[D&D 0e] Planet Eris: PALACE OF THE VAMPIRE QUEEN (Roll20)

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Traditional Games > The Game Room > [D&D 0e] Planet Eris: PALACE OF THE VAMPIRE QUEEN (Roll20)

CountingWizard: Jul 6, 2004

EDIT: We have recently switched to Fridays from 5pm to 10pm or later CST. Setup is usually from 5pm to 6pm, show up any time to play. Next game is 10/10/2014. Click here to sign up.

ABOUT PLANET ERIS AND THE MODULE:

The Planet Eris: House Rules are a very specific set of rulings for D&D 0e, pulled from various sources such as Judges Guild publications, early D&D basic additions, and are based upon the first three booklets: Men and Magic, Monsters and Treasures, and the Underworld Adventures. They are coupled with modified to-hit progression and a few other minor changes that make playing OD&D a straight forward, easy to play, process; and this is what I consider to be the very best way to play D&D. The house rules were written by Jimm Johnson, a local Austin dungeonmaster that has started reviving the old-school scene in the area. I will soon post a link to an edited version of the rules that includes appendices for frequently referenced materials. You will not need to know how to do anything other than learn how to fill out your character sheet for this game.

Palace of the Vampire Queen is the first module ever published for D&D. The original module is incredibly bare-bones, and is more of a kit that expects you to spend a couple of months expanding upon the framework of content to flesh out the dungeon, and its a reason why no adventure to this dungeon will ever be the same if playing with different DMs. I will be making use of an extremely modified version of the module created by Jimm Johnson; he was kind enough to let me borrow his notes and materials so that I could introduce others to the wonders of 1970's OD&D.

Planet Eris is a campaign setting based mainly in traditional fantasy D&D, however there is a proper mix of science fiction and horror, much like the REH sword and sorcery pulps. The world map above goes into great detail to lay out many of the settings and places you can expect your adventurers to visit.

World travel is a dangerous affair however, with the threat of sea monsters or dragons always being a possible encounter. Moon Gates grant players to access other dungeons run by other GMs, given they permit you, and allow characters to travel vast distances between sessions. Moon Gates are only used for DMing multiple settings in the campaign, and visiting towns and cities will normally require overland travel.

Some fun places to visit in this world are: Skull Mountain, The Domain of the Red Wizard, Wild Lands Hex-Crawl Castles

HOW TO PLAY IN THIS GAME:
The regularly scheduled day will be Fridays from 5pm to 10pm or later CST with one break. Adventuring probably won't start until 5:30pm or 6:00pm, as people will want to perform character maintenance or take time to prepare in town. The game will be run much like a pick-up game, where people can come and go as they wish informally during the session, but xp will be handed out at the end of the session (will try to get xp and loot to those that have to leave early).

We will be using Roll20.net which requires only a free account to play. D&D 0e campaigns are generally designed for 6 to 40 people, but I will set a loose limit of 15 people. The following are general rules about the number of hirelings and characters you can have with you during a session, I reserve the right to decide limitations, and around 20 is the max amount of characters/hirelings allowed in the group:

1-6 Players: 2 characters, and hirelings.
7-11 Players: 2 characters, hirelings may be restricted.
12-15 Players: 1 character, 1 hireling or none.
Secondary Characters may only be created by ascending hirelings from level 0.

REQUIRED MATERIALS:
I will be playing this game much like people played it in the 1970's. I will not be providing maps, making use of miniatures/tokens or grid movement, actual dice are encouraged. As DM I will describe in detail what you experience and encounter, and it is up to you as the player to use your imagination in order to overcome obstacles. I will at times make use of a whiteboard to help visualize relative positions or clarify descriptions. I will not demand to see your dice, nor will I ask to see your character sheet.

Before playing the game you may want to ensure you have the following:

Pencil and Eraser
Graphing Paper (if you want to map), if you know any other map making solutions that players can use to map and share, feel free.
Standard dice set is recommended (1d20, 1d12, 2d10, 1d8, 1d6, 1d4), although you can use the Roll20 dice.
Character sheet (printed), although you can use the Roll20 character sheet.
Extra paper to track defeated monsters and treasure (optional).
Obviously, a computer and a working microphone.
Skype (need to test out Roll20's voice comms to see if it can work as a skype replacement).

GAMING ETIQUETTE:
For many of you first timers, or those that need a refresher, the following are my tabletop gaming etiquette rules to prevent drama and increase the enjoyment of the game:

LIVE BY THE DICE, DIE BY THE DICE:Don't cheat by ignoring fumbles and bad rolls. Accept the original rolls you make. Characters die, it's part of the thrill of the game; accept your losses and pray that the dice gods smile when you get resurrected.
FORTUNE FAVORS THE BOLD: If you take the risk to retrieve, pick up, or otherwise try out an item, you take ownership of that item. If you are constantly getting all the magic items, then maybe you should let someone else have a chance at it. All disputes should be handled with a d20 dice-off (must use Roll20).
ALL TREASURE IS GROUP TREASURE: Except for the aforementioned magic item rule, all treasure goes into a group pile to be split and shared with characters and hirelings at the end of a session.
TEAMWORK: Remember this is a team oriented game. Try to avoid drama by avoiding actions which purposely harm the group. Roleplaying a self-centered prick is not fun for the group and you may find your party turning their back on you when you need them most. Also, the number one rule is don't split the group; there is only one of me, and this isn't your personal individual adventure. You are allowed some latitude for actions, and I'll let you know when you are passing the point where it becomes you doing your own thing while the group does theirs.
DON'T STEAL FROM PLAYERS: If a player has more than one character in the group at a time, they have first looting rights to their character's corpse; don't be a dick and steal things from other players when they clearly have a character that can recover their items (rerolled new characters don't count).
LEAVE NO ONE BEHIND: If a character dies and it is possible to retrieve their corpse without risk, do your best to try and resurrect the character instead of just looting them; the next time it could be you laying in that pool of blood.

PRE-GAME PREPARATION:

Prepare your character sheet.
Buy equipment.
Decide on marching order and fill out a marching order sheet.
Assign official mapper.
Assign record keeper to track treasure and defeated monsters.
Seek hirelings from the tavern.
Perform any other in-town activities.
Adventure

ENFORCED/UNENFORCED MECHANICS

WEIGHT: This mechanic is the most tedious bullshit mechanic of all time. I will only be enforcing this to an extent. Characters can wear/carry only 1 suit of armor, 1 shield, 2 weapons (maybe more if they are tightly bundled), 2000gp, and maybe another handful of items in their bag. I will regularly ask you to tell me your inventory and you may be forced to drop things. Carry only what you reasonably expect to be able to carry, otherwise hire a porter or buy a horse with travel bags.
FOOD/WATER NEEDS DURING TRAVEL: Food and water needs will be handled once per day while travelling. You are expected to mark off that you have used up one foot ration or water for each, and to let me know when you are running low or are out of water so that the group can share or seek water. Generally 1 week of rations and 1 or 2 waterskins is enough to keep you going for an adventure.
LIVING EXPENSES IN TOWN FROM WEEK TO WEEK AND SESSION TO SESSION: I have a cost list of weekly upkeep expenses for food and board. A week of in-game time always passes between each session. If you don't pay for adequate sleeping quarters you will get fleas or diseases and probably a penalty. Your god hates poors. If you pay for more expensive food and living quarters, your standing will increase in the town/city and provides reaction bonuses.
TORCHES/LANTERNS: Torches and lanterns will only last so long. Bring enough into the dungeon to last you, otherwise the group could get lost and have to make a roll to survive adversity (save or die). Torches may be held in hands that are also using a shield, but are dropped during battle; lanterns require a free hand.
RESTING HP/SPELL RECOVERY: Each person requires a full 8 hours of rest/sleep to recover hp and spell use. Standing on watch is ok; there are four watches during the night, and you won't be penalized for standing watch and only getting 6 hours of sleep. You have to remove your armor in order to sleep though.

Useful Materials
Planet Eris House Rules/OD&D Rules
Planet Eris World Map
Map of the Island of Baalor
Character Sheet (2-sided)

OTHER COMMENTS:
Feel free to post to let me know if you are interested in the game or have any other questions. Beware gnomes, they are tricky little bastards.

CountingWizard fucked around with this message at 14:39 on Oct 10, 2014

# ? Aug 8, 2014 23:02

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# ? Jun 5, 2024 04:24

CountingWizard: Jul 6, 2004

The first game will be September 24th at 5pm Central US. Session link to come. Adventuring will likely start at 6pm. Latecomers are welcome.

# ? Sep 17, 2014 22:03

CountingWizard: Jul 6, 2004

The game is going strong on Roll 20. We are meeting regularly on Wednesdays now, with an occasionally game on Sunday.

CountingWizard fucked around with this message at 20:57 on Oct 4, 2014

# ? Sep 18, 2014 18:32

CountingWizard: Jul 6, 2004

I'm trying to move the game to Fridays. First Friday game is tomorrow 10/10/2014 from 5pm until 10pm or later CST. Sign up if you want to help make the new schedule work. We also occasionally have a different adventure on Sundays around noon.

# ? Oct 9, 2014 22:53

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Traditional Games > The Game Room > [D&D 0e] Planet Eris: PALACE OF THE VAMPIRE QUEEN (Roll20)