Tomb of Horrors Part 1

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It all began with Tallion.  The mage had heard rumors, little more than children’s stories really, of a terrible place called by all the Tomb of Horrors, the last resting place of some great mage or priest of days gone by.   In the cold early months of 575 Common Year, he learned that it was rumored that the terrible Tomb was somewhere in the Vast Swamp south of the land of Sunndi.  All that remained was for him to assemble a fellowship of his old comrades and find the place.  It was mid-Reaping of that same year by the time Tallion had assembled three allies and their henchmen to raid the tomb: The priest of Rao, Hastik Wasney; Hundar the Barbarian; and Generi, the thief.

These four heroes and their henchmen entered the Tomb of Horrors.  Not all of them returned.

On August 31, 2009, I started running the original Tomb of Horrors, using Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, for a group of players in Kernersville, N.C.  Jeff, R.J., Tim, and Bethany all played.  This is the first of three sessions that it took them to get through the tomb.

Andy Miller aka Max_Writer

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Star Frontiers: Crash on Volturnus

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A small group of six had been hired by the government of Truane’s Star to carry out a preliminary exploration of a newly discovered planet.  The group included two Dralasites: short, rubbery aliens that had no bones nor hard body parts.  The one who called himself William the Dralasite was an environmentalist while the other, named Autobot, was a psycho-social specialist.  The lone Yazirian in the group, Cornelius, was a tall, thin biped with a simian face and two large flaps of skin growing on either side of his body.  He was the computer specialist.  A Vrusk named Schweppes, one of those centaur-like insects, was the robotics specialist in their party.  The group was rounded out by two humans, a male doctor named Sir Neville Butterfield, and a female technician who merely called herself Damsel.

The six had been hired to journey by Starliner to Volturnus in the frontier and map as much of the planet as possible.  The government was especially interested in contacting and studying any intelligent races living on the planet.  The group also had orders that if they were to meet any intelligent race, they were to make friendly contact and learn as much about them as possible.

They were also told that the first expedition to Volturnus had disappeared without a trace as soon as it entered the Zebulon system.  If possible, this secondary group was to locate and rescue any survivors of that mission.

They were the B-Team.

I ran a game of Star Frontiers on July 27, 2009, with friends Jeff, Tim, RJ, Derick, Ryan, and Bethany as a one-shot to test out the game for a review in Knights of the Dinner Table Magazine.  They didn’t (obviously) get through the entire adventure, but they had fun.

Andy Miller aka Max_Writer

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Weird Wars: Dogs of War

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On June 30, 1944, four brave souls slipped behind enemy lines in France to rescue the crew of a B-24 Liberator bomber that had been shot down by the Germans.

Private Joseph Edwards was attached to the 121st Engineer Combat Battalion, 1st Infantry Division, though he had been separated from his unit.  Private Mike Spikowski was with the 115th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division; his division had been wiped out on the beach during D-Day – he was the only survivor.  Private Daphne Simmons was a nurse connected with the 104th Medical Battalion of the 29th Infantry Division.  Danette Broussard was with Le Resistance, aiding the allies in Normandy.

This is their story.

I ran a game of Weird Wars (d20 Version) with friends Eric, Jacob, Joyce, and Wendy in order as a one-shot to test out the game for a review in Knights of the Dinner Table Magazine.  This game took place on February 28, 2010.

Andy Miller aka Max_Writer

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Ringworld: Journey of the Catseye Part 2

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In the year 2866, four men were hired to help crew the ship Catseye on a quest to discover a huge structure beyond Known Space.  The ship’s goal: locate a new antiagathic drug to replace boosterspice.

Shea McQuiston had been a colonist and police officer.   Todd Stevenson had also formerly been a cop.  Kip Strange was a geneticist and writer.  Victor Takanawa was an engineer.  The two police officers would fill out part of the crew as security, while Strange and Takanawa would be working more closely with the scientists and crew of the Catseye.

I ran a game of Ringworld with friends Steve, Jeff, Ken, and Erik in order as a one-shot to test out the game for a review in Knights of the Dinner Table Magazine.  This game took place on December 13, 2009.  The audio recorder gave out halfway through the session, though no actual game play was lost.  Part 2 concludes the game.

Andy Miller aka Max_Writer

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Ringworld: Journey of the Catseye Part 1

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In the year 2866, four men were hired to help crew the ship Catseye on a quest to discover a huge structure beyond Known Space.  The ship’s goal: locate a new antiagathic drug to replace boosterspice.

Shea McQuiston had been a colonist and police officer.   Todd Stevenson had also formerly been a cop.  Kip Strange was a geneticist and writer.  Victor Takanawa was an engineer.  The two police officers would fill out part of the crew as security, while Strange and Takanawa would be working more closely with the scientists and crew of the Catseye.

I ran a game of Ringworld with friends Steve, Jeff, Ken, and Erik in order as a one-shot to test out the game for a review in Knights of the Dinner Table Magazine.  This game took place on December 13, 2009.  The audio recorder gave out halfway through the session, though no actual game play was lost.  The game is concluded in Part 2.

Andy Miller aka Max_Writer

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Privateers and Gentlemen: King Over the Water

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In 1758, the Seven Years War, also known as the French and Indian War, had been going on for four years.  But in February, it was hard to detect signs of war in England.  The Channel Fleet, unwilling to continue its blockade of the French ports during the dreary, stormy winter months, was spending the winter in harbor.

One of those unwilling to postpone the war until spring was Master and Commander George Walker, the young captain of the sloop of war HMS Dolphin of 18 guns.  Walker was new to the Dolphin, as were his two subordinate officers: Lt. Henry Cooper and the Honorable James Weatherby, son of the late Earl of Weatherby and also a lieutenant.

I ran a game of Privateers and Gentlemen with friends Jeff, Erik, and Steve as a one-shot to test out the game for a review in Knights of the Dinner Table Magazine.  This game took place on Jan. 25, 2010.

Andy Miller aka Max_Writer

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