A Life Full of Adventure

There are twenty questions going around about different ways DMs run games. I decided to add my 2 cents. I answered them for my D&D (2e) game. Maybe I should answer them for my WarHammer game next... 1. Ability scores generation method? Roll six stats using 4d6, drop the lowest. Arrange in order desired to create the character you want to play. 2. How are death and dying handled? 0 HP is unconscious. -10 HP is dead. 3. What about raising the dead? If you have it, cast it. If you can get to a temple, you might find someone who can cast it…if you can afford the price (money, quest, whatever). 4. How are replacement PCs handled? I’ll work the replacement PC in as soon as I can. This usually only take a few minutes and a bit of liberty with the new PC’s background, as allowed me by the player. Or, the player can jump right in if there are other NPCs around that they want to turn into PCs. 5. Initiative: individual, group, or something else? Individual. Let there be some consequence

F-, Tonight I need an item forgotten in a closet in the Grazlov estate in town. Guard dogs roam inside the gate, but they will be overfed and relatively sated. The sides of the house are less guarded than the front or back. I will have the rear window on the right side of the house left unlocked. The closet you are looking for is up the backstairs on the left before the privy. Bring me the empty looking sack lying on the floor on the right wall. -S Frendei was chilled to the bone. The Halfling stood in the pouring rain, trying hard to scout the stone mansion ahead. At his feet, rivulets of water wore hard at the muddy road. The job had to be done tonight, regardless of the weather. Pulling his boots from the sucking mud, Frendei slipped around the main gate to the shadows along the side of the house. Frendei examined the window. It was unlocked, as promised. A little grease on the moving parts would help make sure he wasn’t heard. The party inside the house was loud enough to cover any

GM idea From Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Keep the players on the ropes for extended periods. Keep on the Borderlands was fun. The players had the Caves of Chaos to explore. They could poke their noses down any cave they chose and adventure until they felt like they were done for the day. They would either run out of spells or run out of supplies and head back to town. Sometimes the adventures in the caves only lasted a half-hour, game time, before heading back to the keep. This is a good introduction, but experienced players can handle more of a challenge. From what I’ve seen in the Sarah Connor Chronicles (and maybe all the Terminator movies, I don’t remember) is that the party gets beat up by the terminator, somehow manages to escape, and then the terminator catches up again before the party is fully healed. The party starts each encounter with fewer resources, whether they are bullets, escape vehicles, or hit points (if you will). If the show was a game, the players

(Created for WarHammer Fantasy Roleplay, first edition. D&D 2e equivalents are in parentheses.) Once per day this staff can summon a swarm of wasps, which will surround the wielder in an enclosed sphere for 10 turns (10 minutes). No creature can see into or out of the sphere. Sharp missile weapons such as arrows and spears attack at a -20 BS penalty (D&D: -4 to hit). Blunt missile weapons will be absorbed by the living wall of wasps. Any creature within melee distance will be attacked by a contingent of wasps which break off from the sphere. Treat this contingent as a Swarm, although it is not subject to stupidity. Treat the wasp swarm as if they were flying ants on page 246 of the WFRP book (D&D: Use an equivalent swarm of flying insects).

Aren has a secret. He is a bard with a soft, soothing voice. He has easily and enigmatically taken up with this band of rebels. He does not fight very well (he is barely able to defend himself), but he is so encouraging, uplifting, and generally helpful around camp that the party would never think of asking him to leave. What the party doesn’t know, what nobody knows, and what Aren goes to amazing lengths to disguise is the fact that he is actually a female. (Aren [Erin] was created to play in a Thieves Guild campaign set in a major city where he [she] could more easily hide from whoever is pursuing. Besides his [her] singing ability, skill/talent/proficiency points should also be given toward disguise. The player or GM can decide who Aren is hiding from and why.)