Talismonde Heist

(Hopefully on the evening of Friday February 17, 2023)

"Notes from a clergyman’s journal, hidden vaults of Elven treasure, and an ill-fated excavation to burned-out depths of Talismonde’s undercity was a story told for years (after a few drinks) by the old man now dying of a bloody, hacking cough at an alley in the waterfront district of Arduin’s capital. But wasn’t there word of a hidden map?"

A loose collection of ne'er-do-wells stumble upon the treasure map of an old, dying thief and dare the rotting underside beneath the first true city in Arduin.

This is my entry for DunDraCon #26, about a half-century-old gaming convention out here on the left coast. I typically run a convention game Friday evening and then our regular gaming group runs Saturday night in Open Gaming.

I am coming off a pretty successful swampy-adventure Arduin game down in Fresno at Pig Faced Ork Con last October which followed a fun Green Hell jungle event at DunDraCon #45 last February 2022.

Anyone who has played D&D, in particular OD&D and 1st edition AD&D, will recognize the original trilogy Arduin rules as being very similar. Each game I have been a little better at throwing in more of the Arduin subtleties (for example Arduin's mana point magic system) which has been a lot of fun.

I should learn by mid-January or so if my game is able to be fit into DunDraCon's schedule and am keeping my finder's crossed.

***Arduin is a fictional universe and role-playing system created by David A. Hargrave. “The Arduin Grimoire” was self-published by Hargrave in 1977 and also two follow-up books in 1978, “Welcome to Skull Tower” and “The Runes Of Doom.” The three books became known as “The Arduin Trilogy.”

The original Arduin books added many interesting and notable features to fantasy role playing and were often treated by players as supplements to Dungeons & Dragons.