Using Hex Kit for Thirty Years Reuel, 2nd Age

Here’s a sample of what I am working with to populate a hex map for my West Marches style game. I’m using the Cairn 2e playtest and running it on Owlbear Rodeo. This sample map is just to show you what the Hex Kit program can do.

If you will note, some of the hexes have a yellow marking on the upper left side. This is a utility marker in Hex Kit which I placed on another level of the map. This is how I’ll record which hexes the PCs have gone through during the session. The surrounding hexes will be blanked out with gray tiles until the PCs get closer in their explorations. Adjacent hexes will be visible as well as more prominent features in the distance (hills and forest).

I’m also labelling the hexes and creating info that will reveal when I hover over a hex. This will be combined with more detailed notes on paper. I have about three miles of hexes keyed already for the players to explore. If they get the urge to just march off the map, I have simple random generators at hand to quicky fill out the map. It is my hope that there is plenty to discover within the nearby area around their base camp.

It is a learning process for me. I’m certainly no expert but hope learn from my mistakes. As the players begin exploring on the actual campaign map, I will post images of their map. It won’t be the beautiful Hex Kit map for now–just some symbols on a blank hex.

[Edit–I forgot to mention that I will have hex number labels on my GM map. It is just a click of the button to turn these on and off in Hex Kit.]

More to come!

Session Zero ~ Thirty Years Reuel, 2nd Age

Three of my online gaming friends joined tonight to play on Owlbear Rodeo. Total game time tonight was about 90 minutes. Using Cairn 2e playtest rules, we created three characters, I went over some of the background of the setting, and the players had two forays into the wilderness (a couple of hexes away from the fort), a cave opening was uncovered and a small bit of information was gleaned from the lips of a dying goblin. All of this in 90 minutes! My overall impression is this…get the Cairn rpg and give it a try. The rules allowed for some interesting tactical moments during combat and I’ve found that the rules don’t get in the way of my world creation. I really appreciate the advice given by Chris McDowell, creator of Into the Odd. (Cairn is based on Into the Odd.) My take away from this is that challenges don’t need modifiers (or things like rolling for advantage/disadvantage). Instead, the GM takes into account the prepartions made by the character and also the characters background. With this information, the GM explains what will happen on a success and a fail. The player then decides to roll or not. It is starting to make sense to me how this changes the game. I’m finding that players need to be more engaged in planning before these challenge rolls. In my opinion, more thinking as the character and more immersion in the game. Other things I noted is that filling in the hexes on our starter map has been a fun and doesn’t feel like a chore. It was a really good session and I’m hoping the start of more great gaming to come!

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Characters created in Sesson Zero

Pall B. Earer (Bonekeeper) ~ weapons are a sharpened stake and a sling! He has a Raise Spirit spellbook.

Fletcher (Fletchwind) ~ owns a white ash war bow that does blast damage on first attack and can be used as a shield in melee, a heartroot salve (restores 1d4 STR), and a mysterious letter to be given to the Lord of Winter.

Brother Osbert (Hexenbane) ~ has taken a vow of poverty, owns a ley compass which points to the nearest ley lines of magical power, weapons are a silver knife and a crossbow, and carries a spellbook with the spell Disassemble (body parts can be separated and act independently).

Players Guide for Thirty Years Reuel, 2nd Age

Thirty Years Reuel, 2nd Age
Players Guide

Character creation will follow the Cairn 2e rules with the following changes.

Players roll 3d6 in order for STR, DEX, and WIL. They may then switch any two scores.
Next, the player rolls 3d6 for starting wealth (in shillings). The player may swap out the wealth score with any of the three stat scores.

Players may choose any of the available backgrounds, but any options given in the background must be rolled randomly, not chosen. If a player wishes to use one of the backgrounds offered in Cairn 1e, they may do so.

Players may choose or randomly pick their appearance.

Hit points are 1d6 to begin, take first roll.

The basic monetary unit is a silver coin (the size of a quarter). It is called the shilling.

20 shillings = 1 £ (pound symbol) and there are 12 pennies in a shilling.

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Additional rules added from The Cairn Adventurer Guide will include…

XP Advancement ~ characters need L x 1000 to advance to the next level (where L is current level)

Advanced combat techniques of sweep, parry, reach, and shield sunder will be added, but only for characters who find a veteran fighter willing to train them.

The magic system will be modified by using the GLOG magic system. More details to come regarding this.
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Players that do not return to a safe haven (currently Fort Hawk Hill) at the end of the session, will force a Return to Home Roll

PCs make a save using their highest stat score. If the save is a success, the player has returned to safety unharmed. If the save fails, the player then rolls a d6. A 1 or 2 indicates STR damage, 3 or 4 indicates WIL damage, and a 5 or 6 indicates equipment lost. The GM determines how far in days the PCs are at the session’s end and then rolls 1d6 per day. This result indicates how much STR or WIL damage the PC takes in returning home. If equipment loss, the result indicates how many items from the PCs inventory they must discard. The player chooses which items to discard. STR damage is taken directly from STR score. Armor and hit points are bypassed.

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The campaign world is a living world. It will change between sessions. Other players may make discoveries, kill monsters, loot dungeons. Any and all information that players uncover during a session needs to be recorded and distributed by the players. This includes mapping. The players are advised that just moving through a hex on the map will not guarantee discovery of all the information therein.

Players wishing to take notes, act as mapper, or journal their session will be rewarded in some manner. This could be bonus XP or some in game reward (details to be determined).

Provisions and Services at Fort Hawk Hill

Basic Services at Fort Hawk Hill, 423 CY

Any time that the PCs are within the fort, they are safe.

Water is abundant and drawn from a natural spring well.

Food is standard army rations supplemented by whatever can be hunted and foraged from the nearby surroundings. The quartermaster will pay for any game hunted by the PCs. The mess tent provides three meals per day for the king’s soldiers. Adventurers need to pay (1 shilling per day). Rations can be purchased through the quartermaster for 1 shilling per day.

Drink is rationed for the soldiers and sold at greatly inflated prices for anyone else.

Lodgings are tents for the common soldiers and buildings for officers. Standard rate for a shared tent is 1 shilling per day for PCs.

Healing is provided to the soldiers free of charge and to adventurers for 5 sp per week. (In game terms, this is the supervised care needed to recover STR lost.)

There is currently no army chaplain to provide religious services. As more people come to build and live in the fort, friars will become a regular sight.

Provisions and adventuring gear will be generally hard to come by. It will depend on the items needed. Arrows, for example, will be plentiful, but acquiring silk rope will be difficult.

Simple armor, leather and shield, soldier’s weapons, spear, sword, bow, and crossbow, can be purchased from the quartermaster.

All other arms and armor needs to be found while adventuring or transported by agent from civilization (in east) at great expense and time.

The army smith can make minor repairs to arms and armor for a fee.

Horses and gear are available to buy but currently at least double the normal prices.

All of these services and prices will change as more people come to the fort. Traders will eventually make their way to the fort and begin bringing more goods. As adventurers bring back treasure from the wilderness, more things will become available.

A price list will be given to the players so that they may make purchase without needing to consult the GM.

A West Marches Style Campaign Using Cairn RPG

Thirty Years Reuel ~ The Second Age

Fort Hawk Hill ~ 423 Common Year, by order of His Majesty Brannaugh, King of Eyre and Protector of the Western Lands, an expeditionary force has been sent to the doorstep of Granden Vale. A century has passed since the golden lion on blue has flown over the vale. You and others like you have filled the ranks of the king’s army, not as soldiers but as fortune hunters. The king’s army is tasked with holding the fort and rebuilding it for future resettlement of the vale. They need adventurers of your ilk… those willing to risk all for the promise of riches untold. It is out there for the taking.

Thirty Years Reuel, the Second Age is a new beginning for me. My intention is to develop a West Marches style campaign. Using an open table concept, I want to offer my players a hex crawl experience using the Cairn rpg rules. I’m eager to see how well this works. Features of the campaign that facilitate this include a fully keyed hex map of the surrounding area of a base camp (Fort Hawk Hill). Players can then decide how little or often they wish to explore the wilderness. It may involve a group of four or more players one session and then solo play some other time. Currently all games are played on Owlbear Rodeo VTT. Perhaps in the near future, I’ll host face to face games to introduce new players to the campaign.

In an effort to collect my thoughts and develop ideas, I want to post information on this website. It would be great fun to see in character postings by players. Each expedition may come back with information on what they’ve discovered in the wilderness.

I want the campaign to be shaped by player discovery and their successes, and failures. As the GM, I’ll try to remain hand off about direction the game will go. I’m certain that many surprises are in store for all of us.

I’m really looking forward to trying Cairn rpg for the campaign. (See the link to Cairn on the right hand sidebar) My players have enjoyed playing Cairn for some one-shots and the more I learn about it, the more I need to put this game into play.

Stay tuned! More to come…

Thirty Years Reuel ~ The Second Age

Photo by John Roberts on Unsplash

In the year of 323 Common Year of the King in the West, there came a delegation of cloaked elves from their realm in the Silverwood with a message of warning and regret for what was to come. If the western kingdoms of Eyre, Falmead, and Ren Cele did not unite under one ruler, they would fall. Neither elf nor dwarf had the numbers to stand alone. The kingdoms of men each listened with respect but they lacked the wisdom and farsight of the elves. Dark clouds that loomed in the distance were not in the eyes of man.

Far to the west, beyond the dusty Harridlands, in the desert of Cos, stands the walled city of Mathos. The Triumvirate of Wizards has ended in an arcane coup, for one of the three wizards has revealed the depths of her practice of the most profane arts of sorcery. Vekk the Unseen begins her reign as Witch-Queen and forms an alliance with TK, the queen of the harpies. Servants of Orcus begin moving southward from the Bitterroot mountains. Hordes of gnolls, orcs, trolls, and goblins crashed upon the mountain strongholds of the dwarves and flooded into the western kingdoms.

The witch-queen, powerful though she may be, could not hold the dark horde together for long. Much of the kingdoms of man were sacked and burned. The northern kingdom of Falmead was left battered with many citizens taking refuge in enclaves in the forested hills. The citizens of Ren Cele fared far worse, being squeezed by orcs from the north and the witch-queens forces to the south, their light was extinguished. Ancestral hatred of the dwarves drove the bulk of the dark horde towards the Five Kings mountain range. This left the slave armies of the Harridland pushed by the thralls of Mathos to defeat the kingdom of Eyre.

The ambitions of Vekk met with the reality of the situation as casualties piled up against the strong castles of southern Eyre. With the capital of Careen in flames, the remaining forces of Eyre rallied from a chain of strongholds beyond the Autumn river. The witch-queen, ensconced in her basalt tower in Mathos, overconfident, sent her wizard-general Kabros Gar to oversee campaign in Eyre. Loses on the battlefield, led the witch-queen to ask for greater help from her dark patron. Inherent in dark pacts like this came treachery specifically in the guise of her wizard-general. Kabros Gar entered into his own pact with Vekk’s dark patron, Orcus. This resulted in an unsuccessful assassinatioin attempt on the witch-queen and the death of the wizard-general Kabros Gar.

Time passes, no one has knowledge of Vekk’s fate. Armies disband in the field, deserting as anarchy becomes the new ruler…a century has passed since the cloaked elves brought their warning of the end of civilization in the west. Will the war come again? What of the witch-queen? Can a new age of man hope to grow out of the scorched earth of the past?

The tale is yet to be told.

A Gazetteer of Reuel

I’ve added a new page to add information discovered by the players during our Thirty Years Reuel campaign on Roll20.

The page will include recent events and also people, places, and things that the PCs have encountered. It’s my hope that this will be a reference for DM and players alike as we continue to game.

I hope the New Year brings all of you opportunities to indulge in your game of choice!

Gazetteer of Reuel

Session 13 Back to the Ancient Academy

Session date: 10-31-2021

Game time: 9th month of the Common Year 321

Tagg, Amell, and Narn, along with their henchmen travel to the ruins of the Ancient Academy. It is secluded in the Kingswood along the road leading from Stone’s Throw.

The party has been here before. The last time they were here, they killed and captured a bandit gang.

As they enter the ruins today. Things have changed. Goblins and bandits have been replaced by skeletons, an evil priest, and thugtoads.

Amell and his companions encounter these monsters in an underground chapel. They defeat the creatures, but take some damage. Later while exploring another dungeon corridor, Oskar is gravely injured by an arrow. The party had encountered a couple wererats, killing one. The other skulked away after shooting Oskar. The henchman still lives, but will need rest at Hawk Hill.

More to come…

Recap since Session 12

The Bloodhawks, our adventuring company at Hawk Hill, has been engaged in the clearing of hexes surrounding the fort. Their greatest challenge thus far, has been a band of ogres two miles to the north. It took the PCs several forays and much planning to rid the area of the evil ogres. Other victories included a clan of werewolves and a tribe of goblins. Some of the humanoids had claimed this territory after the orc wars, twenty years ago.

Recently, the Bloodhawks have begun scouting the area north of Hawk Hill. They are looking for the abandoned dwarven trading post somewhere in the Chalk Hills. If normal relations between man and dwarf can once again be established, the trading post will be an important leg of the re-opened trade route.

In scouting to the north, the PCs have made contact with a roost of avian humanoids. There was a language barrier, but the PCs gave them some food and killed a wild man that was hostile towards the creatures. The PCs also found the entrance to the trading post. It is under control of a group of wild men and possibly giants (based on debris strewn near the entrance).

The Bloodhawks have been given a lease to use the fort at Hawk Hill. The Duke of Granden Vale has authorized this himself under the condition that the PCs begin improvements on the fortress.

There have been a few sessions since I last posted (Session 12). Nothing but pure, unadulterated laziness on my part is to blame for lack of notes here. Hope to post more soon.

Session 12 ~ Exploring the Surrounding Area

The players spend some time clearing hexes around the keep at Hawk Hill. You can read about it here.