Blog

You can skip my preamble and go straight to the remix below.

A few weeks ago at Play the Bay Manny ran Nate Treme's What Child is This? using Cairn. It's a fun little adventure, centered around the task of delivering an unusual baby across a large territory. Manny ran a punchy game - he was great at managing spotlight, the encounters moved quickly, exciting things happened. I thought it would be a good introductory adventure for some new players I was going to GM for, so I picked it up.

What Child is This? comes in a two-sided one sheet with the following content:

• A small 6x4 hex map of a region at the edge of a desert with three steadings, a forest, a pasture and a small dungeon.
• 20 random encounter descriptions (no statblocks, just D&D Monster Manual references).
• A 4 room dungeon.
• A description of a magic baby.

Manny graciously passed me the statblocks he used, ribbing me for thinking that I could run the adventure better. I really like his additional notes. He had suggestions for spell lists for wizards in the scenario that could make for different types of encounters; ways to put little spins on some of the random encounters to make them more horrifying or distinct. It was inspiring to read someone else's prep notes, because I do it so differently.

I made some additions myself. Since it was my first time running Cairn, I attempted to make some modifications using Cairn's wilderness guidance. I added statblocks for creatures Manny didn't convert over. I added some extra areas and decor to the dungeon in the adventure. On the fly when running the game, I used a dice pool mechanic for the baby's disposition.

This was the first game I ran with a lot of reliance on random encounters. It was great, I'm planning to do more play based on random tables in the future.

What Child Is This? Cairn Remix

Contents

• Scenario Hook
• The Baby Die pool
• Map Distances
• Tomb of the Owl Lord Remix
• Statblocks

Scenario Hook

There's no significant hook in the adventure, which is totally fine if you're dropping this into a campaign. The existing hook is straight forward, something like, a princess asks some adventurers to deliver a child to a distant city. Running this for a new group as a one- or two-shot, I wanted a stronger hook.

I use the prophesy from the adventure, that it has been foretold that a blue owl will drop off the baby the night of a meteor shower. From that, I tell the players that their characters are acolytes of a religious order, and I have them flesh it out a little.

• What is core tenet of this religious order?
• What symbol represents this order to others?
• What brought you to join the order?
• What belief or aspect of the order challenges your personal belief system?

The group I was playing for all knew each other, so they had fun making up a tree cult for them to be stewards of.

The Baby Die Pool

I used a growing die pool to see if the baby gets upset. The die pool starts empty. When I want to check if the baby is upset, add 1d6 and roll all the dice. If there are any 1s, the baby gets agitated (triggers some troubling effect) and you empty the die pool. GM's choice as to when to check.

I would like to maybe come up with a few more negative effects the baby could have. The baby repeatedly crying and impairing everyone is good (players can even learn to manipulate the baby to turn the effect against enemies) but it'd be nice to be able to mix it up a little.

Map Distances

The module suggests one encounter (essentially, one watch) per hex for travel. Manny did that, and it worked great. To learn the Cairn wilderness procedures, I did a conversion to a point crawl. The travel times are the same on the road (1 watch per hex) but are longer when off-trail.

• Holluck to Sultan's Oasis - 3 Watches
• Holluck to Cricket Forest - 3 Watches
• Holluck to Tomb of the Owl Lord - 4 Watches
• Sultan's Oasis to Tomb of the Owl Lord - 3 Watches
• Sultan's Oasis to Cricket Forest - 2 Watches
• Sultan's Oasis to Cortezia - 3 Watches
• Sultan's Oasis to Shepherd Camp - 3 Watches
• Cricket Forest to Cortezia - 2 Watches
• Cricket Forest to Shepherd Camp - 3 Watches
• Cortezia to Shepherd Camp - 2 Watches

I tried to run the Cairn wilderness procedures for weather and getting lost, but it was a bit tough to take it all on. I think I wouldn't bother if I were to run again because the module's encounters consider most of the different aspects of Cairn's procedure (dangerous encounters, discoveries, weather changes).

Tomb of the Owl Lord

The tomb is a mostly linear dungeon crawl. Using the location generation procedure from Mythic Bastionland, I added two rooms for flavor (Areas D0 and D3) and modified some connections between rooms. I also added some additional elements to rooms in the module (Areas 1-4).

New Map

Here's a weird ASCII map. Yeah, I should just draw it out.

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##### KEY
=>  Entrance
V   Secret Entrance
=== Clear Path
=/= Path with Obstacle
--- Secret Path
\   Indicates Path between levels
/   Indicates Path between levels

##### DUNGEON LAYOUT

 => Area D0
           \                    V
            === Area 1 =/==/= Area 2 =/= Area D3
                 \              /
                  --- Area 3 ===
                        \
                         =/= Area 4

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Area D0 - Nest of Honor

A cave filled with dry brush, that appears to be well tended. Someone has tromped through recently, revealing a cave leading further into the mountain. Etchings and paintings on the wall show great deeds of the Owl Lord.

Paint the Scene: Looking at the wall paintings, what scene or deed stands out to your character?

Area 1 - The Well

These notes are in addition to, and modify some of the module's description.

• Along the walls are six owl pellets the size of small barrels. They can be cut open. Three contain whole imp skeletons. One contains an imp caught in a bear trap. Another pellet has a bear trap in it. Another has a bear trap with a key (this trap can trigger).
• Inside the stone well, just out of arms reach, is a pile of typical owl pellets and old dried mouse skeletons. The contents are an illusion, and the well connects to Area 3.
• There's a door on the other side of the room, locked. Key is in the pellet above.

Area 2 - The Gallery

These notes are in addition to the module's description.

A stand with a dusty closed book. A corridor on the other side leads downwards. A stone door appears to be carved into the wall.

• When opened, the book begins to hoot, reading the book aloud. The text is essentially a ledger, recording the lineage and deeds of the Owl Lord. If written in, it can be used to communicate with owls.
• If the PCs use the baby or sign of the baby near the door, it will open to Area D3 - the Overlook.
• There can be a secret entrance/exit here, if characters search or get tipped off to one. Perhaps behind a large portrait.

Paint the Scene: These paintings don't show the deeds of the Owl Lord, but the indulgences of his private life. What do these paintings reveal that his devotees may prefer not to know?

Manny's Note: Ghost will opportunistically attack and possess a PC or NPC in order to sell the rug. Once the rug is sold, it will pass on to the next life. There's probably a really weird interaction you could do if it tries to possess the baby.

Area D3 - The Overlook

From here, it's possible to see all of the Dune Sea. To the city far off in the distance; the much nearer Oasis, the Cricket Forest abutting the mountain range, and humble village where your journey began. More pellets are located here.

• The pellets contain 2 rations for each PC.
• This is a safe place to rest - the baby can keep it closed.
• Could have an encounter here: owl coming to anoint the remains of the dead in Area 3.

Campfire question: Everywhere you've gone, there has been interest in this child. This is a moment where the Dune Sea appears calm. What soothing landscape or scenery are your eyes drawn to when overlooking the region?

Area 3 - The Anointed Hollows

These notes are in addition to the module's description.

Set into the walls are the remains of owls who served the Owl Lord. Beaks, bones and claws rest in small piles of fresh pine needles. Inside, a Cultist, Imp and Spined Devil argue whom among them is the most fiendish. When PCs are spotted, trio agree the PCs are most fiendish.

Area 4 - The Sarcophagus

These notes are in addition to the module's description.

Campfire Question: Have you looted a tomb before? How do you feel about having done so?

Stat Blocks

I'd never run Cairn before. Luckily, Manny supplied me with a bunch of stat blocks, and I made a bunch up on my own. Some are from the Cairn Warden's Guide.

Incarnated God Baby

1 HP, 3 STR, 3 DEX, 16 WIL

• An immortal god chosen to incarnate as human.
• Sleeps 16hrs/day in 2-4 hour spurts.
• Ethereal Crown: Has an ethereal crown floating above its head. Requires magic to see it.
• Chilling Wail: Those who hear it crying must make a WIL save or be impaired.
• Giggle & Coo: Anyone who hears this must make a WIL save or refrain from any hostile actions for 1 round.
• Bless: Give 1 temporary HP to a visible target.
• Baby's Aura: When cared for, the bay bestows these benefits upon the hosting party:
  • Recover 1 STR, DEX or WIL each sunrise
  • Animals will not be hostile to baby or party
  • The child reveals illusions

Archangel

14 HP, 2 Armor, 18 STR, 14 DEX, 16 WIL, greatsword (d10, bulky)

• The archangel is checking on the child's health, will be upset if it's hurt, pleased otherwise.
• Stunning Presence: Upon seeing the archangel, everyone makes a WIL save. On failure, must kneel in the angel's presence.
• Insect Plague: A massive swarm of crickets. d6 damage when in swarm. When damaged, make a panic check.
• Healing Touch: Restore d6 stat
• Raise Dead: Can restore a dead creature to life, impaired with 1HP and 3 fatigue.

Bandits (from Cairn 2e Warden's Manual)

4HP, 1 Armor, 11 STR, 12 DEX, 10 WIL, shortsword (d6) or shortbow (d6)

• Detachment: 4 or more make a detachment (all attacks by PCs impaired, all detachment attacks enhanced and blast). There is a leader with 2 Armor and Longsword (d10) or Crossbow (d8, bulky) and WIL 13.
• Loyal: When testing morale, use leader's WIL (13). If leader dies, all flee.

Barlgura

12HP, 1 Armor, 18 STR, 14 DEX, 15 WIL, bite (d10), fists (d8+d8)

• Running Leap: Jump really far
• Phantasmal Force Spell: Force an illusion upon someone; they can pass a WIL check to shake it off. The illusion can do damage (d4+d4)
• Entangle: Grasping plants sprout from the ground. STR (or DEX?) save to not be entangled, then STR save to escape the grasp.
• Spells: Disguise self, invisibility (self)

Cultists

4 HP, 11 STR, 10 DEX, 13 WIL, dagger (d6)

Demon Hunter

10HP, Armor 1, 14 STR, 10 DEX, 14 WIL, mace (d8), radiant flame (d8, blast)

• Spells: Light, Thaumaturgy, Healing word (heal 1d4 or a condition)
• Spirit Guardian Spell: Spirit guardians fly around you, damage d12 to enemies. Enemies make a WIL save upon entering to avoid impairment. Spell ends when hit.

Dune Stalker

12 HP, 1 Armor, 16 STR, 14 DEX, 12 WIL, gore (d10)

• A demon lord, accompanied by 1d6 Imps
• Stench: nearby targets must make a WIL save or be impaired for D4 rounds until they can make another WIL save
• Crit Damage: Consume part of the target

Ghost

8HP, 6 STR, 12 DEX, 15 WIL, phasing (d6), withering touch (d8)

• Incorporeal: Only vulnerable to magic and anointed rites
• Horrifying Visage: Make a WIL save or panic at the sight
• Critical Damage: WIL save or get possessed by the ghost.

Giant Cricket

2 HP, 6 STR, 12 DEX, 3 WIL, bite (d6)

• Spring: can leap high into the air
• Blend into Forest: Natural coloration allows them to blend
• Screech: When threatened, sound of a gigantic violin. WIL save or impaired for the round.

Giant Roaches

3HP, 1 Armor, 6 STR, 14 DEX, 3 WIL, bite (d6)

• Crit Damage: Target is impaired due to poison

Gorpa the Evil Priest

8 HP, 1 Armor, 10 STR, 14 DEX, 12 WIL, mace (d8)

• Travels with Cultists.
• Rot spell: d4 STR loss
• Raise Dead spell: Turns corpse into skeleton
• Manny's Suggestion: Use Cultist statblock but play them as Villagers that are under Gorpa's control because he can control skeletons. They're screaming for help while attacking.

Imp

4 HP, 8 STR, 14 Dex, 8 WIL, trident (d6)

• Spells: Shapechanging, invisibility
• Devil's Sight: Darkvision

Snakes

5 HP, 10 STR, 14 DEX, 6 WIL, bite (d6)

• Giant, poisonous. Tracks victims with heat and smell. Antitoxin can be made from their poison sacs.
• Crit Damage: Poisoned. Die within d12 hours unless cured. (The baby can cure this, esp if the poisoned PC was kind to the baby.)

Soldiers

Manny's Suggestion: The "Five Soldiers..." encounter refers to an undead king. So use undead soldiers!

Wight

7HP, 2 Armor, 16 STR, 8 DEX, 12 WIL, longsword (d10)

• Indicate low dex: stiff, jerky, off balance
• Crit Damage: STR loss is permanent (baby can heal this)

Zombie

2HP, 12 STR, 6 DEX, 3 WIL, slam (d6), nails (d6)

• Mindless: Immune to all mind-influencing effects.
• Undead Fortitude: Will rise again if not utterly destroyed.
• Critical Damage: Target infected and deprived. They become a zombie in d4 days without a healer. (baby can heal this)

Spined Devil

8HP, 1 Armor, 10 STR, 15 DEX, 11 WIL, bite & fork (d6+d6), tail Spine (d6, ignores armor)

Valzifak the Wizard

8 HP, 9 STR, 11 DEX, 16 WIL, dagger (d6)

Manny's suggestions for spells:

• Spells for a more puzzly encounter

  • Fog cloud: obscure an area, confuse targets
  • Objectify: turn into a common object, can be brought along with party
  • Wizard mark: with diamond dust and pigment, marks something

• Spells for wacky combat

  • Magnetic spells: Tether, repel, attract, push, pull
  • Make things fly with magnetism and kinetic force. The rug can swoop around and maybe snatch the baby while this spells are taking effect.

Valzifak's Rug

4 HP, 8 STR, 10 DEX, 10 WIL, smother (d6)

• Magically animated. Appears to be a normal rug, until it moves.
• Wrap: Incapacitates a target. A wrapped target loses d4 STR at start of round. When rug hit while wrapping a target, damage is split 50/50 between rug and wrapped target.

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This is a photograph from the Holographic Studios bathroom in New York. I was there in August at one of the last days before they moved locations. The pictured shelves are an accumulation of decades of cleaning supplies, toiletries, over-the-counter pharmaceuticals, kitchenware, and unknown treasures buried in the back.

My girlfriend may be horrified to learn that I love this type of hoard. It summons in me a wonder and nostalgia. When I moved to New York in 2001 and started meeting people locally, shelves like this seemed commonplace. New York dwellings are notoriously small. So where does your stuff go? The answer was often: on the walls.

In places with more space, this stuff of life would be hidden in basements, behind closet doors, deep in crawlspaces, and above attic panels. In New York apartments there is no such place, and so the walls become years and decades-long in-progress sculptures.

Some are well curated. A personal library of books and music, just slightly overstuffed, contents rarely touched, with a few well placed knickknacks. Others, like the holography installations, are constructed like a Jersey shore arcade coin pusher game: teeming with ephemera and somehow not collapsing into chaos.

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The first time I ran a tabletop role-playing game was in my teens. My friends and I played Magic: The Gathering and the video games of the era: The Legend of Zelda series, Ultima Online, Diablo II, etc. In high school, our friend's Uncle Bobby introduced us to RPGs through a fantasy LARP that he ran. Playing Dungeons & Dragons on our own was the next obvious step.

As the only one willing to read the Dungeon Master's Guide, I was the obvious choice for Dungeon Master. I had practically no clue what I would be doing. But in preparing to run the game, I had come across two guiding principles.

The first principle came from Uncle Bobby. As our nerd-elder, he had gaming wisdom we didn't: video games are restrictive. Live-action and tabletop RPGs were superior because they weren't limited by computer programming. In an RPG, the players can do anything!

Amazing! Got it.

The second principle came from the Dungeon Master's Guide. With the help of my obsessive personality and strong desire to run the game "right", I read the whole thing cover-to-cover. I can't remember what it said 30 years ago, but I do remember the godlike responsibility it bestowed upon me. I had to portray a real, living world.

In my mind I thought: "This will be so awesome! We're going to play a game where the players can do anything! I'm an honest guy, I'll facilitate this realistic fantasy world!"

I spent hours designing a castle on graph paper that my players could explore. I wrote up little evocative descriptions of the environments. I was so excited! We were going to have a sleepover so we could play all night. My two friends came over, we got our dice, their character sheets, and we got going. It's midnight by the time we start the adventure.

Late, yes, but I was going to get to see what D&D was all about.

And the adventure began:

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Two heroes approach a massive castle, surely full of dreadful beasts which they'll have to slay. They swing open the doors and enter. I paint the scene for them: a long corridor of dressed stone, the damp dank air, a rat scurrying across their path...

"A rat?" My friend asks. "Where did it go?"

I'm stunned. I have no idea where the rat went. This is not in my notes. But I can do this. I read the books. I know that anything can happen here. I can do this, I just have to portray a realistic world.

"Uhhh... there's a little hole in the wall, it scurried in there." Phew! Good thinking. This is going to go just fine.

"I get on my knees to check out the hole." Hm. This hole is meaningless. But they players can do whatever they want, so let's see where this goes.

"It's a small crack between the stones, big enough for a rat to squeeze into."

"I stick my sword in the hole to see if I can get the rat out."

For the next two hours, I facilitate the telling of an epic tale of two fantasy heroes attempting to locate a rat in a castle wall.

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I tried to edit the scene, move them along, but it didn't take. I got frustrated, straight up told them that they needed to move on. But they wouldn't let it go. It went from mystifying to irritating to enraging to comical. The other player and I were folded over in half laughing about this hero who wouldn't let go of pursuit of this rat.

The next morning, the bleary-eyed ratcatcher earnestly asked me: "What was the secret about the rat?" I told him it was just flavor text, mood-setting text. I don't think he believed me.

The campaign ended that night, I'm pretty sure. If we played again, it wasn't as memorable. We talked and laughed about that rat for months. It was so stupid. And it was amazing. Uncle Bobby was right: we really did things we could not do in a video game.

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The Ridgeways are at an AirBNB this weekend to attend Kira and Greg's wedding. This is the kitchen of the weird place we stayed before anyone else woke up.

I love mornings with this crew. The too-strong coffee, the idle chatter, the quiet voices before others awake. I will always miss our old home together.

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Preparing a tune for a wedding this weekend, written by the bride and groom.

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The Ridgeway House pumpkin carving gathering lives on

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On a walk in Oakland

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I won this backgammon crown at a local backgammon tournament organized by Jenny. Check out how excited I am.

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I've been walking to work more often, and just walking around my neighborhood more because of that. When I'm lucky I get to see some of the neighborhood cats.

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