Are you factoring in the offset for farmland hexes?
"A kingdom's Consumption is equal to its size plus the number of city districts it contains plus adjustments for Edicts minus 2 per famland" pg55 (also repeated on pg64)
Luck
Baldy
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The key thing to make an interesting game is that for starters... it's gotta interest YOU. +1 Then, at least one person at the table is going to be happy :D Seriously, if you're not fired up by the game, no one else is likely to be. Once you've chosen your starting adventure, basic GM advice would be Know the rules - for the encounters you will be presenting, and for the PCs. If they're new to the game, you will need to help them. If they are veteran players, you still need to have a good idea of what their characters are capable of. Know the background - Make sure you understand the NPCs and monsters you'll be running, and can picture the environment. Sure, you'll need to look things up, and maybe read out prepared text, but you've got to be able to react to player questions, and work out the results of their actions. Prepare props - don't pause the game so you can spend half an hour drawing another battle map. Be confident - don't feel you have to halt an action scene to look up a minor modifier. Make a call (just don't kill a character this way!) and check after the game. Let the players take part - they're as much a part of the game as you are, so let them shape the story through their characters. Sorry, I know this is all basic stuff. But some the GM's I play with have me biting my dice in annoyance from time to time. And, I suppose they say the same things about my games too. Good luck
As Volaran and Xenomorph 27 suggest, use the NPCs. Some of the folks who give out the quests could accompany the PCs Spoiler:
Vekkel could hop along on the hunt to find Tuskgutter. Jhod could accompany the PCs as they search for his temple (in my game he had lost his spell casting ability as part of geas driving him to restore the temple) Kesten may assign one of his men to the PCs as a punishment/reward Having said that, the encounters, fixed and random, are a bit of a mixed bag. Some will be walkovers even with only three PCs. Thinking ahead, filling rulerships roles could be more of a headache for you, which is where a bunch of well established and friendly NPCs will be a godsend.
Session Eighteen more ramblings from Carver... 11th Desnus At last, we is back at Oleg’s. I have not been keeping my book up to date, which is a bad thing. But life is tough in the Greenbelt, and all my writing stuff gets ruined when I fight trolls. Trolls is not fun to fight. Even when we kill them, they keeps twitching like they want to get up and fight again, which is not right. Wildy Man tells me he is mainly learning fire magic now, so he can burn any troll he meets. Anyway, everyone at Oleg’s is happy to see me. And the others, I guess. We tell everyone about how we kill the Stag Lord, and now they all know what a tough fellow is Carver. Blondy does his saga for everyone, which I am bored with because he is practising it all the way back north. Kesten gives us some gold for our good deeds, but he also tells us that he is worried about the kobolds again. There are more of the little buggers now, and he has got more men from Restov in case they mean trouble. We is going to sort them out again. 13th Desnus We rest up for a day, and now we is ready to head out. Oleg has got us fresh horses and supplies, and we is going to do some more exploring and pop in on the kobolds. 14th Desnus We does some scouting to the east and Wildy fills in more map. Now we head south along the river. 15th Desnus We go back to the ruined bridge called Nettles’ Crossing today. When Gabby rings the bell, a dead bloke gets up out of the river, and splashes towards us. Because I is brave, I have to face this fellow, who stinks bad, while the others run away a bit. But it turns out the dead guy just wants us to kill the Stag Lord, so I tells him we do that already. We say we will bring back his head as proof, which should make him a happy dead guy. 16th Desnus Further south, and we meet up with a gang of kobolds. They is a bit fighty, which is funny because they is so small, but when they see we are the guys who know their chief, they calm down. We go back to the mine, where they are digging. There are a lot more of them now. We speak to the chief. Well, Blondy and Gabby do, because they can speak lizard. Chief agrees not to invite any more “cousins”, but it seems he wants a favour in return. Wildy is worried by this, but we agree anyway. We can always bash them if we have to. 19th Desnus I miss some more days, but this is OK because there is nothing to kill. We have got the Stag Lord’s head, which is now very smelly, and we go to see the dead guy at the bridge. I throw him the head, and from out of the water comes his spear. Blondy says it is a magic spear, what they call a ranseur. To me it is just a spear with hooky bits, and even if it is magic, it is not so good as my big chopper. 20th Desnus We get back to Oleg’s to find a big, fancy tent in the field outside with lots of horses and guardsmen. Inside the tent is the fellow, Iris, what gives us our first charter, the one what says we can go to the Greenbelt and kill who we like. There is a lot of talking, but the good thing is that he has a new charter for us, and this is even better. We are all going to be kings, and people will have to bow and scrape around us. If they know what’s good for them. 21st Desnus This king business is boring. And it looks like we can’t all be kings, which is poor. Iris is talking about all the jobs what need doing, and who does this and that. I ask Iris if I kill the others, does that mean I get to be king. He thinks I am making a joke. But Wildy Man tells me that being a general is better, because I will get to bash more things. And with my army, I can bash whoever is king if I feel like it. Session Nineteen 22nd Desnus More talking. Good that I am there though, because I am the only one with any ideas. While Blondy and Gabby look daggers at each other about who would make the best king (or queen in the case of Gabby) I sort out the rest of the council. Oleg, Kesten and Svetlana all agree to help us out. Then we decide Blondy is best to be king, and Gabby is pouting because she has to settle for another job. 25th Desnus All this politics is busy work, and I miss more days in my journal. But anyway, we are at the Elk Temple, where Jhod the priest and Akiros the ex-bandit have agreed to join us. We also talk about recruiting the kobolds. Jhod gives a speech about good and evil and stuff, but agrees that it is better to get them on side than having to kill them. Which is OK, because I need an army and I reckon they is good at following orders, and none too picky about what those orders is. 26th Desnus We are taking the chance to explore a bit more of the woods, what will be our new kingdom. Today we follow a stinky river south, and come across a stinkier ruin, where a frog man is living. He shouts at us. We shout at him. He eats our food and then shows us an even uglier creature than what he is. Whether it is a pet, or his wife, I do not know. Anyway, we do not bash him because he is all covered in slime and stuff, and he is not bothering anyone.
Thanks for the responses folks. The main thing I'll be taking away from this is to make sure the exits are clearly marked. Regards
Last session, I had an encounter lined up which wasn't intended to be a straight fight. The monsters were a bit hard for my third level party, and I was intending to run a tense chase scene through a dark, storm lashed night (good atmosphere, eh?). I telegraphed the encounter with a scene of devastation, which did seem to worry the players, and had them spot the monsters with enough time to pack up and get going. Of course they didn't. Like every other obstacle they've encountered so far in the AP, they've hit it straight on. Fortunately, the monsters weren't too smart, I staggered the attack to give the PCs a fighting chance, which they (especially the rogue) made the most of, and managed to survive (just). I reckon one bad round though and it would have been a TPK. And this has happened before - the last big fight I had to play the bad guys at their worst (completely within what was described in the AP) to compensate for PC tactics which are either thoughtless or arrogant. Question is - how do you GMs out there get your parties to back off from a threat? To bravely run away? I don't want to be telling them what to do, but I don't want to have to filter every encounter to make sure its winnable. They're in a sandbox environment, where some stuff is going to be too tough for them for quite a few levels yet. But its a fun campaign, we are all enjoying it, and TPKs aren't my style. Baldy
Nice update, Dabbler Gabby definitely gets "man" of the match for her performance in that fight.
Thanks for the ideas. I had already pegged Maegar Varn, so I can foreshadow VV. The silliness angle is a possibility too, if I can just think of a suitably annoying RL personality to cameo :)
I'm just about to start GMing Rivers Run Red for my group, so I've been running through some kingdom building trials so as to get a grip on the rules. For some reason Visiting Celebrity seemed to be a recurring Event, which got me thinking what sort of "celebrities" are likely to turn up in this backwater barony? Who are people using as their Paris Hilton of the month? Cheers
I'm also fairly new to Pathfinder, having started about a year ago. The core rulebook, bestiary 1, and an adventure path (Kingmaker) have covered all my gaming needs up until now, and for the foreseeable future. Other stuff I've thought about includes:
I'll probably pick all these up at some point, but although I've GM'd one game, and am playing in another, I haven't found the need yet. Of course just my opinion. You and your group may have different tastes. Cheers
I've tended to present fairly detailed quests and plots, with a lot of background and a good deal of railroading. Fortunately my players are too lazy to think up anything themselves ;) so they're usually happy to follow the breadcrumbs. Contrasts nicely with the other GM in the group, who rarely does any prep, and makes it all up on the fly. The one time he did plan something out, it went a bit sour - he had a Hornblower-esque adventure of naval shennanigans on the high seas laid out for us. Unfortunately all our characters' interests were firmly on dry land, so we all said "no thanks" and headed back inland. Baldy
Flushed with level 3 awesomeness, my party headed straight for the fort. Their nightime assault ended in them fleeing like girls from the zombies. Their second, sneak attack, was foiled by the fighter yelling his battle cry, and led to a pretty bloody fight at the gate. They'd taken out the bandits, the owlbear, and Auchs (well the owlbear did for Auchs), and had just used their last CLW when the Stag Lord made his appearance, using Insightful Shot to put down the rogue. They dithered and were about to flee, when the Bard/Pally decided on a heroic last assault. The two remaining PCs backed him up, and in a string of 1's from the Stag Lord, and a couple of criticals from the PC's he went down. Of course, they then decided to rest up without bothering to locate the cellar and the scary spellcaster they KNEW was there.
Like L12 Procastinator, my group doesn't go in much for "acting", although that doesn't stop them playing their characters with quite well defined personalities. EG: the fighter is always crass and reckless, the druid sneering and sarcastic, the bard a bit of a worrier. Admittedly these are all pretty close to the players' own personalities. Its been a long time since I played with anyone who was precious about role-playing as opposed to roll-playing. I don't think its reasonable to expect someone who's had a hard week at work to suddenly turn into a paragon of archaic eloquence for the evening, nor for anyone else to be forced to sit and listen to them. If they want to default to a Diplomacy skill check, why not? Similarly, if an NPC is delivering a flowery and overly wordy speech, I don't want to take a big chunk of game time monologuing. I'd rather describe it as such, and then ask for Int rolls to see if anyone understood what on earth he was saying. I don't think you need to steer clear of the social interaction scenes - just be prepared to handle them in third person if that's what the group is most comfortable with. Good luck with the game
And that's it for a few months. I'll be taking a break, and letting someone else GM for a while.
Session Sixteen (and no more rubbish doggerel) From Carvers diary… I have killed the Stag Lord. I chop his head off with my big sword, and all is well. We get some good stuff from his body, although Blondy takes the best of it. I get a magic amulet and a potion. Blondy tells me to save it for later, so I sneak off and drink it. It heals me up a bit, and I go off and find some treasure. I also look for a cellar, because we know there is one, but I can’t find one. We are all still wounded, so we are now resting up in one of the towers. Wildy has brought back our horses, although one was eaten by the zombies on the hillside. The others are tied up at the foot of the tower. It is going dark when we is attacked. I am on watch, when I hear something, and then a huge ant, big as me, comes running up the steps and starts chomping on my armour. I kill it pretty quick, but behind it comes a carpet of normal size bugs. I run off, and it heads for the others, who are jumping off the tower. Blondy gets covered in bugs as he jumps and runs off squealing. The bugs come down the walls of the tower and set to eating our horses. Above the racket, I hear Gabby shouting for us. Gabby is now a girl, by the way, which takes some getting used to. I head back, to see a big wolverine rip Gabby up, and start on Wildy. I charge in and hit it, but it keeps clawing and biting. Wildy goes down too, and I am feeling shaky, when arrows start thunking into it. Blondy has come up, and finally sticks it with enough arrows to drop it. When it falls it turns into a wrinkly old man. We drag Wildy and Gabby as far from the munching bugs as we can. Fortunately they fill up on horseflesh, and don’t come after us. It is near midnight when Blondy gets his magic back, and we can bring Wildy and Gabby round. Then we have to wait til morning before Blondy and Wildy can get back enough magic to heal us properly. After that we find the way into the cellar, where the old druid guy was living, and find some more loot. More than we can carry without horses. We is to take the coin and gems with us, and come back later for the rest.
Session Fifteen 29th Gozran We is camping in the woods, near the stinky river. I want to go to Oleg’s for beer, but nobody is moving. They just sit around talking about the bandits and the fort, and arguing about spells and stuff. 30th Gozran from Blondini’s Saga: the death of the Stag Lord (first draft)... Praise Erastil. We are victorious, though the fight was hard and our enemies fierce and numerous. Under cover of mist, and gentle rain,
Swift over the wall went Gabby the rogue.
A dreadful beast, part owl but mostly bear
Not one of us had so far been unscathed
But Erastil was with us, so I swear.
Session Fourteen from the diary of Carver (minus the knob gags - it was one of those sessions)... 23rd Gozran My kobold pals is gone. I don’t realise at first, but they take most of the bandit treasure with them. I must have words with Blondy about distracting me from looting. At least we don’t have to worry about burying all the bodies. Jhod has his priesty magic back, so we is all healed up. We spend today building shelters for the temple folk to live in. Blondy learns some work songs from this Akiros guy, who is also keen on Erastil. I like building stuff, and I like a good sing. 24th Gozran More building. We get two decent shelters finished, and the caves properly cleaned up. Akiros is happy to stay and guard the temple, so we decide that tomorrow we is going south, to sort out this Stag Lord. 25th Gozran We head out of forest, and follow Thorn River south. We find an old bridge, but it looks too shaky to take horses across. Further south, where rivers meet, river is fordable. We camp here, and plan to do a bit of exploring before we go further south. 26th Gozran Cross river and explore area to north. All fairly dull. I make it more interesting by drawing stuff I want to see on the map. Blondy and Wildy get shouty. I don’t care. I am still laughing when I go to sleep, because they is awake all night trying to scrape off my improvements to their pretty map. 27th Gozran We don’t go far before we get to a big hill, from where we can see the lake and the bandit fort. It is a fair distance still, with no easy route to get close without being seen. I have good plan though, so we head west to woods, and circle round to get a bit closer. Tonight we will sneak up and see what we can see. 28th Gozran Last night’s scouting not so good. We get up to the fort easy, for the bandits do not know how to keep watch. Gabby sneaks all round, and gets good picture of place, and where guards are. There is no guards on the south side, so we get ready to head up to the wall. Gabby is first, but is not half way up when he comes running back down, jumping and flipping like what I see clowns do in the circus. Only this is not so funny because he is being chased by dead guys what come up out of the ground. With all this commotion, we see lights up in the fort, and hear shouting. We fight the dead guys for a bit and then run before anything else comes at us. Blondy is pretty beaten up, but otherwise we are OK. Only now the bandits know what we are about.
Session Thirteen 12th Gozran (continued) Now we have killed the kobold priest, we get our pick of his treasure. First, we make sure we get Svetlana’s ring, but there is a lot of tasty stuff piled up in his cave. I get myself some crossbow bolts what Blondy says is magic. Gabby gets some magic boots, and Blondy picks himself a wand. There is also a nice metal shield what I want, but the others don’t let me steal it, even though I reckon we could beat these little lizards if it came to it. Kobolds make us a big feast. Kobold priest is main course. Tastes like chicken. They don’t have any beer though, so not much of a feast. Wildy and Gabby talk to the chief, and tell him to leave the hunters and traders alone. Chief is happy to do this if he can trade for stuff at Oleg’s. I still think we should bash them all and take their silver mine. 13th Gozran Say bye-bye to kobolds and head back to Oleg’s. I need to get some proper rest, for I am still poorly from tick bites. 14th Gozran Back at Oleg’s. Oleg is so happy to get back Svetlana’s ring, he is not that bothered about kobolds turning up at his place. Kesten is not so happy, but we have the Charter. 15th Gozran Wildy heads off south to meet with kobolds while we rest up. 18th Gozran It has been a few boring days, before Wildy turns up with loads of kobolds. Kesten is very worked up about this, but most of them camp a distance away, and only the chief and two others come in to talk. Chief gives everyone gifts, including giving me the shield I wanted. Oleg must get some good stuff too, because he seems pleased. Anyway, now that the kobolds are friends, Jhod the priest is back, nagging at us to take him to the forest temple. He has a few followers now, including Blondy, who has come over all churchy. Since I am better from my sickness, we are OK to go. 19th Gozran We head south to take Jhod and company to the forest temple. This will take a long time, since they don’t have horses and one woman has a poorly leg. She won’t ride, because she says she is on a pilgrimage. Blondy is walking with them too, and cosying up to Jhod. Wildy looks grumpy again – I thought he was into Old Deadeye, but he must have changed his mind. Maybe he’ll come around to Gorum, so we can be bestest friends. 20th Gozran Still travelling. This is boring. At least Jhod has a couple of hunters with him so we get good grub. They is always off in the forest catching stuff. 21st Gozran We is camping at the old bandit camp, near the ford. I remember how I bashed all the bandits here. Happy times. 22nd Gozran We cross river and head to temple. With this lot in tow, it is going to take us all day to get there. Big fight. I am bashed and cut all over, but this time I am still standing at the end.
Anyway, they is shooting arrows and charging across the clearing at us. I am getting ready to bash them when I get stabbed in my buttocks. One of Jhod’s hunters is attacking me. I don’t understand, but then Gabby runs up and sticks him with his little sword. Turns out he and his brother were bandits all along. Next thing I know, I am knee deep in bandits, and am having some trouble. Gabby is alongside me, shouting and prancing about, but not doing much either. Luckily, Wildy runs up and bashes one to stop me getting surrounded. It is only when the boss bandit turns up and kills one of the guys fighting me (he is good guy, it seems) that I finally get space to swing my sword, and start bashing good. Soon there are no bandits about, except one who is giving up. Some other bandits were coming through the trees, but Wildy caught them with his magic, and only one gets through to meet my sword. On the other side of the pool, Blondy and Jhod would have been in trouble but for some clever magic by Blondy, and a gang of kobolds turning up to stop the other lot of bandits hidden in the woods. Seems the little lizards are useful after all. Kressle got away. Again. She is not one for sticking around. But this other bandit guy, Akiros, who turns out to be on our side, is telling us some stuff about the Stag Lord and that he is all worked up about killing us off. Looks like we will have to sort him out soon.
Thanks for the responses. Good stuff. We had a chat last night, and he decided to give paladin a go, mainly because of the RP/motivation aspect. We have changed out SP feat to Precise Shot, and he's taking Rapid Shot for his Level 3 feat. When Stolen Lands is completed, I'm going to give all the players opportunity to tweak/rewrite their characters during the kingdom building downtime, so he will have the option of going back to pure Bard, changing to pure Pally, or any other combination. Cheers
I have no problems with Paladins in general. But I suspect mischief is intended. The druid in the party also follows Erastil, and since the two players like to wind each other up, I foresee some religious schisms developing in the Greenbelt.
Spell Penetration is a completely worthless feat for several levels. He may as well have spent it on Skill Focus: Underwater Basketweaving (although perhaps he could make money that way so it would actually be a better feat...) I know, I know. But short of getting him in a headlock and creating his character for him, there's nothing I could have done about it. Come what may, that Spell Penetration feat was going to be on his character sheet.
Thanks Phneri and Blueluck Human (as at L2)
HP 21
*I started the campaign with only 3 players, so I gave everyone Toughness as a freebie so that they'd have a good chance to survive a few levels without me having to fudge. Of course, its proved a bit too good, but so long as the players are happy... PBS was at my suggestion (after reading Treantmonk's guide). Spell Penetration was at his insistence. I'm not using APG material for this campaign. We're new to Pathfinder, so the core stuff is awesomeness enough for now. I think his decision is more for the feel of the character, rather than to get specific goodies. He's always played melee focussed characters, and I think he's not comfy with what he sees as a support/buff role. One thing I have noticed is that he's stopped bothering with using his Inspire Courage comedic routine. Plus his spells slots have been mainly used to CLW on "Mr Charge" the fighter, which I think annoys him more than a little. Its 100% his choice, of course. I just want to be able to forewarn him of any obvious pitfalls or redundancies that might bite him at future levels. Thanks Dorje. Good points
I'm currently GMing for a group who are midway through the first Kingmaker instalment. We have four PCs: Fighter, Druid, Rogue and Bard, all just about to advance to 3rd level. The Bard player has been muttering about multiclassing into a more combat focussed role, and I'm wondering what advice I should give him. His attributes are awesome (randomly rolled, but would work out at about 40pts if purchased), with Charisma of 18. Initially we were talking about Fighter, to pick up a few bonus feats, or Ranger to fit the wilderness environment. However, he has just realised that his Cha suits him for Paladin Gives the weapon proficiencies he's after (ie: longbow)
It also fits with the immediate situation, as they've just done a big favour for a LG priest
Spoiler:
brought the priest of Erastil to the Temple of the Elk We're not too concerned about uber-optimization. However, I'd be interested to read what people think about the utility of this combination. Do a couple of Paladin levels complement a Bard, or vice-versa? Or does it just create an unholy mess of stunted abilities with no synergies to recommend it? Baldy
Session Twelve from the diary of Carver... 10th Gozran continued ...this entry is in a different script and an unfamiliar language... Idiots to the right of me, incompetents to the left. I am surrounded by fools. I write these words in the halfwit’s journal as he is currently incapacitated, ravaged by sickness and injury. A state, I am forced to conclude, which at least renders him incapable of committing further harm. With our magic all but exhausted, and all of us save the prattling bard carrying injury, we continued into the foulsome dark of the mite warren. For once, the oafish warrior had the wit to obey me, and drink the last of our healing potions. Somewhat recovered, he and the bard descended another root choked decline, to be greeted by yet another volley of darts. The rogue and I followed in haste, to discover Carver gripped in the embrace of a tick the size of a pony, whilst Blondini battled four of the malicious blue imps. Gabby moved to relieve the bard, while I cast my last spell upon my cudgel, empowering it with the strength of the forest. Bloated and disgusting, two vile creatures rolled and grappled on the floor beneath me. Eventually I made my choice and hit the tick rather than our fighter. The rogue and bard made short work of the mites, and moved to assist me, together finishing the creature, and its rider, an altogether more disgusting example of the mite breed. With our foes dead, we moved to explore the chamber we now found ourselves in. I saw another tunnel, and used my summoned light to determine that it was blocked by a deep chasm. Seeing no profit in exploring further I returned to find the bard inspecting a curious idol, while the rogue squinted at some papers upon which, it was determined, the mites had recorded the tally of wins and losses during a war they were apparently waging with the kobolds. This was useful information to be sure, not least because we saw in the jottings that the kobolds had stolen (amongst other things) a ring from the mites. Svetlana’s ring, we surmised, first stolen by the bandits, had now found its way, via the mites, into the scaly claws of the kobolds. Of course, such revelations were of little interest to our fighter. In my own defence, all I can say is that I cannot be expected to watch the moron all the time. Surely someone else might take responsibility for his buffoonery from time to time, rather than encourage and abet him. While Gabby and I were preoccupied, Carver had prevailed on Blondini to light his way into the tunnel leading to the chasm. Blondini later told me that, without warning, he grasped the trailing roots in the ceiling, and agile as his simian nature suggests, swung nimbly across, before bellowing loudly for more light on his side of the chasm. His clamour, and the display of lights, had a predictable effect. Roused from its slumbers in the slime of the chasm floor, a verminous creature, far vaster than any we had so far encountered, assailed us. I first knew of this as the bard came sprinting back into the cavern, with the monster at his heels. Leading it straight back to Gabby and myself. I pray Erastil will grant me a Hold Person spell for such an occasion in the future. The size of the monster saved us, for sinuous though it was, it was impeded by the narrow passage and obstructing roots. We loosed a volley and then sprinted back to the incline. Realising we could not outclimb the thing, I threw the last of my alchemists fire upon its head, hoping to give it pause, and Gabby hurled lamp oil to add to the effect. Alas, we were not swift enough for, burning, it broke through the roots, and snatched Gabby from the slope, nearly biting the rogue in two. Blondini and I loosed arrows desperately, and whether from the flames or our barbs, the monster was finally slain. Briefly, I entertained the pleasing notion that it had already eaten Carver, but my spirits were dampened when I heard his plaintive groaning from beyond the carcass of the monster. He had suffered no harm greater than that of having fallen into the chasm as he tried to leap it. Whether to come to our aid or merely to witness the outcome of his clownish antics, I remain unsure. Nevertheless, the blood drain from the tick, the darts of the mites, and the bruises from his fall, in addition to the stealthy onset of disease which I detected as I checked his injuries, had exhausted his stamina and quieted his spirits, thus making him almost tolerable. Indeed, it was as I looked about me, wondering as to the best way of removing him from the chasm, that I realised he had unwittingly led me to an interesting discovery. A kobold, evidently a prisoner of the mites, was suspended above the chasm in a wicker cage. Blondini speaks the language of these creatures, and we were able to secure its aid in return for its freedom. Eventually, filthy and exhausted, but thankfully unmolested (now our trap and foe finder was incapacitated), we emerged from the mite warrens, and loaded our wounded and our loot upon the horses. We travelled for the remainder of the day, and made camp in the wilds, to recover our magic. Before we rested, we interviewed our new ally, the kobold Mikmek, who told us of a power struggle within his tribe, and inadvertently revealed a way in which we might retrieve Svetlana’s ring with, for once, a minimum of bloodshed. 11th Gozran I is back. Wildy does me big favour by writing my journal while I am not feeling well. But he writes in secret druid talk, so I can’t read about my great adventures. We is still camped up, with a kobold what I am not supposed to bash. That’s OK, I guess, because I have come down with some sickness, and I do not feel like fighting. Wildy and Blondy have used all their magic on healing, so we are staying here another night for them to get some more spells. Lucky that weather is fine. 12th Gozran We is heading for kobold mine again. Blondy and Gabby talk with Mikmek, and we go this time as friends. When we get to mine things are a bit tense, but soon we are all friends and we go in. We squeeze through little tunnels and come to big cave full of kobolds. There we see kobold chief, who speaks proper language, and who wants scary statue what we get from mites. He makes us promise of treasure. Blondy gives him statue, and he breaks it, shouting at the other kobolds who look as shocked as what I am. Then we are running after chief, with Wildy telling me we is going to bash evil priest what set the kobolds to raiding and doing bad stuff. More squeezing through little tunnels and then I see this purple kobold. I reckon he must be priest, so I charge him. I miss bashing him because of a magic shield, and then he makes me very scared so I go and hide in a corner. The others run after him, and have much trouble because he is invisible, but kobold chief tricks him before he can escape, and then Gabby grabs him and everyone hits him before he can do more magic tricks. We is now friendly with kobolds, and we is going to get some treasure. But I is still poorly.
Serendipity said
On reflection, I may need to watch that again. +1 But first I must sew my sides together. Having run two RQ3 campaigns in Griffin Island, all I can say is that was certainly different
Session Eleven Spent the last two weeks preparing tactics and descriptive stuff for the kobolds in defence of their lair, and the damn players wimp out at the first sign of trouble. Typical! Anyway, though they tried to avoid doing anything that might involve danger (or even interest), they finally relented and took on an adventure. We finished the evening with the characters looking decidely ropey and low on resources, midway through a completely different dungeon than the one they started the evening in front of. From the diary of Carver... 7th Gozran (continued) We never went into the cave after all. Well, I did, but I got hit on my head. By a sling shot, I think it was, but I couldn’t see where it came from. Anyway, after that, no one wanted to go into the dark, so we searched about the hills, and found what we think is a back passage (hur, hur). Wildy says we should come back with proper gear for going underground. Instead, we headed back north to look at the bit of river the kobolds were avoiding. We found a falling down rope bridge, called Nettle’s Crossing, but it looked like no one had used it for a good long time. There was a bell to ring, but we didn’t use it. 8th Gozran It is raining when we wake up, so it takes us a while to dry and pack the tent. After that, we do some exploring, moving west. We have not charted so far south, so we plan to do a big sweep of the hills and forest south of where we have mapped, and then head back to Oleg’s. 9th Gozran We is heading through the hills, when we see a really big old tree on a hilltop some miles away, black and gnarly against the red sky. We have heard about this tree, which is said to be the home of the thieving blue mites what tried to steal our stuff last week. We think they have Svetlana’s wedding ring, what they stole off the bandits, so it looks like we is going to get a fight after all. Anyway, we is camping a fair distance away tonight, to be fresh to go get the ring tomorrow. 10th Gozran There is no one about when we get to the tree, so Gabby goes up for a sneaky look. Eventually, we all go up, and it takes us a long while, climbing over the massive roots, before Gabby finally finds a hole into the mite lair. Blondy conjures up some lights, and I climb down first to take a look. Inside, it is dark, and damp, and there are loads of twisty roots everywhere, so it is very hard to move about. I have to stow my big sword, and use my little sticker instead. The rest of the guys climb down, and we choose to go the drier of the two ways. Gabby goes first, looking for traps. We is climbing down a steep slope, using the roots for handholds, when Gabby starts shouting and yelling like a girl. We hurry down, and see him rolling about under a load of wriggly centipedes, big as dogs. We lay into them, and they are all over us now, so quick that they are inside my armour and nipping at my delicates before I can bash them. Eventually Blondy and Wildy come over and get them off enough to let me swing properly, and I bash them good. Blondy and Wildy have just started doing the magic heal bit, when we are attacked again. A load of blue guys appear at the far end of the cave and start chucking darts at us. Luckily, I don’t get hit. We go over to sort them out, and they run off. We follow, Wildy going first because he has some light spell cast on him. This means he gets a few darts thrown at him as he climbs down into another cave where a load more is waiting for us. Anyway, I get in front of Wildy, because I reckon he needs some cover, and let him cast his spell. I have to skip back a bit, because all the roots in the cave start wriggling and snatching. I am OK, but the mites are caught in the middle of it, and are in hard straights. The guys get their bows out and start shooting, although it is difficult to hit with all the twisting roots and stuff. The mites seem to have no problem though, despite the 'tangle, ‘cause they hit me with plenty of darts. I am waiting to bash any who get close enough, but all they do is throw darts and make scary faces. Finally they are killed, but by this time I have darts sticking in all my parts.
Session Ten Despite the weather, everyone made it to the game. Since I'd been moving house the last two weeks, pre-game prep was not all it should have been. Thank goodness for APs. from the diary of Carver... 4th Gozran Today we is riding south and east, to check out the kobold problem. Some folk are saying that there is a tribe of kobolds in the Kamelands what is causing all sorts of problems, so as usual it is up to us to bash them. We ride out and see Bokken again, and then we carry on and do a bit more exploring. 5th Gozran We go south today. It is pretty boring out here, with nothing bashable in sight. By the end of the day, we come to river, and then things get interesting. Wildy spots some people or things on a hill to the west, so we ride up to take a look. We are all ready to be ambushed, and sure enough, two little critters pop up from behind some rocks and Wildy takes a slingshot in his face. I charge up the slope and around the rocks, to see a load more of these little lizard people what I take to be kobolds, and get hit by more sling shot which gets me plenty angry. There is a flash looking lizard guy casting spells at me too, so I steer my horse at him, but because it is not a proper warhorse it starts messing about, so I jump off into the middle of the kobolds, who are now getting spears out. I am just about to bash them when Wildy casts a spell, and half of them get grabbed round the legs by the grass. This is fine, but then the wizardy kobold hits me with some weird magic and I don’t remember anything else ‘til I wake up, stuck with spears and blind and poorly. Blondy chats to me for a bit, and I find out that after I was hit by the spell, the magic kobold said it was going to kill me unless the other guys surrendered. Wildy and Blondy shot him dead, and though I was stabbed a few times, they killed the rest of the kobolds before they could finish me off. Anyway, I get better soon, and can see again. Two of the kobolds got away, and since it is getting dark, we are camped someplace else, and will track them down tomorrow. Oh, and Blondy finds a map on the flash kobold's body which he thinks shows where some treasure is, as well as a bandit amulet. So we reckon the kobolds are getting antsy because the Stag Lord is ordering them about. 6th Gozran Today we is mainly tracking kobolds. Wildy is good at this stuff, so we follow them no problem, even though I can see squat. They follow the river south, except at one point where they make a big detour round before joining again. We reckon something scary lives there. Maybe this Tuskgutter what we are supposed to kill. It is getting hilly now, and we are going to camp the night. 7th Gozran We are at the kobold place now. Wildy finds lots of tracks in hills, and they all lead to this rocky slope, with an old sign saying it is a Silver Mine. That’s right, if there is silver there, its mine. Gabby does some sneaking, which he is good at, and says there is one of those thieving mites in a cage at the entrance to a cave. He goes to talk to it, but then a kobold sticks its head up, and Gabby shoots at it. It runs off, and I think I stop writing now, because it looks like I will need to do some bashing.
Session Nine Fun with the fey tonight. The party had so far resolutely avoided exploring the hex which triggered this encounter, which gave me plenty of time to trawl the 'boards for ideas. Thanks to everyone who contributed to the suggestions for pranks. They were enjoyed by all (except Carver). from the diary of Carver... 27th Pharast We head north into woods today. Long trek following Wildy Man, through rainy forest, before we come to big river. Wildy reckons this is Thorn River, what we crossed downstream some days back. I find stream and catch fish for tea. 28th Pharast Bad night. Wildy was on watch while we sleep. He sees nothing, but tent is pulled down around us. I think Gabby is next to door, because he seems to get out straight away. I am getting out when monster gets me. It is all over me, grabbing at me and kneeing me in plums. I punch out and land a hit. Blondy is fighting monster too, because I hear him swearing and cursing. Funny though, because he is cursing me. Then I hear Blondy talking funny and monster slips away and is gone. I think Blondy casts a spell to make it go away. I get out from under tent, which is all wet and muddy. Blondy has black eye, and I have sore fruits. We put tent up, and then Blondy spends some time casting magic to clean all our stuff up. We set off west, following river upstream. After an hour, we come to sign saying hunting season for humans starts today. I look round and see a new thing. A rabbit is giving me a funny look, but what is strange is that rabbit has a loaded crossbow. I draw my sword and charge. Rabbit hops off. Then someone shoots toy arrow into back of my head. I think Blondy plays trick on me. Very funny. 29th Pharast More tricks. Someone is going to get bashed. First though I have to wash animal crap off hands and face. So when I get back, and everyone has good laugh at poor Carver, they say it must be tricksome fairies. Yeah, right. I’ve got my eye on these three. We carry on following river, which turns south. Make camp tonight, but I expect more tricks. Someone is getting bashed if this keeps up. 30th Pharast No tricks last night. Maybe someone learns lesson. We carry on following river. Pretty soon, Wildy shouts out, and we run up to see a dead guy under a pile of logs. Some kind of trap. I pull logs off him, and take his stuff. He has a nice axe. Gabby finds some saddle bags and packs, which hold lots of traps and things, and we figure this is that Breeg bloke what Oleg told us about. Not a nice guy, but Gabby insists on burying him anyway. Which I think is a waste of effort. Later come to boggy ground and river splits into streams and bogs. We find some dry ground and make camp. 31st Pharast Woken up last night to hear big monster coming. Trees are shaking and ground trembling. I can’t find my sword. All our swords and stuff is gone. Even Gabby’s little sticker is not in his belt, and he was supposed to be on look out. Then Gabby sees them, all bundled and hanging from a tree, just out of reach. This is a fine mess, I think, as a giant troll sticks its head from out of the trees and covers us in bad breath and spit. I run to the tree, but I can’t get up it. Blondy can though, and is up, quick as monkeys. Meanwhile Gabby does something very strange. He walks up to the troll monster and sticks his tongue out at it. I think he will get bashed good, but instead the monster makes a farting sound and gets smaller and smaller, and then is gone. Blondy is up the tree, untying our weapons when I hear a sawing noise. I see him turn round and for once he is not saying anything. Nor am I. There is a squirrel with a saw, cutting through the branch he is sitting on. Then swords and axes and sharp stuff is falling everywhere and I am jumping about trying not to get hit. Blondy comes floating down after it. We get our stuff and pack up camp. The fairies have got everyone scared now, apart from me, but even I am worried in case they nick my weapons again when we are in a real fight. Gabby says we need to give them a gift, and then I remember we have the liquor we took from the bandits still with us. So we leave them a cup and a bottle, and we make ourselves scarce. Anyway, we head around the bogs and are soon on the other side of the Thorn River. Maybe the fairies will stay on the other side. We head back north through the woods. I think we have lost the fairies, but when Blondy sings a song, we hear squeaky singing from the trees. Later on we come to clearing where someone has built a fire, with a pot of mushroom stew on it. I don’t want to have any, but everyone else does, so I do too. At first I think the mushrooms are funny, because I feel something is sitting on my head. I try to get it off, but that is a bad idea because it has sharp little claws. No one else can see it, but then it starts talking to me. I do not know what I am saying back, and maybe the stew is funny, because Wildy later says that I was making sense. Another fairy turns up, a bug what is also a girl. My invisible speaking hat wants booze. The bug girl wants a song. We give them both and they seem happy and friendly. Then my invisible hat turns into a dragon and breathes something funny on me. I do not know what happened next. Only that I find myself hanging upside down from a tree branch, butt naked, while Gabby, Blondy and Wildy are clapping like I had done something clever. The fairies had gone. Anyway, I put some clothes on quick, because it is chilly, and I think Gabby is looking too much at Little Carver. 1st Gozran Today we head north and leave the forest. Beyond the trees there is an empty moor, across which blows a thin, cold wind. But I am happy because I think we have left the fairies behind, and I will not have any tricks played on me tonight. 2nd Gozran Wildy finishes his map of the area, and we head back into the woods. Everything is fine until, all of a sudden, I am back wearing my invisible hat, and it is pulling my ears to make me go this way and that. I put up with it, because it is not as bad as having a trick played, and after a bit it goes away. Later, we make camp, and the hat (which is also a little dragon) and the bug girl turn up, and we sing songs and the dragon drinks our booze. 3rd Gozran Wildy finishes his maps today, so we head north out of the woods. Back at Oleg’s at last, although a few more people have turned up. Oleg is looking cross and bothered, because all these new people want him to tell them what to do, and where to build their homes. But I think a lot of coins are being taken by Svetlana, and Oleg is really not as mad as he makes out.
One of the priest’s people is the bandit we captured at the camp. Somehow I didn’t pay him much attention when we caught him, else I would have bashed him, like what my Charter says I can do. All I can remember of that is the magic beer halfling. Anyway, I can’t bash him now, because this Jhod says he is fixed of his killing ways, or will be when he is married to the right woman. I tell Jhod that if marriage means you have to stop killing, I think I will stay single, thank you. Jhod admits that maybe not everyone is right to be married and have children, so I guess he realises I win the argument.
Assuming the players remain "anxious" to get to the city, I'd give them the rope with which to hang themselves :) You've had three sessions of establishing the forest as a dangerous place. From the point of view of pacing the adventure now would be a good time to give them an opportunity to advance the story by making some headway towards their goal. IMO offering a way for the players to use their ingenuity and their characters' skills to achieve a result isn't deus ex machina. Handing it to them on a plate would be. To add to the previous suggestions, my take would be to discover an overgrown and long disused elven road. One way leads to the city, the other out of the forest. The problem is that it is under the control of one of the fey factions/gangs. Although not necessarily hostile, they won't be letting anyone use their road in either direction unless they pay a toll (or do a favour). Let us know whatever Baldy
Session Eight Carver's diary continues... 24th Pharast (continued) We camp south of the river, away from the camp of the bashed bandits. I am having good dream when Gabby wakes me up. I am not happy and I look to pick up my sword, because if there is no monster to bash, I will bash Gabby. Gabby and Wildy are running off into the trees, so I get Blondy to light the camp up so I can find my sword. It is then I get very mad, because my sword is gone. Because I am clever I have other things to bash thieving scrotes with, so I grab my flail and run after Wildy’s light. Ahead Wildy is fighting something, so I run up while Blondy sends his lights all round us. There are these little blue goblinny things, stabbing Wildy with knives. He bashes one of them, but there are more all over him. Behind me Blondy starts shrieking like a girl and I can hear Gabby somewhere in the darkness. I start bashing the blue guys. One, two, three, and they are down. Wildy and me are bleeding a bit but fine. Gabby looks a bit shaky but has killed another, and Blondy staggers out of the woods and throws up on my new armour. He has been bit by some creepy crawly pet of the blue guys, but Wildy says he will be OK in a bit. I find my sword, and we get some other stuff off them, including a green ring which Gabby says might be magic. Wildy says he will cast some spells to figure it out tomorrow. 25th Pharast We do some more exploring, and Wildy maps this bit of the woods as we carry on west. 26th Pharast We carry on through the woods until we come to what Wildy reckons is an old road, now covered by the forest. We follow it until we come to a big clearing, below a rock face carved with a deer. Wildy says this is a holy place. It looks a bit sad to me, but Wildy has a funny look so I say nothing. Blondy says something about some folk from long ago who tried to live here, but I am looking out for monsters to bash so I am not listening. There is a cave mouth in the cliff, at the top of some overgrown stone steps, so we cross the clearing, past a scummy pool, and get ready to go in. As Gabby is saying something about traps and stuff (not more bear traps, please), we hear a big roar, and then a really big bear comes out of the cave looking very annoyed. Wildy says no problem, and steps up and does his thing with animals. This has an effect on the bear, but I think not what Wildy wanted, for it roars louder and goes straight for him. I run at it. Everyone else heads the other way. I wake up feeling bad, with Wildy using magic to put my bones back together. Gabby is likewise being patched up by Blondy. The bear is gone and the whole clearing looks nicer, and the pool is clear and sparkly. Wildy tells me that when they killed it, the bear turned into an old man, and then crumbled into dust. I don’t understand this god stuff. Once me and Gabby are back our feet. I learn Gabby ran up to fight the bear when it bashed me, which is pretty brave because he is only a little guy. Wildy gives us some brooms and we sweep out the cave. I think they were hoping to find treasure, but all we find is what you expect to find when a bear is living somewhere for years and years. The cave was knee deep in it. We camp in the clearing tonight. Maybe I get a decent sleep for once.
Session Six A new player joins the campaign, and the characters level up From the diary of Carver… 15th Pharast (continued) I am chopping heads and putting them on spikes. This is important work, but it means I do not get to see that the bandits have some prisoners. Anyway, this is fine, because Blondy says they do not need bashing. One is a scrawny guy with a posh voice, called Gabby. The other is small and hairy, but he is OK because he makes magic beer. We head back to Oleg’s with lots of loot. It ish a long ways through the woodsh. The magic beer halflingsh ish my bess mate, he ish. Feeling shleepy. 16th Pharast I am up and I feel fine, thank you fer asking, Blondy. Eveyone says I can’t take my beer, and I will bash someone if this keeps up. Anyway, the sun is too bright, so I am inside when people start shouting that wagons are coming. I will get no peace so I am going out to look. The wagons are headed out west, to some place called Fort Drelev. They have loads of armour and weapons. Gabby, the skinny guy what I rescued is a busy sort, and has already gone through all the stuff we got from the bandits. Somehow he’s joined Wildy, Blondy and me. Which is OK, because he can look after the other two while I’m busy bashing. I get him and Blondy to trade our loot for new armour and a big, shiny sword for me. 17th Pharast Oleg asks me to keep close today. He is not happy that one of the wagon guards is hanging around Svetlana. The guard is an elf. He is in charge of the others, and looks very pleased with himself all the time. Why does this type of guy need to chase skirt, when it’s obvious what he really fancies is only found in a mirror? Anyway, I give him some hard looks, and sharpen my new sword, so he stays away. Session Seven 18th Pharast The wagons are heading off today, and we are going exploring. First though, we have to take some stuff to the crazy old hermit to the east. We don’t meet anything bad on the way, and at least old Bokken is not standing on his roof this time. Else I’d shoot him. I pitch the tent while Wildy Man haggles for potions. He doesn’t have much, because we’ve not gotten him any fangberries yet, but we get a healing potion. 19th Pharast. Head south, past the spider place. The land gets rough here, more hills and rocks. We do some exploring, and Wildy Man draws a bit more of his map. Weather is mostly fine. 20th Pharast Still exploring, but heading slowly west in big circle. More hills, more mapping. Rains a bit today. 21st Pharast Carry on through the hills. Late in the day, we see we are being followed by wolves. Wildy Man goes off to sort them out, but comes back quick when he sees a big, scary wolf leading the pack. Reckon we’ll be attacked tonight. Good. I am asleep when attack comes. Wildy Man is on watch, I find out later, and actually speaks to the big scary wolf, before it attacks us. I hear him shout, but then a wolf bites me on my ass. I am getting up and dragging out my sword, and the wolf is biting at me, but not doing much because mostly it is trying to chew my armour. Wildy and Gabby are fighting the big scary wolf, and by the sound of it not doing so well. Blondy is singing and shouting, and swinging his lute like a sword. What did he do with his sword? Anyway, I am bitten again, but then I bash the wolf, and in two hits it is an ex-wolf. Wildy has bashed the big wolf to death with his magic club, but Gabby is in a bad way. Wildy’s bird looks a bit ragged, but I see it has done for another wolf. Blondy does the healing magic thing to wake up Gabby, and with a few more spells, we are alright again. 22nd Pharast We skin the big wolf, and then carry on. We are late starting out, so we don’t get much done. 23rd Pharast More exploring. We are getting close to the forest now. In the afternoon, Wildy finds a cave, so we climb down to have a look. Nothing to bash in there, but Gabby reckons there’s gold in the rock. I am rich! 24th Pharast Leave the hills, and head into the forest today, following the river north and west. Pretty soon we come to the place where the bandits lived. Until we killed them.
Session Five Realising that Kressle's bandit gang are after them, and that the hunters and trappers of the Greenbelt are in greater danger, the PCs resolve to find the bandit camp and put an end to their threat. From the diary of Carver... 14th Pharast My leg hurts! Blondy and Wildy Man are healing me with magic, but they are not very good because I am still sore. They say I will be good as new tomorrow. Then we can go and bash more bandits. 15th Pharast All better now. Off to bash bandits. We have bashed the bandits. Wildy Man found their camp by following their tracks through the woods. When we get there, I see a cart with something hiding under the furs, something metal. I run up and bash it with my axe, but it is a bear trap, not a bandit. I have to use little sword now. There are bandits all about us, some in the trees. I jump across a stream and charge one on the ground. I take his arrow on my shield and then he gets my shortsword in his guts, so he tries to crawl away. I follow and hit him again. He stops crawling now. There is a big bang behind me, but in front of me I see more bandits running up. Two start shooting arrows at me, but my armour is too good. Another is up a tree, but he is fighting Wildy Man’s birdy. Two more are running at me with boar spears so I charge them. Behind me, Blondy is shouting something that gets my blood up, and shooting his little bow. Wildy Man is a bit funny from the bang, and his magic doesn’t work, so he is shooting arrows too. I am working my way round the spear points when the b*%~* with the axes turns up. Before I can bash her, I am hit hard. Once, twice, and then again I think. When I wake up, the fight is over. This is what Blondy tells me. The axe lady and a spear guy run at them. Blondy sticks an arrow in the lady, and Wildy throws a magic fire pot at her and she starts burning. The axe lady is on fire and jumps into the stream. Blondy does a trick to get behind the spear guy, and Wildy then hits him with his club. When they are finished, the axe lady has gone, and the rest of the bandits are down or have run away. Wildy Man follows the axe lady and finds an empty potion flask and one of her axes, but no tracks. Spoiler: As they had been having little trouble so far, I added a few more bandits and equipped a couple with long spears. The spears were fairly ineffective, as they never got past Carver's AC, but with the extra numbers, Kressle nearly caused a TPK. Getafix the Druid failed to save against a Thunderstone and subsequently miscast his Entangle spell. Carver charged ahead while his comrades dealt with the single bandit on their side of stream, eventually getting isolated, and then hacked down with ease by Kressle. By this time Blondini had taken out one of the spear men and stuck Kressle with an arrow, but had taken a shot from one of the bandits for his trouble. He fell back to join the Druid, and they managed to injure Kressle again as she ran at them. Still, facing an uninjured bandit and a very angry Kressle, I didn't think much for their chances. The alchemist's fire (and Jim remembering about it) saved the day. Kressle was badly injured enough that, still burning, she had to break off combat to douse the flames before the damage took her down. This gave them enough time to force the remaining bandit to surrender, and for Blondy to sprint to Carver and CLW before he bled out. By which time Kressle had made good her escape. Again. Who knows, she may well end up in Thousand Screams leading the Horned Hunt if she carries on like this.
Probably. Haven't got around to sampling the local pubs yet - just up here while my house is refurbed, so all I know is Asda, the Little Thief at Rising Bridge and the motorway. Still, reckon I can find a pub when I have to. If you can get the funds (tricky in these straightened times) let me know Spoiler: ahoward39[at]hotmail[dot]com
Hi, I'm Andy, currently in Rawtenstall but shortly moving back to Oldham.Nice to see another BB4 postcode! I'm in Crawshawbooth. ;) By 'eck, that's unnervingly close. I live atop the ski slope. Fancy a beer sometime? I'm moving down the M66 in a few weeks (before the snow arrives, brrr)
Two more sessions of play to report. Things are getting a bit bloody. Session Four From the diary of Carver... 10th Pharast I am staying in bed. Wildy Man and Blondy have headed off to explore in the west. 11th Pharast Feeling better. New folks arrive at Trading Post today. One is an older guy who talks to me but he sounds a bit funny in the head. I’m keeping my eye on him. May need to bash him later. 12th Pharast Feeling good today. Feel better later on, when Blondy comes back with Wildy Man. They tell me they find lots of bear traps in the woods to the west. Wildy Man finds one by stepping in it. Nearly takes his leg off. His leg is still sore, even after Blondy’s magic makes him better. Things are beginning to happen. It was going dark when Kesten calls out that someone is coming from the south. I am up on the wall with my bow right away but there is no fighting yet. Seems like the bandits are after a fight. They leave a prisoner, some trapper who they have hurt and blinded. He has a sign tied round his neck, saying the woods belong to the Stag Lord, and that anyone going there will be killed. They also say that they have Vekkel and another guy prisoner, and that they will be killed unless a ransom is paid.
Session Five from the diary of Carver... 13th Pharast We set off dead early. Wildy thinks we may be ambushed on the way there, so he is taking a sneaky route. He is more worried when his birdy starts acting funny. He says it can see in the dark and he thinks someone is out there. But his bird doesn’t seem too worried, so we carry on. We hobble horses in the woods and continue on foot as horses can be a pain to fight from. ...from here, the diary continues in a different, fancier script... As my sturdy companion, the bold (and terrifyingly violent) Carver is somewhat discombobulated, I, Blondini the Erudite, hereby do him this small service by continuing his charming little account of our deeds in the Stolen Lands. We proceeded through the woodland, newly emerged from the icy grip of winter, until we neared the clearing where we had but recently encountered the vile and gluttonous lizard creatures and their newly harvested prizes, the moonradishes. There, despite my best efforts to scout the area, we were spotted and rudely challenged by the brigands, who had indeed two prisoners, bound and helpless at their mercy. There were three of them clearly visible in the clearing. As Carver strode forward with the “ransom”, in a box in which we had prepared an (admittedly over-elaborate) trap for the evildoers, I spied another in the trees, readying his bow. I would like to be able to recount how our cunning plan worked flawless, the bandits drawn out by the lure of gold, and made easy prey to spell and blade. Instead Carver charged. Getafix, whom Carver colourfully calls the Wildy Man, sent forth his magic and the vegetation of the clearing erupted into grasping animation, wrapping itself around the brigand chief and his two henchmen. As Carver made short work of those before him, ignoring the arrows that flashed from the treeline, I saw that one of the rogues had hung back, and was preparing to do harm to the prisoners. I pierced him with an arrow, and then his doom was sealed as Getafix’s monstrous jay was upon him. The others were dispatched in short order, save for one craven fellow who fled like a startled hind, into the wood. Some higher power watched over us. The darts and blades of our foes scarce marked us. Even the treacherous blow in the back, suffered by Getafix from a slippery fellow who had crept up behind him, did little more than annoy our good Druid. After checking the prisoners were still alive, Getafix determined to track the one surviving brigand, while we escorted the rescued trappers back to our horses. Although they were in a bad way, they gladly took weapons from the fallen bandits, and I, for one, was glad they had. The one sour note of the affair was when Carver took his axe to the fallen bandits, those who still clung to life, threatening to “bash any fekker what gets in my way”. Perhaps his ferociousness had affected my wits, so I failed to perceive the peril into which we later stumbled. We followed the trail back to our steeds, leading our prisoners and our fallen foes’ horses, laden with our booty and foolishly relieved that the day was ours. Carver strode into the clearing and a bear trap snapped about his leg, wounding him to the limit of his endurance. Even as this happened, a woman, armoured and bearing twin axes, stepped out from behind our horses, with a smile on her face that chilled my very soul. I confess that, such was my terror I did not hear her words as I desperately uttered the charm of healing upon Carver. Bravely he raised himself up, still pinned by the trap, but she knocked aside his blow with ease, and struck him cruelly. I myself only just avoided her blows as I drew my sword, but before I could smite her, she struck once more, felling Carver and then disarming me with a cunning stroke. I backed away, seeing my death in her eyes. But then, without warning, she cried out as an arrow bit deep into her shoulder. In an instant she had sprung away, and was lost in the trees, as Vekkel and his friend limped from the forest, arrows nocked. I had thought the two trappers had deserted us when that hellion attacked, but how harshly I misjudged them. I hastened to Carver and used the last of my magic, but could do little more than stop him bleeding to death. Fortunately Vekkel was well used to this type of device, so at least we could free the fallen warrior, and place him gently on his steed. We are back at Oleg’s Trading Post now. Getafix has returned safe, and with a fair idea of the location of the bandits camp. And ‘though I am loathe to face that woman again, we are decided that we must take the fight to her and her lackeys, once Carver is healed and ready once again for yet more rash and bloody deeds. Spoiler: My idea with the bandits was for Kressle to have set up one of her fellow (and rival) lieutenants to take on the adventurers head on, while she waited to finish off whoever was left standing. I wasn't sure this was going to work, as I wanted her to get away, setting up the attack on the Thorn River camp for a later session. One thing I wanted to do in the fight was to use Combat Manoeuvers. Unfortunately, the Trip/Disarm fighter bandit with his flail was entangled by the Druid and then dropped by Carver with one blow. I couldn't confirm a single critical, nor roll higher than a 1 on any damage die, so despite taking more than a few hits, the PCs had an easy fight of it. Even the sneak attack from the bandit Rogue did minimum 3 damage. The encounter with Kressle could have killed off both Carver and Blondini. Carver was already wounded and the bear trap put him on 0 hp. Without Getafix and his bird they were well up the proverbial creek. Even the normally suicidally cocky Carver was screaming at the two NPC trappers to get back and fight, as they made themselves scarce in the shrubbery. Kressle offered them the chance to surrender (she was going to rob them), but they didn't listen. With her favoured enemy bonus, she was very effective. After two rounds, Blondini threw down his sword (no, he wasn't disarmed as he claims in the journal) and began to beg for his life. I hadn't planned to have Vekkel save them, but it felt right for the situation, and the scene served its purpose. They know they have to get after her but they also know she is a very scary opponent.
You have got to be kidding me! You are just down the road from me, then (Glossop), and I've been looking for a local group for most of the past year! We're sneaky If its OK, I'll email you with some details. You can get me at Spoiler: ahoward39[at]hotmail[dot]com
Hi, I'm Andy, currently in Rawtenstall but shortly moving back to Oldham. There are four of us, currently gaming in Stalybridge. All long in the tooth RQ players (Chaosium, not the Mongoose heresy) although I've just started GMing Kingmaker for the guys
Hello from a Paizo newbie. This is a journal of my group's first foray into Pathfinder. We've played rpgs, mainly RuneQuest, for more years than any of us would care to admit to, but I've been intrigued by what I've read about D&D since last I played it (in the 80s) and have been very much impressed by Paizo's products. We're just using the Core Rulebook, Bestiary, and Gods and Magic of Golarion, plus the AP itself. Currently the players haven't been too interested in the background, other than picking a god to follow (a holdover from playing RQ, I guess). Anyway, I'll be recounting their (mis)adventures in the voice of the fighter, Carver, since his player usually has the most interesting outlook on the gameworld. Feel free to comment and criticise. I'll doubtless be asking for advice from time to time, as I don't have much of a feel for the rules as yet, and I can see this becoming a problem at higher levels. The Characters We rolled the characters while I was running a brief introduction about the expeditions being raised in Restov. It turned out that the adventurers were not taken on by any of the main ventures. However, an NPC known as Iris the Mouse, an aide to the Lord Mayor, hired them to chart the wilderness between the Slough and the Nomen Heights, so that the two fledgling settlements in those locations could establish trading routes with one another. Blondini the Bard (Simon)- he got rolled up first, and true to form, Simon, his player, managed some impressive die rolling. On a points build, this guy would cost 40pts. Also known as Blandini, or Blondy. Getafix the Druid (Jim)- with his jay companion (used eagle stats). Getafix is also a follower of Erastil. I allowed Jim to increase a couple of stats to get close to Blondini. Carver calls him the Wildy Man Carver the Fighter (Ash) - Axe and shield, scale armour, and a follower of Gorum. The lowest stats of the three, even after I tweaked a few scores, but by far the most effective character up to now. Known by many names, few of them repeatable in polite company. I also gave each character Toughness as a freebie. Since there's only three of them, and I don't want to be fudging rolls constantly, I reckon this should give them enough of an edge to survive an AP designed for four characters and my uncertainties over CRs. Session One
from the diary of Carver... 30th Calistril We is here at last. The man Oleg didn’t seem happy to see us, but he is happy now. Bandits come here tomorrow to rob him. I make Oleg very happy when I kill them. I tell Blondy and the Wildy Man to shut the gates when they come in, so none of them can run off when I start bashing. Now I go to sleep. 1st Pharast Cold today. Snow on ground. Easy to spot bandits when they approach. Wildy Man says be careful not to leave tracks inside Trading Post. Him and Blondy think too much, I reckon. Bandits are too dim to notice anything wrong. I am hiding in storage shed. Furs are nice and warm. I think I fall asleep. Anyway hear gates slam and Blondy cracking jokes. Everyone is looking at him and Wildy Man. Wildy Man’s bird gets one bandit, messes his hair up real bad. Wildy goes for another. I see boss bandit backing off toward me, so I grab axe and charge him. Boss bandit is slippery fighter, but I bash him good with my axe. He runs, straight past Wildy Man who clubs him round head and he goes down. I see bird rip skin and ears and eyes and nose from one guy. Clever birdy. One bandit is running to the gate. Blondy sticks an arrow in him, and then I catch him and bash his head. Wildy Man has chased last bandit into midden pit. I want to bash him too but he is too stinky. Blondy and Wildy Man clean bandit up but still won’t let me bash him, so I go and help Oleg dig graves. Find out later they want to let bandit go. I hit him but Wildy Man’s birdy looks upset so I think it’s smart to go somewhere else. Anyway, they are happy for me to hang bandit boss, so me and Oleg wake him up then drop him over the wall. Oleg puts sign round his neck so everyone knows this is what we do to bandits. When I get back Wildy has gone, with bandit. He is letting him go. I want to take horse and chase, but Blondy is playing a song so I stay and listen. Somehow I forget about Wildy and the bandit, until its sleep time. Session Two
Originally, Getafix and Blondini were going to be neutral, but have since changed to Neutral Good, Getafix so he can worship Erastil (and have a longbow), Blondini because he decided it would be more interesting to have some motivation. Carver, like his player, remains Chaotic Neutral. From the diary of Carver... 2nd Pharast Wildy gets back and we head south, looking for more bandits. I want to shoot my new bow what I took from bandit boss, but it is raining so I keep it covered up. We got a good lot of loot from the bandits, including the horses we are riding. They are not well looked after, but with good feed and care they will get better. We camp in woods. Nothing to kill today. 3rd Pharast Head south. Hear something so Blondy sneaks up to see. I hear lots of funny shouting, so run up with my axe. There are four fat little scaley things waving their spears at Blondy, who is drawing his sword. I bash one. Blondy and Wildy Man join in and we bash them easy. We take some baskets full of radishes the scaley things were picking. Radishes give me gas. 4th Pharast Head west and north. Wildy Man is good guide so we don’t get lost, even though woods are hard to walk through. No fights today. 5th Pharast Wildy Man woke us up last night. Heard something big moving in woods. I shoot some arrows at noise, but don’t think I kill anything. More exploring today, then head back to Oleg’s. Meet some soldiers, who have moved in to guard the Trading Post. Their captain, Kesten, is tough looking guy. He says I can practice with them. Oleg’s wife, Svetlana buys the radishes from us. She is making soup but she says its all for Oleg. Now I want some radish soup. Blondy gets talking to two old trappers. I tell him to be careful – girls are hard to come by out here, and Blondy is one of those girly looking guys, despite the fuzz on his top lip. But he is OK, since the trappers are talking about a big, fierce boar away down south. There is a nice reward for his head from the one guy, Vekkel, who lost a leg to the monster a while back. Session Three
from the diary of Carver... 6th Pharast Heading east and south to do some more exploring. This moorland is called the Kamelands, and it is pretty boring. Nothing to kill. Blondy and me sing some songs. Wildy Man is not much of a singer. 7th Pharast Midday, we hear someone shouting. Riding on, we see a hut, with a man standing on the roof and shouting. Standing on the roof isn’t right. I am galloping up to bash him for his bad manners, when a big boar comes running out of the hut and right under my horse. Horse is being scared so I dig in heels and it carries on, but the pig must have got a tusk into it. What is more bad, another pig comes out and also runs at me, tusking the horse. Horse goes down, and I lose my shield. I still have axe and I start swinging. My armour takes a few hits, I take a few more. Arrows are flying round me too, which is scary, even though I think Wildy Man and Blondy are trying to hit the pigs. Anyway, I kill pigs at last, but I admit I am a bit sore at the end. Wildy Man heals my horse, and Blondy casts a cure spell on me. I want to bash the stupid man on the roof, but by the time I am sorted out, Blondy is already talking to him. He is called Bokken, and when he is not standing on his roof, he makes potions. I tell him I want a potion, but he won’t give me one. He says the pigs have ruined his stock. He says if we bring him fangberries, he will do us a deal. I think this is a poor deal, but Blondy and the Wildy Man seem happy. We eat roast boar tonight. Boar is tasty meat. GM comment
Spoiler:
When Carver took off, Gorum knows why, I thought I might have my first PC kill on my hands. I knew the boars would be pretty tough, and the druid and bard didn't have any effective spells. I had envisaged them tackling this as a team. I was pretty astonished that he survived galloping out of support range. He took 13 of his 16hp in damage. 8th Pharast We are heading south, when Wildy Man says something is following us. He heads back down our trail, and comes back around evening looking smug. He says a wolf was following the horses, but he spoke to it, and it went away. Perhaps it might go and eat the potion man. Blondy tells me later that he learnt from Bokken something about the moonradishes that Svetlana wanted. Lucky old Oleg. 9th Pharast Today we come to a big wide patch of dead animals. Many of the skeletons have been there a long time. I get off my horse to check the ground for poisons and things, when a big spider jumps on my back and sticks me. It runs off and hides, leaving me feeling a bit off colour, and Wildy and Blondy chasing the horses. We figure it has hidden tunnels all round here, so while Blondy and Wildy cover me with bows, I head into the dead patch, which is very brave because I am already poisoned. I don’t see the spider, but it is there because it jumps out and bites me. I am angry now, and chase it to its hole. It bites me again as I am opening the lid on its hole, and even though I bash it with my axe, it is all over me. I bash it again, but not so good because I am really weak and poorly. Wildy Man comes running up and clubs it, and it finally drops, its legs all curling up. We find a dead guy in its hole, with some gold and another silver stag amulet which shows he is a bandit. Tomorrow we head back to Oleg’s. I am still sick from spider bites, and my axe is too heavy. I hope I get better soon, so I can bash some more monsters. Session Four
Spoiler: Kressle has had time to find out what happened to Happs and learn about all the new arrivals at the Trading Post. I think this session is going to be about how she responds to the threat posed by the adventurers. Suggestions welcome |