Last encounter in the Blackwall Keep.

[Twinsun]

I was wondering if anyone was interested in posting how their party did in the last encounter in Blackwall Keep with the three Spawn of Kyuss in the basement? I was going to detail how my party took it (on the chin).

Party:
Nale 5th level Human Warlock (player has been playing with me since ... omg 1986 so 19 years blech I am getting up there)

Nurru 6th Level Elven Cleric of Mielikki (This guy has been playing since 1976 and with me since 1993)

Aura 3rd level Elven Ranger/3rd level Rogue (Played by same guy as plays the cleric.. a house rule is that whoever plays the cleric gets to play a second toon as well.. always has trouble getting people to play the cleric)

Aldovar 6th Human Wizard non-specialist (Player has been playing with me since 1999, but been playing D&D since 1975).

Aradred 7th level Dwarven Fighter (with the best stats I have seen rolled for a character in years... two 18's, two 17's, a 15 and a 14)(Player has been playing with me since 2000 which is when he first started playing the game).

Now of note, I have been running the same on going campaign since the mid 1990's with pretty much the same people playing as listed above all minus a couple that came and went during that time. The players created new characters specifically for the AoW PA when I decided I wanted to run it and among them decided that Aradred would be the party leader, even through the player is relatively in experience compared to the other players... to qoute Nale "Live and learn buddy, Live and learn." Now I did not figure this arrangement would last that long but I have been pleasantly surprised to see that the more experienced players have been allowing Aradred to lead without second guessing his decisions and such.. anyways neither here nor there on to the encounter description:

The party was waken in the middle of night at blackwall keep to the general alarm. They responsed only to find that two guards had been grabbed and pulled into the basement by rotting corpse filled with green worms. Of course the primary question was omg where did that come from? which is not important for this description. The party took time got armored up while the remaining soldiers and Melinda (the paladin from Diamond Lake that lead down the reinforcements to blackwall keep) barricaded that top of th stairs to keep them down there.

Aldovar cast mage armor and shield on himself, the cleric did not do any buffing.....(kept my mouth shut), and the party headed down the stairs into the basement. I had placed one of the spawn behind each of the corners leading into the surrounding corridor around the central cooking area where they were attempting to hide. The party of course brought down continual flame torches as they have two humans which alert the spawn to their approach (while the spawn only have an 6 Int they have an 11 Wis and are suppose to be cunning).

That is when stuff started to go badly. Aradred called for the group to move as a unit into the central cooking area which they did, and the spawn decided that looked like an great place to attack... out come the spawn from around the corners into the central room and off goes the fear saves (three separate ones). Aradred fails, Nurru fails, and Aura fails. Aradred and aura fleee up the stairs smacking into the barricade trying to get out. Nurru flees into one of the side rooms, realizes he is cornered and cowers in the corner. During this flight Nurru is hit by 2 shots of Opportunity (full plate and still got smacked around) and gets two worms transferred to him. Nale and Aldovar cut loose some magic damage. Next round, the spawn gang up on Nale including a critcal hit, drives him to low single digits and he is pinned in a corner. Aldovar cut loose a magic missle not wanting to kill Nale outright with an AOE spell. Nurru cowers and the worms are in him doing damage, both of them only going to be in him for 2 rounds before they reach his brain. Aradred and aura force their way through the barricade, where I bend the rules, and allow them to resave against the fear when they enter Melinda's Aura of Courage effect. Aura makes it, Aradred will be headed for the front door and out of the keep. Nale attempts to get a potion of cure moderate wounds drank (he is really between a rock and a hard place at this point) Shot of Opportunity drives him below -10. One comes at Aldovar who has positioned himself in a doorway and misses its attack. Next round Aldovar hits it with a Scorcher and puts it down....

At this point thinking that I was looking at a TPK, I have Melinda join with the Aura and her and a the Blackwall troops charge down the stairs to aid in the combat. With Melinda's Aura of Courage to back them about 1/2 of the troops make their fear saves and a mass melee starts. In the end, Melinda is down with worms in her, Nurru has succumbed to his worm infestion before his fear wore off, Nale is a outright dead, Aradred made it back from his jog in the countryside just in time to see that last of the spawn fall, Aura is fine without a scratch, and Aldovar is completely outta damaging spells, and has managed to not get hit in 3 or 4 swings at him (lucky dice for him that night let tell you).

Realizing where this was headed, and with the parties cleric about to turn into another spawn I gave ample warning, "You find Nurru's body in a sidechamber cowering a corner, but as you watch you see green worms start to crawl from his mouth and eyes" The party promply removed his head and burned the corpses outside.

Affects of this encounter: While it resulted in the death of a couple of party members, they had a great time with it. I am pretty certain that in their gaming careers none had before encountered Spawn of Kyuss. There was a hole lotta laughing about the brave leader and his jog in the moonlight grasslands. I think that they are likely going to pool resources and get some potions of cure disease/remove fear as well as likely a wand of cure disease or remove curse. Nale was raised by the Tormites in Diamond Lake at request of the Captain of the Garrison for their aid in saving Blackwall keeps soldiers (twice), though he has retired the character and will be playing a fighter cleric split class. Nurru alsa could not be saved, an d is going to be replaced with a Cleric of Tempus.

[Bran 637]

Nice tale Twinsun, I like this kind of story.

I find the spawn of Kyuss a very deadly monster even if there was some threads here questioning its efficiency. The fear/worm combo is nasty especially when the PC doesn't get initiative. I had a similar story when I DMed "Flood Season" in the SCAP. The ranger1/fighter2 (at the time) missed his save after being charged by a spawn. He went back fleeing in panic with a worm crawling beneath his leather gloves and up his arm. He was lucky enough to get 4 rounds of delay, and the priestess of Selune was smart enough not to let him go alone. But if she didn't it was certain death for him. Quite scary to die alone in an unknown cave, while a worm is eating your brain...

Thanks again for sharing.

Bran.

[Stop! Drop! and Roll!]

The players in my group were only slightly challenged by the spawn.

The adventurers returned from the swamp to find the keep in a hurried excitement. The new keep sergeant (the old one died during the assault) told the tale of their previous mage and what he had become. This became a short role-playing scenario with me playing an embarressed keep sergeant, betrayed Marzeena (she didnt know about the spawn locked in the basement), and the players trying to gain information about their next foe.

After making their plans, the players then descended the steps ino the basement. As they did, they heard the cellar door break and knew the creatures would be waiting for them. Bottlenecked at the foot of the stairwell, the fighter Corin was faced with three of the spawn. Fear saves. Our cleric, fighter, monk, and sorcerer all made their saves. The rogue and bard did not, and they were forced to about-face on their next turn.

The fighter dealt solid damage to the spawn in front of him. The spawn all retaliated with throwing worms, one drawing an AOO. The fighter's touch AC is lame and still only one of the spawn hit. The elven cleric turned two of the spawn (good rolls). The sorcerer threw an acid orb, missing the remaining spawn. The monk moved in to strike the spawn, hitting and drawing two worms on to her (that was a cool moment).

The fighter squished his worm. The cleric engaged with his longsword. The spawn hit the monk with another thrown worm, which she deflected (didnt think about that before I chose her as a target...dang). The monk squished her worm, and begged for help killing the other one. The sorcerer aided her in squishing her last worm.

The fighter, cleric, and sorcerer all dropped the final spawn. While observing the wretched corpses, the elven cleric noticed the worms were "mending" the physical damage done by their weapons and alerted the rest of his band that if they didnt "exhonerate" the corpses they would soon be reliving (or not) their most previous encounter. The basement was soon filled with the smoke of charred Kyuss corpses which ultimately would have to be cleaned by the garrison soldiers who let this whole thing happen in the first place.

The encounter was fast paced and the stakes are high, but with a good cleric, not overly difficult. It sounds that due to your cleric failing his will save, the party was REALLY hampered in the encounter. Could happen to anybody.

[Peter Fuesz]

It's amazing the difference a successful save VS. a failed one can make. That and knowing what they were up against. I'm sure there were other factors, but this one stands out the most to me. Action Dice anyone?