Navero 30
From: dparsons@jarthur.Claremont.EDU (Daniel Parsons) Newsgroups: rec.games.frp Subject: Navero XXX Keywords: Navero, of the Correct and Unalterable Way Message-ID: <4459@jarthur.Claremont.EDU> Date: 18 Feb 90 00:11:03 GMT Organization: Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, CA 91711 Lines: 412
Whew... The thirtieth posting. Navero XXX. I never thought this thing
would go this far, or last this long. I hope you don't mind, but I'd like
to take a moment to look back on it, and contemplate, before getting down to
business. If you'd rather just see the story, then skip down for a while,
if you please, until you see the second line.
It started in early November, I believe. There was a thread running through r.g.frp about some humorous situations people found themselves in. Some people did clever things to the monsters; more often, they had clever things inflicted on them by the DM. I was just looking at all this, and thought of the three-year campaign I had been in, and which had ended just that year.
I could recall many, many funny situations from those days, but most were not the sort of joke I could tell in one shot. They were all character jokes, and depended on the personalities of those involved. I could have written them straight ("One funny thing was when our MU ran into the Purple Polka-Dot Wizards..."), but unless you knew the person involved, they just weren't as funny. At least, I could have made the PPW's funny, or The Three, or The Priests of Gothard, or The Collected Fumbles of Navero, but unless you appreciated the situation fully, it just wasn't the same. The solution, it seemed, was to tell it as a LONG joke; instead of one posting, make 3 or 4, giving all the personalities time to present themselves; a lot of little jokes building up to a great big punch-line. I have to say that I had NO intention of writing a campaign recap.
At that time, I had seen about half-dozen campaigns described in r.g.frp. Most of these, I hate to say, were rather poor. They were all written like bad heroic fantasy. The characters were great and important figures: whole kingdoms depended on them, and were treated with respect by those around them; even their enemies respected them, or died; usually both. Few of them were really very entertaining, and none were amusing.
The campaign I played in was different. We laughed at each other, insulted each other, hated each other, (only the characters, of course) cussed and swore and generally did all the earthy things that I didn't see in other games. Jokes, both elaborate and simple, flew thick and fast all over. The DM treated us accordingly. We were not great, important people. We were a bunch of wandering foreigners, distrusted as any sword-swinging stranger would be. Government people looked down on us as common ruffians; church people were often unkind to us; peasants ran away from us, and wouldn't help us (the rationale was that a man in plate with a sword was analogous to a man walking around with a machine gun. Would you trust this person? I thought not.); we were goaded and teased by the sons of the local nobility (whom we BETTER not attack, or else...); merchants took advantage of us. We were a bunch of little schmucks running around getting into more trouble than we could deal with, even when we began to get into the higher levels. And we enjoyed it. It kept the characters human (even the ones who weren't), solid, and real in our minds. We liked them because they were real to us. (I have tried to get the essential earthiness of all the characters in our campaign across, and I think I have succeeded.)
So, I wrote 4 postings, and hadn't reached the punchline. It was going to take longer than I thought. I wrote a fifth, then a sixth, and started getting feedback, The Story is Great, Keep it Up. So I wrote some more. One month, the story flowed particularly freely; I made the top ten in volume on Navero alone. Other people began posting recaps; pretty soon, there were more stories running on the net than there had been in the last 3 years combined. People brought up new topics; What Makes An Adventure Good? Should The GM Fudge Die Rolls? How Do You Make A Campaign? Before this, there had been little more than discussions of How The Rules Work, and Which Rules (or Systems) Are Better; but now people were beginning to talk about the neglected half of the game, How To Play.
There were unfortunate consequences, too - the volume of stories got so high, some people wanted to split the group, and create r.g.frp.fiction. I suspected it would blow over; it was a temporary surge, and had happened before with Champions and Shadowrun. I was right, but in dying down, all the other stories died, and many of them were pretty good. (Except for the new Nowhere Land, which looks interesting...) I guess they all were finished, whereas the Navero story isn't nearly done yet. Heck, it took us years to find the damn Orb of Spheres, and a lot of other things happened. And what a long, strange trip it's been...
- Starting characters introduced; Party forms; Leave for Swamp Keep.
- Journey to Swamp Keep; Wyvern attack.
- Arrival at Swamp Keep; Party ingratiates itself with the locals; First attempt to see Lord of Keep.
- Second attempt to see Lord of Keep; Ride to Orc lair.
- First encounter with Orcs; Third attempt to see Lord of Keep; Kortul introduced, joins party; The Assassin leaves party.
- Party tries smoking Orcs out; Orcs attack; Orc Chief, Baby Black Dragon introduced; Navero's first really spectacular fumbles; Orcs Routed.
- Exploration of Orc lair; Women and child Orcs slaughtered; Rizudo dies; Arlor discovered.
- Fourth attempt to see Lord of Keep; Return for battle tokens; Arlor and Razuli introduced.
- Fifth, final attempt to see Lord of Keep; Receive reward; Dania, Kortul, Navero, Rourk train to 2nd level; Purple Polka-Dot Wizards introduced; Dania starts new apprenticeship.
- Arlor and Razuli join party; Navero gives Rourk blessing; Cross barrier into lower caves.
- Discover lava pit; Shimmer Mold cave; Ankheg(?) attack.
- Dead Crayfish cave; Giant Ant cave; Algae pool and Orc(?) cache; Battle with Orc Chief, Ogre, 2 Rust Monsters.
- Witherstench attack; Navero dies; Give Orc Chief's head to official; Navero resurrected.
- Dania told to go get some brains; Complete exploration of lower caves; Red Dragon discovered.
- Dania, Navero, Rourk train to 3rd level; Prepare for Red Dragon battle.
- Red Dragon battle.
- Aftermath of Red Dragon battle; The Three introduced.
- Recovery; The Three attack; Party declared liable for The Three; Party leaves Swamp Keep.
- Party travels northwest; Wereboar attack; Arrival at Capital (Propyla?); Tax evasion; Party receives chits.
- The Magic Shop; George introduced; Kory Silvertongue introduced; Rourk Ravensbane dies.
- Training for all; Commission to kill Baby Black; Party told chits are magical; Kory Silvertongue joins party; Start into swamp.
- Continue through swamp; Topash Raycin introduced, joins party; The DM gets nasty (Troll attack); Raid Troll lair.
- Continue through swamp; Baby Black attacks; Navero dies (2nd time); Baby Black dies; Adult Blacks discovered (Baby's parents).
- Discuss resurrecting Navero; Adult Blacks attacked, killed; Dragon hoard discovered; Thor appears.
- Thor gives party quest: get Orb of Spheres; Navero resurrected; Party cleans up treasure, identifies magic items; Party gets rid of chits.
- Return to Propyla "low town"; Priests of Gothard introduced; Dania helps a priest discharge his sacred duty; Navero get armored; Navero seeks penance; Is Dania pregnant?
- Visit sages in low town; Kilgurian introduced, starts research; First Drinking contest.
- Razuli, Kortul, Arlor, Kory train to next level; Kilgurian gives no useful information; Dark clouds to west, Party investigates; Party travels to Etheilia; Ghast attack.
- Party continues travel; Undead attack; Navero's second really spectacular fumbles (Actually a noteworthy series of fuck-ups); Party rescued by riders; Party enters Methigor.
But the best aspect of writing has always been the readers responses. Questions like "How did your DM handle this?" and "I REALLY like <x>!" Even better, people who ask me how such a campaign is created. (A lot of factors contributed) But I think the best letter I ever got was from a GURPS GM, who said that although Navero hadn't changed his opinion of AD&D, it did change the way he GM'd, and his whole outlook on gaming. This was about the most rewarding thing anyone could say to me; I had reached across the barriers of rules and presented a game so that even someone who disliked the rules was inspired by the game. :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-]
There are a few things I am interested in knowing, from those who may
know about such things. Has any adventure recap in r.g.frp reached 30 parts?
Has ANY series of articles reached 30 parts? I know that in terms of volume,
Navero is up there, but is definitely not the biggest. I cannot remember
any story that ever reached this many parts, unless it was written over a
long time, or by more than one person. Does anyone know anything about this?
Tabalport has had more than 30 postings, I think, but I am not sure.
A second thing is whether anything could be done to improve the stories in an way. I always try to do my best, but I may not be succeeding. Lately, I have been getting no feedback (except for about one letter a week from someone whose computer ate their copies) and don't know if you like it, are indifferent, or have stopped reading. I know they aren't perfect, far from it, in fact. Is there anything I could do to make them better? More narrative? Less? Use a different writing style, and not the crazy prose- mixed-with-a-running-script?
I'd better get back to the story now. I hope you've enjoyed all this, as I really have enjoyed writing it.
A A A A
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. . . The Mighty Mace of Self-Destruction -=--=--=--=-
V V V V
Lord Daniel, dparsons@jarthur.claremont.edu
- Navero, male human cleric, 4th level
- Dania, female 1/2-elf MU, 4th level
- Kortul, male human fighter, 4th level
- Razuli, male human fighter, 4th level
- Arlor, male dwarf thief, 4th level
- Kory, male elf bard, 3rd level
- Topash, male elf druid, 3rd level
Inside Methigor...
(Party members are scattered along castle wall, or getting food, or looking for a cleric, or whatever. Kortul went looking for Navero, and found him sewing up a rip in his robe. Navero carries needle and thread, among other things. [This is a conversation between my two characters. I thought it up while listening to Jeff and Shelby bitch out rules for making Holy Water.])
Kortul: "Priest."
Navero: "Yes?"
Kortul: "Want you out of group."
Navero: "What?"
Kortul: "Get out. Menace to yourself, others. Gods have cursed you."
Navero: "No they haven't! I mean... I'm sorry about your head. It really was an accident. I didn't mean to."
Kortul: "You are either looked down on by gods, or most incompetent asshole I ever met. Either way, don't want you around. Get out."
Navero: "Uh... I... I can't leave my friends."
Kortul: "Better off without you."
Navero: "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hit you, or die any of those times, or anything! It just HAPPENED! I don't know what's wrong, really I don't. It MUST be that the Lords are angry with me."
Kortul: "Fine. Go somewhere else, let them be angry there."
Navero: "But I can't leave my friends. I... It... It seems to me that that would be a greater sin. You got me back from both... times, and I haven't proven I was worth it. I have to do that. 'Equity is most desirable among friends'!"
Kortul: "Priest, not listening. Said, 'get out.'"
Navero: (Looks nervous.) "Uh...... No."
Kortul: (grr..) "You are menace. Cursed, damned. Signs are in everything you do. GET OUT!"
Navero: "No. I refuse. I cannot."
Kortul: (Glowers) "Priest, don't have a prayer. Do as I say. Get out. NOW."
Navero: (Looks very nervous.) "No."
Kortul: (Approaches.) "Priest..."
Navero: (*Command*) "STOP!!"
Kortul: (Stops.)
Navero: "No, I will not leave! I will not run! I have too much to make up for! I WILL NOT! I am going to show the Lords that I CAN do well! Yea, I will not allow these trials to bear me down, I will GO ON! I must bear it as I would any other burden, and I will prevail despite it! I will! I will! You can't make me do what I don't want to do! You can't! No one can! You stopped. You did. The Lords do look on me with kindness, they do understand! I have been given a great task, and I SHALL PREVAIL!"
Kortul: (Command ends) "Fine. PREVAIL SOMEWHERE ELSE!"
Navero: "No. Now go away."
Kortul: (GRRR....) (Crouches for leap.)
Navero: "I don't want this. I don't. Please don't."
Kortul: "..."
Navero: "Please."
(Kortul considers the situation. God, what a wimp this kid is. Was I ever that young and stupid? Surely not. Surely not.)
Kortul: "Stay out of front lines, then." (Walks off.)
The night passed slowly, but peacefully. A few of us did get ill from the stench, and nobody had any kind of appetite. We couldn't find the mess hall (Smells of food couldn't make it to us), so those who felt like it nibbled old traveling rations. We slept during the day, like everyone else seemed to do; it was dark enough to get away with it, even in the relatively sunny city. The next night, another soldier came looking for us, and told each of us to meet Duke Desmod in his observatory. Somehow, the guard could not find Navero, so he was absent from the meeting.
(In the observatory. The observatory is a high tower with a small room on top, with big windows, and glass windows in the roof through which stars could normally be seen. Duke Desmod was a thin man with very pale skin, and a furrowed brow. He looked ill, and very worried.)
Desmod: "Greetings. I have heard of your arrival. Tell me, how fares the outside world?"
Dania: "Well, sir, we don't know much, we came here to try and find out what was going on."
Topash: "`Tis a tale of great woe, your excellency. When we left the city of Propyla, the great blackness covered nearly a third of the sky. It has taken the city of Ethilia, I have little doubt, and consumed it."
Kory: "Yea, yea. Whoever's doing this has absolutely no appreciation of aesthetics whatsoever."
Desmod: (Short, wheezy laugh) "Well, I suppose. Do you know if any of our messengers have gotten through to a free town?"
Dania: "We saw some ride into Propyla about a couple of weeks ago."
Topash: "But we have not seen any on the road since we came from Ethilia."
Desmod: (sigh) "Yes. I wish my wife was here. She was a mighty Paladin, full of grace and beauty. She could secure the Bloodstone."
Topash: "Bloodstone?"
Kory: "Grace and beauty?"
Desmod: "Sadly, she is finished. Yes, the bloodstone. It is in artifact in the keeping of a witch, who resides south of here. My incantations have pointed it out as being responsible for the infestation of the undead you see here, but I have been unable to reach the item. I am no longer a young man, but I fear I may have little choice."
Dania: "Explain this Bloodstone, please, your grace."
Desmod: (Mirthless laugh) "It is an artifact, made by the Gods of Chaos. It holds a small piece of Death's great scythe, and death radiates from it. To merely touch it with flesh creates a Vampire. I fear it is causing all this; it appears some witch or other has found it, and is using it for her own ends. I have heard her laughing through my incantations; with her guarding it, I cannot reach the artifact from here, and the men I have sent have never returned. I fear I must go myself. But without my wife, I fear my chances of even reaching it are not good, and the journey would drain my remaining health and leave me no match for its guardians."
Kory: "Oh, my GOD... THAT WAS INCREDIBLE! So dramatic, and full of pathos, my dear sir! Have you ever considered acting?"
Desmod: "I know not what you mean."
Razuli: "Where's your wife?"
Desmod: "She died, recently."
Dania: "Ah."
Topash: "So, the thing we must do, obviously, is to get this bloodstone and destroy it."
Dania: "Destroy a godly artifact? Good luck."
Desmod: "There is a ritual which could be used to CONTAIN the bloodstone, if not destroy it. Many have quested and sought after a means of destroying the bloodstone, but nothing has come to light. It seems as difficult as conquering death itself."
Razuli: "So, you wanna run south, get this thing, then run back here and put it inna lead box?"
Desmod: "Lead? Why would you use lead for this purpose?"
Dania: "Ah, never mind him. He's just a idiot."
Razuli: "How'd you like some.."
Kory: "Children, children, please! Let's be reasonable and not kill each other all over his excellency's floor. Something as dark and unpleasant as this place needs cleaning up. Why don't we go do it, then get back to the Orb?
Dania: "Oh, yeah. Your excellency, do you know anything about the Orb of Spheres?"
Desmod: "Orb of Spheres? You seek the Orb of Spheres? Why, I have it right here!" (Reaches into his pocket, pulls out a 3" diameter globe, whose surface seems to reflect the entire universe.) "It is very useful in maintaining the wall of this castle against the assaults of those who would smash it. I propose a trade, then: If you can get the Bloodstone, I will no longer need this so badly, and will gladly give it to you as payment! Then, your own quest will be satisfied, and my wife can rest in eternal peace!" (Looks excited, genuinely eager.)
Razuli: "Waitaminute. Where'd you pull that thing from?"
Kory: "Razuli, shut up. You don't know anything."
Arlor: "Lets go."
Topash: "I don't know... this seems too easy, somehow..."
Dania: "Dear, when we get outside the castle wall it ain't gonna seem easy."
Topash: "I suppose you have a point there. We'd best leave at dawn."
Desmod: "Yes, ha HA! Sleep well, my dearest! Wait, one moment!" (*POOF* A hole appears in the air beside him. He reaches in, rummages, and comes out with a plain silver ring.) "When you get the stone, rub this ring three times, and you will be teleported back here. All of you touch the ring and say 'Thee and me be the ones to TP' so it will know who to teleport."
Topash: "Yes. What kind of holy water supplies do you have?"
Desmod: "Not much, I fear. It tends to get used a lot. Can't your own priest make it? I thought you had one with you."
Dania: "We do, but he isn't here. Probably off praying."
Razuli: "We'll tell him. OK, kids, let's go."
Kory: "Weeeeeeeeeere off to see the witch-bitch,
The uglified witch with the stone.
Because I'm a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful"
*SMACK!*
Dan Parsons
"You have no appreciation for fine music!"
