I FINALLY got a group to play Elfs!! Woo hoo!! Even better, they REALLY enjoyed it! We made up the characters, and then I took them through the Fire and Ice module included.

Well, as usual, flubbed up the module. (I've never been any good at running 'em, and every player I've ever gamed with has always run circles around 'em.) They decided to try sneaking past the barbarians, and rolled 3 successes to do so, and decided to head directly up to the third floor. The second room they entered, they figured out the mirrors, and went to the tower-top. Not smart on my part, but I skipped ahead to where the Fire Lizards already had the hash pipe. One of the characters was unconscious, and so the otehr characters all decided to give him for lunch in exchange for the hash pipe. One of the characters, a "stoner" immediately decided to light up. They zipped through it in just over an hour's time. lol

I think the most humorous point was when they wanted to go through the ice leading to the tower, so an anal stage character got set to fart for all he was worth with the magic slingin' elf (the stoner) getting set to light his fart, and melt the ice. Well, he decided to have haywire as the result, and only scored two successes. It resulted in "Mmmm", so the fart turned solid, and into an edible mass. The stoner got upset and kicked it down the stairs, but failed his roll and slipped on the ice (sliding into the nearby wall). The, um, edible farts DID get kicked down the stairs (long story, but it was a dumb luck roll result), and so I had one of the snow-barbarian elfs call up, "hey! this stuff tastes like s**t!"

Well, it was humorous at the time, anyway. lol

Anyway, they're thinking about playing again tomorrow (if we play tomorrow, it'll definately be Elfs), so I'll do more of a free-form improv DMing job, and we'll see how it goes. I'll be sure to give my report here. lol

Daniel Worthington

As soon as I get my financial situation straightened out, I really need to pick up Elfs. Any game with a module that involves a hash-smoking reptile is all right by me.

I forsee this as being a game of much pizza ordering.

Clay

Dan,

Flubbed up the module? How? It sounds to me like you had a really good time ... no one ever said an Elfs session had to be such-and-such a length.

If you are really looking forward to a certain set of encounters, though, and it looks as though the players are going to bypass it, I suggest using the carrot. That is to say, offer something reeeeeal nifty and obvious to entice them into the situation of interest.

Or, if you're inclined, you could require several 3-success roles, e.g. one to get past the guards, one to get across the courtyard, one to get through the hall/vestibule ...

"I skipped ahead to where the Fire Lizards already had the hash pipe."

There we go. That's where our heroes had the opportunity to go deal with the snow-barbarians, right? The Fire Lizards say, "Oh yeah, that shaman-elf has it." Kind of puzzling why you skipped right there ... I mean, that would indicate that the short running time was YOUR doing, not the players' ...

But my main point is that if it was fun just to schlep past that set of characters, then no big deal. No flubbing.

I hasten to say, with some dignity, that I have never GM'd a scene involving an edible fart.

Best,
Ron

[ This Message was edited by: Ron Edwards on 2001-05-21 09:34 ]