This is just some bulk notes.
SESSION 4.
Evening 1: Simon the Hermit
XP for Drew, Cody, Lela, Jonathan, Diamond, Trinity. L7+3.5k
Jonathan +535 for character building. Tristan Human Armor.
Rumors pg. 14 - Basic
Whispers in the Dark pg. 30
Normal Weather, somewhat cloudy.
58 12 Noon. Daylight. During travel. ==Extended 20==
+535 Drew, Diamond, and Jonathan
SESSION 5.
Everyone 38500XP Jonathan +535. (Drew, Cody, Lela, Jonathan, Diamond, Trinity.)
Toilet Fight. +4,200 Xp (double xp) Drew, Cody, Lela, Jonathan, Trinity. Party total 42,700.
Cody's Witch Killed in the Bender Brother's Inn.
Morning 2: Jebliah Bender, Lucky Bjorc
Evening 2: Finnelaus
Abnormal Weather. Extreme Temperature.
Characters without shelter DC15+1 per hour or take 1d6 Nonlethal
from exposure and gain Fatigue, until sheltered cannot heal exposure.
TODAY'S RANDOM ENCOUNTERS, plus bonus monsters for long combats.
Rumors pg. 14 - Basic
Whispers in the Dark pg. 30
33 12 Noon. Daylight. During travel. ==Extended 18==
8 3PM Daylight. During travel. ==Extended 92==
========================================
88 6PM Darkness. Making Camp. First Watch Begins. ==Extended 30==
71 9PM Darkness. During camping. First Watch. ==Extended 67==
SESSION 6.
Extreme -6/-8. Deathstorm at hour 1.
Lasts 1d3 hours 3. As Thunderstorm but energy type is Negative Energy, those killed are raised
as ghouls. High probability to animate Undead skeletons and zombies.
TODAY'S RANDOM ENCOUNTERS, plus bonus monsters for long combats.
45 Midnight. Darkness. During Camping. Second Watch Begins. ==Extended 24==
58 3AM Darkness. During camping. Second Watch. ==Extended 77==
83 6AM Daylight. Breaking Camp. Third Watch. ==Extended 77==
========================================
100 9AM Daylight. During travel. ==Extended 47==
22 12 Noon. Daylight. During travel. ==Extended 10==
55 3PM Daylight. During travel. ==Extended 4==
========================================
XP Totals At end of game.
Drew 44,200 Cody 39200 Lela 44,200
Jonathan 45,805 Diamond 44,200 Trinity 44,200
Rumors pg. 14 - Basic
Whispers in the Dark pg. 30
GAME 7.
Session Starts at Location 5,4. 6pm. Abnormal Weather. Extreme Temperature. COLD.
BONESTORM P131. 6PM Darkness. Making Camp. First Watch Begins. ==Extended 57==
40 9PM Darkness. During camping. First Watch. ==Extended 100==
54 Midnight. Darkness. During Camping. Second Watch Begins. ==Extended 18==
1D6 GHOULS 3AM Darkness. During camping. Second Watch. ==Extended 88==
38 6AM Daylight. Breaking Camp. Third Watch. ==Extended 8==
========================================
BONESTORM 9AM Daylight. During travel. ==Extended 17==
52 12 Noon. Daylight. During travel. ==Extended 17==
21 3PM Daylight. During travel. ==Extended 29==
========================================
45 6PM Darkness. Making Camp. First Watch Begins. ==Extended 40==
55 9PM Darkness. During camping. First Watch. ==Extended 79==
Note: Encounter tables reference. Ashen Waste 37, Boiling Lands 94, Chaos Rifts 67, Dead Fields 114, and Roads of Tsar 131 at 6 instead of 3 hours.
65 Xp from 2 ghouls
535 xp from 5 headed fiendish pyrohydra
135 xp from Bonestorm
Diamond gets hammer of the three gods from Dweller at the Crossroads.
So we are starting game 10 tonight. I have some really light notes about what has happened. I made a bat program that rolls my weather and encounters every game. You can paste this in a txt file and save it as a .bat
Batch Program:
@echo off
:REROLL
REM ROLL AND ECHO RANDOM WEATHER CONDITIONS
REM set Weather, Hour of Day, Duration of Storm, Visibility, Duration of other Storm
set /a num=%random% %% 100 + 1
set /a num1=%random% %% 24 + 1
set /a num2=%random% %% 4 + 1
set /a num3=%random% %% 10 + 1
set /a num4=%random% %% 3 + 1
echo Today's weather is a %num%.
if %num% leq 50 (
echo Normal Weather, somewhat cloudy.
) else if %num% leq 80 (
echo Abnormal Weather. Extreme Temperature.
echo Characters without shelter DC15+1 per hour or take 1d6 Nonlethal
echo from exposure and gain Fatigue, until sheltered cannot heal exposure.
) else if %num% leq 90 (
echo Strong Winds and Extreme Temperature. -2 Range, -4 Perception, and Sandstorm
echo Sandstorm at hour %num1%. Last 1d4 hours %num2%, Max Visibility 1d10x10 feet %num3%0, 1d3
echo nonlethal per hour if exposed, heal-able.
) else if %num% leq 95 (
echo Severe Storm at hour %num1%. Range -4, Perception -8. Thunderstorm.
echo Lasts 1 hour. Every 10 min there is a 5% someone is struck by lightning 10d8, Reflex 18.
) else (
echo Extreme -6/-8. Deathstorm at hour %num1%.
echo Lasts 1d3 hours %num4%. As Thunderstorm but energy type is Negative Energy, those killed are raised
echo as ghouls. High probability to animate Undead skeletons and zombies.
)
ECHO:
REM GENERATE RANDOM ENCOUNTER PERCENTAGES
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
set /a n1=%random% %% 100 + 1
set /a n2=%random% %% 100 + 1
set /a n3=%random% %% 100 + 1
set /a n4=%random% %% 100 + 1
set /a n5=%random% %% 100 + 1
set /a n6=%random% %% 100 + 1
set /a n7=%random% %% 100 + 1
set /a n8=%random% %% 100 + 1
set /a b1=%random% %% 100 + 1
set /a b2=%random% %% 100 + 1
set /a b3=%random% %% 100 + 1
set /a b4=%random% %% 100 + 1
set /a b5=%random% %% 100 + 1
set /a b6=%random% %% 100 + 1
set /a b7=%random% %% 100 + 1
set /a b8=%random% %% 100 + 1
ECHO TODAY'S RANDOM ENCOUNTERS, plus bonus monsters for long combats.
echo !n1! Midnight. Darkness. During Camping. Second Watch Begins. ==Extended !b1!==
echo !n2! 3AM Darkness. During camping. Second Watch. ==Extended !b2!==
echo !n3! 6AM Daylight. Breaking Camp. Third Watch. ==Extended !b3!==
echo ========================================
echo !n4! 9AM Daylight. During travel. ==Extended !b4!==
echo !n5! 12 Noon. Daylight. During travel. ==Extended !b5!==
echo !n6! 3PM Daylight. During travel. ==Extended !b6!==
echo ========================================
echo !n7! 6PM Darkness. Making Camp. First Watch Begins. ==Extended !b7!==
echo !n8! 9PM Darkness. During camping. First Watch. ==Extended !b8!==
endlocal
ECHO Note: Encounter tables reference. Ashen Waste 37, Boiling Lands 94,
ECHO Chaos Rifts 67, Dead Fields 114, and Roads of Tsar 131 at 6 instead of 3 hours.
ECHO:
echo Press ENTER to roll again.
pause
cls
goto REROLL
Game 3 saw my players get attacked by a pair of dire hyenas on day 8 on their way to the camp. The archer and wizard got pulled off of their camels in the ambush but the fighter pregen ended both of them quickly. The party was feeling a bit paranoid and topped off on health before continuing.
By day 13 the party reached the camp and the end of my training wheels encounters. Gurg the Hill giant met them at the edge of town and nearly killed the Oracle with a clean crit. Several others were knocked around before the party whittled him down with lightning bolts and arrows.
The party saw Father Death and his entourage speaking with the Usurer and the cleric thought it would be a good idea to detect evil, overwhelming of course. Despite the dismay cool heads won out and the party didn’t wipe itself attacking the Usurer.
Father death spoke with the Ratkin fighter and tipped him off about some rangers. A quick money exchange with the Usurer happened with minimal grumbling and off to Skeribar they went. Skeribar was mostly tight lipped in leau of payment. And that’s where we ended game 3.
So I’ve got a new group of adventurers diving into the Desolation. This time we are using tabletop simulator instead of in person. I found that the map of the Desolation was not serving my purposes so I made two new ones. A player map and a gm map with spoilers with both maps marked with coordinates. The gm map has a key of every fixed encounter as well as ranges for various effects.
If the forums will let me I will link my google drive with the resources I am creating. I may even edit the original post to add a list of resources.
The adventure so far.
Game 1 has seen the group meet in Bard’s Gate and gain patronage of a local baron who wishes to see the region tamed.
Game 2 the adventurers finish loading up their wagons and making the arduous trek 400 miles north. After the first 60 miles they saw only a lone hunter on the road. The second evening after they made camp they were attacked by a trio of anhkegs.
Ps. Edit. So I can’t edit the original post but I will compile resources here. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1g_WIacEKhopILJpqreojGIVt1LfU1oa0
It took a few days but some of my players wrote up detailed notes of game 1. You may notice a few changes I made and some player opinions and theories.
Here is the cast.
Fetching Summoner
Slyph Rogue
Dwarf Druid
Oread Cleric
Gnoll Fighter
I did a random encounter at the start to let them shake the rust off before throwing them against Gurg. I also do not own the Bard’s Gate book so all that was just off the cuff. If anyone is interested send me a message and I can send my versions of my gm map and player map, which is the Desolation map with a grid overlay. Obviously the gm map is keyed. But I find it easier to just keep that one map than all the page flipping.
Game 1 Player Notes:
Game 1
Established centuries ago as little more than a ferry for travelers between the ancient cities of Tsen in the north and Remenos and Curgantium in the west, over the years Bard’s Gate has grown from a small river crossing tended by a pig farmer into an important center of learning and trade. The city is famed far and wide as a bastion of the arts that welcomes bards, performers, writers, artists and crafters of all sorts. It is a beacon of civilization and a pillar of the western world. Yet this citadel of enlightenment is also threatened by dark forces — gnolls and orcs from the Stoneheart Mountains, cults of evil gods lurking within and without, and the machinations of rivals and allies alike threaten the city daily, for the very freedom that draws artists and musicians from around the world also allows evil to flourish. The party begins their journey here.
The game opens at the Rusty Dragon Inn. The inn is crowded, filled with many patrons enjoying the lively atmosphere and fine music of the bar. The music in question comes from a small stage commanded by a petite half-elf girl demonstrating masterful use of her violin.
Lissya, a Sylph rogue, is the first party member to arrive. she enters and finds a table near the stage. She is soon followed by Key, a Fetchling summoner, and Tyrus, a cleric in service to Key. The crowd is forced to part as the final members of the party enter: A Dwarven druid, Ingrid, alongside her dire wolf companion and Anya, an Oread cleric, with her imposing friend Bacchus, a Gnoll fighter.
As the party finds their seats the music comes to an end and the performer gives her name, introducing herself as Lady Impas. She announces that she was done performing but that she would be hosting an auction later to benefit a local orphanage. The auction catches Lissaya who heads over to investigate. She watches the auction with interest and eventually the item comes onto the block that is announced to be an angel's feather. Lissaya is enamored by the trinket and pleads with the party to loan her some gold to bid on the item. Despite Ingrid’s complaints that it is simply a goose feather in a magic case Lissaya eventually gets enough gold to place the winning bid on the item. When Lady Impas takes the gold, and hands her prize Lissaya quickly picks the bard's pocket for the gold she paid. When Lissaya returns and gives the party their gold back, explaining what she had done, Key quickly becomes agitated. He begins reprimanding Lissaya on her actions eventually getting her to decide to later pay a visit to the orphanage in question to perhaps find a way to help them out and atone.
The party sets about discussing plans to venture into the desolated wasteland, known as The Desolation, that surrounds the destroyed city of Tsar. Key explains that he wishes to take advantage of an offer put forth by the ruling party of Bard's Gate. He explains that they have agreed to grant status and right to rule as a vassal of Bard's Gate to any who could claim and conquer a sufficiently large tract of land within the wasteland. The rest of the party agree to help as they each have their own reasons for wishing to brave the dangerous land.
Anya says that she was tasked by a friend to find any information on the lore and whereabouts of a man known as Lord Bisu. She knows he was a man of some religious implore in the area and that he was the leader of a group known as "The Fifty and One". Unfortunately reports of his ultimate fate are vague and conflicting so she and Bacchus set out to discover the truth.
Lissya shows the party a map she chanced across that claims to lead to a great treasure secreted away in the ruins of the wasteland. She and Ingrid have studied the map and believe they have a general idea of where the map leads and are willing to split the treasure with any willing to help her seek it.
With agreement, as to their course of action quickly reached they set a date to begin their expedition and set about gathering supplies.
Before the party sets out Lissaya makes good on her promise to investigate the orphanage that was to benefit from her purchase. She ultimately decides to simply spend some time with the children and teach them some useful survival skills. While there she mentions the money they supposedly received from Lady Impas. The staff at the orphanage are confused as they have heard nothing of any fundraising benefiting them. Lissaya leaves and continues her preparation with a clear conscience knowing she only stole from another thief.
On the third day after their meeting the set out on the long journey into The Desolation. A day into their journey while traveling on the road Anya spots 6 figures a little way down the path. As the party drew nearer she could distinguish them as bugbears. The bugbears initially seem weary of the approaching adventurers’ and begin to conceal themselves in foliage on the road's edge but quickly seem to become emboldened and begin moving towards the party. As the monsters begin advancing quicker and quicker the party get off their mounts and prepares for a fight. Lissaya hurls some magic missiles at the advancing group. Bacchus, Anya, Tyrus, and Ingrid move forward and draw their weapons. Ingrid casts entangle on the ground at the monsters' feet, catching one and slowing the others. Anya offers prayers to her god while Key envelops himself in his Eidolon, taking the form of a 6-legged winged shadow cat. He takes to the sky to survey the area and make sure there are no ambushes lying in wait. Believing he sees danger in the tall grass beside the road he flies in to investigate. Lissaya sneaks over to hide in the grass so she can surprise any bugbears that get too close. Ingrid casts flaming sphere and uses it to bowl for bugbears and hits two immediately immolating them. Anya casts searing light and reduces another to ash. Bacchus uses his bow to dispatch two more, leaving just one who attempts to run but is quickly felled by another arrow.
The party treks on for ten more days, noticing that as they go the vegetation and wildlife become more and more sparse. Ingrid continues to guide us using Lissaya's map while Key keeps watch from the air. Eventually he spots a camp and flies down to announce his discovery to the rest of the party.
The Camp is a sprawling cluster of crude shanties and dilapidated hovels. The standard materials for most of these broken building are pieces of plywood scavenged off crates and wagons, broken branches and sticks, thatch, some fieldstones, and copious amount of mud. Many of the structures are little more than lean-tos. All are in poor condition due to the laziness and apathy of their current occupants and are held together by little more than spit and good luck. A truly hard windstorm (thankfully rare south of the Desolation) could flatten most of the dwellings, and a heavy rain would cause many of them to simply melt. They see a hanged man in the center of the towns commons, a tavern named “A Sip of Blood”, a blacksmith, and a collection of tents where trade seems to take place. The party also notices the nicest building in town that has smoke coming from the chimney and immediately assumes that is probably the blacksmith. They are then interrupted in their sightseeing by a loud roar that echoes through the town causing nearby people to scatter from view. Rushing towards them is a huge hill giant wearing a chain shirt holding a huge spiked great club. They notice his face is covered in acid burns as he charges towards the party.
The hill giant glares angrily at the party and raises his weapon. He smacks Bacchus with a powerful blow, badly injuring him. Anya moves forward to join her friend in combat and hits him with her nodachi. Bacchus takes his opportunity to get revenge on the hill giant and strikes him with his axe. Key flies behind the hill giant and descends on him clawing and biting. Lissaya lands a blow on the monster, continuing to whittle him down. The hill giant deals a devastating blow to Bacchus knocking him unconscious. Anya and Tyrus quickly use their healing magic on the Gnoll while Key finishes off the giant with a final barrage. The party receives a +1 chain shirt from the encounter.
A man who was hiding behind a house, comes out from hiding when the giant lands with a heavy thud and says “Huh?”. The front the man’s shirt seems to be covered in fresh vomit and he stares at the party for a few moments, confused about what just happened. The man then hurries quickly back into his shack. Anya sees a man in a suit approaching that is dragging a dead body across the street and explains to the party that he is a ghast. Lissaya approaches him and suddenly feels like she is going to vomit, but she stops herself. “Hi.” she says reaching out to shake his hand. “Hi!” he replies reaching out to accept the hand shake. While he is distracted by her shaking his hand, she pick-pockets him. In his pocket, she finds something that resembles a tongue or a piece of a brain. “What are you doing?” she asks him. “My job.” he replies. “What is your job?” she asks. “Undertaker.” he explains. “I don’t eat them.” he says noticing her concerned look. “It seems like you do….” she says showing him the tongue and pieces of brains that she found in his pocket. Eventually realizing he would be no threat to the party she gives him the contents of his pockets back as well as the brains of the hill giant in exchange for his promise not to eat the group should any of them meet their end.
The party hears the unmistakable sound of a blacksmith hammering away at his forge and decide to investigate. They discover a tall and lean man with watery blue eyes and very little hair, toned muscles showing with every hammer strike. “What are you making?” Lissaya asks him. “Traveler? Hmmm.....this is currency.” he replies. “What kind of currency?” “Bits,” he explains. Upon investigation, she learns that this is the only currency that The Camp deals in and that to get bits you must purchase them with gold with the exchange rate set at 5 gold for 1 bit. She attempts to sneak a handful of bits into her pocket while inspecting his work. He ends up noticing what she was trying to do and she quickly buys a bit from him, planning to attempt to replicate it later.
From the Bazaar, the party can smell delicious food being cooked. They also see a stable, an old adobe house covered by furs, an artificial mound that looked like an old tomb, and a large number of hide tents inhabited mostly by orcs and half-orcs. The old adobe house was surrounded by six guys wearing dusty capes and light armor. Around the house, the party could see six wolves, one of them was big and reddish. Key decides to head back to the Usurer and asks him how would someone go about starting a business here and he tells him all he needs to do is open a business. He finds that town polices themselves and that the blacksmith makes all the bits. He inquires further regarding the bits and learns that locals get a much more favorable exchange rate of 2 gold per bit. He then tells Key about a powerful Lich that resides in the dead fields. Key then returns to the party and tells them what he learned.
A gnome walks past the rest of the party carrying some pots heading towards the garden. “Yall new in town?” he asks them. “Yes.” Lissaya replies. “Well, the Inn is there.... the tavern is there......and you can get hot food over there.” he says pointing at various locations. He introduces himself as Gibbly and tells them he runs the Inn with his brother. She asks him if they have any jobs that they are seeking aid for, he initially tells them his concerns regarding a local vampire named Simon. She tries to inquire about the vampire and he quickly changes his mind, telling her he is fine. Gibbly instead leans close to Lissaya and tells her that he would be willing to give them a discount on rooms at the inn if we get rid of the owner of the tavern, Lucky.
Lissaya decides to sell the +1 chain shirt to one of the vendor and receives 500 bits for it. Afterwards, the party talks Lissaya into trying to steal back the chain shirt she stole. She watches the vendor for the rest of the day, so that she wouldn’t lose track of it. At the end of the day, the shops start to close up and she sneaks inside his shop, but doesn’t see the chain shirt right away. She casts detect magic in an attempt to find it but the shirt is nowhere to be found. She then investigates the merchants tent but she finds nothing of great value. It gets darker and the party sees the people in the town hurry quickly into their tents. The rest of the party decides to set up camp. Anya and Ingrid work together to shape a structure for the party from nearby boulders and scrap wood.
In the distance, Anya spots a shadowy figure down on all fours. It appears to be an undead, its head sideways with a noose around his neck and a sign on his chest that reads “Cheater”. Anya calls out to Lissaya but she doesn’t hear her. The shadowy figure comes up behind Ingrid and uses the noose to drag her away. Anya can tell that it is undead. Bacchus raises his bow and shoots it. Anya and Ingrid’s wolf chase after Ingrid. Anya catches up with them and the undead attacks her. She is told to let the DM know when it is two days from now. Bacchus shots it again and Anya finishes him off with two deadly blows.
While the rest of the party battles the undead, Lissaya hears a creaky noise from nearby and goes to investigate it. Emerging from the darkness she sees a hooded boney jawed guy that’s appears to be undead pushing a cart. “Buy?” he asks. “What do you have?” she replies. He pulls out a dehydrated dead fish and offers it to her for fifty gold. She offers him a few bits but he ignores her offer and pushes his cart off into the darkness. She returns to the party and they inform her of what happened in her absence.
Anya wakes up the next morning to find that she is feverish and worries that she is going to turn undead. Upon further inspection, the party tells her she only has filth fever. Lissaya decides to pay Lucky a visit and Ingrid goes with her. Smoke pours out over the town and they can hear the steady sound of the Usurer’s hammer. They arrive at The Sip of Blood Tavern and see that it is an old structure that appears to have been rebuilt several times. They walk into the tavern to find a few people sprawled out on the floor, a few bar maids are walking around and behind the bar stands Lucky. His head is hairless on the left side, he is missing an eye, he is missing an ear, and he has massive scarring. He left arm ends in a ragged stump just below the elbow and his right leg ends in an exposed bone. He smiles at them as they enter and they see he is also missing most of his teeth. Lissaya asks for a drink, Lucky makes some hand gestures at her and they notice that he is also missing his tongue. The bar maid walks up and translates his hand gestures “It’s best to be inside after dark and not to anger the ghosts. This whole place was a battleground once, and the dead rise at night and take anyone they find wandering around.”. Lissaya stares at him trying to figure out why Gibbly has a problem with him, when he doesn’t seem like he can do much harm. She asks why they call him Lucky and he explains that he has a magic rock that she can rub for 50 bits. They find out that actually touching the stone provides no benefits. Lucky signs something the bar maid translates “Um.....I think he’s saying, ‘Beware the black beast in the pit.’ Either that or ‘There’s blackened beef on the spit.’ I’m not sure which, I haven’t worked here long...” she explains. Lissaya can tell that he said, ‘Beware the black beast in the pit’. She asks if she can trade a performance instead of bits for a chance to hold the rock, but that doesn’t work.
The party finds out that the artificial mound they saw the previous day is a burrow from which an old swamp hag named Mama Grim sells potions. Her hair is a massive tangle of greasy black locks, in which she has tangled bits of feathers and bone. It has the look of an old tomb except for the garland of wildflowers that are hung around the door frame. However, whoever was buried there has been cleaned out. The party discusses whether or not to kill Lucky. Ingrid is all for it, but most of the rest of the party is unsure. Lissaya is on the fence about, Key doesn’t want to, Anya doesn’t see the point. Bacchus says he is confused as to why they are so hesitant and that he could go do it himself. Lissaya rolls her eyes and sarcastically says “Yeah you go do that”. Not really understanding that Lissaya was being sarcastic Bacchus heads toward the tavern. Key notices and Key sets out to follow him.
Bacchus enters The Sip of Blood Tavern. Key follows him in and sits on the floor. A few people are sitting around in the tavern and Bacchus stares behind the bar, debating on whether or not he is going kill Lucky. Meanwhile, Lissaya goes to Inn to talk to Gibbly to figure out why he wants Lucky gone. She asks him why he wants Lucky gone and Gibbly clarifies that he wants him dead. She couldn’t get many answers from Gibbly, so she approaches his twin brother, Jashanah. She asks him about Lucky and he tells her that Lucky has his lucky rock. He tells her that the rock is only lucky if you are carrying it and it does nothing if you just touch it. She offers to get them the rock back in exchange for free room and board for her, but only a discount for the rest of the party.
While that is going on Bacchus walks up to Lucky behind the bar and attacks him with his battle axe much to the horror of the barmaid and patronage. Lucky attempts to crawl to safety over the bar but is cut down by Bacchus. A guy sitting at the bar breaks for the door and Key blocks his way. Meanwhile, Lissaya heads back to tavern and notices the Usurer is headed to the bar. She sees Ingrid and Anya standing nearby and gets them to follow her. The Usurer tries to open the door to the tavern, but the door hits Key, who is still standing in front of it. “Hello.” Key said to him, moving out of the way. Bacchus delivers the final blow with his battle axe, killing Lucky. Ingrid, Anya, and Lissaya enter the tavern. Immediately seeing Lucky on the ground, Anya and Ingrid rush over to see if he is dead. “Business must not stop.” the Usurer says looking right at Bacchus. “He doesn’t really understand business.” Key explains to him. “Business must not stop.” the Usurer repeats, now staring at Key. Ingrid casts stabilize on Lucky and Anya starts to assess his wounds. The Usurer leaves the tavern and Lissaya hurries to The Apothecary to see Mama Grim to get Lucky reincarnated. When they leave Bacchus plods out tossing the lucky stone to Key as he passes. Key begins to study the rock and discovers it is a powerful item known as a Luckstone.
When Lissaya gets to Mama Grim's shop, she leaves the body just outside the door and steps inside just to talk Mama Grim. Before she gets the chance to say anything, Ingrid sends her wolf to fetch Lucky’s body and drag it away. Lissaya runs after Ingrid’s wolf and manages to pull off Lucky’s finger. She reenters The Apothecary and asks Mama Grim to reincarnate. Lissaya offers her the angel feather and a future favor. Mama Grim agrees and asks her to kill one of her sisters. If she doesn’t complete the task within a year she will die painfully. (DM needs to give us the sisters’ names) The reincarnate potion brings Lucky back as kitsune. “My god favored you and brought you back.” Lissaya says handing him an iron one holy symbol. Bacchus then walks in the room covered in Lucky’s blood and holding his crutch. “By the laws of war, you lost the bar, but you were given a second chance by my god. Welcome to being in the service of the iron one.” Lissaya says to Lucky.
Hi guys, I'm back. I've got a new group of intrepid adventurers wanting to take a trip to the Desolation. Right now I'm doing a revamp of my travel maps and randomized charts. Looks like I've got some catching up to do in this thread. :D
@Karmic Knight as to Survival rolls for Getting Lost if you want to set 15 as your base difficulty remember that "difficult" terrain (see Exploration and Movement) can add a +2 to the difficulty. Also, if bad weather is obscuring the sun and stars, it could add another +2. Better keep a druid or a ranger handy with the Know Direction spell, but even then if you don't know where you are going you are always lost.
Will be following for session recaps :)
@SoA - This adventure uses hex maps? Nice! I printed my map of the Rappan Athuk Wilderness and the Desolation on a sheet with Hex, easier than trying some photoshop wizadry. I need to check this out.
@Bill - Going to be running RA soon with the Kingdom Building rules, should be entertaining, great stuff!
This is my alpha version of something I'm putting together for my players. I figured I could get some good insight and help some people out.
What this is:
Playing RotRL with the Kingdom Building rules available from the SRD or the Book of the River Nations, same stuff.
What are you doing:
Well I wanted to present my players with a sandbox and just let them have fun. I've already modded in a second area with a massive dungeon known as Rappan Athuk, but its completely ignorable.
How are you dealing with X problem from Y book?
Don't know all that yet, but it will likely consist of me adding contents from books 3+ to a map above this one. I never really liked how far away the rest of the adventure took us.
Not to get to linky, but here's a great 3rd party system for exploring and movement, if needed.
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/other-rules/exploration-and-movement- sandbox
So I'm finally getting another Pathfinder group together and I'm doing something a little odd. I'm using Slumbering Tsar, Rappan Athuk, and the Book of the River Nations (the kingdom building rules) and tying in parts from an adventure path just for some of the more plot chasing players. I've over laid the Desolation and the Wilderness of RA with a Hex map and I'm hoping to start this craziness pretty soon. The group is pretty green Pathfinder wise so I'm going to mostly use ST as background material until they get froggy, pun intended.
If anyone is interested I've got some workup scans of with hex, I'll probably do another workout once I add Resources and a GM Terrain cheat sheet. Drop me a message with your email and I'll send it.
Game 40 07/18/14
Roster: Suli Sorcerer, Half-Orc Druid, Gnome Magus
Under Control
Seconds after escaping via Dimension Door the party was near the Broken Gate and arguing about going to retrieve their downed comrades. Unfortunately their conversation caught the attention of a wandering patrol of Meatmen and Bonemen, who sliced up the Magus while the other two flew overhead. They nearly decided to flee the city, but had a change of heart to go retrieve the corpses and saving them from undead animation. They Dimension Door-ed back to the scene to find King Thraestos had departed, but not before consuming the corpse of the half-elf paladin.
Rinse Repeat
The party returned to Magnimar to resurrect their friends and were joined by a Fetchling Ranger, who was conveniently looking for a party of treasure hunters. They burned through a fair amount of Belishan’s treasure by now. The interesting part of it was that when the tiefling and dwarf returned to life they had a shared vision of a blurry faced angelic being telling them they must find the Lost Sons. (The Three Angels.) From that point on the dwarf became convinced they had a purpose besides killing Kroma and he used Commune. (I don’t have the list) He asked questions like is there anyone who can help us? What do you want us to do? And who are the Three Sons? Where should we go? They received some answers, but others were not so clear: the broken one, cleanse the city, The Faceless Angel/Pylorus the Sentinel/Regium King of Hosts, The Dread Swamp.
The Dread Swamp
They Featherstep through the swamp heading to the Sunken Gate (B3-1) seeing the boat they declare that the gods must think they are fools. No one noticed the massive ooze in the pond, but they cast Fly on one another and flew over with Hide from Undead up. Some low stealth rolls allowed them to see the dire crocodiles and the Naga swimming around. After admiring the waterfall and nature’s reclamation of part of Tsar they discussed allying with the Reclaimers again. They spotted the Broken one and identified him as the extraplanar dragon they were searching for. They managed some good rolls on diplomacy and he was convinced to join the party (swapped the Fetchling for him). (He is a beast and I’m thinking this might not have been a great idea.) He hands them the Statue and they aren’t sure what to make of it, but they decide to go visit the Cobbler.
Knock Knock
The party lands on the roof of the Cobbler’s shop and the druid starts hitting the ceiling with Stone to Mud, which starts crushing everything on the inside. She casts it again collapsing in total about half of the roof and all of the inhabitants of the shop come running. In a short combat they had slain all of them with little trouble, the Broken One proving himself a capable warrior. They decide to retreat to Fort Holy.
Good Morning!
The party decides that early in the morning they will go back into the city and deal with King Thraestos by firebombing him and his ghoul horde. (They had heard them in the Colluseum gathering.) They next morning they get up and the alarms in the Fort are going off and men are shouting. King Thraestos has an army and they are coming up the walls. Game ends.
Note: Sorry for the late post, its been a busy week and it looks like we might miss a game or two this month. I'll try and get a list of the questions they asked for with their commune.
@Chaos Effect - The Brood mother fight is one of the tough ones early on, like fighting the Margoyles outside their cliff. Enjoyed the log, keep it up!
@Geo Fix - Well the players of the dead characters were really pushing for the Magus and Sorcerer to Dimension Door in on top of their bodies and escape with them so they can be raised and keep their gear. The surviving players weren't interested in going anywhere near the lightning shooting storm giant. I did warn the players that the cleric had been infected with ghoul fever before he died so he "might" turn into a ghast or that if they abandoned the corpses in the city they would rise very soon as undead. As far as King Thraestos I guess I have a question, will he regain his hitpoints? I'm not sure I ever saw how Undead regain HP. If they wait too long they will likely be facing him with a small army of orc ghasts and ghouls. I'm going to have to do some reading and see where he is going to head next just in case they run. Their chances of retrieving their gear are going to drop substantially after nightfall.
Any ideas on some cascading events from the awakening of King Thraestos?
Edit.
The Dream - Ok since my players have died so many times with the same characters I think they deserve a dream sequence. I might have to pull some Land of the Dead/Pharasma thing for them. It would be good to find a Hero from the Army of Light who wasn't turned to give them some coaching. I don't want to spoil any Rappan Athuk stuff here. Any suggestions? I might even elude to the Three Angels thing. Is there any reason why I wouldn't want to make some kind of "three lost sons" reference.
Reorganization and Book keeping (Magnimar)
The game started off slow as the Magus was the only attending player from the surviving party. (The druid was the other survivor.) With the stored gold reserves the Magus paid for a local spellcaster to teleport her to Hollow Mountain, where the previous scrying spell had placed him. He had lit a signal fire and they Teleported back without much trouble. (We were trying to get the game going, otherwise there might have been some encounters.) Pulling the corpses of the three party members out of the Tiefling’s Bag of Holding, it took two days to get the party raised and restored. They decided to press on and were interested in shopping with their stolen treasure, but they decided to have their henchmen craft the gear they wanted. (Then they decided it would take to long to wait for it) Each party member was issued a scroll of Teleport, a potion of fly, and cure potions as standard gear. They also purchased several more Wands of Cure Light Wounds. The dwarf used Word of Recall to get them back to “Fort Holy” (the Firebase of the Damned) being more reliable than a standard Teleport.
New and Old Faces (The Dead Fields)
Argos had brought his dozen men to Fort Holy to restock on supplies, while escorting a caravan through the Desolation. (I was trying to give them the opportunity to ask him some questions just in case.) The cleric spent some time trying to decide whether he wanted to add more defenses to the Hallowed ground. (He had leveled the previous game and bought the leadership feat as well.) There was some group discussion about where they were headed and the tiefling and magus decided they wanted to recheck the black iron statue in the pentacle (King Thraestos) in pursuit of trying to find the Anvil for the Justicar. They gave up on trying to go back to the Crooked Tower and decided that Kirash Durgaut was not a threat, nor worth their time.
The Devil (Demon) You Know (The Grunge)
The next day they left bright and early, but the druid was absent so it took them a few hours to cross the swamp. They decided to make their way although the wind was severe and making it difficult to see. They reached their normal entrance into the city the Broken Gate and the cleric cast his normal Hide from Undead when they started seeing the soldiers on the walls. Notably they are still afraid of the rumbling Broken Gate and almost everyone used a potion or spell of flight to get over it as usual. Even during the morning it was dim light and they were being quiet as to not trigger the Stalker, which by this time they assume anything flashy gets his attention. They attracted the attention of a pair of Babau Demons (whom both failed at their summons) which lept in to eviscerate the half-elf paladin (for 81 damage). He survived and the party was able to beat one down and the cleric Dismissed the other. (The demons rolled terribly on their initiative, but great on their attack rolls.) They healed him up after the battle.
Searching for the Shadow Dome
Part of their riddle was leading them “under the Shadow Giant’s Dome” (I’m not sure of the exact quote.) so they were looking around from the Pentacle (G1. Pg 208). They had some suspicions that the statue had a part to play, but since it was safe last time they assumed it would be again. The party was looking around the area when the sorcerer flew up to the face of the statue to look into its mouth. (A lot of joking was going on and then I read the description from, Return of the Giant King pg. 191) King Thraestos shook off the iron prison and immediately paralyzed the sorcerer. The party flew into action taking a few attacks of opportunity; both the Magus and the half-elf paladin were paralyzed. They took a hit from chain lightning and the paralyzed characters auto failed. Though I ruled the Magus was able to “push” the sorcerer to a safe distance even though they were paralyzed. The tiefling stepped up and knocked over half of the King’s life out with a full attack (140 something damage!) and the cleric tried to hit him with a Heal spell, which he saved against. The giant responded by smashing the tiefling who failed his paralysis save and the round after he was pummeled into goo with a critical hit. Over the next round or two the cleric took some hits and tried to heal and buy the party some time, but he was paralyzed as well. When the paralysis faded from the Magus she gave the Sorcerer a Cure Potion and they Dimension Doored out of the combat. The giant took a round to smash the other two, the paladin and cleric, into goo. Game Ends.
Total Fatality Count: 26 (I'm pretty sure that's accurate.)
Note: I think the party could have handled it had the Tiefling not rolled a 1 on his paralysis save, followed by the cleric rolling a 1 on his paralysis save. The DC is extremely high, but the paladin’s should have been making those saves at least. I also think our cleric spends a lot of combats trying to be a damage dealer, which he can, but the party suffers from lack of healing IMO. The Magus and Sorcerer could have stuck around and changed the fight, but they are a bit skittish. For a CR17 the party would have done very well against him had they not been within his reach at the start, especially the Sorcerer. The sorcerer was at 3 or 4 life so running was a good option for him. The Sorcerer was also in a hurry to get to the Midnight Release of his CCG Magic the Gathering. We called game a bit early since the Magus was falling asleep at the table.
And Tsar has claimed three more victims..... session log soon.
I think my players are in shock. Worst part is they were joking about what was about to happen right before I read the text. They met King Thraestos and it didn't go well.
@KaiserDM - I used Varissia as a backdrop to my campaign introduction, substituting Magnimar for Bard's Gate, because my players were familiar with it from RotRL. I haven't swapped anything else out like the gods, mentions of Nations, etc and my players still are enjoying it. Isolating the adventure is a big deal and I saw a really good thread a while back that included a flavorful upriver raft trip which fit really well with the Turtleback Ferry (RotRL) trip. I think its essential to get that Oregon Trail feel to it, I'd recommend they get a covered wagon. (Yep someone's dying of dysentery, better buy enough food!) At about 150 miles out I started heavily influencing the Varrisian terrain with the campaign setting of harsh weather and decreased plant and animal life. I dropped my players in at 7th level, but we had a game or two of travel games just to hammer in how far out they were.
On an unrelated note I really want to run RA too now. I've been following this thread Rappan Athuk in Nirmathas. Which I'd love to drop into a homebrew setting mixed with Kingmaker/Guide to the River Kingdoms, just a horror version.
I'd say you could run your players through 7 levels of RA, but that could take a long time. ST doesn't turn into a dungeon crawl until about a third of the way through, which could take a long time for some groups. I don't think my group breached the city until game 30 or so.
@Abrusio - Hey glad you found it! I'm going to give google translate a go and see if I can follow along.
Did anyone else get this weird Crime and Punishment idea? In the book the main character Dostoyovski (I think) kills a pawn broker and is wracked with guilt after he robs her. I think you could make some really good tie ins with Aldern Foxglove. I mean the guy is trying so hard to be better, stronger, whatever and if your player steals from him it could be a good tie in. For instance, you could have Aldern be embarrassed if he were to give the players a reward and he didn't have the money on him. It would be an interesting lead up to the Misgivings and his fall. He's a noble after all. Just my thoughts.
As to the laws of the town, I'm sure a day in jail per silver piece is about right. Sandpoint doesn't look like one of those towns to lop hands off. I had some kids sit down at my table and play this game with three rogues who went around robbing people. The group also had a paladin who ended up being put in charge of reforming them rather than throwing them in jail.
@KaiserDM - In Tsar, flying parties should be shot to heck by the Stalker, that's just asking for dead party members. Also the Pall limits reliable visibility to 500 feet and as far as I remember in dim lighting conditions, which makes it tough to get much reliable intelligence. I'd easily double up on random encounter rolls unless they were invisible. Doable, but terribly dangerous.
Outside of Tsar - Dim Lighting conditions due to overcast weather, check. Perpetual bad weather requiring persistent, but fair fly checks, check. Getting spotted at range by Assassin and Shadow Demons, check. Flying over the terrain is quick, but dangerous. I'd hate to see what would happen if someone were hit by a Bonestorm or separated from their party by wandering Margoyles who early on are super deadly.
Random Game Primer - Probably the biggest departure from my normal games is that I'm always strictly enforcing lighting conditions, food and water, and fatigue. I think my players are getting a lot out of the minutia. I'd include weight early on, but bags of holding negate that after a while. The experience for them is they always carry a way to negate that 20% miss chance due to dim lighting, whether it is a torch (magical or regular), the light spell, or playing races with darkvision/low light vision. To really saddle your players down with some problems use hot conditions in the Desolation to increase their water 3x, per character. At about 8 pounds a gallon this could force the game back into the Camp fairly regularly, except if the cleric is packing create water. Also requiring food means until they can blow a level 3 spell on rations they either have to dedicate a magic item to their provisions or they keep going back to the Camp. Lastly, after 8 hours of hard travel I start making them make fatigue checks, which means every paladin will be taking that Mercy that removes fatigue. Basically, some groups will enjoy the Oregon Trail aspect of this adventure, mine did.
I've probably said this already, but my biggest regret about running the first couple of games is not mentioning the Last Outpost as my players went on that first quest to find Sammar's Caravan. The way it works out is that chasm on the road has to be crossed or gone around, its probably the only good reason the players will have to go into the Boiling Lands, unfortunately there aren't many early game leads to take the players into that region.
@KaiserDM - As for a lead in to the city, I'd include a few minor spoilers in a book of notes the lich kept or bought detailing the spots on the battlefield that a few powerful people died, in their powerful magical gear. Off the cuff I'd list off King Kroma, the Tomb of Argos (gossip chain rumor), the Last Justicar, and that ghost dwarf at the Fort in the Boiling Lands. I'd also maybe include a line about a magical forge in the city capable of making powerful evil weapons.
If greed isn't enough to drive them I'd have him include a prophecy about how the city will rise again.
@Luz
Argos' Tomb - Loved the change, I look back at a missed opportunity to drop some extra history and flavor. Great job! For my group it was a surprise and a swing fest.
Brood Mother - Yeah she's a combat beast, if it adds some variety to the game and keeps the players guessing its a good change. My players pokemonned her to death with summons.
The Druids - Offhandedly, I'd say the druids have no problem moving through the hedgerow. Even if their woodland stride wouldn't get through, since its alive it would probably move out of their way anyways. I'd try to work in a scene with the capured npc sorceress getting sacrificed for help, maybe they make it in time, maybe not. Depends how vicious you want to be with your players. Might be a bit more cinematic than just rescuing her from a pit.
Overall, this reminds me of when I ran a short Rappan Athuk game. Straight out of the book its just a deadly dungeon (a beautifully crafted one), its all those quirks and little DM spices that make the game really shine.
@brvheart - I was a little worried I let them off too easily on the Teleport/Dweller thing, but since it was unintentional and somewhat forced I decided it should be a lesser evil rather than the full blown wish twisting. I still wish my players would go and make a genuine wish for the "weapon to slay Orcus".
In the future, I'm hoping to have the opportunity to run a regular campaign and use the area of Rappan Athuk as a backdrop. Turns it into a make your own adventure.
I'd say he's probably not much harder than Malerix, exempting the environments of the combats.
I was expecting the party to wipe, so I was trying to make the fight fairly cinematic with all the gore and taunting. The paly that did the critical is built to do those kinds of hits regularly, which I would expect from a fighter too. I did have one player mention to me about his high ac (32+) being justified, but they are in well over their heads. I try to talk to my players about not trying to break the system especially AC, because it can be done. As a part of combat design, single monsters in combat are probably going to "tag" them every time just to balance out the economy of actions. It would seem a little silly when its 1 against 6 for the 1 enemy to never be able to affect the six characters trouncing them.
I will say I'm still gripping about the Smite ignoring all damage reduction, but I'm not going to custom rule anything like that. I had a conversation the other day about how I miss players having to aquire vorpal swords or swords of sharpness, gave them a purpose and made it feel less math gamey. I think smite would have been better served by saying it ignores 1/2 Character level DR rounded down or something like that.
My Notes: Trevor, George, Mike, and Travis have some bonus xp from a few games ago when we had a ton of players. I'm just applying it to their next permanent character. Still doing that thing where when the highest level player is two levels above the rest, all the lowest get bumped up to next level.
As far as XP for Janirov, yeah there's a huge difference, but I went ahead and awarded the XP listed in the book. I'm wondering if they did that because he's by himself. If he's truly a cr20, I'm wondering if I did something wrong since my party was mostly level 11 and they were engaged in another combat at the time. Thoughts?
Don't forget about Wayfinder #7 the free downloadable fanzine! It's got all sorts of extras and little sidequests to pick and choose from.
I've run the adventure a few times and you really only need the three books, but there are rules for intoxication, gambling, and drugs in the GameMastery Guide which work great! The pregen NPC's are very helpful although most of the adventure already has everything you will need.
Game 38 06/20/14
Roster: Tiefling Paladin, Half-Orc Druid, Dwarf Cleric, Halfling Magus, Suli Sorcerer, Human Paladin, Half-elf Paladin (after the combat).
Blood for the Blood God!
The party left off last game in the Crooked Tower’s Conservatory (room H12-72) right as the tiefling had gone up and touched the statue to activate the Petrified Horror. They had been chasing Janirov via the druid’s tremorsense ability. The group had remembered a rumor about a kidnapped elven princess, though none of them rolled anywhere near high enough to get the false history. So the statue comes to life surprising the party and activates its blood storm, blinding both paladins and it begins pounding on the tiefling not doing much, but doing steady damage. Though lite the acid damage is getting to the sorcerer who rushes out of the cramped room and the Magus runs into melee, but the damage reduction (and lack of evil alignment) is hindering her swings. The half-elf paladin being blind fumbles around for several rounds not sure what he can do, while the tiefling swings away blindly. The sorcerer and druid hear spell casting around the corner and identify it as resist energy lightning, he beat Janirov on initiative, he had been hiding around the corner. (He previously had blinked through the walls into room 72 and then run again through the wall into the back half of the hallway of room 70.) The sorcerer yelled for help knowing he couldn’t face “Belishan” alone and the dwarf cleric came running out and blocked the hallway with a double move. “Belishan” (shapechanged Janirov) stepped up with a flurry of blows starting with a Slay Living touch as the cleric though it would be impossible for a wizard to melee him down as he took almost 50 damage and was hit with several staggering criticals. The sorcerer takes his held action and starts casting Bone Shatter over the cleric’s shoulder, but is unable to affect Janirov. The rest of the party is trying to beat down the Petrified Horror, when the dwarf cleric is cut down by a round of devastating magically buffed attacks. (Holy cow Janirov is a beast when he is buffed.) The sorcerer alone in the hallway continues casting spells on Janirov who continues to shrug them off and rushes forward and decapitates the solo sorcerer. With no view of what is happening the druid peeks out just in time to see “Belishan” carrying the severed head of the sorcerer and he throws it at her. She had cast Barkskin and starts chain summoning Stone Giants. Seeing her summons Janirov calls out and tells her if she will change sides he will let her live as his slave, she declines. The half-elf paladin is free from the blinding effect when the Magus smashes the construct, though the tiefling is badly wounded. The half-elf runs out and blocks Belishan’s path giving the summons time to appear, though he gets bloody doing it, he is saved by holy benevolence (some paladin spell that heals them if they go negative). A round later Belishan offers the Paladin life in exchange for servitude and casting aside his false god, he declines, and the shapechanger stabs him in the heart killing him. The tiefling also freed from the blinding effect is healed by the druid and himself and he blesses his weapon, time bought by the dead half-elf. He runs into the hall with giants helping him flank and strikes Janirov in the face with his sword (he rolls a natural 20 and auto crits for about 140 damage, insane). Janirov retreats back into the hallway the giants unable to stop him as he defensively dispels one of them. The druid summons a Cyclops in front of him and another stone giant in the room with her and they all are swinging at the shapechanger. The magus runs out into the hallway and Janirov moves forward to kill the tiefling, but remarkably he misses and the paladin knocks him into the negatives. The giants pick him up and try to wishbone him, but are unable to tear him limb from limb (damage reduction). The magus runs forward and coup de graces him while the giants pull. (That was the gist of the fight, pretty rough.) At the end of the combat three party members lay dead along with a the corpse of Belishan, which reverted into some kind of cat creature. They gather up their dead and bless them, hoping they will not rise as undead along with Janirov hoping he will not return either.
Post Mortem Discussions
With three party members down the group went into fight or flight mode teetering on pressing forward for revenge or trying to flee. At that point the human paladin came running up to the party having missed the combat (Trevor showed up to game) and the party decided to negotiate payment with Kendrall to join the party (as an NPC). A hideous wailing from around the bend and the tiefling tells Kendrall to go check it out they have a quick discussion about what is relevant to their escape and what is not important, basically Kendrall explains he isn’t taking unnecessary risks. He goes around the corner (to room H12-71) stealthily and comes back and says there is nothing relevant and to leave it be. The party presses him for an answer and he tells them about the flesh headed statue and the group discusses it for a bit deciding they should free “him” if they can find a way to. He tells them about the shaft with the cracks in it and they debate what it means and how they could use it. They loot Janirov’s room (H12-73) finding the scroll with detect magic as well as the chessboard. They talk for a good while about the scroll, since it has infernal writing on it, but no one is able to read it. They debate burning the spellbook’s use of summon monster 8, but finally decide against it. The druid summons a centipede to climb the shaft and do some scouting, it returns with a count of 5 humans and one wearing red robes in the room above. Fearing that the fake Belishan was not the only one the druid convinces them they need to rest and they decide to check out the hidden room first (h12-68). From the description the tiefling did decide that the woman upstairs playing the instrument was the lost elven princess, though he didn’t see her.
Disco!
They open the secret door they had found last game leading into the Laboratory (h12-68) following the tiefling. They all start searching around the room noting all of the expensive items and pocketing what they can transport. The globe in the room blasts them with chain lightning and they debate breaking it, but Kendrall moves up to disarm it, if it is a trap. He fails and is electrocuted, the Magus heals him with her cure wand and he tries again successfully. They loot the room and head out.
No Rest for the Wicked
The party flees downstairs to the wine cellar where they check and see that the Malice is still blocking their path (my custom change to the Malice). They begin setting watch, because at this point it’s about 7 or 8 pm and they were supposed to escape around 3 or 4 just to have a safe margin of error. Kendrall decides to sample some of the wine since the players were being hesitant and he tells them it is blood. (I figured it would add to the mood.) The watches were set as: first Magus/Kendrall, second Tiefling, Kendrall, and third Druid/human Paladin (aka Jim the Second). The party wanted to camp down in a strategic location, but were very worried because with the cracks in the walls and the rampant rumors about vampires they were aware of vamps coming in Gaseous Form. The druid began Stone Shaping all of the exits shut and they hunkered down after the Magus activated an Alarm Spell. Sure enough the alarm rang out shortly after they started resting, a man they identified as a vampire was standing among them with a roll or parchment. It was a letter of amnesty for one member of the party if they were to pledge loyalty to Belishan and forsake their party, he invited that person to dinner. (Many jokes and none too subtle hints about being dinner later.) The party politely refused the request and the tiefling ran him through with a sword after he told them that King Kroma would be down to check on their accommodations shortly. The party flew into a mild panic, but decided they couldn’t do anything but wait it out, but King Kroma never came. (It was just a ploy to get them to try and run away through the death cloud or stay up all night and get no rest.)
The Pristinely Unlucky (Ungifted?)
Regardless, the dawn came and the Malice had dissipated with it. The party fled the tower and used Dimension Door to go to the Gates, where they could run across the swamp via Featherstep. (For once I fast forwarded and skipped encounters.) The tiefling insisted that they flee all the way to the Camp and then force marched them to Tranquility’s Face so that their only scroll of Teleport would not be disrupted by the mystical turbulence of Tsar. (The plus percentage thing between 50-25% error that I add depending on how close they are to Tsar.) So they roll on the regular table to Teleport to Magnimar and the Magus drops a 100, mishap! (DM mischief incoming.) Apparently their Teleport was so bad it threw them into the pocket plane where the Dweller resides during the day. He told them that they would be trapped there unless one of them made a wish, they examined the place and it was a twisted mockery of the Crossroads and no matter where they walked, all roads returned to it. The party determined they could Plane Shift out, but no one could cast it. They were stalwartly refusing to deal with him until they asked him what sort of plane it was and he explained that time worked differently here and that the outside world time would be traveling very fast so they knew they had to go quickly. The tiefling resolved to make a deal and he wished that his friends would be safely transported to Magnimar, knowing that the Dweller would twist it horribly for him. (Had he wished for them all, they would have permanently lost all their gear.) Indeed they were transported, without their gear, which remained in the realm with the tiefling. Unfortunately the Dweller’s deception wasn’t over, he allowed the Tiefling to continue as he had entered by the mishap Teleport, which transported him with all the party gear 78 miles west of Magnimar into the ocean, about 8 miles away from Hollow Mountain. Luckily the weather was good and he passed his perception to see a hint of land and after a swim check he drank a potion of Fly, otherwise he would be taking a long swim in full plate. He hunkered down in a cave, but saw lots of giants and the ancient face of a woman carved into the mountain. He has no idea where he is.
Streakers!
The rest of the party, magus, druid, and paladin were transported into Magnimar stark naked. Besides being gawked at and embarrassed they ran to the sorcerer’s home and broke in and stole some clothing. They weren’t found out by the town guards and they went to the bank where the Magus withdrew some of their Raise Dead fund. They ended the game Scrying on the Tiefling, but unsure where he was. (Although he had a coconut painted like Wilson.) Seven days had passed in the pocket plane and time was running out to Raise their party members. And remember the Tiefling has all their gear and most of the loot, including everything from the Treasury, minus the Jade Statue. Game Ends.
Note: Well I hope ya'll enjoyed that, my players were getting excited in that combat, but Janirov was massacring them one per two rounds. It was pretty gross. I went a little easy with the Dweller thing since it was a little forced, but still its an inconvenience, if they were lower level it would be more of a problem. We may or may not game this Friday, two of our players are going to Wargames Con, but we might run a side mission for the tiefling and others. Questions? Comments?
Edit: Just to clarify why Janirov is so dangerous, a 15-20 crit range with Staggering Critical with Aura of Destruction. Criticals auto confirm so if he rolls a 15 or up, the players are having to roll a DC28 fortitude or be Staggered. I think his AC jumps to about 35 after buffs and his attacks and damage get a huge bump too. My players never landed a spell on him successfully, the only reason they survived was a lucky critical from the Tiefling, but that didn't even take him down.
Back from Cozumel! And hopefully we will commence gaming on Friday.
@Zach - This seems like either a good way to introduce the Hammer of Mordacai's Doom or a reason to throw the player into a situation where he has almost no chance of winning. You want to vanquish all evil, fine! Teleported to the Abyss, get started! All wishes from the Dweller should end badly, but might have an incredibly small chance to turn out well. If its early on I'd definitely avoid sending them to the Temple of Orcus for any previews. You could give them a way out and have him teleported to the Pillars of Orcus near the top of the stair and have the Dweller taunt him to go further up so that he can begin "vanquishing all evil, its only just ahead...."
He's the Rakasasha in room H12-69 of the Crooked Tower. He's supposed to parlay with the players, while pretending to be Belishan, and pay them off to leave.
Thanks guys! Luckily my wife to be is a gamer, she's the player of the "I look at it and it dies Ranger". She's the dps to my tank in most online games, I'm a lucky guy.
As far as the game, I was just happy my players talked to Jarinov playing Belishan, it was a fun RP opportunity in a combat heavy adventure. I thought Golems were largely immune to magic, I meant to look that up today.
Paranoia
The party was gathered on the steps (H12-45) leading to the cobweb covered stair (H12-64). They were hampered by the tight conditions and were slow to move because of the narrow stairs. At this point, there were two giant dead spiders on the floor of the room above, but the party was being cautious. The tiefling detects magic in the room and sees two sources, both obscured by webbing. They debate for a bit after seeing no movement and decide for the druid to send in some summoned spiders, who they command to clear the way up the stairs of webbing. The tiefling moves forward and checks again, noticing that one source of magic has disappeared and ignores the one still in the room, though it looks like a body. In single file they start moving into the room shoving aside the two large spider corpses. The druid remains suspicious and summons more spiders to experiment with the magic, eventually ripping apart the webbing revealing a corpse wearing magic armor. The spiders retrieve it and commence clearing the room of webbing.
The Blood Fountain (H12-67)
Eight party members flooded up the stairs following the tiefling, the half-elf paladin carrying a magical light so that he and the paladin could see in the darkness. Without much thought the tiefling crossed past the blood fountain and was snatched up by a (pair, gave it two tentacles due to party size) bloody tentacle. It dragged him underneath the surface of the pool, while the dwarf rushes in and dives headlong into the pool. Fighting from the doorway only half the party could engage, while others sat on the stair fearing the reach of the tentacles. (I was definitely using the tight corridors.) The magus ran up and incorrectly identified the creature shouting useless commands and information at the party. Though largely concealed by the pool, the party managed to pummel the creature (to exactly 0 hp). The party shuffled into the room, taking a breather and they had just enough time to get out of the pool, when the creature regenerated surprising the Magus as she was drug under. She failed her save to get a breath and could have drowned, except that the half-elf ranger quickly murdered the creature, even though she was blind firing.
Knock Knock (H12-69)
The party moves up and into the hallway examining it for magic. Noting the architecture the tiefling chooses the door (to H12-69, Dining Room) that most likely leads to a stairwell up. Much as they have they ignored the other doors and examined this regular iron banded wooden door, it was locked when the tiefling tested it, but he heard a strange voice when he tried to open it. “One moment please.” The party braced themselves and the door slowly swung open with a bearded old man on the other side, who moved to sit back onto his couch. The party stood slack jawed for a moment and he beckoned them inside and to come sit, which they did. (Much ooc talk went on about how bad this was going to be.) The groups exchanged questions with “Belishan” (Jarinov) and he offered them liquor, which the dwarf accepted as well as some pleasantries. During the conversation the Tiefling became assured that they could make a deal with this caster who was no servant of Orcus, but a few of the other party members like the Magus were prepared to attack at a moments notice. During the conversation “Belishan” agreed to dismiss Kroma from his service, provided that the party trouble him no more and not molest his Tower further. They asked about his intentions and his role in the war and were satisfied that they would have to leave, because Kroma would get a head start. “Belishan” even offered up that Kroma’s red jewel eye was his phylactery and wished them good luck, but that they must leave his tower as soon as they can, because his solitude was being disturbed. “Belishan” mentioned that the party had angered “The Malice” by taking something from his tower, but the party didn’t pay it much thought. (Custom Modification: The Shroud of Malice is something I went ahead with due to my party’s size. The Shroud is much as described in my previous posts and blocks all forms of Teleport and Plane Shifting. It is possible to run through the cloud, but it evokes attacks of opportunity as if from the creature the Malice. My reasoning was that half the party was fresh and it wouldn’t actually kill them to rest in the tower, though it would be dangerous because of the Pall and other inhabitants. Plus my party likes puzzles, to each their own.)
The Shroud
(Custom Encounter) The party quickly fled down the stairs, leaving “Belishan” alone, but somewhat disturbed by his confident smile. (The party was betting on betrayal, who wouldn’t?) They took the stairwell down to level one, went through the kitchens and down the basement stair, through the two secret doors and down into the winery (H12-26). When they got there they quickly made plans on how to avoid the Stalker by Dimension Door. Several of them drank potions before clarifying that their mission was now to eliminate Kroma. When the Dimension Door failed the dwarf went and looked out of the hole, hoping not to be shot, but what he saw was horrific. Outside of their Stoneshape tunnel was a whirling yellowish cloud of miasma shaped as boiling skulls. The dwarf and others debated running through quickly, it was only a cloud after all. They identified it as a colossal incorporeal undead and decided it would be better to test the cloud first. The druid summoned a pony and sent it in and watched its soul torn from its body. (The player of the dwarf had one of those funny … well I’m glad I didn’t do that looks.) They buffed up another pony with Deathward (which doesn’t protect against ability damage, yeah I know right?) and watched it die similarly. They came up with an idea to have all 3 paladins and cleric channel while moving out through the gap, but decided against it. By this time “Belishan’s” betrayal was sinking in and they were ready to go kill him. The druid went underground earth gliding, finding that the tower’s base was supported by a network of steel, but was able to find a route that led to the same miasma wall as above. About this time the druid revealed the presence of (with tremorsense) Kendral, who appeared behind them and asked them if they had any ideas. They talked with him about other things he knew about Belishan. They discussed returning the Malice’s treasure as an experiment and went upstairs. They had also discussed that the Malice had mentioned it was “his” tower and noted how Belishan had insisted it was “his” as if they were arguing about it.
Curse Your Inevitable Betrayal!
Reluctant as he was, Kendral agreed to temporarily return his treasure to the tower, but it had no effect. The party picked up their gains and went to go sort it out with Belishan. This time his door (H12-69) was closed and it cost them a knock spell to open it. He smiled as they exchanged some verbal barbs back and forth and stepped through a nearby wall (H12-68). They moved into the room and found his secret table device and were thoroughly sickened. (Dirty nerd jokes later.) They found the secret door leading to the adjoining room, but would not open it, expecting a trap. They sat there for a minute or so discussing their strategy and before the duration of the spell wore off, the druid felt the tremors of Jarinov running down the hall (to H12-70). The party followed suit and bashed the door down seeing a room full of plants, the druid identified them and the sorcerer cast empowered Fireball destroying them all. Charging after, they ran into (H12-73) and seeing Belishan there they charged! And a few moments later were highly disappointed at the Silent Image they had slain. Looking around, they saw the statue of the elven princess and began scouring the room, finding and recognizing a song about a kidnapped princess. The tiefling had performance remarkably since he was a follower of Sheyln (sp?). He touches the statue and it springs to life! Game Ends!
Note: Sorry it took so long to update, I’ve been preparing for my wedding. Ok so obviously the Shroud is going to be a large custom change, but I figure with 8 pc’s teleporting in and out, it’s going to be nearly impossible to tax them of anything substantial before they walk into the last fight. If they go in full strength, he’s going down in a round. Rather than go through this whole thing where Belishan repopulates the Tower in the 8 hours between their attacks, realistically he can go down and vampire spawn two dozen gnolls, but I’d rather keep the mass combats down for now. I’ve dropped several hints that they could appease the Malice by killing Belishan and I think at this point I’ve given him a big enough intro. I was happy my players stopped to talk to Jarinov rather than slashing him at first sight, we have this unspoken agreement about not using our RP opportunities as extra time to prepare for battle.
Serious Note: My wedding is coming up on the 7th so we might miss two weeks while I’m out of the country, plus two of the players had a serious falling out. We are definitely going to keep moving on, but I’m expecting to see several new faces at the gaming table. We’ve had a waiting list for people trying to get in. We’ll probably have time for one more before it goes quiet for a while.
For anyone who is interested and has Frog God Games on their Facebook we posted a group photo from game 36 on there.
Edit: I wanted to add a little something about Rogues, not to get into class warfare (pun!).
Rogues in Slumbering Tsar: Last game no-one in the party rolled more dice and had more tense situations than the rogue player. The whole table was watching his dice and waiting for him to give the go ahead. He might not have been the most combat heavy character in the game, but he was really excelling in the urban dungeon environment. Up to the point to when the players breached the walls of Tsar I think a party would be fine without one, but from this point on (11th level for my group) I believe a rogue will be essential.
If you are using Traits, Belishan can be slightly empowered by the Magical Lineage and Metamagic Master traits. That rebuild looks pretty awesome, honestly I can say I've missed the Spell Perfection feat in the past, wow. I think ultimately, it will depend on if we have the full group there or not that night, but I like to be able to be flexible.
Vlad and Turkaen will probably give my party a run for their money. I can say that usually having a high AC is better than having tons of hitpoints against my group. Thanks for the write ups I'm horrible with stat blocks.
I had typed this up... and accidentally clicked close.... Keyboard + Head!
@Geofix – I think my group can handle it, most of the spells they are expending are from their stack of cure wands, plus the Magus and Druid really haven’t used any resources at all, since they missed the last game. Most of this will be environmental fluff, which will set a more horror mood and deny them retreat to their home base. If they brave sleeping in the tower they will risk the Pall, but they will be at full strength otherwise. As far as the final battle, I expect the Tiefling will use the Litany of Battle or whatever it was to charge through all the enemies and smite/one shot Belishan if I use him as written. He’s doing 100+ damage in a single hit by himself that gets through damage reduction. The cleric with his massive initiative bonus is also a big fan of using his spell Reach feat to use Heal on major opponents, another near one shot kill. Economy of action will probably beat Belishan unless he gets to prebuff so I’m going to try and find a way to make him competitive. The way they are rushing up to the top means they are going in almost full strength with a party of 6. With the DC’s presented I don’t believe Belishan’s spells will even effect the players. Basically I’d be happy for the fight to last a little bit longer with the appearance of danger. I’d hate for them to walk away and say, “Well that was easy, I don’t get why he was such a big deal.” Literally he’s one of the biggest influences on the setting he’s mentioned 243 times to the Grand Cornu’s 134, with legions of npcs that are based on being his servants.
@zir39 – Thanks! It sounds like your game is going well. Just a few things I saw. The Dweller usually tries to twist the wishes into something horrible, resurrecting without gear seems a little lite, maybe it could have some other unexpected consequences like resurrecting their greatest foes as well. Shooting down the dragon, that’s awesome! I’d have settled for using Command Undead on it and having it attack the party. My group did animate him and ride it around for a bit, but were too worried someone would try to use it against them. As far as the stalker delivering a message, if you want to go a bit morbid have a zombie of someone they know deliver a letter. I think the Stalker would be hesitant to put himself in such a vulnerable position, but I’ve been using him as a way to ignore some minor random encounters and keep the pressure on. The Stalker could also arrange a trap with a boulder with a message written into it to fall on one of the party members, he likes traps after all. As far as the dinner with Belishan, I’d include something in the message about one of their loved ones waiting for them, depends on how dark and personal you want your game.
Ideas and Mods to my Game. (add/suggestions welcome!)
The Crooked Tower – I’d prefer if the tower was more of a character itself like this one.
Rise of the Runelords Spoiler:
Aldern Foxglove’s Manor in book 2 is inhabited by the spirit of a lich, it causes the building itself to react to its inhabitants and also prevents it from being permanently destroyed, as far as I know. If you burn it down, it “grows” back.
City of the Spider Queen Spoiler:
I don't have my book handy, but I do remember the last building in the adventure had a living evil negative energy building that reacted to the players, coolest thing ever. It would shoot negative energy rays at players at inopportune times that looked like traps. Seriously if you haven't at least looked at it, wow, it even swaps planes while you are walking around in it. How cool!
In one of my home games I had a beholder hive (like a bee hive) that was made out of flesh, and it had arteries and veins and all sorts of awesome stuff. Similarly I’d like it if the tower with all its ancient “magical defenses” and inhabitants to be defended. In my game, whenever the druid effects the tower with a spell arcane sparks shoot out everywhere. I just think it would be cool if the tower resisted magical effects and had fast healing 1 or something. Since the city isn’t static, I’ve had Belishan fill all of the holes with Wall of Iron. It’d be neat if the tower could at least create Walls or re-arrange corridors or something, might be hard to put that into text.
“The Curse of Malice” for the Crooked Tower – Malice, even more mysterious than Belishan, is still obsessed with his corporeal home, if adventurers choose to remove Belishan’s Treasure he causes a sickly yellow miasma to envelope the tower, if you try to penetrate the miasma you are subject to the Tendrals of Malice, which is equal to him getting a round of attacks, while you break through. The miasma also blocks teleport spells and plane shift until the treasure is returned, Malice is destroyed, or Belishan is defeated. Malice is just as angry that Belishan has inhabited his tower as adventurers have violated his domain. To add to the roleplay element, when this effect is triggered Belishan will begin talking with the players trying to convince them of their error, canny players may deduce that Belishan himself fears Malice. Either ways this allows the players the opportunity to learn and spar verbally with the infamous Blood Mage, where normally tactics might require attack on sight.
The powerful axe called Esaguinator that the players cast into the Astral is intelligent and requires a will save if you don't follow its orders. I imagine some astral being will pick it up eventually and want to get back and find the players who had it discarded so far from its home. It's an incredibly deadly weapon to living opponents.
As for lost forever, I assume its drifting out there in the nothing, but someone who wants to find it can use mid-level magic to find it. Honestly the ease of creating these Vortexes (?) would lend me to the idea that if they were so powerful, everyone would use them. So there must be a fairly easy solution. I'm sure a Commune would lead straight to it, now getting to that location may be interesting.
Ok so I had this idea, let me know if its ridiculous. The city isn't static, Belishan isn't static. I'd like to do something like this.
Have the players look out the windows and only see blackness, surprise! The tower is either surrounded by elemental shadow and they cannot escape until Belishan is dead! Or something like Belishan's tower with a mind of its own, the mind of Malice has been shifted temporarily to the Shadow Plane itself until the players can kill him or defeat the aspect of Malice.
Either ways I wanted to do some kind of "cursed treasure" effect for stealing Belishan's Treasure, plus I can trap the Kendral character in there too and have him show up again. I did bill Belishan as "one of the most powerful spellcasters on the planet." Thoughts?
Edit: Since Malice on pg 710 is a rolling cloud of cloudlike skulls, just have that surround the tower and have it deny teleportation effects. Might be cool and scary.
I will tend to side with RAW, with the interpretation that it's a Gate and if the creature isn't small enough to fit, it doesn't go. As far as the players/enemies using it as a weapon, anyone with Plane Shift should be able to return as far as I understand. As far as items, if they want to throw plot items into a hole, I'll let them, unless its going to completely hamper the campaign, and that's where I'd step in. Of course side quests to the Astral might be neat.
Xp Totals, etc, to my players.
Games 34, 35, and 36
Just for the occasional thing, keeping up with the non-frequent xp totals. With a huge group always expect extra player characters to be lower level. The ladies will be awarded xp for the bachelor party even though they weren't in attendance.
Games 34 = James, Brittany, Ryan, Hinkel, Jody = +6600
Game 35 (short game) = No encounters/traps = 0, Ryan's Bribe
Game 36 05/10/14 (Bachelor Party Game)
Roster: Tiefling Paladin (Ryan), Half-Elf Paladin (James), Elf Paladin (Trevor), Suli Sorcerer (Jody), Dwarf Cleric (Hinkel), Half-Orc Cleric (George), Human Rogue (Mike), Human Soulknife (Travis), and later Samsaran (George Again) Summoner.
Note: We reserved the “dungeon room” at our local gaming store (Macnarb's Gaming in Gautier, MS) for the big day, brought a ton of booze and food. I tried to tag FGG on the facebook pictures, but couldn't figure it out. It's pretty awesome though, pics available on request. Luckily the game stayed on track, mostly! Xp will be posted soon, need to do the last 2 games.
AH! You seem trustworthy! (The Crooked Tower, H12-18)
The in-game time continued from about noon. (We backed up to not opening the door to room 19, the Servant’s Dungeon, they hadn’t heard the description yet). So the party looks around and a secret door opens and slams shut and out falls a terrified human (the rogue) who jabbers about finally escaping, they back him into a corner and question him for a few minutes. He doesn’t know where he is or how he got here, when they tell him he is in Tsar he is thoroughly mortified, but understands it will be impossible to escape on his own. He asks the party if he can join them and they agree easily. The cleric of Asmodeus and the tiefling paladin bicker a bit about the meaning of “good”, but they decide to push ahead. The new rogue offers that he is an excellent trap smith and they let him know about the trapped stairs (area 32). The rogue asks the group to back up into the kitchen, which they do except for team Holy (all the paladins and the cleric). The rogue carefully avoids looking at the mask and begins his work on the stairwell (fails by less than 5) and sweat pours off his brow as he nearly sets off the trap. He carefully repositions and tries again and is able to disable it and make it non-functional, but without the ability to reset it. He opens the door to the privy, thinks nothing of it, and tosses a rock in not desiring to search a toilet (fails to find the secret door). He does ask the party if anyone needs to take a pit stop and keeps going. The rogue looks around for traps and finds none on the door to the north (area 19), unlocks, and opens the door.
The Servants of Belishan
As the doors swing open (to 19) the rogue is slightly ahead down the hall and he sees row upon row of ghostly figures in the room. (Given there were EIGHT players I increased the number of wraiths by 4 and added a wraith summoning jar that added two to the fight every round.) The rogue was able to dive out of the way into the privy, but the wraiths ignored the walls and flew in from all sides. Finding no respite and being in the front he eventually tumbled into the room finding a corner and throwing a bead of force at his feet to create a bubble of force, excluding him from the melee. The fight was long and it took the entire group channeling over and over to finally eliminate the horde of wraiths. After nearly five rounds of bitter combat several party members were drained of strength (sorcerer 5, Elf paladin 1, Rogue 11). The dwarven cleric takes credit for rushing forward to smash the summoning jar around round 2. (This fight took about an hour and a half with all the players, food, and drinks. We did use a grid and it was tough to keep up with all the enemy health totals, especially with all the channels, but we used some dry erase markers. It gave them a lot of problems because everything they were using was half damage, before saves due to incorporeal.) Afterwards the dwarf casts restoration on the rogue and sorcerer given their drain was significant.
Scorched Earth Policy
So the party keeps going, deciding to ignore the stairwell (area 32) due to the creepy mask. Team holy seems to be debating the nature of what is good with Nam, the half-orc cleric. The rogue quiets them down as he notices the southern door is chewed up (area 21 the Kitchens). He carefully slides a mirror under the door and notices a few thousand rats crawling over the place. He quietly tells the party and the sorcerer offers up to fireball (meta Lightning) the room. The rogue gets ready and they blow up the room. (Overkill, but it keeps long combats to a minimum.) They continue on to the next room (22 the Larder) much as they had with the others, eventually opening the door. They look around the gory room and are very cautious. The party sits debating the strange overwhelmingly powerful axe testing it meticulously with magic, when the half-elf takes a pole and hits it to knock it off the table. The cleric of Asmodeus gets tired of waiting and picks it up (passes the save easily), and it starts talking to him telepathically. It starts telling him that he should kill the ones that breathe, he ties it to his belt and it says outloud “NO! I WILL NOT BE RESTRAINED!” at which point the whole party stops and starts eyeing the cleric. They get into a discussion about the axe, mostly demanding it be turned over to the party for study before anyone gets to hold it. The cleric refuses citing historically that hasn’t been the procedure with loot, they argue back and forth, and the tiefling demands he turn it over. By this time it was the tiefling, soulknife, and dwarf arguing against the cleric when the tiefling manhandled the cleric (made a grapple), but the cleric didn’t fight back (didn’t take his attack of opportunity) and the soulknife removed the weapon and packaged it up so it wouldn’t cut their bags of holding. The cleric was furious and threatened to kill the paladin if he ever touched him again, but it ended without escalating. (Just an in-character thing, if you were wondering.) About this time the rogue had been searching the room.
Snake in the Box
Still in the larder the rogue was searching while his new companions hashed out their differences, he heard some strange noises behind the next door (with his remarkable natural 20). He flagged the party down and shushed them, unlocked the door, and pushed it open with a short pole. The hydra on the other side was prepared and struck out quickly, but the dwarf was the closest and bore the brunt of the attacks, though he avoided the grapple. The half-elf rushes forward bravely but gets snatched off his feet slashing at the heads, almost severing one. (I didn’t modify this fight, I figured it would be easy for them anyways.) The sorcerer tried to cast defensively, but lost a spell while the tiefling fired a bow through the narrow doorway. They eventually manage to down the creature without too much more effort. While the fight is going on (just for effect, though it is in an extra dimensional space) the Esaguinator is talking telepathically to the cleric, chiding him for not killing them all, promising him power if he were to wield it. The half-orc tells the party it’s still talking to him and they declare it is evil and must be destroyed. They hit it a few times with magic weapons and adamantite weapons to no effect (it’s like a +7 weapon). Finally the dwarf empties out a bag of holding drops it in, and rips the bag in half, which effectively casts it into the planes (somewhere random). At this the half-orc decries them fools and plane shifts out (to the Hells, presumably to track down the weapon) and permanently departs the party. (Rules Reference for upcoming Bag of Holding Questions.)
Let’s Go Up A Level (Order of the Stick D&D Webcomic Reference!)
Although it is a small room, the rogue creeps up the stairwell (area 36, Level 2). Thus far the party has placed a lot of trust on this new friend when he spots the strange trio of statues. The party inspects them lightly and knows they are magical, but chooses to leave them alone for now. With a few cautious glances the rogue walks over to the door (to 35) when the statues spring to life (kind of) and attack. The party quickly defeats the (staggeringly slow) lurching zombies, but not before more enter (from 35). The sorcerer is able to fling a fireball into the room behind them, which engulfs the lot (I tried to give them a Weeping Angels feel, from Dr. Who, but ultimately they were just fodder.) They give a cursory examination to (35) the studio and decide to continue up to the Side Room (area 45).
What’s up with people falling out of Closets?
So they look around, letting the rogue do the heavy lifting. They go over the cabinet and end up finding the dead Major Domo. No one examines the body, but the tiefling does pry him out with his weapon. They leave the naked corpse on the floor without finding the cause of death, but the half-elf does snatch up the slightly corpse smelling bottles of wine. (Eww.) Meanwhile the dwarf smashes the head of the dead guy, trying to proof that he will not raise from the dead. The tiefling face palms and asks him what about the Speak with Dead Spell. The rogue does his duty, walks past the corpse and searches the cabinet for secrets, and finds a secret panel, checks and opens it, and out falls a blue man bound and gagged. They ungag him and question him to the inth (sp?) degree and he reveals he is a Summoner travelling through the region who was captured. He tells them that he is interested in some revenge on his captor, though he is unaware of how he was captured. (I keep reminding the newbs that Tsar is a deathtrap for anyone traveling alone. Also the players keep giving me rum in hopes of treasure, if they only knew.)
Obsessive Compulsive Lever Pulling and Mr. Cool
The rogue, happy with his success, keeps searching while the party is questioning their new blue friend and finds yet another secret door. This time he speaks too soon and tells them about the torch used to open a door, where it goes he doesn’t know, but the dwarf starts running. The dwarf literally runs over and snatches the torch up and down. (I asked him how many times did he want the ceiling to crush him for 20d6, and he looked like a kicked puppy.) Anyways, the door opens to reveal a room jammed full of treasure (Room 46, the Treasury). Standing in the room is the lone cloaked figure facing away and the party calls out to him several times. He doesn’t answer so the sorcerer hits him with a Lightning Bolt, the figure smokes and bleeds some, but doesn’t move and they rethink their strategy. The half-elf takes some initiative and lassoes the figure in the room, no one was willing to go in. He lands the lasso around the figures head and drags him free of the room slowly. The dwarf figures the elf is paralyzed and they bind him as best they can with manacles, then he breaks the spell with Dispel Magic. Weapons drawn the party (forgetting he can still hear) starts asking him who he is as if he is an enemy after healing the wounds they dealt to him. Kendal politely yet emotionless introduces himself as one tasked with retrieving the property of his master, property that lies in the room behind him. The cleric casts Zone of Truth and asks him to keep talking, Kendal thanks them, but is dispassionate (I was having fun with it.) They had noticed his weapons and assumed he was some sort of swashbuckler or thief. He tells them that he will accompany them if they desire it for as long as they travel in the tower, in thanks, but they decide not to take him up. They ask him about the item and he explains a little about it, excluding its value, but they are far more interested in hearing about the Bloodmage who stole it years ago. Once they seemed peaceable he handed them their manacles back (none of them had spotted him unlocking them) to their surprise. Even more they became hesitant when he called the Bloodmage, “one of the most powerful spellcasters on the planet”. The party starts discussing about how foolhardy the quest to chase down Kroma is now, but the dwarf convinces them that they get to try their luck with against a powerful evil. The rogue throws a bag over the Sepia Snake Sigil Trap so no one will get paralyzed and they allow Kendal to loot the emerald palace. The paladins discuss that he has better claim to it than they do, without asking about how valid the claim is. (Our procedure is for them to ask for Sense Motive, but they weren’t asking. Kendal had passed the Zone of Truth save.) They let him leave (I love that character), check, and loot the room of its valuables, except the trapped ivory pedestal. (They asked me to tell them what the Tu Chai Palace actually did and were fairly impressed, but when I told them of the curse they were glad they didn’t take it.)
Spy-ders!
They continue up the stairs (in 46 up to 64), ignoring the door to level 3 of the tower. After properly checking the door the rogue pushes it open with his pole, but finds it getting stuck in the webs on the other side. The summoner sends in 4 or 5 small fire elementals who are unable to burn the webs (Usually if the parent spider has fire resistance the webs do too, IMO.) They throw a waterskin in and it gets pulled out of view by a strand of web, not wanting to venture into the room, the sorcerer fireballs (meta Lightning) the room twice and one very crispy spider falls to the floor. (The other was out of range). The summoner sends in his Eidelon being cautious and it gets snatched up as well. (I was having fun creeping out my players.) They rushed in to save it after some small buffing and someone killed it on the first round on the first turn. (By this time the words were moving around on the page too much for me to keep going, the players constantly making me drinks didn’t help, around 3 am). (Edit. No one saw the spy yet.) Game Ends.
The adventure I'm running has a trap with it and of course my players want to use a similar technique as an "oh crap" button. They recently got rid of an "evil" artifact by dropping it in a bag and shredding the bag. It was around a +7 or better and they didn't have anything good enough to sunder it.
Great recap, those Bonestorms are brutal. Tiny Hut trivializes so many of the dangerous weather conditions, but the problem comes up when the character that they depend on for it dies or can't cast it. I'm surprised no one had any last minute gimmicks to negate the storm. I've assumed that Skeribar's people carry a trench shovel and if they see a storm coming they dig a quick hole to hide, and they probably know well enough to douse a rag and cover their faces.
As far as rogues, its a tough adventure for a single class rogue. I'd recommend Ranger/Rogue multiclass, because its going to be a while until you hit the urban areas where the rogue excels.
@Huntersblades - I usually have about 10 of the paizo maps/dungeons and dragons vinyl maps laid out. Most of the time we use them, especially paizo's desert map. The last couple of indoor fights I haven't used any grids because drawing the room would probably be longer than the fight.
I'd use printouts from the adventure, but often the rooms are on a 10' scale rather than 5x5. Minis are great, but in the yellow musk creeper fight half the party was on the upper floor and sometimes you can run a scarier story by letting the players minds wander.
So in short, both! The minis we use are the old 3.5 dnd wargame, I forget what it was called. Sometimes I use warhammer 40k minis in a pinch.
