ScaMort Gamemastery

Hello and welcome to the Lich's Library. This is a space for me to publish session reports, dungeon mastery advice, and homebrew content.

My name is Nolan and I've been roleplaying for my entire life. From Robotech and Rifts, to DnD, to Vampire the Masquerade, my life has been full of the stories created by my friends and I at tables and public parks around the world.

Presently I live in Switzerland but I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia; lived in Los Angeles, California; and migrated to Paris, France before settling here.

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An Orc's Purpose

We love orcs. They're our lovely little fighting monster featured in - one way or another - so many narratives. They can wear many different hats! The created as slaves to a dark master's army variety from Lord of the Rings. The noble shamanistic species corrupted by dark magics that we see in the Warcraft series. The brutal, fungal monsters created to be an army of insane football hooligans that we see in the Warhammer 40k universe. WAAAAGH! etc. A Face only a Mother could love. -- Orc mask, Grim Zombie. CC-by-SA. In all of these, they act as a narrative device. They're an antagonistic force that is meant to be battered against and survived. Or not, as the case may be. In TTRPG fantasy, the orc exists in an ecosystem of such forces. Demi-human or humanoid monsters are there in the various monster manuals to be faced as antagonists. But each one fits a distinct niche. Goblins are craven, sneaking thieves and murderers who make due on the fringes of society. Bugbears ar...

Prepping for the next level of a Megadungeon!

Running a pre-written megadungeon is a challenging undertaking. Combing through a setting built by another person that spans kingdoms and continents is in many ways easier. There are large swathes of terrain left undetailed in the latter. You can write up and plop in just about anything your devious mind can imagine, as the writers of campaign settings make sure to leave plenty of space in the margins for just such a thing. In a megadungeon, it's very different. It has all the elements of a normal dungeon, sure. Rooms, corridors, encounters, NPCs. But in a normal dungeon, you're in and out in a few sessions. Then the space is left behind to molder and rot until you need it again, if you ever do. With a megadungeon, you're there for quite a long time. The goal is to have the dungeon be the campaign. So you sort of have to choose the right dungeon and then prepare to live and breathe that space. I've been running Stonehell for only thr...

Session 3 - Surface Expeditions, continued.

Session 1 Here! The party was awoken from their watch by Runum in the early hours of the morning by Kobolds come to get some work done on the gatehouse. After some debate, the group decided to take a more active approach to the situation. Instead of watching the kobolds work from above, they descended to the ground floor of the gatehouse and approached. Immediately, the workers retreated. With a bribe of some gold, they spoke with one of them about the Kobold situation in Stonehell. They shortly learned that Trustee Sniv runs Kobold Korners and that all are welcome there. With a bit more gold, the party asked their interlocutor to tell Sniv about them and broker an introduction when they arrived. The kobolds were suspicious, but ultimately agreed to mention the names of their group to Sniv. In the morning, they set about exploring the canyon. On the southern wall, they found a small outpost constructed some time ago that has been used by other expeditions...

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