Author: Red Ones Go Faster

Somber Sands – Session Four

[GM Note: This game summary will be a bit more choppy as I wrote most of it right after the game, but we had our bit of a gap in play, thankfully to result in better health again now this summer. So I’m finishing it now before Session Five, so it might have some gaps! -Andrew]

It was a dusty three days journey to Kled, retracing sands that the party had walked before. Corin, Finnja, Thrak-Chul, and Marquis had a rough chuckle when passing the silt basin that they had searched so fruitlessly on their way to the Dwarven minehead. Bez, their Dwarven companion, was talkative, discussing how the thin vein of metal they found in the mine would be the new lifeblood for the town of Kled and their families.

Unfortunately, smoke on the horizon was ominous tidings at Kled. The entire town had been attacked and razed. The few Dwarves who had remained despite the poisoned well now lay as bodies in the street, with homes raided and dwelling shattered by a sizeable, coordinated, and seemingly ruthless force. Whether the elf raiding army in the area, or a band ranging out from Tyr amidst the rumored crisis there, the heroes were unsure. The most stunning losses were finding grandmother’s body lying dead in the middle of the street, and the town elder’s clearly tortured form in the town longhall.

The one thing that gave Corin, Finnja, Thrak-Chul, and Marquis hope was that they didn’t see Cleodis’ body (the youth they had met when they first approached the town in dire need of water). There were tracks everywhere, and Finnja’s trained eyes had a tough time discerning what had happened–other than the attackers had strange clawed and webbed feet. Marquis picked up a thistle-husk doll that was laying forgotten in the street and had a sharp and stunning vision: four Dwarven children, hiding in the rocks north of town. He tried to explain to the group what he saw, and they rushed out north of town to the rocky warrens, carefully calling out in hopes of finding them.

A tearful reunion happened when four Dwarven children, led by Cleodis, came out of hiding to meet them, hugging the adventurers and Bez with tears–the most precious thing in the desert–welling in everyone’s eyes. They told the story of what they had seen, and it proved to be ill omens indeed. They said that the things that attacked walked like men but looked like lizards. They had marched into town, and the one that spoke–which looked different and smaller than the others–had a “face in its tummy” that did the talking. He pronounced the town and its contents the property of “The Saltback” and when the town elder defied them the small one ordered the attack. The kids fled to their hiding place north of town, and didn’t dare go back–not knowing where the army of The Saltback were from.

Surmising that this was some sort of mercenary band headed toward Tyr, the adventurers weighed checking out what was happening in the city versus getting to relative safety elsewhere. They loaded up Bez, Cleodis, and the other kids, and planned to journey back to the spot of the brothers’ mine–at least hopeful that they could be safe there and use the revenue of that thin trace of metal that they found to barter for food and water to survive.

The adventurers decided to avoid Tyr, knowing that the elven army had sacked Fort Iron and unsure of this new force serving “The Saltback”. They instead cut northeast, headed right back to the mine. When they reached the road they had to cross south of Silver Spring, they were disheartened to see two huge armies on the march. Neither seemed to be the elves nor lizards that walked like men–even more forces afield it seemed, both headed toward Tyr. One was very heavily armored in almost chitinous glass armor, marching slowly with a clear rearguard watching the force that moved far behind them. The trailing force were lightly armored but more numerous, runners on foot with loads of spear-bearers in the main column. The two forces were clearly both wary of each other, trying to move and not engage but ready should the others start anything.

The adventurers decided to chance their luck, and dash from their hiding spot on the dunes to the west of the road to the dunes eastward where the mine was hidden. For a tense moment after the mad dash they waited, hoping neither group would send pursuers after them. Relieved, they pushed on to the mine, reuniting Bez, Cleodis, and the other children with Boaz. The two Dwarven brothers swore an oath to start a new clan with the children, adopting them and using the mine as their new home.

Traveling cautiously along the road, the group decided that perhaps south–toward Abarath–made sense as a next move, hoping the armies are all turning toward Tyr at the crossroads. As they traveled, they come upon a lone man riding an a crodlu. Hailing him, the group met and talked with him.

He introduced himself as Timoth, a House Vordon outrider. Corin thanks him “You sir are a spring found under sand”. Hi indicates that he’s working with a merchant caravan that chanced a cut due east to Abarath from Fort Skonz over the sands rather than stick with the road. The adventurers inquired about joining the caravan, and Timoth offers to introduce them. He travels with them for a stretch, when soon a massive rumbling caravan wagon’s dust was spotted. Timoth hailed the guards as he approached, and the adventurers could see the wagon had more than a few guards both outriding alongside it and stationed around the defense-works of the massive wagon.

It took a bit of a trick to duck under the wheels then climb through a defense port into the wagon, but Corin, Finnja, and Marquis eventually managed it, but Thrak-Chul chose to remain outside and travel alongisde the walking guards. Timoth introduced the three boarders to Merchant Mistress Hilleth of House Vordon, the head of the caravan. They learned that House Vordon is a house tied to Tyr. Mistress Hilleth told them the recent news from Tyr: the Dragon King slain by a gladiator throwing a spear through his heart atop his massive, nearly-finished ziggurat. The Dragon King’s death thru the region into chaos. Her own House is in financial ruin due to unpaid contracts for slaves and building supplies, as the Dragon King of Tyr had been near-fanatically pouring all of his City-State’s wealth into the construction of the ceremonial ziggurat. This has prompted almost every other major ruler in the lands of Arthas, along with freestanding House armies and loads of mercenary companies, to all send their forces in the direction of Tyr: half to try and take it over, and half to loot it.

Trak-Chul on the outside makes passing aqcuaintance with a guard named Sliff, who tells him much the same information as Mistress Hilleth relayed to the others. He does reveal that House Vordon is near-bankrupt… and that Mistress Hilleth has some sort of magical powers–she melted a guy who was caught stealing a few days back.

The adventurers get told of the others who are traveling with the caravan, and they’re offered the standard deal for mercenary protection: a ceramic piece now, and twenty more when they reach the caravan’s destination of Nibenay–a City-State well away from the unruly situation in Tyr. Others on the caravan that are not direct members of House Vordon include a group of riders on kanks that call themselves the “Lost Chatkcha”, a group of Mul gladiators that escaped Tyr together, and a few other random sellswords who are traveling with the same deal: passage and water for joining in protection when needed.

Marquis and Corin ask about whether there is a commissary or shop on the massive wagon, and they’re told to see the Quartermaster: Cupboard. They walk into the room, and see a counter top with some items, and behind it standing a cupboard. Which starts to talk to them. After a bit of confusion, the group figures out how to buy and sell basic items with said Cupboard.

As the merchant caravan rumbled onward the heroes are given a room to sleep and store their things, and instructed on timings for food and water, and when their shifts amongst the guards will be scheduled. They take a break out of the sun to get a bit of rest, excited about what the future will hold as the caravan rumbles northward–surely leaving the woes of Tyr and the clashing armies of the lands of Arthas behind.

40k 11th Edition Launch Events: Urban Camo

It’s time for a new edition of Warhammer 40,000, which means a new launch event at Drawbridge Games in Pittsburgh, PA!

This time we know a lot of people will be starting brand new armies, or adding the new starter box full of models to their existing collections. And that means a moment where we’ve got at least a couple of “urban camouflage” models: models assembled but not painted yet. While we might be trying our best to get some stuff painted, there is only so much time. So we decided to embrace that.

Using our best Orky cunnin’, we decided on an event where people could play those new models, even if they’re still a bit… grey. Why not a massive, urban combat bring-and-battle across the amazing Future Cleveland terrain (graciously loaned to us by Ryan N.)?

Timings: The event will happen on two different days, to ensure that people with different schedules get a chance to play: Thursday July 16th and Saturday July 18th. Thursday the 16th setup begins at 6:30pm with play running till 10:00pm. Saturday the 18th setup begins at 12:30pm with play running until 6:00pm.

Event: This is a bring-and-battle event, where people will score the points of all units their models finish off, during the time that they play. So you don’t need to be there right at the start, but can arrive at anytime and hop onto the table and start fighting–but those there for the day will have more opportunities to get destruction in! Plus we’ll have a generous “reserves” system where people on both sides can cycle in destroyed models to ensure that there are plenty of targets around. We’ll keep a leaderboard of most points destroyed by players on each side, and a prize drawing at the end of each day.

Forces: The launch box is Orks vs Space Marines, so we’re allowing people to field any Orks and any Imperial forces. Remember, they can be in their best unpainted “urban camo” (our usual minimum painting requirements are waived for this event)! But of course they don’t have to be! People can bring in their painted collections–whatever you can reasonably run, you’re welcome to bring to the table (knowing that we’ll roughly even out sides: so even if you bring your entire 1st company of Deathwing terminators, the total points of Orks on the table will decide the total points that people can plop down of Imperials).

Prizes: As usual, we’ll have a door prize drawing for all who enter the event. Must be present to win, and a separate drawing for Thursday and Saturday. Additional draws will go to the leaderboard top three at the end of each session. They’ll be split into two groups: low points leaderboard and high points leaderboard (so the person who brings 350 points of Space Marines and the person who brings 3,500 points of Space Marines are not competing against each other in terms of total points killed. And even tho unpainted “urban camouflage” is allowed, we’ll have an extra bonus. For each unit from the new release box that you’ve painted up and brought to the game, you’ll get another draw in the drawing. Yes, that means if you paint an entire half of the set by then, you’ll get an additional 8 draws for the Marines or a whopping 10 draws for the Orks.

500 Worlds Vespator – Progress and Finale

For the past three months war has raged at Drawbridge Games, over our 500 Worlds Vespator campaign. Updates were made on the Discord, so this is the summary of the events and the rules for the finale.

Phase Two: Conflict expanded

Battles were roughly even at the beginning, with change in power levels but not much more.

Phase Three: Void Whale Migration

A random event of a Void Whale migration pushed all the fleets to the galactic north of the system, condensing the battles–and doing some damage to some of the southern planets. The Despoiler forces started a slight pull ahead.

Phase Four: Planets begin to take damage

Forces began to more seriously target infrastructure at this point, and while the Reclaimers and the Terraformers began pulling up to match the Despoilers, damage to planets was starting to add up.

Final Phase: Tarkad Vindix destroyed, Feloris Secundas besieged

The Reclaimers finally got a decisive set of victories on Tarkad Vindix, a site with fading Imperial presence and rising Chaos and Ork enclaves (and increasing attention from the Tyranid fleet–where goes food, there they go). The destructive weaponry directed at the planet triggered a mass exodus, which largely pathed to nearby Feloris Secundus. With all sorts of supplies, populaces, technology, and scrap landed on that contested planet, it became clear that the final clash will be at Feloris Secundus.

Campaign Finale

The final campaign battle will be fought over massed landings of supplies that were rapidly removed from the collapsing Tarkad Vindix, hastily transported onto the surface of Feloris Secundus. Massed refugees, tech repositories, and sacred relics all present too tempting a target, so all the forces in the sector converge onto that one battlefield. Alliances that once held will be tested, as each force tries to grab on to enough materials to evacuate them more permanently.

Rules: the battle will be generally split by factions, but there may be some variances based around who shows up. There will be six key locations of supplies set up on the board, and the Imperial forces (who were most triumphant through the campaign) and any allied forces assigned to them will be occupying them at first–trying to hold them long enough to extract them safely. The attacking forces (likely to be Terraformers and Despoilers) will be endeavoring to access and loot/consume them/despoil these sites. These will be tight deployment zones as is appropriate for a mega battle (to get things stuck in, they will not be far apart), and units an do a “support move” to relocate up to 48″ as long as that movement does not 1) move within 12″ of an enemy position, and 2) does not end within 12″ of an enemy position, and 3) they sacrifice their shooting that turn.

Victory will be determined at the end of the time period (noon to 6pm), ideally four rounds of game play. If attacking forces hold any of the objective locations for a full round that location is destroyed, replaced with a ruin, and considered looted. All models that held that spot are removed from the board as if entering strategic reserve, eligible to return their next movement phase. Also any locations held by attackers at the end of the game are considered destroyed and looted.

Factions win by having a majority of objectives either under their control (Reclaimers plus new allies seeking to control a piece) or destroyed (Terraformers and looters). Individual army commanders count as winning if their models control at least two objectives at the end of the game (Reclaimers/allies) or consumed two objectives (Terraformers and looters). Players will get a draw in the prize draw for being on the winning overall faction, for being an individual command winner, or for fielding at least 500 newly painted points for the battle (500 points for 500 worlds).

Knight Night Fight Night 6: Deathmatch

The battlefields of the Warhammer 40k universe are covered in deadly debris: tangled razorwire, broken glass windows, rubble with protruding girders, concrete tank traps, and more. Sounds just like a deathmatch wresting ring, which is why:

Drawbridge Games is pleased to offer our SIXTH Knight Night Fight Night event, which this time is a DEATHMATCH! It’s a night for a knock-down, drag-out slugfest with some of the largest models in the Warhammer 40k world. Plus the glory of being added to the Knight Night Fight Night trophy!

The event will take place on Thursday, May 21st, 2026. Setup at 6:30pm with first dice at 7:00pm sharp. As always we’ll have a door prize drawing, so participating is all you need to do to win!

Event Rules

This year each player will field one Knight-sized or larger model as their entrant. The goal is to be the last model standing–leaving all other competitors laying in a bloody heap–and that last standing model wins the event for their team. The rules are somewhat different this year than prior years, as deathmatch wresting events work a little bit differently. I’ll highlight the changed rules in bold so people can note them.

To start the event, each model will be placed in the ring–which will be full of all sorts of damaging terrain–starting with the highest points cost of the model downward.

Every round of combat all participant Knights in the ring are dealt a playing card, and play turns will run in that order: lowest numbers first, with suit order high-to-low in reverse-alpha to break numerical ties, so Spades > Hearts > Diamonds > Clubs, with Aces low. The active Knight will move, shoot, can charge and fight. Note that models attacked won’t swing back (there’s no ordinary combat phase). The goal is to incapacitate opposing Knight models and be the last model standing while every other model is down and presumably bleeding out. There are a few different special rules we’ll be using that will help this happen, and give Knights an outside chance to keep fighting.

Deathmatch Terrain

Part of a deathmatch is all the flourescent light bulbs, barbed wire, tables, chairs, and random objects. To represent that in this battle, terrain is hazardous and models can be thrown or knocked backward. Terrain inflicts a random number of mortal wounds based on its size, to be adjudicated at the event. Barbed wire would do 1 mortal wound, while some debris would do d3 mortal wounds, and bigger pieces of terrain doing d6 or even more! The edge of the map is considered to be a ring of barbed wire for these purposes.

Knockback and Throwing. Models hit by shooting are knocked backwards somewhat in a direct line away d6 inches. This happens once per model shooting them (so even if a model has 3 weapons, the opponent is only knocked back once). Models can also bull rush or throw their opponents by engaging in melee. Bull Rush allows models that do not have open hands/claws to knock models directly away d6 inches–they declare a charge, and roll a single to-hit roll. If they hit, the model is knocked directly away instead of suffering damage as normal (counts as a throw). Models with at least one open fist/claw can more purposefully throw their opponent. After charging they declare they are throwing, which replaces their normal melee attacks. They use their open fist(s) to toss their opponent. Roll a scatter dice. On a hit, move the thrown model the direction of the thrower’s choice for a number of inches equal to the thrower’s strength. On any other result for the scatter dice, move the model that direction and in the number of inches equal to the thrower’s strength. Thrown models stop if they collide with any objects, and take damage the moment they do.

Re-roll Chip

Every Knight gets one re-roll chip. Re-roll chips can be exchanged or traded as you wish during the game with other players. They can be spent to re-roll any one d6 roll: yours or your opponent’s. The chip can also be spent to get a one-time +2 to a roll on the Down and Bleeding chart (see below).

“Down and Bleeding” Chart

Whenever a model is reduced to 0 wounds, they get laid down on their side (if possible) or otherwise indicated that they’re out. In a multi-person deathmatch there are lots of competitors laying in the wreckage bleeding out. Most of them stay down, but on occasion one of them gets their wind back and returns to the ring. Opponents need to continue to keep them beat down to keep them from returning–and the bigger and more spectacular the hazard that takes them out, the more likely they’re out for the count.

At the end of each round, all players who have a down and bleeding model roll on the chart below. If the damage that brought a model to zero wounds was done by object damage (being thrown or knocked into something and suffering mortal wounds from it) they suffer a -1 on their Down and Bleeding rolls until they are eliminated or get a back in the action. If it’s impossible for a model to get a result of a 5 or a 6 on the chart at any point they must roll on it, then they are removed from the battlefield as if they rolled a 1.

Roll	Result
1 “It’s a bloodbath! Send in the stretcher!”	The model finally bleeds out from their damage. They are removed from the battlefield and do not take further part in the game.
2 “Why are the refs not checking on him?’	The model remains in the game but taking no part in it.
3 “I see him twitching!”	The model remains in the game but taking no part in it.
4 “He’s tangled in wires and glass!”	The model remains in the game but taking no part in it.
5 “With so much blood it’s a wonder he could stand back up!”	The model stands up and is restored to d6 wounds. Add a cumulative -1 penalty to all future rolls on this chart.
6 “He was playing possum! Surprise attack!”	The model stands up and is restored to 2d6 wounds. Add a cumulative -1 penalty to all future rolls on this chart. The model gets priority to act first in the subsequent round (it receives an Ace card before the cards are dealt)

Painting Requirements: All models participating in Knight Night must be painted to a tabletop standard and based. Part of this hobby is, well, the hobby, so I want to encourage people to paint and get models finished for events. There will be additional chances at prizes for those who paint up a new Knight model for the event. And there will be even more additional entries in the draw for anyone who paints up “Dangerous Ruins” terrain–so you can help fill out the battlefield by painting up debris. In particular Ork-themed terrain would be perfect (and will help with the summer events coming up too!).

Knight Options and Choices

Knight Options: Players can choose any non-character Knight from the Imperial Knights or Chaos Knights codex with gear allowable from the data sheet (no relics or warlord traits). No army rules, detachment rules, or upgrades that aren’t part of the basic datasheet entry for the Knight will be used. These are vanilla versions of the data sheets folks.

When is a Knight not a Knight: We’re not able to allow in every Xenos and Chaos faction, but applications to field other types are allowable if they’re comparable in stature to a Knight or larger model (note they may not be comparable in points).

Stormsurge
Wraithknight
Gorkanaut
Morkanaut
Stompa
Lord of Skulls
Seraptek Heavy Construct
Warhound Titan
Reaver Titan
Warlord Titan
Revenant Titan
Phantom Titan
Hierophant Bio-Titan
Ta’unar Supremacy Armor

Somber Sands: Session Three

Corin, Finnja, Thrak-Chul, and Marquis strode out again into the sands, their goal to reach the fork in the road at of Silver Spring. They reached the road after three days of wading through sands, including spending time digging a length of fibertree out of a silt basin. A paltry prize for the labor, but perhaps worth selling should they ever reach a merchant. On the road, they met a passing traveler: a half-elf merchant named Tilrun who rode on a large lizard-mount Inix. Tilrun stopped and talked with the PCs and introduced his Inix (named “Peaches”). Oddly, when Marquis shook hands with Tilrun he had a sudden vision: five bodies hung atop a black-grey painted wall. Marquis shook his head in disbelief, a bit stunned by the occurrence. None of this magical powers would have done such a thing… as far as he knew.

The PCs traveled with Tilrun toward Fort Iron, along the way toward the the City-State of Tyr. As they walked alongside the Inix, Finnja and Thrak-Chul mentioned what they saw to Marquis–the desecration of plant life that they understood as Defiler magic. Marquis remained silent, but knew that their questions were probing. As they camped the first night of travels, Tilrun told the PCs that the rumors are that the Sorcerer-King of Tyr was killed by a gladiator who struck him down with a magic spear, and that the City-State is in chaos. Yet they continued in that direction, thinking that the City-State might be better than wandering the wilds.

After three days, they reached Fort Iron. It’s painted black-grey walls were intimidating, making the stone give the appearance of raw iron. From their view it looked deserted, but taking care to listen they heard some strange noises from inside. Thrak-Chul climbed up the wall, then froze as he looked over the parapet. There were slain bodies on the ramparts, and down in the fort was a war party of elves with the same tribal marks as those they had fought before. An ill-advised shout from the PCs suddenly caused the elves inside to scramble, and one blew a horn–only to hear it echoed by a number of war horns from behind the sand dunes to the west. Where the entire elf army was probably encamped.

Thrak-Chul dropped and the PCs panicked. Tilrun spurred his Inix, and when some of the PCs failed to climb on Thrak-Chul attacked Tilrun to try and stop him. With a mighty kick, Tilrun kicked him off and rode off. With the elves no doubt racing behind them, the PCs ran and covered themselves in sand in a ditch just beyond the first low dune. They held as still and hidden as they could, hearing first the raiding party then riders from the massed army pass them by, chasing the Inix running on the horizon.

At dusk, the smell of cooked Inix suggested that there might be a moment to make a break for it, and the PCs slipped off–tho they could see the dead body of Tilrun hanging from a gibbet the wall, in a pattern that matched Marquis’ vision… just less their four bodies.

The PCs found themselves on the eastern side of Fort Iron, so ended up looping through the desert then back-tracking toward Silver Spring, staying off the road in case of elf army patrols. They saw evidence of recent travel on the roads, indicating that the army may well have sent war parties ranging. After two days of distance they came upon a wrecked sand sledge that had been run off the road.

They recognized the dwarven design, and Finnja’s keen eyes spot a track where someone must have run, then been dragged away from. A small pile of sand nearby had a buried scroll case with a note. Inside was a cryptic map and note, intended for Father Grimnuz (a name they recognized from the Dwarf village of Kled, the town elder). It had some strange symbols that seemed to be directional, a drawing of two dead trees, and a note “found metal” and the names Bej, Bez, and Boaz. With some care in decoding, the PC’s determined a potential way to follow the directional symbols (a clue about how far to walk in a given direction before turning).

The PCs followed the directions, crossing the road again (cautiously, wary that an elven army is ranging somewhere in the area), to a spot roughly a day south of where they expect Silver Spring to be. They find a spot with two trees in a small depression amidst the dunes. Found a small trapdoor between the two trees. Unfortunately a crossbow trap was rigged to it, which left its mark on Thrak-Chul’s chitin. They gathered the crossbow, and the group clambered down into the hole to find a small underground room that served as a mining camp. Tearing up a bedroll and attaching to a tree branch, they lit a torch to help them explore. They filled their waterskins from a water barrel there, and refilled some rations from a crate of supplies. They then followed a tunnel dug in the rock downward.

They quickly reached the end of the tunnel, and at the end of it past a shored-up door, they found two dwarves hard at work mining. The PC’s proclaimed “We have your spear” as Thrak-Chul brandished the bone spear. The dwarfs misunderstood and attacked, shouting “They sacked the Town, Boaz!” and “Get ’em, Bez!”

The dwarves fought like demons to protect their fledgling mine, with Bez using spells and Boaz swinging a heavy stone pick with brutal efficiency. Boaz pushed his way through druid-conjured vines and the heavy hit of Finnja’s maul, and even tho Bez was stopped by the party Boaz fought them to a near standstill and dropping Marquis. Finally he shouted “This is my mine!” and the remaining PCs drew back, and assured them that it was his mine and they had no intention to take it.

Bez, being healed and awoken by the PCs, was greeted by Boaz bragging “I bested them” (and exchanged a knowing nod when Corin replied “Yes, he bested us”). They showed the note, and talked about the potential demise of their other brother Bej in the wreck of the sledge. They learned that Bej was supposed to go and convince the town elder to bring other dwarves from Kled to help work the mine. They had found a faint trace of iron, a small seam, that with work might actually yield more. Bez decided to accompany the PCs back to Kled to inform the town, by Boaz would continue to mine on his own for the moment.

They headed back out into the desert again with Bez, trekking to Keld with plans to head onward to Nibenay from there.

500 Worlds Vespator – Campaign Phase One

The first phase of Operations are decided, so it’s time for games! Map is below:

The following image details the available Battle sites this phase and who are the attackers. Remember: anyone can defend any planet where they have at least 1 Power Level (currently all planets!).

After your games, submit info to the shared google sheet (link in our Discord), and you can upload photos of your games (with descriptions of what is going on) in the Discord as well and I’ll include selected good action shots in future Campaign Phase updates!

500 Worlds at Drawbridge – Spring Store Campaign

The 500 Worlds Campaign is upon us and Drawbridge Games is going to be a site of battle for control of the Vespator Front. These are the tentative campaign rules for our store campaign. I’ll be serving as the “Warmaster” for the campaign, as well as being a pinch-hitter for all teams to help fill any gaps when games need to be played. Note that this is a campaign, not a crusade–so we’re not using any crusade rules but will be playing with the rules from the 500 Worlds: Titus set, including the map of the Vespator Front. Players are encouraged to pick up a copy of the set for themselves, as the information on the missions, infrastructure, and theaters of battle that will be affecting games will be in those rules.

NOTE: These rules are tentative, and based around the in-depth rules review from Goonhammer. The Warmaster may change things when we actually get the rules and can read them for ourselves. If players note any changes that would help make it a better play experience, absolutely let me know!

We’ll be having three Alliances that form the teams for the campaign. They are as follows:

Reclaimers are a some-what tense collaboration of forces that are supportive of Roboute Guilliman’s vision of a re-united 500 Worlds of Ultramar. While the Imperial forces are under command to do so, it serves Aeldari, Votann, and T’au interests to let the Imperials bring order to the segmentum in the short term.

Despoilers already lay claim to many of the 500 Worlds, and seek to simply despoil and extract from them. Whether stealing resources or enslaving populations, their goals range from actively warring against Imperial forces to simply spreading destruction to suit the goals of their own personal warlords. These include all Chaos forces, Orks, and Drukhari.

Terraformers represent the grand designs of the Necrons in particular, who have plans for a vast network of energy spanning the 500 Worlds. They’ve developed a new form of beacon/shroud device that allows them to direct splinter hive fleets of Tyranids toward various planets and away from others, as an entirely consumed planet isn’t a particular problem for them as long as it’s not a Necron tomb world. It’s not so much an alliance as the Necrons schemes relying upon a certain amount of sheer natural destruction as Leviathan carves its way through the 500 Worlds.

Each of these Alliances will be given their own Discord channel to conduct their secret planning for the campaign (only the Warmaster will be able to see all three channels). They each will elect (or endorse a volunteer) who will be the Alliance Leader for that Alliance. All members of each alliance will be given a role in Discord that changes the color of their name to show their allegiance as a fun perk on the server.

Each alliance will begin with four Fleets plus two reserve (spare) fleets. Our numbers are a bit higher than what the campaign envisions, so we’ll be flexing this part just a bit–allowing each fleet to represent multiple games. The results of all the games for any given Fleet action will be combined to determine the outcome of that action.

Reclaimers will start with two Imperial Fleets, an Aeldari Fleet, and a T’au Fleet. Despoilers will start with three Chaos Fleets, and a Pirates Fleet (shared Orks and Drukhari). Terraformers will start with two Necron Fleets and two Tyranids Fleets (the latter also including Genestealer Cult uprisings).

In their discord channels (and conveyed to me by each Alliance Leader) each Alliance will determine which planet will be their Stronghold (Power Level 4 and fills an Infrastructure), and then the relative Power Level of all the other planets in the system (three planets at Power Level 3, four more planets at Power Level 2, and the remaining two planets that are Power Level 1). They then will then decide to build three additional pieces of non-stronghold Infrastructure–spots that get attached to planets to provide minor bonuses. From the Goonhammer article: “Strongholds increase your power level when you fight on your home planet. Staging Grounds give you a higher power level as well when you fight on that planet or a connected one. Support Facilities let you count further planets as connected, and Fortifications increase a planet’s minimum Power Level.”

The campaign will begin on Wednesday, January 28th (presuming the 500 Worlds: Titus campaign books are released on schedule on Saturday the 24th, and adjusting if not). Each Alliance will Select Operations to be ready for games to start during the Monday/Tuesday before every Wednesday (or every other Wednesday, we’ll work out the right pace as we go). Each Alliance will get four selections each round (one per fleet). I’ll reveal each on the Wednesday and note which games can be played. If your fleet isn’t attacking on a given selection step don’t fret, anyone from the Alliance regardless of fleet can be a defender. We’ll keep these somewhat loose, so people can arrange games with players who fit their schedules. And players can play multiple games if they wish, it just has to be against different opponents from the opposing Alliance (tho we’ll try and coordinate to ensure everyone who wants a game can have at least one if timings allow). I do ask that each campaign round each Alliance do at least one Battle Operation so we can ensure that everyone who wants to play a game that round has a window to do so. Given that we’ll be doing Select Operations each week it is expected that players may not play every week just from scheduling alone–that’s okay and you’re still a part of the campaign and the alliance whether you get in one battle or multiple battles across all twelve weeks!

Note that there are a variety of missions players can choose when they’re part of a Battle Operation launched by a Fleet–in effect the attacking player gets to decide what sort of mission they’re doing as part of that battle. Alliances can of course discuss what benefits them most on given planets, and players can agree to follow that discussion or not. That gives some control to each player to affect events, and makes it feel like these campaigns are multiple forces that may not always fight in the way the leaders of the alliance wish. Players may want to seek different benefits, or just vary the missions!

Battles can be of any agreed-upon points value between the two players who decide to play. Games of 2,000 points are generally encouraged, but people should have in mind smaller forces and larger forces (if they have them and wish to) to accommodate other players. Even people just starting up a brand new army can still get games in this way. Aim for increments of 500 points, with 500 points being the smallest force for a conventional game of 40k. I say “conventional” because one of the missions is a Boarding Action, and there are likely to be special rules and even smaller number of points for those games when they’re played.

Drawbridge has lots of great terrain, so do your best to follow the rules for the Theatres for the planets being attacked. These determine the sorts of battlefields that are possible, and all have their own fun special rules that affect the games.

Once each game is finished, we’ll have a shared Google Sheet for recording results. In my Warmaster role I’ll go through and record the results and track them on my poster and provide routine updates for all (I think Sean indicated that he would mirror it with an electronic version we can have updated and share, thanks Sean!).

The plan will be to run the campaign for roughly three months at first (12 Select Operations phases), so we’ll have a target date for the Campaign Finale* of sometime around the week of April 15th. If there is continued energy for the campaign at that point, the Finale* will earn its asterisk and become a midpoint mega-battle instead (and we’ll have the fun of plotting another mega-battle to conclude things at the extended time). We’ll conclude the campaign with a Saturday event on April 25th. This will be a mega-battle, where the three Alliances will be deployed across all of the tables at Drawbridge in one final showdown clash representing the campaign’s culmination. Each Alliance’s Campaign Points will be used to determine deployment and missions for this event.

The Finale* (or midpoint) will also be the moment when we’ll do our grand door prize drawing extravaganza for the campaign. Given the scale, we’ll have multiple prizes and entries to the drawing for it will be earned throughout the campaign. Depending on the number of people who participate in the 500 Points for 500 Worlds painting challenge (see here: https://red-ones-go-faster.com/2026/01/08/500-points-for-500-worlds/ ) we’ll either do the drawing for that on that day, or have participants from that be given extra draws in the campaign drawing. But that means April 25th will be the deadline for completing your 500 Points for 500 Worlds entry pledge.

Draws in the drawing will be publicly tracked in the google sheet as well (I’ll lock that page to admin only). They will be one draw for each campaign round the player plays at least one game. One draw for participation in the final mega battle. One draw for fielding a fully painted Boarding Action force the first time it’s fielded. One draw for each newly-painted 500 points of models for the campaign army played, the first time they’re fielded (yes this can overlap with the 500 Points for 500 Worlds challenge, but is also a way to reward people who are tackling their piles of grey plastic as part of this campaign). One draw for painting up a table’s worth of thematic terrain for a particular Theatre and using it in at least one game. A variable number of draws during the Finale* for some player-voted competitions: best sport in each Alliance and best painted army (a scale of draws for first, second, and third most votes in each category). Finally one draw for being on the side of the Alliance with the highest number of Campaign Points calculated for the Finale*. Note that none of these are about winning any one particular game you’re playing, so remember that the spirit of this is fun games and collaborative encouragement of hobbying.

This is a lot of info, and again note that we can adjust it to fit what works best–so if you have any suggestions either now or when the 500 Worlds: Titus materials release, contact me to discuss.

500 Points for 500 Worlds

You’ve heard of “new year, new me”? Well this is our Warhammer 40k version of that, a hype event that we’re hosting as part of the upcoming 500 Worlds campaign that we’ll run at Drawbridge Games. More details on the campaign itself will happen the rules drop and we can review them and plan store events involving them.

As part of that campaign (occurring at the same time as the culminating campaign event), we’ll be doing a special prize drawing for anyone who commits to purchasing 500+ new points of models for an army at Drawbridge and getting them painted in full by the end of the campaign. Ideally these will be a “new” force, but using it to expand a current force is fine as well. The point is to make the purchase from Enrico, record the painting goal (we’ll have forms you can complete at Drawbridge upon purchase–see below), and have fun.

If under 10 people commit to the 500 Points for 500 Worlds the completion will give bonus draws in the end-of-event raffle we’ll hold for the 500 Worlds campaign. If 10 or more people buy in to 500 Points for 500 Worlds then we’ll have a special drawing for just that set of participants (and the prize will be able to be chosen by the winner from certain types of kits, to fit their faction or start a brand new one!).

When you make your purchase you can fill out a small form and leave it with the staff at Drawbridge. They’ll stamp it with the official Drawbridge stamp to mark that you’ve paid and purchased the models you’ll be painting, and hang onto it for pledge recording purposes.

If what you want to field isn’t on the shelf, you can place a special order for models right now via this link https://bit.ly/DrawbridgeSO , by visiting Drawbridge, or by calling Drawbridge at 412-254-6151. Do keep flexible in your planning as sometimes some GW product is out of stock.

Participants can make their purchases and commit to 500 Points as early as January 15th (the night of our Knight Night Fight Night 5 event), but can also do so at any point amidst the 500 Worlds campaign. We expect the campaign rules to be released in about one week after Knight Night given release timings, and about a week for us to get a campaign idea sorted from it. Then we’ll probably have a 6 week campaign window after that, flexing up and down a bit depending on the rules–but 6 weeks tends to keep interest and excitement but not be too much. That would mean time to paint the 500 Points for 500 Worlds entry models by middle March at the very earliest. I’ll update the final exact deadline when we set that campaign’s rules.

We hope that this becomes a fun event for everyone to participate in, and a motivation to not just make some purchases to support Drawbridge Games, but to get a new painted force ready and onto the tables for battles together!

Knight Night Fight Night 5: Tag Teams Minis

A new year, and once again we’re cooking up one of the best events at Drawbridge Games: Knight Night Fight Night! The game where people bring some of the big baddies of the game to slug it out for glory and to be added to the Knight Night Fight Night Trophy! This is the 5th incarnation, and we’re having some fun with the format. We’ve gone big, now time to go mini–in the great tradition of Mascarida Sagrada and Sky Low Low. Instead of big Knights we’ll be doing the smaller classes of stuff just like “Minis” wrestling promotions. It will be taking place on Thursday, January 15th, 2025 with setup at 6:30pm and first dice thrown at 7:00pm sharp. As always, we’ll have a door prize drawing, so just participating gives you a chance to win! Given they’re small we’re doing this one in Tag Team mode again. Players can either field two models themselves, or two players can team up as a Tag Team.

Event Rules

Teams of two models (can be a single player who brings two, or pairs of players who each have one) will be placed in a central, circular Royal Rumble arena–this one will have some notable terrain features to keep it interesting. The goal is to be the last model standing–knocking all of other competitors “out of the ring”–and that last standing model wins the event for their team. See the list at the bottom of this post, but can be summarized as “roughly dreadnaught-sized and walks on two legs.”

To start the event, all teams will have the points of the two models in their team calculated. The highest two points total teams will have their models start in the ring. After each round, the next two teams in points are added to the ring (making their grand entrances, with entrance music if so desired).

Every round of combat all participant models in the ring are dealt a playing card, and play turns will run in that order: lowest numbers first, with suit order high-to-low in reverse-alpha to break numerical ties, so Spades > Hearts > Diamonds > Clubs, with Aces low. The active Knight will move, shoot, can charge and fight. Note that models attacked won’t swing back (there’s no ordinary combat phase). The goal is to incapacitate opposing models by taking all of their wounds, which represents knocking them out of the ring (over the top rope). There are a few different special rules we’ll be using that will both help this happen, and give models a chance to keep fighting in the ring.

“Recover In the Corner” action: Declare at the start of your turn. Roll 1d6 and recover that many wounds. Can move (including advancing) but cannot fire any weapons, charge, or make any melee attacks until the start of its next turn.

“Re-roll Chip”: Every model gets one re-roll chip. Every Tag Team who put up a promo (posted on the Drawbridge Events Facebook page and/or Discord) gets a second re-roll chip per player participating in that promo. The player with the best promo (judged by Enrico) gets a third re-roll chip. Re-roll chips can be exchanged or traded as you wish during the game with other players. They can be spent to re-roll any one d6 roll (including the “Out of the Ring” table or the result of a “Recover in the Corner” action). That can be one’s own roll or an opponent’s. They can also be spent to get rid of the card you’re dealt at any point for turn order, and be dealt a new random card from the deck. Note that no one will have CP’s to keep things simple, this is a sort of replacement for that.

“Out of the Ring” chart: Whenever a model is reduced to 0 wounds, they immediately must roll on the following chart (any model rules that might trigger on “when reduced to zero wounds” such as exploding are ignored). Conceptually a Battle Royale is about throwing your opponent out of the ring and their feet hitting the ground (indicating they’re out). While we don’t have an actual ring to be thrown out of, these are the results when the participants take those devastating finishing attacks.

Roll	Result
1 “I’ll get you back”	Both feet hit the ground and this model loses. However, they’re not quite ready to accept that. They immediately get a single turn of shooting (regular, not reduced wounds penalty) to try and take an opponent with them, and then are removed from the board.
2 “Ouch, he’ll feel that one”	Both feet hit the ground and this model loses. It is removed from the board.
3 “Thats a tough break, J.R.”	Both feet hit the ground and this model loses. It is removed from the board.
4 “Hanging on the ropes”	The model hangs on, just barely. It is restored to 1 remaining wound, and cannot be targeted any further this round until it acts or until the start of the next round if it has already acted this round.
5 “Push thru the pain”	This model grits its teeth and keeps on fighting. Immediately roll a d6 and restore that many wounds to the model. This model cannot be targeted/damaged any further during the current opponent’s activation.
6 “You just made me angry”	This model channels the punishment into newfound strength. Immediately restore the model to 75% of its normal wounds characteristic (rounding up). This model cannot be targeted/damaged any further during the current opponent’s activation.

Tag Team: Players can choose to field two models from the following lists, or bring one model and team up with another player. You can choose and coordinate teams in advance, and we can also pair up likely allies on the day of the event–so don’t let having just a single model limit you. Come and have fun and game with new and old folks in the community alike. Activations are separate by model, but victory goes to the team (even if one of the team member models has been eliminated). And we’ll have an extra model with rules on hand in case we have uneven numbers to make certain all who show up can join in the fun.

Model Options and Choices

Minis Options: Players can choose any models from the following lists of roughly dreadnaught-sized, walks on two legs, models. Chosen from their codex with gear allowable from the data sheet (no relics or warlord traits). No army rules, detachment rules, or upgrades that aren’t part of the basic datasheet entry for the model will be used. These are vanilla versions of the data sheets folks. If I missed anything definitely message me and we can expand the list.

Space Marines	Redemptor, Invictor, Ballistus, Brutalis, Venerable Dreadnaught, Murderfang, Bjorn the Fell-Handed, Death Company Dreadnaught
Imperial Guard	Sentinels*
Adeptus Mechanicus	Ironstrider Ballistarius, Sydonian Dragoon, Kastelan Robots**
Imperial Knights	Armigers
Adeptus Sororitas	Mortifiers, Penitent Engines
Adeptus Custodes	Contemptors, Telemon
Grey Knights	Grand Master in Nemesis Dreadknight, Nemesis Dreadknight, Venerable Dreadnaught
Chaos Space Marines	Hellbrute
Death Guard	Hellbrute
Thousand Sons	Hellbrute
World Eaters	Hellbrute
Chaos Knights	Wardogs
Orks	Deff Dredd, Killa Kans***
T’au Empire	Riptide, Ghostkeel, Broadsides*
Aeldari	War Walker*, Wraithlord
Drukhari	Cronos, Talos
Tyranids	Carnifex, Screamer-Killer, Old One Eye
Necrons	Canoptek Doomstalker**, Canoptek Reanimator**

*Given these are the very lightest of walker vehicles, an additional third model in the tag team is permitted if all are marked with a single asterisk

**Kastelan Robots must be a tag team of two. They cannot be individually taken, and cannot join another tag team. However, they get the inclusion of their “manager” the Cybernetica Datasmith, who accompanies one of the two robots (and can swap to the other one as long as he doesn’t ever end a move action outside of 2” of a friendly Kastellan). The manager is just killed if killed (no roll on the “out of the ring” chart), but this team is not out of the battle until the manager is killed as well.

*** Orks don’t count so well, so players can take one unit of three Killa Kans as their tag team entry. Single Kans cannot be chosen.

****Yes these violate the two legs option, but we’re including them

Sorry Emperor’s Children, Genestealer Cults, and Leagues of Votann. You have to sit this one out as far as I can tell.

Somber Sands: Session Two

This post details the continuing adventures of a D&D Dark Sun game that I’m running. Part one can be found here: https://red-ones-go-faster.com/2025/10/01/somber-sands-session-one/

The four adventurers, now somewhat bound together by shared suffering and a desire to right the wrongs of a tribe of oasis-poisoning elves, trekked back into the desert sands. They were: Corin, a Human Bard who kept a thoughtful watch on his waterskins; Finnja, a Human Ranger whose foraging found nothing but root-remnants from cacti recently torn up; Marquis, a Human Preserver Wizard who tried eating some of the flora for hydration but found just bitter taste; and Thrak-Chul, a Thri-Kreen Cleric who watched the ravages of the sun on the softskin trio traveling with him.

They retraced their path for a few days across shifting sand dunes and barren flats to the poisoned oasis. It was easy to pick up the elven water party’s tracks, and followed those for a few days due east. Eventually they reached a set of gullies that grew into canyons, and found themselves at dusk peeking down at a strange rock hillock with various cave entrances and a big open hoop. There was evidence of mass encampment of elves at the base of the structure, including enough fire pits for an army and a large field of vegetation.

The village elder of Kled had said that the elves had a large war party, and but that they raided often and the adventurers might be able to creep in while they were away. It seemed like just such a time when they arrived, so using the cover of night they creeped their way down the switchbacks of the canyon.

By dawn they had reached the canyon floor, and stood at the far end of what was clearly campsite. They dashed across the open expanse to check out the garden, which had food growing, but unfortunately no plants that held much water–and none of the strange purple plant that the elves used to poison the well. With the army gone and the field inspected, the group dashed again across open ground to the mouth of a cave that led up and into the wind-carved rock.

The first cave rose up a curving spiral carved staircase. Reaching the top, the adventurers found curving tunnels of the rock at higher elevation formed the fortress of the elves, with the yellow in the map being all spots that were open to the air around the sides of the wind-carved rock–just a 100′ plunge awaiting those who stepped off… or were pushed off.

As Corin led the way into the first hall, arrows clattered around him–shot by two elf guards at the far end of a small rock bridge. The adventurers raced to get into close proximity, forcing the guards to drop their bows and fight with wooden short swords. Finnja struck at one of them with her glaive, only to have the haft of the weapon shatter on impact. The adventurers cautiously pressed their advance along the defensive ledge, and managed to finally kill the two guards. Amidst checking their bodies for loot, Marquis started to investigate the tied down canvas flap that formed a door into the next section of the cave. Meanwhile Thrak-Chul decided to help himself to a bit of elf flesh, seared by conjured sacred flame. Corin and Finnja both noticed, but before the eating of sentient life could be discussed Marquis’ exploration of the next room drove them onward.

It was a barracks of sorts, where some of the bedrolls of the elves were frighteningly close to the open void of the cliffside. The adventurers ransacked the room, taking a bucket, some bedrolls, and a bone tinderbox. Marquis found a piece of scrimshaw done on an eggshell, where the elf “artist” had made a mocking inscription about the poisoned oasis. He smashed it immediately. Another tied-down canvas flap formed the door into the next section of the rock structure.

It opened up to a mostly open-air portion, where the adventurers could see the massive circular opening rising above them. Three different thin lines of rock led to three different holes back into the rock on the far side. A group of elves, alerted by the sounds of the earlier fighting, sprung their ambush. Arrows clattered against the walls and two elves armed with wooden morningstars rushed at the adventurers. The clash of arms was a stalemate dancing along the open cliffs at first, until the broad chitinous form of Thrak-Chul managed to push one of the elves off into the chasm. Finnja managed to grab one of their morningstars to replace her glaive, and finished off the last of the elf defenders. The group retired to the barracks for a moment to heal their arrow wounds and plan next steps.

The party, feeling like the larger elf army could return at any point, fractured a bit as Marquis went one direction while Corin decided to take a different spiral stairs down. Finnja followed Marquis while Thrak-Chul followed Corin.

Corin found himself in a gloomy small cavern, which looked to be a combination of stable for their Kanks and a drops–a pit of sludgy offal-laden water lay off the far side of the small room. The room contained one Kank, which startled by Corin’s appearance started to attack. Thrak-Chul rushed into the room and tried to wrestle the beast off the cliff into the drops. However the creature was a beast of burden, and strongly resisted the push–forcing Corin to leverage his bardic magic to strike at the weak beast brain of the insectoid to try and subdue it. The pair eventually managed to slay it, and pushed its corpse down into the sewage water below.

Meanwhile, Marquis and Finnja pushed their way through a room that served as a kitchen then down a spiral stair into a small room that smelled with the cloying scent of smoke–even tho it was open to air high above. Standing around some sort of shrine were three elves, garbed somewhat differently than the others. Two wore only long dark robes with slight red needlework, while the other sported a scale breastplate above similar robes and wore an ornate headband that marked him as some sort of cleric. Immediately both sides jumped into action, Marquis unloading a damaging cantrip on one of the acolytes while the cleric cast some sort of Levitation spell and walked upward into the air. Suddenly, all combat was cut short as one of the acolytes cast some sort of spell–like a Fog Cloud incantation, but instead of moist, dense fog it was choking, cloying smoke. Unable to see anything further and fight effectively, Marquis and Finnja retreated back up the stairs. When they realized none of the elves had followed them, they went and tried the third door. Knowing that the alarm had now truly been raised and there were un-accounted-for elves in the complex, they figured they would rush to try and find some way to stop the elves and their insidious poisoning of the oasis.

And find the source they did. Finnja and Marquis climbed down the stairs and found themselves inside of the largest room in the complex. On the far side a large standing planter of purple plants dominated the room–the source of the poisonous roots. There was also a throne, where the chieftain of the elves was seated. And just when they arrived so did another: the elf cleric, still levitating, walked in from the open-air side of the room shouting the alarm to the chief. The Finnja and Marquis had a moment to strike first, so they did. Marquis launched a spell, while Finnja tried to fire an arrow only to have her bow snap as the weak scrub wood of the Dark Sun world does not make for good bows.

The chieftain rose from his throne, hauling up a great obsidian maul and leaping forward into the face of Marquis swinging the deadly weight. Meanwhile the cleric cast a spiritual weapon, which took the form of a ghostly swinging flail that also battered Marquis. The duo pushed into the room to face them, but the combined attacks of the the chieftain and cleric were landing home distressingly often.

In a moment of desperation, Marquis remembered a piece of forbidden lore. He had not yet mastered the path of casting it in harmony with the plant life of the world, but he knew enough to be able to cast it dangerously. The chieftan swung his massive hammer at Marquis, a blow that would have crushed his chest against the back wall, and he cast a Shield spell tapping into the power of defiling. The Shield worked and deflected the blow, tho all around were stunned for a moment with the draining energy. More important, all of the purple-leaved poisonous plants withered to ash as the surface of the rock fortress was defiled. Marquis thought to himself just how easy it was… such a simple action for such power. Why shouldn’t he use it? What did keep him from keeping things in balance so carefully at the cost of his own wizarding power?

Corin and Thrak-Chul had returned to the branching paths after their encounter with the Kank, to see a single robed elven acolyte creeping toward the far stairwell. They struck at range, killing him instantly–his body tumbling off the narrow path into the ravine below. Presuming that’s where the fight must be they moved that way, when they felt a brief but overwhelming feeling of destruction and despoilment (not knowing it was the wave of side-effect from Marquis’ choice to embrace despoiler powers). As they rushed closer, another wave hit them (Marquis, down below, had cast another spell–further spreading the area of despoilment). As they were running along the open bridges, they spied a patch of vegetation down in the ravine below, and watched it crumble into dust with this wave.

Things were looking dire for Finnja and Marquis until Corin and Thrak-Chul rushed into the room to aid them. Thak-Chul began using the healing power of the villagers’ magic spear to keep his allies in the fight, while Corin struck with Bardic magic-empowered insult and weapon alike. The cleric was downed first, and the impact of the hit caused his now-dead-but-still-levitating body to go slowly tumbling end-over-end down into the ravine below. The chieftain lashed out with a psychic assault as well as his obsidian maul, his brain prying into Corin’s mind to try and find some sort of advantage over him. Turning up a deep-seated fear of not having connection to others, the psychic attack was of little use now that he was facing four foes. A critical hit from Marquis with a Shocking Grasp finally finished off the chieftain, and the adventurers could finally take a moment to breath.

Looking around the room they found a single further door, which opened up to a tiny ledge exposed to the elements. A cage door was build there, with a bound Thri-Kreen stuck in the enclosure, a Druid named Klith-Cha. The adventurers freed him, and pulled him up–learning that he was the guardian of the oasis. The elves were enjoying torturing him with the very notion that they were poisoning his sacred charge.

After looting the chieftain’s room (a small stash of ceramic pieces and bits) they intended to make a hasty exit from the elven complex, confident that the threat to the oasis was over. The poisonous root was a rare plant, and was not native to the area, so their destruction would make it difficult to repeat the same poisoning trick. They did take one more look at the room with the shrine, mostly to see what happened to the un-accounted for elven acolyte–who remained nowhere to be found. Thak-Chul found the shrine somewhat confusing. It looked like a shrine to the element of fire, his chosen patron. But it was covered in soot and smoke rather than burned clean with the destructive heat of fire. Something was amiss that he couldn’t place about it, so he decided to at least cleanse it to try and appease the power of fire. The others seemed shocked when suddenly he dumped out a gallon of water to do the cleansing–seeing the precious water dirtied, flow into the rock cracks, and evaporate while their thirst was so strong.

With an army of potentially 100 elves potentially about to return, the adventurers then escaped and climbed up out of the canyon. As they traveled there was some discussion of the strange waves of defiling energy that all felt–Marquis lied and said that it was the magic of the elf cleric that did such harm. Most seemed to buy that argument, but Thrak-Chul knew that Marquis was most likely lying. The hike back to the oasis was dry but uneventful. The party split ways with Klith-Cha, who promised to heal the oasis waters over time. However he promised to return to find them when he was done (DM’s note: Mike chose to swap Klith-Cha into being one of his character tree characters as noted below). The quartet then journeyed south to the town of Kled once more to inform them of what happened. The town elder saw the obsidian maul, now carried by Finnja, as a sign that the elves had been at very least decapitated in some of their leadership. As a thanks, he allowed Thrak-Chul to retain the magic bone spear with its healing properties.

The adventurers found themselves standing with water in their waterskins, the marks of the slave-henna faded from their faces, and weapons in hand. They decided to travel on together, but the question was: to where, and to what ends? Finnja turned her mind toward the beasts of the wilds she might tame. Corin thought of where they might head, leaning toward suggesting they head toward the city-state that was his home: Nibenay. Thrak-Chul’s thoughts were plagued by the strange altar–something was amiss, that even after the cleansing bothered him. Was there something about the way the two gems almost glowed, or about the smoke carvings behind them? And Marquis–convinced his lie had fooled them all–marveled at the power that defiler magic would bring.

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	Armageddon at Drawbr… on Armageddon at Drawbridge Gate:…