Way of the Wicked—Book #1: Knot of Thorns (PFRPG) PDF

Up at the top of the tower the rogue used the window from the Veil (I know! Never saw that coming!) to get through Martin's door. A Kelgore's grave mist and some negative energy channeling put paid to Martin and the ravens, just before the manticore arrived.

The whole party stormed down to the bottom and bumped into Captain Barhold in full plate with a troupe of his soldiers. The fight was brutal, as the party ignored the calls to surrender and chose to slaughter the soldiers while keeping the Captain grappled. He broke free of the monk and took the rogue out, permanently, before going down fighting.

So what next? The problem is that the Magister, Father Donnagin and Lord Havelyn (plus various soldiers and acolytes and a golem) need to make their way from the courtyard to the base of the tower. I've set the golem to pounding on the door but rolled abysmally the first two times. I don't want them to come in and have to fight in the stairwell either - the party can take one at a time that way. I don't see a short cut to surround the nasty attackers either.

Any ideas or tactics would be very welcome - the party is on a roll, the dice are on fire (except the Rogue, but he can play another PC the next time due to an absent player) and if they get the chance they can take out the entire heirarchy here. The chance needn't be too easy though :-)

Bursting out of the doors at the Captain's quarters they bumped into some soldiers and Captain Barhold. In a brutal fight he took out the rogue before being stabbed to death while grappled by the half-orc monk. He even burst out of the grapple once and almost killed a second PC. As the half-orc monk tore off his breastplate to feed on his heart the rest of the party got the rogue stabilised and on his feet, or scouted ahead to the main corridor. Time for the golem upstairs to smash the door down and allow Havelyn and Donnagin to enter. At the opposite side of the captain's quarters - in the main corridor - Tacitus appeared. He'd flown round while the "foot soldiers" battered the braced door.

Havelyn beheld the scene - Barhold dead and his ribcage torn open. His men slaughtered. The two "guardsmen" still standing (circlets) apparently responsible yet totally clean of all blood.

"Lay down your arms and surrender this instant, or by Mitra I'll send you to your judgement here and now."

The party cleric and leader ordered them to retreat to room 6." Tacitus let loose with fireballs on the rogue and necromancer while Havelyn trundled after the two disguised half-orcs. Tacitus then caught almost all the party in the corridor with rooms 3-6 in a web. It's never been so quiet at the gaming table. Buttocks were clenched.

The cleric stoneshaped a route to the dining room while a bunch of soldiers appeared behind Tacitus. He ordered them to attack while the Necromancer (also in the guise of a guard) yelled that that creepy wizard had gone mad and slaughtered everyone. Bluff check 28 or so...hmmmmm.

One of the players asked me how the corridor was lit and I said "a few torches." Sudddenly the web began to burn at a few strategic points! There was all to play for - they made it into bedroom 6 and closed the door behind them just seconds before Havelyn and Donnagin. He'd had one chance to hit someone and reduced the barbarian to unconsciousness (approx 60 dmg) so he was being dragged by the monk.

So now the whole party was in Captain somebody's bedroom, and dragging their battered companion through to the kitchen. They turned the key (which they had taken earlier) and left it half-turned in the lock. Havelyn couldn't use his key! The party had bought a few rounds again :-)

The cleric ran into the kitchen disguised as a guard. He ordered the worried servants into the pantry and eyed the food lift speculatively.

That's where we left it - we play again tonight. This is definitely one great running battle!

What would you folks recommend at this point? For Havelyn and Donnagin it may be quicker to break the door down than run around. They also have no reason to suspect a stoneshape to the dining hall but are certainly suspicious.

(The session before my dice were on fire, this time not so much :D )

Anyway, they're back in town, discovering the travelling market (with your addition) and plotting the next attack.

Do you think Havelyn would go to the inn in person to tell him his brother has been killed?

He did his "Lay down your arms and there is still a chance to save your souls" bit so they think they have him sussed.

I'll send Donnagin, 12 troops and the two recently arrived inquisitors (invisible). That leaves Tacitus to mind the shop - the troops will love that! Or maybe he can go invisible too. Seven minutes... if he casts it on the outskirts and they spend five minutes at the inn...

Of course the party may choose to ambush them on the way back. Hmmmm...

I've given Int checks and Disguise checks when impersonating guards, and the different spacing and weapon load-out has been noticed but no-one has put two and two together yet.
(The players are not happy that their disguises are constantly 'ignored' but also happy enough as I've promised to explain at the end of the chapter if their characters don't guess.)

Tacitus should probably stay at the castle. The two inquisitors could be disguised as soldiers accompanying Havelyn and Donnagin, or guarding the gates in the event of option 2 ;-)

The party holed up on the outskirts, near the edge of the woods, hiding in bushes or behind tree trunks. Thanks to their circlets they all seemed to be wearing ghillie suits. Tricksy players!!!

With the almost invisible Kilkiletz scouting they asked for the formation of the group marching back to Balentyne and received it. Plans were made and dice rubbed in anticipation. Asmodeus was apparently rather pleased with the whole idea as the party subsequently surprised everyone, then beat them all in initiative. OUCH!

An ogre zombie was summoned at the front while a Kelgore's Gravemist was dropped on Lord Havelyn and Father Donnagin, catching a few soldiers too. The rogue threw explosive bombs (rogue talent) and the fatigued Lord Havelyn promptly natural-1'd his save against a ray of exhaustion. I'd decided to roll all my dice openly on the table for this important rematch, which led to much joy from the players.

Some more stuff hit Havelyn, and before any good guy had a chance to react, Father Donnagin was at 3 hp and Havelyn told him to "Drop the spell (shield other), I can take care of myself!" Havelyn channeled to save Donnagin and some soldiers, then walked the full ten feet he could manage in his state.

Donnagin managed to dismiss shield other just before he was attacked by a silenced barbarian. His end was swift and bloody. The party cleric stood up from cover and lobbed a tanglefoot bag at Havelyn, who promptly failed another save. And there he stood, the terrifying Lord of Balentyne, who'd smacked two PCs into near-death in two rounds earlier that day. There he stood, knee-deep in gloop, shivering, burning, waving his sword and shouting "You'll pay for this". ;-)

Six soldiers charged the cleric (not knowing he was a cleric). One channel energy later, he was surrounded by six corpses. He rolled 14 damage on his 3d6, and my (open) saves were all under an 8.

Havelyn waved a challenge at the barbarian who decided to get in close for revenge. Havelyn's smite hurt him, but the return stroke (and the ongoing fire and cold damage) ended his time on this plane.

Time elapsed: 30 seconds.
Next step: empty Balentyne, open the doors, and allow to Fire-Axe to walk on through, not stopping to camp.

We'll see what Tacitus, the Archons, and the Ice Golem have to say about that next time!

All the Captains dead. Lord Havelyn and Father Donnagin missing for almost 24 hours...cue about fifteen sickly (poisoned), shell-shocked soldiers slipping out of the castle after sundown.

Tacitus, the only remaining "named" NPC, locked himself and the rest of the soldiers up in the keep (closing off the stairs with the block of stone) where they could try and hold for reinforcements (or hopefully the return of Lord Havelyn.

The acolytes stayed in the church, along with some of Captain Barhold's troops to hold a wake. Much singing and praying to Mitra etc. The servants were dismissed to go to their families (and should the PCs come back in servant guise they'd be immediately identifiable as wrong 'uns.

So the party raised the Lord, Father Donnagin and 8 soldiers as skeletons and sent them to attack anyone in the viciinity of the fort. They then proceeded to sneak inside and search the empty bedrooms and kitchens and vestry. On hearing the singing in the church they made sure the trapdoor was securely tied down to prevent excape and sneaked up to the Smithy. They saw light streaming through the stained glass windows, with beautiful pictures of knights and the sun, and decided to attack. The two guards were taken out by an invisible, silent cleaving barbarian, and then a few surprises arrived.

Out of the windows popped two stained glass golems (one M, one L, from the Construct Codex). While the battle raged, the party monk tripped and destroyed one, making himself a target for the Archon whirlwind. It picked him up, battered him and carried him over the wall, dropping him from a great height. He got to use slow fall (how often does that happen?) and is now being approached by 10 skeletons...

The rest of the party is now facing off against a Large Stained Glass Knight and the whirlwind is on its way back to vacuum up another. The light show is almost enough to wake Tacitus (the action is in a [s]ilence[/i])...

The Monk outside the castle unravelled his enchanted rope and threw it all the way up to the battlements, where it attached itself. He started climbing. The Stained Glass golem looked around for a new target now that the Cleric had been carried away. It found Bar, the half-orc Barbarian rushing to engage and met him head-on. Its maximum damage critical - 16 on 2d8 - for 50 points, made him change his mind and promptly retreat again in search of many, many bandages!

The Archons sang glory to Mitra, while shooting their lasers all over the place. The Cleric continued his counter-offensive with negative channels until the last shiny book flared its last prayer.

With no-one brave enough to face the Stained Glass Knight, the Dread Necromancer summoned an Ogre Zombie. The two giants fought it out while the party healed, and as soon as the Monk made it over the wall he joined in. Team Evil were victorius and looked around for their next move. The Ogre zombie had a few moments left, so they raced it into the keep where it began to pound on the stone slab blocking the stairs.

To everyone's surprise it smashed it to smithereens before disappearing in a puff of oily brown smoke. The party raced back to the cover of the Smithy/ Armory to await developments, and Ice Golem and ten crossbowmen did not disappoint. The party were nervous to go outside, expecting an invisible fireballing wizard. They weren't expecting the Ice Golem to throw iceballs and had to race to engage after a few chilly moments. With alchemist's fire, fiery weapons and other, less useful armaments, the party slowly gained the upper hand. The crossbowmen hoped desperately to take a few of the evil invaders out, but were basically ignored until the Rogue/ Alchemist took the lot out with a well-placed bomb. And finally the golem crumbled to pieces. The party have had three members briefly unconscious, and only the Magister has yet to show his face.

He has been hovering above the fight, invisible, for a few moments now - hoping his ice golem would thin the enemy ranks. The party have been staying spread out or fighting from cover from above. Tacitus didn't want to damage his golem himself but now he's alone. He may just ... leave. Or maybe take up position on the roof, or in the gatehouse, waiting for a shot at a few folk. What do you folks think?

Since I accidentally used a Large and a Medium Stained Glass Golem, as well as having the Gestalt coming out to defend the church, I'm going to have it be properly finished with now. The players have earned it - three down-and-dyings in that slugathon!

Having Tacitus solo (or with the last of the guards) would be a bit too one-sided action-economy wise. I like those little Musteval Guardinals (called Agathions in PF? link to conversion here) with their focused movement, or a few flying 3.5 Coure Eladrins - they can Faerie Fire the party for Tacitus :D)

Otherwise... maybe he'd have some little clockworks or mephits. I was tempted to have him secretly be a Bronze Dragon but he'd used too many spells already :-) )

As you said, your party's earned it. They've gone through quite the slug fest. Don't be too mean. They've earned it.