Post by Nathan P. Mahney on Jul 28, 2005 20:33:32 GMT
I was going back through some of my old RPG magazines, and found in a copy of GM a Lone Wolf competition that they ran. The prize was a day at Joe Dever's house for four fans, where he would run a huge war game that was set in Magnamund - pretty cool!
The actual competition was a preview of The Dungeons of Torgar - it printed the entries from the Battle of Cetza, and replaced all of the combats and Random Number picks with questions about the magazine. It's not of much interest unless you own the mag, honestly.
But, a report on the gameday was published a few issues later! And this is the general gist of what happened:
THE SCENARIO: Two editors/writers from the magazine were in charge of the two armies - one as Prince Pelethar (so this would be set before the gamebooks, probably), and the other as Darklord Kraagenskul.
Dal Khordas, accomplished thief and one-time crew member of Captain Khadro's notorious Lakuri pirate fleet, has successfully stolen the Golden Sceptre of Durenor, reputedly the most securely guarded treasure of King Alin IV's rich kingdom (Nah, of course it wouldn't be the Sommerswerd...).
King Alin and Prince Pelethar have formed an army to hunt and capture the thief. Aided by Captain Khadro, who is keen to get his hands on Khordas regarding the theft of a great deal of their booty, King Alin has deduced that Khordas is hiding in the tiny Sommlending border village of Marshbury.
Darklord Kraagenskul has also learned of the theft and is eager to intercept the thief, as the sceptre has great magical qualities. A battle looms at Marshbury...
OBJECTIVES:
Good
1) Locate the sceptre and bring it back to HQ.
2) Capture/destroy Evil's command tent.
3) Capture Khordas alive and hand him to Captain Khadro.
4) Kill Darklord Kraagenskul.
5) Control the church and graveyard by the end of play.
EVIL
1) Locate the sceptre and bring it back to HQ.
2) Capture/destroy Good's command tent.
3) Kill Prince Pelethar and King Alin.
4) Control the graveyard by the end of play.
TERRAIN FEATURES:
Farmer's House
Cooper's Cottage: Villagers know where the priest is hiding in the Church.
Church: A priest is hiding here, who knows where Khordas is.
Crypt (below the church): This is where Khordas is hiding.
Bridge: A giant spider is hiding under here.
THE BATTLE!:
Good's right flank begins to march - Cloeasian Cavalry, Toran and Guild Pikemen, Tyso Hammers, Men-At-Arms, and Tyso White Axes. There was also a peasant levy, some centaurs, and a giant named Loomis who was fearsome but prone to bouts of violent drunkenness. Opposing this army is a force that includes Swamp Trolls and Hammerland Hounds.
Good's left flank takes the high ground. Behind their position is King Alin IV's command tent.
In the centre, the good forces advanced - Border Lancers, Durenese Knights, and the Hammerdal Court Guard.
However, the forces in the centre of the Evil army (Hammerland Wolf Riders and the elite Blood Guard) charge! At the same time, their wizard (listed as a Vordak) levitates a block of stone over the good army and lets it drop right on top of their cavalry. The Good army's centre is pushed back.
The peasant levy of Good's army takes one look at the enemy's wolf riders, and decides to pack it in and go home.
King Alin takes cover behind his tent after nearly being felled by a shower of arrows.
A powerful Evil mage gains access to the to the crypt, and starts exploring...
On Good's left, two cavalry forces clash, and both hold their ground.
On Good's right, the Evil army gained access to the farmhouse, slaughtered the inhabitants, and sent a group of ninjas into the dungeons below.
On the right, the Good forces had gained access to Cooper's Cottage, and found a secret tunnel to the church.
A division of Good's Tiger Crossbowmen gain access to the church.
The Vordak tries to levitate another wall over the good army, but the spell back fires, and lands on his own troops. (The guy controlling Kraagenskul tries to spin this as a deliberate move, to give the opposition a fighting chance...)
Among Kraagenskul's forces is a dragon. He teleports the monster across the battlefield, near King Alin's tent. Alin's guard all flee, except for one brave guard. The lone guard manages to kill the dragon.
The good wizards respond by teleporting themselves to Kraagenskul's command tent - and they completely roast him! (There goes any chance that this was canon...)
But the tide turns... Prince Pelethar is surrounded by Kraagenskul's undead wraith riders. Evil dwarfs gain control of the graveyard. The forces ov Evil advance, and have Good flanked.
The Evil mage finds the Sceptre, and comes up behind enemy lines. As he has a cloak of invisibility, and Good has no Detect Evil spells, Joe rules that he can make it off the board with the sceptre easily.
So, it's a victory for the Darklords!
Obviously this thing's not canon, and there are some... interesting troops involved. Ninjas? Dwarves fighting for the Darklords? Centaurs? Weird, for Magnamund, anyway. It's still an interesting scenario, anyway, that could fit in the timeline somewhere with a few things changed.
The actual competition was a preview of The Dungeons of Torgar - it printed the entries from the Battle of Cetza, and replaced all of the combats and Random Number picks with questions about the magazine. It's not of much interest unless you own the mag, honestly.
But, a report on the gameday was published a few issues later! And this is the general gist of what happened:
THE SCENARIO: Two editors/writers from the magazine were in charge of the two armies - one as Prince Pelethar (so this would be set before the gamebooks, probably), and the other as Darklord Kraagenskul.
Dal Khordas, accomplished thief and one-time crew member of Captain Khadro's notorious Lakuri pirate fleet, has successfully stolen the Golden Sceptre of Durenor, reputedly the most securely guarded treasure of King Alin IV's rich kingdom (Nah, of course it wouldn't be the Sommerswerd...).
King Alin and Prince Pelethar have formed an army to hunt and capture the thief. Aided by Captain Khadro, who is keen to get his hands on Khordas regarding the theft of a great deal of their booty, King Alin has deduced that Khordas is hiding in the tiny Sommlending border village of Marshbury.
Darklord Kraagenskul has also learned of the theft and is eager to intercept the thief, as the sceptre has great magical qualities. A battle looms at Marshbury...
OBJECTIVES:
Good
1) Locate the sceptre and bring it back to HQ.
2) Capture/destroy Evil's command tent.
3) Capture Khordas alive and hand him to Captain Khadro.
4) Kill Darklord Kraagenskul.
5) Control the church and graveyard by the end of play.
EVIL
1) Locate the sceptre and bring it back to HQ.
2) Capture/destroy Good's command tent.
3) Kill Prince Pelethar and King Alin.
4) Control the graveyard by the end of play.
TERRAIN FEATURES:
Farmer's House
Cooper's Cottage: Villagers know where the priest is hiding in the Church.
Church: A priest is hiding here, who knows where Khordas is.
Crypt (below the church): This is where Khordas is hiding.
Bridge: A giant spider is hiding under here.
THE BATTLE!:
Good's right flank begins to march - Cloeasian Cavalry, Toran and Guild Pikemen, Tyso Hammers, Men-At-Arms, and Tyso White Axes. There was also a peasant levy, some centaurs, and a giant named Loomis who was fearsome but prone to bouts of violent drunkenness. Opposing this army is a force that includes Swamp Trolls and Hammerland Hounds.
Good's left flank takes the high ground. Behind their position is King Alin IV's command tent.
In the centre, the good forces advanced - Border Lancers, Durenese Knights, and the Hammerdal Court Guard.
However, the forces in the centre of the Evil army (Hammerland Wolf Riders and the elite Blood Guard) charge! At the same time, their wizard (listed as a Vordak) levitates a block of stone over the good army and lets it drop right on top of their cavalry. The Good army's centre is pushed back.
The peasant levy of Good's army takes one look at the enemy's wolf riders, and decides to pack it in and go home.
King Alin takes cover behind his tent after nearly being felled by a shower of arrows.
A powerful Evil mage gains access to the to the crypt, and starts exploring...
On Good's left, two cavalry forces clash, and both hold their ground.
On Good's right, the Evil army gained access to the farmhouse, slaughtered the inhabitants, and sent a group of ninjas into the dungeons below.
On the right, the Good forces had gained access to Cooper's Cottage, and found a secret tunnel to the church.
A division of Good's Tiger Crossbowmen gain access to the church.
The Vordak tries to levitate another wall over the good army, but the spell back fires, and lands on his own troops. (The guy controlling Kraagenskul tries to spin this as a deliberate move, to give the opposition a fighting chance...)
Among Kraagenskul's forces is a dragon. He teleports the monster across the battlefield, near King Alin's tent. Alin's guard all flee, except for one brave guard. The lone guard manages to kill the dragon.
The good wizards respond by teleporting themselves to Kraagenskul's command tent - and they completely roast him! (There goes any chance that this was canon...)
But the tide turns... Prince Pelethar is surrounded by Kraagenskul's undead wraith riders. Evil dwarfs gain control of the graveyard. The forces ov Evil advance, and have Good flanked.
The Evil mage finds the Sceptre, and comes up behind enemy lines. As he has a cloak of invisibility, and Good has no Detect Evil spells, Joe rules that he can make it off the board with the sceptre easily.
So, it's a victory for the Darklords!
Obviously this thing's not canon, and there are some... interesting troops involved. Ninjas? Dwarves fighting for the Darklords? Centaurs? Weird, for Magnamund, anyway. It's still an interesting scenario, anyway, that could fit in the timeline somewhere with a few things changed.