher. I know a bit about many different disciplines and such."

"Of course. But who taught you that spell?"

"Why Sprague and I exchanged a few things between us, as a professional courtesy, years ago. What of it?"

"What did you give to him in exchange for those spells?"

"Scheiss!" Gnosiomandus scrambled to his feet. Leeja hissed. The hair stood up on on Bujilli's nape.

"He didn't want any of my spells. He only wanted copies of all my files, records and notes from my expedition into Ku-Stri-Tal--"

"The Outermost Bastion of the Fifth Dynasty." Leeja whispered hoarsely.

"You've been there?" Gnosiomandus studied Leeja very intently.

"I was born not far from there. The Labyrinth-Warrens beneath the Catacomb-Keep extend downward into Deep Dendo. My great grandmother's people were exiled to that place..."

"Before or after the ghouls?"

"My kin drove out the ghouls."

"...and the Grunters?"

"They...drove us out."

"Ah. I should have realized--"

"No. You shouldn't. Could not." Sprague tried to sit up. Bujilli helped him. "You know why; don't you? Or at least he suspects." Sprague jabbed a bloody finger at Bujilli with a mocking sort of laugh.

Bujilli nodded. "Someone has been meddling with things."

"Meddling? How? What sort of things?" Gnosiomandus sputtered.

"Memories. Impressions. Very subtle things. All very minor, inconsequential things. But they've been slowly adding-up. It's like a fog that has slowly, but surely, seeped in under everyone's defenses. It reminds me of how Mistress Eberhard was subverted by the geist. I felt something similar when I first encountered Gudrun, but I thought that was some sort of influence being exerted by Sprague. But it wasn't Sprague. It wasn't even the Mirrorborn thing impersonating him. It goes deeper than that."

"For what it is worth, I never met you before you tore me loose from those Black Chains..." Sprague sank back onto the pavement. Fever was starting to set in.

"Just how long have you been gone, Sprague?" Leeja demanded.

"I remember looking out at my gardens. She was supposed to meet me..." He trailed off into reverie.

"When? When was this?" Gnosiomandus insisted on knowing.

"The first night of the Spring Revels." Sprague whispered. Barely.

Bujilli looked to Gnosiomandus.

"That was weeks ago. You arrived in my roo--at Wermspittle near the end of the Revels."

"Or it was a year ago. Or more than one year..."

Bujilli looked out across the harbor. The boat was rapidly becoming a speck in the distance. The light in this place tended to be diffuse. Yet he still cast a reluctant shadow that wavered like so much ink spilled into milk.

He closed his eyes. Took control of his breathing. Listened. Relaxed. Let his senses extend outwards like he'd learned as a child.

There.

Pressure. Resistance. Interference.

He recognized the sensation all too damned well.

He cast Thought Wall.

His shadow erupted from the gritty pavement, all talons and teeth, devouring blackness.

Demon.

He wished he still had his tulwar, but he still had Stril's axe.

It hacked a wicked gash through the billowing black demonform.

The thing shrieked. Silently--felt only inside his skull. A vile echoing noise. This thing was prone to tormenting the sleeping, preying upon the vulnerable. He hacked it once more, cast Auric Sheath. Extended the spell as far as he could push it, then reversed it. Brought it down around the demon. Encapsulating the thing. Trapping it.

He nearly lost control of his spells. The mindshriek of the demon was horrible. But he'd heard worse. Far worse. Growing up in a sorcerer's yurt. He held on. Tightened the shell around the demon. He could feel the demon pulling him into a trance-state. Just like he expected. Stupid demon.

Bujilli pressed the Auric Sheath down. Harder. Compressing the wretched shadow-thing into a dense, black smear. On the very edge of collapse the thing whispered urgently into his brain: 'Please.'

"Make your offer." Bujilli knew the rules of this game. His Uncle had taught him well, if harshly and unkindly. Hard won knowledge carried more weight, direct personal experience held more value than simply reading a lot of books. Bujilli had read an awful lot of books as a child. But he'd also been forced into assisting his Uncle in all sorts of workings and experiments. His Uncle had explored a number of different demonologies and summoning schema. He remembered the night they called forth Ahtrishka.

Scars ensure one does not forget. He would never forget. Not ever.

'Release. Promise to release. Give Names.'

"You'll need to do better than that." He forced the Auric Sheath to squeeze tighter.

'Promise. Tell All.'

"No promises. No more games. Offer me power."

'YES! Power!'

"Offer me wealth." He flattened the thing.

'Wealth! Yes! All You Want!'

"Offer me my heart's desire." He rolled-in the sides.

'Anything!'

"Of course. You'll offer anything. But what can you actually deliver?" He shortened the shell.

'Serve! Power!'

"You have nothing I want." Bujilli crushed the Auric Sheath down into a finger-thick rod about the length of an arrow.

'Need! You NEED!'

"Go on. I'm listening."

'No! Too Late! She Knows!'

"Who? Who knows?" Bujilli demanded.

The demon's mental shriek ceased abruptly. As he knew it would. He jerked the Auric Sheath. Hard. Like fishing for cave carp. He twisted it. Jammed it down to the ground. Held it as he cast Protection from Aethyrial Intrusion. One of the spells he'd learned from the Gem of Muktra. So, so long ago.

A spherical shell of greenish non-light reverberated all around him, even as the pale violet Auric Sheath flickered fitfully at his feet. Whomever was behind the demon had retained their link with the demon. Used it to snuff it out before it could reveal anything useful or important. Now Bujilli intended to use that link against them.

Black lesions appeared along one side of the green sphere. They were lashing out. Maybe they suspected something of what he was up to.

Bujilli smiled. Snapped the demon's form down as hard as he could force the spell to go. Crushed it into a dull black rod. Taking care to shape both ends. One a notch, the other a point. An arrow. Black and deadly. To the one who sent the thing after him.

He replaced Stril's axe in his belt. Drew out his bow. Strung it. Picked up the arrow. Drew back to the full extent. Paused. Exhaled. Released the spell surrounding him even as he released the arrow.

Silence.

No more pressure.

No sign of the arrow.

Bujilli looked about him. Sprague was unconscious. Gnosiomandus was staring at him in something bordering upon shock or dismay. Leeja was busily skewering beetles with her crystal stiletto. Her pet slasher followed behind, deftly slicing-off limbs and heads as it went along. The beetles were beginning to pile-up past her ankles.

There was a peculiar piping noise. Some idiot blowing on a cheap flute. The sound made his skin crawl.

He knew what it was. Now all he needed was to find the thing.

He knocked a yellow-metal arrow. One he'd taken from beneath Idvard's Keep.

There. He drew. Aimed. Fired. All in one smooth motion.

The piping stopped.

The beetles dispersed.

"Really? I've been killing scores of these nasty things and you end it all with one arrow?"

"Just need to know where to shoot. that piping noise was coming from a verminotriloquist. At least that was what my Uncle called them. It's someone who manipulates, dominates and controls vermin by use of certain sounds, usually from some sort of musical instrument."

"Lovely." Leeja wiped-off her blade. Re-sheathed it. The little slasher busied itself finishing-off any stragglers it might have missed in the earlier rush. Now it took time to nibble beetles. It seemed to prefer their brains. Such as they were.

"You're lucky it was just beetle..."

"Oh really?"

"Centipedes are much worse." He pulled his shirt back, tugged his armor off to the side to reveal some livid purple marks deeply imprinted into his skin. Not all his scars came from Ahtrishka. He'd had more than his share of encounters with centipedes in the deep dark places his uncle had forced him to explore. Even a basket on the end of a rope couldn't get you out of reach of the worst of those things, not nearly fast enough.

"Maybe I should get a hand-axe like you use..."

"You have to find what works best for you."

"Sound advice." Gnosiomandus coughed. Struggled to his feet. "We need to get back."

"You don't want to follow the boat now?" Bujilli chided his mentor.

"No. Damn fool that I've been, no. It's a distraction. A sort of reflection or echo. Even if we did catch up to it, all we'd find is an oneiric construct. So much dream-junk. and very likely a nasty surprise or two as well."

"So how do we go back?" Leeja went over to Sprague. Checked that he was still unconscious and not just biding his time, listening to their plans.

"We wake up." Gnosiomandus gestured for Bujilli to move closer to Sprague and Leeja. The Slasher skittered back to its mistress and disappeared into her belt pouch.

"Yes." Sprague gasped.

Gnosiomandus set about casting some sort of spell. It involved perambulating about in a series of counter-rotating circles and a lot of concentration.

Bujilli tried to pay attention to the old man's spell-working, but each pass around the circles made it harder and harder to focus.

"Grab Him!" yelled Gnosiomandus.

Bujilli lunged. Tackled Not-Sprague. Dragged them both through the steaming green mud to the doorway.

The green mud surged. Slopped against the door with a hissing wet slap. Again. The door gave-way. They ran into the hallway.

Two Spragues in tow.

They followed Gnosiomandus down the hallway. Down the stairs.

Shattered bits of glass-like mirror-flesh were everywhere.

Three women stood at the edge of the debris. A long cool woman in a black dress. A hag with over-sized owlish eyes. A tall, elegant woman wielding an oak staff. Mistress Eberhard. Hedrard. The Headmistress...or her simulacrum...

There was no sign of either Gudrun or Sharisse. Just their exuberant handiwork.

"That's far enough. I will have some answers..."


What should Bujilli, Leeja and Gnosiomandus do now?
  1. Run like hell in the other direction? Any particular direction?
  2. Present the two Spragues for interrogation?
  3. Kill one or both of the Spragues?
  4. Attack the Headmistress? Is it her Simulacrum/Impostor?
  5. Cast a spell?
  6. Ask Hedrard and/or Eberhard for help?
  7. Call out to Sharisse and Gudrun?
  8. Something else? 
One way or another, a few answers are in order. But is this the right person to be talking to? How do they know whom they can trust? Feel free to make your suggestions or to ask questions in the comments below.



We could use a few Initiative rolls for (1) Bujilli (2) Leeja, (3) Gnosiomandus, (4) Sprague, (5) Not-Sprague, (6) Hedrard, (7) Mistress Eberhard, (8) The Headmistress, and (9) Someone Else. You can also roll initiative for Sharisse & Gudrun, if you want. Thanks.
Remember:Bujilli receives a +1 bonus to his Initiative, Leeja gets a +2 bonus. Gnosiomandus gets a -1 penalty for being distracted. The girls both receive +1 bonuses due to their DEX. (as per P. 50, Labyrinth Lord.)


As usual, anything readers don't roll for, I will roll.
  • We could use 3-4 D20 rolls!
  • We could also use a couple of %D rolls (01-00%)
What happens next is up to you, the readers.


You Decide!

Previous                                Next

Series Indexes
One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six


About Bujilli (What is This?) | Who is Bujilli? | How to Play

Bujilli's Spells | Little Brown Journals | Loot Tally | House Rules

Episode Guides
Series One (Episodes 1-19)
Series Two (Episode 20-36)
Series Three (Episodes 37-49)
Series Four (Episodes 50-68)
Series Five (Episodes 69-99)
Series Six(Episodes 100-ongoing)

Labyrinth Lord   |   Advanced Edition Companion

Friday, February 21, 2014

Curated Links: Online System Release Documents

A System Release document (SRD) is a reference for the game mechanics made available under the Open Game License (OGL) pioneered by Wizards of the Coast (WOTC) back when it brought out the third edition of Dungeons and Dragons (D&D). You can read more about SRD's at Wikipedia. Some of these documents cover games and content that is not released under the original OGL, but are likewise 'open,' such as the Eclipse Phase rules.


Last Updated: November 2018


Download the Official SRD/OGL in pdf format...HERE.






I'm only compiling a list of resources. Inclusion is this list is not any sort of endorsement, just acknowledgement that these things did indeed exist at the time this list was made or last updated. I leave it to others to foist opinions and write reviews of such things.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Bujilli: Episode 79

Previously...
Bujilli, Leeja and Gnosiomandus ventured deep, deep down into the stygian darkness. Gnosiomandus off-handedly eliminated some Morlock Under-Takers with a particularly nasty spell as he ran headlong through a cyclopean archway. The massive door set into this subterranean arch was closing. Leeja sped onward into the unknown--this was her element. Bujilli leaped. Too late Sprague stirred, called out 'No!'

The door grumbled, rumbled and crunched into place with a sense of finality.

Bujilli landed clumsily. Nearly twisted his knee. Sprague shivered. Convulsed. Spat-up blood.

Waking up came hard to the Master Oneirist. But it came. Like a hammer in a slaughter-house.

"Too late." Sprague collapsed back into senseless oblivion.

Bujilli set Sprague down. The man's clothes were soaked in blood, sweat and the lingering traces of oneiroplasm. There were vicious wounds torn into his flesh from where the Black Chains had entered into his mind and soul. The rags he had quickly tied over the wounds were saturated in blood. He needed to remove them. Do a proper job of it. At least now they were out of the stinging snow.

He could see Leeja's gold-green eyes aglow in the blackness. "Why are you stopping?"

"It's Sprague. I need to tend to these wounds or else he's going to bleed-out before we get...wherever we're going."

"Gnosiomandus didn't stop."

"No. I didn't expect him to stop." Bujilli cast Gloomlight. He cut away the gory rags. Dug out the last of his wool, lint and rags. Set about packing the worst of the wounds. Tying things together as best he could. It wasn't his best work. But it might keep Sprague alive a bit longer. He wished he knew a healing spell. Maybe Hedrard would teach him one. If they got back to Wermspittle.

"Need help? Want me to carry him?"

"No. I have him. Let's go."

They set off into the blackness. The Gloomlight glyph floated ahead of them, spreading a soft half-light as it went along.

The light didn't reach the walls, nor the ceiling above.

They were traveling through a vast, dark space.

They were walking along a paved road.

A switchback took them down deeper.

They crossed over a bridge spanning an abyss that echoed softly with the sounds of running water.

A flash of intense violet light. Thunder rumbled through the darkness. Whatever it was, it lay ahead of them.

They continued onward.

The road wound through mounds and huge, crumbling structures. Ruined piles that were once habitations of some sort. Walls jutted up from the debris and rubble like the fins of petrified fish braking the surface.

They came to another archway. Flanked by another pair of peculiar sphinxes.

Smoke curled from the shattered wreckage of the door scattered across the road.

"Looks like the old man went this way." Leeja smirked. She appreciated the mayhem their mentor was proving himself capable of...it boded well for her learning some useful spells from him.

"We must be catching up to him." Bujilli adjusted his grip on Sprague.

"Who knew the old man could move so damned fast?"

Another flash of light erupted into the darkness. This time it green, and seemed to expand slowly, like a bulging mass of corrosive radiance. A terrible hissing-shriek swirled out from the Greenlight.

They set off towards the lingering green glimmers.

The street sloped downwards.

It led to a mostly collapsed wall. Another ruined gate. Beyond that, they could see what appeared to be a harbor set on the shores of a great dark sea.

A boat was leaving.

They ran.

Neither of them counted the half-dissolved bodies sprawled in the aftermath of the Greenlight.

"We're too late." Gnosiomandus didn't turn around. Instead he watched the boat moving out into the bay.

"So do we go after them?" Leeja looked about her. There were other boats in the harbor. Most of them half-sunk or rotted into uselessness. Perhaps they could find something serviceable. If they looked. But that would take time.

"Pointless." The old man slumped down. Sat on the edge of a section of dock, looking out across the bay.

Bujilli set Sprague down next to Gnosiomandus.

"You blazed quite a trail to this place. You were moving along so fast I had to wonder what demons were nipping at your heels."

Gnosiomandus closed his eyes.

"Where is this boat headed? Who did they take?" Bujilli watched the boat. It was very similar to the boats he had seen underneath Idvard's Keep.

Gnosiomandus remained silent.

"Aman Utal." Leeja whispered.

"Yes. They have the true Head Mistress of the Academy at Wermspittle in Black Chains."

"She has been replaced? Like Sprague?" Bujilli looked down at the far too still form of the wounded Oneirist. He wasn't certain, but he suspected that Sprague could hear everything they were saying. He probably didn't know if he could trust them. They'd never actually met. The person Bujilli thought of as Sprague was a Mirrorborn simulacrum. An impostor.

"Yes. Very probably this is the direct result of Sprague being replaced. The very reason they replaced him from the start."

"Oh? and why would that be?" Leeja squatted down beside Gnosiomandus. He was nearly spent. On the verge of collapse. He'd used-up a lot of his reserves getting this far, this fast.

"Because she's my wife." Sprague lurched to his feet.

"And I intend to go after her."

He coughed. Wiped away blood.

"With, or without you." Sprague collapsed back onto the pavement.


What should Bujilli & Leeja do now? Granted, it's too late to take back the leap--he's in mid-air, for better or worse.
  1. Look for a boat?
  2. Try to stop the other boat from leaving the bay?
  3. Interrogate Sprague and/or Gnosiomandus?
  4. Head back to Wermspittle to regroup, maybe go see Idvard about some assistance?
  5. Try to find another way to pursue the boat?
  6. Something else? 
The way back is closed-off by that cyclopean door, but there might be a way around it, or to raise it again. Perhaps Sprague or Gnosiomandus know where the boat is headed. But Gnsoiomandus is nearly exhausted and Sprague is in dire need of some healing.

Oh...and all that noise the old man made getting to this spot? Yeah. It has attracted a bit of attention.

Roll 2d6 for Wandering Monsters. The first one for the ruined gateway into the ruined city. The second one for the Greenlight-destroyed gateway into the Harbor.



We could use a few Initiative rolls for (1) Bujilli (2) Leeja, (3) Gnosiomandus, (4) Sprague, (5) Any Wandering Monsters, and (6) The occupants of the boat. Thanks.
Remember:Bujilli receives a +1 bonus to his Initiative, Leeja gets a +2 bonus. Gnosiomandus gets a -1 penalty for being distracted. The girls both receive +1 bonuses due to their DEX. (as per P. 50, Labyrinth Lord.)

What happens next is up to you, the readers.

You Decide!

Previous                                Next

Series Indexes
One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six


About Bujilli (What is This?) | Who is Bujilli? | How to Play

Bujilli's Spells | Little Brown Journals | Loot Tally | House Rules

Episode Guides
Series One (Episodes 1-19)
Series Two (Episode 20-36)
Series Three (Episodes 37-49)
Series Four (Episodes 50-68)
Series Five (Episodes 69-99)
Series Six(Episodes 100-ongoing)

Labyrinth Lord   |   Advanced Edition Companion

Friday, February 14, 2014

Best Laid Plans...

We won't be able to make it to Con of the North this weekend.
Both of us have had a rough time of it, health-wise.
But we're getting better.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Bujilli: Episode 78

Previously...
Bujilli and Leeja find themselves in a dark, dangerous place. Gnosiomandus brought them here, against his wishes, despite his better judgement, out of some sense of desperate necessity. His precipitous act has brought them all into harm's way, but why? For what reason? They both have so many questions...


Smooth, translucent anemone-things swarmed into the dim courtyard from one of the shattered doorways. Pale colors flowed and sloshed through their elegantly tapering limbs as they floated closer. Closer. They radiated menace and malevolence like heat coming off of a desert landscape.

"There was no other way..." Gnosiomandus called out as he ran towards the anemone-things. Teal-blue flames swirled and howled around his right fist as he struck out at the servitors.

Bujilli recognized these anemone-things. Yiggo Bosh. Only these were larger, nastier specimens than what were usually summoned by Kudara's Call of the Twelve. He'd read enough to know some of the details, but never had the chance to commit the spell's specific forms to memory. The Yiggo Bosh were the seventh type of the servitors brought forth by that fairly common spell. He remembered something else about these things. Leeja was right beside him. He reached out. touched her shoulder. Their eyes locked.

"Do you have a mirror?"

She nodded. Unsure what he needed with a mirror in this place at this time.

"Good. Get it out. These things can be driven off by a mirror."

"Oh really?" She grinned sinisterly. "That sounds like fun."

"Fun?" He scowled. She laughed.

"Watch." Leeja slipped-out her small silver mirror, a hand-mirror like one would find on some rich noblewoman's dressing table. She cast a spell. He couldn't tell which one. Not right away.

The mirror grew huge and wobbly. A flowing ribbon of silver that shone, shimmied and expanded outward from the handle the reflective skin of some stupendous bubble. Leeja ran towards the Yiggo Bosh waving the bizarre thing around like a manic child, laughing all the way.

Gnosiomandus halted in mid-attack. Three of the things were scorched goo sizzling across the courtyard stones.

The Yiggo Bosh withdrew. At haste. They made a peculiar warbling noise as they rushed off in the opposite direction.

Leeja relinquished the spell. Her mirror popped back to normal size, weight and dimensions. She slipped it back into her pack.

Bujilli trotted up to them both, shaking his head as he moved along. The tree-things had nearly caught him with their lashing, slashing tendrils. He had gone back to recover Sprague's unconscious body. Blood dripped steadily from where the Black Chains had pierced the Master Oneirist to ensnare his mind, body and soul. A few tendrils coiled about Bujilli's left arm and right leg. And most of Sprague. The things itched terribly. Drew blood as they writhed about. But it felt like the things were dying, having been separated from the trees. He thought there would be time to attend to the tendrils once he caught-up with his two companions.

The snow was starting to fall more heavily. It stung where it touched bare flesh, leaving small, bloody traces. They needed to get inside.

"Cute." Gnosiomandus smirked. Bowed with a flourish. Then started running again. Towards one of the arches.

Leeja looked to Bujilli. He nodded. She took off after the unnaturally spry old man. Bujilli followed. It was disturbing how little Sprague weighed. But he still breathed. That had to count for something. He would have to endure the lingering pin-pricks of the tendrils. The one coiled around his leg was beginning to peel off. Perhaps it didn't care for his blood after all.

Gnosiomandus clambered across the ruined door and was running down a hallway. They followed, but couldn't quite catch up to the old scholar. Bujilli considered using a spell to speed them up, but didn't want to stop long enough to cast it. So they ran.

Another long, drawn-out scream. Closer this time. A woman. It seemed almost familiar. Almost.

They followed Gnosiomandus around a corner. Down a ramp that spiraled downwards into cloying darkness. Their footfalls, their breathing, all of it echoed and reverberated through the floor, the walls.

Sharp red light erupted from Gnosiomandus' left-hand. Each finger a blazing torch. Shadowy forms fluttered, shrieked, exploded into jagged, scribbly-bits and ashes as the scarlet effulgence poured across them. Whatever they were.

He didn't slow down. Never looked back.

They kept running.

Around and around.

Down.

Deep down.

They nearly spilled out from the ramp into the midst of three guards in spiky chain-mail. The guards were all sizzling. Popping. Sparks ricocheted from their shocked expressions and ruined armor. Their flesh was rapidly growing transparent, Becoming glass.

Bujilli brushed against the second one. they tipped over. Crashed. Shattered into dozens of meaty pieces that continued to hiss as they changed into glass.

Leeja deliberately kicked the other two over.

But not before Bujilli recognized what they were.

Morlocks.

Probably Under-takers.

They approached another arch. Angular. A tapering rectangle that got narrower towards the top. It was huge. More than a hundred feet high at the center. There was some sort of sphinx flanking the thing on either side. They didn't take time out to examine the things. They kept running. A massive door rumbled down along deep ruts in the archway. Closing.

Gnosiomandus was through the archway.

Another scream. This time it was cut short.

Leeja sped onward into the stygian blackness. Heedless of whatever might be on the other side. Her hair flared out like flames. He eyes shone. She was in her element.

Bujilli leaped.

Sprague called out in mid-leap; "No!"


What should Bujilli & Leeja do now? Granted, it's too late to take back the leap--he's in mid-air, for better or worse.
  1. Should Bujilli drop Sprague?
  2. Hold on tight and see this through?
  3. Call out to Leeja?
  4. Attempt to cast a spell? (Only a First Level spell would be possible, and that at a penalty.)
  5. Something else?
The cyclopean doorway is grinding closed behind them. Bujilli can feel powerful energies coming through Gnosiomandus. Major destruction-type stuff. Whatever is going on, wherever they are, things about to get much more intense and explosive...


We could use a few Initiative rolls for (1) Bujilli (2) Leeja, (3) Gnosiomandus, (4) [undisclosed NPC], and (5) Sprague. Thanks.
Remember:Bujilli receives a +1 bonus to his Initiative, Leeja gets a +2 bonus. Gnosiomandus gets a -1 penalty for being distracted. The girls both receive +1 bonuses due to their DEX. (as per P. 50, Labyrinth Lord.)


As usual, anything readers don't roll for, I will roll.
  • We could use 3-4 D20 rolls!
What happens next is up to you, the readers.


You Decide!

Previous                                Next

Series Indexes
One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six


About Bujilli (What is This?) | Who is Bujilli? | How to Play

Bujilli's Spells | Little Brown Journals | Loot Tally | House Rules

Episode Guides
Series One (Episodes 1-19)
Series Two (Episode 20-36)
Series Three (Episodes 37-49)
Series Four (Episodes 50-68)
Series Five (Episodes 69-99)
Series Six(Episodes 100-ongoing)

Labyrinth Lord   |   Advanced Edition Companion

Monday, February 10, 2014

RPG Toolset: Random Generators

RPG Toolset


Random Generators (A Few We've Tried Out)


Polycosm Publishing provides a lot of great random generators at RPGnow, like The Manse, which we recently reviewed. Be sure to check out the Bundle-o-stuff that they're offering; it's a phenomenal deal!

Big New Dragon also has produced some intriguing generators like the D30 Sandbox Companion. This is on our Buy Soon list, and from we've been able to see, it should be on yours as well. Check out their blog Save vs Dragon while you're at it.



If you know of any great random generators we ought to take a look at, please do let us know in the comments below. We'll continue to update and expand on this list as we discover more great resources to share. Thanks!

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Bujilli: Episode 77

Previously...
The room around them teeters on the brink of slipping into Unreality. Sprague is unconscious; his mind trapped deep in nightmare by cruel black chains of oneiric-iron. Bujilli, Leeja and Gnosiomandus must act quickly, decisively, or become trapped forever outside all they've ever known. There's no going back--the doorway they came in through is blocked and the Mirrorborn Not-Sprague might still be in the next room...


Bujilli considered the room full of steaming green mud beyond the door, the shattered mirror surrounded by jagged shards like glittering teeth, the black chains leading down into darkness of the worst sort. Not one good choice among them. Typical.

"Whatever we're going to do--we need to do it quickly!"

"What do you mean by this 'Unreality' you're so worried about?" Leeja distrusted Sprague intensely. Even more so now that he was apparently trapped in some dream-state.

"There isn't time to discuss paradigmatic inertia or how the spectrum of consciousness interacts with the fundamental basis of manifest reality and imagination--"

"Save the lecture for class. We need to leave this place. The way we came in is blocked. The only real option before us is to follow these black chains down into wherever it is that Sprague's soul or whatever has been taken. I don't like it. I don't pretend to understand it. But I also do not see any alternative. Do either of you?" Bujilli could feel the hairs on his arms and legs bristle from a peculiar fluctuation of static electricity. The walls were growing translucent.

"No." Leeja stared down at Sprague. For a moment Bujilli thought that she might cut his throat.

"No." sighed Gnosiomandus; "I fear that this really was more of a trap than I anticipated."

"Fine. It's a trap. Let's break it. Turn it against whoever is behind this business."

Gnosiomandus nodded solemnly. He had misjudged this young half-breed. He'd misjudged quite a bit lately. It couldn't all be from getting old. But this wasn't the time or place to address that.

The old scholar cast spell. A scintillating, billowing curtain of mauve light flowed around all three of them and Sprague upon his bed. The light corruscated through deep purples and rippled into a swirling barrier of violet luminosity.

Bujilli felt his ears pop even as his own spell ceased to operate. Whatever Gnosiomandus had cast, it cancelled-out his Zone of Normality. He'd never encountered anything quite like that before. It was slightly disturbing. But then quite a lot of what he'd recently discovered was drenched with upsetting ramifications. Nothing was ever very simple around this Sprague person.

"You didn't want to lave his body behind, so how are we supposed to follow these chains and keep him with us?" Leeja sheathed her stilletto. Reluctantly.

"Ah. No worries. We're already underway."

"What?" Bujilli realized even as he spoke that they were in motion. He wasn't sure how it worked. Then he looked at the black chains. They were piling up on the bed next to Sprague.

"Where?" Leeja hissed.

"A very, very bad place, I'm afraid."

"You live in Wermpsittle." Leeja scoffed.

"Not by choice." Gnosiomandus looked away.

The black chains spilled off of the bed with an incredible racket. Sprague didn't move. No reaction. Just barely breathing. Dreaming.

Bujilli shivered. His breath billowed out in puffs of white. It was growing colder. Much colder.

He looked at the ever more rapidly accumulating black chains. They were wet. Glistening. Traces of frost were crackling across them.

The violet light snuffed out.

Leeja shrieked in rage.

Bujilli vomited.

"I'm sorry." Gnosiomandus patted Bujilli on the shoulder. It cleared the nausea.

Mist filled the air. A thousand distorted shadows slunk and slipped about just on the very periphery of perception. faint echoes pulsed and rippled through the floor...the ground...a gritty gray courtyard of some sort. Walls of pitted and streaked stone were quickly swallowed-up by unrelenting blackness.

Sprague's senseless body sprawled on the grit. A thin trail of white mist showed that he was still breathing. Shallowly.

Bujilli looked up. Quickly looked away. He could feel his soul almost fall out of him. At least that was what it felt like. The darkness above nearly had him in that one careless moment.

He grabbed hold of Leeja. Shook her. Forced her to look into his eyes; "Whatever you do; do not look up!"

She pulled herself free. Shook out her white hair. Nodded. Her claws were fully extended. He could feel the anger boiling behind her gold-green eyes.

Betrayal didn't suit either of them very well.

Clusters of scraggly, scabbed-over and leafless white trees, wretched things, poked up from the gray grit. Reaching upward to the devouring darkness. Blood red leaves covered the grounds nearest to the writhing whit trees. The whole place reeked. It reminded Bujilli of when his distant relations back in the mountains made candles from rendered fat.

There were four double-arched doorways. Past the sparse clusters of trees. One double arch in each of the decayed and crumbling walls. The stones were scored. Scorched. Broken in places. All the doors were split asunder, the locks ruined. The very air appeared cracked in places. Strange colors seeped through unlikely and incongruous gaps in the stones of the walls.

A single, drawn-out scream barely registered.

It started to snow. Each flake razor-edged. One after another raising tiny welts. A dozen cuts would quickly escalate to scores, to hundreds...

Gnosiomandus stood just ahead of them both. Back to them. His head bowed. Tears.

Smooth, translucent anemone-things swarmed into the dim courtyard from one of the shattered doorways. Pale colors flowed and sloshed through their elegantly tapering limbs as they floated closer. Closer.

"There was no other way..." Gnosiomandus called out as he ran towards the anemone-things. Teal-blue flames swirling around his right hand as he struck out at the servitors...


What should Bujilli do now?
  1. Run after Gnosiomandus and fight the anemone-things?
  2. Pick up Sprague and head for an open doorway?
  3. Leave Sprague there and go exploring?
  4. Cast a spell?
  5. Something else?
The Anemone-things are clearly malevolent. They literally radiate hostility. Leeja is really, really upset. If Bujilli is going to do something other than fight, he needs to do it fast, before she goes berserk.





Bujilli, Leeja and Gnosiomandus all three need to roll a Save versus Spells once again. See p. 55 of Labyrinth Lord for the Tables. Bujilli and Leeja both need to roll an 8 or higher on a D20. I'll roll for Gnosiomandus and post the result in the Comments.

Whatever happens next, we could use a few Initiative rolls for (1) Bujilli (2) Leeja, (3) Gnosiomandus, (4) The Anemone-things, (5) The Trees, (6) [undisclosed NPC], and (7) Sprague. Thanks.
Remember:Bujilli receives a +1 bonus to his Initiative, Leeja gets a +2 bonus. Gnosiomandus gets a -1 penalty for being distracted. The girls both receive +1 bonuses due to their DEX. (as per P. 50, Labyrinth Lord.)


As usual, anything readers don't roll for, I will roll.
  • We could use 8-10 D20 rolls!
What happens next is up to you, the readers.


You Decide!

Previous                                Next

Series Indexes
One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six


About Bujilli (What is This?) | Who is Bujilli? | How to Play

Bujilli's Spells | Little Brown Journals | Loot Tally | House Rules

Episode Guides
Series One (Episodes 1-19)
Series Two (Episode 20-36)
Series Three (Episodes 37-49)
Series Four (Episodes 50-68)
Series Five (Episodes 69-99)
Series Six(Episodes 100-ongoing)

Labyrinth Lord   |   Advanced Edition Companion

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Working on Zalchis...


These are a couple of samples of some of the illustrations in progress for the upcoming Zalchis thingy. Since the recent hard-drive crash, I'm re-building the character sheets and hope to have them ready in time for Con of the North.

The image above is one of the Spires that project inwards along the Inner Surface of the Great Ring, in this case, one of this Spire was recently broken by a rogue moon.

The image on the right is what is left of an ancient orbital fortress. The Cold Start game starts at the lowest tip of this object...

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Fight On! Issue 14 is available




All in all this looks like a really nice issue. Fight On! is definitely one of the best RPG fanzines out there. We hate to see Fight On! go away. But who knows, maybe something will happen before Issue 16 takes a bow?

You can find the dead-tree print-version here:
www.lulu.com/shop/ignatius-umlaut/fight-on-14-20122013/paperback/product-21411537.html

Or you can get the Kindle and/or Epub formated PDF here:
www.lulu.com/shop/ignatius-umlaut/fight-on-14-pdf-version-20122013/ebook/product-21411519.html

We want to thank Ignatius & Calithena and all the crew involved in making Fight On! happen. We've enjoyed being a very small part of this effort. It's always a lot more fun to draw funny pictures and write-up weird things than it is to do the actual lay-out work!

We had a piece of art included this time out. We're hoping to have a monster or two in the next issue...