JADE's Top 5 Unique Player (and NPC) Deaths

Over the years JADE has had a lot of death in Tabletop RPG's. A few years back we looked at JADE's Top 7 Embarrassing Character Deaths this time we are going to look at those JADE characters that lost their tabletop lives in unique, unusual, or simply memorable ways.

Enoch Fellstone

1. Erased From Time

In Chapter 1 of JADE's Arachnophobia Campaign Adam's character Enoch Fellstone got himself erased from time. In a disagreement over whether or not Thomas the Chronomancer should be permitted to resurrect people through time travel or if that was against the natural order, Enoch and Thomas got into a fight, and Thomas pulled him into the Temporal Prime.

After a quick back and forth where Enoch revealed that resurrections of any kind violated his beliefs, Thomas left him in the Temporal Prime. Once you are in the Temporal Prime, your time line is removed and you no longer exist on the material plane. So no one but Thomas (as his timeline crosses/causes the banishing event) remembers he existed.

Enoch was killed in the Temporal Prime two days later by temporal dogs, and though they have seen some signs of his travels in the Temporal Prime they have never encountered his corpse.

Orin Cutter

2. Death by Hypothermia

A while ago we did an article about hypothermia as introduced in 1st ed AD&D. It can be a real danger, and while our characters who have been travelling in late fall/early winter have seen their fair share of it, Orin "Cutter" Broil was the first party member to die of it.

While being carried over a river he was accidentally dunked in and the poor level 2 character didn't have enough hit points to make it through the night. It was a fascinating happening that really made everyone very aware of the temperature in game and just how deadly nature can be, and frankly we never expected it would go that far.

Dremmond Farwell

3. Died in Glorious Battle

Another event from Hymns of a Vagabond, the fighter Dremmond Farwell, died in an absolutely heroic manner. with a party no greater than five, we stormed a goblin fortress defended by 30 or more goblins (we never got an exact count), however while battling at the gate, arrows rained down upon us. Dremmond took it on himself to shield the party from the arrows, resucing our healer Kvara and the rest of  us from certain defeat.

Unfortunately there were to many arrows for Dremmond's shield to keep up with and struck too many times, he fell a hero. We buried him in a in the courtyard of the Hold that he died to liberate, and honour his memory.

Raskavas

4. Stabbed in the Back

While chatting one day, Elijah reminded of an event from one of JADE's first D&D campaigns as a group. At the end of Conquest of Frey the party was confronted by a Mind Flayer; a creature many challenge levels above us. My Dark Dwarf Wizard Dwannis Muck-Mug went seven rounds against the Mind Flayer while his comrades Bodie and Raskavas were effected by a paralyzing spell.

Dwannis' effort was valiant, but ultimately futile as the Mind Flayer eventually overpowered him eat devoured his brain. When the spell effecting Bodie and Raskvas wore off, Raskvas tried to rally Bodie and lunged at the Mind Flayer to avenge his friend. But Bodie had other ideas.

With his back turned, Bodie lunged at Raskavas, killing him and swearing allegiance to the Mind Flayer and pledge his service. We had no idea it was coming and Elijah totally caught us off guard. Dave awarded him by having the Mind Flayer accept, which ended that part of the campaign.

Allison Rey

5. The Curious Case of Allison Rey

"Let me tell you the story of Allison Rey, who died three times on the very same day..."

Well actually it was closer to over a span of 40 hours but Allison Rey did indeed die three separate times within that span.

Again in JADE's Arachnophobia Campaign, around the time that Thomas the Chronomancer was just learning about Time Travel, Allison was killed by spiders. This was his first time travel event and he went back in order to save her life.

After doing so and fleeing the area where she was killed, the party continued South only to encounter a group of Bandits and for her to be killed again. So for a second time Thomas went back and tried to save her.

This time she survived the bandits, however while she took a night's watch Enoch who believed she was undead murdered her in the night. This was the last straw, and Thomas chose to let her rest. And since that point he has been more cautious about making major alterations to the timeline. Having a redo doesn't mean you can fix something and can often be more trouble then it is worth.

So those are 5 of our unique and memorable deaths we have seen through our D&D careers. What are yours?

The Tarleys: 15mm Peasants

In JADE's 1st ed AD&D Campaign Hymns of a Vagabond, the party is wintering at a small stone fort called Waerham's Hold. Through their journey's they have battled many goblins and managed to save this group of five peasants, who live and work in the Hold with them. This group of peasants has become collectively known as the Tarleys.

This all started when two farmers (and their grandpa but he is immobile so doesn't need a mini) joined us up at the Hold after we liberated it from the goblins. Scared their farm would get raided we agreed to take them in exchange for labour around the Hold. Their family name was Tarley, and so we just started refering to them as "The Tarleys".

Later, when Sen and Aren met the Thief Cutter he was with three other peasants: two women and an 11 year old boy. Not knowing what else to do with them, Sen decided to bring them back to the Hold. And now, despite there now being more people who do not share the surname Tarley, the nickname "Tarleys" as a way to refer to all the peasants has stuck around.

I hope that if we are actually able to recover this Hold that it becomes the local word for those of the peasant class.

The Original Tarleys: John and his sister Isabel. We taught them to sue spears.

In game terms these characters act more like Hirelings than full fledged NPCs. They have skills and abilities but do not level, and can only be taught a few additional skills on top of what they know.

Right now we have them preparing the Hold against a Goblin Attack. This is being directed by Jocelyn, and frankly we couldn't have done it without them. They are also being trained in the use of weapons (because they will have to defend themselves against the goblins sooner or later) and take shifts watching the area from the Hold's Tower.

Martha (Left) Denna (Right) and Peck (Centre). Peck is mute and that was what we called him...

These minis mostly come from Splintered Light Miniatures, though John Tarley's figure comes from Essex Miniatures. There is no photo of him on the site, but I believe he is from one of their 15mm peasant packs.

Written by: Andrew Gregory

Morane-Saulnier Type G's

Around the same era as the Etrich Taube the Morane-Saulnier Type G was one of France, Britain and Russia's first fighter planes. Like most Early World War One aircraft the Type G was originally designed as a racing plane that was adopted for military service.

Though capable of carrying a passenger, the Type G was primarily a single seat aircraft used for scouting. It featured no armament except the service pistol wielded by the pilot and was never intended for a combat role. Despite this, the Type G and one Russian pilot named Pyotr Nesterov were responsible for the first air to air kill in history.

On August 25th 1914, after unsuccessfully emptying his revolver at an Austrian Albatros BII Staff Captain Nesterov then rammed his plane into the enemy aircraft. The brash action destroyed both planes and killed the Austrian pilot, observer and Nesterov himself in the process. It is believed he was attempting to to preform an"Ariel Ram"; a risky maneuvered used by the Russians up into the second world war. The idea is to clip an enemy plane using your landing gear, causing catastrophic damage to the enemy, or forcing them to loose control. Whether or not this was actually Nesterov's plan we will never know, but his bold and frankly crazy action - fitting for the man who also preformed the first aerial loop- went down in history and inspired generations of Russian pilots to come.

For those of you that play Canvas Eagles, you will quickly realize that the Morane-Saulnier Type G is not a plane you can download from the Canvas Eagles Website and thus not something you would be able to use in game. And you would be correct; we had to make our own sheet.

Let us know what you think!

In game terms the Morane-Saulnier Type G isn't much to look at, however in our few tests against similarly matched planes it does make for a very hilarious dogfight that really does feel like dueling with pistol in the air.

Like the Taube, the Type G uses JADE's modified Carbine/Rifle Rules, this time featuring a revolver for the pilot.

These 1/300th scale Morane Saulnier Type-G models are from Shapeways and are among the first 3D printed planes I have painted. The detail on 3D printed planes is fantastic especially when compared to their metal counterparts, and I also really like how these guys did the propellers, though the group is divided on that. The major downside here is that the plastic planes are much more fragile, so you have to be a little more careful with them.

They are definitely more pricey, but as far as I know it is the only place you can get these planes in that scale. You will also need to clean these models as they will have wax on them from the printing process. I recommend soaking them in Simple Green cleaning solution for 20 minutes, and then a light scrub with a soft tooth brush and a toweling off with some paper towel.

Also if you like the look of our flight stands, we got them from CorSec Engineering. The best source for that sort of thing.

Written by: Andrew Gregory

IAF Folland Gnats

The Folland Gnat is British made micro-fighter jet from 1959. Designed to be a light, maneuverable, and first and foremost cheap to manufacture, the 28' long fighter was adopted by four countries: the United Kingdom, Finland, Yugoslavia and India.

However the Gnat was plagued with technical and design issues form the start. It lacked sufficient fuel reserves, meaning any other jet could out last it in a fight. It suffered from what was dubbed a "Trim Overflow" problem, meaning at top speed the elevators would lock in downward position forcing the nose down and if in the hands of an inexperienced pilot, sending the whole plane into a spin.

Despite it size and docile name, the Gnat featured some heavy weaponry in the form of two 30mm rotary cannons, and wing mounts for air-Surface rockets and or bomb loads. Its armament should have made for an effective fighter even with the other technical issues, but even the guns were plagued with problems, and had a tendency to jam.

Out of the four countries to purchase the Gnat, only India continued to use it; praising it as the "Sabre Slayer" during the 1965 Indo-Pakistan War. Indian pilots claimed it easily outmatched the Pakistani F-86 Sabre and after the war India went on to purchase the designs from Britain and commission their own version called the HAL Ajeet.

In Check Your 6! Jet Age, the Folland Gnat is a great plane, and certainly outclasses the Sabre... That is until you play the full Crisis in Kashmir Campaign. All of the technical faults from limited fuel to guns jamming are represented in the game.

For me the hardest part to get used to was the limited fuel supply. While fighting with them i have to be constantly aware of my position, amount of fuel left, and how exactly I am going to disengage off a friendly map edge without revealing my rear aspect to my Sidewinder Missile armed foes.

So while the Gnat is incredibly maneuverable, I find it a frustrating and limiting plane to fly... And sadly one that I am stuck with since I am playing the Indian side of the campaign.

My Folland Gnats come Raiden Miniatures and as far as I know they are the only makers of Folland Gnats in the 1/285th scale. My flight stands and plane mounts come from CorSec Engineering.

Written by: Andrew Gregory

Vestan the Elven Fighter

In Game 21 of JADE's 1st AD&D Campaign Hymns of a Vagabond, we encountered Sirva the Human Paladin, and her travelling companion Vestan the Elven Fighter.

The two claimed to be old friends, but from their conversations it would seem that they hadn't seen one another in some time. Vestan was certainly the quieter of the two, letting Sirva do most of the talking which only added to the mystery.

We haven't had a chance to learn much about Vestan, having only known him for a day. However he seems to be a bit of a loose cannon, readily departing the group to do what he wants to do. We are afraid that even though he is only an NPC that he will end up getting the group into trouble. But we will have to wait until next game to find out.

Vestan's mini comes from Splintered Light Miniautres (makers of fine 15mm fantasy and historical figures) and can be found in the Elven Adventurers pack.

Written by: Andrew Gregory

What the Hell is a FATE Token - The Weirdest Mechanic in the FATE RPG

FATE isn't a complicated tabletop system, and while their claims that it "gets the rules out of the way" are frankly untrue, it is on the "rules-light" side of gaming. But just because there aren't many rules that doesn't that those rules aren't complicated or difficult to master. For anyone (Player of Game Master) coming from a traditional tabletop RPG, the strangest mechanic to get used to is that of Aspects and FATE Tokens, and frankly they are the meat and potatoes of the FATE System.

Everything that the players interact with in a FATE game have what are called Aspects. As much as these serve as descriptors for the area/character, aspects are also pieces of information that the players and game master can interact with by spending/assigning FATE Tokens.

For example, above you see the aspects for Dave's Wizard. His high concept is Trickster, which mean that first and foremost Dave likes this character to play pranks and the like on others. His Troubles are more whimsically put but translate into:

1) He doesn't want to be a wizard but is.

2) He is not from the area we are playing in.

3) He is out of shape.

Elijah, the Game Master, could invoke one of Dave's Aspects by giving him a FATE token (we use giant checkers pieces); this would force him to get into trouble by acting upon his aspect. So for example, if during a chase Elijah invoked Dave's aspect "I need to Hit the Gym" then Elijah would give him a FATE Token; asking Dave to roleplay appropriately. Dave could spend one of his FATE tokens to ignore this effect, or could accept the FATE token and go along with him being tired during the chase.

As a player, Dave also has a  chance to spend his FATE tokens to interact with and modify a scene. So if Dave was in a Bar that had the aspects of:

1) Empty.

2) Dingy.

3) Run by the Mob.

And was approached by two mob thugs, Dave could spend a FATE token and invoke the Aspect of the Bar being "Empty" to change the scene so that there is only one guard who approaches him, rather than two. A Small example, but players can spend their tokens to use the Aspects however they imagine (and the GM approves) to change the scene, hopefully to their benefit.

This is not as easy as it sounds, particularly for the Players as it feels like you are both playing and hosting the game. In order to appropriately use the aspects, you need to be hyper aware of the scene and the mechanics that are going on around you. Otherwise you will not know what Aspect to invoke or how to modify the scene. So it feels like a lot of work and creative GM-Style thinking while you are a player.

As Game Master you really feel like a referee, as the players take the aspects and begin to form their own stories out of them. So your job is to be fair and make sure that the players aren't changing things too much in their favour. You also need to of course lead them on an adventure, and to create scenes and characters with invokable Aspects.

It took us as a group around five games to get used tot he FATE Token and Aspect system. Along the way we learned a couple things as well, like the importance of actually having something for the Tokens rather than just keeping a tally (it is easier to remember to use them) and to display the aspects of each scene/character on a white board so everyone can see what they have to work with. It's not perfect, but it's getting there.

Have you used the FATE RPG System? How did your group find using Aspects? Let us know in the comments below.

Written by: Andrew Gregory

The Etrich Taube

The Etrich Taube is one of the first planes used in WW1 by both the allies and the Central Powers. First built in Austria in 1912, the Taube was considered sturdy and stable and thus the perfect observation craft. Its operation history is extensive and saw service with nations including, Germany, Austria, Italy, The Ottoman Empire, Japan, and the list goes on.

The Taube was quickly outclassed as more modern and powerful aircraft were developed during the war, and the Taube was largely regulated to training duties. It is eve said that the Red Barn himself learned to fly in a Taube.

In Canvas Eagles, the Rumpler Taube (Rumpler was a licensed manufacturer during the war) is a bit of a joke. It is the lowest pointed plane in the game at 16 points, and it is not armed with a machine gun - only an observer wielded rifle.

Now, we did have to modify the "rifle/carbine" rules in Canvas Eagles to make them more functional. In the book you they give you unlimited ammo and 360 degree firing arc. This basically guarantees you a hit every round, and with the possibility of auto kills we had to add in some ammo limitations making it much more reasonable.

The only place I know that sells 1/300th scale Etrich Taubes is Heroics and Ros, and they have an excellent collection of 1/300th scale aircraft and military minis from just about any time period in history. Honestly most of my planes come from there.

Written by: Andrew Gregory

Sir Gavriel de Ponce on Horseback

Some time ago I painted the Captain of my 15mm guard Sir Gavriel de Ponce. He was responsible for the dark event that we call the Penkurth Massacre, and though the party got their vengeance against him, this mini will serve well for other guard captains in the future, because every captain needs a horse.

Both minis are from Splintered Light Miniatures and are designed as a matching pair. I believe they are from their Norman Line but you will have to do some looking.

Written by: Andrew Gregory

Making our Own Magic System in FATE

A few years back my cousin Adam and I decided we were going to try our hand at designing our own tabletop roleplaying game rule system. We called it "Wanderer" and set to work setting up a concept that would let player play through as realistic a fantasy/medieval simulator as we could come up with.

As to be expected with this sort of project, our development got no where and we decided to shelve it indefinitely, with one exception: the magic system. I had wanted to make a magic system that required the Caster to prepare and create their own spells, meaning that to Role Play as a wizard for example, you would have to study your spell book, create your own spells by combining the magical words that you knew and then propose the desired effect to the Game Master as a potential spell.

Adam helped me develop this idea further, setting up a system of grammar and syntax, so there are Verbs, Adjectives, Adverbs, modification words, amplifying words, elemental words, etc. etc. We came up with a whole list of word types... But never actually created an specific magical words for you to use, and we really had no idea what we were going to do with it, so we kept it in the back of our mind and kept going with our other RPGs.

Three years later Elijah proposed the idea for his FATE Campaign to the group, and Adam and I immediately looked at one another with knowing eyes: this was the opportunity we had been waiting for. FATE was the perfect rule set to test run our magic system in. So we proposed it to Elijah, he thought it sounded like a great idea and began modifying it for his own uses.

Elijah took the concept of different words having different specific spell effects, and added in a component he called Will. So as much as the semantics of your spell are important, the other half of making the spell work is your willing it happen... Effectively you have to believe in the spell's effect. This modification made the magic system better suited for FATE, since rather than proposing spell effects to your Game Master before/during game, you rolled for it and the Game Master decides how effective the spell was based on the roll.

It took us a while as players and as characters to get used to the magic system. Coming from D&D we were used to some strict limitations on casting, and this system was much more open, giving us incredible flexibility to solve problems. Whether it was some simple telekinesis on a guard's coin purse using the "Here" spell word, or figuring out how to throw a fire ball by combining the "Fire", "Move" and "There" words. We slowly figured out how to morph the magic to our own devices.

It makes for a really fun magic system, and a much more engaging time for your magic user, who needs to be studying their spells and thinking of new combinations in and out of the game. I hope to have a list of spell words published here soon for you guys to take a look at and create your own spells with!

Written by: Andrew Gregory

Sirva the 15mm Paladin

In Game 21 of JADE's 1st ed AD&D campaign Hymns of a Vagabond the party finally began their journey to the mysterious town of Thachet with the hopes of selling their stolen spell book. While only a few hours from town, they encountered two travellers an Elven Fighter, and a Paladin named Sirva.

Sirva, claimed to be from a monastery a few days from here, and that she was investigating why Thachet had been ignored by the Goblins. We were able to help her by showing her our goblin map with the strange note by Thachet that read "avoid!" However, she needed more evidence and decided to follow us into town.

Given her Lawful Good nature and this party's tendency to get into some... let's call it extra-legal trouble, I am not sure how long Sirva will last with the party, but another skilled fighter is always a welcome addition.

Written by: Andrew Gregory

Vought F4U Corsair 1/144th Scale

If you have never had the pleasure of building a 1/144th scale model plane I recommend you go to your local model shop and grab one now. For a price of $5-$10 you can get just about any World War Two Fighter Plane, and a few of the more common fighter jets. There detail is just enough that they are a pleasure to paint, but not so much that they become frustrating to build.

This 1/144th Scale  Vought F4U Corsair is from Revell models, and can be found in just about any model shop.

I of course intend to use this plane in a "Check Your 6!" match. I haven't played the World War Two version yet (Just the jets), and will likely switch to 1/300th scale like the rest of my planes, but these bigger planes will make for some good fun!

Being around the same speed and capability I imagine my Corsair will likely face up against my Mitsubishi "Jack" a few times. I wonder which will win the skies - my money's on the Corsair.

Written by: Andrew Gregory

JADE's FATE RPG Campaign: Lost in a Familiar Realm

Late last November, Elijah introduced JADE to an RPG system that he learned about on the podcast My Brother, My Brother and Me. It was called FATE and was an open-source collaborative story telling tabeltop RPG. Elijah was very excited to try it out and at JADE we never say no to a new system! So he began prepare his campaign, and we looked up the rules... As best we could.

For the first game, Elijah brought his campaign to the table. Adam, Dave, and Myself would play as ourselves, having been accidentally teleported into a universe that seemed like a traditional D&D setting: magic, dragons and all.

We are Not in Kansas any More

We began our adventure in the small village of Darbysford. We don't know exactly where that is in relation to say a country or something similar, but it is labeled at "18" on our map above to signify that we spent 18 days there.

In this village we learned a little about how this world works, and how important wizards are to this world. Effectively the ruling class, Wizards combine spell words to create magical effects. This process is as much semantic as it is a matter of will power. After becoming a wizard's apprentice, Dave learned that the portals that brought us to this world could be opened by the very magic he had been taught. You just had to know the right words.

And so our quest began, but not before we were captured for being "other worlders" by an organization known as the Watchers of the Abyss.

On the Road

We were marched for about a day and a half outside Darbysford in a magical trance until we came to. the three of us were chained to a tree along with a fourth: a strange fighter/thief, who promised to help us escape, as long as we took her with us.

When one of those horrible beasts in the image above attacked our camp it was time to escape, and we fled amidst the chaos.

Along the road we encountered a wizard who gave us our first quest in exchange for more spell words (a common practice). Our job to recover a glass bead from a giant was a rousing success! We returned to be given more spell words, and access to our next destination and contact the Wizard Horace in Shepsford

A City on the River

As we made our way into town, we discovered a sign post, and that despite being able to read the magical language, the standard written language was completely illegible to us. For example, we later learned that the symbol above is the number "2". Thankfully we encountered a friendly farmer named Oscar who lent us some money in exchange for a days labour beginning the following morning.

After enthusiastically helping Oscar sell his vegetables, the parry found out that the Wizard Horace worked for the gang the Midtown Drakes.  To do business with them was to throw our hat in with some pretty shady folk, but we all agreed we had little choice, and accepted their mission to rob a secret vault of the Watchers of the Abyss.

Again this went off perfectly, and we returned to gain more spell words, and were told to seek out the Academy to become proper wizards. After deciding to leave Shepsford we left off, and decided to do some work on the FATE system itself.

Wait... How Does This System Work?

FATE was unlike any RPG we had ever played as a group, and for the first... Honestly three to four  out of the five games we have played, the majority of us did not understand the system. FATE is not D&D. The GM needs to do less prep work, the players have more control over the events of each scene in the story, and this relationship is very difficult to get used to. But once you get going, modifying each scene and playing with the "Aspects" of the scenario and characters involved makes for a really interesting experience. 

Our last session of FATE was workshop game where Elijah laid out his grand plans for the campaign, how the universe works, as well as listened to our input and ideas. With this information, As a player I feel much more informed and capable of helping to tell this story and fell that this sort of openness is necessary to play FATE, whether you do the co-operative world building step or not.

In the end, Elijah thinks that FATE wasn't the best system to host this campaign in. The Systems strength is in the over the top abilities and actions of each player character, and so to make it more interesting we modified our characters to be more of a caricature of ourselves, or even replaced our character's entirely. 

With these changes, and our new found confidence in the world and system I am sure that during the next five games we will be playing FATE as it was intended. 

Written by: Andrew Gregory