Island Kingdom of Ignacium

Our somewhat valiant, always brilliant band of adventurers are deep within the bowels of the Earth in the Crypt of Pinopa.

After making quick work of a group of 10 skeletons in one of the temple rooms, Steve Stevenson sung pirate ballad of victory while Caranuba created turnip mash, proving that when certain members are not in attendance laziness happens.

Perusing through unexplored rooms, the adventurers found a few trunks of fine silks and more turnips that Caranuba subsequently turned into mash.

While wandering aimlessly, they also encountered a few Dorro and ended up in 20x20 room with a large black oynx statue, 13 feet tall, with a long sword in one hand and a skull in the other. Red liquid was dripping out of it's eyes into a pool. In the pool are five stone bowls spread equidistant around the statue.

Despite not rolling high enough on her religion check, Williamina's innate spirituality was enough to know that the statue was of Durappa, the ancient Dwarven God of Chaos and War. As they were inspecting the statue 5 warrior skeletons with shadowy helms and great swords appeared...and attacked!

An epic battle ensued, but the most important development was when Doran "accidentally" touched Victor's butt.

"Don't worry about it big D," said Victor with a wink.

Meanwhile, Rigel rolled her eyes and throws a knife through the last skeletons eye, causing the skull to explode.


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Test post.
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My friend, talented journalist and gaming ally Tyler Dukes, wrote this fantastic article about the development of the ACKS gaming system for the Raleigh News & Observer. Definitely an informative and fun read!

Tyler also writes the weekly "Stump the Geek" column.

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When writing my post about how the dice can change your character in ways you would never expect, it made me think of this episode of Doraleous and Associates, where a little old man rattles on about the universe before displaying inhuman strength.


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I had to post this as it pretty much defined our first session. Everyone kept quoting it until we paused the session, pulled out my laptop and played it for the group. Enjoy!


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Everyone has their fantasy, whether it is to play a hardened warrior or a charismatic thief, and roleplaying games are the perfect platform. But often the best and most interesting characters are made by the random dice throw. 

For instance a beautiful, wise cleric ends up with a below-average intelligence, or an intelligent, agile wizard is plagued by an unattractive face. I've played both of those characters and the random attributes came to define how I developed the character—which is reflective of life, because often how we deal with and overcome our flaws is what defines us. 

Sometimes though, a player will plan for their character's weakness, only to be betrayed by the dice in an unexpected way. In the Ignacium campaign this happened with Laura's character Caranauba. 

Laura wanted Caranuba to be an elderly, frail Mage that needed to be escorted around by the younger, more virile members of the party. But despite planning on rolling strength last, she rolled a 13 for strength and Caranauba's entire persona shifted.

Rather than being a weak, elderly magic user, Caranauba is a strong, capable mage draped in secrecy. She still appears weak and is drawn around in a wagon by Willamina, but it's all a rouse. In the past three fights, Caranauba has dealt the killing blow with her magestaff.

Caranauba's unusual strength is rationalized by the party as, "Well, she IS magic," which I think helps cover up her true purpose in the story. 

I've come to think of Caranauba as an extremely wise mentor whose purpose is to help the adventurers prepare mentally and emotionally for the great tasks they will ultimately encounter. Her taking soothsaying as a proficiency only enhances this image. It helps helps explain why an old lady would leave her home to go adventuring: to help a band of strangers uncover their strength so they can battle the darkness that is befalling the land. She is following the will of the universe.

In comparison, if she had rolled low for strength than her personality would not be nearly as unusual and compelling. The wise old wizard is a common character, but the wise old wizard draped in secrets is much more interesting and lends to a deeper experience.

I'm very much looking forward to the evolution of Caranauba throughout the campaign and the ways her phenomenal strength will influence the story.
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