It’s rare (ever ?) that I make a non-programming post, but there’s so much roleplaying awesome-sauce going on at the minute that I had to let it out.

Firstly, the upcoming trip to Ireland provided a well-timed opportunity to wrap up a couple of the campaigns I’ve been partaking in. The first was the conclusion of the “Price of Immortality” trilogy I was DMing. Lasting 9 sessions, this mini-campaign took the characters from the sleepy town of Kassen to a final showdown with a Razmir obsessed elven sorceress called Iramine in the impressive and deadly City of Golden Death.

Secondly was the conclusion of the epic and stunningly good Legacy of Fire adventure path, led by a good friend and incredible DM Dave. I cannot speak highly enough about the dedication, skill-set and general awesomeness of Dave, the ensemble of characters he gathered around, and the great story that was spun. Lasting around 2 years, it culminated on Friday evening with an epic battle between the party (2 of whom died) and the epic efreet villan “Javhul” (pictured below). We celebrated the finale with a couple of six packs (of Ranger beer no less) and the stoke has lasted all weekend.

All in all, this campaign was the essence and the justification for my roleplaying hobby. As far as I am concerned, in an economic system designed to encourage (if not mandate) competitiveness, and a social system that fosters selfishness, greed and the enforcement of group-derived values, principles and definitions of normality, there exists no higher calling than that of seeking out compatible companions, led by the grand over-arching vision of a single person, and embarking upon a communal storytelling exercise. An exercise that facilitates the abandonment of all known (societal and self-imposed) restrictions, pre-conceptions rules, and that effectively allows the creation of a utopian (or perhaps even dystopian) alternate existence.

For kicks, here’s a few happy memories from the campaign.

And the final roll that ended the campaign:

After a brief vacation, I’ll be kicking off the summer with 2 horror-related storylines that I’m very excited about. First up is the Carrion Crown adventure path, currently being published with paizo. I intend to run this on a weekly basis, possibly getting through it in about 9 months. With undead, werewolves, flesh-golems and ultimately a cult desperate to bring back the arch-lich Tar-Baphon, it promises to provide some fun horrortainment.

Secondly, I promised some friends I’d run them through a Call of Cthulhu one-shot. I’ve select “Bad Moon Rising” from the “Great Old Ones” sourcebook, which I’m very excited about – it’s a lot more epic that previous CoC one-shots, so we’ll see how it goes.

And that’s about it, celebrating the kids birthday today, so we’re heading out to PF Changs. I’m in the mood for some IPad programming, so expect to see some related posts soon.