Faalor V, Finale'

Thus ends another thrilling campaign. Thank you all for helping me realize another great story.

Arwin successfully avoided killing the evil mayor.

The party managed to complete the campaign and score the neutral outcome. The bad outcome would have been the elves taking over Havenshire. The good outcome would have been the party getting the good elves to broker a peace and thus allowing the elves to slowly regain their place on the Island. The neutral outcome is as follows: the party saves the town but the remaining elves become even more embittered. The elves that remain become essentially monsters, roving is small bands and attacking any human they encounter, enslaving them or killing them on sight. They continue to take slaves of anyone (orc, human, dwarf, gnome, etc.). Elves are probably not going to be a playable race from here on out. Thanks! Faalor now has drow!

Was it possible to beat the red dragon? Yes. You had several means including a dragon-slaying arrow, a book in dwarven (thus why the vampire was told to kill the dwarves) that told how to make said arrows, and a cult of monks who specialize in killing dragons. I had hoped that you would have gotten to know the Ahzeen Monks a bit more; they might have been interesting allies.

The dragons head their separate ways, seeking to renew their battle in 10-20 years.

The Ahnzeen monks plod along, mysteriously toiling behind their walls and letting few if any enter.

Vlora, the powerful vampire from Ravenloft, moves on to seek greener pastures, most likely in one of the bigger cities where she will probably attempt to set up some kind of vampire kingdom again. She is now a perminate major NPC in the campaign.

Grabo continues a popular run as Mayor of Havenshire, apparently settling down from all of his adventures.

Yes, Westerbrook was the werewolf, gah, who couldn't figure that out?!? I wasn'tt sure how I wanted to play this guy, but it was an interesting dove-tail into Vlora's story. Those two are arch enemies and it will be interesting to see if the werewolf finds the wise old vampire . . . and what, if anything, he can do against her.

Faalor V, Chapter Three (Sept 23, 2006)

The party staggered back to Havenshire for a bit of peace and quiet. Unfortunately, tensions still high. The soldiers in town were on edge. The commander, Captain Grannau, told the party that one or two men were still being murdered every night, though the elves themselves have not made any full attacks on Havenshire. Small groups of easily-dispatched undead were making raids on the town, but so far the commander felt the situation was well under control.

The players made their way to the Inn where they caught up with Bill and the Mayor, who sung the praises of the group for defeating the vampire Serrakh. He seemed genuinly pleased and relieved.

That evening, Rilen was confronted by Vlora as he took a strole through town. She demanded that he turn over her diary. In exchange, Vlora volunteered that the elf necromancer Verlydaar exerts some control over her, and that she would probably prefer to leave Havenshire if she could. Unfortunately, she is compelled to pick off certain targets in Havenshire. When Rilen refused to return the diary, Vlora attacked and chanced Rilen back to the a large group of soldiers. Vlora disappeared.

Faalor V, Chapter Two (July 29, 2006)

With the vampire-lord defeated, the party is now faced with the task of getting off the island while avoiding a dragon out in the bay.

The myserious gnome apparently convinced the giants to let the party pass through their territory. The party then entered the abandoned lair of the dragon, Vraalrym the Red. Dragon scales and dung littered the cave along with a goodly cashe of treasure. Unfortunately, the party had to pass through two magical barriers, doors and traps. Those with sufficiant willpower were able to pass through the barriers, but those lacking had to wait for Cyril to cast dispell magic to temporarily disable the barrier. As that was happeneing, Arrand continued down a hallway, where he discovered a group of barbarians. After a brief, but bloody battle, the party began to explore the area.

Apparently, the dragon had a sizable horde of treasure here, but took most of it as he found a better home away to the east. In one room, a lever was found. Just when everyone was inside, Kala pulled it and released a fog of sleep gas. Fortunately, it quickly wore off and the group was again searching for treasure.

Before long, the treasure caves appeared to be exhausted and the party began to move through an underground city built (apparently) by the Splurgorth who lived down there in great numbers. The running battle lasted until the party found one of the teleporters mentioned by the gnome.

Faalor V, Chapter Two (July 8, 2006)

Faced with the capture of Mary Reed, Gregory Oak, Rilen Gadeli, and Valdo Bross, the party made it’s way back to the beach cave for some planning. It was decided that Kala and Cyril would go to the giants and see if they wouldn’t help attack the barbarians. It wasn’t hard to convince the giants’ leader that the barbarians had planned an attack on them and, in turn, the giants should retaliate.

With one of the lead giants as a shock trooper, the party quickly overcame the majority of the barbarian guards, who had arrayed themselves at the mouth of their cave.  Meanwhile, Jack snuck into the cave to find the captured members of the party harassing their guards. Unfortunately, the barbarian leader, a descendant of the vampire Serrakh, escaped with the Barovian flame sword that Rilen had claimed for his own.

Quickly healing up, the party decided to press on to find and destroy the vampire lord who, it was said, was waking this very night. A few barbarians were found along the way, but resistance was relatively light (thanks, in part, to the mysterious gnome).

Once the party entered the lower levels of the vampire’s lair, it was clear that the architecture was an ancient elven-Teussian effort. Small patches of Stydroidus Kampi waited patiently for the party to attack and then retaliate by spewing their noxious gas. A strange doorway blocked the party's progress, but when the key was finally found undead waited.

In the final level, Cyril was paralyzed by a fleeing undead as he tried to open it's final resting place. A lone coffin waited in the next area, and the party found a diary ("Vlora's Diary") that read:

I start this diary as a record of my progress in this strange land.

The Mists have seen fit to remove me from the Core and bring me to an unknown land called Faalor. Nice enough place except that the bard and his lapdog have followed me.

(pages of meaningless pining for "home")

Our kind seems to be fairly rare here, but apparently, I am not alone in my transportation to this realm. Others, weaker now, have followed. This isn't a bad thing, yet, I must cull the herd of my weaker siblings or I run the risk of tipping off the locals. But one such fool taught me a valuable lesson.

I cannot be killed by traditional means!!! A stake does not truly harm me. The Mists have give me power to survive anything on Faalor. Who knows? Maybe I can survive even the sun's rays!

(page or two about how she lived in Bridalveil and Gundar)

The elves seem to be a bit different here. At home, they confine themselves to Soth's lands, but here it seems they plan to usurp human rule-most unnatural, if you ask me. I killed three for fun as they snuck through the woods. Wonder it was that their leader proved to be an incredible diversion!

The "Opposition" as they call themselves plan on waking one of my kind. This youngster of a Prince (supposedly only 200 years old) is in torpor on a pathetic island far away from food or pleasure. This elfling spell-flinger, he tells me, plans on waking a new vampire lord of Faalor, an old time warrior from "long ago". Strangely, this elf DOES exert some power over me, not that I couldn't snap his neck like a twig.

Amazingly, this "powerful" vampire lord is completely cowed by the elf. Even the stronger, yet younger vampires in Faalor quake at Verlydaar's power. While I wait on this cursed Island, I plan on finding out exactly the nature of that power.

Then, the party came upon the tomb of Serrakh himself. Quickly, Rilen pushed through the magical barrier and stabbed the slumbering creature. Meanwhile, some of the others discovered a strange gem held in a stone claw. Kala smashed it before anyone could react. But the mission was accomplished: Serrakh had met his final death.

The party made it back to their temporary home at the beach cave where the mysterious gnome finally found them. In short, the gnome told them of a teleporter found underground beyond the giants' land. He said that the cave was used by Vraalrym the Red some time ago as he rested from destroying the human-elven settlement on the island. Below that lie a series of old elven ruins, now held by the Splurgorth, what he called "degenerate elves".

Characters attending today's game:

• Rilen Gadeli (Jas)


• Duskfang (Patricia)


• Arrand (Lazarus)


• Cyril Tormund (Veth)


• Jack Reed (Arwin)


• Gregory Oak (Carn)


• Kala Horntaper (Rangarig)


• Valdo Bross (Mayvik)

Faalor V, Chapter Two (June 24, 2006)

Having decided to find and destroy the vampire, Serrakh, once and for all, the party moved out from Havenshire. Passing through Reldon and the swamps, they finally made it to Blevinost. There, Jack's dilapidated "ship", the "Jynee III" awaited them. The party was faced with a decision: fix the boat up or hire another ride to Aladrich. Fortunately, a merchant was willing to take the group for 10 gp each.

Once the party landed on the beach, they began exploring. They found a small cave and a tract into the forest. When they decided it was time to signal the ship, a sea creature of some kind took their raft and, apparently, chased off the ship. Strangely, the small cave had a few animated mushrooms and a room that appeared to be set for the party.

Once the party moved in land, they encountered a group of barbarian humans. When the party mentioned that they were looking to find and destroy the vampire, one of the leaders brought the party in to see the Elder. The Elder explained that, in order to open the vampire's lair, they must get a key from the giants who lived on the island. As the party was leaving, Cyril noticed that the Elder was carrying an elven longsword.

The giants, contrary to what the party was told, were aggressive and killed Kala's animal companion. Battle nearly broke out between the giants and the party until the leader of the giants, a Fire Giant, came and told the party to leave. Once the party left the giants, they decided to go on toward the place where the vampire was supposed to be. There, they encountered a gnome who answered their questions: the "barbarians" were descendants of Serrakh who remained on the island to serve the vampire over the years.

With that information, the party returned to the barbarian's cave. Battle ensued when Kala attacked one of the barbarians. Pushing their way into the cave, the party was overcome with the magic of the elder. Mary Reed, Gregory Oak, Rilen Gadeli, and Valdo Bross were knocked to the floor while the barbarians chased out the rest of the party.

Characters attending today's game:

• Rilen Gadeli (Jas)


• Duskfang (Patricia)


• Mary Reed (Floria)


• Arrand (Lazarus)


• Cyril Tormund (Veth)


• Jack Reed (Arwin)


• Gregory Oak (Carn)


• Kala Horntaper (Rangarig)


• Valdo Bross (Mayvik)

Faalor V, Chapter One (June 10, 2006)

The party found itself going deeper into under the ruins of Castle Droth. Having to fight a number of vampire bats, hell hounds and zombies, the group slowly made it's way down two levels. On the lower level, the body of Kala Horntaper's father was found. Later the party had to face off with Serrakh, the vampire lord. Apparently weakened by his "recent" awakening, the party was able to easily defeat him. He turned into a mist and traveled through the walls. Kala's mother and a militia man were saved. The party found a notebook, apparently written by Serrakh Kethlan:

A month ago . . .

Verlydaar has returned with details of the plan. The General feels the time is right to begin. I make no demands on him and he makes none on me, yet there is wisdom in the path we have chosen. I have sent Vlora to the crypts to begin preperations.

My body has finally condensed again. If something happens to it again, I should be able to recover fully in a much shorter period of time now: I suspect a matter of weeks next time instead of a year and a half.

Two months ago . . .

Vlora tells me that she has met with the good sherrif and made arrangements. I do not trust her kind though. From a distant land, she is willful and grasping in her own right. My age and brood keep her in line though and her ablility to deal with the locals where I cannot is of tremendous value. The pieces are being moved into the center of the board.

Five months ago . . .

I have set up in the village of Havenshire. My descendants have done well, subduing the lesser races and fending off the wilds of the elves. I find it remarkable that they seem weaker, nonetheless. Very strange indeed.

Since I awoke, I have not needed to feed more than twice. It must be a sign of age as my alabaster flesh requires less and less to sustain it.

Twelve months ago . . .

I have left Aladrich, the home of my true body, and seek a place called Havenshire. My brood is pleased to find abundant prey.

Sixteen months ago . . .

Verlydaar awoke me from my slumber. The creature has great power over me, yet, he seems a useful ally along with his master. The elves have plans for the rule of man. It is of little consequence for someone like me and my brood. The plan seems sound and profitable.

The party then returned to Havenshire.

In Havenshire, the group encountered the Mayor and told their story to him. Then they set off to find the sheriff. The sheriff was forced to admit that he know Vlora and had, indeed, brokered a deal with the vampire in order to save the entire town. The party returned to the Inn where Gildmara, the bard talked a bit about vampire and werewolf lore. When an Army captain entered the Inn, Rilen offered to take him to the mayor's place. On his return, he was attacked by a werewolf. Later, the group encountered Vlora who was apparently tracking the werewolf herself.

The party then found the Sherrif wandering around and when Cyril lowered a crossbow at him, the big man ran out of town toward the Ruins or toward the Ahnzeen Abbey. The party returned to tell the mayor what had happened. The mayor agreed that he would take over the militia. Meanwhile the party planned to wait for the army to return then they would move out to find the vampire on his island home.

Characters attending today's game:

• Rilen Gadeli (Jas)


• Duskfang (Patricia)


• Mary Reed (Floria)


• Arrand (Lazarus)


• Cyril Tormund (Veth)


• Jack Reed (Arwin)


• Gregory Oak (Carn)


• Kala Horntaper (Rangarig)
  
  

Faalor V, Chapter One (May 27, 2006)

As the characters began to searching for the little girl (Kasha Bross), Sheriff Westerbrook appeared. He helped the party search for a while, but then had everyone gather in the inn. It was soon decided that Westerbrook would go check in on the Bross family. When he returned, he said that the girl was fine and the family seemed safe enough.

Kala was concerned that her father was not home so Westerbrook took her home. She quickly found out that her parents were gone and returned to town. There the mysterious woman was engaged in combat with the dwarven guard. When the PCs began to help, she disappeared quickly. The dwarves acted strangely, quickly retreating as if the humans might be involved with the woman.

Westerbrook ordered everyone to stay in the Inn, but it quickly was decided to go to the crypts (where the zombies probably came from). On reaching the crypts, the party made their way into the Crypt of Mulhuld, a large and very old crypt used primarily by the elders and founders of Havenshire. The dead body of a man was found, but it appeared as if it had shuffled out the coffin it was in and collapsed. A ghostly figure, maybe in clerics robes was seen soon enough and the constant sound of a woman in pain could be heard.

After a brief run-in with some spiders, the party encountered a group of undead. After they were dispatched, a dead townswoman was found. It soon became apparent that the undead were using the crypt as some kind of base of operations. When the party finally broke into the main crypt, the mysterious woman changed into a mist and sank into the wall, leaving her near-mindless underlings to die at the hands of the party.

In a coffin, lay a young girl no one had seen before. Her arms were crossed and she appeared quite dead. Oddly enough, she had bits of blood coming from her mouth. A small note was found in the coffin as well. It read:

(In a flowing hand, written in red ink)

Vlora,

The crypt is to be used for our forward base, make sure it is kept secret. The young ones will want to hunt in the town, but do not let them yet. When the time is right, you will do as our ally, Xadryd, asks and find those who are ripe enough to provide valuable information for him. In 10 days, you will pick those among the townsmen that you feel will provide the proper information for Xadryd. Feed the young ones if need be, but send back to the ruins at least 5. I await your faithful service.

Serrakh Kethlan

Once the party returned to the Inn, Westerbrook was not too happy even though progress seemed to be made on defending the town against the vampires. Westerbrook seemed incredibly angry that anyone would question him or disobey his orders. This led to some speculation about the good sheriff's motives and allegiance. By 3 AM, the party decided to turn in for the night.

In the morning, the party found Gildmara, the bard, reading in the upstairs. Rilen was surprised by her and questioned her sternly about her involvement. She knew that there was a vampire at the performance the night before, but indicated that she did not get involved in matters unless there was some danger to people. She seemed to think that the female vampire at the performance was harmless enough to stay neutral in the affair. "We all have a path in this life," she told an angry Rilen. "So, you'd just sit back and let a dragon rampage through town then," Rilen retorted. Gildmara seemed to think about that then proceeded to indicate that she would help if she could. The help that she offered seemed ineffectual at best.

With that the party prepared to head to the ruins. Arrand was able to find out that the person named Serrakh Kethlan, was a Teussian nobleman who lived nearly 250 years ago, a very powerful warrior who, tales say, disappeared one night never to be seen again.

As the party approached the Ruins of Castle Droth (an elven castle that, rumor has it, was destroyed by Vraalrym, the Red nearly 500 years ago, big brutish wolves attacked. Inside the ruins of the upper level, two elven mages seemed to be hurrying out, as if they were on some mission. Overcome by bloodlust the elves attacked, but were quickly dispatched. Into the darkness of the lower levels the party descended . . .

Characters attending today's game:

• Rilen Gadeli (Jas)


• Duskfang (Patricia)


• Mary Reed (Floria)


• Arrand (Lazarus)


• Cyril Tormund (Veth)


• Jack Reed (Arwin)


• Gregory Oak (Carn)


• Kala Horntaper (Rangarig)

Havenshire locations

A short list of locations all PCs might know about:

Bywater Inn – one of the oldest establishments in Havenshire, the Bywater Inn serves as the cultural center of town. It is used both as an inn, a tavern, a meeting hall and a theater. Master Thantor owns it, but for all practical purposes, Bill Greenwood runs the place.

Marlow’s Smithy – Marlow Blakenschir has owned and operated the smithy for almost 20 years. He is a good man, stern and a bit unyielding, but he is fair in his prices and satisfactory in the quality of his goods.

Temple of Aurday – The Temple is a focal point for the town. It was named in honor of Edwyn Aurday, a holy man who lived in the cave beneath the current foundation of the temple nearly 200 years ago. The temple sports a local Spirit College that houses between 5-20 students at any given time. A fairly expansive library also can be found here (though most of the books deal with theological issues). The library is run by Paurian, The Scribe, who is likely to sell clerical scrolls.

Talisman Hill – South of the river, sits an old graveyard. The graveyard has been used for almost 150 years now and houses two old crypts. The area is also home of the mystic Johnathan Strock, known for selling of magical bobbles and scrolls.

The Ahnzeen Monestary – on the Night of Fog and Fear, a strange monastery appeared about a miles east of town. The Ahnzeens as they call themselves are a reclusive lot. They allow no one in without a very good reason. Yet they do not themselves go out except to occasionally trade in town. They never speak and seem fairly self-sufficient. Rumor has it that they are an evil sect of monks and wizards from some other land yet to this day they have caused no trouble with anyone.

Castle Droth – North east of town sits the ruins of an elven castle. According to local legend, the red dragon Vraalrym torched the place nearly 400 years ago. It is now said to be haunted. Whatever the truth of the matter, people avoid the ruins, especially at night. In recent years, a species of large and aggressive wolf has taken up residence near the castle.

Faalor V, The Prelude (May 13, 2006)

This session had quite a bit of waiting around for the players but I think it was worth it. Once characters were made, we briefly introduced the party to Havenshire, the main base of operations for the campaign.

10 years ago, a good number of number of the player characters were involved in a church service. The venerable and much-loved Rector Wilmer Ralm was in the middle of giving a sermon on the nature of evil. "Evil had not come into the world all at once," he said. In the begining, there was peace.

In those days, Aergot was alone with his two children. Both Maelwar and Adrahil were at peace, when Maelwar said: "The planets are beautiful and the sun is bright. Yet there is nothing for me to do." Aergot asked: "What then shall I do?" Adrahil replied: "Make things that live." And Aergot did, first the trees, then the flowers, then the insects, fish and animals.

For a long while, the Gods enjoyed life, watched it grow and change. After a while, Adrahil said: "Make us creatures that we can commune with." And Aergot did. It was neither a man, dwarf, elf or orc, but a creature that walked upright and possessed a spirit, a featureless Lemurian. This made Adrahil and Maelwar happy.

Unfortunately, Maelwar became bored and began to meddle with the life. Humans decended from the Lemurian as were the elves, gnomes, dwarves and orcs and trolls. The trolls and orcs were the product of Maelwar's bordom . . .

As he spoke, mist began to shroud the town, and infiltrate into the church. A great shape appeared from the back of the church. With a blood-curdling howl, a werewolf materialized and attacked the Rector, tearing out his throat. People were aghast and scattered. The creature lept out of the church and into the woods. People of Havenshire say it still lurks in those woods.

Then I spent some time talking individually with players about what their characters did in the intervening years after the Night of Fog and Fear. After each character was seequippedd equiped, I leveled them and moved into the main part of the campaign.

Each character was free to wander around Havenshire until they congregated in the Inn. It was announced that tonight a famous bard, one Gildmara of Duath was to be in town. Some of the party met Sheriff Westerbrook, a gruff man with little patience for loiterers and never-do-wells (Jack and Rilen were his main targets).

As night fell, the bartender, Bill, announced that the bard was ready to give her performance. After a brief introduction, Gildmara began to tell the tale of the heroes of Aaerdowns, who, with the help of Ghuilrym, the Gold Dragon of the Woods, repelled the orcish forces under the control of the Illrigger Lord some 11 years earlier. "The point of this tale," she intoned, "was that not eveything is as it seems, and, more importantly, help in times of trouble can be found in the most remarkable places." She sang some wonderful songs and told many tales, but the evening was marred by an unhealthy presence. Some of the PC's may have noticed a mysterious woman who sat attentively in the back of the room, others had no recollection of such a woman.

When the tales were told and the song sung, Gildmara bid everyone good night and left. No one was sure where she went. The mysterious woman on the other hand, walked out and simply vanished. As the night deepened, Valdo Bross and his family were walking home, when the woman snatched up the youngest child, Kasha, and disappeared into the darkness . . .

Characters attending today's game:

• Rilen Gadeli (Jas)
• Duskfang (Patricia)
• Mary Reed (Floria)
• Arrand (Lazarus)
• Cyril Tormund (Veth)
• Jack Reed (Arwin)
• Valdo Bross (Mayvik)
• Gnoth (The Beggar)
• Gregory Oak (Carn)

The Dungeon Master: A Job Description

Being a Dungeon Master (DM) is a pretty big job. It can be frustrating and time-consuming. It can also be very rewarding if the DM is up for the challenge. A DM must create an entire world (or memorize one that has already been published) and a story that the players can inhabit. The DM must have a fair understanding of some basic mathematical ideas as well as a complete grasp of the entire rule-book for the game he/she is running. Finally, the DM must be a councilor and a guide, willing to help players fulfill their dreams through the characters they play.

Basically, a DM must be able to create intimate encounters within a larger story. This means creating a believable and consistent setting in which magic, monsters, villains and heroes can be safely placed. This basically means creating a "world" along with believable inhabitants, physics (and metaphysics), cultures, economics, geography and everything else that a world needs. During the actual game sessions, the DM must display encyclopedic knowledge of the game setting, keeping details straight, not only for himself but for the players themselves--without which the players will flounder.

Then, the DM must be able to accurately judge the relative chances his/her players have to succeed in certain circumstances. That is, the DM must know the rules of the game well enough to balance encounters and obstacles as to avoid killing off the party, or making it seem like there's no chance at all for failure (both of which will destroy a well-devised campaign). This is especially important when we use NWN to play through a campaign, because NWN is not as forgiving as a live, table-top game. A solid understanding of basic probabilities theory is a must: (bell-curves, averages, equipartition, "Gambler's Ruin", etc. [even if he/she doesn't know exactly what these terms refer to, a good DM should be able to calculate, at least roughly, the chance of a given fighter of a given level with a given weapon to defeat a given opponent]). The goal here is to make the campaign easy enough to for your PC group to get through, but difficult enough to make it challenging.

Finally, a DM must have a number of social and managerial skills sufficient to the task of entertaining and managing small groups of very creative people. Role-players invest a lot into the characters they play and it's the DM's job to encourage that in every one of the players. The DM must have the patience to teach players about his/her world and help them to create characters that would fit into the DM's over-all story, finding ways, where appropriate, to fit the player's vision of the campaign. It also may mean helping to settle differences between players.

A DM is a referee, telling players what areas are out of bounds (say, which races are playable) and arbitrate rules in a fair and consistent manner. He or she is the leader of the campaign, inspiring, co-ordinating and facilitating the activities of the players. In the end, the DM is largely responsible for the success or failure of a campaign because so much rests on his/her shoulders.

Faalor V (WIP) Jan. 4th, 2006

This week, I finished a complete physical sketch of all my major locations, including Havenshire, as well as all interiors. Most NPCs are sketched out, but I still have some work to do on that score. More importantly, I decided on an XP reward scheme that will be a gradual climb. Players will advance much more quickly at lower levels, but will begin to slow down as they progress. I decided on a standard reward per week of about 4000 xp + another 1-2000 xp depending on level and stats. (The exact formula will remain a secret but it should be known that multi-classing will have a mild penalty.) Combined with this, I decided on a straight 1000 xp reward for reaching certain plot points, with additional rewarded of 2-500 xp when a PC makes certain saves (i.e. makes a save to avoid slipping, notice a secret object or bluffs past a guard). This will give me the proper framework for sketching out enemies and their appearance as well as gauging the party's strength for the long haul.

I'm an artist!

Check out this video, Arwin sent me. We D&D freaks are something else! The best lines:

Society has always scored the truly unique. Umm but that’s the burden we choose to bear when we can bend the very walls of reality with the power of your imagination. That’s a gift to be respected . . . and feared.

and this sounds like something I might say:

I’m an artist. My campaigns are multi-layered tapestries upon which I texture themes and subject matter which, quite frankly, would simply be too strong from your hobbyist gamer.