I firmly believe we don’t have enough parties in role-playing games. Not nearly enough festivals, celebrations, grand balls, weddings, holiday feasts, etc. They’re expected in something like 7th Sea and I’ve heard about comedic convention Pathfinder adventures where characters have to be wedding planners, but I’m talking about using these events as key collaborative moments in play. Not that players go to parties, but that they put them on.

• In Urban Shadows, a block party which provides cover for a vital ritual.
• In Monsterhearts, a prom where the PCs get roped into the set up and preparation.
• In Legacy, a ritual festival which serves as a step in ceasing hostilities between factions. (or just the opposite, see The Red Wedding).

I love parties because they’re a chance for the players to brainstorm, use their talents in unusual ways, and connect them with a community.
 
PRE-PARTY
You have lots of interesting tasks and activities for the PCs before the party even happens. It’s a good time to look for obscure contacts, skills, and abilities and put those to use. When I GM, I usually set things up so the PCs have to divide and conquer these tasks. The “face” character can’t do everything, so each PC has to stand up.

24 Hour Party-Planning People
Below I’ve listed some parts of party prep with suggestions for questions and complications. If you’re particularly ambitious, you might write up custom moves for these segments. For example,
When you go to find a location for the party, roll. On a 10+ you can secure a site in time and within budget. Work with the GM to say what it is. Choose three of the following features: excellent acoustics, dance floor, hidden side entrances, dance floor, private rooms, stunning décor, easily secured, secret, vast kitchens, excellent vantage points, grandly spacious, warded, raised stage, (other). On a 7-9 you may pick two of the features, but you must also select a complication: in disrepair, costly, too open, cursed, squatters, poor plumbing, bad reputation, (other). On a miss, you secure the location. Pick one feature and the GM picks two complications. Additionally select one problem which will pop up during the party: something breaks, uninvited guest, or unwelcome attention.
 
THEME: Is there a distinct, obvious theme or something more subtle? What message do you want to convey? Who do you want to impress? Is there a hidden story you want to tell? What will you need to present that theme (costumes, decorations, entertainment, etc). If the theme’s been assigned to you, how can you make it yours? Complications: theme offends someone important, it’s been done recently, or it invokes something supernatural.

GUEST LIST: Who will be central to the party’s success? Who do you want to impress? If you’re matchmaking, how do you clear the way for the two parties to meet? Who do you have no choice about being there? If you’re trying to fan the flames, what opposed guests could be reasonably invited without making your purpose obvious? Who will make the party fun? Complications: Patron demands problematic attendees, there’s another event going on in competition, a new rivalry breaks out just before the event.
 
INVITATIONS: What’s cool about your physical invitations (paper, art, perfume, script, enchantment, etc) How do you craft an invitation that compels them to attend? How do you deliver the invitations? How do you ensure they get into the right hands? Do you keep some invitations back to use as a currency? Complications: someone works behind the scenes to intercept your invitations, your enchantments go wrong and one invitee is cursed, some invitations go to the wrong people?

DURING THE PARTY
ARRIVAL: How do you greet your guests? Who comes first? Who comes last? Who arrives at the same time together that shouldn’t? How do you get your guests oriented and seated? When do the festivities actually start? Where do they park/hang their coats? Do guests get gift bags? What about those who show up to crash the party? Complications: someone tries to sneak in, an important guest tries to sneak in, someone brings an unexpected entourage.
 
MIXING: How do you keep the conversations going? Who do you maneuver into contact with each other? How do you keep your crowd lubricated but still sober? Who presents themselves as the host? How do you keep trouble from breaking out? Complications: a guest becomes toshed way too early, someone slanders another guest, someone’s murdered.
 
DANCES: If there’s dancing, what kind is it? How long does it go on? Is there a big showpiece dance? How do you arrange dance partners? Where do those who don’t want to dance stand or sit? How do you arrange dalliances? Complications: bump leads to dueling challenge, terrible dancer, dance-floor shyness.
 
DINNER: How have you seated everyone? What message does that send? Who serves the food and who gets theirs first? Are their toasts? How many courses are there? Is there a dessert? How do you manage conversations during dinner? Complications: food allergies, terrible table manners, shortages.
 
HIGHLIGHT MOMENT: If you’ve got a big event you’re leading to-- a speech, a ceremony, gift-giving, public accusation, magic ritual, proposal, etc—when do you have it go off? How do each of the PCs work to have this go off without a hitch? Complications: someone’s decided this is perfect time to murder everyone, a guest pulls off a mark to reveal another identity, suddenly the lights go out!
 
AFTERPARTY
If you’ve hit the high-points at the party itself, you may want to skip over this. But if you want to bring things back to earth, think about these points:

• Dealing with the Uninvited: As above, but this time there’s no way to bring them into the event. Managing recriminations, accusations, and rivalries.
• Clean Up: Who actually cleans the site? What about permanent damage to the location? What if there’s a time crunch, the need to hide what happened, or the people they hired just don’t show up?
• Capitalizing: Striking while the iron is hot on social bonds and relationships. Does this event push others to do similar ones?

If things went particularly good or bad, you could also slide this into a Hangover-esque post party amnesia scenario.
​

by the Trophy team
The Trophy RPG Kickstarter campaign is entering its final hours. As of this writing, we are trying to unlock one big, final stretch goal before we run out of time. In this blog post, we're going to give an overview of the final stretch goal plus outline the 34 (!!!) other incursions we have managed to unlock during this campaign. 

To check out the Trophy campaign, please click the image below.

That's right: in the tradition of Undermountain, The Emerald Spire, Anomalous Subsurface Environment, The Temple of Elemental Evil, and others, we are aiming to create a megadungeon for Trophy Gold. But we can only do it if we hit the final stretch goal. Here's the pitch:

In the deepest part of the fell woods outside Fort Duhrin lie the ruins of Old Kalduhr, remnants of the mighty, debauched people that used to dominate the land. Many treasure-hunters have set out for these ruins in the hopes of recovering their secrets and antiquities, but most never make it; the forest, watered with the malignant blood of Old Kalduhr, shatters them. But what about those few who manage to survive the woods, who manage to find Old Kalduhr? What’s waiting for them when they get there?

Roots of Old Kalduhr is a megadungeon for Trophy Gold. In it, you’ll explore the ruins of an ancient civilization and learn the truth about what caused its fall. The exploration begins on the surface, in the heart of a terrible forest, but quickly gives way to a dazzling, subterranean city deep below the ruins. Impossible magicks, wondrous treasures, and chthonic horrors await those brave enough to enter.

What truth can be found in the roots of the world? What secrets do Old Kalduhr have yet to whisper?

From the very beginning, the core lore of Trophy's world has revolved around two things: the forest and the lost civilization of Old Kalduhr. This megadungeon will allow your play group to explore the rumors, history, and myths surrounding these aspects of the Trophy world, and we're dying to bring it to you. 

We have assembled an amazing team of writers to bring Roots of Old Kalduhr to life:
Natalie Ash, Litza Bronwyn, Mad Jay Brown, Aaron Burkett, Emily Care Boss, Linda Codega, Jason Cordova, Madeleine Ember, Cat Evans, Lowell Francis, Amanda Lee Franck, Fiona Geist, Cecil Howe, Oli Jeffery, Judd Karlman, Mike Martens, Kyle Maxwell, David Morrison, Epidiah Ravechol, Gerrit Reininghaus. Gabriel Robinson, Jesse Ross, Ramanan S, Fraser Simons, Skerples, Chris Stone-Bush, Jason Tocci, Sabine V, Michael Van Vleet, and Phil Vecchione. 

Please help us spread the word about this campaign in the final days so we can unlock Roots of Old Kalduhr!​

One of the most exciting aspects of the Trophy project is you're not just getting the rules for Trophy Dark and Trophy Gold, but also dozens of scenarios to use with them. We call these scenarios incursions, and they are being written by a wide, diverse group of talented TTRPG writers. What follows are introductions and flavor text for each one:

The Tomb of 10,000 Dreams by Jesse Ross 
The forest is old and full of nightmares. But you know the path. Through the maze of brush and crushing darkness, you know where temples erected to long-forgotten god-kings still lie untouched. All that rests within them is yours for the taking. Will you tread carefully, and leave with riches and renown beyond your wildest dreams? Or will you learn—far, far too late—that the forest has awoken from its fitful slumber?​ (Trophy Dark)

Witchwood by Jesse Ross
When children escape to the woods seeking adventure or fleeing cruel parents, the part of Kalduhr they frequently find themselves in is known as Witchwood.​ (Trophy Dark)

To Make My Bread by Jesse Ross
Just inside the edge of the forest, a half day’s journey from the safety of Fort Duhrin and nestled into the banks of the Naveh River, is the ruins of a massive old mill known as Kormoran’s Wheel. Given the strategic location of the mill ruins, a tent city has sprung up around it, an unlicensed gathering point for treasure-hunters and those seeking to profit from their journey. The Fort’s Governor has sent in the kingsguard four times to toss out the squatters and tear the tents down, and four times the city has been rebuilt bigger than before. The residents of Kormoran’s Wheel have little fear of the kingsguard or any other so-called authority figure with fancy proclamations and fancier horses. What they do fear—and are right to fear—is the fine, white mist that is sometimes seen drifting from the mill ruins, and whatever is drawing the young men away from home, never to be seen again. (Trophy Dark)

Mother by Jesse Ross
If you ask any treasure-hunter who has been at this for a while what the most terrifying thing they’ve seen in the forest is, there is one location that comes up more often than not. It goes by many names: The Fall, The Pit, The Well, The Quarry. Despite its many names, it’s always described the same way. 

The ground ahead of me had a slight decline, the descent eventually opening up to a massive hole as wide across as ten-score men lying foot to head. I got closer to see what might be down there. Every step forward filled me with vertigo, that I might fall in at any minute. I couldn’t see to the bottom. But I heard it. A thousand hammers tapping against a thousand chisels—plink, plink, plink.

Here the stories diverge. Some say there are miners down there, looking for gold, silver or precious gems. Others say sculptors, crafting idols and rare artifacts for their chthonic gods. Whatever is down there hasn’t seen the light of day for hundreds or thousands of years, and anything brought back would surely be a unique trophy capable of fetching a sizable sum.

Oddly, the precise location of this vast opening never seems to be identified in the same place. Some say it is only a few miles off the south bank of the Naveh River, while others place it well to the north, nestled in the depths of the forest. These conflicting reports can almost certainly be attributed to the disorientation nearly all treasure-hunters suffer after time spent in the forest. (Trophy Dark)

Shifting Sands by Luiz Paulo Ferraz
They say a powerful civilization of untold riches once ruled over what is now an immense desert. Many believe an entrance to that people’s lost seat of power lies somewhere in the sand, open to whoever can find it. You have a map from an old, mad hermit who cried as you took it, talking of angry spirits that shape the wind and haunt the mind. Time to find out what lies buried in the desertand what will remain there after your journey is done.​ (Trophy Dark)

The Flocculent Cathedral by Jim Crocker
Saint who spilled their blood for me
Lain in flocculent reverie
I seek your light upon my brow
I would be your Trophy now.

Chained within this dank domain
Your relics all that I retain
All your teachings I avow
I would be your Trophy now.

This foul entombment of your will!
I would not see you slumber still!
No quarter to what men allow!
Take me as your trophy now!

(Trophy Dark)

Throne of the Forest Queen by David Morrison
The constant drizzle that has accompanied you through the tangled woods abates as you come into a clearing, golden sunlight streaming down. The stink of mud and leaf mold is cut through with a cleaner scent of pine and crisp mornings. A stag at the edge of the clearing casts a lazy glance at you before trotting further into the wood, its flashing tail an invitation to follow. You have reached the Queensweald, rumored home to salvation, inspiration, cures to fantastical diseases, and the stuff that dreams are made of. Only the stout of heart enter the realm of the Forest Queen; fewer still return.

Why then, if her favor is so hard to claim, do so many mortals seek it? Quite simply, it has value beyond gold. The Queen’s power is nearly limitless. She controls the fae court of the forest, and can make the dreams of mortals into reality if she so chooses. For so long as people desire the impossible, they will venture in search of her.​ (Trophy Dark)

The Forest of Blades by Leandro Pondoc
It’s an old story but an enticing one. A day of shattered skies and broken steel, when warriors mighty in power and prestige proved their worth and a thousand blades clashed. Scholars and priests differ on who led what side or what the battle was even about. Hence, its many names: the Sunset War, the Battle of Kalhmadur, the Skies Asunder, and more. The one thing they agree on: the battle was on a scale beyond what any today could imagine.

A forest now grows upon that ancient battlefield. The old stories say that within that forest lay powerful artifacts, weapons created to smite the ground and tear the sky apart—not to mention heirlooms of the past, the booty of soldiers still unclaimed. Any soul brave enough and clever enough to negotiate the forest would surely come out with a sizeable bounty. But the stories warn that the forest has been watered by the blood of the dead. And the dead prefer to be undisturbed.​ (Trophy Dark)

Rosenwald by Blaine Moore
In black forest, find white a rose
Seek ye the object of your greed
At risk of assuming death’s repose
To claim a Trophy of the lost

Forlorn wand’rer, you’d best take heed
Your base desires come with cost
Unless you keep the forest’s creed
Become a trophy of the lost

Be peaceful here in all you do,
or else by sin your fate is signed
only the virtuous through and through
their desired trophy can safely find

But should your stars be twice aligned
and be your fortune with gold emboss’d
pay your debts to all mankind
And claim a trophy of the lost

Deep within the forest, beyond where the way turns weird, all that is lost may be found amidst the roses of the Rosenwald. Priceless art, forgotten relics, and even the souls of those separated from the mortal coil. But the roses cling tightly to their prizes, and one must brave the thorns to pry them free...
(Trophy Dark)

That Silent Howl by Mike Martens
The boarding of the Nicodemus opened with a strong gale—smashing your raiding ship, the Ribald Fowl, into its prey—and ended with the singed clouds of battle suspended around the battered vessels, a crimson fog of sulphur in the falling sun. As if a harsh penance for targeting the most renowned of the East Passage Company’s merchant fleet, the wind died as the battle labored on. After the final howls of the gnarled crew of the Nicodemus, neither torn sails or the Salt Sea itself shows an inkling of life.

With the sun ceding its daily claim on the heavens, a horde of envious stars creeped forth—a milky slurry fermented with constellatory pacts. Beneath, like black glass, the untampered sea reflects its entirety with unfathomable precision, suspending in a seemingly infinite void the Nicodemus and the Ribald Fowl—hobbled and lashed together, their fates now intertwined.

The treasure-hunters have two aims on their minds: survey their loot and repair one or both ships.​
(Trophy Dark)

Regicide by Ludovico Alves
Let the damned of this land
Into the gilded pigsty
Let the hungry condemned
Into the final feast.

Upon our bones you set your tables.
Your walls divide the world.
Horns of the forest raised us up.
From twisted branches we conquer bread.

Turn the tables, turn the world!
We that were nothing, we will be all there is!
For tomorrow has come to this land.
And tomorrow has no use for trophies.

The gates of the Royal Palace have been breached. You are among the first to break ranks and seize the bounty the most Exalted Majesty seized for themselves. The realities of power are not what you expected.
(Trophy Dark)

The Giant's Carcass by Sabine V
Come to me with sword and axe and lance,
And as my trophy, I shall take your hands.

Come to me with spells that you deem wise,
And as my trophy, I shall take your eyes.

Come to me and tell me who is right or wrong,
And as my trophy, I shall take your tongue.

Come to me with song and poem and art,
And as my trophy, I shall take your heart.

Once, there lived the most powerful wizard in all the land. Their magic was strong, unusual and unthought-of, but they wanted nothing more than to discover and learn. Legend has it that they even ventured into the Kalduhr to wrest magical secrets from this place, and to insure their own immortality. And they were successful: they came back even greater than before, and with time, they grew to an immense stature, first overshadowing trees, then cities, then mountains.

That was when the gods decided to intervene against this giant: the godsmith Vestor forged a mighty lance; the demon-enchantress Terca provided a deadly poison; and the hero Chant pierced the giant’s side. Crying out, the wizard fell with a mighty sound, levelling hills and forests under their enormous body.

And there they lie, still, a giant’s carcass, not alive, but not truly dead. The legends claim that the giant still wears the sigil the forest gave them on their heart, and that this is what keeps them alive. Even more outrageous legends claim that brave treasure-hunters might enter the Giant’s Carcass and there retrieve the sigil, thus becoming immortal.

(Trophy Dark)

The Pit by Aaron Burkett
...where light don’t shine and hate calls home.
(Trophy Dark)

Gift of the Sea by Gabriel Robinson
Who knows what secrets dwell beneath the ocean vast and wide
Or what became of those who tried to fight the turning tide
The night is dark, the storm is fierce, but nothing should we fear
Come ‘round and light the candles bright, for Spring is almost here
 
We bind the saplings, wreathed in green, as folk did long before
We crown a maiden as our Queen, and cast her from the shore
For as the land gives gifts to those who sow and reap the grain
The sea in turn must have its due, when Greentide comes again
 
Oh Mother of the Endless Tides, Oh Queen of Depths Unseen,
Accept these humble gifts we bring, upon your mantle green
Fill up our nets with gleaming fish, and spare our sailors brave
For all the rest, take what you must, beneath the rolling waves


Beyond the forest lies a jagged rocky coast, where a small seaside village has observed the rites of Greentide for generations. Each spring as the first green shoots emerge, the village elders weave an effigy from sapling branches and seaweed, crafting the likeness of a young woman. The sculpture filled with gifts before it is cast into the waves as an offering to the Queen of Tides, along with prayers for a bountiful catch for their nets and protection from storms. This ancient tradition harks back to an age when the ancestors would crown a young woman as the Tide Queen and offer her to the sea in sacrifice. Chieftains and princes would travel far to attend the ceremony, pledging gold, jewels and the finest crafts of their settlements. To this day, local fisherman never leave shore without paying her their respects - for the tide, they say, must have its due.

Strange as the customs of an isolated village may be, it has not escaped the notice of keen treasure hunters that centuries of offerings and shipwrecks have left a great hoard of untouched riches beneath the waves. You know of the island offshore, where the offerings are tipped overboard. You have heard rumors of a deep cove there, just visible at low tide. Superstitious villagers avoid it, but you know better than to believe their tales.
Will you emerge with treasures long kept hidden by sea? Or will you become another offering and join the court of the Queen Below the Waves?
(Trophy Dark)

The Spiral by Jesse Ross
On the doors of the homes in Fort Duhrin, a strange mark has begun appearing. A spiral, roughly carved and splashed with ink, first made its appearance on a blacksmith’s shop. Four nights later, the same mark was noticed on the door of a washerwoman. Four nights after that, the Governor’s inquisitors started dragging folks from their beds, demanding answers for “the mark found on the Governor’s wardrobe this eve.”

Expeditions into the forest of Kalduhr have been halted by the Governor until the perpetrators are apprehended. A sizable reward has been set aside for information that leads to their capture, and with the forest expedition you had planned now stalled, that reward may be your best chance to make good on your debts. (Trophy Dark)

Hester's Mill by Jason Cordova
A long-abandoned village with a terrible secret. Can the treasure-hunters uncover the dark history of this place and retrieve its valuable knowledge, or will they become the newest victims of the reaping? (Trophy Gold)

The Huntsman's Manor by Natalie Ash
The politically unremarkable Marquess Niral was a hunting prodigy, building his lodge on the edges of the Kalduhr to hunt the most challenging prey. After his disappearance over a century ago, the manor was abandoned and left to the forest, but what amazing treasures and trophies still remain within? (Trophy Gold)

A Heart Hums in Darkness by Michael Van Vleet
As refugees flee with their lives on their back, word arrives that the bees of The Humming Woods are extending their reach. Journey into darkness to find a new hive’s heart and reclaim a lost city... while scavenging whatever treasures were left behind. (Trophy Gold)

The Eyes of Time by Jamila Nedjadi
The Marlack Castle stands crumbling on the edge of the cliff, frozen in time. Strange magic lingers there like a disease, twisting time and shattering realities. Within its walls lies strange and terrible treasure, and a dark promise to remake the past for a terrible price. (Trophy Gold)

The Stone Seed's Reawakening by Shel Khan
If you carry this limestone seed into the stone desert, the secrets of crystal and bone, water and wind, latticed consciousness and transformative music will reveal themselves and their treasures—but beware their price. (Trophy Gold)

Foulcoult's Bounty by Oli Jeffery
Merek Foulcoult is a madman, they say, or a messiah, depending on who you talk to and the direction of the wind. All you know is there’s a bounty on his head for blasphemy, and you mean to collect it. They can argue about philosphy once he’s dead and you’re paid. He’s retreated to the port town of Old Kaleczenie, which has been seized by riots and a disease causing the afflicted to dance, unbidden and violent. Nobody remembers which caused the other anymore. Rioters, dancers, and other gangs of bounty hunters stand between you and Foulcoult; or between you and the coin his blood is worth, at least. (Trophy Gold)

The Retribution Tree by Sabine V
Most who enter the Kalduhr seek the gold rumored to be hidden in the ruins at the heart of the ancient woods. But there is another treasure in the Kalduhr fewer speak of, a thing that draws the desperate and defiant into that hateful place: the Retribution Tree, an enormous old oak—some say the First Oak that ever was—that knows the helpless hate in your heart and will grant you retribution if your desire is black enough. Is it? And, if so, can you make the journey? Will the children and grandchildren of this most malignant specimen even allow you to pass? (Trophy Dark)

The Forbidden Archives by Gabriel Robinson
The lost Archives of ancient Kalduhr are the subject of much speculation. The mysterious Keepers of the archive locked away secrets deemed too valuable or dangerous to exist freely in the world outside. It is said that the Archive maintains itself and grows as it collects secrets. Almost any piece of information can be found there, especially if someone else does not want you to find it. Lining the shelves are the last surviving copies of writings deemed too blasphemous or revolutionary by various authorities, unfit to be read by anyone outside the Archive walls. Grimoires of raw elemental power lie chained and sealed through techniques lost to all but the most practiced arcanists. And you, treasure-hunter, have managed to find a way inside… (Trophy Dark)

The Plantation by Nicholas Masyk
(Content warning: body horror, cannibalism) Deep within that blighted land which the vengeful wood has reclaimed lies the abandoned manses and forgotten manors of wealthy landowners and foppish nobles. Built in hubristic defiance of the old forest, tales spread among the border lands of one such manor—a lavish plantation atop sweeping hills, overlooking terraced fields—where, before the spirits of Old Kalduhr reclaimed what was theirs, indolent lords and ladies gorged themselves on progressively rarer and more esoteric delicacies to sate their endless hunger, eventually consuming their servants and even each other in orgiastic cannibal gluttony.The nobles are gone now, having fled the butcher’s knives of their comrades and the vengeful cleavers of their would-be meals. All their stolen wealth lies hidden away under peeling floorboards and in dusty cellars, just waiting for an enterprising treasure-hunter hungry enough to find it… (Trophy Dark)

The Last Galleon by Linda Codega
Along the western edge of Kalduhr lies the watery graveyard of the Tiobhmil. The barrier islands along the coast are treacherous and ill-drawn, and many a bark has wrecked upon these shores. A known haven for pirates, these islands have harbored sailors of ill repute for generations, but none more infamous than Heldar, a notorious captain who was presumed to have died on board their armada’s lead ship, the Bloody Hraban. The gold, it’s said, was never recovered. Heldar themself is rumored to sail still, a ghost ship of hazy red on the horizon. What trophies will you find in the depths of the Tiobhmil? Who will find you? (Trophy Gold)

​Temple of the Sky by Gabriel Robinson
A vast stone spire stretches from a valley in the forest floor to the clouds. No one knows where it came from. Is it a rock formation from a time before the forest grew, a colony built by tiny creatures long perished, or the limb of a dead god? It is undoubtedly ancient, a refuge to flora and fauna from the hunting grounds of beasts and men below. But it is also known to have been the site of a small monastery at one time, steps carved in the stone by diligent monks of a forgotten order. They climbed the span of the spire to be closer to the heavens and escape the distractions of the mundane world. Some say they learned the secrets of long life from periods of extended fasting and visions granted to them by angels. Others say they kept priceless artifacts safe there, manuscripts of collected knowledge which only survived in the vault of the sky. Other would-be treasure hunters have tried and failed to ascend the spire and enter the temple at its zenith. But you and your companions are wiser and better prepared. You have observed the landscape, reading the omens of beasts and weather. You have trained in the use of climbing tools for a careful ascent. Working together as a team, you are certain that the mysteries of the temple above will be known at last. Glory awaits those who are truly brave enough to ascend... (Trophy Dark)

Heirs of Naganeh by Jason Cordova
They are ravishing. They are immortal. And some say they have the blood of royal serpents in their veins. The Heirs of Naganeh have ruled that tiny kingdom for centuries, and they would make the whole Kalduhr their thrall if they weren’t hobbled by their own extreme vanity. The Palace of Naganeh is a monument to their cleverness and cruelty, and they open the doors wide so all may wander its lavish halls and bear witness to the Heirs’ magnificence. Sometimes the Heirs themselves make an appearance and bless the pilgrims by crushing them underfoot or allowing them to touch the hem of their exquisite, gold-scale robes. But you aren’t there to bow and scrape before them; you’re there to rob them blind. You’ve heard the tales of the palace’s elaborate traps and bizarre, serpentine guardians, but you’re tough and smart and loaded for bear with equipment to get the job done. And if you should run into one of the glorious Heirs? Well, their head would look lovely on the mantle of your Rose District patron, wouldn’t it? (Trophy Gold)

Clever Fingers by Madeleine Ember
The Uncommon Bazaar appears outside Ambaret on the longest night of the year. It stretches for a mile in all directions, but come morning, is gone without a trace. Most customers stick to the outermost stalls, but the deeper one goes, the more exotic and rare the items for sale become. Those who delve too far find the world grows strange and twisted about them. None who stay past the break of dawn ever return. You seek the center of the Bazaar, the tent of the legendary being known as the Tailor, who rewards those who seek them with what they most desperately desire... if the seeker can escape before daylight. (Trophy Dark)

The Pentitents' Path by Blaine Moore
(Content warning: ritual sacrifice) A winding path of scattered stones mark out a trail ill-used by any but the most faithful of the Sisters' followers. Yet when the auspices of heaven and earth align and the blood moon is nigh, as summer wanes and the leaves of the forest take a more sanguine shade in their bodies, and in the light cast from on high, then will the path become the site of a pilgrimage most holy and most profane. Come ye with heavy hearts burdened by the ills of the world! Come ye with base desires burning out of all control! Come ye all sinful and seeking salvation, ye with blackest hearts and blacker souls, ye foul few who even the cut-throats fear to look upon! But come not empty-handed, for salvation comes at cost. Bring ye bone for the path, fresh and gleaming in crimson hue. Bring ye flesh for the black-masked priest, a morsel to slake their hunger. Bring ye blood for the altar, blood to open the gates, blood of that life most precious to you in reverent sacrifice, an offering to the saints. Only then may you reach the end of the penitents' path and find your absolution. (Trophy Dark)

Blackberry Jam by Ira Grace
(Content warning: child horror) It is a crisp summer morning in the village of Kevir as the sound of a joyous fiddle pierces the mountain air. It is the first day of blackberry season and Kevir has attracted a bard to mark the occasion. The children took to the brambles, nestled high in the hills, in order to collect the precious berries, but only as many as they can fit in their pockets, since to do otherwise is to invite a foul curse upon one's head. One of the children broke the rules and brought a pail to collect the fruit. That child has just returned to Kevir, a thick, black substance trickling down his forehead and cementing his mouth closed, a look of utter terror in his eyes… (Trophy Dark)

​The Smoldering Moor by Natalie Ash
Kairmough Castle is nestled in the mist-shrouded moors of the Black Mountains, built around Queen Banmuir’s cairn. News has reached your ears that a wildfire has caused most residents of castle, as well as the village at the foot of the mountains, to take refuge elsewhere. But you are prepared to slip in as soon as it’s safe (even sooner, really), to plunder the unguarded wealth of Kairmough and ride away before the locals return. You’ve heard the stories of the shrieking heard on the moors, but that can’t have anything to do with Kairmough, can it? It doesn’t matter. What matters is the gold and jewels just ripe for the taking. (Trophy Gold)

Panning the Last River by Eli Kurtz
The original plan was simple: supervise and protect a panhandling crew on a remote branch of the Last River. Rumors spoke of gold-glinting shores and scarce monstrosities near the ruined village of Kreave. The Last River carried your boat through the Kalduhr forest for three days, but when you arrived you discovered no ruin. Instead, a ramshackle inn made of new-hewn planks bustled with other treasure-hunters already pursuing the lead you thought you harbored alone. By the time you arrived, there were already too many competitors, but many of their scouts returned from the forest reporting unknown treasure sites of untold worth. What quarry will you claw from the hands of your rivals... or will you be clawed by what waits in the wood? (Trophy Gold)

The Rime Palace by Alexi Sargeant
The Rime Palace is an elegant marble edifice, hanging like a stalactite above a void pinpricked by icy stars. The only way to access it is an ancient ship made of bone, whose flight is powered by the revealing of uncomfortable truths. The palace itself was once the home of a court of cruel fae, but the rumors say they are scattered and dead and their delicate treasures lie in chilly vaults, waiting to fulfill the burning desires of treasure-hunters like yourself. But will you be able to navigate its twisting passages of fog, lace, and glass before something important shatters—in the palace or in you? (Trophy Gold)

Cry Wolf  by Jesse Ross
The son of the local silversmith has gone missing, livestock are turning up dead, and rumors of a feral beastbitten are spreading. Can the treasure-hunters find the boy before the thing from the forest finds him first?  Cry Wolf is an introductory incursion designed to teach the rules of Trophy Gold over a single session. Perfect for players and GMs new to Trophy. (Trophy Gold)

​I will tip my hat here to Epidiah Ravichol, creator of a number of great roleplaying games. His game Swords Without Master (found in Worlds Without Master, Issue 3!) is something of a master class in listening and reincorporating. It builds into the mechanics of the game something that might happen in another game and go unremarked upon, namely, when a player narrates something particularly evocative and the table responds with appreciative murmurs or shudders. Epidiah terms these moments Motifs. Here is the rules text introducing them:

“Motifs are created when the narration of a fellow player inspires you to create one. Once enough Motifs have been recorded, it is the beginning of the end. So keep a keen ear and be swift to record whenever your fellow players’ narration evokes that sense of wonder, danger or adventure that drew you to the sword-and-sorcery genre in the first place.”

In effect, this means in a game of Swords Without Master, your table slowly accrues a pile of index cards with epic, sinister, and gnarly phrases written on them. A few examples from a game I ran: “A smooth-tongued rogue rapidly cycling through religious habits,” “A pale queen fading from life as the dead invade to announce her shame.” These Motifs serve as a clock for the game, as it concludes when enough have been recorded—but the rules also require a certain number of later Motifs to echo and reincorporate Motifs recorded earlier. In effect, Swords Without Master is a machine designed to tune players to say swords-and-sorcery stuff that thrills their tablemates.

Now, Swords Without Master draws no distinction between players and GM (renamed the Overplayer here) when it comes to recording Motifs. There’s another game that makes deliberate use of listening and reincorporating as a GM-specific technique, and that’s the feminine horror blockbuster Bluebeard’s Bride.

​Star Wars Saturday

Hell on Legs (Session 2)
Rich Rogers runs for Bethany H., Greg G., and Michael G. Barford
The crew of the AT-ST called the Drunk Tauntaun are sent on their last mission.

Bounty of the Week: It's a Living (Session 2 of 3)
David Miessler-Kubanek runs for Bryan, Rich Rogers, Sabine V., and Sam Z.

Bounty of the Week: It's a Living (Session 3 of 3)
David Miessler-Kubanek runs for Bryan, Joe Zantek, Rich Rogers, and Sabine V.
In the Alderani asteroid field known as the Graveyard, the bounty hunters get mixed up in a father vs. daughter struggle and find...a lost clone army?

Gauntlet Hangouts

Girl By Moonlight: In Darkest Night (Session 1 of 4)
Leandro Pondoc runs for Rob Ruthven, Sabine V., and Steven
Worldbuilding and character creation as we define this tangled metropolis haunted by an ancient curse, darkness spread by interred secrets laid bare and the young folks whose tragic fate is to be in the frontlines against the dark. But for a traveller who caught a glimpse of an apocalyptic future, an outsider recently come over from the shadows and an unlikely hero yet to transcend, there may be a chance to fight against such a fate.

Changeling the Lost PbtA (Session 2)
Lowell Francis runs for Jamila R. Nedjadi, Patrick Knowles, Robert Angus, and Sherri
The motley begins to plan their party by going to markets (Goblin and mundane), dealing with a Wizened Realtor, bottling regrets (which smells like oil of baby), and inscribing unavoidable invitations. Despite their best intentions, a little Doom slips in.

Band of Blades (Session 9)
Leandro Pondoc runs for Bryan, Chris Newton, Dan Pucul, and David Morrison
Where Westlake fought to keep the fear at bay, Eastlake is almost paralyzed by the prospect. Amidst the whispering and the frantic preparations, tales of a foe thought dead emerge from the north. Renewed in supplies and manpower, the Legion sends their best to be rid of this carrion creature once and for all.

Mothership: The Calling (Session 2 of 4)
Jason Zanes runs for Bradley, Josh H, Robbie Boerth, and Robert Angus
Alpha Squad plod on towards the crashed supply ship. They start to hear and see their loved ones calling to them, beckoning them to enter the water.

Pipedream (Session 2 of 2)
Lowell Francis runs for Jesse A., Steven Watkins, and Tyler Lominack
While they don't exactly believe him, the offer of a largish cheese wheel is enough to motivate our investigators to look into a case of bovine bodysnatchers aka doppelcows.

Legacy: Life Among the Ruins (Session 6 of 8)
Lowell Francis runs for Alun R., David Morrison, and Rye
After the turning of the age, years of conflict with The Warren finally come to a head as they burn the capital to the ground, forcing a daredevil mission that costs one of our heroes their life.

Night Witches February 2020: CHWASZCZYNO (Session 1 of 4)
Jim Likes Games runs for Alexi S., Bethany H., Eli S., Maria M., and Puckett
The war rages to a bloody climax as the Natural Born Soviet Airwomen of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment struggle with internal strife keeping them awake during the day. Soon they'll be over Berlin.

Night Witches February 2020: Bucholz (Session 2 of 4)
Jim Likes Games runs for Alexi S., Bethany H., Eli S., Maria M., and Puckett
Death on the ground, sudden and unexpected, and death in the air, inevitably, for the Natural Born Soviet Airwomen of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment.

You can see all these videos (plus all the ones that have come before) on The Gauntlet YouTube channel playlists, and be sure to subscribe to catch all our great podcasts!

If you'd like to catch these sessions in an audio-only podcast, check out the community-run Hangouts Podcast at http://gauntlet.hellomouth.net/.

If you'd like to play in games like these, check out the calendar of events and the Gauntlet Forums where games are announced.

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Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

Wayward 
(Action Cards homebrew; nWoD Changeling)
Sessions: I'd guess we had 22-24 session of this over the year-- we had a couple of bonus sessions but also a number of missed sessions.

Narrative: We began the year with the group in the middle of the Christmas holidays, with a great deal of responsibility placed on them as the two Princes had to leave on spirit quests for the season. I'd hoped to put the players into positions of more authority and give them a chance to seize the heroic reins. We end the year only a few weeks in-game time later, something like the end of January. This campaign has always moved slowly-- with a lot of NPC interaction and complex plots that require a complex interaction. The pace has picked up significantly for the better-- we're doing interesting things, it doesn't feel like a clocks ticking and everyone has things they could be doing and are doing. The group's right now working on figuring out how to deal with an adversarial Winter Court which has returned after 20-some years lost in the Hedge. They're now a Court at war with the Changelings currently in power. Other major plot threads have moved nicely forward and some of the real bad guys have been identified.

Comment: I really love this game-- and quite frankly I expect it will keep running through 2011. We had a shift in player line up in 2009 for the better and we had another shift in 2010. It became clear that it wasn't a good idea for a particular player and I to play together and we decided to sever the game playing side of our relationship. I think that was for the best; I certainly hadn't recognized how much those problems were bringing me down and bringing the game down. We added two new players to the game and I'm loving it even more than before. They've enjoyed interacting with the NPCs and the environment, have taken risks, and have been slowly developing and advancing their character's stories and personalities. They've really risen to the challenge-- both in the game and also the challenge of coming into an existing campaign as new players. That's a tough thing to do. But I've learned that it really does work better if you have more than one new player coming in, and with characters who have to be shown the ropes.

The player change up I mentioned at the top also happened here, along with the player I mention in the comments. We would wrap this campaign up in 2011 in a really satisfying way. It cemented my love for the Changeling the Lost premise. It also began to show me that hacks and reskins shouldn't be too literal. The system bogged down where I'd tried to bring over everything from the original. It just didn't work. When I did my Changeling the Lost PbtA hack I had that in mind (though it's probably still a little overstuffed).  

Third Continent
​(Action Cards; High Fantasy with some elements from Glorantha)
Sessions: I'd guess closer to 20-22 sessions. We had some bumps on this one since it falls on Sunday evenings which can be tough.

Narrative: We began with the group back in Pavis, getting ready to head ito the Big Rubble to enter the Puzzle Canal. They did so, over the course of many sessions with some significant detours that revealed some of the major plot points of the campaign. The group returned with some new members and then did some more local political interactions, including working with the Meldeks of the Rubble and destroying a Vampire Cult. They traveled to Sun County to settle some domestic issues, interacting with White Imperial Agents, and then came back again. They tracked down a Godchainer plot which led them out into the Rider Clan Lands, discovered a walking EWF castle which they explored, then over the course of several sessions bargained with the Rider Peoples and stopped the Chainer plots, killing of one of their major enemies. Again back to Pavis to regroup and then off to the edge of the Mythic Mountains and the Great Fallen Tree where they discovered another version of the Clanking City walking around preparing an invasion of this world.

Comment: We lost two players from this campaign; in one case we decided to simply write the PC out so that he'd never actually existed. That ended up the easiest way to handle things. We added one tremendous player who brought a huge amount of humor and pathos to the campaign. I don't think we actually missed a session in the transition. Scott's character, Deeds Unworthy, has the greatest conceit for a character coming into a game late: he's actually always been there but the party keeps ignoring and forgetting him. He's the last follower of a god of being overlooked. He has to suffer through many of his most heroic actions being seen as coincidences or someone else's work.

This game has held together pretty well-- I'm still pleased by how well Action Cards has worked with a high fantasy, high magic setting. The profession Tracks have held up, especially the new ones-- but I have some more work I need to do on those. The magic system is better-- much better-- but still needs some tuning. I like the way damage works with the dice. I do think that we will wrap this campaign up this year. I have a couple of other things I want to run and we are getting to the third dramatic act of the story here. I enjoy the game and the player group we have quite a bit-- even if they do bring too many snacks.

This game ran for another couple of years. It allowed me to iterate again on the Action Cards homebrew. I focused some vague elements and tried yet another approach to magic. It would get even stronger once I'd realized how some of Fate's mechanics could be used to streamline clunky parts. It helped that the group had played in Glorantha a couple of times and really had a love for the setting. I keep meaning to return back there, but none of the recent systems for it (13th Age Glorantha, Heroquest, Runequest) have really appealed. If I go back, I suspect I'll have to do another version of Action Cards for it. ​