F1 Turkish Grand Prix

To be honest, were I even able to watch the NASCAR race this weekend, I’d still have watched this instead. To sum up why in a word, Pocono. The good news is that, even though this race was on Fox, Digger did not appear during the pre-race. The bad news is that this race was probably about as exciting as Pocono. Regardless, I got what I came for: a Jenson Button win!

I didn’t buy my usual F1 season preview issue this year. Just as well. When I flipped through it on the newsstand, Brawn GP wasn’t even listed. The next issued featured all of one page interview with Button after his Australian win. The cover, however, was wondering which Ferrari driver would win the championship. Or something like that. It was so irrelevant I wasn’t paying attention.

This was the first time this year I’ve gotten a good look at the new cars. Let’s see, there were little bitty needle noses, little rear wings, and a big snowplow in the front. The Brawn and Red Bull cars had tremendous rear end boxes housing their magic diffusers. Then there was Renault’s fin, which was part of their top intake. If none of this sounds attractive, that’s about right. These vehicles were the high-tech equivalent of the NASCAR Car of Tomorrow: ugly as hell.

These changes, in addition to the reintroduction of slick tires (along with the option tire rule), were hopefully supposed to lead to changing the aerodynamics of the car enough to allow for more passing. I know that there was plenty of passing at the Australian GP. I guess it was a fluke. In modern F1, this pursuit is becoming futile, much like most overtaking attempts on track. The cars are so wind tunnel tested and aero-stroked, passing on track is matter of not just being faster, but a whole lot faster, or hoping for a mistake. I know that there was plenty of passing at the Australian GP. I guess it was a fluke with new cars with widely differing interpretations of the rules from the off season. Next year’s budget cap may make a difference, but I’m not holding my breath.

One piece of the technology I was excited by was the KERS energy return system. For right now, it just weighs down the car, but allows it to be fast enough in places to hold up a faster car trying to pass. Further development of this system in racing may be helpful in integrating it into road cars. Fuel savings on the road are being offset by the weight of the system. Race engineers will be looking for all sorts of ways to slim it down. I wonder if this will end up getting axed under the budget cap? A headline on a cover on an F1 magazine from a few years ago read, “Technology vs. the Sport.” We may finally get this issue answered next year.

Well, on to the race coverage. The opening montage featured a lot of Lewis Hamilton and no Jenson. I wonder when this was put together? Ah, what to make of Lewis the Backmarker? I’d say he gets attention during the race like Dale Jr. and Danica get in their respective series, but that isn’t really fair. He is the current world champion, while the other two are really mostly marketing icons. What I don’t get is the utter hatred that the British racing press and many fans have for him. One day, he’s the superkid, the future of racing. Next, he’s the F1 equivalent of Kyle Busch, the ultimate villain. If he’s just whiny and engages in gamesmanship, that would put him on par with every other driver, in every other series. I guess this is what I get for not being able to watch every race.

Whatever. I’m still totally getting off on Jenson whipping his ass.

You know Jenson is.

Fox sports doesn’t have any control over the race production, so I can’t criticize them. F1 produces the coverage and packages it for everyone else around the world, to add their own commentaries. This may somewhat explain why the volume was so subdued during the race. Every time they went to commercial, I was reminded of this as the sound blasted me awake. The bottom line ticker was a bit less intrusive than the top line ones used in NASCAR and the IRL. There were a couple of good panning shots across some of corners. I share the commentators’ lament that there wasn’t a good shot around Turns 7, 8, and 9, the big curve. (Why don’t they name the corners on these new tracks?)

The commentary team themselves did a pretty good job with what they had to work with. That is to say, no control over the pictures and a fairly boring race. I liked how they explained the rules and differing race strategies. Though they did explain the “Option Tire” rule, the group failed to explain how stupid it is and how little impact it has on the racing. Come to think of it, KERS is really just Push-To-Pass, another failed Champ Car racing “innovation.” (F1, please carefully regard what happened to Champ Car before following their example any further. Having everyone drive the same cars, getting rid of all the European drivers, and eliminating more European race dates, for example.)

There was some false drama over race strategy and about Button’s gearbox, but functionally the race for the win was over when Vettel bobbled the car on lap 1 and Button passed him. That was it. I could say that there was plenty of action in the back, but that was mostly Barrichello trying to make his way back to the front after a bad start. After he damaged the car, that was that.

I tuned in to see Jenson on the top step and getting post race interviewed, and I did get that. I have to quibble with the announcers again. This year isn’t the first time he’s won. They forgot his 2006 win in a rain-soaked race in Hungry. By the way, F1 car numbers are handed out based the team’s finish the previous season (skipping #13). The race results were quite the sight with all those double-digit car numbers listed at the top. And there was Jenson Button, car #22, on top. Given that there were only twenty cars in the race that should tell you how far this team has come since last year.

J.

NASCAR I’ve got issues

NASCAR held two town meetings last week, the day after the Charlotte race. Actually they could have more easily done that right at the track during all those rain delays. These meetings had the immediate effect of addressing NASCAR’s number one problem. It was decided that Tony Eury Jr. had to go as Junior’s crew chief. Until “The Legacy” starts winning again, the sport is in deadly peril, and I’m glad that the governing body took this extraordinary step in the right direction. Said Mike Helton, “Yeah, we saw what Obama did in firing GM’s CEO, and we thought we’d seize the initiative as well and make some changes on Junior’s team.”

Other less important issues were discussed. Double file restarts with lap-down cars to the back might be worthwhile. But really, inside of a lap or two, it’s going to be right back to business as usual with the leader sprinting away. All this may do is change who the leader is going to be.

Of more lasting use, NASCAR said they’d look at finding ways to modify the COT to give it better handling. Wow, it only took three years for NASCAR to hear what all the drivers were saying about the car (even Kyle Busch, whose driving style is well suited to the COT).

I’ve maintained steadfastly that the COT has been hurting competition. Good, contested races are the exception rather than the norm far too often. On some level, the networks may like boring racing. It allows them to go to commercial more often. Exciting races are harder to cut away from.

I understand NASCAR’s original thinking. They wanted to put the car’s handling more in the driver’s hands. With everyone essentially driving the same car (at least aero-wise), driver skill would be the differentiating factor. Great in theory.

In practice, putting all the drivers in nervous handling cars meant that they couldn’t push the envelope in performance without seriously risking a wreck. Thus, spread-out, single-file racing with plenty of wide berths for passing. Only the race leader would feel somewhat safe in opening up the throttle. Fiddling with the car’s ability to stick to the track, but leaving the engine the same, could only result in the drivers slowing down and concentrating on driving and not racing.

This issue isn’t unique to NASCAR. The IRL lessened the downforce on their cars for safety and competition reasons. Again, it was supposed to put driver skill, rather than aero technology, at a premium. The results have been the same. You can read about it here:

http://www.mynameisirl.com/2009/05/overtaking-talk-is-taking-over.html

Racing was once something of a test bed for automotive innovation. Now, it’s just marketing and ever more stringent governing rules to keep the competition between the top teams close. This is especially true in NASCAR, where their vehicles may actually have less relation to road cars than even open-wheel race cars do.

It’s a balancing act between safety vs. spectacle, technology vs. human skill, technology vs. cost, competition vs. the rules, and so on. Go too far in any direction and you’ll lose your audience. For example, fans like wrecks, but don’t want to watch a bloodsport, so there has to be plenty of safety precautions. NASCAR has made its choices, but the tweaking will forever continue.

There was an issue that wasn’t mentioned at the meetings, but I’ll go ahead and make a prediction about it. Given the dramatic fall in ratings and attendance for the first third of the season, look for things to get worse during the Chase. That’s not my prediction, because that’s going to happen (unless Junior goes on an unprecedented winning streak). Next year, look for a new Chase format. There will be big changes in the points structure and/or the Chase qualifications. Whatever. NASCAR’s contract with ABC/ESPN mandates some sort of “playoff,” but the network will agree to anything to help ratings.

I hate to bother making suggestions on this, because it’s pointless, but here goes. I’d like to see at least a much bigger point spread between first and second and between tenth and eleventh. Better still, only award championship points to the top ten finishers of each race. The networks mostly only cover the top ten cars during a race anyway (except for Junior). They may as well make it official that everyone else is irreverent. Yeah, I know that they say that the fans want NASCAR to stop screwing with championship rules. Wrong. The fans want them fixed.

The original points system rewarded consistency, which encouraged “points” racing and not necessarily winning racing. The original Chase rewarded the top ten most consistent racers during the season, and then whoever was most consistent during the Chase. Then it was the top 12. Then the regular season race winners got bonus points for the Chase. Most consistent and most victorious are titles that may not apply to same driver at the end of the season. Right now, Tony Stewart is in first place from running a heck of a consistent season, but all the drivers with wins are below him in the standings. NASCAR needs to make up its mind what they want drivers to focus on.

In my opinion, if a driver wins by consistency over drivers with more wins, people always bring that up. If it were the driver with the most wins who won the championship, nobody would care who scored the most top 10’s during the season.

I honestly expect NASCAR will start making some changes for the better. Next season’s action should be improved over what has occurred so far this year. If not, NASCAR will flounder and eventually fall out the hands of the France family. Even then, I am confident that the series will eventually come under the stewardship of someone who will make the necessary changes.

J.

Dover Cup race: That was more like it

Certainly this week’s race didn’t have much competition for comparison with last week’s. (Tellingly, there was no Fan Council poll sent out for the Coca-Cola 600.) If you consider the Nationwide Series a warm up for the Cup, then things got off to a good start. The ESPN crew was full of enthusiasm, and the race delivered a great finish. Congrats to Brad Keselowski for opportunistically finding Victory Lane again this year, as Logano and Kyle Busch took each other out of the lead in the final laps. Kyle was uncharacteristically mum after the race.

He had no trouble earlier in the week finding a camera and a microphone to discuss Junior’s crew chief change. Fox was quick to capitalize on NASCAR’s lead story with their opening montage playing Kyle’s comments and recapping events. It’s regrettable that Kyle and Junior’s rivalry hasn’t been more of the on-track variety. My own take is that I wish Hendrick had paired up Junior with an experienced, winning crew chief. The way this was done, it just looks like a panic move.

Junior looked slightly more upbeat at the beginning of the race. His Nationwide team winning on Saturday probably helped. Meanwhile when asked, DW and Hammy both openly doubted Junior’s ability to win a championship at this point in his career. Heresy? Reverse psychology? Trying to cushion the blow for his legion of fans? It’s gut check time for Junior and Junior Nation.

The rest of the pre-race flowed well. There was another Digger cartoon, but it was again a rerun. I’m telling you, the varmint is on his way out. Expect TNT and ESPN to give Fox some ribbing over their mascot at some point during their coverage. Jeff Gordon looked totally down and hurting. That interview was painful to watch.

There was a profile piece on Billy Bad Butt. I missed the incident last week that lead to the creation of NASCAR’s newest freaky crewmember nickname. For God’s sakes, there was 10 hours of rain delay. I couldn’t watch it all. In the same vein, ESPN’s piece the day before on Clint Bowyer, Richard Childress, and Bowyer’s spotter was pretty funny. The networks may need to spend some more quality time with guys on the team other than the driver and crew chief.

The season in review segment went by quick. Of course, it could have been shorter. Just show Edwards’ Talledega wreck. Highlights over. Oh, and then there was a shot of Ingrid. I’ve given up on getting a roundtable discussion of her hair. I’ll miss her and Miss Sprint Cup.

The race itself started off well. It was close, contested, and drivers were fighting for the lead. Unfortunately, this may have either been the team’s testing the limits of the tires for the rest of the race, or NASCAR ordered them to be entertaining at the beginning of the race.

Umm… Then I turned over to the Indycar race at the Milwaukee Mile. I’m not sure if I missed much action at Dover, other than Jimmie dominating. I know that if I’d missed the Indycar race, I really wouldn’t have missed much action there either. Dixon won, but his wife Emma wasn’t there, so I didn’t care. (I recall Ashley Judd wasn’t there the last time Franchitti won. Well, it’s not exactly a destination spot, unless you’re looking for brauts.) I’d read a story that they were offering all you could drink and eat beer and barbecue at the track as a promotion. I thought it was gag, but the stands were full. Sorry I wasn’t in Milwaukee.

http://pressdog.typepad.com/dogblog/2009/05/most-likely-still-time-to-get-to-milwaukee-this-weekend-for-the-most-excellent-mile-and-the-best-value-in-racingi-super-hig.html#more

Back to NASCAR (one look at the stands and you could tell they weren’t running any promotions), I missed the final, fateful pit stop, that put Jimmie back in ninth, but with more fresh tires than the drivers in front of him. The final laps featured some of the best racing of the year. This was actually enhanced by Fox losing their ticker. You could see more of the track, as the 48’s charge to the front commanded the announcers’ attention. With more screen real estate, the drama seemed bigger and added to the tension. This arrangement wouldn’t have worked out well in blow out win, but here it did. Fox might want to file this technique away for future use. (Not to mention, it forced them to show all the top cars finishing.)

Good call by Knaus and a great drive by Jimmie to make that call look good. Tony Stewart, second in the race, can console himself with his Fox Cup, as he’s now number one in the championship standings. Who’d of thunk that last year after his move to his new team. This was a definite high note for Fox to end their coverage on.

NASCAR breathes a sigh of relief. The hardcore fans that are left got a good race. Junior looked about as happy as he was going to allow himself to be with a top 15 finish. Finally, there was a heartfelt goodbye from the booth crew. Pity that Fox sports broadcasting isn’t as big a fans as their announcers are. I was surprised Digger didn’t make an appearance, or that there wasn’t some forced product placement, or a Fox show promo during their closing comments. Were it not for the fans in the booth, I think Fox’s NASCAR coverage would end up being horrific.

Well, this may be it for the NASCAR race blogging. I don’t have cable. After the digital switchover, I may not be able to watch the Chase when racing returns to over-the-air TV. As for next year, frankly, at times writing this has been a labor. Too many races have either been boring or controversial, rather than entertaining. Sometimes, the hard part has been watching the race itself to comment on it. In the meantime, I’ve got one more column in process about the sport overall.

J.

DARK CONTINENT: INTRODUCTION

This adventure setting was inspired by Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Francis Ford Coppala’s Apocalypse Now. (Dante’s Inferno gave some inspiration to them both). The Japanese anime classic Ninja Scroll inspired the main villains.

The colony herein is based on the old Belgian Congo in Africa, currently Zaire. The adventure follows the Congo River inland. The characters will going up river into the jungle colony to find and eliminate, err… terminate with extreme prejudice, an insane wizard, Kurtz.

I won’t be providing any stats, as I do not have a preferred system at the moment. I will also be skimping on naming names for the most part. There will be no maps or keyed encounter guides. I will be describing the path and major set pieces on the way. On the plus side, potential DM’s will be able to customize this extensively, and potential players won’t have all of the action spoiled for them.

The human (and demi-human, as you will) inhabitants of the continent will be clearly, physically differentiated between colonists and natives. The differences are up to the group to decide upon. The morality of conditions in the colony are likewise up to group to exploit or ignore. There are situations and events in the adventure for the players to react to, but there is little narrative judgment on them.

By the end of these adventures, the players may wish to “go native” and lead the rebellion. Or, they may want to enter into the struggle for power in the colonial government. Or, they may have completely different objectives. These choices will be beyond the scope of this adventure. Regardless of any side the players choose, the group should have ample motivation to go after Kurtz. They will learn that he is a deadly threat to both sides and everyone in the country.

This adventure derives some inspiration from The Mountain Witch RPG, as well as an inspired account of a game using Apocalypse Now as the setting. Putting a snitch, loyalty officer, foreign operative, native sympathizer, rival colonial political agent, and even a member loyal to Kurtz could make for an interesting game, depending on the party. If I were running the game, I’d play it straight. The group is likely to have enough problems without fratricide being one of them.

DARK CONTINENT: SETUP

Characters are a group of condemned convicts, either highly skilled or having a special ability, who have volunteered for a virtual suicide mission in the jungle colony to assassinate an insane wizard named Kurtz. He’s gone native and started a rebellion. Discretion must be used. Kurtz is revered as a hero. Currently, he’s thought to be fighting the rebellion. That he’s leading it would be devastating to morale. Of course, few would believe that he’s a traitor anyway.

There will be a few contacts along the way that know the truth and will be available to help. As the group goes further inland, their contacts will direct them their next contact. The group will be given documents showing that that they are incorporated as a mercenary company. They will have to get acquire their own money to make it up river.

A bounty will be placed on the characters’ heads two weeks after they leave the home country, roughly the same time they should arrive by ship at the colony. The bounty will only be paid for a live capture. If they are recaptured before completing the mission, it will be regrettable. If successful, the group need only return to the colonial governor with the proof (Kurtz or his head) to remove the bounty.

Upon successful completion, the characters will be given their own title and land in the colony. Any treasure recovered along the way belongs to the group, but remember that time is of the essence. A foreign ambassador, who also has colonial interests on the continent, is present at the meeting but doesn’t say anything. He acts as a witness and also signs the contract. This provides some small amount of legal protection for the group.

This adventure may seem something like a “railroad” to the players. Well, there’s only one main river to travel on for much of the adventure. Straying from it should be almost certain death. The players will hopefully be smart enough to ally with the colonials in the areas under their control. Otherwise, they’ll be fighting both sides from the beginning. The group should probably start with a fairly large number of characters, as reinforcements and replacement characters will be difficult to find.

DARK CONTINENT: BACKGROUND

This jungle continent has been colonized by various countries from another continent. They were able to effect this conquest by their superior magic knowledge. The native population is effectively subjected. The colonial powers see themselves as bringing civilization to the hinterlands. Honestly, the average native is probably no better or worse off for the invasion. Conquest and slavery have long ruled the area before the coming of the colonists. The natives have some legal rights and some government representation, and this is likely the reason that the rebellion isn’t more widespread. One thing is sure though, the natives are not in charge of their own country.

This adventure revolves around Kurtz, a wizard and an ambitious, adventurous ivory merchant. He came seeking fame and fortune. He managed to achieve both when he found the Dragon’s Boneyard deep in the Interior and made off with a haul of enchanted bones from there. Fearing the graveyard’s guardian, a dragon named Hellion, Kurtz kept the location a secret and did not return. Instead of returning to his home country, he built a magnificent mansion in the Interior near his station and sent for his Intended fiancée. (Conrad didn’t name her. I won’t either.)

Hellion eventually found out about the theft and started to hunt for the thief. Kurtz became aware of the hunt and kept his Intended at Home Station. Needing more power, he decided to follow up on the rumors of a Forbidden City. No natives would go near it, so he set out with a large number of colonial adventurers.

Most of the party would be wiped out before the massive, ancient, devastated city was found and would be even further whittled down before they came to the Temple. There they found the hibernating Serpent Men and their monstrous sleeping Master. This trespass aroused the Serpent Men caretakers and the party would be captured, except for Kurtz. His high-level magic powers bought him instant respect. The Serpent Men’s cause was, of course, re-conquest of the continent, but they lacked the ability to access even their own ancient knowledge, much less discovery of new and more potent magic. Kurtz threw in with them and his men did as well. With Kurtz’s power added to the Serpent Men’s, suddenly a successful war was a possibility.

Kurtz began sending back missives to the colonial government about a native uprising that he was fighting. Meanwhile wearing a new identity, he began inciting and bullying various native tribes into rebelling. He has been leading both sides into destroying each other. He might lead an attack on a colonial settlement in disguise, while later openly destroying a native village in retaliation for the attack.

After learning more magical knowledge from the Serpent Men’s old spell books and experimenting, Kurtz began enticing natives into the temple. He and the Serpent Men used them as a mass sacrifice to summon a protective red mist around the temple isle. With even more sacrifices, they began to build their own army of semi-evolved apes and the undead, and Kurtz turned his own compatriots into demonic servitors. Currently, they are working on accumulating enough blood to begin waking up all of the Serpent Men, and to draw out the Serpent Men’s mysterious Master.

Now having some real power behind him, Kurtz confronted Hellion and proposed a peace. He would keep the graveyard safe from further, inevitable intrusion. In return, the dragon would support Kurtz’s coming campaign to drive out the colonists and subjugate the natives. He also promised to dispatch agents to retrieve the stolen bones, as much as they might still be intact.

Other forces are now moving. Certain members of colonial leadership are aware of Kurtz’s duplicity, and want him quietly eliminated. Hellion is becoming increasingly apprehensive of Kurtz’s power and their relationship. The dragon is now in a position of having to take orders and suspects that Kurtz is trying to have him killed off. The natives themselves are not without an advocate. A colossal, intelligent, giant snake named Satha is revered as their secret, living god deep in the jungle. Of course, he is fighting the colonists and been working subtly against them. Kurtz and the Serpent Men are now a more immediate threat. Satha is moving to stop them, but many of his own natives have abandoned him.

DARK CONTINENT: THE 13 SUMMONED ONES AND RANDOM ENCOUNTERS

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE 13
These creatures are Kurtz’s former comrades. They have been turned into half-demonic creatures, all blindly loyal to him (though not necessarily to each other). If seriously wounded, they will generally seek to escape to fight another day.

These foes are inspired by the anime classic, Ninja Scroll. They are meant to be powerful, recurring villains. Killing any of them should be an accomplishment for the group. Stats are not given, only a list of possible abilities. DM’s are encouraged to make up their own. Each of the 13 should have at least two primary powers, and a special weakness.

Their personalities are also left to the DM’s discretion. Vivid, colorful, and extreme should be the guidelines, such as cowardly, fearless, honorable, clown-like, etc. They should also still bear their petty human grudges against one another. The players should have an opportunity to find out about them and exploit them.


POSSIBLE MEMBERS OF THE 13
Snake Woman: Commands numerous poisonous snake minions. Can shed her skin to create a decoy. No armor (naked).

Blind Swordsman: Master swordsman. Tremorsense. Can blind opponents with his sword. No armor and can’t actually see, so he can be tricked.

Rockman: Rock hard body, high AC. Has a double-bladed sword, which can be thrown in a powerful spinning attack. His eyes are his weak points.

Threadman: Can wrap near invisible threads around opponents to choke or electrocute. Threads can be wrapped surreptitiously and can stretch for miles. He is a lurker/shadowy assassin type.

Immortal: Can shapechange to mimic other humans. Unkillable. Can regenerate and reattach severed body parts. Master of combat. He will be temporarily helpless before he regenerates if brought to zero hp, and can be immobilized in that time.

Gunpowder: Can create small bombs. Must set up bombs in the area first and be in the area to trigger them. She is a lurker/shadowy assassin type.

Shadow Controller: Can hide directly in shadows. Can control captured victims by applying his spit to them. Can create illusion decoys of himself. He is a lurker/shadowy assassin type.

Insect Master: Can control swarms of ants, locusts, centipedes, and wasps. Can spit poisonous needles. There is a wasp hive in his body, on his back. The wasps that live there will attack him to get out if they are attacked inside the hive. This one has his own domain in the Interior, so don’t let him get killed early.

Undead Master: Can call or create various mindless undead, such as zombies, skeletons, and ghouls. Can create Darkness at will. He cannot be turned himself and his presence thwarts turning his minions. Powerless in sunlight and in magical light. He is a lurker/shadowy assassin type. This one has his own domain in the Interior, so don’t let him get killed early.

Killer Croc: Powerful tail slap, regenerates hp, high AC. Very vulnerable to cold.

Vermin Master: Controls bats and rats, and can shapechange into man-bat form. Afraid of silver weapons, objects, even just the color.

Porcupine Man: Fires quills and has heavy quilled armor. Water ruins his armor and quill attack.

Mucus: Can throw sickening slime. When weapons score a hit, there is a chance that the weapon will get stuck in him. He will disintegrate temporarily if heavily exerting in combat and then reform one round later. In his “pool” state, Mucus is vulnerable to being diluted or mixed with other materials: sand, water, oil, etc. and can be disrupted.

Gas: Can fire blasts of sleep, hallucinogenic, corrosive, and obscuring gasses. He’s highly flammable.

Speed: Always has the initiative and never surprised. Can attack multiple times per round. Can retreat without incurring a free attack. Can dodge collateral damage, area effect spells, and magic missiles. Very high AC. Made of glass (attacks with glass daggers), low hp.

Tarpit: Successful attacks automatically stick to him. Can envelop and trap opponents. Flings flaming tar. Carries internal furnace, which he has to keep constantly stoked and fed when exerting himself. If the fire goes out, he solidifies.

Armor: A spirit animated magic plate armor with a magic weapon. High AC. Immune to spells effecting living creatures. Cannot be turned. The weapon it carries is its bane if used against it. If a character decides to claim the armor, Armor is reactivated with the character inside.

Think: Psychic blast, psychic armor shield, flight, mind control. Insane. Likely to attack allies or go catatonic if seriously hurt.

Piper: Uses enchanted flute to deafen, stun, confuse, mind control, and kill. Can call various animals to his aid depending on the tune. He is a lurker/shadowy assassin type.


RANDOM ENCOUNTERS
Of which, I’m not a fan of. However, here’s some encounter ideas for when the party is traveling in country or going off the beaten path.

The 13: Probably just to antagonize the group. They will not fight to the death in this sort of venue.

Colonists: Prospectors, foreign agents, bandits, soldiers, traders, caravans, missionaries. Bandits may be setting an ambush, but everyone else is passing through and of varying dispositions.

Natives: Friendly and unfriendly natives in hunting parties of warriors. Witch doctors and shamen may be leading them on some unfathomable task. Chiefs may be leading a retinue on a trip. A group of native assassins may be stalking the group.

Insects: The giant variety, of course: spiders, bees, centipedes. They will be encountered near their lair.

Vermin-ish: Bat swarms, giant frogs, giant leeches,

Animals: Crocodiles swarming from the riverbank. Hippopotami disturbed in the middle of the river. Stepping in a snake pit. Angry warthogs and rhinos. Rampaging elephant herd. A leopard strike at a separated character.