Pickpocketing 101

One of the hard parts of being a DM is the characters doing random things, like pickpocketing a random person. Here is a list of 101 random things that could be found in a pocket. Two notes: I run a post-apocalyptic campaign where modern items might be found, plus in the Middle Ages, "pockets" might be larger pouches and bags than what you would expect. 

1. A hard-boiled egg
2. 7 pieces of bullion (for broth) 
3. A box of matches, two crushed packs of cigarettes, and a couple of Tic-Tacs
   
   
4. A pack of Fruit Stripe gum
5. One nugget of gold
6. a Polariod of Meri, Pippin, and Treebeard
7. Half a turkey sandwich in waxed paper 
8. 17 ketchup packets
9. 3 fortune cookies, two are broken, but the third still functions
10. A spork and a knife
11. A bar of soap and one sock
12. A cheese knife and a wedge of cheese
13. A multitool 
14. Hockey tape and puck
15. A sling and 7 bullets
16. A sewing kit
17. One large onion
18. A ball of twine
19. 7 quarters and 3 dimes
20. A jar of Grey Poupon
21. A pair of gloves and a trowel
    
    
22. A Zippo lighter
23. 3 perfect skipping stones
24. A pair of glasses
    
25. 3 silver bars
26. A bundle of parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. 
27. A set of files
28. A measuring tape
29. Scissors and a piece of chalk
30. A small first aid kit
31. A heel of bread
32. A small box of snuff
33. 4 tubes of paint and a brush (white, vermillion, ivory black, and yellow ochre) 
34. A balisong
35. A pipe, a tobacco pouch, and a cleaning tool
    
36. A laser pointer
37. A small pouch
38. A tin cup and a tea ball
39. A can of grease
40. A lucky coin
41. 3 chess pieces, one bishop, one queen, one rook. 
42. An Uno deck
43. 3 bungee cords
44. A paperback book, "What is Dungeons and Dragons?"
45. 6 ball bearings, 1" steel
46. 12 copper pennies in a snap pouch
47. A kalimba 
48. A pair of small nunchucks (1d3 damage) 
    
    
49. A folding pocket knife with the letter "P" engraved on it
    
    
50. Archery bracer and finger gaurds
51. Steel wool
52. Pegs for a lute
53. 15 safety pins
54. A compass
55. A small oil lamp, empty
56. Sunglasses, pink with rhinestones
57. A hymnal
58. Three tiny screwdrivers and a 10 mm socket
59. A pack of clove cigarettes and a book of matches
60. A tube of toothpaste and a well-used toothbrush
61. 3 votive candles in glass and wire holders 
62. 3 Sharpie markers, orange, brown, and black
    
    
63. 6 sheets of paper, the 6th has plans for a garden
64. A small book: "The Early History of Rome" by Levy
65. A pair of pliers and 8 nails
66. A canvas roll for paint brushes
67. 3 cards: a Jack, a Queen, and two, all clubs
68. A roll of Duct Tape and a small razor
    
    
69. A brush and soap in a cup
70. 3 carabiners and three iron spikes
71. A tiny 6" hammer
72. A play program from "Guys and Dolls"
73. A box with 3 gears on the front
74. 6 packets of seeds: tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, onions, lettuce, and goblins
75. A kitten
76. 24 cough drops
77. 72" of wick and a ball of wax
78. An oil can, full
79. A fabric map of France
80. A set of dominoes
81. Wolfsbane
82. 17 wooden dice, all 1d6
    
83. A set of shot glasses
84. Two ferrets
85. A straight razor and a small leather strop
86. A jar of Nutella 
    
    
87. A brass electric torch
88. Thieves tools
89. Brass wire and cutter
90. A set of guitar strings
91. A can of chicken noodle soup with a P-38 can opener
92. 23 recipe cards
93. A flask of brandy
94. A bottle of fluid, clearly labeled "food poisoning"
95. A glass cutter
96. 3 quartz crystals on a lanyard
97. 3 packs of sugar and 16 packs of saccharine
98. A glass jar full of milk
99. A pair of mittens and a hat
100. One rubber spatula

Bonus item: 

101. The One Ring

X2 - Castle Amber 2026 - Session 5.0 - Ancient and Secret Ways

The Indoor Forest is a shockingly big place. In 1 inch=5 feet, the map would be about 70 inches across and up and down. 

This area should be a slog, but there are not enough events and wandering monsters to make it too difficult. In fact, the party doesn't meet a single wandering monster. 

Previously, I mentioned the rakasta entered the forest first. What I did in this case was roll for wandering monsters on a schedule, then gave the party and the rakasta a 50-50 chance of meeting the rolled monsters. The rakasta got the short end of the stick using this method. They ran from a group of bears before getting into a fight.  

With Gabby and Gronk as guides at the front of the group, the party made it through relatively quickly. This area is really only dangerous if the party wanders from the path, and Gabby wouldn't let them. 

I would make a real group of players pick a proper marching order, but since this is a solo session, the order is very loose. Gronk and Lance lead, with Nononn and Gabby behind them. Jude, Merry, Parker, and Warren ring the magic users and clerics. Rety is the trailer, watching everyone's backs. 

To bring the Killer Trees back, Gabby and Lance threw meat to them, which made them happy. The rough patch happens with the illusions. Sybil has become less wise and is empowered by magic and chaos. She wanted to investigate endlessly, increasing her chances of wandering into something dangerous. Rety, Lance, and Gabby convinced her to return to the task at hand. 

Having made their way to the lady and unicorn, Gabby and Gronk sat down to wait for them to awake. The rest of the party doesn't exactly follow suit, but they do become aware that this is some sort of game between the witch and the denizens of the forest. Lance and Khouri took a knee nearby when they realized both were pretending to sleep. The rest of the party stood by politely. 

"It's ok," said Gabby. "We shared Bonds of Hospitality, which prevents violence." 

The lady sat up and said, "That was a long time ago, and it should not hold." 

This ritual spell is limited to a day or so, but I would use this spell to introduce some weirdness of Castle Amber to the party. 

"You should not have cast it on an immortal being. I dislike being bound, even in pleasant cases," said the unicorn. "You are well met, again, witch." 

Gabby bowed to them both before bringing out the key. "We wish to be free." 

The lady nodded. I personally dislike how long it takes the party to know the secret of Castle Amber. 

The lady, full of the lore of dragons, can recite part of the mystery but not all: 

"The secret that will break the curse surrounding Castle Amber and lift the gray mist is engraved on the inside lid of Stephen Amber's casket. To summon Prince Stephen's tomb from beyond space and time, four magical items are needed. And it starts with the key." 

Gabby smiled at them. 

"Where is the tomb?" asked Nononn. 

"We do not know," the unicorn answered, "but it is reachable from the castle. You will have to explore it more." 

"Wait," said Rety, "Have you explored the castle completely?" 

The lady smiled. "No, we are immortal beings; we are not confined by the mists and magic. We can leave any time we like."

"And no, we can lead you out. You are trapped by your own doing just, and I and the 'corn are bound by Gabby's spell," the lady continued. "We suggest either traveling east or north."

"Beware of the cat men, the Rakasta. They move ahead of you, seeking something else entirely." 

(I think I have spelled "rakasta" wrong every time, differently. If only AI was good for something.) 

The party thanked them and moved north along the path. At the fountain in the middle of the forest, they found bodies, the aftermath of a fight. Five rakasta lay dead, along with a horse and a woman. The woman was Isidora Amber. Disturbingly, it appeared the rakasta attacked each other. All had noticeable tiger-claw wounds. 

The party deduces that the woman was waylaid by the rakasta as she sat near the fountain. The reality was the opposite. Isidora Amber ambushed the rakasta as they killed the amoeba in the fountain. The survivors escaped with the key. Gabby took Isidora's potion and ring while Bel took her spell book. 

The party moved northwest and stopped when they spotted movement to the right. 

"Show-offs!" grumbled Gronk. 

At first, the party only saw squirrels. Then they saw the squirrels transform acorns into gold. More curious and amused, Bel, Rety, Lance, and Sybil start feeding them. They were perplexed that the squirrels don't turn apples, peaches, and plums into gold. They had a nervous moment when a squirrel touched Lance, but he didn't turn to gold either. 

Amused, they started to move away when Wild Hunt blocked the path before them. 

Warren, Parker, Nononn, Jude, and Merry formed a line between the rest of the party and The Hunt. No one moved as both groups stared each other down. The impasse was broken by an angry snort from behind the party. The lady and the unicorn had followed them. 

The lady dismounted and waved to Jude, who smiled. He mounted the `corn with his pole arm held like a lance. Nononn gave him a shield, and I pulled out my copy of Chainmail to use the jousting rules. That link is to DriveThruRPG. 

Breaking a lance does 1d4 points of damage, unhorsing does 1d6, and helmet hits, and injuries do full weapon damage. Jude manages to unhorse Andrew David. I could have had Jude continue with the other four, or I could have stopped here, using the morale rules. Andrew David, having been knocked down, would have counted as the first casualty. 

Although the unicorn was simply a vehicle for Jude to use his abilities, I do have a fully spec'ed out Unicorn class to use. You can check it out here. I may reformat this and post it as an actual character class on DrivethruRPG and Ko-Fi. 

I have never really been satisfied with mounted combat in D&D, in every version. I use a format where the mount handles all movement and gives up its attacks. Once the rider becomes separated from their mount, both are free to attack. Anything else is too overpowering. I guess I should get better at describing quick and fast movement, because I can't find a way to fix these rules. They are good enough. 

I didn't take detailed notes as I went through this combat while watching hockey. The party was victorious, having killed Andrew David, the elk, two tigers, and both lupin. They now have his potion, his mace +2, and his shield. I figured he had a shield to go with the lance. The rest fled due to failing morale. 

The party healed themselves up and proceeded on to the Chapel entrance. The next session will be session 6.0. 

Over the next week, I will be watching the Sabres battle the Canadiens while making some changes to the website. The top banner for DriveThruRPG is only the start of some changes around here. 

X2 - Castle Amber 2026 - Session 4.2 Character Updates - Officially Wrong

The other day, I posted updated Character Sheets and then realized I had forgotten to update their ability scores and ancillary stats. I like to relax and watch a hockey game, and sometimes write a bit while doing that. Updating character sheets while watching hockey simply didn't work. 

You know what I did? I did it again for the Sabres vs. Stars game. I did go back after the game and tried to double-check things. If I have made a mistake this time, it will be Officially Wrong forever. 

I have a feeling I botched Jude's stats, but lost my notes. I guess I'll never know for sure. 

Gabby's sheet is still blank on the equipment. This is because I am not using the standard sheet for her. I am using the character folio made by JV West for Other Side Publishing. 

I didn't want to post a file of that, but here is the sample image from DrivethruRPG:

I love it. 

This weekend, I will continue the adventure. 

To get us ready, let's have a brief recap of where we left the party. There were some clear winners and losers at dinner in Castle Amber. Gabby was able to save the day a couple of times to prevent instant death. She had foreknowledge of the potential dangers from a disastrous meal eaten by the rakshasa. 

Gronk, as a rabbit, offered a lot of bad advice. He warned the characters about the beef, bread, and mushrooms - all items rabbits can't eat. He offered no opinion on the alcohol because, as an intelligent rabbit, he doesn't consume alcohol but knows humanoids do and enjoy it. All of this happened because some of the items were outside of his knowledge. As a DM, you can feed the party information, but the party would be wise to understand that some creatures don't have the same ideas or perspectives as themselves. That's right out of Niven's Laws:

15. There exist minds that think as well as you do, but differently.
15a. Niven's corollary: The gene-tampered turkey you're talking to isn't necessarily one of them. 

Giant rabbits aren't turkeys, but they are close. And heavier. And eat more.  

All of the participants in the meal had their stats scrambled. Sybil, as a chaotic character, was damaged the most by losing a point of Wisdom and gaining Charisma. She can talk a good game, but the games won't be ones you'd want to play. 

Alexei paid the ultimate price, fading away to join the ghostly party. You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave. 

This is the soul version of Hotel California. The reason for it is two-fold. It's a good song that holds up to changes. That's how I like to play D&D. It's also a callback to when my wife and I saw Don Henley in concert. You know he HAD to play this song, but after decades of playing Hotel California, he gave it a Zydeco rhythm. Sometimes, you have to change things up to keep it fresh. 

This is Gabby's role in the party. She has more experience in the Castle and a wildly different perspective than the party. She will attempt to herd this wacky bunch through the Indoor Forest, a place she knows pretty well. It couldn't be worse than herding rakshasa. Lance followed her in there, so at least he is willing to trust her. That may sway the party into avoiding some of the threats. 

So, I will see you next time in the Wood Between Worlds... er the Indoor Forest. 

X2 - Castle Amber 2026 - Session 4.1 Character Updates - Mistakes Were Made

The best intentions sometimes go sideways. 

I scanned in my character sheets after session 4.0 and forgot to update their ability scores from the Tossed Salad Incident. I will come back and fix it tomorrow. 

Here is a link to the sheets: Session 4.0 character sheets. You can see I use one of the OSE sheets for nearly every member of the party. These are available on several websites, such as Necrotic Gnome and DriveThruRPG. They are free despite the cart button on each website. My Ko-Fi has the same thing going on, free items still have a cart button. 

Gabby's sheet is largely blank because I am using a specific witch-themed character sheet for her. It is protected by magic... er, a cat in the image on the left. 

In the last session, the party topped up their supplies. You'll notice on the character sheets that most players have one and only one flask of oil. Those who have more flasks are the mature characters who are unlikely to set someone or something on fire with it. 

Like the sleep spell, oil is an underrated means of attack. I wanted to get it out of the way before continuing the adventure.

In the next session or two, we will meet two interesting creatures depicted by some of the most evocative pieces of artwork in a module. 

For shits and giggles, and my wife*, I made my own Unicorn Character Class. It's not too OP as the class is based on the Magic-User. I need to update this character class, as one core feature is missing from the class: Untrammel. Untrammel is a special ability in my campaign that causes restrictions like webs and ropes to unbind to free someone. 

Maybe I'll do that this week. 

*There is a long-running joke in our family about the unicorn character class:

"Dad, if Mom can be a unicorn, how will you top that?"

"Mecha`corn."  

The Mobile Post on Witches

I have a lot going on this week. The Sabres made the playoffs for the first time in forever,

I need to do my taxes and get my garden ready. We also heard from my son, who is off in the Middle East. I also have to admit that I have been playing far more video games than normal. 

So, today's post is from my phone while my wife takes us out for garden supplies and gas. 

I need to do a review of a couple of books I bought. 

Pictured to the right is The Left Hand Path by Timothy Brannan. He has a whole series of these titles, covering many witch traditions. I have always been taken with the idea of a witch character since reading the blurb for a witch character class in the 1977 DM's Guide. Nothing I cooked up ever felt right, but these books are perfect. 

There is also a specific character sheet for the witch class that is a lot of fun. It's hard to post an image without giving the whole thing away, but here is one with our familiar protecting it. 

If I complete my missions today, I may come back with a second update today. 

X2 - Castle Amber 2026 - Session 4.0 Fate Comes Knocking

Let me start with a big thank you to all the people who told me what "NSA" meant in my last post. "No Special Abilities". I didn't find a typo. The sword and armor were taken by Jude.  

Jude is now an AC tank but he is still soft on actual HP. 

The party was in hiding, trying to get their hit points up. Since they are quiet, I decided to only roll 4 times for wandering monsters. Three Galvan Magen stumbled upon the party, but Parker and Warren played dress-up and convinced their former brethren to leave. 

Second, fate knocked on the Study door. 12 rakasta stood in the hallway. Gabby and Nononn were able to negotiate with them and solve a couple of problems. At the end of the last session, the party laid the dead respectfully outside for burial. The new rakasta took over and buried them for the party. They were encouraged to do this as the party turned over all of the dead rakasta's weapons and the herbs Gabby had collected. Catnip was highly desired by them. The newcomers then left through the Indoor Forest. As the rakasta wandered the area, the party completed the burial of their dead. 

All of this was a bit white-knuckled for a party with depleted hit points, so they heeded Gabby's advice and hunkered down in the Study for 48 hours. 

Searching through the rakasta's gear, they found all kinds of useful things, most of which were only good for role-play. They found needles and thread, tents, clothing, rope, bedding, food, and a few flasks of oil, plus a few casks of water, wine, and brandy.

They also searched the study itself. The Magic-Users and Cleric found some interesting books, while the Bard found a map and a book of musical instruments. 

The party equitably distributed the equipment of the dead, since there was no escape from this place. They are in possession of 3 bags of holding. They can literally carry more than 2 fully loaded wagons. They took 3 of the smallest tents and the casks. 

As they sat out the next day, they modified the clothing they found the best they could. Each party member has 50 feet of rope, one flask of oil, a small lamp, a bedroll, and an extra set of clothes. Most of this was packed away in the bags of holding. 

They found one barrel of beef jerky, which everyone liked, and 6 barrels of dried fish, which almost no one liked. Warren and Parker found it acceptable, mostly because they have little experience with real food. When the time comes, they will convert to actual character classes to make up for party losses and have real opinions and tastes. 

After 48 hours, the party got itchy feet. Nononn, Jude, and Rety continued the military-like sweep of the west wing, despite Gabby warning them against that. She was able to steer them away from the room with the wraiths. At this point, I realized I had made a mistake of omission. The whole area 5 was described as a giant, blinding trap. Since I haven't mentioned it until now, it will continue to be ignored. 

Some things can't be fixed. 

The party discovered the ghost hobgoblins and followed them into the Dining Room. Gabby has experienced this meal before and tried to dissuade the party. Her plea convinced Lance, Merry, and Dorian not to participate. As the others sat down for a fine meal, Gabby asked the non-participants to take a seat. Alexei was an edge case, opting to drink everything placed before him as he strummed a dinner-time tune.

Rather than go through each serving, I will pause only on the negative results. The tossed salad affects everyone in small ways, but really impacts Sybil. Her Charisma goes up by two while her Wisdom, which was already pretty low, dropped by one. Being chaotic, this is dangerously close to the funniest Thief I have ever rolled. 

This is an odd trick for B/X based rules because of how the ability score modifiers work. You are unlikely to change enough to be mechanically affected, unless you lose points in your prime requisite ability. In AD&D, the effects are more dramatic because the modifiers are spread a little more. 

Khouri and Jude suffer from the bread. Since Khouri is a post-human with both heavily modified genes and nanites, she gets hot instead of suffering from the starvation-like hunger that Jude will experience. It doesn't harm her, but it does prevent her from eating any more food. She wandered the room, fanning herself and swearing. She is also immune to slow and haste spells. I have thought of adding more immunities, but that would require going through every spell. 

Gronk was less than helpful, advising the party on what should and should not be eaten. As a rabbit, he warns them about the bread, mushrooms, and beef, which was a confusing mixed bag of advice. Jude and Bel laugh off the warnings as "Rabbit-Talk" and immediately run afoul of poisoned mushrooms. Only the forward thinking and quick action by Gabby saved their lives. Since the whole party sat, there were extra glasses of amber wine to cancel the poison. 

Bel is not the smartest guy and rejoined the meal to the finish. As a bit of meta-humor, Jude eats Nononn's bread and undoes the curse of the bread, but then stops participating. Nononn and Rety grew wary of the meal and stopped, too. 

Gabby was relieved; she was convinced the party wouldn't make it through unscathed, if at all. 

And they didn't. Bel, Sybil, and Alexei drank the brandy, and Alexei paid the price. His playing took on a haunted sound as he faded away with the other guest. 

In the next session, there will be combat and immortal creatures. 

X2 - Castle Amber 2026 - Session 3.3 Knock-Knock!

The last session was rough. I am continuing that post here to cover the aftermath of the fight. At the end of the day, Pizzaballa, Solvo, Thomas, and Rety were reduced to zero hit points or less. Bel and Sybil fought bravely to fight off a rakasta that breached the door and downed Rety. They both have only 3 and 4 hp left.

Gabby pulled the party into the rakasta lair for rest and healing. In the end, Pizzaballa, Solvo, and Thomas succumbed to their wounds. All of the healing magic has been used. Gabby advises the party that there is an area in the Indoor Forest where the dead can be buried. Warren and Parker, as Magen associated with the castle lords, would be ignored by most monsters. They volunteer to dig graves. 

Gabby also turned over the key she had to the party and asked to join them. She also shows the party the rakastaa's larder and treasure. 

Each surviving member of the party received 1802 exp... assuming they survived the next encounter. 

Across the hall, the Ogre posing as Janet Amber discovered Richard's body and the trails of blood to the study door. 

Janet...er the Ogre, roared and charged the door. At the sound, Sybil and Bel approached the door to see what the noise was. The door's latch gave way, and the door smashed the Magic-Users to the ground. Jude and the Ogre met each other with weapons, and Jude was knocked unconscious, again. 

The battle was brutal and brief. Injuries mount. 

Afterwards, Merry and Nononn picked over Richard's body and gave Jude the plate armor and sword.  Returning to Richard's room, they saw the open secret door. They discovered the body in the fireplace and removed it. By its side, they placed the bodies of Richard and the rakasta leader. 

Standing in the hall, they realized they needed help. Lance, Khouri, and Alexei joined them, and they all dragged the other rakasta bodies out of the foyer and laid them along the western wall of the castle. 

Grim task completed, the party decided to move their dead to Richard's room for burial at some point in the near future. 

Warren, Parker, and Gronk returned to the study. With so many of the party injured, they decided to hunker down in the study until they have a reasonable amount of hit points left. Gronk was displeased with this choice until Gabby made him a nest near the fireplace. Lance and Alexei barricaded the door with the furniture. The rakasta conveniently left bedding for them to use, rich carpets and rugs. 

Since 9 characters participated in the battle against the Ogre, I assigned another 3925 exp to them, or 380 exp each. I also discovered an odd glitch with the copy of X2 I have. There is a typo: 

I have no idea what NSA would mean, so I ignored it. I suspect this is a rare scanning artifact. If you have an original copy, could you tell me what that word is? 

Over the next week, I will be updating character sheets, calculating exp awards, etc. 

X2 - Castle Amber 2026 - Session 3.2 Cape Canem!

In Posts 3.0 and 3.1, I did a fair bit of storytelling. We are going to explore a little more story, but then bring the party back together with the dice.  

To recap, the Magen received the names Parker and Warren in session 3.0. These two "characters" are included with the party as backups when other characters fall in combat. I am treating them as NPC with only the basic Demos Magen stats. They don't have classes yet. Session 3.0 also saw our magic-using heroes deplete all of their low-level spells and a fair amount of oil. 

In Session 3.1, we met Gronk and Gabby. Gabby, Lance, and Alexei all participated in the Bonds of Hospitality. Should the three of them attack one another, they will fall ill. No one has any intention of that. We also established Gronk as an excellent title to go with his name: 

"Seigneur Gronk, Chevalier du Bois de Lilas, le Défenseur des Voies Anciennes et Secrètes"

I left everyone hanging. Nononn and Merry were absent for the burning of the slimes, puddings, and molds. I am using AI to track PC and monster locations. Nice tool, if I remember to tell you the results. Nononn and Merry knocked on the door to rakshasa's lair and were admitted before the party went on the warpath. I didn't indicate this very well in my last two posts. We are picking up with them. 

Merry and Nononn rolled for reaction. The rakshasa leader was well disposed to them. They all sat down and talked about what was happening. The rakshasa leader explains that they are exiles hiding from a revolt. Either he attempted to overthrow his lord, or he was the deposed lord. It wasn't clear. Typical cats. 

I have decided the rakshasa leader's name is Thaddius. Thaddius explains that they went into hiding. With the support of Gabriella Durant, they have made a home here. Gabby harvests rare herbs from the indoor forest. Healing herbs and, of course, catnip, plus a few other items. He also alluded to Richard the Lionheart, who gave them sanctuary and Richard's odd sister.  

If I had real players, this conversation could be played for laughs. Outside the room, the other characters are fighting the slimes and such. As Thaddius tries to dig information out of Merry and Nononn, the sound of combat forces reaction rolls. The louder the combat gets, the worse it goes for Merry and Nononn. Finally, the smell of burning oil and slime got to Thaddius, and he investigated. 

Combat with the slimes was all over but the crying. Pizzaballa, Parker, and Warren avoided the combat area and were going to knock on the rakshasa's door when Thaddius and his followers poured out into the hallway. Thaddius sees the total carnage. Ick and carpets were wet and burning. Smoke and steam filled the air. Thaddius was confused and angry. 

And made his first mistake. I rolled using OSR Solo. Thaddius had mistaken Warren, Parker, and Pizzaballa for castle guards because two of them had been guards of a sort. He barks, "Seize the DOGS!" indicating Merry and Nononn. 

Alexei, Gabby, Gronk, and Lance were walking up behind everyone. As Thaddius pounded on the northern door, Gabby dropped her things and pulled out her sling. Lance and Alexei unlimbered their bows as Gronk ran in circles.   

A large lion-headed man stomped out into the hallway. 

Round 1: The party has initiative, but doesn't know what to do. The team on the left drew weapons. Gabby unleashed a stone at Richard, the Lionhearted, the man with the lion's head. Lance and Alexei sent arrows, while Gronk dashed back to the Indoor Forest. 

I have a lot of cheat-sheets for this. Richard takes 10 points of damage from the shots to the back. At this moment, I realized that X2 doesn't take equipment into account in stat blocks. Richard should be AC:0. It doesn't matter, as Lance and Gabby rolled a 19 and 20 with a mod for shooting for behind. 

Richard roared in pain and drew his sword (+3). Here lies the second issue. Richard was supposed ot be alone when he unleashed his fear-causing roar. I consulted OSR Solo a couple of times and determined that the roar only affects the enemies he is facing.  

The effects were immediate. Solvo, Rety, Thomas, Khouri, and Jude all made their saves. Dorian, Bel, and Sybil all failed. I have to consult the Oracle again. Since there is nowhere to run, Bel and Sybil ran in circles like Gronk, preventing Dorian from running past them. 

Solvo and Rety lofted arrows into the leading rakshasa, doing 6 points of damage. Khouri and Jude charged Richard and Thaddius from the front. Merry and Nononn do the same from the side. The 11 rakasta charged the western half of the party. 

Round 2: The party barely won initiative. Bel and Sybil held hands and escaped the only way they could: they turned invisible. Those were their last two spells. Dorian's feet were rooted in fear. Solvo and Rety unload on the rakasta again, this time with Thomas helping. The first rasasta goes down, forcing morale. Of course, they rolled a two. As if this melee wasn't chaotic enough.  

Richard took more fire from behind, but only Gabby did 3 points of damage. Richard is now squared off against Jude, charging with a polearm, and Khouri backs him up at a slower pace. Jude hit for a whopping 11 points of damage thanks to his bonuses, and Richard did the exact same damage. Khouri was unable to hit. 

Thaddius was in the way and distracted, so his morale held. Nononn and Merry go at him. Nononn struck for 7 points, and Merry was struck for a total of 6 points. 

Round 3: I consulted OSR Solo to see if the rasaska should surrender, run for it, or do something else. They are surrounded, with the enemy to their front in a state of panic. The roll indicated "Complication". I decide that the rakasta paused to take in the tactical situation. They eyed up Thomas, Rety, and Solvo and didn't like the odds of turning their backs on archers and a slinger. Dorian was also an attractive target. They couldn't see Bel and Sybil anymore. In the next round, they will charge again. 

Dorian was still rooted in place. Missiles fly, and two different rakasta were struck for 4 points each. 

Jude was hit for 7 points of damage, leaving him with only 8 HP. Jude couldn't hit, but Khouri was able to slash for a total of 5 points of damage. Richard has 27 HP left. 

Merry and Nononn go at Thaddius again and end him. 

Round 4

I haven't forgotten Parker, Warren, and Pizzaballa. Pizzaballa ordered the two Magen after the rakasta while he runs towards Jude. 

Round 4: Let's do the easy part. Parker and Warren pace the rakasta, and won't catch up. 

Lance, Gabby, and Alexei advanced past the melee with Richard, firing into the backs of the rakasta. Rety and Solvo fired, while Thomas took a defensive stance with his mace. The two lead rakasta go down, leaving 8 more. Lance's team was totally ineffective at shooting into their backs. No one from that group hit anything.

Round 5a, Jude and Pizzaballa are on the left,
Nononn and Khouri on the right. 

Meanwhile, Jude drops his polearm and uses his sword. He did massive 9 points of damage to Richard, leaving him at 19 HP. Richard clobbered Jude for 5 points of damage, leaving him at 3. Khouri missed, while Nononn closed in to attack in the next round. Merry pulls his bow and sets off after the rest of the rakasta. 

Round 5a: The party has initiative again. Pizzaballa made a fateful choice: he healed Jude, bringing the Knight back to 10 HP. Jude struck again for 7 points, Khouri for 3, and Nononn for 4. Richard, furious with the Cleric, dropped him with a brutal cut. 

Round 5b, the MU's are in the upper left corner.

Round 5b: The two Magic-Users moved invisibly to the northern door and opened it to hide inside. 

As a DM note, the rakasta would see and hear the door open. They are not fooled by the invisibility spell right now. But the prey is out of reach. As a historical note, castle doors usually open into the space they protect to keep the hinges safe from destruction. This will come up, later. 

Rety was screwed and knew it. While she had initiative and a bow, 4 rakasta were barreling at her. She dropped the bow to flee, taking a 3-point slash across the back. She dashed to the open northern door, with the clouder of rakasta on her heels. 

Fleeing prey was like catnip. 

Round 5c: Thomas in front, Solvo behind him.
And Dorian is on the far left.

Round 5c: On the southern side of the hall, Dorian was starting to shake off the fear and pulled his mace. Solvo lofted an arrow into the lead rakasta for 3 points, then dropped the bow. Thomas slugged another cat-man for 7 points and paid for it, taking a series of brutal slashes for 9 points. 

I did this one out of order because the rest of the gang could only reach the last four targets without endangering their friends. 

The rest of the party showered the northern group of rakasta with missiles, downing one and 2 HP to another. They were torn as to which group to help. 

Round 6: The party has lost initiative. Richard sliced Jude for 5 points of damage while Jude protected Pizzaballa's body. Khouri and Nononn attacked, but only Khouri stuck. Richard has a single hit point. Pizzaballa dropped a hit point to -4. 

Rety was slashed again, dropping her to 7 HP. She gave up her attack to get through the doorway, and Bel and Sybil slam it on the hands of her attackers. One more rakasta goes down to missile fire. 

On the other side of the hall, Solvo drew his sword and moved to Thomas's side. The two of them took a beating. Thomas was knocked down to 5 HP, while Solvo has 13 left. 

Boy, this post is long. 

Round 7. Again, the party loses initiative. Richard struck at Khouri for 9 points of damage before Jude could finish him off. Pizzaballa is at -5 hp. Khouri stabbed Richard several times to ensure he stayed down. 

For the players hiding behind the northern door, I improvised a sort of opposed check. Each rakasta has a 50-50 chance of opening the door. The heroes, using their own open stuck door roll, can force it closed again. A funny thing happens. The door doesn't budge on the first attempt, then opens briefly, before being slammed closed again. Arrows downed a rakasta from behind.  

The rakasta savage Solvo and Thomas again. Thomas folded and hit the floor. Solvo skinned the cat that did it. Dorian missed his chance to do something for the party. 

In the next round, Merry makes a terrible choice. He runs back to heal Pizzaballa. Dorian and Solvo missed the rakasta and it downed Solvo. On the other side of the hall, the rakasta breached the door and took Rety down. 

Rather than go round by round, the party mops up. One rakasta escaped through the foyer and disappeared into the trees. In need of healing, the party retreated into the study. Solvo, Thomas, Pizzaballa, Sybil, Belaphon, and Rety are in need of serious healing. 

We will pick up next time with the aftermath. Hopefully, the next post will neither as long or be as complicated as this one. 

X2 - Castle Amber 2026 - Session 3.1 Be Strength and Warning and Speed Forever

Let's take a moment to stat up Gabby's familiar, a giant rabbit named Gronk. 

Gronk: 

AC 6, HD 1/2, hp 7, #AT Special, D None, Save As Gabby, ML 10

Gronk has several special abilities.

He can identify plants at will. This ability can detect decay, poison, and other unsafe conditions. His armor class reflects his high speed. Gronk has more HP than normal thanks to his bonding with Gabby. Gronk rolls his own initiative at a +3 every melee round. He is surprised only on roll of 1. 

He can move at 240'/80' for up to 10 rounds. He can also deadstop at those speeds, allowing him to run and hide in shadows in the same round. He has a 50% chance to hide in the shadows, but is more likely to hide behind something rather than in the shadows. He can listen at doors on 1-5, an ability he extends to Gabby. Gronk, like all rabbits, can see better in the dark than humans. This is another ability he extends to Gabby.

Gronk is not terribly inclined to listen at doors. He finds it weird and unrabbit-like. When he identifies plants, he expects to eat. 

Gronk has no attacks. If he wins initiative, he can blow through humanoid opponents, meaning he can always escape combat in any direction he wishes. He cannot do the same to other creatures or animals.

Gabby can cast spells through him, as if the spell originated at his location. I don't know where this rule came from. It is not in the from Timothy Brannon's books. This ability is something I have always done for Magic-Users, but I don't know where I got the idea from. This ability does permit Gronk and other familiars to make attack rolls to touch someone if required by the spell. Gabby believes it's wrong to cast a harmful spell (blight, charm, cause light wounds, etc.) using Gronk as a conduit. Evil Witches and Magic-Users do not suffer from this limitation. 

All of the rest of Gronk's "abilities" tend to fall in the category of "being a rabbit" and will be explained as they occur. They don't affect combat as they are flavoring.  

Alexei and Lance followed Gabby through the door to the Indoor Forest. Gronk thumped in warning. 

"Hey, your guys are here," said Gronk. 

"Am I hearing things?" Lance asks Alexei. 

"Of course you are, I'm talking to you," said Gronk. 

Alexei, being an Elf and a Bard, succeeded in not looking surprised, but couldn't think of a response. Gabby saved him from his silence. 

"Hey, what did I tell you about sitting in the grass?" asked Gabby. 

"The killer trees will magically appear and try to kill me," answered Gronk before thumbing in mock alarm. As if summoned, tenticles appear on the right side of the path, with a third appearing behind Gabby on the left. 

Characters in Purple, Killer Trees in Red

Roll for initiative! 

Lance and Alexei had their bows ready and went first. They target the tree accosting Gronk. They easily hit, severing two of four limbs. The remaining limbs missed the rabbit. The second tree retracts its limbs, frustrated by the bowmen. 

The next round saw the third tree also back off, as Gabby slowly walked out of reach. She set a large bowl-like shield down on the path and spread a large blanket to sit on. The Bard and Elf sent two more arrows after the tentacles, but missed. The tree flailed its limbs uselessly. 

The killer trees grumbled in frustration as Gabby began humming a tune. Pleased, Alexei sat down and pulled out his lute to play along. Gabby said nothing as she picked through a pile of harvested plants on the shield. The trees went silently, listening to the party. 

(Witches normally don't use shields. This is on loan from the rakasta so she can carry more plants.)

Gronk seated himself next to Gabby, placing himself between the herbs and the two strangers. Sorting through her plants, she distractedly placed some in front of Gronk. The rabbit muttered the name of each as he grazed from the offerings. 

"Mint... Ooh, clover. Nice," he said. 

Lance gawked at the rabbit, causing Alexei to elbow him. Not sure what to do, Lance pawed through his pack, pulling some rations and two wineskins out. As an afterthought, he pulled an apple out.  

"My name is Gabriella Durant," she said. "Such kindness is appreciated. You wouldn't happen to have some meat in there?"  

"For the rabbit?" he asked. 

"No. For the trees, silly." 

Lance shrugged, pulled some jerky out and sniffed it. "Do trees here normally eat meat?" 

"Unfortunately, yes," she answered. 

"Ahem," said Alexei, nodding to Lance without missing a beat in the tune he played. 

"Oh," said Lance. He stood and pulled off his sword, placing it between himself and Gabriella before settling back to his knees. "My name is Lance, man-at-arms of the Lady Khouri. My companion is Alexei Gleeman." 

Gabby responded by placing her silver dagger on top of Lance's sword. "Well met, kind sirs." 

"Pfft," said Gronk. Gabby smiled and patted the rabbit on the head. 

"Sorry, my friend. Gentlemen, this is Mon Seigneur Gronk, Chevalier du Bois de Lilas, le Défenseur des Voies Anciennes et Secrètes." Neither man understood anything beyond the name, the severe tone, and the gravity of the title.  

Gronk honked at them before continuing his forging. 

"Allow me to offer such hospitality as I may, in this accursed place." She pulled out four small bowls and several thimble-sized cups. Lance offered her the wine, and she beamed. 

She cast the Ritual Spell, Bonds of Hospitality, upon them all and they all drank except for Gronk. 

"As the lord defender of the Witch, I may not be bound by such magic. Instead, I offer you my respect and care on the lady's behalf," said Gronk as he bobbled through a lagomorphic version of a bow. 

Gabriella removed Gronk's cup from the blanket, kissed it, and poured it into the grass as an offering to the forest. When she returned the cup to the blanket, Lance and Alexei solemnly bowed their heads, in respect of the sacrifice. Gronk repeated his odd bow to the lady before thumping in respect to the forest. 

"Peace and kindness to you and all you defend, great sir," Alexei said to the rabbit. "We thank you for your consideration." 

Gronk looked pleased. "They are so civil compared to the rakaska." 

Gabby shrugged, then placed some berries and leaves in each little bowl. The rabbit didn't seem to mind eating this. Once they were done, the ritual was complete. All participants are unable to engage in hostility for the next 24 hours, or they will be sickened. Except the rabbit, of course. 

Gabby gathered up her belongings, packing them away. She flicked through the herbs on the shield, selecting several large leaves. She gestured towards the jerky Lance had produced, and he handed them over. 

Unbeknownst to the men, the ritual included the two closest killer trees. Gabby took the jerky and leaves over to the wounded one and set them on the ground within its reach. It ate all of it and was healed. This one tree will ignore Gabby, Lance, and Alexei from here on out.

"You mentioned the rakaska. Are they the cat-men we saw?" asked Alexei. 

"Yes, I am in their employ. I keep them well and healthy," she waved, indicating the herbs she had collected. "However, I grow tired of this agreement." 

She pulled a large silver key on a chain from her tunic. "I wish to be free." 

If you like the Witch character I am using, thank Timothy S. Brannan. 

Please see the following links for DrivThruRPG: 

• The Craft of the Wise: The Pagan Witch Tradition
• The Left Hand Path - The Diabolic & Demonic Witchcraft Traditions
• Daughters of Darkness: The Mara Witch for Basic Era Games
• The Children of the Gods: The Classical Witch for Basic Era Games
• Cult of Diana: The Amazon Witch for Basic Era Games
• The Basic Witch: The Pumpkin Spice Witch Tradition
• Witch Character Sheet - Folio

X2 - Castle Amber 2026 - Session 3 - Split the Party Quarce

There are a lot of good reasons not to split the party. In the last session, Lance and Alexei wandered off after a woman they saw. After a brief combat, the party spotted the Raskasta and split again. Merry and Nononn decided to confront the Raskasta to see where Lance and Alexei went. Rety and Jude led the rest of the party to the Indoor Forest before changing their minds and choosing a different course. Rety and Jude fixated on room 8, the obvious trap. 

Let us get to the fourth division of the party. 

Pizzaballa was sitting at the bottom of the stairs to the foyer. Black smoke poured from the double doors. He was watching the Demos Magen* with interest, trying to think of a name for each of them. One was rubbing down Jude's horse while the other watched rabbits frolicking in the grass. There was a mighty TH-ruHMP! as Jude and the gang threw another flask of oil at the slimes. 

"Burning flasks of oil do 1d8 per round of damage," said the Magen watching the rabbits. "That is an awful amount of damage for such a low-tech utility item." 

Pizzaballa shook his head, "We aren't supposed to talk about it. It's not in the spirit of the game. But I do get your point, kind sir." 

"Who says?" the other Magen asked. 

"'Who?' indeed," answered Pizzaballa. "If I may be so bold, may I call you 'Warren'?" 

The Magen looked pleased. "We would be pleased. Warren is a good name. Where does it come from?" he asked. 

"The French, I believe. People from Jean-Louis's homeland," said Pizzaballa. 

"Warren, Pizzaballa. What shall we be named?" The Magen had gone back to brushing down the horse. 

"Hmm. Good question." After a long minute, Pizzaballa offered, "Parker, I think 'Parker' is an excellent name for you." 

"I do like it. Where does it come from?" he asked. 

"Well, that is complicated. It started in Old French, then was adopted into Middle English. Many people would be familiar with it from a comic book character. His name was Peter." 

"I do not like Peter. I like Parker," said the second Magen. "What does it mean?" 

"Well, a parker one who watches or cares for animals," answered the Cleric. 

A sizzle came echoing from the doorway and the black smoke was softened by a gout of steam. 

"Do you really think the wet carpet will stop them from burning down the castle?" asked Parker.

Pizzaballa shrugged. "Maybe. I hope."  

Before this session, I ran a poll among the younglings I know. Room 8 held a gray ooze, a giant green slime, and a black puddling. It is a classic Gygaxian trap for the unwary. I also mention that I have run this module several times. The first time, the party avoided the trap with a 10-foot pole, as any good D&D player would. The second time, it was throwing objects, like the towels from room 6. After that, everyone immediately identified the ooze, the slime, and the pudding by description. 

I polled 7 players between 20 and 25 years of age. All 7 of them identified the threat from the description only and proposed throwing as much burning oil into the room as possible. Zero modern players are fooled by this scenario. 

To paraphrase Octavia Butler, "To be remembered is to be lied about." 

I have taken great liberties with this module. There are movies, French, Shakespeare, Old and Middle English, comic book characters, cell phones, etc., in these posts and sessions. This is because my campaign takes place in a fallen version of our world. I can do that. 

In running the poll, this scenario SEEMS not worth running. But is that true? 

No, this is the lie. No one has fallen for the obvious trick of setting foot in the room for four decades of my play experience. Since that is a fact and true, I have to ask, "What is the point of this scenario?" The obvious trap is not the purpose.  

Moldvay isn't Gary Gygax, but he wrote to his level and style, which includes some fairly deep thinking. Room 8 was meant to be a sink for resources. Look at my characters (click the link to see that post). I made mistakes when creating these characters and did not permit myself time or thought to properly equip the party. Even still, the party has access to 23 flasks of oil and dozens of torches. 

This scenario needs to be played out because I can't have the party walk into the Indoor Forest with the ability to unload 23d8 points of damage every round. They also cast some spells to give themselves an advantage, like bless and their remaining magic missile spells. 

This is why I let this play out as I did. I won't bore you with the details, but the gray ooze is the dangerous creature here. It has the fewest hit points but is faster and better protected than the slime and the black pudding. I used an Excel spreadsheet to run through the combat several times. The RND function is not great for dice rolls, but it is a close approximation. The longest fight took 8 rounds. But used up most of the party's oil and torches. 

Let's collect up treasure and experience: 3000 gp plus 1000 pp in coins. Thomas and Dorian decide to grant Pizzaballa the staff of healing. Jude is offered the sword. This is 888 exp per character. While Pizzaballa didn't participate in combat, he did engage in planning, so he received experience this time. 

Pizzaballa is now level 3. Sybil is a special case; she has the power of a 4th-level Magic-User, but only had 9851 exp due to the use of a wish spell. She is now earning experience towards 5th-level. 

Let me share this album, as it seems appropriate.  

This post is getting long, so we will visit with Gabby, Alexei, and Gabby in Session 3.1 and Nononn and Merry in 3.2. 

*Is Magen a collective noun? For the way I have been playing them up, I think it is appropriate. 

Burn and Etch - Dungeon Terrain Again

I'm on my third run of dungeon terrain. Laser cutting and etching do take practice. In the first image, I cut too many pieces. I meant to have 1 six-inch wall, 2 4" walls, 4 2" walls, and 4 1"x1" walls. I accidentally cut an extra 1x1 that could have been doors or details. 

On the prior run, I ran into a bunch of "fix it in post" issues. The red highlights are places where the laser power was off, or the wood was warped and didn't cut all the way through. The blue highlights are two pieces where I etched instead of burning a cutout. And the real insult is in yellow. Having known I was cutting too many 1x1 pillars, I failed to fix it by removing the parts. Hence the extra parts in the image above. 

The whole "I can fix that" defeats the purpose of having a laser. Handcutting dings up the pieces, causes scratches, or causes blowouts. These are all things the laser should do so I don't have to. 

Once I hammer out these issues, I plan on adding doors, tables, and other scenery to the collection. In a perfect world, I would sell the physical goods. I am hampered by shipping costs, which could be $20.00 per set. That seems self-defeating or at least very limiting. 

I might list them on Etsy or KoFi as a digital file.

An interesting byproduct of all of this cutting was that I made a ruin from scrap pieces. 

Maybe you remember the little structure I showed for my B2 Keep on the Borderlands Sessions. The little building above represents either the left or the right side of the fortified house. This is one of those Bob Ross moments where we know there is a cabin or whatnot, but nothing about who built it or who lived there. 

Since it is positioned on the rim of the valley, over the Caves of Chaos, it stands to reason that either the fortified house was abandoned when the monsters moved in. Or it could have been built afterward, as a beachhead against the monsters. 

Personally, I like the latter. I could imagine that forces from the Keep could have gotten a foothold against the actual monsters, but then it was destroyed with the coming of the priests. Perhaps the zombies and skeletons in the Caves are the former inhabitants of the fortification. 

Grim. 

I like telling myself these little stories. The cool thing about them is that when a character is supposed to have some lore or special knowledge, I can drop these little musings on them so they can tell the party. Sure, the story has to be brief, and it does turn into a game of telephone where the story distorts, but I make the player character's distortion canon to the campaign. It can make Bards, Wizards, and learned Clerics seem more special. 

Next up, we will return to Castle Amber. After that, I'll get painting. And third, I will tell you about The Game of the Weather Witch.