That last post went into some of the details and advantages of the shared world campaign I run, but it was supposed to say that I'm going to transfer our adventure logs over here. They will be denoted by tagging the character names, so if you want to follow Zayne, Meepo, or Archfiend Beelzebulb's adventures, you can just click on their tag and pull up the relevant entries.
I'm currently in Dublin staying around literally around the block from Jameson distillery for the night. Tomorrow I head to Belfast for two nights, then back to Dublin before going to Wales and London, and finally arriving in Belgium to start the Damien Done tour. I've brought so much D&D stuff to read (I read half of Elfshadow by Elaine Cunningham on the plane on the way here) and I have so many projects to write up. This is my chance to get ahead of the home responsibilities curve and get some serious writing done so that I can get into a regular publishing schedule on DMsGuild this fall. Goooooo!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, July 31, 2018
Our Shared World Campaign
The most common difficulty people seem to have when trying to get a D&D campaign going is getting all the players' schedules to line up consistently. My solution has been to run multiple groups (some with shared players and characters) in the same world.
Our home group tries to meet every other Friday, but logistical hiccups can easily lead to four or even six weeks between sessions. My first solution to bridge the gap was to blend my kids' campaign with the main one. The kids's characters could have their own adventures, but they existed in a shared world and could join up with the main group when the circumstances of the story and the schedule permitted. Our home campaign actually started with another person DMing and I played Faerthurin, my wood elf assassin. When I switched to DMing the main group, I originally intended for Faerthurin to become an NPC and resurface later in the story, but I found he was useful in the kids' campaign as a character anyone could use if they were sitting in on a session. It all made sense in the story as characters joined the main group for a session or two and then left to have their own adventures.
Since then, we've added a third group. I had a friend who I knew was somewhat interested in playing, and with a little nudge he got his brother and another friend to join in. One player from our home group joined in with a new character and we were ready to go. My impetus as DM (besides just getting to play D&D more) has been to run an epic length Tomb of Annihilation campaign. I intend to use the hardcover adventure, all the Adventurers League modules, the Guild Adepts material, the Hidden Shrine of Tomoachan, a fair amount of bespoke material, and maybe even some conversions of other topical tropical adventures like the Isle of Dread, Isle of the Ape, or other X series BECMI modules.
I didn't like the primary hook in Tomb of Annihilation at all. I think it really stretches believability when a powerful NPC hires some squishy nobody 1st level characters to undertake an important mission. I also felt like teleporting to Chult was cheap and squandered the opportunity for a classic sea voyage. I had my group start on the docks of Waterdeep, answering a posting looking to hire swords for the trip to Chult and back. Our first four hour session covered roughly half the journey to Chult, including giant rats in the hold (as every squishy 1st level should have to deal with), a sahuagin attack, and lots of role playing interactions. That was really a wonderful surprise. Everyone in the group had differing levels of experience with different editions of D&D, from none at all to less than a year of 5e, and I sort of expected a pulpy, kill everything and take the gold adventuring style. But rather than diving into the rules and mechanics, everyone dove into their characters with wonderful results. The potential boredom of the sea voyage ("roll for random encounters... None... Next day, roll again...") was eliminated as the characters spent the time between encounters interacting with the different NPCS in the crew.
Ah yes, the crew. As the trajectory of this campaign arcs towards the Tomb of Annihilation, I wanted to have some replacement characters ready to go. I made half a dozen NPCs on DnDBeyond and sketched out their basic personalities and possible secrets and motives. Making them on DnDBeyond was an enormous time saver and won me over to that system completely. Each character took roughly ten minutes to make rather than the traditional hour or more using pen and paper. I made them as approximate analogues for the characters the players made so that they could be easily substituted if anyone died. The main party is a half-elf druid, orc fighter, tiefling rogue, and tortle barbarian. The crew surrogates, if you will, are a halfling bard, genasi sorcerer, goliath cleric, human monk, and minotaur ranger. The captain of the ship is a higher level dwarf fighter, and the rest are commoners (unless I need to develop one into an NPC for the sake of the story or as a surrogate).
The ship voyage is somewhat railroad-y. I have specific encounters planned rather than going hex by hex. But it will be up to the players to decide what to given their circumstances. The first example of that is that the ship left Waterdeep with just enough food for the voyage, but the giant rats ate some of it and they're going to have to make an unscheduled stop to steal giant crabs and goats from the island of a cyclops. I'm going to develop the island enough that the characters can Either get their crabs and goats and leave, or they can choose to explore it further.
I quite intentionally have not introduced the Death Curse yet. MY plan is for the ship to dock at Port Nyanzaru for ten days, during which the characters can have adventures in and around the city. However, this will open up a possibility that they will miss the ship leaving to return to Waterdeep, leaving them stranded in Chult. If so.. So be it! If they make it back to the ship, there's the possibility for more sea adventures and then some more action in Waterdeep like Rats of Waterdeep or Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. I might use Cellar of Death by James Introcaso to initiate the Death Curse and push them back to Chult
But back to the main point! The home groups has found themselves in the Underdark. The kids group is adventuring in the vicinities of Neverwinter and Neverwinterwoods, practically about the main group. The Chult/Waterdeep group may find themselves drawn into the web of the others, or perhaps I'll just have little Easter eggs that pass between their stories. Either way, it means a lot of D&D and a very good time.
Our home group tries to meet every other Friday, but logistical hiccups can easily lead to four or even six weeks between sessions. My first solution to bridge the gap was to blend my kids' campaign with the main one. The kids's characters could have their own adventures, but they existed in a shared world and could join up with the main group when the circumstances of the story and the schedule permitted. Our home campaign actually started with another person DMing and I played Faerthurin, my wood elf assassin. When I switched to DMing the main group, I originally intended for Faerthurin to become an NPC and resurface later in the story, but I found he was useful in the kids' campaign as a character anyone could use if they were sitting in on a session. It all made sense in the story as characters joined the main group for a session or two and then left to have their own adventures.
Since then, we've added a third group. I had a friend who I knew was somewhat interested in playing, and with a little nudge he got his brother and another friend to join in. One player from our home group joined in with a new character and we were ready to go. My impetus as DM (besides just getting to play D&D more) has been to run an epic length Tomb of Annihilation campaign. I intend to use the hardcover adventure, all the Adventurers League modules, the Guild Adepts material, the Hidden Shrine of Tomoachan, a fair amount of bespoke material, and maybe even some conversions of other topical tropical adventures like the Isle of Dread, Isle of the Ape, or other X series BECMI modules.
I didn't like the primary hook in Tomb of Annihilation at all. I think it really stretches believability when a powerful NPC hires some squishy nobody 1st level characters to undertake an important mission. I also felt like teleporting to Chult was cheap and squandered the opportunity for a classic sea voyage. I had my group start on the docks of Waterdeep, answering a posting looking to hire swords for the trip to Chult and back. Our first four hour session covered roughly half the journey to Chult, including giant rats in the hold (as every squishy 1st level should have to deal with), a sahuagin attack, and lots of role playing interactions. That was really a wonderful surprise. Everyone in the group had differing levels of experience with different editions of D&D, from none at all to less than a year of 5e, and I sort of expected a pulpy, kill everything and take the gold adventuring style. But rather than diving into the rules and mechanics, everyone dove into their characters with wonderful results. The potential boredom of the sea voyage ("roll for random encounters... None... Next day, roll again...") was eliminated as the characters spent the time between encounters interacting with the different NPCS in the crew.
Ah yes, the crew. As the trajectory of this campaign arcs towards the Tomb of Annihilation, I wanted to have some replacement characters ready to go. I made half a dozen NPCs on DnDBeyond and sketched out their basic personalities and possible secrets and motives. Making them on DnDBeyond was an enormous time saver and won me over to that system completely. Each character took roughly ten minutes to make rather than the traditional hour or more using pen and paper. I made them as approximate analogues for the characters the players made so that they could be easily substituted if anyone died. The main party is a half-elf druid, orc fighter, tiefling rogue, and tortle barbarian. The crew surrogates, if you will, are a halfling bard, genasi sorcerer, goliath cleric, human monk, and minotaur ranger. The captain of the ship is a higher level dwarf fighter, and the rest are commoners (unless I need to develop one into an NPC for the sake of the story or as a surrogate).
The ship voyage is somewhat railroad-y. I have specific encounters planned rather than going hex by hex. But it will be up to the players to decide what to given their circumstances. The first example of that is that the ship left Waterdeep with just enough food for the voyage, but the giant rats ate some of it and they're going to have to make an unscheduled stop to steal giant crabs and goats from the island of a cyclops. I'm going to develop the island enough that the characters can Either get their crabs and goats and leave, or they can choose to explore it further.
I quite intentionally have not introduced the Death Curse yet. MY plan is for the ship to dock at Port Nyanzaru for ten days, during which the characters can have adventures in and around the city. However, this will open up a possibility that they will miss the ship leaving to return to Waterdeep, leaving them stranded in Chult. If so.. So be it! If they make it back to the ship, there's the possibility for more sea adventures and then some more action in Waterdeep like Rats of Waterdeep or Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. I might use Cellar of Death by James Introcaso to initiate the Death Curse and push them back to Chult
But back to the main point! The home groups has found themselves in the Underdark. The kids group is adventuring in the vicinities of Neverwinter and Neverwinterwoods, practically about the main group. The Chult/Waterdeep group may find themselves drawn into the web of the others, or perhaps I'll just have little Easter eggs that pass between their stories. Either way, it means a lot of D&D and a very good time.
Friday, October 17, 2014
Moving the Records to Discogs
皆さん - For those interested, I set up a Discogs page with everything from the distro and I will be adding lots of records from my personal collection as time goes by. This will be my primary site for selling records for the foreseeable future. Check it out and send me money.
http://www.discogs.com/seller/buraicore/profile
http://www.discogs.com/seller/buraicore/profile
Sunday, June 24, 2012
new releases: SUPER FRISKY 12" and NIGHTBRINGER 3rd 7"
I'll update the mailorder list (add a couple, delete a couple, nothing major) next weekend and do a proper blog entry. In the meantime, here's the big news...
--- new Burai Core releases, June 25, 2012 ---
BCR-02 Super Frisky "For Buddy" 12". Super Frisky is from Tokyo, Japan. In the beginning it was a band named "Buck Wheat" and the members were Yoko (AKUTARE), Sakura (JUDGEMENT), Kaki (鉄アレイ TETSU ARREY), and Chelsea (PAINTBOX). After Chelsea regrettably passed away, Keiro (AKUTARE / TETSU ARREY) joined and it became Super Frisky. The songs are made up of Chelsea's and new songs, making a "rock'n hardcore punk" sound. Please listen and decide the image of the sound for yourself. LP includes an mp3 download code and comes in a resealable polysleeve.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7vkTxK3Pfg http://superfrisky.bandcamp.com/
BCR-02.5 Nightbringer "Fight Like Hell" 7". Drawing influence from the slashing riffs of "Give Notice of Nightmare", crashing open chords in the chorus and a splash of bit crushed distortion for emphasis, "Fight Like Hell" is an all out burner dedicated to living at maximum intensity until your last breath, putting fear in the hearts of those who would oppress the human spirit. It will appear in a different mix on the LP (maybe released late 2012 or 2013), and the B side has Detroit/Ohio cover songs. Covers are printed black on yellow stock and hand dyed with red detail. Red vinyl, one time press. http://nightbringerhc.bandcamp.com/track/fight-like-hell-2
--- still available in limited quantities ---
BCR-01 Origin of M 12"
Nightbringer "31st and Michigan" 7"
Nightbringer first 7"
--- PRICES --- (include postage and fees) --- paypal to buraicore@gmail.com and write what you are ordering in the paypal comment section!
single copies (US=media mail for LPs, first class for 7")
SUPER FRISKY LP US=$11 CANADA=14 WORLD=$20
ORIGIN OF M LP US=$10 CANADA=13 WORLD=$19
NIGHTBRINGER 7" US=$6 CANADA=8 WORLD=$11
combos (please specify in the paypal comment section what you are ordering)
SUPER FRISKY LP + NIGHTBRINGER 7" US=$14 CANADA=$16 WORLD=$24
SF LP, OoM LP, NB 7" US=$20 CANADA=$24 WORLD=$33
SF LP, OoM LP, all 3 NB 7"s US=$26 CANADA=$31 WORLD=$41
all 3 NIGHTBRINGER 7"s US=$14 CANADA=$16 WORLD=$21
wholesale
SUPER FRISKY LP, 5 copies US=$38 CANADA=$48 WORLD=$60
SUPER FRISKY LP, 8 copies US=$59 CANADA=$90 WORLD=$108
SUPER FRISKY LP, 10 copies US=$73 CANADA=$105 WORLD=$124
NIGHTBRINGER 7", 5 copies US=$20 CANADA=$23 WORLD=$29
NIGHTBRINGER 7", 8 copies US=$29 CANADA=$34 WORLD=$42
NIGHTBRINGER 7", 10 copies US=$35 CANADA=$41 WORLD=$49
to mix and match LPs: OoM LP is $1 less than SF LP. Deduct $1 for each Origin of M LP substituted for a Super Frisky LP. For example, in the US, 3 SF + 2 OoM = $36 ($38-2).
to mix and match 7"s for LPs: 3 7"s weigh as much as one LP. When substituting 3 7"s for a Super Frisky LP, add $2.50. For example, in the US, 4 SF + 3 NB 7" = $40.50 ($38+2.50)
For other quantities, please email me. To get anything off the Burai Core mail-order list (which needs to be updated slightly) at wholesale rates, email me. Any other questions, email me! buraicore@gmail.com
http://www.buraicore.com
Friday, January 13, 2012
あけましておめでとうございます
2011 was a little quiet for Burai Core, the Origin of M 12" release and having a newborn in the house took up most of my time. But I had secret plans cooking in the background that are starting to come to fruition.
Took a trip to the pressing plant yesterday...
Came back with new test presses... What could they be??
Sunday, September 4, 2011
New items
It's been a while since updates. I more or less took the last month off, just keeping up with mailorders and behind the scenes stuff, because my boy started crawling, and climbing, and falling off things, so it became even more of a full time job to keep an eye on him and keep him out of trouble. He's just hanging out today, so I was able tog et all this together.
First up, the new Slowmotions single, excellent as always, and the Isterismo discography 12", both on 540, released for Chaos In Tejas courtesy of Timmy Hefner. Istermismo are raging Japanese crustiness, obviously inspired by the Italian classics. Next, I got copies of the recent Annihilation Time reissues on Tank Crimes. Sure it falls outside my general focus on Japanese hardcore, but it's a similar rock/hardcore fusion, and frankly I think they were one of the best American bands in the last ten years. Similarly, I got a few copies of the reissue of Poison Idea "Feel The Darkness" on Farewell. Like Discharge, undisputed classic and very influential on the Japanese scene. Finally got some copies of the newest Crude 12", "Corner". Raw and along the lines with their last 7" on HG Fact. And brand new is the Etae discography 12". Compiling both their 7"s on the A side and all 5 comp tracks on the B side. Etae were from Hakodate and shared a guitarist with Crude around the time of their "Attitude" 12". If the new raw Crude doesn't satisfy your jones for burly melodic Hakodate style HC, Etae will.
Unfortunately, thanks to soft European cardboard, some of the Etae and Crude jackets suffered corner damage in shipping. I'll sell the cleanest copies first while I wait and see if the label can send me replacements for the rest.
Also, a lot of stuff in the distro is getting down the last copies, so I noted that where applicable in the mailorder list.
Origin of M tour wrap-up part 1
There are a lot of great photos and videos from Origin of M's tour. I'm going try to post some each time I update the site. To begin with, here's one from West Philadelphia, shot and edited by Clones and Fashions. For a higher res version, follow the link and check out their other videos too.
http://www.clonesandfashions.com/clonecast/clonecast-films-episode-04-origin-of-m/
As for the Burai Core label, I want to keep things a little secret for right now until they're 100% certain, but I'm working on the second release right now, laying the groundwork for the third, and next year might see a vinyl release of Origin of M "Struggle".
http://www.clonesandfashions.com/clonecast/clonecast-films-episode-04-origin-of-m/
As for the Burai Core label, I want to keep things a little secret for right now until they're 100% certain, but I'm working on the second release right now, laying the groundwork for the third, and next year might see a vinyl release of Origin of M "Struggle".
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