Chaos et Barberie

Been plunking away at my translation of Chaos et Barberie from pascal. I have gotten enough into it to see that it is mostly OGL with a few twists. Google translate does a good job on French and my high school can handle the rest (it went a lot better once I figured out "telecharger" means "download" not "insert credit card here"). However some work remains to rework into something that flows smooth in English. Perhaps I'll try focusing on the parts that a little different than stock OGL. Not quite sure about the intellectual property issues either, but I suppose since he is giving the original away for free I should be able to do the same with the translation.

Dragon Armies 16

When we last left our intrepid adventurers they were enjoying a bowl of mushroom soup in the secret hidey-hole of the last remaining dwarves of Blackstone mine. The dwarves explain that since the drow invasion the Tunnel Brothers have been honeycombing the mines with secret tunnels to spy on the drow, and developed their "Drowstopper special": a secret door, a 16 ton block dead fall trap, and another secret door behind it at an elevation other than floor level. There is usually a secret switch on the dwarven which deactivates the trap, which you can set if you need to go out, but usual the dwarves just use strategically placed spy holes to watch and listen. Having been at this a few months, the dwarves have of course picked up a few rumors.

• The dark elves are building an altar to their dark gods


• There are over 150 drow warriors in the mines


• One female elven priestess seems to be in charge, although she is assisted by two others and accompanied by a male elf in robes.
  
• The dark elves need royal elven blood to consecrate their altar


• When the altar is complete it will be usable as a gateway bring dark forces in from other parts of the world


• The dark elves have struck a deal with the Black Dragon pirates to use an elven royal the pirates hold captive to consecrate the altar


• The altar is nearing completion, the captive will brought soon


• Although the lesser treasuries of Blackstone mine have been looted, the great treasury has not been found


• When the mines were overrun the master artificer set off an explosion in the workshops which buried the tools and equipment needed for the manufacture of constructs under tons of rubble


• Buried in the rubble is a book which explains the manufacture of amanitium constructs and how to control them

They also provided the players with the map below

***Warning not for the faint of heart, my players have rated this map worst player handout ever***

After reviewing the map, and inspecting the amount of rubble in the workshop (a lot!!). The party formulates a cunning plan (unlike the rangers "lets drop down from the secret door in the ceiling of the main hall and kick their ass"). They will tunnel into the sleeping quarters of the high priestess and slay her by surprise. Unfortunately two days into the seven days required for the secret tunnel a band of black dragon spawn shows up to reinforce the drow, and the ranger comes up with an alternative plan "Lets attack the guard post we past on the way here". More next time.

The Wandering Blogger

Ah yes, where were we gentle reader. I am afraid I have been reading other blogs and neglecting my own for a week or so. I could blog about time wasted on french roleplaying sites (gorgeous maps pascal). Or the hunt for a definitive answer on the banning of the sale of children's books printed before 1985 (its amazing what congress passes when they can't pass Health care reform, Banking regulations, or even appropriate money for government agencies on time. It appears the used bookstores are now marking the pre-1985 books as "collectibles"). Or even that I am glad to see my collage buddy Bruce is still running the blind sniper tournament, even though when I was there I was aways too busy prepping the Dungeons and Dragons Tourney to play. Besides wandering aimlessly for four hours only to be wiped out by someone you didn't even see is not my idea of fun (however, a quick peek at the Judge's master map was always hilarious). But no, you want to hear about Dungeons and Dragons so I'll get to work on that right away...