Ceoptra

Swift.'s page

239 posts. Alias of Kayos..



The Exchange

Hello

Can you please cancel my subscriptions after

Tyrant's Grasp 6 and Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Druma, Profit and Prophecy

I can't commit to Pathfinder version 2 but want to finish off my first edition collection.

Thanks

The Exchange

Hello

I just noticed my payment method was declined.

I can see no reason for this and there are certainly funds available. Can you please advise?

The Exchange

Hi

I believe this was supposed to be sent as one shipment but just the map folio has been shipped with the adventure path still outstanding. Is this going to lead to different shipping costs as the order said it should go as one shipment of 2 items.

The Exchange

Hello

I am trying to place an order for the two items saved in my cart.

I want to use the holiday code and my $15 store credit. When i go to make the payment however i get an oddly high shipping cost for the second book.
When trying to chek out

Shipping & Handling
1 item. Estimated package weight: 1 lb.
Will be listed on customs forms as books
5.39
Expected to ship in 1 to 5 business days to Southsea, Hants, Great Britain
Package 2 of 2
Shipping Method USPS First-Class Mail

Pathfinder Module: Daughters of Fury (PFRPG)
Shipping & Handling
1 item. Estimated package weight: 1 lbs. (Adjusted dimensional weight: 2 lbs.)
Will be listed on customs forms as books
24.03

As these are both the new format of modules shipping for one being just over $5 and the other being just over $24 seems like a mistake especially as it is more than the cost of the book.

The Exchange

Hi

Two of my subscription products have been marked as shipped but the third hasn't. The two that have were both down as sent separately.

I assume that this is an error

The Exchange

Hi

Now issue 6 has shipped I would like to cancel my Starfinder Adventure Path Subscription.

Many thanks

The Exchange

Hi can you please cancel my modules subscription.

The Exchange

Hi

One book in this order was dispatched on Tuesday but the rest is still pending. Is this just waiting in the queue or has something happened?

Thanks

The Exchange

Hi

Could you please cancel my Modules subscription.

Thanks

The Exchange

Hi

I have not yet received this order I have however received my order for the deluxe harrow cards which were shipped out the same day.

Regards

The Exchange

Hi

On my subscription page it seems to be telling me nothing is due to ship in March but it's rolled over to April. Is this just a display error?

The Exchange

Hi there,

I just wanted to confirm that the reason this is still pending is due to who busy you guys are thanks to the sale.

Thanks

The Exchange

Hi

I'm guessing it's just near the end of the shipping queue but is there any issues with this order? I know my payment method will soon expire and wanted to check this wasn't causing an issue.

The Exchange

Hello there,

I just wanted to check on this order as i have yet to recieve the December subs order. It was dispatched on the 11 December but so far we haven't had the package.

Regards

The Exchange

Hello

Could you please cancel my subscription to the Pathfinder Modules. I want to keep the others but need to cut back a little.

Many thanks

The Exchange

Hi there

Just been looking through Broken Moon from this order and it appears that some pages are missing.

It goes to page 64 then skips to page 81

Could i get one with the missing pages :)

The Exchange

As far as i can see this means we're currently not scheduled to get

Chronicles Sub - Council of Thieves Map Folio
Chronicles Sub - NPC Guide
Adventure Path - Kingmaker 1

As I said is there any way for us to get these? Really don't want to miss anything.

Many thanks

The Exchange

Hi,

I was wondering if there was anything holding up this order or if we've just been unlucky and are at the end of the shipping queue. I know you guys work through them as quickly as you can but just wanted to check.

The Exchange

Due to real life I've had a few problems updating my PBP and as such it stalled a little and I've lost a few players. Luckily I have 3 remaining players who've been wonderful and stuck by me and now I'm back and doing better I'm looking to bolster numbers.

My game is a PFRPG Age of Worms campaign set in Faerun, starting from a little town known as Daggerford. I am recruiting 3 more players but to make things more interesting for all involved I'm hoping for new recruits to create characters linked to those that are currently ingame. The three active characters are;

  • Kessel Cobey - Bard
  • Darie Billown - Sorceress
  • Tobin - Rogue

    All have friends and families that could want to check up on them/join in their adventures, specifics on that can be discussed in the discussion thread once people are recruited however.

    The gamne thread is here if you'd like to have a look to see if this is for you.

    New characters will be starting in Daggerford. Here's a little info on the town:

    Situated on the flood plains of the Delimbiyr and built against the side of a low hill, Daggerford is a small, walled community dominated by the small castle of the local duke. The city is sparsely inhabited but strategically located where the High Road crosses the Delimbiyr River on the south side of the ford.

    This self-styled city is a town of about 500 folk. The town is the largest stop on the High Road between Waterdeep and Baldur's Gate. It's home to human craftsmen, a few halflings, and a handful of folk of other races. There are about 20 farming hamlets within a day's walk of Daggerford (15-20 miles), each of which is home to around five families. Each hamlet has a fortified building where the residents retreat in case of raids. There are also isolated farms and a few estates of minor nobility. In all, about 1,200 people depend on the Daggerford market for goods they can't make themselves.

    All characters are currently residents of Daggerford and the surrounding area. Over 85% of the populace is human, A few of the dependent hamlets however consist entirely of halflings. Elves, dwarves, half elves and half orcs are all short in supply but the ones that are around are rather prominent in the community.

    For more information on Daggerford please feel free to ask or download the shiny pdf 'The North' (which includes a poster map of the town) which is still available for free download from Wizards.com here

    Character creation rules will be up on the discussion thread once I've recruited 3 new players :)

  • The Exchange

    Hi

    Sorry to bother you but i'm a little confused. This order has the AP volume in it but not my new Chronicles or Module subscriptions. These don't appear in my order history at all but they are listed as pending in my subscriptions. Shouldn't these be sent at the same time or am i being daft :)

    Many thanks
    Kayos

    The Exchange

    After losing a couple of members of one of my AoW groups I'm looking for a new member to join them. They currently have a fighter, a rogue and a wizard and thus really need a healer to help them on their adventuring day.

    My AoW is set in Faerun and the PCs are currently 3rd level. Feel free to check out these:

    Game Thread
    Discussion Thread

    The Exchange

    As I've lost some players I'm here to bolster numbers for my '[G1]Age of Worms consumes the Realms' play by post. Posting has slowed a little due to various reasons but will hopefully be picking up again.

    So far the group is only a short way into the Whispering Cairn so you'll be joining in near(ish) the beginning and I'm happy to work with you for ways to work your character in. Characters we currently have are:

    A halfling rogue, a human sorceress, a human paladin of freedom & a human bard. Their exploits so far can be read here.

    Obviously they're hoping for a healer so a cleric would be ideal. Or, if you'd prefer I'm happy to give the 'spontaneous healer' feat for free to a druid so they can spont heals as a cleric does.

    Discussion thread can be nosied at here the first post of which has my character creation outlines.

    Any takers?


    Once upon a time, as all good stories start, there was an exceptionally average village with a few extraordinary citizens. Not that they saw themselves as special, they went about their day to day lives just as everyone around them but that was soon to change...

    It’s a cold winter day in Clearbrook, the midwinter solstice in fact, snow settles on the ground and the day is short. The citizens have spent a productive morning going about their business as usual and nothing has happened to make the 17th of Abadius seem at all special, yet.

    Todd:

    Spoiler:
    It has been a painfully dull day and you find yourself abundantly glad that today is a short working day, nobody has come to visit and you’re more than eager to close up for the day. The sun starts to set and you quickly, but carefully, put away all the tools of your trade that you had carefully set out, just in case of custom when…

    Rebvyn:

    Spoiler:
    This afternoon you had a shift at the general store and working alongside you was Jasper Symon, one of the more handsome sons of Mr. Symon, and also one of his unmarried sons. You’ve noticed a trend in your shifts and his overlapping and are quite certain that your employer is trying to meddle in your social life. Still, Jasper is a lively and quite intelligent young man only a handful of years older than you and is good company, he even seems a little embarrassed over his father’s interfering. After a quiet little shift the sky outside darkens and you both close up shop. Locking the door behind you you turn to start your walk home when…

    Paulus

    Spoiler:
    The day, whilst short, seemed to drag unbearably for you. With next to nothing to do you found yourself fiddling with locks and other little mechanisms just to make sure they were working well and ready to sell. That and to stave off the boredom. Things are so quiet that your father lets you out early to go find something better to do. Of course the second you’re out of the door you’re on your way to see the lovely Marla. You hurry along the street as the sun starts to set and are within eyeshot of her house when…

    Sam:

    Spoiler:
    Today you’re in town and have been out and about a bit, selling meat to Maia and generally just passing the day that’s too short and too cold to hunt very well. As usual you’ve found yourself in the Green Lady, and to your delight in addition to Rose the other Clover sister tending the bar is Misty. Too shy to talk much to her you order a drink and find yourself sitting away at the table furthest away from the bar and watching her from afar as she serves other customers with a warm smile and sweet little laugh.

    Once you’ve finished your drink you get up to leave, you open your mouth to say goodbye to the sisters but typically your voice catches in your throat and instead you scurry out of the door and into the darkening village streets when…

    …quietly at first, but soon much louder the sound of music and voices lifted in merriment fills the village streets. It doesn’t take others long to notice the noise either as soon doors and windows are thrown open and curious villagers peer out. It doesn’t take long for the source of the sounds of partying to become apparent. Entering from both the southern and eastern routes into the village comes a procession of people, all with tan skin and dark hair. Nothing like this has ever been seen in Clearbrook before and the faces of the locals soon turn to ones of joy as they watch the brightly clothed travellers make their way towards the centre of the village, singing, laughing and dancing the entire way.

    Unable to resist you, along with other villagers, follow along behind the revelry soon finding yourself brushing shoulders with these strange, excitable strangers. Finding an open spot of grass near the dancehall the group seem to set up, firmly rooting themselves in the middle of the village for their party.

    Without warning a young woman dressed in rich blues and greens hops up onto a low wall and greets the crowd with an astonishingly bright grin and open arms. “Good people of Clearbrook. Thank your lucky stars, the day is upon us! A day which comes but twice a year, the Ritual of Stardust! A celebration much too special to not share with others, and this year we have brought the party to you. So please join us… Eat, drink and be merry! Celebrate the solstice with us!”

    You have all heard of the Ritual of Stardust, but it has never been celebrated in Clearbrook before, it’s a holiday rumoured to be reserved for travellers, large groups of followers of Desna, and is supposed to be a spectacular event to behold.

    The Exchange

    Female Human(ish) DM 1 / Housewife 1 / Zany RPer 3

    The village of Clearbrook:

    A map (please ignore some of the house labels, I will make you a better labelled map later)

    1) Possible PC Home
    2) Possible PC Home
    3) Possible PC Home
    4) The Greenhouse. Vauun Woods, aged 30, and his two sons (aged 15 and 12) tend the slightly more exotic crops growing within this greenhouse. Their prices are a little steep for the average villager but well worth it.
    5) The Sage’s Residence. Lady Tabetha is an elderly woman who lives alone. Nobody in the village remembers a time when she wasn’t there although a few residents remember the days when she was a young beauty, courted by men for miles around. Rather than settling down Tabetha instead sought out knowledge and always shared it with those around her soon earning a reputation for knowing almost everything.
    6) Crafter’s Quarter. This clustering of buildings house the businesses of local craftspeople, most notably the smithy, carpenter, cooper & leatherworker.
    7) The Lumbermill. Owned and run by Bulaam Woods, older brother of Vauun, the lumbermill is one of the oldest and biggest businesses in the village.
    8) The Bakery. Nola Slater, a down-to-earth middle-aged woman runs this busy bakery, filling the streets around the building with the smells of fresh-baked bread. Daughter of a successful farmer, Nola was always aware that sometimes farming families were sometimes too busy tending the fields and livestock to bake and built this business from the ground up, selling baked goods at very reasonable rates in the hopes of making the lives of the workers in and around Clearbrook just a little easier.
    9) Possible PC Home
    10) General Store. The Symon family have always run the village general store and the small warehouses surrounding it. Over the years the Symons have become a small clan, seemingly growing in number by the year as their children are married off young and have children of their own.
    11) Clearbrook Dancehall. The people of Clearbrook celebrate festivals at least once a month to keep spirits up and try to stave off the monotony of day-to-day life. In the winter months these celebrations take place in the dancehall. The hall is also used for games and amateur dramatics for the children of the schoolhouse.
    12) The Green Lady Tavern. A building made entirely of dark wood, the Green Lady is the favourite meeting place of villagers and the only place to get a good drink, be it alcoholic or caffeinated. Run by the beautiful Clover sisters (Bryoni (22), Rose (20), Dawne (19), Misty (18) & Grace (16)) with the help of their mother Beth. Mr. Clover is a woodsman and rarely seen in the village, leading to the rumour that the Clover sisters aren’t actually his and it’s said that all five girls have different fathers (at least two of them are rumoured to really be Symons)
    13) O’Laine Stables. Most of the horses working at the outlying farms around Clearbrook originally came from Kory O’Laine’s stables. Not only does he provide horses but also offers vetinary care to any sick animals that are brought to him.
    14) Sheriff’s Office. The village is usually completely devoid of crime, but just in case any wrongdoings are committed, Sheriff Gryffin and his small contingent of watchmen are on call to sort things out.
    15) Fishery. The small brook running beside the village is far from teeming with fish but there are enough to keep this fishery in business. As the days catches are usually quite small the price of fish is quite high, but usually worth it if you want something a little different to eat.
    16) Maia’s Meats. Maia Thornton (32) is the daughter of a cooper and a weaver, it was expected that she would go into one of her parents careers but to her family’s surprise she instead took an apprenticeship with the local butcher. More surprising still was that the young woman had a talent for preparing meat. With no children of his own the old butcher passed his premises and his business on to Maia when he passed away a few years ago
    17) Terren Farm. The only farm within the confines of the village the Terren family set up their small stead twenty years ago, after a harsh winter cut off the village from outlying farms and food got low.
    18) The Schoolhouse. Madame Leigh runs this old building almost single-handedly, running lessons for the local youths and taking in any children who have nowhere else to go. Currently in her care are Durval and Miaralle Kent who lost their last remaining relative to illness two winters ago.
    19) Mayor’s Manor. Elections are held once every three years to decide upon a mayor, but as long as anyone can remember the mayor has been a member of the Glenn family. The current mayor is one Barthus Glenn and if rumour is to be believed he is going to be succeeded by his eldest son Jed in the next election or one after.
    20) Possible PC Home
    21) Militia Barracks. Local youths are trained, and older hands stay in practice in the arts of combat here in the barracks. Everyone knows that chances of these skills being needed are slim but having the barracks sits well with the village’s ‘better safe than sorry’ outlook.
    22) Community Temple. The entirety of the village celebrate religious festivals and come to pray here at the temple. The main shrine is to Erastil but there are small areas set aside for various good deities.
    23) Home of the Healer. The home and workplace of Tristian Desnos, the aging healer of Clearbrook, he has healed the great majority of ills that have plagued the village and his wife Fianna is a skilled midwife who helped deliver almost all of the village into the world.
    24) Clearbrook Cemetery

    ----

    If you'd like one of these places as your PCs home just ask and it shall be so :)

    The Exchange

    Well my Recapturing the Magic PBP is going well, so well that I have a couple more friends that would like to play. So, I already have 2 or 3 players but would need 2 more. Here's the premise for my game:

    First and foremost I’ll begin by saying that this PBP won’t be to everybody’s taste, if all goes according to plan it will be a little odd. So, please read everything before signing up to join in the fun.

    I’m going to be accepting 4 players for this one and it’s going to be run by both me and my lovely husband Paul T, although he’ll be in charge of some of the recurring NPCs more than anything else.

    Background Information

    Once magic was everywhere, or so the old stories go, faeries and warlocks were real, and feats that defied all logic were commonplace occurrences. But those are just tales, things to sooth children before they go to sleep. Still, some backwards people in the rural corners of the world hang onto these old ideals. Claiming that disbelief is the monster that killed the magic, they fight fiercely to keep the stories alive. These believers grow fewer in number each year, giving up hope or just growing older, their concerns turning instead to keeping their families clothed and fed and stopping their daydreaming.

    You’re a resident of Clearbrook, a scenic small village nestled between the trees of a great wood and sat on the banks of a beautiful stream and is supported by a string of outlying farms. When you were a child there were a lot of fantastic and magical stories about but that was well over a decade and a half ago and the world has become more sensible and, quite frankly, dull.

    Despite it all a part of you has always clung to the old stories, despite all evidence that magic doesn’t exist. As you continue with humdrum village life you always keep one eye open, hoping for something fantastic.

    Character Creation

  • Human characters aged between 18 and 25 who have lived in Clearbrook all of their lives.
  • PFRPG rules.
  • Any class except wizard (there just isn’t the magical reference material in the world). Anyone of a spellcasting class won’t have access to spells at the beginning of play, weird things may have happened around them from time to time, but no direct spellcasting yet. Same goes for familiars/animal companions, not to begin with, you might have a close pet but no innate bond yet.
  • 28 point build as per DMG which can be done easily here
  • You are an average person, an exceptional example of an average person with your stats and skills, but still average. Your day to day job is probably something decidedly average; shopkeep, farmer, midwife etc.
  • Linked to the above: 1 free rank in a profession or knowledge skill related to your trade.
  • All dice rolls will be done using invisible castle.

    Post all questions/character ideas here and I’ll try to answer as best I can without giving up everything I have planned, there needs to still be some suprises for you! :)

    Currently earmarked by my friends are a possible monk & maybe something else fighty.

    Oh, also, I promise a better name than 'Recapturing the Magic #2' for the actual thread!

  • The Exchange

    I'm just wondering if the lack of knowledge:religion as a class skill on the monk is an oversight or not. Whilst I see it posible to be a monk without being from a divine monastic order I can see an arguement for having it as a class skill for those monks who do derive their cool ninja-skillz from devoting their lives to a deity (I see Iori having a lot of monk devotees)


    Once upon a time, as all good stories start, there was an exceptionally average village with a few extraordinary citizens. Not that they saw themselves as special, they went about their day to day lives just as everyone around them but that was soon to change...

    It’s a lazy summer day in Clearbrook, midsummer's day in fact, the weather is warm and the day long. The citizens have spent a productive morning going about their business as usual and nothing has happened to make the 22nd of Rova seem at all special, yet.

    ’Smith’ and Kai

    Spoiler:
    It has been a busy morning in the smithy, Kory O’Laine has put in an a sizable order for horseshoes, leading Smith to have to spend many hours making shoe, after shoe, after shoe. He takes the same care over each curved piece of metal but it does start to get monotonous after a while.

    Kai meanwhile has been given the laborious task of sharpening the village barrack’s old, slightly dusty, weaponry. His heart obviously not entirely in the task his work drudges on, most of the weapons don’t need much work but he has to check each one to make sure it combat-ready, these are the arms that will protect Clearbrook in a time of emergency after all.

    The day passes as usual and as the air outside starts to cool and the light starts to dim, the sky taking on a beautiful rosy hue signalling the end of the working day. Hot, sweaty, aching but satisfied from a full and productive day of work you both down tools and head out of the forge when...

    Abby

    Spoiler:
    Today has been dull, so very dull. There was very little work backed up and you were finished by late morning. With nothing else to do you spent a lot of the day reading The Compleet Locksmythe again, even discovering a page you don’t remember well. You’re almost certain you’ve read it before you just don’t quite recall the details until you read it again. The page details locks and keys made entirely of wood, it seems like a novel concept but entirely plausible and why you hadn’t recalled this page at first is utterly beyond you.

    As the day starts to draw to a close a delightful amber light starts to drift through your open bedroom window and you decide it best to hide away your book before your brother gets home. The Compleet Locksmythe back in it’s home under your bed boredom quickly starts to set in and you decide to go visit the smithy for opportunity to annoy Samuel in the last few minutes of his working day and to have a chat with Kai.

    You’re out of your house and on your way to the forge when…

    Donnell

    Spoiler:
    After a fruitful day spent in the forest Donnell heads to the village with a deer slung over his shoulder and two rabbits in hand. Easily carrying his load through the streets he ignores the usual stares from the local children, he’s used to their wide, intrigued eyes. Moving swiftly onward he heads towards his destination, Maia’s Meats. He takes the briefest of moments to take a calming breath and affix his best smile to his face before entering the butcher’s shop. As always the down-to-earth Maia takes his breath away, not a stunning beauty the woman instead possesses a quality one would describe as ‘handsome’, a honest, genuine face and a quite brilliant smile. Today Maia’s raven-black hair is tied back with a crimson ribbon and there is an odd smudge of blood on her cheek that would be considered off-putting by most but to the hunter it’s strangely endearing.

    The woodsman is greeted with the usual friendly smile and light-hearted conversation Maia lavishes upon all of her customers and as always pays a very reasonable price for the meat brought to her by the hunter. Again Donnell finds himself finding excuses to linger and before he knows it Maia has to politely usher him out of the door so she can close up her shop for the day.

    Stepping out of the store and into the village once more you can’t help but smile a little to yourself, each time you enter Maia’s shop you manage to stay in her company a little longer and she only ever shoos you away at closing time. A beautiful sunset only heightens the genuinely nice moment and you find yourself lost but in your thoughts when…

    Isabella

    Spoiler:
    Today has been a good day for the young carpenter, for the most part. The day started with a visit from Misty Clover, second youngest of the girls who run the Green Lady. Iz and Misty have never seen eye to eye, mostly due to the Clover girl seeing the beautiful carpenter as her biggest competition. The meeting was tense but one good thing did come of the exchange, Misty commissioned a flute to be made for her. Isabella’s almost certain that she’s done it as she’s learning to compete with her performances, but it doesn’t bother her. A little competition is healthy, besides its money in her pocket and a chance to make a musical instrument rather than her usual work fixing chair-legs and other dull tasks.

    The day was spent picking a good piece of wood that would give the right sound and starting the shaping process, you’re certain the flute will serve Misty well once it’s done. Closing up shop for the day you step out into the courtyard in the centre of the crafter’s quarter when…

    Len

    Spoiler:
    Today was a day like any other for Len, he started with his usual morning prayer at the temple and moved on to spend time studying alongside Tristian. The morning passed quickly, with the young healer learning even more from his mentor and being mothered a little by Fianna, as always, when there are no pregnancies in the village or out on the farms the elderly lady generally passes her time acting as nurse for the healers or making cups of tea.

    The afternoon was a little busier however, starting with a visit from Madame Leigh, the schoolmistress. One of her adoptive children Durval had slipped whilst playing and managed to cut open his head. Lots of tears and some precise bandaging later the young boy was all smiles again and ready to cause more havoc.
    The other visitor of the day was Grace Clover, the youngest of the Clover sisters finds some excuse to visit the healer’s house at least once a week, be it a scratch, an insect bite or a small cough. Knowingly Tristian always lets Len ‘treat’ the young woman, who is far from subtle in her obvious crush on the healer’s apprentice. As always Len manages to satisfy the girl with a warm smile and a bandage applied to the apparently affected area.

    The day soon draws to a close and as the sun starts to set you set out into the street that connects your home to the healer’s and to the temple, you take a deep satisfied breath, the kind that only comes from a productive day, when…

    …quietly at first, but soon much louder the sound of music and voices lifted in merriment fills the village streets. It doesn’t take others long to notice the noise either as soon doors and windows are thrown open and curious villagers peer out. It doesn’t take long for the source of the sounds of partying to become apparent. Entering from both the southern and eastern routes into the village comes a procession of people, all with tan skin and dark hair. Nothing like this has ever been seen in Clearbrook before and the faces of the locals soon turn to ones of joy as they watch the brightly clothed travellers make their way towards the centre of the village, singing, laughing and dancing the entire way.

    Unable to resist you, along with other villagers, follow along behind the revelry soon finding yourself brushing shoulders with these strange, excitable strangers. Finding an open spot of grass near the dancehall the group seem to set up, firmly rooting themselves in the middle of the village for their party.

    Without warning a young man clad in deep blues and purples hops up onto a low wall and greets the crowd with an astonishingly bright grin and open arms. “Kinsmen and good people of Clearbrook. Thank your lucky stars, the day is upon us! A day which comes but twice a year, the Ritual of Stardust! My family and I are in agreement, the celebration is much too special to not share with others, and this year we have brought the party to you. So please join us… Eat, drink and be merry! Celebrate the solstice with us!”

    You have all heard of the Ritual of Stardust, but it has never been celebrated in Clearbrook before, it’s a holiday rumoured to be reserved for travellers, large groups of followers of Desna and is supposed to be a spectacular event to behold.

    The Exchange

    Female Human(ish) DM 1 / Housewife 1 / Zany RPer 3

    To stop the cluttering of the thread in the Gamer Connection now we're all full I thought we should shift over here.

    Here's a reminder of the creation rules:

    • Human characters aged between 18 and 25 who have lived in Clearbrook all of their lives.
    • PFRPG rules.
    • Any class except wizard (there just isn’t the magical reference material in the world). Anyone of a spellcasting class won’t have access to spells at the beginning of play, weird things may have happened around them from time to time, but no direct spellcasting yet. Same goes for familiars/animal companions, not to begin with, you might have a close pet but no innate bond yet.
    • 28 point build as per DMG which can be done easily here
    • You are an average person, an exceptional example of an average person with your stats and skills, but still average. Your day to day job is probably something decidedly average; shopkeep, farmer, midwife etc.
    • Linked to the above: 1 free rank in a profession or knowledge skill related to your trade.
    • All dice rolls will be done using invisible castle.
    • Standard HP: Maximum hit points for 1st level plus your Constitution modifier and any other bonuses
    • Roll for gold - if you roll less than average take the average.

    Party:
    Dahn: Something blacksmithy
    Pat: Cleric/Healer
    Malvoisin: Fighter/Woodsman
    Stormwatcher: Bard/Carpenter
    Lazaro: Sorcerer/Weaponsmith
    Rev Rosey: Rogue, maybe?

    Lazaro & Dahn: If you both stick with metalworking I'd suggest you work together as I don't see Clearbrook having more than one forge but there could be a few workers there as the one forge would be supplying all the outlying farms.

    The Exchange

    First and foremost I’ll begin by saying that this PBP won’t be to everybody’s taste, if all goes according to plan it will be a little odd. So, please read everything before signing up to join in the fun.

    I’m going to be accepting 4 players for this one and it’s going to be run by both me and my lovely husband Paul T, although he’ll be in charge of some of the recurring NPCs more than anything else.

    Background Information

    Once magic was everywhere, or so the old stories go, faeries and warlocks were real, and feats that defied all logic were commonplace occurrences. But those are just tales, things to sooth children before they go to sleep. Still, some backwards people in the rural corners of the world hang onto these old ideals. Claiming that disbelief is the monster that killed the magic, they fight fiercely to keep the stories alive. These believers grow fewer in number each year, giving up hope or just growing older, their concerns turning instead to keeping their families clothed and fed and stopping their daydreaming.

    You’re a resident of Clearbrook, a scenic small village nestled between the trees of a great wood and sat on the banks of a beautiful stream and is supported by a string of outlying farms. When you were a child there were a lot of fantastic and magical stories about but that was well over a decade and a half ago and the world has become more sensible and, quite frankly, dull.

    Despite it all a part of you has always clung to the old stories, despite all evidence that magic doesn’t exist. As you continue with humdrum village life you always keep one eye open, hoping for something fantastic.

    Character Creation

    • Human characters aged between 18 and 25 who have lived in Clearbrook all of their lives.
    • PFRPG rules.
    • Any class except wizard (there just isn’t the magical reference material in the world). Anyone of a spellcasting class won’t have access to spells at the beginning of play, weird things may have happened around them from time to time, but no direct spellcasting yet. Same goes for familiars/animal companions, not to begin with, you might have a close pet but no innate bond yet.
    • 28 point build as per DMG which can be done easily here
    • You are an average person, an exceptional example of an average person with your stats and skills, but still average. Your day to day job is probably something decidedly average; shopkeep, farmer, midwife etc.
    • Linked to the above: 1 free rank in a profession or knowledge skill related to your trade.
    • All dice rolls will be done using invisible castle.

    Post all questions/character ideas here and I’ll try to answer as best I can without giving up everything I have planned, there needs to still be some suprises for you! :)


    Day of The Wanderer & The Courtesan

    Two cards.

    The Wanderer was my card for the day but the other came into play.

    I was out on the town enacting the will of my goddess (details aren’t needed, let’s just say I had fun!) I came across The Courtesan, not from my deck but from another’s with a message.

    Someone else wronged by Lamm and a meeting time and place. Needing a wash I made my way home and a mere look from Tal told me all I needed to know, he’d been contacted to.

    The Dance. The card in his hand made me smile, he always knows where to plant his feet to come through in the end.

    Curiousity got the better of us. We left three hours early, camping out on the shingles opposite the address given on our invites. For an hour we sat and reminisced – I know the average woman wouldn’t get all nostalgic over hiding out but those quiet moments away from Gaedren with the other Lamms were the fun that got me through my childhood.

    An hour later a strange addition to the neighbourhood arrived, an acadamae wizard, attractive, mousey hair and blue eyes, his gaze drawn to the building we were watching. Then arriving on time, his near opposite – tall, scruffy well built, a young workman.

    We waited a little longer but nobody else came so we let ourselves in. The other two had cards as well; the wizard The Vision and the workman The Paladin. Sitting around we waited to see if anyone would appear for the suit of shields and the suit of stars but that theory was soon dashed as our last joined us.

    Zallara, the Varisian Harrower who had called us all to her home to tell us where we could find Lamm. She lost her cards and her son to Gaedren and wanted revenge, something I’m firmly behind. She even did a reading for us to help us realise it was the right path to take.

    First the role cards, The Peacock, not too bad but not one I felt an instant affinity with which worried me.

    The past; The Courtesan, The Forge, The Queen Mother. My invite in the spread, the positive past for this group and our future actions. Then The Forge and Queen Mother, together they painted a picture of our diverse dark pasts, but pasts that would make us strong as a group.

    The Present; The Survivor, The Wanderer, The Eclipse. Another familiar sight, The Wanderer, my card for the day, almost as though the spread was calling out to me to pay attention. Zallara read the present as something thought lost had been refound but there would need to be some looking through the rubbish to see what’s found and even then there would be doubts.

    The Future; The Carnival, The Publican, The Joke. Knowledge will see us well in the future but fate may play a prank on us if we aren’t careful. Again the possibility of our becoming friends came up, The Publican is hard to argue with.

    I will keep notes on how that reading plays out, it seemed important at the time like the others that came true for me.

    In the hopes of getting to know each other a bit better I tried to learn more about the others at the table. The workman, Acastus, showed his young age and simply blurted out his story. Once the son of a wealthy family he spent his family’s savings on Shiver, bought from Gaedren, and because of his addiction is now all alone.

    The wizard, Mihai, was a little less forthcoming. It took no end of nagging and trying to persuade him to even get him to admit it was his family that was wronged in some way. I’m determined to get the full story out of him.

    We then made plans, I will go into those and how it goes tomorrow, I have company.

    W.


    The Age of Worms consumes the Realms

    Group Composition:
    (for quick and easy reference)

    FabesMinis: Mikel Cormaeril - Male Human Martial Rogue.
    xdahnx: Greylan Mooneye - Male Elf Wizard
    Pat o' the Ninth Power: Hetta Smallbrow - Female Halfling Druid
    RickyFlame: Jeny - Female Human Barbarian.

    Background Information:

    Daggerford has always been a peaceful, prosperous town but recently things have started to take a turn for the worse. Nearly two years ago, unknown assassins poisoned the Duke of Daggerford, Pwyll “Greatshout” Daggerford, his sister,Lady Bronwyn, and his bastard brother, Lord Llewellyn Longhand, leaving the duchy without an heir. (Luzane Parrin’s late husband died in the same incident.) The perpetrator(s) were never caught. Soon thereafter, the Town Council met and elected Lanod Ondabar of Irieabor, the little-known brother of the wellrespected Delfen “Yellowknife” Ondabarl, as governor-mayor. Rumors suggest that the Town Council settled on Lanod Ondabarl as a compromise candidate and lesser evil in lieu of Balabar Smenk, guildmaster of the local mine owners and all around corrupt, unpleasant man.

    As governor-meneral, Lanod quickly appointed his old adventuring companion, Cubbin, as sheriff and began selling political favors from the former duke’s castle to the highest bidder. In less than 24 months, the once-proud town of Daggerford has become synonymous with vice and exploitation, to the frustration of Sherlen Spearslayer (human female, Captain of the Garrison). Long-established businesses have been sold, their owners forced out by “new investors” allied with Lanod and Cubbin.

    In conscious imitation of the Lords of Waterdeep, the identities of the 23-member Town Council of Daggerford are nominally secret except to each other, but “everyone” knows the roster includes the town’s guildmasters and most prominent clerics.

    You have all been in the Daggerford area for long enough to have witnessed this decline and have gotten fairly tired of it.

    And with that said, play begins..

    Today is market day in the town of Daggerford and whilst more established businesses have been bought out by "new investors" the spirit of the local market vendors has yet to be quashed. Every fiveday and tenday of each ride the marketplace fills with farmers and small merchants selling their wares. Today is no different, ten of the stalls in the market square are already filled, A lot of smalltime merchants from outlying areas are visiting today, a lot of them selling similar wares leading to a competative enviroment. Sellers call out to any who will listen, claiming that their wares and only theres are the cheapest and of the best quality, creating quite a frenzy of buying amongst citizens looking for a good deal.

    No fewer than three merchants are selling jerky and trail foodstuffs today, each trying to capitalise on the number of people in Daggerford who are planning trips away from the corrupt town. Another competitive area of sale is religious items, three purveyors of items linked to the dieties are all claiming that only their products will guarentee a close link to the Gods and offering hope to the depressed populace. The other four stalls are filled with an eclectic selection of merchandise; barding and pet supplies, fruits and vegetables, shields and crafting tools.

    Spot DC 15:

    Spoiler:
    After a small amount of time watching the stall filled with crafting tools, you begin to notice that this stall takes very little money directly but every now and again one of the two men manning the stall will disappear to talk quietly with a customer. Sometimes items and money will sneakily exchange hands in these encounters.

    This is where you come in, buying, selling, come out to gossip or just out for a stroll you all come across the thriving market.

    OK guys, more character getting to know one another time (on top of their pub night ;P ) before I hit you all with big plot ;)


    The Age of Worms consumes the Realms

    Group Composition:
    (for quick and easy reference)

    Lord Thasmudyan: Zereta Bludwulf of Ruathym - Female Human Barbarian.
    Lorderl: Khadath - Male Human Cleric
    Guy Humual: Kessel Cobey - Male Human Bard
    Gavgoyle: Kells Gryffoncrest - Male Human Paladin of Freedom.
    TerraNova: Darie Billown - Female Human Sorcerer
    Callum: Tobin - Halfling Rogue

    Background Information:

    Daggerford has always been a peaceful, prosperous town but recently things have started to take a turn for the worse. Nearly two years ago, unknown assassins poisoned the Duke of Daggerford, Pwyll “Greatshout” Daggerford, his sister,Lady Bronwyn, and his bastard brother, Lord Llewellyn Longhand, leaving the duchy without an heir. (Luzane Parrin’s late husband died in the same incident.) The perpetrator(s) were never caught. Soon thereafter, the Town Council met and elected Lanod Ondabar of Irieabor, the little-known brother of the wellrespected Delfen “Yellowknife” Ondabarl, as governor-mayor. Rumors suggest that the Town Council settled on Lanod Ondabarl as a compromise candidate and lesser evil in lieu of Balabar Smenk, guildmaster of the local mine owners and all around corrupt, unpleasant man.

    As governor-meneral, Lanod quickly appointed his old adventuring companion, Cubbin, as sheriff and began selling political favors from the former duke’s castle to the highest bidder. In less than 24 months, the once-proud town of Daggerford has become synonymous with vice and exploitation, to the frustration of Sherlen Spearslayer (human female, Captain of the Garrison). Long-established businesses have been sold, their owners forced out by “new investors” allied with Lanod and Cubbin.

    In conscious imitation of the Lords of Waterdeep, the identities of the 23-member Town Council of Daggerford are nominally secret except to each other, but “everyone” knows the roster includes the town’s guildmasters and most prominent clerics.

    You have all been in the Daggerford area for long enough to have witnessed this decline and have gotten fairly tired of it.

    And with that said, play begins..

    Today is market day in the town of Daggerford and whilst more established businesses have been bought out by "new investors" the spirit of the local market vendors has yet to be quashed. Every fiveday and tenday of each ride the marketplace fills with farmers and small merchants selling their wares. Today is no different, eight of the stalls in the market square are already filled, the smell of hot meat wafts on the air and two merchants selling what appears to be religious items are in stiff competition, each slashing their price or offering an amazing deal in a yell in an attempt to outsell their competitor.

    In addition to the two sellers of fire roasted-meats and the two purveyors of religious items there is a great deal of hustle and bustle generated by the eclectic mix of other stalls. Jerky and trail foodstuffs, Shields, barding and pet supplies and weapons are also on offer today and the good citizens of the small town are enjoying their small haven from how corrupt their once great home has become.

    This is where you come in, buying, selling, come out to gossip or just out for a stroll you all come across the thriving market.

    OK kiddies, character introduction and getting to know one another time before I hit you all with a big plot stick ;)


    I am such a pushover! I want as many players as possible to have fun so here's my thread for a second group with all the character creation goodness!

    Welcome to Daggerford

    Situated on the flood plains of the Delimbiyr and built against the side of a low hill, Daggerford is a small, walled community dominated by the small castle of the local duke. The city is sparsely inhabited but strategically located where the High Road crosses the Delimbiyr River on the south side of the ford.

    This self-styled city is a town of about 500 folk. The town is the largest stop on the High Road between Waterdeep and Baldur's Gate. It's home to human craftsmen, a few halflings, and a handful of folk of other races. There are about 20 farming hamlets within a day's walk of Daggerford (15-20 miles), each of which is home to around five families. Each hamlet has a fortified building where the residents retreat in case of raids. There are also isolated farms and a few estates of minor nobility. In all, about 1,200 people depend on the Daggerford market for goods they can't make themselves.

    All characters are currently residents of Daggerford and the surrounding area. Over 85% of the populace is human, A few of the dependent hamlets however consist entirely of halflings. Elves, dwarves, half elves and half orcs are all short in supply but the ones that are around are rather prominent in the community.

    For more information on Daggerford please feel free to ask or download the shiny pdf 'The North' (which includes a poster map of the town) which is still available for free download from Wizards.com here

    Rule Stuff

    • First level characters
    • 32 point Standard point buy system as outlined in the DMG
    • All standard PC races allowed (Humans are especially encouraged though and nonstandard races will be considered with a good background)
    • All standard PC classes allowed, including the Variant Character Classes & Specialist Wizard Variants from Unearthed Arcana which are detailed here
    • Characters are allowed up to two character traits (optional)
    • Alignments - Any non-evil
    • Max HP for first level
    • Max starting gold
    • Feats are to be picked from the standard PHB selection but others will be accepted if they meet DM approval
    • Spells are to be chosen from the PHB & The Spell Compendium
    • No psionics, they make my brain bleed!

    Skillful - All characters get 2 extra skill points per level. These points must be spent on Craft, Knowledge, Profession or Perform skills only. These bonus parts are multiplied as usual at first level (so 8 skill points useable on Craft, Knowledge, Profession and Perform skills at level 1, and 2 such skill points every subsequent level). In addition, all Craft, Knowledge,Profession and skills are considered class skills for these skill points. These skills get overlooked much too often!

    Dice rolls are to be made using Invisible castle and I'm still working out the kinks of potential ways to deal with combat, but I will look into that once we're done with character creation; one step at a time afterall!

    Also my husband may be making the occasional appearance as co-DM/writer of NPCs from time to time, just to forwarn you ;)


    Welcome to Callum, Gavgoyle, TerraNova, Lord Thasmudyan and Guy Humual. Here is the thread for character creation and fleshing out of background ideas, enjoy! Any and all questions are welcomed and encouraged. First the setting:

    Welcome to Daggerford

    Situated on the flood plains of the Delimbiyr and built against the side of a low hill, Daggerford is a small, walled community dominated by the small castle of the local duke. The city is sparsely inhabited but strategically located where the High Road crosses the Delimbiyr River on the south side of the ford.

    This self-styled city is a town of about 500 folk. The town is the largest stop on the High Road between Waterdeep and Baldur's Gate. It's home to human craftsmen, a few halflings, and a handful of folk of other races. There are about 20 farming hamlets within a day's walk of Daggerford (15-20 miles), each of which is home to around five families. Each hamlet has a fortified building where the residents retreat in case of raids. There are also isolated farms and a few estates of minor nobility. In all, about 1,200 people depend on the Daggerford market for goods they can't make themselves.

    All characters are currently residents of Daggerford and the surrounding area. Over 85% of the populace is human, A few of the dependent hamlets however consist entirely of halflings. Elves, dwarves, half elves and half orcs are all short in supply but the ones that are around are rather prominent in the community.

    For more information on Daggerford please feel free to ask or download the shiny pdf 'The North' (which includes a poster map of the town) which is still available for free download from Wizards.com here

    Rule Stuff

    • First level PCs
    • 32 point Standard point buy system as outlined in the DMG
    • All standard PC races allowed (Humans are especially encouraged though and nonstandard races will be considered with a good background)
    • All standard PC classes allowed, including the Variant Character Classes & Specialist Wizard Variants from Unearthed Arcana which are detailed here
    • Characters are allowed up to two character traits (optional)
    • Alignments - Any non-evil
    • Max starting gold
    • Feats are to be picked from the standard PHB selection but others will be accepted if they meet DM approval
    • Spells are to be chosen from the PHB & The Spell Compendium
    • No psionics, they make my brain bleed!

    Skillful - All characters get 2 extra skill points per level. These points must be spent on Craft, Knowledge, Profession or Perform skills only. These bonus parts are multiplied as usual at first level (so 8 skill points useable on Craft, Knowledge, Profession and Perform skills at level 1, and 2 such skill points every subsequent level). In addition, all Craft, Knowledge,Profession and skills are considered class skills for these skill points. These skills get overlooked much too often!

    Dice rolls are to be made using Invisible castle and I'm still working out the kinks of potential ways to deal with combat, but I will look into that once we're done with character creation; one step at a time afterall!

    Also my husband may be making the occasional appearance as co-DM/writer of NPCs from time to time, just to forwarn you ;)

    The Exchange

    I love the Age of Worms and the Forgotten Realms so here I am gauging interest in the potential for a v3.5 AoW PBP campaign set in my version of the Realms (mostly as written but please don't complain if I make the occasional 'tweak')

    I'd like to run for 4 - 6 players. If I can wrangle that many I will set up a discussion thread with my outlines for character creation.

    Please be patient with me as I'm new to running PBP but I quite recently finished running the AoW and adored it so much I'd love to run through it again!


    Player: But why can't I do that?
    Me: *Whimpers* Because it makes my brain bleeeeeeeeeed!!

    Oh yes, I started out as that sort of DM. I've only been playing D&D for a mighty three years, usually playing in my husband's campaigns and had next to no DMing experience before discovering the Age of Worms in an old Dungeon magazine bought entirely on a whim. Intrigued and up for a challenge soon I was scowering the local gaming shop and then ordering directly from Paizo the rest of the Dungeon magazines to make up my AoW campaign.

    I'm now about halfway through running my campaign and thought it was time I share my insights from a newbie DM point of view. I'm going to start with a nice big babbly summary of running the campaign to date and then I'll be updating on a game by game basis, I hope this is helpful/amusing to someone!

    -----

    Firstly, setting conversion. Unless you're up for putting in a lot of time and research in, don't do this, just don't. Usually our gaming group sets it's campaigns in the Forgotten Realms and I thought I'd follow suit. Following Paizo's online conversion notes was wonderful at first but having players who know more about a setting than you do is a recipe for disaster:

    Player: But it's not like that in the Realms
    Me: *Flails!* It is in mine! Damnit!!

    Not good. it fell down even further when it got to the Hall of Harsh Reflections. Really not knowing enough about Waterdeep and having eager players who want to play every week forced my hands in making the decision that we're no longer in the Realms. This included a wiggling of my fingers and an 'ooooh!' sound for effect, that and a promise that the clerics could keep their gods should they so wish. I now have a cleric of 'Pelthander' in the group (he likes to call upon the apparent mushed together Pelor and Lathander now, it apparently helps him roll well..)

    ----

    The party
    Mara ~ Half aquatic elf Fighter (Tempest)
    Rorrik ~ Dwarven Fighter/Cleric (Hammer of Moradin)
    Evandur ~ Human Cleric of 'Pelthander'
    'Weasel ~ Human Sorceress (Force Mage)
    'Thog' ~ Half-Orc (later a full orc) Fighter/Scout {Deceased (twice) - during Hall of Harsh Reflections}
    Gewar ~ Tiefling Ranger (Bloodhound) {Joined the party at the Champion's Games}

    ----

    The Whispering Cairn

    Player of Rorrik: I'm going to clear out all of that rubble.
    Me: Gah! No! Just no, you can't! *doesn't have the issue that says what's behind there yet & panics* It will take too long.
    Player: But I'm a dwarf, and it's stoneworking and mining out rubble..
    Me: *Big puppy eyes* please don't..

    Oh yeah, what a lame start that was for me. Lesson learnt, if there are adventurers and rubble decide what is under/behind it - kill them with the harsh thats there if need be. It will show them that they're to follow the more obvious route and not play in the collapsed. Or, of course, what I should have done in hindsight - have the wolves from the den up ahead sniff them out and harry them furthur into the cairn to where the interesting stuff is.

    Having a group that are far more experienced at playing D&D than I am at running (one member of our group has been a gamer longer than I have been alive) they happily trounced through a lot of the adventure. They were also greatly helped by their character choices, Rorrik our dwarf is a little fire obsessed and thus the acid beetle swarm was quite easily dealt with. And Mara, being a fighter & half-aquatic elf easily dealt with the submerged showers.

    Still, there were quite a few challenges for the group but all in all being a newbie I was a little easy on them. The harshest I was was with the Wind Warriors. Boy those things are fun, even to someone as D&D clueless as me! The Sonic blast is a joy, I had one warrior focusing on funneling that along the bridge the PCs were approaching on while the other engaged the melee combatants, all in all the group found that encounter suprisingly harsh.

    Filge's laboratory is also fun to run, while Filge and his creations fell a little too disappointingly fast in my campaign I loved the PCs exploration of observatory. I think the feasting hall especially creeped them out, suitably ooogied by the place had them all fired up for that last encounter and they threw everything at Filge without stopping to think!

    One thing I was glad I did during this adventure and the next was spending the time and effort to make sure the party were emotionally invested in Daggerford (the place suggestedin the Realm's conversion) I printed off the giant postermap from 'The North' (downloaded from wizards) and marked on all of their homes, they all had friends and family with personalities and this greatly helps later parts in the campaign a lot more fun.

    -----

    The Three Faces of Evil

    This adventure is amazing fun for driving your cleric(s) nuts! Yay cults! This is also the adventure where I started on my path to 'creative flanging', slowly I started to realise that as I have a party of 5 players rather than the traditional 4 sometimes threats that are threats because of numbers (mine guards/miners and especially the cult fanatics) may not be quite right. Following my husband's advice to creatively edit things as required I added a couple of extra waves of fanatics when the PCs were besting them too easily, this also provided a good distraction to bring Beast down upon them.

    The labyrinth of Vecna was a bit of a challenge to a party without a rogue or an elf - not once did they consider secret doors. So as a big, 'smack em in the face so I don't go insane as they walk in circles' clue I had some Kenku open a secret door behind them, attack them and leave the door open. That way they eventually got through the labyrinth.

    As I write this I am rereading my copy of the adventure and I have two things firmly underlined - The Ebon Aspect's damage reduction and it's spell resistance. Quite often i find myself forgetting things like this, the things that make a low level encounter like this really hard. I'd highly recomend the underlining (in bright colours where possible) of things like this in stat blocks if you're as much of a ditz as I am!

    -----

    Encounter at Blackwall keep

    You have no idea how scary the encounter at Blackwall Keep is to someone as inexperienced at DMing as me! All day before this game I was so very scared the PCs would charge the battlefield and I'd end up with a big OTT battle on my hands! Then it slowly dawned on me, they could do what they wanted, if they decided to charge the field perhaps Allustan would grudgingly stay before running for reinforcements to give fire support, or if they waited until after he left then they stood a good chance of dying.

    The hardest thing for me on the transition from mere player into almighty DM goddess was the idea of possibly killing the PCs. I like the characters, I love my friends and I used to worry about upsetting someone with a character death, we've never had a high mortality campaign before and the AoW is designed to be very challenging. It was this one encounter that start to put me into the mindset that I might kill someone's character and that's just the way the game works.

    Thankfully the PCs handled it all sensibly. In fact they stormed the whole adventure. I wish I had more advice on this one but really it was a simple joy to run through, they rolled well and took the quickest route through the lizardfolk lair by sheer luck.

    ----

    The Hall of Harsh Reflections

    I love this adventure, seriously it makes me smile beyond the telling. I would highly recommend conspiring with a player and giving them Ixiaxian's stat block when they're replaced. Conspiring in such a way (in my experience at least) makes one player feel really involved and reduces the whole party to suspision and paranoia when you get to the Hall of Deception.

    Player of Weasel (currently rolling for Ixi): I shoot Thog with magic missiles - in the face!
    Player of Thog: Huh? ..what? Why is Weasel attacking me?
    Me: *Snickers*

    These are priceless moments, really :D So worth it. The player of Weasel was also a fantastic support and played both Ixi and Weasel as the rest of the party interrigated them both to find the real Weasel, it's the sort of thing you need a good player for and if you don't trust someone to do all of this then I'd suggest following one of the other suggestions written into the adventure.

    I also killed a character (twice!) in this adventure. It really made me feel like a real DM! Squee! Thog fell victim to Martal & Regim as they both critted him. He was reincarnated and came back as a Mountain Orc, only to be killed later by the advanced octopin.

    The cells also bought another interesting challenge to me as a DM - Gattel Watam. He tried to kill himself, Thog even tried to help him, but he was stopped by the clerics. Evandur especially was fascinated by what had happened to him and they kept him alive and put him into the care of the church of Pelthander until they could work out how to cure him. Wow this was a tricky one to handle, the party threw a lot of magic at it and in the end I found myself wondering what I should do to stop them playing even more with the mind clone machine to try to fix him. In the end I added an extra mindclone to those in Telakin's Hall, a slightly fractured one containing some of Gattal's mind. With this, lots of dispel attempts and healing magics I allowed the clerics to heal some of Gattel's sanity, enough for him to be more functional as a reward for their interest in the poor NPC!

    Xyrxog's first appearance is something that needs to be handled with great care, I almost had a party wipe as he turned up with his drow minions. That opening mind blast caught the entire party and they all failed. After some quick negotiating and discussing with the players I decided to let Mara, who failed the save by 2, to be free from the effects of the blast and she made quick work of the drow thralls (thankfully!)

    The Advanced Octopin is so much awesome, I killed one PC and seriously injured another and this turned out to be one of the biggest threats in the whole adventure. Having two clerics and a mage the party is often buffed beyond the telling with spells if they're expecting a harsh combat so this critter with his tasty rends is a good chance to cause some damage before the end encounter.

    -----

    The Champion's Belt

    The greatest challenge in this whole adventure was keeping the PCs distracted enough so they wouldn't just break into Raknian's home. That and keeping Mara from wanting to organise a fight with Okoral: "But he looks harsh and fights with shortswords too!"

    Watching the PCs do everything in their power to lower their reputation to get good odds on themselves was amusing though and was a great way to stop them from attacking. The worst we got was Rorrik putting in an official complaint to Raknian that the dwarf trophy was silver "Not a dwarven metal! Elf maybe! But not dwarf!" etc

    The first fight I decided to battlemap, using one map that had many many feet to a square to show rough team placement and then a second map with the standard scale for 'zooming in' on combats when groups got close. This wasn't really needed in the end though as the PCs agreed to be allied with both the Sapphire Squad and the Arcane Auriga (Mara befriended them) so everyone unleashed upon Badlands and then the PCs had to wait around as the other 2 teams fought as they didn't want to break their word to either group.

    Madtooth the Hungry - I love this beasty! This critter almost killed Gewar and did substantial damage to the group, if you follow the encounter as written then this should be a tricky one for your party.

    The Apostle of Kyuss' breath weapon is great, especially if your party, like mine, decide to stay at range so it can't reach them I'd definately suggest doing what I didn't manage to do in time, after firing the breath at them have the thing scuttle up to burst through the roof. My party killed it just before I managed to get it away.

    ----

    The Gathering of Winds

    Remember that giant poster map I printed out for the first adventure? I got to dig it out again, but this time I covered it in black marks for all the places Ilthane had destroyed. Mara lost her adoptive family, Weasel used to live in Allustan's tower, Rorrik's shrine was destroyed and I took the spire off of the church of Pelthander. The players were so shaken by this the second Weasel heard where Allustan might be and that the dragon had flown off that way she jumped on Gewar's horse and the two charged off. Resulting in the pair almost getting killed by Ilthane (they were really very lucky.)

    The Advanced Wind Warriors are a great roleplay point if you're running the whole campaign. My players worried so much at seeing them after that first harsh encounter in the Whispering Cairn, I had fun underlining the point there were 6 this time!

    As you may have noticed, my entries per adventure are getting shorter - by this point I was feeling quite broken in as a DM and a lot less made me utterly freak out!

    -----

    The Spire of Long Shadows

    I jumped all over the idea of just giving the players the DMG to pick things from as they happily handed over their fragment of the rod of law to the archmage, it saved on so many headaches for me!

    The Chamber of Ascension ~ This was a tricky one, after a worm naga tried (and failed) to dispel their magical route down the hole the party fled to the top and started discussing ways of just firebombing the whole hole. Not wanting to be robbed of my fun I had to think on my feet and come up with new tactics.

    First the nagas buffed themselves with defensive spells and then started to airwalk up. After this failed miserably a couple of times I spotted that lovely spell - invisibility. Nagas appearing from nowhere casting 'slay living' makes this encounter a new level of scary. Not managing to slay anyone on the first few attempts I tried an enervation quickly followed by a slay living that actually killed Weasel. So, it took me a while but I eventual made it a viable threat again for the group, I guess these things are sometimes trial and error. Weasel was quickly ressurected but I still killed her, mwahaha (see how quickly my attitude changed on character deaths!)

    ~I'm running the rest of this adventure tonight so more to come I guess :)


    Starday 22nd Rova 4707

    Dear Diary,

    Today has been dull beyond the telling. Even more so considering tomorrow is going to be so much fun! Swallowtail Release, consecration of the new cathedral and our eighteenth birthday! Presents and drinks are in store! I'm sure Desna will grant good dreams tonight.

    ~Em

    Sunday 23rd Rova 4707 - Swallowtail Festival

    Dear Diary,

    Well.. where to start? The day started well, who'd have thought it would all go so wrong?

    The start of festivities were spectacular as expected and although nobody mentioned in their grand speeches that it was our birthday but at least the church gave Esme the day off so we could celebrate together. I think we got a lot more drinks brought for us than last year, Deivan being a big culprit for it. All Esme had to do was mention Gin and suddenly there was a whole bottle sat before us! Of course that disappeared into the folds of Esme's scarf to be argued over later!

    I'm starting to think we're loosing our touch though, even Esme's pointed comments over our liking jewellery didn't yield gifts. I can't complain much though, the drinks and attention were gift enough on a very special Swallowtail, as much as we try we really can't compete with the gods just yet!

    Glorli offered me a gift though, making him officially the sweetest dwarf alive in my books. All I'd said was that I envied Esme's starknives and the next thing I know I have another drink and an offer from Glorli to make me a weapon! Aww!

    Tammer was in a dour mood, in hindsight I should have checked up on him but he's been quite dark and broody a lot lately. Maybe something reminded him of something from his past, that or his twin had annoyed him before disappearing off to celebrate elsewhere. Still, his mood at least brought out some dark wit that was worth giggling at.

    So there's the good. Onto the bad. Festivities are in full swing as this awful, squeaky, bonechilling song starts to fill the air. Then came the screams, I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life! Tiny shadows scurried around the crowded square and the next thing I know young Kethri's dog is falling at my feet, slit across the throat.

    It was then I spotted one of them, disgusting little goblinoid giggling at it's antics. Well, instinct and training took over I guess, I ran across the square and kicked it's little smug face. The cracking sound of his neck breaking was awful but at least it wasn't going to harm anyone else.

    It got worse from there. Lots of fighting with disgusting little critters throughout the town's streets. Worst of all it was a festival day so I was barefoot for dancing - goblin brains on your foot is not nice!!

    We scared them off though, and as an added bonus we saved a rather dashing stranger, Aldern Foxglove. One look from Esme told me she was thinking the same thing I was, I think we've found another one that may result in a few squabbles before one of us (probably me again!) takes a step back.

    After that it was a few subdued drinks and Esme and I planning a second birthday this year as this one wasn't great..

    ~Em

    Moonday 24th Rova 4707

    Dear Diary,

    Today Esmerelda and I got to spend more time with Aldern, Deivan and Tammer in The Rusty Dragon which was fantastic fun, we even got belated birthday gifts from Deivan, beautiful silver brooches, looks like Esme's hint sunk in with someone afterall! Esme kept embaressing me though, now the town knows I can fight I get the feeling I'll get the reputation as the 'butch' one, something my lovely sister was all too ready to encourage. Tammer at least tells the story really nicely, I still sound like a dancer and not someone who caved in a goblin leader's skull with one kick! I really need to thank him for that!

    Aldern invited us to hunt with him tomorrow too, so of course I leapt at the opportunity, a chance to get to know him more - how could I resist? He even bought us horses! Esme and I now have a beautiful pair of blacks with white manes and stars on their heads, almost as though they were destined for us - although Esme wants to paint the white star on hers a little so it will match mine exactly.

    Of course it being Moonday Esme had to run off to work at Desna's temple which gave some some time alone with the boys, which was an amazing change! I feel a little guilty as ordinarily I'd be dancing in the celebrations alongside her but it's not my job and spending some time with the men back in the Dragon was a bit more appealing. The feeling was shortlived however as Esme arrived back in record time - I think maybe she didn't trust me with Aldern..

    Oh well, huting tomorrow, I'll hopefully get to know Aldern a bit better then.

    ~Em

    Toilday 25th Rova 4707

    Dear Diary,

    I think Aldern actually likes me! He had a bit of that look that men sometimes get around me and Esme and I can't help but be a little excited. The other boys seemed a little put out by our interest in Aldern, but really how often do we get to meet such new and interesting people?

    The hunting itself was a little disappointing, I think Glorli and I were hoping for more of a challenge from the local boars, maybe we should hunt further afield next time.

    ~Em

    Moonday 1st Lamashan 4707

    Dear Diary,

    It's been a little while since my last entry but I've been a little busy and I had to find a new hiding place for this book - I think Esme has been snooping and has found it again! So I had to put off writing as I'm sure she's watching me like a hawk to get the new location of my diary!

    So, things I've been up to. Firstly I got my birthday gift from Glorli, it's a truly beautiful starknife - it's even more beautiful that he made it himself, I'm nowhere near as skilled with them as Esme but I still love it!

    Tammer appears to have perked up over the past few days, I think getting out of town hunting did him the world of good, travelling always does wonders for the soul. Well it's that or all the female interest he's getting now he's a hero!

    And speaking of interest Deivan asked me out! Esme almost died laughing when I told her but I don't care he was just so shy and sweet over it I couldn't say no. We had food, it was nice and we're much better friends now. So not for me but I'm sure he'd make a good boyfriend for someone - I'm really feeling the urge to play matchmaker on this one!

    And then the bad news, Aldern has gone home. I gave him a hug goodbye and promised I'd keep in touch which I really will do. It's a shame I didn't have time to get to know him better, but who knows? Maybe in time I'll visit him if we manage to keep in contact and after that who knows? I'm especially optimistic as Esme appears to have lost interest, although I don't know if that should actually make me suspiscious rather than optimistic!

    ~Em