# The Classic Story Hours



## hbarsquared (Aug 15, 2006)

I am a (relatively) new member of the story hour forums, and during my time here I have heard all sorts of author names bandied about.  I'm curious: who are the "big" names on the story hour forums, the ones that practically started it all?  I would like to read through some of these "classic" story hours.

I know Piratecat is one of these infamous authors, and I am currently reading through his revised story hour from the beginning.  Who am I missing?

Thanks!


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## pogre (Aug 15, 2006)

Wulf Ratbane
Sepulchrave II
Contact


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## IcyCool (Aug 15, 2006)

Sepulchrave II (Tales of Wyre)
Shemeska (Shemeska's Story Hour #1 & #2)
Blackdirge (Metamorphosis: From Dretch to Demonlord)


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## Plane Sailing (Aug 15, 2006)

pogre said:
			
		

> Wulf Ratbane
> Sepulchrave II
> Contact




Quoted for truth.


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## Gold Roger (Aug 15, 2006)

Sagiro's is big.

El-Remmens "Out of the Frying Pan" may not have the fame, but it has the age and quality of a real classic.


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## Plane Sailing (Aug 15, 2006)

Although Capellan isn't one of the Classic authors, I'd heartily recommend reading his (extremely funny) Spaceship Zero and X-Path storyhours.



			
				Starship Zero said:
			
		

> Excerpted from Science Fiction Collector, August 2003 edition:
> 
> In 1980, the BBC, encouraged by the success of such shows as Blake's 7, Doctor Who, and that one the Americans did (you know what), decided to add another science fiction series to their programming line-up. However, they lacked the time or resources to develop an entirely new show, and thus they turned to their radio show archives for inspiration.
> 
> ...




http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=61544



			
				X-Path said:
			
		

> X-Path is difficult to describe - it is the original Adventure path modules, but with a twist... modern characters armed with pistols, shotguns and grenades against the goblins, kobolds and other creatures. Plus a large dose of black humour.
> 
> We have X-Path - stick your citadel where the sun don't shine
> X-Path2 - the Forge of F.U.
> ...




http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=85007

Cheers


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## Capellan (Aug 15, 2006)

Spyscribe's _Welcome to the Halmae_ may not be old enough to qualify as a classic, but IMO it's among the best on the boards.


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## Lazybones (Aug 16, 2006)

pogre said:
			
		

> Contact



More specifically, the one that started it all, the "Temple of Elemental Evil 2". I think it was the first SH posted here, and you'll still be hard-pressed to find one with more humor and a higher body count. 

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25093


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## el-remmen (Aug 16, 2006)

The Original Story Hours were:



Piratecat's Defenders of the Daybreak
(cntxt)'s Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil
Wulf Ratbane's Story Hour
Ranger Wickett's Savanah Knights
el-remmen's "Out of the Frying Pan"
Old One's Faded Glory
Sagiro's Abernathy' Company Story Hour


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## Rackhir (Aug 16, 2006)

(contacts) Liberation of Tenh - The Sequel to RttToE
http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=31153&page=1&pp=40

Wulf's
http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=102

Compiled Tales of Wyre (Sepulchrave II)
http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=5822

Setting your display options (Bottom left hand corner of the Thread browing window) to 
1) Number of Views, descending
2) Last 100 days

Will generally dig up these classics as they are bumped on a semi regular basis.

Welcome to the boards and welcome to the torment of waiting for Sep and Pkitty to update their story hours.


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## Angel of Adventure (Aug 16, 2006)

The Jester's SHs are pretty good.  He has several, but the most recent incarnations of his current games are Of Sound Mind:  The Halfling Way, and Great Conflicts.

Enjoy!


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## The Forsaken One (Aug 16, 2006)

Destran's Story hour rocked too if you like a bit of grimm and gritty, its very well written and he had his setting published.

I enjoyed that story hour the best, only second to Sepulchraves awsome piece of brilliance <3.


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## Plane Sailing (Aug 16, 2006)

Lazybones said:
			
		

> More specifically, the one that started it all, the "Temple of Elemental Evil 2". I think it was the first SH posted here, and you'll still be hard-pressed to find one with more humor and a higher body count.
> 
> http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25093




I've not got the humour, but I think I beat him on the body count  I've probably got one of the earliest storyhour threads on this server (look at the thread id!)

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=122

Cheers


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## hbarsquared (Aug 16, 2006)

Excellent!

I've actually tried the _"number of views"_ listing _"from the beginning"_ before, but I wanted to make sure that I haven't missed any!  

I have a Google Notebook chock full of my favorites as well as ones still left to read.  It has now been updated with all of these classics.

Thanks!


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## Qwernt (Aug 16, 2006)

Besides LazyBones' great work, the only other storyhour that I have read more than once not already listed is Rel's Faded Glory: http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25689


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## Graf (Aug 21, 2006)

As a (selective) story hour reader for a while I’d say the following are considered classics among people I game with and the online community.

My preferences hew strongly toward story hours with a political/moral component and good writing. I also like “new” stuff; either people’s own campaign worlds or their own adventures (I don’t read adventure path story hour threads or very many set in a specific setting)

(contact)’s RttTEE
People mention the body count and humor; there are lots of both. The Story Hour also shows how interesting/difficult it is to run a story when characters are constantly dying. It works here, which makes it uncommon.
(IRRC, Contact was not actually the DM of this game, but he posted it so you need to search using his username)

(contact)’s Liberation of Tenh
It was tricky for me to get into this story hour, partially because I’m not familiar with the politics of Greyhawk and partially because it’s dense enough to be intimidating.
The third time around I finally got started and couldn’t stop. It’s one of the few story hours where the writer uses a published campaign setting to good effect. It’s also got a strong component of player driven interaction with politics and a good interparty dynamic.
(contact) is the DM of this game.

Piratecat’s story hour
Don’t read this yet. Piratecat’s “restarting” his story hour with new episodes at the beginning. Widely considered to be the “classic” story hour it was one of the first that attracted widespread attention. It’s worth reading both for the creativity of the adventures as well as for aspiring DM’s to see how you can share time amongst players. Most everyone gets a chance to “be in the limelight”.

Sepulcrave’s Storyhour (starting with Lady Despina’s virtue)
The original storyhour to really mix religion, and politics in a no-holds-barred fashion. Of all the storyhours this (along with Tenh) are focused on a few core personalities. Required reading if you’re thinking about running an Epic game.
Tricky to follow if you read threads (partially because of the gargantuan number of we-love-Sep posts) but several people have compiled it.

Wulf’s Storyhour
The storyhour that spawned a gaming company. Definitely considered a classic by people on the boards and alluded to frequently enough by oldtimers that it’s probably mandatory reading. It follows the 3.0 adventures; so there are spoilers. A must if you like dwarves.
(Wulf wasn’t the DM for this, but he was a player and his copious and intensely personal view of the adventure helped create a following).

Destan’s Sins of our Fathers
When he was publishing regularly the thread received an intense degree of attention. In addition to being well written the setting and tone of the story was quite dark. I’m not sure if it’s been continued or not but it’s worth reading for just the first arc. Classic low-power epic-feel SH.

For Modern I’d say that Southern Chicks with Guns is a classic.

Shemmy’s storyhours are almost certainly classics if you like Planescape. I’ve found his text too dense to get into but, like Tenh, it may just be that I need to try a few more times.


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## Nonlethal Force (Aug 21, 2006)

Graf said:
			
		

> My preferences hew strongly toward story hours with a political/moral component and good writing. I also like “new” stuff; either people’s own campaign worlds or their own adventures (I don’t read adventure path story hour threads or very many set in a specific setting)




Okay, I realize that as a story hour author I am new and certainly don't hold a candle to any of the greats who have been going for a long time.  But when I read through this basic description I couldn't also fail to realize that much of story hour writing is in fact public relations.  So I will throw out a shameful self-plug.  My story hour Bitterness Overcome - you can find a link in my sig - is in a homebrew world, uses strong flavor from a homebrew race, so far contains a decent dose of a moral component and I am just beginning to also add a political component as well, although I am only slowly working it in over time.  If you are interested, Graf - or anyone else, I always welcome readers!   

Please excuse my shameful plug.  I mean not to draw attention to my own story hour, but I also realize that advertising is a key to readership as well.  Thanks for allowing my small diversion.

As to the big guns here on this board, I am most familiar with:

Piratecat
Shemeska
Sepulchrave II
[And more recently...] el-remmen


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## Joshua Randall (Aug 21, 2006)

I thought I would chime in -- mostly echoing what others have said, but with a few of my own selections. To avoid appearances of favoritism, I'll list this in alphabetical order by author.

Also, I've got links. 

(contact)'s Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil -- note that this is not the original, original thread; rather, it's a reposting of it

(contact)'s Liberation of Tenh -- a follow-on to the above story, with some of the same characters

(contact)'s The Risen Goddess -- less well known that the other two, this is the most philosophical of the three stories. It begins: "Four adventurers sit around a familiar table in a familiar inn, not too far from a place they must have surely known their whole lives-- if they could only remember any of it."

barsoomcore's Barsoom story -- very well written. You won't know what the hell is going on half the time, but you won't be able to stop reading despite that.

Capellan's Company of the Random Encounter -- don't let the name of the story fool you; this is worth reading

Capellan's In Hextor's Name -- to paraphrase the author, the story hour is "written from the limited and very, very biased point of view of Kull Redfist, LN Half-Orc Cleric of Hextor, Life's ambition: to become a mighty warrior and crush Hextor's enemies."

Destan's Sins of our Fathers and Sins of our Fathers II -- grim, gritty, and utterly compelling, with a definite old school feel to it.

James McMurray's Return to the Tomb of Horrors -- you know about the original ToH, you know about the Return, but you do not know the pleasure of this story hour's approach to it. This is the story hour that made me appreciate high-level play.

Rel's Faded Glory -- proving that pitting the PCs against challenges 4+ ELs above their level makes for a great game.

Rune's Oriental Adventures in the Dream -- the most mind-blowingly original campaign setting I have ever seen... "The world: Ah yes, the world... It is flat, but not really. There is no sun; there are no stars, nor moons. Day and night do exist, however. There is seasonal change (how could we have haiku without it?), but that change is sporadic."

Sagiro's Story Hour -- epic in scope, with a large cast of characters. It took me a while to get into this story, but once I did, I was hooked. You will be too.

Sepulchrave's Tales of Wyre, or, Lady Despina's Virtue -- you cannot beat this opening: "One of the PCs, a 14th level Paladin, [...] is currently attempting to CONVERT a succubus, and demonstrate to her the error of her ways."

spyscribe's Welcome to the Halmae -- the aptly named author of this tale keeps it constantly updated, unlike some of those OTHER authors. The campaign starts out small, but grows rapidly into a grand series of quests. Read this story because... justice demands it.

Wulf's Story Hour -- follow the adventures of Wulf Ratbane, dwarven bad-ass. Or would that be bad-axe? In any case, one of the strongest archetypal characters of any story hour on the boards.


For a second opinion, check out this thread or this one.


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## Shemeska (Aug 22, 2006)

Graf said:
			
		

> Shemmy’s storyhours are almost certainly classics if you like Planescape. I’ve found his text too dense to get into but, like Tenh, it may just be that I need to try a few more times.




You've snagged me by the nose now. 

Just to help me improve on my own writing, would you mind explaining to me what you meant by the text being 'too dense'? Too wordy? Too much exposition? Too description heavy? Help me improve by giving me some criticism 

Either here or by email/PM, I'm actually curious. [Admittedly it's been about two years since I started writing the first storyhour, and I think that my writing style has evolved and hopefully improved since then.]

-----------------------------------------------------

And as an aside, I'm not entirely sure how classically 'Planescape' my storyhours actually are. I run the planes entirely post Faction War, and I've stressed alignments and belief issues in the broad sense more so than using the individual factions as major movers and shakers in the plotlines. Yes I use Sigil as a major location in the game, but it might be up for debate what seperates my own two storyhours as being 'Planescape' associated versus a few other Storyhours that use the planes heavily but don't often get tagged in the same way. 

I've often wondered if I lose readers (or gain readers) because the storyhours get potentially pigeonholed by having 'Planescape' in the title.


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## Shmoo (Aug 22, 2006)

Sagiro's
Piratecat's
Sagiro's
Sagiro's

EDIT: Forgot to add Sagiro's.


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## Shieldhaven (Aug 22, 2006)

Shemeska-

I freely admit that I have tried a few times to get into your Storyhour I (haven't yet tried on II), but have been daunted and distracted each time.  Someday soon I _will_ get past the second post, because I know that there's good stuff there.  The Planescape tag is a major draw for me; I never picked up any of the setting beyond some of the Monstrous Compendium Annuals, so I want more of a sense of what it was like.  For this reason, I'm reading and enjoying ThirdWizard's Causality and Condemnation, where I have the advantage of getting in on the ground floor, as it were.

Haven


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## Shemeska (Aug 22, 2006)

Shieldhaven said:
			
		

> Shemeska-
> 
> I freely admit that I have tried a few times to get into your Storyhour I (haven't yet tried on II), but have been daunted and distracted each time.  Someday soon I _will_ get past the second post, because I know that there's good stuff there.  The Planescape tag is a major draw for me; I never picked up any of the setting beyond some of the Monstrous Compendium Annuals, so I want more of a sense of what it was like.  For this reason, I'm reading and enjoying ThirdWizard's Causality and Condemnation, where I have the advantage of getting in on the ground floor, as it were.
> 
> Haven




*nodnod* I suppose that might be a barrier to getting into my 1st storyhour, that since it's been going on for a while, and the posts are relatively long, that there's a significant amount of material to read before being caught up with anyone who might have been following it since the start.

But I'm glad that I've at least tempted you with it.


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## Deuce Traveler (Aug 23, 2006)

I've only had time to read through two that I enjoyed very much.

The first is by my friend Brakkart, who worked together with me designing a MUD back in the day.  I followed one of his links here, and we still chat on his storyhour thread.  I enjoyed reading his Forgotten Realms campaign, although it's definitely higher-powered than what I prefer in my own:
Brakkart's D&D - Rise Of The Snakemen

This one I ran into by word of mouth, and it was definitely worth my time reading.  This guy's players were witty and imaginative, and his horror campaign well done:
jonrog1's DarkMatter D20: Drunk Southern Girls with Guns


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