Tag Archives: Kids

Anklebiter Art

June 1, 2012 11:13 am / Leave a Comment /

So Zak wanted us to get the kids’ take on displacer beasts and other monsters. I gave my in-house comic book artist a little bit of art direction and asked for a battle between displacer beasts and their mortal enemy, the blink dogs. I showed him the 1e and 3e monster manual illustrations for both. He though the 1e was better, but he also loves cats.

The idea of having the wise blink dogs attacking an empty space was mine, but he decided there should be an outline of the displacer beasts.

 

Displacers vs. Blinks.

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Posted in: gaming with kids, legacy D&D / Tagged: , , ,

Castle Aaaaargh Dungeon Level

July 6, 2010 7:13 pm / Leave a Comment /

You shall have my spear! And my bow! AND MY HAT!

Today’s adventure: exploring Castle Aaaaargh’s lower levels. The castle was once the home of Count Fergusen, a minor noble who ruled the far reaches of the kingdom. It was attacked by a pair of young dragons twenty years back and Ser Jack has been tasked to reclaim it and find any remaining heirs to House Ferguson. He is joined by Rufus the Red (F3), Archie the Archer (F3), Sakura the Wizard (MU3), Jeremy James “JJ” the Goblin (Th3/MU2), Wang Fei (Monk 3) and an as-yet unnamed Lizard Man (F3).  Previously they had killed the two young dragons.

Today’s encounters included a giant rattler (killed), a fire salamander (tail snapped off) and a were-rat who was once the castle’s chamberlain (hired).

The party doesn’t know the chamberlain is a were-rat. I think I’ll let that plot thread dangle awhile, at least until the local cheesemonger complains of thefts. They need a chamberlain and I need someone for explication and plot hooks.

They almost killed the salamander, but it failed a morale check and tried to escape. Boy wanted to step on its tail, so I had him roll to hit. He got a 20, so I ruled that the tail snapped off (and hit the lizard man for 3 HP). The wizard’s sleep spell put it under and the chamberlain, who had not gotten a word in during the combat, informed the party that the salamander was a smokeless heat source for the forge in the basement (which I put in place of the torture chamber).

The party returns with gold, jewels and pickled dragon guts.

There were also many barrels of wine turned to vinegar, which the party used to pickle the dragon guts (after bits of armor and bones were removed and buried, of course). The wizard read a cursed scroll and was polymorphed into a newt. He did get better back at the village.

There was a great dragon BBQ feast with the villagers and the party has made some small progress toward raising the funds they will need to repair the castle.

I had him control the entire party this time. There was a point where they had chased a giant rat downstairs and found an old man (the chamberlain) cowering in the pantry. I played the old man and my son had no idea what he was supposed to do. I coached him through talking on behalf of Ser Jack. Eventually he used third person to speak as Ser Jack and managed to have a conversation with the chamberlain. After the game, he spent a lot of time packing the lego treasure and the dragon carcasses on the battle wagon.

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Posted in: gaming with kids / Tagged: ,

Castle Aaaaargh

July 6, 2010 8:04 am / Leave a Comment /

This spring I played a few sessions of Swords and Wizardry with my son, who is eight. It started when he brought out his lego knights, goblins and castle parts and wanted a way to have them do battle with some plastic gargoyles. I gave each player a name, a class, AC and HP. Damage was determined by the lego weapons at hand. As the need arose, I made rolls for ability scores.

By the end of that session, a wizard and a goblin PC carried their last surviving comrade to the nearest village as two young dragons roared and preened atop the castle battlements. The next session the new posse included extra knights, a lizardman, an archer and a monk. They were successful.

Plucky Goblin PC Faces the Dragon

Now the players have a castle at their disposal. We retconned that one of the knights, Ser Jack, was told to recapture and repair the castle, which is out in the boonies of the kingdom.

Now, in the heat of summer, we’re trying to get things going again and it was with great pleasure that I came across 0one’s Blueprints: The Ruined Town, Castle Falconflight. The maps are beautiful and the castle was just what I needed: the battered keep of a minor noble, not the fortress of an Unbeatable Suzerain. The map includes three levels, the roof and a dungeon, each with a separate key that you can fill in yourself.  I don’t really want to do product reviews on the blog, but this was so useful I thought I should mention it.

I’ve already stocked the dungeon level and now on to the upper levels and roof.

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Posted in: gaming with kids, product recommendations / Tagged: ,