Appendix A for Castle Whiterock is now available. It can be downloaded here. I’ve also fixed Level 1 by creating the Hornet Swarm from scratch as I was informed that the substitution I made for the Wasp Swarm was of far too high a CR level, which I missed when I chose to make that switch.
Author Archives: tehbagder
Castle Whiterock Pathfinder Conversion Level 1 Available
Using Hero Lab, I’ve created Level 1 of Castle Whiterock for Pathfinder. All of the NPCs and monsters have been recreated and given their own entry on a single page, just like the original AD&D Monster Manual, as you can see from the picture below:
I’ve done this so that you can feel free to organize all of the entries as you see fit: by adventure level (listed in the top right corner of the page), by creature type, from name A-Z etc. I’ve left plenty of blank space for you to write your own notes on each page entry, or to use that space to track combat or encounter statistics, or just doodle if you want Also, at the bottom of each page, you’ll see this:
How cool is that? I even set it up so that you’ve got space to put your own page numbers!
I’ve started work on the next level of the adventure, but I guess you’ll be wanting the entries for the first level, right?
Castle Whiterock Pathfinder Conversion Level 1 (Updated 5/13/12)
Pathfinder Castle Whiterock Conversion Inbound
I recently managed to buy a cheap physical copy of this fantastic mega-product which I’ve been wanting to run it for some time. The major problem is that it’s a D&D 3.5 product and although I have enjoyed that system in the past, I’m running Pathfinder now. Pathfinder and 3.5 are mostly compatible, but there’s a lot of details that Pathfinder have changed, and some elements of 3.5 that no longer exist in Pathfinder. So, with the help of my trusty copy of Hero Lab and the PRD, I’ve started the process of converting all of the NPCs and monsters over to Pathfinder. I had looked online to see if anyone had already done some conversion work, but have had no luck in finding the resources – plenty of people seem to have been converting it to Pathfinder, but no-one was making their conversions available. Time to remedy that.
I plan to keep to put all of the stats into a single document that I’ll update and keep online here. I’m almost done with the Level 1, and will hopefully have it completed and posted by the end of this weekend. I’ll post when it’s available.
Hero Lab For Mac Officially Released
Huzzah! I love Hero Lab. I’ve found it an indispensable tool for my Pathfinder conversion of The Drow War, and am starting to use it for quite heavily for other systems too. Now, I just need to get in on that Realm Works beta…
GM Screens for The World’s Greatest Screen
I recently bought one of Hammerdog Games’ The World’s Greatest Screens, and I used it during my Savage Mouse Guard campaign. I plan to use it for a number of other games, but find that inserts for many other games aren’t easy to come by. Therefore, I’m making my own, and will post them here. I’ll most likely be making one for Savage Worlds Deluxe soon too.
The first set of screens I’ll be making will be for Labyrinth Lord and the AEC, as I plan to run S3 Expedition to the Barrier Peaks using that soon. I’ve already got most of the appropriate tables already put together, and I’ll post a final PDF here once I’ve got it completed.
Savage Mouse Guard Campaign Session #1
Tonight was the first session of the Savage Mouse Guard campaign that I’m running with my two oldest kids and some friends. Here’s a breakdown of the first session:
Mona’s Patrol, also known by the unfortunate nickname of “The Skunks”, returned to Lockhaven after their most recent mission, to hear rumors that the Matriarch will be calling all of the Guard together soon. While Mona and Bruce went to sleep in the patrol’s barracks room, Aliystair went to eat at the mess hall, Liam went for a walk in town after stabling his stink bug mount Stinky, and Marian went to the Apiary to check in with her mentor Bumbly, who is in charge of a section of the Apiary. Aliystair was tripped in the mess hall by Denkrass, who is the leader of “The Warriors” and the mouse that has been giving the patrols their own unique names. He is also Mona’s enemy and has always tried to cause trouble for her and her patrol. After picking himself up from the ground, Aliystair ignored Denkrass and his group’s taunts and sat with some mice that he often gambles with. These mice are discussing various rumors, including sightings of a fox and an owl, and the impending Matriarch announcement. Liam’s wanderings around town have him hearing much of the same thing. Marian visits the Apiary to discover that a number of scout bees are missing from it, and that there is concern because bees have gone missing lately, not returning to the hive. She then visits Bumbly, who has taken in and is caring for an older scout bee who no longer can fly, but who is incredibly distraught at the missing bees. Bumby lets Marian know that there are a few other apiaries that are also missing bees, and asks her to keep an eye out for them while she is on patrol and to help find out what is happening to them. Marian returns to the barracks and the patrol’s room, followed shortly by Aliystair and Liam. The patrol sleeps.
In the morning, everyone is woken up and rousted to the sound of the signal bell being rung indicating that all Guard Mice should attend in the Great Hall. A captain of the guard announces the Matriarch, who enters and speaks to all of the gathered mice:
“Brothers and sisters of the Guard, I have gathered you here to today to tell you that there is great danger coming to us all. While I cannot tell you exactly what it is… yet … I can tell you that it is important for all mice to be prepared. To this end, we are currently preparing dispatches that must be taken to all settlements in The Territories as quickly as possible. Your group leaders will be informed of the settlement that your group must travel to and who this dispatch must be given to. Once delivered, you should return to Lockhaven as quickly as possible…
Now, let us recite the Guard’s Oath together…”
After all of the mice recite the oath, the Matriarch leaves, and the captain who spoke earlier tells the mice to go eat and prepare to leave as soon as they get their dispatch. In the mess hall, there is much discussion about what is going on. Denkrass’ Patrol sneers at Mona’s Patrol, but Mona and her mice ignore them and sit to eat. After they have eaten, Mona’s direct superior Lewis meets with the patrol and gives them a dispatch that must be delivered to Captain Breanna in Port Sumac. Mona’s Patrol will travel with three other patrols to Darkwater, and then travel with those across the water to Port Sumac to deliver the dispatch. In the courtyard, Mona’s Patrol meets up with the other patrols that will be accompanying them, and everyone is glad to see that Denkrass is not there. Bruce is glad to see that his good friend Anthony will be travelling with them all the way to Port Sumac. As preparations are being made to leave, including collecting Liam’s stink bug Stinky, Denkrass’ Patrol makes an appearance. Denkrass approaches the leader of one of the other patrols, and hands him a letter. The other patrol leader reads it, then he and Denkrass swap dispatch letters. It seems that Denkrass and his patrol are indeed heading to Darkwater with all of the other mice, and it will be a long four days travel to the town with him. Denkrass nominates himself the leader and takes his patrol out without waiting for the others to follow. Everyone leaves Lockhaven, and Liam uses Stinky to rush ahead of Denkrass’ Patrol and take the lead on the way to Darkwater.
Liam and Stinky are scouting ahead of the group of four Patrols to make sure the road is clear when they notice an owl flying high in the sky during the day. He rushes back to tell the Patrols about it, and they spread out on the road to give themselves a chance to hide from the owl. As they head along the road to Darkwater, Mona’s Patrol discusses the fact that the owl is out during the day, which is very strange. There is no sign of the owl as the Patrols reach the forest that they will spend the next two days traveling through. Denkrass and his Patrol rush ahead and claim the hide hole at the side of the road, not allowing the others to get inside it. Aliystair sneakily covered up the smoke hole, and within an hour Denkrass and his group come out of the hide hole coughing and spluttering, claiming that the hide hole isn’t fit to be inside. Aliystair fixes the smoke hole and everyone else stays inside it, leaving Denkrass’ Patrol out in the cold through the night, unable to get a good night’s sleep. The next morning, the patrol continues on, with various members of each Patrol ranging out through the forest in turn. One of the ranging groups comes back quickly to Marian and lets her know that they have found a bee in the forest! Marian and the others in Mona’s Patrol head to the bee.
When they reach the bee, they find the bee is lying on her back and seems dazed and confused. Marian attempts to calm her down, and in doing so finds that the bee is marked as being from Copperwood, which is quite far away and nowhere near this area. The patrol manages to get the bee onto its feet, but seems dazed and confused still. Bruce realizes that the bee landed on its back, seeming to have fallen from the sky for some strange reason and Marian remembers hearing something about this happening back in the past a number of years ago in Pebblebrook. The bee doesn’t seem to be harmed, but seems to be malnourished, and Marian takes it in her charge, leading it back to the rest of the Patrols. Denkrass announces that he will be pressing on with the groups and Mona and her group will just have to try and keep up. Marian and Liam work together to get the bee onto Stinky’s back to allow them to keep up with the other patrols. In the morning, the bee is still confused, and everyone heads out on the last leg of the trip to Darkwater.
Unable to keep up with the rest of the Patrols, Mona’s Patrol reaches Darkwater before dark with the still dazed bee. Keeping the bee outside of the town, Mona heads into town to the Apiary there to speak to someone there about the bee’s plight. Two of the town apiarists travel out to the outside of the town and examine the bee. Marian and they talk about the problem with the bee and is mentioned that the apiary here is missing bees, and that this is one of the first of the missing bees to be found. The apiarists take the bee with them into town to care for her, although the bee is reluctant to leave Marian’s side. Marian goes with the bee to make sure she is okay and stays overnight with her while the rest of Mona’s Patrol head to the town Patrol guest barracks. They get there and find that Denkras has claimed the biggest rooms for his patrol.
In the morning, Denkrass has already got up and left. Marian returns to the rest of the patrol and they head to the docks to take a boat across the water to Port Sumac. When they get there they find that Denkrass has taken the largest boat, which is the boat that could take all three of the remaining groups that needed to travel to Port Sumac. Mona’s Patrol decides to take “The Wavecutter” which is a small and fast boat. Stinky won’t get on board the boat, however, and Liam attempts to push him on the boat. Stinky pushes Liam into the water by accident, and Bruce jumps in to safe him. Once they are on board the boat, Stinky is coaxed onto the boat with some food, and he is strapped down to the boat to make sure he doesn’t fall off the boat or panic further. As the boat moves off, Stinky drops a stink bomb and both Mona and Bruce, who are at the rear of the boat are covered in the stink. The boat travels for the next few days over the water, and on the last day of travel, “The Wavecutter” not only catches up with the boat carrying Denkrass’ Patrol, but overtakes it! Mona’s Patrol makes it to Port Sumac ahead of Denkrass and heads to the town Guard barracks.
When Mona and her friends get to the barracks, they ask after Captain Breanna, but are told that she is out on patrol. They ask when she is expected back, and they are told that she is actually overdue, but should be back soon. The patrol decides to visit Bruce’s family in Port Sumac and have dinner with them while waiting on Captain Breanna returning. After the meal, they return to the barracks to find that she still hasn’t returned. Mona and her patrol go to sleep for the evening. In the morning, Captain Breanna stil hasn’t returned, and while eating in the mess hall, Mona’s Patrol hears more rumors of recent weasel, fox, owl and other animal activity. Mona and her Patrol decide that they will go and look for Captain Breanna, as they have to deliver this message directly to her.
Mona’s Patrol heads out on the road leading from Port Sumac on the reverse of the patrol path that Captain Breanna and her group were supposed to take. Within a few hours, as they search along the road, Aliystair hears something in the tall grass and discovers a wounded mouse with a broken leg and a crutch lying against a large stone in the grass. The mouse is delirious and sick and mentions something about squirrels. Aliystair helps her as best he can and he discovers that she is a Guard mouse. She is questioned but doesn’t say much as she is in great pain. Mona and Bruce take her back to town while Bruce, Marian and Liam continue along the path that the mouse made, which heads towards some woods. As they get to the edge of the woods, they see a squirrel running through the trees. Once it is out of sight, they follow the tracks, which seems to follow where the squirrel is going, and eventually come to a large tree that has a number of nut shells scattered all around on the ground around it. They also find a single Guard cloak on the ground, as well as signs of where the mouse seems to have fallen. Above them, in the tree, the squirrel is moving around, and there is the sound of another squirrel talking to that one. The mice decide to head back to Port Sumac to report on what is going on.
Back at Port Sumac, Mona and Aliystair have taken the mouse to the healers, and she is being cared for. When the rest of the patrol arrives back, they decide they need to try to get the mouse to speak. The healers wake up the mouse, who is still in pain and a little delirious, but who mentions that Breanna and her patrol were captured by the squirrels and are being held in a tree hole that has been turned into a cage, and that she escaped and fell out the tree to try and get help. Mona’s Patrol decide to mount a rescue. They gather up supplies and head back to the forest to rescue Breanna’s Patrol when it is dark.
Back in the forest, Liam and Stinky climb up a nearby tree to assess the situation. They discover that there are two squirrels who have a nest on a large branch. One of the squirrels in sleeping in the nest. The other is sleeping with its face towards the tree hole cage in the trunk of the tree. The plan becomes to have Liam, Stinky and Aliystair climb above the squirrels and to set the nest on fire. Once the nest is on fire, Stinky will drop down between the squirrels and squirt them both. Aliystair and Liam will keep the squirrls pinned down while the others help Breanna and her patrol escape. This will be done by Bruce chopping down all the bars of the cage apart from one, which will have an escape rope tied to it. Marian will cover and protect Bruce while this happens, and Mona will supply weapons to the other mice while the escape is under way. Together, they all climb up the squirrels’ tree and take their positions.
Liam sends the fire arrow into the nest, and it takes a moment or two for the squirrels to wake up. They do and realize the nest is on fire, and attempt to put it ou. Stinky drops out of the tree and lands between them, and sprays them both in the face. The squirrels are now blinded and freaking out. Bruce starts hacking away at the bars of the cage, and Marian tells the squirrels to yield. The nearest squirrel turns to Marian, but doesn’t yield and instead snaps at her. Marian pushes the squirrel’s paws and it falls out of the tree. Liam fires an arrow at the squirrel in the nest, hurting it in the lower abdomen. Bruce makes short work of the cage, and Breanna’s patrol are freed. When Breanna sees the squirrel in pain she yells that the squirrels aren’t to be harmed, and all of the other mice rush to put out the fire in the nest. As they do this, Aliystair climbs down the tree trunk to get to the branch. Liam attempts to follow, but slips, but he saves himself by managing to land on the branch with the nest. The squirrel in the nest is blind, frantic and screams out “My babies! My babies” and swings a paw out, striking one of Breanna’s Patrol off of the branch and into the forest below. Liam and Stinky run down the tree trunk to get to the bottom of the tree and make sure they are okay. Aliystair steps up and with a single punch cold cocks the frantic squirrel with a single punch that knocks it out. Down below on the forest floor, the other squirrel is lying hurt on its side, unmoving, although the fallen Guard mouse has landed safely. The fight is over.
As everyone takes stock of what has happened during the fight, Breanna explains that the squirrels had no choice to do what they did: a weasel made them do it…
