I was fortunate enough to be able to playtest "A Gathering of Winds" Wolfgang Baur and James Jacobs have granted me permission to post the notes from that playtest for anyone who is interested in reading them.
Before I post them though I would like to make a few things clear.
1. Being a Playtest, this thread will contain MAJOR SPOILERS. Major what?
SPOILERS!
2. The adventure was playtested with the following characters:
Huckabee Leafbitter Male Dwarf Fighter 5/Bard 6
"Huckabee" Detenticled Carrion Crawler which served as a mount for the above Huckabee...(This one was Greg Vaughn's fault)
Shelly Villerns Female Gnoll (reincarnated) Commoner1/Fighter 1/Cleric 10 (Madness & Random currently mysticism)
Sarah Marholdt Female Human Commoner1/Warmage 11
“Raven” Male Human Ninja (Legend of the Samurai version) 11
Marcus Bowman: Male Human Warrior 1/Fighter 4/Order of the Bow Initiate 7
These characters had not played any of the other AoW adventures since at the time we playtested this I believe that only "The Whispering Cairn" was available, thus their magical items most likly varry from those that characters having completed the previous 5 adventures may have. That being said, comming from the Free City (of Greyhawk) it is possible that the characters sold and purchased varied items and may very well be entering this adventure with unique inventories.
3. Being a pre-publication playtest, several differences maye be apparent between these notes and the adventure as published.
4. These were the notes more or less how they were forwarded to Wolfgang Baur. They are not meant to be as much as a narritive story as they are to provide him a play-by-play acount of the playing of the adventure. Part of the reason for this is so that he could determine if the encounters or the dice were the major factors in a given area. (There were instances of both).
5. I'll try to put the comments I had as a DM to the author in Itallics when they occur.
Hopefully you will find this interesting and entertaining.
Oh yes,
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ASEO out
Post! Post! Post! Bring it on!
:)
Jack
Sorry, this got lost after I posted it and onyl just reappeared. weird...
So without much further delay...
ASEO out
I have left in the flavor text so that it is easier to follow along, and sometimes to comment on items in that text.
A Gathering of Winds Playtest Part I
The Party is:
Huckabee Leafbitter Male Dwarf Fighter 5/Bard 6
"Huckabee" Detenticled Carrion Crawler that serves as the above Huckabee Leafbitter's mount.
Shelly Villerns Female Gnoll (reincarnated) Commoner1/Fighter 1/Cleric 10 (Madness & Random currently mysticism)
Sarah Marholdt Female Human Commoner1/Warmage 11
“Raven” Male Human Ninja (Legend of the Samurai version) 11
Marcus Bowman: Male Human Warrior 1/Fighter 4/Order of the Bow Initiate 7
The intro is such that I was able to incert the adventure into my existing campaign.
Each of the party members received a summons from their friend, the Wizard Allustan to come to (Diamond Lake) Gryphon Rock where he had recently settled, except Raven who was sent by his order in response for a request of aid from Allustan, thus repaying him for a debt they owed. Additionally, Allustan sent Sarah what appears to be a nonfunctioning Talisman of the Sphere.
The heroes all individually headed for (Diamond Lake) Gryphon Rock to meet with Allustan on the date he specified. Unfortunately, they all arrived several days late and Allustan was not at his home.
Raven, being the first to arrive broke into Allustan’s house and discovered notes detailing a nearby tomb called “The Whispering Cairn”. Additionally, he discovered a journal mentioning Allustan’s discovery of a new area of the cairn, and his plan to invite several other people to come investigate the cairn with him. With the knowledge that there were others who evidently would be arriving to also aid Allustan, as Raven had been tasked to do, Raven made himself at home and waited for the others to arrive.
Next to arrive was an archer, who after a less than friendly introduction conducted with Raven’s sword at his throat, proved by the letter he was carrying that he was one of those to whom Allustan had called for aid. Marcus Bowman then suggested that it might be better for him to greet the arrivals since he was known in the town.
Shortly there after, there arrived the other three who were to join in the quest. First was Sarah Marholdt, a commoner by birth, she had first proved herself in the depths of the Sunless Citadel in the early days of the re-founding of Gryphon Rock. Since that time she had gone off to study the art of magic. Accompanying her was a tall cloaked figure. This was Shelly Villerns. Like Sarah, Shelly had commoner roots, and had accompanied Sarah on their exploration of the Sunless Citadel. Shelly though had always been “Touched by the Gods”, and seemed to be a raw and ever fluctuating conduit of their power. She had gone on to adventure with Lord Antiqueas and the Dwarf Helleran in the reclamation of the ancient dwarven forge site to which Helleren had claim.
Marcus was sad to see that she had not been able to overcome the crule twist that fate had thrown her. For she was still a Gnoll. She had fallen while saving Helleren’s life in the forge site, and been reincarnated. In the cruelest manner, the gods saw fit to return her in the body of a Gnoll. She took it all in stride though, and continued to curse the gods who subjected her to their ebb and flow. Still she was cautious when traveling, and carried a writ of passage from the Lords of Gryphon Rock, less she be taken as a true monster as her appearance portrayed.
The last to arrive was a figure that left Marcus cradling his face in his hands and shaking his head. A Dwarf rode up the path to Allustan’s home mounted on what appeared to be a de-tenticaled Carrion Crawler.
“Huckabee Leafbiter at your service. And dis be my hearty steed Huckabee. He ain’t got no last name on account a him once being a mule, but then some bad things happed to ‘em and then there were dis Blade Barrier… and well, now…uummm ya. Hey, ye look familiar. Do I know ye?”
Indeed he did, for Marcus had once traveled briefly with Huckabee while trying to rid the swamp near the village of Oester of a demonic menace.
After greetings were given, the wizard’s notes were examined, and the party decided that it was best to head off to the Cairn immediately.
They camped in the wilderness that night, and arrived near the cairn around noon the next day.
Raven scouted ahead of the party by about 75 yards, and his movements were so stealthy that the party was unable to track his movements, as was the Large Black Dragon that dove out of the sun and and strafed the main party with its acid breath.
Surprise round:
Dragon “Ilthane the Black” breaths acid on the party
Shelly fails save takes 35 points of damage
Sarah fails save takes 35 points of damage
Marcus makes save takes 17 points of damage
Huckabee Leafbitter makes save takes 17 points of damage
Huckabe the de-tenticaled Carrion Crawler fails save and takes 33 points of damage
Raven in not in the area and thus avoids the attack.
The Dragon lands between the party and the Cairn opening, nearly landing on the still hidden Raven (+18 hide and move silently vs Dragons +20 in each) and screams “THE WIZARD IS MINE!”
Round 1:
Sarah was the first to react to the Dragon, and she threw a ‘Fireball’ which hit the dragon squarely in the nose ( it failed its save and took 35 pts)
Shelly toke a moment to cast a ‘Cure Light Wounds’ on herself, then moved toward the Dragon
Marcus fired an arrow, which hit the Dragon for 27pts (Order of the Bow gets insane extra damage)
Huckabee Leafbiter poured a potion of ‘Cure Light Wounds’ on his mount
Raven stealthfully moved and attacked the Dragon missing horribly, but managed to get the Dragon’s attention.
The Dragon made a full attack on Raven which caused serious damage (41pts)
Round 2:
Sarah sprinted toward the Dragon
Shelly sprinted toward the Dragon
Marcus hit the dragon with another arrow (for 31 pts)
Huckabee moves toward the Dragon and begins to use his Bard ability
Raven Tumbles out of the Dragon’s reach and uses his Ki ability to heal himself
The Dragon uses its Frightful presence which leaves Sarah and Raven shaken. It then tries to bite Raven, but misses due to a very bad roll. (non confirmed fumble)
Round 3:
Sara :shaken: hits the Dragon with an ‘Orb of Force’ (for 48 pts)
Shelly stops and casts another ‘Cure Lt wounds’ on herself
Marcus pegs the Dragon with another arrow (for 20 pts)
Huckabee continues to advance and sing
Raven bolts for the cairn entrance.
The Dragon breaths into the Cairn and fries Raven (leaving him at -8hp) then leaps into the air.
Round 4:
Sarah knocks the Dragon out of the air with another ‘Orb of Force’ killing it.
The party rushes to check on Raven, but by the time they get there he is dead.
Shelly casts ‘Raise Dead’ from a scroll, and Raven respawns. (he should have lost a level, but for the sake of the playtest I let him stay at 11th level)
The party takes a moment to cut a few choice huncks off the Dragon’s corpse. They then move into the cairn and begin to look around. Based on Allustan’s notes, they find the newly cleared area and slowly approach the silky black portal in the far wall.
The collapsed passage you remember from your previous visit is no longer collapsed; someone has dragged hundreds of chunks of stone out of the tunnel and dropped them in orderly piles all along the corridor. At the end of the tunnel is a glossy black surface with a raised lump in the center, like the boss in the center of a shield. The glossy black resembles a heavily lacquered door, or a pool of black water standing vertically.
Raven moves to investigate the lump in the middle of the portal.
Surprise Round:
The Ghoul grapples Raven with its tongue.
Round 1:
Raven uses his Ring of the Ram and misses the ghoul
Marcus nearly fumbles with an arrow
Shelly tries to turn the Ghoul and fails
The Ghoul fails to pin Raven
Huckabee mounted on his de-tentacaled Carion Crawler rides up to attack and hits the Ghoul with his magical battle axe (for 11 pts)
Sarah casts ‘Magic Missile’ but fails to overcome the SR
Round 2:
Raven fails to break the grapple
Marcus misses with a second arrow
Shelly fails a second turning attempt
The Ghoul manages to pin Raven drain 1 Wisdom and infect him with Demon Fever
Huckabee attacks twice, missing the first time, then hitting (for 17 pts) with the second swing
Sarah hits the Ghoul with ‘Magic Missile’ (for 25 pts)
Round 3:
Raven manages to use escape artist to break the Pin
Marcus hits the Ghoul with an arrow (for 9 pts since it is immune to critical hits)
Shelly moves to flank the Ghoul with Raven
The Ghoul attacks Shelly and misses, misses, misses
Huckabee returns the favor and misses with both of his attacks
Sarah hits the ghoul with another salvo of ‘Magic Missiles’ (for 20 pts)
Round 4:
Raven escapes the ghouls grapple
Marcus fires three arrows and misses, hits (for 7 pts) and misses
Shelly moves, avoiding an AoO to set up Huckabee for the flank attack
The Ghoul hits Huckabe and infects him with Demon Fever
Huckabee wastes Shelly’s efforts by missing on both of his attacks
Sarah follows that up with a salvo of ‘Magic Missiles’ that fail to overcome the ghoul’s SR
Round 5:
Raven holds for Shelly to flank
Marcus hits the Ghoul (for 11) killing it, and shattering the door
The Ghoul’s corpse is looted and Raven claims the ring of Invisibility that Huckabee ‘Identifies’
The party then peers into the howling hall way that lies beyond the shattered fragments of the black portal.
The hallway beyond the shards of the black doorway is a round tunnel slanting down steeply, falling at least 20 feet over the course of the 200’ long hall. Much worse, it is filled with rushing, screaming wind. Small hollow projections in the hallway seem to be making the noise, but it’s obvious that surface air is being drawn down and in at an unusual rate. The noise is loud enough to make hearing and speaking difficult.
About half way down it’s length, the Belkers emerge to attack,
Round 1:
Shelly who is back by the entrance to the hall moves up
Sarah casts ‘Lightning Bolt’ at the Belkers who because of their size and the size of the hall way are nicely lined up. (it was onlt 10ft wide in the draft)The bolt kills two of the Belkers, and severely wounds the other four
Huckabee continues to ID the ring
The Belkers go into smoke form and flow over Sarah and Raven
Raven attacks twice, missing the first time, and hitting the second (for 10 pts)
Marcus fires an arrow from his shocking Burst bow and hits a Belker (for 8 pts)
Round 2:
Shelly moves down the hall
Sarah kills one of the remaining Belkers with ‘Magic Missile’
Huckabee continues to ID the ring
The Belkers attack Sarah and Raven with their smoke claws and all miss
Raven hits a Belker with his first attack (for 8 pts) and misses with his second
Marcus manages to hit another Belker with an arrow (for 12 pts) and kills it
Round 3:
Shelly moves up to the combat
Sarah uses her Wand of Magic Missiles and picks off one of the two remaining Belkers (6 pts damage)
Huckabee continues to ID the ring
The remaining Belker hits Shelly with its smoke claws
Raven tries to help Shelly, but misses twice horribly
Marcus finally is the one to take the Belker down with an arrow (for 7 pts)
With the threat eliminated, the party waited while Huckabee finished his spell, They then all moved down the Howling Gallery to the room beyond.
The first room beyond the howling tunnel is a tall, temple-like chamber with a 40’ high ceiling. Carved stone pillars reach up to the ceiling in elegant lines, but the floor is littered with strange clusters of dozens of spikes sticking up from the floor in four distinct areas, like barricades.
On your right, you see carved stone images along the walls, and a series of small openings in the wall, each about one inch in diameter. Beneath these openings are small basins, about the size of an apple, and strange undulations make the wall seem more like a curtain than a level surface.
A series of runes in the language of the Wind Dukes is carved above the basin, and barely legible. The floor has channels carved in it, but no water is flowing there now.
Raven searched for traps, but failed to find any. Entering the room, he immediately triggers the blast trap but makes his save and avoids it. He then checks another trapped square and fails to find the trap. He steps into that square and Blam! Trap goes off, but once again, he manages to make his REF save. He then moves over to the northern door and reads the ruins and triggers the gas trap. And makes his Save. The party watches the story unfold as the gas merges with the carvings. Raven then tries to pick the lock on the face doors (What are the stats on the fake doors?) discovers that they are fake and heads back over to the party. And Wham! He sets off the blast trap (with its automatic reset) and once again makes his save. Now he marks the trapped square he is on, and the one that he first stepped on. He then checks for traps in another trapped, but un-trod upon square, not finding the trap he steps into the square and Blam! Once again, he makes his save, but this makes Marcus comment, “Dude. What are you? The worst Ninja ever? Your masters sent you away to die didn’t they?”
Raven responds “Have you not heard of the great Vyth”, and heads for the southern entryway into the room, searching for traps, and not finding any.
You see an intersection lit by flickering orange and yellow lanterns that float around a central statue. The statue is of a woman, perhaps a goddess of justice or war, for she holds a sword outstretched in one hand and holds a balance in the other.
Raven leads the way into the hallway. However, when Huckabe gets near the statue a trap goes off and several party members are stunned and blinded. Everyone waits until the effect wears off.
Raven moves to investigate the door off the eastern hallway.
Part II is coming up
ASEO out
Part II
The moment you open the door, a rush of superheated air escapes, blowing past you like the heat from an oven. The room is filled with a floor of glowing hot coals, which seem comfortable to the salamander and a Huge Fire Elemental you see on the far side of the room.
“Oh hello there. I say I’m going to hate killing you. Compelled to you know. Its not my fault. You really look like nice people.” says the Salamander.
Round 1:
Huckabee electrifies his axe and shield (some magical items I created, for this character I changed the war hammer into an axe. The people at The Forge website illustrated them for me)
“Lightning” Battle Axe, +1/+2 vs. Evil Humanoids
&
“Thunder” Medium Steel Shield +1
When “Lightning” is struck against “Thunder” (standard action) a loud thunder clap sounds (-20 to move silently, unless in the middle of a thunder storm). This effectively blinds any creature within 60ft with Tremor Sense, or any creature that relies on sound as sight for 1 round.
Additionally, when “Lightning” strikes “Thunder”, both the war hammer and the shield obtain an electrical charge. This charge lasts for 3d4 rounds. The charge on “Lightning” will be released with a successful hit with the weapon. This does an additional d10 points of electrical damage to the target.
The charge on “Thunder” will be released if a foe strikes at “Thunder's” wielder and misses by 3 or less. This charge does d10 damage to the attacking foe. The wielder of “Thunder”, if fighting defensively or using Expertise, may add the +AC bonus to the 3 miss range as it is supposed that they are actively defending with “Thunder”. (example: A fighter taking a +2 AC bonus through the Expertise Feat would dissipate the charge on “Thunder” if he is missed by 5 or less).
These items may only hold one charge at a time. Should the charge on one of these items be dissipated, the charge may be transferred from the other item by touching the two items (this does not generate the thunder clap, and counts as a standard action).
Should the charge on one or both of these items not be discharged before the 3d4 rounds, the wielded of these items takes d10 damage from the electrical charge as it dissipates on its own. The charge may only be discharged on living matter and does not affect undead or other non living creatures (Constructs for example).
The wielder of “Lightning” and “Thunder” receives Resist Elements Electricity 12 against lightning bolts as long as both items are in hand.
Item background for those who care...
Created for the "Thunder Warden", the Master of the Watch of the Dwarves living in the Thunder Spire Mountains, This Shield and War Hammer pair were not only a powerful force on the battle field, but also marked the status of their wielder. Often referred to in slang as 'Flash' and 'Crash', “Lightning” and “Thunder” were crafted from an iron deposit that was repeatedly struck by lightning. “Thunder” bears the image of dark and ominous thunderclouds from which a bolt of lightning juts. “Lightning” is finely engraved with lightning bolts and thunderclouds. When either of these items is charged, all the wielder's hair will stand on end.
Huckabee’s de-tentacled Carrion Crawler retreats…right into the blast trap where it does not make its save and it gets shredded into the spikes and left at -9hp.
The Elemental (who is standing in front of and to the north of the door) hits Raven, setting him on fire, and just misses Huckabee getting the shock from the shield for its effort
Sarah moves into position behind Raven
Marcus moves into position by the statue
The Salamander complains about how he just hates to have to do this, but lobs a fireball centered on the statue, and fries everyone except Shelly who was still back in the Howling Gallery, not having much faith in Raven’s trail blazing efforts.
Shelly moves up and casts ‘Cure moderate wounds’ on the de-tentacled Carrion Crawler.
Raven tumbles back out of the Elemental’s reach throws some sherken at the Elemental and misses horribly.
Round 2:
Huckabee steps up and swings at the elemental and misses
The Elemental hits Huckabee and Sarah, but fails to ignite either of them.
Sara blasts away with a ‘Cone of Cold’ but both foes make their saves and it does only minor damage.
Marcus hits the Elemental with a Frost Arrow from his shocking bow, and does minimal damage.
The Salamander offers another apology and invites the party in for tea as it hits them with another fireball which takes Raven to -4
Shelly moves into the hall and moves up into position to heal Raven
Raven fails to stabilize and burns (for 4 pts to -9)
Round 3:
Huckabee manages to hit the elemental, but can’t retreat without provoking an AoO because of the Elemental’s reach.
The Elemental hits Huckabee killing him (-14). He also hits Sarah knocking her unconscious (-5)
Sarah fails to stabilize (-6)
Marcus fires another frost arrow at the elemental, hitting, but once again doing minimal damage. He then retreats back to the Hall of Poisoned Winds
The Salamander begs “Please forgive me, I just wanted to sit and chat a while, but I’m compelled to attack you. Damn my ability to throw fireballs. Well, at least this is the last one I have”. The fireball incinerates Huckabee’s corpse, and takes Raven and Sarah way beyond crispy critters.
Shelly, fur singed and with only single digit hp left attacks, because she can’t get out of range of the elemental without taking an AoO. She misses.
Raven Chars
Round 4:
Huckabee is ash
The Elemental incinerates Shelly to ash
Sarah is ash
Marcus gathers the de-tentacled Carrion Crawled and heads to the surface
The Salamander laughs and claps its hands gleefully
Shelly is ash
Raven is ash
Problems the party had:
The couldn’t get past the huge elemental to get into the room to attack the Salamander
The Elemental was immune to the critical hits from Marcus’ Order of the Bow ability.
The Elemental two +17 attacks with a 15 foot reach that do (2d8+4 plus 2d8 fire)
None of the PC’s had any fire protection since they were not expecting this type of being to be bound in a tomb of a Wind Duke. (Maybe the door to the room should be hot to the touch)
To attack the Elemental, they had to bunch up in the hallway where they were perfect targets for the Salamander’s three fireballs.
Even when they hit the elemental, they were unable to do much damage partly because of the DR 5/-
And the Salamander didn’t even summon a second huge Elemental…
My suggestions. Eliminate or decrease the size of the elementals. Maybe make the room larger, with the fire pit at one end. This might allow more of the PC to get into the action
So, when Marcus reached the surface, he found that all of his friends had re-spawned,(Thanks to the Playtest Gawd) and they all ventured back into the dungeon, where fortunately, the door to the Salamander’s room was closed.
Venturing this time to the doorway off the western arm of the Hall of the Sword, Raven examined the door and opened it. (once again, there are no details on the quality or characteristics of any of the doors in this draft)
This two-tiered hall shines with the light from four large chandeliers that glow with purple light, and a large lightless black sphere (What is this sphere made of?) between them. The chandeliers seem to be sculpted with humanoid figures in silvery metal.
A second-floor gallery with arches and spiral-striped pillars runs the length of the hallway to a second set of large double doors. The black tile floor absorbs the light from the chandeliers, and the hall seems to absorb sound.
Raven stepped into the room and was immediately engulfed by the Elder Black Pudding. The rest of the party retreated a bit, but by some unbelievable stroke of fate, Raven with his +18 escape artist rolled a 20 and the Black Pudding with its +35 grapple rolled a 2. Raven escaped and tumbled down the hall to the safety of the party. Who opened up with missile fire which divided the Elder Black Pudding into smaller puddings which Sarah vaporized with a ‘Fireball’.
(I assume that the Elder Black Pudding can’t leave the room) Even if Raven hadn’t escaped, I think the party would have opened up with missile weapons, splitting the Pudding and then Sarah would have ‘Fireballed’ it. Although I’m not sure Raven would have survived the encounter had it played out that way.
The party examined the room and the chandeliers, then exited through the southern door without trying the others. They descended the hallway beyond and came to:
You see a circular room (it is a rectangle on the map;-) ) with a ring of columns around the edges that partially hide the carvings along the walls. Pale white light glows from two large wheel-shaped chandeliers, casting overlapping shadows throughout the room. You see double doors across from you, guarded by two warrior figures with raised double swords, as well as an doorway to your left and right.
Sweeping stairs lead up from your level to the doors on the other side of the room.
Raven activated the Ring of Invisibility and entered the room followed by Shelly. Raven tries to climb the stairs at the far end of the room and finds them covered with some sort of webbing, he tries to climb the stairs, but slips and falls, sliding into the room on his back. From the shadows in the room three Greater Shadows appear.
Round 1:
Sarah casts scorching ray hitting two of the Greater Shadows (for 40 pts)
Huckabee begins to perform
Marcus fires an arrow and misses
The Shadows all attack Shelly and all miss
Shelly calls on which ever god is tormenting her at the moment and through their holy might, two of the greater shadows flee.
Raven gets up and moves toward the shadows.
Round 2:
Sarah blasts one of the shadows with ‘Magic Missiles’ (for 18 pts)
Huckabee then steps up and obliterates one of the fleeing shadows with two mighty hits of his axe.
Marcus fires an arrow which passes through the other fleeing shadow
One Shadow flees to the northeast corner of the room while the other tries to strike Shelly and misses again
Shelly tries to turn the remaining shadow, but the gods do not favor her at the moment
Raven then becomes visible as he hits the shadow with some fight still in it
Round 3:
Sarah ‘Magic Missiles’ the Fleeing shadow and moves into the north west corner of the room to keep line of sight.
Huckabee manages to hit the fighting shadow with one attack, but misses the other
The Shadow returns the favor and it’s touch chills Huckabee to the bone (losing 2 STR)
Shelly curses the gods and her anger evidently causes them to take notice which sends the remaining shadow fleeing
Raven activates his Ring of Invisibility
Round 4:
Suddenly something leaps out of the shadow and bites Sarah paralyzing her.
Sarah is paralyzed
Huckabee steps up and hits the huge spider that is holding Sarah in its jaws. (for 19 pts)
Marcus pegs the spider with an arrow (for 22 pts)
Shelly holds
Raven steps in and cause massive damage with a critical sneak attack (for like 54 pts)
Round 5:
The Shadow Spider shadow walks taking Sarah with her
Sarah is paralyzed
Huckabee holds
Marcus moves into the center of the room
Shelly holds
Raven holds.
Round 6:
A voice comes from one of the dark shadowed areas in the room. “Your friend is quite tastey but having feed just recently, your friend will have to wait to be my next meal, but it never hurts to have food in the pantry, even if it is a scrawny human. Oh how I hunger for something more satisfying…”
“What is it you hunger for fiend?” cried Marcus
“Revenge!”
“What have we done that we are the targets of your revenge?” inquired Shelly
“It is not you upon who I want revenge, but perhaps your friend’s life is valuable enough to you that you will become my instrument of revenge”
“We’re listening!’ Called Marcus
“There is one who dwells at the foot of the bloody falls that spew from the chamber to the north. Bring me the head of Moreto, and I shall release your firend”
“Who is this Moreto?’ asked Marcus
“He is one from the city of ghouls. He is one of the undead and he must die. That is all you need to know”
“That’s good enough for us” replied Marcus, but our ability to defeat this foe is greatly hampered by the loss of our mage. Perhaps one of us could take her place as your hostage”
“Who would you offer me?”
::everyone looks at Huckabee:: who is seems to have found something living in his nose.
“We offer you this fine Bard, He has played for kings and sung for Emperesses. He shall entertain you until our return.” Boasts Marcus
“You want me to do what?’ asks Huckabee
“He’s the greatest bard of all the land!”
“Well I am that!” states Huckabe
“He’s danced for dragons, and …”
“…Oh ..oh oh…Tell it that I opened at the Farie Fair just this last spring”
“He opened at the Farie Fair just this Last Spring” Announced Marcus
“I’LL DO IT!” Shouted Huckabee
“Very well then” Said the Shadow Spider. Here is your friend, she should be able to move in a few minutes, they you’ll be on your way”. “Come now fine dwarf lets see what you can do”
Huckabee was already setting up his stage.
Part III comming up
ASEO out
I have to run...More to come tomorrow.
ASEO out
The Salamander begs “Please forgive me, I just wanted to sit and chat a while, but I’m compelled to attack you. Damn my ability to throw fireballs. Well, at least this is the last one I have”.
Wolfgang must really like Salamanders. This is his second Dungeon adventure in a row where the creatures are written in a sympathetic way.
I haven't gotten my issue in the mail yet, but I am really looking forward to it now. The adventure looks very cool.
Thanks ASEO, for taking the time to post this stuff.
Ahhh Huckabee.
Here is the party's first introduction to Huckabee which will eventually appear in the ASEO's Campaign 2002-present thread in the Campaign Journal section...
As the party settles down, Huckabee seeing that the party has lost its bard offers his services. “…cause ya’ll evidently are a write’n a story that best be told some day and I plan on a be’n the one ta tell it!”.
“So what’s your story?” asks Lerosden.
“So kind of ya ta ask…
"So there I was, just a sitt'n under this big ol' oak tree. You know how us elves are about trees. Well then it starts a pour'n rain like a stone giant take'n a pi...um...well, there I was a sitt'n and this ol' bolt o' lighting comes out a the sky and WHAM! Smashes me in the knog'n. WHAM! From nowhere! The I goes a fly'n WHAM! right int'a that oak tree 'member I said it was a oak 'cause we elves be know'n that kind a stuff. Man I hit so hard there was this WHAM! and man I still got the bark print in me forehead. The I fall back to the ground WHAM right on my head. It was the kind of hit that would'a cracked me helmet had it not been blown clear off when the lightning came WHAM and smacked me in the first place. Man, I landed head first on a big ol' root WHAM. Still got a mark from that too, see if you look hear nest to this burned patch o' me scalp. Well anyway, I'm a laying there with smoke a roll'n out a me ears, which you might notice had the points blown clear off o' them, and me mates come on o'r and I be know'n something's wrong, cause they're all look'n like dwarves. Well the give me one look and be decide'n to put me down, so one o them gets this fry'n pan and WHAM! cracks me o'r the head with it. But that don't do the job see so he tries again WHAM! But that doesn't do it either, so WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM til the pan bends and I got one bleadn' head ache, So I sit up ant take the pan away and they all go off a runn'n and scream'n. I stumbles over to me mule and WHAM! Damn varmint kicks me in the head knocks me clear off ma feet then blasted mule sits on me. I must'a been stuck there for a day or three. Mule finely gets up and have'n had some time ta think I says I gott'a write a song bout this. So be'n that me lads all turned int'a dwarves and left me with this blasted mule I think. Go some where nice n quiet. Dat's why I'm here in dis swamp."
Huckabee Leafbiter Male Dwarf Fighter 3/Bard 2
More playtest notes on the way.
ASEO out
A Gathering of Winds Playtest Part III
The party is:
Sarah Human Female commoner 1/warmage 11
Shelly Gnoll (reincarnated from human) Female commoner 1/Fighter1/Cleric 10 (Madness and random domain)
Marcus Human Male Warrior 1/Fighter 4/Order of the Bow 7
“Raven” Human Male Ninja 11 (Order of the Samurai version)
The party decides to rest while Huckabee entertains the The Shadow Spider in the Inner Court. They readily dispatch the two remaining greater shadows that Shelly had turned. (In the text it mentioned that the Shadow Spider had some attachment to the Shadows, but there is nothing it Fly Catcher’s or the Shadow Spider’s stat blocks that would give it any control over the Grater Shadows. Perhaps FC had come to some sort of friendly agreement with them, but seeing them so easily defeated he abandoned them to their fates)
After resting, Shelly gained the Family Domain. The heroes then headed out of the northern doors and faced the River of Blood, while Huckabee continued to entertain the spider.
A bridge crosses the river, but the pilings have been undermined, and the bridge arches are barely holding. In several places, the bridge is tilted, missing part of its roadway, and it all looks ready to collapse.
On the far side of the river you see a fortified gatehouse, dimly visible and secured by an enormous rusted gate. The gate must be 15’ tall and just as wide. There are no lights shining within its arrow slits.
A rope is tied to Marcus, and he makes his first balance check, but then fails his jump check and falls in the river, where he is towed back to shore.
Raven uses the helm of flying (like winged boots but a helm)and flies over the river.
Shelly then casts ‘Water Walk’ on the party (except Raven) and they all walk across the river.
As Shelly reaches the other side something erupts through the floor beneath her.
Surprise Round
Average Xorn attacks Shelly and bites her
Several other Average Xorns also emerge near the other heroes, 6 in all
Round 1
Marcus fires an arrow and hits the Xorn fighting Shelly (for 28 pts)
Shelly takes a 5ft step back, and casts ‘Control Water’ raising the water level in the whole area by 10 feet, thus flooding the four Xorns that were in the muddy bank of the river, and leaving the two on the platform in front of the gatehouse with just the tops of their heads out of the water. The party, with their water walking just rise with the water
Raven gets caught in the rising water, but is able to fly out of it and moves over to attack one of the Xorn in front of the Gatehouse, (hitting it for 33 pts)
The Xorn that are totally submerged sink into the ground with their Earthglide., The two in front of gate attack the flying Raven, but he is hit by one claw (for 3 pts) from one and two claws from the other (for 7 pts)
Sarah casts ‘Magic Missile’ hitting the wounded Xorn for 21 points and killing it.
Round 2
Marcus fires an arrow at the remaining Xorn hitting it (for 28 pts. Order of the bow can do insane damage with a single arrow to targets susceptible to critical hits)
Shelly charged over the water to attack the Xorn, but missed
Raven hit the Xorn (for 9 pts) with his Katana, killing it.
Shelly then uses the control water to move the water over the gatehouse area out of the way so that the party can examine that area. The party members all gather and peer through the arrow slits. Now that the area is dry, the remaining 4 Xorns return to attack.
Surprise Round
A Xorn burst up from below each hero, including Raven who is still flying (this was by pure random luck derived by numbering the remaining squares and rolling a d20 to determine which one the Xorn emerged from) having seen this type of attack, used on Shelly just a few seconds ago, the party is ready for it…except for Raven who is surprised.
Marcus takes a 5ft step away from the Xorn emerging beneath him and attacks it, hitting it (for 23).
Shelly tries the same maneuver as Marcus, but misses
The Xorns attack. And hit Raven (for 14), Sarah (for 18), and Marcus (for 22). Only Shelly manages to avoid their attacks
Sarah casts defensively and fires off an ‘Arc of Lightning’ which hits three of the Xorn, killing the one that was attacking Marcus.
Round 1
Raven hits the one beneath him (for 13) and misses on his second swing
Marcus hits the Xorn that attacked Shelly (for 29)
Shelly misses twice
The Xorns attack, and hit Shelly (for 18) and Sarah (for 5)
Sarah casts ‘Flaming Burst’ but the Xorn are immune
Round 2
Raven holds hoping Shelly will move to flank.
Marcus misses
Shelly misses with both her attacks but sets up for the flank
Raven swoops in and critical hits, (but only does 14 points)
The Xorn hit Sarah (for 20)
Sarah backs off and kills one of the remaining three Xorn with an ‘Orb of Force’ (for 44pts)
Round 3
Marcus hits one of the remaining Xorn (for 13) killing it
Shelly misses with both attacks again
Raven also misses with both attacks
The remaining Xorn bites Shelly (for 16) and critically claws her (for a whole 6 pts)
Sarah peppers the Xorn with ‘Magic Missiles’ (for 19)
Round 4
Marcus kills the last Xorn with an arrow (for 18 pts)
And the Xorns are defeated. 31 charges from the Wand of Cure Lt Wounds are used to heal the party.
The wind is gusting as you step off the bridge onto the narrow platform just in front of the gatehouse. The gate is made of flaking, rusting iron, with hinges on the other side and a series of glyphs and inset protective amulets in the iron. Some of the amulets remind you of feathers, others seem more like mill wheels or maybe. The thick rust makes it difficult to say what the engravings are really meant to be.
Raven begins to examine the complex Gate mechanism. In his tinkering, he triggers a trap that summons two Djinn nobles. (if the PCs capture these two beings they could end up with 6 ‘Wishes’ which might ruin the rest of the adventure…)
Note: These were removed in the published version
Round 1
Raven hits one which is flanked (for 30 pts)
Djinn 1 returns the attacks with its twin swords, and hits Raven once (for 10 pts)
Djinn 2 takes Whirlwind form. It hits Sarah (for 11), Shelly (for 13)picking her up, and Raven (for 9) picking him up
Marcus backs up and fires an arrow, but misses
Sarah hits Djinn 1 with an ‘Orb of Force’ (for 38) killing it
Round 2
Raven flies out of the whirlwind
Djinn 2 shakes up Shelly and Sarah
Marcus fires an arrow and hits (for 36 pts)
Shelly swings wildly from inside the whirlwind missing twice
Sarah fires a ‘Magic Missile’ from a wand to see if it will hurt the whirlwind… it does (for 5)
Round 3
Raven uses his Ki power to become invisible
Djinn 2 drops Shelly and Sarah, bashes them with debris and picks them back up and moves toward Marcus
Marcus hits with an arrow (for 20) killing it causing Shelly and Sarah to fall.
Thus the Djinn are defeated and more healing is done
Raven fiddles with the Gate and discovers the ability to drain the river. Which they do. They also try to break down the door but they give up and Raven moves to examine the tunnel under the River (What is its strength. The map shoes several doors beyond it…What happens if the door is destroyed, or bypassed via something like gaseous form or the like). (I had them mark off 18 charges of their ring of the ram and call it a day)
Behind you there’s the noise of rushing water, and you turn just in time to see the reddish water swirls away from a small area. It seems to have formed a permanent whirlpool that reveals a tunnel beneath the water level, a tunnel that bypasses the clockwork gate and goes deeper into the tomb.
[Note: This area was changed in the published version and was originally a 5ftx5ft tube-like passage]
Raven moves into the hallway to investigate, flying.
He encounters a Huge Blood Amniote in this 5x5 tube it must be stretched out as an ooze to fill a huge volume of the tube. There are two Blood Amniotes here, but they must be faced one at a time since they can’t get past each other in the tube
Round 1
Blood Amniote 1 hits Raven (for 11 pts and 3 con)
Raven tumbles away and then dashes back to the tube entrance where his friends are waiting.
Round 2
Raven bursts from the tube
Blood Amniote 1 begins to emerge from tube
Shelly turns it
Marcus nicks it with one arrow (5 pts after DR)
Sarah holds
Round 3
The Blood Amniote 1 flees (but will run into the second one after 2 rounds)
Sarah drops into the tube (or if it is vertical down just fires straight in to it) and launches an ‘Orb of Force’ which hits the fleeing Blood Amniote (for 49)
Round 4
The Blood Amniote 1 flees
Sarah hits it with another ‘Orb of Force’ (she gets like 6 of these a day) (for 47) killing it) She then sees the second one and calls for Shelly
Round 5
Blood Amniote 2 advances.
Sarah hits it with an ‘Orb of Force’ (for 42)
Shelly drops into to tube, and Turns it
Round 6
Blood Amniote 2 flees
Sarah Sarah hits it with an ‘Orb of Force’ (for 40) killing it
And so the Blood Amniotes are defeated. (Having the book that these creatures were in was of great value)(What is their current Blood Call Level?)
The tube is explored and the treasure recovered. Raven dons the Mithrial Chain +2, but no one in the party can use the wand since no one has ‘Levitate’ on their spell list…(which they can’t currently identify anyway)
Note: Several items of treasure were changed or relocated in the published version.
At the base of the tube they find the icy covered hole.
You have made your way past the two bloody undead, and you see a dim reddish light ahead. The water is turning cold around you even as it grower brighter.(no water in this area when my party made it to this point. You reach the light, and find that it comes from a layer of brownish ice sealing the entrance above you.
Raven used the ring of the ram to break the ice, then he slid back away from the opening.
Sarah used the Ring of Invisibility and looked up through the hole and saw the two Ice Golems. She held, then cast an empowered Fireball into the Room…
(this is where we had a problem…The Stat block says that the Ice Golems have Magic Immunity, but Fire vulnerability… I didn’t have Frostburn available so wasn’t able to clarify what happened as a result of the spell, So here are the two alternatives:
1. The Fireball, and maybe even a second one vaporize the Ice Golems and the party all climb into the room. From here they explore and then move into the Hall of Heroes and meet the Hound Archon there.
2. The Fireball proves ineffective. The still invisible Raven using the helm of Flying files up between the Ice Golems and around the room. He then explores further and meets the Hound Archon.
[Note: the Hound Archon was changed to a Kolyarut Inevitable…Who isn’t nearly as friendly as the Archon.[/I]
You are in a long hall of six statues; they have cupped hands in front of them, but their hands are empty. The air moves around you and you hear faint whispers.
So the party, or just Raven encounters the Hound Archon Hero, Orestes. (You have this as an EL11, but in the MM is shows the Hound Archon Hero as a Paladin 11, CR 16…I think the specifics on Orestes need to be made clear)
(What about an escape artist DC to fit through the portcullis, or a Str DC to lift)
The Party or Raven Depending on who all makes it to this room based on the encounter with the Golems manage to convince the Hound Archon That they are looking for their Wizard Friend and mean the tomb no harm (which at this time is True) They also tell him that they are hunting the most foul Ghoul Moreto who is at the bottom of the falls. The Hound Archon agrees to let the party rest in the room.
If it was Raven only, then he flies still invisibly back to the party, has them all climb into Marcus’s bag of holding, then he flies back into the room and lets the party out of the bag.
Now, since the Helm of flying has been used its three times this day already, and the only other means of any sort of safe descent is via the one ring of Feather falling in the party’s possession, the party rests for the night.
Huckabee is meanwhile moving from Elvish love songs to Dwarven drinking songs and starting to wonder if he might be able to get the Shadow Spider to let him take a quick break for a couple of hours…
Note: As you will notice so far, several areas have been left unexplored. There were just some areas where my party did not go, and others that were added in the ptinted version.
More on the way.
ASEO out
A Gathering of Winds Playtest Part IV
The party wakes up and Shelly has gained the Pain Domain. She casts 'Commune' and asks some questions, the most important of which is “Is it better to ally with Flycatcher than Moreto?” Based on the alignments of the beings involved, the response is "Yes".
Marcus takes the ring of invisibility, and the Helm of Flying, and the rest of the party gets in the bad of holding. They then head down the Falling River. They manage to slip undetected past the Wind Warriors. Note the location of the stairs to the True Tomb and arrive at the bottom of the falls.
At the bottom of the falls, Marcus lets the rest of the party out of the Bag of Holding. They then see two Mohrgs in the distant Ghoul Light. (Raven uses his Eyes of the Eagle to check them out)
[Note: there were originally 3 Mohrgs, and the True Ghoul was slightly different in it’s abilities, namely the part about it turning into a specter when slain, and his gear/weapons.[/I]
Surprise round
Raven Holds
Shelly hits Mohrg 1 with searing Light (for 27)
Marcus hits Mohrg 1 with an arrow (for 11)
Sarah casts ‘Fireball’ and burns Mohrg 1 and 2. (for 32 and 15)
Round 1
Mohrg 1 double moves toward the party
Mohrg 2 double moves toward the party
Mohrg 3 emerges from around the corner and double moves toward the party
Moreto casts ‘Lesser Globe of Invul’
Raven advances hits Mohrg 1 (for 12) and spring attacks back
Shelly tries turning but fails
Marcus fires an arrow and misses
Sarah casts ‘Orb of Fire’ and hits Mohrg 1 (for 25)
Round 2
Mohrg 1 moves and attacks Raven but misses
Mohrg 2 double moves toward the party
Mohrg 3 double moves toward the party
Moreto casts ‘Displacement
Raven advances hits Mohrg 1 twice (for 17)
Shelly moves and hits Mohrg 1 (for 8)
Marcus fires an arrow and hits Mohrg 3 (for 4)
Sarah casts ‘Arc of Lightning and hits Mohrgs 1,2, and 3 (for 42, 21,and 21) Killing Mhorg 1
Round 3
Mohrg 2 hits Shelly with its tongue and Grapples her
Mohrg 3 misses Raven with its claw, but hits with its tongue, but fails to establish the grapple
Moreto casts ‘Vampitic Touch’
Raven hits Mohrg 2 (for 11)
Shelly breaks Grapple
Marcus fires two arrows and hits Mohrg 3 (for 15)
Sarah casts ‘Arc of Lightning' and hits Mohrg 2 (for 26) and 3 (for 52) killing it
Round 4
Mohrg 2 hits Raven with its tongue, and paralyzes him
Moreto casts ‘False Life’
Raven is Paralyzed
Shelly hits Mohrg 2 for 9
Marcus holds
Sarah finishes off Mohrg 3 with a ‘Magic Missile’ salvo
Round 5
Moreto summons the Greater Shadows, then steps out and addresses the party.
“Who are you, who have intruded on my exile?” Moreto asks.
“We are those who come seeking a trophy that may allow us to reclaim our friend from the clutches of a Shadow Spider.” replies Marcus.
Round 6
“You know the foul beast that calls itself Fly Catcher?” enquires Moreto.
“Yes! And it has sent us for your head!” Cries Marcus.
Raven recovers from his paralysis
Round 7
Moreto calls forth the shadows to attack
Shadow 1 emerges from the floor and double moves toward the party
Shadow 2 emerges from the floor and double moves toward the party
Shadow 3 emerges from the floor and double moves toward the party
Shadow 4 emerges from the floor and double moves toward the party
Raven uses his Ki power to increase his Str by 4
Shelly casts ‘Scorching Ray’ at Moreto, but the ‘Lesser Orb of Invul” deflects it.
Marcus fires three arrows, only one of which hits Greater Shadow 4 (for 11)
Sarah casts a Sudden Empowered Fireball (doing 54 pts to Shadow 4) killing it
Round 8
Moreto casts ‘Ice Storm’ on the party (for a whole 12 points)
Shadow 1 double moves toward the party
Shadow 2 double moves toward the party
Shadow 3 double moves toward the party
Raven moves and hits Shadow 1 (for 8)
Shelly Turns Shadows 1 and 2
Marcus hits Shadow 3 with a single of three arrows (for 5)
Sarah casts ‘Flame Strike’ on Moreto (for 36)
Round 9
Moreto fires a ‘Lightning Bolt’ at Raven, Sarah and Marcus hitting them all (for 24)
Shadow 1 flees
Shadow 2 flees
Shadow 3 charges Shelly and hits her (for 11 and 1 Str)
Raven uses his Ki Healing (for 29)
Shelly casts ‘Searing Light’ and kills Shadow 3 (for 29)
Marcus fires two arrows at Moreto, hitting (for 7 and 8)Note: Order of the Bow Initiates hate things that are imune to their extra damage ;-)
Sarah casts ‘Orb of Force’ at Moreto, but misses because of the ‘Displacement’
Round 10
Moreto hits the party with another ‘Ice Storm’ (for a whole 15)
Shadow 1 Flees
Shadow 2 Flees
Raven charges Moreto
Shelly casts ‘Dispel Magic’ and strips the Globe, Displacement and False Life from Moreto
Marcus fires three arrows and misses with them all
Sarah hits Moreto with ‘Magic Missiles’ (for 17)
Round 11
Moreto attacks Raven with the +4 Ghost touch, Speed, Great sword (for 13)
Shadow 1 Flees
Shadow 2 Flees
Raven hits Moreto (for 10) and retreats
Shelly hits Moreto with ‘Searing Light’ (for near max damage, I was so amazed by the number of 5s and 6s rolles I forgot to write down the actual total)
Marcus plugs Moreto with an arrow (for 9), but misses with two others
Sarah finishes Moreto off with an ‘Orb of Force’ (for 40 pts)
The Shadows never come back and the party loots the area.
As they loot the area, they find the Seal of Law
So Marcus picks it up and it summons three invisible stalkers…Who are visible due to the Ghoul Light?
Note: some of the characteristics of the Seal of Law differed from the published version…
Any non-elemental creature touching the seal without speaking Icosiol's name releases a random guardian creature (roll 1d6 on the Guardian Table). Once the item is picked up, it summons only one set of guardians per day. Picking it up with a blanket or gloves does not negate the summoning.
And the party easily defeats them.
The heroes then get back into Marcus’ Bag of Holding, with Moreto’s head and Marcus uses the helm and the ring of invisibility to fly back up the falling river, once again bypassing the Wind Warriors, and they return to Fly Catcher’s lair.
They give Fly Catcher Moreto’s head, it gives them back Huckabee…who is so tired that he collapses in a sleeping heap in the corner, and Fly Catcher departs back into the shadow realm.
“Damn it, we should start asking about Allustan before we kill things or they leave.”
I'll try to post the rest this afternoon.
ASEO out
A Gathering of Winds: Playtest Part V
So, The party goes through the door on the south wall.
A set of dusty armor in a familiar antique style rests in front of a small shrine, apparently long abandoned. A small altar stands here loaded with dusty offerings from years past. A statue of a Wind Duke goddess sits in a small nook behind the armor and altar, and a door is painted on the wall.
While they are looking around the room the Wraith emerges from the wall.
Round 1
Wraith, hits Raven (for 6 + 1 Con)
Raven hits the Wraith (for 7)
Shelly tries to hit the Wraith with a 4th level Cure spell but misses
Sarah misses the Wraith with an “Orb of Force”
Marcus uses Moreto’s sword on the Wraith hitting (for 11)
Round 2
Wraith hits Marcus (for 6 +5 Con)
Raven Misses once and hits once (for 7)
Shelly uses her cure spell on Marcus
Sarah hits the Wraith with ‘Magic Missiles’ (for 27)
Marcus hits the Wraith three times (for 37)
Round 3
Wraith hits Marcus (for 6 +4 Con)
Raven misses twice
Shelly casts ‘Restoration’ on Marcus
Sarah hits the Wraith with ‘Magic Missiles’ (for 17) killing it
The party takes the armor and leaves the room.
They pass through the Inner Court again, where Huckabee is muttering in his sleep about his beautiful Swamp Emperess and kissing his backpack which he is using as a pillow, and climb the stairs on the east wall.
A small statue of a wind duke in armor, his left hand resting on a sword, his right held up to shield his eyes, stands at the far wall of this room as part of a small shrine or altar. It seems to be made of gold, with sparkling blue gems for eyes; bright light shines onto the statue in a beam from above. The walls are carved with bas reliefs of wind duke servants bowing and soldiers saluting.
A section of the floor between you and the shrine appears to have once been covered by an elaborate carpet, but most of it has turned to dust. The colors have all faded, and only small patches of the complete pattern remain.
They note the carvings and touch nothing in the room, leaving by the door on the south wall
The room beyond the door is full of flickering bluish light, and a breeze that smells like thunderstorms drifts out of the room. The floor is sloped down toward the center from all directions. At the very bottom, about 5’ below you, you see the wizard Allustan standing in a sparkling globe of lightning, coming from a metallic spike hanging down from a stone block in the ceiling. Allustan seems very excited, screaming and waving at you, but you can’t hear what he’s saying over the crackle of lightning.
Note: the details of this room changed in the published version, most notably, the lightning bolts were not as prevalent, and Allustan was awake and trapped in the sphere
Their first thought is to destroy the lightning emitter. Marcus puts on the +2 Banded armor that makes him immune to electricity and goes down to talk to Allustan. Sarah takes the helm of Flying and flies up to the lightning emitter, notes the talisman shaped indention and inserts the talisman of the sphere and the lightning orb stops and Marcus and Allustan move back to join the party. Sarah takes the now charges talisman of the sphere and the whole party retreats back to the Keeper’s chamber where they rest.
Huckabee is then sent with Allustan back to the entrance while Sarah, Shelly, Marcus, and Raven rest in front of the false Gatehouse.
Shelly gains the Planning Domain.
The next morning the party re-enters the bag of holding, and the invisible, flying Marcus delivers them to the stairway he noted way down the falling river.
Note: It is entirely possible for the PC’s to get here with the seal of law, but not having found Allustan. It seems a bit anti climatic for them to go back then and try all the doors until they find him.
You’ve been going down the waterfall for a long, wet stretch. Mist is constantly swirling around you, so thick that you almost didn’t see the narrow passage leading away from the main cavern. At first it just seemed like a small shelter, but there was a metallic glint at the end of it. The tunnel is clearly carved from the stone around it, and rapidly expands to into a set of stairs going up, 10’ wide.
Shelly makes her save as the only Chaotic party member
The doors are eventually opened
Back into the bag of holding, Marcus flies into the room and the part encounters the Air Elementals. Marcus retreat back out of the room, and the party clamber out of the bag and manage to slay the elementals with a couple ‘Orb of Forces’ from Sarah and the like.
I apologize for the lack of the play by play on this fight. My cat barfed on that page of the notes. The fight was fairly short, the party being fully rested
So…back into the bag, and Marcus flies around the room and finds the doors on the far side to be fake. Searching the ceiling he finds the secret door
The trapdoor creaks open and you rise into the tomb of the Wind Duke General. The chamber is modest, only XXX feet square, and lit by the multi-colored blue, purple, orange, red, and yellow lanterns favored by the Wind Dukes.
The walls are carved with a funeral procession on one side, including Wind Dukes, djinni, air elementals and other elemental servants of Law. The opposite side shows Icosiol’s ascension into the Upper Planes, with angels and weeping soldiers on either side. Many-eyed giants and dog-headed demons are trampled beneath his feet as he rises into a golden doorway.
The party climbs out of the bag on the stairs and enters the room and sees the Demons.
Note: the stats for the Demon may have been slightly different and less refined than those that appeared in the published version. Additionally, the Demon appeared with a duplicate instead of being ‘Invisible’ and ‘Mirror Imaged’. Additionally, it had a level draining touch.
This is the actual burial chamber of the Wind Duke Icosiol. The final guardians are conquered foes of Icosiol’s, captured and forced to defend his tomb. They are a matched pair of Thousand-Eye Demons (CR 13, new monster) -- or so it seems. One of the demons is actually a bit of magic, a mirror image combined with major creation. The resulting image cannot be dispelled by contact, only by magic or by destroying the right (blue) lantern. Its hits do less damage than the real demon's strikes, but it creates a major distraction. How much less?
Round 1
Sarah casts ‘Fire Ball’ it fails to hurt the Demon, but inadvertently destroys the blue lantern dispelling the Demon image.
Demon uses Rapid Shot eye bolts and everyone fails.
Marcus runs in terror and is able to Fly back out into the previous room
Shelly, not being able to fly cowers in the corner
Raven cowers in the corner (AC like 28 with full defense)
Round 2
Sarah Cowers in the corner
Demon moves and attacks and hits the cowering Raven (for 11 +1 level)(I used the lesser damage listed in the claw attacks since you have two different ones listed: see below.the greater damage would have killed at least one cowering PC.)
Marcus overcomes his fear and returns
Shelly cowers
Raven cowers
Round 3
Sarah cowers
Demon hits Raven (for 12 + 1 level) and misses
Marcus fires an arrow and misses
Shelly cowers
Raven cowers
Round 4
Sarah cowers
Demon hit,s misses and hits Raven (for 5 but he made his save)
Marcus hits the Demon with two arrows (for 24, but only 4 after DR)
Shelly cowers
Raven cowers
Round 5
Sarah stops cowering and hits the Demon with an ‘Orb of Force’ (for 44)
Demon rapid shot eyebolts (Sarah and Raven fail)
Marcus critical hits with an arrow (for 29 after DR)
Shelly stops cowering and casts ‘Searing Light’ but fails to overcome the SR
Raven passes out -4
Round 6
Sarah cowers
Demon claw attacks Marcus (for 7 and 6, but Marcus makes both saves)
Marcus hits the Demon with an arrow (for 19 after DR)
Shelly hits the Demon with ‘Searing Light’ (for 15)
Raven -5
Round 7
Sarah quits cowering and hits the Demon with an ‘Orb of Force’ (for 35)
Demon uses it’s paralyzing Gaze on Marcus, but Marcus makes the save (was this something that each PC should have been dealing with each round?...if so, this would probably have been a TPK.
Marcus misses with an arrow
Shelly critically hits the Demon with ‘Searing Light’ (for 35) killing it.
Raven -6
Round 8
Shelly casts ‘Cure Lt wounds’ until Raven is up.
The party touches the Seal of Law to Icosiol’s sarcophagus and claims the treasure…Which I hope your players have fun with, having given some suggestions on magical properties that were incorporated in the published version.
And thus the party completed the adventure, retreating back out of to Cairn and escorting Allustan back to a town that hadn’t been attacked by the dragon in the playtest version ;-)
I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as we did playing it and then reading through to see what changes had been made.
Thoughts? Comments? Questions?
ASEO out
Kobold Press
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Wolfgang must really like Salamanders. This is his second Dungeon adventure in a row where the creatures are written in a sympathetic way.
Too true.
I blame my weakness on the Tony Diterlizzi illustration of them in the 2E MM. They just look so cool. Evil, of course, but smarter and more interesting than elementals.
As an odd playtest twist, the noble salamander in "GoW" originally appeared in "The Clockwork Fortress", but was just too tough a CR for that venue. He migrated to this adventure instead, since the elemental creatures theme was already in place for the Cairn.
Ahh yes, and I think he would have beaten up the playtest party in that adventure as well. Although If I recall correctly, in that one he was more interested in gambling.
ASEO out