I've seen a couple on-going journal's, and I'm going to post my own, for a couple reasons.
1. The quality of the posters here is very high. Everyone seems to have such good ideas and is so familar with the adventures that I can't but do a better job by listening to their advice :)
2. I need an outlet for energy, so I don't spoil things for the group (like telling them what they missed when they let Pyllrak get away)
I'd like this to be a thread where I post what is going on, or just discuss things about the campaign and people give me advice or discuss the events with me, just sharing opinions and junk.
Anyway, there you have it. If no one has anything to add, I'm sure this'll die out soon enough, so you can all vote with your mouse on whether I should continue or not :)
DM
Party composition:
Kedoyn, Half-elf fighter/rogue, played by the most rules savvy player.
Grude, Half-orc fighter, the Half-elf's brother.
Kedoyn and Grude are homeless, and grew up on the streets of Cauldron.
Lockerbie, human wizard, the clumsy innocent one.
Duric, dwarven cleric of Moradin, him and the wizard were thrown together and trust each other.
Lockerbie is in town studying at the small University (DM-edit), Duric works on the town watch, his mother is a healer at the small temple of Moradin (DM-edit, in place of Kord). They found each other on the same nightwatch (DM-edit, it's a program that eventually turns into the Gnomish Magical Guard, or whatever they were called in Zenith Trajectory) more than a couple times.
Arkadij, human barbarian, she isn't used to the city and has a viewpoint that reminds me of Grace Jones from Conan.
Giovanni, human rogue, he's the newest member (along with Arkadij) and he has done things that have kept the others from coming to really accept him so far (like opening doors to areas they aren't ready to visit yet).
Arkadij and Giovanni don't have any connection, Arkadij's player started a character that wasn't very interesting to her, and Giovanni's character started late.
They defeated Kamojen, but haven't rescued Starbrow yet.
Because Kamojen was killed, the hobgoblins left(there weren't many left), but not before killing Coryston Pike. That left the four in the prison cells, the three chained up in the forge and Griffan the cook alive but slowly starving. The group rescued all of them, except Kyrlscar, who stormed off and fell in the acid trap that was just outside the lift in Jzadirune.
Also, because Jzadirune was only about 40% explored, but I didn't want the family of Creepers and Skulks to just be waiting, they gathered all the treasure they could find and tried to make for the lift. The PC's caught them just as they were carrying bags of loot up the stairs, and had an all out battle that left one of the characters dead. While identifying the loot the wizard contracted The Vanishing.
So now; Grude and Arkadij are traveling with Ruphus Laro and another Priest to Sasserine to get Kedoyn raised, while Giovanni, Duric and Lockerbie stay in Cauldron trying to find a cure for Lockerbie's disappearing act.
Meanwhile, Keygan Ghelve is growing more and more desperate to get Starbrow back. Who knows what he might do.
I usually fly by the seat of my pants, which leads to some interesting developments, but it also makes it difficult to remember to insert some details. For instance, they haven't met The Stormblades or Fellian and Fario yet. Nor have I told them about the Flood Festival yet (even the 3 of them that grew up in Cauldron). Also, their time at the orphanage was very short, so they didn't discover Patch's little secret.
Right now, as far as I can tell, this is their priority list:
Get Kedoyn raised and Lockerbie cured.
Get Starbrow back.
Find out why Terrem is important to the Beholder.
Plunder Jzadirune for it's riches, or what's left (really, only the secret art room and the throne's secret compartment)
Before I moved (from Los Angeles to Seattle, in Sept 2004), I took a different group through the first four adventure's, and it's fun to see what different groups do differently. I post some comparison's are I go through everything.
Here's an idea on inserting details:
Sarcem is in Sasserine at this point in the AP. You should definitely have the PC's meet up with him when they're there to have Kedoyn raised. If they're travelling with Ruphus, chances are pretty good they'll go to the temple of St. Cuthbert. You should probably work in a reason why Sarcem isn't raised after flood season, though.
I was thinking about keeping a diary or session log but I just don't have the time right now (running mulitple campaigns). I really like to hear how other people's games have gone though!
My group went through Jzadirune pretty carefully - they searched a lot once they realized it was full of secret doors. They had a really tough time with the choker (they were only 1st level when they got there) and I gave them a break (it could have been a TPK). They explored almost all of it except for a couple of rooms (they were totally freaked about the mist-filled room) that they didn't have the keys for and they didn't want to risk setting off any more traps (which they did early on).
The most fun was the encounter with the mimic guarding Starbrow. I had it talk to them a bit (even though no one spoke Undercommon) and they kind of figured out it wanted treasure or food. They tried to give it something but certainly not enough. They tried to grab Starbrow and it smacked them around a bit. It finally grabbed the rogue and took his bag of gold and allowed them to take Starbrow. Needless to say, the rogue was really mad. After they explored some more (and leveled up), they vowed to hunt down the mimic. So, as any good DM would do, I moved him. ;>) They finally found it and I was completely prepared to have it negotiate with them for food in exchange for the gold. They wanted none of that. They nailed it with a couple of tanglefoot bags and then the fighter critted it.
They are in the Malachite Fortress now and doing pretty well even though they altered the entire fortress and walked into the hobgolbin's pit trap in the main corridor. They should meet Kazmojen in about 10 hours!
I just introduced the Striders actually. I've been dropping hints about the Last Laugh and I wanted the party to have another encounter with them. When the party finally escorted some prisoners out, some LL thugs jumped them. They fought them off and when Jil showed up again, the Striders appeared. Jil had some words and then fled. The party took to the Striders immediately and they helped apprehend the thugs and helped the party escort the rescued prisoners to the Temple of St Cuthbert. I haven't revealed any info about their goals though, just that they are keeping an eye on the PC's and the Last Laugh.
Ack!
Since the last time I posted, I found out four of my group are not coming back.
One is having a baby,
One wants to have more free time,
One is that person's husband,
One is the husband's friend.
In a frenzy I posted on about 6 different websites looking for people. We shall see if this campaign survives. If it doesn't, I'll just start again with some other group. This is the second time I'm running it, and the first time last four modules.
Bulette
Since Friday, I've went to a gathering of D&D players (courtesy of meetup.com), received a few nibbles about the game, confirmed that the remaining two players want to continue, and found a place for our next session, which won't miss a beat, it'll be the same day we normally play.
How's that for fortunate, huh?
I'll post again next weekend, after the session.
Good luck! I'm in the opposite boat -- I have 6 players, and a waiting list for 3 more. Are you anywhere near Hamilton, Ontario?
Nope, Seattle, Washington
Here's an idea on inserting details:
Sarcem is in Sasserine at this point in the AP. You should definitely have the PC's meet up with him when they're there to have Kedoyn raised. If they're travelling with Ruphus, chances are pretty good they'll go to the temple of St. Cuthbert. You should probably work in a reason why Sarcem isn't raised after flood season, though.
That's actually a pretty cool idea. In that one trip they should get to see both Sarcem and the Lucky Monkey before they're destroyed. Maybe you could make a big deal about the Church using the last of its raise dead power (diamond, scroll, whatever) to raise the party member so that's why they can't raise Sarcem now. If they're at all thinking beings, they should feel a little guilty about that...
That's actually a pretty cool idea. In that one trip they should get to see both Sarcem and the Lucky Monkey before they're destroyed. Maybe you could make a big deal about the Church using the last of its raise dead power (diamond, scroll, whatever) to raise the party member so that's why they can't raise Sarcem now. If they're at all thinking beings, they should feel a little guilty about that...Here's an idea on inserting details:
Sarcem is in Sasserine at this point in the AP. You should definitely have the PC's meet up with him when they're there to have Kedoyn raised. If they're travelling with Ruphus, chances are pretty good they'll go to the temple of St. Cuthbert. You should probably work in a reason why Sarcem isn't raised after flood season, though.
I raise a toast to lost opportunities.
Three of the four people that left the campaign were the same three people that caravaned with Ruphus Laro to Sasserine.The fourth one was still in Cauldron with the two that are staying.
I am thinking of having Ruphus send a message to Jenya about the 3 leaving (they all RP'ed their leaving in different ways), and then decide to stay in Sasserine for a while.
In better news ... I joined a couple online groups, The Seattle Dungeons & Dragons meetup.com group, and the Seattle Gamers Assembly yahoo group, so I'm flush with gamers. It looks like I may actually get too many people (right now 12 people are interested (counting me and the two returning players), and I'm thinking of splitting the group into two, as some of them want to run RPGA sanctioned Living Greyhawk games.
I'm not counting my chickens though, we will see how many people actually show up this Friday. The only people I am sure are showing are myself and my wife(who has never played any RPG in her life), the two returning players, and one other(the host).
Well, in one way, you could say that Friday's session was a success. 10 of the 12 people showed up, and that's only because the other two already had made their characters the night before.
So now I don't know what to do. We have 11 players and 1 DM, and I don't want more than 8 players. So we're looking for a another DM.
I won't bore you with those details, but rather bore you with details of how I'm going to introduce 6 characters to the 2 existing.
If you'll remember, the original group saved the children and most of the adults, defeated Kazmojen and chased away the Dark Creepers/Stalkers. One of them died and another contracted the vanishing. 3 of them left to get a body raised, the other 3 stayed to find a cure for the vanishing.
Now there are 2. The vanishing was cured, and the remaining 2 invited to a dinner being thrown by the Mayor for their heroic deeds. When they arrive (which they haven't yet), they'll find out that the dinner is to honor the Stormblades, who are as yet unknown. At that dinner, the 2 will be met by a group, some of whom are members of the Stormblades, who want out because of the leaders moral views on certain things. Hopefully that will lead to the reformation of the group, and Jenya will have someone to send to The Lucky Monkey to rescue Sarcem.
I'll let you all know what happens after the game, 03-04-05.
Bulette
Ok, we actually played again!
Friday night, 13 people showed up. A couple new people, a couple people didn't show. We split into two groups, with me taking 5 people.
Then we started Flood season.
It was a pretty simple setup, Jenya asking them to investigate and giving them some background on the Flood Festival.
They got to the Lucky Monkey, and like many groups, they split up. The druid and her snake went to the side entrance, while the rogue and wizard went to the front, and the fighter and cleric tied up the horses in the stables.
By the time the druid, fighter and cleric got into the main room, the rogue and wizard already had their hands full, and a conjured web was in the middle of the room holding the thugs. Two thirds of the way through the battle, the very drunken woman stumbled from the stage and joined the fray, and well as a dishevled man and woman from one of the curtained-off rooms. Then just as that was winding down, someone decides to go into the courtyard, bringing the baboons into the game. Well, one of them went to -4, but she stabilized, and they were eventually victorious. Wounded and drained, they decided to continue on, and as luck would have it, they made a beeline for the kitchen. As the night ended they opened the door to the kitchen and got a full view of the grisley scene with Tongueater, the 3 baboons and Sarcem's severed head hanging on the wall.
That's where pick up next week, and I'm slightly concerned that they aren't going to make it. But we shall see...
Bulette