The Roleplay Workshop

March '05
News Letter

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News
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The News Letter
Monthly updates about Abantey

For Parents
Especially for parents

For Kids
Especially for kids

After School
After School Programs

Summer
Summer Programs

Special
Special Programs

Schedules
When things are happening

Guest List
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About Us
Meet the Staff

Spring Forward!

(if you would like to be removed from this email list -- please let us know ASAP)

Hello,
My name is Steve Kani. I’ve been working behind the scenes here at the Roleplay Workshop, off and on, for the last twelve years. Last year, I was brought on board to help streamline the Abantey system, rewrite the manual, and update the illustrations. I was then asked to help run some games and, once again, bring my many years of roleplaying experience to the program. I gladly accepted and now I am writing the monthly newsletter.

This year is off and running! We have an amazing staff and a whole bunch of really great adventures. We are currently solidifying our staff for the Summer Program. and testing for Game Master, Game Master in Training and Assistant positions is in progress. We remain committed, as always, to providing a safe, exciting and fun, environment for your children to learn and grow.

We are also in the process of developing the Summer Program schedule. We have a tentative Summer schedule below. Please keep in mind that this schedule is TENTATIVE! Please DO NOT attempt to sign up for weeks as it is likely that the schedule will change. When we have finalized a Summer schedule we will post it on the website (www.roleplay-workshop.com) and enrollment forms will be sent to your homes. Please read the instructions carefully. Additionally, Becky has been getting a few requests for starting the Summer Program earlier this year. This is under careful consideration and is a topic of much debate among the staff. Please feel free to weigh in with your comments.

Speaking of Summer Programs, we will be at the 23rd Children’s Summer Programs Information Faire on Sunday, March 13, 2005, at the Scottish Rite Center, 1547 Lakeside Drive, Oakland. Doors open at 1:00 and Becky will be there as well as
myself. Please drop by. I look forward to meeting you all.

The Director's Table!

Finally, coming to the Roleplay Workshop this summer, due to popular demand: The Director’s Table. The Director’s table will be limited to just six spaces and will only be available during the weeks that Becky is on site at the Roleplay Workshop. The Director’s Table is specifically geared for teens (13 and older) who are ready for advanced play. The games will be difficult and players will be expected to have an excellent handle on system mechanics. They are assumed to be ready to play with very little or no assistance. There will always be tables available for teens who are not ready for this level advanced play. Keep in mind that Abantey has an extremely complicated game system and it usually takes two or more years, to learn. Again, the requirements for the Director’s Table are:
-13 years and up
-Excellent working knowledge of system mechanics. Can play without help.
-By application only. Application to be reviewed by all of the upper staff.

Again, don’t worry if your teen is not ready. There will always be a teen table available!

- Steve Kani
Auxiliary Brain - The Roleplay Workshop
skape@mail.com
Becky Thomas
Director
The Roleplay Workshop
becky@roleplay-workshop.com

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Announcement!
Vacation Opportunity!
Spring Break Scheduling SNAFU!

Steve and I have a vacation week scheduled for 4/11 - 4/18, at a great resort in Cabo San Lucas Mexico; BUT, with the Oakland Spring Break scheduled for the same week, we won’t be able to go.

So!
Vacation Rental Available - Cabo San Lucas!
(call us for further information! Becky & Steve, 510.654.4402)
Executive Suite at RCI 5 Star Gold Crown Sunset Beach Resort
Location: Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach, Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico
Accommodations: Executive Suite. One bedroom. One queen sofa bed. Two bathrooms - one with spa tub and shower. Full kitchen. Bedroom may have one king bed or two queen. Ideal for two couples or a family.

Experience the tranquility and elegance of Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach. Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach is situated on a vast private beach overlooking the Pacific Ocean, on the western side of the tip of Baja California Sur, in Cabo San Lucas, Los Cabos, Mexico. Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach is the newest luxury resort in Cabo San Lucas and features separate villas in the “Old Hacienda” style and excellent amenities. Each suite has a private balcony that looks out over the ocean and a secluded beach with no vendors. Swim-up bar in pool; fitness center and spa; restaurant. Free shuttle to downtown Cabo San Lucas, is available, as well as full use of the amenities at sister resort Pueblo Bonito Rose.

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Upcoming School Holiday Sessions
Please call or email to sign up - spaces are limited! Contact me soon!
9 am to 5 pm; $50 per day for 4 days, 5th day free!

MARCH
Friday, 3/18
Friday, 3/25
St. Paul's & Berkeley, spring break (4 spaces available)
Monday, 3/28*,
Tuesday, 3/29*
Wednesday, 3/30*
Thursday, 3/31*
Friday, 4/1*

APRIL
Oakland, spring break (5 spaces available)
Monday, 4/11*
Tuesday, 4/12*
Wednesday, 4/13*
Thursday, 4/14*
Friday, 4/15*
Piedmont & Archway, spring break (6 spaces available)
Monday, 4/18*
Tuesday, 4/19*
Wednesday, 4/20*
Thursday, 4/21*
Friday, 4/22*
*Due to scheduling issues with after school sessions and the school holiday sessions for these days, the school holiday sessions may only run from 9 am to 3 pm. Please call for further information. (510.654.3582)

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Tentative Summer Program Schedule
Remember this is a TENTATIVE schedule! DO NOT attempt to sign up for weeks. When the schedule is finalized it will be posted on the Roleplay Workshop webpage and you will be notified by mail. Please also note that there will be no Summer Program the week of 6/27.

JUNE
6/20 - 6/24

JULY
7/5 - 7/8 (short week, cost prorated)
7/11 - 7/15 Regular & Camping Trip
7/18 - 7/22
7/25 - 7/29 Regular & Camping Trip

AUGUST
8/1 - 8/5
8/8 - 8/12 Regular & Camping Trip
8/15 - 8/19
8/22 - 8/26 Regular & Camping Trip
8/29 - 9/2

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Session Summaries

Mondays
After School At Dr Comics
We have space for enrollment of up to 7 more students.

Becky Thomas
February was a slow month for our Monday groups. We lost another enrollment and needed to condense the 2 groups into 1 group. Greg’s table finished their mission (see below) and joined my table. Between school holidays and absences, we only got in one good day of gaming.

The newly enhanced group meet with their supervisor in the ARA. The angry Wa’la woman stressed the importance of finding their kidnapped team member, Toksuri, and reminded them that they needed to hurry so that they could continue on their mission to investigate the disturbances in the Twilight of Kiki. The party went to the Librarian’s Guild hoping to find out information about the kidnapper, who said he was Sergeant Sorge from the Guard’s Guild. The Librarian’s Guild had information about Sergeant Sorge, both basic and some that was more expensive. However, the party could not agree on which information was most important. Realizing that while they dithered, Toksuri could be in grave danger (it had been 2 hours since she was kidnapped), they decided to follow their magical tracking skills into the Twilight. Although they had to pay a toll to enter the zone, they have finally entered the wrecked portion of the city and are making their way over the ruined streets and tumbled buildings. Will they find Toksuri in time?

Greg Dachner
After getting into a bear fight last month and being badly injured, the party decided perhaps it’d be safer to leave the mining town of Geyser. With their primary mission complete (to investigate the area), they have returned to the city of Kiki to report to the Pasha Jurat, and seek new adventures.

Tuesdays
After School At Dr Comics
We have space for enrollment of up to 2 more students.

Greg Dachner
Greg’s Tuesday group has found the missing archeologist Dr. Hubert. Taken prisoner amongst a lost city of Marked Feeshans, the adventurers have to prove themselves to Hubert’s captors in order to set him free. They are pointed in the direction of a nearby jungle where a criminal and his bandits are hiding. If they find and retrieve this horrible bandit, Hubert will be set free. They find the bandit’s hideout, but everything is not as it seems. His name is Rijak, and he is on the run from the Lost City for speaking out against the crimes the cities leaders have committed against the people. The party wants to help Rijak, but they also need to free Hubert. They decide to raid the city late in the night, and free him. But can they make it in and out without being discovered?

Dominic DiGiovanni & Steve Kani
After laying low for 2 weeks or so, our intrepid adventurers decided it was time to skip town. They disguised their less obvious comrades as older passengers and their slightly less easily disguised friends as cargo, and boarded a train to Palgo. By the time they were half way to Palgo, the biggest city in the land of Plajet, they were all comfortably situated in the passenger cabins. In fact, they had front row seats to the boarding of a most mysterious and very rich passenger who was said to be a very famous marked Feeshan story teller. Arrangements were immediately made for her to tell a story in the dining car that very evening! The party caught some very suspicious looking characters giving each other sinister tattoos on the train, possibly foreshadowing some sneaky doings at the performance that evening. They decided to stay on their guard in case of any foul play. The story teller, named Lady Catherine, told an engaging tale of a young rouge adventurer named Con Sanely, his run ins with many angry Creators, and his numerous daring do's. Unfortunately, at the end of the performance, the suspicious characters, from earlier in the evening, made an attempt on Catherine's life before jumping train! At this point, the Lady invited them into her cabin to hire them as body guards and to tell them that she was not, in fact, the Lady Catherine at all, but Con Sanely from the story! Upon arriving in Palgo, the party secured rooms in a modest hotel and set up living quarters for themselves. Unfortunately, in a lapse of security, Catherine/Con Sanely was kidnaped from her room! How will they ever deal with this problem now...

Piedmont Middle School Special Education Class
Becky
Once again, Becky is running sessions for groups of special needs students at Piedmont Middle School.

Pepino, Stein, Jembit and their Marked Wa’la guide, Dungbeetle negotiated with their wayward companion, Ileana, at the base of the Tower of Hardship. Ileana is sure that the Marked Wa’la just want to kill her at the Tower. The party convinced Ileana that her best course of action, since the Marked Wa’la will not let her go, is to help them face the challenges of the Tower of Hardship. Additionally, they have sworn to do what they can to help her with the Marked Wa’la. The group’s first challenge was a giant trap door spider at the opening to the tower. They worked their way past the spider, only to discover the inner cave floor covered with poisonous snakes! Using layered shields of force, the party managed to get through without a scratch. After climbing up the tunnel for what seemed like hours, they came to a sunken circular room. Statues of Draajen lined a narrow walkway around the perimeter, the floor was tiled with a flame mosaic and a small flame burned in the center of the room. The party convinced Ileana, a trained thief, to check the room for traps. Unfortunately, she discovered that the tiles were triggers and that the Draajen statues were full of Draajen spit! If the trap was triggered, the Draajen spit would drain to the center of the room, where it would be explosively ignited by the flame! What will the adventurers do?

Wednesdays
After School At Dr Comics
We have no current after school enrollment for Wednesday. If you would like to start a Wednesday group (4 students minimum), please let us know. We can enroll up to 6 students on Wednesdays.

Archway Group (during school hours)
Becky
Our new Archway school group began in February. We spent the first two sessions creating and refining our characters. On the third meeting, the characters, who all knew each other and were looking for work, found a small help wanted ad at the Librarian’s Guild: “Please help, our children are missing. We don’t have much money. Come to Annies’ Cafe at noon.” Intrigued, the party went to Annies’ where they met a woman, Mrs. Smith, who was the mayor of the very small town of South Safe Harbor. The town’s youngest children began disappearing about 2 weeks ago. The townspeople have been unable to keep their children from vanishing! Will the adventures be able to save the children?

Thursdays
After School At Dr Comics
Enrollment for Thursday is now full!

Greg Dachner
The adventurers arrive at the mysterious marble tower. They believe the vile mage Ludvig is hiding here. Perhaps they are mistaken though? Inside they find two Baluuds who insist no person named Ludvig lives here, but if they insist that he does, they may wait for the master of the tower to return from a journey. They stay the night, and in the morning the master returns, a Plajet man named Panda. Is he just Ludvig in disguise? After questioning him, and using magic, they discover he probably isn’t. But, the people who sent them here were positive Ludvig was living in this tower. What is going on here?

Piedmont Middle School Special Education Class
Becky
Searching Kiki for the elusive Luc Bouchard, the party has stumbled upon the sinister Mr. Black, who was harassing a young street child. Rushing to protect the young boy, they lost consciousness and fell into darkness... only to wake in a damp and dark room to the sound of crashing surf. They managed to use magic to light a piece of wood debris on fire, and discovered that they were in a partially submerged building. The door was blocked and the tide was coming in! Quickly, they began working to force the door open, but they were attacked by some sort of horrible giant octopus! With two of the party bravely facing down the monster, the other two feverishly worked to open the door. With the water surging at their waists and the monster inflicting serious wounds to the defenders, they finally broke open the door and rushed to freedom, blocking the opening behind them. They quickly made their way to the nearest healer station for healing. But what about Mr. Black? He was looking for Luc Bouchard also. Is Luc in danger? Can the party get help and get to him before the sinister Mr. Black?

Friday
After School At Dr Comics
We have one (1) space available for our Friday session.

Becky Thomas
The party has finally made their way to the research building outside of Tabur - with one party member lost to a winged monster and 2 gravely injured. Unfortunately, the building is surrounded by some sort of magical shield and a bevy of horrific monsters. After a few false starts, the party managed to contact the researchers inside and coordinate their run to the building with the temporary dropping of the shield. Once inside the shield, the party discovered two researchers: Dr. Leneous Fog and his associate, Tenshi. While hospitable, they did not seem overjoyed to see the party and certainly were not ‘waiting to be rescued’. Exhausted from the ordeal of just reaching Dr. Fog, the party got some well deserved rest while Tenshi began healing their injured. How will they convince the abrasive Dr. Fog to leave his work and come with them into the raging hurricane?

Greg Dachner
After convincing Mr. Fisran that they should be able to search for their friend on his property, they began to search for their missing employer, Vincente. He’s hiding in the tree in Fisran’s front yard! But, what is he doing there? Before they can find out, he attacks them, and nearly kills one of them. After they subdue him, he seems to have no recollection of the attack. Moving on, they leave Fisran’s house, and continue to the meeting with Alexie. There they leave Vincente in Alexie’s care. Something suspicious is going on though. In the morning they receive a letter: “Vincente is safe, you are no longer needed.” Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to leave him with Alexie?

Michael Piper and Scott Lambert
The party is enjoying a nice dinner when two delusional Plajets barge into the restaurant. They are holding aloft an amethyst BSV stone and demanding that everyone join them in amethyst in order to save themselves from the disasters that have befallen Abantey. They warn the crowded restaurant that when they break the amethyst BSV stone everyone will be pulled into amethyst space, safe and sound. After a tense stand off, the party manages to talk the Plajets down. Convincing them, perhaps, that breaking the amethyst BSV stone would not be such a great idea - as the dangers facing Abantey may be COMING from Amethyst. The Plajets leave, taking the stone with them. The party makes chase but the Plajets disappear into the night.

Saturday (1st & 3rd)
Saturday At Dr Comics
We have space for enrollment of up to 2 more students.

Becky Thomas
Searching the New Found Islands for Nema’s brother and his ship full of pirates, the party were investigating a village who people are wandering around as if they were animals. They discover not only that the pirates have been here, but also that one of the mindless people is a member of the pirate crew! Suddenly, one of the party also begins to act mindless... One by one, the party began falling prey to the mysterious force. In the nick of time, they figured out that an Emerald shield would protect them from the force. After reviving and questioning a town elder, they determined that all the strangeness began with the reclusive town healer. With their time running out, the party raced up a forest trail to the cabin of the healer. There, they discovered a field of strange red fruit, and in the house a horribly transformed man! In a short, but horrific, battle, they defeated the man/monster, and all of the towns people were freed. The party then set about helping the townspeople get back on their feet, bury their dead and deal with their injured. Additionally, the party took charge of the pirate crew member who had been left on the island. What will they encounter next in their journey to find Nema’s brother?

Michael Piper and Steve Kani
The adventurers made their way up to Jarra and the home of Timothy, the Priesten. In the town of Jarra, one of the characters: Hirotsu was confronted by two bounty hunters in a rather strange case of mistaken identity. They went away after another bounty hunter showed up to collect Hirotsu and determined, with emerald magic, that Hirotsu was not the exactly the person they were looking for. It was decided that the solitary bounty hunter would accompany the party and get to the bottom of the mistaken identity. The party eventually found themselves outside of Tim’s modest estate. The retired Priesten and his wife, after a brief conversation, agreed to accompany the party back to Melphis’ estate. They were well on their way back to the estate when the party was ambushed by the two bounty hunters they encountered earlier in the adventure. The bounty hunters were fended off by the heroic efforts of the adventurers. Bruised and injured, the party, with the bounty hunters in tow, stop in at the nearest inn town to rest and recover before continuing on with their journey.

Saturday (2nd & 4th)
Saturday At Dr Comics
We have space for enrollment of 1 more student.

Assistant Tables
We have 1 to 2 tables of training for our assistant program on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays. Assistants (ages 13 and up) play in advanced games that stress the more difficult aspects of the Abantey game. They are polishing their skills in preparation for assisting with the summer program. The assistant games are ‘top secret’, and as this newsletter may ‘fall into the hands’ of regular players, the summaries for the assistant games are not included here.

Scott Seyfarth and Eliot Pepper
Our party began this month hiding beneath the flora around a jungle waterfall, a site that they had been told would possibly be used that same night for a clandestine meeting and information drop by their unknown opponents. Indeed, as they waited, they watched two mysterious figures exit a cave behind the waterfall and meet with another man (who looked strangely similar) that had come down the path. The hidden party watched them talk for a while and leave something beneath a rock. They were almost spotted, but through clever use of magic, ventriloquism, misdirection, and a little bit of luck, they managed to avoid detection. The two figures returned to the cave passage, and the third man began to walk back along the path to the Tsunami resort. Using magic, they put him into a deep slumber and brought him back to the Tsunami for questioning.

Back at the resort, Roger and Moili recognized him as being the waiter Drinius, and after some quick bargaining, he confessed to providing maps and plans that would compromise the resort's security to his unknown employer and to a strike team in Sumilon (who the party had already apprehended and turned over to the guards). The party scouted a second potential drop site elsewhere in the jungle before deciding that it was necessary to enter the cave passages to determine the identity of Drinius' employer and, hopefully, find out who was behind the security problems at the Tsunami. After making preparations, they entered the cave and soon encountered a Silith (a small, flying, magic-using lizard creature) who tried to trick them into believing he was a Draajen. The group didn't fall for the trick, although the Silith agreed to accompany the party in its search. Trekking further into the cave, they found an exit leading to a spa powered by natural hot springs. There were people lounging in the springs, but guards came and took them captive. Fortunately, the Silith had evaded capture, and was able to set up a magical mind link between itself and the party. The group gave it directions and it followed the directions competently, thus enabling the group to escape and defeat its captors, revealed to be the owners of the Corinthian, a rival hotel chain. For the next session, they will need to decide how to resolve this situation.
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