A Sundered World: The Side Campaign

Cast

• Kendrun (level 1 kobold warlock)
• Minu (level 1 cambion battlemind)
• Ryker (level 1 scion shaman)

Summary

The characters arrived at Polyhex, a cthonic settlement built upon a vast crystalline sphere filled with water, which was itself inhabited by a myriad of aquatic and pseudo-aquatic life. The hull of Ryker's ship, the Silver Ray, was filled with skyfish eggs, which when hatched would be added to the population.

Countless spires of various widths and heights jutted from the surface. This made flying close to the island perilous, and landing even more so. They were still circling the island, vainly searching for a safe place to land when five cthon approached the Silver Ray. They were snake-like in shape, and swiftly elevated themselves on thin pillars of crystallized water.

The chton "spoke" in short bursts, issuing brief gusts of mist from every crack of its body with each word, asking why they had come. They explained that they were carrying skyfish eggs, and the cthon guided them to one of the spires. The eggs were completely weightless, which made delivery quick and easy. When they completed the task each cthon "vomited" forth a large, blue crystal: water cores.

The trip had depleted most of their food; they would not have enough to return to the nearest known island. Ryker asked if they could purchase some from them, but having no need for food the cthon had none readily available. Still, they had a rudimentary understanding of their plight, so the cthon permitted them to hunt before leaving.

They drifted about near the surface of the sphere until they found a circular tunnel. Assuming something lived there, Minu lit a torch and led the way inside. The tunnel was not long, and when they found nothing turned to leave. Now, the tunnel was inhabited, just by something difficult to spot in Minu's torchlight. Fortunately Ryker and Kendrun noticed its glinting teeth in time to warn Minu, but before she could react it exhaled an icy gust of wind, encasing her in a thin layer of ice and extinguishing her torch.

Kendrun aimed at where he last saw the creature's teeth, and released a blast of raw magic. He heard the beast hiss with pain, but could only guess at the damage he'd inflicted. Ryker withdrew a small fire shard fragment from his bag, and used the light to find Minu and heal her. His spirit's magic both healed and added to her already considerable might, and when she sprung upon the creature sliced its head cleanly in half.

Now that it wasn't trying to eat them, they could see that it was an eel-like creature, easily large enough to swallow them all whole.

Hopefully it tasted better than it looked.

Behind the Scenes

We decided to start up a side-campaign for days when one or more player in the other campaign can't make it (which has been pretty frequently, hence the lack of play report updates). We spent most of the time building the ship, creating characters, and establishing bonds.

Melissa decided to try out a heavy hitter for once. Given that she was able to kill the monster in one hit, I'd say it's working out pretty well for her. I'm wondering if at a d10 the battlemind's damage is a tad too high. I'm considering bumping it down to a d8, which is what we're going to try for a few sessions to see how it all plays out.

Adam and Shane are giving the shaman and warlock a try, which is great because I wanted to give them some more long-term playtesting.

Adam really went all out on his ship. Normally players try to be modest, going with an average sized wooden ship with an engine and a weapon or two. Not him: he loaded it up with four weapons, an experimental engine, and some "astral sails" that would let him refuel the engine over a long period of time in case it breaks or runs out.

Announcements

Lichfield is available for public consumption. If you want a concise adventure with a Silent Hill feel, be sure to check it out!

The Golem is our latest "monster" playbook, and the fourth to be made due to fan demand. Next up is The Rakshasa, followed by a few more that we're not ready to talk about just yet (one of which features yet another character sheet design).

On the topic of classes, I want to give a shout out to Maria Rivera's The Lich. I not only provided some design insight and content, but also did the cover (with the help of Melissa, who colored it), the logo, and layout for both the digest pdf and new character sheet.

If you're interested in having Melissa and I look over a class (or adventure, or whatever it is you're working on), and/or do art, hit us up! We're cheap (or in some cases free).

The Dungeon World GM Screen is currently available in pdf and landscape insert formats. No matter which you choose, you get eight sets of pdfs that let you have access to the screen in both landscape and portrait orientation, in color or black and white, and with or without art.

We're waiting on the portrait inserts. Assuming they look good, they'll be available soon. They're now available.

Next up, mini screen!