State of Play, Week of 8-6-22
Skeletons and their gems, vengeful shades, and the parables of thieves
In the latest State of Play, Total Party Kilroy presents “Barrowmaze Campaign #2”, B.N. Drake gives us “Tic-Tac-Toe”, and Tale of the Manticore releases “Lord Rabbit”.
The B/X Bandits house-campaign sees Morgan Ironwolf and her companions learn first-hand why the ruin they are exploring is called the Haunted Keep!
Week of 8-06-22
Public Game(s)
Total Party Kilroy | Barrowmaze Campaign - #2
System: Old School Essentials: Advanced Fantasy
Format: Video Livestream
Style: Multiplayer
Platform(s): YouTube
Date: 8-07-22
Summary
Healed up, the party makes two more excursions into the Barrowmaze. A grim fate lies in store for one of the companions.
Highlight
The four survivors have gathered at the end of a long corridor, where they are inspecting a bricked-up entrance with a leering skull above it. Suddenly, the man on watch reaches out to shake his friends’ shoulders. Turning, they see a trio of figures rounding the corner at the far end of the hall. Dry bones, held together by stiff, crackling sinews rattle softly as the…things…approach. Empty eye sockets gape in the ancient, fleshless skulls of skeletons which by all rights should still be in their graves. The center of each creature’s forehead bears a large, scintillating, blue gem.
One of the men produces a sling and whips it forward, sending a smooth stone speeding down the hallway. It hits one of the skeletons in the forehead, smashing the gem. The creature immediately collapses in a mass of loose bones, as lifeless as they are brittle.
A second man flings his dagger wide, missing the mark, but the third takes a vial from his pack, then sends it arcing gracefully through the air to break open upon another of the skeletons, dousing it with holy water. The abomination sizzles as it melts beneath the water’s touch.
All the men ready their weapons now, as they prepare to meet their remaining foe…
MVP
Panda, as the dwarf Thratmit Greystone, for courageously offering himself, poisoned and dying, as a living trap detector, that he might protect his friends, even as his own life is nearly spent.
Analysis
Presentation: 4; Audio problems continue to plague this stream, dragging down the presentation.
Rulings: 0; DM Kilroy has a lot of house-rules, apparently both of his own devising and imported from other systems. While not necessarily bad, they pull the system pretty far away from base B/X.
Roleplay: 8; This continues to be a strength for the group, although not quite as strong as last week.
Exploration: 10; Here’s where this game really shines. The adventure DM Kilroy has chosen, his descriptions of what the party finds, and how they choose to interact with their environment, are all top notch.
Combat: 0; Kilroy’s enthusiasm for alternative rules—such as Mighty Deeds and flanking—really sticks out in combat; I detected a couple of instances where he went easy on the party—a mistake in B/X, where much of the thrill comes from knowing any move your character makes can be their last. The excitement vanishes when you start to suspect your DM may be letting you “win”.
Overall: 4/10
B.N. Drake | Further Adventures of the Thunderous Fury, Session #26: “Tic-Tac-Toe”
System: Old School Essentials: Advanced Fantasy
Format: Video Stream
Style: Multiplayer
Platform(s): YouTube
Date: 8-8-22
Summary
Orion, Karn, and Vice Mayor Ozwald descend into the Shrine of the Nine seeking loot—but can they survive its ancient secrets?
Highlight
The companions emerge from the temple at a dead run. Behind them, the great doors slam shut with a clap like thunder. The party runs a bit further, then stops, bent over, hands on thighs, struggling to catch their breath. Looking back over their shoulders, they see the imposing edifice is once again sealed, as it was before they entered. At last, they are safe.
But the fates are not so kind. Without warning, a spectral, skeletal figure passes through the doors. It holds an enormous sword in its hands. The empty holes where its eyes should be blaze with blue fire. Grimly, the companions turn to face the final battle of their expedition.
MVP
Russell, as Orion the bard, for selecting a children’s game as his method for resolving a challenge—and for choosing wisely once the outcome is clear.
Analysis
Presentation: 7; The stream still has some lighting issues, but the intro is gold; this is the only actual play I’ve found that shows the DM’s physical rolls live on-screen.
Rulings: 8; Standard OSE rules, with a few variances.
Roleplay: 10; While Russell definitely earned the MVP nod this session, honorable mention goes to Brendan as Vice Mayor Ozwald. I lost count of the number of hilarious things he did and said during play.
Exploration: 10; An exciting excursion into a fascinating Underdark location!
Combat: 10; Multiple combats in a two hour session is a great example of the fast pace of play in B/X; the party definitely should have tried to secure those potions during their combat with the spectral spider.
Overall: 9/10
Tale of the Manticore | Episode 5: “Lord Rabbit”
System: B/X
Format: Podcast
Style: Solo, Dramatized
Platform(s): Podbean
Date: 8-11-22
Summary
Yellowfly reports the successful safe-house raid to his superior, only to learn a rival thieve’s guild, The Weeping Eye, has struck a deep blow against The Church.
Highlight
The thief ambles casually back from the bakery to the stacked crates in the alley, where his companions are sitting or standing. As he passes around fresh bread, he begins telling them a tale…
MVP
The character of Yellowfly, for securing the favor of his boss, thus winning a reward for both himself and his team.
Analysis
Presentation: 10; Excellent sound effects, from footsteps, to background noise, to someone getting punched and kicked; ended on a cliffhanger!
Rulings: 8; Rolls on the “Monster Reactions” table!
Roleplay: 10; We learn important character traits of several PCs and NPCs.
Exploration: 10; Lots of background on both The Church and the region.
Combat: 5; No combat :(
Overall: 8/10
Of Steam, Steel, & Murder | BX Dungeons & Dragons - Queen's Harvest session 6
System: B/X
Format: Livestream
Style: Multiplayer
Platform(s): Twitch, YouTube
Date: 8-12-22
Summary
Revealed and captured by Ilyana’s underlings, the party has one last chance to stop her army before it departs to invade Penhaligon.
Highlight
The would-be queen menaces the companions with her fearsome blade. Her captain releases the chain restraining the giant reptile beside him. The lizard leaps forward, deadly saliva dripping from its slavering jaws. A door to the great hall springs open, revealing the adjoining chamber, where many goblin warriors, in formation, stand ready to rush the party.
From somewhere within his aristrocrat’s attire, the young mage produces a parchement scroll, then reads several words in an arcane tongue. Calmly, he points at the column of goblins that even now springs forward, threatening swift death. Instantly, a bolt of lightning, white and brilliant, connects his outstretched hand with the back wall of the far chamber, striking each foe in its path. The scroll crumbles to ash, as the air suddenly smells of scorched flesh.
MVP
Richard, playing Scrimbleshanks the halfling, for wise use of the party’s rod of cancellation when it counted most.
Analysis
Presentation: 7; Jamas’ volume remains lower than the other participants, which often makes him very difficult to understand.
Rulings: 10; Good implementation of fairly standard B/X rules; I enjoyed seeing DM Bert call for a listening check, to determine if the player characters chould understand what was being said on the other side of a closed door; I’m still not a fan of Charisma checks in place of the “Monster Reations” table.
Roleplay: 10; A lot of fun interaction between the player characters and some of the monsters—especially the second goblin Schtolteheim wants to “adopt”, and the ogre.
Exploration: 10; Bert typically uses interesting descriptions to introduce new details (Ilyana’s sword is old, so it’s made of iron); sometimes he crosses the line and compromises player agency (e.g. suggesting the lizard cage in the captain’s bedchamber might contain a secret door.)
Combat: 10; The session ends with a fairly complex fight, which Bert and the players handle well; the party remembers their fundamentals—like turning undead—and Bert is good at enforcing mechanics like spell areas-of-effect and disruption; his combat sequence does diverge slightly from Moldvay, and he overlooks the fact that spells cast must be declared before rolling initiative (so the players won’t know whether or not a valuable spell might be disrupted and lost.)
Overall: 9/10
Private Games
Conquering the Barbarian Altanis | Session 20: “The Founding of Hydra Company”
System: B/X
Style: Multiplayer
Date: 8-9-22
Summary: With ten shiny pearls in their grasp, the party was ready to move on with their ambitious plans—world domination. Of course, establishing a mercenary company is a natural first step. But for that, one needs a headquarters...
And so the party sets out to acquire an abandoned warehouse, which some say is haunted, whilst others believe it should be brought down.
This session was full of bluffing, gambling, threatening, squatting, and more...
Read the full session report here.
The Haunted Keep | “What’s behind door number three?”
System: B/X
Style: Solo
Date: 8-6-22
Summary: Leading the party deeper into the ruin, Frederik the dwarf and Morgan Ironworlf force their way past one door, then another. As they walk through the twisting corridors, stepping over one canted flagstone after another, a faint, ominous moan filters through the walls, as if from a great distance. After a few moments, it fades away, then comes again from a different direction.
Disturbed by these sounds, the party bypasses the first two doors they encounter, eventually coming to a dead end with yet another door on the right. Eyeing one another silently, Morgan and Frederik put their shoulders to the door at the same time. It flies open, revealing a room filled with four tall, ugly, human-like creatures wielding swords, standing over two individuals lying face down on the floor…
Please note: The above analysis is my opinion. The Basic rules themselves give DMs (and groups of players) permission to change any rules they want to change (p. B3). To have some basis for comparison, however, I’m using the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Rulebook, edited by Tom Moldvay, and the Dungeons & Dragons Expert Rulebook, edited by Zeb Cook and Stephen Marsh, as a common frame of reference. Your opinions may, of course, differ.
Please help!
If you know of currently active B/X actual-play streams or podcasts you would like to see me follow in “State of Play”, or if you want to submit short summaries of your private game sessions, please email me at:
bxbandits at substack dot com
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Summary 75-150 words
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