The Old School Orcs, Part 2

This is a continuation of my write-up of the fantastically made-up game system and one-shot campaign that my group ran.  Looking for Part 1?  Click Here.

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The orcs struggled to their feet, dumbstruck by the fight their quarry had in them.  Yes, they preferred a struggle before their meal - it awakened the appetite.  But, blood mages?  With luck they numbered two, and old at that.  Better than seven.  Orcs seldom can count very high, but seven was a number all knew.  It had power as ancient as any of the laws in the world.

Gruum hoisted his bulk from the ground.  A swift kick brought an unconscious Olga back to the waking world; the last gruesome strike from the female mage had brought her nearly to the brink of death.  No pity within orcish-kind.  The strong survive, the weak perish.  The kick was a rare gesture.

The marauders moved now with the precision of practiced routine after the skirmish.  Bodies were stacked ready for the cooking fire, their belongings tossed into a haphazard pile that Kashyyk rooted through with zeal.  Good fight, good loot.  Simple logic.  And true to this, the was treasure to be found: a curious collection of golden lockets, all the same, stored in the toe of a boot.

The shaman of the group puzzled over the curious symbols.  A touch of a blood-smeared hand was all it took.  The gold shimmered unnatural bright in the dark.  Blood magic and blood mages.  How curious.

The Old School Orcs, Part 1

Picture a scenario I'm sure all of you have seen before: you're approaching game night, everything looks like it's going as planned.  That is, until a SNAFU cuts the ranks of your players in half.

That's what happened this week.

For us, D&D is what we use as a mechanism to bring everyone together into one room.  We're best friends; rolling dice is simply an excuse.  So, when two of our six bowed out, game night remained as scheduled.  My friends A, S and I cracked a few beers as the last of our group, L, joined us online via Google Hangouts.

While technology has brought us leaps and bounds when it comes to virtual gaming, there are still limits.  Most prominent amongst those: without a virtual board, such as Roll20, tactical combat can be kissed 'goodbye'.  This renders the vast majority of 4e's appeal null, especially for a one-shot with little prep.  We simply didn't want to fiddle that day.

Dungeon World was a strong possibility; but it was S's turn to DM and he hadn't used the system yet. I assure you, though, the results were perhaps the most fun that I've had in any of S's DMed games.

A one-shot with Dungeon World

Am I wrong for feeling a little self-conscious whenever I search for "Dungeon World"?  I always expect the worst - curse you, Internet!

Last week, the DM of my regular D&D (4e) session bowed out due to work.  Unwilling to give up my regular night of nerd bro-hood, I volunteered to run a one-shot game with a new game I'd bought: Dungeon World.