Canonfire!

Wed Dec 28, 2005 11:03 pm Age of Worms

Has or is anyone running the Age of Worms in their GH campaign? I like the basic idea behind it, but was interested in opinions on whether or not the material is worth getting those issues of Dungeon for?

Thu Dec 29, 2005 8:15 am Awesome

I've been judging the Age of Worms Adventure Path for a group of six in Salt Lake City - and it is awesome. The players love it so far. Two of them said of The Whispering Cairn that "...it was like old-school AD&D."

I think it is definitely worth getting these Dungeons. There is plenty of Greyhawk. And, if you have older supplements like the 1983 City of Greyhawk boxed set and Greyhawk: The Adventure Begins, you can really bring detail and life to the adventures. You'll also see lots of small tidbits and emanations from other Greyhawk works.

the adventures have been pretty good, so far. I think the weakest one to date is Reynold's Encounter at Blackwall Keep. And, it's just not the best, I'm certainly not saying it is bad.

One of the players I judge for started a journal. he stopped updating it - I'll prod him to do so. But check it out HERE if interested in a short character view of the game. I should probably update the site as a whole. Confused

Anyway, I could give more specific details and opinions, but I'll leave these comments for now.
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Don (Greyson)

Thu Dec 29, 2005 10:00 am

If you don't subscribe to Dungeon then it will probably worth it to wait for the hardback if they decide to do one similar to the SCAP hardback.

Although Dungeon is definitely a great subscription, paying cover price for those that you missed especially if you aren't interested in the other adventures and articles is probably a waste.

On top of that the edits and additions that they made to the SCAP book definitely make it worth waiting for the hardcover version of AoW.

Thu Dec 29, 2005 11:31 am

Thanks for the review and link Greyson. I'll definitely be checking out that diary.
If I do decide to do it I'll probably do what Phoebus advised and wait to see if they bind it altogether, although that option also seems a bit pricey if you can judge the SCAP. So I might end up just making the whole thing up based on what I've been able to glean from the Age of Worms Overload.

My party is going to be based in Elredd (576 CY), and I plan on keeping them in that area so I'd probably have to scale the Free City back a bit, plus see if I can blend the Age of Worms intrigues with the Slaver series. Gladiatorial games don't really fit with my campaign, so I'll probably have to change alot of The Hall of Harsh Reflections and The Champion's Belt, but I could see making it work.

Thanks again.

Fri Dec 30, 2005 8:11 am

My only WTF??? so far has been turning the Free City Arena into a gladiatorial pit. YMMV.

Fri Dec 30, 2005 10:08 am

Considering a subscription is $38 and the hardcover is printed on glossy paper and includes all the edits and maps its really not a bad price point. I got mine online for $40 bucks.

As far as the the Arena being used for blood sports the LG Journal had said as much long before the AofW came out. And I believe Erik Mona wrote the LG write up as well so at least he is consistent. Happy

Fri Dec 30, 2005 1:52 pm

The City of Greyhawk boxed set had bloodsports in the arena too, I think.

Fri Dec 30, 2005 7:19 pm

Bloodsports, at least in the Central Flanaess, don't really fit in my boring late middle ages campaign. I was thinking I might substitute a tourney instead.

Sat Dec 31, 2005 4:01 pm

A classic tournament would easily work in place of the Champion's Games (you wouldn't even need to change the name), and could still be held in the Free City Arena (preserving the understructure maps). You'd have to rejig the competition part of the adventure, but it might also be a lot of fun.

I explicitly added bloodsport to the Free City Arena because it's almost unthinkable that they wouldn't be dragging in monstrous beasts and whatever else people would pay their hard-earned silver to see. We know from the City of Greyhawk boxed set that they sometimes flood the place for mock battles, and it just seemed unlikely to me, given the character of the city in "Saga of Old City" and elsewhere, that some enterprising bastard wouldn't take the next logical step.

In the Living Greyhawk Journal, I mentioned that the Oeridians who originally built the coliseum did so for the traditional bloodsport reasons, which came back into play after the influx of refugees following the Greyhawk Wars critically overstressed the city's workhouses and primitive judicial system.

My personal view: Gladiators are cool, and a classic part of most players' D&D experience. The main D&D city ought to allow for them.

--Erik

Sun Jan 01, 2006 4:59 am

But, the pit in the Thieves' Quarter specifically handled these as an underground event. I took that to mean this sort of thing was generally frowned on in polite society, thus I found gladiatorial combat in the Free City Arena jarring.

Then again, my POV comes form the City of Greyhawk boxed set. Certain managerial guidelines may have been in place coloring that depiction.

Sun Jan 01, 2006 9:12 am Dragon 299

If you want a good D&D 3rd edition tournament alternative for the Champions Games I recommend Dragon 299. Mike Tresca's Knights: Honor and Chivlary in Any D&D Game article offers great tournament rules on pages 41-44. There is even a tournaments ground map.

For what it's worth, I believe a gladitorial bloodsport and a tournament style competition fit the City of Greyhawk's general attitude and personality. The city is so varied and multi-cultural that it can accommodate both. I can even imagine spectators and participants from both venues patronizing the other - perhaps in secret.

To get back on topic, these Dungeons (and many, many non-Adventure Path issues) are worth every penny of their price for the Greyhawk enthusiast. I think this very discussion and the different Greyhawk resources cited is a good example of the value Age of Worms contributes to the setting.

Happy gaming.
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Don (Greyson)

Sun Jan 01, 2006 11:13 am

Greyson, thanks for the tip on the tournament rules. The Fighter in the party is a gentlewoman-at-arms so that'll work out nicely.

I'll probably still wait for the bound book, but I think I saw an issue of #124 at my local gaming/comic store the other day, so I'm going to pick that up just to get the party started.

Tue Jan 03, 2006 2:25 am

I don't really have a problem with the gladitorial combat angle. I thought the back reference to it being a development of tribal Oeridian ritual combats (with no doubt some influence from the decadent late Suel Imperium in turning it into a public blood sport) made a lot of sense. Like the Romans, the Oerids are a pretty martial bunch - so I don't see it being out of character.

I can also see the old Oeridian tribal customs of ritual combat giving rise to a culture of dueling - particularly in the old Great Kingdom and especially in the Darmen lands, where it profits one more to resolve a dispute in a duel rather than in open warfare. And of course, given the wealth of the Darmen princes and their underlings, you could also see the rise of a class of professional duelists, who act as proxies for wealthy nobles and guildsmen who prefer living an unperforated existance. :)

Happy 2006, y'all!

P.