Detroit Delving

So, a group of explorers are plying their trade in an old building in a ruined city, and find a treasure big enough to retire on. The general plan of many a Dungeon Fantasy game, but not something that could ever happen in real life.

. . . right?

The ultimate swap shop! Urban explorers find $1MILLION-worth of collectable sports cards inside an abandoned factory in Detroit

No word on whether they had to fight a dragon or horde of zombies for them, but this is otherwise remarkably reminiscent of a successful dungeon crawl. The article even mentions one Urban Explorer who supports himself with repeated visits to the site, which is obviously kept somewhat secret (or was, until recently).

It sort of makes me wonder about the viability of an urban-exploration role-playing campaign. All the basic tools already exist, I think - dungeon maps, post-apocalyptic "found stuff" tables, that sort of thing. It could be quite interesting to tackle such a traditional RPG activity in a non-traditional - i.e., real-world - setting, if only for a session or two.

I have just one question - guys, what happens when you hit domain level? 

Zeppelin Vs Pterydanthals

So, it's just about twelve hours until the deadline for the "Gimmie Your Weird Adventures" contest currently being run by Trey of From the Sorcerer's Skull (which blog was the basis of the Weird Adventures weird-pulp-fantasy setting). Inspiration having struck sooner rather than later, I did come up with this:

Zeppelin Vs Pterydanthals

A technological marvel meets a hitherto unknown civilization in Far Asciana.

Set-Up: Blown off course from their previous heading, an airship filled with adventurers and other passengers has just gotten its bearings when, suddenly, an attack comes from the jungle below. The attack proves to be the work of a previously unknown population of winged caimen, based out of a ruined temple complex.

Highlights: Dogfighting the Ptero-men in the airship's scout plane. A sea of green surrounding an ancient stone mountain. Ominous flapping from the darkened windows of the ship's lounge.

Recursive Inspiration

So, it seems that there's an organization out there calling itself Fantasy Brewmasters, a craft beer company that takes its inspiration from classic fantasy tropes. About three months ago, it seems, they released their first flavor, Burdisson's Dwarven Ale. Old news, perhaps, but it's got a couple of ideas brewing*.

Helpfully, the brewers have provided something of an in-universe backstory for the beer (without actually tying it to any particular universe**, also helpful), with a short history and some in-character promotional material - all of which feeds back into fantasy gaming, for it seems to me that with the material provided a creative GM could craft any number of interesting encounters or adventure hooks. For example:

- Characters needing some quick coinage might take a job guarding the merchants on the trade routes to the brewery from their favorite tavern.
- The beer could suddenly develop an adverse affect - from sickness to mind control - on the drinker, prompting a visit to the brewery to find out the origin of the contamination.
- Or, instead of the beer poisoning the drinker, it's suddenly not being delivered on schedule. What manner of catastrophe has befallen the brewery?
- Finally, maybe the brewery just happened to be the biggest/only settlement around when some evil forces came tromping over the land. Huge vats and other industrial equipment would make a great arena for a running battle with the Armies of Darkness.

Even the artwork is evocative, as this Dwarven statue/waterwheel combination demonstrates. The same artist also drew a map that makes me suspect that Burdisson's isn't the only project from Fantasy Brewmasters that will prove so inspirational.


*Pun fully intended.
**Though there's some intriguing hints that future flavors may end up contributing to just such a thing.