Yep. It's one of those threads, and I get the (dis?)honor of starting things off. So time for one in my (hopefully?) legendary style!

Name: Patrick
Race: Human
Origins: Magnamar, I think. None of us are really too sure.
Adventure: Shards of Sin
Location: That dungeon under the massive bridge I've been calling Gilgamesh's Bridge.
Cause of Death: Dwarven Justice.

Our group consisted of, at this point-
Nial Landen: My human detective bard, respectful of all women and who tries to talk his partner out of hanging himself daily. ...Yes, he's named after a Phantasy Star III character.

Advokat Scroogestone: A middle-aged dwarf lawyer/inquisitor whose great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, and brother all "mysteriously hanged themselves." His only surviving family are his nephews Borist, Dorist, and Yorist, who screwed him out of his inheritance and got him exiled from the mountainhomes. He talks about "wanting to follow in me father's footsteps."

Pawevl: That's not how it's written on his character sheet, but I don't think the message board actually has a Polish character font, so it's getting typed as it's pronounced. Anyway, he's a human summoner with a bipedal eidolon named Ace. Pawevl freeloads upon the offices of Landen and Scroogestone's Investigation and Legalities daily.

Zora: A human crossbow ranger who has not only managed to lose two crossbows in as many sessions, but impressed us by fumbling on her very first attack roll and shooting a crossbow bolt into a mahogany wall. Yes, that joke from The Hunger Games was made.

Patrick: An about-to-be-deceased human knife fighter who loved daggers. In the very first session, he managed to piss off the Szarni to the point where they had him beaten up and robbed. Twice. He freeloaded on our detective business, too. He was utterly hilarious, as is his player.

Franklin Cohen: A human sorcerer who we found in the Tower Girls' privy. He arcane marks every piece of treasure we come across. His player is awesome. He is awesome.

So About That Patrick...: After getting beaten, stripped of our gear, and forced to equip an entire party for 115 gold (a surprisingly easy task!) we get our stuff back and beat some more foes. This is the point where Patrick, for reasons forgotten, spits on Advokat's beard. Advokat flies into a rage and starts old-man-whomping on Patrick with his cane while Patrick power attacks (with daggers!) trying to carve up the dwarf. Patrick loses the fight, to my surprise.

You Don't Really Think I'd End It There, Did You?: After healing our psychotic fighter back up, we fight some more opponents. Then he reminds the dwarf of how he spat on his beard. Advokat once again goes into Old Man Asskicker Mode and beats on Patrick while Patrick tries to award himself two ears and a beard. Patrick loses that fight, too. This is around the time where we found the illusory wall that hides an arch overlooking the sea.

They Got Along Swimmingly: Patrick's unconscious carcass is dragged over to the arch, with me trying to talk Advokat out of throwing him into the sea the entire time. Advokat uses his lawyering ability to explain that not only was it self-defense both times, he struck a Dwarven Advokat of Justice, and must be punished. His punishment: A 200' fall into water. All involved were cool with this (and laughing at it.)

Inter-party hostility of such brutal magnitude is usually a game killer, but it sounds like your players are all really good sports, lol. :D

Notes from Snorb's DM (Me)

It's Patryk not Patrick and Paweł now Pawevl (my Magnimar is in a polish-inspired region of our homebrew)

I do not encourage such inter party strife, but we had an ex-sczarni thug (Patryk) with an Exarch Inquisitor dwarf so it was bound to happen. This happened while I was prepping the map. This event nearly TPKed them when they got to the fight with Ayala since they had wasted their healing knocking the fighter down then bringing him back up only to kill him anyway. So they were down a fighter and out of healing by the fight =p

Oh, hush. You make it sound like a miracle that we even survived the fight =p

Strangley Enough, when I serch-fu'd for this thread nothing came up. But none the less here's mine

Name: 3 Characters, A Halfling Ninja, A Half-Orc Barbarian and a Human Samurai
Classes/levels: All level 1
Adventure: Book 1 "Shards of Sin" - Chapter 1
Location:The Amazing Zogarthy's Tent
Catalyst: A failed Intimidate check
The Gory Details: Party managed to find there way to the Amazing Zogarthy's Tent, after hearing the price he requested (50gp) the Halfling Ninja, NOT THE HALF-ORC, attempted to intimidate. 1 botch Intimidate check later and the party of 3 was surrounded by 12 Sczarni Henchmen. Needless to say they were bludgeoned horribly and dumped out on the pier naked and well.... dead.

You know, I wish I didn't have to post so many of my own characters' obituaries.

Name: Nial Landen
Race: Human Detective Bard
Origins: Magnamar
Adventure: Shards of Sin
Location: That dungeon under the massive bridge I've been calling Gilgamesh's Bridge, just like the last death I posted.
Cause of Death: Mercy kill.

Explain!: Way, way back in the second session of the game, the whole damn party managed to catch filth fever. I was the only one stuck with it four sessions later.

Oh, It's Such a Low Difficulty: You try making a Difficulty 12 Fortitude save when your base save is 0 and keeps going down because you keep failing saves.

Things Get Worse For the Bard: So further under the great bridge, we run into a giant black widow spider the size of a car. It gets Advokat, my character's best friend, and the dwarf somehow manages to fail his save against the poison despite a) dwarfitude, b) having a Constitution and a saving throw worth a damn, and c) being a dwarf. Fortunately, the way we're all lined up in the tunnel allows this to happen:

ROUND ONE
Me: (treats the dwarf's poison despite not having a healing kit)
Pavel: (continues to have his eidolon attack the spider)
Ace the Eidolon: (attacks the spider)
Tszora: (continues to uselessly sling rocks at it through cover. She has Strength damage already, so 1d4-3 isn't going to help.)
Franklin the Mage: (is at the ass-end of the line, so he can't do much. Even if he didn't blow all his spells.)
The Spider!!: (goes after the eidolon)
Advokat: (makes his first save against the poison, continues to lie unconscious)

ROUND TWO
Me: (treats the dwarf's poison despite not having a healing kit)
Pavel: (continues to have his eidolon attack the spider)
Ace the Eidolon: (attacks the spider)
Tszora: (shoves a Cure Light Wounds potion into my hand)
Franklin the Mage: (is at the ass-end of the line, so he can't do much. Even if he didn't blow all his spells.)
The Spider!!: (goes after the eidolon)
Advokat: (makes his second save against the poison, continues to lie unconscious)

ROUND THREE
Me: (administers the Cure Light Wounds potion to Advokat)
Pavel: (dismisses his beaten up eidolon and summons a dire rat to replace it)
Dire Rat: (attacks the spider and gives it filth fever)
Tszora: (continues to uselessly sling rocks at it through cover. She has Strength damage already, so 1d4-3 isn't going to help.)
Franklin the Mage: (is at the ass-end of the line, so he can't do much. Even if he didn't blow all his spells.)
The Spider!!: (goes after the dire rat and tears it in half!!)
Advokat: (starts to stand up)

ROUND FOUR
The Spider!!: (attacks Advokat and knocks him back down)
Me: (stabilizes Advokat)
Pavel: (makes a new dire rat)
Dire Rat: (attacks the spider)
Tszora: (continues to uselessly sling rocks at it through cover. She has Strength damage already, so 1d4-3 isn't going to help.)
Franklin the Mage: (is at the ass-end of the line, so he can't do much. Even if he didn't blow all his spells.)
The Spider!!: (goes after me!)

You Copypastaed: Yeah. It didn't quite happen like that, but that's the gist of it.

So That Spider: So the spider attacks me, and knocks me unconscious. Good news: I stabilize. Bad news: My crippled Fortitude save earns me Constitution damage from poison. Did I mention that I'm already low enough as it is thanks to this @$%*!&#ing filth fever I've had for over a months' worth of sessions thanks to my inability to roll more than an 11 on s d20?

The Mercy Kill: So, finally, finally, the black widow poison finally does enough Constitution damage to kill off my bard. This is what I get for having 10 Constitution.

Oh, and they killed the spider after I drop dead. My friend who plays Advokat says of this whole affair, "Y'know, this was a @$&#ing brilliant idea that @#% noblewoman had! 'Oh! Let's hire a thug, a lawyer, a private eye, a peasant with a sling, and a halfling and hope they can find the most powerful artifact in the world! THIS IS A GREAT IDEA!'"

Was a shame too. I was so looking forward to killing a player with filth fever.

Oh, and they killed the spider after I drop dead. My friend who plays Advokat says of this whole affair, "Y'know, this was a @$&#ing brilliant idea that @#% noblewoman had! 'Oh! Let's hire a thug, a lawyer, a private eye, a peasant with a sling, and a halfling and hope they can find the most powerful artifact in the world! THIS IS A GREAT IDEA!'"

LOL! I just snorted diet coke over my keyboard! And at work too! That's a great line.

Bobby

It's Patryk not Patrick and Paweł now Pawevl (my Magnimar is in a Polish-inspired region of our homebrew)

Share the notes with us?

So, is this AP just not nearly as deadly as the others? This Obit thread seems kind of...dead.

Those ellipses were me genuinely hesitating as I realized what I was writing.

Patience, young grasshopper ...

So, is this AP just not nearly as deadly as the others? This Obit thread seems kind of...dead.

Those ellipses were me genuinely hesitating as I realized what I was writing.

Patience, young grasshopper ...

What he means is that most GMs are waiting to have all six volumes of the AP before starting to run it: I've only received the first three, though I think the fourth has or will be shipping very shortly.

no some people run them right away.

but this time i think ALOT of people are running ROTRL Anniv edition, so not that many people are into this one yet.

It's almost like two APs having come out at once.

I'm waiting for all six volumes of this.

And to finish that Second Darkness game I'm running.

I'm currently running two different groups through this AP. So far, we've had 5 total deaths in one group and 3 in the other. The first group is midway through "Beyond the Doomsday Door," while the second group is in the Black Keep in "The Asylum Stone." I don't have time to go into too much detail, but here are brief summaries of the deaths so far:

"Curse of the Lady's Light:"
Group 1:
Dhampir rogue, killed by sneak attacking babaus.
Human cleric, killed by a confused Oriana in the fight with Ashamintallu.

Group 2:
Human rogue, killed by the fiendish seugathi
Elf druid, killed by giant moray eels while scouting ahead alone
Kobold sorcerer, killed by Ashamantillu's phantasmal killer spell

"The Asylum Stone:"
Group 1:
Dhampir rogue (again), killed by the Dark Rider

"Beyond the Doomsday Door:"
Group 1:
Human wizard, killed by two consecutive traps (exploding headdress and spiked pit)
Human fighter, killed by a redcap's coup de grace while paralyzed by a mummy's despair aura
Human wizard (twice in the same adventure), killed by a critical sneak attack from Roy Flaxbeater

Here is the typical format for obituaries:

Name:
Race:
Classes/levels:
Adventure:
Location:
Catalyst:
The Gory Details: (optional)

:)

I'm currently running two different groups through this AP. So far, we've had 5 total deaths in one group and 3 in the other. The first group is midway through "Beyond the Doomsday Door," while the second group is in the Black Keep in "The Asylum Stone." I don't have time to go into too much detail, but here are brief summaries of the deaths so far:

"Curse of the Lady's Light:"
Group 1:
Dhampir rogue, killed by sneak attacking babaus.
Human cleric, killed by a confused Oriana in the fight with Ashamintallu.

Group 2:
Human rogue, killed by the fiendish seugathi
Elf druid, killed by giant moray eels while scouting ahead alone
Kobold sorcerer, killed by Ashamantillu's phantasmal killer spell

"The Asylum Stone:"
Group 1:
Dhampir rogue (again), killed by the Dark Rider

"Beyond the Doomsday Door:"
Group 1:
Human wizard, killed by two consecutive traps (exploding headdress and spiked pit)
Human fighter, killed by a redcap's coup de grace while paralyzed by a mummy's despair aura
Human wizard (twice in the same adventure), killed by a critical sneak attack from Roy Flaxbeater

Jeez, your'e fast! wasn't Beyond the Doomsday Door only released like a week ago? your'e blazing through this AP!

Jeez, your'e fast! wasn't Beyond the Doomsday Door only released like a week ago? your'e blazing through this AP!

Yeah, we generally burn through APs very quickly, keeping pace as they are released (or sometimes outpacing them). We play every week for 6 hours or so with a group of players who have been through every AP from Rise of the Runelords on.

yea we outpaced Second Darkness and Legacy of Fire, but then didn't play as often so we have had that experience.

Name: Sarcie
Race: Half-elf
Classes/levels: Ranger 2

Name: Brock
Race: Half-elf
Classes/levels: Master Summoner 2

Adventure: Shards of Sin
Location: Catacomb level in The Crow
Catalyst: Giant Ants

The Gory Details:
The group (which also contains a Crusader Cleric, Burglar Rogue, and Universalist Wizard) had stomped Ayala, solved the door riddle, and trounced the Giant Amoeba, before they came across the bat swarm. With a knowledge check they realized that without any area effects (of which the wizard had none prepared) they could do nothing to the swarm. The wizard, rogue, and cleric all dashed back to the room with the door riddle. The ranger and summoner dove in the 3' deep amoeba pool and held their breath. The summoner's eidolon got a late start to run away with the others, and couldn't outpace the swarm. It stopped and waited for the bats to kill it to allow the others time to run.

The ranger and summoner decided to run for the stairs leading down into the catacombs, but had lost their light source when the cleric ran. They had not made it to that part yet, so it was unexplored. They moved in a bit, then the summoner called a fire beetle to light their way. They only made it so far before the beetle moved into the room with the ant mounds. The ants crawled up from the mounds, and the two PC's discussed going back up to run past the bats, but the summoner was more afraid of the bats. They decided to stay and fight, just the two of them.

The soldier ant went first, rushed and crit the fire beetle, killing it and their light source immediately. More ants rushed them in the hallway, and traded blows with the ranger. The summoner called another fire beetle behind the PC's to maintain light. The ranger and ants traded more blows. The summoner called an eagle, and then manned the CLW wand to keep the ranger standing. They lasted a few rounds, before the ranger took too much damage and went -1. He was healed after, but not before the ants had moved atop his space, so when healed he was stuck prone underneath one of them. The two of them managed to take out 3 of the ants before one the things managed to attack the fire beetle, and they lost their light again. Next was the summoner, and finally the ranger was no longer able to fight from underneath the creatures, without being able to heal. Luckily, the soldier was unable to get to them before the others moved in, or else it would have likely ended sooner.

Perhaps one of their new chars should have the 0th level spell 'light' =p

Perhaps one of their new chars should have the 0th level spell 'light' =p

And maybe a little Acid or Alchemist's Fire?

One would think... but instead the newcomers will be a human two-handed fighter and a half-orc monk.

Sunrods, never leave home without them.

at least the half-orc will have infravision ...

at least the half-orc will have infravision ...

I believe you mean "darkvision". ;) It's only "infravision" if you're playing AD&D 2e. :P

Two half elves? that's unusual. were the characters brotheres? because if that's the case, killing them togather, alone and afraid in a dark dungeoun, overrun by monstrous ants, is just too delightful to be true :D

I know its not the norm but would people mind a NPC death here if its particularly gruesome?

I know its not the norm but would people mind a NPC death here if its particularly gruesome?

Nope! Rack 'em and stack 'em!

No problems, just keep the details PG-13 rated.

Most excellent.

Name: Luonim the Vast
Race: Gnome
Classes/levels: Wizard or Sorcerer?/Bloatmage? (I'm a player no idea what his stats were.)

Adventure: The Asylum Stone
Location: The Centrifuge Room
Catalyst: BSF Charge!

The Gory Details: During the fight in the centrifuge room I made the plea to the party to take the gnome alive as we had found out that the gnome was most likely insane and not acting in his right mind. We did 60 damage, mix of nonlethal and lethal when one of our two BSF's made a bull rush from the south to knock him off the platform. He rolled quite high against the gnome's poor CMD knocking him straight towards the north doorway. One failed reflex later (to make it through the door) the gnome was clipped in two. End result LOTS OF BLOOD + Centrifuge = Red Walls. The horrified fighter apologized as it wasn't his intent to kill him just to get to the controls to turn the room off. I said it was cool but he was going to be the one to take the body back to be IDed. (Also I'm going to take 1000g out of his share of the loot.)

:O

Y'know, still could have been worse. Someone could have thrown up afterwards. In the centrifuge.

And anyone that's ever been on a dodgy fair ride knows how that chain reaction goes.

Not sure how much this one counts, but we all enjoyed it at the table.

Name: Sllems
Class/Race Level 5 tiefling fighter

Adventure: Curse of the Lady's Light
Location: First room of the dungeon
Catalyst: Not listening to directions; the cyclical nature of fate.

So the party find their way into the Lady's Light, and the first thing they find is a sarcophagus apparently holding the body of Runelord Sorshen. The wizard says that this is obviously a trap, but Sllems is far too entranced by her "bling" that he tries to snatch off a necklace while the wizard isn't looking. Needless to say, the trap activates, and a giant phantasmal Sorshen stands up and crushes the poor fool to a pulp. Luckily for him, the Clone spell malfunctioned, and he's now inside her body, desperately trying to find a way to get his old one back. He'll probably be listening to the wizard's directions from now on.

The hilarious thing about it is that his last character death was when his halfling bard activated the phantasmal killer in Jorgenfist all the way back in Rise of the Runelords. History does repeat itself, it seems.

:O

Y'know, still could have been worse. Someone could have thrown up afterwards. In the centrifuge.

And anyone that's ever been on a dodgy fair ride knows how that chain reaction goes.

To the best confession ever? Frankly, I am shocked the DM didn't call for a Fort save vs nauseated.

@Mechalibur this happened to our tiefling samurai. Must be a racial thing.

Not sure how much this one counts, but we all enjoyed it at the table.

Name: Sllems
Class/Race Level 5 tiefling fighter

Adventure: Curse of the Lady's Light
Location: First room of the dungeon
Catalyst: Not listening to directions; the cyclical nature of fate.

So the party find their way into the Lady's Light, and the first thing they find is a sarcophagus apparently holding the body of Runelord Sorshen. The wizard says that this is obviously a trap, but Sllems is far too entranced by her "bling" that he tries to snatch off a necklace while the wizard isn't looking. Needless to say, the trap activates, and a giant phantasmal Sorshen stands up and crushes the poor fool to a pulp. Luckily for him, the Clone spell malfunctioned, and he's now inside her body, desperately trying to find a way to get his old one back. He'll probably be listening to the wizard's directions from now on.

The hilarious thing about it is that his last character death was when his halfling bard activated the phantasmal killer in Jorgenfist all the way back in Rise of the Runelords. History does repeat itself, it seems.

I would think when you tell him the buffs he gets for being an azlanti human (+2 to everything!) he'd be more than happy to deal with the change.

I'm keeping his racial stats the same, actually. He rolled very, very well on them to begin with, and he's horrible with math, so I didn't want to slow down the game while he re-calculated all his bonuses.

Name: Viveltre Vanderale
Race: Aasimar
Classes/levels: Cleric of Asmodeus 5
Adventure: Curse of the Lady's Light
Location: The Lady's Light
Catalyst: A very special trap (K1)

The Gory Details: The group was very confused when they found the comatose body of the Runelord Sorshen herself in a sarcophagus just after they entered the Lady's Light. After ample debate, they nevertheless decided to remove the jewelry she obvious didn't need in this sarcophagus.

Viv' went for it. Her companions saw her eyes go wide, her heart stop, and her body collapse on the ground, dead. A second later, Runelord Sorshen raised from her sarcophagus. That created even more confusion but it was eventually realized she was Viv' reborn.

Viv's was unlucky as she rolled 9 and 11 on her saves. But did that create some great roleplay situations afterwards! And the players has been having a lot of fun with the situation. Viv was never happy with her aasimar wings anyway!

(Complete write-up and its consequences will appear in this thread as I catch up with the last few sessions of play.)

Name: Sllems
Class/Race Level 9 tiefling fighter

Adventure: The Asylum Stone
Location: The Dining Hall
Catalyst: Decapitation

Sllems was already lower on hit points than normal, because he suffered some blood drain from the flying torso chick (I'll never remember the name of that monster). When the Dark Rider enters, he starts by chucking a head at the group, and Sllems failed his save miserably. In anger, the tiefling charges at the undead knight, and misses, while suffering an attack from the spine flail's reach. The next turn the Dark Rider rolls 2 criticals, dropping Sllems to negative, as he then fails against the fortitude save for decapitation. Thankfully, he resisted turning into a hound.

Name: Varcen
Class/Race Level 9 half-elf monk

Adventure: The Asylum Stone
Location: The Dining Hall
Catalyst: Decapitation

Varcen also failed his save against the head explosion, taking 38 damage before he was even able to approach the headless boss. The monk thought maybe a stunning fist would save him, but unfortunately, undead are immune. The next full attack round was brutal, this time with a handaxe x3 critical. Varcen also fails his save against decacitation, but resists turning into a hound. A third player likely would have died if not for a timely Wall of Ice from the party wizard.

Sadly, revival is pretty much not an option at this point. Varcen has a gentle repose on him, and the players are waiting to see if they'll be able to get the 10k worth of diamonds (not enough left of him for a raise dead) and find a cleric able to bring him back. No one liked Sllems, though, so he stays dead :(

(The players were happy to make new characters, though!)

Name: Osyth Ardoc
Class/Race: female human transmuter 7-ish

Adventure: Curse of the Lady's Light
Location: The False Sepulchur
Catalyst: Second-Best Trap EVAR

I was SO glad someone keeled over from this trap; GMs and some groups may be familiar with this one. We'd ended a session with the PCs looting Sorshen's clone, and as we finished up, I asked who was doing the looting. Ben Bruck, Osyth's player, said she was prolly doing it, so the first thing we did for the next session was have her roll some saves.

Now, Osyth's a wizard, and I fully expected her to ace the Will save. But fail she did, so we moved on to the image of a massive Sorshen squishing her. But Ben mentioned Osyth's Fortitude is pretty good for a wizard (she puts her transmuter bonus ability points into that one), so I was biting my nails inside my head that this would fail. But he threw the d20 and it came up with, like, a natural 3.

So now Osyth looks exactly like Sorshen. She's disappointed about it, even with the Azlanti stat bonuses and the many opportunities to talk through a combat room, but we're all out-of-game cackling with joy over this.

I really should try this campaign with my Tiefling Wizard like I planned to, because that Sorshen trap is full of RP opportunities.

It sure is! If you have the right players who play along and don't get grumpy because you messed up with their characters, this is a golden opportunity for some gorgeous roleplaying!

The RP is AWESOME. Osyth hates looking like Sorshen, but can't fix it without immense personal wealth investment (they've got access to a 17th-level wizard in the form of my PC-turned-GMPC, Augusta), so she's cutting her hair short and probably wearing concealing clothes (Osyth's a bit of a mechanic nerd, at least so far, so her default outfits are heavy leather aprons and loose robes). As the AP goes on, there's some serious opportunity for roleplay, especially since the next volume we're doing, The Asylum Stone, will involve some uncomfortable reunions with her family, the Ardocs. She may end up liking the Sorshen body for those, since having to deal with the fam will be awful.

Name: Rhialla the Pristine
Race: Human
Classes/levels: Paladin of Shelyn 2
Adventure: Shards of Sin
Location: Crow Piling, Upper Level
Catalyst: Tower Girls barricade and stubbornness
The Gory Details: After being spotted while approaching the piling, and then killing one Tower while letting another escape to report (and then taking time to search rooms), the party went down the stairs into the Marshaling Room to find almost a dozen Tower Girls behind a make-shift barricade of barrels, tables and junk. Hand crossbows and thrown daggers (with some having higher initiative and thus sneak attack) did their damage, severely hurting most party members before they could even advance. The paladin moved forward to ‘provide cover’ while the others retreated. Another barrage of hand crossbow bolts later and the paladin is down and very obviously dead. The elven wizard cast Grease, using her Arcane Bond, on the stairs to slow pursuit as the party escapes. Shelyn welcomes Rhialla with a loving embrace.

Name: Cordaldrum
Race: Old Dwarf
Classes/levels: Cleric of Torag 2
Adventure: Shards of Sin
Location: Crow Piling, Upper Level
Catalyst: Tower Girls barricade (Part 2), a bag full of alchemist’s fire and a gun
The Gory Details: The party stocks up on disposable goods like alchemist’s fire and acid flasks, a new Pathfinder is introduced to the group (a Gunslinger), and they return to the Crow. They try to be stealthy, but the dwarven cleric endlessly lectures about tactics and so they are heard upon approach. The place is quiet when the group enters, so they are cautious. They fully expect the barricade, and rush down the stairs, with flasks in hand, to make an opening. The stairs are slippery! The Tower Girls appreciated the tactic and copied it themselves using oil. The rushing dwarf slips on the oil and slides into the Marshaling Room on his back. A few tanglefoot bags later he is trapped prone. The rest of the group is hesitant to cross the oil, but their line of sight is terrible because they are further up the stairs than the ceiling of the room. One round later and the dwarf is a pincushion (even with Prone minus to ranged attacks), but still alive. The group gingerly crosses the oil patch, and being desperate put all their flasks in one bag. Being a “nice” DM I allow them to toss the bag into the room and the gunslinger creates a big bang by shooting the bag. BOOM. Well, there’s a hole in the barrier, a few dead Tower Girls, mass panic from other Girls, and a very burned and dead dwarf.

Name: Shelara (but she got “better”)
Race: Elf
Classes/levels: Wizard (Evoker) 3
Adventure: Shards of Sin
Location: Crow Piling, Dungeon
Catalyst: Centipede Swarm and Poison
The Gory Details: The party was investigating the kitchen area. Strange sounds came from one of the giant ovens. Preparing for trouble the group was nonetheless unprepared when a swarm of centipedes poured forth from the cracks! Veld the paladin tried bashing the things with his warhammer, to no avail, and the poor wizard was too close. The centipedes swarmed over her, biting small chunks of her flesh while the poison did its work (on the already clumsy elf). The paladin tried his best to heal her, and the elf did some nasty damage with her Burning Hands, but the poison soon did its work and the elf fell down paralyzed. After the swarm had been dispersed using alchemist’s fire, all that was left of the elf was her bones. She had been eaten alive.

As an aside, the group decided to use their newly acquired Salve of the Second Chance on Shelara, a ‘present’ from Venture-Captain Sheila Heidmarch because of their recent losses in the Crow. Shelara was willing to come back, and her body reformed as....an orc. Much laughter and role-playing ensued.

A further aside, this was doubly hilarious considering the elf had been disguising herself as a human male using a Hat of Disguise because she was running away from elven Trackers who wanted to find and execute her for aiding the Drow [albeit unknowingly, as she was seduced by a drow in disguise, but ignorance is no excuse ;)]. A great backstory for the character and it got such a fun twist from that Reincarnation.

Name: Veld the Shield
Race: Human
Classes/levels: Paladin of Iomedea (Divine Defender) 3
Adventure: Shards of Sin
Location: Crow Piling, Laboratory
Catalyst: Stink the Lemure and a manipulated paladin
The Gory Details: The group had successfully talked with Stink, letting him know that the other devils (a.k.a. bullies) has been killed. Stink had given them his treasure already. Shelara the Orc, being a silly thing, teased/manipulated Veld the paladin that Stink was still evil, a threat, and a cunning foe. The paladin, convinced the lemure was a danger, struck at Lemure (scoring a critical hit and really hurting Stink). Stink became enraged at the emotional and physical pain and struck back. A few return hits, combined with the paladin’s already low hitpoints from previous encounters and a crit, dropped the paladin. Healed to consciousness while under the bulk of Stink, the paladin tried to aid an ally, only to be spotted by Stink and ripped apart to a certain death. Shelara the Orc is feeling very, very guilty.

Name: Ruis Henderthane
Race: Human
Classes/levels: Fighter 3
Adventure: Shards of Sin
Location: Crow Piling, Laboratory
Catalyst: Stink the Lemure and a victim of “He’ll be fine”
The Gory Details: After Veld the paladin dropped the first time, Ruis stepped in with his mithral rapier to engage Stink. He got a good hit in before Stink retaliated with both sets of claws tearing into Ruis’ chest. Shelara the Orc and Milah the Gunslinger were intent on the paladin and Stink, and were so distraught at the paladin dying they never noticed the poor fighter slowly bleed to death. Three rounds of failed stabilization rolls later, the remaining two Pathfinders heard a quiet death rattle as they mourned the paladin. Shelara the Orc’s guilt grows.

HAHAHHAHAHAHAH!
BWAAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH!!
*deep breath*
HAHAHAHAHHAH!!!

Beautiful, Lopke, absolutely beautiful.

Near TPK in shards of sin.

Name: Tyberious
Race: Halforc
Class: Urban Ranger
Level: 4th level

Tyberious was fighting the Shriezyxs in the bottom level to the dungeon. The group trusted the lacedon, Lockerbie Brast and he was helping them fight. However, Tyberious fumbled and I had him slip prone in front of one of the Shriezyxs. Instead of Tyberious just standing up, he crawled away (right to Lockerbie). Lockerbie, couldn't resist a juicy half-orc and started attacking the half-orc.

Name:Portia
Race: Human
Class: Oracle of Life (blind).
Level: 4

When Tyberious withdrew, he abandoned the blind oricle Portia who was standing behind him. The Oracle was promptly hindered by the slowing toxin and web. The shriezyx made short work of her.

Name: Madi
Race: Human
Class: Paladin
Level: 4

With Tyberious and Portia out of the fight, the shriezyx surrounded the paladin and dispatchedher as well. They rolled poorly and fought stupidly.

The last two characters, a gnome bard named Figit and a half elf magis both proptly ran, like brave, brave Sir Robin.

Wow, that's a brutal game you play, Lopke. Your PCs certainly don't seem to help! :)

Wow, that's a brutal game you play, Lopke. Your PCs certainly don't seem to help! :)

I prefer to think of it as 'honest'. All my dice are rolled in the open (okay, mostly all, Fort saves vs disease and some others are secret) and the players know that. We also use the crit hit/miss decks for PCs and creatures, which adds much flavour and fun...and blood.

I tend to be generous when it comes to little presents and prizes for my PCs, especially when they engage in side-quests/personal stories. But I also follow through with consequences of their actions. If they're being silly, bad things can happen.

All of which my players know and accept, of course :)

Honesty hurts ;)

Name: Sato
Race: Tengu
Class/Level: Inquisitor 12

Adventure: Into the Nightmare Rift
Location: Throne Room
Catalyst: Failed attempt at heroism

The party wins initiative, and nearly kills the chief on the first turn. Sato decides he wants to finish the boss off, so he charges at the chief... and misses. Since he's the only one nearby, Jubbeck power attacks him, scoring a crit on his second attack, knocking poor Sato to -70hp.

Our arcane archer at this point has seen 3 tengus die horrible deaths (2 of which were in a past adventure), so she's really started to get unhinged at this point.

Name: Saran
Race: Aasimar
Class/Level: Paladin 13

Adventure: Into the Nightmare Rift
Loaction: Outside of Guiltspur
Catalyst: Betrayal

The fight against Cadrilkasta was intense, and wanting all the help they can get, the party enlists the help of Xiavanshee, much to Saran's chagrin. During the fight, the party is doing relatively well, until the musketeer fails her save against a prismatic spray, sending her to another plane. When the blue dragon is injured, her contingency spell activates, and a chase through Leng and Guiltspur ensues, the party using their spy eyes to track her movement. She manages to slow them down with her mirage special ability, and her azata summons (who also healed her). When they finally confront her for the last time outside of Guiltspur, a prepared prismatic spray sends the party wizard to another plane, leaving it down to Saran the paladin, Menelwyn the arcane archer, and Xiavanshee. Cadrilkasta manages to take Saran to the negatives, but is eventually slain with two full attacks from the drow and elf.

Then things get nasty. Xiavanshee takes the shard, knowing that Menelwyn can't do much to stop her, and slits her own throat with it, much to the arcane archer's surprise. Unfortunately, Melewyn can't do more than stabilize Saran (all the healing items were with the wizard), before Xiavanshee rises from the ground, and successfully uses her dominating gaze on Melewyn. Realizing that as an aasimar, Saran wouldn't be subject to the domination, she stabs him, takes his gear, and continues to the underdark, dominated elf in tow.

Xiavanshee is now a vampire with a dominated elf, and her 3 hunt mistresses still alive. She posseses two of the shards, the gear of two companions, and a dragon's horde. The party is in for a rough fight.